Get er done…

I’m writing this sitting next to the nice warm wood stove in the new Launch Pad. The plumbing is 90% done! It’s going to be a busy few more weeks. Hydro coming Monday maybe. Insulation site visit Monday too. Garage doors and fascia arriving shortly? And the buoys in the river should be moved soon as well.

So with all that going on and it being a rainy day, I wasn’t counting on getting a session on the water. 

But by 4pm we had done our cleanup and I had some time to get out for a rip. I pumped up the 6m Duotone unit wing and took the 125 Sky board with the 1080 foil under it. 

It is still a challenge for me getting out of the channel in the gusty south wind. After a few falls in the water I managed to get upwind and got going. What fun. 

I went over to Chris and Ann’s dock and said hi! Hit 18.1 knots (33.5 km/h) on one of my speed runs. Pretty sure that is my fastest max speed so far foiling!

Then it was time to try some jumps. I think I need to focus on getting higher and keeping speed - I seem to land on my back on most landings. Jen got a nice video.

Hit 18.1 knots - new max speed foiling!

Happy foiler

I was comfy in my 4/3 wetsuit in the 12°C air and 13°C water. By the end I was happy to get into the shower in the old building. Excited to have the bathtub installed in the new building with a plan to get it running in the next 2 weeks?

Barely got going

I spent the gloriously gorgeous Thanksgiving morning adding additional reflective tape to the markers in the Key River channel.

Adding tape and labels to the KRAA markers

The wind came up in the afternoon and Phillip decided to head out wingfoiling while Jennifer and I worked on the first test of the generator and electrical system at the new Launch Pad! 

It’s alive - backup power works!

Phillip went on the 7m Dutone Slick with the North Seek Prime WeCanFoil board.

After some time it became clear he wasn’t going to get going as the wind had peaked so I took the aluminum boat up to him so he could head back into Toronto in the Thanksgiving traffic.

I did manage to pump the 7m onto the 2100cm foil but only got one run in each direction. 

I headed back to the dock and thought it was a great time to do a comparison with the Duotone 2140 HA foil under my 8m Ventis. That worked better and it was certainly easier to get up on that big high aspect foil.

3:30 7m barely worked in 10 knots
4pm 8m worked just under 10 knots

I got a couple of runs in and then the wind started dying even more.

Flat Stella going for a foil

So slogged back in and enjoyed drinks with the in-laws looking at the sunset. Later at the cottage we watched SpaceX land the falcon heavy. Pretty amazing progress not only in the foiling world, but in space too. 

Still just wearing a 2mm wetsuit. 15°C water, 17°C air at the end of Thanksgiving weekend. I’m sure it will get cold sometime.

In this climate?

17°C water 16°C air in October. Wow. 

Spent the day out at the island getting the propane hooked up for the new generator and suddenly the wind came up at 5 PM. I pumped up the 6 m echo again and took the north WeCanFoil demo board out. Wore my other 2 mil short sleeved wetsuit and wound up being warm in it as I didn’t fall in the water at all!

That’s me foiling way upwind from the Launch Pad cam

Good session!

Windiest spot on the Bay!

Nice sunset!

The sun came through as well and had a wonderful session 8 heel side jibes followed with toe side to heel side tacks. 

15 km in 45 minutes and super excited to be able to just take off and go foiling on a moments notice. Enjoyed what may be one of the last showers ever in the old Launchpad building 

Looking forward to Thanksgiving brings.

Tired wingfoiling

Oh man, I was already tired after the 42K charity bike ride yesterday and then barely getting any sleep before getting ready to drive up to Key Harbour. Note to self: two coffees at 4 PM are a bad idea.

After two Home Depot runs, we did finally get to the launchpad to find 19° weather and 12 to 15 kn from the southwest. I quickly rigged the 6m echo and 125 sky board with the 1080 foil under it.

A little tired session at the end of the day

5km on the foil

Windiest spot on the Bay

Dying winds from 4:30 on..

I got myself upwind and on the second good gust, got myself on the foil for a nice 4:30 to 5 PM 6km wing. 

I didn’t fall in so my two mil long leg short sleeved sweatsuit was only wet inside for me working up a sweat. Crazy warm weather for the first part of October. Cold front comes through on Wednesday.

Timed it right!

There has been a surprising lack of wind the last few weeks. Often September has some epic SW winds. But I've been so busy with the Launch Pad construction that I wouldn't have had many sessions anyway.

Today was a nice warm day with not much on my schedule. I worked out, tidied up the Launch Pad a bit and had a good lunch. The wind started coming up slowly and was predicted to build till 6pm. At 5pm I pumped up the 7m Duotone Slick and headed out on Jen's 142 Fanatic Sky SUP board with the 2000cm foil underneath.

I did get going in both directions but it wasn't quite enough to jibe. So I went in and pumped up the 8m Duotone Ventis. What a difference 2 model years and 1 square metre make. The integrated boom on the Ventis is also a step up from the Slick's broomstick boom.

I was on the foil most of the time and worked my way upwind. No harness, just enjoying the 9-11 knots and the warm weather. Lots of jibes and a few toe to heelside tacks. I did over 10 km before the wind dropped and I couldn't get on foil again. I finally dipped into the water on my very last slog downwind to cool off - the 2 mil shorty was more than enough warmth for one of the last days of September!

Hard to see but I'm the blip wingfoiling in the circle...

Avoided all the shoals

Decent time on the foil, especially after pumping up the 8m

Nice session

Timed that right!

Zoomed in from the webcam

Not getting tired of those sunsets!
(That hydro pole will be gone soon...)

With all the moving of materials on the construction site the last few days and now this session, I'm already at 399 of my 150 intensity minutes for the week. My Garmin fitness age dropped to 55.5 recently!

Looking forward to more wind this weekend and having Katie, Richard and TWC friends up to foil together.

Wingfoil in the North Wind around Germain Island

It was a rare day without construction or students at the Launch Pad. The wind was a gusty 5 to 15 kn from the north.

I wasn’t sure if I was gonna need the 8m but hoped the 6m would do. I took Jen’s big 142l fanatic Sup foil with the 2000 cm foil underneath.

That worked as soon as I got out of the shadow of the island I was foiling 80% of the time. I eventually got better at timing my jibes in the gusts and even started getting some tacks.

I worked my way up and around Germain Island. Stopped in to visit with Cary and Liz. Overall 23.5 km, maybe my longest distance of the year. Nice in my 2mil wetsuit. I wound up swimming my gear the last big and caught myself carrying the gear back on the webcam!

Likely not many more days like this!

Proper wind forecast

iWindsurf said it would be windy. We got to the island at 2 and I put the flags up. I was on the water at 2:30. 12 - 16 knots. 7m Slick again but today on the Fanatic 142 with the very scratched 2000cm foil underneath.

I was just in neoprene shorts and the weather was spectacular. Worked my way upwind. There were a few lulls. I went by Diamond Key to offer windsurf lessons to Brian and Laura.

Just 10km in 45 mins. Didn’t go as fast as on the North 2100 foil but felt super comfortable.

Then it was back to the Launch Pad to work on electrical decisions.

Nice view of the wind.

I’m a bit worried about this connection!

Windiest spot on the Bay

Looking forward to when my garage doors are installed and I have more gear rigged and ready. I would have gone out for a second session in the increasing wind….