Friday 29th January - Windsurf **** - River Orwell at Nacton Shore – sunny periods.
Foil – 17.98 knot max, 16.56 knot ave ., 6.39 knot hour , 13.19 knot mile , 42.00 km .,12.58 knot alpha.
Exocet RF AST 91 with Slingshot Hover Glide 76 with Tushingham Lightning 7m.
I haven’t been out on the water since 19th December and was starting to get desperate, I am not bothered on the really cold days but have missed a few sessions now at my winter bolt hole, Levington with the temperature in double figures but the marina is closed for windsurfing at the moment:( Although I live very close to the sea here at Felixstowe, I am not keen on open sea sailing this time of year and have agonised long and hard about going over to Nacton Shore to get out on the Orwell. With the car park in an out of the way place only 8 miles from home I think I can safely say that is local for me. So, after missing yesterday’s really mild 12-degree day I was keen to get one session in January before the temperatures drop again, there is talk of snow tomorrow! Steve M who lives right on the bank of the Orwell near Nacton saying he was going out today I decided to give it a go. I loaded my van with three sails, a 6m, 7m and 7.8m plus my foil board and the F2 295 to cover todays forecast which was 20 knot westerlies turning a bit further north later. With high tide around mid-day, I set off around 9.30 and soon arrived with only one other car in the car park. The tide was well in, the water flat I set up my foil and rigged 7, I already had my wetsuit on and was ready to go at 10.15 but then my gps would not turn on!!! I wanted a record of the session so I drove home to get my spare and was back in 30 minutes! Steve was here when I returned and was nearly ready as I carried my board to the water. It was sunny and mild as I waded in but the west wind was very gusty as I sailed down towards Levington. I got flying in patches but it was a little hit and miss but not cold at all and didn’t put my gloves on until much later in the session! I did not push things too hard today as wanted to stay out of the water and I have got a bit of a problem with my left hand as well as the usual dodgy back but I had some nice flying runs when the gusts came in the end passing the marina as the wind increased. So, I decided to head down to Felixstowe dock but the wind dropped but I made it in the end stopping on a shingle bar with loads of oyster catchers. After a few pics I started the sail back with the tide now on the way out. I thought this might be a struggle but I caught a gust and got back to the marina as the wind dropped. Now I thought I was in trouble as I did loads of short runs making little progress against the tide and was thinking it was a long walk back to the van. Luckily the gusts started to arrive and I made it back OK in the end. With some north in it now I had several runs across Nacton bay towards Pin Mill before calling it a day as I was losing the water fast now! So not a bad session in the end out despite the wind being up and down with my hands only suffering when the sun went in being out for the best part of three hours covering 26 miles and I got back to my van too! After a quick chat with Steve who also had a good time before driving the 8 miles home for warming shower!
https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=stephen.squirrell.1&set=a.10220763803297587
http://mkwindsurfing.co.uk/booms
https://www.77sports.co.uk/
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