More Windsurfing in Dahab

Smiling in Dahab!  Video down below

After 4 days without wind, and even a very rare day of rain in Dahab, I got back out on a short board. I had actually done some light wind freestyle and stand up paddleboarding on the no wind days.  The kids took advantage of the wind lull and explored the beach and reefs snorkelling on a pedal boat.

I tried out a Mistral Joker 108 which is a nice freestyle board. With a 5.8, I got planing every run, and tried over 20 vulcans and an assortment of other tricks. My vulcans are sliding well, but I still don’t get my hands to the other side. The tide was high, which means that you can get planing and then beach start in either directions in the bay after a failed trick attempt. I was having fun comparing moves with Hafaz, one of the club Mistral staff members. Most of all it was great to be out sailing.

Don't think about sharks while waterstarting in the red sea

The Mistral centre, and the other centres on the beach (Harry Nass, Club Vass, Planet Windsurf and a few Russian rental outfits) are all well stocked. I like how they take the boom off and on each time, which I think keeps the gear in better shape. In the Club Vass centre, I met Colin who, as it turned out, knew two Canadian windsurfers and a Dutch pro that I know. What a small little windsurfing world.

Dahab is a very nice place. It is a bit of a bubble, the resorts and many international guests keep you a bit isolated from the actual country you are visiting, like in other resort towns. The vibe when you venture into the town of Dahab is a bit more eclectic, and worth a visit for a relaxed lunch and stroll down the paved beach boardwalk on a no wind day.

The resorts seemed busy but not packed, I wonder what impact the shark attack 100km away in Sharm-el-Shiekh has had on tourism, or if it is a delayed result of the economic downturn from 2008?





Dahab mast view from Canadian Guy on Vimeo.


Here are some more images:

The Best Christmas Present EVER!

Christmas dinner in Dahab for 5 Windsurfers!

So much fun. Waking up on Christmas day in Dahab to see wind, and hearing my 10 year old daughter say on the way to breakfast, "Daddy, I want to go windsurfing with you today." My wife and one son were already keen to sail, so after seeing Santa walk through the hotel handing out gifts to the kids, we all headed down to the beach to pick out some rental gear.
As the 4 of us were almost ready to go, my other son said he wanted to sail too. Way cool.
My wife was planing, my one son was zooming back and forth on his 3.0, and my other son and daughter were doing pretty well to on their big boards and tiny sails. There were a few "I can't get back moments" from the kids, but eventually we all made it back to the Mistral centre. (The wind here is offshore, but there is a sand bar that collects the beginners letting them walk back upwind.)
Here is a picture from Christmas dinner. Being away from home at Christmas is weird, but to have all 5 of us out sailing at once is a pretty wonderful present for the luckiest dad in the world.

Christmas Eve Windsurfing - Dahab

I've never sailed on Christmas Eve, but today I had a memorable session. We've been having a great trip exploring Egypt. After an amazing Nile cruise, and a bit of air travel, we've arrived at Dahab.This windsurfing destination on the Red Sea is very popular with Europeans, and we are staying right on the beach.
We arrived at the hotel, had a quick lunch and then my son and I headed out to test the waters. He had a few problems staying upwind in the beginner bay at first, but then made it back to the Club Mistral centre under his own power. I headed out to the freestyle area, but with my 6.6m sail and 135l board, was limited to fine tuning my duck gybes and carving 360s.
I got back from session #17 as the sun was setting got showered and ready for Christmas dinner with my family. It was definitely a great way to spend the afternoon before Christmas Eve. Normally I'm out doing last minute shopping!

The Windsurfing Movie II

We are packing up to head to Dahab for the holidays. The family joined me in watching the Windsurfing Movie II, as part of me getting stoked for our trip.The production values and sailing in the movie are first rate. It was very cool to see Levi Siver, who we saw sailing, and if I recall doing well at the Gorge cup in the 1990's when he and his brother were kids. My son said he wants to go sail the gorge. Cool.

Crazy French Windsurf Park

Ok, these French guys are crazy. But what a good idea.


Wesh Center Crew Windsurf Park in Leucate from Julien Taboulet on Vimeo.

It is around 2.5 hours away from my place, I'll have to check it out in the spring (on my way to the Defi Wind?).

#16 Shadowbox Recording of Fun Dec. 7 Sesh in France

This session wasn't supposed to happen. After two weeks of freezing nights that left most of Europe under an early and heavy blanket of snow, I figured my season was done. But it suddenly warmed up here.

