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Windsurfing GPS tracks
Dates link to aerial photos overlayed with GPS tracks. These
were created using USAphotomaps
software.
- 9/10/2003 My
first windsurfing session with my GPS. Location: Mill Creek at
Fort Monroe.
- 4/25/2004
Location: The York River at Yorktown. Launched from Gloucester Point
Beach Park. Time sailed: 11:30 am to 2:30 pm. Max speed: 23.7
mph. The wind was blowing from the East, and the tide was coming
in. When I couldn't keep planing on my 6.5, I almost got swept
under the bridge upstream! Weird. At that spot, you get a very
interesting interaction between the water and windspeed. With the
tide running fullspeed, the effective wind is the windspeed minus the
waterspeed. As the tide slowed (high tide was 4 pm) the effective
windspeed increased. My first run I kept dropping off plane, but
by the end, I was ripping.
- 5/1/2004
Location: The York River at Yorktown. Launched from map location
42
on the VIMS
campus map, Geddings House. Time sailed: 11:30
am to 3:15 pm. Total distance sailed: 23.8 mi. Max speed:
27.4 mph. I hit the water at about 11:30am and sailed until about
3:15pm. I started out just a little underpowered on my 9.5, and
finished off just before it started sprinkling on the same sail with
max downhaul. Until about 1:30, when the other guys showed up,
the wind was very constant. As the weather moved in, it got a
little gustier, with wider holes and stronger gusts. The gustier
winds also made the water choppier. A very nice day for building
confidence river sailing. We rigged and launched from the
Geddings House at VIMS. This is a riverfront house the James says
is used to house guest faculty. There is a tiny visitors parking area
right in front of the house. You rig on the lawn and carry your
stuff right down to the beach, maybe 25 yards. When the tide is
in, it can be tricky getting out from between the docks. When the
tide is out, you can walk your stuff almost all the way out to the
ends, and launching is no problem. I liked this launch a little better
than the one on the point. A couple times I landed at the beach
at the point for a breather. On an outgoing tide there is a
strong rip off the boat ramp right on the point. The water takes
a hard left hand turn around the point and the current changes
direction quickly. This has carved a pretty steep drop off right
off the beach on the point. Launching from here can be tricky
because of the changing currents, the drop off, some weird waves and
the lack of visibility up the river.
- 5/15/2004
Location: The York River at Yorktown. Launched from VIMS
Geddings
House. Time sailed: 12:45 pm to 4:30 pm. Total distance sailed:
24.4 mi. Max speed:
24.5 mph. The VIMS Windsurfing and Kayaking club was having a
picnic/cookout and James was teaching a bunch of people how to
windsurf. I'd guess that 4 or 5 people gave it a go over the
course of the afternoon. Met some very nice people. Bruce
and I were the two non-VIMS locals that showed up. It was a big
sail, flatwater ride the puffs kind of a day. I was planing 2/3
of the time with my 9.5. Bruce had his 8.5 and had a little bit
harder of a time. It was perfect for the learners, though.
At one point a big ship came up the river and they opened the Coleman
Bridge so it could get through. I discovered that putting the GPS
in the big lower pocket on my lifejacket was letting it flip around to
face my torso, which makes it lose satellite lock. Also, I have
adjustable harness lines on my big boom and the GPS was hitting the
handle of the lines and swinging them away from my hook when I'd try to
hook in. It was like having someone pull a chair out from under
you as you were sitting down. I'll be putting the GPS in a
smaller breast pocket from now on. This was the first neoprene
free day of the season. I was quite happy about this, as I hate
having to put on and take off a wetsuit. I also decided that you
know summer is here when you unroll your sail and it's still wet from
the last time you sailed. It's kind of weird, though, considering
that it was two weeks since I sailed it.
- 6/12/2004
Location: The York River at Yorktown. Launched from VIMS
Geddings
House. Time sailed: 5:00 pm to 6:15 pm. Total distance
sailed: 8.1 mi. Max speed:
24 mph. Rigged my 7.5 sail. The wind was from the east, and the
tide was incoming. I found this to be a very bad combination if
you don't remain planing. If you are schlogging upwind, the tidal
current can carry you faster than you can travel upwind. You have
to be very careful not to get swept away from your launch point.
