Dead Island Circumnavigation

Wow, another day with more wind than expected. Yeah, it was only 11-13 knots but that is all I needed with the 9.0 and my new 48cm Makani fin. (Thanks Peter for the recommendation to go bigger.)

I had some of my longest runs possible in our corner of the Bay‎. 4 km back and forth from my start location to the Dead Island channel. I saw our friends heading home and demonstrated to them why waterstarting makes windsurfing easier than uphauling. Then I started working my way upwind toward the Keefer Island range markers. I sent my wife a SPOT message from the place in the middle of that open water where I proposed to her late one night 22 summers ago!

I still think it takes me too many tacks to get upwind. But these were "pump to get planing" winds. Once I worked my way up to the upwind buoy on the craft route that the old ships used to travel, I started heading ‎west. I had a nice run going along what I thought was the sight line but actually wasn't quite upwind enough.

My 9.0 session in the south winds.
I made it all the way round Dead Island! (Albeit slowly for part of the time.)

I started seeing shoals underwater and slowed down south of Dead Island so I wasn't planing anymore. I realized that the wind had dropped but the swells were now huge in the open bay. To top it off, it started raining. I was feeling pretty happy to have my SPOT GPS messaging device with me in case I got into trouble.

I headed to the main boat channel and slowly ran downwind to the Dead Island channel. The wind picked up and I planed into the wind shadow of the island. Another 4 km planing run and I was back to my start point, and did a few more runs to get to a 54 km total for the day.

I was happy to have the SPOT GPS to send messages in case I ran into trouble

8 sessions this summer

I'm always happiest when I score an unexpected session. It was a cooler north wind at the start of the day but the sun was beaming nicely. I'd finished a conference call and some emails so work was all under control. No wind really predicted, but a tiny bit of SW flow and a thermal kicked in. I headed out at 2pm with the 7.0 and 9.0 and debated what to rig.

It was only reading 11-13 knots on my wind meter but I rigged the 7.0 anyway trusting the wind would build or that I could slog up to where there aren't any islands obstructing the wind. I had to pump onto a plane after slogging a bit on most runs. Even so, it was a good call and I managed to get some nice runs in before racing back to the cottage for a planned rendezvous with visitors who are only up in our area once a year. I was definitely thinking this might be the last good "bay day" and savoured every moment.

A nice ride

Gotta like polarized lenses to help see the rocks

My paths though some of the shoals

27.5 km, 48.2 km/h top speed

My daughter's little session

It wasn't really what either of us were expecting. It seemed like the wind might build so we headed out with gear for each of us. I got my daughter rigged up and she was fine on the JP young gun with a 3.5 but didn't get planing which she had hoped for. Even without a centerboard she stays upwind fine. She did do lots of solid tacks and a nice jibe.

My daughter windsurfing 2014 from Canadian Guy on Vimeo.

I had thought about rigging the 9.0 but realized I didn't bring the right mast. Oh well, the wind never materialized anyway. Another day...

My daughter's mellow session

Chilling after getting back...

I love teaching windsurfing

My dream job is to be a windsurfing instructor. It is so rewarding to get others into our great sport. If only teaching watersports paid as well as my day job (which I do enjoy too)!

I start with the names of the board parts...

Then make sure the student knows where the wind is coming from
and where the windsurfer can go (the directions your arms can point)

Review which way the board will go when you uphaul the sail
and how to spin the board in the direction you want to go 

Set the student free.... with a hand on the mast and two fingers on the boom

And provide some on the water follow up and encouragement
Reminding the student to look where they want to go, not at their hands or feet

Enjoy the smiles that result!

I'm reflecting on another great day of reaching friends' kids to windsurf. I've been getting excellent results ‎with the "front hand on the mast" style of teaching. Somehow keeping the hand on the mast ensures that the mast is kept vertical and the two fingers on the boom keeps the student from over-sheeting (pulling in) the sail too much. That way beginners also remember to let go with the correct hand (technically fingers) when getting overpowered. 

Most of my students made it back from their first and subsequent lessons without needing to be towed back upwind. Praise to ABK and the hand on the mast school of teaching. Granted this most recent weekend the two kids were getting more of a refresher course, I had taught them both a few years ago.

What is also interesting is that I find younger students tend to do better on my sister's very old Bic Veloce with its 185 litres of volume and but very narrow outline. The "modern shape" Mistral 160 Malibu that I bought for light wind freestyle and teaching beginners just a few years ago seems to go sideways as much as forward. And my new SUP seems to work well for teaching too and is just as soft as the Malibu's orange deck...

I hope to get a few more beginners out having fun on the water in the next week or two.

A great Ray Bay Day

I felt pretty good about the SW wind that built up while I was teaching my best friend's son to windsurf. So I packed up the boat with slalom gear and my friend Geoff packed a cooler bag with snacks.

We headed out to the bay and I rigged up the 7.0 on my friend Scott's dock. Scott took my friend Geoff out on his Dart catamaran sailboat and I gave chase on my windsurfer. The wind was in the 12-18 knot range. I was feeling very comfortable for sure - way less stressed compared with my 7.0 session a few weeks ago. This was the perfect Georgian Bay wind and weather that I love to experience.

42 km, nice runs on my Ray 122

The Dart hits around 35km/h, my Ray topped out at 50.9km/h so it was fun playing cat and mouse a bit. In the image above is the GPS trail, speeds below...

Some decent speeds in the nice but not nuclear conditions

First Skate session of 2014

With the wind reports looking good I headed out in the rain and 14c weather to see if I could score my first "highwind" session of the year.

Pretty good looking wind forecast

My wind meter showed only 11-15 knots but I rigged up anyway. I was sure that there would be some gusts in the NW flow.

The Skate 108 looked small since I haven't sailed it yet this year and the 6.2 Duke rigged up ‎nicely. When I jumped on I was surprised that even slogging I was more comfortable than on the Ray 122 (which with a 9.0 sinks as much as the Skate).

My session log - the temperature was actually 14c.

I started catching gusts and was amazingly comfortable. Took some gopro footage of the first and last part of the session. Lots of nice jibes and decent speed. Heli tacks were pretty reliable except when I had the camera running. Here's the footage...

My first day of 2014 on the Skate 108 from Canadian Guy on Vimeo.

I had some fun doing upwind 360s in one of the lulls. That North Duke 6.2 is a very nice sail!

My gps trail of the upwind 360 circles is interesting - they just look like little spikes

A war canoe marked "Milan Venice 2013" went by - something I haven't seen before. (I've seen a bear swimming up here once years ago - that was pretty cool.) Here's an image of that canoe - luckily they were heading east so the NW wind I was enjoying was a tailwind for them...

An older photo of the war canoe that I windsurfed past

After 2 hours the weather started clearing and after a few more jibes right by the old coal docks I was ‎done. I need more days on my smaller gear for sure.

You can still see the old Key Harbour coal dock crib from the satellite image.

9 point oh

My 9.0 has been getting a lot of use. With just 11-16 knots of wind, it was the right call today. Not quite the same top speed as the 7.0 on my Ray 122, but still a good 2 hour session.  46 km total and showing increasing top speeds as I keep getting more comfortable on the board. I even almost planed through a jibe, something I find hard to do with a 9.0. I do also continue to find it hard to get upwind though - it was actually easier on my old Techno 148.

Any tips for sailing upwind with a 9.0 on a slalom board?

Here's a photo of the launch vehicle.

My mother's classic cedar strip boat was my launch vehicle today.

 And my GPS track. 48 km/h top speed = 26 knots in 16 knots of wind.

Some increasing speeds as my day progressed