clique the pic :-)
from Buffalo Weather site
Nov 19or20, 2022
well, maybe they will get wurst lol
Montreal ice rain 25NOV
NO MORE rescue on the water near Montreal = WTF !!
This makes absolutely NO sense - wait until the next car goes into the water and see what happens !!
Le Journal de PAV pour 2022
26 and 27DEC2022 Victor goes Ice Windsurfing - First Time !!
Again this was up north, but there was NO more black ice. We had had two snowstorms and then rain with a flash freeze. My first test on the ice was NOT good and I went eight inches into water from the two inch ice. Before hitting the original six inch thick ice.
The top layer of ice was now 2.5 inches and had many "soft spots".
We shovelled a "runway" across the French Bay as the winds were to be SW. This was Victor's first ride and so we rigged the GA Flow-3 seven-oh. This was ideal for him in the 10-20kph SW winds, which were very OFF and ON.
Winds were better the 2nd day, butt from the West.
We had to adjust the track and we lengthened it as well.
I had a coupla runs. I cannot count this as a session for myself.
It definitely WAS a session for Victor ..
Mast is still 385 cm and Boom is 147 cm
Now I tried cap 25cm from clip to top of mast
Mast RDM extension is set to 6cm and downhaul pulley 2 bottom
BlueBoom minimum is 150cm-use outhaul to adjust wind pocket
15DEC2022 2nd day on the Black Ice = WooHoo
Wind was from the East and stronger than yesterday - more around 20+ kph... I started with the WindWing 4.6 and my ice sled. I tried the blue ice skateboard and it was CRAZY. I was NOT ready for that. Went back and changed the sail for the NorthSails Zeta 3.7 and back to the ice sled ...
I always feel the ice skateboard is perhaps a little bit short and perhaps even a bit narrow. At this site they seem to suggest 125-150 cm long x 35-40 cm wide: https://boardtests.com/2011/11/ice-board-full-size-template/
and managed to cut a video even tho my video camera mounts are all fucked up ...
YES, know I forgot the uphaul line in the video AND need newer short boom !!
Notes to Self: Ordered new GoPro bar clamp and need cheap 150-200 boom
WindWing 4.6 Chinook 400cm mast + ext at 34cm - blue boom 158cm
NS Zeta 3.7 Chinook 400 mast c/ cap extended+10 cm - yellow boom short
need to bring cap and/or hoodie and scarf or face mask stuff next time
also card reader to read GoPro and camera SDs
14DEC2022 Went up north to check out the lake and ice was perfect !!
That dark blue in that picture is NOT water !!
November 20th 2024 started reading an old Canadian Windsurf Book from 1984
In it they keep talkin bout broad reach and similiar terms - which I do NOT use regularily and so, for myself - I found this pic ...
pic is called "Points of Sail.jpg" and do NOT remember where I got it ...
Let's try google image search :-) HA - search is NOT even workin LoL lOl
As we are between summer and winter windsurf seasons ... I also re-started lookin at windfoiling (or whatever it is called now --> windsurf board on a foil ... It seems the SlingShot Dialer 145 and Wizard 150 that were VERY popular for starting windfoiling were replaced around 2019 with the SlingShot Livitators 150 and 160 liters. The 160 model is a little more foregiving ...
Thursday November 10th OKA La Crête WSW + WNW 20-35kph
Winds were up n down the entire day with a BIG hole in the middle. I was practically the ONLY one going out in the first section. After an hour waiting and chatting with the kiters, I went back out. Was on the infamous Shark - maybe I did need that 140 liter AHD slalom board ?? I enjoyed the day with NO gloves, but with the cagoule around my neck. Since I did enjoy the session(s), I would rate this 8 outta 10 just the same :-) Got tah GO twice in NOV so far !! Both times with NO gloves !! Global warming? Bring it ON !! Oh yeah - was using the GA GTX 8.5 freerace sail ...
Saturday November 5th - graph says it all = excellent for November !!
As an interesting FYI:
This is the path I took to put my windsurf stuff in our Prius C...
When I arrived, JP, Marie and a fellow from Lanse à l'Orme (who recognized me) were setting up and the wind felt like it was picking up ... JP was putting a 5.5 and the fellow was putting a six I believe. Marie was talking about putting a 4.7, butt is on a windfoil ...
As I had read that the forecast calls for potential STRONG gusts ... I rigged the NS Duke 6.9 on the 460 PowerEx RDM mast with a 32cm extension (should I try my 490 SDMs on that sail ? I do like how lite it is feeling). I gave the sail an aggressive downhaul and outhaul.
The Fanatic Shark 145 was setup with the 40cm freerace fin and the mastbase was left at 140cm from the tail - last time it was tried at 135 and NOT liked. I had set the harness as advised in the middle of the HarnessTrimSystem/HTS arrows.
When I got out on the water, it felt like the wind had dropped and we schlogged about. There were more kites than windsurfers on the water.. As the wind picked up/gusted, I discovered that I had to move my harness lines back more and more...When the winds picked up, there was a moment when there were ONLY windsurfers on the water -- kiters were preparing smaller kits :-)
Once everything was set to a perfect setting for me, I just blasted BAF/BackAndForth and practiced water starts at each end of the runway. Today I miffed the occasional water start and even had to uphaul on occasion...
In November with NO gloves nor cagoule in 20+ degree SW winds !!! 8.5/10
Almost a niner, butt not quite
Was there for the best wind 11h00 to 14h00 😛
La Crête had lotsa visitors, who seemed to be in the way, on the beach !!
Thursday October 27th = What a SHIT day $%^&*() LaCrête WNW
Missed my alarm and the wife woke me up - HATE that kinda start to my day $%^&*
I just could NOT do anything correctly windsurfing and granddaughter was a little bitch when I got home - missed her nap - that's what snapped me into a really BAD mood. and naturally got in shit with the wife over that ...
NOT SURE what was OFF with me, but I have a feeling my left ear caused me some kind of imbalance. I have been having issues with it for about 2 weeks now. Been putting an ear plug in whenever it feels like the heartbeat is throbbing there %&^*() With gloves and cagoule for the first time that did NOT help either %^&*() One fellow was out there with what looked like NO gloves and NO cagoule - he seemed to rush off the water to warm up tho and did have a cagoule onland when I left.
There was wind and waves WNW 25-50 kph on my Shark 145 + NS Duke 6.9 + 40cm freerace fin. I did plane, but it felt OFF - was the mastplate set too far back at 135 ?? For the 8.5 I set it to 140cm.
I will NOT rate this session, but count it as one. I was on the water for less than an hour and did spend some time IN the water. Could NOT even tack nor waterstart in the deep. That was when I decided I was getting off - NOT having any FUN.
Saturday October 15th - one week later
I was monitoring OKA all day and there were good temps over 10°C, potential winds of 20-40kph, BUTT there was a danger of SE winds - which is what seems to have happened @ 14h00. I was packing the car with the BIG GUNS at around 13h00 and bailed out - did NOT look like much wind here %^&*()_
Smoked some legal weed instead ...
After a nice walk with my wife (amazing fall colours and dark blue sky), I drove to the local football field to see if I could fly my 3 m² training kite ??
First of all, the field was FULL of goose poop PLUS the wind was intermittent in both direction AND velocity. From SW to SE and 5 or 10 kph to about 30. BAD winds and I was gonna go bear/bare foot in goose poop ??
NO CANDU !!!
Asked on quebecwind forum if SE is doable at OKA main beach.
Benwindy says it has been done, butt ...
Yvente says GO to Cartier !!
NOTE to SELF: windforce has a fin adapter tuttle to DEEP tuttle $20 tax in
https://windforce.ca/collections/fins/products/fin-adpter-tuttle-to-deep-tuttle
Saturday Oktober 8th, 2022 ------------------------------------------
As this truly IS a journal ...
I NEED to discuss my windsurf "adventure" of the day. ONLY one forecasting site was consistently saying it was gonna be SW decent winds today (windalert!!) -- ALL others insisted on West
Well, I fought the odds and the odds won !!
Once it had switched to West, I needed to decide if I wished to repeat my excercise of yesterday ? Well, I did NOT ... And it seemed a little cooler taday too - around ten degrees C with some sun.
So, I decided to go up North and packed the car accordingly. I considered informing the wife as "I am going windsurfing" rather than where I was gonna go, butt thought better of it. (I was afraid she was gonna get me to do stuff) ..
She asked me to bring a cheque book up to her sister who was stranded up north (MS with no car and cannot walk to the mailbox).
With recent covid hits, I did NOT wanna see anyone and told the wife so ... and ... You can imagine where that went ...
Well, I left in a huff with NO cheques & did NOT answer when she called ...
Answered the 2nd call, but don't think anyone felt any better afterwards ...
I was about 3/4 of the way there when my son texted me," Btw, I have an in-car driving session today from 1:00-2:00.
This was at 10h30 and I was 45 minutes away $%^&*
Lucky for him, he made it on time & windsurfing was cancelled for the day.
After that performance I will NOT even try to go tomorrow...
