Seneca 9/26 Evening Sail

[Geoff]

Wow. Missed most of the day – it was going off <i>ALL</i> day – because of crises at work. Dang. An important meeting for Tuesday got canceled, which allowed me to pack up and head to the lake. A few windsurfers and kiters out on the west wall (Bill and I’m not sure whom else as we didn’t get close enough to identify).

Got to the park at about 3:15 to greet Brad and a student finishing up a lesson. Measured 19-22 at the wall, and rigged a 5.8 and the 117 Aero. Overpowered and lots of glide in lulls, I rode for a bit and decided to go to the Kombat and add outhaul. Gradually adding outhaul 3x, it was getting windier and windier so I decided to go back and either call it a day or rig the 4.7. Brad was taking a break after what I suspect was a long day, and after looking at the radar I decided to re-rig and go back out.

Dang, I’d forgotten what it feels like to be on a small board with a small sail!!! It’s the difference between skimming over the water and skipping over the water. Totally different sensation….haven’t had it since last fall and even then I think we only had 1 or 2 days. Awesome sensation.

Seemed like the waters deteriorated a bit from the max when I was out on the 5.8, and became less swelly-surfy and more in the voodoo chop category with a few swells plowing through. Still had some nice wave rides, off the lips, went over the falls a couple of times (survived one, not the other), and generally had good jibing. As the day went on, the wind quality went from quite good to chaotic at the end, with gusts seeming to be 15 sec on and 15 off. But while that makes jibing a challenge, it’s sufficiently short cycles that you can work it and keep the board powered-up almost all the time. Jibing in the wrong moment can have some consequence, though! Fair aerials for righties…the waves were lining up better for lefties.

Brad commented that the water is really low (and boy, have they let some water out!). Seemed to create a large “n0-man’s-land” between the outside swells and the inside break. The 5.8 was enough (more than) on the inside, but not the 4.7, so at the end of the day I was kind of stuck between the outside swells and no-man’s-land. I think the water level was messing with that a bit, but it is what it is. In the end, I started missing jibes and on one over by the hotel I had trouble hooking in and my arms started feeling really tired – I knew it was nearing time to call it an evening. Guess I’m not used to a few hours of 4.5 wind. The last 30 minutes, I was lucky that everyone else had had a full day (I guess), so I had the lake to myself. Nothing like having a 4.5 all to yourself! Finally called it a day at about 6:30, light rain began to fall as I closed up the truck and went to the marina for a warm shower.

Awesome evening, warm enough for a shorty and added sleeves. May not see a day that again this year, but there’s always hope…

• This topic was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by Geoff.

[windydoug]

Looked like an incredible day.  Congrats to the folks that got to ride it.  I thought of an after work run to Seneca or Canandaigua, but had gotten the third in a series of three synthetic lubricants (Orthovisc) in my knee that morning and was advised to take it easy for the day.  The shots seem to be working a bit, so my eye is on the wind.

Thanks for the report Geoff.

Wd

[Geoff]

Hope the injection helps, Doug.

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