Double Dip and Chasing the Wind!

June 12, 2015 - The Hatchery, Doug's and The Wall.

We woke up to very strong winds again this morning.  Mike texted at 7:30am that he was at the Hatchery and rigging a 3.8m Sail.  Wow - That is dedication!

The forecast was to blow all day,.. so most of the rest of us weren't in as big a hurry.  I found the guy's down at Bette's Place having breakfast.

After breakfast, most of the gang headed for the Hatchery.  I had some work to do, so stayed and did that for an hour or so before heading over.  I also stopped at Sailworks to show Dale some of the photos I took the previous day - and ended up buying a new 400 "Skinny" mast.  (Sorry Louise).  He did take my old mast in trade (consignment), so if it sells, it will help with the price.

Ross and Andreas went Kiting as usual.  I didn't see them till late in the day, but word is they had a great day on their smaller kites.

I arrived at the Hatchery around 11:00, which is still early by normal standards.  Big Air Jim and Cam arrived at the same time.  To our surprise, we found everyone except Harold off the water. Apparently after a good session, the wind had become very fluky with big lulls and big gusts.  Harold was still slogging around out in the river, but even he came off the water.

Jim and Dale at Sailworks had said that if the wind backed off or became gusty, we should just head farther east....  So everyone packed up and headed towards Doug's.   Jim, Cam and I were the first to arrive. It looked very windy - but no one was on the water.  When none of the locals are out - you have to think something is wrong.  Finally one brave soul went out - half the time he slogged and half the time he was way over powered.  We decided to head to the Wall.

Very gusty at Doug's - and no sailors....

The wall turned out to be the correct call.  The wind was much steadier.  The chart below is from Maryhill which is right next to the wall.  You can see we really did hit the sweet spot.  The average wind speed came up to about 50k at 2pm and stayed that way until we were done.

Most of the guy's went out on their 4.2's.  Harold, of course was smaller on his 3.8.  I took some photos and videos, before heading out on my 4.8.  I had a marvelous reach across the river with everything balanced, and some big swells to ride through - then a big gust came just when I was doing my jibe - sending me back to reality.

We all had a lot of fun.  Great day.  You can see a lot more photos on my Flickr site Here.

Kent showing off for the Photographer... Oops - he missed it.

Showing off again - nice Jibe!

Kent couldn't keep it on the water today!

Beautiful

Blaine - ready to go at the Wall!

Everyone heading out!

Handre

Al

René had a great day!

Mr. happy Face - our guys waiting on the beach on the other side of the river!

Gerry was going off!

Mike has a new entry technique - sliding in on his butt.

Oh - maybe not - now he is walking in.

Cam had a great day!

Brad - getting air!

Handre - Getting Air

Thanks Mike for this photo of the site!

Thanks Brad for this photo of all our vehicles and equipment!

On the way home most of the gang stopped at China Gorge for supper.  Jim, Cam and Handre decided to dine in style at the Three Rivers Grill.  Apparently they had a bit too much fun. When they arrived back at Ross's house for an "Around the World" game of darts they were well lit.

The wind is supposed to be lighter tomorrow and then possibly Easterly on Sunday and Monday. After the last few days, we can maybe use a break!