2017-06-22 Rip-n-Slog

Everyone was in a good mood at breakfast.  It had been windy all night and was forecast to build all day.  We took our time with Dog River Coffee and Bette's for breakfast, then after a quick stop at Safeway, we headed to Swell City.  It was WINDY.  Cam and Ross weren't with us as they were planning a kiting day.

Brenda came around to collect the $6.00/person fee for using the site.  There were already people on the water.  The decisions about what to rig were pretty clear - rig small.

Kent was out first on a 3.8 sail.  After one reach he stopped over-downhaul it.  Gerry, Brad, and Blaine went out next.  Brad on a 3.7, Blaine and Gerry on their 4.2m sails.  After getting across the river and back, Blaine and Brad decided that they would wait for the wind to die a bit.  They tail-walked all the way across and back - barely in control.  Gerry came after shortly afterward to rig a 3.8.

Brad - Blown off the water!

Rene went out on his 4.2 and got flushed down river and ended up doing "The Walk".   He had a little drama when he drifted into a fishing net, but he managed to get free.  Brad and I walked down to make sure he was alright.  He had a long walk back, because the banks are all rock and too steep to get out - even with help, but the water is not deep beside the shore, so the walk wasn't difficult - just long.

Gerry - heading out for another session!

About an hour after we got there, the wind suddenly dropped.  According to a local with access to I-Windsurf, it had suddenly dropped from averaging 31mph gusting over 40, to averaging 21, with gusts between 12 and 28.

We all got out, but it was hard work.  We would rip in the gusts, and then stand around slogging or dropping in the water during the lulls.

Harold won the prize for most time on the water - he has his own style that we all give him a hard time about, but he is an amazing sailor and seems to be able to sail in any conditions.  He was certainly making it work today.

Harold - makes anything work!

Kent was really enjoying himself in the big swell.  He went out for three long sessions, doing long wave rides sometimes flipping the sail several times on one swell.

Cam and Ross joined us mid afternoon.  They had been kiting and had a "Technical" session with the wind speed and direction shifting continually.  Cam said he was impressed when they first arrived he watched a sailor doing an anchored launch.  The guy set the kite up on the water tied to the anchor but a gust caught it launching the kite.  It did a perfect 180 arc up across the wind window, accelerating all the way across and then crashed down into the bank, exploding.  Cam said the kite was totally shredded - there was nothing left of the kite.

Ted Proudly wearing his 40-20 shirt - Taking photos of the action.

After watching that performance, both Cam and Ross were careful launching their kites.  Once they got out - it was "Technical" sailing, but once they got up to the Hatchery, the swells were amazing.  They both had a lot of fun in the swells.  And Cam launched and returned to the same point.  awesome job!

After visiting for a while and giving us all a hard time about how silly windsurfing is, they went back for another session late in the afternoon!

I got out on my 5.6 and Nash board.  I should probably have been on my 4.8, but I made it work.  Our sail and board sizes varied all over the place because there was no perfect size.  If you rigged for the lulls you were way overpowered in the gusts - if you rigged for the gusts, you would be standing or in the water in the lulls.  At one point, Harold was on a 5.3, Jim was on a 4.7, Cynthia was on a 4.2, Kent was on a 3.8, I was on a 5.6, and Blaine, Brad and Gerry were on 4.2's.  I think everyone, other than maybe Kent, struggled a bit with the variable wind.  Fun, but a learning / tough sailing.  Lots of work.

Kent had fun - but stayed away from the camera...

We sat on the beach until almost 8:00 watching Harold de-rig.  He had everything out and had sailed everything he had except his 6.1m sail.

Most of us went to China Gorge for supper.  We all commented at how good it was.  The rest of the group went to Double Mountain for Pizza and Beer.

We were all exhausted at the end of the day.  I think we managed to stay up until 10:30.

Brad got a lot of exercises - good day but a lot of work.

Thanks to Brad for the photo!