October Hatteras Trip

[mikeyz]

Hey Guys, Gary, Alan, and myself made it down here on sunday evening with everything intact. The had been blowing 40+ during the day and we were really worried the road was closed and we wouldn't make it. We are staying in Frisco and our house is on the sound facing the north (perfect for the next few days). The Monday I sailed from the back yard on my 6.0 and then my 7.0 for about 4-5 hours. Tuesday I sailed my 7.0 for 4-5 hours at Canadian Hole. The water is really smooth there. I did a carve jibe without coming off plane and I did a few more were I stayed dry but came off plane. There were lots of Canadians running around everywhere and I thought that was pretty funny . Today was a bit bigger. I spent the entire day on my 6.0 and 103L board sailing from our back yard. For the last two hours I was really powered up and eventually gave in and came in for my 5.0. As I took out the outhaul on my 6.0 I noticed a rip . Gary and I rushed to the sail repair shop and we picked one of his sails up and dropped my 7.0 and 6.0 off for repair. It is still blowing about 20mph but I am hungry and tired. Tomorrow should be good 5.0 conditions. Ok I got to go! I'll keep u guys posted. p.s. this is place rules.

[Windydoug]

Thanks for the Update Z. We want more, more, more.....like Billy Idol used to say. You do know who Billy Idol is don't you. What is the water like down there right now? What have you been wearing when you sail?
I think that you should look for a job somewhere down there. When you do get a job and are successful at it, you can buy a piece of property somewhere on the Outer Banks, then we can all come and stay there with you......you wont forget Rochester when you become a star will you?
Say hey to the Guys. Take lots of photo's. Send em to me from N.C. if you have the ability.
Doug

[waterauthorityrick]

Sail repair is a common thing when in Hatteras, Z will never be the same when he returns.

Sad thing, Z will forget all about Rochester once he leaves for a more wind city.

H20 Rick

[mikeyz]

Do I know Billy Idol?!? I was born in the 80s! The very least I can do is honor the decade by listening to its great music. The fashion on the other hand … well lets just say you certainly aren’t going to see me in a bright pink wetsuit!

Will I forget RochesterWindsporters?!? (can ‘RochesterWindsporters’ be our new noun?) You guys and windsurfing are some of the best things that have happened to me while living in Rochester. And you will absolutely be welcome wherever I pad down.

So you guys want more more more ehh? Sorry I couldn’t write more the other day I was pretty tired and right now I am tired but I just don’t know it because I am still amped. That’s right, today I got pretty amped up about windsurfing. Give me a minute and I’ll tell you about it after I answer the general questions and describe what has been going on down here.

Ok, so, I sail in my shorty underneath my full body 3.2mm wetsuit. One day I wore my dive hood and gloves to keep extra heat in. As you guys may or may not know I bought the cheaper type of wetsuit that isn’t windproof so I get a little cooler quicker. Gary and Alan have been sailing in dry suits. The water is probably 55 – 60F. Only one out of the four days we have been (sailed) here have been at locations other than our back yard so whenever I get a little cold I come in and turn on our outdoor shower. Yes that is right, we have an outdoor shower that has hot water that you can spray down your suit. Its pretty much the smartest thing anyone has ever thought of … the wheel was pretty good … and so were Teddy Grams … actually windsurfing is better than all of those. Anyways since it is waste deep everywhere you don’t get too wet and therefore not too cold.

What is our house like? The house is really nice. Way nicer than my apartment … ahhh, it has a dish washer, loads of cooking utensils that Gary puts to VERY good use (that guy can cook!), a tv, Super Mario 3 (I am really happy about that but I still haven’t gotten around to playing), 3 bedrooms, couches chairs, stuff, and more stuff, oh and it is on stilts which apparently come in handy on windy North days.

What is the town like? I don’t really know. Not too much traffic though.

