Forest fire - sad but great use of a windsurfing mast

After my 6 great windsurfing days in a row, I was looking forward to the rest of July. Sadly those plans have been dramatically changed by Parry Sound Fire #33 which has impacted many more important things than my windsurfing.

I published a post on Facebook about the amazing job the Fire Rangers are doing in our area. They used my old windsurfing mast to mount their sprinkler. And they safely stowed my Canadian flag.

The forest rangers used my windsurfing mast to mount the
sprinkler that protected our cottage from the fire

Waterbomber over our cottage July 21st - it worked - safe as of July 30th

Great source of information about the status of the fire is on our association facebook page.

The waterbombers are now using the very spot that I normally windsurf to fill their amazing planes.

Waterbombers filling up (July 29th)

Big Waterbomber about to fill up! (July 29th)

I really look forward to reporting on my next session up there but suspect the exclusion order will apply for a few weeks.

TWC Kona race makes it 6 straight days!

On Wednesday after work I went to the Toronto Windsurfing Club for their weekly race. As usual, I was late and so slow in the fleet that I only did 3 of the 4 races in the very light winds. But I really enjoyed the burger and the camaraderie after the race.

What was neat was that it resulted in my 6th straight day of windsurfing. I can't recall ever having such a straight set of days in Ontario. (I did once windsurf 29 of 31 days in the Gorge one summer!).

Here's the link to the Toronto Windsurfing Club.

The Toronto Windsufing Club for Wednesday night races

Gusty Northwest wind foil

Winds from the north are usually gusty and this was no exception. 5-15 knots. So I took the 5.4 Duke and headed out. I got one small run and then decided to have Jen go for a sail on the new Viper with the 5.4.

She had a few nice reaches back and forth enjoying the soft deck of the big 190 litre board.

After that I got a few runs on the foil with the 5.4. Here is the chart. Not much more to report.

The ride home

On the foil a few times

Late day foil

I managed to get out for a 6pm foil session after the potential for thunderstorms passed. I didn't really expect to get going, but pumped onto a plane once. I was on the 6.2 Duke and hoping that the wind would build so I could use a smaller board but it didn't.

Then, just as I was about to head in, the wind switched a bit more to south and built for 10 minutes. I got in two nice runs.

A few good moments on the foil- one 800m run!

Better than nothing and my wife and I did get to see the sun as the clouds completely cleared. I hope to install a weather station soon so I can have a more accurate wind record. There is no way it was 29km/h winds as shown in the weather report in the chart above, nor was the temperature 27.2c.

More beginner lessons! First father son combo!

I taught two more beginners! William is 10 years old and was a natural. He spent a lot of time on the simulator after my dry land lesson and could control the sail and board to keep it oriented across the wind. So it was easy to send him out on the new Fanatic Viper 80 and a small 3m flat sail. He did very well and after being towed upwind twice by the Seadoo he had the sport nailed. He even did a jibe without being taught how. His smile and joy at being in control of his destiny was very rewarding to me.

Father son windsurfing lesson success!

His father Andrew is 41 and was almost too good; he would hold the sail perfectly but wound up going sideways on the Viper 80. He was a bit too quick putting both hands on the boom which resulted in him stalling going upwind. So I set him out on the old YPSI Wayler longboard and made him promise not to take his front hand off the mast. Voila, he also got the sport figured out.

Andrew giving me a high five!

I did try going out on my foil for a bit. There wasn't much wind and I only planed up onto the foil for a few seconds. But teaching the beginners was more fun anyway and the whole family seemed to have fun in the sun!

Post session family drone shot!

Our local mascot

Little brother having fun on the simulator

My wife on the ride home

It was a great low wind bay day.

Father and son got in a second session the next day and were both way upwind chasing each other. So fun to teach a father son combo. Apparently the potential kite purchase may now be changing to a windsurfer for the whole family. Maybe I'll recommend a Viper 80.

The old YPSI goes upwind in light wind way better than the Techno,
3 tacks instead of 5. (July 14th)

Post script: it is amazing to think that the spot the beginners were windsurfing was once a busy coal harbour:

Andrew was windsurfing right where that big freighter is.

Key Harbour ca. 1916 - from www.ghosttownpix.com

Another shortboard day!

