Day #10 on the lake

Thursday, May 24th, 2007

Max Temperature 84 °F / 29 °C
Wind Speed 6 mph / 8 km/h
Max Wind Speed 15 mph / 24 km/h
Max Gust Speed 21 mph / 33 km/h (at 9:00AM, It dropped off after that, see map below.)

NOAA and the TV weathermen called for the same as yesterday - S 5-15, but wunderground called for S 10-20, so I was hoping for a better day today. As I drove over the dam toward Cook, it certainly looked better than yesterday. I was tempted to sail at the dam, but headed to Cook hoping to run into a girl I saw there yesterday, plus it would be blowing harder there.

It was lighter by the time I got to Cook and was blowing SSE, which meant the best winds were up by Cook Point closest to Bear Island. It was dead in the middle of the lake and I would need to sail across the lake toward Hamilton Creek, past Stone Island at the very least, to lay the point. It looked like it might be better toward Seven Points, but I was not going to risk getting stuck over there, as the winds were getting lighter by the minute.

I sailed for about an hour and got in the front strap 3-4 times, but never really had a good run. I came in and watched the wind for about an hour and it looked like a steady 10 at best. The 10.5 might have been just enough.

Day #9 on the lake

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007

Max Temperature 87 °F / 30 °C and sunny
Wind Speed 2 mph / 7 km/h ()
Max Wind Speed 13 mph / 20 km/h
Max Gust Speed 18 mph / 30 km/h
GPS: Didn’t bother

Today’s S 5-15 forecast was pretty on the mark for a change. I took the AHD and Bee to Cook and it was blowing better than expected with a a few whitecaps. I rigged the 7.5 Bee, made a couple schlogging trips almost to Hamilton Creek and back before I got far enough upwind to hit the good stuff. I had maybe 5-6 good runs in the straps and man it was nice, but I could see it was dying, so after 30 minutes I went back to rig the 9.5. I was wearing the Camelbak and threw an energy thingy in it, hoping to stop somewhere for a pick-me-up.

I rigged the 9.5 according to specs for a change, meaning 30cm mast extension as recommended instead of 25, and I had her floppy down to the 3rd batten. Big mistake, I was hurting for power.

I sailed toward Hamilton Creek again, tacked a bunch trying to get upwind and realized I couldn’t point for crap. I thought about coming back to Cook, which was a straight shot, but I’d had a hard enough time getting upwind and didn’t want to lose it. I finally got to Bear Island and backed off the downhaul and I thought that would put more space between the foot of the sail and the cleat than I wanted, but it was just fine.

I had my energy thing and was glad I brought it. The air was in the mid-80’s but the water felt a little cool and I was actually chilly on shore for a minute when the wind honked.

Back on the water, the 9.5 was much better now. I usually go with 25cm extension for light wind and now I am certain that is right for the light stuff. I sailed for two hours on the 9.5/AHD.

When I saw it dying, I went in and got the air mattress out and carried that and my chair down to the beach. I only used the air mattress for a few minutes because I heard the maintenance guy with his weedeater, then heard the riding mower.

I did not want to go back out and leave an entire rig (or anything for that matter) on the beach where these 2-cycle morons would spray pebbles on it, so I sat in the chair and enjoyed the sun. Finally after 1:45 minutes, they came down my way and I said screw it, packed up and left. It was a very good day; I saw only a couple of power boats and four PWC, none of whom came anywhere close to me.

Day #8 on the lake

Max Temperature 83 °F / 28 °C
Surface water temperature is 74.3 degrees Fahrenheit, and 74.1 degrees at 10 feet.
Wind Speed 2 mph / 7 km/h ()
Max Wind Speed 14 mph / 22 km/h
Max Gust Speed 20 mph / 32 km/h
My Max GPS Speed: 22.4 mph
Total Distance: 10.45 miles

Today’s forecast as of 6PM yesterday was for just 5-10 out of the south, but with a front coming tomorrow, I felt like it would be better that that today and was right! I got to Cook and it looked better than I expected, but died two seconds later, so I rigged 9.5 and Superlight. The I got out to the middle and it picked up so that I could almost rail for a second, but then it dropped off. The forecast was forSE which I never saw. Winds were southerly osccillating to SW and when it clocked to SW, it usually died down.

