The Peconic Puffin Windsurfing Blog

Oh, Tiana (don't kill me)

(the following is a guest report by Peconic Jeff filed last week:)

"Scott, Jon & I showed up at Tiana around noon to perfectly side-shore 25-35 mph winds and sand a-blowin'. With plenty of wind on the beach, we figured we could dodge the shore break and blast around on small gear (4.2 for me and Scott, 4.7 for the mighty Ford). Bruce arrived a half hour later, questioning our sanity of launching at high tide on an exposed beach with a ripping current (see photo with the current running against Scott's legs), but soon joined us on 4.2. While there wasn't much in the wave department, the wind didn't disappoint, and we were happy to be sailing on the ocean in December."

(Top:  Jonathan and Scott happily outbound.  Middle: Scott in dubious launch zone.  Bottom:  Air Bruce.  Photos and video by Jeff Schultz.)

Merry Christmas

The editors and staff of the Peconic Puffin wish you a Merry Christmas! The image is from a favorite Christmas card, which says "original design by Roz Davis". We thank Roz every year (Thanks Roz!)

Windsurfing Magazine R.I.P.

Windsurfing Magazine was my bible when I started.   It was 1992, and the magazine was loaded with equipment reviews, technical info (you haven't lived until you've read a Ken Winner technical piece), instruction, the whole shebang.  EVERYTHING was in there.   In 1996 I started a monthly column about the brave new world of windsurfing information available on the Internet, writing about 50 articles and a few features over the years before talking about websites in print became quaint.   Discovered my future gurus Dasher and Andy Brandt in the mag too (how exciting to meet them in person years later!)   Read Windsurfing cover to cover for years.

But between the sport contracting in the early 21^st century and the tremendous amount of information available digitally*, it was getting tough for them, and now they’ve decided to shut it down.   Everything ends.

R.I.P. Windsurfing Magazine.     Long Live Windsport and New England Windsurfing Journal!

*There is probably more windsurfing media now than there was 20 years ago, but it's online and semiprofessional or amateur.    But it's meeting much of the need.   One good print magazine (Windsport?) should be enough.

Cloud Surf (Kelvin-Helmholtz On Yo' Ass)

This should cause Peconic Jeff to bug out.  Wave clouds...hell yeah!  Spotted on Facebook in a post by Ely, this image was taken in Alabama a day or two ago.  From the Cloud Appreciation Society:  "The breaking waveforms of Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds are the result of shearing winds up at cloud level. A particular type of turbulence can develop in a layer of cirrus cloud, which happens to form below an inversion ...between air currents of differing speeds and/or directions. Sea waves break as their bases are slowed down upon reaching shallow water and their crests surge ahead. Cloud waves break in the same way: when their crests are pushed ahead of their troughs by the difference in air currents"

(Top photo attributed to Skip Walker.  Bottom photo courtesy Cloud Appreciation Society/Brian Wong)

My Favorite Hurricane Flood SUP Holiday Card

This made my morning.   Windsurfing friends Cecilia and Greg were home in Connecticut when Hurricane Irene came through.  While they found the winds overly strong for sailing, the flooded streets seemed just fine for some family stand-up paddling.  

OG Puffins Nancy and Bob (now in Florida) usually come through with my favorite card of the year, but I think we may have a Cecilia/Greg upset on our hands!

Video: Sticking the Mast Mid-Aerial

This clip of Arthur Pollet (French/Brazilian, PWA Freestyle competitor) getting stuck is making the rounds. ABK's Andy Brandt told me years ago that many freestyle moves were invented out of other moves going wrong (ie donkey jibe to escape a prematurely initiated duck jibe)...so I'm thinking how cool it would be to intentionally stick the mast in the bottom and hang from the footstraps for a second...like a gecko flacka on steroids. Might be hell on masts. A good move to throw on the moon.

All I Want For Christmas Is To Get Back On The Water

Even SUPping would be fine (hell yes it would be fine) though a nice 5.3 day with friendly shoulder-high waves at the Bowl would be particularly fine.   Photo swiped from the always impressive watersport Santa collection at Le Horse's Mouth.

