July 29 - Floras Lake, Or

Floras Lake, OR, USA

Naish Chopper M (4.3 equiv), JP Freestyle Wave Pro 77, 2x10 thrusters, 26 Black Project. Wind: 23 18G30 knots

Another day getting more comfortable on the smaller gear. Flores Lake is a great place for old foogies like me to practice on new gear without the fear of having to be rescued :) . Wind backed off a tad from yesterday so even though I went up in sail size I still had a little bit of slogging to get going - which was good practice for the Gorge. Felt good to be making port jibes again. Starboard jibes were in the wind shadow so will take more practice. The FSW77 is a very lively little board which has a great feel.

July 28 - Floras Lake, Or

Floras Lake, Oregon

Naish Chopper S (3.7 equivalent), JP Freestyle Wave 77, 2x10 thrusters, 26cm MFC. Wind: 28 20G34+ knots

First day of sailing on the FSW 77 and Chopper S combo. Flores is a great place to get comfortable with new gear. Had two sessions - the first one was just getting familiar with the FSW 77 and Naish Chopper sail and how twitchy both are and how little floatation the FSW has. Spent over an hour getting worked and tired but enjoying the 'relative consistency' of the wind compared to the huge holes at the Hood River Waterfront Park. The wind holes here just went from slight slogging to fully powered and locked in. Seccond session was better and made some jibes on the ocean side. Did not try jibing on the East side as the wind was consistently slightly weaker. If condidtions are like this tomorrow, will probably go up at least one sail size to the Naish Chopper M (4.2 equivalent) just for grins. Only 3-5 sailors out at any given time and only a couple of kiters.

Oh, the 'Hilton on Wheels' is working great, wife is enjoying it :) .

July 26 - HR Sandbar

Hood River Sandbar, Hood River, OR, US

Sailworks Retro 5.5, Goya Bolt 95, MFC 45 degree 34 cm weed fin. Wind: 22 15G32

The weed fin worked great in allowing me to sail through the weedy area on the way out/in to/from the sandbar. Didn't even feel any drag going through the weeds.

While Roo got his 40+ 2 sec goal today, I got my goal of one good catapult dismount :) . Other than the catapult I'm slowly building my tolerance to risk...

Roo commented about the conditions:

Very little sandbar, about 50 yards of flat water then out into the chop to put the hammer down. Gusting 30 knots at times and big sand clouds rolling off the sandbar. Upwind a kiter got lifted off the beach and rag dolled it was so gusty, broken neck and leg! Ouch.

July 25 - HR Sand bar

Hood River Sandbar, Hood River, OR, US

Sailworks Retro 5.5, Goya Bolt 95, MFC KP-RC 360 wind: 24 18G30

Today Roo mentioned that my sailing technique is OK, I just have to be more aggressive in the jibes (i.e less timid) and as a result I got an 'I told you so' from my wife who has been saying the same thing to me for a couple of months (ever since I returned to the Gorge). On the other hand, this is coming from my wife who thought the standard jibe technique was the catapult launch :) . My response is "I'm working on being aggressive but not the catapult launch".

Not great numbers today like Roo's or Roo Jr's but felt good to start feeling comfortable holding down a 5.5 in 30 knot gusts. Didn't get the big numbers in part because I wasn't comfortable venturing far from the sandbank (and thus a beam reach) partially because I had an ongoing example of what could happen - a guy spent about 1 1/2 hours trying to waterstart to get back to shore as he drifted around in the current downwind of the sand spit. Roo finally had a jet ski go pull him back to shore.

Also, I wouldn't describe my new motor home as 'Hilton on wheels' but it is a nice 2016 24' Class C built on a Mercedes Benz Diesel Sprinter dual rear tire chassis with two slide-outs, and it gets 16-17 MPG. Oh, and all the gear fits either in the rear 'vehicle wide' storage or inside. Nothing dangling outside to tempt people. This is a vehicle that has many uses besides windsurfing

Roo's comment about the conditions: 
I wish it was flat Boro, top speeds are out in open water away from the sandbar! Touch and go whether you crash at the end of the run it gets so choppy and bounces you everywhere as you turn back upwind. You'd love it, come on up...more wind of the strong variety forecast from Saturday onwards and water level should drop back down.

