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Most of us windheads were long gone — other folk,
however, just come to enjoy that moment of sublime
dying sea breeze and fading light, tinged with a moody
threat of unpredictable weather. This car was just the
right color to make the whole thing even more harmonious.
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I guess when you haven't had a good windsurfing day in a while, there's a tendency to pig out on wind. And that's almost how I got to be the last windsurfer out of the lot.
Over indulgence in the fruits of 5.2-5.5 wind got me to the point of a dusk departure. But truth be told, I spent about as much time under-indulging — in other words wrestling with my gear. It happens. It could have been avoided, but I fell into the trap of trying to make too many changes at once.
TRYING LONGER LINES
I'd grown frustrated with the 18" harness lines I'd been running. I was not getting the low end/lighter wind power out of the sail that I could; not planing off as soon as I could. The short lines led to a low boom and choking off the sail's power. And with a little extra corpulence around the midsection, a high-on-the-waist harness position was no longer a happy way to "roll."
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| Just arrived or rigging down? And what's going through Thandi's mind over there? It's good to arrive to solid wind and a busy house full of windsurfers. 5.2 was most people's go-to. Jill said rig big, and I'm glad I went with the 5.5. |
So, for the first time in a very long time, I decided to install a set of adjustable harness lines in an effort to find a new longer length to accommodate a higher boom.
Guess I didn't notice the new lines were badly kinked—something inside the sheathing was twisted, and the loop was turned back on itself. This resulted in the lines being tantalizingly out of reach of the harness hook.
I kept dropping into the water to adjust and straighten them, but nothing was working, and I was "kooking" out. The outbound tack was not as bad, but inbound, hooking in became near impossible.
Add to that, the West Marine PDF I was wearing to carry my GPS was also obstructing the hook in process. Tried switching to an old "reserve" boom, but the in haul was jammed, so back to square one.
Maddened by the waste of time, and blown out forearms from the wrestling with the failed hook-ins, I was about to call it a day when Zev persuaded me to take the lines off and re-install one of them that looked twisted inside. Ditching the obstructing PFD also helped enormously.
Finally! sailing comfort I felt liberated from my shackles and free as the wind again - to stand up lean back and enjoy the glide.
Each time I get to ride on the JP 109 FSW / Ezzy 5.5 Wave Panther II I love it all the more. The board is large but has enough rocker and pin in the tail to slip easily across the aggro Heckscher chop in more wind than I ever felt really comfortable riding such a floaty board.
GPS-PFD FOLLIES
So why the heck did I put on a PFD? I simply wanted to see if I could get some GPS tracks and I had no other place to carry my GPS but in the pocket of a PFD! The wrong sort of PFD, however, interferes with hooking in — too much foam near the hook. I don't wear one ofter for this reason -- I need to get some opinions on a more windsurf-friendly PFD for winter.
I kept dropping into the water to adjust and straighten them, but nothing was working, and I was "kooking" out. The outbound tack was not as bad, but inbound, hooking in became near impossible.
Add to that, the West Marine PDF I was wearing to carry my GPS was also obstructing the hook in process. Tried switching to an old "reserve" boom, but the in haul was jammed, so back to square one.
Maddened by the waste of time, and blown out forearms from the wrestling with the failed hook-ins, I was about to call it a day when Zev persuaded me to take the lines off and re-install one of them that looked twisted inside. Ditching the obstructing PFD also helped enormously.
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| Wind in the trees: there will be sailing. |
Each time I get to ride on the JP 109 FSW / Ezzy 5.5 Wave Panther II I love it all the more. The board is large but has enough rocker and pin in the tail to slip easily across the aggro Heckscher chop in more wind than I ever felt really comfortable riding such a floaty board.
GPS-PFD FOLLIES
So why the heck did I put on a PFD? I simply wanted to see if I could get some GPS tracks and I had no other place to carry my GPS but in the pocket of a PFD! The wrong sort of PFD, however, interferes with hooking in — too much foam near the hook. I don't wear one ofter for this reason -- I need to get some opinions on a more windsurf-friendly PFD for winter.
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