Bonaire, Windsurfed, with family, many boards and sails

Picture- Barbara blasting.

Lightwind start; Somewhat gusty winds in the A.M. We started at 10:00 opening time. Barbara had a good time, Josh was a little frustrated. Ben got frustrated to start but worked through it and started sailing great with a 2.1/ RRD Evolution 360. This board is excellent for him- padded, small center fin so it goes upwind well, very turny so he can steer it with his light bodyweight. I instructed Ben and then got out for a short session right before lunch, 8.0 a little overpowered.

Candyshop of boards; After lunch Barbara and Ben had some R & R back at the Bel Mar pool. Josh and I went back to the Bay because Wind Guru was forecasting strong winds. They had Wind Guru bookmarked on the internet in the hotel office, $2.50 per session. It turned out to be right on, best wind yet! I taste-tested a bunch of small boards while the wind was up. It was like having a candy shop of nice boards to try. Some of the fins were a little small for the boards, guess they were set up for freestyle.

RRD Avantride 105- O.K. a little big for the conditions,

Starboard Trance 74- didn't like,

RealWind 80- nice board but the little 7" wave fin made it too much work to get on plane and go upwind in these conditions.
RRD Freestyle 90- really liked this board, fun to jibe.

Windsurfing Surprise; I had a surprise when I was using the RW 80 liter with the mini fin. Josh asked me to take a run on his board to adjust the harness lines. He would wait and hold my board and rig until I sailed back. When I got back he was gone. I thought that I must have come back to the wrong spot but that didn't make sense. I was just starting to sail off looking for him when he sailed up on the little 80 liter board/mini fin combo. I couldn't believe it! The smallest board he had ever sailed on was 111 liters and that was just yesterday. He has mostly been on pretty big boards, like 180 liters. He learned right away how to put a foot on the front of the little board and push the nose off the wind, wait for a gust, and coax it up onto a plane. He loved sailing it in the little chop that was starting to form. Now he just needs his waterstart and jibe.

We both ended up on duplicate rigs, RRD Freestyle Wave 90/5.0 very powered up. The 6:00 closing time came much too soon!

Chef Surprise; We had dinner upstairs at Salsa's, good view, good food. Josh and I had the 3 course chef's surprise for 2. It was very unique and very good.

Picture- Bonaire has great cacti!

Bonaire, Windsurfed, with family, 6.0/Flare 111, RRD Freestyle Wave 105, Carve 121; 8.0/Carve 133

Picture- Josh Cruising in paradise.

Klein Bonaire, Fire Coral; Barbara and Ben took a water taxi over to Klien Bonaire to snorkle during the morning. Josh and I decided to skip the snorkeling to get some more windsurfing time in. Wrong decision. The wind was great when we arrived at Lac Bay but got flukey and started to drop off almost as soon as we hit the water. Barbara and Ben, B & B, found the best snorkeling so far. Barbara reports that there was a barrier reef around K Bonaire with breaks in it allowing them to snorkel through to the outside which had a reef wall shooting down to the depths. Sounds nice! Barbara brushed some coral with her arm and later developed an oozy, itchy rash, on a few small spots. It looks like a bad poison ivy. It turns out that it was fire coral.
Little boards & fins; In the morning Josh had the misfortune of taking out the smallest board he had ever been on, Carve 111/5.0, in the gusty dieing winds. Likewise, while the wind looked good I took out 2 freestyle boards that had the smallest freestyle fins I've ever seen. They must have been about 4 or 5 inches long. The fins looked like a joke but I wanted to try these boards. I discovered that when fully powered they work, and feel very slippery, but in marginal winds they are terrible, which is mostly what we had. Josh and I both struggeled and wished we had gone snorkeling. Oh well.
Windy Lunch; Josh and I picked B and B up from the water taxi and we had lunch nearby at Karel's Beach Bar. This is the prettiest part of town. It was a beautiful setting, out on a dock with thatched umbrellas over each table. We knew it was getting windy because Josh's salad kept blowing over to my plate and he had to eat his french fries to keep them from blowing away.
Windsurfing Afternoon; Back to windsurfing in the afternoon, 12 to 18 mph. The strong wind during lunch didn't seem to be here, on this side of the island. Ben had a long succesful session on a 1.8/RRD evolution 360, making some beach starts and tacks. Barbara took a rest day since the wind was marginal anyway. Josh took out a 6.5 and managed to plane for a long time when almost nobody else was. I ended up on a 8.0 but still was planing less than Josh until the end when it really filled in. That very last part of the day felt great, cruising full speed on the big sail.

