The Peconic Puffin Windsurfing Blog

Six Years Ago By Comparison...

...there I am at South Jamesport, chasing the ever speedy Scott in the distance.  In a shorty.  Not a DRYSUIT!!!   I am ready for summer shortboarding.

Big Winds and Bad Timing

It was my wedding anniversary, but Sally let me go out east for the day to catch the wind.  A fine wife!   Called Scott during the drive...he told me it was blowing big...4.2 at least!   

I arrived at Sebonac early afternoon, to watch two wingers struggling to get out of the water in nuking air with crazy gusts.  Scott was on shore catching his breath, talking about 3.7.  I own a 3.7 but I don't like it, and frankly don't like sailing in that much wind in general.  "I'm rigging my 4.2" I proclaimed.   I love my 4.2 and 4.7...Naish Force sails balance well for me and make me happy.

"Look at Frank!  Frank's on a 4.0!" Scott said.

Frank was sailing inbound, totally sheeted out.   Frank is not like other windsurfers.  He is mighty.  If Frank was totally sheeted out on a 4.0, I would be spanked badly on my 4.2.   So I rigged the 3.7.

Meanwhile Christian...who had already rigged...was sitting in his shredmobile watching soccer on his phone.  "Football" he called it but whatever.  He didn't want to launch in the crazy wind.   Frank rigged down to a three meter sail.  John Nat put his wing away and rigged something small.

After much hemming hawing and avoiding I launched in the inlet.   The wind was blasting, but the current was going into the inner bay so it was hard to get going.   After two attempts to clear the inlet sailing westbound Jon Ford convinced me to shlep over to the beach side and launch from there.

I did. It worked.

But it was still too much wind.  Fully overpowered outbound I managed to hold it together, even catch some air.  Jibing was out of the question though.  Bear off?  Are you insane?   I did an alternative version of a laydown jibe (lay the sail into the water while sailing straight, then step off.  Turn everything around, waterstart.)   On the way back it was gust lull gust lull waves 2-3 feet and all crazy.   I got back to the beach and said I was done.    I was having no fun and afraid to get hurt, and if I left early I'd return for my anniversary dinner with time to spare.   Should have saved my driving day for Sunday, which is turning out better.

Dunzo.

(Photo:  Me just short of tailwalking, returning inbound.  Photo by Jonathan Ford.)

Puffins at Sebonac

Puffins at Sebonac Inlet?   The watermen?  The birds?  Yes to both!

With a supermoon high tide and up and down wind (I was on a 5.4 and 93 liters...powered then gagging, powered then gagging) the wingers were on the water first (John Nat and Christian, while Dan had been first and was already derigging) before Scott, Pav and I broke out sails, and some kiters weighed their launch options. 

There was some dredging going on by the little inlet to the east, turning the water their to muck, so we mostly sailed towards Meschutt, launching from the beach to the west of the road (the high tide was running up to the road on the eastern side so the usual launch was NG.)

I saw two or three puffins shoot out from the inner bay (Bullhead Bay)...it has been a few years since I've seen any so Hurray!    The puffins and maybe six runs was all I'd get out of the day before the wind dropped to send me derigging.  Still grateful for the water time!

Up and Down, On and Off

Met Scott at Sebonac.   The forecast resembled that of two weeks earlier, when building winds brought us from calm to blown off the water in a few hours, so expectations were high.   With maybe 10 mph breezes Scott was worried that he hadn't brought his 3.7, based on the readings he was getting from up island.  I felt the need to rig something, so I picked 4.7.  5.4 seemed like asking to get flattened, but Scott's anticipation of nukedom seemed overly optimistic.

I'd rigged correctly, kinda.

Whilst some wingers (including Christian, John Nat and Dan) were out for lighter breezes, I got going on the 4.7, with Scott soon behind me but not quite as lit (over the winter I lost weight...Scott not so much).  Good fun, but the lulls got bigger and bigger, and ultimately shut us down.

An hour later back at home it started blowing 30 on the bays.   I'd had half of a good day and was cool with it!

(Photo of me and Dan.  Dan is a former colleague of the Wolf, though Winging is his first wind/water combo sport!)

Blown Off The Water at Sebonac

It had been a year since I'd sailed my 77.   Someone said "check your footstraps for rot!"   I've never had gear go dry for that long!  The straps were fine.   I met Scott at Sebonac, where we were joined by Winger John Nat and another guy whose name I forgot but he used to work with the Wolf so he is automatically In.

Scott forgot his 4.2 ("I left it under my 5.8!" so he was in a pickle, as the winds built over two hours, but not gradually.  Ever so often it was as if a switch was thrown.  Me:  4.7 on the 93, 4.7 on the 77, 4.2 on the 77, and then in the middle of a run I (and everyone else) was flattened by a gust.  Liquid smoke.   I got back to the beach fully sheeted out, thinking my 3.4 was too big for what was blowing.   Everyone came in (John toughed it out for an five extra minutes) while sand blew down the road.

