Jibe Marker Jill's Hatteras Trip report

As Jeff mentioned, it was a great week at Hatteras, and extra nice to see some folks I hadn't seen in a long time (namely Ian and Fay, Steve Zacher, and surprise guest OJ, who flew all the way from Hawaii hoping to teach us how to wave sail!)

When Doug and I arrived mid-afternoon on Saturday, it was overcast, cold (upper 40's) and very windy (gusting to 45+). After consulting with our fellow Team Indy Riders, we opted for a walk on the beach instead of sailing. It turned out to be enough of a challenge to just walk in the wind, let alone try to hang onto a 3.0 sail. The ocean looked like this:



It was breaking waves as far as the eyes could see!

Sunday was sailable early in the day with some leftover NE wind, and I was out on my 6.5, and Doug on his 8.0. 7.0 to 8.0 was the call for most of the rest of the gang. It was the first time I'd sailed since last fall, and it took a while to shake the rust off, but it was great to be back on the water!.

Monday was a light wind day, good for newbies who were out on the water perfecting their skills. Doug and I set out for a kayak tour. I only went a couple miles up to the point north of our house, but Doug went all the way to Gull Island, a 17 mile round trip. Meanwhile, Chef Scott spent the entire day fixing a truly fabulous dinner for the whole gang, which we had at the ocean house. His tofu curry was the best I've ever had, and it was nice to have an evening where we had everybody together, since we were split among four houses all week. The ocean house that Bryan got was a really nice one, The Lydia, and we ought to keep it in mind for future trips!

Tuesday the SW wind picked up mid to late afternoon, and I was way powered up on my 6.5 (too lazy to rig down), and made Doug hang onto the 8.0. We sailed until right before sunset.

Wednesday was even better when the afternoon thermals kicked in, and 4.5 was the call for me, 5.5ish for the rest of the group. I got out on my little board (Naish 8'4"), which I hadn't sailed since last spring. I think this was the day that Doug made his first official full-fledged waterstart, thanks to a few pointers from Steve. Yippee!

Thursday gave us a little wind in the morning, gradually dropping off. I got a few runs on my 6.5, but that was about it. Doug set off to visit the reef in his kayak, where he was greeting by a pod of dolphins that swam near him for an hour or so. That night we had a birthday dinner for Jetro Matt, who turned 39 that day (and was in far better shape than a year ago when he spent his birthday lying on the floor after his back went out on him).

Friday was good for shopping in the morning, as Jeff mentioned, and it picked up nicely shortly after lunchtime. I was perfectly powered on my 5.5 most of the afternoon. Doug was happy on the 6.5, and the rest of the gang was on 5.5 to 7.0. I spent an hour or so out at the jibe-a-torium, trying over and over to make one of those elusive planing jibes. Techo Matt came out for some jibe practice, too. I think if I could just spend a few more months there, I might finally get it! The wind shut down just as I headed back in, and I slogged all the way back to the house and decided to rig a beer. Shortly after 6 p.m., though, the wind came back and Doug convinced me to head back out. Jetro Matt offered Doug his Xantos, and Doug set out for his first ever ride on something much smaller than his 180 liter GO board. He did great on the way out, and got out about 3/4 mile from the shore, then the guy running the wind machine turned it down a several notches, and Doug didn't have enought wind to get going on the smaller board. So I sailed the GO board out for him, and we both cruised back in just after that sun had gone down, and the moon was lighting up the sky.

As with all Team Indy trips, there was a bit of carnage, including Roule's impressive nose smasheroo on the Mistral Explosion that Sara ended up buying, Jethro Matt put a hole in the bottom panel of his 7.0, Rev did some damage to his kite (not sure of the details), and Dave McC had his knee go out on him which put him out of commision for much of the week. (bummer!)