I swear -- That discussion could be a comedy bit :-)
FryDay/Vent! redi? le sept d'oktobre 2022 ----------------------------------------
Aujourd'hui je vais faire mon entrée de journal en français en l'honneur de mon pote de windsurf benwindy. Il m'a dit que windalert valait 10 $ US car il donnait les conditions de vent actuelles...et je n'ai pas compris pourquoi il l'a dit. Aujourd'hui j'ai compris !!
 | |
| Clique the pic :-) |
Le bleu montre où les prédictions étaient correctes et le vert quand elles étaient proches. PAS beaucoup d'action !! Et ça commence à devenir intéressant à midi car c'est à ce moment là que windalert atteint 20-40km/h et le réseau météo seulement 19-29.
et on voit que le vent moyen reste à PLUS de 30km/h après 12h!! Cela veut dire qu'il faut apporter les voiles 8.5 m², 7.0 et aussi 6.3. Je ne suis pas encore assez confortable avec la Fanatic BEE 124 LTD dans les vents O/W ou NO/NW et j'ai apporté la Fanatic Shark 145 HRS. Windalert avait raison et je suis sorti avec ma HSM/HotSailsMaui FIRE 6.3 m². A ce jour je n'avais pas utilisé cette voile sur l'eau ; uniquement sur glace...et j'ai plané avec !! Woohoo !! Je n'ai pas resté longtemps mais je donnerais la session une 9 sur 10 pareil !!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Forgot to mention that I did NOT have gloves on and put the cagoule only around my neck. It was over 15 degrees C and even the water was NOT cold !! NOT sure that I mentioned the fin I tried with this combination was a 37 cm Makani fin - model KoholaV2 (freeride/freerace). Could have gone "smaller" ...
Based on James Douglass' sail calculator, someone with my weight (95 kilos/110pounds) should be using a 6.4m² sail in 20 knot winds. So, I was right fuckin on mate !!
Sunday Oktober 2nd OKA main bitch NE 15-35 kph Shark 145 GTX 8.5
First it looked there was gonna be strong wind and then it started to look like light 20-30kph winds !! Brought the trusty Shark, the 10-oh and the 8.5. As I was packing the car I was thinking about Bert and his HPL boom that I said I would buy and I was wondering how difficult it is to take this clamp off. FUCK ME - there is a bolt missing. Luckily it is an M6 (I think that's what they are called) and I have spares. That was discovered in the driveway.
Checked the sail of a dude who was off the water and chatting his ass off - he did NOT even see me lol He had used a 7.5. Okay, 8.5 it is !! Met Daniel again - Bert's buddy from Lac Gabriel who lives in Jolliete and hasn't windsurfed in two years !! I hope his name is Daniel! I know it starts with a Dee and is NOT Clode !! Claude was misspelled for the English speaking audience :-)
I feel like I made lotsa mistakes today in terms of lines which can be seen in the video I am trying to produce on youtube. Youtube is sucking more n more #$%^&*()_
Today there were three or four windsurf foilers, but I only saw ONE doing a decent run ONCE. There were maybe three kites and two windwingfoilers. The fellow with the 7.5 and the weed fin NEVER went back out. Daniel informed me that the dude was there since 8h00
I was wondering why the dude had a weed fin at the main beach - until I hit 1 or 2 banks of weeds and one slowed me down and screwed up my fin - for a while ...
Was going to give the session a mere 6.5/10, but there were moments when I enjoyed meself and thus --> I'll give it a seven (no gloves nor cap on a lovely day)
I uploaded this little video cuz me thinks this may have been the best little run of the day and helped push the score from 6.5 to a seven !! As usual, I had the camera aimed too high
Wednesday September 28th up north BIC SL200 + GA Flow-3 seven-oh
First I tried to rig the HSM SPF 8.5 again and yupp - the mast popped through the mast cap. Too bad the coffee thermos cap is gone - went to a good cause - sold the TR-4 10-oh.
Oh yeah --> it was 14 degrees C with intermittent sun which meant NO gloves nor cap!
Thursday September 22nd OKA La Crête WNW 20-35 kph = 9/10 !!
AHSAH the light and the light won :-)
Well, I was analyzing the wind for the last week and drooling for this day. At first it looked like a potential of 20 knot winds. I was planning on going with the Fanatic Bee 124 LTD with sails NS Duke 6.9 and MS Fire 6.3. Then the wind reports started to get lighter and I contemplated bringing the 8.5 as well !! However, I was kinda nervous about putting that sail on the BEE...
In the end, the wind reports got SO LIGHT that I brought the BIG GUNS - the 8.5 AND the 10-oh. As seen in the video, it was the Shark 145 HRS with the GA Swift 10-oh and the 50 cm Fanatic fin that comes with that board. Tinho Dornellas used to say how surprised he was with this board and BIG sails !!
Silvain the kitefoiler was there and was going out with ONLY a 12 meter kite. Usually he goes out on almost double my size. HOWEVER, he also stated that he was changing his approach. Me with a 10-oh and him with only a 12 made me kinda nervous...
I did NOT go out long, as the OKA winds were doing their regular thing - light wind, waves and then gusts ... My muscles were kinda sore - been working on the shower grout. As I contemplated getting off... I noticed the kiters getting OFF and I helped a young lady land her kite.
Sylvain had NOT gone out - he was waiting fo mo wind !! Oh yeah - Sylvain says that he has NO speed limit and has done 60 kph kite foiling. He could go even faster - the limitation is him and NOT the equipment !!
I was almost finished packing and a cloud decided to dump $%^&*( So, AHSAH an O'Henry bar and some soda in da cahr... As I was leaving, there were MANY more cars and NO-ONE on the water. When I got home, it showed winds of 7-15 from the North :-(
Later in the day the winds picked up and i saw 25-40 kph NW winds at OKA ...
Wednesday September 14th -------------------------------------------------
Okay, it was NOT 911, butt shure felt like it ...
Forecast and wind were as follows:
Unfortunately JP's "extra" RDM extension was too short (no dirty comments on that one) AND he really did NOT wanna lend me ANYTHING - says "c'est ma vie" ... esti.
I felt SO BAD that I did not even ask Christophe, who was going to rig a 6.6 on a 100 litre board -- told us the web was stating 14-17 mph winds from the NW, which to me meant 8.5 !!
Anyhoo, I managed to rig my NS Duke 6.9 on my MS 490 mast with zero extension - as it calls for a 460 with 33 cm extension - again as in WTF. THEN, as I was preparing to get the board ready, I saw that there was NO mast base plate on the board ...
They are charging $50 a plate - no wonder I have no extras !!
So, I thought NO ISSUE, I will just use my trusty old US mast foot that I use when I go on the ice or windskate - IT WAS NOT IN MY TOOL-BAG %^&*()_
In the end, I was SO pissed off and depressed that I packed it in + went home + played with my granddaughter and than slept for two hours = what a wasted day and I was NOT even wasted.
shit, shit SHIT man $%^&*()
btw JP told me he has a 2.9 sail that his wife uses - he goes to about 4-oh, butt doesn't like winds over 20 mph - this sounds like me and JP is a LOT better sailor than I...
letter I sent to benwindy on the subject ...
Salut:
Qu'est-ce que tu as riggé aujourd'hui ??
J'ai vu JP en train de mettre une Ezzy 4.5 ensemble !!
Christophe a décidé pour une 6.6 sur une planche de 100 litres
et moi ??
j'avais oublié mon extension RDM long chez nous
il y a toujours ma GA GTX 8.5 dans la voiture
ou je peux essayer mon MauiSails 490 SDM dans ma NorthSails Duke 6.9
JP n'a pas d'extension RDM de spare - je vais l'essaie avec ma voile 6.9
okay - je peux travailler avec - pas idéale mais ...
ensuite je vois que le mast base plate n'est pas sur ma planche
pas de problème - old style mast base in the tool bag
ce n'est pas là esti
quand je suis arrivé chez nous - je m'ai couché lol 🙂
Hope you had a GREAT DAY on the water !!
joe windsurfer----------------- In case you did NOT know, "je m'ai couché" is like WAY OFF man, but I read it in English and actually laffed my ass off ROFLMAO !!!
Well, benwindy was out with a 7-oh (probably an Ezzy) and says he started early at 8h30 with his bro-in-law. A strong gust with 10 knots extra wind brought him off the water - & he was burnt ...
Helmut was at AAO after 15h00 with his Fanatic Gecko 156 litre / 85 cm wide board and a 7.5 m² sail, which I presume was a SailWorks Retro. Says he planed and got in his straps with the wind being a little bit "over".
I am asking him how that 85 cm wide board went in those winds with such a "small" sail ?!? Said it was a bit rough and would have been better off with his 135 liter Hawk !!
I added details and highlights to my "checklist":
Okay, iwindsurf/windalert or whatever it is called ... is free this weekend ... and I managed to get a complete graph of the day ... incredible peaks at 10h00, noon and again at 15h00 !! I thought it was in knots, butt is mph --> 25 mph = 22 knots
I went through the sail calculator and with the 7 m² sail that I was planning to use, the ideal winds are about 18 knots (33kph / 21 mph). With twenty-two knot winds, the ideal sail is a 5.8 for someone like me @ 95 kilos/210 lbs !! I think the wind gods were warning me by letting me forget important pieces = SERENDEPITY man !!!
I woulda got blown away - literally
this is the report from quebecwind:
https://forums-quebecwind.com/rapport-vegan-du-14-septembre-2022-t11623.html#p117433
Force10 went to Baie des Brises and was out with a 5.9 sail on 117 litres and a 6.6 on the Goya Bolt 117/70 cm wide. He is a heavyweight based on discussions we have had. Obelix was out on the SouthShore also with a 6 m² on a 104 litre and a 5.3 on a 91 litre. Aero was at AAO (like Helmut), but was out with a 5.8 m² on a 110 litre board ...
