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