Happy Birthday, Jim!

First and foremost:

Happy Birthday to my brother, Jim! Here we are, hanging out last April in the Caribbean:

That's Jim on the left. As you can see, he got hooked up with the "handsome" genes. Jerk.

His birthday was actually yesterday, and I had meant to post this last night, but I fell asleep at about 8:30. Too much intense windsurfing knocked me flat on my back, and it was lights out before most 1st graders hit the sack!

Speaking of intense windsurfing, yesterday lined up for another super fun 4.2 day at the Hole. I've been rigging that sail on a 400, and it always felt pretty good but a bit twitchy. Yesterday, I grabbed the top half of Anne's 370 when she wasn't looking and used that with my 400 bottom. What a difference!! Man that sail felt great! The shorter, softer top allowed the leach to open just a little bit easier, while the stiffer bottom section kept a little more shape in the main panels. Good stuff! Try it out the next time your sail feels pitchy, or if the wind is super gusty. You just might like it!

Anyway, me, Stuart, Keith, Jim K, Billy D, and a few others hit up some solid bump and jump conditions, straight west winds, gusty and fun. The chop was just about perfect for big jumps. Stuart and I had a little loopfest out there, chucking forwards left and right, on virtually every tack. We even got off a few back and push loop attempts when the right piece of chop popped up in front of us! Super fun to be chucking yourself around out there! I saw Keith throw a few perfect forwards, too, and Jim K bail out of a MONSTER air! I love seeing people go huge, it gets me amped up to push it even more! No photos, due to the overcast, spitting rain conditions. Definitely "coastal" weather.

So yeah, I was exhausted, and I fell asleep at 8:30 and shirked all brotherly birthday blog responsibilities. Sorry, Bro! But late is better than never, right?!

Tropical Depression?

My oh my, it feels mighty tropical out there today... The roads are flooded, and it's super windy out of the North, veering NW (look out for some big soundside flooding when that happens!). Rainfall yesterday was just under 3", and it poured all night, I'm sure just about doubling the totals. I'm hoping the rain clears out this afternoon for some open eyed sailing!

**update** We received another 5.88" of rain on Wednesday!

Here are a few pictures from my commute this morning. I probably could have walked faster...

RT 12 is not only flooded, it's whitecapping...

Uh-huh : )

Suddenly, the fake dolphin and dock to nowhere seem to make sense

Speed Sailing at Kite Point!

Crrrrrrankin'! There's a big ol' coastal low sitting just a bit south of us. It sent us intensely gusty East-ish winds and tropical like rain squalls all day long. Both the Frisco Pier and Oregon Inlet iWindsurf meters registered gusts up to 60 mph, but the majority of the day saw 30 to 45ish mph winds. When I pulled in to the Hole this morning, the wind literally whipped 2 of my masts right out of the back of my truck and sent them careening down the beach. Luckily, no one was standing out there! Crankin'!

All day long, we've been about 100 yards away from clear skies

The recconaissance mission this morning left me empty handed. All of the South facing beaches looked sailable, but kind of pointless. There was a visible 2 foot windchop rolling across all the wave faces (which were probably a bit overhead in the sets). The fun factor just wasn't there... I did hear a report from Rick, who sailed near the Billy Mitchell Airstrip. I think he said he was on a 3.2 (?), and was getting bounced all over the place, but it sounds like every now and then a nice shoulder high wave lined up for a down the line ride.

**Update** A visiting sailor said he watched about 5 guys sail the Cove in the afternoon, powered up on 3.5 and down, in about logo high sets, and peeling down the line rides! Suhweet!!

So instead of chasing it all day, most of us just sailed at the Hole (the only soundside launch with any water left). It was blowing straight offshore, just howling across the highway and over the super flat water. Keith cruised down to Kite Point and came back with reports of a perfect slick, angled about 15 degrees off the wind and deep water 8 inches from shore! Time to go speed sailing!! Unfortunately, I don't have access to any (small enough) speed gear at the moment, so I rigged up my trusty 4.2 world sail surge and 85 liter RRD FSW, with an 8.25" wave fin. According to my GPS, I got up to a max 35.4 mph. Not too bad for a wave kit! And I wasn't afraid to chuck a few loops off the chop at the end of the run, either. Try that on a speed needle! Ha!

It looks like the next few days are going to be unbelievable!! Probably a sharp veer to the NW sometime tonight or tomorrow morning, so keep an eye out for soundside flooding, and don't leave those rigged sails lying around!! The swell is going to be out of hand, too, so we'll have to see what we get....

See ya out there!

Lighthouse Video, and the October Wrap-Up!

Alright, we finally had a little break in the action over the last day or two. I took advantage of the time off and put together a video of the Lighthouse session from a week ago (see the bottom half of this post for a recap). Thanks for filming, Ace! Enjoy, everyone!!




Even though the waves are basically flat and the wind hasn't puffed over 8 mph in 2 days, I think everyone's glad to have a bit of a break... I know I was just about worn out after the last 2 weeks of insanity... It's good to get a break! Which leads me into the October Wrap-Up:

18 sessions windsurfing (5.7 x5, 5.0 x11, 4.2 x2)
10 sessions surfing (3 SUP, the rest prone)
9 sessions in a 4/3 wetsuit, 12 in a 3/2, 7 in a shorty, 0 in trunks...
10 rest days.... 7 of which I could have sailed or surfed, but got scammed by a hectic work schedule and short days :(

So October pretty much ruled for satiating the 'ol surfing and sailing habits. It did, however, get cold quickly when we basically went from end of summer temps to full on winter for the last few days of Westerlies... Luckily it warmed up again, and is sunny and 68 Fahrenheit at the moment! Can't wait to sneak out for a sunset SUP after work!

Looks like plenty of action on the way this week, with some forecasts calling for multiple days of 30+ mph winds again!! See ya out there!