Got in a nice double sesh today. I actually drove out to Sherman Island Saturday morning and sailed at The Sign. Nice powered up session on 4.2 and 81l New Wave. The water was a bit choppy, but there were some good ramps. Just a nice sesh to end the day before camping out.
The morning sesh on Sunday was awesome. It was a bit windier, and I was awoken by Rigatoni's voice, "I left my 3.4 at home!" I'm not much of a morning person, and It usually takes me awhile to get on the water if I camp out at the Delta. Something about sleeping in the van... I usually don't wake up very rested. My smallest sail right now is a 4.2, so I was a little bit discouraged by all the people who usually rig bigger sails than I do rigging their 4.0's and smaller. I almost figured it may be better to sleep in a little longer and wait for the wind to tail off a little bit, but then somebody mentioned that the ebb was only going to last for another hour and a half or so. That was reason enough to get my ass out of bed (van) and get ready. I just added a touch more outhaul to my sail and went out. I saw my buddy Ronbo ripping around on his 3.2 and 62l board... it was windy!
The water was so smooth, and the swell was so organized... the conditions were so nice. I was very powered and sometimes overpowered, but I never felt like I really needed a smaller sail. People all around me were boosting huge jumps. I got a few good jumps, but I had trouble finding a lot of good steep ramps myself, and I thought the swell was better for riding than for jumping, which is fine by me. I had a really good time just riding and jibing on the swells.
Sherman is in a double ebb pattern right now, but the morning ebb is in the 1.5 knot range, while the evening ebb is only about half a knot. I guess more current equals bigger swell! Something to keep in mind.
Anyway, I had to leave mid day to run some errands and deliver some stuff, and I ended up at Palo Alto for the afternoon session. Nice, mellow 4.7 session on my Twin Tip 90. PA is a trip... there are so many people doing freestyle, and it's a place mostly frequented by locals. Not too many visitors, but the locals there are all really nice, and there's a good energy in the air. I got quite muddy today... had mud all over the outside and INSIDE of my harness... and a huge clump/patch stuck to my wetsuit. They don't call themselves PA Mud Dogs for no reason!
Just a little rant. Anybody who regularly sails out of the Cal Sailing Club in Berkeley would be a little pissed off to see this... a freakin' Harley taking up a nice, prime parking spot right in front of the rigging area.
The wind has been pretty good lately. Mostly sailing my freestyle boards (Fanatic Skate 108 & RRD Twin Tip 90) and my 4.7 (Maui Sails Legend). It's been a good week for Pt. Isabel with solid winds all the way until dark. I didn't even launch until 6:15pm on Thursday, and I still got a nice two hour sesh in.
I cut my feet up on some barnacles yesterday, so I took Friday off. Fog's in... thinking Sherman will be good this weekend
Had a good day at Da Stick yesterday on my trusty Legend 4.7 and Skate 108. This is after cruising all over the bay for decent winds. First stopped at Berkeley, which was looking OK. I would have had to rig at least a 5.3, and it always seems like I'm sailing uphill on my port tack at Berkeley. The day before here was decent, but nothing spectacular... so onward ho... next stop Coyote.
I had read some good reports from the day before raving about the great water texture and steep ramps. I want to work on my port forwards... need to learn how to control the rotation better so I can plane out regularly and spin faster off small ramps, so a good day at Coyote was just what I was looking for. Unfortunately, it was only blowing about 12 MPH when I got there.
Next stop, Candlestick. Of course, Da Stick always seems to deliver. 4.7 and 108l and flat water. Lots of people complain about Da Stick
it's too gusty
it smells
there are too many ruffians hanging around
it's too flat
I guess some of this is true to some extent. The wind is a little gusty, but that bad and certainly not that much worse than any other spot. At least it's WINDY!! I don't notice that Da Stick offends my olfactory senses, even though it's downwind from a garbage plant! I don't know why I don't smell this, but I don't. There are a lot of locals that hang out here and drink, smoke pot, etc... but there all pretty nice for the most part. I had one lady ask me where I got the big JP stickers that were on the side of my van. She explained to me that those were her initials, and she wanted some stickers for her car. I gave her what I had in the van (two big JP sail stickers... about 2ft across each). Next time I saw her, she had them plastered on the hood of her Cadillac, and she gave me a big hug!
Da Stick seems to be consistently windy, and it's pretty much my ace in the hole... and it blows until dark. The flat water is great for slalom, jibes, and freestyle.
Anyway, I had a great day yesterday, and I'm ready for more today. I saw early on in the sesh that my spreader bar was breaking, so I spent most of the time trying to get my weight more onto my feet and bear some of the load w/ my arms. Not the most efficient way to sail, and I was dog slow, but at least I got to sail and didn't have to come in early due to broken gear.
Here's an old video from 2008... funny vid, pretty much raw, uncut footage, with some funny commentary. Originally posted here:
Wednesday was my fifth day in a row on my 4.2! I can't remember a stretch like this where I got to sail this small of a sail this many days in the Bay.
Saturday: Sherman Island Access, 4.2 Maui Sails Legend and 84l JP Freestyle Wave
Sunday: Ditto
Monday: Crissy Field: Same gear
Tuesday: Treasure Island: Same gear
Wednesday: Crissy Field: Same gear
Had a nice 4th of July weekend at the Delta. A big group of Berzerkeleyans camped out and had a great time. The swell wasn't epic, and sometimes it was flooding pretty hard, but I had a great time w/ all the guys and girls, and the sailing was solid. Also fun to have Andy Brandt heckling us sitting on the log above the launch. I always get nervous sailing around Andy. I remember seeing a video of him and Jason Voss in Aruba (filmed by Dasher), and that was the catalyst for my interest in freestyle. All I wanted to do was learn the Hoss Tack! I never thought I would be able to vulcan or anything like that.
Monday was a pretty good day at Crissy. I was very powered off the beach, and there were some good huck ramps for shove-its and loops. I sailed up to the North Tower where there was some big round swell, but the wind was a little lighter. A 4.7 probably would have been better up there, but I was still reasonably powered up when I sailed back downwind.
After hearing stories of how good TI was on Monday, I made it a point to sail there on Tuesday. I didn't get there until 5pm, and I never rig small there, but GS looked powered on his 4.5 and HC looked powered to OP'd on his 4.2, so 4.2 for me it was. I was very powered on at first, and I was on fire. Of course it was all downhill from there, as I started missing on everything and the wind finally ramped down. The swell and water conditions were so sweet... definitely a reminder of how good TI can get.
I had to go to Crissy on Wednesday to demo a board, but it turned out to be the spot to sail on this day. Solid wind once again and some huge jumping potential. Oddly enough, the wind was strongest right at the beach. I had a great day.
Man, I feel like my body is getting beat up. May have to take a day off soon! My right foot is killing me... I slammed it into the uni or mast extension doing a non-planing tack trying to get back to the boat ramp at TI on Tuesday... of all the ways to hurt yourself.
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