Received: (from poulton@localhost) by zonker.hpl.hp.com (8.7.1/8.7.1) id AAA26911; Tue, 5 Aug 1997 00:35:42 -0700 (PDT) Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 00:35:42 -0700 (PDT) From: Ken Poulton <poulton> Message-Id: <199708050735.AAA26911@zonker.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis> To: WALTER_MENGE@HP-Vancouver-om1.om.hp.com-DeleteThis, wind_talk Subject: ebb tide days at 3rd Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
============= Thu 18 Jul 97 - 3rd - 5.4,4.9/257 (187#)
Went to 3rd Ave to find the water flat and several people slogging
in on 4.5-5.0 sails. Apparently it was really going and then just
got really light. You could still see major breaking swell
up past marker 8. After about 20 minutes, it came back. We
rigged the Standard Rig (5.4, 4.9) and found ourselves way powered
out in the channel. We soon went back in and changed down to
4.9 and 4.3. This was much better, but would have been better
smaller. In fact, the conditions got really hard to sail in.
The wind was very gusty and the swell was often coming straight at you
on port tack. Lots of huge ramps in the confused swell, but I was
reduced to survival sailing after a while, as were others I talked to.
The wind reports were surprising - only about 20 knots average at SFO
and SoSF, but the gusting to 30+ knots told the story. NWS and COTW
forecasts pretty much missed the gusty conditions.
I brought a disposable waterproof camera. I found it was pretty hard
to shoot while sailing overpowered! And then I was reminded what
happens when you're distracted in big conditions - I got catapulted
real hard onto my mast. Both my left thigh and my left shoulder got
hit hard. I was able to sail (poorly) the rest of the session but
it was hard to walk and carry stuff when I got in. We took turns
bobbing in the swell to shoot the rest of the roll. These are not
likely to be magazine-quality shots.
Today, walking is annoying, stairs hurt and lifting my arm to answer
the phone hurts. Hope I can sail tomorrow...
============= Sat 20 Jul 97 - 3rd - 6.0/257 (187#)
Michael and I sailed 3rd. Great day in the swells.
Around 6:30 it backed off and we came in through very light air
inside, but I planed all the way in.
============= Sun 21 Jul 97 - 3rd - 5.4/257 (187#)
Michael and I sailed 3rd. It was a bit light when we started at 4:00,
and the swell was wimpy despite the ebb. After a little while it came
up. We ran into Paul Delzio and a friend in the channel and sailed with
them for rest of the session. About 5:00 the wind felt a little light,
so we worked our way upwind of the crowd to make sailing in easier.
Then the wind came back and the swell finally kicked in! By 6:00,
it was going great, but I was tired and floundering. But it was the
last day before our family vacation, so I pushed a little harder and got
back in the groove! We were making (and landing!) nice jumps and hitting
lots of planing jibes on the 6' swells. We finally came in around
6:45. Had just enough to plane all the way in.
3 days out of 4! I got enough sailing to last me through:
------------- 23 Jul -- 3 Aug
Two-week family vacation w/o sailing. We visited the Hatchery and
watched some good sailing in 4.0 conditions. Kate allowed that watching
for a half hour was fun, but that she was still not up for watching me
sail for a week in the Gorge next year. Oh well.
============= Mon 4 Aug 97 - 3rd - 6.0/257 (188#)
Michael and I sailed 3rd. As we rigged at 3:00, it looked light, with
no fog and a weak gradient, so I took insurance in the form of a 6.0
sail. Michael sailed his normal 4.9 (150#). At first, I was very happy
to have the bigger sail; the ebb had not started yet and the wind was
holey. Swells were pretty small.
Around 4:00 the ebb began and the wind popped up quite a bit. We went
in for an extra 1/4" of downhaul, and that seemed to help. Swell built
to 2-4' and we had a fine old time. At 5:30 it backed off and we caught
the last plane in (my insurance paid off). Looked out and there were a
dozen sails inside and two dozen in the channel, all slogging.
Ken Poulton
poulton@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis
"What a great sport". -- Michael Schuh
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