2021 Sailing Season

Lac La Biche - Big Jim's Place Ted's Report: We got up to a cool, calm day.  There was a slight off shore breeze. Jim and Cam packed up and left.  Cam has a bike trip scheduled and had to get back. Kent and Handre went for a "short" bike ride!  Kent was so pleased, because for the first time ever, and probably the only time, Kent was pulling Handre!  (COVID knocked down Handre so much, that it is taking some time for him to get his fitness back). Andreas was the first to head out.  He drifted a long way before he was able to get his kite up, and got a few rides, but ran into weeds, and then the wind died so he needed a rescue. The wind seemed to be picking up a bit, although the water at the beach was absolutely calm - not a ripple. Blaine - ready to go! It was strange heading out on our gear in virtually no wind.  We slogged out a long way, maybe a kilometer before we started to catch a few gusts.  I saw Brad catch a ride, and then a bit later I saw Blaine catch one.

Lac La Biche - Big Jim's Place Ted's Report: We got up to another beautiful, calm day.  It might have been windy enough to foil at 8:00am, but the wind died off by 9:00, and no one was that ambitious to give it a try. I showed Cam my BeeBrain (indoor) quadcopter and gave him a chance to fly it.  It is fun flying it around Big Jim's house with all the open spaces and high ceilings. Ted and Cam flying with the goggles on! Big Air Jim organized a three-hole golf game on the putting green that Big Jim has at the base of his hill by the lake.  Big Air Jim told everyone he won and then did a victory dance.   Not wanting to shatter his fragile ego the others just let him dance. By noon, we had given up on sailing, but we had all made plans. Jim, Jim, and Brad went golfing.  Brad said it was a beautiful day and the course was in great shape.  He mentioned that they used "Alternative" Golfing rules and that Big Jim probably won, depending on how you interpret the "M&q

Lac La Biche - Big Jim's Place Ted's Report: We got up to a cool calm day.  Brad, Mike and Kent had fun flying my small indoor quadcopter around the house.  You fly it wearing goggles that give you a TV like vide from a camera on the quad, so it is like you are actually flying it.  You get a bit of an out of body experience when you see yourself from a different angle as you fly past. Blaine, Brad, Big Jim and Mike decided to go golfing.  The sun came out and it turned into a beautiful day.  Brad said the course was very green and well maintained, but the golfing was not at pro level.  They were hit by rain on the 8th hole, which turned out to be the front bringing the wind.  They timed their game perfectly, as the wind came up just as they arrived back at Jim's.  Big Air Jim and Cam arrived right at that time as well.  Perfect timing. I was the first out on the water on my 7.0 Flyer.  Mike had tried to talk me out of it telling me there was no wind, but it looked to me tha

Lac la Biche - Big Jim's Place Tuesday - Day 1 I arrived at Big Jim's place at 1:00.  Jim met me on the driveway and helped me unload my van....  I had a lot of my toys with me....  Two sea planes, two quad copters, my wake foil gear, and my foiling gear! Blaine arrived shortly after I did, followed by Mike and then Brad.  It was great to see them! It was a beautiful day, but there wasn't much wind.  Jim and I blew up our wings, which more or less killed  what wind there was.  Went out on our SUP's anyway, but the wind was too light to hold the wings in the air, so we didn't have much success. Blaine, Brad and I then set up our Foilboards so they are all ready to go.  We also took some turns on the jetski blasting around.  In calm water it will get up to 60mph! When it started to get dark, Brad set up his telescope and he was showing us some stars and telling us all about them using a phone app. No wind, but all in all, a pretty good first day! Beach Conference Wedn

Thursday, September 1, 2021 Lac Ste Anne:  Alberta Beach Harold's Report: Allan, Vadim and I snuck in an afternoon of pretty good windsurfing today.  The rain finally stopped at about 1230PM and it turned into a sunny windy day, so I jumped on the water and Al joined me soon after.  Vadim showed up a little later and got in some pretty good reaches.  Al and Vadim used their 6.5s and I used my 6.1. There were lots of good swells to be had all day. The first hour of wind was solid.  The second couple of hours were fluky.  The wind seemed to rise and fall off the water in patches, although sometimes it was sustained, so as Kent would say, it was technical sailing.  But all in all it was fun.  Mike came down on his kite to say hello.  It looked like he was well powered most of the time and having fun.  The water is getting cool.  We’d better get our sailing in while it is still liquid.  Monday, September 6, 2021 Lac Ste Anne - Alberta Beach Harold's Report: Lot of them thar kiter d

 Lac Ste Anne - Alberta Beach Al's Report: Harold and Al showed up at Alberta Beach at 11 am to not very promising conditions.  Even the one kiter was having a tough time.  We both rigged 99 l boards with our big sails and headed out hoping for a few puffs.  Environment Canada had predicted 30 gusting 50 kph but it was more like 5 gusting 30.   The windy parts started lasting longer and got stronger as the day went on.  We both had a great day with 4 hrs of sailing over two sessions! Harold's Report: Allan and I were the only windsurfers out today.  There were 4 or 5 kiters down the beach.  I don’t think that they were from our group.  It was an odd day at Lac Ste Anne.  The wind came in sheets all afternoon, although the lulls in between diminished as the day progressed.  The wind direction moved all over between West and North, which made it interesting.  Al and I were well powered on our 6.5 and 6.1.  The swells were substantial.  I think maybe that was because the water is