July 13 - HR Waterfront Park

Hood River Waterfront Park, Hood River, OR, The Gorge, USA

Sailworks Retro 7.5, Goya Bolt 95, MFC KP-RC360 Wind: 15 12G18  17 14G22

A day to struggle. Couldn't get the Goya to easily pop on a plane, wanted to round into the wind, was just a lot of work. At the end of the day, learned from Roo that 7.0 is probably the biggest sail I should put on the Goya because 'over sail' on a board causes the problems I just mentioned. Too much sail puts too much pressure on the mast base and keeps the board stuck in the water longer than is normally would be before poping on a plane.

Another day, anther learning experience. Got a lot of practice clearing and waterstarting the 7.5 sail...

July 12 - HR Waterfront Park

Hood River Waterfront Park, Hood River, OR, The Gorge, USA

Sailworks Retro 5.5, Goya Bolt 95, MFC KP-RC360 Wind: 17 14G23

Up and down, some pretty big wind holes. Should have rigged the 6.5 as was underpowered most of the time. Still, good to be back on the water. Making a little progress on jibes, with Roo's help. 

After the sailing session spent some time taking videos of Roo and Julian (Roo Jr.) making some runs on Roo's WindFoil. Very interesting to watch but I'm not yet ready to take the plunge on yet another learning curve :) .

Roo commented:

Good to see Barton back in town cruising on his Goya and gadget laden with his new solar powered trailer!

July 5 - HR Waterfront Park

Hood River Waterfront Park, Hood River, The Gorge, OR, US

Sailworks Retro 5.5, Goya Bolt 95, MFC KP-RC 360  Wind: 18 15G24

Another very gusty, up and down day. Lot of missed jibes today but made a couple, slowly learning...

July 4 - HR Waterfront Park.- PB 5x10

Hood River Waterfront Park, Hood River, The Gorge, OR, US

Sailworks Retro 5.5, Goya Bolt 95L, MFC KP-RC 360. Wind 18 14G24, 20 15G29

A gusty, bumpy day. First session (around noon) was good, in control, fully powered. The second session (about 3) was a tad too much for me to hold down in the gusts so I bagged it early. Still liking the Goya and still struggling to jibe. Today I would typically catch a gust and ride it to where I wanted to jibe but then struggled with being fully powered/over powered and jibing on a wave/swell face. I would typically chickenout on committing to leaning forward into the jibe and I would be soggy toast. Ankles still a little tender from the crash yesterday.

Working on the 5x10s, Roo :)

Met Canadians: Gary (private practice veterinarian), Rod (government veterinarian), Bill, Woody, Don

July 3 - HR Waterfront Park - PB 2 Sec

Hood Waterfront Park, Hood River, The Gorge, OR, US

Sailworks Retro 5.5, Goya Bolt 95L, MFC KP-RC 360 fin Wind: 17 14G25

My new toy (Goya Bolt 95) is sweet. Handles nicely, jibes more like a wave board than a slalom/race board and is pretty quick as well :) . Made one jibe but even I can feel the potential for easy jibing.

Windxtasy commented: 

Whoo Hoo Barton! Cracked the 30 knots barrier. That is a real milestone. I found it took ages to get past 30 knots, now I can do it anytime there is sufficient wind (water state permitting). Sounds like that new board is a keeper!

Roo Commented:

Well done Barton, you were grinning like a kid at Christmas after you got off the water having cracked your 30 knot cherry. I'd better watch my back from now on as you'll be hunting me down!

I commented:

Thanks Anita. Yup, the Goya Bolt 95L is definitely a keeper. Fun to ride, quick, and from my first feeble attempts, easy to jibe - pretty much everything I need. Also, since the deck is concave around the mast base, the flotation is moved back under the foot straps (just like the iSonic 90) so when caught in a wind lull, this board is actually easier to sail than the Magic Ride 104 liter.

Roo, your back is safe for quite a while yet. :)  The 'hunting down' I'll be doing is asking for advice :)  - such as, on my last run when I got hit by the gust (that you saw coming and knew I was toast), as I recall, I leaned back into the wind more, which obviously didn't work. What should I have done? Note: turning upwind was not an option at the time as I was too focused on the downwind track and didn't see the gust coming. i guess what I'm really asking is how to react when it is too late to do the sane thing and head upwind.  Thanks.

