June 14, 2012 Just arrived at the Cottage!

I got all my toys to the cottage for the summer!

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March 18, 2012 Streetsailing

The weather this spring (actually still winter) is unbelieveable!  We have had 70′s and 80′s for several weeks now.  I heard that Lake Michigan in Chicago is 47 already.  Many guys sailed all winter because there has been almost no ice.  I am hoping to get my first March windsurfing session in.  I went to the cottage and got my windsurfing trailer and brought it home.  It was 75 degrees in Hart and 48 at the cottage.  The lake still is keeping things cooler.  A week before guys were ice fishing on Hart lake and it is now in the 70′s and 80′s and the flowers are blooming!  Crazy!  I did not have time to get out on the water this weekend so I decided to go streetsailing.  I pulled some photos from some video I took.  I forgot my gps for stats but the wind was 5 to 15 probably.  I rigged my 4.4 and had a ball.  It was great to get my jibes going again.  There is nothing better than a smooth, effortless, sail flip!  My boys chased me around on their scooters.  What a great day!

March 8, 2012

Almost a month since I set some goals for the new season and it is getting warmer.  I decided to get out my new (used) JP X-Cite Ride 135l and admire her lines.  I can’t wait to get her out on the water again.  I have only sailed her 2 times and plan on many more.  Here are some photos I took.

February 10, 2012 Goals for the New Year!

Here is a list of some goals for my new year on or in the water.  If anyone wants to join me or help me with any of these goals let me know.  I have just set up my blog so you can subscribe to it and get e-mails of new posts. 

1.  I want to meet and sail with new people.  I have three lined up that I have met on the Michigan Windsurfing website.  I want to make it happen this spring and summer.

2.  Do some long down winders from Little Sable Point north to my beach in Pentwater.  It would be great to get a group together to do this.

3.  Sail earlier in the spring and later in the fall.

4.  Try to get Ted Schweitzer to host an Original Windsurfer Regatta here in Whitehall or in Mears on Silver Lake.

5.  Go to Traverse City and sail in another one of Ted’s Regattas.

6.  Catch bigger air, nail my jibes, and do a carve 360 on my new (used) JP.

7.  Break 30 mph.  I am at 29.3 on my JP.  I have only sailed it twice and I think it has great potential to go faster.

8.  Get my family into windsurfing.  Buy small sails for my boys to learn on.

9.  Log all my water activities in my blog.

10.  Sail my Friendship Sloop that I restored.  My boys are old enough to sail with my wife and I.  Maybe even do an overnight trip on Hamlin Lake in Ludington.

I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew for one year, but life is too short to sit around.

February 10, 2012

It is the middle of winter and there has been little winter here in Michigan.  I missed out on the best fall season ever.  It was warm and windy.  I lived vicariously through other’s blogs and websites.  Everyone was sailing but me.  Many into January.  My finger is 100% healed, but functioning at 80%.  It is stiff and does not bend all the way.  It should be enough to grip the boom.  I was all ready for the winter for ladle surfing.  I bought skates and a ladle to put on the bottom of my mast to sail on the ice last year.  We had too much snow and never got out.  This year we have not had any ice.  Broken finger and no ice!  I am going to be out on the water as soon as I can this year.  I am going to sail more than I ever have.  I am going to make this the year I sail more than any before.  Casey, one of the Reef Warriors, logged 129 days on the water and 49 of them were windsurfing.  I did not keep track of days on water, but my windsurfing total was 9.  That is going to change.  I have many days on the water SUPing, bodyboarding, skimboarding, kayaking, snorkeling and sailing so my days on/in water total would be pretty good.  Casey challenged the Reef Warriors to keep track of sessions.  I like the idea so I am going to track all water sessions this year in my blog.  It should at least make for more content.  9 windsurfing days is just not enough.

October 8, 2011 The end of my season

I broke my finger by hitting a stump with a quad and veering into a tree.  My hand hit the tree and got smashed between the handlebar and the tree.  No more windsurfing until next year.  Bummer!

September 21, 2011 White Lake Session

The best session of the season! I sailed at the Johnson’s for the first time.  I sailed after school on a Wednesday.  I saw a rainbow in the morning on the way to school.  I knew that was a sign that I was going to get to sail.  I took my gear to school in hopes of an evening session on White Lake.  The wind was strong in the morning then it rained and the wind died way down.  I thought I wasn’t going to get to sail.  I headed for the Johnson’s beach anyway.  I wanted to see if I could get my gear to the beach with my trailer that I built.  It turned out the ramps matched perfectly with my trailer tires.

The wind was sw at 15-20 mph.  My wind meter is broken so that is a guess.  The sun was out and in the upper 60′s.  I rigged and hit the water right after Braden arrived home.  He came to watch me sail.  The water was cool.  The wetsuit was perfect for the conditions.  I sailed my 8.0 on my Bic Techno 293D.  I was on the edge of being overpowered, but it never got too strong.  I ripped back and forth across the lake and Braden could not believe how fast I was going.  I jibed 3 or 4 times in the shallows then a bank of clouds started coming in from the north.  The wind shifted to the west so there was a wind shadow in the shallows so I stayed in the middle if the lake blasting.  When the clouds came over, the lake looked angry and dark, but sun rays were shining down through breaks in the clouds.  There were spots of sun on the water sparkling like patches of diamonds.  It was beautiful!  The rainbow was the sign.  It was one of the most beautiful sessions I have ever had.

I sailed from 4:15 to 6:00 pm fully powered the whole time.  I am feeling the wonderful, relaxed, blissful, day-after, windsurfing feeling.  Windsurfing is the best sport in the world!  I wish I would have taken some pictures, but I will never forget this session.