October _________________________________________________2001
http://cg.thedepot.com/windsurf
Well what can I say? From March
to 4th of July, I sailed 15 days….15 good days. So when I didn’t sail between 4th
of July and the Fall Club Trip the last weekend in September, I guess I just
forgot about windsurfing for a little while. OK, that’s a lie because we know
that’s not possible. I actually cursed the wind gods and my ridiculous summer
schedule that didn’t permit me to get away on the windy days. I wish I could
come up with an excuse as to why it took so long to get a newsletter out after
the July edition…..work, family, whatever. Anyway, some people did get to sail
after July and I’m glad they did. I’ll do better to get the newsletter out on a
more consistent basis. I encourage you to not only participate in this
newsletter but to participate in the club. The newsletter is only as good as
the material I get from the club members. Please get me material, trip reports,
pictures, equipment for sale (or wanted), or whatever by November 15th
in order to make the next newsletter.
The Club Christmas Party
will probably be sometime around the second weekend of December. An email will
be sent with more information when it’s set. If you got this newsletter in the
mail, that means I don’t have your email address and you will get a phone call
regarding the party.
MAC
Newsletter Editor – Mac
Barnhardt Phone: 545-6355
Send all stories, reports,
pictures, and whatever to: mbarnhardt@triad.rr.com.
Club Treasurer – Keny
Kirschtein Phone: 854-9057 and email: keny@elsouth.net
Club Web Site – http://www.thedepot.com/Groups-windsurf. Or http://cg.thedepot.com/windsurf
If you have some good
windsurfing photos, please send them in “jpeg” format to Rob Cornwell, Club
WebMaster, at mbandrob@mindspring.com
- Equipment For Sale -
1999 Neil Pryde Sails-
4.7NR (Like New)
$250
5.3MPR (Like New) $250
5.7MPR (Great
Condition) $225
6.5V8 (Good Condition)
$200
7.0V8 (Like New) $300
7.5V8 (Fair Condition)
$150
1999 Neil Pryde Masts
(Fiberspar)…
430CM (55% carbon)
$125
490CM (55% carbon)
$150
Call Keny Kirschtein
854-9057 or email keny@elsouth.net
Mistral Competition 12' 4"
Great beginner board, stable and fast.
5 sails, 2 masts, 2 booms
All for $495
490 Fiberspar 4200 mast, EC $125
7.0 Gaastra 2X, Very good condition $125
Contact Jeff Shanklin 887-4928
Orca Landsailor - $100,
only used 2-3 times, like new. Land Sailing is a great light wind
way to work on your sail
handling skills. Call Mac Barnhardt at 545-6355 or email mbarnhardt@triad.rr.com.
If you have equipment for
sale that you want listed in the newsletter, send Mac Barnhardt the details via
email mbarnhardt@triad.rr.com.
New
Member Profile – Jason Wohlgemuth
Our new cover boy, Jason Wohlgemuth, joined our club this summer. Jason is enthusiastic about windsurfing and has instilled some new young blood into the club. He’s from Annapolis, Maryland. Jason attended Elon College and graduated in 2000. After school, he worked at Marconi Systems and then went on to Stratus Technologies where he is now a Consulting Software Engineer.
Jason sailed a couple of years before college but dropped out of the sailing scene while in school. Luckily, he found about our local club and has gotten reinvigorated with windsurfing…..so much so that he bought a new Bic Techno 283 and some new Sailworks sails. Now that’s stimulating the windsurfing economy! Jason has sailed Frisco on the Outer Banks, Dewey Beach in Delaware, Sandy Point in Virginia, and now has sailed with the club at Emerald Isle. He just bought a house in Greensboro where he now resides. I asked Jason about his interests and he said that he works all the time and that he and his fiancé, Andrea, want to do some traveling. Please welcome Jason to the club.
Well thanks to the windy weather, Mac Barnhardt was not able to fly his 15.0 sail this time at Emerald Isle. Our 24 members and guests began salivating long before they began packing their SUV’s as Don “Doppler radar ” Wrenn kept everyone up to date with the high wind forecast as the weekend approached. The forecast called for about 20 – 25 on Saturday, and gale warnings on Sunday. One of our infamous Raleigh friends Jon Anderson who had been telling us all along that he couldn’t come due to being a
2 week-old newly-wed, suddenly had a change of heart as he decided to come down after all. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the high wind forecast and his obvious addiction to the sport. “I know we just got married honey but have you seen the forecast?” Hopefully Amanda will allow him out of the house by springtime.
