Could water be faster than ice ??

TUE 10MAY2011 Finally had a good day on the water with the shortboard. Still waiting for the stainless steel 6 mm screws to attach the fin to my Fanatic BEE LTD 124. So, still only using the AHD FF 160. It looks worse for the wear, but still rips. Wind was ENE and not sure whether to go to Vaudreuils or the river Milles Isles near my house. Gas is still expensive AND it is still early in the season. This means near home will be fine. Winds checked from shore were at under 12 knots. Water looked stronger further out and saw whitecaps. That should have been a warning. Rigged the 8.5 fairly tightly and screamed across the water, butt felt over :-(

It's about 16h15 - go home or rig down ? Rig down :-) Put the cambered 7-oh with the 40 cm Select fin. Still screaming, but feeling much more in control. Many wind shadows, but fun was had just the same. Next time rig lower when white caps are visible.

Full day at work, over an hour of ripping on the local river and was home by 17h45.
Life is GOOD.
Give the session 8 out of 10 due to over-rigging in the beginning. Is it better to rig up or down ? I would guess up since it is less tiring :-)

It felt pretty darn fast and wonder how it compares to some of the ice runs this winter.
How quickly we forget. Some lucky fellows have GPS and thus have a much better idea...

Do not have a GPS, butt there is Google maps.. The white lines are an idea of my trajectory - hand drawn and there were more than three(3) :-) -- and the yellow line denotes the wind shadow. Was using it for tacks since it is the first good day this year for me ...

Based on the wind-chart - i was right to rig the 8.5 when i arrived AND correct in rigging down around 16h00!!

A fellow windsurf blogger whom i respect, feels that simple journal entries are somewhat trite. In one essence i can see his point - on the other hand i need to log what works for me - this helps with rigging later and what to watch for - last few sessions have taught me NOT to rig too big. After a season i know which sails were used the most and where to spend money after that. For now I know i am NOT ready for 6-oh and not ready for a 95 to 105 liter board. In order to keep it interesting, i will only discuss the "different" sessions and keep the "boring" ones in the "old journal section". Hope this helps to keep some people interested :-)

After all my errors in terms of equipment selection, i updated the safety post !!
safety-first.html 
( I had also pinched my thumb under the boom while trying to adjust it on the water - to relieve pressure i punched a hole through the nail with a pin - did NOT look BAD axx enuff to post here :-) Ironically the newest WindSurf Mag also has an article on Tips for Sailing Safely. The number one tip is rig right !! AND they write about knowing your limits ...