Hawaii trip summary

We've been back from more than a week from our trip to Hawaii, and I finally got around to looking at all the movies we made with a Canon SX 20 from shore, and a boom-mounted GoPro Hero HD.

The videos are not overly exiting - we spend most of the time getting used to the high chop & swell, and to sailing smaller boards and sails than usually. Never got comfortable enough to work on loops or Vulcans - I did not even try a duck jibe, since most of my jibes were wet. One thing that comforted me in my fights was what Tulpe, a windsurf instructor in Cabarete, had told me a few years back: plenty of windsurfers who had learned in Margarita and other flat water locations got really frustrated when they came to Cabarete, since they had to learn everything all over again in the chop & waves there.

The good news is that we had 8 days of wind. Many of these days were on 3.6-4.0 sails. Here's the video:


Unfortunately, I had a little accident on the last day that required a substantial board repair. I'm still not sure what caused me to run into a stationary board. Perhaps a gust or wave pushed me to the side; or maybe the problem was that I was looking at the guy in the water, and we always go were we are looking. Next time, I'll definitely stop or turn much earlier, and won't rely on "I'll be a mast length to the side". Nobody got hurt, and only my (rented) equipment got damaged. Still, it put a big damper in my mood on the last day. Just when I was starting to get used to the conditions and have fun...

A week after coming back, we sailed at our favorite home spot in Fogland, RI. 25 mph wind, temperatures in the 70s, really flat water - nice! Used a 5.0 sail on a 110 l Freestyle board - that combination would have been impossible to sail in Sprecks at 25 mph winds. It actually took an hour to get used to the flat water, board, and gear again, but then the fun started. I did my best (highest min speed) planing jibe ever, set a new PB for speed on the board (47.5 kmh), worked a bit on getting popping, and had a blast. I sailed more than on my best day on Maui, even though I took a few longer breaks to rig a second sail and change fins, and had a lot more fun. I just love flat water!

The next trip to the Gorge is coming us soon. Usually around this time of the year, we should have even more wind than on Maui, so it should be an interesting trip.