by I went sailing at Port Stanley on Northern Lake Erie yesterday. Back on
Jan 2 I tried this location and it absolutely sucked. I think alot of
this was a result of a poor launch site. This time I launched from the
main beach and had a great time, in less wind then the previous time.
Winds started at around 8 knots but they were around 10 - 11 knots from
the SE veering to East by the time I wrapped it up for the day.
Beautiful sunny weather. Temperature reached a high of 1 degree celsius.
With my previous Port Stanley sailing in mind I rigged my old Bic Wing
instead. This board, not to be confused with a Bic Dufour Wing, is
amazing in light wind conditions. With a 7.2m North Infinity I was able
to get planing in the low wind conditions. Smashing though the chop
(Port Stanley always has waves, wind is optional) with the side shore
winds was great. I can't wait to try this board with a North 8.5m Pyro.
The biggest shortcoming is the distinct lack of footstraps.
I sailed for approximately 4 hours and enjoyed myself tremendously. With
the low wind weekends we have been having recently it certainly felt
good to be back on the water. This marks two personal achievements for
me.
1) I have never been able to sail in February in Ontario before so this
is a first for me. In fact this year will likely mark the first time I
have been able to sail non-stop with several outings in Nov, Dec, and
January. I'll likely sail a few more times this month, wind allowing,
before it is finally over.
2) With the weather being so sunny, there were a number of people out
walking on the beach. My sailing buddy Bob would take my board out for a
run and I would tend to end up standing on the beach answering people's
questions about windsurfing. The most common one of course was "Aren't
you cold?" but several questions about how do you learn to windsurf etc
were mentioned. You should have seen the look on the poor woman's face
who asked me about being cold and I told her I was probably warmer then
her right now. I then removed my glove and touched her cheek with my
hand. My hand was significantly warmer then her face. I thought she was
going to fall over! :)
The other neat thing about this day was that it reiterated how good that
Bic Wing is as a board. Everytime I think I've "grown up" :) and can
give up this board, I have a low wind day and take it along. This board
is amazingly fun in low wind conditions and really rescues those days
when my Alpha 130F would slog! What an amazing board, and to think I
picked it up as a beginner for $200.00 CDN including rig. I wouldn't
sell it now!
Anyway, spring is here, Lake Erie is ice free and hopefully the spring
winds are not too far away! It's great to be a windsurfer! :))
~Jamie N