Tuesday 3rd November - Windsurf **** - River Orwell at Levington Marina – sunny periods but cooler.

Fin – 27.42 knot max, 25.13 knot ave ., 12.86 knot hour, 21.96 knot mile , 44.29 km ., 15.59 knot alpha.

F2 Zantos 295 with 36 fin and Tushingham Vulcan 6m.

As lockdown fast approaches and we are still not sure if we will be able to get out windsurfing, I was keen to make the most of this latest spell of wind before it goes light but at least the sun is set to return so not all bad! With the in the west there is only one local option Levington Marina so after a couple of big squalls passed with heavy rain, I hitched up the trailer and set off as yet more rain arrived! It was short lived and had cleared by the time I arrived, I parked by the waters edge but the dredger workers needed it moved so I set up my gear. To be honest it did not look overly inviting with the river lumpy and cooler than of late but I manned up and set up my large freeride board, the F2 Zantos 295 at 133lt to get me through the lulls but sail choice was harder. My gauge was showing 25 mph gusts and I nearly rigged my 6.4 but couldn’t be bothered with the four cams so made things easier and went for my old Vulcan 6m. After moving the van, I set off from the small launch beach with loads of water crossing the river with some really big gusts, lumpy too! The wind ran out over the far side so I had several short runs gybing in the smoother water each side of the river. With the sun now in the temperature was low and my poor hands were suffering and I stopped to try and warm them! Then the wind filled in nicely and I had two good mile and a half runs down to Felixstowe docks managing to hit 27 knots and get a good N/mile:) With the wind turning wnw I decided to beat back to the marina entrance as the sun came out and I had loads of nice rice runs across the river straight into the sun with a lovely swell in the middle of the river. If you got it right you could continue past the corner and gybe in flat water. By this time, I had been joined on the water by super keen Robert out with 5.3. So, in the end after my hands warmed up it turned into an OK session perhaps the last for a month??? I spoke to windsurfer Jamie who works at the marina who still did not know if they were closing the marina? After packing up trying not to leave any gear behind like my last visit I headed for the showers and soon warmed up:)

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