What is it like to sail from your back yard? Amazing! For many reasons really … the aforementioned shower with hot water, nice grass rigging, no crowds, 50 ft to the water, and the kitchen we the Teddy Grams isnt far.

Side note: I can hear the wind howling outside right now.

What is the water like in my back yard? It is about 3 – 1.5 ft deep at low tide with an extra foot at high tide. We are facing North which has been perfect with the North winds. However, there are three bad things: 1) If you sail North there are fishing lines that will trip you (you need to keep an eye out for the buoys) 2) With a fin any longer than 42cm you will hit a sandbar at low tide. 3) If you are the type of person that gets upset because of weeds then you might be bothered. If I go back and forth without stopping (1200 yards total) with a straight fin I spin out from the weeds. Everything else is awesome. There is a sandbar a few hundred yards north that the small swell breaks on. I sailed up there the other day (while dealing with the silly fishing lines) to find 2-3 foot waves breaking (this was during 6.0 100L board conditions). Because of this sandbar the water behind it (where we sail) only has 6 inch chop no matter the conditions. Perfect for practicing jibes!

On to today! I woke up around 8ish? to 7.0-8.0ish? conditions. The guys went grocery shopping so I went and did some site seeing. I got back at 10:30 and it had picked up – just as the forecast predicted. My gear is broken so Gary was really cool and let me use his 6.7. I headed out at 11ish on my 144L. Jibe. Jibe. Splash. Jibe. Splash. Jibe (hey I almost didn’t come off plane). Ok. So. I learned that I need to bend my knees even further than I was before, so much that the top of my head is below or at the height of the boom. I also need to pull down on the boom. After the rig flip I need to grab the boom underhanded close to the straps. I seem to be putting all these pieces together however I keep turning up wind too far and I come off plane. Oh and despite my mentor’s instruction I am switching my feet first – more on this later.

So after doing this a while the wind picked up more, I got over powered and had much less success. Time for Gary’s 6.2! - a really beautiful brand new Simmer Sail. The afternoon went like this: I headed out on my big board, got over powered after a bit, came in, ate a very quick snack, warmed up using the outdoor shower, put the 6.2 on my small board (103L), got over powered, came in [my 11th grade English teacher would be mad at me right now ,,,,,,,], rigged my 5.0, and headed out. At this point things are getting interesting. Gary is on 69L with a 4.6m and he is wishing he had rigged smaller. I am sailing along and what do I hear? (drum role) … A REBEL YELL from Gary! (Told you I listened to Billy Idol! ;D ) He was juiced! We were cruising! I couldn’t keep up with him. He told me to go get his 86L JP Australian. I put it on and headed back out. I loved it! Smaller is better! You get to be so active in the sailing and have to be more in tune with the gear. Much more piloting than passengering (I just made that word up). I could jibe it too. But I really have the problem of turning too far up wind with it because it turns so easily. Oh! and back to the foot change topic mentioned in the previous paragraph. That little board comes around so easily I can see how you would want to jibe the sail before switching your feet. I tried it a few times and got one of them (sort of) but I ran into problems on the foot change because of my booties - I keep tripping … Anyways, Gary and Alan went in to either fix dinner or chill out but I stayed until the sun was orange and in the trees. By the time I came in doors it was just before 7. So I got about 7 hours on the water today and I could have had more if I wanted to go out earlier. I owe a big thanks to Gary who let me use two of sails and one of his boards .

This place rules! We are supposed to get wind tomorrow and big wind on Saturday. Sunday might be a day off and next week is looking a little cooler but still really good wind wise.

David was down here but we never got to go out together. He got a BIG day in from 8am to 5pm on Tuesday and I haven’t heard from him since.

Ok I am getting a little tired. I am not amped right now. Ok ahghh can’t really write ahkg ah nuts falling asleep ….
- mikeyZ

p.s. I’ll try to get some pics up to you guys soon.

