Windsurfing at an all inclusive: Jamaica!

Most all inclusive resorts in the Caribbean are on the leeward side of the island. And usually they have a 15 year old windsurfing board and poorly rigged ripped sail with a much to stiff mast. No wonder so many people say "I tried windsurfing once at a resort - it was too hard".

So I was surprised that the Zilara resort in Jamaica had a new looking Chinook 5.5m sail and a BIC Techno 293. There were actually harness lines on the boom even if they didn't have a harness available!

One sail and 3 windsurf boards available at the all inclusive resort!

On 2 of the 3 days I was there to speak at a work conference, the beach was closed due to lack of wind and slightly rough seas. But on one afternoon the Hobie cats were available to go out on - only with an instructor!

The Hobie cats were available - only with an instructor

But they let me take out the windsurfer by myself. (My wife may have mentioned my 5th out of 31 ranking in the IWT masters!) I took the board out for a very quick sail in the northeasterly trade winds. The wind was around 10 knots and the swells were nicely sized. Here's the GPS trail from half the session.

A little bit of my session

I got one nice run down a wave and was almost planing. But it turned out the deck on the Techno was completely smooth and covered in suntan lotion. I figured I'd wind up hurting myself if I sailed for more than a few minutes. And it definitely would not be a good spot for beginners. It was nice and warm though!

Always good to get a few minutes windsurfing - this was my first time doing it Jamaica.

Hatteras wrap up: Great windsurfing & surprise kite session

Sunday Nov 5, 2017
On day two of our Hatteras week we woke up to low wind. So the plan quickly became a surfing session at the Frisco Pier. Brett and I rented some soft top boards and everyone got some surf and SUP sessions. The weather was so warm most of the crew were just in boardshorts.

Frisco pier afternoon surfing - sunny and warm

After the surfing we headed to Pop's restaurant for lunch. Since one of us was fasting, the dinner for two was enough for the other 4, but we added two dozen fresh oysters to top off a delicious meal.

Monday Tuesday
Both days were light wind. I wound up doing office work remotely both days. The kite foil was the only ticket to ride and Steve did it well. Note the lack of wetsuit on Nov 7!

Steve looking comfy kiting  in the warm light winds

After finally finishing my powerpoint for work I did make a nice banana smore dessert that added to the great dinners we were having each night.

Wednesday

This was the start of two very busy days. The wind was blowing already at 8am and I was the first out on the water at 8:06. I had a great 1.5 hour session in the morning. 6.2 Duke and the Skate 108, then I tried the Freewave 116. Both were pretty comfy. Between the 3 rental houses full of kiters and windsurfers there were often 20 people out on the water. My freestyle was a bit off though.

Blasting in on the Freewave 116

A reminder to keep your head up if you want to actually complete a carving 360!

Here's the track from that session, not much freestyle, just blasting.

8:06 am - 1.5 hour session, 36 km, 41 km/h top speed, 23 km/h average speed

The boys had some good kiting - using the kite foil as well.

Steve foiling in the higher winds

Chuck looking good kite foiling for the first time?

Kite Bromance

After that first session, I returned our surf boards to the Ocean Air surf shop. I bumped into Bob Rowland from the 2009 HiHo. We had a nice lunch together at Pangea restaurant and caught up on our windsurfing adventures from the last few years.

HiHo race partners Carl and Bob having a nice lunch in Avon

The waves at the Avon pier were impressive and almost tempted me to head over to the Ocean side for a session. But the shorebreak and rip current made me reconsider.

Nice waves at the Avon Pier

Fishermen

Tempting surf but I didn't dare

Back at the house the team was planning a downwinder. We headed out with a plan for 4 kites and one windsurfer (me) to head downwind to the Canadian hole. Brett wound up taking Chuck's deflated kite off the water at the half way point. After the last 4 super downwind tacks we collected Brett in the van at the Canadian Hole parking lot. The lot was mostly empty but we met a few more windsurfers from Canada there. My new Santa neoprene hat kept me comfy and warm througout the afternoon.

