First downwind foil 360!

Wow, I didn’t expect the session today - certainly not that it would be this awesome! The wind was predicted to be NW until noon, so I headed out and put on my 2nd warmest wetsuit, the 5/4 with thin booties and thick gloves.

The temperature was a lot colder, but there were sunny breaks. Once I was out past the windline I had two wobbly runs. I had to fall in twice till I got over the fear of falling in - and then suddenly my foiling improved. So much so that I then wingfoiled for over 35 minutes without touching down!

GPS trail in the NW wind - with the odd NNW gust!

35 minutes without touching down!

I headed upwind and had some great rides in the remaining rollers from yesterday’s SW wind. I wound up falling in the messy waves out in the opening to Georgian Bay and sent a SPOT message. I figured getting used to riding and falling and getting going in swells will be good practice for being in the big waves down in Collingwood later in the month? There was one long lull and I thought things were over. But it picked up again and I played around near the Launch Pad point. 

Downwind 360s

I tried a DOWNwind 360 for the first time and almost made it. My second try was surprising, I stayed on the foil all the way around. It was only later that I realized it was different from my session where I linked 5 UPwind 360s. So it is a completely new trick for me. Sadly I couldn’t see the 360 on the Launch Pad cam - but got two other videos.

Long video with two jibes

Short video of me pumping back in on my last run

Wind was good for most of the 90 minutes!

Warm inside after my session

Tempest weather stats

12c water is still double digits!

Walking back from the point

Beautiful day!

Overall 23.7 km in 90 minutes. A nice warm shower in the Launch Pad and then off for more shed building. Didn’t even bug me that the wind turned W and jumped to 25 knots as a thermal kicked in for an hour later in the afternoon!

On the foil 6x - 2+ jibes

After 10 days away, we arrived to a very wet Key River with some of the biggest waterfalls I’ve ever seen flowing down both shores in several spots. And then some wind gusts…

I got out to the Launch Pad but it wasn’t really blowing. I puttered a bit and then topped up the 7m Slick and went out on the Sky 125 with 2000cm foil.

It was 6-9 knots and I managed to get going twice - pumping on my non dominant goofy side seems to work better. Just as I was giving up the wind picked up and I got several runs and even a few foil jibes. I eventually floated downwind sitting on my board. The sun came out for a moment just after my session.

Post session selfie

Spectacular sky

Cam caught me cleaning up the dock

Session GPS track

My 6 foil runs with 2 jibes

I was warm in my 4/3 wetsuit in the 13c air and 13c water. Likely the warmest day I’ll see for the rest of the year - which is now only 9 days till we close up.

Happy that the Launch Pad Cam caught a good jibe video!

Scene from the video above

Excited that someone is already bidding on my Launch Pad auction item benefitting the Georgian Bay Land Trust…

Foils have progressed!

It has been a while since I used my 4 year old Slingshot 76cm foil. It was always ok under the BIC Techno 148 but I don’t think I’ve tried it under the Fanatic Stingray 140.

The wind was from the north - not much in the Launch Pad wind shadow but I could see that it would be 20 knots+ in the channel out past Germain Island.

I took the 5.2 Idol and headed out in the 8c air and 12c water in my 4/3 wetsuit and thick booties and gloves. I knew I’d be comfortable even if I fell in a lot.

Tacking upwind into the north wind!

Lots of little runs - 14 knot top speed

Pre session photo caught on the webcam

Comparison of the Fanatic 2000 foil on the left - 82 cm mast
Slingshot 76 on the right - 90 cm mast!

Weather station details

I slogged out and then got up on the foil and started working my way upwind. This old foil takes a lot of power to get up and then stay up. Very little glide at all.

All 3 “I’m ok” SPOT messages to my wife went through. I was tacking a lot and got up to Cary and Liz’s and then started my way back downwind. I thought somehow that this smaller foil would be faster than my Slingshot 99 or Fanatic 2000cm foil. Nope, same 12-15 knot top speed. It was however still really hard to jibe.

