More Updates on iWindsurf Application

Apparently there is an iPhone application in the works. iWindsurf is beta testing it right now. If you want to be a beta tester, go to this iwindsurf forum and send a personal message to David.

I NEED AN iPHONE! Darn you, Verizon, get the iPhone! Actually, the rumor is that Verizon will get the iPhone in 2010.

I've been confused as to how to send an alert to the application. It turns out you have to make a favorite, then click on the alert button on the top of the screen. That's the middle button of the three on the left, the one with the wrench and the three curved lines.

Here comes the confusing part. To configure the alert to your application, click on the button, which takes you back to the iWindsurf site. There you will get this screen:

Here you configure your alert for the iWindsurf application. Once it's configured, click on the “Save this Alert” button. Then the favorite will appear in iWindsurf application.  When the alrt appears, it will show up on the lower right corner of your screen and look like this (at least that's how it is on my Mac):

New iWIndsurf Application

iWindsurf has created a new desktop application for getting windspeed. No longer do you have to log into the iWindsurf website. This little application will launch on startup and show you the windspeed at your favorite locations. It runs on Adobe AIR technology, which is a subset of Adobe Flash technology. I guess AIR lets you run a Flash application outside of the browser. It becomes a standalone application.

I like the idea, but the app is a little tough to use. It's not an intuitive process to add your favorites. You need to search for the locations first by clicking on the Search button on top. Then you type in your location in the search field.

 Click on the new location, then in the next screen dedicated to that location, click on that star button on the upper left. That will add the location to your favorites.

Click on the favorites button and the location should be there.

I was having some problems with the screen freezing, but hopefully iWindsurf will deal with this. I posted a forum link to iWIndsurf about it. I'm curious about other people's experiences.

Almost a Bust

The forecast today was for the low teens. I arrived at Peekskill Landing about 2:15 and the winds were about 8 mph. I was feeling optimistic for I had spoken to a fellow windsurfer, Jehuda, on the phone earlier. He had told me that Yahoo was saying the wind might be as high as 20 mph. I rigged my busted old 7.0 (which is still a sweet sailor, no matter its condition) and headed out. Scott arrived soon behind me and rigged a 6.6. WInds were from the south west: a good direction for Peekskill Landing.

The weather was gorgeous: about 82 ºF. Even though the water was only about 50º F, I decided not to don the whale blubber and use my “farmer John's” suit. I definitely felt the water when I fell in. I felt better after seeing Scott sweating in his 3 mm full wetsuit. Better a bit more cold during the occasional (I hoped) immersion than roasting the other 95% of the time.

The winds were lousy to awful. At times I was almost stalled. I could watch little bubbles float slowly down the length of my board and know that I could easily swim faster than this. I made it back and chatted with Jehuda, who was rigging an 8.3 for his longboard. I noted to Scott that my wife's car was parked near ours, and Scott said he'd had a nice conversation with Kirsten. This meant my wife was somewhere about. If I screwed up, that would be fodder for tonight's dinner conversation.

The wind picked up a bit, so I headed out again. The wind picked up quite a bit more and I suddenly found myself planing. I'm learning to control the Kona better while in a plane. I'm getting steering down and moving into the straps. They still seem too far down the board, so I still must be doing something wrong.

After I tacked, I heard some kid from shore screaming for his daddy. Man, that kid kept calling and calling. What was wrong with the father? Why didn't he answer? Somebody else was doing that super loud whistle when you stick two fingers into your mouth. As I sailed away from the Riverfront Green, it occurred to me that that boy sounded a lot like Gabriel, and that Kirsten can do that super-duper whistle. (And that another member of the family can be pretty thick-headed.) Hmmm. I tacked around and saw my family, with Kirsten dutifully pushing the double stroller with Guinevere and Miranda. They waved frantically. I waved back, finally they must have thought. Gabriel was happy.

Jehuda and I did a nice sail to the northwest. He was planing much of the time and I was on a plan some of the time. I need to break my habit of automatically spilling wind whenever I feel the least overpowered. I need to get more comfortable with harnessing it and putting some more weight onto the boom. We turned around near the industrial park north of Annsville circle and sailed back.