[mikeyz]

Oh and I should add, the wind down here is really smooth so you can let out a lot of outhaul and downhaul when the wind dies down and still stay in good control. It is nice cause you get to use the sail over its full range and often don't have to rig bigger or smaller.

[waterauthorityrick]

Z,

About finishing your jibe and carving too far up wind. Flip your sail earlier. If you have time to notice that your are sheeting in you have held on to the sail too long already.

Your at the place to learn and develope skills that would take months here in Rottenchester, keep logging the mega hours on the water. Never look to the next day for wind take the wind that is there.

Keep up to good work.

I have a dry suit that may fit you. I have worn it once since O'neill put a new zipper on it. (think we had this discussion before)

H20 Rick

[windkid]

Z-Man,

Great stuff brother,keep it up. Great post! Sounds like you made a ton of progress I wish I was there!

wk

[Windydoug]

Guiness just called...NO BILL, not the brewer/fermenter, the world record book! Z now has the record for longest post on the forum. He narrowly beat out a previous post of his about Hamburg, which had beaten out a previous post about Jibing frustration.
That Wizardly looking guy in Nepal still holds the record for longest finger nails...for now....I'm might try to go for that record this winter....or maybe I'll go for the tallest playing card house. Tough call.

I echo the others, nice post Z man. What have your costs been? I've got to get in on this wind trip next year...maybe a long weekend or something around Columbus day. 12 hour drive? Not too bad.

Z, if you think you havea bunch of good pics of your adventures, save em, burn em (or send em) and I'll start a new gallery for you.
More, more more!!
Doug
WD

[mikeyz]

Hey guys, nothing happened today out on the water. It wasn't even worth trying the 8.5. It was really strange cause the forecast said it would blow. I did some other things though like picking up a hitch hiking kite boarder that made a bad decision of doing a downwinder from Canadian Hole to Frisco. Our neighbor Tom took me for a ride in his pickup truck out on the beach to go hangout with his funny fishing friends. And I met a sweet surfer babe from Quebec and unfortunately her boyfriend too. Just kidding, they were both really cool.

Bill, I don't know if I am getting better or if the water is just smoother. Sailing in 6-inch chop with a small sail makes things easy. I don't know what will happen if I come back to Long Pond and try to jibe .

Doug, what kind of pics do you want? We have got artsy and windsurfing. I think I can get some to you.

Rick I promise I will use every little bit of wind. It was really funny the other day at the Canadian Hole. I noticed that the wind was lightening up down wind. All the Canadians were practicing their jibes but I kept tacking up wind. I soon noticed that I was one of 3 people out on the water and I made it all the way up to kite point and never came off plane. Joe H.'s lessons at Long Pond about staying where the wind is really paid off that day!

Oh Rick, I can probably do some research and answer this question for myself but I might as well get a second opinion. The jibe (I am starting to hate this word, we have been talking about it too much down here ...) "works" if I turn too far up wind because I can grab the boom, but I come off plane. Otherwise I can't reach it. I have long arms it should be easy. I think if I didn't turn upwind enough the boom would be too far out infront of me and I would grab it with the mast hand and then it would pull me over forward. I might just need to get more aggressive with the rig flip. Tomorrow should be good. I think we are going to the Canadian Hole for some off shore sailing so it should be extra super mega smooth.

Time to make some pasta sauce!

- mike

[mikeyz]

Oh, and you asked about costs. This house is 200 per week if you split it three ways. HOWEVER, our neighbors just said that they would rent their house to us for 350/week!!!!!!!

We have been cooking our own meals so that has been cheap.

The drive down was about 14hours. I don't speed and I stopped for lunch and dinner. If you speed a little and eat in the car you can do it in 12. We left at 7am which was a little too early in the morning.

[Windydoug]

Z,

Any pics you think we would like to see would be great.
7 AM early??!!! Spoken like a true grad student/ research assistant.
Glad you guys are having a blast. Snow here next week.
WD

[mikeyz]

i meant 'late'! 7am was too late! and yea I am a lazy grad student that can't make it out of bed before 830 unless of course i am GOING WINDSURFING!!!

