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We are just too popular for our own good.
Hamptons.com says we're "ubiquitous" (I hope that's good) while Bunty say's we are good looking.
We are waiting for an invite to appear on The McLaughlin Group. I hope they let me wear my mask.
(Photo of a Peconic Puffin at the Pamlico by Jeff, whose Windsurfing the East End also got some love from Hamptons.com.)
My cell phone rang. It was The Wolf.
The Wolf: "I know Jonathan (Ford) told you to go to Sebonac, but I'm at Meschutt now and it looks fantastic. Come!"
Me: Okay!
I arrived at Meschutt about 30 minutes later, where I found Scott and John H surveying the bay, as the chop was rolling in 25 knots of northwest joy. They too had been called by John VanderWolf, though none knew where he was.
But soon The Wolf arrived, as did Bill, Christian, Diane, Jason, Jeff, and John Ford. The ramps were outstanding until the tide came up to about half way, when conditions degraded to simple rock and roll. It was hectic on the outside, but the occasional big ramp could still be found.
I was on about five hours of sleep, following a ten hour drive up from Cape Hatteras. The best way to get over leaving OBX is to get big air ASAP.
(Photo: Scott comes in to take a break from the action.)
It is time to leave.
We got a little time in on the water before rolling north, and Jeff and I met OBX Bill in what constituted a windsurfing blogger summit, though we didn't get to sail together. Still, it was good to say Hello. I also met some readers of the Peconic Puffin (no, I was not wearing the Puffin headgear...they recognized the van from earlier posts.)
More on the trip later. Now it's time for the return to Long Island.
(Headgear via Steve. Photo by Jeff.)
"Bottle this. Serve it to me hot or cold. I'll have it any time."
Thus spake Steve after a stellar Hatteras Wednesday. Sunny, warm and windy, it was the kind of day you imagine when you're planning an OBX windsurfing trip and dreaming of how great it could be. An October day spent ripping on five meter sails wearing just a bathing suit is outstanding.
First thing in the morning we were treated to a rainbow, which Jeff declared an omen. An hour later the first whitecaps appeared, and we all ran out on 7 meter sails, as the forecast called for morning winds only. As it built, Brewster decided that he wanted to run speed trials on his JP 109. With GPS on wrist he sailed out and upwind to the reef (3 miles) and tore ass downwind on the return, ultimately winding up his board to 31 knots (quite fast for a freestyle board!) Then he'd do it again. And again. As the wind continued to build Brew finally switched to 5.8, and switched his focus from speed to a duckjibing frenzy. Near sunset, with holes in his hands and nothing left in his arms he checked his GPS: He'd windsurfed 80 miles. That would take you from the Outer Banks to the mainland and back, and still leave 20 miles to play with.
Coming from the opposite end of the spectrum was Jeff. Jeff has had Vulcans and other new-school freestyle on the brain since ABK's freestyle clinic in Napeague last month. So while Brewster was lit on big gear, Jeff emulated guru Andy Brandt, and sailed his freestyle board with a 4.2 and my stubby freestyle fin, planing and skidding around the Pamlico Sound all day.
Steve has not been getting his MDR of windsurfing this year, so the first thing he did Wednesday morning was purchase a large weed fin, to make sure he could maximize his time on the moderate winds we'd expected (weeds have been light but there). "One thing I won't be doing with this is sailing with a 5.5," he pronounced, noting its size.
One hour later he was happily eating those words, flashing the blade while working the Pamlico chop for all it was worth.
For myself I had two goals for the day:
1. Hit my first in-the-straps 360.
2. Blow off the water the Limey bastard next door who'd been passing me all the day previous.
The 360 came...three of them, actually. The trick seems to be getting my weight over the carving rail ala a tight jibe while not bringing the back knee forward into the turn (the knee bone being attached to the shin bone, to the foot bone, to the foot strap...) I'm not quite sure how to go about it, but I did hit a few. More study is indicated.
Re the neighbor (who is a very nice guy, actually, except for the bit where he passes me) the best I did was hold position against him on the straightaway. I passed him in every jibe (EVERY jibe!) but on the straightaways he is, um...well...faster. I hate him.
That night a large thunderstorm came through. The day started with a rainbow, and ended with lightning. It was just too good.
(Top: The omen. At one moment we actually had a double rainbow.
Middle: Speed King Brewster takes a rare break. Hanging out in the Carribean warm waters was nice.
Bottom: Michael, mid 360.
Photos by Jeff.)
