........joe windsurfer BLOG........

Busted Dacron Sail :-(

One day I decided I needed to bring my most used sail up north to use on the chalet board - the BIC SL200. The sail is an 8.5 m² from Hot Sails Maui called Speed Freak. Mine is without cambers - new ones in larger sizes have the option of one camber ...

In any case, when I was getting off the water that day, the wind was gusty, switching directions, etc and I have a tricky place to get out of the water. The sail flipped and impaled itself on the the dock post.

Since this sail is made out of dacron, I asked Marc, my kitesurf buddy which places he recommends for kite repairs. He did not hesitate and said KITEFORCE right away ...

I contacted them and Arthur said (after I sent him the above photo) that it was NOT a big deal and to just tape it all up with this tape they have. So, it was ordered online and Arthur made the adjustment for there to be NO shipping costs. He suggested taping one side with masking tape and wiping down with alcohol before applying the tape.

The order came within 3 - 4 days in a regular envelope with two small packets of alcohol swaps.

The sail was taped on the side with the emblem as that facilitated lining up the pattern where it was torn... Once one side was done, the sail was flipped, the masking tape removed and the tape applied on the other side.

I do NOT think I did a great job, since it was done on a carpet. I believe a harder surface like wood would be better (pardon the pun).

Here is a photo - now I just need to try the sail out again !! Maybe tomorrow :-)

Today is Saturday, 10AUG2019 and the sail was tested.

The day started out badly becuz my old van finally died today - it would NOT start.

Just this morning when bringing my youngest to his brother's house - to go see a movie - I mentioned that perhaps I would be lucky and my van would die in the driveway. He asked why that was lucky and I told him better than breaking down on the road fully loaded with windsurf equipment.

My wife must have had the same premonition as I did ... She asked which vehicle I was taking windsurfing when the van was obviously loaded and ready to go !!!

Well, the van would NOT start and so stuff had to be moved inside the 2017 Prius C since there were no other cars and NO roof rack that has been adjusted for that car. Now choices were reduced - one short board and two sails max. As an idiot I brought ONLY the Fanatic Shark 145 HRS and this sail with the 50 cm original fin ...

Marc saw me setting up and commented, "Oh, you're going with the BIG stuff !!"
When I asked what he was using today - he said same as yesterday 6.4 = woah !!
He also said that the wind was a little lighter now - hurry up ...
I must have suspected something more than originally anticipated and had rigged the sail with FULL downhaul AND outhaul.
It was a wild ride with the waves and good wind - was planing easily (jumped once and not in straps)
This was the first time I took this board offshore and it seemed fine in conditions OVER
The repaired sail was fine too
It rained off and on and after one session the wind dropped a bit and I released outhaul.
The sail looked a little odd where I had repaired it, but later looked fine.
(Odd in the bagged out look after the repair - like I had repaired it too tight, butt looked ok later)
If I disregard the bad start and the session with wind all over the place, I would still give the session and the repair an 8 outta 10. The sail can still get higher marks with more trials, but the session remains at eight ;-)
Dude parked beside me smoked some of that legal cannabis stuff after his session.
Guess it is no different than taking a beer or two after ??
I do neither ...

Oh yeah, on my last run, the wind picked up so much that it ripped the sail from my hands.
It was tough coming back in - gotta practice more those water starts, foot straps, etc etc
Besides Marc I saw Ben F, the guy who likes my orange Mistral SL, Sylvain the kiter, and Pierre/o.

for the record the sail was placed at the 140 cm mark on the board

HQ Rush V300 PRO

Hello:

This is a trainer kite that I purchased used upon the recommendation of my buddy Marcus. Apparently he used to be a windsurfer that perverted into a kite surfer and he kite foils too
Sorry, could NOT resist ...

BUTT b4 we go any further - THIS is a land ONLY trainer kite - apparently there is a HYDRA version too -- more $$$ obviously ...

When Marcus offered on the train ride home to give me a little session with this kite, I just HAD TO ...

This image is everywhere - who gets credit ??

Before we go on ... yes, this is a windsurf site. Please remember we are all BIG fans of wind and would like to get out in the wind as often as possible. My interest is still in kiting for the winter, but we will see where this all gets me - for now I am in training :-)

This kite is three (3) square meters with three (3) lines and NO air bladder.

For me this is like a 1.5 m² windsurf sail !!!

So, Marcus asked me where we could go and I suggested the football field across from the High School. "Perfect." Off we drove to get the kite and hit the field. We took off our socks n shoes and got all set up ...

Wind was SW and 20 kph and less.

Lots to learn ...

First set the kite down unraveled - downwind and put something on it - like a shoe

Undo the strings/ropes noticing they were attached in the proper figure eight manner

Keeping the RED line on the LEFT follow the strings from handle to the kite

To ensure there are NO tangles - learned about the lance knot ...(sorry - larks head knot)

Since wind was light, once the kite was thrown up into the air or held up and launched ...

Keep the body and shoulders straight - control with ONLY the arms - pull one side and push on other, which Marcus was doing MUCH more aggressively than I had seen on the youtube videos

If the kite ever gets to be too much or time to stop, let go of handle and use just centre line

This comes with a wrist band that Marcus says WILL break - then attach to harness

Once kite is down basically just do inverse of setting it up - figure eight the lines, etc!!

and yes, one folds the kite up too

Afterwards Marcus made me walk home a little bit

I do not think this was to be rude, but rather to show me how mobile one is with kiting stuff :-) Hope he reads this :-)

I did NOT really find any videos that i had watched nor that I like now, but will put one here for now .. will hafta do my own video ...