Bottom Picture- Ben snorkeling.

Bonaire, Windsurfed, with family, 5.5/Carve111

Day 3, Setteled In; Snorkeled in the morning, again. The site was called Andrea 1, the best reef yet, beautiful! The winds were a little light mid-day and then it shifted slightly and picked up. The last hour of the day was the strongest wind yet, plenty of wind for the 5.5, really powered up. Josh and I sailed together a lot today, nice. Barbara instructed Ben for a long session, at least 1 1/2 hours. He was getting some great beach starts! Barbara seemed more dialed in with the equipment and conditions today. Pictures- Ben navigating thru the crowd, octupus with excellent camoflage.

Bonaire, Windsurfed, 5.5/RRD freestyle wave 100

Love that crystal water! Snorkeled in the morning. Drove around the southern tip of the island on the way to Lac Bay, very desolate and arid, impressive salt processing operation, salt pans, old slave huts for salt workers looked like small stucco dog houses. Nice wind today! I had plenty of power with the 5.5. Josh and I took long runs over to the mangroves and then sailed upwind near the reef. It was fun to sail together, over the white sand bars, with the beautiful turquoise water. Josh was on a 5.0 and Carve 133. I was a little faster but I just waited for him after my jibe. Ben took the day off from sailing. Barbara is still getting used to the equipment and conditions. Picture- Josh at Lac Bay.

Bonaire, Windsurfed, with family, 6.5/Carve132

First Day; Still getting settled in. We did some snorkeling. Did some grocery shopping. We got over to Lac Bay late. Everyone got a chance to sail but the wind was a little light. Ben was on a Go 150 with a 2.7. He was having the usual trouble getting the board to turn all the way through the tack. He got a little frustrated but finally made a good tack and ended on a good note. I only got a few runs in but the wind was a little marginal anyway. Later, Ben practised snorkeling in the pool. He learned how to dive down and clear his snorkel without lifting his head. Pictures- We snorkeled off the dock at Bel Mar Apts. Ben conquers snorkel clearing.

Kalmus, Windsurfed, WSW, 10-26, with Gerry, 5.2,6.2/Acid 94

Good Fun; I probably could have been on the 6.2 for most of the time but the 5.2 was still fun. I rigged the 6.2 near the end when the wind was really dropping off. I got 1 heli-tack with the 6.2 on the Acid94 in the light winds. When I first got there it was mid-tide and those little chop waves on the sandbar were so much fun. That's the closest I've come to waves so far this year.

Traffic; I left for home at 9:15 last Sunday and had no traffic slow downs. I left at 8:00 tonight and hit a few minor slowdowns north of Duxbury but not bad.

Picture- unknown sailor at Kalmus late in the day, no crowds.

Boston Harbor- Hough's Point, Windsurfed, NW, 10-25, 6.2/Carve123

Looking west, mid-tide, when I launched. Looking west, high tide, when I got back. Easy to launch, hard to get back; This was my first time launching at Hough's Point. I thought it might be good for NW winds. I followed IWindsurf's directions to the seawall, "course sand to gravel beach in residential area". I had to scramble to get the equipment down the cement and rock seawall but gravity helped. There was another sailor out by Nut Island, the furthest point of land in the right photo. I sailed out to him and there was a nice cove with some chop hopping so I didn't come back until the end of the session. When I got back the tide was high and the beach was gone. I couldn't figure out how I was going to get up the seawall. After awhile I decided to try carrying the rig up some stairs that were partially underwater but not too far from the truck. I thought I might get knocked around by the chop, but the water depth at the bottom of the stairs was waist to shoulder deep, and the chop wasn't that big, so it wasn't a problem. The wind was O.K. for NW. I planed about 75% of the time. East, mid-tide East at high tide. The stairs for getting up the seawall didn't look very appealing from the water but it was fine. The view towards downtown, looking north.

