4/3/06 What a swell day of sailing and adventure it was.
I've always been sort of hypnotized by the wind. I used to hang glide a lot. Back then, I learned about the wind like my life depended on it. Usually flying was a sort of techno-adventure thing, but sometimes, when the lift was super smooth and glassy and the late afternoon sun was just right and you could stay up and cruise all around with your pals, it seemed like a spiritual thing-- we literally stepped off the planet and into the air.
Sometimes windsurfing is like that for me too. Most days it takes a while to get dialed in- right gear, attitude, etc. But then you're there... everything balanced, comfortable, big wind, nice ramps, big air, high speed fun-- maybe even make a jibe once and a while, and of course lots of crash-and-burn. Good clean fun. It's all about the wind, that itch you gotta scratch when you hear " Lake Wind Advisory".
Then, sometimes I step waaay back and see this big picture of it. The global wind machine: the coriolis effect from the earth's rotation creating the trade winds, the fronts and the pressure systems, the steering effects of land and water, vertical mixing making it gusty with the heat of the day and a thousand other subtleties... And it's even celestial, with the sun driving the whole system. To me it's kind of a metaphor for something bigger- you can't see wind but there is no mistaking its power and subtlety.
But whatever all that is, it comes down to getting out in it with your gear and feeling all that global/celestial/metaphorical stuff captured by you and your little bitty sail ... all that energy literally flows through you, from your hands and your hook right through to your feet and into the board, to move you.
Sometimes it clicks and you get all of it. It was like that today.
Whatever you've been smoking, please share!
It was a fun, VERY WINDY day! Here's what it blew hourly from Noon to Midnight:
NW 18 G 25 MIDNIGHT
NW 22 G 28
NW 18 G 23
NW 17 G 24
NW 20 G 28
W 18 G 30
W 21 G 37
W 28 G 40
W 22 G 32
W 24 G 36
W 21 G 29
SW 20 G 24
W 16 NOON
Gene
Gene Mathis
So what did you guys sail? I was sailing my keyboard and calculator in my office. Boo hoo.
Randy
What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.
Chris, I want whatever it is you were into last night!!! Definitely a rare day in Atl...5.0 (or smaller) conditions in 75 degree weather!
Chris, you're reaching further than you know, in my opinion, with this eloquent outpouring of now-ness. Reminds me of an odd, yet piercingly brilliant, short piece written by some new-age wacko that appeared in American Windsurfer magazine a few years ago (and then reprinted in their 10-year anniversary issue in a section called Fellowship of the Wind). It had the curious title, Vis/Anima. Here it is:
"Windsurfing is always soul surfing if you ask me. We must respect the foundation of this activity: windsurfing is nothing less than a private dance with the soul-motive forces of this planet and the universe. These forces were first described in a sacred manner by the 17th century astronomer, Johannes Kepler. Contemplating the night sky -- a century prior to Newton's Law of Gravity -- Kepler attempted to understand the nature of the evident force, apparently pervading all creation, that created weather, tides, and moved the planets about their orbital paths. He used the Latin terms "vis" (motive power) and "anima" (soul) to describe this force. And THAT is what windsurfing is about -- each session a brief joining with the actual "vis-anima" of all creation! Awesome, huh? Damn right. No wonder that the first experience on a full plane, hooked in, in the footstraps, is so overwhelming to mere mortals -- and so indescribable to the uninitiated. It's a very precious privelage, this dance with the vis-anima. Cherish it each time; protect the alter. Let me quote Steve Scoville, a wave surfing writer who understands these things, with minor paraphrase: 'Windsurfing is an orientation, an approach to life. A way of addressing challange. A culture of open-ended cheerfulness. A secret world where dedication, practice, and and understanding of the water and wind's subtle language are rewarded with moments of pure, fluid bliss. A kinetic conversation with wind and water. An ongoing process of stylistic, technical and cultural innovation to broaden and enlarge that conversation. Exploration of frontier. A relenteless search for a relationship of joy with the wind and water.' Allalujah and amen."
Chuck Hardin
Whitecap Windsurfing, Inc.
c:706-833-WIND (9463)
Gee Chuck, didn't you write that article?
Now for something far more significant:
On Wednesday, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00
in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06.
That won't ever happen again, at least not in our lifetimes.
What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.
Way to go Chris...!
Maybe tomorow we get our first big west wind for the season..
nothing but snowboarding so far.
If anybody needs a place to stay in the gorge just let us know..
http://www.columbiagorgewine.com/
Flipper,
A few of us are trying to put together a gorge trip in June, how do we contact you?
Gene
Gene Mathis
Gene,
I'll be there for my annual trip this summer too (late May to mid-August), only 2 1/2 miles from Doug's Beach. Please keep me posted. It'd be great to have some friends to sail with.
Kristian
(404-808-5742)
info@hoodrivertours.com
541--3801410
http://www.gorgeonline.com/windsurfing/cams.htm
Travel with Northwest from Birmingham to Portland, Oregon at just $168 round-trip on any available day through June 8. No blackouts or minimum stay; 30-day max. A 3-day advance purchase required
http://clarkhoward.com/shownotes/category/10/355/
Gorge wind history by month and sailing site
gorge wind stats 2003 -- 2006
http://f6.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/oA07RBqfQ8S-0dS6oFBQLqIphVENLOcEEqa765KDKR1_gC7h4XczKchCv20b9-VdERvfNlyW1stuRoRIkfZc5OhcxthFbEg/Reference/gorge%20wind%20stats%202003%20to%202006.xls
http://windsurf.mediaforte.com/gorge4.html