Mother in law invasion - escape to KL

Day started off great but things turned south during the morning ride after my brand new rear tire failed..$#@%#!!!!  Even had Stan's sealant in there....had a long walk back to the trailhead.   Too bad, cuz I was feeling strong.   Things only got worse when I got home and confirmed the truck had a brake fluid leak...had to borrow a car and spend my sunday re-plumbing the brake lines..even had to drop the gas tank - what a pita! eff!!

KL

solo ride on remembrance day - nice and sunny.  new rear tire - seemed to cling really nice - specialized purgatory 2.4 tubeless.    brought helmet cam along but stuck it to the handlebars...rode for a solid 2 hrs.
helmet cam footage

Kanata Lakes

Met up with Andrew and Phil again for some more trail riding - extended edition.  Started riding around 9:45 and finished around 2:30 pm.  Brought along a new helmet cam to experiment with but I wasn't too successful as it used up the memory card pretty fast.  Good ride overall, but it started to rain and the temperature started falling.  Next I blew the bead off my back tire for a dramatic exploding flat.  No way to fix it on the trail so I had to walk a couple of miles in the cold damp rain back to the truck.  Funny how cold I got after I stopped pedaling.  Andrew met me on the road and gave me a lift for the last 1/2 km.  Legs were pretty tired.  Shoulder a little stiff too.  Wish I had a hot tub.

tire is done

I'll probably post a clip from the helmet cam when I figure out how to edit the mp4.

Kanata Lakes - Saturday morning

Got back on the bike and met up with Andrew and a new guy Phil (who came all the way from Cantley).  What a crazy ride!  We rode for over 4 hours and my legs were killing me.  Andrew busted his chain twice.

broke his chain twice

It was pretty chilly, but a nice day.  I'm pretty sure I'll be feeling it tomorrow.

goof

Britannia - sunny and west wind, yay!

wide load

Had to drop all plans and hit the beach as the wind strength was noticeably rising.  Not too many sunny warm days to sail, so it takes priority!  The forecast was off this weekend, so I had to see for myself. Hit the beach at around 2 and was disappointed to see Jon rigging up a 6.3.  I rigged my 6.5 and jumped in the water.  After a little while a gust kicked in and it continued solidly for quite a while.  Sailing over powered started to wear me out after a hour and a half.  Then the wind increased again, so I rigged 5.2 and went back out.  Lots of fun ramps and little swells, but the sun was blinding on the starboard tack.  Sailed until I was exhausted around 5ish.  Joel showed up as I was packing it in, and he talked himself into going out on the water...sadly it quickly dropped off...poor guy!  On the ride home I was biting my tongue from the pain of my sprained toe as it thawed out.

breakwater

Grandview

Expecting more than what it was.
EC called for 30-50kph winds from the NW but they were no where near that.  Checked the direction at Britannia and it was more north than west.  Ran into Max and Carol there and we chatted about the Gorge, the helmet cam I almost bought from them and the day's wind.  Next I headed to Grandview hoping for better exposure to the wind.  Jon, Richard and Guy were there but the wind wasn't that strong.  Rigged up my 6.5 and messed around for a while mostly planing.  We joked about trying some forward rolls online the day before, but the conditions weren't helping so I didn't pull the trigger.  Water is starting to get cold now.  My feet were pretty numb, and when I got home I noticed my pinky's neighbour toe was very dark purple and sore.  I guess when you can't feel them it's easy to break or sprain them.  Sailed for an hour or two.

Richard on a 5.3 at Grandview

dentist appointment

Calling for west winds in the afternoon, completely wicked setup for Sandbanks for today and Friday, but I can't pull it off this time.  Britannia will have to do, and it was actually pretty sweet.  Lots of waves and jumps.  Why does my dentist always book my check-ups when it's windy?  Maybe I have to go back tomorrow for a follow up...

looks kinda brown, but whitecaps make me smile

 85L board and 5.2m sail were the ticket and the water temp is still not too bad.  Ran into Peter, Dave Hinz, Steve H, Craig, Alex from surf side.  Great session except for the blinding sun on the starboard tack.  I think I got a sunburn.

tea bagger doing some trapeze

Britannia never fails to attract the freaks, some guy asked me for 75 cents when I was rigging my sail- I was wearing a wetsuit - I said sorry dude, I've got no change on me (why would I have change in my wetsuit?  why 75cents- where did he get that number?)....he said, 'ok, maybe after', like he was going to wait for me to finish sailing and we'd settle up his account then.

this is new to the beach...