Oh, FYI, the GW-52 and GPSLogit/Alcatel Pixie were about 0.1 knot different for the 2 sec average with the GW-52 reading lower (I posted the GW-52 numbers).

Morts commented:
Well done Barton! Like you I'd got frustratingly close to the 30 knot mark but hadn't cracked it until yesterday & I think your doing it in chop as well which is even more impressive. Feels good to finally see the 3 :) 

I commented:
Thanks Jeremy! Congratulations to you too! Yes, the Gorge (even the Waterfront Park) has chop - makes it exciting blasting over the back sides of the chop on a broad reach. I think that is why Roo likes it here - it would be too boring for him if it was flat water all the time :). For us mortals, it definitely keeps the adrenaline flowing...

Roo commented:
When the gust comes harden up your front leg and drive the power through the board and keep sheeted in. The board will accelerate and stay flat on the water so you will get a burst of speed. Leaning back lifts the board and the fin tends to let go. Weight forward, which is counter intuitive and drive the power into speed. As you correctly surmised that's why I love the gusty choppy Gorge, when you get it right it gets the juices flowing! Great work team, nice start to the month. Great to see PBs from Barton for peak and Chris for distance. Great way to celebrate the Independence day weekend.

Peter commented:
Congrats on the PBs, Barton and Chris! 30 knots is a big step.  I'm sure you'll keep getting faster with Roo's advice so close, Barton! 

I commented:
Roo, you described exactly what happend to me :). It is that burst of speed I'll have to deal with mentally :).

Roo commented:
Now you're over the 30 hump Barton you'll turn into a gust buster. You'll be hunting them down and sailing all over the river looking for them like I do, that's why my tracks are all over the place. It will become instinctive driving through your front foot, next up a 30 knot 5x10 average.....yeehah!

Slippery commented:
Well done Barton on cracking 30kts and keep on asking questions and getting Roo to post the answers on GPSTC. We can all learn.

I commented:
Thank you John! 

On Saturday they held local slalom races. The course was through the area that I typically sail so I would be on shore during the races. I learned a lot from Roo about tactics, not that I will ever be racing. Fun stuff.

Boro commented:
Nice one Barton! Keep it coming!

July 2 - HR Waterfront Park - PB 2 Sec, 5x10

Hood River Waterfront Park, Hood River, The Gorge, OR, US

Sailworks Retro 5.5, JP Magic Ride 104, 38 cm fin wind: 20 15G25 Knots

Been a long time since I've felt comfortable sailing (i.e. since I left Bonaire in May) - today hopefully starts a new chapter in Gorge sailing for me. For the first time since I stopped sailing the Gorge in the late 1990's, I felt comfortable and in control - maybe because today the wind was much steadier... Whatever, it felt good. Made a couple of jibes on swell faces (very nice feeling) and of course blew the rest. Stopped for a rest and was planning to finally start adding some km to my sessions here  and then the wind died. As a result of having a good day and no wind in the afternoon, I was FORCED, FORCED I TELL YOU, to walk up to Big Winds and get a new board. :) . Anxious to try out the Goya Bolt 95 liter Free Race with at 36 cm MFC KP-360 slalom fin. Happy New Toy Day to Me!!

Roo, of course, was cranking. 

Roo commented:

5 jelly beans and 2 PBs, way to go Barton. You deserve a new board for that effort. Glad you are getting to grips with the Gorge...30 isn't far off now! Great job.

I commented:

Thanks Roo. You are a big factor in making it happen with all the equipment tuning and advice you have so graciously provided. Yes, I was surprised to see the PBs as I had pretty much stopped looking at the GW-52 display except for the distance number. The one run felt fast - anxious to see if the Goya Bolt allows me to mentally as well as physically get past 30 knots in the chop... Wind forecast looks like it might be possible :)

Windxtacy commented:

Congratulations, Barton!

WazzaYotta commented:

Nice pb's Barton....congrats!

I commented:

Thank you Anita and Wazza. Not great numbers compared to most in GPSTC but slowly improving.

Here is the new toy. The shape reminds me a lot of my iSonic 90 that I have in Bonaire. I've been told that the Goya bolt jibes much easier than an iSonic, guess I'll find out :)