I woulda got killed with a 7-oh on the Shark 145...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday September 6th, 2022 OKA Main Beach 15-45 kph NE
Today looked like light winds and a little cool - about 15 degrees C which is about 60 degrees F - who gives a F lol
Had my JP SLW92 with the GA Swift 10m² and was experimenting with the Curtis 57 cm fin. The wind and waves were up and down and I was overpowered further out. It felt like things "were NOT coming together" %^&*() I moved the harness lines quite a ways back and the wind picked up. This was the best clip I got of the day and I did NOT get in the straps ... Afterwards I saw Bert with his 2017 StarBoardFormula, 72 cm BOSS B11 S-- fin and Duotone WARP 9.4 race sail with 4 cambers !! Looks amazing when he slowly jibes the BEAST !! He says I should go up north for a NW on Lac Muskinongé :-) Bert mentioned my fin was too short unless wind picks up & that is EXACTLY what happened to me !! Next time 66 cm Select fin !!
Saturday September 3rd, 2022 = WHAT ALL READY/already ??
Since I seem to have pushed the NP 490 mast through the top of my 2010 HotSailsMaui 8.5 SpeedFreak prototype ... I need to decide WHAT TO DO with the summer sails up north at the chalet(s). This HSM SPF is my ONLY sail that uses the NP 490/90 mast. Well, actually, I swap out the top and use it with my 2007 SailWorks Retro 8.0 sail. That sail is a winter sail because one section of the sail has tape... Both the mast top and the SW are up north and this is an option.
Back home I have a 2010 MauiSails TR-6 8.4 race sail and a 2006 GAastra GTX 8.5 freerace sail; both of which mount on the MS 490/90 mast. So, I could bring the TR-6 up north and leave it there, but I just put it up for sale on QuebecWind and Windsurfing Quebec. I could bring the freerace up north and use the TR-6 here until someone is interested ...
The simplest option seems to be: swap out the NP 490 mast top and use the SW Retro up north - that way there is NO transport of equipment AND the MS TR-6 8.4 stays here in case any one is interested. .. There is NOT much left of the 2022 summer season which also means we go up north less often - like this weekend is a long weekend and we are not going - not good weather Sunday n Monday anyway ...
Wednesday August 31st OKA La Crête SW 15-45 kph = 9/10
First the winds looked like either 7-oh or 8.5 and then more like 8.5 or 10-oh. So, I brought the semi-BIG stuff. AHD SL1 140 with the larger sails, carbon boom and hope to test the "new" Select TT Superfoil of 48 cm (with the GA GTX 8.5 obviously).
When I got there the wind seemed decent, not a lot of people on the water AND the water was NOT warm -- booties and wetsuit time !! As I was going back to the car, SkiGuy showed up and we chatted. He just got back from Les Isles de Madeleine. Says he spent 5 weeks there and was able to windsurf about 21 days. 21/35 = 60% of the time - which is NOT as good as what I experienced in Cape Hatteras. He said he was the ONLY one with an 8.3 planing on one of those days. Think I would bring a longboard and windsurf almost every day lol ... Says it's about $700 a week for a decent 3 and a half apartment. Guess someone is makin money over there... In any case ... Guy was opting for a 7.2 sail on a 135 liter board.
So, I set up my stuff and when I put my board by the water I noticed an interested fellow. Then when I brought my sail into the water, someone asked if I might explain my choice of sail for the day... He was with the original fellow who seemed interested in my board. Well, it was BERT from Lac Maskinonge L😀L ... He says he still rides ONLY Formula and was going out with a 9.4 today = Holy Fuck man - and I thought I was gonna be over !! He was looking forward to sailing with me, butt was starting from the main beach - less walking into the water to git going %^&*() oh yeah - Bert was going to be using a 72cm fin !!
I knew it was gonna be tough - this board is like a crazy horse - needs taming ... I had the mast at the 135 cm from the tail mark and I feel that was good. Had to adjust my harness lines forward about 5 cm. I considered the footstraps, butt felt it was a little too wilde for me. On one run my back foot pressed against the back strap allowed me to fly upwind !! Other than that, I had issues waterstarting the big sail in deep water; managed to uphaul and managed one decent tack.
Here is a crazy video - need to find better place for the camera on rides like this !! btw youtube absolutely SUCKS for editting - I tried to remove 43 seconds from the beginning of the 5 minute clip and it is taking hours = WTF %^&*()_
and I am SO glad I got this on video - I was cruising along in almost NO wind and then it suddenly hit me SO hard, yet I managed to hold on !!
Fuck, man %^&* Two daze later I had poison ivy on my right wrist and ankle %^&*()
This is a pic that was taken the same day - just a few hours later !!
and yeah - it gets even wurst %^&*()_
and THIS is what it looked like one week later !!
NO MORE BUBBLES !!
There really was NO plan to windsurf, but I always bring a minimum of things just in case - like swim shorts, downhaul + tape, glasses and downhaul tool. I forgot hair brush and extra T-shirt ... There was a light South wind and I rigged up upon arrival. I did NOT downhaul enough and the boom was a bit high (like me) = WHATEVER ... Sailed for about 1/2 an hour and when I considered coming in to make adjustments, my oldest son kept monopolizing the entire beach area :-( Once I finally made it in, did my duties of chatting and then tried to adjust the sail. I put 2.5 more cm on the mast extension and then started to put pressure with the downhaul tool - well, the sail popped through the mast cap %^&*() It looks like I either hafta switch to another sail or use a mast cap adapter like the one below. However, dude is supposed to come on Tuesday and check out my MS TR-4 10-oh sail that requires that cap. Oh well, let's take it one day at a time ... Can always use my SW Retro 8.0 if in a bind - it is up north and so are the mast parts ... The craziest option would be to use either the GA GTX 8.5 or MS TR-6 8.4 up north - would need that MS 490 cm mast ... Then again, the GA Flow 3-x 7-oh is up north now too = hmmm need a sail that goes on the NP 490 mast now $%^&*()_ or bring the mast each time %^&*()_
Wednesday August 10th - up North --------------------------------------
As usual on the BIC SL200 with the HSM SPF and this time the wind was from the South and decent !! Louis was out on his Mistral sailboat with a grandchild and then with his wife. Further down the lake I saw a BIC Dufour sail !! Wind was so good that I was almost going for the footstraps on the board, which impressed even me. This was a FIRST !! Give the session a 9 outta 10 man !! If I woulda gone for it and it worked, it woulda/coulda/shoulda bin a ten !!! Christiane kept asking me how I liked the competition with the Mistral. I knew that would happen and avoided going near them on the water lol :-)
Saturday 30JUL2022 @ home ---------------------------------------------------
I took the GA Flow 3-X apart as much as I could and took the bottom camber OFF. I filed the inside ribs with a round file and applied some McLube. Put it all together and mounted the mast slowly -- gently helping the camber up the mast. I managed to rig it completely, but I did not like the look of the sail on that batten. That sail will go back to being a winter sail on the ice and I brought the NS Duke 6.9 back down from the country. This means when I bring the 8.5 and the 6.9 to OKA, I will be needing two masts and two extensions ... NP :-) NP = No Problem and not Niel Pryde lol
I also gave the GA FLOW-3X a good rinse - was fulla sand #$%^&*()_
FryDay 29JUL2022 @ OKA -----------------------------------------------------
As you can see in the enclosed wind chart, winds were going up n down a lot. Welcome to OKA is the expression. I was hoping for 20-40 kph SW and brought my AHD SL140 with the two sails - just in case. When I arrived around noon, Richard told me that winds were strong - he was on a 6.4 sail and 75 cm wide board - like my Shark. Benwindy was supposed to be out on a 7-oh and doing fine. Force5 told me that winds may drop later ...
Helmut was @ AAO on his 7.5 and footstraps were a happening !! NICE DAY !!
So, I managed to get out with the AHD SL140, butt winds were W and NOT SW lol
Monday July 25th Oka
Wind reports were 20-40 kph with a potential increase in the afternoon and the sites I use to check the wind seemed unanimous. So, I did NOT bring the wider board and also brought the GA FLOW-3 seven-oh sail. Well, guess which sail was used ?
Well, you got that right - it was the GA Flow-3 seven-oh on the Shark 145 using a 40 cm fin. I met Yvan of auventfou there - he was with Benoit Falardeau. Asked him about the front strap since I was IN the strap today, but did not seem to be able to stay in. Yvan says then there was not enough wind for that sail. He explained the triangle theory again and gave me shit lol. I was hoping that perhaps he would suggest moving the mast track way back or something ... Going to give the session an eight outta ten - as I was expecting more - from the footstraps ...
The wind started doing weird things like really changing speeds and going W to SW and back quickly - something was brewing ... I got OFF the water and got my beach chair and my soda ... Well, the f'n wind KICKED and Yvan came running off the water with his 103 liter board and 6.3 S2Maui Banshee sail. There was a kiter that looked like he was going to either go sky high or lose his kite in the trees. ALL windsurf sails were in the water and ALL kiters were struggling and/or coming in !! Seems weather report says we hit 30 knots, which is like 4.5 m² sail weather %^&*() Even as I write this report at 16h40, wind reports at the areoport are still 40-60 kph winds !!