Friday night the blender was broken in with a few margaritas but everyone retired relatively early as if it was Christmas Eve since we all had visions of windy conditions for Saturday. As for the sleeping arrangements…… I think I’ll pass on this one. Let’s just say that a lot of good, hearted ribbing was delivered, and RECEIVED. Next time I will arrive EARLY!
I am not able to report too much on the Saturday afternoon water activity since I was fighting a head cold, along with Joyce. Joyce promised that her symptoms were not caused by the deadly, mind-erasers that she and Keny had concocted the night before. Everyone else was on the water early and having a blast racing back in forth in front of the house. Scott Erb was seen wearing his bionic knee, which I’m told is suppose to help his jumping and forward loops. Good to see ya again Scott. After resting up, I finally did get on the water and sailed with Karol Wolicki until we both became shark bait as the sun began to set. Speaking of which, several members during the day got a thrill as they were sailing when all of a sudden a fin appeared. Of course they first feared the worst only to witness the sight of dolphin swimming nearby.
The men in the club not to be outdone showed that they do possess some domestic skills, as they did the dishes, and cleaned the kitchen, putting everything in the wrong place of course so they would never be asked to do this again. Tired, bruised, and with major food buzzes, people went off to bed knowing that they had another day of heavy wind awaiting them on Sunday.
Sunday morning as Lisa Drake put it everyone was in a rigging frenzy as she decided to wait for an empty spot to rig. Everyone was rigging smaller as the wind meter was showing 20 to 25 and building. Most everyone was rigging 5.6 and smaller so I rigged a 5.5, keeping my 6.5 from the previous day rigged just in case the wind died down. That was a good call since the wind was up and down most of the day but finally settled in the teens to low 20’s. With my Xantos and a 6.5, it was the perfect combination for racing back and forth as the chop was relatively small, and did not affect the wider boards too much. All in all, Sunday was another great day if you rigged large enough, as everyone seemed to have a blast. After everyone had enough on Sunday, we slowly and reluctantly packed our cars and headed back to the real world
As for the weekend, we didn’t exactly get the gale that they called for but we did have plenty of good wind that averaged around 20 for both days. The beginners on the trip did extremely well and gained some invaluable experience on the water. We like to think it was from all the great instruction that they received from the Learn to Sail days. That’s our story any way. There was evidence of high wind, as everyone seemed to enjoy comparing calluses, bruises, and stories in the evening. We also ended up with a few broken pieces of equipment. Lisa Drake managed to ding the nose of her board. She walked around as if she were a 10 year old that had just lost her puppy. The board soon underwent emergency surgery by Dr. Wrenn so she was up and running again Sunday morning. I’m not sure if he is a licensed board surgeon since I did see duct tape on the nose the next day. I guess it truly is used for everything. On Sunday, Gary Whitaker managed to break a mast that he had rented from one of the local shops. I think he is still being held in Emerald Isle working off his debt.
Even though Emerald Isle does not share the national windsurfing reputation of Hatteras, there is something very special about this place, and our trips there in general. Besides the obvious attraction to windsurfing, it is the great food, the laughs, and the rekindled friendships that bring everyone together for these trips. I just wish we could stay for a month.
- Web Site Profile -
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&safe=off&group=rec.windsurfing
This is the web version of
the rec.windsurfing Internet newsgroup. The first time you want to submit a
post or question, it will ask you to register. It’s easy and self-explanatory.
Rec.windsurfing is the best place to go if you have questions about anything
windsurfing. Just post a question and watch the number of responses you get.
You can even search past postings for information. There is a big community of
sailors who participate in this newsgroup on a very regular basis. Some are
there to comment on nothing in particular, some are there to post very
technical answers, and there are even some very high profile industry
heavyweights who weigh in with their opinion. There are also postings regarding
upcoming windsurfing events around the world. Want to know about a particular
sailing spot or windsurfing travel destination? Just ask. When I found out that
I would be in San Diego on business, I posted a request for San Diego sailing
sites, who to rent from, and the range of conditions. I got some very helpful
responses. Check it out…it’s a great resource.
It was requested by a
few folks on the Fall Club Trip that good directions around Greensboro from
Winston-Salem be given. Many of you who live west of Greensboro know how bad it
can be to drive on I-40 through Greensboro and get stuck in the almost
inevitable traffic jams that result from the construction and rush hour
madness. When you’re trying to get to the coast on a Friday afternoon for a
windsurfing jaunt, this is not good.