"Bring all your equipment, and money to buy more."
-traditional wisdom regarding conditions on the Outer Banks.
So far I've been able to use most of my gear. But I need to use it more. I have no torn callusses and have only bled a little. Here's a windsurfing rundown:
Thursday 7.0 sailing alongside WindSport magazines equipment testers, as well as Andy Brandt and his racing buddy Kurt Schumaker (the man who planes in nothing.)
Friday started out as a 6 meter day (I got to perform the jibing demonstration at the ABK clinic...performance anxiety!) but the wind got to 4.5 at its afternoon peak. Peconic Jeff got in on some of the action as well. (I came within an inch of my first in-the-straps 360.)
Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday AM were decreed by the gods to be good for nonplaning freestyle. Steve ("I will get wet every day!") focused on clew first helis and working towards a gecko flaka, Jeff is refining his pushtack (and working on all things gecko) and Brewster is in the early stages of helitack wrestling, hitting several.
Tuesday afternoon saw a return to 7.0. It's nice to plane, but we're all aware that back on our home waters, friends have been sailing 4 meter sails and tearing it up. Brewster in particular is in agony (Steve and I understand that to come to Hatteras is to suffer...in the end you have a great time windsurfing but you EARN your wind, and Jeff is just laid back.) While I type this Brewster is reading posts in the Yahoo Long Island Windsurfers forum about the epic conditions. Small puffs of steam emit from his ears.
Last night Jeff and Brewster went out for a bit of night sailing under the full moon. They came back with huge grins on their faces. But Brewster is still bugging out again this AM.
It poured all night. This morning we had not one but two rainbows. Jeff says it's a good omen. And we have a small craft advisory for the rest of the week.
Bring on the wind!
(Top: Brewster inbound at Island Creek. Photo by Jeff.)
During an early Puffin Pilgrimage to Cape Hatteras back in 1996, we had an unexpected visit from a friend we hadn't seen since the previous year. The Mighty Mark Skelton walked through the front door, saw Steve and I sitting on the couch, and saw a Seatrend slalom board in the middle of the living room.
"No chicks" Mark said. As a seasoned Hatteras native, he simply used the equation:
Windsurfing equipment in living room = no females in house.
He was correct of course.
As evidenced by these images, the current Puffin OBX adventure is Boys Only.
Slo got it going. Back in June he asked the question: “Are we going to Hatteras?” And he kept asking.
I asked the good doctor if he was on for a trip. As Steve lead the first Peconic Puffin vision quest to Hatteras back in 1994, I had little doubt he’d say yes. And he did. And then bought a van to make sure he was properly equipped.
I asked Jeff if he was interested. He said Yes. It is worth noting that Jeff (bless his windsurfing heart) has basically said yes to every windsurfing proposition I have made to him. If I asked him to jump off a bridge with me, he’d ask what board to use.
Brewster didn’t need to be asked. “Anyone going to Hatteras?” Brewster confirmed faster than Jeff.
The old-school Puffins in particular find this trip particularly important, not only for the infusion of joy and madness that is indicated annually, but to help heal the wound left by missing 2006 (Michael had a dinged wing and the rest of the crew stayed put.) So our need is great.
The pilgrimage is on!
(Top: The Special Edition of the Peconic Puffin, on paper since 1993, for the pilgrims.
Bottom: Steve and Michael in The Purple Cloud, 1995. In those days two of us could get in one vehicle and drive all our gear down (we had a lot less, and didn't think to bring lightwind gear. On the roof are Steve's Scarlet and Queen Jealousy, and Michael's Pamlico Pilgrim.)
In the previous post I discussed my fascination with the homemade freestyle fin phenomenon...in particular how small they are compared to traditional fins, and that commercial freestyle fins were ignored by true freestylers. All the responses were along the lines of "are you nuts...OF COURSE you must have a super short fin!"
So here a photo of mine. I've found it challenging, but it works. I like Mike Burns' suggestion of the fin being wrist to middle finger length (kind of like harness lines being elbow to wrist length) but my fin is too short for that.
Consider these two fins. Both are attached to JP 109 Freestyle boards. One fin and board belongs to me, the other to freestyle lunatic (and ABK-meisterAndy Brandt. See if you can tell which is which.
Whenever I'm around serious freestyle windsurfers, the thing that stands out most about their gear is their fins. They're all "modified". Modified" is a polite term...they're amputated fins. They are preposterously short.
