Sunday 5/11/03 - Lake Maxinkuckee (Duckburn's report)
Sail size: 4.5

Maxinkuckee seemed to have it all on yesterday, from a swamped boat attempting to be loaded on to a trailer, to smoke on the water.
Lightning Joe and I arrived around 9:00am and I was the first to get on the water. My 4.5 was the call for the day. I was able to sail
some of the best 4.5 conditions I have ever had on this lake.

Up until 12:30 pm I was able to sail a really flat 4.5 MPR and never been so comfortable. I was able to rip off some really nice jumps as well. Kind of reminded me of the air I that you would get out at the reaf. Yesterday was the largest I have seen the chop on Maxinkuckee, I would have to say they were 75% Jill. Lightning Joe was able to get out, but he said that he was having problems getting into the straps. One a day like yesterday it takes some commitment to get strapped in and put the hammer down.

By 12:30 pm, both Joe and I came in to get some lunch. We were entertained while we were eating by a local who was trying to drag an 18' swamped boat out of the water with is pickup truck. By the end of the day, not only was his boat still swamped but also his truck now needs a new clutch and rear tires. Joe and I waited for the wind to back off again before we went back out. I went out again around 3:00 pm but the wind had become very gusty. After such a good morning we called it a day.

Duckburn

Sunday 5/11/03 - Clinton Lake (LLCJ's report)

Enervate: to deprive of strength or vitality; weaken. I had to look up WWW's word, but it pretty much sums up how we felt after Clinton. Fuckblubblub and wheeee!-lull-dunk-waterstart-wheee!-lull-dunk-waterstart were not in the dictionary, but they sound awfully familiar too. Now add bitchslap'n-psycho-chop and your starting to get the picture.

I got to the marina around 9 and Glen had already been on the water since 7:30 on his 5.2. The main pool was going off with white caps everywhere. As I was getting rigged, Chris came racing in in his van, jumped up fully suited up and started pulling wet gear out of the van. He had been sailing up at the camp ground and was finding too many holes in the wind for his 5.0. Reed showed up and started warning us that it was going to build so we shouldn't rig too big. We should have listened.

Wind was due west, which meant it was roughly a quarter mile straight upwind to get to the main pool. Unfortunately, that quarter mile was in the windshadow a tree line so we had to rig as big as possible to make it up to the pool. This is where the first of the Fuckblubblubs ccurred. By the time you got there, you were enervated and had to beach to recover and flatten out the sail as much as possible to handle the much higher wind in the main pool. Chop was .25 to .5 Jills and running in every direction. Sheeting in meant running mach 0.79 and getting bitch slapped by the chop. Sheeting out meant tail walking and getting bitch slapped by the chop. I felt like a beginner again.

Eventually I started getting used to it and gained a little confidence. In the center of the pool, chop was big and steep. With port reaches there was no way to stay on the water, but every time I lined up for an intentional jump a wind hole would come through and I'd have to fight to stay upright. I eventually managed a few jumps and was planing out of a few jibes when the wind kicked up a few more notches.

I noticed the Rev had beached and was flattening his 4.6 so I joined him to take a break. His down haul decided it had had enough and about a foot of it frayed and stripped. He thought it would hold and get him back to the launch and I went with him to rig down. Getting upwind to the pool was hard, but going down wind overpowered was just as difficult and down right scary. We had to point up to handle the gusts and wait for a lull to bear off down wind and make it as far as we could before fuckblubblubing. I thought I'd never get out of there. Once out of the main pool, the wind was lighter and you could bear off for a down wind screamer and pray you didn't stuff the nose in the next chop or that a monster gust wouldn't hit you from behind.

Everyone else came in then for a lunch break. Glen rigging down to 4.5, I went 4.2, and Reed 4.0. Rev and stayed 4.6, but said he had never had it that flat before. Getting back upwind was even harder on the smaller sail, but the main pool was much better - for a little while anyway. I learned to sheet out while keeping mast foot pressure to ride out the gusts and then surf the big chop to stay on plane in the holes. It was actually starting to be fun. The wind kept building and I started getting hammered again. Chris was running new, shorter harness lines and got locked in during one jump and pulled over. He landed across the mast hard enough that for a minute he thought he broke his leg (fortunately it just a very nasty bruise that had him limping). That was enough for him and he called it a day. The rest of us took a break at the Farmer's beach where Glen had stashed some water.

We watched from Farmer's beach while the wind built even more. If I had been at the launch, I don't know if I would have had the energy to sail again. But there was no choice so... Sailing after the break was pure survival. Gusts were coming through that blew spray off the top of the chop. At one point I was getting bounced around in the chop and fighting gusts when the boom came up and tapped me in the nose. Not hard enough to do any damage, but enough to feel it and start me thinking how nice a face guard would be. When it got to the point that I couldn't water start - either there wasn't enough wind lulls, or the gust would launch me - I noticed the Rev heading in so I called it a day too.

