Here’s another frame grab, but from video I shot on the 5th.  I was encouraged by this footage, but the stuff I shot a couple days later and mixed down for that teaser certainly benefited from what I learned this day.   And I’m so confident the next offering will be so much better again.  While I almost canned all this footage to save space,  I did have some fun mixing it down and it’s good practice.  Hey and I’d be stoked to hear what you think if you took the time to download and watch the clip.    

    It’s not like I wasn’t dressed for it.  And we could all take a cue from Sheila who doesn’t mind the rain.  Sure she’s less than thrilled about hail, (or 40kt wind driven rain which feels all too much like hail,) but up to about 35 kt rain is no problem at all.   Most of it rolls right off her anyway. 

    And for those of you that might sneer at the world class flatwater freestyle/speedsailing/hero jibe practice, there’s always what I’ve been calling the on-ramp.  Four or five tacks to windward brings you to the harbor mouth and a dial-a-wave situation that affords you the opportunity to scare yourself every bit as much as you might care to.  Seas in excess of twenty feet can translate to ridable shoulders with a large smooth section out by the channel markers.  And the wrap wave feels like the Gorge with attitude.  So while the speed zone section on the inside between the lighthouse and the boat slips is somewhat tide fussy, harbor mouth is far more forgiving and offers an excellent alternative to the inside when the tide get’s either too high or too low.  These shots from 12/10.  And I’ll see what I can do about getting some video next time I’m out there.

    And these next shots come to you thanks to Tigi on the fifth of December.  This day I was pleased to ride the 4.7 and then 4.5 to comparing and contrast the Fringe and the Banzai for this rather esoteric kind of windsurfing.  While I so love the “Fringe feel” in the wave environment, I couldn’t help but think the higher aspect and enhanced stability of the Banzai helped me be a little more comfortable in this far more flat out sort of attack.   And of course, the Banzai is perceptively smaller which is almost always a bonus when it’s so madd windy yet so smooth.       

    And for a Megazine exclusive, I wonder if you might have a look at what happens to be the world premier of a

sixty second teaser for a soon to be released three and a half minute micromocumentary inspired by this footage.  While I’ve been holding out

for some more or even better footage, it’s been pretty bleak of late with nothing in the ocean and only three days of skatesailing for me these last couple weeks.  We’re due though. 

    (All of this from back in the first week and a half of December if you’re wondering. )

    While I’ve had a few dry sky sessions down here, it’s a south wind spot and admittedly, the south winds most usually come with the storms feature prodigious amounts of what is often rather ballistic precipitation.  And I had to laugh when the time before last, even Sheila didn’t want to get out of the van.  A first.  In her defense, it really was especially nasty.  Solid 30 to 40 kts all morning with gusts to 50 and driving a heavy rain pretty much the whole time.  While I did wish I had remembered to bring my goggles, I was still glad I made myself go as it was madd smooth sailing.  Indeed, I was ethereally lit up on 3.5 and 4.0 for some rare rides on the little board.  Maybe I should have tried to shoot some video, but in my defense, that was a fully focused, two hands on the boom kind of day. 

   As for all the rain, all but the most stormy days seem to still feature clearings and sometimes a little sun.  And even the aforementioned day that offer no such respite was still a pleasant change of pace after the beatings I endured trying to sail off the beach at Kissing Rock and the Rogue jetty early in December.  Yeah, the madd current, large NW swells and gusty offshore winds that have been the norm for the last several storms have eroded my confidence right along with the shorelines.  So these trips to Crescent City have not only been huge confidence builders, but have afforded many hours in the straps that I wouldn’t have otherwise scored.  Along with the opportunities to dial fins, mess with some POV video, work on nose in landings and train for the next hero jibe contest.

Tigi photos

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