The weather took its time warming up until suddenly it seems like summer almost. This was my first time out on the lake this year. The shorty wetsuit was plenty warm enough. Didn't quite ever get planing.
0 Comments
My wife and I had to skip Bonaire in January 2021 (no Americans were allowed down there), but later we did travel to Hatteras and spent a week with BABA. We stayed in one of the six houses rented by the club. It was almost normal since everyone in our house was fully vaccinated.
For the windier conditions down there, I rented a small board from Ocean Air Sports, which turned out very successful, although I either crashed or chickened out on every planing jibe attempt. (See first video.) When the wind abated, I used my own board and my biggest sail. (See second video.)
The wind was tempting, and it wasn't too cold. As it turned out I got planing only for a few seconds, at a measly 10.4 mph. I quit early because my feet got cold. But every day o' sailing is a great day o' sailing. After this, I derigged all my sails and let my car have the garage again, until springtime.
Saturday (Nov. 10) was balmy and not much of a test for my new wetsuit, so today (Nov. 13), being only in the low 50's F, was a much better time to see if the wetsuit was as warm as it promises. By the time I got back to Howard the Sun had almost set. Still I got a nice 16-minute session, and not too chilly.
I had not been out on the lake in 19 days. The water was already pretty cold, but the air was warm and I finally had my new wetsuit to try out.
It was a warm day in late September, just cool enough that my old, loose shorty wetsuit was perfect.
If my friend Anna (whom I hadn't seen in years) hadn't shown up, I might have missed this wind.
I started out with my 5.0 square meter sail, almost my smallest, and there was still plenty of power. Then the wind abated some so I switched to my 7.0. That turned out to be a tad too large so I was over-powered...
The next day there was lots of wind, but I didn't make any jibes without falling. In this one jibe attempt, my footwork was way worse than usual.
|
Archives
August 2022
Categories
All
AuthorThis is Bill vdB, sharing little vignettes of windsurfing on Sayers Lake, in Howard PA. and sometimes elsewhere. |