The wind was not supposed to be up today - but it seems as if the VOG layer trapped a lot of heat and it popped the bubble and a thermal flow developed - but from the West...
I could see the wind in the trees all along my way home. I took a chance and figured the wind would still be up over at WPB. I went ahead and setup the WWFB/PC85/1210/178 while I was still at home.
When I got to the beach at 4pm, I could see a lot of texture in the water outside the break and it was coming from almost straight west - dream scenario for regular footed individuals. When I had finally paddled my way to the wind line, The 5.1 I pumped up was enough wing to get going.
I felt wobbly while I was out - I had doubts that I had not tightened the front foil bolts enough for them to seat properly - but I attributed the feeling to my being rusty. Well - I wasn't rusty.
The wind was a little fluky. It would start out in channels, then the whole field would open up. Then the direction would shift - from side off to side and even side on. All this made for challenging conditions - you never knew if you were going to drop off foil and get stuck. I actually was drifting down wind for the first few runs. When the wind picked up I was able to pull upwind and get above the cabins (and not worry about having to land in front of rocks to the east of Fenceline.
I only stayed out for 45 minutes. With the twitchiness of the front foil I decided to go in while to going was good. Brian was out there before me, and he stayed out well after I got out.
You can see the forecasted wind strength - sub 10 mph.
I'm glad I got this session in. When I got home I removed the old shim material from the fuselage I was using, as well as from the inside of the front foil mounting section. I fitted on new shim material - this time Gorilla Clear Tape instead of the aluminum duct tape.
I also got ready for tomorrow - wind should be up and I want to see if the F One Eagle 1090 is still singing under wing power.
Fun first wing session of the year!!!
W:1/F:2/S:6
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