Round one seemed like it might not happen, but Massimo was optimistic and determined - he set sail with 3.7 and taunted the wind into materializing. Well done! The rest of us joined in on mid-fours and the wind swell kicked up pretty quick. Saw AG over-rotate a back loop attempt into a push loop on the second revolution. Was wondering where M got to and later found out he returned home for `spare` board. DB joined in from Maple Beach and the rumours of a wind shadow appear to be greatly exaggerated as it started to crank while he was on the way out. Nice to see the communal effort from the gear co-op in getting Chuck out on the water so he could through down some forwards and providing RyanCR500 with a spare US box weed fin so he could use his smaller board. Weed were thick and even my weed fins were acting like a rake at times. Also found that the steeper, breaking outside wave faces, as temping as they were, had a nasty surprise waiting on the exit (giant fuzz ball of white foam), but just couldn`t stop myself from repeating this again and again. Nice to see some fresh faces out. Special thanks to Jerry for playing GoPro drone and shadowing me for a couple of reaches! Thanks to Johnny (sp?) for shooting stills!
Round two saw smalller gear (3.4/74 for me), strong wind, angry water, cowboy gybes and survival sailing. Watched the water vaporize off tail of Chuck's board as I followed him on one ride out. I found you really had to hunt for sections smooth enough to even backside rise and had to be careful not be pointing too deep when the next twister hit. The Adrians (young and old) put on a forward loop clinic. Richi and Maryam showed up for the 'shot out of cannon' ride. Late in the second round the wind swell seemed to organize on the rising tide and the hammer effect eased a touch.
Took a quick look-see at Gulf Road (huge rolling swell cruising by) and Gabriel's Beach (super strong dead onshore wind and growling waves) - see the last few pictures.
The wind just kept building throughout the day (WindGuru GFS and BWD 1 were the winners today). Crazy at times at Boundary Bay, but a day well spent!
Pre-Launch OSR
Pre-Launch OSR Update
Mid-Session OSR
Gallery (better for mobile devices)
Slideshow
. Luckily it stopped and they managed to catch up. Hopefully nothing got broken!