Wind Forecasting- where there's smoke, there's mirrors

Nearly perfect Barnstable Harbor Waiting for wind, took a walk along Barnstable Harbor. I found the Long Pasture section of the harbor to be particularly secluded and beautiful. All it needed to be perfect, was wind. That turned out to be a commodity found only in Boston, which I had left at the crack of dawn to drive here, in search of wind. I finally drove back home, got some gusty kiting at Dog, where it was supposed to be glassy. Wind forecasting is all smoke and mirrors. Dog Beach, Kitesurfed, NNW, NW, 8-29, 13M Octane/ Mako 150, with Andre, Colleen, Frank, Brad, Flo, Sam, Paul, Skipper, Others.

Chatham- Upwinder, Downwinder, Bike

What a great day for exploring around Monomoy Island! The wind died for lunch, then came back stronger than before. I can't believe how lucky I was to not get stranded anywhere, or chased off the water by thunderstorms. I'm probably going to have to pay for that later somehow. Parking lot party, waiting for wind in AM Here's How- In the morning, Skipper and I do an upwinder from Harding's along the bay side of Monomoy Island, about 3 or 4 miles out I'd guess, to the place where the little outer bar connects to the Island. How-U-Doing-Chris joins us for a while then peels off. It's mostly waist to ankle deep crystal clear water with sand bars and tiny beach grass islands here and there, as beautiful as it gets. Skipper has some excitement when he sees a 3' shark jump out of the water near him. We decide it's not a shark cause sharks don't jump, only kiters and windsurfers do. Picture- Skipper and Chris on a tiny offshore sandbar with miles of shallow water. There are 2 boatloads of kiters taking lessons on the flats at our furthest point of travel. They're probably pissed that we're making their many miles of solitude and shallow water so congested with traffic. The wind drops suddenly, which gives us a new appreciation of how far out we are. We can barely see the tiny kites flying back at Harding's. It would be a very long walk and swim back! What took 2 hours of upwind edging coming out takes about 15 minutes going back for Skipper, a little longer for me. It's lunch time, 2:00. Upwinder- S, SSW, 12-22, 12M Varial/6' Surfboard, with Skipper, 3 miles out. Downwinder to The Cut- I've wanted to do this downwinder for years! Route- I go downwind along the bay side of Monomoy, then find a path and cross over to the ocean at one of the last sandy spots I can see before the end. Obsessive Detail Map The ocean side of Monomoy Island is the best run of the day, silky smooth water, a little swell here and there, and solid wind! It's too bad that I am so cautious about the conditions. Conditions- I had planned for the incoming tide in the mouth of The Cut but, because the wind had dropped mid day, I ended up coming over late. The tide is ripping out hard. The wind is mostly sideshore where I first cross Monomoy, offshore once I round the elbow. I very much want to take some runs across the cut in the smooth water but I'm thinking about being by myself, with a rip tide, offshore wind, and this is the spot where most of the Great Whites have been spotted and tagged in the last few years. I picture a worst case scenario here that starts with the wind dieing suddenly and ends with a not-so-great White Shark putting holes in my kite. It's hard to patch holes made by a Great White. End of the line at The Cut, looking back towards the elbow. So I wimp out, do little S turns and stay close to shore. Besides it's getting late, dark clouds are moving in, and I still have to bike back to the truck. Wimp, wimp, wimp. Downwinder- SSW, 15-25, 12M Varial/ Mako 150, Solo, 2 Miles. Bike- I just relax and take it easy biking back to the truck, enjoying scenic Chatham in it's Summer glory. It's a perfect way to cap off my day. I'm sure I didn't deserve such a great day but I'll take it! My trusty bike at the lighthouse, Monomoy Island in background

Puffer Cheeks

Afterwork session at Yirrell- I didn't have enough time to explore the 5 sisters but I had a lotta fun trying out some board grab jumps at Yirrell. After a few wobbly, kinda successful grabs I realized that I was holding my breath and puffing out my cheeks during the jump. I guess it helps my concentratation to imitate a blowfish. I decided I had better stop before my face got permanently stuck like that. My chicken loop rope broke at the end of the session, had to swim it in. I was still smiling tho. Yirrell Beach, Kitesurfed, 12-22, ESE, SE, 13M Octane/ Mako 150, with Brad, Johhny D, Others.

