Saturday, October 28, 2006

The Cut/West Dennis/Duxbury, Windsurfed, SE 35-55, 2 others, 3.5/Acid

What a day! I only got a few runs in and I spent most of the day chasing wind, a fool’s errand as it turned out, but not for lack of wind. I took a few wobbly runs at the cut while there were 2 other guys there. It was gusting over 50. I felt pretty over-powered on my 3.5 with extra downhaul. The cut was fantastic in a SE. Too bad I was so overpowered. We were well down wind of the breakers on the outside. There was a wave that was peaking right in the middle of the run that was manageable and fun. One run could take you all the way to the tip of North beach, although I turned in the middle where the little wave was. The current was coming in and the wind was blowing in, same direction, but I had enough power to stay upwind as long as I didn’t spend too much time in the water- fast waterstarts. There was a rock wall with waves directly downwind. The sand blowing down the beach really stung! The next day there was a photo of one of the guys, Jerry Evens, doing a loop at the cut, on page 2 of the Boston Globe. I saw him do a loop in front of a camera man while I was rigging. I leave voluntarily- When they quit, I packed up and headed off to West Dennis. I didn’t want to sail by myself, overpowered, with the chop, waves and current at the cut.
Interviewed & kicked out of W. Dennis- There was no one sailing at West Dennis so I rigged to sail on the inside. I had never seen the water so high there! I was just about to step on my board when the environmental police showed up to say that they were closing the beach because water was starting to wash across it and into the road and it was still 1 ½ hours before high tide. The part of the beach that I was on was might be cut off. As I was packing up, channel 4 news arrived and asked if they could interview me. (Apparently, they played a clip of it on the 11:00 p.m. news and the 5:00 a.m. news, I also found it online.) On the way out, I turned in at the Lighthouse Inn parking lot to see if the waves were getting close to the hotel. Some water was starting to wash across the beach just to the right of the hotel, where we rig sometimes, and into their lot. I hope the Hotel didn’t get much water damage. Kicked out of Duxbury- I decided to stop off at Duxbury on the way home for a brief session before dark. I was rigging there, almost done, when the harbor master drove up and asked me to leave because I didn’t have a sailing buddy. Damn!!! It looked like it would have been great. The waves were rolling in on the lower parking lot, up above the signs. I tried explaining that I had left an open ocean site, because I didn't have a sailing buddy, to come here where it was enclosed and safe. He didn't betray even the slightest hint of sympathy.

1 comments:

Robert Bruce said...

Scooper, you should not have paid them any heed. Remember to sail first, talk later.