The Peconic Puffin Windsurfing Blog

Windsurfing Van Tweak: Downhaul Crank in the Extension Rack

In the four years since I first set up my windsurfing van, I've all but completely switched from standard to RDM masts. While my old mast base extension rack had no trouble accomodating RDM extensions, I decided to make a new rack anyway now that I'm all but completely RDM.

While I was at it I decided to fool around and see if I could get my downhaul crank to live in the rack as well. I think I came up with a solution, with both the cup of the crank as well as the handle having holes to accomodate them.

This little rack saves me time every time I rig, and I expect making the crank easier to grab will have a positive effect as well. Recently there was a thread in an iWindsurf thread started by a guy looking for a downhaul tool to help him rig his race sails. He said he was too cheap to buy a $46 crank and was looking for cheaper alternatives. All I could think of was:

Race sails: $600 each
Racing grade mast: $500
Racing boom $600

Rig total: $1700

...but he won't spend another 2% to allow him to tune all that precision gear? Gear that's pretty much a waste unless it's dialed in?

It got me all excited about my Chinook crank. (We are suffering from lack of wind, folks!)

(If you're interested in setting up a vehicle for windsurfing, check out this post on my van, and in particular the photo album with explanations of everything I've done so far. This is not professional, merely a rolling experiment, my toy box on wheels.)

My Fuertaventura/Bonaire Connection

Kiri Thode, dropping jaws mid-move. So what else is new? Currently the young star from Bonaire is doing his thing at the PWA Freestyle event in Fuertaventura (check out more amazing photos from the event on the PWA website.) I once had the priviledge of some on-the-water interaction with him, as a very young Kiri asked me to get out of his way during the warm-up session for the 2001 King of the Cape Pro-Am (Kiri competed brilliantly in the junior division. My star did not shine as brightly in the novice class.) These days I watch him sail in Bonaire whenever I'm there.

Here's Tyson Poor putting on a show for the crowd at Fuertaventura. In 2005 when my wife Sally and I went to Bonaire with windsurfing friends Massimo and Karin for an ABK windsurfing clinic we were lucky enough to have Tyson as one of our instructors. Tyson did help me with my push tack, though I can not say my improvements since have been as spectacular as his (that would be my fault...Tyson is a fine instructor...work with him if you get the chance.)

One of the special things about windsurfing in Bonaire is that the superstars manage to practice very close to the beach, and yet do not disturb the beginners and intermediates sailing just a few yards away. On our most recent trip in 2006, I decided to follow Tonky Frans outbound as he sailed across Lac Bay towards the mangrove forests. He didn't do anything as spectacular as his move above; instead he quite maddeningly just shot across the bay on a full plane, while lazily spinning the sail in endless 360's. Clew first, mast first, clew first, mast first, with the board maintaining perfect trim and him losing not a drop of speed. I shouted in confusion, outrage, and joy.

(Photos: John Carter/PWA)

Pray for Wind Again, or Break Out the Sandpaper

I am no wind snob. I will get on my Superlight in five knots. Give me eight and I'll put a 5.5 on my Techno and start spinning, bobbing and weaving a tale of nonplaning freestyle. But the water has been positively glassy lately, and the coming weekend is not looking so good.

Will it come to sprucing up the fins? A few of them are overdue for some TLC, but what I really want to do is toss a rig around.

Puffins Get A Break in the Firth of Forth

Puffins don't ask for much. They can deal with the jokes, the photographers, even the black-backed gulls that eat them every now and again. All they require are sand eels, a nice burrow, and ten thousand friends to hang out with, and they're set.

But recently in Scotland, in the Firth of Forth on the island of Craigleith, the puffin population had been on the decline because of some evil trees, whose roots were choking off puffin burrows left and right. Despite their chain saw vocalizations, puffins aren't really set up to do battle with trees.

Enter the Scottish Seabird Centre. Puffins are loved in Scotland, and the Centre got right to it, clearing out the offending mallow trees and getting our buddies reinstalled in their little homes.

Rock on, Scottish Seabird Centre!

(Photo: A puffin family contemplates the simple pleasures of home, sweet home.)

In Search of Ancient Parts?

Many of us have tried to prolong the life of old gear...I remember years ago driving the local shop nuts asking them to replace parts on an old Fleetwood extension (I was too cheap to buy a new extension back then. Now I own five.) More recently I considered trying to find parts to repair the spring-loaded fin on my old Mistral Superlight, but knowing that to be a dark and disappointing road, I opted for a simpler repair.

