The Peconic Puffin Windsurfing Blog

The Gin Su Fin

I once watched a friend slice mushrooms with a Rainbow V1 blade fin, but the full range of possibilities was revealed to me in the Gin Su Fin infomercial.

Starring Chef Alberto Benitez (then an instructor at Vela Aruba) and Dee Imbert (star of The Search for One Eyed Jimmy) this ten year old clip is a sampling of the early video work by Dasher, then the dean of the Fisherman's Huts University of Windsurfing in Aruba, and one heck of an instructor (he taught me to jibe, and I was TERRIBLE. ) (Editors note: Dee Imbert's comment about the Gin Su Fin are in "comments" below.)

Visual humor

While surfing random blogs for bits of windsurfing, I found this:

Bad Fish

If a shark has you in its mouth, poke shark in eye with vigor until released. It worked for this guy who was getting swallowed head first by a great white.

Adventures in Cold Weather Windsurfing, Part One...

...in which we take a big swipe at the "100 Rule", try some products that might make such sessions more enjoyable, and pursue the legendary Iced Sail.

The "100 Rule" is a simple formula that says the air temperature and water temperature should add up to no less than 100 degrees Farenheit.  If they do not, it's too cold to windsurf.   It's a nice guideline for people who live in areas that get lots of wind when it's not truly cold outside, but for those of less-fortunate windsurfers of the obsessed variety, 100 is nonsense.   I always found 90 to be a better number (why else did god create drysuits) but over the years I've been hearing about people who sail when the air is below freezing (typical salt water doesn't freeze until it's down to about 28) who have to deal with their sails icing up (!) from the spray.    That sounded so cool, no pun intended.

So today Jeff joined me at Flying Point on Mecox Bay, where the forecasted NW (30 knots of it) would mean we'd be sailing almost entirely in waist-to-chest deep water, fairly close to the shore...about as friendly a set up as you could pick.   But we got pure West (35 degrees of it), so we'd be sailing (and potentially falling) in water too deep to stand in.   A quick check of the water temperature found it to be a cool 35.5 degrees...we'd be testing the 70 Rule.     The wind was mad gusty (27-45) and we sailed for about 90 minutes.   (Meanwhile, the mid-Island mob was ripping it up at West Neck.)

I bought a neoprene hood/facemask combo to cover the bulk of my face, which worked fine until it got dunked.   It was definately better than no facial protection (I didn't get the "ice-cream headache" but still it became difficult to breathe through and began to chafe.   (Dan Weiss, discussing this phenomenon in rec.windsurfing, recommends Dermatone as an alternative.   It's on my purchase list.)

Also discussed in wreckdot has been the potential usage of hand warmers inside gloves.   The "Grabber MyCoal Heat Treat" air-activated handwarmers I bought did absolutely nothing, in or out of the glove.  They may have been defective.   I needed to get off the water every two to three runs to get the blood flowing in my hands.

Towards the end of the sesh the panel on my 4.7 suddenly became quite translucent, as a thin film of slushy ice coated both sides.   This was a highlight of an otherwise extremely challenging session.

Final recorded temperatures:   Air: 31, water: 35.5.  We broke 67!

I'll be back, with different hand warmers.

Seeing Red, Thinking Blue

The wind forecast for Saturday is epic...please may it hold!

The air temp forecast is another matter. Highs in the mid 30's. From experience I know that my face hurts and my hands freeze quickly once the air temps get down to about 42. Yet I'm tempted by stories from hardcore sailors about sailing below 32 degrees, when the salt water doesn't freeze but the spray coming off the water does, causing sails to ice up like airplane wings (solution: dunk the sail to de-ice.) I want to see this and do this for myself! So I've bought a neoprene face mask and a pair of hand warmers to see just how low I can go.

May the forecast hold!

Dolphin in North Sea Harbor

While a pod of dolphins has been hanging out in Sag Harbor recently, one dolphin made its way to North Sea Harbor just off the Little Peconic Bay, where it had to be rescued this morning after beaching itself.    I've never seen anything larger than a snapper in the Peconic or its secondary bays, though old-school Puffins Bob and Nancy report that decades ago they were regulars in the Little Peconic.   North Sea Harbor is a small but good sailing spot for beginning windsurfers to get comfortable when it's blowing  SW, W, NW, N.

The Riverhead Foundation's Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Rescue team did the good work.  Their 24-hour stranding hotline is 631-369-9829.

UPDATE: Apparently the dolphin had to be euthanized. Other dolphins are having a hard time in an Easthampton creek.

Giampaolo's Pee Jibe

Stop whatever you're doing and spend a moment with Giampaolo Cammarota as he takes us through the Pee Jibe.

The challenging part he says is the foot switch. For whatever reason I'm thinking that maintaining flow while oversheeting would be an issue.

Do check out Maui's best windsurfing blog.

May Day in January, or Fog Sailing, Part Two

55 degrees air temp in January (water 51 degrees in Mecox Bay)...quite balmy, and with 18-20 knots on the water, not a day to pass up.

The fog was back, so the strategy was to sail from the Yacht Club until I could see no land, and continue on until the other side of the enclosed bay became visible...get my bearings...and aim for where I thought the launch was, or to just jibe in the mists and do the same when the shore reappeared. Unlike the last fog sesh there were no shotguns to avoid, though I did come close to sailing smack into an outboard motor, that was sticking out of the water, apparently minding its own business. It didn't come into view until I was about 50 yards out. (I was lit on a 6.2)

Puffin note: I only saw one where you'd usually see fifty or more. I wonder if they're heading north for this non-winter.

New Year's Resolutions

  To do on a board in 2007:

Sail new locations on Long Island,
More days ocean/wave sailing,
Get 20 feet of air (and land it),
Sail the ocean in Hatteras,
Duck tack,
More sailing time with friends.

And when it's not blowing, trick out the windsurfing van just a little bit more.