View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
updraft
Joined: 30 Aug 2000 Posts: 71
|
Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 8:51 am Post subject: Dam! It's Cold!! |
|
|
I may be getting too old for this. After an hour of cautious cruising on Monday I bounced my fin out in a corner and fell in. AAAHHHHHHHH! I hereby offer a theory: Windsurfing joy is soluble in cold water. I'm afraid! In my younger days I skiied all the time. Now when that possibility if distracting myself from the interminable hours of winter surfaces, I can only think of the long drive and how cold its gonna be. What if I similarly lost my passion for sailing? Whats left? Flying and diving have lost their magic. Do I just sail in August, or move to Maui?
Last edited by updraft on Wed May 28, 2008 11:26 pm; edited 2 times in total |
|
Back to top |
|
|
geohaye
Joined: 03 Apr 2000 Posts: 1437
|
Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 9:41 am Post subject: |
|
|
Cold water can be tough. There was a day that I took windsurfing for granted earlier this season because of cold water.
Then I thought of Ray Armas and it put things in perspective. I've been better ever since. Ray's the guy who escaped from Cuba via windsurfing on old and multiple-times-home-repaired gear. That takes guts, even for the desperate.
Now, he's found himself a shared apt in NYC, got great deals from one of the bigger shops in the Gorge, and has begun windsurfing in NYC by subway! It is almost impossible to do this but with one person's help each time, Ray has pioneered a way to commute by subway to go windsurfing... (Of course he has no car.)
His first several days this Spring he had no wetsuit but sailed anyway. 6.5 in cold water and lightish wind. Sailing with a passion.
Wow. That inspired me I'll tell ya.
If he lived in the Gorge, had his own car, etc., I bet he wouldn't let any water temps in May stop him. Anyway, everyone's life experience is different -- but I can say that everyone has a little "Ray" in them so if that helps puts things in perspective, then this post was worth typing.
PS: Ray has more than a few write-ups on his experiences in the iWindsurf "East Coast" forum. You can tell he's happy to be here. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935
|
Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 11:48 am Post subject: Re: Dam! It's Cold!! |
|
|
updraft wrote: | I hearby offer a theory: Windsurfing joy is soluble in cold water. |
WELL put!
As you, I've tried WSing in "ice" water, and decided there are better winter sports, specifically almost any that don't involve immersion in icy liquid H20. For me, "icy" begins at 46 degrees as reported at Bonneville Dam; below that my bare hands and feet are untenable. By the low 50s I'm quite comfortable sans hood.
I chuckle, sometimes laugh out loud, to myself when my three buds report back from their midwinter sailing in the eastern Gorge with this very typical story: "We drove 90 or 150 miles round trip, rigged in 38-degree rain, launched into 38-degree water, got blasted by winds of 10 to 40 mph for an hour or so, swam or slogged back to shore, unrigged in 38-degree rain, and went home". Even if it didn't rain, and even in the once-or-twice-a-winter case of an hour or two of good quality wind, what's fun about that? All three of these guys are excellent skiers, but nooooo ... they won't go do something dry.
I sure hope you Corridor winter sailors have better experiences than my out-east diehards do, not even counting the shorter drive.
\m/ |
|
Back to top |
|
|
WMP
Joined: 30 May 2000 Posts: 671
|
Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 12:23 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I'm tired of cold & moist air!!
Last edited by WMP on Mon Jun 02, 2008 5:41 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
Back to top |
|
|
isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935
|
Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 12:34 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Then I hope you've been making The Pilgrimage this so-called "summer", because we've had many spectacular days out east in the past month or so, some of them as good as any July all-day 30-kt thermal blast ... one tiny sail being PERFECT for up to 6 or 7 hours. My 3.7 has seen more perfect wind this last month than it usually gets in an entire season. The problem is that they have been interspersed with some of the gustiest, most disorganized CRAP I've seen since, well, 13 months ago.
And one Martian has been comfortable in his shorty for a week or two now.
\m/ |
|
Back to top |
|
|
WMP
Joined: 30 May 2000 Posts: 671
|
Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 12:53 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Sailed 3.7 at Roosevelt a week ago Tuesday and it came up really nice.... especially around the 3:00 hour.
Last edited by WMP on Mon Jun 02, 2008 5:43 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
Back to top |
|
|
isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935
|
Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 2:55 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Tuesday was INFINITELY crappier than Wed, which was INFINITELY crappier than Thur (now THAT's hyperbole for ya, but the distinctions were dramatic). The only good thing about Wed was the biggest swell ever reported by Roosevelt regulars.
If ya had driven a motor home (or camper van), ya could have caught all three.
And, yep, I've swum clear across at Roosevelt many times -- halfway 2 or 3 times some days .... which is why I dress for the swim, not the air temps. The guy who's already in a shorty swims often, preferring that to boat rescues even when something breaks a mile upwind and clear across the river. You probably saw him nailing backs and forwards at Arlington Tue.
\m/ |
|
Back to top |
|
|
WMP
Joined: 30 May 2000 Posts: 671
|
Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 4:04 pm Post subject: |
|
|
All I can say, Mike, is I had a really good time on Tuesday... swell worked well for me.
Last edited by WMP on Mon Jun 02, 2008 5:41 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
Back to top |
|
|
blireef
Joined: 20 Jun 2001 Posts: 65
|
Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 7:03 pm Post subject: cold water |
|
|
I'm anxious to return to the gorge but the past couple of day have been very good sailing down here in Los Barriles Baja with wind 18 to 24MPH and water 77 degrees and air 85 degrees.. So I guess I can wait a few more weeks until I start hearing that the weather has changed to summertime.. I'm too old for 56 degrees, it's 57 degrees in San Carlos right now, with a swell. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
updraft
Joined: 30 Aug 2000 Posts: 71
|
Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 8:24 pm Post subject: |
|
|
00
Last edited by updraft on Thu Sep 17, 2009 3:23 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You can attach files in this forum You can download files in this forum
|
|
|