2016 Spring Gorge Trip: 2016-06-18 Chasing the Wind!

Saturday, June 18, 2016 - Roosevelt.

The Wall

Temira was late putting out her forecast today, so we were all sitting around Dog River, and then Bette's trying to figure out what we were going to do.

The forecast finally came through. It wasn't epic. Apparently an off-shore low was confusing all the forecasters, so no one was certain about what would happen. The consensus was that it should be windy out east in the afternoon - probably the Wall or Roosevelt.

Cam borrowed Andreas's truck and drove to the airport to pick up Cynthia and Karen. It was their 11th anniversary, so he had to give up the day of sailing (or most of it...).

Happy Anniversary Cam and Cynthia!!!

After breakfast, and a lot of fooling around, we all headed east. Gerry was the first to the wall. I was a few minutes behind. As we got out of the van, the few guys that were sailing were swimming to get out of the water - the wind had died. The rest of the gang arrived over the next half hour. As we sat and watched a few gusts came down the river, but nothing sustained.

Rene, Harold and I decided to move on to Roosevelt. We left, and, like the lemmings that we all are, the rest of the gang followed. I understand that as we left the site, the wind started to pick up. Oh well!

We arrived at Roosevelt around 2:00. Apparently people had been sailing in the morning. Again, people were coming off the water, although there was certainly some wind.

Blaine and Gerry started rigging their 5.6m sails, but then the wind started to pick up, so they de-rigged and re-rigged with 4.8's. Harold got out on his 5.3m sail, but came back with stretched arms needing to rig down.

The wind continued to build. We all had a great day. A few of the guys have GPS watches, so going the distance is a big deal. Gerry won the day with over fifty miles of sailing. I also watched him do an almost Dale Cook style jump. I was just behind him and a little up-wind, when Gerry took off. He got way above me and hung there for what seemed forever. It was really great to watch.

Gerry - Marathon Sailing - More than 50 Miles.

I didn't go that far, but I did reach a top speed of 56.2kph. I remember the reach. I was coming back to the beach. The water flattened out a bit, so I pushed hard and was sailing somewhat downwind. It felt very fast. I wish I had had a smaller board.

Cam, Cynthia and Karen arrived around 5:00. It was still blowing, although it had lightened up a bit, so Cam and Cynthia rushed to get out. After they got out, the wind picked up again - possibly the windiest of the day. Cam was on his 4.8 and pumpkin board, and Cynthia held onto a 3.7 sail and a 76 litre board. Both did an amazing job considering the conditions.

All in all, it was a great day! Everyone had as much sailing as they wanted!

We all seemed to go different ways for supper. Blain, Brad, Karen, Andreas and I went to the Mexican Restaurant.

The forecast is for light to no wind tomorrow, so we will all have a chance to rest up.