Summer kickoff

It's been windy for the past 4 days in the Gorge. I keep getting emails of sesh reports, pictures (like the one below Of Tuson Poor by Trudy Lary), etc, etc. The guys in Chicago probably got some too because I know they were going out and I haven't heard from them. Everybody got some TOW this weekend! I had an awesome sesh on Friday at the Hatch, switching from 4.2/87 to 3.7/72 and back for the end of the day.

Back at Doug's

So I started right where I left more than two months ago, at Doug's beach on the Washington side. Wow, it's been more than two months, I felt a little rusty. Started with 3.7/86, but was slogging a bit so moved to 4.2, which worked perfect until 1:30. Wind kept coming up so went back to 3.7 until i left. Apparently the wind kept getting better and better, check out these pics taken by Trudy Lary in the late afternoon! Need to work on starboard jumps, back and forward loops. Those are the goals for the season!

Doug's notes: 4.2 worked well with 20 mph average. It was gusty so I went with a bigger 86 L board, but 72 would have been smoother.

Doug's Beach

Dear Wind Gods: don't ever let me turn into a wind snob, for becoming one of "those who wait" is the first sign of vanishing stoke. Big rigs are fun, and once in a while I should be reminded of this.
Like today: 6.5/105 at Doug's... Had the river for myself, and that was a good thing because I was slogging a lot ;)

Doug's from above

First time at Stevenson

I retreated from Rooster today. That's OK, I didn't feel like dying on a Friday. I don't know what made me call it, maybe it was the rainbows created by spray being blown off the top of the swells, maybe it was the blue skies, or maybe it was the rattling sound that the 3.7 made, like it was made out of Saran Wrap. Everything was beautiful in a "my last minute on earth" kind of way. Almost like God was telling me "look at all this beauty son, for the last time... Cuz you're an idiot and rigged to big..." So I packed my stuff and went to Stevenson where is was blowing only 30, rigged my 4.7/85/21 combo, and had myself a session. There were two other windsurfers, and two or three kiters. Beautiful.

Unknown riders

Stevenson Marina

Check this movie out!

Remember my buddy Andrew (aka Waveseeker)? Yeah the guy behind those goofy windsurfing movies that I posted over the years... Well he's taking it to 11 with his new creation, a hilarious take on the 2014 Hatteras wave Jam. If you're a little tired of the typical "dude ripping to a song" movie, you have to check this thing out.

Windsurfing Movie 14 - A Brief History of the Wave Jam from Andrew on Vimeo.

First session of 2015!

We are back in business! December was insane with the holidays and everything. Turns out I ended up not riding for the whole month. So this was a very anticipated session after a long hiatus.

Rooster notes: wind was at E at 40 mph, water was at 40 F, air was at 45 F. I rigged 85L/4.2 m2 at the beginning, which was way too much. Rigged 3.7 and that was just perfect. The cold was not a problem at all. I was actually toasty in the 5.5/4/3 and a rash guard underneath. The main issue was  (as expected), the hands. The Glacier gloves were warm but wearing them just killed my forearms. I think I could have done with open palm gloves. The Gorge winter crowd was there in full today (Trudy, Larry and others), it was great to ride with them!

Oh, and the icing on the cake was a snowboarding session in the afternoon! Good times ;)

Rooster firing up. Picture by Trudy

More Rooster. Thanks Trudy!

Mt. Hood in the afternoon

Above the clouds

Lowering the bar

First cold session in the Gorge! Well, actually it turned out to be not that cold: water was at 50 degrees, air was at 30 when we started but climbed up to 40 by the end. Plus, Rooster has heated restrooms, so no going all Houdini in your car while putting on the wetsuit. It's like cheating almost! Wind was at around 30, so I rigged 85 L and 4.7,  and it was perfect! I really like winter sessions, I don't know why I find cold weather almost more appealing than warm weather. And apparently there's a group of people here in the Gorge who like being splashed in the face with freezing water as well (and they've been doing it for years!), so I look forward to more winter sessions...

Best past of windsurfing: sharing the stoke, no doubts about that...

The icy path the the water, try to walk on ice in sailing booties while holding a rig and being blasted with 30 mph wind

Rigging area

Larry ripping out there

Well within temperature range, by the end of the session ;)