Sandbanks Sept 24-25th, 2010

With my schedule cleared for Friday and Saturday, I car pooled down to Sandbanks with Peter to hopefully pull off back to back sailing days. We threw everything in my trailer and made it to Picton by about 12:30 or so.   Things didn't look as windy as expected at Outlet beach, so we scooted over to Mac's to see if it was any better since the wind was a bit south coming off of Salmon Point.  Mac's looked less windy for some weird reason - it seemed there was a 'doming effect' occurring (the temperature difference between the air and water was significant enough to keep the wind off the ground).  Either way, we headed back to the beach - I rigged up a 6.5 and Pete took out his 12m kite.  Pete was boosting some large arials and had no problem getting powered up as the kite seemed to get above the 'dome'.  I schlogged a bit, but got planing here and there.  It was really hot (upper 20's) and was wishing I brought my shorty.  More folks started showing up from Montreal and Ottawa.  Serge and Jean, some cool guys from Montreal chatted about their kites they use when not enough wind for sailing.  Serge has been sailing for 23 years and told his story of sailing through Igor in the les iles de madelaines.  He's a big guy, but Jean was a smaller dude, more my size.  Steve and Jon also showed up and did a little kiting.  We set up camp (3 times - we moved around a few times) and then headed to Picton for some grub.

Peter boosting through the dome on Friday

Saturday was THE day.
The wind moved to the west a little more and picked up to about 25 knots.  The sun came out and the waves started to grow.  Lots of jumps and wave riding on the Ezzy 5.2 and Quatro  85.  Rigged up the 4.2 but I was underpowered some times - a 4.7 would have been perfect for me.  Lot's more folks from Ottawa showed up like Dave Hinz, Malcolm, Bob, Chris Caldwell, Duncan, Craig, Richard.  I've never seen so many kites and sailors at Sandbanks!  It was crazy...you really had to look over your shoulder before carving a wave because a kiter might be in your blind spot or another sailor could be picking a line out through the breakers.  Pete proposed sailing up to Mac's but I don't think I could have made it.  Pete went solo and met up with Mike Fisher there.  Overall, an awesome sailing day!

off the lip on Saturday

Lot's of traffic on Saturday at Outlet beach!

Britannia - on the fence..oh what the hell

It was breezy and nice out, but the wind was ssw which means gusty and dirty for Britannia.  Around mid afternoon I couldn't take it anymore and headed down to see what it was doing there. Sailed for about 1.5-2 hours in gusty south wind on my 6.5.  Just a shorty with a rash guard - water still pretty warm.  Near the end of the session it totally shifted due south and was blowing from the beach making it hard to get back in and then it just turned off totally.  A few guys were out - Richard, Andrew, others...

Sandbanks

Camped at Outlet beach to be on-site early.  Jim managed to clear his schedule and met up with me at the campsite ( he pulled all the tent pegs out of my tent while I was sleeping....jeez - I was a little confused when I woke up!).  We headed up to Mac's just beyond a few cottages.  Some Montrealers were renting a cottage there and we launched / landed there.  It was very very windy.  My smallest sail 4.2m was a touch too big.  I could sail, but it was crazy fast and hard to control.  The waves were huge, and you could make turns coming back into the beach - but you'd lose a little ground.  Jim was struggling and was getting exhausted trying to fight the current and the waves on the way out.  The french guys and I Mike Fisher were ripping it up.  I was grabbing some large airs as the waves were coming straight on.

Later we got some grub and met up with the Ottawa crowd who were sailing in the pocket just east of Mac's.  I bought a 3.5m from Jon and it was perfect for me.  More epic sailing in heavy wind.  Jim got worked some more and ditched his gear on the beach downwind from the launch.  Even though it was his birthday, he was not getting any breaks.  I bought Jim supper at the Isah Tubbs  restaurant (on the way we some some downed lines...it was windy) and after that we headed for home.

I will reluctantly have to get a new pair of booties - my feet looked like a skating rink with tons of cuts from the zebra mussels on shore.   Later that night, my right ankle swelled up - must have strained it somehow - I did have a couple of flat landings and some crashes??...

more pics here on my pbase site

Britannia

Beach closed to swimmers, but a nice warm south west wind was blowing about 15-20 knots.  If I had the time I would have headed down to the Landing so I settled for Britannia.  Rigged 6.5 and some good runs.  Just shorts weather.  I was trying some backwinded stuff in the shallow area and cut my heel.  Son of a bitch!  No way I'm wearing booties.  Cut was deep but didn't stop me. A few sailors were out - did most of the sailing on the Quebec side of the river for cleaner wind.  Water level is low and there's lots of stupid weeds!  Sailed from about 3 to 5ish.

