The Peconic Puffin Windsurfing Blog

Air Bunty

The number one reader of The Peconic Puffin in Malta is Bunty, author of Bunts Blog.   She's also a regular commenter here.   We like her new self portrait, posted on Facebook!

Joe's Beach @ Heckscher Reopens

As seen on Facebook, from Mike Burns:

 

Bloody Lip in Stingray City

Christian:  "Watch out for the stingrays.  Jeff and I have seen some big ones.  If you fall off your board, don't step down."

Me:  "How do you know they're stingrays, and not skate.   We've seen plenty of skate before".

Christian: "They're HUGE."

Great.  Crumbly knee-high waves at Ponquogue offering a little Saturday morning relief, except there are sea monsters just below the surface.   I spend the two hour session falling ass-first, so as to not step on the stingrays, none of which I ever see.

Then paddling out a freshly breaking wave catches my attention.  My weight was back on the board and I wasn't going to be able to step forward and hold the nose down, so I wisely raised my hand in front of my face in case the nose of the board got knocked up into me.

Board into hand.   Hand holds paddle.  I smash my lip with my Werner paddle.   What will the wife think about my coming home with a fat lip?  We have dinner plans tonight...I could be in trouble.   Then I look down and see that I'm dripping blood on the board deck.

Great.  Time to attract additional sea monsters.   While the bleeding was minimal, the wind was coming up and the waves were getting messy, so after a few more rides I called it a day.

(Photo:  Once the bleeding topped it were nothing to look at.)

Sailin' Down the Road, Feeling Fine

North to NNE is not that typical a wind direction in Greater Peconica, and does not have an Approved Best Place to Windsurf in the Eastern Long Island Wind Chimp Association guidebook.   But NNE is what we got Saturday morning, so Bill Nightingale and I simply drove down to Towd Point beach, rigged up some 5ish sails, and had a blast.   Sailing more or less parallel to the Cows Neck "horn" (ie passing in front of the North Sea Road launch) there was a bit of rolling swell, with one spot (just pass North Sea Road) serving up proper 2' ramps...I got some of my best Peconic air in a long time!  Just the thing to follow the preceding day's Bowl session, and to tee up dinner with Bill and family that night.   That's what I call a sweet June Saturday.

Return to The Bowl

I had to get back to the city.  Just as Rt. 39 turned to highway I began getting texts about "4.7 at the Bowl" but I had things to do in NYC.

Ten minutes later it hit me.  "What am I doing?"  Took the next exit, headed back east, grabbed the van etc etc...an hour later I launched with a 5.3.  City Shmitty...I'll deal with that stuff Friday!

1.  In the last 18 months I have had all of one ocean session.

2.  See #1. (Thank goodness for SUPsurfing!)

@thebowl I found Scott, the Wolf, George Pav, Bruce, and my neighbor Bill (catching his first East End ocean sesh!) Also Marty and some kiters (Johns Sassone and Ford would hit the water later).  Finally got to take the 99 Skate out (which I bought as a lightwind wave board) but soon switched down to the 93 FSW.   No proper waves formed, but the swell was jump and jibeworthy.

In days of olde yesterday's Bowl conditions would have been considered mediocre...up and down winds, no proper breaking waves.   But when you've been denied ocean sailing for so long, the hills and valley are wonderful and sweet even without bottom turns and cutbacks.

The Unexpected Sesh

"I didn't expect to sail today" I said.

"I didn't expect to sail 4.7" Scott said.

And so on.

Through shear luck I was on my way out east when Jon called.  "Sebonac!"

I had work and chores and projects planned (and I got to most of them later)...but first a quickie!

Jon Scott the Wolf Jan & Bruce and me.  Northwest winds meant the reach wasn't ideal (Meschutt still unavailable) but the ramps were pretty good, and for my one hour o'watertime, things were quite nice (4.5 and 93 liters...yeah the board was big but the lulls were too.)

Gotta run...work work work!

No Nose Windsurfing Board. At All

I do not recall this board, or its story.  The photo was taken in the late 90's.   All the footstraps on the board suggest an oldie.   That they're pink suggests that this isn't my board (my first boom was pink, however.  Or fuschia.  Fanatic made it.)   Been clearing out some old boxes of photos and found this.  What the heck?!

BTW I'm pretty sure I've never broken the nose off of a board, ever.  (Jinx alert for me!)

