White Knuckle Sailing

Pete Roesch, getting it done at Gilgo Beach on Jan 19. Even on a 47F day, sailing in the ocean in January is tough sledding with all that neoprene between one's hands and the booms. I'm sure Pete's hands are so used to it by now with all the sailing he's been doing, but usually by the second jibe on the outside, my hands are screaming in pain — not from cold, but from the thickness of the gloves and how it kills your grip. A lot if it's down to the the first runs. Having the boom height right, the harness lines in the right spot. Everything dialed for the conditions, and complete faith in your 12 year old mast, booms and universal joint ... erm I meant new wave gear. That's when you have to know when you're going to be past the point of "it's all I can do to hang on in a waterstart or a jibe recovery to get back." You don't want the lst run of the day to be the last run.
Right now, I've got something badly wrong with my right hand — hyperextended it a couple of weeks ago and the tendon that operates that finger in the palm is swollen through to the first two knuckles, so windsurfing in neo gloves is OTQ. But this is a good look at what it looks like. Except that Pete makes most of his outside jibe, while I swim with the fishes resetting as the waves wrestle the rig in the other direction, 1/3 mile offshore trying to stay calm.