w-surf-2015

The Skydog Report

Sunday November 1, 2015 and off to Rondeau I go with a forecast of SW 22 to 33 mph and sunny. I get there and Heather Arnold and Patrick Holman and his Daughter Lauren are just ahead of me. The wind look great for a 5.0 or smaller so I set up the 5.0 and Heather sets a 4.5 and then a 4.2 after being over powered on the 4.5. Patrick and Lauren go out on their 7 metre kites and tear it up for three hours both doing fantastic jumps and Patrick has a new measuring device that tells us that he got up to 36 feet off the water. I went across the bay at 11 am and I was over powered on my 5.0 and I had left my 4.2 at home so I took pics for an hour and then tried it again but it was still way to windy for me. Heather also felt over powered and we packed up. Greg and Cathy Mellon showed up around 1 pm and they both did really well. Andre was also having a great time on his 7 metre kite. Just as I was leaving the wind appeared to be slowing down some but I was to beat up to try again.

The Skydog Report

Thursday October 15, 2015 and off to Rondeau again and when I arrive at 10:30 Andrey is having a great time on his Kite and tells me to set up a 6.3 sail as it has been light so I do that and by the time I finish the wind has increased so that I can easily use a 5.0 so I set it up. The air temp today is about 62F. and the water temp is around 60F. Now Les, Heather, Don and Annabelle have joined us. Les and Don get their equipment ready and the three of us get out there. It is real nice and we sail till lunch break when Marek shows up and after lunch I set up the GoPro camera and ask Don and Les to sail close for some good shots. By now the clouds have moved in and the wind is increasing with Don and I on our 5.0 sails and Les on his trusty 4.2 sail. I see Annabelle zooming along and Marek gets going too. Don and Les zip along close in front of me for some good video and I will have the video up in a couple of days. I wish that the sun had stayed for better video but we will have to do it again soon. Darlene came in late and sailed in the shallows for a while. Marek had a fin depart so Don and Annabelle went looking for him as we could see him floating into the bay near the campground. Marek finally walked back as Don did not find him. Around 3 o'clock Ken Addeman pulls in ready for some wild sailing and sets up his 4.7 Ezzy sail. The rest of us had packed up except for Darlene who stayed to keep an eye on Ken. When we were leaving we could see that Ken was screaming across the water having the time of his life.

Don, Heather, Annabelle, Les, Bob, Marek and Ken. - Darlene Not Here Yet.

Don and Annabelle

Ken

The Skydog Report

Monday October 12, 2015 the forecast for Rondeau was close to south at 20 to 30 mph so off I went and I arrived at ten am and Ken Swartz had been there since 7 am and he had started on a 7.5 sail and now was going down to a 5.7 so I set up my 5.0 Ezzy for my JP 120 board. Doug Wells and his son came in around 10:15 and right away set up their 5.0 and 5.2 sails and they got onto the water by 10:30. They looked to be doing good out past the pier so I went out with them and got in some fast sailing making three runs across and back. On my last run the wind dropped off so that I could only cruise, not hardly on plane so it was over for a while. I waited for a half hour and the wind went down even more and the clouds set in. Les, Ken Addeman, Bernie and Rom had come in around 11:30 so they did not get the biggest wind but Les later told me that it picked up again after I left but that it was very gusty.

The Skydog Report

Thursday July 31 We went to Rondeau and had a great day of 5.0 to 6.3 sailing. Photos Below.

Friday August 1, 2015 Les Squires and I try Port Rowan as the forecast called for more wind there than Rondeau. It was my first time there and it looks like a real nice spot. It appears to be about twice as far across as Rondeau. Ken Adderman and Les were on the water first and it looked like once they got out a ways that they were going very well. I got my 6.3 rigged and got out there and had a good run most of the way across and then I saw Les coming back so I tried a jibe and failed so a water start and that did not go very well as I was whipped from Thursdays runs at Rondeau. Well after about fifteen minutes I finally got a water start and I was working hard to make my way back to shore but finally made it and that was it for me. Les went down to a 5.0 sail and was having a great time and Ken was hanging on to his 6.6 when I left.

Les Squires Starting Out

Les Ready To Sail

Les

The Skydog Report

Wednesday June 10, 2015 Rondeau bay again and the forecast is for 20 to 30 mph so we are excited. Maureen and I arrive at 10 AM and there are two kiters on the water already. Looks like a 5.0 sail is in order so we set up. Maureen was on the water by 11:30 and the 5.0 was too much for her so we waited a couple of hours. I set up the 4.2 sail and had three good runs. By 4 PM the wind started to drop off so Maureen went out again and this time the wind was good for her and Maureen took a few good runs and we have it on video from our Jet Ski. Les, Ken, Ken and Marek had some great runs. This was a great day on the water.

The Skydog Report

Wednesday May 27, 2015 was a good day at Rondeau Bay. we loaded our Jet Ski and all the windsurfing stuff and arrived at 10:30 am. The plan was to get the sailing things set up and that I would follow Maureen with the Jet Ski in case she needed assistance on the water. Well Maureen's first run was good almost to the far side where the wind dropped off and it was hard to water start so Maureen took the jet ski back and I jammed a water start to get back on the JP 120. On my way back the wind picked up again and I was screaming along and it was windiest close to the east shore of the bay. I set the Gopro up on the Jet Ski and Maureen took another run across and it worked out about the same so we came back and set up a 6.0 meter sail and went at it again. All the while the wind was dropping off so we finally packed up and it started to rain heavily. e had some good practice and enjoyed the day.

Maureen

Les

Ken Adderman

Maureen

The Skydog Report

Tuesday May 12, 2015

The wind report was good like SW 20 to 28 mph so away we went on our first windsurfing trip of the year. Maureen and I arrived at Rondeau Bay around ten thirty and two sailors were o the water using 5.0 and 4.5 sails. It was pretty cool so we watched for a while as Don and Annabelle set up and went out along with some others. Finally around one pm Les came and we set up and I went for three runs in some good wind and that wore me out for my first time out. Les continued to sail as we packed up and left for home. Maureen decided to wait for a warmer day.

Kiter and Windsurfer

Annabelle and Ken