Try Out SUP (and new boards) Saturday

This Saturday at Cold Spring (Great Peconic) Hampton Watersports is sponsoring a Stand Up Paddling demo.  From their Facebook post:

"Multi brand demo with LOADS of equipment for you to demo at no charge.

-ride the new Naish one!

-checkout the Starboard brushed carbons - the lightest, most durable SUPs on the planet!

-Find out why the NSP is one of the best values out there!

This is the largest SUP demo in the northeast! Come check it out and find the perfect board for you - by actually riding it!

End of Cold Spring Rd, Peconic Bay in Southampton 10:30 - 3pm".

Me I love all things Naish, and I know the NSP is an excellent budget board.  Starboard doesn't suck either!

 

Crash and Bleeding

Where is the safest place to windsurf on Eastern Long Island?  Friendliest water? Least chance of mishap?  You may want to say Napeague but it’s got to be Mecox.

Yeah well...

Windsurfing at the Yacht Club Saturday with Christian...mellow sesh on a 7.5/109, sharing the water with a pair of kiteboarders.  The bay was extra shallow, as the Cut had apparently been opened recently.  In the SW wind I was on port tack heading towards the northern limit of the bay (lots of sea shells and live mollusks) on a full plane, with a kiter  straight downwind of me.   It was starting to get tight...the bay gets quite shallow at that end (where the wind also picks up a knot to give you extra zip in your jibe) but the guy would just not stop or turn or do anything*, and like the fool I am I kept waiting.  Started my jibe way too late. 

The fin hit hard.

I knew enough about that part of the bay to raise my arms in front of my face.  If you’re going to get cut to ribbons, better limbs than nose lips eyes.

Christian sailed up shortly thereafter, pronounced me “considerate” the kiter not so, and noted the condition of my right arm and leg. 

“That ends this sesh,” I proclaimed, and sailed back to the launch, to grab the first aid kit I’ve assembled and rarely used.   A quart of rinse water, half a tube of Neosporin, and ten bandages later I was good to go home.

Still managed to windsurf Sunday for awhile, until my left hand started bleeding from one of the cuts.

*I did not have right of way, but there is some basic level of consideration called for on the water.  You don't hold your course to make someone else stop completely or run aground when you have a dozen other options.  IMHO.

Also note:  I was thinking about titling the post "Unhappy and Bleeding"...a play on Happy and Bleeding, which was the name of Christian's last movie until he changed it to Love Sick Love.  The old title was better for the Peconic Puffin.  Where are his priorities?

(Photo:  Right elbow area, after some nice neat rebandaging at home.  Not shown:  Right knee, right hand, left hand.)

Four Board Weekend/The North Fork Goes Off

"You should thank me for calling Mattituck," Scott said.

"Thank you, Scott" I replied.

Yeah!  Sunday's SSW forecast suggested New Suffolk, but Scott arrived north first, found no parking issues at the Mattituck Yacht Club, and declared Launch Found.   Lord Scotworth, Christian and I, along with some North Fork regulars whose names I don't know (Hello Maui Global Guys!) hit it around 2pm.  

I started on the 99 liter Skate and a 5.3.   As the wind built and Mattituck's classic starboard ramps* began to set up I switchted to the FSW 93.   And after a fine hour of that it was either rig down or bring out Candy 77, which I did!

*I have a great image of Scott catching air in my head (the image is in my head...Scott was jumping on the Peconic):  Basically his head stays level, but the rest of his body and board went from underneath him to three feet above him.  Smooth and sweet.

The wind kept building, and just as we came in to re-rig, Jon Ford, the Wolf, Eric and company arrived, to disparage Mattituck and praise New Suffolk:

Them: C'mon, you gotta derig anyway.  Drive with us over to New Suffolk...it will be better there!

Us:  I don't wanna, I'm going home I've got a child, I don't know (Scott, Christian, me.)

Them:  We're outta here!

Us:  I'm coming, I've got a child, I'm coming!

Problem was when we got to New Suffolk it wasn't happening, so back to Mattituck, where I sailed 4.5 until I got blown off the water.  The rest of the crew rigged down and stayed at it.

That's enough for now.  I haven't even gotten to the ghost ship or conspiracy theories, and there's still Saturday's session to report (why is Michael covered in bandages?)  More posts for the week, my fine feathered friends!