Friday Freeze

Friday 11/18/2011, Metro Beach

Arrived at 2:00 with an onshore south wind with a bit of west, already there were several windsurfers on the water with small gear.
I rigged the 5.0 and went out and quickly found I was way overpowered. Good steady, strong winds drove me back in to rig the 4.0 and to warm up. Rigged the 4.0 as the wind was upping it's anny. I spent some time warming the hands and headed back out with the 4.0. Still the wind was overpowering I knew I should had rigged the 3.5 but I held on and sailed the steady conditions for a half hour before the cold took it's toll on my hands - came in to warm up and maybe call it a day but once I got warmed I headed out for one more quickie half hour session in which frozen hands forced my in.
One thing good about Windsurfing, it gets the adrenalin flowing and all other aches and pains seem to subside but the cold hands remained cold with a numbing feeling to painful to enjoy for me.
It was the coldest session of the season for me somewhat below my limit for coldness but still it beats the "Honey Due" list.

I know the season's last dance is near. It's been a great season with 39 sessions. I enjoyed every tack, wave, swell, jibe, jump, attempted new moves with the resulting crash and every aspect of the sport in this my 22nd season of windsurfing.
Also I am really thankful for all the enjoyable people involved in this great addiction of ours. Looking forward to next year with a newer 84-85 liter board.


Session: 1 hour of time on the water between 2:30 and 5:00.
Gear: 5.0, 4.0 Ezzys, 84 liter JP.
Conditions: Strong Steady onshore winds with small Lake Huron style swell.
Weather: Air 40's, partly cloudy, water 45 degrees.
Wind: S-SW up to 40 estimated.
Schooled: Staying warm.
Images: Metro Beach Weathertalker Data and Iwindsurf GPYC Data