A nice day on the water.

Every Windsurfer Should Have One

Wow! Now when do I get my robotic shark?

Goodbye, Fair Friend

I don't get too personal on my blog; it's really about windsurfing, not me. However, my cat Donut died yesterday. He's been a strong supporter of my windsurfing career. Don't believe me? Here's proof!

Donut, I'll always remember you keeping my copy of Windsurfing magazine warm. I hope where ever you are there are comfy corners, sunny patches, people who scratch your head, and lots of mice.

There's Testing the Limits, and There's Stupid

I did get out yesterday afternoon. Wind were predicted to be about 10-12, so I brought the big sails. I rigged my Retro 8.5.

Some voice in my brain was saying, “Ian, the winds are too strong for an 8.5. Look, the big flag is fully extended.” But then another part of my brain, a stupider part perhaps, said, “Just get out there.” I had a small sailing window, so I didn't want to get too hung up on rigging. Besides, my 7.0 is is pretty crappy shape.

So I went out on the 8.5. The winds were about 15-18, and boy did I get knocked around. I guess the blubber suit didn't make things easier. It works well, but everything is a little bit harder with it. I think I spent more time in the water than sailing. At one time I let the winds just blow me into shore, which ended up being a bunch of pilings. So I uphauled and got myself out of there. The Kona ran over a submerged piling, but the bottom wasn't dented at all. Nice construction, Exocet.

I need a new 7.0-7.5. I've got a nice 10.0 to trade for it. It's a Sailworks Race and it needs a 550 mast. I inherited it, but it's too big for me. I'll post some pics of it soon.

Board Bags: Yea or nay?

My CRV with the Kona board and bag. Looks quite rugged, don't you think? Almost, dare I say, macho? A casual observer might confuse me for a real windsurfer here.

Got a bag for my Kona One recently: one of those Epic bags that seem to be everywhere. It's a nice big but I have some issues with it. That made me think about board bags in general.

Here's the bad. The Kona has that “step tail”, which means the fin is about a foot closer to the nose of the board than a normal longboard. That means I have to remove the fin each time I put the board into the bag. Kind of a drag. The Kona is also 3 1/2 meters long, which makes wrestling it in and out of the bag a major PITA (Pain In The Butt). It's also a truism that a board, especially a ginormous board like a Kona One, is harder to manage in a bag. Lastly, the board in a bag is harder to lash tightly to the roof rack. I actually did a pretty poor job with it. One of the other Hudson sailors, John Spanos, showed me how to pass the lashes through the windows to get a better grip.

Here's the good. The board is protected, especially against the wear of the lashes. I also don't have to stick those annoying foam pads on my rack to mount the board. (The CRV has rubber padding on the upper part of the rack, but it's made of black rubber which rubs off easily on the white Kona One.) The board is also protected against other wear and tear, especially for long trips. If I ever have to mount my Kona alongside a Thule cargo box, a board bag is a necessity. I'm also more comfortable putting a gear bag on top of the board now that the board is in its own bag.

First Sail of the Year

Finally got out today. The forecast was for winds 5-11 so I brought my big rigs. It turns out the winds were closer to 16, so I eventually rigged my trusty 6.5 Tushingham. Sometimes the gusts were about to twenty. I can't tell you how nervous I felt going out in the cold water, alone, in winds that were gusting all over the place.

The wind died mostly while I was out I had a few good planing runs with my Kona, one at a really good clip. The water really didn't feel cold. Of course I felt like a squeezed sausage in that 5/4 wetsuit, but it sure kept me warm, especially with the hood.

I came in and had a nice chat with the retirees who run the boat launch. They told me they were looking out for me, and were concerned when I had disappeared for a few minutes. I had ducked around a promontory, because there were some nice planing winds to be had, but I apologized for making them nervous.

That's one of the things I love about the Peekskill Landing. The people there look out for each other. A few years ago I was just a weirdo dropping his board into the water at Peekskill Landing, the first in years. Now I'm practically family. One of the retirees, Lorraine, came over to where my wife was and wanted to see the twin girls. Man, that's nice.

The year has begun!