Boston by Bike, Kite, and Paddle

The view from middle sister, looking towards Yirrell Beach and Deer Island Kite- Dog Beach morning, NNW was very gusty, maybe 5-25 MPH, kites were falling out of the sky at times, still fun to kite, watch Fred hit his double back roll, hang out with Paul, Colleen, Andre, Ben, Flo, others. The wind died in the afternoon but I wasn't ready to call it quits. Bike- O.K. this is complicated. I suggest skipping it and looking at the pic instead... I left my board at Revere, parked my truck at Yirell, biked back to my board at Revere, locked my bike, paddled to Yirell, drove back to get my bike. The bike ride was 3 miles, took 30 minutes but I hugged the coast, dead ends, stairs and all. Paddle- This was fun. I love to explore the coast! It took 1 3/4 hours but I was meandering and took a long break on one of the 5 sisters breakwaters. The only bad rocks I saw (for kiting/windsurfing) were off the point where the Seal Harbor hi-rises sit. The area around the sisters was the most interesting. There were lots of gravel bars and tidal ponds, mid tide, also a tiny shoal outside of the 2nd sister where the flat waves would rise up out of nowhere and peak in about 3' of water. Now I want to explore the sisters by kite!

Horsing Around

I had to climb this chair Afterwork- I got 2 short sessions at Horseneck in between longer sessions of waiting for the wind to return. No complaints though. For a weekday evening, any water time is good time. Horseneck, Kitesurfed, S, 10-22, 13M Octane/ 6'Surfboard & Mako 150, with Cap'n Bill, Surfer Seth Click on picture to see large.

Track Star in the Family

Pursuing Excellence Track Star- Not Me, Ben. He went undefeated for his entire 8th grade season, and finished up with 3 more first place wins at the All City Meet, (long jump, 800m, 4 x 100m relay). Way to go Ben! Cold Track Star- Today he went to a post season statewide championship and hit a little head wind. He only took 4th place finishes in the 2 events he entered, and it rained like skunks the whole day. He was philosphical about it. He said he didn't mind coming in 4th as much as he minded spending the whole day shivering and squishing around in wet socks. That boy deserves a hot shower and some pasta. Warm at Winthrop- Did I kite? Yeah, after the soaking and chilling at Ben's track meet I climbed into my Winter drysuit, got good and toasty, hit the water from 6:30-8:30 in Boston. The waves on the point were tiny. I heard that they were good earlier in the afternoon. Or maybe that's what the other guys always say when they're packing up, "Dude, you shoulda been here a couple a hours ago. It was fantastic!" It's always fantastic just before you arrive. Winthrop, Yirrell Beach, Kitesurfed, NE, 12-21, 13M Octane/ Mako 150, Solo.

Wake Up and Smell the Wind

Chapin Morning I got to the beach at 7:15 because the forecast was for light, fading wind. The wind blew all day. I left the beach at 5:15. It killed me to leave when it was still windy but I had been on the water for about 6 to 7 hours. It was either waste some wind, or waste myself. Glorious Chapin- The early morning, low tide session was as beautiful as it gets, water was deep turqiouse, silver sunbeams reflecting off the rippled surface. I worked my way as far to the left as I could go, towards the point of Sandy Neck, and played in the maze of sandbars and small waves. After a couple of hours I threaded the channels back to Chapin to meet Frank. He made the 1/2 mile trek across the main bar to join me. We had the miles of sandbars and coastline to ourselves until the rest of the world woke up and smelled the wind. Chapin, Kitesurfed, NE, ENE, 8-26, 13M Octane/ 6' Strapless Surfboard, Mako 134, & Mako King, with Frank, Robert, Gregor, Johnny D, others.

A Good Head of Foam

Waq Bay- It was fun to be back at this spot where I cut my kiting teeth 2 years ago. I remember how impressed I was watching somebody practicing single runs here because she could come back to the spot where she started. I thought I would never be able to do that. Waquiot Bay, Kitesurfed, SW 12-22, 13M Octane/Mako 150 & 6' strapless surfboard, Robert. Picture- Apres kite, I like a good head of foam on my bay.

Mixed Salad at Nahant

Cutting the Rug at Nahant- John Coelho Nahant had small, smooth, beautiful waves and good wind. The beach was a mixed salad of windsurfers, kitesurfers, surfers, SUP, and kids making sand castles but everyone had smiles on their faces. I was planning on windsurfing with some of the ol' crowd but one guy came in with a 7.5 sail, big board, massive fin, and said that my 6.2 and wave board weren't going to be good for anything, so I kited. Offshore Wind- Pretty good wind quality in SSW. It was just a tiny bit offshore, felt pretty safe. Then it went SW. That felt much more offshore. On some runs I was traveling almost parallel to the beach. It made me nervous so I just did short runs and tried not to think. Nahant, Kitesurfed, SSW, SW, 10-20, 13M Octane/ Mako King, with Paul, Skipper, others.

