There was a gale warning issued for today. Oftentimes on Eastern Long Island, Scott tells us that a gale warning means we get nothing. (Yeah we oftentimes get gales, too, but you gotta admit that when they’re calling for 30 knots and you get nothing, it stands out.)
Anyhow after most of a day of nothing, a breeze seemed to rise so Scott, Peconic Jeff, the Wolf and I went to Sebonac Inlet. The wind was blowing NNE, a rare direction for which there is no choice launch. We were just looking for whitecaps. What we found was 8 knots of wind, which George Pav and Joe Natalie were working in a nonplaning freestyle session, and a few other guys were barely planing on 8.5’s. After ten minutes of moaning, Jeff and I rigged some 5ish sails and joined the freestylers.
Jeff had the good idea to wear a harness. After fifteen minutes the wind began to come up…first enough to pump onto the occasional plane, then enough to pump to a plane most of the time, and within a half hour I was heading back to shore to add outhaul to my 5.3. Meanwhile the Wolf was out on his SUP, challenging the proposition that the board couldn’t plane (it sure as heck could and did).
The Little Peconic was serving up flatwater, and the freestyle crew was working it for assorted 360’s, donkey jibes, vulcans, backwind jibes, pushtacks etc and attempts thereof. All this while Mr. vanderWolf redefined the stand-up paddleboard under sail.
So we were all out there having a grand time, while Scott stood on shore and talked and watched. This was normal when we were goofing around with helitacks, and not entirely surprising during the light planing portion of the session, but when the winds had built so I was planing full-time on the 5.3 (while Scott is happy to rip on a 5.8) it was getting strange.
So Scott rigged.
The winds strengthened even more.
Scott launched.
And the wind was done about three minutes later.
“I’m very disappointed,” Scott lamented. He hates gale warnings.
Mike-did you stay around, did it come back up again? Good to see everyone.
GP
Posted by: Geo | June 22, 2009 at 06:16 AM