There wasn't much wind predicted though, so my wife took the car for the day to her hiking club. Luckily, when my email wind alert buzzed at 11am, I emailed her and she let me know the car was actually just parked at the kids' school. I figured by the time I ran to school, drove the car home, loaded the gear, drove to the beach and rigged, the wind would be gone. What the hell, I quickly walked uphill then jogged downhill the 6km to school to get the car, raced home packed up and headed out.

I was sceptical, but as I pulled up to Carro beach, a nice 25 knot, 16c SE wind was powering up a dozen sailors out on 14c Mediterranean water.

I rigged up quickly, slapped the new Shadowbox on the board, and realized it would have been smart to have read the user guide that has been on my bed side table for the last 5 nights. The box powered on but didn't seem to record anything as it hadn't been on long enough to get a good GPS signal.

Oh well, I was desperate to go, and I sailed just enjoying the near perfect conditions. Waves that were big enough to ride, but manageable enough to get out through the break. Wind that was pretty steady, and not overpowering (or dying) like a few of my recent sessions.

For the first time in a while I had no GPS, no GoPro, and with the Shadowbox off, no extra reason to try hard or push myself. So I was soul surfing, and just loving being out in early December with the right board and sail.

Shadowbox Track of a Decent Jump!

After 50 minutes of perfectly heavenly sailing, I tried turning on the Shadowbox again, and lo and behold, it started up with rapid blinking lights, indicating that it was recording.

So I started pushing myself a bit more, and recorded some jumps, and 2 more vulcan attempts. But most of all I was having fun playing in the waves, catching good rides in, jibing smoothly and not being completely freaked out on my way back out.

Above is a sweet image of one of the jumps I got.  I'd say this is maybe 1/2 the size of the best jumps I've ever done, so I'm looking forward to catching some better ones in the future on the Shadowbox. It says I went 7.7 feet high and over 28 feet long at 17 mph. The board recorded a maximum 16Gs of deceleration on one of my flat landings. Ouch.

Nice Wave Ride and Jibe Track

Here is a nice wave ride, I need to get a bit more slash in my top and bottom turns I think.

Shadowbox recording of Windsurfing Vulcan attempt from Canadian Guy on Vimeo.

I got a great image sequence of Vulcan attempt #83. It confirms that I get the board around 180 degrees fine now, I need to really start working on getting my hands to the other side and then leaning into the sail. Of course in the Shadowbox software, the sail stays straight up perpendicular to the board the whole time, but it is still a fun video!

My maximum speed for the session was 27mph (43 km/h).

Re-Split nose - May be the end of the season :-(

After around an hour and a half of sailing, on one of my waterstart attempts after a failed jibe in the whitewater zone, my calves cramped up something fierce. The combination of jogging, and then sailing was taking its toll. I had to lie in the breaking waves for a minute just to ease my cramping legs. I did a few more runs, and then just as I was saying cockily "I've been sailing really well, but this is my last ride out, I have to pack up and go get the kids from school", and WHAM, I got pulled over the front and the mast hit the board, HARD. (I can see that moment on the Shadowbox too!) It actually split the board open, along the fault line of an earlier but smaller bit of damage. I rode straight back in and left the board at the Carro Windsurf shop. I am curious what the repair estimate and timing will be?

I've washed the salt water off all my sails now, and think this is the last entry from France for this year. The great session, and the fun of getting the Shadowbox working, makes up for the broken nose. Overall I'm feeling pretty good about my 16 sessions this fall.

Toys for Geeks. My Shadowbox has arrived!

Santa Came Early!

Ok, after months of waiting, my new Shadowbox has arrived. It is a cool GPS with extra sensors that record a great deal more motion detail than a regular GPS. I should be able to see how high I jump, how smooth my gybes are, and someday help me with analysis of tricks I am still trying to learn.
There are a lot of sailors who deserve to have their skills recorded more than I do, but the geeky engineer in me couldn't resist ordering one. Here's a great video with guys who deserve to be monitored with a Shadowbox (go to 1:30 to see the Shadowbox tracking). I'm looking forward to recording my first session, hopefully it gets warmer here in France next week, we've been freezing with the rest of Europe for 10 days.

What I find really cool about the Shadowbox, is that like the GoPro, it is a new, high tech device that is made (or at least designed and assembled) in the USA. While many people seem to want to believe that the US is in constant decline, Apple, Google and smaller cool companies like shadowbox and GoPro seem to still all come from the US.

But what is it about windsurfing and engineering types like me? Ok, not all windsurfers are engineers, but once when I was down in San Carlos, 5 of 7 guests were engineers. And the number of doctors, pilots and rocket scientists make windsurfing a bit unusual as a sport. Why so many geeks?