Kanata Lakes - after work ride

I went straight from the park & ride to the trail head after work.  Weather was trying to rain, but didn't.  Met up with Andrew (who texted me to say it was raining in Bells Corners) and we went ahead with the ride.

 It was good - no rain.  Good work out.  Forest was on the damp side - saw some weird growths on some trees.

I happened to bring along my cellphone for these pics.  I'm interested in finding a small camera that can come mtn biking and have some decent IQ.

Kanata Lakes

weekend called for rain starting Sat. afternoon.  Met up with Andrew for a ride at the KL trail head on golbourn forced road.  Rain held off - overcast and cool - perfect for riding.   Nice ride -  Booster Juice reward ritual afterward.

after work at Britannia

decent wsw wind so I brought my gear to work.  Left around 4 but didn't get on the water until 5:30 - stupid traffic!! construction!!! F#$%K.  There was still some wind left for me - rigged the 6.5  and ripped the mast sleeve!  yay, now I have an excuse to replace that stupid sail.  Sailed a bit with the weed fin but noticed it seemed loose - I couldn't get it tight so I switched to the freestylewave fin.  Frustrating session, but nice and warm at least.  Lighting was pretty crazy- water was very dark for some reason, and the sun was hiding most of the time behind a cloud.

Mallorytown Landing (again)

Made the drive to 1000 islands parkway- got there around noon and brought the family this time.  Just one kiter at the site.  Rigged up 6.5 and putted out to the wind line which was about 100m offshore.  Wind kept building. Rigged down to 5.2.  Wind increased again, and I got out the 85l board with a 4.2.  Another kiter showed, but both kiters left to go get their windsurf gear (came to their senses!).  I was nicely powered, lots of ramps, sunshine!  Although, I must say I'm very paranoid of power boats here.  They seem to appear out of nowhere at great speed.  Roxanne and Liam entertained themselves well while I played on the water.   It was worth the drive for sure.

Mallory Landing, 10 hundred islands

Made the trip down to Mallorytown Landing on the St Lawrence - it is rumoured to deliver 5 knots more wind on a sw direction.  Left the house around 9:45 and got there about 11:15.  Met up with Guy and we rigged up 6.5 / 6.4 sails and started sailing.  It's a nice spot actually and the wind wasn't bad.  Spent most time sailing 5.2 / 102 l (Guy was on a 5.8 and Oliver showed up and sailed 5.6).  Lots of nice ramps and a good workout overall.
Got home around 7pm

Britannia from 3:30 - 6:30 totally powered on 6.5 with nice warm north west winds.  Retard on a jet ski was a nuisance, but other than that it was a good session.  All the kiters were down at Andrew Haydon park, so the sailors had Britannia to themselves.

last day on the obx

slow start to the day, but it looked pretty hot and windy from the south..went and fetched Jim and some gear and headed to the ocean for a sail..it was quite gusty - later we found that it was varying from 10-29 knots.  The ocean water was still cold, so shorties were on.  I got out and had a few rips and Mike came along to the beach with my camera.

After a little while I was paranoid about the blowing sand and had him put it away. Went back out and the waves weren't really organized to play on, but got a few airs.  Even saw a school of dolphins - glad to see it was their fins and not any other type of creature.

Jim wasn't getting too much satisfaction, due to his added weight and smaller board.  I was fine on my 102/ 5.2 combo, but he's got 40 lbs on me and was on his 90/ 5.4.  Later we hit the sound and had some rips on 4.2 & Mike's 5.1.I tried the 85 Quatro but without a weed fin it was hopeless - back to the JP.  Mike got Alyson to film from shore and we buzzed her while Mike tried to get proof of a jybe.  Great day overall, ended up in the pool with the kids and then supper and pack.

tried surfing at 's-turns' but had little luck..the water was like ice-cubes and then some crazy fog rolled in. Tried surfing in Avon, but the current was crazy and the wind picked up - water still cold, had to wear a shorty. Went over to Jim's and sailed 6.5 in the sound for a while (water still bath warm there). Later, took the kids for a boot on Jim's go-board. Liam was the only one who wouldn't give it a try, but he did catch a fish.

lot's of rain, but it finally stopped mid afternoon. Sailing on the sound by mid afternoon..it cooled off just a bit, but still pretty warm. Sailed 5.2 on a southerly wind. Lot's of lightning in the evening. Sailed with Lori, Jim, and Lori's dad Bob.

