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squiz
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Member#: 8562 Location: Registered: 07-09-2009 Diary Entries: 2
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12th September 2015
Windsurfing: The Dip-Felixstowe Wind Direction: s Wind Stength: 13/18 Surf / Sea State: lumpy Air Temperature: 20 Sea Temperature: 15 Weather: Rain then sunny periods Max Speed: 21.94 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 21.58 (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise)
Another top day here in Felixstowe and my 4th day in a row out on the water
:) The plan today was for several of us to be at The Dip at 9ish and sail
off for a short distance with around the UK windsurfer Jono Dunnett. Our
aim was to get to Dovercourt where Jono was stopping to meet up with his
brother. Sadly we woke to low cloud and rain with the S wind anything from
10 to 20 kts !!!
I was rigging the longboard by 9:30 in the rain with, Mark Smalling, Mark
and Nick Swain, Andy Marshall and Ian Clarke, we were then joined by Jono
who carried his kit from Swainy’s house where he stayed the night. The
tide was high and the sea was looking very bumpy with a bit of a dump so we
had to talk Mark Smalling into rigging, then at 10 we all got off the beach
with no mishaps and started off on the 7 mile beat down the coast in a big
sea with 13 kts of wind making the beat just right, railed up on the plate
– classic longboard sailing :) With Swainy and Ian on shorter boards they
couldn’t make it too far, Swainy’s son Nick did well to make it to near
The fludgers, while I think Andy made it to about the pier well
underpowdered :( leaving just Jono, Mark Smalling and me all trying to stay
close together. Jono would suddenly stop to take pics as we sailed past!
Mark was nervous of sailing across the shipping channel so was going to
turn at Landguard beach, he went close inshore to tack and a big wave took
him out and he broke several batterns in his sail but made it back to The
Dip safely :) That just left Jono and me, the channel was it’s usual
bumpy self but there were no large ships coming so we were able to cross
OK. Half way across the channel Jono stops to get the camera out to take a
shot of me – I think he was just showing off - LOL!!! It was then a mile
reach to a lovely beach hut owned by Jono’s family near the long break
water at Dovercourt where we were met by Jono’s brother and a friend up
from Bournemouth who were going to sail to Clacton Pier with him and finish
of this epic adventure! After a cuppa and a top bacon roll I headed back,
again no ships in the channel so I made it safely to Felixstowe seafront
just as the sun broke through, it was stunning and I had a great reach back
ending up 2 miles off The Dip as the wind filled in a little and I was able
to pull the track back and go for it making nearly 22 kts :) I had a few
runs trying for a 20 average but just failed in the large sea slightly
underpowered. I then had to pack up and head home as we had to load the van
ready for our next 5week trip to France! Simom Scammell had brought my new
5.8 he had repaired so I was all set for La Franqui. Hectic afternoon,
home, shower, load windsurfers, bikes, cases etc etc into the van, the top
box was its usual pain to close but we were sorted by 4:30 and three hours
later we were in the forest in Surrey to spend the night with our son Rob
and his girlfriend Hannah. We had a lovely shepherd’s pie and saw some
pics of their last adventure to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands where
they saw the most amazing wildlife!!!
PS – saw on Facebook that Jono made it safely to the finish line at
Clacton pier:) well done on your epic journey – life might be a bit dull
now! Looking forward to seeing a book of the adventure:)
Aroun
d UK windsurf here
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