A bit of humble pie - Halloween nightmare windsuffering in Carro

I'm back in France and the wind reports looked solid. 18 degree warm wind from the south. So I headed back to the legendary windsurfing spot Carro where I had fun last time. There were around 100 sailors out. Most of the sails on the beach were 4.0, my smallest is 4.7, and my 108l board looked huge next to the 80l wave boards that everyone else had. It also started raining, adding to the windspeed, 30 knots gusting to 35.

I rigged up and could barely walk down to the beach. I was able to get out to waist deep water. Several failed beachstarts got me out into the shorebreak, where I got washed several times. A few more waterstart attempts, and I was out into the breaking waves, where I got pulled over the handlebars each time. Started swimming after my gear, and felt the current ripping me straight down wind at an alarming rate. I dragged myself and the gear back to shore and did a walk of shame back to the car. Got out of my wetsuit in the sideways rain, and could barely get the board back on top of the car due to the wind.

There were only 40 sailors out at this point, and my wife and I watched them in comfort from the front seats of the car. Still more to learn about this sport - like make sure you have the right gear. Maybe I'll rent from the local shop next time it is really windy. Does this count as a day of sailing?

Carro Windsurfing Nightmare from Canadian Guy on Vimeo.