Received: by zonker.hpl.hp.com (1.37.109.8/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1) id AA09244; Mon, 28 Aug 1995 02:11:15 -0700 Date: Mon, 28 Aug 1995 02:11:15 -0700 From: Ken Poulton <poulton@zonker.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis> Return-Path: <poulton@zonker.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis> Message-Id: <9508280911.AA09244@zonker.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis> To: wind_talk@zonker.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis Subject: Gorge Report: Aug 11-20, 3rd Sunday
-------------- 95 Gorge Report ---------------
Executive summary: disappointing. Sailed 4 days out of 10, only once on
a sail smaller than 4.7.
Sailors: Ken Poulton, Ken Brown, Will Estes, Walt Menge, Dave Fenwick
============== Fri 11 Aug 95 - Rowena - 5.2/257 (185 lb)
Arrived in Hood River around noon, found a campsite at Tucker Park,
found Will Estes at Windsight, and went off to Rowena. We got on the
water around 4:00. Walt and Laurie showed up a bit later and he
sailed 4.4/257. He was slightly underpowered, so I could repeatedly
pass him for the first time I can remember. Nice ~2 foot swell;
we sailed until ~ 7:00.
Ken Brown arrived at Tucker about 10:30.
============== Sat 12 Aug 95 - Rowena - 4.7/257 (185#)
KenB + Walt + I sailed at Rowena starting about 10:00. Good 4.7 sailing
until about 2:00. About 3:00 Will shows up and convinces us to pack up
for the big winds happening out east at The Wall:
============== Sat 12 Aug 95 - The Wall - 4.7,3.7/257 (185#)
We rigged 4.7 again, but the wind was *way* up and down - about 3.5 to
6.5. After about 30 minutes sailing it seemed to be rising, so we came
in and rigged down (3.7 for me) but by the time I went out it had backed
off again. I had already sailed a lot that day, so I was not ready to
keep doing sail changes.
The Wall is totally unimproved, but has a fair amount of "parking".
Crummy rigging on dirt, sand and weeds, an okay launch, but great
swells.
--------------- Sun 13 Aug 95 - no wind
We patrolled the shops in Hood River - we actually wanted a little time
to buy stuff at this point.
Walt and Laurie went home (Vancouver) for the work week.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mon 14 Aug 94 - Hatchery - 5.2/257,8.8 (185#)
KenB and I went to the Hatchery around noon, found ~ 5.2 conditions
and decided to wait for it to build. It didn't. We went out around 1:30
in 5.2/257 and it was incredibly up and down - completely frustrating.
We got out bigger boards (8'8, 9'0) but to no avail.
=============== Tues 15 Aug 95 - Doug's Beach - 4.2/257 (185#)
A weak forecast, similar to Monday, so KenB and Will and I drove (in
one car) up to Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood on the information that
it was only a 30 minute drive. "I was misinformed" as Bogey says - it
was 60 minutes. Timberline is worth the visit, but go on a clear day.
We had clouds completely obscuring the view of the mountain. It was
also *cold* up there.
At 2:00 we called Windsight and heard 25g36 at Doug's! We hustled
back to the car, careened down the mountain and arrived at Doug's and
wonder of wonders, it was still blowing! We rigged 4.2's and had a very
nice time for the first hour or so - big smooth 5 foot swells.
After that the wind started to drop off, but we sailed until 7:15.
The water was too low to sail over the sand bar on the far side, which
was kind of annoying, but sailing at all seemed like gift.
Will left Weds morning to fly back home.
-------------- Wed 16 Aug 95 - no wind
KenB and I watched the USWA Nationals at the Hood River Event Site.
This, of course, explained our wind problems - a big race was scheduled
for this whole week. Sigh.
We watched three races. In the first one, they started all three fleets
in 15 knots gusting to 20 (sails in the 7's), but the winds got
progressively lighter until they dropped below the 8 knot (!) wind
minimum, no one was planing, and the race was abandoned. About an hour
later, the wind was back up and they repeated the same sequence, and an
hour later they did it again. The racers were begging for mercy.
Berkeley racer Steve Sylvester was leading his class in races up to
this point. Dunno how the week finished up, though.
