2021 Sailing Season

Dried Meat Lake - Ted's Place Ted's report: Wow!  Three days in a row in Central Alberta!  Today I had my best foiling session of the year.  Blaine, it is too bad you didn't choose today to come out.  I was on my 7.0 sail and had two great sessions, both about an hour-long, covering 15km each.  I was foiling almost all the time. I am still putting the board down in my jibes, but I had a few where I kept speed and was able to get back up on a foil immediately after flipping the sail.  Slow progress.  Thanks again to Louise for the photos. Not losing much speed on a few of my jibes... Lac Ste. Anne - Alberta Beach Ross's Report : We were back out today at AB,  7/9m foiling this morning until the wind backed off about 1300.  Andrea's was able to keep it together but I had a bit of a drift and walk after dropping the kite in very light winds.  Sunny and warm today. Wabamun Lake - Big Air Jim's Place Kent's Comment: I see from Kent's (Lent's)...

Dried Meat Lake - Ted's Place Ted's Report: I got a call from Blaine at about 10:30.  He was thinking of coming out to foil.  (The waves on our lake are smaller than at Alberta Beach, so the foiling - and jibing - should, in theory, be easier. He arrived around 12:30.  The wind was averaging 40kph and gusting to 60kph.  We decided to go windsurfing instead of foiling.  I rigged my 4.8 and Stubby and was first out.  I had some great reaches, and one of my best jibes of the year....  (oh... it was my first time windsurfing this year). After four or five reaches the wind dropped a bit, and I saw Blaine coming down the hill with his foil, so I went to shore to see what was going on.  He had forgotten the fin for his stubby.  I told him I had one that would work, but he already had his foilboard down the hill so he was committed. Ted - 4.8 on Stubby The wind dropped as soon as Blaine's foot touched the water.  I waited a bit, but it didn't se...

Dried Meat Lake - Ted's Place Ted's report: Today was mostly sunny with the temperature reaching 23c.  My weather station was reporting an average wind speed of 20kph with gusts to 40. I tried out my new Moses 1100!  It worked great - very stable and glides much further than my old slingshot foil.  It wasn't magic, so I wasn't foiling in the lulls, but I did foil most of the time until the wind started dropping off. It was a very good day!  Thanks to Louise for coming down to watch and for taking the photos. New Moses 1100 with 95cm mast! Ted - ready to head out! Louise - distracted by a pod of White Pelicans! Ted's Track - or part of it - I forgot to turn on my watch.

Wabamun Lake - Jim's Place Kent's Report: It was rainy and a bit chilly but Cam and Cynthia both said let's go and dragged the old farts (Jim and Kent) out of the cabins and onto the water.    First, however, Jim and Kent had to help the ER doc get his foil set up correctly with some minor surgery on a Roberts board to align the bolt correctly.    After that, it was all fun.  Four foilers and one finner when Ben came out and sailed a 5.2 and the titan.  It was an awesome day.  6.0 for Kent.  5.6 for Jim, and 5.2 and 6.0 for Cam.   We had some minor excitement when Cynthia had her hull and sail separate but a quick jet ski trip and all was well. Cynthia is making jibes and when I commented she said “well foiling is just easier than windsurfing”….   At this rate, we better stay on our game to stay ahead of Cynthia and Ben.  The first foil of the year and the spaghetti is stirring. Kent Kent's Track Cynthia's Advice: Whatever...

Pigeon Lake - Brad's Report We had good SE wind at Pigeon yesterday. Blaine and I on 7.0 flyers foiling. Harold on his new wing and SUP. Mike kiting on his 15-meter monster kite and Ross and Andreas foiling on 8-meter kites. It was a fun day for all! Blaine Harold Mike Brad's Grandchildren watching the action! Ross Ted's Report: Alberta's Littlest Airport I was busy at Alberta's Littlest Airport this weekend at their May Long Weekend Radio Control Airplane Fun Fly.  It used to be that if it was windy enough to sail, it was too windy to fly my RC planes.  I guess I am getting better at flying, and now with foiling, they overlap, so it makes it harder to make the decision...  The guys at the field seem to like the photos that I take of their planes at their events.  Here is a link to some of my photos.  Ted's Flickr Site   The Orange and White "Hamilton Edge" is one of mine (Thanks Louise for those photos.)