Some of the more positive highlights of the week were:
- Seeing old friends who came such a long way to join us
- Seeing the Rev up and flying along in total control on his kiteboard. We even have it on video! Woo hoo!
- Watching the newer sailors make progress with beachstarts, waterstarts, and sailing in the straps
- Having an Apple Ugly delivered to me on the deck of the house. Yeah!
- Watching Mike Alward torture T.J. with rigorous training activities every day. Running 12 miles, biking 70 miles, kayaking 10 miles, more running, biking, etc. etc. etc. I don't know how they did it after all the sailing!

Also, Doug and I took a slightly alternate route to and from Hatteras, which ends up being one mile shorter, takes about the same amount of time (depending on traffic), and avoids going through both Norfolk and Richmond. Take the 288 bypass around Richmond (newly completed, so it may not be on your map), and go south on 95 to Petersburg, then hop on 460 to the south side of Norfolk. 460 has a few towns you have to slow down for, but they're worth is. One had lots of shops selling fresh Virginia peanuts, and another has a nudist resort!

- Jill

Columbus Jeff's Hatteras Trip report

It was the biggest Team Indy reunion I recall. OJ surprised us by flying
in from Maui and Zacher flew in from Da Gorge. There were 24 people in 4
houses, which made for a lot of room, but with everyone so spread out it
didn't quite feel the same. Below is a rough summary of the week. Some of
the days are probably mixed up, but in general it started out windy and
cold then gradually warmed up.

Saturday. Cold and windy. Gusty, cold, and overpowered on a 3.5 till
early evening when it backed down to a nicely powered 3.5. Water and air
were both in the middle 40's. I generally knew it was time to come in for
a break when I couldn't feel the footstraps. Most of us called it a day by
late afternoon in anticipation of another high wind forecasted for Sunday.
Bryan and OJ spent most of the day searching for a sailable ocean launch.
The shore break was just too extreme. Bryan finally launched on the sound
in late afternoon and got the best of the wind. Zacher and Lou headed to
Wilmington also in search of ocean sailing, but were unable to launch and
had a long drive back when the fairy to the main land was stopped due to
the high waves.

Sunday. The forecast lied and we had 8.0 winds, but still cold. Sara
showed up with full fuzzies, a convertible suit, a farmer john and neoprene
jacket. That earned her a nick name - Sumo Sara. She was warm, but
frustrated when she discovered couldn't lift her legs high enough to beach
start. I think all 4 kite sailors all got out (Ken, Lou, Mike, and Steve).

Monday. No wind in the am, but building enough for schlogging and kiting
in the pm. Sara ditched the farmer johns and gained enough flexibility to
beach start - but I think she's still stuck with the Sumo moniker. I used
the kayak to follow Sara around so she could practice beach starts, sailing
down wind, and she even got in a couple of shakey schlogg jibes. The kayak
worked out very well and I highly recommend it to those of you who are
planning to help out beginners.

Tuesday. I think folks started on 8ish gear then dropped down into the
6's by late afternoon. And it was continuing to warm up.

Wednesday. It started lightish and built to 5.0-5.5 in the afternoon.
Several folks made a run out to the reef, but it was pretty small and
disappointing.

Thursday. Dawn patrol on a 6.2, dropping to schlogging winds by late
morning. I again chased Sara in the kayak while she practiced deep water
beach starts.

Friday. Warm with no wind in the am, John took several of us for a drive
on the beach out to the Buxton point. On the way back we stopped at
Windsurfing Hatteras and I ended up buying a 2004 Mistral Explosion 150 as
was (i.e., with a nasty nose split from Rue, a Team Indy visitor). John
slapped some 4 minute epoxy on it as a temporary fix and we had it ready
for Sara by lunch. By that time, wind was 8.0 and building. On her first
reach she beared off and popped onto a full plane, got into the foot straps
and held on. Two big firsts. The only problem was that she didn't want to
upset anything by turning so she ended up about a half mile downwind. The
rest of the afternoon she spent planing downwind on the outbound reach and
schlogging up wind on the inbound. I later explained that she could have
planed both ways if she had just lined up with the direction everyone else
was sailing. She even managed two full water starts. The wind eventually
built to 5.3-6.2 for a few hours then died mid afternoon. It was glassing
off and most folks derigged and started packing. A few (Ken, Lou, and
myself) procrastinated and stayed rigged and in our wet suits while we
packed what we could. The wind came back for a couple hour 5.3-6.2 session
until dark. Lou, Ken, and I pretty much had the Sound to ourselves for a
great session. Jill and Doug watched for a while then came out to join us
till dark. It was a great way to end the week.

