A nice day at the hatch--a little up and down. If I had rigged the 5.5 I would have been planing all the time, but the 5.0 made things better on the swell, even if it did take some effort to get her going. Lots of folks throwing tricks at the point practicing for the upcoming Freestyle Frenzy.

Only brought the wave board since it was forecasted to be windy--it wasn't :-p. Always bring the big board and the 8.3...

Another guy out on the water about 4 doors down. They're coming out of the wood work I tell ya.

PSB: Bell's Two Hearted Ale 

I had already been cycling twice, swimming, running, worked a full day, and was headed out boating to just relax but looked across and saw someone planing at cole park so I turned that way instead of toward the marina! It had been a few days and i needed a fix. Plus June has rocked, so I just HAD to finish it in style. So I show up at the park in my cycling jersey, running shorts, and bathing suit probably looking a little loony (which means I fit right in there) and start a rigging frenzy. The wind died soon after so after a few JJs it turned into a LWF session. Later I told Kyle (the planer I saw from afar) that he made it look better than it was! He showed me the special white shapes so I can tell apart his 6.8 from his 5.4 from land, because otherwise they look the same. So now i know. But still awesome to have a sunset sesh...this never gets old.

Waves 2-3'  Pretty smooth with very light wind.  Some decent punch on the first bar.  Short rides.  Clear water with some light cloud cover made for a very nice session.  Lots of seaweed beginning to raft up.  Surfed with Chuck & Jason.  OTW-0:47

I thought I was overpowered yesterday...today far more so, even on a smaller sail. I am positive I could have been on a 3.2. But like yesterday the wind really jacked up after arrival and time was short so I did not go home for other gear. Weather like this is actually good though b/c it forces me to do lots of jibes, which I never really practice. Somehow during rigging my mast had separated in the sail, and I snapped it shut on my palm, causing this weird blood blister/cut/bruise that changed in color and texture throughout the day. Luckily it did not bother me windsurfing, but it became problematic later surfing @ Port A. The surf sesh was AWESOME, my funnest day ever, lots of "long" (for me) rides, easy paddling, big swells. It was my first day really getting up and riding multiple times, but the conditions made it easy. Wish it was not such a drive or I'd be there lots more.

Scroll down to the end if you want the windsurfing... To beat the heat in the gorge, we had planned to go camping at Mount Rainer, but when we got to Mount St Helens, we found out that the road was blocked by 10 foot snow drifts, not due to melt until the end of July. So we headed east towards Mount Adams, forging the Explorer through some small snow drifts across the road. We found an official forest service campground to stay at, but the only occupants (family?) there had three huge cow-dogs and, once we arrived, starting shooting off shotguns and handguns at targets (or maybe the cow dogs? ) in their campsite (never seen that before). Well, obviously they were the only ones there for a reason, so we headed elsewhere. Found a great commando campsite in a clearcut off one of the gravel side roads. It was hot, even at 4,000 feet. But we had a great time hiking through the still snowy and cool woods. And there was a big snowbank next to our tent site. We put the air mattress on top of it and had a nice cool afternoon nap, buffetted by the occasional 100 degree breeze. The next day we headed back by way of Trout Lake, but got stuck all the way up to the differential in one of the icy compacted drifts. After digging out with boots and a dead tree trunk, we backed up and found a lower elevation forest road to get back home. In the gorge the heat was soaring to 100, and Windfest at the event site was alas windless (just like last year). I headed down there just to see what was up. Saw Wyatt Miller give his usual great freestyle clinic. Kai Lenny, Bern (killing everybody on the SUPs.. no wind remember), and Rob Warrick were there too. With an hour left in Windfest, thunderclouds started to gather and the wind began to build. I dressed out and got a JP XCite 120 from Big Winds and a 7.5 Retro from Sailworks. After finally getting things balanced on the 7.5 I had a few good rides. Went in and exchanged the 7.5 for an already set up 6.5 Retro as the wind got stronger. Some more sailing and it was time to return stuff, plus the thermal wind was getting too strong for the 6.5 with the dark clouds over Hood River and the heat out east. The XCite was a favorite low wind board from Baja and worked well again. The Retro.. well.. the folks at Sailworks were really great but it just never felt right for me at least. I know others like them. Right now it is raining, after some lightning. Quite a weekend.

It got nice and windy for a bit. Another guy sailing about 1/4 mile down.

PSB:

088-  STRANGE DAY WITH WIND, NO WIND, WIND, MORE WIND, ETC DUE TO A COUPLE OF SMALL SQUALL LINES (LESS THE RAIN) MOVING IN A COUPLE OF TIMES UNTIL FINALLY CLEARING AND PEAKING FOR THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON.  ONCE TO KRS EARLY BUT WITH A VERY WEEDY SLOG BACK, THEN PRIMARILY TO SI#! AND #2 AND THE LAUNCH..  GENERALLY UNSETTLED WITH BIG SPREAD BETWEEN LULLS AND GUSTS AND DIRECTION SHIFTS, RIGGED A LITTLE SMALL BUT AT TIMES DIDN'T WANT ANYTHING BIGGER.  TODAY TIED MAY IN HIGHEST NUMBER OF DAYS SAILED IN ANY MONTH SINCE 2001.  FORCAST FOR LAST TWO DAYS OF JUNE IS IFFY AT 10-15 MPH BUT STILL HOPE TO MAKE JUNE THE HIGHEST MONTH FOR NUMBER OF DAYS SAILED. 

EPIC DAY!!!!  Great wind.  Great friends.  Micki & Kent traveled from Austin and lured me to the beach.  So glad I put aside my home improvement project for the afternoon. Awesome day.   Didn't even see any jellyfish.

Max Speed: 28 mph
Miles Windsurfed:  25.8
2008-miles: 410.9