That's when I noticed three more sailors join us. It turned out to be "Scott", (a guy from Bloomington who has been enteraining the regulars lately by throwing foward and back loops - probably the first loops ever at Clinton), his buddy, and Ken. I didn't stay around to watch, but Ken and Reed said Scott was throwing a few loops while we struggle to get back in.
I pretty much gave up and waited out the gusts (didn't want to go further upwind) for lulls so I could work down wind. I finally got to the shore and walked as far as I could downwind. When I had to sail around the dock, I decided to just fly the sail and butt drag. At one point I decided to body drag and actually had fun. When the gusts hit it felt like I was almost planing.

As folks straggled in, Ken would do a damage inventory. He said something about you couldn't come in unless something was broke or you were bloody. Rev got a shoulder pull-body slam, Ken had a bloody knee, Chris will be limping for a week, Glen broke his boom head, and I had a tender nose. Scott eventually came in and made us all feel better by saying how scarey it was out there. He only pulled a few loops because the wind was just too gusty and he was getting overpowered on his 3.8. Said he really should have been on his 3.0. When Glen heard that, he snorted something about this wasn't a full metal jacket day. Well, maybe not for Glen....

While we waited for gear to dry we replenished our blood sugar with some of Mike's mom's triple chocolate cookies and watched the wind build even more. I hated to leave wind, but I was wiped out and the call of a Lil Porgies pork sandwich was all I could hear.

- LLCJ

Sunday 5/11/03 - Summit Lake - (WWW's report)

Wind W to WSW 20-35 mph, temp 55 degrees, cloudy
Sail sizes 3.8-3.8

I got there at noon and rigged 4.8 with the Tiga. After sailing an hour or two, I got tired of being overpowered so I downsized to 3.8. There were some holes, especially getting out to the main pool, which is past the island. But I was still frequently overpowered, and I was getting hammered in the gusts. Even with the 3.8, I was tail walking, getting launched over waves, and blown to incredible speeds. The gusts had to be 35+. Bryan would have loved it.

Around 1PM Tom showed up, and took a long time to decide to rig his smallest sail, 4.5. Meanwhile Martin came and rigged his 5.7. After a couple runs, he decided to downsize to his smallest sail, 4.7. I saw him tail walking, and getting slammed a few times, but he is an excellent sailor, and definitely had the endurance to stay out longer than I did.
We all thoroughly enjoyed some of the WINDIEST conditions in Indiana. By 4:30-5:00 we were all significantly enervated, so we decided to pack up and leave.

- WWW

Sunday 5/11/03 - Eagle Creek (Jibe Marker Jill's report)

Wind W to WSW 15-30 mph, temp 55 degrees, cloudy
Sail sizes 4.5 - 5.8

I sailed Eagle Ocean today, and it was by far the best day I've had on EO this year! But then again, it was the first day I've sailed EO this year. The forecast today had been 25-35, and they raised it to 30-40. I got to the water around 11:30, and Brymart was out sailing on his 4.5 and Chef Scott had just arrived. The wind was due west, not quite as bad as that psycho on/off gusty direction just north of west, and sometimes it would shift a litte more to the south. Brymart had come in to rig bigger, as he said the wind was very gusty, and anything from a 3.0 to 7.0 would be perfect at some point in time. I opted for 4.6 and my 90 liter Cross board, and Chef rigged 5.8.

The water level is way way up, due to all the rain. In 11 years of sailing here, I've never seen it this high. The edge of our mini-cove, where we normally stand in knee deep water to beach start, was well over my head. So, it took a few yards of swimming to get out the wind to waterstart, but no big deal. On my first run, the 4.6 was perfect, but soon I learned what Bryan was talking about, as I would just get planing and in the straps and about to say "wheeee!", when I'd hit a big lull and suddenly stop, still hooked in, and get dunked in the water while saying "Fucbbuuubkblub"... well that's what it sounded like underwater, anyway.

We sailed in the gusty stuff for an hour or so, and decided to come in for a lunch break and hope that the wind would fill in at little better. Chef was the first back on the water after lunch, and caught a big huge gust that left him blasting along with just the tiniest tip of his fin still in the water, when suddenly BLAM!, a beautiful crash with lots of spray. I always like to see that. I went back out, but it had backed off a bit, and spent the next half hour or so doing wheeee!-lull-dunk-waterstart-wheee!-lull-dunk-waterstart over and over.

