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Arrived at Seneca SP this morning hoping to find moderate winds, but it was only light-to-moderate. I’d brought the Mega Cat for just such a reason, so rigged the 7.5 and set out on a nice light breeze and sunny day. Wind was SSE at 10 (mostly) to 15 in the gusts. Decided to head up to the HWS meteorological buoy, so put the centerboard down and started beating upwind.
The wind was slightly up and down, sometimes giving almost enough pressure to get in the beating straps, other times just light. As I was approaching the buoy, I started thinking about a conversation I had with Brad about the stacks of the old factory across from Samson SP, and while I had BEEN up that far (on a W wind), I hadn’t actually rounded the barge out in the middle of the lake. I decided to give it a go. Good thing I didn’t know it is about 12 miles upwind of Geneva.
Watching the skies carefully, and the squall that appeared over Geneva behind me, I kept heading upwind. Some lulls were pretty big holes, but I kept going. When I finally got the barge in sight, still miles upwind, the wind shifted to SSE, which allowed me to make long port tack runs almost down the axis of the lake. As I got closer and closer, I thought about Samson as a bail-out spot if a thunderstorm came up…it was still looking very grey in Geneva. Had some trouble with weeds and the centerboard…it wasn’t raising and lowering easily (hmmm, I must take a look). Hey, I guess it wouldn’t be sailing if there weren’t some kind of trouble with the hardware!
Passing Samson on the last leg up to the barge, the wind really picked up (maybe 17 kts) and I was in the beating straps (soooo fatiguing). But as I rounded over tha barge and surrounding buoys, the wind faltered. It was quite light most of the way back, maybe 6 kts, but with occasional lifts to 10 made the trip back very difficult – enough to get the Mega Cat skimming along, but not enough to put power in the rig. So it was a balancing act most all the way home. Got to surf some of the swells, but rarely was really able to hook-in. Gliding, not planing. Jibes were tough, I made most of them but toppled in a few times.
As I got back to Geneva, the wind was filling in enough to do a reach across and back in the powered-skimming mode (not enough for straps, but planing on a broad reach). Good to finish with a flourish.
Didn’t check out the time when I departed, but think I got to the site at about 10:30. Simple rigging, no neoprene, just my shorts, rash guard top, hat and sun block and I was off. So I’m guessing about 10:50 or so. Looked at the time when I got in, 5:22 PM. So call it 6-1/2 hours round trip, 12 miles upwind and back. First time in my life I wished that I’d had a Camelback! More than a few times, I thought I was nuts to try this, but as I rounded the barge I knew it was going to be worth it.
Brad was kind enough to bless me with the Duke award this spring, so I wanted to do something to give it real meaning. Future winners of the Duke award…I hereby challenge you. Show your worthiness, do an extraordinary feat of a waterman. Be safe, we don’t need any memorial services, but do something amazing.
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Actually, I’m gettin’ old and am but a shell of my former being. But the spirit of the marathoner lives on, and can get me in over my head…
Back in 1999 (I think), I joined my stepfather and several friends/family for a stag sailboat race, known as “the Niddle”, up on the St Lawrence. It was always the weekend after Memorial Day. We’d sailed it for years, and I got a notion to do it on a windsurfer. Now, mind you, this is a 30 MILE race, they made the “little boats” go only 1/2 way (too slow). Windsurfing it wasn’t even anyone’s idea, so there was no windsurfer group. On the attached image, the starting line was about where the “o” is on “Governor’s Island” (just beside Clayton), there’s a channel buoy a little to the SW of the “L” of “Linda’s Island” that had to be taken to starboard, then counter-clockwise around Carleton Island, past Cape Vincent and back to the starting line. The shipping channel goes through this section of the river, as does about a 4 knot current. Oh, and, yeah, in early June the water is pretty cold. A much gnarlier challenge than Geneva to the Barge and back!
The day before the race, I went for test ride, and the winds were 15 or so, from the NW, so it was almost just 2 reaches for me…I didn’t intend to sail it, but was going so well I just kept going and it took 3:36…nearly the course record held by a big lake racing yacht (it was huge, racing machine, 46′ or something). My stepdad didn’t mind and kept mum about my scheme.
So when all to boats left harbor, I climbed on my Mistral IMCO with a NeilPryde 8.7 Z1, and went out to mix it up with the fleet (about 35 or 40 boats). I stayed well to leeward, until after the gun and then followed the fleet over the line. Everyone was laughing, but not taking me seriously!
Unfortunately for me, the wind had shifted and instead of a reach it was blowing straight down the channel from Cape Vincent. So it was an upwind grunt. But the IMCO went pretty well upwind, and I actually was able to stay with the tail end of the fleet until the buoy mark (which is where everyone thought I would turn around). I did pretty well over the top of Carleton Island, but the fleet was gradually pulling away. Not long after I rounded Carleton and went past the town dock at Cape Vincent, the wind died. Like DIED. Glass. Perfect waterskiing. I had 8 miles (downriver) to go. The fleet drifted back to Clayton and I started pumping the rig (on a longboard, straddle the centerline, and alternately fan the sail right, left, right, left, pulling back with your “leading” hand). The committee boat came to rescue me, but I rejected the offer (I must have been delirious). Though I was a bandit, didn’t pay a fee, they all knew me and so timed me in (I think), 8:01. Yup, 8 hours. Got a mention from the MC at the awards ceremony for being the longest lasting out there (and as I recall my sanity was questioned).
The Niddle is defunct now, the guys who ran it have all died or are old and no longer sailing, and the next group failed to keep it going. Those weekends were a lot of fun, but it was only windsurfed once.
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I’ll adventure around the islands surrounding our Georgian Bay cottage on a fantastic purple early 1990’s Equipe/IMCO board with a 7.5. Flip the daggerboard down (and move the track forward a bit) and beating to weather is so simple, and railing it up makes the slower speed an exciting balancing act. I never log adventurous miles like yours though. Half the time I will schlog/glide around a few islands to get to the wind depending on its direction. Transporting gear to a perfect launch is not really an option as all of the waterfront is privately owned.
One of my early goals and successes was launching and returning to there at the end of my sailing. 90% of the time, my return is a bunch of tacks upwind as the prevailing WNW blows over the back of our cottage and onto the water. Years ago I took returning to our dock a step further and added stepping off onto the dock from the board. I had about a 90% success rate this summer.
Wd
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The Equipe was a great board. For me, raceboards make gusty conditions more interesting, because you can use the CB and beating straps to really drive upwind, and in the big gusts move the track back, CB up, and get in the back straps on a reach. Much better than schlogging/planing. There is not much worse than schlogging, and longboards are the cure (including windSUP). Your family cottage sounds nice!
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