12-16-2008
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Tartan 27' owner
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: NYC
Posts: 2,748
Rep Power: 5
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Ahhh, lake sailing. That brings me back to when I first learned to actually get a windsurfer to come about into the wind.
It was on a small dammed lake in upstate NY near Ithaca which SUNY Binghamton owned in some fashion and was run as a sort of 'hippie' retreat in those days (aka, clothing optional). My local friends had some connection with the USVI and had an early model windsurfer which they brought up to 'the lake' and I persevered as best I could with the limited breeze and actually learned to get around the mast while pushing with my feet on the board and actually not fall into the fairly clean water. Of course it was summer and there were about a hundred other naked people around me on shore but for some reason I was concerned with keeping my balls dry and getting back to shore while making it seem easy (seemed to work well for me in those days). There is little else that compares to standing on a windsurfer while naked.
Winds: < 5
Waves: nada
One of my next interludes with a windsurfer came at a beach on LI's north shore where I watched in envy as those toned bodies hung onto their booms at 45 degrees to the water and were speeding along the waters surface in the 15 knot winds. I persuaded a good looking female windsurfer to let me try her board out (this time wearing a swim suit) and I was able to get up right away and sail off shore about 3 or 4 hundred yards before I tried my old tried and true tacking, or coming about on a windsurfer. Because of the increased fetch and wind or the increased amount of clothing I was wearing I could not get the board to easily handle the waves without me falling off. I can't remember how many times I raised the mast and sail out of the water but by the time I eventually got back to shore the good looking windsurfer donor was not so pleased and I was totally exhausted and glad to be ashore with or without admiring eyes.
My last sailboat outing on the LI Sound was in a 50' Bendytoe when there were gusts up to 50 knots and we motored the 12 or so miles from Port Jeff to Hempstead Harbor (where I borrowed that windsurfer many years ago). I could not conceive of going out in most of the sailing craft I had ever been on in those seas of 4' - 6', much less a windsurfer. It was tough enough just motoring this large yacht with the waves beam on to get into my old sailing grounds.
BFS? There is always another plateau.
There is always a bigger lake.
Keep at it AllThumbs, if that is you real name!
CalebD
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"The cure for anything is salt water~ sweat, tears, or the sea." ~Isak Denesen
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