Back to the the foot strap "issue". I could get in the front foot-strap no problem, but then not remain. I measured 28 inches from the mast base to the middle of the foot straps under the current setting. The middle of the harness lines is 25 inches from the mast. That's only a three inch difference. Can that account for mast bend, raking back and all ?? Also, I need to experiment with mast track position again !?! AND ... don't forget that boom height comes into the equation !! Like Yvan said, it's all about triangles !!
On the GA Flow-3 seven-oh I measured where I marked boom height and it is about 50 inches to the middle whereas my shoulders are about 56 inches from the ground. This means it light winds I can go up as much as 56 inches !!
Reminder: One variable will be changed at a time. Mast base to see if it planes earlier and the boom height + harness lines for triangulation to the foot straps !!!
Saturday Up North BIC SL200 + HSM SPF 8.5 - July 23rd
Man, I hope summer continues like this. This time I was glad I had my harness. The only problem with this session was the winds changed directions and force quite often and suddenly. I knew something was blowing in. We had a strong thunderstorm warning, butt never saw nothin'. Gotta give this session an 8 outta 10 just the same !!
I tried to change the camera setting to upside down, butt was unable. Will hafta look it up, damn %^&*() SJ4000 - GoPro "copy".
Okay, it is with the POWER ON button on the front of the camera AND it seems to stay in this mode when powered down - it is easier to go through this when the camera is NOT in the waterproof case #$%^&*()_
Next time, the camera will be mounted on the bottom of the boom - people are getting bored of my videos lol
FryDay July 22nd - at La Crête - as usual
Ironically it seems with the current times VLOGs and videos are more popular than textual discussion. This surprises me and yet not. People have "less time" and are also lazier. No-one seems to watch more than 2 minutes - so, the first two minutes better be good lol. I don't care cuz I am makin these vids for me, myself and eye :-)
This day started funny cuz I had left my weather website setting at Fahrenheit which meant the wind speeds were in mph and I could NOT understand why Helmut thought the wind would be "good" taday. As soon as I saw that mistake, I was set to go at noon.
The first clip is some of the faster speeds, but do not seem to show in the vid...
Here, by chance I managed to catch Helmut while he sailed in front of me
So, the winds were 20-40kph WSW and pretty steady. I thoroughly enjoyed myself on my Shark 145 using the GA GTX 8.5 and the 50 cm Fanatic fin. This session was an 8.5 and potentially a niner !! Rare indeed !! AH and SAH were there too :-)
Forgot to mention that there were two windfoilers who really seemed to know what they were doing ... Ben Falardeau informed me they were Vincent from 2-rad and Guillaume, the construction worker. One of them jibed in the air = NICE !!
Wednesday the 20th of June Up North clique on YOUTOOB link
blogger seems to be having an issue with embedded boob tube videos :-(
Wind was from the South under 25 kph and seemed better than yesterday at OKA !! Am going to give the session a 7.5 outta 10 !! Had at least one or two decent runs :-)
BIC SL200 with the HSM SPF 8.5 - as usual. Need to change out the lower section of the mast ^&*() Keep forgetting !!
Tuesday the 19th of July @ OKA La Crête :-)
Today it was going to be 20-40kph W and then perhaps more. So, I brought the Shark 145 and two sails (7.0 & 8.5). Kiters were rigging 12m² sails and saying wind was going to increase - as we have seen so many times before. Unfortunately, I rigged the 7-oh when it really was an iffy kinda 8.5 day - thus I cannot give this sesh more than a seven outta ten.
Here is the wind graph from a town not far from OKA on the same Lake:
and one can see that the wind was up and down and NOT much more than 25kph there
Couple of interesting notes of the day - when I left the house, I checked my equipment more carefully and discovered that my favourite mast base attachment was NOT there. It had fallen out of the bag :-(
Also, I had to adjust my harness lines. It was pulling too much on the front hand and was much better when I left the back attachment where it was and moved the front one up one fist worth. The film clip was the best of what I had, but there were better runs after - the card was full. Either I do not turn the camera on until all is good and/or I make sure the card is empty before I leave ...
There was an older fellow (can I say that with my 64 years of age??) doing "tricks" on an original Windsurfer and sail. I tried to catch him on the beach, but it was like he ran away. I trapped him at the VoilOka booth and asked him how long he had been doing this... I looked him straight in the eyes and I was afraid of what I saw !! As I had now distracted him, the peach pit he threw bounced off the top of a mini-van. The dude freaked out !! I was laffing out loud and losing it..."Is that your car?" non and I am still laffing ..."Do you know who's it is?" non and laughter slowly going to a smile now ... I told him the pit bounced off the roof and landed in the "woods". Of course he did not believe me and had to look ... Said I would check the roof and I jumped on the back tire pulling myself up with the roof rack. There was a peach splash just over the driver section. Dude said he would clean it up. It was at that point that I went back to my car and set up my stuff for this session :-)
Tuesday the 12th of July and where else ? OKA La Crête !!
They were announcing 20-40 kph SW winds which means there is a chance for medium winds. So, I brought the Fanatic Shark 145 HRS with the GA GTX 8.5, GA Flow-3 7-oh and two fins (50 and 40 cm). When I arrived the guys on kites were telling me that 12 m² kites were just perfect today and yes, I saw lotsa white caps or sheep as they are called in French !! So, I rigged the 7-oh with the 40 cm freerace fin. Here is a decent little clip:
After reflecting on the session and looking at the video, it was at least an 8.5 /10 session. All that was lacking was - NOT hitting that rock with my fin and I did NOT go for the footstraps :-( Also, the board was a bit wide for the waves - Benwindy went out with a 5.8 m² sail at one point. On a Fanatic Eagle 135 ?? Nope - he was using a DuoTone SuperSession 5.9 m² sail on a Hawk 125/69 and then a Hawk 111/65. Says he loved that day on the water !! No wonder I thought the 75 cm width on the Shark was too much..
Oh yeah - why did my BIG toe on the left foot hurt afterwards ? NICE BRUISE man !?!
Also keep losing my hairbands at OKA :-( Need ta windsurf with my hair down lol
Rocks found --> post to the right of the road coming down with a yellow tag and then straight out - that's a GIANT ROCK & where the entrance swerves into the parking lot and then straight out - Marie says Benwah has stuff in his van to mark the spots ..
FRYday the 8th of July OKA La Crête --------------------------------
Light winds and I thought I had filmed a run out and back, butt knot :-( I was having a really difficult time getting everything all lined up with the board, harness lines, etc and then the whistle jammed in my harness hook and while trying to fix that on the go, I fell ON the mast giving myself some nice bumps on my shins ...
As I am a stubborn SOB and do NOT bleed much, I stayed in the "cold water" (it was NOT cold) and applied pressure until the bumps went down. Then I went out and windsurfed for another two hours lol
When I was done VoilOka was kind enough to give me one of those instant ice packs. I hafta git me soma those man !!
In general this was a day where I was really pissed off. First I thought I had made a video and when I got home there was none. There was the bumps on my shins. The harness line adjustments; not going in the front foot-strap when all the stars were lined up; not being able to water start in deeper water with the GIANT 10 m² sail. HOWEVER, once the harness lines were five white stars in, it all seemed to line up and I had a great time planing. As usual I often went too far downwind - lookin for speed man.
After all that upset and frustration, what can I give the session ?? Well, I guess I can still give it a 7.5 out of ten after all. Benwindy was out on 140 liters with his Ezzy Lion 8.5. Buddy was out on his windfoil and he downsized to a three meter windwing !! It was one of those days - stripes with no wind, stripes with waves and strips with gusty winds - welcome to OKA !!
Oh yeah, what about the wind ?? It was supposed to be 20-30W and shifting to NW and remaining light. It felt more like 20-35 and some flipping between W and WNW rather than shifting to the NW.
One of the funniest things to me is that in 25 degrees C weather with the sun and fairly warm water, people are still in their wet-suits. What's that all about ?!?
Force5/Richard posted this on Quebecwind:
Wednesday June 29th OKA La Crête
I have NOT been making many windsurf videos and decided to give it a try taday. There was maybe one decent run and I think that is what I published. Wind was NOT great and I was out with my trusty steed, Fanatic Shark 145 HRS with the GA Swift 10-oh. Obviously the mast plate was moved up and the larger fin was used. It was NOT a great session and cannot give it more than a 7 or 7.5!! The waves were a real PITA taday !! When we all got off around 14h00 the sky to the west was dark blue and not long after the wind whipped up so strong that a young lady asked if I needed help with my sail and board in that BIG wind !!
Monday June 27th - OKA La Crête
Originally the forecast was 30-50kph W and seemed to change to 20-40kph WSW and so, brought the standard Shark 145 and GA GTX 8.5 !! Well, when I got there, the water was higher than usual and so, NO beach for the kiters. It felt and looked like MORE than 20-40kph and definitely WSW. I did a coupla runs with my setup, but was WAY OVER. Waves were about 2 feet as well. I brought my stuff out knowing that was probably it. People were flying on their windsurf stuff. I was guessing 25 knots with < six meter sails. Benwindy came in saying he started with a 7-oh around and had to rig down ... When we saw him he was with a 5.9 meter sail and said his board was too much for the waves - mine too. Cannot give this session more than a 6 or 6.5 out of ten !!
