Sailboat and Sailboard Cruise around the islands

Chris's Baby on a glassy day Chris wanted some company for sailing in his sailboat and I wanted some company for windsurfing on my windsurfer so we hatched a plan to cruise around Boston Harbor together, each in our respective crafts. The adventure turned out to be a lot of fun, at least for me. Chris had to stay in the channels and deep water so I followed his boat with my windsurfer, like a fly flitting around a mothership. There were lots of wind shadows and strong funneling gusts between the islands but I loved actually going some place for once. My favorite spot was between Long, Spectacle, and Thompson's Islands, just upwind of the Bridge to Long Island. There was a funneling area with nice peaky chop. After about 4 hours of weaving around the islands I derigged in his dinghy, passed my gear up to him and climbed aboard for some civilised sailing. My launch, Snake Island, Boston skyline. Challenges- I wasn't so good about staying really close to Chris's boat. This made him nervous about losing sight of me or of having to rescue me if I broke down someplace that was rocky or shallow. He kept his main sail down and just flew his jib so he could concentrate more on watching me and could pick me up anytime. I only fell once but it happened when I was at a distance and he lost sight of me for a few minutes. It made him realize that he would feel pretty stupid calling the Coast Guard for help looking for my gear, or my body, blowing out to sea. If we do it again we should probably do it in an E wind. Gear that really helped- Camelback, tow line to help with derigging process, cell phone to call from an island (I did). The dinghy was necessary for derigging while under sail. Route-I launched near Winthrop Town Pier, Chris from Winthrop Yacht Club, we met near Snake Island, headed past Deer Island to Long Island, then between Spectacle and Thompsons, around Spectacle and back to Long Island, then back to Winthrop. Boston Harbor & Islands, Windsurfed, SW, WSW, 12-32, 5.7/ Acid94, with Chris.