Hurley day

The Hurley Phantom tour stopped at Real Kiteboarding promising 2 for 1 deals on the stretchy  phantom board shorts.  Jim picked me and Liam up and we went down there early cash in on the deal.  There was a catch - you buy your shorts and pickup the second pair on the Hurley bus later on at 1pm.    So we had some time to kill now, and went to the surfing contests at 's-turns' up the road.  Kids surfing was fun to watch..and a couple of Hurley pro team surfers were showin their stuff too. 

Liam was begging to get another hermit crab, so I had to stall him.  We got some grub and finally they opened up the Hurley  bus, but they didn't have my size shorts!  They promised to have some later so we'd have to come back.  The wind was coming up anyhow, and we went back to Jim's and sailed the afternoon.  I sailed 6.5 , then Jim's 6.2 then his 5.4 and then my 4.2.  Mike was out too and nailed 3 perfect jybes!  A first for him.  We returned to the Real store around 6:30 and got the shorts.  Ate at the Mojo cafe,  the food was nothing to write about...we were expecting free tacos but it was just 3 for $6 - not really a deal...

putting in time in the surf

sailed a tiny bit today, but the wind died off...played with the kids in the pool for a while - a little water polo too...later on Mike, Jim and I hit the ocean to do some surfing - the waves looked good, but a little larger than normal.  Jim took the SUP board but couldn't get out past the break.  I paddled around a lot but didn't get any rides.  The current was pretty strong and every time I found a spot that looked like it would work, I'd get pushed down the beach by the current.  Almost got it right a couple of times but I just ended up getting worked.  At least the leash works!  Paddling the new board takes some precision in body position so I need all the practice I can get.  Hot tub afterward was a nice way to unwind.

sound side sailing

Picked up a new surf board yesterday and got a chance to paddle it in the ocean today , wind was building so the waves were disorganized and messy, but got used to the feel of the board.  Wind built up enough for an afternoon windsurfing session behind Jim's place on Island Creek on the sound.  Jim wasn't home so I went out on the 6.5 / 102 Jp.  I have never sailed in water so warm in my life.   Jim showed up and we had a good time.  Liam and Roxanne were kickin it tat the pool with Lori and Noah.  We ate supper with them, and then popped by the ocean with flash lights to find some ghost crabs.  Brought Mike's dogs along - Clancy is a total crab-hound!  he goes crazy.

beach life

staying ocean side on the outerbanks...been surfing everyday, but no sailing yet....wind should kick in thursday...ocean is awesome!

classic Canada day wind

Sometimes Canada day gets windy...not sure why, but it has happened a few times before- I remember one year it was so windy they had to cancel the fireworks!  Today was fairly decent, and although I'm heading to NC tomorrow morning, I couldn't resist hitting Britannia for some nice nw wind.  Nicely powered on my 6.5m - a few guys out and some kiters.  Perry was there and said yesterday was great too - even windier.  SBX has been going off too (of course when I couldn't go).  At least I scored an hour 1/2 session today -no time for pictures though, had to get back home to pack.  Next post should be from Avon....

balancing family life

Saturday was 'baseball fun day' for Liam's team, an event that would take up most of the day.  Of course this is the same time that the weatherman is calling for decent wind.  However, as usual, the weatherman is not that great at his job - it downpours and kills all wind anyway just as the baseball day activities end.

A little later, I see the trees moving so I head down to Britannia around 4pm.  There's even less wind at the beach...not sure why, it was windier at home.  Sat around and talked with Perry for about an hour.  It was pretty hot so I thought I'd rig and go out in the light wind anyway just to get wet.  But what's this?  wind? joy!  As soon as I hit the water the wind picked up and I sailed for about an hour or two nicely powered on the 6.5.  Sweet!!! Just around 15-20 knots from the south west, super warm water/air.

I gave this balance line a try too, purty neat.

