Double Dippin' ... Glide is Good

Sunday is normally coffee in bed, sleep-in day.

But I woke to a dead calm at 6 am and ideally warm temps that screamed SUP me now! Get up and SUP!

My tired body screamed back "Nooooo!"

My mind yelled back, "this is your chance dummy. Gate fees start at 8."

So I threw on a pair of neoprene shorts, a 1mm O'Neill Slickskin, my trusty but now a little too hobo-looking Sanuks (still comfortable, and still perfect for on-off beach days) and headed for the nearest body of water. In Westchester, beaches were closing after the storm, but here there had been no such word. Drysuit2 said the water could be sketchy.

The gate was open, just a few folk up, and it was 8 minutes from home to on the water. That is one of the the beauties of SUP: no wax, no rigging, just grab board by the uber-convenient new double recessed Fanatic handle, grab the paddle, put on booties, croakies on the Rx glasses, key in the leash pocket and go.

Down at the water's edge however, the storm runoff and sewage discharge told a very different story than the idyllic tranquility of the glistening flat surface. Guck, grime, sludge, and bits of who-knows-what in the water.

No problem, knee paddle through it to cleaner water and get vertical there. Don't fall in at any cost.

How fish live in this stuff is beyond me.

But I paddled into schools of menhaden (bunker, herring) and bluefish. (Again, don't fall in, or plan on maybe getting bit!). The water quality improved only slightly as I paddled into "the fleet" — the local yachts at their moorings.

Boat named Under Toad, Friendly III, and a Beneteau 46 pointed SW, I headed for the channel avoiding the fishermen at the North end, who were getting some bites. Outbound seemed to move faster, and took 20-25 minutes ... inbound seemed slower but actually wasn't.

On the return trip, the incoming tide, like a moving walkway give you the impression you are moving in slo-mo, but are actually going faster.

Recovering from some injuries and a serious inflammation 6 days ago, I promised myself to paddle easy. The 9'6" Fanatic stroked pretty well for a rockered wave board on flat water. Just enough reserve volume for a little glide, and glide is good.

Out by the channel the water was cleaner, but not my much. I figured 40 minutes was enough for the first time back after the inflammation. Much as I would have liked to practice some high-intensity surf paddling, and some spill-risking tight turns, I stuck instead to the non-strenuous relaxed paddle I promised myself.

ROBBY'S FIRST SAIL

Was way off the wind it seemed, but that's OK. The main thing was he finally got the sail up and held it long enough to get in motion, and actually feel a little of the triumph of sailing one of these tiny vessels.

8 hours later, after the morning's SUP, I loaded the car again and we headed to Oyster Bay. Nobody on the water except a few sail boats way upwind. Just barely enough breeze to move.

While we rigged we chatted with Kiter Frank who was hoping the air aloft was moving faster than what was touching down on the water here. No such luck ... another 5 mph was what he needed to get the 12M kite generating enough lift to pull him onto a plane.

Robby began to get it pretty quickly this time. The flat water here versus 1-2 foot chop at Heckscher allowed him to get his first two rides in with a measure of stability. I SUPd around giving my usual blend of confusing instructions ;) It's 18 years since I graduated windsurfing instructor program in Ocracoke, and it's never easy teaching a big fella on a small board. Every inch of foot placement matters enormously to balance. It's a game of inches; sometimes half inches. But he's getting there.

From here, he can focus on tacking and jibing and consistently starting with a more efficient sailing posture—the all important, butt in/shoulders back, and rake the sail across the center line to engage the wind.