============== Thu 17 Aug 95 - 4.7,5.2/257 (185#)
Windsight said "Go East, young man" so we went to Arlington. This is 75
miles east of Hood River, at the east end of a 5 mile long straight
stretch, so the swell gets pretty nice, though it was only 3-4 feet. It
also features port ramps - rare in the Gorge. The downside is that the
launch at Arlington is a little goat path down a steep bank followed by
climbing over a lot of large, very slippery riprap at the water's edge,
aided by the best swell being right at that shore. This launch makes
Crown Sterling look manicured! It turns out that Roosevelt, almost
directly across the river on the Washington side, has grass to rig on
and a nice sandy beach for launching - clearly the way to go.
We had a good time in variable conditions. The port ramps were
especially welcome. We started on 4.7, changed up to 5.2, and then
changed back down to 4.7, sailing about 3 hours total. There were about
10 sailors at Arlington, maybe 20 at Roosevelt. Will says Windsight
was showing 35-40 mph at Arlington, but it was more like 22-30 while we
were there.
-------------- Fri 18 Aug 95 - no wind
We visited the new Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center (good on history,
weak on science), Bonneville Dam and Cascade Locks.
-------------- Sat 19 Aug 95 - no wind
Windsight had called for 18-24 the previous night, but forecasts
dropped steadily as the day went on. We hung at the Hatchery, and
tried out 7.0/6.8/6.6 (KenP/Walt/KenB) but KenB and I only managed
to get on a plane a few times.
-------------- Sun 20 Aug 95 - no wind
Wind sight had predicted 20-25 the previous night, but morning
forecasts were 14-18, so we bagged it and drove home. KenB and
I drove together down to near Bend. We agreed it would be nice
to get back to the nice reliable, steady winds of the Bay.
-------------- Wed 23 Aug 95 - Pistol River - just watching
As I drove down the coast with the family, we passed Pistol River. We
stopped and the boys played on the sand and rocks while I watched the
windsurfers. It looked like 4.7 was the call - it seemed quite steady,
with small 2-3 foot surf.
One car there had a card in the window showing the sail size that its
owner was using - a nice idea.
I also stopped by and met Mike and Rose of Big Air Windsurfing
in person for the first time - nice folks.
--------------
A note on Windsight in the Gorge - this year they seemed to be hitting
better. They missed predicting the Tuesday blow at Doug's, even that
morning, and they called for wind Sat and Sun which never happened,
but otherwise they got most of the forecasts right.
------------
Places we ate - all of which I recommend:
Big City Chicks - fancy dishes from all over the world
Montero's - Mexican
Pietro's - pizza.
Mesquitery - BBQ
Bo something - pizza
China Gorge - Chinese
the pizza joint in Arlington
--------------
After getting back on Aug 25, I found the SFO reports (since I left Aug
4) look like it was pretty mediocre - only 3 days above 20 knots.
Judging by sailing reports, it has been pretty variable.
============== Sun 27 Aug 95 - 3rd - 5.2,6.2/257,9'0 (185#)
Michael, Kirk, and KenF and I all showed up at 3rd, but after the
lot filled around 1:30, sigh. Seeing all indicators looking good
(except for a few stratus clouds running from SFO to Hayward), I rigged
5.2/257 and they rigged similarly (with weight adjustments). It sucked!
Turned out that the strongest wind was near the shore, leading most
people to be rigged too small.
We came in for bigger boards, and I later rigged up to 6.2. Finally,
enough to get powered! I took a few reaches, then went out near the
far side of the channel when suddenly I was unhooked and couldn't seem
to rehook. Turned out my Reactor bar had lost its pulley - the bolt
just sheared off. I sailed back w/o harness. What would have been
a 7 minute ride became a 45-minute ordeal as I repeatedly sailed for
about a minute - all my arms could take - and then rested 3-5 minutes.
I came in with my knuckles dragging on the ground and feeling less than
completely satisfied with my day. Oh well, Shit Happens.
Breaking with the usual pattern, the wind at 3rd today correlated well
with the ~16g22 reported at SFO, and not at all with the 20-27 knots
reported at SoSF.
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