Heading out for a downwinder with my new hat!

Santa surfer!

Wednesday afternoon downwinder

For dinner we headed down past Buxton to the Pamlico Cafe restaurant. It was an outstanding meal and ended with some shared desserts.

After a great group dinner at the Pamlico Cafe!

Thursday

I woke up to news that the crew was doing another downwinder. We launched from Steve's van at the end of a dirt road upwind from the house. I had a fun 1&1/4 session that ended with a few freestyle attempts in front of the house.

Thursday morning downwind session

After a quick hot tub I put on my warmest 4/3 wetsuit and went out on Steve's kite. I had a couple of good runs, mostly staying upwind. The housemates seemed surprised that I can kite a bit, and snapped some nice photos of my first few runs. Thanks guys!

Thanks Steve for the kite refresher course

I'm holding the kite steady....

I'm getting going

And going....

Heading upwind on my first run

I even body dragged successfully upwind to collect the board after an unintentional boost air. But then the wind really died and I couldn't get going back in.

Working on getting back in after a few good kite runs

I finally remembered how to turn the power up on the kit (using the nice twist feature on the North kite bar) and got enough power for a good run back in. But at that point in the wind shadow I couldn't get going at all and started walking back upwind in the chest deep water. Lo and behold kind Steve had sailed my board down and took the kit. I walked the 350m back and hit the hot tub again while watching Steve kite back upwind.

After that the wind kept dying so Brett and I slowly started packing up our gear. We got out on the road as the sun was setting and had a memorable? meal at a roadside Sonic. A quick stay in a Comfort Inn in Washington DC and we caught our early AM flight home. Thankfully our gear will follow us home in the mega party van.

All in all a great week. 3 solid days of sailing plus 1 day of surfing in a 6 day visit to Hatteras. Hope to do it again many times in the coming years.

Safe and (Hatteras) Sound

I rolled into the Hatteras rental house at 1:30pm and was on the water by 1:55. My friends had already arrived in the big van they drove all the way from Toronto with my 3 boards and 6 sails. Thanks eh!

Steve's van - mostly loaded with all my gear

I had a wonderful 1 hour and 40 minute session on the Skate 108 and Duke 6.2. It was nice to be in a new spot and with my regular gear. Technically the site is called the Canadian Hole in Pamlico Sound near Avon NC.

Garmin version of the track - warm with some nice runs!

I got an upwind 360 in the straps, a few downwind 360s and many duck jibes but couldn't get at donkey jibe or Vulcan in the few attempts I tried.

Detailed version of the session - the shallow ends out after 500m

I forgot too many things. My new tricktionary book, sunscreen, hat, glasses etc. I think I only had gear for a post Thankgiving Ontario session. It was 22c and the water was warm too! At least my shorty wetsuit was perfect.

Donkey jibe sequence

Almost made it!

I watched Steve and Chuck ripping up the flat water on their kites while I started making dinner. More guests arrived just as the spaghetti was ready and the good vibe was apparent as everyone got ready to enjoy the week ahead.

Steve and Chuck enjoying kiting as the sun sets in Hatteras

Closing time

Since the wind was supposed to die early in the morning I didn't expect much, maybe a light wind foil session.

But as I headed out it was really whitecapping. So I took the trusty Skate 108 board and my 6.2 Duke sail to see if I would have enough wind. I headed right from the dock and pinched upwind.

My trusty Skate 108

This was indeed the last windsurfing day at the cottage!

I was surprised to be able to pump onto a plane on each run. I tried making the boom 2cm shorter to get more power but that really made the sail feel back hand heavy. After extending the boom back to the normal position it got even windier! I was now fully powered and even planing out of many jibes.

The view of my track looking west

Another hour and a half session - with lots of moves in the steady west wind.

Regarding jibing, I have committed to trying to grab the boom underhand from below like all the books and videos and instructors tell you to. I think it brings the sail forward and into the wind more during the transition which helps. So I'm going keep working on that. My duck jibes are still the best way for me to plane out of a jibe.

