From: Flyz22@aol.com
To: windsurfing@fly.com Subject: insanely wild days
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Rasmus,
Your post sent my mind a tripping back to a hairy on the North shore at
Matinecock Point day maybe about three or four, possibly five years ago.
We had a warm snap in the middle of the freezing February , which was
followed by two days of lunatic Northwesterly clearing winds
(24-26 Feb approx).
I will never forget the incredible roaring of the trees behind my home that
day. At least part of the challenge was getting there. Since so many trees
were down, it was necesssary to drive round an assortment of trunks, limbs,
and branches lying shattered in the road. Hopefully no big branches would
fall and hit the car--eyes and ears peeled. "High Wind Advisories" were
posted by NOAA for that day and anyone seeking it was not disappointed. In
those days I had few people to sail with on Western LI sound so I often
sailed the winter season solo, but a buddy did come along to watch. The
previous day a few hardy souls had gathered at Bayville for a warmer and much
more easy-going 4.2 session, but that particular looney day I sailed at a
place called East Beach in Glen Cove.
As for the sailing, well, it was challenging to say the least, usually all,
and often more, than my 3.5 could handle, plenty of bouts with aggro liquid
smoke. But at least you had some warning and could see the gusts as they
leapt across the water -- missile clouds on steroids. Big Port ramps were
unavoidable, and an adventure since i'm a Starboard tack guy.
More than a couple of times the experience was reduced to trying to hold the
gear down on the water (if you could stop it from cartwheeling off) and wait
for the mayhem to pass. I've sailed "storms with names" that had less wind
than that day--but isn't that often the case?.
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