Sunset Sailboards San Francisco

Sorry to report that it's been a week since I last sailed, and it's because I messed up my elbow sailing Tuba in the last blog post.  Even stranger is that I have no idea how I hurt myself.  I remember feeling some pain in my elbow toward the end of the sesh, but I just thought it was from being massively overpowered.  I didn't think too much of it, and I didn't even bother to ice it that night, but it was really swollen and stiff the next morning.

The only explanation I can think of is that I was holding onto my gear when I got rolled by a wave in the impact zone, and my elbow got twisted or hyperextended when I didn't let go.  I hyperextended and dislocated this elbow almost 20 years ago, so maybe it's more susceptible to injury now.  It feels like a mid-grade sprain, and it reminds me of getting out of a cast and having to put in physical therapy time to get everything working the way it should.

It's starting to loosen up a bit, but I think I have another week minimum of down time, and I missed the windiest day of the year last week

I can't bottom turn... when it's:  

1. not windy and the wind is straight onshore
2. too windy and the wind is straight offshore

That's what I found out over the weekend and Monday.  I was on my way to Crissy on Saturday, when I saw several windsurfers out at Ocean Beach near my house.  I usually don't sail here for a variety of excuses:

• the wind is too onshore
  
• this is a place for kiters
• i don't want to break all my stuff
• the waves are too big
• i don't want to be denied... again
• i don't want to waste a day here when it's good somewhere else

The wind in the impact zone was pretty light, but I was able to get out and get planing.  I guess the advantage of onshore wind is that you have a lot of angle to work with to avoid waves on the way out if you don't think you can power over them.  Just getting myself to rig up and sail here feels like a mini personal accomplishment, and making it out past the break feels like one, too.  It's so much more intense than sailing in the Bay where I know I can handle the conditions.  The wind backed off after about 30 minutes, and the waves weren't great for riding or jumping, but I had fun sailing in the ocean and going down the beach and seeing my house from the waves.

I quickly de-rigged after the wind died and got a second sesh at Crissy later that day.

Monday was a totally different story.  I had talked to several people about a possible Tuba trip over the weekend, and all the conditions seemed to come to fruition on Monday.  I had sort of sailed here several years ago, but I never made it all the way upwind to the break b/c it was too windy for my 3.7 and 62l board, and I was sailing by myself and didn't want my out of control ass to get stranded offshore in shark-infested waters and offshore wind.  

Yesterday was pretty much the same story except that I was not alone, and I had a 4.2 and 74l wave board.  I was there w/ Vincent and our guide, Esteban, from Ventana Windsports.  It took us about 30 minutes to make the 2.5 mile upwind trek to the Estero.  4.2 seemed like a good sail choice at first... OP'd but I was getting some nice jumps and I could hang on.  I was a little worried about being so powered when I finally got to the waves, but the wind picked up about ten minutes into the journey, and now I was just silly OP'd.  I pretty much knew that I was too powered to be able to ride waves even if I did make it all the way upwind to the break.

I just wanted to make it to Tuba and see if for myself.  It was a really cool sight to see... waves lining up and peeling w/ the offshore wind... reminded me of San Carlos.  There was something really funky going on... maybe it was past high tide and water was flowing out of the Estero, making the waves really bouncy.  So, we went a little bit downwind and got much smoother waves where there was also a little bit of a wind shadow which made wave-sailing a little more doable.  I was still way OP'd and out of control, and I crashed a lot and spent way too much time swimming for my comfort.  Luckily, crashing in the impact zone was pretty shallow... about 3-5 feet, which made me feel a little safer (do sharks swim in 3 feet of water?).  The waves were nice, maybe head high on the sets and 3-4 feet between sets.

After about 30-45 minutes up there, my hands were getting really cold, and I was tired from the upwind trek and all the floundering I had done in the impact zone, so I called it a day and sailed back to Limantour.  

I'm still buzzing about yesterday, and my right elbow is swollen and stiff; only about 45 degrees of motion... dunno how that happened.

Below are some pics and video from Ocean Beach.  Notice the wind angle difference in the beginning and end of the video?  Definitely seemed to have shifted more onshore.  Sorry, no Tuba pics :-(

I had to meet family for dinner at 6pm today in the City, so that pretty much left me with one option for sailing today:  Crissy.  Not a bad option to be stuck with.  The wind was pretty solid... I sailed my 4.7 and Fanatic New Wave 81 Team Edition.  This was my maiden voyage on this board... it rocks.  I really like how lively and loose it is.  It's also a rocket ship and fairly smooth in the chop... a wave board that works for bump & jump.  The wind died around 5pm, so it was a short sesh.  I guess it pays to get there early!

We're supposed to get NW winds this weekend... some grumblings about a Tuba excursion... I'm IN!