That just looks like 20-40kph maximum and yet, it looked and felt like a LOT more. At shore I measured 20 mph on my anemometer and it is usually MORE further out !!
here is the report from Force10 who went to Baie des Brises on the South Shore of Montreal:
"Belle sortie à Baie des Brises, vent à tendance ouest qui variait de direction un peu, pas toujours stable mais assez puissant pour la 5.7 m2. Sorti un peu avant 10h00, première 90-120 minutes environ en SuperRide 116, un moment donné ça allait trop vite et je l'ai échappée, méchante catapulte, j'ai un coude écorché et bleui au-travers du wetsuit....je suis rentré la queue entre les jambes, et je suis ressorti avec la nouvelle FSW 105 litres poids plume....la première demi-heure ça ne planait pas trop, ensuite dans le tapis jusqu'à passé 13h30 mais là il restait du vent mais la batterie était pas mal vide. Une sortie dans du 15 à 25 noeuds, l'eau est rendue trèèèèès chaude, incroyable le changement en 10 jours,"
Helmut went to AAO as he knew I could not stay long - family duties. He knew winds were BIG and went out with his 6-oh sail on his FSW 106 litre !! Says it was completely different and not easy to get used to ... This is the pic of AAO Helmut sent me - not many on the water and the level is REALLY HIGH - other side of Lac des Deux from OKA ...
On Quebecwind winddummy of 160 pounds was on a 100 litre board with a 4.7 m² sail and also at AAO :-) What would that translate to for a 200 pound beef like me ? using James' sail and board calculator ... 4.7 is for 20 knots and the board of 100 liter is minimal uphaulable. For 200 pounds that would be 120 liter board with a 6 to 6.2 sail, which as I thought should be my kit for this day based on what I saw. My Fanatic BEE 123 using the HSM Fire 6.2 sail !! Also something I am NOT very comfortable with !!
Saw a dude with an OLD Fanatic BEE and Gaastra sail...
I took the Dutch description and google translated it:
Ultra BEE: A super fast slalom board for committed surfers and Funboard Cup Races.
- World cup shape: concave, 3 v-concave, double-v
- Lightning fast and clean in the jibe
- Early to plane and highest terminal velocity
- Secure grip during extreme maneuvers
- Speedboat with light handling
- Slalom rocket for pros and experts
282 cm long, 59.5 cm wide with a volume of 115 liters - did not look easy to ride
Here is a 1989 Fanatic Ultra BEE in action
Richard/FORCE5 was setting up two sails and two boards !! Think it was a 5.8 and 5.4 with a Goya board - think volume was around 125 and it was NEW in 2021 costing $2800 !! He said he also had a board closer to 100 litres !!
I asked benwindy about Monday and he said...
"I had a Hawk 111 and 65 wide, so an almost slalom freeride. The wind often changed directions, so it became like boiling water. This board becomes physical under these conditions, you have to agree to pay the price or the go for less time.If I had had a 115 or 105 FreeWave, I would have had a funnier, slower ride.Even having put a 5´3 on this 111, I would have been bardastered/shaken up."
Marc Cyr said lots of stuff was broken and people got hurt = NO SURPRISE !!
Saturday June 25th
Looks like we are going to “the country” taday - that’s what we call going up north to the chalet(s). Luckily there was enuff wind for me to windsurf and test the HSM SPF 8.5 sail repair with the winch shown below. The Color GTH (which is what I presume it was) was GREAT. The wind was from the East and later from the South. It was NOT strong and it did not matter that I forgot my harness (once again). Gonna count this is as a "session" n givit an eight outta 10 !! Oh yeah, I did adjust the downhaul with MORE so that the battens could flip. Next time I may add 2.5 cm on the extension for more downhaul. Also, perhaps make it so that the bottom batten flips more easily - loosen or tighten required ??
Saturday June 11th
Well, do NOT drive anywhere near Montreal on the weekend. There is construction and traffic everywhere man.
I bought myself some booties at Sharks in Laval. Also got MarineTex and McLube from the BoatHouse in Dorval. $160 later ...
Also, as I was setting up my GA GTX 8.5 to dry out completely (did not seem to need a washing) I noticed that there were still "sap spots" on the monofilm. I read somewhere that isopropyl alcohol will do the job, butt will ask on iwindsurf first !!
After discussing a used older board from Ottawa that someone was saying could be used for foiling ... I discovered that the Chinook Powerplate allows you to put the foil in multiple positions and also seems to distribute the pressure on the fin box and board. Unfortunately it is about $260 + tax.
Also, foils run from about $1500 to $4000. Which means it is about a 2000 to 4000 dollar investment. Some people have stopped trying - like benwindy. Others like Marie are still learning and loving it. When I see her on the water I always feel she needs a larger sail and/or more pumping !!
Also bought some Sametop GoPro mounts to put on the boards to film myself at speed. I wanna see what it actually looks like and to force myself to get in those straps man.
FryDay June 10th La Crête
Well, it looked like it might be a piss ass day - as in potential rain and some "maybe wind". Originally it looked like 20-40 kph SW and then switched to W. We had the granddaughter and so, by ten or so, I was on the water - needed to be back by three !!
The first couple of runs were okay, but nothing great. Back to the OKA stripes - wind, waves and then NO wind. Just as I was getting used to it, it started to rain and kinda dropped off in the wind section. That's when Helmut arrived !!
We chatted and waited a bit and I jumped back on the water.
The first run out seemed sad until .. it f'n kicked man AND was a great run back. I enjoyed the speed SO much that I was doing downwind runs - as fast as I could !! I kept at it until about 13h30 cuz we hadta bring the granddaughter back to papa ...
Fanatic Shark 145 with the 47 cm Curtis slalom fin and the GA GTX free-race 8.5 using the HPL carbon boom. I tightened the battens on the sail - looked great !!
Am giving this session a 9 / 10 - sun was out when I left ... Even though I had some issues tacking and went in the water a couple of times ...
Helmut was out on his Gecko 156 and SW Retro 8.5
SD after and left a skull mask on the car = oh well
Wednesday June 8th La Crête
Well, this was a difficult day to call. Was it gonna rain ? Was the wind going to get stronger or weaker as the day went on. From SW, WSW, W or NW ??
So, I packed more than usual. Both GA's --> GTX 8.5 and Swift 10-oh. Obviously with all the associated gear as well - 520 mast, 490 mast, carbon boom, 50 cm fin and a 44 cm fin.
First I check the main beach to see if it was feasible. Wind looked better on the side of La Crête and there there was NO using the bathrooms in the main building - after the arrival of three school buses !!
The west side of OKA looked like a WNW wind and good enough for the 8.5. I kept the longer fin because it looked tough to get back to the starting point i.e. too much downwind action AND I was correct - that was an issue for me and the kites. Later on the kite foils and Marie on her windfoil seemed to have less of an issue staying upwind !! She seemed to be on an Ezzy 6-oh or thereabouts ...
The 8.5 was the right call; Sylvain was foiling with an 18 meter kite and dude that I met on the weekend at the boat ramp - was out with a 21 meter kite. There were some decent gusts and so, I was glad that I was NOT with the 10-oh.
I practiced some water starts in the deeper water - as beach starts seem fine... Had issues getting the clew out of the water %^&*( Then realized it was not my fault, butt rather a lack of wind !!
The sun was out and I was in my farmer john's - fun, fun and so, am giving the session an 8 outta 10 :-) smiles all around - typical OKA - stripes of wind, then waves and then no wind - no wonder we went downwiind !!
Once again the foils win - oh yeah - saw Martial there too ...
Saturday June 4th La Crête
Wind looked like it was gonna go from light to quite decent. I thought perhaps an opportunity to learn and practice with the SW 20-40 kph and then more later. So packed the Shark 145 with the 8.5, 7-oh, 6.3, 490 mast, 460 mast, Chinook boom and three fins (56, 40 and 32). Was rigged by about 10h15 with the 8.5 since the wind was still light. Helmut arrived while I was chatting with a Ukrainian fellow. You can only imagine what we talked about Putin taking 25+% of his country. Told me about the "Kozaks" {spelling} - some kind of crazy warriors - says 200 guarded the border and the Russians had to come in the thousands !!
By the time I got on the water with the Shark 145 and GA GTX 8.5 three kites had gone in the trees with the deep water and the strong onshore winds !!
As you may be able to see on the above graph, the water levels look like they are at what was the MAX historically on this date!! I had trouble getting started because people were in the water and you had to get past them and the mini-points at either end. I kept going deeper and had issues water starting. Winds were a little light at the shore. Once I did get going a sudden gust dumped me - so, I hafta be ready. There was another fellow in the water and thus I had to avoid him and still head upwind a bit.
I managed to get going and had the speed run of my life. That wind was way over 40 kph, which is about my max for that sail.. When I fell in at the boat ramp end, I was too close to shore to get past the weeds on the way back. Tried a couple of times, almost lost my glasses and bailed my equipment out at the boat ramp. Then went and got the car...
Helmut was nowhere to be seen. Once at my stuff. I kept contemplating and took apart the sail first. Two people came and went - one windsurfer and one kite body drag wannabe. Another came, parked his truck n trailer and launched at the mid-point of the ramp n beach.
Part of my issue was getting the outhaul end of the sail out of the water. It is a VERY wide sail - I should have put the WaterStarter that was in the car ON the sail !!
