The weather down here in Jacksonville has been odd, to say the least. I know it rains a lot down here, but lately we've been getting storms 2-4 times a day! Often they come with the added bonus of thunder.
With that said, I sailed off of County Dock in what looked like excellent weather. I rigged my Retro 8.5 for the light winds. I had been told by my friend Vincent Barre that the winds pick up in the middle of the channel. This was true. After heading out about 1/3 of a mile, the winds picked up and got to about 8-10 mph by the middle of the channel: perfect winds for the 8.5.
It was a gorgeous sail just below the Buckman Bridge, about three miles. I was going on and off a plane as I got towards the other shore. I turned around near the opposite side and headed back.
About half way back it started drizzling and I noticed grey clouds to my west. I headed upwind to get to my launch site, but then looked south in the direction of the wind. What I thought were light grey clouds were a heavy, low rainstorm. I raced back as quickly as I could but the winds died down as the storm picked up. I was worried intensely about lightning but hadn't heard any thunder, yet. I decided not to tack to the launch site but instead headed for the closest land, which was the edge of some rich guy's property. I figured if I sat casually, clearly looking like an idiot windsurfer taking shelter from the weather, nobody would get upset if I were discovered. This was embarrassing but definitely better than sailing with a five meter lightning rod in a rainstorm. There was no thunder, but that was little comfort.
The rain lasted about ten minutes. I was I headed back to the launch point, which was easy because the wind had shifted to the east a bit. Once I got back I packed it in. The wind was good but I could see three rainstorms at various points on the compass. No sense pressing my luck.
Here's my route. The red section was when I was in the storm.
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