Beating to windward against an Easterly. Tiller is tied off.

I know, I know. I’m always complaining about the lack of seamanship.

So this is a short tutorial about how to let your boat sail itself.

No auto pilot. No wind vane, or electronics, just seamanship.

Beating to windward against an Easterly. Tiller is tied off.

All boats have different sailing characteristics. The hull used on my boat, a Cape Dory, was copied from the hull you found on Anglo Saxon work boats. This was before engines. The long shallow full keel with an attached rudder was designed for control and durability.

You can sail to a dock or mooring. Heave to and pull your fishing nets, or traps aboard.

I find I can have a neutral helm if I put one reef in the main and run 135% to 150% jib. However the boat has a weather helm for a reason. If the boat becomes over powered or over canvased, she will heel to a point. Then the wind spills over the top or head of the sails, and she rounds up into the wind and stops. If you let go of the tiller, like if you fall overboard, she rounds up into the wind and stops.



So when tying off my tiller under full sail I need to do several things.

I down haul the luff like on a windsurfing sail. This opens my leach, and reduces heel that would cause her to round up into the wind. I do the same to my jib by moving the jib cars aft.You want to spill wind off the top of the leach.

If you look at the video below, you will see that while the lower tell tails are streaming, the upper tell tail are starting to lift. And lastly you tie off the tiller a bit to windward to compensate for the natural weather helm.

I hope this helps you. It takes time, and a lot of experimentation to get it right. Once you do, the boat will sail for hours on her own. Not that Iv’e tested that theory. I tend to do most of my sailing in the western sound. A very congested area with a good deal of boat traffic.

My Summer of COVID

I’ll admit it. I’m lucky.

Iv’e been able to continue my career with minor interruptions this year.

Yes, I’ve had friends and clients who had died from this pandemic.

Yes, I’m earning less. Yes, my wife is working less. 

But because of what I do for a living…I have savings.

All told, I’m doing OK. I’m lucky. Not smart. Just lucky.

Most lucky people tend to think they’re smart. I know better.

I’ve been working from home since early March. So I don’t have to wear a mask each day. 

My wife has to wear one when she goes into work. It’s bothersome.

I only have to wear one when I’m with other people in close proximity, or indoors with them. I’m alone most of the time. I stopped surfing in April. The people at the beach are idiots. They seem to think they are immune there. So I just stopped going. But I can still go sailing. Except for a brief 10 minutes on the launch, I’m all alone in my own world. Thank my parents for Segue. Though I have been her caretaker since 1986, She became mine 20 years ago when my parents decided they needed a bigger boat.

Sunday May 31’st 2020 from drysuit2 on Vimeo.

See sailing at link

https://vimeo.com/424621824

Today, I really wanted to talk about Windsurfing. Or windsurfers. 

No one windsurfs because it’s cool, or easy. Windsurfing is hard. It’s always changing, evolving. There is always something new. Windsurfers understand and crave the learning curve. We understand we will never master something. Yet we keep coming back. We check our ego’s at the door and learn something new every time we go out.

Because of the Pandemic I missed this year’s OBX WIND in Hatteras. We rescheduled it for October, but canceled that as well. Springtime in Avon is more than just a great windsurfing destination, it’s the people. Everyone there, is there because they are just as stoked about windsurfing as you. You’re in a world were everybody understands why we build our lives around a seemingly frivolous activity. 

We all love this sport. Want to discover new things, learn new everything. Windsurfers are the most positive people I have ever encountered.

This year. This year is the year of the foil.

Foils have been around for ages. But we are just beginning to work out the kinks. Make it accessible to mere mortals like myself. 

And guess what? It's still hard. A lot like windsurfing a unicycle. But so worth it.

I wanted to take lessons. But clinics are pretty dangerous in a pandemic. So Andy Brant who usually runs ABK has been doing one day small clinics. No hotels to worry about. Just long drives, something new, and that feeling. That same feeling you had when you caught your first wave. That same feeling you had when you did your first jibe, the first time you planed in the footstraps, the curve. The learning curve we crave.

Yea that’s it. What pandemic?

OBX 2020

I’m not gonna' lie to you. Getting to sail in January without gloves was a treat. It was freakishly warm last weekend. And windsurfing is just less tiring without mittens.
And yet.

I like sailing in the winter. I’m not as hard core as I was ten years ago. I draw the line in the high 30’s. OK …closer to 40. But, I like sailing in the winter. I love my 5 or 6 millimeter wetsuit. It feels like armor. 5 or 7 mil boots, neoprene mittens. Bring it on.

In the winter we have the beaches to ourselves. We have crystal clear cold water. Brisk clean cold powerful winds. And the crew is smaller. More intimate. The group I windsurf and surf with in the winter are my tribe. My brothers and sisters, in the very real sense of the word. We trust each other with our lives. Literally.

So what’s the deal with windsurfers?
Windsurfing isn’t a sport or a pastime…it’s an addiction. Like all addictions, that’s both good and bad. You either get it, or you don’t. Chasing wind and waves from beach to beach. Usually living out of our vans. Windsurfers are a rarely seen nomadic tribe. You see kiters…that sport seems to be growing. But windsurfers…not really. The thing about Windsurfing is you need to enjoy failure. It’s the learning curve that keeps us craving more. You never really get good at it…you just keep trying. Every wave, every swell, wind, breeze, every session I experience something new. I love that.

In the late 70’s, early 80’s, windsurfing was huge. We made it to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the 1st X-Games in Newport RI. But nothing since. That’s because Windsurfing doesn’t really work as a televised Spectator Sport. There is no cool culture that comes with windsurfing. Not like Surfing; Think of all the clothes, the lifestyle, the pop culture references. People who have never even been to the ocean wear surf clothes. Surfing has Gidget, Endless Summer, Big Wednesday, Spicoli, Slater, Point Break, Blue Crush.
We are small, and everyone here, belongs here. No pecking order, no cast system. I have met and shared sessions with dozens of pro’s, and several World Champions. Try walking up to a pro baseball player and asking him to play catch.

I’ll take chapped fingers, split and bleeding from the cold water. 

But I also look forward to blisters on my palms in the spring.
Sunburn too. Yea, even sunburn.

Yesterday I did some minor cosmetic repairs on my 104 ltr wave board.  Yesterday.

Got me thinking, as much as I love Winter Windsurfing…

I really love Hatteras in the Spring! Hey look! Everyone is just like me. What a great place to try new toys, shake off the cobwebs. Hang out with friends, old and new.

At the OBX-WIND we are all windsurfers.
And though it is no secret about my dislike for racing. Still…

https://uswindsurfing.org/event/2020-obx-wind/

https://oceanairsports.com/pages/obx-wind

This is always my favorite event. Even when I don’t even make it to the starting line.

I believe in this event so much that this year I even became a sponsor.

Can’t wait to see y’all this April!

USA 1962