I figure we should have a "away trip section" somewhere... I am tired of reading how Hawaii and Margarita are sooooo perfect (yeah I AM jalous
) so here is a quick summary of my weekend somewhere on the French Altantic coast.
La Tranche sur Mer: known for its thermal in the summer, the place can be hit and miss in the May/June timeframe but we got the goods. 3 out of 3 days. That works for me!!! The water was nice (well, warmer than here). Since my skills are not quite up to the task yet, we kept going to a very beginner friendly area to avoid the bigger swells. This area is pretty cool: that's where they have the local sailing club for teaching the kids and a nice kite friendly area.
Saturday was all about fun cruising.. 6.7.. I shot a few guys in the water. Perfect wrm up but I wanted more!!
Sunday... Wow. It started better! Around noon the wind was already strong and steady. I rigged 5.0 before a huge thunderstorm arrive and kick us out of the water... About 1 hour and many lignthing strikes later, just about everybody is gone except for a few lost souls waiting
.. The sun came back... then the wind... 25, 30, 35, 40mph. One a a time people get out in the overpowering conditions. I hold on my smallest sail: a 5.0 for about as long as I can waterstarting both feet in the straps and holding for dear life. I eventually give up. Carrying the rig back to the car is in itself a challenge with gusts forcing you to crouch and wait..
45, 50 mph steady.. One local heros gets in the water with a 3.7. Despite his racing background, he is getting worked although he greets us of many huge jumps near the shore...
Some gusts peaks in the 60+ range according to the anemometer of the club. I am wondering about some of a wooden structures for gear storage on the beach!!! When is that thing gonna take off?
Fred finally comes back to shore, broken harness lines. He goes in the little pond behing the culb building where kids usually learn the basics of sailing on optimist class boat. The place is very protected from the wind and has perfectly flat water.. That's perfect for a festival of loops and air jibes!! Yeah.. Impressive.
We leave before our car gets flipped over
Monday.. The swell has grown. Even on this very protected bay we get chest high swell as soon as we get a hundred yards or so from the beach. Sweet. 5.8 then 5.0 for the rest of the afternoon. Some fun cruising.. A nice way to close the weekend.. Time to head back to Salt Lake City!
Any wind expected this week?
Mani
