Do you Suffer Through Winter

[Bob V]

Chuck R

Don't forget to get a helmet and plenty of roller blade or motocross armor. It can come in really handy as you make your way up the learning curve. I have one of the 5.5 m wings that I am trying to get to know and it is a blast. The scene from the video of the guy on ice skates with those great tacking and gybing moves as he sails around in a perfect circle was what did it for me. I have been sailing my dirt board for a number of years (downwind only) with a crude homemade rig. I would sometime stash a bicycle downwind somewhere so I could make a long run and then ride back home with my gear. Now with this rig I can already do beam runs or reaches and that means I can sail back and forth on a street next to the water nearby that has a clear "view" of the wind. The first time that you put that wing over your head in a strong breeze and feel the power coursing through it, you will be charged with adreneline then when you pull in on your sheet hand and the acceleration begins you will probably wipe out in a most spectacular fashion. You may want to have friends nearby with video cameras and first aid equipment. Gradually, it becomes easier. Have fun. Maybe when I learn to fly it, I'll upload a video but it could not be anything like they have on their web site.

 

[tom]

Chuck D do you get down to wheeler???

I have thought about heading up river several times. We have two weeks vacation coming in April and no plans. We've bounced around everything from hiking in Utah to Kayaking in the Bahamas. But probably we'll spend most of our time on the boat which is on Wheeler Lake. we've been on Lake Guntersville but never motored up to Nickajack or Chickamauga. Have you?? How are the river currents between lakes??? With two weeks we could go all of the way up to Watts Bar or down to Kentucky lake. We've seen the river from Pickwick Dam to Decatur,AL But haven't motored to G-ville Dam.  The current below Wilson lake was negligible between Wilson and Pickwick. I must admit that Wheeler is a spoiler for a lake. About 12 miles of easily sailable lake. Guntersville has a lot of lake but most of it is too shallow and weedy for sailing. Pickwick and Wilson are Great. Any comments on the upper lakes???

 

[chuckd]

Tom, Chickamauga and Watts Bar

.. are both great to sail on. I have never sailed on Nickajack, the mountains are a lot closer to Nickajack, and I hear the wind can be a bit tricky. Depending on the time of year, the current in all of these lakes in quite negligible. These are all Dam cantroled lakes, so the current has more to do with TVA letting water out or not. In the Fall, when they let the water down, the current can be quite swift, but even then it isn't too bad. Watts Bar has a bit more "open" space to sail on than Chickamauga, but both are pretty fun lakes. Come on up sometime.

 

[PrincessoftheLake]

Chuck-sending more cold your way

When I left for work this morning the temp was 11 below with wind chills of 25-30 below. Yuck. Yes, the Apostle Islands are beautiful. The channel I am sailing in the picture is about 200-300 ft deep.

 

[Franklin]

gm

Global warming causes extreme weather all over the globe. What you get just depends (floods, drought, high temps, freezing temps, crazy snow, no snow) on the variables. The weather we've been having the past few thousand years is actaully very rare and only temporary. Now, weather we as man's ways are speeding up the transition is debatable, but don't confuse the cold temps and crazy snow with it being proof that the globe isn't warming.To relate this to sailing ... this means more nasty weather for sailors to deal with.