Aruba Hi-Winds Flashback

For five years awhile back the wife and I went to Aruba at least once per year (all the way back to when she was "the girlfriend") and had a lot of good times and good friends there.   When I stumbled across this compilation of local TV coverage of Aruba's Hi-Wind races (1987-2006...this is one of several pieces from the collection on Youtube) I started looking for Aruban friends.   I was surprised (just a little) when the first person I spotted was Long Island's mighty Bill DeGeorge, who always does serious damage to competing egos at the East Coast Windsurfing Festival, Fall Regattas etc. (He was top-five in the Masters division in the clip above). I haven't sailed in Aruba in a few years, but this clip reminded me of how much fun it was to rip in the Blue Highway when Fishermans Huts was going off.

If you need an Aruba fix (or would just like to watch some flatwater Carib slalom action from yesteryear) here's a slab for you. Go to Youtube to find at least five more.

The True Story of The Wolf’s Cartwheel

(warning: if you're looking for a serious blog post...even a semi serious post, this ain't the day to be on the Peconic Puffin.)

Rumors were flying on the Internet.   Apparently unlocked by the SUP Cartwheel post, word was that the Wolf had tweaked his knee attempting a cartwheel on his stand up paddle board.   I believed the rumors (I always do) but try as I might to wrangle details from the innuendo-mongers (Scott, CD, and Peconic Jeff) no information was forthcoming.  Even Lord Vanderwolf played it coy, emailing me:

"Okay, here it is:  Last Saturday Jeff and I SUPped at Ponquogue in one of the weirdest wave set ups..."

and trailed off leaving mystery in his wake.

I had to investigate.

P-Jeff had whispered in my ear about a secret gathering Friday night in the Wolf's den...the VanderDome.   I was given directions and drove to the spot.   In the inky blackness I did find a door on a strange building, and did finally find a collection of wind chimps, puffins, and ne'er do wells with beer, cheese and crackers gathered around a ceremonial fire. 

I made an offering of Full Sail beer, was admitted into the ring (ne'er do wells included Hulse, Jeff, Ross, John Jr, Scott, and of course the Wolf) and finally got the story:  Waves were coming from multiple directions at Ponquogue, and when two collided to create a giant apex poised to crash down on him, the Wolf jumped off his board...straight forward.  The charging apex tossed the board upwards into the airborne Wolf's knee, and sent him spinning and bruised.

Ouch.

So CD is limping around as his demolished quad heals, I wonder when my ridiculous arm is going to let me get back to fun and games, and now Lord Vanderwolf can be seen with a single crutch nearby.   Not a lot of water action here, folks!

(Wolf on crutches photo by CD.  Fire by the editor.)

Slowest Jibe Video

Another video from Dasher, He Who Taught Me To Jibe. Recently while windsurfing in Turkey Dasher played with his GoPro and slow motion software and served this up.

Stashing Emergency Line

You’re out on the water and a line breaks.  Inhaul, outhaul, downhaul, uphaul, harness line…something you need snaps.   You’ll be happier if you’re carrying a piece or two of downhaul line to put yourself back together.   In twenty years of windsurfing  this has only happened to me once (I’m fanatical about checking and replacing worn line) but the time it did I was two miles from the launch and my harness line tore off.   Yes I could have flipped the boom (that’s fun to do in deep water) but instead I pulled out a piece of line, tied it on, and had an improvised harness line  that worked just fine to get me back home.

When I bought a new harness recently I didn’t make a point of stashing emergency line on it (I usually have two downhauls taped behind the bar).  But after Christian’s adventure at sea a few months ago I made a point of correcting that situation (as did Christian).  He and I opt for behind the bar storage, but you can also stash line in the back pocket of your harness if you have one (I don’t want to take my harness off if I don’t have to) or put a piece in the luff sleeve pocket of every one of your sails (requires sails with pockets, and line in each sail).

Do this.   And while you’re at it, replace all your downhaul lines for cold weather sailing (now is not the season you want to use your emergency lines).  Cut off the worn portion of your downhauls and make them your new outhauls.  Check boom inhauls (how often do you do that?)   For super stud status, replace your lines with Formuline if you haven’t already, and glory in easier downhauling and longer line life.

(Looks a little silly, works great.  My purple tape and Christian's blue line both call more attention to the set up than perhaps is necessary.  I'm going to switch to electrical tape in the name of fashion!  Note the orange bit on my rig...that's a safety whistle...less than $5 at Amazon.    Photo by Jeff.)

The SUP Cartwheel Part I

I have too much time on my hands (on account of my lingering arm issues). What do I do with the time (besides my wife's bidding?) I enjoy this fine report from Michigan Windsurfing as they pursue the elusive SUP cartwheel. Lake sailors rule!