To have wind both Saturday and Sunday is very rare.

I scored a second shortboard session of the weekend and just my 3rd of the year. The wind was 15-20 knots and I hoped I could get the new 5.6 and the Skate 108 going. After a quick upwind slog I pumped onto a plane and had almost an hour of perfect wind.

A great hour long shortboarding session

My speeds over the 23 kilometres I covered. Max 41.4 km/h

The 5.6 Idol is super light, and very well balanced. I'm surprised how well it pulls considering how little shape there is to the sail, even under power.

The wind was perfect and I headed out to play where the waves come in from the Bay. I had fun weaving through the islands. But my jibing and trick skills were sorely lacking. Oh well, I'm hoping for a lot more days like this very sunny Sunday!

The weather was even nice enough for my wife to head out later in the day. The wind had died down by then but she also liked the light feel of the Idol. Next time!

Here's some end of day drone footage while I did some light wind sailing.

Video of the light wind at the end of the day

Saturday bay day - Drone video of my son

A classic Georgian bay day has perfectly clear skies and a southwest wind that bends the pine trees sideways. While iconic, they don't happen quite as often as I'd like. This was just my second day of short boarding this year!

Enjoying the wind all day long - photo from my 2nd session!

The wind was SW as predicted and began to build at noon. By 1 pm it seemed pretty good and I tried going on the Skate and the new 5.6 Idol but it wasn’t quite enough. I just sailed the gear upwind and left it at the point.

The wind was fine for foiling at around 12-15 knots and so I went out for a half hour on the 6.5 and Techno. I tried heading downwind and even tried a gybe but I think it will take quite some time before I can ever complete one.

By then it was sometimes over 15 knots and so I figured I’d try another board/sail combo. Out with the 6.2 and Freewave 116. I got going on that but it didn't quite feel right. The sail was sluggish and I could only get going in one direction. I stopped to adjust the boom and realized one side hadn't been clipped in - so it was travelling and distorting its shape. Then things got better but I'll admit to not really being able to get upwind in marginal planing conditions on the wave board and fin.

First session chart

First session speeds - max 36.1 km/h

In my second session now having everything at the point I could try some back to back gear comparisons. First 20 minutes were on the 6.2 and Freewave. Then 20 minutes on the 6.2 and Skate. Then 5.6 and Skate 108. I only got the 5.6 going once as the wind was dropping but that will definitely be my favourite combo when things get to 20 knots. Top speed 40 km/h.

Second session with more jibes and a nice run back to the harbour

Second session speeds - max 40.8 km/h

My wife and friend Geoff got some photos of my 2nd session...

Jumping on the Freewave and 6.2

Jibing

Even more fun blasting on the Skate 108

Planing upwind toward the end of my sessions

It was still gusting to 15 knots though, and my son had headed out on the Techno with a normal fin and the 6.5. He was having a blast getting in the straps in both directions.

Phillip enjoying the Techno and 6.5 with a 38cm fin

I got the drone out and did my first windy drone flying capturing parts of Phillip's session. I particularly like how he pumps the sail at 20 seconds into the video. The DJI editor did a nice quick edit that worked out well!

Click to see drone footage - and Phillip pumping nicely to get on a plane at 0:20

Friday Night Foiling Zen

Traffic wasn’t too bad and I even managed to see an important client on the drive up to the cottage!

Normally I would not have even bothered going out to sail at the end of the day in a 1-12 knot variable north wind.

But with my old 6.5 sail and floaty foil board all rigged and ready to go, I headed out for a 6pm sail.

It was heavenly. When the wind was light I could listen to the sounds of the water, trees and creatures around me. And I did get up on the foil in each of the two last gusts that blew through.

Then I sailed back exploring a bit in the lightest wind possible. My speed was just 1 km/h in some parts.

The water was warm and I got back in time for a nice dinner. Later we went and visited the neighbours and chatted a bit about windsurfing. Here is a shot of the sunset from their place.

A great sunset from our neighbour's front deck

Light wind sailing and visiting friendly neigbours is a great way to end a short work week.

Friday night foil. 28 km/h top speed!
Looks like I actually got up 3 times, I could only remember 2
when I wrote the blog post

Friendly folks at Toronto Windsurfing Club

Wednesday night racing at the Toronto Windsurfing Club is usually pretty friendly. The regulars really welcome the not so regular participants like me.

