Warming up

One day this jump will end up in a forward, I just need balls and skill

A huge front will be hitting the Midwest for the next three days. As I write this, Michigan City is showing 40 knot winds. Today we hit Wolf to ride the beginning of the storm, a warm up session. We had some fun but the real deal started right after sunset, so we missed it. Tomorrow it will be serious business. 

Being irrational paid off (this time)

So what if the forecast said the wind was going to drop? Well, I should know better at this point. C'mon man, I've been skunked in all forms known to mankind, and the forecast really sucked! Why on earth was I throwing my gear on top of my car, on this particular Monday afternoon? Because windsurfers are like compulsive gamblers: we care very little about odds. 

So I got to Wolf and the gods decided, this time, to reward my irrational behavior. Next time it may or may not happen, only one thing is for sure: I'll be there.

 

Surfin is realy good

The days are getting shorter here in the Midwest, and we are entering that time of the year when the water is warmer than the air, the North winds kick in, and the surfin' gets good. Or at least that's what we thought this morning when we hit Montrose. The reality was that the wind less than perfect, the air was chilly, and the surfin' consisted in 10 seconds of planing and a long walk back, smiling though.
The short wave riding reminded me of a song that my friend Jordan Yaruss made a few years ago. He is not a windsurfer, not even a surfer; he is a white water kayaker and song writer who captured like no one else the essence of a short sesh. I hope you enjoy the video.  

Puerto Madryn

My brother Carly is a windsurfer. He is actually the one who introduced me to windsurfing. As many of us, life took him to a bunch of different places, but ironically never close to the ocean. He would drive 8 hours from Madrid to Tarifa to score a weekend of good conditions, and also as many of us, he became addicted to weather forecasts. Finally, last year he decided to fulfill his dream and live close to the sea, so he moved to Puerto Madryn, in the Argentinean Patagonia. He quickly found a group of windsurfers, who apparently rip, and he is now one happy dude.
So if you're thinking about going South, go knock on his door, tell him you know me, tell him that you're a windsurfer, he'll show you around.

Off shore wind, and some flat water. You gotta be careful though, the place is a whale sanctuary

Sunset in the Patagonia

Simplify

I once read an editorial in a kitesurfing magazine about some dude who started using the motto "simplify" to guide his kitesurfing lifestyle. Less gear, less over reading forecasts, less trying to get to the perfect spot, and more about enjoying what he had at hand at that moment. The piece was nicely written, but to me, at that time, it sounded like a bunch of self sufficient crap.

The forecast for this weekend was 17 to 20 mph from the NNE and I, as usual, spent hours trying to figure out things. After much deliberation I decided to go for the simplest option, good ol' windsurfing at Montrose, in front of my house. Simple plan. What followed was one of the best sessions I had since I moved to Chicago.  The wind kept building all day, it was sunny and warm, and the beach was packed with kitesurfers and windsurfers with big smiles and tired arms. 

Crib run from Montrose beach

By the end of the day, we decided to do a crib run, about 2.5 miles out and back. Three windsurfers, two kiteboarders, out there, in the bluest water I've ever seen. Simplify, I'm not going to tell you that it always works, nor that I live by it, but occasionally it may be worth trying. 

Montrose wind swell will make you a better human being

12th Street Beach

12th Street Beach 

There is always something unsettling about launching at a new spot. Yet there are a few things that excite us more than throwing ourselves into uncharted waters. I don't know why this happens. Maybe we do this because we want to see how things look from the other side. 

12th Street Beach is not the easiest launch, especially when it's blowing SSW. But once you get out the wind gets clean and the water gets blue, and things begin to fall into place. The real treat though comes after jibing outside. Then, you are standing on Lake Michigan, on your 8 feet bard, facing the Chicago skyline. 

Seeing things from the other side, yeah that's what throws us into uncharted waters.  

Going back to shore, making the most of a puff of wind

Heading out

Lake Huron

Just came back from a three-day kitesurfing road trip to Tawas, Michigan. We had all sorts of different conditions, from barely keeping the kites in the air to 100% overpowered. As of me, I was just fine kooking it out and walking upwind. We also made some good friends, had barbecues and bonfires by the beach, and learned that kitesurfing is, as I suspected, also addictive. Good times.

Maurice throwing some spray