Two consecutive days of wavesailing at on Assateague Island, and I'm stoked. Ken Kellar came out today, and I really enjoyed sharing the waves with another sailor, there where plenty to go around, even a tad bigger than saturdays waves, though not as long and a lot more disorganized, but still plenty of nuggets to hit.
All in all, we dialed it perfectly, and sailed till almost 6pm.
Perfect sunny weather, wind outa the SSW in the mid teens. Ahhh
We set up camp around 10am. Hi tide was noon, so it was a struggle to try and hold out for the good waves that we knew where coming as lo tide approached.
I've had a lot more succes catching waves that are in front of me as opposed to behind me and looking back over my should. A quick pivot gybe I'm front of a incoming wave is now my preferred method to catch a wave. My success rate has gone way up, although it is a pressure situation.
Ken was ripping today
The waves were a little bigger than yesterday, but a lot less organized, most one or two hit wonders, but still tons of fun. I also think they packed a bigger punch. I guess that's a factor of size?
Fun sequence by Ken
Cool shot
BTW, see the widget on the upper right marrgin of this web page for a link to Ken's brand new beach house in Hatteras. Perfect for location just 3 miles from the hole. Check it out!
We carried our stuff upwind a few hundred yards to check out another sandbar
Ken going backside
The boy who cried wolf. Ken says he saw a large fish.....the unpleasant sort that we want to avoid. We're sitting on the beach in between sessions, and Ken jumps out of his chair and swears he saw one. Close, inside the sandbar. I never saw it. He says he's certain, a big one. Me, I'd rather not hear about it. I know they're out there. I also know that the odds of getting hit are astronimical. If my number is up, well so be it, but I'm not gonna obsess about it. I mean, how long do we spend down in the water? A few seconds, unless you really explode trying something. Gettin hit aint gonna happen. So I choose the ingorance is bliss perspective, and go about my business. Ken recovered from the alleged sighting, got right back on the horse and went back out, ala a certain puffin up north. Good work Ken.
do real dues today
Cool point of view-front row
Headin back out
I need to extend my front arm more, and lay it down
This was so much fun, i hooting at ken to rip it up. Front row seat. There really is no better place to watch another sailor than out on the water.
Light winds on the inside meant slogging thru the impact zone
smart tactics to maintain position
Our experience with the hatteras crew and wavejam has taught us to enjoy the liter conditions. You don't need planing wind to wavesailing. In fact, in my experience, some of my best waveaailing ever has been in under 15 knots. I mean that was probably the avg speed both saturday and sunday. But it was some of the finest wavesaling I've ever experienced. So the benchmark forecast for me has been redefined. If there are waves, I'm stoked with a forecast of 10-15, and we get that most every weekend. I'm telling ya'll, if you have any desire to wavesail, sign up for the wavejam here. You'll be glad you did.
What a great day
6 comments:
So what kind of lurky thing did Ken see? A big grey one? Great pics again Janis, my wife could learn a few tricks from you!
way to get on it George!
pics look great and your wavesailing is definitely improving.
Keep up the good work and get ready for some hurricane swell!
-stu
Honey! You rock! You're really startin' to lay it down on your bottom turn. I wish I would have gotten the pic of Ken on that first wave. It was huge! Kind of like the fish that got away.
"So what kind of lurky thing did Ken see?"
I'd like to say I don't know what I saw but I saw a dorsal and tail fin simultaneously and they were 5 or 6 feet apart! Color was generally gray with some black on the outside and just maybe a little bit of white streak between the gray and black. Only one view of dorsal/tail and then another view of the dorsal and it was gone.
From scanning the internet on fin shape and color I think it was a big Black Tip shark. Considered timid but responsible for a lot of minor bites in Florida.
Water was very brown/cloudy all day, even on the outside. Did that influence the big boy's pattern?
The stupid part is after going back to sailing (well actually continuing sailing may be the stupid part!), I started missing all of my inside tacks due to my distracted mind. Quickly climbing up on the board once to uphaul instead of waiting for a gust to water start, I shredded my shin on the non-skid which started dripping blood! After a 20 minute break for my chum slick to clear (hmm, was George still out there?) and a good thick coat of Nu-Skin I went back out and managed to calm down and have a lot of fun.
And yes, of course I could be all wrong in what I saw. I'd be very glad to be wrong on this one!
chuckle chuckle :)
good story Ken :)
Glad to see you guys ripping it up out there!!
Wow, looks like some fun waves
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