SW all day--evening sail on the 5.4

After some torrential downpours last night and lingering rain this morning the sun made an afternoon appearance and the wind settled in strong from the SW (again!). The windstations from the mainland reflect the strong SW flow. The 15 kt average at 8:20pm near Half-Moon Bay is most relevant to Waiheke as it accelerates across the water toward our island, arriving 5 to 10 knots stronger. This a great direction for sailing onshore at Surfdale-Blackpool. So after grocery shopping and making an early dinner for the boys, I loaded the gear and kids in the Subaru at 6pm. I was surprised not to see any of the others (all three that I've met) out on the water. While I was rigging I saw "Mark" from Windsurfing-Waiheke drive by a few times in his van and stop to assess the conditions for a few minutes. I about didn't rig as it felt too strong for my smallest sail (never mind the 125L board). But I was there and the kids were content making up soccer games on the beach, so I rigged and waded out (mid-tide). Luckily the wind was a bit lighter on the water than on the Esplanade. The 5.4 was great for waterstarts and only a bit overpowered (I rigged it as flat as possible). The board was, of course, still too big, and the wind direction and waves were ideal for catching air (intentional or otherwise). The board is a bit big for this (9 ft 6in). The harness lines are still causing problems (not returning to a downward position meaning I have to manually twist the lines down at the boom every jibe). I also had a difficult time getting the lines to drop out of the harness before jibing, leading to some prolonged entry turns into the jibe. My right rotator cuff muscles have been sore for a few days (started with a stiff neck one morning), but I figured this would "loosen them up". Luckily no further injury (other than a gash above the knee that I only noticed once on shore). The gash probably resulted from a rather spectacular pre-jibe crash where I esentially did a "wheelie" and the nose was about vertical to the water as my back foot sunk and pushed forward the skidding board--it resulted in a full on sinus flush as water rushed up my nose! Aqua-therapy. The kids had a great time on the beach and the playground at Surfdale. Only 1 or 2 people around (dog walkers). A couple cars stopped to watch. What a contrast to Sunday when the beaches and bays were crowded with Labour Day visitors. Back to "our island" again. I came in as the wind was still going strong (had to get the kids to bed you know). As I type now at 9pm the windows are rattling at #10 Huia from the gusts. It will still be strong tomorrow. Perhaps another evening outing...