From The Bowl: More Waves, More Wind

 
Saturday was the day of rest for those lucky few who managed to sail the tremendous conditions Wednesday through Friday.   I never even managed a blog post about Wednesday at Gardiners Bay (but Mike Burns was right next door at Napeague…check out his story) and Friday’s session at the Bowl was nearly as good as the truly epic conditions we had on Thursday (Peconic Jeff notes with caution the overuse of the word “epic” when it comes to windsurfing tales, but for anyone who was there, that session was 24 karat epic.)

What can I say about Friday?   It was a little windier than Thursday (3.7-4.2 was the call…I was on a 4.0) and the waves were a little smaller (see the photo at the top…that’s what I’m calling smaller).  Fisherman and Jon Ford were looking their usual outstanding selves, snaking down the line on the very long waves.    So was Jimi Sobeck, except for the moment when he nearly wiped out a surfer (it was a spectacular miss, and Jimi and the surfer are friends).  In a move I’ve never seen before, Bruce was jibing out the back of the wave, had the clew ripped out of his hands by a gust, was balanced on the crest of the wave with both board and clew pointing dead downwind and down the line…so Bruce leaned right, cut the board back onto the wave, and the clew came back to him as he shot down the face.   Jeff and Eric were going for it big time, and I pushed myself onto waves I’d been shying away from the day before.   I was patting myself on the back for this when I suddenly lost the ability to waterstart…first getting spun in an eddy by the jetty, and after my escape from that I managed a fall in the impact zone where I floundered like a drowning cat for five solid minutes before calling it a day.

Note to self:  Don’t admire your session until after its over, or wind and water will slap you silly.

Still it was a great day!   For a beautiful photo display as well as video from Epic Thursday, check out Jeff's post on his blog Windsurfing the East End.  In particular check out Graham Ezzy's tacks...that might sound like nothing, but they're sick!

(From the top:  Scott missed Thursday, so you know he wasn't going to miss Friday, the editor contemplates the wisdom of charging a logo high wave, Jimi Sobeck Flight School.  #1 and #3 by the mighty Bill Doutney, #2 by Peconic Jeff.)

Comments

[obxBill]

Looked great up there, and quite Epic!!

Only think missing was sunshine and blue skies, but hey...the side-off surf and wind was there!!

[Bunty]

Don't think I will look at your blog anymore.............it's too depressing for me! The most I managed last week was a miserable drift downwind and the wind forecast for this week shows Wednesday giving us some wind but it looks like it may go too far towards the South which means the worst conditions you can get here.

[Mark Paine]

Nice! I haven't been on a truly proper wave in nearly a year (no kidding). Looks good!