Then I noticed I bunch of fire engines and rescue vehicles on arriving at the boat ramp. I went in to see what the scoop was, and apparenty a big sailboat had to be towed in as it was taking on lots of water... nobody was hurt, the fire engines were just there for show. Being clad in our wetsuits, Chef, Brymart, and I offered to help owners get the waterlogged boat onto its trailer. Big mistake, as this ended up taking up the next 2+ hours of our lives, and we missed out on the best wind of the day.

The combination of big wind, deep water, slippery launch ramp, huge boat filled with a gazillion gallons of water, a trailer with no winch, and truck that couldn't pull all this out of water, made for a big challenge. And it didn't help that the guy in charge of the boat was actually the son-in-law of the owner, and didn't appear to know much about boats, trailers, etc.

We tried everything we could to keep the boat from crashing into the dock or the launch ramp, and push it against the wind to guide it onto its trailer. (Of course this is when the wind picked up and filled in). Scott offered his truck to use in place of a trailer winch, and even used his truck to pull the other truck and trailer up the ramp. But in the end, what was left was a waterlogged boat (in spite of Bryan bailing for about an hour straight), that was 2/3 of the way onto the trailer, still sitting partly in the water and perched at a precarious angle off to the side. We had done pretty much everything we could to help, and by the time we were done, we were too chilly and tired to get back to sailing.

Meanwhile, Dr. Evil appeared from across the lake in his kayak... he had paddled down Eagle Creek from Zionsville. He said the creek was so high that he had to duck to get under some of the bridges, and he had to portage over the Lafayette Road bridge because he couldn't fit under it. I ferryed him back to Zville to his car (and give myself a chance to warm up).

When I got back to Eagle Ocean, Chef and Brymart had de-rigged, and the waterlogged sailboat was still perched precariously on its trailer in the water, and I think the trailer extension was now broken. It was attached to a tow truck and another gigantic truck-winch thingy had arrived to try to extract the boat from the water. But in the end, the owner-dude decided the best bet was to tie it up where it was and wait until tomorrow for the wind to die down.

The wind was still pretty gusty, and looked more psycho than before, and suddently beer and Mexican food sounded better that more sailing, and I decided to de-rig, too. The apres-sail venue was El Rodeo at 22nd and High School, and it was a nice little Mexican dive.

I got a phone report this evening from the Rev. He and LLCJ had sailed Clinton with the Clinton regulars. He said it was super gusty there, and not as good as it usually is there, but still lots of fun. He was on his 4.6 all day. Hopefully he or Jeff will give us a full report. The hourly wind readings at Clinton were as high as 39 gusting to 49, depending on which web site you check.

I think WWW and Old Tom were headed to Summit Lake, so hopefully we'll hear how they fared, too.

- Jibe Marker Jill

Clinton Lake Sunday 5/3/03 (LLCJ's report)

Hopefully no one had any storm damage yesterday, but the front did bring in some good sailing.

I was planning to spend Sunday editing the Hatteras Video. Fortunately I checked email early and saw Paul's note on the Clinton forecast. I confirmed the forecast and stalled for a bit before deciding to dump the video and start loading the car. Good call. I got to Clinton around 10:30 and went straight to the swim beach. The Peninsula Day Use area is good on an E to ESE, but the wind was forecasted to clock more southerly so I passed it up. At the beach, the wind was filled in shore-to-shore and blowing a solid 5.0 (although at times I was tempted to rig down and other times to rig up). I started with the 85L board and was planing non-stop (well, except water starts) for about an hour before it backed off a bit.

Swim beach was a good choice as both ends of the reach have smooth water for jibes. After getting dumped a couple of times, I started my mantra of
the day - Get Forward - and started ticking off the jibes. I think I'm finally getting a feel for this board. The channel had more chop. It wasn't very big, but some of the faces were quite steep and with the right timing would provide serious lift. I got some of my highest and longest hops yet. I even managed to sail away from some.

The wind started developing some holes around noon so I switched to the 100L board and was able to keep planing on the 5.0. Jibing was easier on the Bic, but after the little board those extra few pounds turned me off hopping. Eventually the wind filled in and I was able to go back to the 85L and resume my quest for air time. Rain moved in around 2:15 and the wind turned flukey again. I took shelter in the car and decided to pack up
at 3:00 when I started to hear thunder.

I was a bit surprised not to see anyone else out sailing. After packing up, I swung past the day use area to see if maybe they were over there. No one was around, but it would have been a great launch. What remained of the wind was still coming straight off the main pool and the chop still looked sweet.

All in all, it was well worth the drive. I only had to rig one sail and was solidly planing for a little over 3 hours. The air was a bit cool at 51 degrees, but the water was warm and I was comfortable in the steamer.

- LLCJ