7/11, Assateague Island, 16 and 13 meter kite, 133 board

[Leo Chan]

I've been to Assateague Island a few times before, mostly trying to windsurf at the ocean side. But the bay side is great for sailing as well. Good lord, it is GREAT for sailing and kiting! The road to the launch site is just south of the national park entrance. There are plenty of Assateague horses along the way. Sometime next week will be the annual horse drive (they force the horses to swim across the bay in Virginia section of the bay and then sold them off for charity as a way of controlling the population). Anyway, the bay is not as big as Cape Hatteras. Still, there are plenty of rooms to sail. Think of a place larger than the Great Salt Lake and Utah Lake combined, with half of the area no more than chest deep! There are coves, slicks, channels created by slicks and islands to play around. I tried couple of speed run at the channels and OMFG, I've never gone so fast on water before!!! The bay is large enough that the swells can be pretty big. The shallow water allows for practicing new tricks. Just don't try to pull big air near shore! I started the day on the 16 meter Best Bularoo and had to rig down to the 13 meter Ozone Sport II by 4 p.m. I practically sailed 4 hours non-stop. My legs were so tired by 5:30 I can't even hold on to a simple downwind ride on my way back. Had to call it a day. And what a GREAT day it was!