Consummate heat under a bright, empty sky. Light wind from the west, shifting south.
The work day inches along; frustration, progress, coffee, frustration, progress, peanut butter and jelly, check the weather.
12 mph southeast at the St. Lucie Powerplant, a good sign. Marshmallow clouds piling up inland. 14 mph at the powerplant. Text Marc- "seabreeze is on!"
Receive text from new neighbor- "house painting party after work" - whoops, deleted. :P
A few more things to get done, now roll out in the red minivan, east up Seaway Drive... Who's that jogging? The cute blond teachers who hang out at the Tiki Bar! I wave, one waves back - yes!
Kiteboard Ray's Jeep is parked by the beach- it must be good! Looks breezy but Ray can't stay upwind on his 12. Indecision about what to rig; kite or formula? In the meantime, rig longboard beginner stuff for friend Jen.
Ray still complaining about wind so I go for formula. Some guilt for leaving Jen while I rig my own gear, but she's tough, I rationalize.
Beach start and WOW it's great! Two tacks and I'm out past the jetty. Formula flying on the fin, hydrodynamic harmony, hiked out with full power. Late day sun golden through boiling clouds, my pink sail looks BOSS. Upwind, downwind, then take a breather to help Jen and Marc.
Props to Jen for gutsing it in the choppy water. Props to Marc for getting upright on his kiteboard, briefly. My work is done here- back out for formula round two.
Zip, zap, back and forth, semi-planing jibes. The sun dips lower, squall clouds loom, that's that. Exit the shorebreak, schlep the board, schlep the sail, mind the fire ants in the grass. Fat raindrops pop on the sailcloth, melt salt and sand from my skin. The water is fresh and tropically warm. No rush now- can't get any wetter. It's dark when the last item is stowed and I'm smiling invisibly.
Yeah.
Wednesday 12 18 24 morning call
10 hours ago
6 comments:
Talking about arriving at the beach, you write, "Kiteboard Ray's Jeep is parked by the beach- it must be good! Looks breezy but Ray can't stay upwind on his 12. Indecision about what to rig; kite or formula? In the meantime, rig longboard beginner stuff for friend Jen."
The chart in your 9/27 post shows formula windsurfing more fun / mobility than kiting at all wind speeds. Why, then, the indecision? Sounds like you made the right choice rigging the Formula WS gear.
BJ- Well, kiting is also pretty fun when everything works out, and there's the novelty of it, since I get a lot of good formula sessions and few good kite sessions.
Nice one! Coffee and PB+J sounds familiar... Just had my daily dose!
Nice James, nicely written. I know with windsurfing, it's often the "sesh that got away"...being in the wrong place at the wrong time, wrong gear etc...what could have been. I also know the feeling as you well describe it, when it all falls into place, right gear choice, nailing the window of wind opportunity, sailing well....nice :-)
Well told. The rain made for a perfect finish.
Awesome post! Love it.
Post a Comment