That almost happened to me my first run out. I planed out into
the channel, turned around and the wind lulled. From the picture
you can see I kept getting pushed with the current on the next two
inward and outward legs. On the next inward leg, I could get
planing and could head upwind enough to clear the pier. It still
took two tacks after that to get back to the launch. I really
don't like feeling that out of control. The next time I headed
out, I headed immediately upwind to get position. After that, I
was able to rip back and forth for awhile upwind of the launch.
Putting the GPS in the upper breast pocket of the life vest works
great. I don't think I ever lost a satellite lock.
- 6/14/2004
Location: The York River at Yorktown. Launched from VIMS
Geddings
House. Time sailed: 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Total distance sailed:
13.7 mi. Max speed:
24.5 mph. The wind was from the SW and the tide was maximum
incoming. The opposing wind and tide was a great
combination. There was no worry that you'd get pushed by the wind
and water and not get back to the launch. Met up with James after
work. He was on a 9.5 sail and a formula board. I was on my
9.5 sail and my 138 liter Veloce. We got some good comparisons of
how these rigs compared to each other. If the wind was in a lull,
I could schlog faster and pass him. If the wind picked up just a
bit, he could turn downwind, pop up on a plane, and leave me
behind. When the wind picked up a little bit more, I could get up
on a plane, but he was still faster on the same heading and he could
point further upwind while still on a plane. It was a real eye
opener for me. It's not as obvious on the website track picture,
but on the tracking software you can see a couple of waterstarts where
I fell on a turn. The GPS keeps a lock now even when I'm down in
the water. It looks like I was moving about 1.7 mph while down in
the water. Also, this was the first time I've sailed and seen
dolphins nearby. I saw them at least twice, once passing right
through a group of them on a plane. I didn't feel and bumps, so I
assume they dove to avoid me. I felt bad about getting that close
while moving at high speed, but there wasn't much I could do to avoid
them. It was pretty cool.
- 6/19/2004
Location: The York River at Yorktown. Launched from the
little beach to the west of the Watermans Museum. I parked right on the
streetcorner with a bunch of other cars, but as I was leaving the
Sheriff stopped and let me know the area was no parking. Time
sailed: 2:15 pm to 5:00 pm. Total distance sailed: 14.4 mi.
Max speed:
25.4 mph. The wind was from the NW and the tide was maximum
outgoing. When I first got to Yorktown I checked out the picnic
area under the monument. The parking spaces nearest the eastern
beach were full, and the wind was really not that good. I would
have had to have rigged the 9.5 and then it would have been iffy.
I decided to check out the other west side of the bridge to see if the
wind shadow was killing the wind on the east side of the bridge.
On the west side it was rocking! I never would have guessed it
would have made that much difference. There were whitecaps
rolling all across the river. I rigged up my 6.5 first, but it
was just not quite powerful enough. I then went out on the 7.5
North Pyro and was ripping. The onshore chop was perfect for
jumping. There were a couple boats anchored ~100 yards offshore,
fishing the outlet of the creek that cuts the beach in half. I
had to work my way upwind of these boats. The GPS track picture
shows a hole where there are no tracks. That's where the boats
were. Early on, I took a trip across the river and back. I
didn't point as hard upwind as I should have, and although I was
planing on both legs, I still ended up coming back downwind of the
boats. After that I just made a lot of little runs between the
shore and the beginning of the channel. You could tell by the
change in the look of the water where the current got strong. I
just turned around just before that point. I still had enough
time to hook in, get planing, and get in a couple of nice jumps before
turning around. A bit later I made a couple more trips back and
forth across the river. These went better as the tide was slowing
down and I was pointing more aggressively. Overall, quite an
enjoyable afternoon of sailing.
- 7/04/2004
Location: Guilford Lake, in Ohio. Launched from the east
side of the beach. Time
sailed: various runs from 9 am to 5:00 pm. Total distance sailed:
21.2 mi.
Max speed:
26.1 mph. The wind was generally from the south. I sailed the 9.5
World Sails Blast on the Veloce 298 and the True Ames 39cm pointer
fin. Guilford Lake remains the most difficult place I've ever
windsurfed. The lake is small and you are never far enough from
the opposite shore for the shore effects to even out. The
southerly wind blows from three different directions (out of the bays)
as you sail the length of the lake. This shows up as many
criss-crossing GPS tracks. The wind is gusty as it blows out of
the bays. You often get hit with huge gusts that practically rip
the rig from your hands. By the time you get control, hook in,
and lean back, the wind drops to near zero and dumps you on your
butt. Then it's either uphaul the big sail or wait for the next
gust to waterstart. I had some ripping fast runs, but it was
exhausting overall.
