Windsurf on SNOW with GoPro

Finally got to test the snow version with a bit more wind. It was ENE and 30 to 50 kph or close to 20 knots at times. The problem was the snow. It was extremely sticky and even with the 7-oh sail, it was a lot of work.  I had to remove the surf board that i was trying in the middle- too much drag. So, it was back to the original board with fins...

Check out the raw video below. {you can make it 720HD and full screen}

03MAR2013 tried it again on the following Sunday. The weather has been toooo warm - hovering around the freezing mark. When i went on the river in the evening i hit water ON the ice UNDER the snow. It was NO better in the middle of the river. Put the 8-oh sail on just the same. This sail would be perfect for these winds of 20 to 40 kph or around 15 knots. The problem was i sank through the snow down to the water and stalled out. It was a good workout, but a flop of a session. So, why did i bother ?? Well, the forecast is calling for even warmer weather meaning the river will be dangerous very sooon. Damn, is winter over already ?? Did i just say that ??

04MAR2013 it is getting warmer all week $%^&* So, went out, butt not until i had put the third ski on the snow version. This was MUCH better on the surface butt even with the 8-oh there was NOT enuff wind $%^&*( Oh well. Next step is to try with 2 skis in the middle :-)

05MAR2013 - read last year's information and by MAR 10th, I was OFF the snow and ice and that made me nervous .... I had heard that Vaudreuils bay was packed on SUN. With winds 30-50 kph NE announced today , I left work early and headed out there. There was about 6 inches of wet snow and the wind felt less strong on the ice/snow. So I rigged the 8-oh and it WAS the correct choice. I should have removed the middle ski to be lighter, faster and more maneuverable.  The parking lot was FULL when i arrived, butt i got lucky - someone left. Give this session a 7 outta 10. It was okay, but not great. Since i am trying to lose weight, it was great for that ie GOOD workout :-)

06MAR2013 - this is reading week and i have the day off. Unfortunately the little one is sick :-(  The wife says why don't u go windsurfing. I donut need to be asked twice :-) Went to the local river Milles Isles and only brought the snow sailboard. MISTAKE. The snow was crusty and not too deep. May have been able to use the ice sailboard ... Do I remove the middle ski. Ah foget about it ... Was going to try the GoPro from the middle of the boom at the back, but the clamp broke slightly and fell off. Also one clip on the boom extension is now cracked tooo ^&*() Just the same, this session was easily an 8+ outta 10 !!! The snow was great and speed was good. I keep forgetting to bring the car GPS as it should be able to record speed with NO danger to loss or breakage due to water.
It seems the criteria for successful session in the winter is NOT so much the wind, but rather the conditions of the snow and/or ice. This makes sense cuz it takes less wind to have fun. I was out with the 8-oh today and they were saying 20 to 40 kph winds. In the summer i often use this sail size in these winds :-) So, yeah, i was flying :-)
Yvan of auventfou informs me they have sigle and double pin clips in stock and only $5 each :-)
Feel better already ....AND on Saturday Yvan gave me two(2) for FREE !! He also showed me PlancheMag report where AHDFF 130 fairs better than Fanatic Shark 130.

07MAR2013 - winds were to die this afternoon. Had to go in the morning and NO time to get replacement parts.. Wind is to die rest of the week and go over 7 degrees Celsius by Monday $%^&*() So, was out on the ice sailboard with the MS-2 8-oh in 20-40 kph winds at Parc Charboneau...

Clique to enlarge

Good thing I fixed that clip with epoxy last night !!! Photo at the left ...

I brought both the snow and ice versions. Once again good thing i did... I used the ice sailboard - video clip below and when i got home i noticed the mast base was loose and missing one bolt on the snow sailboard %^&*( Tightened it up and added a nut, butt will probably NOT get to use it again ...

A long video posted below - perhaps i will add music this time from youtube since i did not speak and one does not hear much :-)

  

This blog, my camera, the GoPro, etc all give me a chance to play or fart about as i call it. Too bad Windows Movie Maker really sucks %^&* At least i can try some nonsense like i did here. The same video is sped up 4 times and an old sound track from my 20 year old son has been added :-) Pretty funny, huh ?

I already started planning for summer and water sailboarding. YET, felt there MIGHT be hope, even IF the local river was developing holes in the ice - crazy fishermen were still goin on /$%?&*( And SO ...

SUN 17MAR2013 - Happy St. Patrick`s Day !!!

Yesterday my wifey and I passed by OKA and I asked about the state of the ice. The girl @ the gate suggested against going further out - strange cuz often the sides get soft first ...

This afternoon there was a wind prediction of 10+ knots. Vaudreuils in the bay usually has ice cover longer than anywhere else... The only issue was with west off-shore winds, how far out did one need to go ??

NO WORRIES !!

The ice was good all the way between Vaudreuils and OKA plus the winds were from the NW. Since the surface was rough & icy with unstable lighter winds, i chose the ice sailboard with the MS-2 8-oh sail. Since it was so rough, I did not get to use the harness. Did NOT want to catapault while attached. I tried the snow sailboard, butt i would have had to remove the metal fins ...

