Didn't happen. Race area was a convergence zone, a northerly up in the river past Ft. McHenry and a southerly coming up from Key Bridge. Those two fought it out for 45 minutes and at 6:45 the RC abandoned. Which was fine because we were suddenly invaded by dozens of biting flies. I mean a LOT of flies.
Of course, on the ride back to the dock, the breeze settled into a nice 8-10 northerly.
I think yesterday was the 2/3 mark of 100, e.g., 67th day. Means I have 1/3rd of the year to accumulate 33 days. That sounds possible.
We did a Jimmy Buffet toast with some canned margarita stuff. Not much breeze, until we headed in, of course. Hot!
Flogged the water, couple strikes but nothing boated. Which was fine. Geese seem to be more inclined to fly in formation these days....or maybe I just never noticed.
Wow, sometimes things just go perfectly. Breeze 5-8 and flat seas means it's BOXCAR's night to shine. It wasn't even close. Smooth transitions at the corners and no holes to venture into. Wx looked a little dicey around 4pm, but I think I could count the drops of rain we got on one hand. Spectacular night!
Got the new, improved bunk installed on the floating dock and it makes for a much easier job of getting the boat back on deck. Rewarded with a nice long paddle afterward.
Went down to take a few measurements on the bunk I had collapse on us last time out and maybe a brief paddle if the weather held off. Of course it did until I was 10 minutes away from the dock and then the rain started. I forgot a hat. So I swung into some shelter provided by a stunted oak tree on the tiny Blackhole Creek island. I stayed dry.
Yeah, well, I gave it a shot. Waves were crap and the big foamy is like steering a battleship. Plus it's not smooth enough to get up without a lot of friction. I think a well waxed glass board would be a lot easier.
Still, it was fun! The good thing about being a geezer is no one has any major expectations, including present company.
Surfs up!
Interesting day! North wind wiped out the outrageous northern set of the previous day, but set up a confused wave train unattached from normal offshore swell. I was going to go with the full size foamy big board and try to stand up and do what the locals call "surfing." But the prospect of short rides into close-outs seemed dull. So back to the bodyboard. A few great rides, but the post break rebound was punishing and a clump of sand straight to the left eye had me give it up sooner than I'd have liked.
Tuesday Aug 16. Oh man, what a frustrating day. Probably the gnarliest sets of the week and I could not get outside! A fierce inshore northern current, approx 3-4 knots, would push me out of the approved "bodyboard zone" before I could get past the breakers.
I even started 10 yards south of the flags on the southern end and still never made it without entering lifegaurd whistle hell on the northern end. Four or five separate attempts on three different splashes during a 7 hour day.
Tomorrow a full-on big board attempt instead of this stupid bodyboard nonsense.
Better day! Smaller waves but still some good ones, and almost got into the green room for a second or two. Skills thought long dead are improving! Board rash getting worse though....