Boston Harbor, Windsurfed, SW, 10-15, 6.2/Carve123

Fooled agian; It was 15-21 when I left the house, 13-18 when I got there (20 minute drive), and 10 -15 by the time I was rigged and on the water. I launched in Boston Harbor just outside of Pleasure Bay, and sailed until it was pretty dark, 9:15. It was still a good workout, got some sail 360's.
Picture; Pleasure Bay, unknown sailor with airplane.
Sailor has been identified! Claudio on a 9.5. Click on heading to see comment.

West Dennis/ Kalmus, Landboarded, SW, 3-10 MPH, 5.2/landboard

Freestyle Frenzy; light winds, non-planing conditions. There were some very good freestylers there. It's too bad that they were limited by such light winds. The second picture shows some of the action in heat 1.

Beach Trainer; Nakita had his trainer out for

everyone to try. Fantastic!

Mitch gave me some tuning tips on the Real Hot sails; he gets his info straight from the source- Jeff Henderson and Rob Wymore. Tips- downhaul at least until the batten above the boom clears the mast before the boom is attached. After outhauling, the section of leech above the boom should be straight, can be loose though. Don't worry if the Sail looks pretty flat. My sail definately looked better after the tune up!

Landboarding at Kalmus;

The report went around that the wind was up at Kalmus and was heading towards West Dennis, except it never got there. Mitch and I eventually drove to Kalmus. No luck. Gerry was there. He had been planing for about an hour or 2 just before we arrived. After sail tuning, I landboarded until about 9:15 in the parking lot. There was just enough room in the far end of the lot to get some duck jibes. I tried tacking but I couldn't quite get it to come through the wind far enough. The board really picked up speed in those 10 MPH gusts!

Pleasure Bay, Windsurfed, NE, 20-30, a few others, 5.2/Acid94

Super quickie; I snuck in a very brief session around dinnertime. Between work and family responsibilities I only had about 1 hour on the water. It felt great to be out in planing conditions! It was my first time getting good wind at P Bay. I was starting to think that wind never happens here.

Plymouth Beach, No wind, No direction, No Wndsrfing, No Landboarding, Nothing

Skunked! Not even enough wind to move the land-board. It was 10 -15 when I left the house, 1 to 6 when I got there. #*%&*%# wind! You are toying with me again.

Picture; Plymouth Beach looking towards Duxbury, 2 hours after low tide, not very good for the land-board at this tide, might be good for wavesailing in a NE or E down past the jetties. For entertainment, I drove up the coast as far as Humarock scouting out new launches for the future. No luck.

Block Island, Andy's Way, Windsurfed, Boat-surfed, SW 10-22?, Carve123/5.7 & 6.2, Josh, Barbara, AMCers

Great wind in the morning; Bob and Sherry were the early birds, ripping it up, then Barbara and Josh, Tony and Margie, Dave and Renee, Constance. I was beaching with Ben and didn't get sailing until the afternoon when the wind had dropped off, more non-planing freestyle. The wind picked up towards the end of the day but we had 2 tons of equipment to carry up and derig before catching the ferry so I only squeezed in a few planing runs. Tony and Margie rode it right up to the bitter end. Good for them!
Picture; Barbara blasting at Andy's Way.

Boat-Surfing; O.K. here's a light wind alternative. In the afternoon, Josh, Ben and I took turns riding the Acid94 behind the inflatable like we were waterskiing. I bought a tow rope with a handle last year with hopes that this would work. It was fun! That little 8 horsepower motor was enough to get the boat and towee on plane. After a while, we were able to get up and stand on the board, at least until we fell.

