DCIB 9/16

[JimSouthwick]

With Arrowhead recording gusts into the high 30s and low 40s all night, it seemed a good bet that DC would be windy. First on the scene was Tom Smart, followed shortly by Mike Hill. As usual, the wind arrived at DC as a series of gusts, which were reaching into the 20s by 9:30. Tom rigged a 6.x (as I recall) Mike a 5.3, me a 6.0. It quickly became apparent that I had rigged too big. As I was contemplating what to change down to, Pete Larson arrived and rigged a 5.7. l was about to rig a 5.3 when the biggest gust yet convinced me that a 4.5 would be a better choice, even if it meant a trip to the parking lot to get it. Carl was next to arrive and was soon showing the rest of us the way with a 7.5 and his Carve 99; his session was interrupted briefly by his __th broken mast, after which he returned to the fray with a 5.4, and resumed dusting the rest of us. Pete and Geralyn Monaco joined in the fun, and last (I think) but certainly not least, George Ward, who was very powered up with a 5.7 on his 100L Naish. There was at least one other poleboarder whom I didn't get close enough to to identify, and several darksiders. Gusts strong enough to power a 4.5 onto a plane continued until almost 4. All in all, a epic day by DC standards.

http://homepage.mac.com/jsouthwick/PhotoAlbum88.html

[Mike Hill]

Awesome day James. In the 20+ Years at DC, the rollers were as big as I've ever seen them. There were times that all I wanted to do was hold on long enough to get back to the safety of the shore. The 5.3 was great for about 2 hours and then way too much for the rest of the session. Noticed on the meter a peak gust of 41. Today was one of the epic days at DC. A keeper for sure. My hats off to the Darksiders. it blows me away the range the kites have.

[Carl Christensen]

Very solid sailing chasing a wound up and charging Jim all over the lake. His anemometer clocked better than 40mph on the beach. Ground level dust storms obscured the park periodically. The kiters did well even though it must have been a bit erratic for them. By the end they were gone. Was that because they were tired, (doubt it), or it wasn't good kiting? They had good stretches for sure but it's not the smooth sweet air they get at UL, more like a puffy 4.7 gorge day. Anyway, epic is right. At this point Wednesday is promising too. Hope I can find a new mast if it's not 5.4 weather or better. Looking for a good 460.

[bordy]

Mike I know you and Jim have kites in your possession! It was still hard to hold a kite down in some of the DC gust today also. Everything from 7m to 11m, still sortof scary but lotsa fun! Some good fast reaches out of the poleboarders today it was great to watch!

Ps Hope I didn't scare the guy I jumped over, I thought it was Jim at first but, well it wasn't......Sorry...

[Carl Christensen]

There was a large stripe of brown water 2/3 of the way across the lake. It seems to be the river current as the Provo dumps into the north end of the reservoir now that the lake is low. It creates some of the swell Mike was talking about, kind of a gorge effect and sure is nice. Does anyone know if it's shallow out there? Anytime the water turns color like that it makes you think it's getting thin.