Once my stuff was all packed, I hung around a bit - then went home and slept.
Helmut called me around 15h00, butt was sleeping !!
Do I regret going = NEVER !!
That speed run was worth the whole thing !!
7 outta 10 man !!
*****Next time check water levels and ensure wind reports match !! *****
Windjee did a report on QuebecWind stating that he was using a 5-oh on a 94 litre board and it was too much - switched just the board to a 76 litre board and all was fine !!
Force10 was at Lery and posted a windchart:
Spent over an hour trying to make the 66 cm fin fit a little easier into the deep tuttle box on the JP SLW92. Now I would like to patch some minor things on the box ... Have no more MarineTex. I also need that special lubricant for the cambers ... What's it called again ? Shit, hafta look it up ... Oh yeah --> McLube lol lubricant for McDonalds - that's how I will remember it lol
The BoatHouse in Dorval is open 10h00-17h00 Tuesday to Friday ...
oh yeah - WindSpirit is having a party to celebrate their move !!
WARNING - that banner is WRONG - Party is on the FryDay the 17th !!
Tuesday May 31st - OKA Main Beach ENE 20-40 kph.
When I got there, I had all my stuff on the beach and realized that once again I had brought the wrong sail. Had all the stuff for the GA GTX 8.5, but the GA Swift 10-oh was lying there on the ground - and there was NO way to rig it with what I had. I actually went back home and got the 8.5 !!
When I arrived this time, Christoph was there. He was the one who sold me my MS-2 and the MS490 too I believe -- back in 2011... He was out on a 125 liter board and a 5.8 sail. Here I was going out with my Shark 145 and GA GTX 8.5 !! Well, he is a much lighter fellow !! The kiter from last week was there too - on a 12 meter kite and large board. Oh yeah, I had on my full wetsuit - it was NOT warm !!
It was your typical OKA day - wind up and down, waves in the same direction as the winds and I had trouble tacking. Had to uphaul each time - as in I fell in each time. Will give the session a 7 outta 10 cuz I did git ta plane - on occasion - usually on the way back in.
Later a fellow arrived that Christoph knew from Hatteras - says he was 155 pounds and out with a 7.9 sail. He was definitely planing on the way in and did a coupla nice jibes. He had a very yellow sail - like none I had ever seen before - I am guessing it was a Point-7 sail. Maybe even the ACX...
Smelled like Diesel on the way home = WTF !!
Sunday May 29th Up North and NOT really a session
As I was rigging my old HSM SPF 8.5, I noticed a screw was missing from the sail pulley block. I tried to rig it as such, but it seemed to bend one side and did NOT look good. So, I rigged it straight - with one loop and no pulleys. Would have needed the winch and the sail looked bad and sailed poorly. As such, I will not call it a session, but rather another lesson learned !! Gotta have spares and ALWAYS check your equipment !!
Saturday May28th
As usual, I was watchin the winds since yesterday. It looked to be shaping up to be a 20-30kph day with winds from the NW. This means JP SLW92 with the GA Swift 10m² sail and 66 cm fin.
On the way I kept reflecting about bringing two sails and wondering why. I do have premonitions on occasion and all morning I kept thinking to myself that I was forgetting something !?! Well, I was about half way there when I realized I had brought the GA GTX 8.5 and NOT the Swift 10-oh $%^&*( So, I went back and exchanged sails and the wife seemed surprised that I was still determined to go lol
As usual, I hadta "take a crap" when I got there - what's that all about. Seems to happen every time - must be the nerves. I went to the meeting hall where the bathrooms are nicer and less people - still covid nervous. On the way out I heard a familiar bird call and I froze. A pileated woodpecker attacked a fallen tree not ten feet from me. I watched for a good 5 minutes and then snuck away quietly. My phone was in the car and I tried ta git a pic, butt forget it !! The bird broke giant pieces of bark off the log, flicked them away with a toss of his head and then proceeded to eat the ant eggs underneath. I don't think the bird left even when I slowly crept away in my hybrid - running slowly on electric mode :-)
When I got to La Crête, there seemed to be waves and winds from from all over the place in different forces - woah. I rigged up and Benwindy came in ... Told me he had a crazy gust which overwhelmed him on his Fanatic Ray 145 + Ezzy 8.5 !! Says it was calmer now and out he went.
I did an allez/retour and got off the water. It just felt too much like work.
When Ben came in, I went back out for about another hour. Only me and one kiter on the water + a coupla sail boats. We looked for "The Rock", but did not find it !! Water was too high !! Oh yeah - the kiter told us (Claude from the town of Oka and I that he had BIG flippers in his bakpack - in case the NW carried him too far downwind !!)
Afterwards chatted with Claude, from whom I had bought a fin once. He is windfoiling now and in the winter does do skiing with kites on the ice n snow :-)
Told a father with two young girls that rather than sitting on the old windsurfer, they should try standing up, which they did quite well !!
In terms of equipment, the freerace sails are a PITA to derig AND the 66 cm fin goes into the finbox with far too much difficulty %^&*()_
It was a surprisingly fulfilling session, but cannot give more than a 7.5 !!
Had a special treat of cookies when I came in :-)
I musta worked hard cuz I had fuckin muscle cramps in my calves all nite long $%^&*() Even tho I did take magnesium and vitamins when I got home
shoulda had more water !!
btw was in my Farmer John's with booties ...
Monday May 23rd Queen Victoria's Bee-day
We have had NO POWER since 17h30 on the 21st!! and we did not get it back until 63 hours later = WoW !! So, I wrote my verbal diarrhea on a napkin and am retyping it here now.
I took this opportunity to check my W/S gear. Taped up the 520 mast ferrule and dried / cleaned all the sails used recently (7-oh, 8.5 and 10-oh). I also tried to tape up the seam on the GA Swift 10-oh. Will perhaps try sail tape next ...
I also decided to use my AHD SL-1 140 in 20-40 kph winds and the Shark in 30-50 kph. The AHD will be tried in SW winds first. I will need to bring the tuttle fins back from Nonni's chalet !! Perhaps this Friday ??
Wednesday May 17th
Well, once agin I was monitoring the winds n temps all day and it was NOT lookin good :-( My good buddy, Ed, texted me that OKA was amazing taday. Asked him about the wind since it seemed to be picking up here. Said it was 8 knots W, but kiters were having issues getting going. Not long after it was 9 knots and "picking up". That's it, I am packing my car with the GA Swift 10-oh and the JP SLW92 - with the 66 cm fin.
I actually met Ed at La Crête and he helped me rig up :-) We had issues with the cambers getting past the taped mast joint and the fin box was tight !! I managed to beach start, planed somewhat - more around the Vaudreuils side of the lake and fell when trying to get hard upwind - managed to scrape my right elbow - applied propolis at home.
All in all this session met all expectations and MAC was there to greet me after ... I am going to give this session an 8.5 !!
Tuesday the 17th of May
Okay, I monitored potential wind and actual wind all day. It looked like it was gonna be light rain with 15ºC and winds changing from WSW to W and eventually NW and THAT is exactly what they did. Winds were supposed to be lighter in the afternoon, but I think they were lighter than predicted - 15-45kph NW make sense ?? With the Shark 145 and GA FLOW-3 seven-oh we were over ... under, but rarely none. Yes there was planing, slogging, dropping the sail and almost falling in. When the gusts got too weird, I just got off. Anticipation was not high, but I had the day off from babysitting, went windsurfing and had my soma - was gonna give it a 7.5, butt is gonna be generous --> 8 outta 10 man !!
btw I had issues rigging the GA FLOW $%^&* The mast had issues getting past that last bend and the the little sail cap was like in the wrong hole - dirty dog !! lol :-) When I de-rigged the sail, I attached the cap to the car and yanked - that's SO much better man !!
FryDay the 13th HOT HOT HOT
Gonna give the outing an 8.5 outta ten !!
There were a number of times that I planed - once so much that I HAD to head upwind !! Another time I was so overwhelmed than I planed as fast as I could until suddenly the wind died and I fell in L😀L.
I MUST mention that when I rigged it up and ran out for the first run, I missed the bottom camber and needed to move the harness lines back about 3 cm - last sailing was with a 7-oh sail... Also, I never put the harness attachment to my legs and used it more like a waist harness............... CANNOT wait ta go out agin !!!
GREAT START TO THE SUMMER
here's what I wrote on the quebecwind windsurf forum :-)
https://forums-quebecwind.com/viewtopic.php?p=116507#p116507
Helmut was on his Gecko 156 (85 cm wide) with his SW Retro 8.5. Says he did not plane nor get in the footstraps. I tried once, but headed downwind after :-(
May 12th Thursday --------------------------------------------------------
Well, my buddy Helmut asked if I would like to try a large Touring Fanatic SUP at Cap St. Jacques ? How can i refuse ? He has two SUPs, paddles and all !! I tried the larger version while he went on the shorter one. The water was NOT cold anymore and the air temps was 30ºC which is almost 90 in Fahrenheit !! I brought my farmer john in case I fell in which I did NOT !?! which meant it was HOT !! Luckily there was no wind nor swell and when there was, I could REALLY feel my thigh muscles working. It was jolly good fun, but these boards are NOT cheap. Will ask VoilOka how much to rent one - tomorrow when we try to windsurf !! Will give this a nine out of ten !! saw lotsa turtles on logs who jumped into the water as we approached quietly ...
