It was one of those days when I had a commitment, so of course it was a really windy morning. I didn't get out to Mason Neck until 2:30 in the afternoon and the wind was pretty dead. The occasional gusts were getting up to 20 so I decided to give my new wetsuit a try and rig my 5.2 just to get a feel for the cold water. The air temp was around 50 so I felt pretty safe even though there were no other windsurfers around. They probably caught it when the wind was good and took off.
As you can see, there was a lot of slogging and A LOT of glare. It was the kind of glare that's just excruciating. When everything lines up just perfectly and burns a hole in your optic nerve when you're on a particular tack. That was ok. Even though I missed most of the breeze, I was able to make a pretty chill day productive by testing out my wetsuit, boots and mittens. They all worked great, I was warm warm warm.
I even put my life vest on. Not really sure why, I thought the wind could be higher on the outside. I hate wearing a life jacket while windsurfing, it feels like it gets in the way of getting hooked in. I don't think it actually does, but I guess subconsciously I have a hard time getting hooked in when I can't see my hook (even if I'm not looking down).
Overall it was a good to get out. The last time I windsurfed was in Bonaire in the beginning of January. I completely goose-egged a very windy February while I was getting the pieces of my cold-weather gear together. I did manage to snowboard a couple times, so I guess I can't complain. I've now joined the ranks of "coldish" weather sailors, and I think I've expanded my season by another 4 months! The icing on the cake was seeing a bald eagle while I was de-rigging. She was probably looking to eat a puffin for lunch.
edit: my totally awesome and gorgeous girlfriend, Shauna, was responsible for the photographs contained in this blog. That's right, the one who I spent all morning helping to move.
4 comments:
Excuse me mister, but out of curiosity who took these photos?
oh dear...
Oh boy..... Aaron, got to give the credit when its due or you'll end up like Snoopy.
Shauna, Nice shots.
I have chalked up a couple "missed it's" so far this month. Saturday I was standing there at the launch with no gear except the camera. The condtions were a little beyond my skill level but I did get a couple shots that James put on his blog. Wind 20 to 30, 55F air and 45F water.
Cool, dude. Gotta play it safe on "opening day" of the season. Been out much since this day?
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