During my search I did stumble on this site. Sailski lists a decent collection of weird components, and says they have more in the back (email them and ask.) If you really want to repair that 1988 HiFly this may be the place for you.

You can always ask around in your local online forums (recdot windsurfing is often productive in this regard) and down OBX way some of the older shops like Ocean Air, Fox, and Sailworld have ancient bits and pieces on hand.

God knows what Barton's got in the bowels of his shop. That was the last place I ever saw a Fleetwood extension.

Bullfrog Out, Hawaiian Tropic In

Ever since trying a free sample at an ABK windsurfing clinic years ago, I've been a staunch supporter of Bullfrog, and used it for all my sun protection needs. No matter that it smells like vodka when you put it on...it stays on even after repeated dunkings. I have been a Bullfrog man.

But according to recent tests by Consumer Reports, while Bullfrog scores high in blocking ultraviolet "B" radiation (the UV that gives you sunburn) it does a weak job of blocking ultraviolet "A" (the skin cancer inducer.) Which waterproof sunscreens excel at both? Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch SPF 45 and Hawaiian Tropic Ozone Sport Grip SPF 30+.

I am making the switch. Windsurfers are exposed to lots of sun year-round, and skin cancer is no joke.

Nor'easter in July

Bizzaro weather? We'll take it!

Recent prayers for wind were answered yesterday and the high wind gear came out as we were treated to a big NE blow...rare for this time of year. The phone tree went off early, and by 10AM there was quite a crew at Ponquogue, featuring about five guys named John, Jeff, Jimi Sobeck, Fisherman Bill, and the triumphant return to the ocean of Scott. It was 4.7-5.4 depending on your displacement, but after a few hours the rising tide made the beach break untenable.*

So we packed up and drove a mile down the beach to The Bowl.

The Bowl was light on shore break, and light on wind until the end of the jetty, but once clear it was all power (I was shlogging on the inside while Fisherman...Mr. Efficiency...had a laugh as he planed by, filling me with "curse you Red Baron" thoughts.) Still, it was sweet on the outside.

It turns out that Jeff (my partner in learning to sail the ocean) had never received the "be careful of the inlet" lecture for The Bowl, which states that if you sail too close to the jetty and fall, you will be sucked clear through the inlet until you land on a sand bar somewhere in Shinnecock Bay. So of course Jeff sailed too close, fell, and then fought a fine battle in which he barely managed to escape.

That was Jeff's lesson. Mine involved learning why I should not jump fully powered unless I'm ripping. In a misguided attempt at moderation while overpowered I went off a wave slowly, got about four feet up in the air, at which time the sail loaded up and hurled me into an excellent nose-first power dive.

Time to rig the 4.5!

After a few hours playing at the Bowl, the consensus was that the shorebreak back at Ponquogue (which has better waves) should now be manageable, and so once again everyone packed up and headed back, where we got about 45 good minutes before the wind died. It should be noted that John "The Wolf" sailed just about every minute of the day.

(Top photo by Jeff: Guys getting to the good wind, The Bowl.
Puffin photo: John Van der Wolf finally gets out of the water.
Bottom photo by Jeff: The Wolf, outbound, approaches the editor inbound at The Bowl.)

(*I know..."untenable" is a bullshit word for a windsurfing blog. I'm still working out the kinks.)

Would You Kiss This Fish?

Those are some fine lips. Don't tell me they're not.

The thing is, if you kissed those lips, you couldn't even get her name. Not even her species! She (and a bunch of other mindblowing creatures) have only recently been discovered in the deepest parts of the deepest parts of the oceans (deep squared YES!!) and can now be seen in a fantastic book called The Deep-The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss by Claire Nouvian.

I've been checking out photos of strange things from the abyss forever, but this book is the winner. There are creatures that look like spaceships. Creatures that look like space stations. Wonderfully crazy jellyfish. And down in the deepest cracks of Davy Jones' locker, worms step up to the plate when it comes to fashion.

There are of course the requisite deep sea badasses, with mugs that say they WILL throw down with anything in Alien. But the beauties really get me. I am buying this book.

(This is the Dumbo Octopus. For real.)