Not to be outdone by the Keho trip, Brad gave me a late update on the fun he and Blaine had at Pigeon Lake last Monday.  Sorry, no photos.... 2021-05-17 Pigeon Lake Update - Brad's Place Blaine and I had a fantastic 6.0 foiling session Monday at Pigeon Lake. Northerly side offshore for fun fairly flat-water conditions on our new Moses 790 wings. Gotta say it was my best day ever foiling and giving me hope to get those foiling gybes nailed this summer.  Not bad for a couple of old guys! And the water was very pleasant 

I got reports from Ross and some photos from Mike and Al.  Sounds like fun was had by all! Keho Lake, by Nobleford Alberta Ross's Report We made a short trip to Keho, my third for this season.  Monday was great, 7m and 25degC. A bit gusty until about 1630 but then a really nice evening session with a steady wind and great temps and sun. Mike was enjoying kiting on his 8m instead of windsurfing. Tuesday, was very very very windy.  Sub 7m kiting for me with my kite in full depower, say 80k+ range, swell to 2m.  One of the top wind strength days that I have kited, one in S Africa at Big Bay and the second at the Spring Creek Hatchery at Hood River.   Tim joined us for Tues but had mixed reviews after putting an elbow through his sail and banging himself on a boom.  Al was well overpowered on his 3.7 but seemed to have a good afternoon.   Tim - heading out! About 1530 wind was really starting to get tense and after a couple of hours of wild ridin...

Ted Louise and I got out on our SUP's and Wings this afternoon.  The wind was quite variable but the gusts were over 20k, so we had some good runs. Louise WindWinging! Louise did really well but didn't make it back upwind, so I went and towed her back with the boat.  She was getting better with each tack and at the end, I think she was holding her ground for the most part! Louise - enjoying the ride back! It was a beautiful day, and the water, while cool has really warmed up quite a bit. When we were done, we took the boat down the lake to visit "our" eagles again.  The parents were nowhere in sight, but two juvenile eagles entertained us.  Sorry for the poor photos, they took off when we tried to sneak closer to them. Ted - driving the boat!

Harold with his new Wing! Harold came out to borrow my SUP and to try his new wing for the first time.  It was a beautiful day with a slight breeze. I chased Harold in the boat, while he got the feel of his wing.  When we were done, we were a bit downwind - maybe 1.5km, so I towed him back with the boat. We are looking forward to another session with a bit more wind.  The wind was so light, that the wing really wasn't supporting itself, so it was hard to get the feel of it, and impossible to keep upwind. Harold Winging! Still - a fun day on the water, and a great first effort by Harold! After sailing we took the boat down to the end of the lake to see if Louise and my eagles were by their nest.  Sure enough, two were standing there when we arrived but flew away as we idled closer.  There were two young eagles (head not white yet), circling in the background.  Very nice!!!

WE MADE THE NEWS!!!  The local Tillicum Times website posted that there were four (actually we were five) windsurfers out on the water going "breakneck speeds" in the "Crazy Winds". The forecast was actually pretty accurate, building to 30kph gusting to 50 in the early afternoon. The water was still pretty cool, but I had no trouble with bare feet.  The air temperature was 20 so very nice!  Harold arrived first at 11:30 and was very anxious to get on the water, even though the wind hadn't filled in yet. I had thought we would go down to the public beach where we could space out a bit more, but Harold was adamant he wanted to stay close to my place, where we have a jetski at the ready! Blaine, Al, and Vadim all arrived around noon and we were out on the water by 12:30.  The wind was typical spring weather, with big gusts and some lulls.  It seemed to fill in as the afternoon passed. Harold was on his 6.1, and Al and Vadim were on 6.5's.  Vadim kept switching...