I know you guys probably already hate me a little bit, so I’m just going to go ahead and add some fuel to the fire. Not only was Valentine’s Day unseasonably warm, but it was also incredibly windy. For many windsurfers, that would be a recipe for disaster: Being late for a dinner date, while stinking of wetsuit, well, that’s a tough sell on any night, let alone a romantic holiday. For me, though? Well, my valentine was just as happy missing dinner as I was!
The air was warm, the wind was howling, and I had spent an extra 5 minutes making sure Anne’s 3.3 was rigged to perfection. Her wetsuit was ready, and her rig was by the water’s edge. Yes, the scene was set for a romantic sunset sail! She pulled into the parking lot, donned her dinner wear, and hit the water with shouts of glee! My 3.6 was ready two minutes later, and we shredded til the sun disappeared, me on 85 liters, she on 67. The date couldn’t have gone better!!
Be still, my beating heart! My Valentine sets off on a 3.3 and 67 liters of love!
Trust me, I know- I’m a VERY lucky man.
Earlier that day, Dale B and I had sailed at Ramp 34 in nuking winds and chest to head high waves. Tons of current, and massive holes in the gusty wind made for fairly challenging conditions, but it was still REALLY fun. I set up a tailgate cam, but only caught a few mini clips before the silly 12 minute auto-shutoff feature did it’s trick. Does anyone out there in web world know if I can override that on the Canon Rebel t2i?
Tuesday, the day after Valentine’s Day, dawned clear and cold, with a solid northerly wind rustling the tree tops. I decided to head back to the same spot at Ramp 34 and try my luck in the mirror image of the conditions from the day before. It was, yet again, a REALLY fun session! I’m goofy foot, so I really enjoy going left in port tack conditions. And the more time I spend on that Tabou DaCurve 85, the more I like it! I set up yet another Tailgate Cam and ended up catching some halfway decent action, but missed the one huge backloop attempt that I threw… So I guess I’ll never know how big (or small) it really was… Oh well! Anyway, check out this short compilation video from the last 2 days:
Valentine’s Day Windsurfing at Ramp 34 from Andy McKinney on Vimeo.
Oh, and here’s one last thing for you to check out- This is a video of a feeding frenzy we saw over the weekend. The birds are Gannets (Thanks, Jerry!!), and who knows what’s under the surface?! Bump up the resolution for the best view:
A few minutes later, Anne noticed a whale lumbering on by…
We don’t see that everyday, here on Hatteras, at least! Stoked!
Looks warm and windy towards the end of the week… Spring is right around the corner!! Hope to see y’all soon!
