Windsurfing on Flooded Lake
Two weeks ago, Clinton Lake was flooded due to the heavy rains experienced here in the Midwest. I managed to get two excellent windsurfing sessions in during the flood. The waves/swell were exceptional due to the higher water levels and wind direction. This provided me with better than average waves to jump off of. Here are som pictures from one of the sessions.
Hatteras Vacation
We had another great vacation on Hatteras Island at the end of May. Jen rented a Kona Surf windsurfing board for the week and loved it. We'll have one on the way soon. I had several good days of windsurfing, but sailed mostly by myself. We went to the ocean and bodyboarded with the kids. I bought a couple of skimboards from Fox Watersports to use the second time we went to the ocean side. Skimboarding was a blast, but I could barely walk the next day from all the short sprinting. Here's a few snaphots from the week.
Session Report: June 8, 2008
Sunday and Thursday were both great days, but Sunday was the best. It was a non-stop jumping marathon up at the narrows for me. The shape of the swell just northeast of the narrows was perfect for launching big jumps. I had some pretty good wipeouts that must have been spectacular to watch. I sailed an Ezzy Wave 5.2 all day Sunday on the 105ltr Kombat. I used a 36cm True Ames Teardrop fin to help keep the speed upwind when going for jumps. On Thursday, I had switched from the 36cm teardrop to a 24cm wave fin when the wind picked up. The wave fin didn't allow me to head up as quick and nail the waves with speed. I do enjoy sailing with the wave fin, as it makes the board feel much looser in the water. The board carves much easier when trying to do slashy turns. We don't have big enough waves to ride, but I like to pretend by sheating out and bearing off with speed and then sheeting in and turning upwind real quick with a slashy turn. It can be a lot more fun than just sailing in a straight line all the time.