What about commercially available freestyle fins? "Too big" everyone says. "You have to make your own!" Long Island's Mike Burns has been seen sailing on a cut down wave fin. I can't quite make out what the nub that Mr. Brandt is on was before it was cut away. It seems to me that fin manufacturers could do well for themselves by charging full price for these half-fins. In the meantime, the next time you wreck a fin, just cut away the bulk of it, and celebrate your new piece of gear...you're now the owner of a custom freestyle fin.
(Yes, I know the red 12" fin is not properly seated in the finbox. I just stuck it in there to provide scale.)
Local media seems to have discovered Long Island blogs.
Last week's Long Island Press boasted the cover story Citizen Journalists: Long Island Blogs Tackle Topics from Politics to Sports to Rude Behaviour in the Hamptons, and Beyond. It's not clear whether the Peconic Puffin falls under "sports" or "beyond" but we're in there. We've also just done an interview for Hamptons.com.
Onward and upward!
The Wolf is tired. Of course he is...he sailed all day Thursday at Ponquogue, followed by the big winds of Friday at Sebonac Inlet. John Ford is talking about Cupsogue tomorrow, but most of us would just like our arms to recover from solid back to back sessions. Cupsogue was a gift. Not in the forecast (or "discussion" as iWindsurf calls it, to the bewilderment of all) we ended up with classic East, sailing 5.4-6.2 in healthy chest-high waves. 
On the water with John the Wolf was Scott, Bill, Peconic Jeff, John H, Bruce, Jon Ford, and the editor. It was a great day to work on bottom turns if you're new to them, and as Jeff and I are, we had a particularly good time.
Friday was in the forecast (NOAA), however, and it held west so Sebonac was the call in big winds. The editor was quickly overpowered on a 4.0 on his new board, and as Van der Wolf was already on a 3-something I rigged down to a 3.4. Even at high tide (which Sebonac congnescenti know is not the time to be there) there was 4-5 foot rolling swell to be played with/launched off of. On the downside: the winds were quite gusty, and launching in the beach break was no treat. On the water (besides the Wolf, of course) were Jeff Jon Ford John H CPU John Scott Bill Frank and da Puffin...
...until late in the afternoon when OG Puffin, pro sailor and Windsurfing Movie director Jace Panebianco showed up with French pro Fabrice Beaux and a photographer, as they worked on a shoot for Windsurfing Magazine. We'll have more from that portion of the day in an upcoming report.
In any event, it was quite a pair of days!
(Top: John H looks for a lip at Ponquogue. Photo by Jeff.
Second: Bill takes a turn. Photo by Jeff.
Third: Jeff thinks sky at Sebonac Inlet.
Bottom: Jace Panebianco throws a forward, Sebonac Inlet.)
That's Steffi Wahl competing at Sylt.
At times like these, or when waterstarting in the impact zone, or just trying to get back on the board when the wind is light, I think "just keep power in the rig, and soon you'll get to breathe again."
I found the photo on Waterworld.Windgirls.com. There are details about the event there as well. The photo credit is PWA/John Carter.
I'd heard and seen photos of Rush Randle sailing a windsurfer with a hydrofoil coming out of the finbox...I think that was about nine or ten years ago, but then I was checking out the video below, and five minutes in (after watching guys and gals planing into duckjibes on longboards back in the 80's) I see a guy sailing this creation.
People did all kinds of things on longboards back in the day.
There's a new (new to the Puffin, anyway) website dedicated to longboards that's worth checking out. Longboards themselves are worth checking out, if you haven't sailed one recently. If you see me with my ancient Superlight come over and ask if you can take it for a spin. The moment you start gliding you're going to want one!
Here's the video. The hydrofoil stuff is about 4 minutes in. Also don't miss the funboard song shortly afterwards! I believe it's in German (the rest of the video is)...would love a translation of that song.
The video was posted in Youtube as being from 1981...I don't know how accurate that is. The rigs certainly are from that era.
We thank Pierre for calling our attention to both the video and the website. Pierre is the mad freestyler who's still spinning mad moves on ancient gear today.
Dana to Lily on the phone: It's foggy, but the fog might blow away.
Lily to Dana: Okay!
The day began with Sally and Michael visiting Lily and Wilson in Three Mile Harbor, and aside from a commitment to play hide and seek with Emma and Allie, all other plans were TBD. But we'd brought our gear, the forecast said Napeague might be planable from 4-6pm, and the other half of the Lilywilsondanaandy axis was already in position, so off to Napeague we went.