Helmut says there is a place to put a sail on the board, but he never tried it !!
Here is a video of the larger board I believe ...
May 10th Tuesday ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, we thought of dropping the granddaughter off up north, perhaps I would windsurf and then pick up a rocking chair for the wife ... and so, we did it all!!
Well, there was NOT a lot of wind, but that was NOT anticipated. It was all about just getting out .. Had to bring the HSM SPF 8.5 and the mast from one chalet to the other and I brought the wrong lower section :-( Then when I rigged it, I forgot to put the tack strap :-( Also, I forgot my harness, even tho it was on my bringit liste :-(
But, guess what, I loved it !! It was a beautiful day, only wore the farmer johns and booties. The water was warm enough for me to wade in and rinse my stuff too !! Gonna give this an eight outta ten. I am still hoping for better sessions with more speed. For the lake on a BIC SL200, it was just fine !!
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April 25th I asked about the State of the Lake and this is what I got !!
Brought my "new" 8.5 and "old" GA Flow-3 7-oh. Felt like there was some good wind and there were about six kites and one windwing on the water already @ 13h00. Everyone kept saying Be Safe and I asked if that meant I should wear my covid mask lol :-) So, I stayed with the 7m² Gaastra 3-cambered sail. I did not fall in, dropped the sail once and planed once or twice - this generated BIG smiles lol... I was happy I played it safe, cuz I did NOT wanna spend time in the water and I didn't --> 7.5 outta 10 ??
1) surface 4/5 some waves and not too cold
2) wind 3/5 - a bit light n gusty - as anticipated tho
3) sail 4/5 - better safe than sorry
4) board 5/5 - The Shark !!
5) clothing 5/5 - hole in glove, butt not cold
had on wetsuit, booties, gloves, covid neck cover and helmet
score 21/25 = WOW = too generous - need more emphasis on surface, wind and sail
those alone are 11/15 --> 73% which matches my original 7.5 :-)
April 15th Good Fryday = Git Good n Fried lol
Well, I was considering going to OKA and checking out a SW quite strong wind of 30-50kph, but the gusts were REALLY strong at home and Mouss on quebecwind said a 5.3 sail was RIPPED out of his hands --> flew away from him by about 5 meters !! Also, the fucking traffic on the 640 sucked - like 10 minutes extra to get there = stayed home !!
One dude posted a pic of his truck and trailer ON the beach of La Crête !!
April 12th Yesterday I rigged the GA GTX 8.5 in the backyard and I felt the leech was a little bit loose, but the cambers flipped perfectly ..
other than that - the sail looked really good
I thought the battens were okay, but when I checked again today @ OKA, it looks like the bottom two could use some tightening... Also, I can see why they added a tack strap to the later models ...
At OKA La Crête is NOT accessible yet and so, I tried the main beach with a west wind. BIG mistake... There is way too big a wind shadow and I fell in a number of times - got cold and tired before I got to enjoy the session. Had to do the walk of shame from the end of the actual beach. Managed to get in the harness comfortably a number of times... Forgot my safety vest and the gloves I wore had a hole in them. It was 17ºC with a potential westerly of 20-40 kph ... I will NEVER go there again with that direction of wind. Asked the committee working with OKA if they could ask them to open La Crête sooner !!
How to rate a windsurf session ??
This discussion started because there is NO consistency in my evaluations
It often feels like a number pulled out of a hat or arbitrary
In the winter there are clear criteria for the rating and perhaps they can be used in the summer
1) surface - in the winter there can be so many variations !! summer too
2) wind - as expected or better ??
3) sail - was the correct sail selected and how did that work out
4) board - was the correct board selected and how well did that work out
5) clothing - was I dressed appropriately - not too warm or cold ??
For the above session ...
1) surface 5/5 - flat and water not too cold
2) wind 1/5 - BIG wind shadow
3) sail 5/5
4) board 3/5 - would have preferred the longboard
5) clothing 4/5 - hole in glove, butt not cold
totale = 5+1+5+3+4 = 18/25 = 72/100 which is still more than 7/10 !!
I forgot to mention that this "new sail to me" was easy to uphaul - no issues
April 8th Buddy sent me a pic of Lac des Deux a couple of days ago and the fellow @ 30noeuds felt the rain of yesterday would clear out the rest of the ice. So, I took a drive down the 640 and this is what I saw ...
clique the pic :-)
All I need now is some sunshine and a nice Easterly and I am off - well, maybe AFTER getting my "shit" from up north - ice sailing is over there too ... One can see in the pic that the man-made stone retaining wall is gone - that changes the shore quite a bit. People will be able to go into the water from the picnic area now too ...
There was lotsa water all around ...
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and it was NOT following the rules of the road lol
La Crête is still closed and the annual pass seems cheaper @ $45 per year.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Got so excited that I drove up north in the evening and picked up:
Helmet, harness, cold weather gear
Chinook aluminum boom 180-240cm
HotSailsMaui Fire 6.3
Powerex RDM 460/90
Gaastra Flow-3 @ 7m²
MauiSails 490/75 mast
(assuming the GA GTX 8.5 matches)
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It is wet snow on wet ice - was hoping the cold night would freeze up the snow and they were announcing 15-25kph NW winds... yesterday ... It seemed to reach my expectation for a very short period of time, but ... around that time the wife picked up medicine for the sick and my kids never confirmed the state of the lake surface :-(
With some difficulty I was able to put that on the strap -- from the top of the luff - very carefully and diligently and then went out with that sail on the crusty snow in -7° C and winds from the NW @ 15-20kph. Wind is supposed to get "better" and so... am takin a break ...
Now THAT looks a LOT better !! Even though it was 4 degrees C and the ice was a bit soft, there is potential here. We are supposed to get a couple of nights freezing and thus perhaps Tuesday or Wednesday I can head up there to play on the ice !! On Tuesday we may not need to watch the grand daughter either = day OFF :-)
I discussed the parking with SPA Finlandais = NO GO :-(
they say they have preference @ the 117 bridge/water plant
18FEB Fryday ... This next section is just to show you how difficult it is to plan a windsurf session - winter and summer ...
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April 7th ... So, after purchasing the used free-race 8.5m² sail, I was looking for videos with it, but it seems 2006 is OLD for a windsurf sail ... Watching a bunch of videos, I started to feel like a real idiot... As I came from longboarding and windsurfed for the last 20 years, I was ALWAYS under the impression one is to keep the board flat. This may be true, BUT the main idea is to get as much of the board OUT of the water as is possible. THAT is why board critics measure the length of the flat @ the back of the board. Watching Nico Pier slalom sailing shows that he really does FLY man !! And THAT is what I hafta do !!
06APR2022 bought a 2006 GA GTX 8.5
Purchased the sail from 30noeuds, who seem to be way more into the kite world now and also have WindWings... This sail was marked as only used once, which is difficult to believe, BUT the sail does look amazing and was NOT expensive! New sails are about $1K now!! 30noeuds also had an electric remote controlled foil which is $11K and it sells !!
AND this one is a free-race sail with two cambers - used to mean it was even more expensive. This one does NOT have the zipper on the bottom batten and the luff is NOT wide - this is ALL FINE with me :-) My masts and boom are up north and so, this one was purchased without even rigging it ... The fellow said if he was not working, he would be out on the St Lawrence with a WindWing :-)
For future reference ... The 2006 GA GTX 8.5m² has 7 battens and 2 cams. There is a luff of 510cm, which obviously requires a 490cm mast. I have three combinations of good carbon 490 masts - MauiSails hard top, NP flex top combo and an older NP 490 CC/ConstantCurve. The outhaul on the sail is 240cm which means I can use my HPL carbon boom = woohoo. In terms of weight, I could NOT find ANY info on the www - is 2006 that long ago ?? Did I pay too much ?? I KNOW I will be VERY happy with this sail. I loved my MS-2 and still love my GA Flow-3 !! As there was NO info on the weight, I weighed it myself on an old scale - me+sail - my weight (gotta lose weight :-) and it comes to 12 pounds or about 5.5 kg.
02APR2022 Saturday with not much to do.
Auntie Laura is sick and has covid. The wife has been helping her preparing for her move to a senior's home ... This means our family gathering up north was reduced. The wife, young son and myself are quarantining at home.
I was considering going windsurfing on the ice, but the wind is staying under 15kph. I checked the surface yesterday and was hoping -7ºC @ night was enough to repair this surface ...
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It is wet snow on wet ice - was hoping the cold night would freeze up the snow and they were announcing 15-25kph NW winds... yesterday ... It seemed to reach my expectation for a very short period of time, but ... around that time the wife picked up medicine for the sick and my kids never confirmed the state of the lake surface :-(
29MAR2022 Another Tuesday session squeezed in up North !!
Once agin, we had the "day off" and there was cold with little snow... I headed up north alone leaving the wife with her sister at home and NO car ... I brought the SW Retro 8-oh and the NS Duke 6.9.
The wife was supposed to sow / repair the SW Retro, butt never got to it lol Luckily so; cuz, I watched a rigging video by Sebastian Kornum, where he mentioned if the mast was not in its cup or connector properly, it could pop out the sleeve. This is what I thought had happened, but I never found the cap and so ASSUMED it was a stitching rip = NOT SO !