The best route around
Greensboro is by way of Bryan Boulevard. Try to make it as far as the
Airport/Hwy 68 Exit on I-40. Take this exit and head north on Hwy 68. Take the
Airport/Bryan Blvd Exit. Follow Bryan Boulevard all the way into Greensboro. It
will turn into Benjamin Parkway after the Holden road exit.
You can do two different
things from here.
1) Take the Wendover
Avenue East Exit just after the Green Valley Road/Benjamin Parkway
intersection. Take Wendover Avenue East all the way out past Greensboro as it
turns into Hwy 70. As you get into Eastern Guilford County, you’ll see the
signs to I-40. Once you get on I-40, you’ll be close to Burlington. You can
take Hwy 70 all the way to Burlington if you want.
2) The other choice is
to continue down Benjamin Parkway into downtown. Follow it as it curves sharply
to the right and merges with Battleground Ave. Take a right on Eugene Street.
You’ll head through downtown. Take a left on Lee Street. Follow Lee Street all
the way to I-40. You’ll end up on the very east side of Greensboro where I-40
opens up into 4 lanes.
If any of you know of
other good routes around high traffic areas such as Raleigh, or other
short-cuts to some of our favorite beaches, please send them to me and I’ll put
them in the newsletter.
The Fall Club Trip was a lot of fun. One of the reasons was the dinner at the Sound Sailors house on Saturday night with everyone. The food was very good as several folks prepared very tasty dishes. One of the standouts was Kelly Pruett’s (Charlie’s wife) clam chowder. There were several requests to put the recipe in the newsletter. This could be a new regular feature in the newsletter……club member recipes. Seriously, if you have a recipe worthy of sharing with everyone, send it to me and I’ll print it.
Clam Chowder for a
Crowd
1 lb. Bacon
1 lg. Onion
4 to 6 cloves Garlic
3 to 5 lbs. potatoes
1/2 to 1 cup Butter or Margarine
1/2 to 1 cup Flour
1 gal. Milk (on hand)
36 ounces canned clams (more or less)
1 pt. Heavy Cream
Cut bacon strips crossways into 1/2 inch pieces. Put in high sided soup pan. Cook on medium heat till crispy, stirring occasionally to separate.
Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut into bite size pieces. Cook in a separate covered pot with salted water till tender. Pour off the water.
Chop onion and garlic fine and add to bacon. Cook a few minutes then set aside in a bowl to add later. Melt the butter in the pan used to cook the bacon. Stir in the flour and slowly add the milk stirring constantly. Add some milk and let it thicken before adding more. When you have about two or three quarts of creamy stock turn up the heat a little and slowly add the clams with juice. Don't rush it, just keep it smooth. Add the bacon/onion/garlic mixture. Add the potatoes. Turn down the heat to very low and add the cream. Salt and pepper to taste.
Cover till ready to serve. Enjoy!
The following is
a trip report from Jim Crawford about he and his wife Angela’s trip to Baja
Mexico in 2000. Here’s Jim in his own words:
Our trip to Los Barilles in Feb/March 2000
1)Trip to Baja on a BAD DAY: After spending some
time in Las Vegas, we have to sleep in Los Angelas for 8-10 hr in the lobby of
the airport because Alaskan Air lines has equipment problems but finally
assures us the plane is safe and off we go only to get to Cabo San Lucus after
11 pm (this happened) and we are greeted by 3 Mexicans with sombreros on black
horses and six shooters who say "Seeeeee, gringo, give me all duor
money" (left to speculation).
2) Baja on a GOOD DAY: Los Barilles is about an
hour and a half (by cab for $85 one-way) or bus $5 about 2 1/2hr and you become
a Mexican citizen. WE were lucky and found a nice man closing up the airport to
take us up to our hotel, Play del Sol. When we got there the place was dark,
quiet (lots of ZZZZZ,s), with a gentle breeze and a note on the office door
directing us to our unlocked room. We thanked the nice man, and thanked him,
and oh yes tipped him well and then fell asleep. The next morning we enjoyed an
outstanding view of the Sea of Cortez from our room. The hotel is clean and
safe and friendly. After orientation with Vela it was clear this was going to
be a great place to vacation. Baja, here appears to be safe and clean. The food
is good and plenty of it. Breakfasts are the best. Then you can go to stretch
class on the beach. The windsurf lessons by Pablo are great, every morning and
he really gives a lot to all levels and knows what he's doing. By then you have
an idea of the wind. We were at the other end of the season (fishing starting
and wind dying off). I am told that Nov-Dec to Feb 15th is best.
