Preparing for the 2020-2021 Winter Ice n Snow Windsurfing Season ...

Hey:

How can it be, that covid is lasting longer than a typical human pregnancy ??

We are ALL getting a little tired of it over here ...

Between COVID and mr. strumpf , it is getting difficult to tell them apart :-)

which disease is wurst ?? lol

The lake is NOT quite ready yet &  it may take longer than usual-temps have been UP !!

The blue boom and blue iceskate are at the WhiteHouse

My ice and snow sleds are "in the city" / back home

and the Arctic sled - well .. try it down a hill one day

it sucks on ice and sinks in water ... just too heavy

asked Ron on kijiji for videos of the Arctic he is selling, butt no go 

The Gaastra Flow 3X and WindWing sails are at the WhiteHouse and ...

The NorthSails Zeta is there too >  where is the 1 piece epoxy mast that goes with it ??

Could it be in the BlueHouse ?? just went through my notes and YES, it was the one piece epoxy mast that was used with the NS Zeta -should still be up north somewhere :-(

Luff 403-406 & always wanted to buy a 400 cm mast for it - let's take a look shall we ??

2-rad has a used 460 POS and a 490 Unifiber :-(

not much at windspirit either - 430 NP 35% goes for $215

boardsports has a chinook sdm for same price 400 cm - comes to about $250 delivered

I will go look for that one piece epoxy mast first :-)

Also back home, I have still to transport .... up north ...

The aforementioned sleds, RDM 460 and NP 490 masts, Chinook boom, SW Retro 8-oh and perhaps the SW Hucker 6.6 instead of the HSM Fire 6.2 ??

and where are my winter boots ?? back home in the garage !!

CANNOT forget things like mast extensions !! SDM & RDM

nor my cleats !! in case I wear my shoes 

Obviously once we finally do have some decent ice ...

Will need winter gloves, helmet n goggles, boots, extra socks, harness, knee pads, elbow pads, and of course the tool bag - which MUST have the mast base taken off the windskateboard !! 

Actually, that mast base is NOT required in the winter - the ice and snow windsurf sleds have 2 bolt quick release mast base plates on them - ready to go !!

Maybe not removed since last winter - where I sailed on ice ONCE - due to hernia operation.

SO much to do to prepare lol

Those winter sessions are just SO much fun !!!

Just read an article that said windsurfing is DEAD & that it was the fault of the internet !!

Guess I will be the LAST one in Montreal then - riding my old gear and refusing to foil lol

Just need to find a way to transport my Mistral Equipe 2 XR on my Toyota Prius C :-)

Went back up north and checked the ice on 18DEC2020

Damn - the ice is almost perfect - excellent sections, some cracks n bumps and some snow. The weather channel spoke of North winds 7-10 kph, but it felt like it would have worked = DAMN !!

Considered going back home and getting my stuff - an extra 2 hours travel in my day ...

Good thing I did NOT !! Needed to do a good Samaritan voyage for my uncle Gilles !!

Here's a video with my homemade backpack POV/point of view .. I keep spinning cuz I think we can see the horizon - there is a windshadow in the video too :-(

DANG - it snowed before I had a chance to try the clear ice

Looks like I will have to start with the snow version - and not take a chance + the BIG SW Retro sail !!

23DEC2020 - tried to go Monday and today - Monday was really NO wind and today, in the words of a fellow windsurfer,"Il me manque toujour 2 ou 3 noeuds du vent!!" 

Some dude picked up my sail and looked like he was gonna try the kit !! I yelled out and overheard his wife keep yelling at him,"Qu'est-ce que tu fais ??" Stupid ass !!

{btw on Monday it was just testing the sleds and the blue ice skateboard won !! Wednesday in 8-12 kph S winds it was attempted with that sled and SW Retro 8.5}

25DEC2020 There may still be hope in HELL after all. We are getting buckets of rain with freezing temps after - let's hope for some "ice, ice baby" lol

as you can see here, I did manage to get out on the ice on the 26th :-) it was GREAT !!!

27DEC2020 enjoyed myself so much on the 26th that I hadta go again on the 27th :-) wind was much lighter and so was on a sail much larger - have two more days before the snow hits !!!

wanted to try the blue windskate, but the wind kinda died :-(

Tuesday 29DEC tried to go again, but with snow in 6mph North winds, even the snow sled does not work with the SW Retro 8-oh..

Oh yeah -- I MUST re-do the anti-skid on the snow model - I could not stay on the board.

Perhaps with the cleats, but the wind was not great even on 2nd attempt ...

Hope this worked !! Otherwise it is time for the nuts (and bolts) like the windskate ...

Since we got all that snow (was actually less than usual by this time of year) ...

and my snow model was NOT functioning in the snow ...

I decided it was time to consider working on this model !!