Today I looked at the sail very carefully and it did NOT look like any stitching had ripped - there was however a strap where a connector could have been. I checked the SW Retro sail bag and there was something in the pocket !!!
sometimes that harness line looks like a smilie lol
Went out again in the early afternoon - wind was more gusty, still intermittent and still with wind holes. NW is one of my least favourite directions on the lake (small diagonal runs). Want to give the session an 8 outta 10, but the wind was NOT cooperating ... Let's see, the surface was an 8 or 9 outta 10; the sail with the wind and ice/snow conditions was a 9 or 10 outta 10, but the wind was NO more than a 7 at most !! So, we will say that the average across those three categories was an 8 outta 10 :-) cleats, helmet n harness - NO pads
22Mar2022 Tuesday. Probably LAST winter session for this season
We had the day off from "babysitting" the granddaughter and I headed NORTH. Here the ice is FINISHED as seen on Sunday's pic. It was below freezing overnight and just below when I got there. By afternoon the ice and snow was a bit "mushy" and just not quite as good as in the morning. Winds were from the NW 15-25 kph (supposed to be 20-40) and as usual on this lake - holey and inconsistent, but as can be seen in the pic, it was an absolutely marvelous day !! Giving this "day on the lake" a seven outta ten 7/10 ...
20MAR2022 Sunday, butt NOT sunny lol. Checked the local river
Unless we go into a REAL deep freeze, that river is fucked for winter windsurfing - pardon the French lol ... So, I brought my shit all up north - about one hour NE of home:
Now THAT looks a LOT better !! Even though it was 4 degrees C and the ice was a bit soft, there is potential here. We are supposed to get a couple of nights freezing and thus perhaps Tuesday or Wednesday I can head up there to play on the ice !! On Tuesday we may not need to watch the grand daughter either = day OFF :-)
12MAR2022 --------------------------------------------------
Yesterday there was NO wind and warmer temps and then last night made this:
C'est beau mais moi? je préfère la glace lol
10MAR2022 Well, I think I just got lucky !! Winds were WSW 15-25kph, the snow was crusty and there was ice underneath. Had my ice-sled and the HSM Fire 6.3. There were a hole in the wind around the middle of the river and as usual, gusty. The outing met my expectations and the only reason I stopped was, the forearms hurt and I did not feel like adjusting the harness so that I could hook in ... Will give the session an 8/10 - being generous ... The trick was to go early - not many spa people and the police van kept the wierd-ohs away ...
I did NOT use the harness as mentioned - nor the cleats & knee pads - luckily did NOT fall !!
Just used the helmet, ski googles and warm mitts ...
Some people seemed interested, but no-one spoke with me ... still covid times ??
SHIT --> NOT much wind tomorrow and snow starting in the evening - more than 10 cm
I have the Retro 8-oh here - can I rig that ??
It needs repair or a work-around and SDM mast extension :-( NOT lookin good !!
09Mar2022 The local river is still soft at the sides and where snowmobiles have "plowed"
ALL I need now is another cold night and wind from the right direction
and then the question is -- where to park ??
looks like we'll hafta check the river and lake conditions daily !!
I discussed the parking with SPA Finlandais = NO GO :-(
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13FEB checked local river and took the pics
saw wind okay tomorrow up north
perhaps Wed NE - check Ste-Rose - NO parking sign = WTF ?!?
clique the pic
15FEB Tues windski up north - report is further down
brought homemade ice sled and stuff back
16FEB Wed - wife blood test at 13h00
was supposed to go in the morning -12 degrees C 16-27NE
7h30 -13C & 12-18kph NE
8h30 -11C & 13-20kph NE should have gone here
9h15 -10C & 11-17kph E
11h30 -6 C & 9-14kph SE
bad direction, not enough wind and running out of time
17FEB Thu - Brandon wisdom teeth
perhaps in the afternoon with a SW
temperature ended up at +7
rained ALL day and snowed all night
18FEB Fri - snowstorm - snowed all night and morning
about 1.5 feet of snow and under snow it did not seem to harden
15FEB went up north expected HARD snow like back home after the sudden drop in temperature - with melting temps before ... Supposed to be -12 C with 13-24 kph Westerlies. It was actually warmer and the winds were NOT that "strong". Tried riding on the snow, but the light/gusty winds just did NOT do it man. So, I ran the homemade icesled with the GA Flow-3 seven meter sail -- down the old skating track that now looked like an ice racetrack :-)
Giving it a 7 outta 10...
my buddy in Oregon just got some fresh snow
check him out man !!
13FEB went and checked out the local river - it was rough cuz of the snowmobiles, but looks like it may be doable !!
Just need a little more snow or rain and then colder temps again ...
Clique the pics :-)
Now I hafta go BACK up north and get my stuff - 4.x, 5.x and 6.3 sails with 400cm / 460cm masts & both smaller booms + tool bag + RDM extension + safety equipment plus plus at least the sled that can handle ice and now and perhaps even the homemade icesled = a lotta stuff
12FEB They were announcing 20-30kph winds from the SW and NW with temperatures lower than freezing finally.. Well, the winds never came and temps only started to drop around 14h00 - when I left. This is what I saw on the lake:
09FEB2022 This is NOT feeling like a great winter windsurf season :-( So far I have been out three times in December and twice in January ... Neither session in January was very good (six and seven outta ten). In the winter there are MANY complicating factors:
Surface: Ice can have SO many physical characteristics and snow as well ..
Temperature: This directly affects ice and snow and humans when really cold.
Wind: Mostly light winds this winter with ideal ice only in December so far ... With the snow tests that I wish to perform, I really would like more wind !!
Today I tried the O'Brian Windski on deep snow in my backyard. How is this gonna work in deep snow ?? Well, it sank about a ten inches into the snow which is about four inches deeper than the sled depth. This means the bottom of the snowboard platform may require waxing as well. This will be determined in a real wind test ...
27JAN2022 Dude FV supposed to come by this evening with a 400cm RDM Chinook mast. This is for the NorthSails Zeta 3.7 which based on my notes is supposed to be able to take a 380 or 400cm mast. When I looked at the sail this morning I noticed the markings of 385cm max for the mast. There is an open mast top... My notes also said 154-175 cm for the boom, which meant I brought the adjusted blue boom from the country yesterday !! AND then today I read the markings on the sail and it says 148cm max !! I adjusted the boom to about 150 cm which is not too bad ... Now to confirm the mast length :-( It looks like I can make the mast length close - same for the boom & this mast and boom combination should work with the WindWing 4.6 sail also.
Obviously I purchased the mast even though it did NOT rig perfectly ...I can move the top opening down 20 cm in order to have a better rigging …and the mast will work with my WindWing - as stated above...
I lowered the top extension/opening by 20 cm as discussed above and left the mast extension more than required to give more downhaul and see what will be ideal -- looks like 4cm will be the ideal setting ... with more downhaul and less outhaul it started to look a lot better .. Should also try it with the smaller yellow boom - so far so good ...
The base is set to 4 cm and that makes sense. Sail calls for 385 and the strap is 15 cm long with a cap about 4 cm deep ... 385+15= 400 cm and need adjustment for the cap ...
14JAN2022 I put the back strap on the O'Brian Windski - ready for next test, butt not in the cold now and the snow coming Monday - what a winter man !!
10JAN2022 It was a Monday and looked like there would be winds from the West of over 20kph. Based on the weather channel, winds never hit 20 - not even in the gusts. I shovelled a six foot wide path across the top of the French Bay and tried my HSM Fire 6.2 meter sail on my ice wiindski and the windskate. Coupla runs and I was done !! Normally this would have been considered a FAIL. However, I did get my exercise in, was not expecting much anyway and so, I will give this a 6 outta 10 :-)
06JAN2022 We were supposed to have winds from the WSW up north of around 20 kph. Once again it was a bit warm and the fresh powder was just too sticky. Tried the new O'Brian windski and saw that it needed wax and probably would be a whole lot better with a back foot strap - to push the board across the wind. Then tried my long ice/shallow snow board. This was after I cleared a track running North/South across the top of the French Bay. Just as I was going in to get my ice windski I catapulted and landed so hard on my back that my glasses took off lol.
So, I put on all my safety gear and got my ice windski. By this time the wind was lighter and I was getting tired. Wind was probably less than 20 and I could have used an eight meter sail. Instead I was on GA FLOW-3 seven-oh. As I got lotsa exercise, had some GC and a shot, I am giving this a 7 outta 10. Needed more wind and better ice / snow conditions ... (Isn't retirement great man !!) NOTE: this was NOT with the windskate ...
The next day I put X-country wax on the O'Brian windski and it slid along much better - still need ta put a back foot strap on this baby :-)
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04JAN2022 Winds have been light, some cold nights n days with a little bit of snow AND the local river, Rivière Mille Isles is frozen over (at least it is in the section where I go). The sections under the bridge on the 117 and where the current comes around the corner are NOT frozen yet.
This means I gotta go up north and get my winter stuff back home !!
Just for historical purposes ... Covid-19 is behaving as a bad virus should. Everyone seems to be getting it, Quebec curfew is 10 p.m. and ALL stores are closed on Sunday for the next 2 weeks. As an old fart, I was entitled to and have received two Pfizer shots and one booster about a week ago. SAQ and SQDC stores will now be requesting proof of vaccination(s) in order to enter their shops. This seems to upset some people ?!?
btw SAQ = Quebec provincial alcohol outlets and SQDC = their cannabis outlets