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I missed the matinée...

 extract from email exchange: 

This ‘Elog’ is getting very popular, I had request from Diane and Tim beside Bob and the first two were on site!!  I know as well that it is not so popular in Colorado Spring   and it’s not even considered a continental breakfast by the Maui crew   that is used to bigger fish to fry.

Anyhow…..I missed the Matinée at Palo Alto where the wind gods were playing with me trying to give me a second skunk in a row.  It was good at first, I’ve heard, for 45 minutes, but when I got there everyone was standing.  With the knowledge of Friday short drop, I walked to the pier and enjoyed the freestyle intermezzo by Diane, Pat, Tim, Kiyong, Primo and a couple more tricksters.  Boy, what dedication!!  They came out sweating from the water although they frequently were tasting it!!  I got blamed by Pat for using too much wind last week.   I had no excuse for him….I should not have smiled as an answer.

Hawkeye

Surveying the channel and his protégé (sometime from high altitude), Fred was demonstrating amazing ease and control in the big swells while dispensing accurate advice.

Another great day among good friends stealing the best swells by marker 8A

 

Here is Bob, one of the happy campers returning after a great shredding session.

 

Testimonial

 

Mike said:  “those were not swells today in the bay , they were waves!!! “ …….and Mike lives in Santa Cruz !!!!

Spending 80% of a session surfing the big swells unhooked, I never thought it would be possible.

Awesome. Perfect. Best day of the year

Awesome.  Perfect.  Best day of the year  to quote a "famous" sailor.   And this is why:  wind direction: NW, surf in both direction, no gusts, very constant, 4.5 I could have been on 4.0, found nice, long smooth thick swells and plenty of clean ramps all across the channel.

It got crowded though, I avoided a mid air collision with Tim when we were on both side of the same ramp/swell converging, I was going down turning to the bridge before engaging the bottom turn and he came out of the trough carving upwind ready to launch. 

He released the leg pressure to abort the jump and I initiated heel pressure right away otherwise I would be now the owner of a 2.25 sail with a 200 mast.      I am sorry Tim, I saw you coming but you did not have your turn signal on (me neither 8-(

In fact it was not crowded at all, 1/3 of a mile below the marker with Doctor Steve and Dr. Dave who was nice enough to crash in synchronize with me when I was getting tired.

Finally, it was a Twofer as I did a short session kiting to warm up and feel the wind.  And the feeling was that it was going to be awesome.

Calibration

 

Now, here is the proof that the coyote sensor is the most accurate.

On Sunday the wind totally died.  How do I know?  Because I was there, smack in the middle of the channel floating (barely) around with a small sail (4.0).  And when I say floating, I do not mean schlogging, moving slowly, no I mean sitting on my board and hoping the wind will pick up again before the next tanker comes by.

Look at the charts:  SFO shows an average as there is only one reading per hour and did not even see the drop.

 

3^rd Channel registered the drop at 2pm 

 

But the Coyote sensor shows the near zero wind that got me standed and worried for a short while.

Helter Skelter

-,,  -,,  -,,

When I get to the bottom
I go back to the top of the slide
Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride
Till I get to the bottom and I see you again.

               Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,  ehhh........ 

I was screaming that song on the way back home remembering the wild ride I just had on 4.0 going up and down the swells on a flood. Another amazing day at the office as some other blogger would wrote!!

Look out helter skelter... helter skelter

CMW

Maximus

So much sailing, so little time to blog.  To my readers I am sorry for not writting, I was kind of busy....the right kind 
 

this was almost a week ago:

After 4 great days at Palo Alto under this westerly trend, I was back at 3^rd  where it look ok but not near the SFO reading of 25 knots gusting 32 at 250.  So I rigged 5.0

Please someone tell me why it took the wind 30 minutes to go 4 miles at 30 miles an hour….On second thoughts don’t, I am still awake.

Anyhow, all this to tell you that after a “planne and stop” start on the 5.0,  it really kicked when I got close to Marker 8, and it did not take me much time to get there in a flood!!!

Way out in the channel I found some nice swells that were very inviting, and in their wind shadow, surfing “Gunbarrel” for a brief moment I could rest my arms.  At that time I wished I was on 4.5 and less volume, and by the end of that second reach a 3.7 would have been great.

Anyhow, I was high enough to return and high, I really was on the adrenaline rush.   I had to spill some ground so I surfed a few sets and got even higher!  Then I hooked in and tightened my grip on the boom and went south for a long long time.  

 

A trickster also....

Not only a paparazzi ....sorry a great photographer and the nicer guy on and off the water, Kiyong likes the wrong side of the sail.

He usually is behind the lens, but we caught him hiding behind his sail.