Surfing Fool

I wanted to stay local because I didn't have much time to sail. Besides the local forecast for wind looked good for a change. Fooled again. Nantasket surf scene I crashed the surf scene at Nantasket. There were the usual stifled laughs and inquiries about my kooky looking board, footstraps and all. I said that it was a tow-in surboard that I bought from some guy named Laird Hamilton in Maui. Nobody seemed very impressed. Nantasket, Surfed, Carve123, with others. After surfing and waiting for wind at Nantasket I hit Duxbury, pond side, for some wind that looked good on the meter, felt good in the parking lot, but was mostly a tease on the water. If I had more time I would have put up bigger equipment to get me thru the near-constant lulls. I had to get home and cleaned up for a Porcupine Tree concert with Josh and crew of teenagers. Duxbury, Windsurfed, SE 12-27, 5.2/RW85, solo.

2 Winds

Peter K Levitating at Corporation A windsurfing wind and a kiting wind. I sailed in waves, strong wind at Corp in the AM then kited in the mellow flats at Chapin during mid/low tide in the afternoon. It was a soul satisfying day!!! Almost a kitemare? So when I was walking my kite upwind, in knee deep water, another kiter, Dave, kited too close and crossed my kite. We both released to our safety lines, walked it in and untangled everything, no big deal in this case (light winds, shallow water, no kite spirals) but it definitely worried me. He was a newbie too, and very apologetic. I've been wondering, since I started kiting, what would happen if 2 kites crossed. Now I know. It's not pretty. In strong winds, or at the wrong location I'll bet it could be a lot more serious. Igor- It was great to see you! Your a human weather sock. When you start showing up at Chapin again it means the windy season is coming! Bring it on. Sagamore Bridge Repaving- The traffic was good leaving the Cape, until exit 2. Then it just stopped dead. It took 45 minutes to go the last few miles. I rummaged thru my lunch left overs, made some phone calls, and clipped my toenails while I was bumper to bumper. How often can you clip your toenails while you're driving on the highway?! The repaving is supposed to continue around the clock for the Fall and Spring. Corporation, Windsurfed, NW 13-30, 4.2, 5.2/ RW85, with Scott, Jerry E, Jerry C (Field Pub, Cambridge), Jamie, Jeff, others. Chapin, kitsurfed, NNW, N, 7-17, 12 M Kite, 152 Ply board, with Frank, Sandie, Igor, Dave, others.

AMC, Petra Kanz, and the Lighthouse Inn

The forecast for this weekend's AMC trip was bad. The trip was good. The clinic went well despite mostly rainy, mostly non-planing conditions, thanks to Petra's enthusiasm. This is the most important lesson from a windsurfing instructor- we're windsurfers. We make the most of what we get. Ben had a spontaneous urge to back flip It was a fun group. There were some new faces, some old faces, and some very old faces, (even older than mine), but most faces looked pretty happy. I think everyone had a good time. West Dennis in E wind- On the rainy Friday evening, I got down early enough to have almost 2 hours of windsurfing, practicing my very weak port tack jumps, in strong E winds before dark. The wind seemed almost dead side shore but there was a very noticable wind shadow near the beach, and the meter read low by about 5 MPH. West Dennis, Windsurfed, 15-28, E, 5.7/ RW 85, solo Who kites during a windsurfing clinic? Traitors. On Saturday mid day, I did a downwinder from the Lighthouse Inn to chair 9, using Petra's board. Petra gave me a ride back to the Inn. It helps when the windsurfing instructor is also a kitesurfing instructor. West Dennis, Kitesurfed, 12-17, ESE, 12 M kite, Petra's board, Peter Barbara gets on a plane in light winds with the help of a 10 HP motor Wakeboarding with only a 10 horsepower motor- Barbara & Ben came down on Saturday evening. On Sunday Ben trainer kited. The wind was pretty light. It was a good time to pull out a motor. Ben and I got planing on the Real Wind 85 liter board behind the boat. The trick for getting up was to do it when the boat was moving pretty slowly. Once up and cruising, it was stable enough to cross the wake side to side and play around. We got Petra up on the RW 85 board. This inspired Ben to get up on the kiteboard, with a little starting help from Petra. I tried to get up on the kiteboard but the boat didn't have the juice to pull me onto a plane. Petra got up. Barbara took some turns blasting the boat out to the rock island and driving for my wakeboard attempts. It was another classic, rainy, make-the-best, AMC West Dennis weekend trip.

Total Body Muscle Cramp

I windsurfed in the morning until my arms cramped up, then kited in the afternoon until my legs cramped up. It was perfection in muscle cramps. I didn't neglect any small part of my body. Chapin was a huge kiting/windsurfing party on the beach! This is only half. Windsurfing- I made the long walk out to the water to start but I was just 1 person in the parade of windsurfers and kiters crossing the sand bar. The windsurfing felt so nice, with the side shore wind and Chapin's small wind waves. I practiced going down the line a little and even tried a couple loop attempts. Kiting- From 2 hours after high tide to 4 hours after, Chapin was a giant bathtub, perfect for baby kiters! There was nothing around except shallow, flat water, and sand bars, very safe and easy. I was up and riding, and completed 1 slide turn without crashing or sinking! The new fins fixed the slipping out problem I was having with my cheapo ply board. This day was about as good as it gets! Windsurfed, NE, 15-23, Acid 94/5.7, with Chris, Sergey. Kited, ENE, 8-18, 12 kite/152 ply board, with Frank, Jamie & Robin, Sandie, Sammy.

I got Summer parking at Chapin! no wind

Skunk- Got Skunked at Chapin. Parking- While I was waiting for wind I asked the attendant about Summer parking. Here's the lowdown- Mayflower Beach opens at 7:45 and fills up by around 9:00 on a hot Summer weekend day. Then the overflow parking can fill up Chapin by 9:30 or 10:00. Today there was still parking at 10:00 when I left Chapin, probably because the temp was about 70. Bottle- I stopped at Kalmus to send this bottle & message on its way. It was found at Kalmus on 4/4/09 by Olivier. I added a new note to the original and I've been waiting for a NE wind to set it free at the scene of the discovery.