Weekend road trip: Michigan City and St Joseph

Last weekend there was some wind forecasted for both days... time for a road trip. Our first stop was Michigan City, in Indiana. The beach faces WNW, and the forecasted wind direction was NNW,so we were expecting some nice side-on push... Nothing happened until 6 PM, when all of the sudden it sarted blowing in the 18-20s. It was pretty on-shore, so I rigged my 6.5 to have extra power to make it upwind, and get out of the impact zone that was getting pretty big. The ride out felt great, I went through the white water with no problem. My ride back was a memorable one: I was running parallel to the beach riding walls of fresh water. In one of those waves I wiped out, and just made it in time to grab my rig before the next wave hit. This second wave fell with all its force on my sail, and snapped my mast in half, the sail made it in one piece though, GO EZZY!!! Anyway, that was the end of another great short sesh... time for a beer.
Sunday we went ot St Joseph, in Michigan. This is a surf spot, pretty cool, and famous in the area for getting scary big... Well, it didn't get stary big, but it definitely showed up its potential. The waves looked so nice in the morning that we decided to try SUP. My first time on a SUP, and I must tell it's a great woukout!

Me SUPing in St Joseph








Time for some sailing

Crazy SUPer in shorts









 Surfin' Michigan
 









In the afternoon the wind picked up, so we rigged and went out, but we needed a little bit more wind to make things work... Later that day, two SUPers showed up at the beach and went out to Tiscornia (the other side of the beach) where the waves were pretty heavy. One of the guys was in shorts, I really thought that we were going to have to rescue him, but he made it back in one piece...

Anyway, another great weekend in the mid-west,  I can't wait to get another SUP sesh... maybe tomorrow...
Thanks again to Reid Fillman, the guy behind the camera! If you want to see more pics, check out www.windsurfillinois.com

The shortest session

Does one run constitute a session? Who knows... North winds, somewhere between 12 and 18 mph, were forecasted for today. Whihala beach, in Indiana, was the call. The beach fetches NE, so N provides side on conditions, great...
When I got there I was the only windsurfer (there was one kiter, way up wind from me) which was not a good thing... But the waves looked so nice! Organized sets, clean, perfect chest high swell. I rigged my 6.5 and wet out, only to corroborate what I already knew: that there was not enough wind... getting out was tricky but I made it through the white water, and once I got past the barrels, the wind filled in and I got in the straps, heading upwind as much as I could.
This launch is an interesting spot, in the middle of an industrial area, not a typical "paradise" one would say.
Long story short, I didn't nail my jibe, and had to waterstart in front of the natsy chimneys of some refinery... not great... but the swell was so good! So on the way in, I grabbed a few super nice waves that pushed me downwind.
For the second run, I was already downwind, and when I got up, I noticed that the wind had really come down... I wiped out in the impact zone, and got washed ashore, luckily...
There was no third attempt, the cold water, the fact that I was there alone, and the lack of wind were too many factors against me...
But the swell was so great... I'll go back some day!

Wolf Lake late afternoon session

Last Thursday I saw the trees moving as I was walking back from work. I thought about staying at home, I was tired... At the end I decided that if I was going to spend the rest of the afternoon checking the wind, I may as well give it a try, so I drove to Wolf Lake. I got there by 6 PM, right in time for a late afternoon session that put a smile on my face...
Tomorrow may be a Formula day, we'll see...

Oval Beach take two

Great weekend at Oval Beach! I got there Saturday morning, and the weather was less than perfect, with lots of rain and occasional thunder... But after a couple of hours the weather cleared... time to rig the 5,2... I sailed for two hours with Mark and Wendell, and when the wind dropped, was pretty exhausted... The word at the beach was that Sunday was going to be even better, so we stayed at a Hotel for the night.
We got back to the beach on Sunday morning and it was already cranking, 5,2 again, perfect on the inside, but a little bit small for the outside. Nevertheless, I stayed with the 5,2, trying to land some airs (I'm still afraid of these ramps!).
In summary, awesome weekend... Check out the pictures!

Air time, trust me it looks higher from the board :)

Eric's jibe

Reid's duck jibe
Oval Beach, gotta love it...
Mark is as happy as a sailor can be...

Oval Beach, Michigan

Finally I have some time to update the blog! Since I moved to Chicago I've been working pretty hard, but this weekend I was rewarded with a killer session at Oval Beach, Michigan.
I got in touch with the local crowd, through a website called windsurfillinois.com (check it out!)... These guys have been exploring and sailing in the area for a while, and are full of stoke!!!
Anyway, it was a 5.2 day, and the swell kept getting bigger, unbelievable... I know, you may think "there are no waves in Lake Michigan"... well my friend, I invite you to come here and see it by yourself...

Some of the images belong to windsurfillinois.com.
Photograper: Reid Fillman. For more, visit the website!

Oval Beach, Michigan
Eric, local ripper...
My face says it all...
Getting some air...
Scott, facing the swell, he made it though ;)

Three-day weekend

Beautiful Kalmus!!!

Windsurfers ripping at Kalmus

Great weekend here in New England! Finally I got my stitches out last Friday, and the forecast was promising for Sunday, but Saturday also looked good for some Formula BAFing. I went to Fogland on Saturday morning a Igor was there with his 10.8, typical summer weekend. We had to wait for the wind, but it finally happened at around 4. It was enough to make the big stuff work, and it was kind of fun to see how you can get overpowered on 16 mph winds... Note: the formula gear, even if it will make you fly in virtually no wind, has its limitations when it comes to maneuverability. Oh well, we got wet and that's what mattered.
Sunday was a different story. Kalmus went off at 4, and I was pretty powered on my 6.5, again, could I have rigged 5,2? May be...
And then, the bonus, an unexpected afternoon session on Monday. This time I rigged small, and it was total fun, even if I was shlogging some of the time (Fogland is gusty, as we all know...).

Loop update: On Saturday I practiced throwing myself over the rig in no wind. I did that about fifteen times, and I thought "now I'm ready"... Well, I was not. When the wind picked up at Kalmus I could not find the courage to throw myself in the air and forward. When they say that looping is 90% balls, they are right... On Monday at Fogland I spotted a piece of chop and I just went for it. When I got my head out of the water, I was in front of the rig, I had been thrown forward... FORWARD!!!! That means that I started to make my way into this tricky and beautiful maneuver... Now I need to keep trying, and trying, and trying...

See you out there!

It's summer again!!!

Windsurfing was suspended for me this weekend (doctor's orders...) But he didn't say anything about showing up at the beach! Yesterday it was suny and there was some wind, so I decided to go to Fogland and take some pictures...
You can tell summer is here when you see Igor on his 10.8 on a suny day!

One more comment: I declare 2009 the year of the loop. It is my goal to land a forward before Christmas... There it is, I said it, now I just need to GET TO WORK!!!! (I'll be posting here how things are going)

See you out there!