One more at Montrose

We had a classic Montrose day yesterday: 20+ knots out of the NNE, 5 feet waves (with the occasional 6 footer on the outside), 50 degrees (OK maybe high 40s, but who cares!). Andrew and I showed up in the morning, and it was honking already. I was on my 5.2, Andrew rigged a 4.8 and we both were lit up. By 4 PM the wind came down a little, but then it picked up again. I had left the beach already but Michael, Steve and Andrew squeezed every  drop of wind left. We met afterwards and watched some footage of the day over dinner, perfect Thursday! 

Note: I broke both harness lines. I'd like to think it's because of all the hard riding, but I'm starting a diet just in case ;)

Riding in the sky

Andrew from the jetty

Montrose on a South day

Rode Montrose with Mike yesterday. It was blowing 25 knots or so at the crib (3 miles off shore), out of the South, wrong direction for Montrose. We had no choice though, we were both coming from work, so we took it. Between the dog beach and the jetty the wind was flaky and gusty, but past the jetty it was all good. I was on a 6.5 and 105, Mike was on his 7.5 and 140 (I think). His rig was too much once we were out there, so he sailed mostly inside.
I don't know how many more sessions I will have in Chicago, and one of the things on my bucket list was to make another run to the crib, so I gave it a shot: my first solo crib run, epic.

The Crib, Chicago in the back

4.7 at Wolf? Nahhh...

And yet, the official kickoff session at Wolf was a brutal one. I was on 5.2 for about 30 minutes, completely out of control. Michael let me borrow his 4.7 and that made it a little less chaotic, but still the Goya was way too much... 30 gusting up to 40 knots, about 15 riders on the water, 2013 is ON! Good thing to ride with Michael and Matt once again...

Job done!

The Goya was finally discharged from LB's clinic, and she is ready to roll... I hope... This Saturday I'll do some testing at wolf and see if she is sea worthy.

Nose job

The Goya is getting a nose job. Dr. Bordeau (a.k.a Little Bird, a.k.a the board surgeon) removed a lot of stuff and put some serious epoxy patches, but he thinks the board will make it. After an hour of work, we were done for the day, so we went for tacos. I certainly hope the board survives, I need her in full force for my lest season in Chicago.

What lies beneath... the duck tape layer

Little Bird at work

Couldn't wait any longer

And so the season started. Yes there was ice on the beach, yes is may have been snowing, but I couldn't take it any longer. The rest of the crew is in Corpus Christi, I'll post pictures...
See you out there!

Will it happen?

For the past 3 years, the season in Chicago has started in mid March. By then usually the ice is gone on Lake Michigan, and the smaller inland lakes are ready as well. This year, I'm not so sure. Some desperate souls have decided to migrate to Texas in search of steady winds and warm weather. I'll post pictures of that trip soon.