The Huts College of Windsurfing

When you step up to the registrar at the Huts College of Windsurfing (the instruction desk at Vela Aruba) you know you're in the right place. Back in Dasher's teaching heydey this is where I learned to jibe, but I always stared wonderingly at the exotic mysteries being taught in grad school. I secretly aspired to Psychology of Abnormal Jibing and Its Effects, but feared the required reading for Advanced Philosophy of Windsurfing Logic.

Now THIS is a Gust!

Spotted this on iWindsurf not long ago...nearby meters were reading 9-10 knots, but Shinnecock Inlet was gusting to 50. More downhaul clearly indicated...

Heckscher Closed for Bacteria

(UPDATE TUESDAY, 3PM: Hecksher has reportedly reopened the beach. The original report is below.)

If you were checking out the wind observations for the Great South Bay yesterday and wishing you were at Heckscher (gusts in the mid 30's), you're not the only one who missed it there. The park closed the beach due to high bacteria levels, and as of this morning it remains closed. "The Sewer" indeed!

The park doesn't have any information on its website at this time. To call for updates, the number is (631) 581-2100.

So go sail somewhere else! Want to try a new spot? Check out this map of Long Island windsurfing sites. Feel free to add a spot of you notice a good one missing.

Longboard Lust, Part II

A recent post expressing my lust for the Exocet Kona has triggered a series of events that now must be addressed. Perhaps "must" is a stretch, but I'm gonna address them anyway.

It all started nine years ago when I lucked into a mid-80's Mistral Superlight. Aficionados know that in a world in which twenty-year old gear invariably belongs only in a landfill, the one great exception is the Superlight. There are three reasons:

1. Racers will tell you how in nonplaning conditions the Superlight is fast and an upwind machine.
2. For several years the board came with an incredibly cool spring-loaded retractable blue fin.
3. They are a lot of fun to sail in 8 knots.

(What does this have to do with the Kona? I'm getting to that.)

I've been enjoying my Superlight for nearly a decade...it's name is Mr. Al...the stupidest of all of my board names. A year ago I broke the spring loaded fin, and finding replacement parts for this antique is quite the challenge. I know what you're saying: Put in a standard finbox and get on with your life! But you don't understand the pull that this little gimmick can excert (on me, anyway). And when I contemplate giving up the trick fin, I suddenly find myself drawn to the youthful beauty of the Kona Style. That board is hot! It speaks to me.

What to do? What to do?

Putting in a standard finbox will cost about $200 to have done properly. A thrifty, mature, and green choice...keep my old honey humming! BUT I could take that $200 and put it towards the sexy Kona (after saying a respectfull good-bye to Mr. Al and then taking it to the dump.) A forward-looking and exciting choice, though I'm on a budget, and would prefer to blow big money on a new high-wind board in the fall. Then it hit me: If Mr. Al is dumpable, why not just jam the old blue fin into the finbox, whip up a batch of epoxy yourself, slap it all together and see what happens? (Somewhere Eva the Board Lady smiles and says "knuckleheads like this keep me in business.")

So I did.

Some West Systems epoxy and filler produced these fine results (all credit due to the epoxy), which sailed beautifully on its maiden voyage this Saturday afternoon. Now that the board sails I'll need to clean the thing up a bit, for its own self respect. But sweet it was in North Sea Harbor!


Filthy yet sweet, my rejuvinated Superlight "Mr. Al" (all twelve feet and 250 liters) needs a scrub. She's no Kona, but she's paid for, and da fin works fine!

If Twenty Dolphins Can Share A Wave, Why Can't We?

Jeff spotted this photo in an article in the Daily Mail.

Pray for Wind

If the current lack of wind keeps up, I will resort to fin sanding. Or drink. The forecast offers little hope.

Monday Morning Wind Fix

Are you starting your week on the wrong tack? Were you deprived of a decent session this weekend? Do you ever want to shout at the clowns on this blog and say "ENOUGH NONPLANING FREESTYLE...I WANNA SAIL IN REAL WIND!

Yes, well we do too! Caught a little time on the 6.2 yesterday but it just wasn't enough. So let's watch a few minutes from the PWA competition in Lanzarote.

(Of course there's nothing wrong with 8 knots. Nonplaning freestyle is great fun. And our neighbor Remy has just started nailing her tacks...she doesn't think 20 knots is a good thing. Yet.)



(Photo: Remy, cruising the creek.)