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It was a "get reacquainted with windsurfing" day for me. It has been awhile since I had a good, strong, windy day. It's blown, but I've had other committments every time.
I went to Grassy Point because I have yet another committment and needed to be back soon. I also went early -- on the water at 11am, which is about 4 or 5 hours earlier than usual. I wasn't going to miss it.
Unfortunately, the road to Grassy Point is still flooded. So, I parked outside the gate and walked my gear in. That's more work than you'd think. I rigged my 6.6 and Carve 111 with my 14.5 weed fin. The weeds exist, but only in pieces, no big floating hay bales. I went out and had to fiddle with my gear to get comfortable. I knew I'd have a little trouble dialing in today. Part of the trouble was that I often get so excited I can't eat, and I didn't eat much today before I went. My energy level was very low, and at first I wasn't comfortable at all. Since it was plenty windy, I went and got my 5.4 and put it up. I used my aluminum Chinook that I bought recently. It was the first day that I used both my carbon boom and my aluminum boom and I can really tell the difference. The aluminum is way more noodly and isn't as much fun for that reason, even though I like the narrower grip. It's all I could afford and I'm glad I have it, though.
So I sailed for about 45 minutes with the 5.4 but struggled to plane quite a lot. Eventually I came in, took a break and reattached my 6.6, which I didn't derig. Much better! I finally felt more aggressive because the speed and bounciness was familiar again. I was powered to overpowered almost the rest of the time, until my sail "repairs" (tape over two tears in the 6.6) because to come off. It also dropped off slightly, so the 6.6 was a little trouble. I took it as a sign to get off the water before the little tears became big ones. My sail is in my office right now, with a fan on it, drying it off. I'll try repairing it again with packing tape this time. The shelf contact paper that I heard might work wasn't all that great, though it was nice to have the big pieces.
When I came off the water my normal gear inspection turned up a universal joint "near crack". I'll need a new one of those, too. Wind is forecast for the next couple of days, though, and I'm excited to be back!
Today was the first day in a long time that I wore a wetsuit. I like to be warm, so I put on my shortie even though some people would think I'm crazy -- 80 degrees, though overcast and water 74. I don't like feeling cold while I'm windsurfing, though. That's okay while shoveling the walk or snowboarding, but to me, windsurfing is a warm sport and I enjoy it more when I'm warm.
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