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Hoping for the forecast S on Saturday, I arrived at about 09:45 only to find a gentle 4-6 kts SSW. Waited a bit, and then went to Wegmans and Lowe’s hoping for the wind to build. Checked out the new launch site at the new town dock area (still under construction). More on that later.
Had pretty much given up and left Lowe’s back to Ithaca, when the flags were blowing as I was going past the SYC. So I turned over to the yacht club and it was capping. Back to the park…
Got there and it was mid-to-upper teens at the swimming beach. After a bit, PharmaBob showed-up dressed and ready-for-Freddy, so we rigged. Bob went for his 9m and I rigged a 6.7…a little optimistic, but the forecast was for gusting to 30. We got Bob out and I followed…was a little underpowered at first and required some in-the-water boom adjustments but got it going after a bit. Made some nice jibes – after last week’s debacle I was wondering… – but it was REALLY up and down. When powered, the wind was more like 6.0, but the power was often on 60-90 sec and then off for 3-5 min. Schlogg and Flog, often with little visible warning on the water (i.e., downdrafts)
We were out a good while when a squall went through and it went huge, I thought 25-30, Bob was guessing 30, so we went into survival mode and got back to the beach. I rigged down to 5.8 (mistake) and we went back out. Bob had some success but it didn’t stay up after the squall and it was just schlogg for me. We came in and called it a day a little after 3 with a storm rapidly approaching.
Brad was at work, his only slot being during the morning light breeze. Bob and I anticipated seeing others, but had the place to ourselves. Water temp is quite cool but not frigid. Clarke Point buoy is indicating 50º. Town dock launch area is currently behind chain-link fencing for construction of the bridge/trail over the creek inlet. I’d like to have seen a bigger launch area – I guess we don’t spend enough money in Geneva to merit more beach space. But at least we DO merit some space, and the wind sensor has a great spot (complete with RWS sticker). There is also a boading etiquette / safety sign, reflecting the extensive efforts Brad has put in to keep Geneva board-friendly. There is lots of rip-rap, and with the prevailing winds it is not a good site for beginners (the sign notes that explicitly). I fear the parking for boarders may have been sacrificed, with the result that there may be a pretty big carry depending on the parking situation…we’ll have to see the finished product. Certainly, the Geneva has done a lot to improve the launch site.
On the State Park side, the beach area has been cleaned and graded a good bit to the east out to the first mini-point. There are some pretty big r0cks in the first 20 yards off the beach, but otherwise it’s OK for water-launching kites. Windsurfers at the park will probably still be best off up by the marina, though that often involves a schlogg to the wind line.
What we really need is for the springtime southerlies to kick-in…enough of these cold NW blasts!
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My Saturday Seneca kite session was the inverse of Geoff’s board session. He was a bit under-powered at the beginning and end with a some great speed and jibes in the middle, while I was in survival mode during the middle of the session with some great rides beginning and end. A very rewarding spring session that quickly shook the winter dust off of our board and flying skills, fully engaged our real-time observation weather skills and that required us to apply our local knowledge of the Seneca venue. Many thanks to Geoff for the take-off and landing assists!
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