Pleasantly surprised

For the past five days or so the forecast was showing 25-30+ mph. But all I was seeing was 15-20 on the Jensen website. It rained all day with little wind inland so driving to the causeway I was a little depressed. It was drizzling when I got there but a NE wind was blowing. I talked to Dino and he said the Jensen site was showing 20. I rigged a 7.0 and put a big fin on and had a decent 1 1/2 hour of sailing. It drizzled the whole time I was out and sometimes the visibility was less than 2 miles. Then around 7:00 the sun broke through the cloud cover, a rainbow formed and the wind started to fade.

Friday surprise - Sunday pleasant sail

Ron making his way in Sunday afternoon.

Friday I showed up earlier in the day, (around 12pm) and it seemed the rain shower that just passed thru would kill any chance of me catching a sail session before work, but to my surprise it ended up turning into one excellent hour and a half of sailing on 7.2m/92l which toward the end was getting to be more like a 6.0m. I spoke to Ron who was heading up as I was leaving the causeway and he ended up sailing thru late afternoon with his 7.4m/112l combination, but admitted he could have easily rigged a smaller 6.x m sail.



I did not sail Saturday and it seemed to me we had light winds for most of the day, but Sunday after looking at the chart on Jensen Beach Web Cam showed a consistent increase in winds giving me the feeling that we might have a decent day. Sure enough as I was driving across the Stuart Causeway, I could see the whitecaps forming thru the House of Refuge and was able to spot the familiar red and clear sail that is seen most sailable days at the Causeway.
David and his dad were both readying their boards and rigs and Ron T. was rigged and ready on his 8.4m/Formula board. I rigged the same and headed out to the H.o.Refuge where I met up with Art and Ron T. High tide gave us access to sailing by the islands without too much concern for running aground. Wind filled in some more and it was a very pleasant sail. Later I was joined by my fiancee Karen and we sailed together into the sunset on the Formula board.

Great evening sail

When I got to the causeway Art was packing up and he said this was the best day yet. He was out on a 6.5 for 4 hours! The wind had backed down slightly so I rigged a 7.0 and put on a big pointer fin. Max and Jake were buzzing around, Ron, Larry, Eduardo and David were on the water. I made my way out to the House and Larry and I raced around for awhile. Then Eduardo, Ron and Dino came out and we were all racing each other, it was a blast. I wanted to sail under a full moon but when the sun ws setting some heavy cloud cover came in and the wind was up and down so we called it quits.d

Max and Jake

Sunday turned out to be another great day on the water. The wind clocked around to NE and it was mostly sunny. I showed up around 2 and rigged an 8.5 on the formula board. I ran up to the Jensen causeway and on the way back it became clear I needed to rig smaller. I went back out on a 7.0 and it was great. When I was re-rigging I counted 7 sails on the water and 3 sailors on the beach! Max and Jake were at it again and I was able to talk to there dad, Phil. He was busy rigging sails and moving gear around.

Max

Saturday was bright and sunny with the wind ESE. I arrived at the causeway around 2 and a lot of windsurfers were showing up. Art was out on a 7.5 and looking south it seemed I would have to rig an 8.5 which I wasn't thrilled in doing. So I thought I would wait and see if the wind would come up some. Their were two young windsurfers, Max and Jake, buzzing around and it was fun watching them. I started talking to their mother, Jennifer and she said they just moved here from Aruba. The kids are into kite boarding as well. I shot some photos but then my batteries died. Ron showed up and he rigged a 9.0 and I rigged my 8.5 on the formula board. We went down to the House of Refuge and I was wishing I was on my 7.0 and the 118L board. So I ran the channel a few times and it was fairly flat next to the sandbar. I ended up putting the 8.5 on the 118L board and Ron and I sailed under the bridge and up to Jensen causeway and back.