It's November 9th, and I have windsurfed 6 days so far. Here are a few highlights:
Day 1: Sailed the WET Fall Regatta at Dave Kashy's place. Stayed the best Bed & Breakfast I have ever stayed in, just a 2 minute drive from the regatta. My sailing was poor, but I'll blame it on my board, which had 40-80 l less volume than the other longboards in the race. Perhaps I really should blame myself, but Andy Brandt always says the board is too small to be competitive. When the nose went under water every time I tried to pump or ride the small swell on a downwind angle, I thought of Andy. Let's not talk about the last race where I took the Ultra Cat...
Day 2: Back on Cape Cod. The first of three days where the forecast predicted 12 mph, but we got 20. I missed the best wind, but still got to plane on my 6.0 for almost 2 hours. Got my second-ever clean planing Push Tack.
Day 3: Another 90-minute "bonus" session with no wind in the forecast. First time all of my Carve 360 tries were dry - just 5, but that's good enough for me.
Day 4: Crowds on the beach due to a good forecast made the wind shy - it did not want to come out for a while. But over the next 3 hours, I went from practicing pumping to being overpowered on the 6.5. Played on 3 boards - the Skate 110, then the XFire 90 for a few runs, finally the 3S 96.
Day 5: After a much-needed day of rest, it was time to try something new: Corporation Beach in Dennis. Perhaps not the smartest choice for a flat-water lover like myself. Tried the 3S 96 with a 6.0 at first, but did not like the schlogging and/or pumping in high, choppy swell. Not one little bit. Stopped soon, derigged, and changed into dry closed. Then practiced bitching about the conditions.
But everyone else had fun, including Jerry, Martin, PK, and Nina. So I just had to give it another try, this time with a bigger board (my Skate 110) and a sail that's easier to pump (Idol 5.6). That worked much better, and I actually had some fun. Not quite as much as Skaket would have been, but any fun is good fun. I windsurfed only 80 minutes between 8 am and noon, but was much more tired than after sailing Kalmus for 3 or 4 hours.
Day 6: Another unexpected bonus session at Kalmus this afternoon. Nicely powered on the 6.5/110 l combo for more than an hour, until another windsurfer showed up (Bruce). He's a bit more efficient than I am, so the wind decided it was enough to cater to Bruce's needs, which had me waiting for gusts and pumping. Carve 360s were a tad better than last time - I made one of three tries. The key to success was keeping the body forward... just like the Tricktionary says. This probably was the last day for my 4/3 wetsuit.
There's plenty more wind in the forecast for the next few days:
I'm actually glad that there won't be much wind tomorrow and Thursday - I need the break days!