Summer highlights from Georgian Bay

I finally got around to editing a quick video some friends shot near our cottage and I thought it was about time to update my blog with some windsurfing thoughts about returning to Canada.



There is nothing like windsurfing back home. Even though I really only had 3 good windsurfing days in August, they were all memorable.  The third day resulted in the video above, which was pretty fun on my 6.2 duke and skate 108. I nearly landed vulcan attempt #190 but I think I'm turning upwind too much before jumping?  I got some nice regular and switch foot gybes. I'm always a bit amazed at how straight, stiff & upright my stance is when I get a chance to see myself on video. (Thanks Scott & OJ!).

The second memorable day had me out on my slalom board, racing back and forth, upwind and downwind and really enjoying being out on water where I know every shoal.  It is a real hoot to scream past rocks and down narrow channels while working on going up and down wind. From the track below, it is harder to go upwind (8 tacks) than downwind (2 gybes).  Totals 27min, 12 km, avg 25km/h, max 44km/h.

Slalom through the 30,000 islands

But the absolute highlight of the summer sessions was watching one of my sons out on the JP Young Gun board with his 4.2m sail. He had worked his way upwind a bit and was hard to see, since the 15-20 knot wind was picking up. I squinted into the sun and saw his sail poking up above the rocks in the distance.

Suddenly my son was in full view, and he was moving quickly. Really quickly. I could tell he had sheeted in nicely using his harness during a gust and was basically tailwalking at a very high speed on the back of the board. Then WHAM, a huge spray of white mist rose in the air when he was pulled (catapulted) over the front of his sail and board.  My wife and my hearts stopped as we contemplated that he might be hurt. I began mentally preparing the plan to go rescue him, but before we knew it he was uphauling again. He completed his 8.5km of sailing and got major high 5's from us for his first fully powered planing catapult session.

My son's first major catapult!

It is neat sailing here: Unless I'm out with one of my kids or a neighbour, I don't even need to look over my shoulder when gybing. The solitude is fun - a bit more soul surfing than some of the crowded places I've sailed. When it blows, the west wind on Georgian Bay is so consistent - there is a famous painting with that name. 

There was only one other session to be had on Georgian Bay in the fall, a quick 90 minute slalom session after my wife and I had shut down most of the cottage pluming in October. The slalom gear is now safely stowed for the winter but I've got a few more blog posts to write...