The southwesterlies built up again after scattered wind and rain yesterday (Thursday). I dropped Jenn and Nanna Mary off for the 10am ferry to Auckland so they could hit Kathmandu to stock up for a Milford Track expedition next week. The ferry ride also provided them with a first class view of the NZ Coastal Classic (Auckland to Russell). Alfa Romeo (a "super maxi" class boat) broke the 13 yr record. So that should give some indication of wind!
Steady at 20-25 knots all day. After dropping off the girls for the ferry I set sail from Surfdale on the 5.4 from 11 to 2:30 (a little break in the middle). Perfect sailing conditions (high tide to boot). Then met the kids at 2:45 at the house. I left the gear rigged as the whitecaps filled in all the way to the mainland, so an early evening sail would be possible after some recovery time. I picked the girls up at 3:45 and after some showing off of hiking gear purchases, Jenn and I drove to Surfdale (all of 5 minutes) leaving Nanna with the boys.
The wind had dropped off a bit so we deemed it time for Jenn to get back on the board. Tide was a ways out, so we walked a few hundred meters into the water to practice waist deep water-starts. The onshore conditions result in a steady stream of waves (1 to 2 footers, some breaking) that make balancing a bit tricky if you haven't been on a board in a while. But after reviewing sail and board positioning, Jenn was standing on the board (assisted by a boost to her behind). She made a good 20 second reach parallel to the beach, while I ran / plowed through the waist deep water to catch up. A few more butt-boosted water-starts and a couple more good runs. Good to see the "new" used equipment works for us both--a few minor damage reports: 1) a small crack on the plastic near the clew of the boom; 2) a dent into the mylar monofilm of the 5.4 sail from the board's nose (not sure which of us did that, but it doesn't look so nice--another reason to buy used--I'm sure we'll blow a panel out before we're done here)
The kids got a kick out of hearing about the butt-boosting. I suggested I put Nikolas "4 stones" on the board next since I can lift him with one hand. I think I'll bring back an old 4.5 Gaastra (1989 vintage) that will work better for the kids when I head back to Logan next month. However, I met "Mark" of "Windsurfing Waiheke" today (he arrived as I was leaving at 2:30) and he said the wind will die off by Christmas :( We'll have to do more kayaking and big boat sailing I suppose...
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