I sailed for 20 minutes, then came in to drink water and eat. 45 minutes later I went back out with the 9.5 and AHD and planed most of the time. That’s when I hit 22.4 mph!

I was hoping to top 25 mph, but was quite pleased with 22.4. I never saw a whitecap and guess the top wind I sailed in to be 14 mph.

Day #7 on the lake

The forecast was only SE 5-10, but since they’ve been 12 hours off for days and they called for 15 last night, I hoped the 15 would show up today and I was right! It was blowing a solid 14 by 8:30 this morning and was still there at 10, so I showered and went. Nate was supposed to work on his boat at Hamilton Creek around noon and had the Prodigy on the rack, so I went to HC. The slot toward Smith Springs Road didn’t look too good, but it was a straight southerly and in front of Bear Island did look good, so I headed for Cook. On the way there I thought I would check out the dam (that’s where Tim wanted to sail and might get out later). The dam looked good and my favorite parking space was open, so I parked. It looked good enough up by Goose Island that I thought I might need the 5.5, but decided to go 7.5 instead and was glad I did, as I never quite got the 7.5 to plane.

I came back and rigged the 9.5 and got up by Goose Island in one tack. I got a couple of rides, but each time I tacked and went toward Nashville Shores, the wind went SE and I got headed, so it was time to work back upwind each time I came on Port toward the Visitor’s Center. I could tell after about three runs that it was getting lighter, so I came back in to grab a banana.

After the banana, it was even lighter, so I threw the 9.5 on the Superlight and decided to sail to Hamilton Creek. Maybe there was better wind at Cook, maybe there would be another sailor up there, maybe Nate would be ready to go.

I worked upwind pretty easily until I got to the second Elm Hill Marina entrance. I was never anywhere close to railing, but kept watching the GPS. Going 5MPH on a Superlight isn’t too bad, but anything slower than that is really boring. The wind got ligher and lighter and by the time I could see Cook Point and the entrance to Hamilton Creek, I figured it was at least another 30 minutes to the mouth of the marina. I was hot in the shortie even though I fell once and got wet, so I decided to head back to the dam. That took about an hour.

Surface water temperature is 71.0 degrees Fahrenheit, and 69.7 degrees at 10 feet.
I wore a shortie and it felt good when I fell in, but was hot otherwise.

Day #6 on the lake

There was a decent breeze as I waited outside the dealership for my car. I saw an earlier wunderground report of light and variable gusting to 17, WTF??

So as soon as I got my car, I ran home, got the trailer and headed to Hamilton Creek. Southerly winds looked decent in front of Bear Island, but looked DW and much lighter to the SW toward Anderson Road, so I headed for Cook. I stopped at the dam for a look and the parking lot was nearly empty, so I pulled in and rigged the 9.5 and AHD. Getting out was a pain as not only was there barely any wind, but it was coming from everywhere.

The GPS said my top speed was 5.7 and I sailed for 40 minutes. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Day #5 on the lake

Max Temperature 84 °F / 28 °C
Wind Speed 8 mph / 13 km/h (SSW)
Max Wind Speed 28 mph / 45 km/h
Max Gust Speed 37 mph / 60 km/h

Tuesday, April 3rd was my 4th day to sail in 2007. There was a monster storm headed our way from the midwest and forecasters were a bit off in the timing. They called for it to hit between 10:00 PM and midnight on Tuesday, but we knew by noon that it was on the way and the lake would be dangerous several hours before it even got dark.

I printed out some great articles on tuning and checked them against my setup and I was right on the money except for boom-height being an inch or two low, so I put my boom up two inches. I also tuned the 9.5 for light winds.

Tim arrived around 11 and we chatted for an hour. By the time I persuaded him to rig his 7.5, my 9.5 was obviously going to be a handful, but I did not want to take the time to re-downhaul, so I just tightened the outhaul an inch.

My muscles were burning after a couple of runs across the lake and I really wanted to lower the booms, but I had tightened the inhaul, had several inches of outhaul, and was afraid I couldn’t clamp the boom shut if I tried moving it while in the middle of the lake. It took awhile to get to an island to adjust things. Just as soon as I got back onboard, I was overpowered and decided to head back in for smaller stuff. Tim followed me in and as soon as we hit the beach, the wind died. We had now been sailing for just over an hour.

