Nine day trip, wind for two days. 🙁
After a very cold and wet winter (got bored of all the snow), the summer has been very hot and very dry in the interior PNW, seems like The West has been on fire all summer long. BC wildfires had air quality in Seattle horrible for a couple weeks in July. The Sisters Fire had us worried about sky transparency for the eclipse.
We stayed in Cascade Locks for the first 4 days of the trip, I’d never stayed west of HR before. We museum-hopped, and made a successful return trip to McMinnville (w00t! water park!). Light Easterlies.
Moved to The Dalles for the remainder of the trip.
Tuesday afternoon, there was wind, but no instructor. The kids and I rented longboards, and we sailed around the lagoon. Been a long time since I’ve been on a longboard. 😮 Uphauling is a whole other thing. I fell in. A lot. It’s a good survival skill, and getting used to keeping the board flat is good. One reason that I like beachstarts is that you’re powered up when you get on the board, so you have something to lean against. But that’s another show.
I got caught in the current and ran into the buoy line 😐 then L was on the lee shore, so I sailed downwind (always fun 🙂 ) and helped her get to shore.
B was sailing all over the place, he’s getting really good.
All craft ashore, we headed to the new hotel.
Wednesday was supposed to be the real nuker of the week. The kids teamed up with E_, and I got a Jibe lesson from JaK. He’s really, really good.
I’ve not been confident getting into the footstraps this year, I think I’m up to 4 runs (!) where I was able to find at least 1 for a bit.
Yeah, well, add another one 🙂 I’ll get to it.
I did a couple runs to check harness line position and boom height and stuff. Then I took my first run, which was supposed to be an attempt at a carve gybe. I went all the way across in the harness, but without using footstraps. JaK noted how fast I was. Aw, yeah.
It turned (as I supected it would) from a “Jibe” class to a “Hook n Foot”, which is obviously where I needed to go. I got some good hints on non-planing gybe, too. Duck Foot. I’ll never forget it while gybing 🙂
Anyway, on one run South, I nailed the front strap, felt her accelerate, and after a bit, decided “might as well put the back one in too”, and for a brief moment, total control. Remember to make time to weather. 😐
And yet, 🙂 🙂 🙂
L was making it across on beam reach, she’s really starting to get good. B is also doing quite well, and caught a lizard. The local guys look sort of “great horny toad” to me, reminds me of STT 😀
Thursday, it was windy again. B and L graduated to bigger sails. Me, too. a 5.6 Sailworks Revo today. We tried out some different stuff, I guess I’m pretty used to my board, dunno. I was able to get my front foot in and out of the strap several times, but by the time I was getting there, it was pretty gusty, so foot-in-lean-forward-mastfootpressure-lull-foot-out,… but I was getting in during mosts gusts, I think. I also think I could stand moving the lines back a little — perhaps I could sheet less with the back arm, and more with the harness?
There were a few moments, where instead of moving with my feet or arms, I swung on the harness, to push the nose downwind and start picking up speed. I remember that. It’s called “committing to the harness lines”, but that’s much too dry a description for it.
You do the same thing on 470s and the like. Out in the harness, keeping the boat flat and shifting fore and aft for boat trim. There, you (generally) have a skipper to share the load, but on a windsurfer, it’s just you and the sail and the board and the wind and the water.
It was sublime. It’s the feeling that made me fall in love with sailing in the first place. Taking advantage of the Earth’s rotation and the sloshing sky, just a part of this little craft, just remembering that she knows how to fly.
Thank you JaK. I’ll be back soon.
Friday had been showing “skunked” all week, lived up to its reputation. After 3 tough days on the water, we took a bit of a breather and played some Minecraft, &c. K came into town for the weekend. Yay!
Saturday, no wind, 105º in The Dalles. Museum and water park day. Got to meet and owl and a hawk, and also learned to front somersault from a diving board. Aw, yeah.
Sunday, forecasted to blow late, but another pair of forest fires sparked overnight, in Cascade Locks (yikes!), ash and smoke in the air in The Dalles and HR. K and kids went kayaking. Drove home on US30 E, Rowena has a really spectacular canyon above it. Ooo! And CGWA was doing another swap meet, and I had been looking for smaller sails (the 4.0 is a bit big for the kids), and after looking at several boards (I have no idea what “other” board we need as yet… but it was fun looking at all the designs), I started poking through 3.2s, and came across a gem.
It’s an Oceanic 3.1, looks like it’s never even been sailed. It’s like the windsurfing gods saying “hey, sorry about that”. Thank you, Bart! A perfect small sail for the quiver! Whaaaat?
When I was a young warthog, I wanted a set of Rushwind sails so bad, I could taste it. I finally saved up, walked into Dave Russel’s shop, and said “I’m ready to buy” … and he’d sold the brand the previous year, to Gaastra. But, he was now making Oceanics, and did I want those, and “yes!” and I’ve had them ever since. I know I sound like some strange car collector, ooohing over the difference between the ’54 and ’55 models. But I do love these sails. I never thought I’d see another one.
I think the kids are going to love it.
Decided to drive home early, beat the Labor Day traffic rush, made it home by 11:30.
Decidedly odd weather, this year.