A perfect Georgian Bay day

I rigged up the 7.0 for a change and it was the perfect sail for the 15-20 knot winds. This was the typical prevailing south west wind that makes the pine trees in Georgian bay look like the iconic "Group of Seven" paintings.

Stormy Weather - Varley - McMichael

I was lucky enough to be joined by another windsurfer (yeah Brad you are getting really good - look out Hatteras!) and we got to play cat and mouse chasing each other. I also got to drop by and visit with another cottager whose place I sail by regularly, but since he is American he is not there very often.

I think I'm ready for a faster board. I'm guessing my Techno is now 5 years old and deck is feeling a bit spongy. It is a great all round board but I'm wondering what a newer slalom board would be like. I have my eye on a Fanatic Ray 122 that would nicely fit into the board bag I have as it is the same width as the Techno.

The wind slowly dropped a bit before I could do a full 50 km and certainly my up and down wind ability was lacking later in the session as the wind died. In the first part of my track where I'm way south on the long reaches I could pretty much go wherever I wanted - I covered more territory than I ever have in a single session.  Max speed was 48 km/h with the stock Techno 48cm fin.

I was thinking about some blog comments I've read recently (Fish). First, I'm 48 years old so 2 hours is about all I can sail these days. During one waterstart my leg cramped up real bad but was fine a minute later. I do remember sailing for six hours once when I was much younger!

My second thought was now that my kids are older I don't feel bad leaving for a session - they are fine back at the cottage if they don't want to come out to the bay. Later in the weekend when we were planning our departure one of my sons even said "Dad, let's leave later in the day tomorrow so if it is windy you can go for a sail!"

48.5 km and 48 km/h top speed