{"id":44451,"date":"2024-12-31T16:07:30","date_gmt":"2024-12-31T16:07:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?p=44451"},"modified":"2024-12-31T16:07:35","modified_gmt":"2024-12-31T16:07:35","slug":"back-on-the-water-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/2024\/12\/back-on-the-water-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Back on the Water"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Various factors had conspired to keep me off the water lately. A lack of wind\u2014or, on occasion, too much wind\u2014weekends away, and work were the usual culprits. Adding to the delay, the construction of a new shed, which is now almost finished, had left my windsurfing kit inaccessible for over a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"New<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
\"New<\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

One Last Hoorah on New Year’s Eve Eve<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As 2024 drew to a close, I felt the need to squeeze in at least one more windsurfing session before the year ended. After an extended break, it\u2019s ideal to ease back in with a relaxed session. The trouble with windsurfing, though, is that it\u2019s entirely dictated by conditions. Around here, at this time of year, it\u2019s often feast or famine\u2014either no wind at all or a raging storm. I wasn\u2019t quite ready to face the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The forecast for New Year’s Eve Eve looked promising. The wind was predicted to pick up ahead of a major storm set to hit on New Year’s Eve and linger into the New Year. I met Alistair at Llanrhystud, but the wind hadn\u2019t fully arrived. I rigged up and waited on the beach, watching as Alistair gave it a go. He floated out through the waves, managed to waterstart beyond the break, and sailed back in. It didn\u2019t look like much fun. On his next attempt, he spent ages trying to waterstart without enough wind to succeed. When he finally made it back to shore, he\u2019d had enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hadn\u2019t even gotten wet but decided to pack up and call it a day.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Rigged<\/a>
Rigged and Ready – bur not enough wind<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Trying Again on New Year’s Eve<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The forecast for New Year’s Eve promised much stronger winds\u2014maybe even too strong\u2014but it was worth a shot. Once again, we met at Llanrhystud as the tide dropped. Although it didn\u2019t feel particularly windy at first, I rigged up a 5.0 m sail with the forecast in mind. Alistair opted for a 5.3 m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once on the water, it was clear that this was far too much sail. I struggled, overpowered, and soon headed back to swap for a smaller board. That helped, but the session remained challenging. My arms were already fatigued, and there was no chance to relax. Alistair decided to downsize to a 4.5 m sail. I followed suit, and this helped somewhat. While there were still moments of being overpowered and some lulls with not quite enough wind, for the most part, I finally had some control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By this point, though, fatigue was setting. Despite the struggles, I managed a few decent jumps, landing a couple of them. My gybes were less impressive\u2014only one or two could be called pretty\u2014but at least I was back on the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>