I think this was the first trainer kite video that I watched and where I was wondering, why it is scantily clad ladies showing us sports in how to videos still seem to be out there :-( As Seinfeld would say,"Not that there is anything wrong with that." :-)

SUN 30JUN went out with my 27 year old son and tried it again
The wind sucked and we did we did everything wrong
Fun was had just the same and son saw the potential.
He seemed interested

MON 01JUL went out again on my own
This time my "form" was MUCH better
Need to learn how to start the kite when it lands flipped
(read up on it - need to use one hand on centre line - now practice)
It was light wind, up n down, but definitely enjoyed the session ...

As we know about kites, they pack up so much more easily than our windsurf stuff
and so, when we go out of town, the trainer kite will be packed
when there is wind, i will be training
and not missing the windsurfing as much :-)

Lessons Learned -- 16APR2020

Set the kite up "Right Side Up"
Put items @ the bottom of the kite such that the wind CANNOT get under it (and I put it under the strings). I use my old shoes since my boots were on my feet for the wet field. Philippe suggested three(3) items on the kite to hold it down...
Undo the rope and redo connections as necessary remembering ...
From the kite red string is on the right and @ the left from the bar.'Where your heart is" lol
Obviously the kite is downwind and bar upwind. "Use your ears to ensure wind is straight back"
Pull the sail from the bar (NOT from the strings) which will fill the sail with wind, lose the items on it and "TAKE OFF" !!
KEEP ARMS STRAIGHT OUT. There is always at least one arm straight out. NO turning ones body nor pulling the arms in ...
Pull left to go left and right to go right. CAN pull hard -- keeping other arm straight !! When the wind is light, one can pull directly on the string ...
Pull and hold middle string to bring kite down. Can actually let go of it and kite will take off once again ...
Pull on middle string to give more shape to the kite when "upside down" on the ground. Then we can launch once full of wind ... Twisting the bar to keep lines straight ...
When heading past straight up, do minor figure eights ...
Doing an experiment where I put everything away - figure 8 on the ropes, etc with the kite right side up and shoes holding it down - Hope things are less tangled next time !!

People keeping telling me to use the hand bracelet to connect to the bar in case of emergency. Marcus told me that they ALWAYS break and I find it awkward putting it on, taking it off AND using it - so, for now it just dangles there - perhaps it can be removed ??

It is rather difficult to make great videos on your own - on your helmet and then add music, make it interesting, etc. So, I don't worry - film and post and hope someone gets something out of it !!

I repeat: This is a LAND only trainer kite with 20 meter lines, but it pulls !!

As I may have mentioned, I do NOT know what the kite parts are called - as I am a windsurfer playing with a small trainer kite for land ... So, I will instead send you somewhere that seems to know what the different parts of a bladder kite are called in actuality ...

https://www.surfertoday.com/kiteboarding/the-anatomy-of-a-kiteboarding-kite

and in case I forget how to loop the kite lines back on ...

Flooding in Spring 2019

Once again we are having issues in the spring with water levels near Montreal ...
The picture in the header of this windsurf blog is a picture I took yesterday of the river near me..

I will find and put the link of the post I wrote during the last spring flooding - 2017 ??
it was not a post, but rather discussions in my 2017 windsurf journals ...month of April
http://joewindsurfer.blogspot.com/p/2017-windsurf-journal.html
here are the current water levels !!!

Clique the pic

Just look at the road closures near Montreal !!
there are bridge and hi-way closures !!

Clique the pics

below is Gatineau - hit again too

Last Friday I discovered that my colleague was indeed away from work MANY days, but it was because he was flooded when the dike broke near St-Marthe-sur-le-Lac. The water in his basement is one foot below the ceiling. This is where his sons lived :-(

So, while some people are washing the winter debris off their cars, others ...

I had heard that NO boats were allowed on the waterways and one could be fined $5000. Well, here is the proof:

Time has passed and water levels are NOT getting better #$%^&*

This was on quebecwind and looks like Pte-Claire -- water is higher than it was in 2017!!

This is what Pointe-Claire Cartier boat launch looked like in 2017:

Yet the graph says the water level is lower @ Pointe-Claire than it was in 2017 ??

On Monday, May 20th 2019 I had my first windsurf session on water of the year. At this point I am unsure of whether this is later than usual - let me check later.

Since local waters were high, access on water ist verboten AND some people beside the water are trying to figure out what the next step in their real estate is ... So, I went on the lake up north with the BIC SL200 and GA Flow3 3X 7.0 m² sail.

Apparently on the same day there were dudes out windsurfing at that very "beach", Pointe-Claire. Buddy told me there was "no shoreline"

Update: In the last ten (10) years of logging my sessions in one form or another, I have ALWAYS started windsurfing in the month of April. Over the years there were even months of May where the number of windsurf sessions in that month was ten (that happened 3 times in last 9 years).... and here we are on May 21st, 2019 and I have had ONLY one windsurf session in 2019 so far :-( That session was barely okay on a small lake ...

Georges usually goes straight from down-hill skiing to windsurfing. Well, actually kiting now - he windsurfs up north at the chalet and kites at OKA (and around the world). This year - nothing on the water yet... "Worst year ever". Sounds like that sums it up for everyone !!

When the restriction of water access was removed from Lac de Deux Montagnes and Rivière Milles Isles, they put a speed limit of 5.5 knots - with a possibility of the same penalties !!