I wore a tank top shorty, but a spring suit or
short sleeve 3/2 might feel better in Jan. They have F2 and Neil Pride all new
stuff, and some good classic stuff. Oh yes the water/conditions. You pick your
equipment, they cart your board on a 3- wheeler to a sandy point while you
carry your sail and launch. The conditions are easy taking off but can become
challenging in high winds about a mile out as it becomes 1/4 to 1/2 mile deep
and waves/swell get big and break. It is an absolute blast. We had 6.7 to 4.2
conditions averaging 5.0 with 95 liter board about every other day. This is not
a place to go learn but it is possible for some. The water is deep right off.
Now for those who want nuking wind 8hr 400 days a year, stop reading, the rest
may continue. Another reason we came here is to mountain bike (awesome). They
had a new fleet of Specialized Rockhoppers and I brought my seat, pedals,
shoes, helmet, and yes cycling geeky gear. The conditions start out on the 1500
mile 2 lane route north south through Baja and soon you are in the boon docks
going up big Montanas and there are selections from easy to quite difficult you
can choose. One evening I was by myself and stopped in the mountains and
experienced total quiet, when was the last time you have done that? The terrain
is desert with hard pack sand and cacti and boulders and rocks on the more
difficult paths. Views of mountains and sea are outstanding.
You can take any where from a 45 minute to 1/2
day ride but bring a water hydration system. Other things to do were taking a
kayak ride 1/4 mile to do some fantastic snorkeling (we also took about a 1hr
ride to a large reef that has awesome snorkeling with an unusual mixture of
tropical and more northern fish not seen collectively anywhere else). In
addition you can rent an ATV and go up the rollas into desert canyons or along
endless beeches and stop, climb a cliff, to a lone hotel and sip a cervesa
while you watch whales surface and spout off.
Or you can rent a boat
for a fair price and fish, depending on the season and wind. We did not get to
go north to visit La Paz (a true non touristy city about an hour north, worth
spending the night, I am told) but plan to next time. We noticed that many
families would hire a baby sitter and we never locked our doors. This hotel
seems safe and friendly. Be sure to visit Tio Pablo's in town if you go. We
were sad to leave and spent 1/2 day tooling around Cabo San Lucas and the town
west of it. These are touristy big places and I am told, next to Acapulco, the
next busiest resort in Mexico. There were several hotels, however, that we
would like to have spent one night, just to enjoy the Mexican flavor. To me, if
you have varied interest and like to vacation from one spot, this place is a
must. Do watch the needle fish however!
We had done all the usual preparations for our annual trip to Cape Hatteras. However this time we did not get to leave as early as usual because of work. So, around 6 pm. we were on the road. Both of the kids had friends joining us this trip, so we naturally had even more stuff to carry. The traffic was not bad being the day before the 4th of July and we were making good time.
A little after 9 pm our progress was slowed by a flat tire on our sail boat trailer. A minor inconvience, but still no problem because I had a spare. While I was changing the tire Debbie sat in the truck reading. Debbie starts yelling that she thinks the truck is burning under the hood. A quick look thru the grill confirmed her suspicions. I reached in the cab and pulled the hood latch and the cable pulled out into my hand. It had already melted the cable and I could not open the hood. I fought the fire with a collapsable water jug until it was empty. Someone stopped to help with a fire extinguisher and I shoved it up thru a wheel well and showered inside the engine compartment till it ran empty. I had succeeded in putting almost all of the fire out. However I could still see flames under the hood! Realizing that I had nothing left to fight with and there was still a small fire burning. I started yelling to everyone to unload what they could ASAP. The kids started throwing stuff out the back, Debbie was cleaning out the cab of the truck, and I climbed on top and started cutting the straps on the roof rack. Within minutes we had mostly emptied the truck onto the side of HWY 64. I unhooked the trailer from the truck and managed to spin it around the other direction. By now we had a BIG FIRE burning under the hood and spreading under the truck. We drug our stuff away from the fire as best we could and stood back and watched as the fire spread. We had two gas tanks on the truck and both were full. We had flames 25 to 30 feet in the air and stopped traffic on east bound 64 for about 20 min. as the fire department from Momeyer tried to put out the fire.
