Ponquogue Again

Bill is back from an extended work trip to Puerto Rico. Saying "welcome back etc" to him I pointed out that he'd only missed one good day. "That was here, right?"

Right he was. For only the second day of serious wind in a month, it was a return to Ponquogue. Side-shore sailing in ENE, though it was light on the inside, and the biggest gusts seemed to prefer the waters on the far outside. We had a nice sized crowd, including all the usual guys named John, Scott, Bill, George, and Jeff. Sailors started on 5.4-6.2 sails, though by the time I left mid-afternoon (overpowered on a 5.0) sails in the mid-fours were being rigged.

I personally had a less than stellar day at Ponquogue. Aside from getting more than my share of rejection from the beach break, it just was not my day to shine. Most memorable highlight: I charged an eye-high wave in pursuit of a big jump, but got there a teense too late: The nose of my board stuck in the lip as it began to break, but the rest of the board (and me) continued to swing up as if the nose was hinged to the top of the wave. Looking "forward", I nevertheless found myself staring straight down...sail fully sheeted in....and did a power dive into the back of the wave. I still remember a split second of confusion when I saw the ocean perpendicular to the board...I'd never been in that position with any altitude before.

Happily there was little pain at impact.

Beach break may be exhausting and humiliating, but for those of us less accomplished at getting through it, it also leaves us still wanting to windsurf after several hours of runs and rejection. So when Ponquogue got particularly trying at high tide (and with the wind still coming up) Jeff and I headed over to North Sea Road for some relatively calm Peconic action. It was nice, it was managable, it was warm, but it wasn't the ocean.

I'd trade a day at North Sea Road for an hour at Ponquogue any time.

(Top Photo: Sailor outbound at Ponquogue. Chiaying)
Bottom Photo: The editor in between waves. Chiaying)

Comments

[marcos]

Hi there, I heard that you guys are having a NY premiere for the Windsurfing movie.
I just moved to NYC and look forward to come to the premiere. Do you know if I have to get tickets in advance?
Any info will be appreciated!
Thank you!
marcos

[Michael]

Hi Marcos...welcome to New York! The premiere will be at the Southampton Cultural Center on Long Island, Saturday, September 1st – Doors Open at 6 pm. Hosted by Windsurfing Hamptons (call for ticket reservations: 631-283-9463. )

[Jeff]

I finally uploaded photos and video stills from this session to this Flickr Photoset: Ponquogue Aug 10, 2007

[Michael]

Thanks, Jeff. Looking forward to the video your girlfriend shot!