The Peconic Puffin Windsurfing Blog

The Last Session of the Year

When you look back at your year in windsurfing, is there anything better than to do so while your gear is still wet? I'm going to have a great New Year's Eve tonight. The fatigue in my arms will mellow me, and I've already gone wild today.

Just another 4.0 day at Sebonac Inlet. It was sunny, it was windy, and puffins flew across the Peconic while Puffins flew across the Peconic.

The Most Desperate Display of the Need to Windsurf I've Ever Seen

Phony Santa Rescued While Windsurfing

A Santa Claus imposter was spotted attempting to windsurf on the Niagra River, but the wind gods smote him down. This guy is clearly not even an elf.

Merry Christmas!

Happy holidays to all...may your hearts and sails be full!

(Image from a Christmas card which says "original design by Roz Davis". Roz...we love the design!)

A Warm Bowl Before the Holidays

The Wolf is on the phone. He says "Let me tell you about conditions here at the Bowl. It's clean."

He says it "kleeeeeeeeeen". In his voice I see/hear/feel smooth stretches of lovely ocean between nicely rolling swell and gently breaking waves.

I say "I'm on my way!"

I get there and it's beautiful and warm...50 degrees...it's the warmest sailing day we've had in over a month. Had to head upwind at the launch to clear a few surfers, but after that it was nice and...clean! The crowd included Peconic Jeff, the Wolf, Jan, Bruce, Fisherman, and Bill B. It was just the ticket before I spend a waterless week with family.

(Photo of a very happy editor by Jeff)

Top Five Questions for Windsurfing Santas

Top Five Questions for Windsurfing Santas:

Five: How do you adjust your footstraps to fit those booties?
Four: What qualities do you look for in a rigging elf?
Three: Do you have a drysuit on under that thing?
Two: Is it true that Mrs. Claus is learning to kite?
One: Waist Harness or Seat?

Merry Christmas!

(Inspired by/stolen from The Horse's Mouth.)

Ocean Size

In the interest of clearing my head, I turn to my favorite rock 'n roll band of the last twenty years. I had meant to submit this to Messing Around With Boats, which runs a weekly sailing song, but I can't wait. I need it now. From the song "Ocean Size" by the mighty Jane's Addiction:

"It ain't easy, living."

and

"I want to be more like the ocean. No talking, all action."

Jerry McEwen, R.I.P.

Jerry McEwen was killed on Tuesday in Nashville. From The Tennessean:

Metro police said that McEwen, 54, was stabbed in the chest when he tried to stop a man who had just stolen a purse from a 60-year-old woman in a parking lot.

Jerry was one of the many windsurfers I've known through the windsurfing newsgroup, aka rec.windsurfing, aka wreckdot. I never met him in person, but I can tell you he was friendly and funny and we had more discussions about fin minutiae than is reasonable. Now I've learned that he was brave, too.

Jerry's windsurfing blog is Southeast Lake Sailor. I was chatting with him there just two days ago. Now it's a place to share thoughts with his friends. Some people are also remembering Jerry in this thread on rec.windsurfing.

When Every Session Could Be The Last of the Year

I got an hour of sailing in Monday. It was blowing when I woke up, but 27 degrees on the thermometer gave me pause. Then Jon Ford called...it was "epic" at Sebonac Inlet.

So out the door I went.

There are only two weeks left to 2007. The 2007 season is coming to an end. Or has it already? There's no knowing, so any and every December session should be particularly savoured. I'm hoping for some New Years Eve action.

But maybe the calendar doesn't motivate you. There's still this: With winter closing in, the day may soon come when we can't windsurf for weeks, even (dare I type it) a month or more! It's important to not squander any good conditions. While my hands needed warming every 15 minutes, and while a head dunking during the Sebonac session produced an ice cream headache, I'm here to tell those friends hesitant about the cold (Jeff/Robert/Steve) that the windsurfing was sweet. In the end my ribs got me off the water, not the cold.

Do You Like Windsurfing in Freezing Rain and Slush?

In the last year I've learned that I can windsurf in crazy cold conditions...if the water isn't frozen over (heck, if only half of it is frozen over,) as long as I'm dressed to the hilt and handling safety issues, I can and will go out if conditions are good enough. Call me crazy...there are plenty crazier, believe me.