Turns out I only fell in once - during a jibe. I didn’t overfoil at all which pleasantly surprised me. Maybe it was the lack of footstraps that made the board seem hard to control? But when I think about how easy to use the Starboard Fly 75 board and foil were to use at the AWSI event in the Gorge, maybe we’ve just seen a ton of progress in the last 4 years.

12 km in an hour. Nice to be out if just for a short while. And then shed building time for the rest of the day as the sun started coming out more. Guessing 3 more sessions this season?

Shed building time…

Thanksgiving foil -11th straight day on the water!

A quick fun Thanksgiving session. And my 11th day in a row of being on the water.

That water was now 14° - down from 21° 6 days ago and the 5° wind was gusting 5-15 knots from the WNW. The 4/3 wetsuit was dry and thus more comfy than trying the 5/4mil suit. I did go for my thicker gloves and booties though.

I got out of the launchpad and topped up the 5m Duotone Slick. I slogged out and then managed to get going in a gust. I foiled through several lulls until the lulls were outnumbering the gusts. After 4.5km I decided to call an end to a great stretch of sessions. Also, the wind was dropping and so I had to walk back on a part of the island I rarely walk on. It was actually nice carrying my gear back past Jen’s gardens.

The nice warm shower at the island always reminds me of the great feeling I used to have at Solosports in Baja enjoying getting warm again after a good session in the cold wind.

I finally got the Pinsacole Tempest weather station going thus the screenshot!

Back to the family to enjoy some Thanksgiving leftovers before the kids all headed home. Water temperatures in the river were down to 9° in the shallow areas where all the cold rainwater was collecting.

I’m hoping for a few more sessions in the 2nd half of October - but it is starting to be time to think about packing away gear for the winter!

PS - My daughter sent me a link showing that my blog is the 8th best windsurfing blog in the world! Wow…

Windsurfing on the coldest day this fall

After loading and unloading firewood in the rain in the afternoon, we had a few minutes to head out to the island. The temperature had dropped so quickly there was a foggy mist rising/blowing above the water and the occasional flurry.

Geoffrey and couple of friends came out with me to the island in the very strong NW wind. They settled into the Launch Pad as we turned on every heater. I put on my 5/4 which is my second warmest wetsuit. I added the 3mil booties 1.5mil gloves and neoprene Santa hat. I walked out to the point with the Skate 108. I felt like it wasn’t quite as windy as it seemed earlier so the 5.6 Idol sail was the right call.

Ready to head out in the 4c wind!

The backup team

Coldest day this year!

Heading out to the point

With that wind direction, they could see me out the window while watching “The Thing” on the old TV. I went out in the 4c air and now just 14c water. Got several runs back-and-forth feeling pretty comfortable despite the gusting winds. 

Some nice runs on the Skate 108

Two good fast reaches toward the end of the session

Walking back from the point - satisfied 

After 11km it was time to head back to the cottage for a big Thanksgiving feast. Just as we were serving, the power went out for and extra special, extra cosy, extraordinary family time Thanksgiving. One for the memories for sure.

Colder now & wingfoil duck jibes!

Well, there was a change in the weather! It went from sunny and 18 to rainy and 13° overnight. The northwest wind was gusty and tempting. So late in the day I got out for a quick session. (I was busy building stairs for the boat for my in-laws in the morning.) 

I was on the 5m Duotone Slick and my 125l Fanatic Sky foilboard. I got going in both directions and had lots of jibes. I finally started working on duck jibes again. They are actually easier especially with that 5 metre wing. I did one foiling tack and that was pretty much it for tricks. My hands were definitely feeling the cold rain and when they went into the warm water, and there was that mild tingling.

Lots of time on the foil
And loving the duck jibes!

I wouldn’t have been having as much fun on the windsurfer as the wind was super gusty - at least on the foil you can pump through some lulls. There was a long slog back upwind in the wind shadow - that would have been easier on a windfoil board. Then a nice warm shower before heading back for some pheasant tourtiere with some of the family who are arriving for Thanksgiving. 

Some interesting weather circulating earlier in the day.

66.7km epic wingfoil and windsurf combo session!