- 7/27/2004
Location: The York River at Yorktown. Launched from VIMS
Geddings
House. Time sailed: 4:30 pm to 6:15 pm. Total distance sailed:
12.2 mi. Max speed: about 21 mph. The wind was from the SW and
the tide was near high. My previous session was at Willoughby and
I didn't bother to get GPS data. It was really more of an
experiment with my new 6.7 sail to see where its low end lay in
relationship to the top end of my 9.5. I think they overlap, so I
am safe to sell my 7.5 Pyro. This session looked like a low end
6.7 session, but turned out to be a midrange 9.5 session. Of
course I discovered this after rigging the 6.7. So I get some
rigging experience... The runs on the 9.5 were great, with more
than the usual number pushing the 20mph mark. Other than that,
nothing real remarkable except that the session was cut short by a
series of dashes to the bathroom in the Geddings House. (thank
God it was unlocked) Must have been something I ate at lunch.
- 8/6/2004
Location: Chesapeake Bay on the north side of Willougby
spit. Launched from the Formosa Hotel. Time sailed: 2:30 pm to
3:45 pm. Total distance sailed: 2.53 mi. Max speed:
20.6 mph. The wind was from the N/NW and the tide was near high
tide. After a few emails on the LetsRig list, I was pursuaded to
make the hour trip from Grafton to Formosa. This was the first
time I've sailed in high wind and big swell. It was a very
humbling experience. It was the first time sailing both the
Veloce 278 and the 5.6 Blast. In the same wind and flat water, it
would have been a blast. The gear needed tuned in.
Especially important was that I had the boom too high and had a very
hard time hooking in. When I did get hooked in, I was way off
balance. The big swells require a lot of weight shifting and
control adjustments. You can't just hook in, lean back, and
rip. If you do (I tried) you either plow your forward shoulder
into a wave and wipeout, or majorly spinout on the backside of a swell
and wipeout. And wipeouts aren't easily recoverable.
Wavestarting is much harder if you aren't used to the swells. The
guys tell me that once you adjust to the rhythm of the waves,
waterstarting becomes easier because you can use one wave to clear the
sail and the next one to boost you onto the board. I'm more
attuned to using wind gusts for those things. When you get the
sail in position, you get one chance before the waves push everything
out of whack and you have to do a 360 circle with the sail and board
setup again. I felt (and looked) like a complete rank
beginner. Like I said, very humbling. I'm describing the
waterstarting more than the sailing because I honestly spent more time
in the water than sailing. My first run was a total of 1.6 miles
and took 27 minutes. About the only good thing about it was that
I did make it back to the launch (well, close, anyway). Most of
the guys said that that was better than their first time in those
conditions. I was exhaused when I got back. After resting
for half an hour I went back out for another run. My gear was
adjusted better this time, and I could hook in and sail in a more
controlled manner. This was a lot better, and I could see how
that with practise this could be more fun than terrifying. Of
course I fell on the turn and had to waterstart to come back, but I had
the rhythm of the waves a little better this time, and it wasn't a
problem. This leg was .97 mi and only took 8 minutes. Much
better. I still wish I had gone to Factory Point for the first
session on the new gear. It would have been funner. But, I
now have my inaugural session in big swell under my belt, and I walked
away without any of the major mishaps that have marked other people's
first times. (Washed into the rocks, long walks up the beach to
the launch site)
- 8/10/04 Location:
The Back River on the south side of Poquoson. Launched from
Amory's Wharf. Time sailed: 5:15 to 7:15 pm. Total distance
sailed: 15.7 mi. Max speed: 25.3 mph. Wind from the SW. High
tide. Sailed for a little more than half an hour a bit
underpowered on my 6.7. Then switched to the 9.5 and ripped it
up. I finally quit because I was tired. I did get my max
speed on the 6.7 when the wind was still strong enough to plane with
it. I really liked this sailing spot. It's surrounded on 3
sides by shoreline so it's mentally similar for me to sailing back in
OH. You have to watch out because near the launch there are a
bunch of pilings from an old pier, and there are a lot of white stakes
sticking out of the water. I wasn't sure what they meant, but I
avoided them.
