Received: from zonker.hpl.hp.com by jr.hpl.hp.com with ESMTP (1.37.109.24/15.5+ECS 3.3+HPL1.1) id AA090007252; Thu, 17 Jun 1999 04:00:52 -0700 Return-Path: <poulton@zonker.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis> Received: (from poulton@localhost) by zonker.hpl.hp.com (8.8.6/8.7.1) id EAA18363 for wind_talk; Thu, 17 Jun 1999 04:00:49 -0700 (PDT) Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 04:00:49 -0700 (PDT) From: Ken Poulton <poulton@zonker.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis> Message-Id: <199906171100.EAA18363@zonker.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis> To: wind_talk@zonker.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis Subject: 4 days in June Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
============= Sun 6 Jun 99 - 3rd - 3.9/257 (196#)
The Big Swim.
It was honkin' when we got to 3rd, so we rigged little sails. We had a
great way-powered hour in the channel, but we getting worn out by the
many-direction chop, so we went in for a rest.
After 20 minutes or so, we were ready for more. We had to work a bit
to get back out - it had gotten lighter inside - and in the channel, it
turned out to be just barely enough to plane, but I was not keeping
upwind against the flood. I decided to go in, but waited a few minutes
trying to get Michael's attention (now well upwind of me) to say so.
Mistake. The wind continued to drop and I was quickly in too little
wind to slog my 86-liter board. (Can't wait for that new big board to
be ready...) Michael, as usual, managed to slog in.
Usually, I can assmue a waterstart position and make enough shoreward
motion to fetch up on the shore somewhere, but this day the flood and
the wind direction made that impossible. So I swam. And swam. And swam.
90 minutes later, I was approaching the bridge and I was still going to
be short of the shore. Whilst preparing myself to make my first
under-the-bridge swim, I saw people in wetsuits walking around on
the construction barges moored under the bridge. I swam like crazy to
at least make it to the near-shore barge, and found that if you go
to the sides (*not* the front), you can climb up on the truck tires there.
Luckily, there was another windsurfer there to help me get my board and rig
up the side - I would have had a tough time doing this in my exhausted state.
>From there, it turned out that we could simply walk up the gangplank
to the fishing pier and walk to the parking lot by the foot of the bridge!
I was not the only one caught by the shutdown - I counted nine sails on
the pier! Both Michael and KenB were there to help drive my sorry ass
back to the launch. Thanks, guys!
It also turned out that the other barge (much further from shore) worked
as well. Edward washed up earlier than most, got himself out and then
saw some sailors drifting down between the barges. He (and maybe
others) found a rope, dangled it over the side of the pier and caught
several whoppers! Luckily, he practices catch and release.
Thanks to everyone who helped out.
============= Sat 12 Jun 99 - 3rd - 5.4/257 (196#)
Michael and Paul and I arrived to some better-than-normal wind, so
we rigged 4.9 and 4.4, but decided at the last moment that the wind
had dropped, so we went up to 5.4 and 4.9 (5.3 for Paul). We
were way powered for the first half hour, then just nicely powered.
The water was quite choppy in the channel, so we went upwind
to near marker 8 and found much smoother swell there, though only 2-4 feet.
After about 90 minutes, it seemed to be getting light, so we made
a run for the shore. Just made it on the remaining wind, though
I ended up at one of the downwind ramps...
============= Sun 13 Jun 99 - 3rd - 6.0/9'1 (196#)
This looked like a repeat of Saturday, so we went and rigged the same
sails, only to have the wind flounder and start to drop off when
we were ready to sail around 3:00. So we rigged up a size, and
then we switched to bigger boards, and then we finally went out
because... we were already too hot in our wetsuits, I guess.
We planed off from shore, but the wind was still dropping and after
a few reaches in the channel, we were slogging. So we slogged back.
I was reminded of
a) how much I hate slogging for a mile and a half
b) how much I prefer it to swimming that distance
============= Wed 16 Jun 99 - 3rd - 5.4/257 (196#)
Finally, a Standard Summer Day!!!
We took our standard sails for 3rd (5.4 for me, 4.9 for Michael)
and they were perfect. We so much power we could go way upwind (beyond
marker 8) against the end of the flood. There were some beautiful
swells up there - not very high, but very long, wide and smooth. We
were hitting nearly all our jibes, making a few nice jumps, going
whereever we pleased. It was fabulous.
Around 5:30, it was getting a bit light (and the wind turned more SW),
so we headed in but ran into a huge Wind Hole. For the next 15 minutes,
Michael slogged in while I could only body-drag towards shore. And then
the wind came back and I could sail in again. Phew!
Ken Poulton
poulton@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis
"Banking off of the northwest wind,
Sailing on a summer breeze,
Skipping over the ocean like a stone."
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