Cape Cod Wind Report - Finally

[ron.c]

6:50 am - I don't know much, but I can tell what I do k now:

1. The trees in Orleans (my yard) are blowing, from years of using them to backup the wind meter, it might even be 5.0 conditions

2. The ocean side beaches are closed - Chatham on the news and Orleans told to my wife at Nauset this morning - sharks

3. Weed fins are a must at Pleasant Bay. The grass has been heavy all year and is currently cropping. First hand boating experience yesterday.

4. My F2, along with Curtis and True Ames Weed fins, is not condusive for wave sailing, so Pleasant Bay it is!

RC

[ron.c]

Should have trusted the trees.

6.0 to a 5.0 in short order.

We actually had a crowd at Pleasant Bay. 3 then 4 then a 5th passed on my way out.

We even had a 3-way organized drag race!!

Very good NE conditions - A

RC

[flaherty]

Got kicked out of Mayflower, after the attendent said I could sail, went to
chapin, sold out, kiters galore. Did make it to pleasant bay, around 11,
I missed you Ron, sailed my 5.8 and 93 liter board which is my largest
gear, was fun for a short while.

[shreddbob]

I sailed at West Island. I was on 5.7 at 12:30 for an hour and a half on a 95 liter. It was lightening up at the end of this session so I then tried with a bigger board which got me in a few more rides. But by this time the tide was flowing out (with the wind) at a good clip and it was hard to stay upwind and out of trouble with the rocks. I could gauge the current during slogging periods by how surprisingly quickly I'd drift over to buoys that were pretty far down wind just moments before. Overall it was typical choppy NE Buzzard's stuff at first then smoother as the tide starting flushing out, but I don't recommend being in that tide and wind same direction situation, at least in NE wind.

[scooper]

I'm surprised that you were kicked out of Mayflower! I windsurfed there about 1 year ago on a crowded hot Summer day. The lifeguard told me just stay way to the left of the swimming area and it wouldn't be a problem.

Chapin was pretty good in the morning but it was a long walk out to the water. There was plenty of room out there for everyone. The beach was like a big windsurfing/kiting party later.

[sailingjoe]

Ron, what do you mean by cropping weeds? Whatever, here's my report. Let me remind you fellas that the wind was not blowing your sail size. I just checked the archive to find out what the speeds were at various locations. All charts show them slowly receding after 10 A.M. as predicted. Rested from a good night's sleep, I went down to the W.B. launch at dawn. It was blowing, but it didn't look like a good windsurfing day from the shore. However, I estimate that it was blowing in a range averaging 15 or 16 m.p.h. with a steady flow in the middle in the high teens. Chapin and the other meters show averages in the low to mid twenties, again slowly abating after 10. This would be a solid 6.5 for me. I brought every piece of equipment but the one's I needed to W.B., having packed the night before. Since I had forgotten the masts, I had no choice but to go home. If I had the masts, I could have opted to drive down cape and join the crowd, but this time I wanted to stick it out locally and had the equipment to do this. Actually, it has to be a bigger day for me to drive across the cape. In years past I have often sailed Labor day at Pleasant and have met many of those sailors Ron saw there. I fine bunch of fellas, for sure. The winds have always been good out of the NNE and NE, it seems, on this weekend. Now, though, my options have widened. I went home and restocked the vehicle with all my new and huge windsurfing gear. It was still early when I finally had the 11 meter sail rigged and on the water. What a kick in the pants!!!! The winds in the middle and inner part of the bay were stronger than I could determine from the launch. The tide also creates some waves in the middle when the wind co-operates like it did yesterday. Past the Monomoscoy channel I was amazed at how quickly I could put the board on a plane. With the boaters still asleep, I had free and open waters in which to blast away. Two kiters showed around 10, but didn't fly while I was out. It was an added bonus not to have the kite horde around. Such a sail as the one I had makes the freeride 160 feel like a 87 liter wave board. To say it takes some strength to hold onto it would be an understatement. What a work out!!! I definitely need to work on the trim technicals. However, it was a great day for me; the challenge was there for sure and to finally do some blasting was sweet. When I put up around 10:30, a fellow windsurfer was rigging and said that he had noticed that I was getting some good wind. That put a big smile on my face. Nevertheless, I was wondering how he was going to enjoy it with his 6.0. After rigging, he just sat in a chair and worked his laptop. :shock: I thought he was crazy. As predicted, the winds wound down all day. I saw the peak while many snoozed.

[ron.c]

A couple of weekend after thoughts

Steve - Great camera shot of Chapin. I always check in with your site at the end of weekend.

Eelgrass cropping - A friend, a coastal / marine biology educator uses the term. For me, a simpleton who has sailed a few years, August Week 3+- to Sept Week 2 +- seems to be the time where a lot of grass "cuts" loose.
I've tracked the conidtions and equipment used and it seems that Labor Day Weekend is peak.

It was 5.0 conditons for lightweights (6 for a 200lb'r) 8-10 yesterday, no meter reading required. Just 3 guys runnin with what they brung. Each one of us could have used a style make-over with some aspect of our gear - but no complaints were heard!

RC

[sailingjoe]

O.5 to 0.6 square meter difference for every 20 lb. difference in sailor weight. After picking up this rule of thumb on the internet, I've been using it whenever I'm told by some sailor that I'm crazy using such large sails. It pretty much conforms to the reality with recreational windsurfing. However, the formula competitors I met at the Regatta on the Banana River were not so heavy as tall and muscular.
So when the eel grass floats loose this time of the year, you call it cropping. I did notice that, but it's nothing to worry about if you use a good weed fin. Does it ever clump into what Phil Mann calls "Salad Bars"? I never saw anything like that on Pleasant Bay.

[Scharlack]

We sailed 5.0, small boards, from 10-3pm on East side of Horseneck. Nice deep-water-reef wavebreak 50 yards east of Gooseberry. Oddly, there were better waves at high tide in the morning.

[sailingjoe]

Today should be another good day for winds out of the N.E.