I called Sailboarder and left a message, butt he never showed up ...

Give the session a resounding 8 outta 10 - very sunny and I got to go out !!!

Testing GoPro upside down on boom

SAT 16FEB2013 - Lately the weather has been warm for this time of year and for here, just over freezing and since I have had wet feet in the local river at the Route 117 bridge, I was a little apprehensive ! ! Well, the ice was solid and there was NOT much snow on it. Winds were light, about 10 knots or 16 kph max from the WNW. The temperature in the sun was very nice at about -5 degrees Celsius.  I rigged the MS-2 8-oh with the ice sled. I rated the session a resounding 9 outta 10 !!

Tried to film from the bottom of the boom. The sound is NOT good and some angles are bad also. Have put the entire film here uncut. With the new fiber network at home, it took 10 minutes to upload a 550 MB video !!! excellent !! now let's see if youtube can "process" it ?? Youtube says:
If after 8 hours you still see a status message next to the video saying Uploaded (processing, please wait), try removing the video from our site and uploading it again. {nice :-(  } Good thing it worked #$%^&*(

Oh yeah, forgot my harness %^&*( and as such my forearms got tired :-(

You can make the film 720HD and full screen :-)

SUN 17FEB2013 - went out at nite. Winds were about 15 knots from the WNW and i went at local bridge again. This time 6.3 and flew. Another 9 outta 10. Almost better than summer !!  Still ice and snow with temperatures under -10 Celsius. Tried the harness a few times. Harness, jibes and tacks are difficult unless better ground conditions ...

Light winds on ice with a 6.3

Somehow my latest videos got lost in my long post and as such am now putting fresh post :-)

None of these videos were modified in any fashion. The ice was ROUGH and the wind LITE and as such I did NOT use the harness nor let it RIP. Just the same I rate this session 8 outta 10 since it has been SO long and the temps were NOT too cold. Was doing about 15 to 16 knots in speed, which is about the same as mph. AND i DID manage to do a gybe/jibe, butt was NOT taping :-( Oh yeah - i did forget my sun goggles!! Good thing there were flurries and not too much sun ...

This video was loaded into the blog directly with the GoPro on my helmet:

{seems hi-quality and better audio, butt long to load} yeah right - NEVER seems to work - will go back to youtube now $%^&*()_

 

This video was obviously loaded into youtube and has the GoPro on back of the boom. I can see why others say to put the camera on the bottom of the boom and put camera in upside down mode. This one can be put into 720HD and full screen:

Now the camera has been placed ON the ice board facing forwards. Once again on youtube and you can choose 720HD with full screen:

And the BEST for last. Here the GoPro is on the board facing back. It feels really FAST :-) Once again it is on youtube and you can choose 720HD with full screen:

 

2012 back on the ice and snow

I have been waiting to get back on the ice and as usual it is better to be patient !! The wind was not great at the chalet and the ice was good, but broke through the top layer at places. The 7-oh was not enough and when i rigged the 8-oh, the crinkles turned into a hole $%^&*( At least i did get to try my hand at videoing and making my first movie which i have enclosed here. The best part of the day was that it was not cold and kinda pleasant outside ... Will need better conditions and practice with the camera ... Find the editing with Windows Live Movie Maker NOT very intuitive and it takes long to load into boob tube... Next one will be higher speed !!!

This version has enhanced audio using RealPlayer Converter and Audacity...

For enhanced video quality - choose 720 HD - if your internet and PC support this !!!
NOTE: I have extended this into one LONG post - there are better videos from yours truly FURTHER DOWN :-)

Surprisingly the duct tape kept the sail from tearing more ...
I obviously do NOT like to have duck tape {miss spelled on poipose :-) } on my sail. Once back home, i purchased and applied monofilm sail repair tape. Got some from Bruno at 2-rad. I managed to almost use up the whole roll of tape - all 10 feet of it !!! No wonder Bruno asked me how many rolls !!! The sail looks like it may last the winter after all. Next year I already reserved a TR-6 8.4 to replace this sail. Had a BAD feeling and premonition. If necessary i will get any 8.0 to 9.0 for under $200 to sail through the winter ...

These guys are in Sweden and have MUCH better conditions.
They have slowed down the video for the music - you can be sure they are flying ...
The "sleds" also swivel to allow turns - wide as they may be ..


Ice windsurfing from Jonas Gåhlin on Vimeo.

The first attempt was last Sunday - 16DEC2012. My next attempt was Saturday 22DEC2012. This was after much snow and warmer temperatures. So, I had to try and use my snow sailboard... Again, not much wind when I went out, butt it picked up later. The bigger issue was the ice - or lack thereof.  I went in the water up to my knees. The good news of the day was: the monofilm tape repair on the 8-oh sail worked well and the video i made of the road to the chalet worked better... NOT sure i will post either one here - we will see ...{naw}

Last Sunday - 30DEC2012 - i attempted to windsurf in deep snow with less than ideal winds. It was a flop. I anticipated this, butt it was good exercise :-) I have been analyzing the design and looking at using three skis tighter together and the idea of a pointy front with body like a sled came to mind. Lo and behold, snowfer has changed their design and it looks just like that !!! Too bad they are so much money !! Will have to build one myself ...

