VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

Well day 1 was idyllic.
Didn't hear my daughter leave for work Woke up about 8:30 local, pretty bleary, but some excellent coffee with eggs and spinach got me going. Wind was N about 8-10 knots.

Slipped the lines about 10, sailed around Biscaye Bay, anchored out for lunch. Saw a huge spotted ray make like a stealth bomber. I'd never seen one before. Maciej saw flying fish several times, I haven't spotted one yet. Earned my keep ? by helping Maciej dive to clean the hull of barnacles that have found bits between the antifoul to grow. Sliced my hands up a bit, chumming the water to attract the 12 ft hammerhead that was seen right here last week. Cuts on the hands not good for warm-water windsurfing or kiting but we'll see.

Sailed back towards the marina when Brenna got off work a little early, ran in close and Maciej stayed with the boat, the 90-year-old grandma, and the 2 year old grandson while I took the inflatible in the last bit to pick up B in her scrubs. Good chop, saw one windsurfer almost planing, looked like a longboard and moderate sail. Didn't see a single kite all day, should have been great for big ones - about 10-13 knots very consistent wind all day. Bumped back to the boat, we sailed back to the sandbar off Key Biscayne, the entire family went for a swim/paddle, back to the boat for a BBQ supper. Fantastic skies with a thunderstorm flashing away somewhere to the south and the downtown towers starting to light up (though only a few lights are on at night now, they finally figured that one out....) Sailed back to the marina in the dark, the wind picked up so we were doing 7.8 knots with the dinghy planing behind and into a narrow dredged channel, water nearly perfectly flat and about 15 knots of wind - absolutely fantastic. Dropped the sails without incident and backed into the slip very tired. Miami's great - haven't been ashore yet!!

Hope to figure out kite lessons tomorrow.

sounds grand, Morley, wish I was there blending a marg on the back of the boat and cheering you on

watch for the windsurfing action in this little vid
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGkurWAXgZs[/youtube]

downwind dave wrote:watch for the windsurfing action in this little vid

nice shortboard!

Day 2, no sailing, a little inflatable trip to the tiny islands off Dinner Key created when they dredged channels for the big Pan Am Clipper base here in the 30s. Back when flying in an airliner was truly exotic and luxurious (as in the Raiders of the Lost Arc), and the world headquarters was right here; all the hangers are now used as boat storage and the office building is Miami City Hall, even though its a few miles south of Downtown.

Frustrating to not windsurf today, the afternoon was 25 knots till dark .

Walked up to Coconut Grove Coco Walk for froz yoghurt tonight. Flashy shopping district, Maserati's cruising. Kind of meh except for the Cuban girls in skin tight jeans and stilettos.

Arranged for kiting lesson tomorrow, probably sail over to Stiltsville (30s places build during prohibition, something to do with rumrunning, now a National Park). There's several videos of kiting here if you google.

hey Morley,

If you need gear to sail, my friend Alex Morales (guy who sailed from Cuba) is in Miami and is deep into the windsurf scene there. I'm sure he could lend you some gear to sail or at least set you up with peopel that rent gear.....just lemme know, he is an excellent guy...10 out of 10! You will have to drink some Zambazon though....HA!

Bobson wrote:hey Morley,

If you need gear to sail, my friend Alex Morales (guy who sailed from Cuba) is in Miami and is deep into the windsurf scene there.

yep, he sure is http://www.windsurfdeal.com/?link=1&news=77
and he's got some great gear

Day 3 wind blew like crazy all day, did a lot of futzing about trying to get the kiting lesson - I posted my session, so I leave the kiting there. Don't know if I mentioned there were about 30 kites out at once - about half being beginners. Lucky to have the instructor there to say "dive the kite to the right - no, wait till this guy goes by" because I had tunnel vision on the kite with no situational awareness!!

Had a great sail downhill to the lesson, put two reefs in the main first, but ended up sailing just on the jib with less than half of it unfurled - and still made over 6 knots at times, not bad for a loaded-down liveaboard. The boat was suprisingly stable at anchor, big enough she didn't pitch or roll in the chop. The inflatable was bouncy though!

Saturday had some family time at Crandon Park beach, a bit sandblasted and cloudy. Onshore wind about 25 knots, mushy waves to about head high, tons of kites and windsurfers out further to the north - looked like lots of fun if not classic DTL break. Later got in a session windsurfing (see log). So fantastic to get a session in after being in the wind for so long. The kiting was fun but didn't do it as a fix (I'm sure this will change once I'm up on the board for longer). Maciej came too and went out on a beginner board with a 5.5 - got planing in the straps on the way out but had trouble repeating it on the other tack. Pretty good for his 4th windsurfing session!

Weird place with things like MacDonalds totally in Spanish. Most of the city seems to be unilingual. Uber-rich Coconut Grove and Coral Gables right next door to the ghettos. Our boat finger has mostly >40 foot sailboats and BIG sportsfishing boats, today there were a number of Cigarettes, Scarabs, and other ocean-racing boats using the vacant slips. Barely-running small shrimp boats and other inshore fishers use the main dock area, and just outside the marina are all kinds of derelict boats, many of them lived in by really poor people as an alternative to the streets. They manage to buy boats for $1.00 that have sunk in hurricanes and been written off by insurance companies.

Sounds like you're having a blast there, MF4. Lucky you! Thanks for sharing your experience.
Awesome to hear how well you're progressing with the kiteboarding. Impressive!
Glad the trainer kite helped.
I agree that that's the best way to learn...in warm, thermal winds. Somewhere tropical while you're on vacation is perfect, and if you're in a foreign country, it's important to speak the same language as your instructor.
Sounds like your next step is staying upwind on the board!

No sailing of any kind today; explored Everglades Natn Park, nice to see km after km of just grasslands and bush, no city, no people! Got very close to a bunch of birds and aligators. Some great hikes, also canoe trails that we didn't use because it was too windy.
Blowing just below gale force tonight, rigging starting to howl and whistle. Hurricane Ida off to our west is combining with high pressure to the east and north to create this unrelenting wind here. Should ease off after tomorrow, plan is to windsurf tomorrow then kite after. One model shows Ida centre coming over us on Thursday, but the rest show it further north.