Fri., Sat. 9/9 - 9/10/05 Woodruff, Sulph. Sonic 85L, 6.0,5.3

[kenonstott]

I lucked off and had Friday off. I was headed for Sulphur but I turned south at Evanston at 11:00 and I only made it to Sinclair. All I could see was ugly clouds. Just like last Saturday, I made a quick u-turn and headed for Woodruff. Woodruff was sunny to partly cloudy with 1 major storm cell going north of the lake and the rest stayed south over Evanston. There were some sprinkles at times but each cell that went to the south brought some nice windlines. Sailed nicely powered on the 6.0 most of the time from 12:00 to 3:30. Got one short 30 min. session on the 5.3 but it was hardly worth the rigging effort. The nice long reaches and grassy rigging are so nice you can almost overlook the sink-to-your-ankles mud on shore (Think Rush). It was great to be back on the little Sonic 85L board.

I headed to Sulphur Saturday and was glad I got there early. Bob was already tail-walking on a 6M when I got there at 11:30. Rigged a 5.3 and was as powered up as I have ever been on the little race sail. I was kicking myself for leaving the little Gorge board at home but there were enough holes it was be nice to have the extra 10 liters of the Sonic board to stand on. Anyway, speed runs on the Sonic have become one of my favorite pastimes. It was wild to be bobbing along looking over the shoulder and get hit by what had to be 4.0M wind lines. Bob was reading 26-28 mph on the beach when the peak wind lines were coming through. It was especially furious the closer you got to the dam. 2 days on the small board again and I am grinning ear-to-ear. I’ve sailed 7 days out of the last 13 and carpal tunnel has been a no-show. What a great fall sailing season so far. But Evanston was cold Sat. night and I saw some trees turning already so it won’t be long before it is over.