The mid Winter update:
It is of course, not over till it’s over.
While it has been the worst stretch of windsurfing weather I’ve seen since I moved out here, there have still been some memorable sessions. And a couple memorable beatings and denials as well. Like for most of October. November treated us a little better but wasn’t especially kind either. Sure she gave up a couple things. Just enough to keep me from totally losing it. But barely. Didn‘t help watching the live cast of the Aloha Classic then all the videos that came of that. And of course it’s all the fashion for the pros to throw down the fairly slick sesh vids. South Africa is going off. Margaret River. Indo. Chile. I’ve been lucky to get a couple photos much less a bunch of video footage and the time to mix something down. Not that it isn’t on my mind. One of these days I’ll get it together to make you something.
So then December teased like our luck might be turning around but not really. A couple days sure early on, but extended stretches of all too much catching up on work and board repairs and landscaping and six dog doors at the local shelter in to make indoor/outdoor runs. And as I feared, this turned into an ambitious project considering how destructive that crew can be and the lengths we had to go through to armor everything up.
January gave up sessions at Kissing Rock, the jetty and Pipe but still just only enough satisfaction to keep me from doing anything seriously questionable to myself or my windsurfing gear (like trading it in for surfboards as there has been some awesome looking surfing around here lately.)
The “man I miss Maui” update:
2/9/17
This from Crescent City during a storm the middle of October and one of the few days I had in October. Had a 4.5 and a 3.5 rigged around the corner and just toggling between them. I was wishing I had a 4.0 up too there for awhile. And I almost put it up but then it went 3.5 again. Pretty much drilled rain the whole time too.
These photos thanks to Tigi shooting from the parking lot at K. Rock on 12/8, during a break in the rather monsoonal rain.
So it was a mixed story from the Groundhogs and it's just as hard to say from what we've been seeing on the south Oregon coast. Now it’s feeling like deep winter again as it went from California conditions to blowing small craft to storm force for a week with some fairly biblical rain. (All too much of which I've missed as work, dogs, injury, temperatures there for awhile and fairly bizarre wind cycles have conspired to deny.) But last Friday at Pipe was unreal and I did finally get to ride that 88 in some decent waves yesterday. This was a rare chance to catch K rock blowing Kona with only moderate current flowing. It's actually breaking quite sweet when it’s not all closed out. The surfers have been on it too. I'm sure it's going to be an entirely different scene today though. Ahhhhhh but that board is rocking my little world in a huge way and all I can think about is getting to ride it in the Cape. _____________\_
This photo courtesy of Trina and her phone at K. Rock 2/8
And this was a tasty little score on 1/18 down at Pipe. With much gratitude out to Tigi for enduring both the storm and four dogs to be there to shoot these for you. Sure it was a rigging fest (5.0-5.3-5.0-4.5-4.0 and I would have had to rig 3.5 to continue but called it as I was getting cold and making mistakes.) but the carry is only about two dozen paces from the parking lot. And it was so worth it to get my first rides on a new to me Teboul custom that is rocking me heavily. I was needing a little satisfaction so large and this sesh went far to get me through.
When it got even lighter on the inside, I came back for some bigger stuff and snuck back out for a couple more. I’m for sure loving every chance I get to ride that new Fringe proto.
Yeah, come sailing with me and I’ll let you take her for a couple waves if you catch me taking a break.