Derigged to a gorgeous sunset.

Hart's Cove Quicky

As I pulled up Scott and Joe Nat shouted "you killed the wind!"

I hate killing the wind.

They'd been on 5ish gear (Joe bigger, with a cammed slalom sail) before I got there, and were sailing lit.  We stared at the water for half an hour, with me halfheartedly rigging my 5.4, when it came back up.   I caught maybe 30 minutes of nice wind, and in my recovery from a year of practically no sailing I managed not to fall (my jibes are still shite however).   Then it started to rain, and as we didn't want to get wet we left.

Nice little sesh.

East Landing Y'all

"Reasons?  We don't need no stinking reasons!"   That was Artie's thought as we rigged up for fun at East Landing.  T'was George, Joe Nat, moi and the Art of Windsurfing on five meter sails.   There were lulls, the tide was higher than optimal but it was full on buddy time with friends on the water!

More wind on the way for the weekend...

Wind's a Comin'

The Coastal Marine Forecast is singing our song:

Today:

NE winds 10 to 15 kt with gusts up to 20 kt.  

 

Thu

NE winds 15 to 20 kt with gusts up to 25 kt.  

 

Fri

NE winds 15 to 20 kt with gusts up to 30 kt.  

 

Sat

NE winds 15 to 20 kt with gusts up to 25 kt.

 

Sun

NE winds 20 to 25 kt.  

The Wolf Has Moved South

Jan van der Wolf…the Wolf…commodore of the Eastern Long Island Wind Chimp Association and a proud Peconic Puffin…has decamped for Florida digs.

“It’s too cold here in the winter” he told me.

I agreed. It used to not be.

“It’s the end of an era,” Scott says.

More than that, says we.   Ten years ago for Jan’s 70th birthday I wrote “The Wolf is the goal. The Wolf is a beacon.  Every time Jan vanderWolf catches a wave or launches off a ramp, we're hopeful for ourselves, that we can be out there decades from now.   Also we're having a good time, because let's face it:  The Wolf is fun to sail and paddle with.   "The Stoke of the Wolf" Jeff calls it.”

 

 

Have seen it all with the Wolf.  Supping a "party wave".  Snow sailing at South Jamesport.   Sebonac Inlet going off.  A mid ocean collision.  "You'll have that" Jan says.

Now at the age of 80 the Wolf is exercising some judgment. Good for him, sad for us. We all love the man.   But now we don’t get to sail or paddle with him.   He sold his beloved landscaping business.  And the vanderDome is closed. Our loss.

If he comes to visit everyone will lend him gear, of that I’m sure.   I hope he does.

Elvis has left the building.

(Air Wolf photo courtesy Jeff Schultz.)

Swap Meet!

August 24th me droogs!  Hampton Watersports of course!   If you're like me you wished there's been one in the Spring, but the waiting will make this one sweeter!

Ya think?

Who knows!  The details from Jonathan Ford:

"Wings, foils, EFoils, surfboards, SUP's, kites and windsurf gear - all at super inexpensive pricing. Stop by early for the best deals.

Buy or sell New, used and closeout Foil, Wingfoil, Kite, surf and Windsurf gear.

Sellers - please drop your used gear now thru 10 am 8/24

Buyers - Come by and check it out 10am . Note: Anyone looking for anything specific, please let us know before hand. We can shop for you if needed."

 

 

A Return to Windsurfing

 

It had been nine and a half months since I windsurfed.   Why?   Lack of conditions, conflicting family schedule, bad luck.   I’d stood at South Jamesport with Pav a couple of times watching the wind fail to come up.  

I HAVE spent a few weekends in the introductory-to-wingfoiling waters. And intend to pursue it.   But I hadn’t planed (except for a few three second runs on the foil) in ages.

Finally it came, last Friday.   At Hart’s Cove with Chimply Lord Scotworth (the Earl of Kielt) we caught the summer classic: 4.7 winds, 80 degree air temps!   Was I rusty? Had trouble getting into the back footstrap smoothly, and the jibes were rusty, but shred I did!

I’m back.

The Worst Spring Ever

The Worst Spring Ever.   Scott says so.  April sans Sebonac?  WHAT?

My foot straps have never been dryer.  The last time I went for this long a stretch without sailing was 1995.

Arctic Artie Getting it Done

I used to be the guy pushing the limits of cold weather sailing...I remember a day Peconic Jeff and I set out to not leave until our sails were iced up during a Mecox session.   But I haven't managed a winter session yet this season, and we're 1/3 through!   Leave it to Artie to hit it last Sunday at Meschutt, where he reports his 5.4 was fine for about six minutes before it iced up.   That's the way you do it!

(Photo by The Art of Windsurfing)

Windsurfing with a Fitbit

Windsurf with a Fitbit?   I was curious...how much exercise am I actually getting on the water?   But I was also fearful of destroying the thing...we all know that a "waterproof" device is often no match for a few falls off a windsurfer making 25 knots!