BTW, one of the nice things about the Kona is that you can rest on it and get your body completely out of the cold water. Not that I ever needed to stop. Nor did I ever fall, or uphaul, or fall backwards while hooked in in the gusty winds. Good thing, 'cause the I'd be embarrassed to even mention it.

River Monsters

I've been posting about sharks lately (Chomp!), but there are other beasties lurking in rivers no less. That's right, we're not safe windsurfing in rivers. Creepy things lurk in those muddy waters. Ever since I saw a sturgeon leaping in the river last year, I've been fascinated with what could lurk underneath.

“Red-Bellied Piranha” by cliff1066. Photo courtesy of Creative Commons.

Of course there's the famous piranha. Actually, it's not that dangerous. Here's a posting about how dangerous the creature is. Piranhas are not the vicious flesh-eating demons we think of. Actually, they eat of lot of plant matter, especially fruit. Most sailors won't encounter the famous piranha, but those who SUP the Amazon better watch out.

Those who sail American rivers should be concerned about the Alligator Gar. This is a gar that grows eight to twelve feet and has been know to very occasionally attack humans.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Man, that's a scary-looking fish. Lives all through the southern US.

Sturgeon are fairly common in many American rivers. They don't ever consider humans as food, even they grow to amazing size. Here's some video of West Coast sturgeons. These are the fish you'll find in the Columbia River Gorge.

For pictures of all sorts of  river beasts, go the the River Monsters website on the Animal Planet website.

Blogging and Language

There was recently a thread on iWindsurf entitled: “For those of us typing-challenged: Good News”, which went on to say that typing mistakes didn't matter so much because we can usually understand what a person is trying to say by the first and last letter of the name. This started a short but lively discussion on the virtues of writing well, or not.

“Writing Tools” by this is your brain on lithium. Photo courtesy of Creative Commons.

I have to say I see this question pop up from time to time. It was a lively discussion on Slashdot a couple years back, which seems to be a breeding ground for people with things to say but limited skills with words. It ultimately boils down to: Is good writing essential?

The answer is “Yes”.

I don't often get into on-line spats with people. Actually, I almost never do it, but the devil made me jump into the ring a couple of weeks ago. There was a post in response to this article, which says that kitesurfing was being banned from some beaches in Wellfleet, Cape Cod because of fears that the kites were disturbing the nesting plovers. It needs to be pointed out that kitesurfing wasn't being banned altogether, just limited to certain areas. Well, when people start talking about “environmental wackos”, my hackles get raised. I get especially annoyed when it comes from a group of people whose sport relies on a clean environment. Yes, environmental legislation can be annoying, and sometimes its not well thought out, but it's necessary. As I wrote, without environmental legislation, the Hudson River would still be an open cesspool. That's not an exaggeration. Read here.

I jumped into the fray. (I post as “Aranel” on iWindsurf, BTW.) So did some other people. I think the environmental point was eventually carried on the forum, partially by the clear writing of myself and the other posters making their points. I'd like to think that the weight of a good argument along with solid reasoning carried the day. 

Unless I'm wrong. Maybe I'm just being too much of an English teacher? But hey, English teachers gotta windsurf too.

The Water Beckons

I almost got out last weekend but I had a birthday party to attend, and organize, and clean up the house for, and clean up the house afterwards for. So that meant no windsurfing. That said, the forecast for this Saturday is pretty good (if you ignore the water temp, still around 43º F): westerlies around 15 mph. Good conditions for the east side of the Hudson, 'cause you don't wanna get blown to the other side.

More videos: This one made the rounds a couple of years ago. It's of the sailor John Ingebritsen wavesailing a Kona 11.5 in light winds:

I really like how John Ingebritsen makes the whole light-wind process seem really fun. I sometimes get a little intimidated with the idea that I “should” be doing high-wind, extreme sailing. I'm not really into that, as I've mention before. This proves the point of how you can have fun in more normal conditions.

I'm going to Cape Cod this summer. I'd love to try the Kona in the waves. The only problem is that, with three kids, it'll be hard to get out and leave my wife with all three kids. She, honestly, wants to get on the water as much as I do, although Kirsten prefers SUPing and (her first love) swimming. I see serious negotiations ahead.