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I've been really busy lately and it's been chilly, too. I didn't move here to sail when it's really cold so I stayed away (freezing temps!). Also, my mother and step-father were in town visiting and since I now live in a windy locale, I don't need to throw a hissy fit when it's windy when we have company. It was very windy while they were here.
Finally got out today, though, after more real estate mumbo-jumbo (buying a house process kicks into gear again, I really hate this!). I almost went to Grassy, but decided on BIB after I decided not to take the Equipe. If it's light and I don't have the Equipe, it means I'll be using the big fins. That means shallow Grassy Point is out.
I arrived and rigged the 7.8/44 and the Allstar. It was pretty good for about 45 minutes or an hour. I was ripping pretty well about 75% of the time but didn't feel totally comfortable. I had read about how much downhaul I needed, so I really cranked on it and that threw off the harness lines again (I'll die before those are set right on back-to-back sessions). Plus, I wore booties because of the cut I had on my foot and the big fish hook I found at BIB last time I was there. So, the footstraps were too tight. I also wanted to fiddle with the mast base location. So I stopped and adjusted. I also added about a inch of outhaul. Going back out there was as much, if not more, wind as there was just before, but I couldn't get going as well. Because of the adjustments, it must have been either that a little more outhaul killed the power (I don't think this) or the moving of the mast base forward one inch put too much rocker in the water when I'm trying to pop onto a plane and that's killing it.
If it's the latter, then I just figured out how to milk the planing threshold down a bit. The pop-onto-a-plane thing has been a bummer, though once going the board shines.
Unfortunately, about when I was going to come in and move the base back again, the wind died significantly and I just stayed out and practiced tacking, pivot jibes and tried to heli-tack (my deal was to do at least one successfully before I came in and it was looking like it might be dark before I did this, but I finally pulled off a shaky one. I was getting really thirsty, too).
I moved the base back again, so I'll try it out next time I'm on the board. I'd like to be able to make these adjustments and compare on the same day, but it always seems to die when I come in to adjust something.
Thomas T. is back from France and I saw Don & John from Worldwinds and Elliana (sp?) was there, but Evan was working. Talked to a couple of other sailors, but no one I had met before. One guy was totally pissed because the wind was gusty. It never fails to amaze me how people hate the wind if it's not perfect. I'll get mad at myself for bad sailing, but the wind is untouchable. Me no say bad things about the wind. Besides, I spent way too much time on the beach in completely glassy, absolutely not-a-friggin-breath-of-wind conditions to care if it's not perfect rock steady 20. Sure beats what most people's days were like.
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