Earlier this week a strong low pressure system rolled up the coast bringing strong east winds. We awoke Tuesday morning with a pant load of wind only to find the water blown out of the sound. I rigged a 4.0 and walked out towards the sound. I reached the channel and hopped on the board. For about 20 seconds, I was in pure ecstasy as I flew across the water. A split second later I came to a grinding halt as my 8.5 inch fin found bottom. I swear I walked halfway to the mainland and never found deep enough water to sail. Long walk home. Mother nature wins again.
Later in the afternoon, I did get a session at the Canadian Hole. The wind was straight off shore and very gusty, but I was happy to get out.Wednesday morning the winds had clocked around to the northwest as the front moved up the coast bringing heavy rain, strong winds and sound side flooding. We moved the cars across the street to higher grounds. The winds were blowing a steady 40 with gusts close to 60! I rigged my 3.7 sail, grabbed my little board, and proceeded to get a good ole fashioned ass whipping! What fun.
Thursday morning dawned windy, so we rigged early and headed out. The wind backed off throughout the morning and I just couldn't get my sail size dialed in. I was on the 4.5 when I should have been on the 5.0. I was on the 5.5 when I should have been on the 6.5 . I still had a lot of fun, but I think I spent as much time re-rigging sails as I did on the water.
We sailed a bit Friday morning, but the wind didn't last long and we headed off to the light house to check out the surf. The waves were not huge, but they had some juice to them, and I had to knee paddle the SUP to get through the shore break. Once out, I paddled down the beach to get away from the crowds at the jetty. I caught a few waves, got wiped out more than once, and generally had a pretty good time.
Saturday morning Sarah and I, and Mike and Christi checked out of the house and headed to the Hole where we were treated to one of the nicest days of the trip. Warm and sunny, 20 knots out of the south. Mike sailed for a few hours before heading back to Maryland. Sarah was on her Madd and a 5.0, and I was on my new Naish 95 AT and a 5.5 sail. I sailed well past sunset and had to de-rig in the dark. What a great day on the water.
Sunday, Sarah and I took the Sup's out in the ocean in front of our hotel. We paddled around with a school of dolphins for a while and I even managed to get a couple of nice rides. We had a killer Tuna Wrap from Cafe 12 and headed north to visit our friend Trip Forman at REAL and demo a couple different paddle boards. My personal Sup's are the 12' wood Laird from Surftech and the 11'6 Naish. The Jimmy Lewis 11' was the first board I ever paddled and I still think it is one of the best all around boards on the market. I got a chance to paddle the 10'6 All Around, the 10'8" and the 10' surf. All excellent boards, and we carry them in the store, but for the time being I'm going to stick with my bigger boards. As Trip said, "it is hard to go too big, but easy to go too small." It was great to see Trip, and he and is business partner Matt have built a fabulous store and kiteboard school on the water.
Monday we began our day with a couple of Apple Uglies at Orange Blossom and the checked out of the hotel. Iwindsurf was calling for it to blow and we hung out at the Hole for a while, but it never happened. Sarah and I drove south to Frisco and took the SUP's out a Izzy's. The waves were no more than ankle biters, but they were still rideable on the big floaty boards. Sarah caught a couple and was stoked. I was stoked too, it was awesome. It was time to go home and it was a great way to end our vacation. We had a couple stops to make on the way home including another stop at REAL to get some gear for the shop. It turns out on Tuesday, Jimmy Buffet was there to buy some gear and then went SUP at Izzy's that afternoon. It would have been really cool to run into him at the shop and even cooler to have run into him on the water. Oh well, I guess better to be a day early than a day late!
It was great playing in the unfrozen snow, and hopefully soon we will be getting to play in the frozen snow!
Aloha.
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