Meter readings today showed averages around 29 mph, with gusts up to 36 mph. There was no sand flying, though, making the readings appear a bit high. Nina wanted to go to Egg Island to work on Flakas using a 4.0 m sail, so I took my 90 l slalom board and 5.8 m speed sail and tried to go fast. The voice in my head? That was GPSLogit. Very useful. Just like Roo said.
Conditions were near-perfect for speed runs (and Flaka tries, says Nina). I heard "32" (knots) several times, which is faster than I had ever sailed before. 33 seemed so close.. but I later discovered that I switched from top speed runs to nautical mile runs just as the wind got strongest (and then dropped quickly). But my sail was probably too small for "real" speed, anyway: going back upwind was easy. That means I did not have much power in the downwind speed runs. Oh well. I'm happy with a new 2 second personal best. And it was fun! Yes, fun.
The way back was interesting. The wind had dropped, which seems to be the rule for Egg Island sessions. Without enough wind, the 90 l board becomes a submarine. Not a problem - if you don't want wet feet and knees, you should not windsurf. I opted for the easy way home, aiming for the Lewis Bay side beach at Kalmus. I even got a lucky gust that let me plane through the ferry lane. Submarine schlogging practice was fun, too. When I hit the wind shadow near the yacht club, I was almost on shore, and the swim was short. As warm as the water is, that was fun, too.
Yesterday? Fun on a 6.5 in south wind - big, orderly swell, than flat. Fog to keep us cool. Fun.
2 days ago? Another Egg Island/Lewis Bay session, again on 6.5 (Nina on 5.0). Sailed 135 km, jibed 150 times. Fun!
3 days ago? SSE wind at West Dennis, high 20s, low tide. Fun waves outside, nice and flat inside. Nina on 4.0, I used a 5.0 Idol. Found that it worked well with the slalom board. Fun!
But today was the best day - lots of wind, lots of speed, lots of sun. And for the first time, my ankle did not hurt at all for the entire session. That means I have run out of excuses not to do freestyle. Bummer! Not.
Nina is following Brendon's advice and is hacking away at the Flaka, and nothing else. Sure, she'll throw in a Clew First Push Tack or a 360 every now and then, but those don't count because she can do them already. She's making slow but steady progress. Could happen any day now!
I'll leave you with a picture of today's GPS tracks:
