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It was a day worth skipping out of work for. Sunny, windy, warm……
I started out on the visitor center side with (Technical) Ted and (Shortboard) Joe on windsurfers, and Chris J. and Andrew on kites. The kite boys were “refreshing” with a mid session toast but would hit the water again.
The meter was showing wind speeds worth car speeding for, but it was early and it was going to blow all day…so I wasn’t the fastest car on the Thruway. And by the way, you should never be the fastest car in Geneva where it hits 30 mph……never. Cops make a living off those folks.
Surprisingly, Ted was underpowered on his 4.8, and Joe observed that it had indeed dipped down a bit. So 5.2’s for Joe and I. Underwhelming for what felt like 10 minutes. Finally got on a plane near mid lake and was quickly overpowered and stopped at the state park launch on the other side to tighten things down a bit. Blazed back across the lake with the barn door open (2 miles shore to shore according to Waterspeed Iwatch app), and hit 23mph. Way to fast when you are on wave gear in disorganized swell. Still, on the Geneva side the SSE wind wasn’t quite as convincing. In the mean time, one of the coolest farmers on the water (Kevin the GOAT being the other) had shown up. 1footwilly chilled on the benches as we decided what to do next. The sprouts could grow themselves today.
Go to the park.
So we did. In addition to Bill, Mr. Clean living (he’s dropped a ton o weight and is bald in a hip way) “Ontario Buoy” Ken Jones blazed into the parking lot like he was riding a 6.5 in 25 mph of wind. Ken was soon followed by the “Comeback Kid”, Keith (needs a nick name) Schneller who gets the award he is named for. Keith was an every session staple years ago, who took some time away to be a killer dad. He’s back!
We made the right call, as the wind was touching in way better park side. Suan had been ripping on a 4.5 for a while, and was also joined at the park by Frank Graydon.
Kites were all over, but I was too focussed to stop and see who the crew was. Mark R., Seneca Lake Mayor Brad.
In the next 30 minutes ten windsurfers rigged up to join Suan and Frank. Freaky G. Moore, Joe, Bill, Keith, Ted, Ken, Doug, Gary, Gary’s buddy (met him, but his name escapes me), and Rick……he of the trees, H2O Authority Rick all furiously rigged. Everybody had success. Some had success on the same board and sail for the whole day, while others tried two boards, and three sails (aka ME). Like a middle school kid in sex ed class, I just couldn’t get comfortable. Finally figured it out after frustration and some encouragement form Gary.
Early on in the session I was getting blazed past by most of the crew…Rick and Ken on 5.2 especially (yeah, Ken’s 6.5 didn’t even get wet). The water started to get in a groove with the wind as I had to leave, and the swell got big in the middle. Trying duck jibes in the shadows behind the breakwall was cool with a final score of 2 made and 12 missed. Eric “E. Mundty” (say it like Money) showed crazy athleticism and was flying all over on his 4.8 and 95L board and continued that when he rigged down to 4.2 for the evening session.
Heading home I passed an enthused Isaac B. who must have been crawling out of his skin that he was finally going to get a high wind session. We exchanged hand waves, I need to exchange water waves with him sooner than later.
I got some pics before I left, but the setting sun gave tough light. The will follow.
Windydoug
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Awesome write-up Doug! LOVE reading it. We didn’t make it to Seneca for this south session. It ended up being SSW which was perfect sideshore at a beach just south of Buffalo, so we went there for a really great day in the sun and storm. Tuesday may be south again, so you might find me at Seneca Lake.
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Very nice story Doug…Wow…so cool that Ken is doing well…Looks a bit freaky with the bowling ball on top, but he is a great guy..sure would be nice to see some of you come down to Hatteras this FAll and shred the waves…I could make arrangements to accommodate……Give me a call or Face book
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Doug thanks for the mention! I’m the last of the Syracuse Clan that sails Seneca in a SSE to SSW wind. They all go to Mike M.’s camp on Point Peninsula or Joe C’s. camp on Henderson. Or Kevin B. camp on Mexico Pt . Just too far for me to drive when I can be at Seneca in 40 min. Here is a picture of the last 7 Syracuse Clan minus Mike who took the picture on an early Oneida East this Spring . Tom Lott still windsurfing at 70. Worth the drive just to see so many sails on the water again. Hard to imagine 25 years ago Oneida looked like that on an east wind. Jim K. The Syracuse Clan says hello and all hope you’re doing well. We still call you Red Rider. Left to right Dave H. Tom L. Kevin B. Joe C. Frank G. Mike M. ( Photographer)
Frank G.
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Probably the most windsurfers spotted at one time on Seneca in a LONG time. Going rather fast as well. Being on a foil I can certainly beat up wind of them but flat out speed runs in very rough water it seems I was neck and neck at times with many of them. Say hi on the water, we dont bite sharks :o)
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Good to see everyone out. Got a late start due to a prolonged conference call a 1 PM, but finally joined in.
Didn’t sail particularly well at all, though got some fair-to-good jumps. I thought it was because the Kombat likes bigger swells and we were getting something closer to voodoo chop, but very late in the day it finally dawned on me to fin down (duh)…which I did and it helped greatly in the jibes but my arms were already shot for the day and missing them because of that. I had in my usual “big” surfgrass fin (10-1/2″), but that fin is oversized for onshore winds and works nice in 5.0-6.3. Going down to an 8-1/2 surfgrass made a big difference in board control. Could be I’m getting old and forgetting all this, but I think (hope?) it’s just being a bit rusty in big wind!
For those wanting to know the colors and matching sail size, I spent most of the day on an orange-and-white 4.7 (rigged way flat), probably should have gotten out the blue-and-white 4.2…which I finally did for the last half hour or so (for reference, the 4.2 is my only blue-and-white striped sail, so if you see blue it’s windy).
Lets hope we get another day like that…
GEM
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Love the action on this thread!!!
As a result of everything seemingly coming together for us, Fred Bertram has introduced himself to the group. Fred is a long time windsurfer who couldn’t be on the water this year, so in his own words, he has chosen to do the next best thing and take photos of the action.
Fred is an extremely talented photographer. Keep an eye open for his work in the future.
Wd
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Frank-
We are all better for your efforts in coming to Seneca to meet up with the larger community. I’m not trying to slight the other members of the Syracuse community either. If going to the other launches is easy, familiar and convienient that totally makes sense. Your clan has represented the sport you love for a long time.
When I met you on the water last week I immediately thought back to your avatar pic on this forum. It’s a classic. The day you joined up…after another Seneca session, I felt reaffirmed as to why I run this website. I hadn’t met you in 8 years of sailing on Seneca yet here was this windsurfer that had way more local windsurfing experience than I did, and he (you) were making yourself part of the community.
Good on ya! Tell those guys to join up when we get another Seneca day. They may love it again.
Thanks for checking in!
Doug
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Doug: My story ( Short as to cause you less pain ) I started windsurfing in 1981 and taught windsurfing at Cross Lake Marina my friend Steve Kenan owned after being cert at the Mistral School on the Chesapeake Bay in 1983. Steve got me started. The only one I remember from Rochester from the early 80’s that went to the windsurfer races was Scott and I knew Peter from Quantum Leap.
The Avatar has a lot of meaning to me. It was taken in 1984 on my first trip to Hatteras. I was 29 years old and had just bought my first wave board at Fox a Proteck Greg Lower Custom. My face is painted up with colored Zinc Oxide because when the waves were big we became “Wave Warriors” The ball cap is backward and is dated 1983 from the 83 Windsurfer World championships in Kingston where I spent the week. ( party not competing )
Between 1981 and 2001 I windsurfed 40 to 60 times a year and traveled a lot to the Gorge and Hatteras. Always with a huge group of people. I really miss that. I stopped windsurfing in 2002 because I had a new job that occupied all my time, Family and moved to the middle of the woods. All occupied my time and it was apparent global warming was changing the number of windsurfing days in Central NY. By that time the number of windsurfers was a fraction what it was in the 80’s and 90’s and the social atmosphere was gone. I miss that the most. I started back windsurfing in 2015 after I retired. That explains why I was nonexistent for your 8 years and the vintage of my equipment. I assumed I would not have the strength I had when I was younger but it really upsets me how few days you can sail now and that my skills are not coming back. I’m spending Nov on Edisto Island south of Charleston SC. where I use to windsurf a lot and hopefully get my Jesus back. I call the Syracuse group of windsurfers a clan because that’s what we were. I miss that too.
