Longer Is Funner

You'd think watching coupling and decoupling should be fun. It's not, at least if it's the wind. I did that yesterday, so I know. We got ready to leave several times when the wind meter went up to 18 mph, only to see the wind drop again 15 minutes later.

Today was a similar hot day. When the wind meter started playing the same up-down-up-down games again, I had enough. I put my F2 Lightning in the van, drove to Kalmus, and went out with my 8.5 m V8. Here's what happened:

Simply put: lots of fun! The wind was very iffy near the shore; a few guys who tried to go out on shortboards got very frustrated. The longboard, though, was fun from the very start. I toured a mile upwind to the Kennedy Slicks, where the wind seemed more consistent; then I crossed over to the point. The wind was great again on further away from Kalmus; however, I had to go really slow close to the point, because the many rocks there were barely visible at high tide. The swell on the outside was quite big, but I was out there all alone, and did not want to push my luck.

After about 90 minutes, the wind picked up to averages around 23 mph, and became more steady. Blowing sand was a clear indication that gusts were above 25, and my 8.5 was starting to feel a tad big. I also regretted that I had put in only the three rear-most footstraps - I could get in, but I could not find a nicely balanced position, and constantly had to push the nose of the board downwind. Maybe the Lightning thought it was a shortboard? More likely, though, the fin was not right for the conditions. I briefly thought about rigging smaller, but clouds were coming in, so I did not think the wind would stay up long - and indeed, it went back to its nasty up-down-up-down ways before I made it home. But I'm not complaining - I had two hours of most excellent longboard fun. Fully planing in the rear footstraps, with what feels like 10 feet of board in front of you and in the air, is an almost surreal experience. So, playing with coupling and decoupling winds is fun - you just have to bring the right toys.