2016 Spring Gorge Trip: 2016-06-24 Roosevelt as it should be

Friday, June 24, 2016 - Sailing in Roosevelt -

Warning Graphic Photos - may not be suitable...

There was some urgency to the sailing today. Most were all packed up and planned to head home after sailing. Kent, Ross, Karen and I had planned to delay going home, and head to the coast for the weekend.

Checking the forecast, I looked at yesterday's wind log. No wonder we were struggling. The lulls were less than 10mph while the gusts were over 30mph. Not great sailing or kiting.

Yesterday's wind chart....

Today looked better, but still sailing out East. The call was Roosevelt. Jim, Cam, and Cynthia headed out early - hoping to get a quick sail and then a head start on the way home. Others took their time. Most of us were there by noon, although Andreas, Ross and Karen were a bit later.

The wind was much better than yesterday, averaging around 30mph with gust to 40mph and the lulls in the mid 20's. Perfect sailing.

Most of the guys were on 3.7 to 4.7. I rigged a 4.8 hucker with my small board (94L Code) and sailed it all day. It was perfect.

Gerry said it may have been his best day ever in the Gorge.

Karen enjoyed the day sitting under the gazebo with her Ipad watching and photographing a couple of birds who had a next in the rafters.

We ran into our friend Mike Pocock, who has been living in Belize, but has returned to Hood River for the Summer. Very good to see him.

Mike Pocock- Back from Belieze

Ross and Andreas sailed, possibly for the first time this year. Ross tried out a 3.8, but after a short while, switched to his 5m Kite. He says it is just more fun - and not as hard on his body. Andreas stayed on his 4.2 all day!

Andreas on his 4.2

I think everyone had a great sail, but the day was not without its drama!

Kent - trying to smile.....

Kent came in around 3ish trailing blood. He had cut his foot on his fin as he was adjusting his boom before his first reach. He gritted his teeth and sailed for the next two and a half hours not realizing how badly he was cut. When he came in walking barefoot on the sand, it really started to sting. (I guess in the cold water the foot was numbed to some extent.) He limped over to the picnic table where we could examine it. Ouch!

He was quickly examined by doctors Cam and Cynthia. Cam, the emergency room doctor, advised as follows:

"I can flush it out and you can keep sailing - then I will flush it out after your sail, but it likely won't heal as fast and there will be a much higher risk of infection, or"
"I can flush it out, clean it up, and stitch it shut - but then you can't get it wet for 24 yours - so no more sailing today."

At first Kent was going to go with option one -- but after some thought, looking at a photo of the cut, and remembering that he had a bike trip planned in a couple of weeks, he opted for option two.

Cam at work!

Cynthia brought Cam's suture kit, Cam dawned his blue gloves, Kent arranged himself on the picnic table, and the surgery began. There were many gawkers from our group and other local sailors, along with much advice. Cam kept in high spirits and joked throughout the procedure. Karen videoed the whole procedure... some of that may make next year's video...Kent just grit his teeth.

Kent - Enjoying the attention - sort of....

Cam's surgical kit!

Kent was a good patient while Cam Flushed out the wound, applied local freezing (many needle pricks), stitched up the wound, applied a gauze pad and then wrapped the foot with tape.

Cam's Art Work - Five Stitches...

Kent - post surgery (before the freezing started to come out...)

After the procedure, Kent felt pretty good - until the freezing started coming out a bit later - then it started to hurt.

I guess field surgery makes you hot....This couple of doctors couldn't control themselves....

Kent told me to go and get my camera, so he could take some photos of me while I sailed. As you know there are seldom photos of me sailing on the blog. I complied and set him up sitting on the retaining wall at the waters edge looking out over the river.

Ted on his 4.8 and 94L Code

I took out my rig and took off across the water. As I was approaching the other side - it looked like there was a sail sitting on the rocks (there is no beach any landing spot unless you go way down to Arlington. Hoping it was not one of ours, I headed down wind to take a look. Rene was there, climbing up the rocks to the railway tracks. I shouted at him. He had lost his board and was going to walk down the tracks towards Arlington to try to get it. I said I would go down and have a look. This was a bit of a mistake, because as I got there, I realized that I couldn't come to shore because the wind got very fluky in the small bay's that are there. I lost track of Rene - and couldn't see his board. I decided to try to head back up wind and go back to the beach to advise the others, which is what I should have done in the first place. On the way, I stopped Ross, who was kiting and told him what was going on. Ross headed over but also found that he couldn't get close to shore.

Cynthia - having a great day...

When I got back to Rossevelt, I told Kent and the guy's what was happening. Cynthia said that she had just talked to Rene and that he was back by his sail, so I went across again to talk to him. He said that he had found his board, and that all he needed was the nut that attaches his mast base to his board, and that if he had the nut, he could sail back. Simple. I crossed the river again and Brad gave me his mast foot plate which had two of the nuts on it. I stuffed this in my life jacket and headed back to Rene. With the help of another fellow who had stopped, we got him his nut, and got his rig back in the water and reconnected. I followed Rene back across the river without any more difficulty.

The Rescue.....

On shore, Rene explained that when his mast separated from his board, he had first tried to swim after the board, but couldn't catch it. He though he had lost his whole rig, but swam back and found his sail still floating, so he was able to swim it to shore and climbed out. Miraculously, his board, which had washed up on the rocks was not damaged. Unfortunately, he did crack the crystal on his new GPS watch when he was climbing up the rocks and slipped. (they are very slimy and slippery).

Rene - the Returning Hero!

What a day!

After all that excitement, it was around 5:00pm. Everyone was packing up and saying their goodbyes.

Ross, Karen, Kent and I headed back to the condo's. Our trip to the coast was off, but all our stuff was still in Hood River. We went to 6th Street Bistro for supper and had some of the best ribs I can ever remember eating. Ross, Kent and I all ordered the full rack, and when it came, the ribs were extending beyond the edges of the plate on both sides. We were all hungry and finished them off with little difficulty. The owner Chris Creasy, came over and visited with us for a while. He is alway interested in our adventures and appreciative that we frequent his Bistro. He wished us well and told us he is looking forward to seeing us again in the fall.

I left the condo before 7:00am the next morning heading for home. Kent was an hour ahead of me. I doubt that he slept well with his foot, and as he told me when I called him on the way back, he was anxious put it up and put some ice on it.

I understand that Blaine and Brad stopped at Old Man Dam in the morning and it was windy, but the parking lot was empty. After such a great day in Roosevelt the day before, they chickened out and decided to head home.

I must have been the last of our group crossing the border that day, so when the border office heard I was windsurfing, he just rolled his eyes and told me to have a nice day....

I drove as far as Nobleford where I stayed the night with my friends Kirk and Barb. We had a very nice evening catching up. Kirk hasn't been to the Gorge for a few years, so was very interested in what has changed. In the morning I delivered a Kiteboard to a fellow in Innisfail for Kirk and also met my friend Bob Klat, who lives in Innisfail, for lunch. It was very nice to catch up with Bob. I was home just before 4:00pm.

Another great trip. The wind was a bit more spotty than usual, but there was sailing and/or kiting every day. I am already looking forward to our fall trip.