Received: from zonker.hpl.hp.com (zonker-fddi.hpl.hp.com) by jr.hpl.hp.com with ESMTP (1.37.109.24/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1) id AA064827698; Thu, 2 Jul 1998 01:21:38 -0700 Return-Path: <poulton@zonker.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis> Received: (from poulton@localhost) by zonker.hpl.hp.com (8.8.6/8.7.1) id BAA29476 for wind_talk; Thu, 2 Jul 1998 01:21:35 -0700 (PDT) Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 01:21:35 -0700 (PDT) From: Ken Poulton <poulton@zonker.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis> Message-Id: <199807020821.BAA29476@zonker.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis> To: wind_talk@zonker.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis Subject: Hatchery Tues + Weds Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
------------- Mon 29 Jun 98
Drove up to the Gorge - pretty much of a spur of the moment trip.
Everything came together: a good time to take a week from my project at
work, no major family activities planned, a sympathetic wife, a
mother-in-law willing to have my 10-year-old boy come up (to Eugene) for
the week, Walt had a place near Hood River, and Monday morning, a good
Gorge forecast for the week.
============= Tue 30 Jun 98 - Hatchery - 4.4,3.9,3.5/257 (196#)
Dawn patrol: "It's windy!" says Walt at 7:20. I popped out of bed,
checked the river with the binoculars and we breakfasted and then rolled
down the hill to be at the Hatchery by 8:30. Walt rigs 3.9 and I rig
4.4 (feeling a little heavy still after so little sailing). That worked
for a while, but pretty soon I conclude that Walt had a better idea and
rig down to 3.9. That worked okay for a while - swell is 5-6 feet and
some really nice big rollers are coming through. We worked on riding
swells, but my arms are getting really worked as I realize what a month
with no sailing will do to you!
After lunch, we go out again and get blown off the water in pretty
short order - the wind has notched up. We rig 3.5's and sail for a
while. The swell is up to 8 feet, in beautiful smooth faces, but I'm
working too hard to deal with the gusts and lulls to do much with it.
We rest for a while - my sailing periods are only abot 30 minutes now.
One particularly hard catapult crash breaks the buckle on my harness.
After getting my spare harness ("you're going to use that piece of junk?"
asks Walt) we go out again about 4:00 and get blown off the water in
short order!
COTW (Swell City) shows 25mph(14-35) at 9:00 steadily ramping up to
34mph(24-42) by 4:00. Small wonder the 3.5 didn't cut it! (Comparing
sail sizes to SFO readings, I think this reads 15% low compared to
SFO.) In the process I got to use my new 4.4 and 3.5 sails for the
first time. And Michael didn't think I'd ever use that 3.5.
In the evening, we watch lightning flash right around the house and
worry that the thunderstorm will kill the wind.
============= Wed 1 Jul 98 - Hatchery - 3.9/257 (196#)
Wednesday arrives overcast, but windy anyway. Feeling some doubt because
of the couds, we meander down to the Hatchery, and after watching the few
sailors out for a while, we rig 4.4's. I've relearned my lesson to ignore
Walt's rigging choices at my peril, but before I get to the water Walt
is back to rig 3.9, so I follow suit. This turns out to be a much
better choice, but I'll still working really hard to sail. I have lots
of excuses: atrophied arms, the narrow swell zone at the Hatch calling
for jibing as soon as you get your feet in the straps, learning new
sails, the gusty wind... but Walt is ripping it up. I add several
inches of downhaul and go back out and things are getting better. For
half an hour, I feel like I'm in control. The swell is around 6 feet
and I get a few really glorious rides.
We decide to go into town for lunch; I leave my gear rigged at the Hatch.
DaKine has fixed my harness (no charge!). I go back out for another
short session that starts out good, but pretty soon has me heading way upwind
and just to handle the wind and then way off the wind to get back down to
the launch. I packed it in around 5:00.
COTW shows 28mph(22-38) most of the day.
I ran into Kris Mills at the Hatchery. She's been here for a week and
a half and says that she knows of about 15 3rd Ave regulars up here.
Ken Poulton
poulton@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis
"If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water."
-- Loren Eiseley
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