Everybody’s gone surfing - in Collingwood

In Collingwood this morning it was busy for the surfers. We drove by at noon to see Len finishing the session he had also shared with Vanessa in the morning. So cool to have so many watersports fans nearby.

Vanessa after her morning surf

Len enjoying a morning surf

At Northwinds in the morning with our visitors

I was free at 4pm and was excited to see that the NNW wind was still strong at Northwinds Beach. I was the sole windsports participant there! I’ve been reading posts about wingfoiling accidents in Maui and the Gorge. Places so crowded that when one winger goes to tack and another jibes, they run into each other because you can’t see as well as on a windsurfer or kite board. No kiters, windsurfers or foilers to watch out for here though.

I only had the 140 Fanatic Stingray with the 99cm Slingshot foil which I’d used to teach the week before. The wind was 18 knots so I pumped up the Duotone Unit 4m wing. That was definitely the right wing! I headed out and easily got going. Getting the hang of jibing that big board and foil with that tiny wing took a while. Some guys were out swimming and urged me to jump it. Nope, just keeping myself from overfoiling in the big swells was enough.

Using my handheld iWindmeter

Eventually I got the rhythm of that board and foil again and was making my jibes and enjoying some longer rides on the swells. At 16c in just a 2mil short sleeved wetsuit I was getting cold though. After 45 minutes I called it a session.

My GPS trail - a few nice jibes in there!

Getting back to the car

That’s swell!

It is really nice to be able to put the board in the car, deflate the wing in seconds and hop onto my neoprene seat cover in my wet wetsuit and be home from the beach in 9 minutes. Next time I will bring a warmer wetsuit and also my wave windsurfing gear. Windsurfing Northwinds Beach on a future NW wind is going to be a blast.

A little Sunset Point 9.0 windfoil

I wasn’t expecting that I’d have a session myself during this time in Collingwood, My two lessons last week were the only ones I’d packed gear for.

But with a free late afternoon and a NW wind showing at Sunset Beach, I took the Fanatic Stingray 140 and the 99 stingray. I also took the 6m Echo wing, but decided to rig the 9m Kona sail that I’m trying to sell - might be the last time I use it? The wind was showing 9 knots on my handheld wind meter and 11 knots on iWindsurf.com.

Beautiful Sunset Point

Good looking wind report…

My windmeter wasn’t quite right on the direction and temperature 

I headed out the same place I launched for wingfoiling a few months ago. The waves were small so it was easy to walk out to the deeper water, even with that huge 9m rig. I got going easily and headed out and back several times. I thought I’d made some upwind ground but realized that since I didn’t have sunglasses on, sailing instead with my eyes downwind I was right where I started.

GPS windfoiling trail

Foiling most of the time…

BBQs going when I got back

I sailed from 4:30 to 5:30
Could have stayed out longer…

Then I headed upwind and explored some of the shelves where the water gets shallow. Since I was thirsty, I enjoyed some nice Georgian Bay water at my first stop. I hung out on one and sent a SPOT message at the second. I’m glad I got to see the bottom so next time I’m going out on an overcast stormy day, I have a better idea of what’s there and what to avoid. 

As I was carrying my gear out of the water a young family was walking by and the dad said “hey that looked cool”. All I thought to say was “Thanks”. There were a ton of families enjoying BBQing in the park. So I picked up some BBQ for dinner!

Working on tricks?

The wind had been building steadily all morning during the fun windsurf lesson I was giving to Laura and Alex. After a quick lunch wrap I was raring to get on the foil. I chose the 7m Duotone Slick wing even though I’m guessing I could have gotten going with the 5m. Our guests watched me take off from the dock and get up on the foil shortly after reaching the wind line. 

From there I did one pivot jibe and then I was on the foil steadily getting upwind. I dropped by Diamond Key and arranged our later Happy Hour meeting.

My GPS trail - going around the shoals!

On the foil most of the time!

Decent late afternoon wind!

I was feeling good and started working on foiling tacks. A few where I fell off the foil and then I got a few staying on the foil. Then some duck jibes and even a jump - my first this year! I worked on the “race jibe” I’ve watched on Wing Academy. So that was the most tricks I’ve tried in a session. Definitely need to take advantage of the warm weather! I am pretty happy with how my foiling in the narrow channel has developed since April 2021 when I had my first wing foil session.

Key harbour was again the windiest I saw on www.iWindsurf.com - although I saw that others were scoring sessions in spots like Sandbanks. Looks like more lessons and wind for tomorrow!

20/20/20c Session

Outdoor temperature 20c. Water temperature 20c. Indoor temperature 20c. We got to the cottage at 6pm and I zoomed out to the Launch Pad at 6:45 to see if I could get a few runs in the dying NW wind.

I topped the 7m Duotone Slick to 6psi and hopped on the Fanatic Sky 125l foilboard. I slogged downwind and then out to the Bay to find the wind. I pumped onto the foil and got a 1km run out toward Mann Island.

Got some runs!

2.5km on the foil, then a long slog back.

