Sunday, August 30, 2009

Tropical Storm Danny Brings Big Surf To The Delmarva.......And Collects His Dues

For the most part, Danny was not a wind event on the Delmarva. The surf however was another story.

Assateague looked like Lanes

When I launched at 4pm, the NE wind was in the single digits.




These warnings weren't here last week for Hurricane Bill

The current was VERY strong

Hi tide, huge surf, huge shorbreak. I couldn't get out, was denied 7 times. Made it too the outter bar twice, zero wind, and got taken both times. Really got worked! But the gear came out undamaged.


Picture this, strong current, 8 knots, big-relentless shorebreak. I routinely would step on my board, and literally make no progress out.










Time to shake the stones out






Try try again

Access denied


Despite the very light wind, it still could have been epic. However the period was so short, about 9 seconds. The waves big, and relentless. I mean how many walls of white water can you get over? A lot, but it only takes one to take you down, and then you gotta start all over.



Its maybe blowing 5 knots here..no need for a harness



Note-getting worked really tweaks your lines. Inspect them closely after.

Relentless. Frustrating, but its all good, and I came away a better sailor.

So overall all, the surf was bigger last week during Hurricane Bill, but I had better success because I launched at lo tide, and the period was twice as long. Also, the wind last week as about 10 knots, which was enough, and there was no current.

Today, I launched at hi tide, the waves where much closer together, and the current was stronger, wind in the lo single digits. That being said, I think if it had been lo tide when I launched today, it could have been absolutely epic.

I was disappointed that I couldn’t make it out to the outer bar. Oh well, there’ll be another day.


4 comments:

PeconicPuffin said...

At least you got out! Good for you for taking it on the chin.

Ken K said...

Ouch! Goodonya for trying. I'm ready for our next light wind event. I sanded down a lot of my non-skid near the rails to minimize the need for band-aids when I crawl on the board to uphaul.

"Normal" waves are going to look so tasty and friendly to you when you have a bit of power in your sail now that you've tried big waves with about zero power.

George Markopoulos said...

yah, my shins are pretty scratched up. can't wait for hatteras Ken. Janis is excited too. be here before you know it.

Andy said...

Yikes! Love the uphaul pics with massive swell in the background!

You can't fly if you don't try...

And Ken's right- the next time you've got wind and shoulder high waves you'll be attacking them with complete disregard!