But today was different. Today I had some doubts about my choice to sail.

It wasn't the air temp (44...balmy!...I've sailed in 29 degrees) and it wasn't the water (41 is cold, but I've known 36.) It was the freezing rain and slush. It seemed laughably ugly as I drove up to the South Jamesport beach. "I can not possibly want to do this, can I?" I asked myself. And I was laughing, because I knew the answer.

Jon Ford, Scott and the Wolf were huddled in a pickup warming up...they'd already been on the water. Opening a window just a crack to discuss sail size while frozen muck rained down, I asked "I know it's not the coldest day we've sailed, but is it the stupidest?"

All laughed. Jon said "Let's sail!"

And we did. The crew (Jimmy Sobeck, Jason, Jeff, Jon, John, Scott and I) were on 4.2-4.7's, lit launching on port tack. Port tack launch and NE at South Jamesport is new...usually we'd be at Gardiners Bay or North Sea road for NE, or Ponquogue and the Bowl for E and ENE. But with 60+mph gusts in the morning, big water didn't seem like the call.

I sailed for about an hour with my dinged ribs. Got good air early (nothing like jumping into a 40 knot gust...lovely hang time) but as the wind built, them bones started hurting.

I wanted to stay out, but figured that one good hour in nuking slush was pretty good. As I drove away, Jason, Jeff and the Wolf went back for more.

(Doesn't that look like fun? Slush rigging photo by Jeff. Wind readings from Shinnecock sensor.)

Gale Warning

Let it be so. It will be cold, but that's why God created neoprene.

(forecast by NOAA.)

For the Windsurfer Who Has Everything...

ATT's 5.8 digital telephone model EP5995 has a windsurfer screen background.   A sailor crosses the screen on what looks like a 5.0, and waves to the camera.   He might be in Bonaire, at the far end of Lac Bay by the mangroves.

I bought this phone for our home without knowing about the windsurfer.   Really.  Really truly.   

If you're looking for a windsurfing gift for the windsurfer who has everything, this could be it.   

Where Wind Comes From

Wind comes from Aeolus, your basic Greek God. A fun fact I learned today from Tugster.

Hatteras, Nerves, and the Kooks of Hazard

The best distillation of Cape Hatteras that I've even known is found in two videotapes made in the 1990's by  the Hatteras artist (and most excellent windsurfer) Mark Skelton.   They are titled "Kooks of Hazard", and "Kooks of Hazard Part Two".

They are unlike other windsurfing videos.

Below is an excerpt from The Kooks of Hazard Part Two.   Set to the song "Nerves" by Possum Dixon, it's a taste of Hatteras when the waves are bigger and the winds stronger than is good for your health.

Frank Messina Approved

Windsurfing doesn't do well in most newspaper headlines. Either the headline is about someone being rescued (and it's usually a kiter being rescued but the reporter screwed it up) or it's someone making windsurfers out to be crazy or extreme or whatever (not that these contingents aren't well represented in our community.) When a local Long Island newspaper chose to put a great photo of me (thank you thank you thank you!) on their front page, captioned with neither bad news nor hyperbole, Frank approved, and commented thus:

"Michael, I just saw the cover photo of you on the Riverhead Newspaper from your site. Great photo. It’s so nice to see news coverage of our sport with out the superlatives; extreme, or rescue."

I'm with you, Frank, particularly re windsurfing photos captioned "rescue".

Even more particularly, photos of ME windsurfing, captioned "rescue."

But that would be better than a photo of me windsurfing, captioned "his remains were found..."

Which I suppose would still beat a photo of me windsurfing, captioned "he was last seen being dragged below the surface by huge sharks."

That would really suck.

(photo: The cover of the Riverhead News-Review. Click and squint to read the perfectly reasonable caption.)

(Additional note: Frank Messina played a small but important role in my windsurfing past: He is the first windsurfer I ever saw do a planing jibe. I'd been windsurfing for two years with people who either did not care about jibing or who did not plane through their jibes, and while I'd heard of the thing, seeing it happen was a revelation. Frank carved beautiful jibes. I immediately moved from the "I don't care" contingent to the lowest ranks of the "I must jibe" crew.)