- 8/20/04 Location:
The Back River on the south side of Poquoson. Launched from
Amory's Wharf. Time sailed: 5:15 to 6:45 pm. Total distance
sailed:
13.4 mi. Max speed: 24 mph. Wind from the SW. Low tide.
This time I rigged my 9.5 from the start. The first run was
overpowered so I pulled in to the shore and downhauled quite a
bit. This was good for the rest of the session. At low
tide, you have to do a lot of walking near the shore. The water
stays shin deep 50 yards out from shore. I saw a couple of
jellyfish, so I was not enthusiastic about spending any time in the
water after that. I managed to avoid getting stung, though.
It's cool sailing with fighter jets circling overhead for landing at
Langley.
- 8/21/04 Location:
The James River at Newport News. Launched from Hilton
School. Time sailed: 10:20am to 1:05 pm. Total distance
sailed: 20.4 mi. Max speed: 22 mph. Wind from the SW. Incoming
tide. Started with my 9.5 with light downhaul and 39cm pointer
fin. Started barely powered and kept building. Took a break
and downhauled to med/heavy. Again started barely powered and
kept building until I was too tired/hungry to keep sailing. I was
definitely on the right rig. John Perry was there with the
identical Veloce board as mine, but with a 7.5 sail. He got some
good rides, but did more schlogging. Glenn borrowed a 6.5 from
John and gave it a shot, but it wasn't enough wind. He got
planing once in a gust. Got home just in time for an afternoon
thunderstorm to blow through. Notice that a couple of my runs go
right through the pier on the aerial photo. The pier is gone,
taken out last fall by hurricane Isabel.
- 8/22/04 Location:
The Back River on the north side of Hampton. Launched from Bell
Isle Marina. Time sailed: 10:30 am to 1:15 pm. Total distance
sailed: 25.0 mi. Max speed 24 mph. Wind from the NE.
Tide ? The first time I've sailed this spot. I rigged up
the 6.7. I had a day that I would put in my top five windsurfing
days ever. First I got to rip back and forth across the river
from bank to bank for about two hours. At one point I started at
the far side and came 1 1/4 mi back across, hitting 24mph and going up
into the creek near the island. The wind was great, and the spit
and island keep the water smooth for speeding. Going up the
narrow creek felt like those guys in the speed channels trying to break
speed records (except they go nearly twice as fast). Near the
south bank is smooth water. Out in the channel, there are bigger
rollers that come in from the bay. As the wind started to come
down, I decided to see if there was more wind on the upwind side of the
island. I sailed across the spit and got to play in the waves on
the outside for a while. I had a great time, making much bigger
jumps than I ever have made before. There is a huge difference
between chop hopping and launching off a waist high fully formed
wave. Whew! What a rush! As the wind dropped further
I made a circuit of the island, came back through the main channel and
headed back to the launch.
- 9/6/04 Location:
The Back River on the north side of Hampton. Launched from
Bell Isle Marina. Time sailed: 4 pm to 6 pm. Total distance
sailed: 25.6 mi. Max speed 25.6 mph. Wind from the NE,
building from a steady 10mph to a steady 15mph as the weather moved
in. Tide outgoing and lower than last time. Whoo-ee, I
officially declare Factory Point to be my favorate place to sail.
It's got all four types of water I've sailed on: 1) smooth, windswept
water for blasting; 2) medium chop in the channel for chop-hopping; 3)
big swells in the Bay; and 4) waves on the spit and the Bay side of the
island for playing and big jumping! I rigged my 6.7, and was
planing solidly for the entire two hours. Last time I had so much
fun playing in the waves that I immediately headed upwind and out to
the Bay side of the island. I had a great time once more, playing
in the waves. Since the tide was lower than last time, I ran
aground a few more times. Still, the wind was better, and the
jumping was great. I only stopped because I got tired and it
looked like thunderstorms were coming from the west.
- 9/7/04 Location:
The Back River on the north side of Hampton. Launched from
Bell Isle Marina. Time sailed: 1:30 pm to 5 pm. Total distance
sailed: 19.1 mi. Max speed 26 mph. Wind from the NE.
Stormy. High tide at 1pm. I thought it was going to be
windier, but the storms moving through messed with the wind.
