Chapin Beach, NNE 15-30 building to NNW 20-38, 4.2,3.5/RW85, solo start, then with Gerry, Gary, Scott, others, solo end.

A proper state of mind for windsurfing? I had a lousy week at work. So when I heard the gale warning for this weekend I thought it could be just what I needed to take my mind off of it. If I sailed until I dropped I would have to feel better, in a way. I had the passing thought that this might not be the best state of mind for getting behind the wheel of a windsurfer. But then, I thought, I'll be fine, and I might be able to use this to my advantage. I've been toying with the idea of trying a forward loop for some time and I decided that this might be a perfect opportunity. All I'd have to do was to channel my weeks worth of pent up frustration into throwing myself into the loop. My natural fear of maiming myself would be no match for this powerful sense of release, I hoped. did it work? Yes and no. I didn't make any loops. I did make a lot of attempts, until the wind picked up. I didn't break any equipment or body parts. And I do feel a little more philosophical about my week now that I'm thoroughly wiped out. I may never actually complete a loop, of course, but I feel that I've done the hard part, conquering my fear of throwing myself over the handlebars. It will be interesting to see if I can throw attempts with such abandon after I've had a good week.
Boring details- Temp was in the low forties. I wore poly shirt, t-shirt and fleece under my drysuit. It was just right. Glacier gloves for my hands, pretty cold at times. Thick booties duct taped to my dry suit, was fine. Full hood, (also protected my eardrums on the loop attempts). I could feel some wind chill at the end with wind into the upper 30's. It was fine as long as I stayed active. Tide etc- I sailed from 9:30 to 3:15. Dead high was at 11:20. I don't know why it was still sailable 4 hours after high tide. Even when I stopped there was waist deep water in many places inside the sandbar. I could have sailed a little longer. 85 liters big- I started to feel a little overpowered just before I stopped for lunch. I was on the 3.5, which was O.K., but the board was flying off every little piece of chop. After lunch, the wind actually got a little stronger but the water flattened out, lower tide, and I felt better. The water was generally smoother out in the waves, except for the waves. Just goes to show that 85 liters is too big for gale winds with chop. Probably way too big. This is 2 weekends in a row in which I should have been on a smaller board than my smallest. Not sure what to do about it though.
Picture- Chapin receding tide, my board is wondering where all the other boards went.