Friday, November 23, 2012

Bad fall

October and November are my favorite months of the year for windsurfing: no crowds, temperatures that are still decent, and plenty of wind. This year seemed different, though - I constantly find myself craving for wind. My session log from the last 3 years (10/1 - 11/23, excluding light wind sessions) shows why:
  • 2010: 22 sessions, 746 km sailed
  • 2011: 19 sessions, 1000 km
  • 2012:  7 sessions,   271 km
Only about 1/3 of the sessions this year! We missed a few windy days this year when it was too windy (Hurricane Sandy) or just too nasty, but that also was the case in previous years. This is the first year we live on Cape Cod, so I am sure we missed more windy days in previous years, when driving to a good NW wind spot took 2 hours instead of 30 minutes.

Without wind, we did go stand up paddling a few times. The SUP is a great way to check out new spots. On the bay side and the outer Cape, we have 8-12 foot tides, to getting to know a spot from the SUP at low tide can be a fin and boom saver. Yesterday, we went to Barnstable Harbor shortly before low tide. At first, we had to paddle against the outgoing tide in the channels, which was nice exercise. The way back was easier, with a wind and tide pushing us back to our starting spot. Most of the area we checked out is unsailable at low tide, with plenty of sand bars and shallow, narrow channels. It is, however, a beautiful spot for SUPing, and was quiet and peaceful. Here are the tracks: