A Great Place to Get (non)Windsurfing Gear

The Hudson River is rough on gear. One item that gets a lot of wear are windsurf booties. Most launch sites are rocky, and the rocks aren't smooth river stones. It's as if each rock believes in the New York tradition of carrying a knife, and it's usually pointed right at a windsurfer's soles and ankles. (I'm from Brooklyn; I can make that crass generalization. It's not really true, but I can still say that.)

Two years ago I bought a pair of “O'Neill 5 mm Heat Round Toe” booties. I had problems with them almost immediately. My dainty, little feet are a size 8 1/2. Since these booties only come in full sizes I ordered a 9. Should be fine, right? Wrong. The seams split the first time I pulled them on.

To Big Wind's credit, they sent me a new pair. Still, for $54.95, I expected better quality gear.

I wore the new pair for two seasons. The worked fine, mostly. The sole was thick, but not thick enough for the rally sharp rocks, which I'd usually step on while I had a sail or board on m head. They wouldn't pierce the sole, but they would bruise. This summer I noticed the holes. The neoprene in front of the ankle was coming apart. Tiny cuts I'd made in the neoprene with my fingernails were getting larger, and water was leaking in.

Brian Johnson, one of the Hudson River Rats, clued me into a water gear company called NRS, which makes gear for kayakers. I'd actually bought a wetsuit jacket from them a month before to compliment my farmer john wetsuit. It's a nice 2 mm jacket, and I couldn't find anything like it in the windsurfing world. It's snug, comfy and has a lot of mobility. Plus, I wore it for Halloween over my Captain Kirk shirt, 'cause it looks kinda Star Treky.

Photo from www.nrsweb.com.

NRS has some very nice booties, some with thick soles for over-land kayak portages. I got a pair of their Cross-4 Wetshoes for just shy of forty bucks.

This bootie has some seriously thick soles, thicker than any windsurfing bootie I've seen. I know there will be concerns about loss of feeling of the board, and I'll have to adjust the size of my footstraps, but that's less important than being safe from bruises and water chestnut puncture wounds.

The NRS booties slide on well, unlike the O'Neills, which I have to wrestle on (without tearing the seams again). The foot strap was thicker and seemed anchored onto the bootie quiet well. There is also an internal liner to the zipper.

The liner is very obvious when seen from above.

Brian feels like you can get kayaking gear at a better price point and better quality than windsurfing gear. I suspect he's right. There are just so many more kayakers out there than windsurfers that the equipment makers can afford to sell their gear at lower prices.

Cold Water Beachstarts!

One of the things that makes Peekskill Landing an annoying place to sail out of is it's awkward placement. Unless the winds are coming from a certain direction, no beach starts are possible unless you want to immediately run into rocks or a jetty (more rocks). What makes matters worse is the constant wind shadow with any wind from the south or north.

Tuesday I got lucky. I planned an afternoon session right after school. I packed the car and my Exocet 150 liter Cruiser before school. The whole day there was almost no wind, and when I finally arrived at the site, the wind was maybe 6 mph. Scott joined me and as we rigged some dark clouds rolled in. Soon the wind was at 20.

The water was a balmy 52º F. I wore my whale blubber suit and a hood. I had an old hood from the 1980s sitting around, still in good condition, which I gave to Scott. My booties are showing some serious leaks. I also tried out a pair of neoprene mittens for the first time.

The water was choppy, which is tough on a wideboard. It was also straight from the west, which is the only direction possible for beachstarts. I did about eight or son with the 6.5 sail, then sailed back and forth in the cove, getting familiar with the wideboard in these conditions. I popped onto a plane a couple of times, and I probably could have done more except that I was a little nervous. Because of the conditions Scott and I also were keeping close to shore. The winds were a little unpredictable. I got in the straps then got dumped a few times when the wind went down.

A word on the mittens: They're not great. No matter how hard you strap the cuff, they leak at the wrist. This isn't so bad because your body heat warms the water quickly, but it's disconcerting. They're also limiting. The first time I fell backwards while hooked in I reached to unhook myself and realized I didn't have the available fingers to do this. I managed, but it was a lot more awkward. I think I'm going to go with some gloves soon.

I hope this wasn't the last sail of the year.

Not from this session (clearly) but I do look funny underwater. My hair makes me resemble Medusa's younger brother.