This past Wednesday was just my second time out this year (the first time there was no wind). And this time I arrived late. Luckily my niece Vanessa had driven my Kona gear down and even got it off the car and rigged it up with some help from the regulars even before I arrived.

And then I was still stressed from work so I urged Vanessa to go out and try one or two races.

Vanessa (who once worked at Jibe City Bonaire)
heading out for her first ever Kona race

She did race and was quite good, especially with the tips that the other windsurfers were giving her. She certainly helped my rankings by posting the first results for sail 2663 this year: a 3rd, 5th and 3rd! Way to go Vanessa! (Will we have to disclose that to the Kona world governing council?) I guess those 5 years in Bonaire paid off.

We then enjoyed some tasty burgers and conversations at the clubhouse while slowly derigging.

The Toronto Windsurfing Club is definitely a gem in the city and I hope to be there for more races and camaraderie soon.

Here's a view of Cherry Beach from the skyscrapers in downtown Toronto!

Looking out at the Toronto Windsurfing Club from downtown

Holiday Monday foiling

I had fun getting my daughter and her boyfriend out during the nice SW wind that greeted us in the morning on the Canada Day holiday Monday. She was on the 3.5 Chinook sail and her JP young gun. He was on the YPSI with the 3.0m cloth sail from the old windglider. Both did very well in the challenging wind swells and each appreciated a quick mid session tow upwind on the jetski. Sadly Vanessa didn't quite have enough wind to get planing but still enjoyed the new 5.6m Idol.

Some of the windsurfers and gear!

With the heat warnings for Ontario, Katie didn't even need a wetsuit!

Katie with awesome posture on the young gun

Making good use of the jetski

The early afternoon was busy loading a barge with junk from the sheds on the island. Luckily we had the help of all the grateful young men I taught to windsurf the day before. After that I had a mid afternoon session foiling. That is officially now my 20th foiling session and I managed to get one run that was over 2km long. I can't say it is relaxing yet sailing on the foil, but it sure is smooth and a good core workout.

Max speed was 32 km/h but that top speed along with two others in the speed chart ended with very abrupt speed drops as I did have three medium sized catapults, all on starboard tack (which is my goofy side). I also tried one gybe but it ended with a dunk in the water - and I wasn't wearing a wetsuit. Wind was around 13 knots even though the chart says 13 km/h.

Three catapults right after getting over 30 km/h on the foil

I'm thinking a small sail / board storage spot on the end of the island might be nice...

Sharing a Canada day / night session

What a way to celebrate Canada day!

First, I started by teaching 4 beginners to windsurf. The  were all guests of my sons and were enjoying staying in the island. I gave the standard introductory lesson on the simulator that I built last year.

The first two students were naturals and easily stayed upwind and stayed fairly dry on their tacks. The other two did very well once they got going in each direction on my 37 year old YPSI Wayler and 25 year old BIC Veloce boards with 3.5 and 4.2m sails. I really should get a better board for the beginners to learn to tack on.

Then after a big steak BBQ dinner we joined our local association’s annual boat parade. After all 17 red and white festooned boats headed out to the bay, Vanessa, Phillip and I went to the island to get on our windsurfers.

Canada Day boat parade. A 460cm mast makes a good flagpole!

Three windsurfers after the sun set.

I was on the Techno and the foil and got it going a few times though the flotilla of Canada day boats. It was already 9pm.

Foiling through the boat parade!

We sailed back and forth a bit and then sat on our boards watching the fireworks! Vanessa said the vibe was just like Bonaire, just the water was colder! I couldn't believe how wonderful it was to be out sailing with my son and niece, and having friends and family all out in the bay too.

Then the wind kept building to 15+ knots and Phillip asked to use the Techno with a normal fin and my 6.5. Sure enough he got it planing in the near dark. I couldn't help but smile from ear to ear as he got his front foot in the strap pumped a bit and started planing and pinching upwind steadily. He did a few full planing runs in each direction with both feet in the footstraps. No photos but that image will be burned into my mind for years to come. It was 9:45 as we headed back to store the gear for the evening. Likely my latest evening windsurfing session ever at the cottage!