Since the conditions SUCK, I took some time to look about and I found an old wooden ski. This is a water ski and fits almost perfectly between the outside skis on my 3.14. Since this is another modification, do i call this setup # 3.2 ?? The ski also has a slight fin that may help with spinout - only time and TOS/time on snow will tell. Remember, this sled is for deeper snow ... Now I am actually waiting for the weather to cool down. It has been raining and perhaps i will be able to use the ice sled instead :-) Anyhoo, here are some pix:

24JAN2013 - Everyone keeps askin' me,"So, when you goin' and make that movie?"
Well, this has NOT been a good year for me on ice n snow :-(
We have been in the deep freeze the last few days and there was some wind taday.
So, I go down to the local river to check the ice - looked OK from the train ...
There were some tracks with water in 'em...
Nah, can't be ...
So, I try and guess what !@#$%^&*(
I almost git a "soaker" ie wet boots
Try a little further down - away from the bridge...
Yeah right %^&*( same shite {never shoulda told the wife about this either :-( }
All i can hope now is: Vaudreuils better be okay for the weekend #$%^&*(

Close to home - these guys are called ICERATZ and have set world records on ice. Believe they are all from MASS, USA...

First day, Fast ice from Dean Withrow on Vimeo.





 This is NOT about windsurfing, but is SO good, I had to post it here !!!

31JAN2013 - This winter has been up n down in temps and full of surprises.. Today's winds  were spectacular in the words of "sailboarder" - also from Montreal. Dorval is usually marked with the highest winds and so here is a pic of the situation today in Montreal... Average winds of 30 mph and gusts of 40 to 50 mph !! At lunch I did NOT see any planes and birds were having issues !!!

For those of you unfamiliar with mph  --> almost the same as knots 1 mile = .9 knots and almost 2 time kph - 1mile = 1.61 kph.

02FEB2013 - Finally checked the river and the ice was good at Parc Charbaneau plus there was a breeze out of the East that was less than 10 mph. Put the HSM 6.3 on the RDM mast and used the ice sled. The downhaul can be 6 cm less on the sail and works fine on ice. 

None of these videos were modified in any fashion. The ice was ROUGH and the wind LITE and as such I did NOT use the harness nor let it RIP. Just the same I rate this session 8 outta 10 since it has been SO long and the temps were NOT too cold. Was doing about 15 to 16 knots in speed, which is about the same as mph. AND i DID manage to do a gybe/jibe, butt was NOT taping :-( Oh yeah - i did forget my sun goggles!! Good thing there were flurries and not too much sun ...

This video was loaded into the blog directly with the GoPro on my helmet:

{seems hi-quality and better audio, butt long to load}butt keeps "failing to load" - will put youtube version - seem to have this video in multiple posts :-)

This video was obviously loaded into youtube and has the GoPro on back of the boom. I can see why others say to put the camera on the bottom of the boom and put camera in upside down mode. This one can be put into 720HD and full screen:

Now the camera has been placed ON the ice board facing forwards. Once again on youtube and you can choose 720HD with full screen:

And the BEST for last. Here the GoPro is on the board facing back. It feels really FAST :-) Once again it is on youtube and you can choose 720HD with full screen:

 

SUN 3FEB2013 -- Today wanted to go out again. Was hoping to go to vaudreuils where winds were to be about 10 mph from the NE. People seemed buzy, wife ill and i was still on-call. A 1 hour session quickly becomes a 4 hour session if i go to Vaudreuils. SO, went on the local river again. Winds were lighter than yesterday . more northerly and more luffs. Even the 7-oh did not feel like enough on the ice. No harness, no gloves at times and no videos. Was about to give the session a 4 outta 10 when the winds picked up and as such can give it NO more than 6 or 6.5 outta 10 !!!

MON 4FEB2013 -  Winds were 40 to 60 kph from the West all day. So, thought i would check the Parc out in the evening. That location is better for winds from the East and as such i did NOT even rig up. Also, there is another hazard - snowmobiles running at night. Perhaps i need a lamp on my helmet?? Will need to check the other location to see if one can venture out on the ice without sinking in :-)

FRI 08FEB2013 - Got out of work early. It was windy from the NE at over 20 knots and snowing all day. Time to test the snow version. It was a FLOP !! The old ski bent up and as such the setup sank in snow. On ice there were no more fins and kept spinning out. The sail behaved well and was the best part of this test. The ice will do better with fins, but what about snow?? This board is supposed to be for snow - almost any depth we get here. Need to go back to the drawing board or modify ??

Next day - am trying to bend the water ski into shape and have put the metal fins back on - to stop spinout.