2022 Sailing Season

Thursday we sailed the Hatch.   3.9 foiling and 4.8 finning were the calls and it was a lot of fun.  Dale came up and sailed with everyone (or sailed past us at 40kph).  Man is he fast.   Kent and Dale went up to swell and Dale showed him where the best swells were.  While Kent and Dale were up wind a barge came through.  Man do they sail close to the Washington side!   After it passed there was a bit of excitement as the barge laid on it’s horn because some sailer was not getting out of the way.   Turns out it was Jim.   No more detail other than to say Jim’s wet suit may need a bit of sanitation. So after a great day at the hatchery we all went to China Gorge for dinner.   A quick review of the forecast indicated that the wind would kick at Arlington on Friday and all the plans to end the trip at Roosevelt and head north started.    Friday, there was a hick-up or two as the forecast changed in th...

  Brad, Cam, Jim, Eddy, Mike,  Al, Kent and Ross! Blaine and Kent sent me an update on the sailing Thursday.  Sounds like everyone had a lot of fun, and that one "senior member" probably needs to clean out their wetsuit and throw out their shorts..... ...................................................... Had a great day sailed at the hatchery!    Brad was on his new used 3.5.   Blaine and Kent were on 3.9’s and little wings!   The swell was awesome.  Jimmy sailed 3.4 and loved the swells! Al was on 4.8 and little board and it was great that the whole crew was sailing the hatch.    One bit of excitement when some sailor was in front of a barge and up hauling.  The horn blared for a long time but the sailor seemed to think it was a train…. Until they looked up and the shadow of the barge right on top of them.  We will leave it to the crew to guess who that was but it was one of the senior members of our crew. The kiter...

The Sign of a good trip - Lots of Park Passes. Missing is the Event Site Pass, which I gave to Ross when I left! Brad sent me the following summary from yesterday.  It sounds like everyone had a lot of fun - sorry I missed it. Yesterday was windy in the corridor and some of us went to Swell and the rest of the crew went to the Event Site. Cam, Jim, Kent, Blaine, Brad and Al were at swell. Al windsurfed on a 4.8 and 85 ltr board. Brad and Blaine  foiled 4.5 and 3.8. Kent 4.5 and 3.2. Jim 4.2. Cam winged on a 4.0.  Most of us sailed 30 km or so. Of course Kent and Cam did more. Big swells and challenging but fun. A few big crashes but no serious damage. Ross was on his 5m kite(70km).  Eddie and Mike were on their 10’s. Ross sailed up to the lower hatchery and decided that was far enough. Dinner at a new Thai place called Mugen noodle and even Jim had a noodle bowl! Lol

Blaine - with just one more purchase!!! We had another lazy start to the day.  When Temira's forecast came at 8:00, it looked light the forecast had been downgraded.  It now looked like the winds would be light, and late in the day. I have to be back in Camrose Friday for the Alberta's Littlest Airport Fall Windup Fun Fly (RC Aircraft event) because I help with the registrations and also am the designated photographer for the weekend. Rather than wait until the end of the day as I had planned and leave after sailing, I decided to pull the plug and leave today. I booked a room in Cranbrook, filled out my ArriveCan, loaded my Van, Said my goodbye's, and left. The drive was long but fairly easy, and much easier than trying to push through in one day like I have done in the past. As I was leaving, Blaine arrived back from sailworks, proud of his new purchase - a 671 front foil wing.  I think Sailworks have done pretty well by us this trip! As I drove down the river, around n...

Kent, practicing an interesting way of jibing! We had another slow start to the day.  Everyone did their own thing for breakfast.  It seems that Bett's is now the exception instead of the rule.  Freshies seems to be a favourite recently. Eventually the decision was made to head to Moiser.  Moiser is a nice place and allows everyone to sail, launch, and hang together - even the kiters! I started the day taking some photos and videos. Cam did a ridiculous number of turns today! I could see how everyone on a foil is improving day to day.  Kent is starting to really slash up the waves, as is Blaine and Brad.  Big Air Jim is getting most of his jibes!  Ross is switching feet and getting much more comfortable on his foil (and new 4m kite).  Cam is doing a ridiculous number of jibes - snaking down the river, and then shooting back upwind!  I am starting to get some of my jibes and am even linking starboard to port, and then heal side port to starb...

Big Air Jim (or "Shim Jim") had a great day! We had a slow start today.  I think everyone was tired from yesterday's session. Shortly after we got up, it started to rain, and the rain continued for most of the morning. After breakfast, we all went to Sailworks, in shifts, to talk about sailing, what the forecast will be, and what new equipment we might need. Big Air Jim  had the sailworks team look at his foil, confirm that his shim was in correctly, this time, and give him advice about how to sail it. Dale Cook working on Jim's foil! The sun started coming out around noon.  Kent, Brad, Blaine, Al and I watched some Sail GP while eating lunch in the Condo. The forecast was for wind in the afternoon, so we all headed down to the Event Site, to wait for the wind.  It was very calm when we got there around 2:20.  There was a slight breeze from the West, but nothing to speak of.  There were a couple of people out on their E-Foilers blasting around on the flat w...

Calm and Smokey We got up to a very calm and smoky day.  The forecast was for not much wind, but a possibility of a session in the late afternoon. Everyone sort of did their own thing, during the day.  Eddy sorted out his kite lines, Blaine went and washed his van, and Jim and Cam went shopping (what else).  Cynthia has told Cam it is OK to buy more gear, but that before he did, he had to make a spreadsheet adding up all his purchases of the last few years.  Cam said it was a cruel thing to do.  He has spent a lot of money over the years!  Still, a boy needs his toys, and it is important to keep the economy going! At about noon, Kent, Blaine, and I decided to ride our bikes to Moiser for lunch at the Taco stand.  It is a beautiful ride down the "Old Historic Highway" which is now a bike/pedestrian route.  Blaine and I had our E-Bikes, while Kent was working hard on his Mountain bike.  An e-bike can make it really easy, or challenging, dependi...

Eddy - De-Rigging his 12m Kite after a great session! I thought everyone said they were getting up early, grabbing a quick MacDonald's breakfast and going sailing.  That is not what happened.  I think everyone is getting tired from four days of sailing in a row. Blaine and Brad went down to Dog River for Coffee, Ross and I each cooked our own breakfasts, and while it was a pretty lazy morning, we did get out of the condo by about 10:00.   Kent went to sailworks to pay for his new board, and Brad and Blaine went there so Blaine could buy the 3.9m Flyer sail and mast that he was demo-ing. Jim Mudry and his family were going to Viento.  Stevenson may have been windier, but also maybe too windy.  Kent and I were first to arrive, but all the others followed. Kent, talking about how big his thing is.  I mean foil! I sailed on my 4.5m wing for about 15km, then came in for a quick snack, and took out my 5.5m Wing for another 21km.  (I was on my 899 front ...