Not too Cold Season Opener!

Last year this time I had already had a few days of wingfoiling. But with my hernia operation on Nov 11th and the snowier than normal winter, I hadn’t yet ventured out on the water. (I did log 50 days of skiing!)

Post session selfie! Len and I were stoked!

So I was excited when Len suggested we head out for a session. A few guys from the Collingwood Wingfoiler group were also talking about hitting the water at noon when the south wind that caused the ice storm would switch to a cold NW.

I packed up the wingfoiling gear as well as my SUP board and headed to Sunset Point.

The 6m Duotone Echo wing was easy to inflate with my Ryobi air pump. I watched Greg go out on his 6m and come back in to pump up his 5m. Tom went out on a 4.2 so I knew I would be overpowered. I was grateful for the big wing when I finally got out into deep enough water.

My booties leaked a bit as I walked out but my 6/5/4 wetsuit was warm enough. My 3.5 mil gloves were ok but I tired out after around 20 minutes on the water.

Len chilling on a little wave

Greg ripping

The rocky beach with low water

Looking at my path I’m surprised that I only fell in 4 times over the 4km I winged. It felt like a lot more than that. Maybe it was because it was actually hard to flip my wing when it landed upside down! Garmin Connect IQ says I did manage to do 11 jibes - more than I expected

My wingfoil and SUP GPS trails

Wow 11 Jibes

Nice steady wind!

NW wind is common in March!

Once I’d concluded that I was fully overpowered I decided to head in to do a bit of SUPing so I could be closer to Len.

I got 4 waves on the SUP - including one where I stood up. That was a solid first session of the year for me - and only a little bit of post hernia surgery discomfort!

Rolling up the wing with a little bit of snow on it!

180° wind shift for Wing Skiing

The southeast wind from yesterday changed to a colder northeast gusty wind. I thought I was done with sailing in the harbour, but couldn’t resist going out again. Max speed 26 km/h

1.4 km and 18 minutes of “vigorous” Garmin activity.

The snow was fairly sticky so I only got a couple of runs but still fun to give it a try. It may be a coincidence that later that day my Garmin said my fitness age dropped to 57.

More Wing Skiing

I wasn’t really expecting to go wings skiing in the harbour again. But while I was down getting water, the southeast wind was so strong that I decided to try not give it a try.

I had fun skiing straight down the hill from the front stairs and had enough momentum to get all the way across the bay. Had a couple more runs back-and-forth. Two kilometres in total. Max speed 31 km/h

Highlight was definitely having enough speed to get almost all the way back up the hill to the stairs. Thanks Michelle for the photos and video.

First wind sport day of 2025

It was supposed to be a day of taking the old shed siding to the dump by Skidoo. But the weather was so windy and snowy and thus slushy that I couldn’t go.

I got my wing pump from the Launch Pad and waited until the blizzard was over. My 4 year old 6m Duotone Echo wing was ready along with my 25 year old Blizzard skiis.

Sadly the wind was dropping off as the skies cleared a bit. I got a nice bit of momentum coming down the luge track from the balcony but soon the slush was slowing me down.

I did 1.1km heading out to Bill and Christine’s and back. By then I was done with the gusty wind in the Harbour. I really only got going when I caught a gust in fresh snow near a previously packed down Skidoo track.

An hour later we got our building permit for the new place out on the island. Next year I’ll be rigged and ready to take advantage of the conditions whenever it is windy!

I had fun

My GPS trail on a summer satellite image

Webcam capture

iWindsurf with some misleading wind direction information

 

The shed pile that didn’t get moved in the wind.

Here’s a video on Vimeo including some shots from my webcams:

2024 Wrap up - Lots of Wingfoiling

My 2024 season ended on October 21st. I popped an inguinal hernia which I didn't realize happens to 1/4 men over 50. Luckily I got a quick doctor's examination on the 22nd and got slotted into an ultrasound cancellation on Oct 31. Nov 6 I saw a doctor.  A few days later he called to say he had a cancellation Nov 11 and slotted me in at the last minute as he recalled that I had lamented the possibility of missing ski season. So I got repaired very quickly!