Sunday ride

Gathered up my brother and Andrew for another ride in Kanata.  Brought the camera again with just the wide angle and flash.  Pretty muddy as it rained hard Saturday am.  Noticed a few mtn bikers doing some kind of orienteering race.  Andrew pulled a 'header' / endover off the first drop!  yikes...didn't get a pic of that...he was ok, might have to replace his helmet.  Andrew fears he has destroyed his front fork...air leak?  Took some pics here and there and saw what looked like a big Barred owl - I'll be back with the right lens for him.

no wind - gone riding

Since I had the day off Friday, and the weekend was supposed to be rainy, I dropped in on Kanata Lakes and brought my camera.  Managed to shoot a drop but took 3 tries having the camera shooting on a timer - would have been much easier with someone else there for sure - but I compromised and set the camera to machine gun and a delay to let me get to the drop spot.  A flash would have helped, because the lighting was mega contrasty in the forest.  Stashed the camera under a log, and kept riding but construction crews prevented me from crossing over to the ridge.  Turned back and explored the 'dark-side' trails.  They're grown over quite a bit and I discovered that those trails eventually get blocked by the same construction further south.  The dark side trails brought back a few memories - I haven't ridden back there in years.

..still waiting, might as well go ride

The weekend did bring a little wind, but I had other things going on and couldn't get to the beach.  At least Sunday I got out to Kanata Lakes with my brother and Andrew.  We had a sweet ride - the temperature was cool and the bugs were'nt bad.  Ran into Tonya & Dusan on the trail..what are the odds?  Did the camel back drop - no probs..got most of the climbs.  Can't believe how low all the swamps are for this time of year.  Heard what sounded like a machine gun - turned out to be a pileated woodpecker hammering an old wooden hydro pole by the railroad tracks...mega loud.  Mike and Andrew kept up the pace nicely, except Andrew had a few chain issues.  Left Marlow at home, poor guy.

need some wind

No sessions lately.  This spring has brought sporadic wind and weather so far...now it's really hot - like 34 degrees expected for tomorrow.  However, it looks like some kind of system will disrupt things by the weekend...so maybe Sunday or Monday....stay tuned. 
Might as well keep track of mountain bike outings here while I'm at it.  Yesterday I got an early ride in (7am) at Kanata Lakes.  I wasn't sure if I should bring Marlow or not, but he looked like he wanted to go.  It was going to be a hot day, so it had to be an early ride for Marlow's sake anyway - he can't take the heat at all.
The trails were pretty quiet - got a glimpse of one other rider in the forest.  I didn't feel as out-of-shape as I thought I would but I kept the drops to a minimum to go easy my recovering tennis elbow.   Geez, my heart sank when I reached the outback trail near the railroad tracks...they're doing clear cutting there and it looks like a road may be going in.  That sucks ass.  At least for today the trail resumed on the other side of the clear cut but it looks like it's all slipping away into urban sprawl.  We continued on but although I was having a good ride physically, Marlow wasn't doing that great - his spirit was in it, but he just couldn't keep up the pace -he mostly walked and the heat was getting to him already.  He took a few dips in the swamps, but we had to call it quits.
Today Marlow was beat.  He was pretty pokey on his morning walk...he's either just out of shape, affected too much by the hot weather or just plain getting old.  His trail running days may be numbered..hope not!

Session #2

It's Mother's Day, so of course it's windy. There was snow on the ground this morning! Super windy too. Managed to sneak away for a quick half hour session at Britannia - would have stayed longer but my hands were frozen. Nobody else was there - I could see a couple of sails up at Shirley's bay - probably a cleaner launch there today. A lot of North in the wind - almost right on shore. Sailed the 5.2 nicely powered. My left shoulder felt strained after a few jumps and cripes was it cold!!

Made the paper..hope boss doesn't see!

A photographer from the Citizen got a shot of me!

Session #1

No work today...there's way too much wind for that.
Hit Britannia beach around noon - wind was from the west at around 20knots. Sailed 5.2 and 4.2 all afternoon. Not bad for my first session of 2010 -water is pretty warm- totally comfortable. Other sailors: Craig, Steve, Danny, Alex, Jim...a few kiters ... even a guy with a surfboard!

Slow Start

I decided to summarize each windsurfing outing I have on this blog. It's not really for the public, it's just a way for me to try and remember what I did and when on the water.
I finally made it down to the beach yesterday, but the wind wasn't really on. Didn't matter, I somehow forgot to pack my harness anyway. Craig and Steve were there in the parking lot checking conditions out. A couple of sails on the water - no kites oddly enough. It was nice and warm, but from the southwest and flukey. Everybody is in Hatteras this week...wish I was too.