Mostly it blew 5-8mph, with some 15mph gusts as the rain moved
through. If I had brought my 9.5 sail, it would have been pretty
good, but I dropped it off in favor of bringing my smaller board,
instead. A bad trade, as it turned out. Oh, well.
But, I did get to see the first funnel clouds I've seen in my
life. I grew up in Ohio, and seeing funnel clouds there meant
someone was losing their house, or getting killed. I had seen the
destruction caused by tornados, but never actually seen one. My
lifetime total jumped from zero to four. The first two dropped
down about 1:15 to the south of us. They never touched down, and
faded as the stormcloud moved inland. I got pictures with my
digital camera. The second two I saw while out on the water at
2pm. I sailed into shore and watched them for a few
minutes. They were out in the bay to the east, and one touched
down on the water. They also faded before reaching shore.
- 9/8/04 Location:
The Back River on the north side of Hampton. Launched from
Bell Isle Marina. Time sailed: 12:30 pm to 4:15 pm. Total
distance
sailed: 32.1 mi. Max speed 28 mph. Wind from the E.
High tide at 2pm. Today was everything that yesterday was not. I
sailed the 101L board and my 5.6 sail. Started with med downhaul
and finished with extreme downhaul. This was my first real day
with the smaller stuff in conditions where I could really enjoy
it. It is definitely a livelier ride than the 138L board with a
big sail. I was reaching from shore to shore and attempting
gybes. Mostly got waterstart practice and a lot of ride time to
get comfortable with the smaller gear. Other people went out and
sailed the big waves outside the island, but I wasn't ready for that
yet. Had a great time and set a personal speed record.
- 9/9/04 Location:
The Back River on the north side of Hampton. Launched from
Bell Isle Marina. Time sailed: 3:10 pm to 6:10 pm. Total distance
sailed: 24.0 mi. Max speed 26.6 mph. Wind from the E.
High tide at 3pm. After the past three days, I was a little
tired, so I got there a little late. Most everyone had been there
since 10 or 11 am. I rigged up the small stuff again and warmed
up on the inside, staying in the shelter of the island. Then I
headed outside and made a few runs in the big waves and wind on the Bay
side. Wow. Very gnarly. I had fun, but my inability
to gibe was keeping me from really letting loose, as I was continually
worried about making the outside turn. I knew I was going to have
to waterstart in the big rollers in the channel, so I was always
holding back on that tack. I did just fine, but headed back in
and just practised gybing in the shelter of the island for a
while. That went well and I made a couple gybes in each
direction, which is progress. Everyone but three of us left at
about 5pm. When John broke his mast I ended up fetching the lone
powerboat from the island to carry his gear to shore. After that,
I made a few more runs, was tired and packed it in. What a great
holiday windsurfing weekend. I sailed four days straight,
covering 100.8 miles. I think I'm ready for a break.
- 9/17/04
Location: The York River at Yorktown. Launched from VIMS
Geddings
House. Time sailed: 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Total distance sailed:
11.8 mi. Max speed: 28.5 mph. Wind from the SSE.
15mph. Low tide at 6pm. There was some heavy weather
brewing, so the wind was really more like 10 to 20 mph. I didn't
have my smallest stuff, which would have been more appropriate for the
conditions. I rigged my 6.7 and gave it as much downhaul as I
could give it. I sailed my 138L board. It was a struggle to
keep everything under control. It was my first time with the new
harness I bought last Sunday. I'm not sure I like it, as it rides
a little high and hits the bottom of my life jacket.
- 9/19/04 Location:
The Back River on the north side of Hampton. Launched from
Bell Isle Marina. Time sailed: 1:10 pm to 4:30 pm. Total distance
sailed: 33.3 mi. Max speed 28.4 mph. Wind from the
NNE.
High tide at 12:46pm. Winds blowing about 25mph. This was
probably in the top two or three windiest days I have ever
sailed. I rigged my 4.6 sail with max downhaul and max outhaul
and still started off overpowered on my 101L board. Switching to
my smallest fin helped. After a while, the wind dropped a bit and
I had a ripping good session after that. The wind continued to
drop and I eventually went up a couple of fin sizes and extended my
session on my 4.6 after other people had rigged up to 5.5s. Lots
of chop hopping fast runs and jibe attempts, a few of which I made.