Dinner time foil

After a full day of work and charity emails, we headed out to the Launch Pad to do some projects and have dinner. It was glassy calm and wonderful despite the colder temperatures. Air was 14c, water 17c.

Just as Jen needed my help on the septic grass seeding project of course the wind picked up. I finished helping and went out with the 5.6 Idol and the foil. Wind was 10-14 knots. I was fine in my 2 mil long leg XCEL suit, as I didn't fall in. I was also working really hard to pump onto a plane, and figure that should help with my Garmin "intensity minutes" which don't really even accumulate when I'm short boarding.

I'm pretty comfortable now on the foil, and even got through some (tail assisted) jibes feeling more confident in the lower wind and smoother water than yesterday. I think that much later in the season, foiling will be even more attractive over finning / slapping / traditional short boarding, as I can very reliably tack without falling in. I'm also thinking that when it gets really cold, I will just remove at least the rear footstraps on the foil board so I can wear some booties and keep my feet warm.

Since I don't have any photos from this foil session, I'll post pictures of the nice 1985ish Mistral superlight that I was given yesterday by my nice neighbour. I've never had a board with the retractable spring loaded skeg before! It is indeed superlight, but is very dirty and has several holes in it that will require some significant restoration work next summer before it hits the water.

A classic old school board that a nice neighbour donated to the Launch Pad

Check out the spring loaded skeg (and damage to the board)

Classic Mistral superlight

Southwest wind - several nice jibe paths on the foil

Sunset with some sad California fire haze

Dave got planing!

It was super special to get poker buddy Dave out into some real wind. And to get myself sweet sessions before and after. And to score a free Mistral superlight old school board. Here’s how the day went:

First time planing for Dave!

I knew the wind was supposed to be solid all afternoon. SW wind backing to W as the last of the showers went through. Dave had proven to be a solid windsurfer on Friday afternoon, so I was happy to suggest another windsurfing session and he was game.

Since I'd been itching for another windy day since the gale 6 days ago, I headed out to the Launch Pad first to get my fix. It was perfect 18-21 knots plus bigger gusts for the 5.6 Idol and Skate 108. I was having fun and Dave and Jen got some nice photos as they came out in the boat. (Which I hope to turn into GIFs at some point.) The weather was 16c air with 17c water, a few scattered sun and rain bits, but generally overcast. I was fine in my 2 mil long leg wetsuit.

I tried several Vulcans, none of which were a success but it felt great to try them again. My max speed at the end was 50 km/h which I think is a record for this year. I started going upwind and finally got to the waves on either side of Wedge island. They were forming nicely and were fun to ride. On my way south on one run I hit a wave so steep the only option was to jump - I got some good air and this time didn't land the board flat - but instead landed my nether regions rather painfully on the return to the surface of the water. Ouch.

At the end of my 1.5 hour session, I planed right into the channel next to the island. It is fun to do that, but I'm guessing it will be harder to do when the water levels start going back down. Here are Dave's nice photos of me.

Little chop hop! (Will be a nice animated GIF someday)

Blasting toward 50 km/h

Middle of my Vulcan attempt...

My 5.6 Idol / Skate 108 session - view from the southwest.
You can see the wind shifting from SW to west as I head upwind.
Nice wave rides lower left corner

Session speed chart - worth the slogging and short tacks at the beginning.
Flying on my last two tacks in the flat water back to the Island.

All smiles sailing back to the dock

Wind conditions as Dave headed out - 30 knot gusts!

Next it was time for Dave to go out. With the wind so strong, I picked the 4.2 m Ice and the Viper 80. I put the rear footstraps and the Deviator on for Dave since he would be using the harness and I wanted to minimize his catapults. I sailed it up to the point in the crazy waves which even had me completely blowing a tack and falling into the water. I had fun though sailing it, and got it up to 27 km/h.

My speed chart for the 4.2 sail and Viper 80. Dave got it planing too!

I met Dave at the point. We chatted and went through scenarios. I figured he had 50/50 odds of being able to even uphaul in the waves, and imagined even if he could, he would be blown downwind onto the old Key Harbour coal dock ruins. Well he launched and then got going on his first run after just one fall. I was whooping with excitement for him and then went back to get the Seadoo.

He had made it all the way across and I watched him do a few more runs. It was super challenging in the middle of the harbour where the waves were biggest. So I tried towing him upwind holding the sail on the Seadoo like I normally do in light wind. But it was hard to steer and suddenly the sail was flipping through the wind, knocking me sideways. I was just able to fall off and barely kept the Seadoo from tipping right over by pushing it back upright as I headed into the water. I climbed back on from the back and we were able to go very slowly upwind with me holding the board and Dave basically swimming next to it.

He did a few more excellent runs and then sailed right back to the dock. What a superstar in the the massive wind and waves. He said he'd never actually planed on a board like he did! Here are the photos.

Dave heading out - defying my calls to look at the horizon - not his feet!

Way to get it planing Dave!

