3/24 DC Charleston Bridge, 8.5m sail, 117L board

[JimSouthwick]

Wind came up lateish (about 3-3:30) out of the SW. Most of DC is still iced over, but the area of open water at the Midway end has grown considerably in the past couple of days; Charleston "beach" was ice free this afternoon. A light breeze when I arrived at about 4 gradually filled in, and after about 15 minutes of schlogging, I started to get planing rides. Sailing just to the lee of the ice was a lot like sailing to the lee of a sandbar - no swell, just micro chop, which produced a distinctive rattling sound as the board planed across it. Unlike Monday, the ice mostly stayed put; small chunks were continually breaking off, but the main ice sheet didn't move much. IR thermometer registered 40F water, 50F ground.