Monday, April 21, 2008

Nantasket Beach, Everything, ESE 5-15, solo

Inspiring? I got a comment, offline, from a windsurfing friend saying that my blog is inspiring. Really? That's probably the nicest complement I've gotten on this windsurfing/blogging stuff. It partially offsets the, "nutjob", and "sicko", comments I got last December, when I posted about ice angels forming on my sails. My friend also said something about me still doing this stuff at my ripe old age but I'm not going into that.

Not inspiring- I had a few free hours today in light winds, so I scouted out a new wave venue, Nantasket. When I arrived, it had tiny waves and tiny wind. This called for my full arsenal of light wind toys. Here's how;

1; Used an old Fanatic Bat, (transition board),to kayak surf the tiny waves.
2; Ditched the kayak paddle, used the Bat to surf the tiny waves.
3; Stuck a 6.2 on the Bat and used it to surf the tiny waves.
4; Stuck the 6.2 on the landboard and gave up on the tiny waves.




Poor Man's SUP; I thought I could use the Fanatic Bat as a stand up paddle board to catch some waves. I've SUP'd that board before in flat water, but it's tipsy in bumps, and kneeling and paddeling in waves isn't much fun. I'll have to try a real SUP to see if it's as good as they say. It's hard to imagine that it could live up to the hype.
Nantasket, high tide



The landboard was fast and fun, lots of high speed duck jibes. At mid tide, the beach was a smooth, flat runway. ESE = side on. If I had been smart enough to move down the beach, I probably could have found some onshore wind for long cruisin' runs. I had loosened up the trucks after the last session and it made it much more turny and fun, big improvement. Nantasket, mid-tide, with landboard tracks

Nantasket looks like it could be pretty tasty in a good NE, E, SE swell with wind. It might get pretty big. A local big board surfer, that was leaving as I wheeled in, divulged that there are surfcams at The Red Parrot Restaurant, and N.E. surf. I took Rt. 3 to 228, 45 minute drive with light traffic.



Click on pics to see full size

9 comments:

PeconicPuffin said...

I think a nutjob can be inspiring. I don't know about a sicko, though.

I'm looking forward to trying out the SUP thing myself, with both paddle and sail (not simultaneously...that would be sicko). But carrying my Superlight is a bit much at this point (it does not live up to its name when hauling it over sand.)

scooper said...

Well, I think you have to be a nutjob to be inspired by one. So there.

Good luck with the Superlight! Those were, (are), pretty nice old boards, except when they're out of the water, like fish.

Anonymous said...

I've had several Epic wavesailing days in Nantasket, stay tuned....

Anonymous said...

Your blog engenders the spirit of adventure, risk taking and living life to its fullest. Your inquisitive photography often ends on my computer desktop displays. Keep it coming!

scooper said...

Hey, thanks, Jean! That sounds so much nicer than sicko. I think nutjob is still up for debate.

It's also nice to hear your comment about Nantasket. I was wondering if it got many, (or any,)windsurfers or kiters. It definitely gets the surfers.

Anonymous said...

Last time I was at Nantasket musta been about 2002 (will check my log when I get home) in 4.5 conditions, with serious wave action - logo high, nice and smooth on the inside. I remember seeing a kiter, sport was still pretty new, he asked me to land his rig, I was in awe of his courage to go out in those conditions...

Anonymous said...

Looks pretty good at Nantasket right now! ESE around 20 knots!

scooper said...

Yeah, and it's probably going to be light on Sunday, when I have a whole day with nothing but white space on the calendar.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I feel your pain, buddy...