I rigged a 7.5, grabbed the smaller Bee 284 and we went back out the minute the wind returned. We both had some good rides, but winds were getting quite shifty and we were watching the sky. I think we saw the same first lightning strike, because we headed for the beach at the same time.

We had time to get in before getting showered on. The showers ended fairly quickly and we broke down and quit for the day.

Surface water temperature is 68.2 degrees Fahrenheit, and 68.4 degrees at 10 feet. I baked in a full 2mm suit and switched to a 2mm shortie, which was perfect.

Day #4 on the lake

I would love to tell you how great today was, but it was really light, peak wind was 10, but I barely saw 7. I took the Superlight and 6.3 and the really cool thing today is that I took Shadow to see a windsurfer for the first time. She knew something was up as I carried the rigged sail to the beach as I sailed off, she got in the water to follow me. I told her, “no, stay” and she went back on shore. I sailed for the better part of an hour and a half and she always stayed in view and never swam after me. It was really nice to have her at the lake while I sailed.

Day #3 on the lake, the best yet!

Max Temperature 81 °F / 27 °C 63 °F / 17 °C 87 °F / 30 °C (1935)
Wind Speed 5 mph / 9 km/h ()
Max Wind Speed 14 mph / 22 km/h
Max Gust Speed 17 mph / 28 km/h

Nate bugged out on me today and the wind didn’t look good (wunderground reported 9mph all morning), so Shadow.
I was taking a snack break around 2:30 or 3 when Tim W. showed up. We chatted for 10 minutes and then I had to get back out. Tim took a little while to join me, but the wind came up and we sailed until 5:00 PM with only one 20-minute break.

A couple of fishermen insisted on trolling in the middle of some of our best wind and there was one idiot jet-skier, but he didn’t bother us.

When we finally quit, we hung out on shore for maybe 45 minutes. It was the most perfect weather and beautiful sky I have seen in ages.

After sailing, I brought the trailer home, grabbed Shadow, and treated myself to some nice fish, rice and veggies. I stopped at Longhorn Steakhouse on the way home and got a piece of Key Lime Pie to g and I took a ride to Hamilton Creek around 12:30. It hadn’t dawned on me that since PPYC has a regatta this weekend, out-of-towners would be arriving and going for a sail to get a feel for the lake. The wind looked better than the reports I had seen and I ran into three guys from Kentucky who were about to launch a J-22, which was all I needed to make me run back home for the trailer. I was on the water by 1:30. I with the AHD 77 and a usually very-powered 9.5 and I cannot recall a day when my gear selection was more ideal for the conditions. I was never overpowered and rarely was I underpowered.

Great Birthday on the Lake (#2 this year)

Max Temperature 77 °F / 25 °C 63 °F / 17 °C 88 °F / 31 °C (1907)
Wind Speed 10 mph / 16 km/h (SSW)
Max Wind Speed 18 mph / 29 km/h
Max Gust Speed 24 mph / 39 km/h

Nate and I met at Hamilton Creek Point at 10:30 this morning and were sailing by 11:15. He sailed his Prodigy 8.5 while I took out the FreeRide 77 with 9.5.

It looked like 10-14 from the beach, but was a solid 15 with gusts in the mid-20’s. After a couple of runs I came back and rigged a 7.5 for the Bee 284 and it was near perfect!

Nate quit at 1:00 and we chatted for 30 minutes, then he left and I went back out on the 7.5 and Bee. I came off the water at 2:30.

The Corps site says surface water temperature is 54.6 degrees Fahrenheit, and 53.5 degrees at 10 feet. I had guessed it to be 55, so I will give them one point for being right for a change, but they are still on double-secret probation.

First Day of Windsurfing, 2007

Max Temperature 77 °F / 25 °C 60 °F / 15 °C 83 °F / 28 °C (1967)
Wind Speed 9 mph / 14 km/h (SSW)
Max Wind Speed 18 mph / 29 km/h
Max Gust Speed 24 mph / 39 km/h

I sailed alone with 9.5 and AHD in a 2mm full suit. My felt were cold in booties, must wear dry boots next time! This was the first session of the season and it took me 40 minutes to rig! (usual time is 12-15 minutes).

I sailed for only 30 minutes, as the wind wasn’t so great when I was out. It picked up again 1/2 hour after I got home.