I didn’t get my feet switched before my jibe and fell in. Oh well, perfect weather to have a few falls. I got two more runs and then slogged back to the point.

Happy to get a session in and definitely good to work on my wing handling skills. Baja fog when I got back to the cottage.

There was some wind way out to the west…
but very still near shore

20 minutes of foil heaven

After Jen got back to the dock from her 2nd wingfoil lesson, I went out for a quick foil in the 11 knot south wind. Amazing to think it was just 2 months ago that I was struggling to get upwind in the narrow channel on a south wind day.

Jen and I after her session!

I did two pivot jibes and a non foiling tack and then I was up on the foil. Upwind with 20 jibes, then back downwind practising faster jibes and my toeside tacks. 

Lots of smooth jibes and some toeside tacks!

Top speeds are just before turning upwind for my toeside tacks!

I did fall in once in the 22c water, with just wetsuit shorts on I was revelling in the great weather. I got back to the dock and we started packing for our coming weekend in Collingwood.

Little foil after the windsurfing lessons

After giving my morning windsurf lesson (blog post on the Launch Pad website), I stayed at the Launch Pad for a 2pm charity conference call. The wind was supposed to shift from NNW to SW at 4pm. I had almost given up but at 4:30 it did switch, just like iWindsurf.com and Windy.com predicted. I headed out at 4:54 and the wind was 12 knots. The water was super clear after the strong north wind lowered water levels yesterday and water from out in the Bay returned. The water temperature also dropped from 23c two days ago to 20c.

I was using my 7m Slick wing with the 125l Fanatic Sky foilboard. I hopped off the dock onto the board and slogged out to the wind line. A few pumps and I was off. A pivot jibe and then into the straps and 8 smooth jibes to get upwind a bit. I could feel the wind was getting lighter and each jibe needed more pumping to stay up on the foil. Eventually the wind was down to 7-8 knots and I couldn’t stay up on the foil.

My GPS foil track upwind until the wind was gone

I got a good first part of my session!

Yeah, the wind kind of died on me!

I slogged back downwind thinking I’ve never seen the afternoon wind come up so late and so short. I went into the channel between the islands and finally fell in and walked back. I was still quite warm in a shorty wetsuit. The wind did come back up around 6pm but I was showering and tidying up gear by then. Grateful to have gotten out though!

Foiling with Phillip!

My son Phillip tried wingfoiling for the the first time today. More details about that at my Launch Pad Windsurf Academy blog. Winds were WSW at  12-14 knots.

Wing Foiling with Phillip!

He was coming in just as I was heading out. I foiled back and forth past the Dutch visitors hanging out at the Launch Pad picnic table for a while and Sam took some nice photos.

A super lovely day. So warm I was just in shorts and a lycra. I normally can't windsurf through the windshadow east of the island. But with the wingfoil, I could pump through the lulls.

After going back and forth several times I started heading upwind. I caught my wingtip on the 7m once and went down. For the last 15 minutes I had a great zen session foiling up through the shoals and then back down pumping right to the dock. Sweet day. How much summer is left?

Windiest spot on the Great Lakes (again)

Wow, another day where Key Harbour is perfect for foiling. I had 5 very different sessions over 3 hours.

The wind was 10 knots when I got to the Launch Pad, the windiest spot on iWindsurf. But I was pretty sore and tired after yesterday’s epic wing foiling session around Bigsby island.

Launch Pad looking good again!

#1 So I started on the Techno 148 with the Slingshot 76 foil underneath. The largest windsurf sail I’ve got rigged is my Duke 6.2, so that is what I took. It was a lot of work pumping onto the foil the 4 times I got going. I was heading in just as Jen came out and took a video…

#2 Next, I topped up the 5m Duotone Slick wing and headed out with the Fanatic Stingray 140. There wasn’t enough wind for that. I was so warm in my wetsuit I switched down to shorts and a Lycra.

Didn’t really get foiling on this setup, but nice to be out…

#3 So I topped up the 7m Duotone Slick and went out on the Fanatic Sky 125l. That worked great. The wind was now up to 13 knots and I was flying. Some foiling tacks, lots of smooth jibes and feeling very much in control.

Got the 7m going!

Great riding with several foiling tacks in there

#4 Back onto the 5m Duotone Slick wing and the Fanatic Stingray 140. This time I was getting going and was able to make it upwind so Jen could give it a try. She came out on the Seadoo and we traded. More details about her session on the Launch Pad Windsurf Academy blog.

Jen trying out foiling!

Upwind on the foil, then following Jen with the Seadoo

#5 With the wind still building, now to 16 knots, I took the 5m Slick wing from Jen, and headed out on the Sky 125l. What a light and easy combo. Compared with windfoiling at the beginning of the day, this is so easy. Another foiling tack, and then I tried a foiling 360. Oops, need to watch some Foil Academy videos and try that again soon.

Heading out for my last session

My last session, sweet cruising and a 360 attempt

Overall 5 different sessions and feeling very lucky to have wind and great equipment to enjoy a nice bay day. 

Gear and wind during each session

Late afternoon. Windiest spot on the Great Lakes. Again.