Yes, they did. Well, Nina's gloves came off. She did not need them during a lovely session at Barnstable Harbor today. It was warm! Air temperatures were somewhere in the mid-50s. The water is still colder, so I still needed open-palm mittens, but was nice and toasty otherwise. At least no more need for hoods!
The wind was somewhere between WNW and NW, so the flat spots were few and far between. It was also quite up and down, from overpowered to not planing. But the windmeter readings for Chapin showed averages of 12 mph or below, and gusts only up to 16. So we should not complain about planing most of the time on 5.0 (Nina), 6.3 (Hardie), and 6.0.
I worked a little on going switch. I got half-way there, but never got the back foot into the strap on the switch side. Not that I tried too hard - I was more concerned about jibing from the switch stance without getting wet. The "real" tries will have to wait until the water is warm enough for thinner boots. Won't be too long now - the
ABK camp in Hatteras is only three weeks away!
