Today was a unique and Awesome day!! The started with a great windy session at Pratt lake. It was blowing SSE so from the cabin I had to get to that part of the lake and the weeds were tall and making me work. Once out of them and into the wind it was a great gusty day. It was blowing about 20 knots and more in the gusts. I was on 5.0 and F4 760 GP front wing. It was a beautiful fall day and warm, getting up to 28C. It was a short session just over 30 min. I haven't windsurfed or foiled on this part of the lake in a very very long time. So it was fun to blast around, was having a great time. Though there was more. The session was short cause there was more. More down below! Check out the location Here The more is that it was a 2 session day. The wind was coming up even more and I drove 30 min to a different spot. One that I have never been to, but was looking at google maps and thought it would be great to try out. The lake is called Big Shell lake. And we drove to the boat launch on the NE side of the lake to get the SSE wind direction. So now it is afternoon and the wind was 25Knots gusting to around 36knots. You can tell as the spray coming off the waves was much more air born. I went out on the 4.0 and the F4 580 GP front wing and I was way overpowered with the Wing in the gusts. It had a bit more lake chop and was WINDY. I had a great 50 min session and my arms were falling off at the end. I didn't have my harness lines set up on the Wing, so no relaxing the arms. It is great to be challenged by strong winds. The launch was weedy as well and had to swim the gear out a bit. Once I was up and going it wasn't a problem at all. What an Amazing fall day, warm and windy and playing on some chop. Out of control at times yet not a way that I was worried at all. Great skill raising session, and yes I have a ways to go. Though today felt great and my progress was getting much better. One of the things I am not consistent at is switching my feet after the gybe. That today was much better and was getting most of them. Working on making them smoother as well. That is the next thing to play with. Today was truly a blast, and checking out new places is always fun. This lake didn't disappoint. This could have also been the windiest day that I have Winged in yet. Check out the location Here!
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Well this was an interesting day. The spot Blackstrap Lake, this is kind of my home spot when I was living in Saskatoon many years ago. I haven't been here in many many years. So to be here and this time on a foil, I was interested to see what it was like. Well the first thing is I was surprised how gusty it is. It was windier then I thought it would be and I was on my 6.0 and 1000 front wing. The really cool thing is one of the crew from back then was out as well. He is just getting into winging. It was fun ripping around, staying out of the weedy area. The water is starting to get cold but the air temp was warm 27C. What really struck me the most was how gusty and shifty the wind is. How did we every have a good time in windsurfers at this spot? on a foil you can glide through most of the lulls. Again so much more fun on the foil. There were 3 of us out making the most of it. Even some small chop to play on, was a really fun day. I could have been on a smaller foil for sure and should asked a few more questions. What a great day, and it has been a while since I have been out with others on the water. The weather is getting cooler so don't know when the next session will be. A warmer wetsuit will be in order :)
Check out the location Here Today was a fun day at Lake Diefenbaker which is just 100km south of Saskatoon. It was looking windy on the drive there, and there were some rain clouds to the east that I was worried would kill the wind. Luckily they stayed east and didn't effect the wind too much. When we arrived which was later in the day(3:30pm). The wind was a bit lighter then I was expecting around 17 knots. So I went with my 6.0m wing and 760 F4 GP front foil. I was expecting the wind to die a bit more as the session went on. Coming out of the small bay of the boat launch as I got out into the lake. It got shallow, I was up on the foil and ran aground shallow. I was a bit bummed as it was a rocky bottom. A repair to the foil will come later. Once out and riding it was good and a bit gusty, but enough to get up most of the time easily. With so much room to play I could have gone for a long up winder but decided to stay closer incase it got light. Well the sun cam out and then at the end the wind pick up a bit. The waves were smaller than I thought. The swell can get really good on windy days here. Today wasn't windy enough to get the swell going. Still a really fun day ripping around, and was out for just under and hour. It was a nice warm day as well with the air temp at 27C. The water is starting to get cool already. I have windsurfed this spot many times and it was fun to foil it. It reminds me how smooth foiling is, and this is the lake to do some serious distance. That will be for next time :).
Check out the Location here Today was a really cool day!! I went winging on the lake where I learn to Windsurf many years ago. I was 12 and lets just say the equipment has changed a lot. A few years back I did go windsurfing on the lake again and realized how small it was and short the runs were. I was on my 6.0m wing and 1000 GP F4 foil. Today the runs were even shorter as the wind was blowing from the WNW. As it is a small narrow lake running north south and the shores are tree lined it is very gusty. So the area that had the best wind was very small as you can see from my track. And it was gusty, which meant that some of the lulls there was almost no wind. I can't believe I learned to windsurf on this lake. It was a nice warm day(27C) and due to it being so gusty not a very long session. Yet it was really fun and again with the foil if I could stay in the gusts could keep it going for a while which is so much fun. The weeds are long and grow very dense so had to walk past chest deep just so the foil wouldn't hit the weeds. Once clear of them it was fast water ;). I did try foiling here last year and I wasn't as good so the runs were shorter, though I had a taste. Today was less wind but really fun. It still amazes me how just some time on the water is so enjoyable. Will see where the next adventures are. Till next time!!
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