Heading back to the point

Nice form and speed

Those are big waves

Seadoo chase boat

Perfect "tennis save"

And the last run to the Launch Pad dock

After taking Dave back down the river, it was still windy but had also cleared up completely. I put on a shorty and tried the 4.2 Ice on the foil. The first time for me ever using such a small sail to foil. It was awesome. 

With a sail that tiny on the foil, I didn't really use the harness as often. I was able to get upwind angles near 45 degrees (in the clear wind in the channel between Wedge and Mann islands). So I made it upwind really quickly and was able to play in the large waves that had built all day.

Upwind then playing in the waves - view from the west.

Foil speed chart - some good long runs and jibes with decent speed too.

While the chart shows some good speeds through some of my jibes, I was pretty uncomfortable doing them. I think it was the size of the rolling swells that kept my balance from feeling stable. But again, it was the first time ever foiling in that much wind. The downwinder at the end and wave rides were super fun. Occasionally I would just hold the mast and float downwind on a swell marvelling at the foil and neat new wave riding sensations.

I heard later that Geoff and Quinn had canoed down the Key in a record 1 hour 40 minutes with the strong west wind behind them. More about the old school Mistral superlight I was given in a future blog. Dinner with Jen and a nice sunset on the island capped off a wonderful Sunday for me!

Short foil session

I knew that there wasn’t supposed to be much wind. So I got Geoff Quinn and Dave rigged and ready in the little sailboat. It didn’t do so well with over 500 lbs in it, so Geoff abandoned ship so Quinn and Dave could had a solid go at it.

The boys heading out

Slow going with over 500 lbs

South wind a bit gusty

In the meantime, I did head out with the 6.5 NP V6 and the Stingray 140 board with 76 cm foil. I got up on it a 4 times during gusts and had fun blasting past the little sailboat.

Four little foil runs

Not much but I’m still gonna call that session #54.

Later that night Dave and Geoff won again at poker!

Perfect Gear for a Royal Flush

Poker buddy Dave came up to the Launch Pad to be part of a bubble increasing games weekend. He hadn't windsurfed in years, having suffered from some bad equipment availability at the family cottage in the past. He talked about an old beginner board that was replaced with a too small semi-sinker that was not right for his 6 foot 7, 240 lb frame.

Dave looking good on the simulator

I set up the simulator and got him using the Duke 5.4 in the light wind. His muscle memory was very good. I figured the 230 litre YPSI Wayler would be a much better board for him than the 190 litre Viper 80.

We headed out to the point for him to give windsurfing a try again. The wind was 6 knots from the west and 15c. He was just in shorts. As we were walking out, my friend Geoff and his son were just arriving perfectly on time from their week long canoe trip.

Geoff and Quinn arriving from Killarney

Dave got on the board and pretty much took off perfectly. There was one fall off the slippery YPSI deck with his size 14 water shoes.

Dave ready to try windsurfing for the first time in a decade

That YPSI easily floats 240 lbs!

Whoops!

Nice "tennis save"

Good form and permission granted for the hand on the boom!

Way to go Dave!

I watched him sail across the harbour and then do a perfect tack. He tried even using the harness and had a few successes and failures with that. It was very rewarding to see someone get in a great session after so many years away from the sport.

My track chasing Dave

I went out and chased him with my 5.6 Idol and Viper 80. That combo isn't as fast through the water as the 40 year old YPSI. I had some fun doing duck tacks and other lightwind freestyle. He was able to stay upwind easily and had many nice cruising runs back and forth. His transitions would improve with more attention to keeping his eyes on the horizon.

Return of the canoeists

Cheers on the rock

We headed back to the cottage for dinner and the zoom Pokerstars game. Dave managed to fold what would become a royal flush to my bold betting and eventual flush. But he and Geoff were the only players in the positive column for the evening. Lucky cottage cat Angel helped them I guess. Fun times.

Labour day gale

This was the windiest day of the year for me - so far! I took the Seadoo out to the Launch Pad as the tin boat would have been too sketchy in the wind and waves. I still got soaked and wondered how big a wave the nose of the Seadoo can go under without swamping the air intake?

I was so excited by the prospect of clearing skies and a super solid west wind after a night of intense thunderstorms that I forgot a whole bunch of things. I put on my wetsuit and lifejacket and took the board to the point and realized I didn't have my harness. That was ok, since I needed to get the sail. I launched my tiniest sail the 4.2 Ice and my old Tiga 257 wave board. It was perfect for the 25 knot west wind.

I'd forgotten to start my GPS though, and had a brutal time trying to set it with one hand. After 2 runs I came in anyway to raise my boom. I also had to figure out whether to stop windsurfing as the quite heavy simulator board needed rescuing after blowing right off the point. I decided the rescue could wait and started the GPS which did record the rest of my session.

I was already making most jibes on the tiny board but went too far behind an island trying to find smooth water to jibe on. Of course there is a wind shadow there - something else I forgot and which I also repeated later. While slogging, I realized one more thing I forgot, a volcano pad to keep me from stubbing my toes on the pointy single nut mast base. Oh well.

