Nor'easter Day Two

Wow, blessed with yet another day of epic conditions.

What a fall this has been!

This storm is simply amazing, its been blow 40+ knots since Wedensday afternoon.

I’ve named her the Friday The 13th Nor’easter of 2009. Yesterday was survival 3.6 sailing. Today was dialed 3.6. I tell ya, what a difference 10 knots makes. Yesterday the wind averaged in the lo to mid 40s. That was manageable, but it was the gusts into the mid 50s+ that made it challenging. Today the wind averaged in the upper 30s, with gusts only into the mid 40s. Perfectly dialed 3.6 conditions. Yehaaa! On top of that, there was no rain today, just the relentless Gales of the Friday the 13th Noreaster!

The wind had a lot more north in it today, so I sailed Broadkill beach. The wind was side on, and the conditions could be described as very ocean like, especially on the outside. Don’t let anyone tell you Broadkill doesn’t have a breaking sandbar, you just have the desire to sail to an outer bar.

I’d say the perfect direction for Broadkill is NNE. Just remember, when the wind goes too onshore in Lewes, Broadkill is the venue. You can find me there every time.



My wife takes such artistic shots. Mac, you coined it best, she IS my secret weapon! The best most supportive wife any man could have.



I sailed out into the middle of the Delaware Bay, and surfed very large breaking waves. One in particular, when it broke, the white water had to have been 4-5 feet high. Quite ocean like.


I saw on the news that one of the offshore buoys just off the mouth of Delaware Bay recorded a 26.7 foot wave during the height of the storm. Wow. I can tell you that some of the stuff I saw out there was definately spawned off of that giant stuff out in the ocean. Oh yeah

I like to hop off my board out in the middle of the maelstrom, and just listen to the wind and the crashing waves, watch the period swell roll under me, and see the spray flying off the top. Its sureal.

Awesome stuff. Andy in your honor, I chucked one today. Man you guys gotta come here some time. My home patch is quite fun! I've got Assateague for some worldclass wavesailing, and the Delaware Bay during a Gale is hands down epic.

Lit

Very ocean like


Throwin some spray


The jumps where unbelievable. Like I said yesterday, jumping in heavy wind is probably as close as I’ll ever get to a weightless environment of space. All you gotta do is pop a little chop hop and you easily go up 10, 15+ feet

and just freakin levitate up there!


Had my fair share of wipe outs. If you aren't getting wet..........

......you're not learning


Look at that shorebreak, that was pretty much a rogue wave, and not very representative of the shorebreak today. Still, you gotta respect it.


Stan launched from the Lewes main beach and sailed up to Broadkill to sail with me. I was going to sail back with him, but my awesome wife called and she was on her way to Broadkill for a photoshoot, so I had to hang around the area. Sorry I didn’t sail back with you Stan, but you know I just had to document the action for live2sail, and posterity.



I did this intentionally, and I'm getting quite good at it. Not quite as high as the one I did yesterday in Lewis. What do you think Stan? So much fun


Jumps on both tacks were epic today

At some point, I was on the beach adjusting my outhaul, Stan had already left to sail back downwind to Lewes (a 20 minute drive by car, but probably a 15 minute sail), and this guy came up to me. He’d heard a report of and orange sail going down, and staying down. I told him that was probably my friend (Stan was flying an orange sail today), so I got a little concerned. Having said that, I also knew that the wind was side on, so the worst that might happen would be a long walk. Plus, Stan is a great sailor, so I wasn’t too concerned. I fired off a text message, and a voice mail asking him to check in when he got back to lewes. Long story short, all turned out well. He did drop in to rest for an extended time, but it was nothing more serious than that. Reflecting back, I was glad that cop (he was in civi’s but had a handgun on his belt) didn’t force me off the water. I sail Broadkill a lot, and I suspect most folks with beachfront property have seen me out there before. So they probably weren’t alarmed to see me out there during the storm, “Ah Mable that’s that boy from Milford, he’s always out there”.

Tomorrow the wind should back down to about 15-20+, and with the surf quite sizable

SAT
N WINDS 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 9 TO 12 FT WITH A DOMINANT PERIOD OF
12 SECONDS.

12 second period will make all the difference, so I plan to head down to Assateague. Definitely wont be mellow-yellow conditions, so I don’t expect to see Grendel, but you never know. I’m challenging him to come out and show me what he’s got.

Party tomorrow night at the Zamboni cave. Stoked, blessed, smile plastered on my face. I want more.........

Live2sail

***update***
Its been so windy, that my truck's alignment came unbalanced. Parking up on the beach over two days of gale force winds, sand had blown inside my wheels, so much had packed up in there that the wheels came out of balance. When i got up to highway speed, the truck starting shaking. I had to have the tires rotated! Lesson, always park your vehicle into the wind, i suppose pointing down wind so the sand also doesn't blow up into the engine, though i guess some sand up in there is inevitable. Just be mindful of the sand.