Monday 26 December 2011

Back on Ice n Snow :-)

Brought the mast bases up to the "country", which is the term we use for the chalet up north. Obviously also brought the masts, boom and sails. Typically use 6-oh and 8-oh and bring the 7-oh just in case. The boards are there from the last winter windsurf season.

Temps were a bit high (just below freezing) and there was about 2 to 3 inches of snow on the frozen lake. We were worried that there would be NO snow for Xmas and no ice on the lake. We lucked out on both counts. Because there was snow and it was sticky due to the temperature, neither board seemed to do well. And on top of it all, there seemed to be NO wind :-(

After I finished putting the mastbases on the two(2) winter windsurf "sleds", I went and checked out the wind again. It was supposed to be 15 kph and reach 25 later. Well, it felt like it was closer to 10 kph from the west. Oh well, let's rig the MS-2 8-oh which is a powerful sail and has 2 cams to hold shape. Tried the snow sled on the snow and went no-where - due to sticky snow and lack of wind. Tried it on the track of ice someone cleared and it went. Not too fast, but much better than the snow...

Okay then , let's try the ice sled - what, with an 8-oh cambered sail ??
If the ice was colder, less snow on the lake and the wind stronger, there is NO way I would put the 8-oh on the ice sled. In this case it went and was speedy a couple of times.

The whole affair was just enough to tease me - and perhaps make me the laughing stock of the lake. Oh yeah, i already am that - so, who cares? :-)

In other words good start to the season !!!
Now, let's hope for some better winds and cooler temperatures...
In the forecast -- winds are up when temps are still close to freezing and colder when there are no winds ...

Here are some pics from earlier posts - forgot to take pics on this first outing ...


Tried again on Wednesday the 28th on the lake - cooler temps, a bit more wind - not steady , butt lots more snow $%^&*( Excellent work-out, but not too much success. Does NOT mean it is time to give up - just wait for better conditions OR make my own track on the lake :-)

Again on Monday 2nd of January. Put the Gaastra 7-oh. Winds were a little better, but not steady enough. Once again temps were too close to freezing. Was absolutely sweating. In deep snow at these temperatures, snow gathers at the front of the snow sled. Perhaps that is why Louis Caron's sled is made of slats !! In other words the ice sled did not work on the ice and the snow sled went, butt not good enough on either $%^&*() Let's hope temps are better back home and ice forms on the rivers.

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