There’s Nothing Like Windsurfing
Annual Leave
“Not one, but two of the best windsurf sessions ever!”I still have quite a bit of annual leave to take before the end of the year. I don’t just want to take it for the sake of taking it, but I don’t want to waste it either. It looked set to be windy on Friday, Steve had said he could make it to Ynyslas too, so that was the perfect excuse to use up a day of my leave. I’m glad I did too as I had not one, but two of the best windsurf sessions ever! Definitely a good use of my annual leave.
High Tide Plans
Steve arrived at around 11:00 am. Not the best timing with High Tide at around 1:30 pm. We usually stop windsurfing off the seafront for 2 hours either side of high tide. During this time, the waves tend to dump onto the pebble bank. It’s not impossible to sail, but
- the wind gets a little flukey close to the shore,
- the shore-dump can be quite nasty
- and if anything goes wrong your kit can get trashed on the pebbles.
Any time before or after this then it’s a wide sandy beach with no real consequences and much easier launching and landing too.
However, when we walked to the beach to take a look, it was windy, the sun was coming out and it looked good. We didn’t want to wait around for 4 hours for the tide to come in and then drop sufficiently. So, I hatched a plan. I suggested that we launch ASAP, hopefully before the tide gets to the pebbles and then see if we can work our way upwind towards the estuary. Here the beach bends around to the east a little and becomes much wider so the tide doesn’t reach the pebbles. It’s essentially a huge sandy spit sticking out into the mouth of the estuary. It should make for some interesting sailing conditions too with waves over the bar and flatter water in the mouth of the estuary, plus some nice waves wrapping around the spit..
Off to Aberdovey
We headed back to the house, grabbed our kit and returned to the beach to rig. I went with a 5.7m sail and 104ltr board. It felt a little big but I wanted to be well-powered so as to have the ability to make good ground upwind. Steve went even bigger with a 6.4m sail and 108 ltr board. As we got on the water the waves were just lapping at the pebbles. I headed out, well-powered up in the sunshine. A few little things needed adjusting but with the tide high there wasn’t really much beach to return to so I did what I could on the water and settled into it waiting for Steve. Steve joined me and looked to be going OK so I started to head upwind as planned.
I hadn’t really thought about getting back of course as the tide was only getting higher and there was no way I’d be able to sail for 4 hours! The worst case would be landing on the spit and sitting in the sunshine for a bit, but more likely I’d be able to sail back to where we started and land carefully onto the pebbles.
I made good ground upwind and was soon getting where I wanted to be. Steve hadn’t made much ground upwind yet. He had however been back in to make some adjustments so I thought he’d soon follow. Before I knew it I had a clear run across the Dyfi Bar where the usual confused waves made things interesting. Once over the bar the relatively calm waters of the mouth of the estuary invited me on. I couldn’t resist a flat-out blast across the channel to Aberdovey. The wind was a little lighter here so I gybed just before getting into too much of a wind shadow and then headed back towards the sea.
The waters across the mouth of the estuary were perfect. The wind was good and it was nice easy sailing here. The waves wrapping around the bend in the beach were fun too. You could pick up speed in the flatter waters and then hit them full-on with plenty of margin for error. I decided I’d better head back a little to see where Steve was and encourage him in this direction where conditions just couldn’t be better.
Downwinders
This meant a crazy flat-chat downwind run back towards Ynyslas seafront. This was some fast windsurfing on wave-kit in amongst the swell. I just held on for the ride and soon found Steve still not far from where we’d started. I spotted an area of sand still exposed in front of the pebbles partway along the beach so headed for that and landed on the beach so that Steve could see me. He soon joined me for a quick catch-up. I told him how good it was further upwind, so, as the bit of sand we were on rapidly disappeared with the rising tide, we re-launched and I headed off back to Aberdovey for yet more of the same top-notch windsurfing.
A Variety of Waters.
There was something for everyone! Waves off the seafront, but nothing too big or scary. Rolling swell further out with the odd steeper ramp for some nice jumps. Confused swell, weird peaks and some standing waves going in all directions over the sandbanks in the mouth of the estuary. Waves wrapping around the spit and peeling nicely into the channel. Flat water blasting in estuary. And of course, the crazy downwinders now and then to get back to where I started.
Steve never made it down the bet bits though, he said he was a little reluctant to heading that far from where he’d started just in case he had to walk back.
Lunch Break
After an hour or so of full-power windsurfing, I was getting tired so I headed back to where I started. Steve was a little further up the beach. He’d landed, got his dry-robe on and was now walking back having retrieved his kit. I judged things perfectly and landed in the exact spot I launched from without any drama and then carried my kit up the pebbles.
The wind was still blowing so we decided to leave our kit on the beach, head home and get some lunch and then have a second round once the tide had dropped a little. Lunch was a relaxed affair in the sunshine whilst sat in the garden with our wetsuit on.
Old Men
There’s nothing quite like windsurfing for beating up your body. It’s brutal even in easy conditions. Add stronger winds and waves into the mix and it’s a full body workout and beating all in one, wherever you are. Ynyslas further adds to that as it’s a pretty unforgiving place to sail. Even visiting world champion sailors have said it’s a tough place to sail. Conditions weren’t too difficult today, but high tide added to the challenges. Needless to say, after sitting in the sun chilling for a while we had seized up a bit!
Steve sat on the edge of his car boot to put his wetsuit boots on and couldn’t reach his feet! He decided he’d have to sit on the floor to do it but was still struggling. In the end I had to help him out and do them up for him!! We headed back to the beach and halfway there Steve realised he still had his harness on – no wonder he was struggling to reach his feet!
Round 2
Back at the beach the tide had dropped off the pebbles so the plan was for a more conventional sail off the seafront. Round 2 was just as windy, if not a little more so and conditions outside our house were good. After a while I couldn’t resist just one more trip to Aberdyfi. There was no need this time but it had been so good in the morning that I thought I’d try again. I made it into the estuary but could feel the wind dropping so gybed ready to head back. Unfortunately, the wind dropped and there wasn’t enough to get going. With the rapidly receding tide, I was just getting dragged out to sea with no wind to waterstart. I decided that the best course of action was to body drag behind my kit towards the beach at right angles to the current. It took a few minutes but I soon made it to the beach. I didn’t fancy walking back from here but I was sure the wind would return. It was just a lull after a little squall that had blown through.
Sure enough, the wind soon picked back up and I was able to sail back downwind to where I started and play around there for a bit. Steve was packing up so I had a few more run, including one with a huge jump and then landed back on the beach with barely enough energy to carry my kit up the pebbles and pack up.
My camera work was a little off today though as it kept slipping so I don’t have much footage, just a little taster.
What a day!! Definitely worth taking a day of annual leave for. There’s just nothing like windsurfing. Nothing comes close to the sensation of speed and power. It’s a pretty challenging sport to get good at but the pay-off for doing so is huge. You just can’t beat it.
Of course, it’s now the following day and the aches and pains are beginning to kick in. It is autumn though so there’s more wind on the way over the next few weeks. Maybe if Ican get out enough I maybe able to train my somewhat broken middle-aged body to cope with the abuses that windsurfing throws at it.
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[…] an exciting Friday on the sea, we had a slightly more relaxed Saturday. Steve headed home feeling a little battered and bruised. […]