The water was quite warm at 19c, the air was 17c then by the end of the session it was down to 15c despite the nice sun. The wind gusts were up to 32 knots.

Post session selfie!

My 29 km GPS trail with wave rides on the runs back downwind

Speeds during the session - not quite as fast as 2 years ago, max 48 km/h

I've only used that Tiga one time so far at the Launch Pad, a September Gale in 2018 when I was using a 4.7m sail. Today I was on a 4.2. And other than twice in Hatteras, I haven't really used that sinker board in the last 20 years. The board is now 26 years old, and I still love it when it it super windy, even if it gets used so rarely.

I was pretty comfortable for the whole session. I didn't have any catapult falls which was nice. I did one rather involuntary jump on a super steep wave out by Wedge Island. I must have been 10 feet in the air. It wasn't "see your shadow on the water below" high (I've had a handful of those) but still the highest jump I've done in several years. As I was coming down I said to myself "don't land flat" but of course wound up landing pretty hard and had to waterstart to get going again.

A highlight was getting up wind and finding some nice swells. The wind was from the west, so the swells weren't as good as after a SW wind by Dokis, but still fun to ride. I had some long good rides on my way back downwind which are visible in the GPS trail.

I started getting pretty tired and took a quick break to send a Spot "I'm having fun here" satellite message. It was nice to see that all but one of the nearby wind turbines were working for a change. I was pretty warm in my 2 mil XCEL Axis long leg wetsuit but after 1.5 hours I was done. 

Post session wind stats - max gust 32 knots 

The weather system from the night before!

Then it was time to figure out how to rescue the simulator. I took some rope and went out on the Seadoo to the point where it was lodged. I jumped on shore with the rope and tied it to the board. I pulled the board over the rock to the leeward side and pulled the Seadoo back and climbed aboard. My heart was racing but the plan worked out perfectly despite the wind that you can see in the photo. I think the new rule is that the windsurfing teaching equipment has to come off the rock by the end of August.

Rescuing the simulator with the Seadoo

That is the end of 4 straight days of windsurfing and #52 for the year. No wind in the near term forecast which is good as I have a fair bit of work work to do over the next few days.

My son the foiler

It feels great when the wind builds just as predicted and I get everything lined up perfectly. I managed to get a beginner out again on a 3.5 for his longest session ever, get some drone footage of my wife and son sailing, get a foil session myself and then watched Phillip have his first foil session. And to cap it off, I had a nice steak dinner at our neighbours who were thanking me for being helpful fixing their dock earlier in the season. Here are the details and photos:

Launch Pad class in session - last time this year?

My boys had their friend Maxx up for the weekend and he wanted to have a 3rd try at windsurfing. So I set up the "class in session" flags at the Launch Pad for what I'm thinking is the last beginner day of the year. I checked my blog to see what equipment he was on last year, and sent him out with the 3.5 Chinook sail and Viper 80 again. He didn't really need much time on the simulator, and even on his first runs he was doing so well I let him start holding the boom with both hands.

Great form Maxx

Both hands on the boom now

Maxx heading out to explore the Bay

Maxx was enjoying having complete control of the windsurfer and decided to explore Georgian Bay. I zoomed back to get a life jacket and he was off - heading past Dokis island, over 2 km away. The wind slowly built from 6 - 8 knots and he was having fun going faster and faster. He found the swells out there challenging and came back happy but tired.

Max returning!

Maxx from the air

Nice smile!

The wind built a bit more and soon my sister's little sailboat was rigged and ready for Jen and Phillip to head out. They had a nice mother son sail and I got some shots and video from the drone.

The Launch Pad

Next I had a super short foil session on the 7.0 NP V6 and the Slingshot 76 cm foil. I had a bit of work to change it back from Len's Techno session. The south wind was just enough to pump to get on the foil, but got out just in time to foil past the little sailboat and maybe pique Phillips interest in foiling even a bit more.

My short foil session

Then I converted the foil back for the Techno and Phil's first foil session. I put him on the 24 inch medium beginner mast and 76 cm front wing. He headed out with the 6.5 in the 10-15 knot winds.

Phillip heading out for his first foil session

Phillip tacked upwind and when he finally had a long reach he got up on the foil. I was so excited. He went back and forth several times, getting up regularly. He was using the front footstraps which helped, but a bit more wind would have been even better for his first day. That being said, the wind was likely ok, as he didn't have a harness, which I think is good advice for the first few foil sessions. A few minor falls, and soon he was heading back - tired from the 2 previous days of windsurfing. 

Long distance foil shot

And another proof of Phil's foiling skill

I'm super excited for Phil for trying the foil and proud of him doing so well as my second foil student. I regret not having gotten out on the Seadoo for some better pictures but I do think he will be foiling a lot in the coming years. He was pretty stoked by how amazing it feels to float above the water.

The smile says it all. The newest addition to "loyal to the foil" society returns!

Another steak dinner, this time all prepared by our neighbours, and I was ready for bed. Gale winds forecast for Labour Day Monday!