Craziest Wind I've Ever Seen

I was at Pleasure Bay, wind was too light to kite, so I went for a unicycle ride around the bay. About halfway around I felt a wind shift. Suddenly a cool NE wind was blowing straight in my face. I looked forward, at the flag on Castle Island, NE wind. I looked back at the flag at the kite launch, S Wind. The flags were pointing towards each other! @*!?? Wasn't this breaking the laws of physics? Sailboats in the harbor were going in all different directions at once. I expected to see an alien spaceship descend from the sky. Picture- The graph is not very impressive.  I was wondering if it could show 2 wind directions at the same time.

Riding a Delaminated Mako Kiteboard

Stress testing the repairs I got to ride the resurrected Mako, love it! No board carves a turn like this. The board is so smooth. I don't think it's going to be my favorite board for light wind but for waves and forgiving landings on jumps it's got to be about the best there is, at least until it falls apart again. Pleasure Bay, Kitesurfed, SSW, 10-20, 13M Octane/ Mako 150, with Jean, Rod, Sam, Skyrocket, Johnny D, Others.

Repairing a Delaminated Mako Kite Board

Scoopers Home for Wayward and Delaminated Boards- I took Jean's broken foam core Mako into the shop to give it some TLC and to save it from the trash can. I know this old board has some stories to tell. I'm hoping it will whisper them to me the next time I take it out in some wind. Here's how I tried to bring it back to health- Click on pics to see large. Prep- I cut the ragged edge of the old foam to make a clean edge, and removed a few small pieces of foam that were left around the fin holes. I sanded the fur left from the foam on the top and bottom sheet but it was coming off slowly so I mostly left it. Making Parts, Edging- I glued up Versatex PVC board to make a blank for the new edgeing. Traced the shape from the board and cut it out, sanded it by eye to get the taper on the edgeing. Foam- I used Last-A-Foam, from Fiberglass Supply, to make a new foam core section. I traced the PVC edge onto the Foam, cut it out, sanded the foam to the thickness and concave by eye. Used a knife to cut out the hole for the old fin hole reinforcement block, (which looked like solid thickened epoxy). Glue Up- I glued the whole mess together, old top and bottom sheet, new foam, new PVC edging, old fin hole block, with lots of West epoxy. It was more floppy than I expected so I put small clamping blocks on the place where new edge meets old edge to get rid of sag there while it dried. Fiberglass Reinforcment- I have low confidence in the strength of the repair. After all, the original construction wasn't strong enough and the repaired board will always be less strong than the original. So I sanded the bottom, put 1 layer of cloth over the bottom of the board, 3 coats of epoxy. I tried to wrap the cloth around the edges but it didn't work, should have used thinner cloth. You can see the texture of the cloth if you click on the picture to see large. The Result? It looks almost as good as new, feels a little heavier. I know it will work but not sure for how long. One session? Stay tuned.

Surfing and the well rounded individual

Surfers in the mist It's a soft grey morning at Nahant, no wind. The early morning horizon is lined with mist. I've been surfing and now I'm laying on my board at the edge of the backwash, resting and catching my breath. I'm thinking how great surfing is. Before coming in I kept saying to myself, one more ride, for about 5 rides. See, I can enjoy something other than kitesurfing and windsurfing. I'm a well rounded individual. It's nice that I have time to lay here and rest. I close my eyes. It feels good to relax my tired arms, legs, and shoulders. I try to let go of my thoughts and focus on the beach sounds- waves, seagulls, gurgling water... Blowing sand? I turn my head and open 1 eye slightly to look at the flag over the bathroom. Nope, still no wind. Surfing is great. I go back out for 1 more ride. Nahant, Surfed, Acid94, others.

How to do a Board Grab Back Roll in No Wind

Most of the kiters I know, and have ever met, are at The Outer Banks this week kiting. Someone had to stay behind to protect the women and children. But I couldn't think about that this morning. The wind was up. I had some kiting to do. West Dennis, Kitesurfed, 10-20, SSW, 13M Octane/ Strapless Surfboard & Flx 136, Mad Cow, with Andrey, Colleen, Gregor, George, Matt, Rod, Romain, Others. Picture- Romain, from Quebec, sticks a board grab back roll when nobody else has enough wind to waterstart. Notice- no white caps. Kite- 12M Bandit4, expert rider, light body weight.

Sleepless at Chapin

I slept in this morning, got up at 5:30 instead of 5:00. The half hour made a big difference. It meant I was driving straight into the sunrise. Man, it's hard to relax and drive with that ball of fire burning into your skull. I was tempted to close my eyes but even I know you can't do that while driving. I might miss my exit and end up at the Outer Banks. Hmm, maybe that's the excuse I've been looking for. Strapless- This was my first really fun strapless surfboard session. Kiting just gets better and better. Chapin, Kitesurfed, NE 8-18?, 13M Octane/ Strapless Surfboard, with Pedro, Flo, others.