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squiz Member  I Love Men in Uniforms!  Member#: 198 Location: Bath Registered: 27-04-2003 Diary Entries: 83 Mood: Wanting SW winds! |
26th March 2018 Windsurfing: Port La Nautique Wind Direction: NW Wind Stength: 20/40 Surf / Sea State: lumpy Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny Max Speed: 29.52 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 16.29 (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Monday 26th March – windsurf *** Port la Nautique ( Etang de Bages ) sunny, wind NW 20/40 mph 29.52 knot max., 27.13 knot ave., 4.47 knot hour, 18.66 knot mile, 30.20 km., 12.75 knot alpha. F2 Stoke 117 with Tushingham X-15 5.8m with 32 cm fin. It was great to have a peaceful undisturbed night after last night’s nightmare. Woke to the most beautiful sunrise over Gruissan fort. This is my last opportunity to windsurf before heading home so was keen to have a blast on Gruissan seafront but wasn’t holding out much hope after yesterday’s massive seas! So, after breakfast we drove the short distance and parked near the windsurfing shop and the wind was definitely up but so was the sea :( making flatwater blasting impossible! So, after watching we headed inland to Port la Nautique and a sail on the Etang de Bages. Several windsurfing campervans were parked there but there didn’t seem any urgency to get on the water! Only one was rigged with a 4.2 on a freestyle board and he was going alright, not surprising as the wind was gusting 30/40 mph! As it is like sailing a large Alton Water – gusty and bumpy – I nearly talked myself out of rigging. Then I spoke to a very nice Dutchman living in Switzerland who I saw in the windsurfing shop yesterday. He was swopping two RRD small slalom boards for two shiny JP’s. I also learned he had all new sails so was a little nervous of taking brand new kit out. We decided to give it a try and as the wind seemed to have eased I took a chance with the 5.8. No kit was going to be right today with gusty shifty winds but my set-up was OK even if the board was a little large at times but I was pleased for more volume in the lulls. I am still not convinced about these wider boards, getting in the back-foot strap is difficult as is gybing:( There was probably a dozen windsurfers out on smaller kit than me having a stop/start kind of day. There were some nice rolling swells out in the middle but also some huge gusts so going fast was hard, also the small fin doesn’t work in the wide board and I keep spinning out not helped by the weed collected on the fin! I returned to the van for lunch with Mag and said if this was windsurfing I wouldn’t do it! Mag decided to go for a bracing walk so I went out again and if anything, it had chopped up even more. In the end I was glad to call it a day. There were not many windsurfers left out but lots of kites. We were undecided what to do as we have to be in Calais early Thursday morning. After having a good wash, dressing and packing the kit away (luckily, I had no problem putting the gear on the van roof as we were sheltered) we headed back to our sheltered spot above Gruissan after calling in at the supermarket. We were lucky to get some reduced eclairs which went down well with a cuppa:) I managed to windsurf 7 times this trip but several of the sessions were not great, I will have to rethink the gear I bring if we come again, more freeride rather than slalom I am thinking? Mag went for a breezy walk in the hills while I did this report fingers crossed that the local police don’t come and chuck us off tonight! |
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