Wow, after Wednesday’s epic session around that island, I didn’t think Georgian Bay was going to have much more excitement to offer me as this season closes out. But the SW wind came up as predicted and so I headed out on my 4m Duotone Unit wing and got going immediately. I had fun playing in the flatter water near the harbour doing my FIRST EVER multiple foiling upwind 360s.

Then I headed up to Wedge Island to play in the surf. WOW - I thought the waves were going to be small but they’d already started building and I was able to ride down wind flagging the wing.

Webcam selfie!

Windiest spot in Ontario!

Awesome wave rides in the NW corner

Upwind foiling 360s!

Nice long time up on the foil
The dark part at the 1/4 time mark were the upwind foiling 360s

I stayed up on the foil for around 45 minutes. All without a harness. After getting a bit more adventurous on the waves, I fell in on my 2nd downwinder. I struggled a bit in the waves to actually get going again. When I did get up, I sailed cautiously back towards the harbor.

I played a bit more in the flat water, in and out of the islands carving some pretty nice jibes. After an hour I was getting a bit cold, not from the 21° water and 18° wind but from the windchill as it became over 20 knots.

Then it was time to try Windsurfing. I selected the 5.2 Idol sail on the Skate 108. Out at the point it seemed windier than 5.6 and not enough for my 4.8. I was glad to have purchased that 5.2 Idol for Jen. I started out and was perfectly powered although I felt definitely rusty getting out on a shortboard Windsurfer for the first time in a month and really only my fifth short board session of the year. 

I made my way up wind much slower than on the foil board but eventually I was getting nice long runs with the occasional jibe. Most jibes were non-planing, and my tacks were labored. At the end of my first hour though, I was having so much fun short boarding again feeling the speed and ease of being in a harness, perfectly powered two fingers on the boom - legs straight, absorbing the bumps. And the speed!

No sharp upwind angles, but still got to play in the waves
with some downwind parts to the NW.

Good top speeds, but very few fast jibes

I wound up being on the windsurfer twice as long!

Windsurfer skeg bite - not a wingfoil bite

Crazy warm water for October 6th

The air was pretty warm too!

I tried around 6 vulcans. My two downwind 360s felt nice but I fell on one of them.

Somehow the short windsurfing board is more comfortable for long long runs. It is nice not worrying about over or under foiling and being catapulted onto the wing. The contrast is in my jibes, where I’m a bit frustrated that after 30 years of Windsurfing jibes are inconsistent. After just three years of wind foiling I’m much better at jibing the foilboard. I’m gonna start a comparison chart of Windsurfing versus foiling sometime. But bottom line I wound up having a much longer session on the short windsurfing board in the perfect southwest winds. 

Nice to be able to alternate between wingfoiling and windsurfing! I didn’t quite get my 100km day this year, but 2/3 of that goal is still an achievement!

Staying up on the foil!

Wow this foiling thing is amazing. I think today is the first time I’ve taken off from the dock on the 125l Fanatic Sky foilboard, slogged and tacked upwind, sat on a boat, then foiled up and downwind for an hour without a touchdown, then back to the dock - all without falling in. My jibes were dialed. And even got all of my half dozen foiling tacks! Wind was SSW and nice and warm and I was on the 7m Duotone Slick wing.

Launching from the boat didn’t work!

The only issue with the session was that I didn’t turn on my GPS till over 1/2 way through the session. GPS trail starts at 4:31, but I started earlier!

The wind was extremely warm for Oct 5th - I was just in a shorty and was comfy. Of course it helped that I didn’t fall in. It was overcast and lightly raining most of the time.

Pumping with the 7m is hard…

I welcome any advice!

Jen and Liz were on their way back and stopped to say hi.

Slogging out to the boat

I did get going and was caught on the island cam

As I was working my way upwind I was thinking about the GPS trail and that I would send it to Scott and OJ whose island just sold. I guess not having the GPS on was a sign that maybe I shouldn’t remind them of their old place. I will miss being able to stop in there and say hi to them.

My session - half drawn by hand, half by GPS

Staying up on the foil through dozens of gibes
and half a dozen tacks

All of this was after teaching movie star Liz her first on water windsurf lesson. Another great day on the bay.