Saturday, August 29, 2009

Cove Sesh!

Nice! First Cove session of the Fall! 'Twas far from epic, but it was also much more fun than it looked from the beach... The winds were light ESE with a few puffs of about 20 rolling through, and holes in the single digits. The waves were mostly waist high with the occasional shoulder or head high set rolling through. Keith, Stuart, and I sailed, and there were about 5 or 6 kites in the air. Etiquette was top notch in all directions. Cheers!

I schlogged the Pocket 80 with a 5.5. The wind was fickle enough that I was almost never able to use the harness, so the arms got a solid workout. The cardio system and legs caught up to the arms while trying to waterstart in the impact zone with 8 mph wind. But the one *good* wave made all the effort worthwhile! It was clean, walled up, and begging for me to hit the lip on 3 solid down the line turns... mmmmmmm...

We all know windsurfing is addictive. But there's something special about a mostly lame session with 10 seconds of glory that just makes everything seem so sweet. It's tough to explain, but the possibility of being in the right spot at the right time and scoring that one fleeting moment of perfection keeps the fire so definitely alive... First, the yearning hits when you spot the perfect set wave breaking just out of reach. Then, eventually, the realization that it might actually come together for you, as you schlog yourself into position and see the horizon bump up as a set approaches. Finally, the excitement of following through and taking full advantage of the opportunity provided... It's such a simple thing, but so completely satisfying... Maybe because it doesn't happen that often, so it just seems that much sweeter when it does. Maybe because it took so much effort, that the simple reward seems so satisfying... Whatever it is, I love it!!

No pics, due to the far offshore action and lack of sunshine. Sorry!

The more time I spend on that Tabou Pocket, the more I love it... That nose shape just pops up and over whitewater like nothing happened, and the tail is so loose on the wave face... It's just so easy to sail... With these new shapes, performance wavesailing is so freaking accessible! Gimme a shout the next time you're around, and demo the 80 or the 85- Sailing in the ocean is already hard enough... There's no need to make it harder... Come try out the Pocket!!

1 comment:

George Markopoulos said...

I know the feeling your describing Andy. I'm more passionate about our sport today than I've ever been. Addicting 4 sure