Tug Boat; While we were boat-surfing we got flagged down from a much bigger boat with motor trouble. They asked us to tow them to their mooring at Andy's Way. It must have looked funny to see this large boat, full of people, being pulled by our tiny inflatable, like a massive barge being pulled by a mini tug. It worked surprisingly well and I think we built some good will for all crazed water sports enthusiasts.

Block Island, Light Wind, Alternative Activities

Not enough wind to plane anything without a motor
Fishing, boating, snorkeling,baseball, and enjoying the beautiful Block Island vistas. No windsurfing but life is still O.K.
Ben Baseball Champion! Ben had been off island, up to this point, because his baseball team qualified for a special, “City Series”, playoff. He got to stay with his coach’s family last night and then played the last game today. They won! Ben pitched in all 3 games, including the last 4 innings of today’s game, without letting in a single run. I drove back to catch the last half of the game and pick Ben up. We were back on the island by dinner time. Ben got hit on the cheek by a wild pitch in game 1, left a nasty bruise with cuts in the shape of the baseball seams. He got the game ball, for MVP, from 2 of the 3 games. He is a very excited boy!

Pictures; Ben pitching, Josh in inflatable, Josh unicycling.

Block Island, Andy's Way, Windsurfed, SW 10-18, with Josh, 6.2/Carve123

Beautiful warm sunny day: Temp close to 80 on the island. The 6.2 was a little too small to keep me on plane in the light winds, too big for some of the non-planning freestyle moves. I tried the loop exercise again but I couldn’t get around as far as last weekend. I think it was because of the 6.2/longer boom. I couldn’t reach as far back on the boom before jumping. I mostly stayed in the shallows over the sandbar.
Josh was on the 6.8. He was planing about half the time. He definitely has the footstraps down. He was having no trouble getting in and out of them even in the marginal winds. It was such a nice day on the water that Josh and I were both having a hard time stopping. Josh said, “Dad, there’s something wrong”! I asked what it was and he said, “windsurfing is too much fun, I can’t stop”. That’s one problem he’s inherited from his old man.
Seal; There was a dead seal washed up by the tidal pool at Andy’s Way. At first I thought it might be driftwood. I finally walked up to look. It was definitely a dead seal, minus its head.
Picture; Sometimes Josh forgets to use his hands.

West Dennis, Windsurfed, SW, 15-20, 20-28, AMC trip/Petra Kanz Clinic, 5.2/Realwind85

Hopping Chop at West Dennis
Clinic & Unexpected Wind; The forecast only called for wind to the upper teens but it started there and built to the upper 20’s. We started with Petra's morning indoor clinic, mostly refinement of basic technique, then Barb, Josh and Ben got out sailing, wind in the upper teens. By the time I got on the water it was in the mid 20’s. By then it was a little strong for the on-the-water clinic, and it was getting late, so there were just a few of us left on the water. Josh was too tired to sail anymore so he took pictures.
The Clinic Overall; came off great for a cold, drizzly weekend. It could have been a little warmer for a few that didn’t have good suits or Nordic genes but there was something for everyone- lots of windsurfing talk, good food, good company, great instruction & sailing! The lighthouse Inn is a wonderful site for the trip. Barbara deserves a lot of credit for orginizing the trip, dealing with cancellations, complaints.
Ben; Ben sailed a transition board and 2.1. I stayed with him in the pond. He sailed for about 1 hour, had a great time. That big board was turning very slowly for him but he got 1 tack and 1 beach start. He really loved getting the beach start!
Josh Conquers the footstraps! Josh sailed a transition board, with the 5.2 and then 4.2, on the ocean side in the strengthening wind and chop. Getting into the straps just seemed to click for him today. He said he had to get into the straps just to stay on the board through the chop. By the end of the day it had gotten easy for him. I was impressed that he was out there in pretty strong winds, blasting along, and tacking that big old board. He's definately ready to start working on shortboard jibes.
2nd picture; Duck Practice