All in all, 6 out of 7 days sailing for me. One 3.5, one 5.5, three 6.2's,
an 8.0, and one kayak chase day.

LLCJ

Duckburn's Mississinewa report

Lightning Joe and I got in some early March madness at the Missi. We both got on the water at about 2p.m. We had pretty good 5.7 conditions until 5 p.m. Joe nailed his first couple of jibes and was pretty stoked about the beginning of the season. I hope that this season will bring many more days of planing and hopefully soon a new windsurfing board. Here is a cold water sailing tip that Joe and I being Northern sailors have picked up on. If you make your jibes you won't fall into the water!!

Duckburn

Duckburn's Maxinkuckee report

Lighning Joe and the Duck traveled North to Maxinkuckee Saturday. We
both arrived at the south end of the lake to find a thick blanket of
white caps. Joe rigged up a 5.0 and headed out and I sat in my truck
trying to get over the stomach flue. After watching Joe for a while, I
decided to try eating my lunch and if I was going to puke I might as
well do it on the water! I rigged my 5.0 and joined Joe. It was
amazing after my first reach across the lake I was feeling great. Now,
not only does this place rock, it heals. When you guys are tired of
that cold crappie EO, travel north to the hottest sailing lake in
Indiana. Joe was having a little difficulty with his jibes due to the
water conditions. Both Joe and I sailed until 4:30 when we called it a
day. This place is great on a good north blow. Joe went down in the
center of the lake and said that he could touch bottom. This sound bar
really stacks of the swell that has about 2 miles of fetch to build.
Little to no gust and great water conditions and the temperature HOT!!!

Duckburn

Columbus Jeff's Eagle Ocean report

The Eagle Creek AWOS reported 21G27NNW and 10C. Let's see..., that's 50F and clearing. Darn, no more excuses, it's time to sail. At EO the lake was covered in white caps and the place was deserted. I was debating whether to launch solo or not when folks started showing up. There was Brian, who is still mastering waterstarts, Eric the kite boarder who was desperate to find a launch/landing clear of trees, and Brymart. WWW also showed up, but declared he was just out for a run as it was too cold to sail.

Brian measured 6G30+ and we rigged 5.2-5.5's on semi-floater boards. As Bryan said, anything you rig will be wrong 50% of the time so you may as well rig something that will plane more than schlog and float you through the lulls. Brian made a single reach out, fell in, and called it a day when he finally struggled back to shore down by Rick's. It just wasn't a day for practicing waterstarts. No one measured the water temp, but it was tolerable in a drysuit, dryboots, hood, and mittens.

Bryan and I got in maybe 3 sessions, coming in to warm the hands and toes. It was a very good wind for EO, puffy, but not psycho, and eventually filled in nicely. I had the 5.5 as flat as it would go and should have rigged down, but I was too stubborn (lazy?). It only took three or four tail walks to remembered how to sheet out without removing mast foot pressure.

After working out the cobwebs I got semi comfortable in the conditions and started to work on sailing as opposed to surviving. Outbound reaches were with the chop making it smooth and fast. Inbound was pretty rough with some impressive ramps for EO. I managed a few hops and saw Bryan attempt what looked like a forward loop. As for jibing, well let's just say that the 5.5 was just too overpowered for jibing. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.

We ended the day while it was still early and blowing strong. A nice start to the season.

LLCJ

ps Where was everyone else? I remember when a day like this would have filled the launch area until either the wind died or it got dark.