[Windydoug]

Said like a true Boardhead (80's windsurfing clothing line once available at Quantum Leap, and a slang term for all us wind addicted nuts)!
Can't wait to see the pics!.
Doug

[mikeyz]

MikeyZ here giving you the update from Hatteras. Today was totally schweet ja!! Ok so I woke up at 7 and ate a big ass breakfast. Alan and I headed out to the Canadian Hole for some side off shore super gusty 103L 5.0 blasting. Gary had a lesson scheduled in Avon and couldn't make it .

Things started getting really gusty and very very windy (30mph sustained) for me and my small gear. Luckily (for me) Gary's lesson got cancelled because of the not-so-schweet gusty wind and he met up with us at the Hole just as things were really starting to heat up . He let me take his 86L out again which was awesome except that things were getting so windy that I could actually feel the wind picking the board up off the water. Gary was on his 69L board with a 4.2m and was having a ball . He graciously offered the kit to me and I hesitantly accepted not entirely trusting my ability . I walked out and thought of my what I have read about these small boards and foot placement. I put one right up by the mast base and another between the straps and it didn't seem too much different than the 86L. Then I hooked in and things were going fine. I got a little speed and felt for the straps and got in those just fine. Then I kind of leaned forward and let the sail out while pumping, I actually normally don't do this on my 7.0 but somehow it felt like I was getting more power and I don't really know if I had correct technique ... Anyways, I felt the board lift up and the fin catch a lot better and suddenly I was ripping ;D:o. There was a lot of wind and I got upwind just fine. The board was so maneuverable and so much fun; the board deserves a kissy face, here you go board . The wind was very strong and I was full on ripping, in the gusts I had to unhook. If it means anything I saw a guy on a 3.5m ... Once I reached the place I wanted to turn around I decided I ought to at least try a jibe, but when I took my back foot out of the strap went to put my foot on the inside rail there was no board just water and I crashed. Getting going the second time I was more clumsy and I somehow drove the nose of the board underwater. I did this a few times before I realized I needed some more pressure on my back foot to get the nose up. I came riding back into shore really happy that I wasn't walking back (it is shallow everywhere), everyone including myself thought that would happen. So ... it was another big learning experience 69L, 4.2, and overpowered in the gusts which were over 35mph (according to the buoy). It was a really great experience and I owe it all to Gary who has been very kind (and ) to let me use some gear . We are having a blast down here (schweet time if you will). 5 days on the water with only 1 day off so far, I hope tomorrow is good.

What happened to David? Where are his stories? I think he has a few. I saw a lot of kites out today, I think I counted about 20.

Doug I'll look into the photos thing right now and send you an email. yawn ... i think.

- mike

[mikeyz]

Hey Guys, despite a weak looking forecast we actually got wind today! I woke up at 7:30 ate a banana and a protein bar and went about rigging up my 7.0. A little after 8 I was on the water and not going anywhere. Luckily I have an 8.5 and Alan and Gary both brought formula boards. Gary and I headed back out around 930ish? and we were ripping on those big boards. After an hour or so I gave my kit to Alan and went in for a quick breakfast. Turns out it was almost lunch time and Gary came in for food just when I finished my meal. I took his kit out and was having a great time. The wind picked up enough for my 144L so I put that on for a while. After a while it died down and I went back to the formula board before things died off completely. I came in around 3. So it was another great day on the water! A complete contrast to yesterday's 69L fun. I kind of liked the big boards. They were a bit more work but I had a lot more success doing a downwind turn around .

After lunch I headed to Frisco Pier to have a look at what the surfers were doing. Gary was down there too and we agreed that the waves looked like they were 8ft from trough to peak. On the outside there were really nice looking waves that would have been awesome to windsurf down, but closer into shore the waves were breaking big and heavy. I think I would have been frustrated being a surfer. They were only getting 1 or maybe 2 bottom turns before the wave would close out. They were waiting around so much for good waves and they often wouldn't catch the wave they wanted to. There must be something else about surfing that they enjoy ...