Lilywilsondanaandyland is located directly across from the traditional Napeague launches...more or less due east from Lazy Point. We rigged in what will soon be the shadom of the new Chateau Lily and Wilson (house designed by Dana), which was having the finishing touches put on its foundation even as we carried our rigs down to the red sand beach. Sure enough, the wind kicked in just enough at 4pm, and we all planed off into the fog. Sally was working on jibing and waterstarting and straightline speed ("why do you go faster than me" she asked/accused her rigging-boy husband, who suspects that she'll be passing him soon enough.) Dana was working on...well, we don't know, because visibility was only about 100 yards, and she and the rest of the Napeague regulars just sped off into oblivion. Turns out that they knew the water was shallower in oblivion, whilst Sally and Michael found themselves waterstarting in overhead depths.
With both speed and history in mind, Wilson noted the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Union's Sputnik space program, and declared that it was a good reason to pull out his drag board, an old F2 Sputnik, a board which in its day had the reputation of being the scary fastest board on the planet.. After a brief discussion ("Want to try sailing it? Yup!") Wilson put a fin on the thing, and Michael took it out for a spin. Pretty fast it went, though it was clear the board wanted more power. Hey Wilson...take that thing out with an overpowered race sail...just wear a flack jacket when you do!
As the sun began to set our thoughts turned to the impending dinner party at Dana and Andy's. But while the grownups were discussing politics and duck jibes over a civilized glass of wine or G&T, Una and Emma were hatching a plot to hijack the event and move it to the domain of a giant jack-o-lantern that held court outside the house.
"Tell the grownups to come outside" Emma declared. "Sit on that towel" instructed Una. And we did, and were soon rewarded with a sumptuous feast of clams, swordfish (grilled to absolute perfection by Andy) and a choice of pie.
It was outstanding.
We also had some discussion about fog sailing...Dana noting her complete comfort jetting around on the bay she knows so well, but saying she'd be hesitant to so sail at Mecox. Michael said "Mecox is just fine in the fog, and for the same reasons (it's enclosed, no boat traffic, mostly shallow.) In any other conditions, though, windsurfing in fog can go very wrong, very fast.
(Photo: Sally and Dana, at the recent ABK clinic.)
How often do you buy a new board or sail and get the conditions to sail it right away? Not often...that's just not the luck of the windsurfer. Particularly when it's high-wind gear. But I hit the jackpot on Saturday when my Fanatic Freestyle Wave 77 was on the water 30 minutes after I picked it up at the shop.
"77 liters!?" the Wolf exclaimed when I showed him my new board. It sounds so small, but the board handled just fine and seems to pop onto a plane easily.
"Lets have all the gumpf...length, freeride/all out slalom? etc etc weight etc etc and most of all comments on your christening run!" commented Bunty when she learned of my new ride. Check it out:
It's 7 feet 9 1/2 inches long (remember when 8' 6" was short?) just under 13 pounds according to the specs from Fanatic, and planed off lightly powered. At 56 cm it's a little wider than my previous high wind board (a Naish 8'5" Wave that's for sale cheap), which helps the board sail "bigger" than its size suggests.
"Short and wide is the way to ride!" opined Peconic Jeff after he took the board for a spin.
It's a freestyle wave design, which I opted for because I'm doing at least as much bump and jump sailing in this wind range as I am wave sailing, but it jibes more tightly than any board I've ever sailed. I have to get my thoughts together before starting the jibe, because it all happens so fast, but the actual carve is forgiving. The virgin session was on a 5.0, powered to overpowered.
I'd been sweating the "pure wave vs freestyle wave" question for much of the summer. I lightened up about it a bit after this episode, and then was more focused on the volume question. When at the recent ABK clinics Andy Brandt mentioned that Sally should be on a 77 liter board instead of her 93 when she's on a 4.0 the decision was made. A 77 liter high-wind board would be just perfect for the Mrs.
"I love when that happens! True love at its best!" says Jill Marr. (Jill and George share all their gear. George is wise in the ways of windsurfing marriage.)
But the talk about 77 doesn't end there. Sally's online handle in the Peconic Puffin is Surfergirl777, so the cosmos appears to be fully in accord with this purchase.
Now the new challenge: To name the board. It's replacing Little Wings Two, so I could just go with Little Wings Three (Little Wings was an F2 Axxis 258). Sally (who hasn't named a board in quite awhile, though she used to be into it) thinks that something with sevens is appropriate. I like to sail a board several times to see if it suggests a name to me...that may be the path, though I'm open to suggestions. For now, I'm just eager to get back on her.
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