A fun but tiring long weekend! Overall trip conditions probably rated at 6.5/10 for wind + swell at the spots we went, but the company and general good times definitely made it more than worth while.
Saturday @ Doug's, 4.2m/82l. Massimo on 3.7m/74l. Hanz aka. John on 4.0m/73l. Fairly gusty, but nicely lit in the gusts. Swell started out nice, but the holes in the wind lost us some nice jump opportunities. Easy to pick off some big lofty boosts at the start and overpowered forwards. Got 3 "Golitto can backloop off this mediocre wave" backloop attempts that all ended in some nice punishment (not enough vertical punch from said waves). Fun to share the session with some familiar faces: Kus, Pat and Windude. Apres at the Riverside got fairly out of control. The guitarist was killing it, and the bar lineup was short for refills.
Saturday's festivities made for a slower start on Sunday. Massimo, Anna, Hanz aka. John and I loaded up the car on a quest for some serious gnArlington swell, but half way along the drive we pulled out at Maryhill instead as the forecast was not enticing enough to drive for another hour. Maryhill offered a fantastic launching site, sheltered from the wind on nice grass. 4.2m/82l again. Was perfect in the gusts, but the lulls had us bobbing and contemplating how swift the current was. Massimo rigged up to 4.5 from 3.7 and on some runs looked like he was training for the Luderitz Speed challenge. Nice to break out the summer 4/3 wetsuit and sail with no booties. Some nice swell on the far side for surfy gybes and jumps. According to Hanz aka. John, there was too much NW in the wind, which makes it gusty there. Maryhill should only be hit on a true W or WSW.
Stopped by Doug's on the way back to find more familiar faces: Johnny and Heather who had already finished what could only have been a great session based on their faces. Kus was crushing a mid-session pint, looking a little more serene. The even light was awesome on the water, and it looked like 4.2m would be a go, no questions asked. Delayed by a long train bringing gear back to the rigging area, we got about 7 perfect minutes of 4.2m/82l before it turned off...
Monday we tried the Klickitat sandbar near Lyle for some freestyle/flatwater with the kiters in the group. From the highway, it looked like 4.8m/103l would've been fine, even in the more sheltered flatter water, but it wasn't always the case with some big holes in the wind. Massimo was perfect on 4.5m/91l for most of the session. Cut things short at 2pm to begin packing it in.
Bumped into a few more familiars in town throughout the trip: Greg, Caroline, Gusto, Brian, and more. I still feel fairly new to the spots in the Gorge, but the town is starting to feel familiar. Sad to not bust out the 3.7 in some really big conditions, but will definitely be back down there shortly on a big forecast.
Definitely got some good OR Coast training in on the small stuff, so bring on the Cape