Blown Away

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

I arrived in Hood River at about 11am and met Ross and Andreas at Ross's Condo.  The wind was up, so they were just heading out to go Kiting.  Ross decided to kite because of a sore hamstring (I guess windsurfing is harder on it...)

Ross and Andreas were going to launch at the Bridge and then move up to the Hatchery - so I headed to the Hatchery.

WOW!

I didn't see a sail larger than a 3.7.  Winds averaging more than 60k with a max wind gust of 97kph.

Swell City

I headed out on my 4.2 and 94 litre Kode - my smallest gear.   It wasn't pretty.  On the good side, I made my first jibe.  It wasn't pretty either and I wouldn't say that I planed out of it - but I did get planing again before falling in.

It was an interesting first session of the season.

Ross was on a 5.5m Kite and had a lot of fun.  Andreas says he was overpowered on his 8m Kite.

Still - a great day for everyone.  After sailing we headed to "Everybody's" in White Salmon for a beer and appetizers.  Next was a session on Ross's deck.  (Did I mention the temperature was 28c yesterday), and finally we walked down to 6th Street Bistro for supper.

Looking forward to more wind tomorrow.

The view from "Everybody's Brewhouse Patio

The trail to the beach at the Hatchery.

The van is full as usual.
It looks a bit empty, but I still have to de-rig and pack my Kode, sail, mast and boom.