First time foiling in the harbour

Arriving at the cottage to a smoky north wind, I decided to try foiling in “Cleveland Bay” of Key Harbour. Normally I head out to the Bay for more consistent wind at the Launch Pad, but I wanted to see how it might work in front of the cottage before the weeds get too dense.

Post session smile!

I pumped up the 5.0 Duotone Slick with my new long Duotone pump. Wow, what a difference the long shaft pump makes, for a guy with a bad back! Thanks for the suggestion Steve @Boardsports.

The long shaft pump is awesome!

I put the newish foil on the Fanatic Sky 125l board and put on my 2 mil long leg wetsuit. The water was 24c, the air 16c (not 12.8c like it says on the GPS trail).

GPS trail in Cleveland Bay, Key Harbour
I think there are 2 or 3 foiling jibes in there?

I did get on the foil several times - lots of slogging too

Bill and Chris were out on their dock on the north shore and the lulls in the wind meant we could actually communicate with each other a bit. 

The wind was up and down while I was out…

Overall 4.5 km in 47 minutes. I didn’t fall in for the first 30 mins, so I’m definitely getting used to the 125l board - and the float provided by the Slick 5.0’s centre strut sure helps for balancing too. 

Well worth heading out, and nice to have the sauna on when I got back! I’ll try it again next spring when there are even fewer weeds. Might be a good idea for me to mark the two shoals that could be in play too especially if the water level gets lower.