I did a 20ft high Windsurfing jump?

20 feet high? Really?

Could winter already be over? It was 15c and a south wind was predicted, so I headed back to Carro beach. My board still isn't back from being repaired, so I rented a 91 litre wave board at the shop. The guy in the windsurfing store seems to recognize me now, and I'm able to speak a little French and communicate whatever I need.

I had my shadowbox with me, and was pretty excited to see some of my jumps being recorded in 3d. Did I really jump 20 feet high though? This one seemed like a good jump for sure, and some of the others were showing in the high teens. That being said, the waves were pretty big, so some of the "jump" is me riding up the face of the wave. Check out the video and let me know what you think, especially if you have a shadowbox.

Shadowbox recording of Carro, France windsurfing ride and 16ft jump from Canadian Guy on Vimeo.

Nice google earth image of the location
of the ride in the video below

There were 50 people out sailing, and I scored a great session. The water is 12c, but I didn't feel cold at all. My wife came along and sat in the car working on her laptop. I got tired too quickly, and only sailed for an hour and a half. My boys were happy about that though, we got back in time to pick them up as they got out early from school.

Snowboarding this weekend?

Here are some shots that my wife took from inside the car..

Some waves were smooth as silk

That's me jumping - very nice of my wife to take photos!

Ok, the waves are decent size when
you can see my sail numbers but not me

Coming back to shore after a good session

Last Session of 2010

All smiles in Dahab, Egypt

Dec 31st. The wind picked up again in Dahab in the afternoon, and the kids went out pretty eagerly for another lesson with Achmed. The boys were on a 3.0 ice with a Joker 108, a 3.5 kids sail with a Syncro 117, and my daughter was on a 2.0 with a nice 110 Mistral kid’s board (the one with an extra skeg box in the middle.) My wife took a big board and small sail for freestyle practice, and I took a Screamer 123 and a 7.8 slalom sail with my Shadowbox.

Did I really hit 42 mph? That would be 67 km/h. I’m sceptical but the flat water protected by the sand bar at “Speedy” certainly does inspire you to go fast. In reviewing my Shadowbox data on my laptop, I think that top speed reading is in error. I'll need to learn how to use that device out a bit better both on and off the water.

My top 10 windsurfing to do list
from Windsurfing Magazine 2007

It was a very nice way to end the year and the 20^th session of my sabbatical. I did the last upwind slog of this Egypt vacation with my wife and 2 kids (the 3^rd kid took the shuttle boat back since broke a boom and he hadn’t worn a wetsuit and was cold) and we all arrived back at the beach. (FYI, having my entire family windsurf with me was one of my top 10 windsurfing things to do from a few years ago. The red sea will have to substitute for Georgian bay for now.)

Happy New Year and may you have wind and good times sailing with family and friends in 2011. I'm hoping to saill at least once a month in France in Jan, Feb and March. Let's see how that goes.