"Mattituck stinks, usually," the Wolf said, as Scott, Bill, Peconic Jeff and I took a break on this fine and windy day. "But if it's South-South East, with an outgoing tide and a full moon and at over 20 knots, then it can be good." My one previous Mattituck session was during such an earth/tide/wind convergence, so Mattituck stinking was news to me.
Today we eeked out a good few hours. Sails were 5.0-5.5, and I actually managed to sail my 77 liter Fanatic "Candy 77" (last sailed in drysuit conditions in May). My bone dry board took one look at me as I was choosing between bathing suit and shorty and said "are you sure it's windy enough for me? Doesn't feel like there's a nor'easter anywhere near!" "Don't worry about it...the warm water won't crack you," I replied. "And without winter booties your footstraps won't be so tight."
I launched and didn't get more than a jibe or two in before Scott headed off towards Robins Island. He, Jeff and I crossed (Bill hadn't arrived yet, and the Wolf was otherwise engaged.) Landing on a rock-strewn beach, we guessed at the distance we'd crossed while Jeff tried to coax the answer out of his GPS unit (a map later determined it was four miles on the nose.) The reach back was plenty exciting as the wind and ramps came up.
We got back in time to take a few runs in blinding rain (always fun) before the rain and wind finally petered out. Fingers are crossed for a Sunday session...
Michael,
Sounds like a heavenly sesh... I long for the days of no wetsuit sometimes :).
Also, ballsy to take such a little board for such a long reach. If the wind had dropped earlier, you would have been in for a not-so-fun slog. I have the Freewave 86, and my buddy mostly rides the 77 and loves it. I'll have to give it a try one of these days...
Posted by: catapulting_aaron | July 25, 2008 at 10:52 AM
I am muy ballsy! However this initial run was sailed on my JP Freestyle Wave 93. I essentially took an 8-mile test run, then came in to switch to a more appropriate board (the 77) for the duration of the sesh.
Posted by: michael | July 25, 2008 at 10:57 AM
Glad you had some wind. We are all really stoked after having 2 good days last week after such a long lull in the wind. The thing is you get so out of form that it takes the two sessions to feel normal again. God knows when we will get our next bout of wind. Summer sucks here!
Posted by: Bunty | July 27, 2008 at 02:02 PM