Last, The Bob in FrankieBob is because when your not planing your Bobbing. Thanks for your friendship!
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Wow, that is a SUPER cool story. I just love it, especially how tight you were with that group of riders. I’m in Buffalo where we have a small group of windsurfers. We come to the Finger Lakes occasionally. My wife and I have only been sailing about 8 years, but I understand that there was a much larger group in our area back 20-30 years ago. Many switched to kiting, but I feel that windsurfing is making a bit of a comeback. Come join us in Buffalo any time. We get over 100 days per year of 20mph+ from April-Nov.
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Mihelbergel: Back in the late 80’s very early 90’s 3 to 5 of us in the Clan would often take the road trip and sail Hamburg town park even went to Crystal once when the wind stayed south. Great group of windsurfers both ability and friendliness. Don’t remember any names and there were no kiters yet. Had trouble getting in the park a few times during season because we were not residence. Once the guy only let us in because we made up a story about being writers for Winsurf Mag. Which by the way there was an article in the late 80’s comparing the wind at Hamburg and Hatteras. Bet he thought it was us. Ha ha. Wish I still had a copy for you. You need to be my age to understand just how much freedom and liberty we have lost in 25 years. Windsurfers tend to be people who cherish freedom. Running from Hamburg to Crystal was a 30 second stop on the freedom bridge. I use to smuggle Rogue Wave boards over the border all the time after visiting Lee Britten in Oakville. The best example was our trips to the gorge. Everyone in the group of 6 or 8 could stay different amounts of time from 2 to 6 weeks. So what we would do is buy 3 or 4 round trip tickets from Syracuse to Portland. We would stuff a van full of 2 boards each and camping equipment. Half would drive the van out and half would fly. Each person would be picked up at the Airport and hand the return half of his ticket to someone. In this way you only had to drive one way, had all your stuff, only paid for half a round trip air fair, could stay as long as you wanted. We rotated 4 hour driving shifts. This allowed us to be together and stay different amounts of time. Air lines only cared that you had a ticket and could identify who you were. Imagine that level of freedom today? It wasn’t perfect though I got held up in customs once going to Aruba because they thought a California Cut Away wave fin was a religious sacrificial dagger. Finally a custom agent in Puerto Rico confided in us that the reason we were always stopped and searched was because my wife’s favorite compact looked like the outline of a hand grenade on the X-Ray. He even showed us. Yeiks! I don’t fly any more because I refuse to be treated like a criminal. Yea I miss the adventure! FrankieBob
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Scott: I did not respond a few weeks ago but saw, enjoyed, and thought a lot about your post. I do recognize a few but very vaguely. Was the striped suit Cami married Jeromy Bishop? I visited them once at the gorge. My next thought was how much better looking and fit people were in the 70’s and early 80’s. But I’m just prejudice for the time period. My last thought is I love nostalgia windsurfing pictures. So sad that so many many people we knew that past through the sport we had such good times with and are remembered in bits and pieces. It would be fun for posting scanned old pictures with descriptions as remembered ( much needed here ) on a regular basis.
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I should have described this pic better, and sorry about the hijacked thread; this was during the early Windsurfer one design racing period, late 70’s to early 80’s. This shot was taken at the award ceremony at Cuba Lake and Genessee sponsored a number of races back then. Jeremy, I remember him. Steve Luter and his girlfriend/wife Sheri? were part of that crowd too. My old hang gliding friend Dave Perrin raced as well, he still sails ice boats in the winter at Canandaigua. Thanks for giving me an excuse to bring back memories.
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