Dam! It's Cold!!

[updraft]

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?

[geohaye]

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.

[isobars]

[WMP]

I'm tired of cold & moist air!!

[isobars]

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/

[WMP]

Sailed 3.7 at Roosevelt a week ago Tuesday and it came up really nice.... especially around the 3:00 hour.

[isobars]

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/

[WMP]

All I can say, Mike, is I had a really good time on Tuesday... swell worked well for me.

[blireef]

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.

[updraft]

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