If you ever have need of the fire department I highly recommend the one in Momeyer. They were great. They put out the fire, and then helped pick up all of our stuff off the side of the road. Loaded it in their pickup trucks and carried it back to the fire station. They even finished fixing my flat tire on my trailer, and towed it to the station as well. Momeyer is about 20 miles this side of Rocky Mount and there are no motels anywhere nearby. The fire chief offered to let us camp out at the fire station for the night and even found us some army cots to sleep on.
I called a friend of mine who has a big van and he agreed to come pick us up the next morning. He arrived around 11 am the next morning. We stuffed all of our gear into his van and on his roof rack and were ready for the road. Before leaving we found out where our truck had been towed to and went to take a look. Everything that was left in the truck was totally destroyed. The keys that were left in the switch were melted along with the entire inside of the cab. The camper shell had completely disappeared and all four tires had melted. The only thing we salvaged was the roof rack, and the heat had bent some of the bars on it. We headed home glad to have saved what we did.
The trip home was uneventful and we arrive around 5 pm. After unloading I began reconstructing the roof rack and mounting it onto Debbie’s Explorer. By 9 pm. we had thinned our gear down to a minimum and were reloaded and ready to roll again. Debbie wanted to leave then, but I was exhausted. We decide to sleep for a while and leave the next morning at 4 am. The rest of the trip was great and we sailed every day.
The week of 4th
of July, my family and I traveled to Pine Island on the Northern Outer Banks.
Pine Island is just north of Duck and Sanderling. I had never been north of
Kitty Hawk before so I was looking forward to checking out this part of the
Outer Banks. We rented a large house on the beach with 6 other couples and
their kids. They were all friends of ours from college, so it was quite the
college reunion. The house was amazing as it had 7 bedrooms and 7
bathrooms…..yes, 7 bathrooms. This proved to be the saving grace the whole
week. I was nervous heading into the vacation thinking that we wouldn’t be
friends at the end of the week. But it turned out to be a great vacation, everyone
had a blast, and we were still friends when we departed. Plus, I got to
windsurf.
Club member Jeff Clark
and his family joined us. Jeff and I got to take advantage of a cold front that
gave us wind for two days. We were going to sail at North Beach (a kayaking/windsurfing
shop in Duck) sailing site, since that appeared to be the closest site to where
we were staying that we had heard about. We could have gone to Nags Head or
even further south but that would have been quite a longer drive, especially during
a holiday week. It was a family vacation, so we had to maximize our sailing
time since we had other commitments that week. While driving to North Beach, we
noticed a nice launch to Currituck Sound with a grassy rigging area. We stopped
there and found another windsurfer rigging up. It turned out to be the site of
Duck Watersports, a sailboat and waverunner rental center. It is located on the
northern edge of Duck, close to the firestation and north of the North Beach
shop. The folks there didn’t mind us rigging and launching from their site.
They didn’t charge us but it’s common courtesy to tip them for being so cool
about us being there. Since it was windy, there were hardly any waverunners in
the water, which was nice. Other windsurfers showed up throughout the
afternoon.
The launch is easy as
you put in at the boat ramp and walk your gear out in the water beyond the boat
dock. It’s knee to chest deep for about 100 to 200 yards out and then it gets
deep. Currituck Sound water is a little more brackish in color since it’s more
of a combination of fresh water and salt water. Currituck Sound is much like
Bogue Sound in Emerald Isle since it appeared to have almost the same width,
maybe a bit wider than Bogue Sound. When the wind blows and since the water is
deep, you get big swells and chop. We had two days of northerly winds that
produced a long fetch of big chop and 15-20 knots. For two days, I sailed my
6.5 and 7.5.
The rest of the week we
had a great time as we spent quality time with friends and family, visited the
Corolla Lighthouse, kayaked, played golf, played beach whiffleball, built sand
castles, hot tubbing every night, saw many great fireworks shows, hung out by
the pool, and had great seafood all week long.
The
Northern Outer Banks is very different from Hatteras Island. The beaches were
more crowded, but keep in mind it was the week of 4th of July. There
are more shops and resorts. The nice thing was that none of these resorts and
shops had that neon touristy cheesy look. They were all pleasing to the eyes.
It was more suited to the tennis and golf crowd and families who need really
large houses that are much more contemporary than what you get on Hatteras
Island. I did like the Northern Outer Banks. Personally, I still prefer
Hatteras Island only because it’s more rustic and wild, plus it has many more
windsurfing launches to choose from. If you want a place that might appeal to a
large group of friends and/or family that have varying interests but you still
want to windsurf, this is a great beach vacation.