Despite not having any late October / early November sessions, 2024 was my 3rd most active year for days where I sailed. I had 70 blog posts, the most since 2020/2021 (COVID). 

I had fun looking back on my past few years of adding foiling to my time on the water. In 2019 and 2020 I had started wind foiling but didn't track it separately. I started wing foiling in 2021 and since then have tracked the 3 activities separately. Winging has definitely taken over.

In terms of time on the water, it was a record. It turns out that I'm still going the same overall distance as when I was windsurfing, but much slower so my time on the water increased.

I think 2025 will be a very busy year but hope to be able to get out on the water a lot again.

F&@$ yeah it’s hunting season

I don’t usually get much response from the fisherman in the area when I go wingfoiling. But today one of the fisherman yelled out F&@$ Yeah, as I foiled past. There were also sounds from upwind throughout my session as hunters were taking occasional gun shots sighting their scopes. Bear hunting sites were being baited and there were almost as many boats as during Thanksgiving weekend. There were even some rumoured deer sightings.

The day started off well finding our new dock for the Launch Pad at the marina. It took me two hours to tow it down the river and out to the island. It is definitely going to be a much more stable launching platform.

I like our new dock!

Towing the dock out!

I pumped up the 5m slick wing and hopped on Jen‘s 142 L Fanatic Sky WS SUP board. I did get going a couple of times but the 12 knot wind wasn’t quite enough for me to sail comfortably without constantly trying to pump the wing and board. Is colder fall air less dense? So I dropped off the board at the point to walk the 5m back and then brought out the 7m. Strangely the GPS says those walks had my highest heart rate of the day? (In hindsight that actually makes sense, that was while pumping up the 7m wing!)

My GPS trail

Heart rate and speed

13°C water

Windiest spot on the lakes!

My retro harness

Amazing sunset

That was the ticket! Tons of beautiful runs and even some foiling tacks toeside but none on the foil heelside. Overall, an hour of sailing and 13 km. It was a beautiful and unbelievably warm day for late October. Water was 13°C air 14°C and I only felt a bit cold after that one time that I fell in. I foiled back to the new dock with some nice jibes and jumped onto that very stable platform!

Video of me landing at the new dock

I spent the rest of the evening packing up gear and looking forward to remodelling the launchpad for 2025.

Sunset beach in the morning

Tom C was just getting off the water at Sunset point when I arrived. We had met last winter at men’s day and I knew him from the Sunset point chat group. He had been on a 4.9 wing and suggested I go with my 6 instead of my 4 as it seemed the wind was dropping. Turned out to be good advice.

I headed out in the 10° water and 8° air not having gloves or booties with me just my 3/2 wetsuit. Not the waterwear I would have chosen, but it was what I had with me in Collingwood. I was glad to have brought the 125l Duotone Sky board with the 1080 foil underneath though for my session.

Selfie on my way out for the SUP part of my session

No booties!

The water treatment plant reconstruction by the beach

Post session selfie

GPS trail - foiling jibes out from shore
Two wave rides on the SUP near shore

I swear my heart was racing more than 125…

I was excited to get out on the water at Sunset point again. My last sessions here on big Northwest days generally challenging as I’m still getting used to foiling in big waves. This session was pretty good. I made all of the few jibe attempts that I did. I still had problems running straight down wind or riding back into the waves switch stance. I definitely feel more confident riding out into the big waves though now. 

I would’ve stayed out foiling longer but it was pretty cold in the wind. I was excited enough though to go back out for two quick SUP paddle runs. It is nice to know the 150 L stand up paddle board I bought this spring will more use this fall. Super easy to get up on it. And I also like paddling out on the SUP board way more than paddling on my chest using a traditional surf board. 

Overall a hour out on the water before noon. Pretty early for me! There is more fun to come at Sunset point even with the new water treatment plant re-arranging the shoreline.