On Sunday I thought my drysuit might make it possible.  And it did!

I put it on for an hour of sailing at Sebonac...4.2 bump and jump, no light sailing, but well covered by the drysuit sleeve.   What would it say?  What would it think I was doing?  Would I wreck it? 

There was nothing to worry about.   I'll probably take it out again for the next session.  "Sport"!

Returning to Sebonac

The line of shredmobiles on Sunday was stretching far back up the road.   “When was the last time you saw so many windsurfers” asked Aurelio?

It had been awhile!   Particularly at Sebonac, which is usually our most sailed launch, but in 2023 for me at least this was sesh #1. So welcome!

Saturday it started blowing at high tide with WNW that made the usual inside a teeth-chattering mogul field, but to the west sailing towards Meschutt the swell was fine and the windsurfing good!

Sunday we caught the low tide perfectly, featuring small but nicely spaced rollers towards the point. The sand bar was in full effect!

Both days started out on 4.7, then on to 4.2

For the back-to-back days with 4.2-4.7 average sail size we saw Aurelio and Chris, John Nat, Joe Nat (back on the water!) with Shelley, George Pav, Frank, Jan & Bruce, Scotto, Jon Ford and a few others, mostly windsurfing but with the occasional winger.

Scott says next weekend looks good already!  

Avoid Injury When Downhauling

In the words of an OG Puffin named Dave in 1993, “don’t do that, do that!”   More specifically, use a downhaul tool of some kind when attaching or releasing your downhaul, lest your hand be injured, as happened recently to The Art of Windsurfing.   At the request of the editors, Artie is here to tell his cautionary tale.  We urge all Puffins to learn from his error and heed his wisdom!

“When Mike asked me to write about my recent windsurfing hand injury episode and its impact on my sailing, my patients, and my work, I thought, “Why in the world would I wanna tell the windsurfing community about my stupidity?” But Mike very simply stated, “Easily half of the Puffin’s traffic comes from people searching answers,” and that actually made sense to me.

On Sunday September 24, most of the human population were probably hunkered down indoors with nasty, windy, rainy weather provided by a lingering tropical storm Ophelia. I on the other hand, with about 12 other wind-addicted souls, ventured out onto the Long Island Sound via Crab Meadow Beach in Northport for a killer wind and wave-filled 2+ hour session. Honestly, the rest is a fantastic blur of down-the-line jibes on chest to head-high waves, huge starboard jumps on the tack out, and enormous swell to jibe on way outside (remember this was day three of Ophelia and with that fetch on the Sound from the east, the swell was just enormous!).

   And that was basically it: a somewhat eventful, but eventless day for me, outside of a buddy of mine, Bruce who tore his hamstring muscle jumping one of the aforementioned chest to head-high waves. Another story for another time. So, back to my truck I go and begin to de-rig my sail. The way I’ve de-rigged my sail for the past 25+ years or more. First, I wrap the outhaul line from the boom around my right hand while holding boom with my left hand, and pull with a LOT of force to release the outhaul line on the boom cleat. Then, I proceed to either hold the base of the mast extension with my left hand, or secure my foot against the mast extension, while wrapping the downhaul line around my right hand (again), and yank the (you know what) out of the line to free it from the mast extension cleat. And viola, easy-peasy. But this time, something was different, something went wrong. I felt a sharp pinch-like pain in my right hand, my working hand, thought nothing of it, strapped my board on the rack, tossed the rest of my gear in the pick-up bed, and drove the 50 minute drive home.

      
Less than two days later my hand swelled up like a catcher’s glove, and despite trying to “work through it” in my office, I found that was not happening and proceeded to have my receptionist call future patients to re-schedule them 1-2 weeks out. I’m an Endodontist, a root canal specialist, which requires intricate, detail fine finger movement…of my right hand; my working hand. This is a problem…a huge problem. I think it’s time I have an orthopedic surgeon take a look to find out just exactly what’s going on here. Turns out, I tore several carpal ligaments on the dorsal side of my hand and now have to immobilize my hand for the next 6 weeks in a hand splint, give or take a couple of weeks. Oh yeah, and by the way, no windsurfing or any physical activity requiring my right hand either; including work. Period. Not cool. Financially, emotionally, and windsurfingly speaking. Especially with the fall/winter season approaching.

So, was there a lesson learned? Absolutely. Could this have been avoided? Sure enough. Do the vast majority of us do this with the outhaul and downhaul line? I think we do. Will I approach rigging and de-rigging a little differently and use the proper rigging tool when I get my hand back? You betcha. Cause it just ain’t worth this stupid injury that’s for damn sure."

P.S.   If you are on the beach far from your chosen tool you can use this trick to make your uni a downhaul tool.  

(Photos:   Top:  Don't do that!   Middle:  Do that!   Bottom:  Alternative downhaul tool...$3 PVC tube with built in bend, sold at Home Depot.  Do that too if you like!   Photos by Artie.)