2010-09-14 iWindsurf says No Wind, but Temira says Go Sailing......

Ross and Andreas decided to head for the Cost for either some Stand Up Paddle Surfing or some Kiting. They had a bit of a late start, but claim they had some great surfing.  (Of course no photos or other evidence to support their claims, so who knows what it was actually like....)

Big Air Jim was complaining about a sore neck... Brad thought a little lubrication would help.

iWindsurf, the primary "fee for service" weather forecasting website in the Gorge, recommended that we go biking.  Temira, who puts a free forecast on her website every day, predicted wind all afternoon.  Fortunately Temira was right!!

We stopped at Big Winds to check out some fins, and borrow a Kode 112 as a demo, then headed straight to the Hatchery. 

Kent explains why he needed to purchase his new fin.

Kent and I were out on the water by 10:30.  I was on the Kode 112 with my 6.6, and Kent was on his Kode 84 and a 5.6.  The rest of the gang were a bit slower to get out.

The wind picked up a bit, and most of us rigged down.  The wind was pretty solid all day.  Everyone had fun, but the day was not without incident........

After a short break for lunch, I got all ready to go, and then headed out without my Harness.  Oh no!  I had to hang on long enough to get upwind enough to get back to the beach.  I need another rest by the time I got back.  I might have gotten away without telling anyone, but Gerry was on the beach laughing....

Paranoid Big Air Jim is convinced of a conspiracy theory against him.  His version is that several sailors planned to fall in the water so that he would drop in to help.  Once he was floating in the water and helpless, Blaine, frustrated from not being able to catch him all day, took a run at him and was finally able to not only catch up, but also run over him shredding Big Air Jim's 6.6 Hucker sail - and only doing minor damage to himself (a cut on his leg) in the process.  Big Air Jim had to rig down to his 5.6 sail.  The result was that Big Air, now only one a 5.6, was slower and couldn't pass anyone for the rest of the day.......

Big Air Jim is not impressed.

Blaine's story is a bit different.....something about Jim floundering in the water - blowing another of his Jibes, in exactly the wrong spot, as Blaine slashes another perfect reverse duck, sail 360 vulcan thingy maneuver.  Jim was just in the way - you can't interupt perfection just for the sake some looser laying thrashing about in the water......

Harold's Carve Board suffered it's first major ding, when Harold tripped on a rock while getting out of the water and dropped his board on a rock, puncturing the bottom skin.  A quick repair and he was ready to go again.

We were happy to meet our friend, author and publisher Mike on the water today.  He seems to always be at the hatchery whenever it's windy (I guess that's why we haven't seen him all week.)  We enjoyed a few brews after sailing with him.  Mike runs an on-line publishing company specializing in customizing books by inserting your name and your friends names as the main characters..  BooksByYou

Blaine is on the phone asking Winnie not to book any
more vacations or buy any more jewelry until he gets back....

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Harold W - learning how to use his wife's camera - taking a pic of the group!

By the end of the Day - Big Air Jim was smiling again......
maybe he has figured out how to get even....would he do that???

Once again it was dark by the time we finished de-rigging.  China Gorge was the call for supper - then bed by 10.  (another late night...)