Received: (from poulton@localhost) by zonker.hpl.hp.com (8.7.1/8.7.1) id KAA12740 for wind_talk; Fri, 4 Jul 1997 10:45:33 -0700 (PDT) Date: Fri, 4 Jul 1997 10:45:33 -0700 (PDT) From: Ken Poulton <poulton> Message-Id: <199707041745.KAA12740@zonker.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis> To: wind_talk Subject: several days Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
============= Sun 22 Jun 97 - 3rd - 5.4/257 (185#)
Met my former windsurfing master Walt at 3rd Ave; Michael and Kirk
came as well. Michael and I did the Standard Rig, Walt a 5.5 Interface,
Kirk a 5.6? and big board. It was plenty light inside, but powered
nicely in the channel, and ebbing to boot. After half an hour or
so, Walt went in for his 4.9 (already rigged) and Kirk for a smaller
board - I was still fine on the 5.4 3-cam Black Diamond. They came
back out and we just played in the swell until it got light around 6:00.
It was great to sail with them again.
Walt said that the huge flow in the Gorge this year has substituted
nasty chop for swell in most places, and consequently, this was the best
sailing he has had this year!
Kirk and Walt (and Jean) and I then retired to my house for a very
nice dinner.
============= Tue 24 Jun 97 - 3rd - 5.4/257 (185#)
Michael and I went to 3rd on 22 knots at SFO, although all the other
sites were lots less. We did the standard rig and slogged out to the
channel... and then slogged back. Michael planed a little and I
briefly only once.
Given the flood tide, I did not linger in the channel, but made my way
back as best I could. Unfortunately, I passed one ramp thinking I could
make the next. I was wrong. I ended up dragging my gear out over
the riprap in surprisingly large waves for the miserable wind.
Quite the disaster.
============= Sun 29 Jun 97 - Emeryville - 6.0/9'1 (185#)
The only spot blowing in the Bay was Berkeley, with 25 MPH at 2:30.
I arranged to meet Luigi at the Emeryville launch. Alas, the pager
showed that it was dropping even as I was driving. When I arrived,
most people were slogging and some were swimming. Some had rigged
4.0's!
Luigi showed up, as well as Brad, and when the wind picked back up a
bit, we rigged slalom gear and went out about 5:00. We were pretty well
matched. The wind was pretty good for that rig, and I was pleased I
still remembered how to sail that board - this was my first time on
a board bigger than 8'5 since last September!
We went through the pier, but the wind was lighter in the circle,
so we came back and buzzed His Lordship's for a while. About 6:00
the wind died and we slogged back to the launch. Kind of nice to
have a sloggable board sometimes.
I met a bunch of nice folks there, too.
============= Wed 2 Jul 97 - 3rd - 5.4/257 (185#)
We went to 3rd, old launch. Oops. We didn't realize our mistake
until we got in the water - we had to walk out 100 yards to get enough
water to sail (and the wind was really light, too). Worse - the tide
was still ebbing! We had both failed to read my report which clearly
showed that we'd regret it.
Once we got to the channel about 4:20, we were fully powered and the
swell soon started cooperating with nice ramps and some nice wide smooth
swells for jibing on. We had a great time until it backed off around
5:40. We headed in and had some horrendous muck-walking to do at the
end. I discovered that "breakable crust" is just as exhausting in mud
as it is in snow. Yeeuch.
============= Thu 3 Jul 97 - 3rd - 4.7/257 (184#)
We got to 3rd quite late, me not until 4:00. By then it was howling
and Michael rigged his new 3.9 Interface, I took my trusty old '91 4.7
Race. We were powered from the launch and when we got to the channel,
we were way powered. The ebb swell was running 6' with both ramps and
huge wide smooth swells. We were really jamming! The wind and swell
kept building but we were still hitting nearly all our jibes and landing
most of our jumps. I saw someone out there doing starboard loops.
About 5:30 Michael noticed his fin was loose, so we went in to fix that.
I was going to rig down a size or two but I "decided" not to change sail
sizes because I had locked my keys in the car. Oh well. We went back
out on the same gear and found that the wind had backed just enough to
make it easier to sail, but still had great swells. We sailed until
7:00, when the wind died down. I just barely planed most of the way in,
Michael had a looong slog from the channel marker. I was glad I had
"decided" to stay on the 4.7. It was a GREAT DAY!
We tried to unlock my car for half an hour, in vain. I got spare
clothes from Jay and a ride home from Michael and came back later for
the car. Thanks, guys!
[ Only gripe of the day: I had left my towel secured over the chain-link
fence to avoid tearing my wetsuit as I climbed over. When I came back,
someone had apparently cleaned their engine with it and then tossed it
back on the ground. Thanks a lot, dude. ]
Ken Poulton
poulton@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis
"This story has the added advantage of being true." -- Henry Kissinger
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