Hurricane Isaac Sessions

We were pretty worried about Hurricane Isaac here in Bonita Springs last week. For a while it looked like he would hit us directly as a Category 1 Hurricane. Fortunately, Isaac was slow to strengthen, and passed far enough to the South and West that we didn’t get any damaging winds or surge. We did get some good windsurfing, though.

The Atlantic Coast of Florida got the best of it, as usual, with several days of strong onshore or sideshore Easterlies as the storm approached. The Gulf Coast didn’t feel much of that, since Easterlies have trouble making it all the way across the state, and then they’re gusty and offshore when they get here so it’s hard to find a good place to launch. I tried the offshore winds at Bonita Beach on the Saturday before the storm and had an OK flatwater session with a floaty board and a 6.8 sail.  Sunday I didn’t sail because it was really squally and nasty, and still offshore. Monday was the prime day because Isaac had crossed to the West of Florida, giving the Gulf side good SSW winds and some swell.

I had a tough time choosing what to rig because the wind was up and down with the rain showers. I ended up going with 4.2 and putting it on my 106 liter board. At first I was a little underpowered, wishing I’d gone with 4.7, then I was perfect, then I was a little overpowered, wishing I was on my 83 liter board. All told, I made out pretty well and went home fully stoked.

Here’s a video from the session. I tried a little something different this time. I made two versions of the video; one with natural sound including my awkward exclaimations, and one dubbed over with a song by Queen.  

This is the musical version.
Isaac Aftermath 8-27-12 from James Douglass on Vimeo.

This is the "vocal" version.
Isaac Aftermath 8-27-12 no music from James Douglass on Vimeo.