A little later I added even more downhaul and extended the boom another 2cm. The sail felt really good. I must have tried a half dozen vulcans. I even got both hands to the other side of the boom on one attempt but didn't complete it.

The sun, wind and waves were perfect. A classic Georgian Bay day, just way warmer than any Thanksgiving I can remember (other than yesterday's 18/17 combo). 16 degree air and 16c water on Thanksgiving! (last year was 12c wind and 14c water, and the year before was 11c wind and 14c water.) Actually, looking back at my blog 3 Thankgivings with sessions in 3 years is pretty good!

30 km covered in and hour and a half. Max speed 45 km/h.

The trailer is loaded now with gear for Hatteras in Nov. But there are a few weekends in October that may still see another session!

Last cottage session for 2017?

Crazy warm for Canadian Thanksgiving. And windy too!

I got out Saturday at noon and carried my favourite windsurfing board, the Skate 108 out to the point. The warm south wind was reading 15-25 knots so rigged up the 5.4 Duke on my new carbon skinny mast. The water was 17, the air 18 and I was wearing a 3/2 wet suit. While it was overcast with a bit of rain now and then, I don't think I've ever seen a Thanksgiving this warm.

I got a few runs but the sail felt heavy. So I stopped and added more downhaul. That made it much more comfortable to sail and then go fast. 47 km/h was my top speed, not bad for a freestyle board. I headed out farther into the bay but then realized I was windsurfing over shallow spots that used to be shoals. Without sun and polarized sunglasses it was hard to see the shallow spots. I got a solid hour of sailing before the wind started dying.

Some great runs on the 5.4 in the early afternoon

You can see the shoals I cruised over on the left (west)

So I parked the gear on the point and headed to the shed and worked on closing down the place and began draining the plumbing. I also started packing up some of the gear I am planning on taking to Hatteras this fall.

The gear sitting on the rocks between sessions

For the 2nd session I tightened the battens which made a big difference. I could now feel the 5.4m North Duke sail become pumpable in the wind. I got 8 good runs with a duck gybe and a few upwind 360s.

My 2nd session, a few runs as the sun was setting

In total 1.5 hours of sailing with a smaller sail than I normally use. The wind should hold overnight but will be dying down in the morning...

Packing up after the last session of the year?

Oh, here is my new favourite wind site. Windy.com

Friday after work foil session

I got my mom up north and my email inbox under control and headed out for an late afternoon foil session. The wind report didn't suggest anything good would come up. The temperature for the first day of fall seeming more like the middle of summer and I wore a shorty I didn't even zip up. I set out on the Techno 148 with the 36 inch slingshot H2 hoverfoil. This was the first time that the 7.0 felt comfortable for foiling.

In fact, I was feeling very comfortable. This was my 15th session foiling. I could pump onto a plane in the 12 knot gusts and keep going in the 8-10 knot wind. The pumping motion that seemed to work best was 1 or 2 slow pumps and then many more frequent (and getting smaller) pumps.

Overall this session was quite different from my first sessions where I needed whitecapping 15 knot gusts to get going. I really only overfoiled once and even then I didn't have any catapults. Top speed was again 30km/h which I've been told from a few sources now is really the top speed for this foil. And that is fast enough for me!

As the session went on, I noticed that I had my legs straight and was standing most of the time. I recalled sessions from 2 months ago where my legs were bent the whole time and I was super tense. I was relaxed enough to spend a few seconds looking down under the board to see the foil slicing through the water. Cool!

I was feeling much more comfortable on the foil, and even tried turning downwind twice to initiate jibes. Well learning to jibe may have to wait until next year!

Smiling cdn guy with the foilboard

The foil runs - two jibe attempts!

Quick foil session before heading back to school

I had a few hours before heading back to the city for back to school preparations. Tacked upwind and then got into the wind and got foiling a few times.

Nothing special in the relatively light wind but I feel like I'm getting better all the time. That was my 15th foil session.

Looking at the chart the wind direction must have changed at one point!

Won't get another chance to sail for a few weeks...

My 15th foil session with just a few runs.