Tonight we have been here 7 complete days and we have been on the water for 6 of them, not bad!

Well, tomorrow looks like it is going to be completely dead here. Tuesday things should pick up a little bit. How was Hamburger?

- mike

[windkid]

Ok,Z

Hamburg sucked...Seneca broke out of the gates like a 10-1 long shot and won the day. Unfortunately I did not bet on the nag.

Tak for ikke....

[mikeyz]

Hey Guys, the adventures never stop down here. We heard the wind would pick up a little tonight and it did with shocking speed. One minute I was sending an email to a friend and the next the house was shaking. The wind went from something like 10mph SW to 40 mph NW over a 30 minute period. After an hour Gary came up stairs and said, 'the sound is under the house'. I totally didn't understand what he was saying - thinking that he was talking about the noise. The he said, 'your board is washing around underneath the house'. I thought, 'nuts!' I jumped up threw my bathing suit on and grabbed my rain jacket. I ran out and sure enough my board was washing around under the house. The three of us quickly went to work secure all of our gear and getting everything to higher ground. Phew. The road is flooded ... I am going to go check on the gear in a few minutes. Wish me luck.

- mike

p.s. i have a funny picture of a wave under our house.

[ibex]

Dude, shouldn't you be working or something right now...?



Glad to hear you are having fun!

Shawn

[mikeyz]

Shawn, don't tell Dr. Schott I left town for two weeks! Many of you know that I am a poor graduate student that can't afford a dry suit (more on this later). Dr. Schott is my advisor and he is a total badass.

www.cis.rit.edu/content/view/127/49/

If you don't believe me checkout the number of publications he has. If you still don't believe me checkout his mustache.

Ok, so I was just kidding about leaving town for two weeks without telling my advisor. Dr. Schott is an incredibly understanding guy and was super cool to let me leave school for two weeks.

On to today! Today was a little weird. This morning we all walked around looking for gear that got blown away last night. We found everything!!! I talked to a little old lady that lives on this street year round and she told me she had to replace her roof twice in the past 15 years. She told me that 'where ever you are living now you should just stay there. It is no fun when a storm trashes your yard or a wave breaks your back porch.'

The weather was cold - low 50s. I got out by 10am on 5.0 and Gary's 86L and Gary on his 69L; Alan later came out on 5.0 with 120L. The wind was very side shore and there was a wind line about 100 - 150 yards out. There were a lot of gusts and I never really found the groove, I was always schlogging or had a little too much power. Not much jibe practicing going on either. We came in when it felt like it was getting lighter and we had lunch. iwindsurf showed the wind getting lighter 19mph so I rigged a 6.0 and headed out on my 103L. I was overpowered within minutes. Then I rigged the 5.0 and took the 103L and was overpowered within minutes. Then I rigged a 4.6 and Gary's 83L and was AGAIN overpowered within minutes. I gave up I rigged, derigged, I was cold, and it was somehow almost time for dinner. Alan and Gary have similar stories and none of us got in the groove today. Pretty weird if you ask me ...

On the other hand I got to see some cute things! I saw a little 4 inch sea turtle swiming along with his little flippy flipper hands. I also saw some cute mini 18inch swell. Gary referred to it as 'ankle biters'.

Tomorrow is supposed to blow really hard ... I hope not too hard cause today was plenty.

- mike

p.s. the house is shaking again tonight.

[mikeyz]

Durand Rollar Coaster people ... ... , , ;D.

Today was pretty chill (literally). We held off this morning because of the temps and then got a nice 6.0 session during the afternoon at the Canadian Hole. Tomorrow might be our last day . I am crossing my fingers that either friday or saturday will be good. Otherwise we might head home early.

- mike