It seemed like the trades were filling back in - but it was kinda up and down (mostly down). And with the big surf rolling in, I had originally thought PVs would have been a safer bet (not having to paddle through breaking surf).
My mistake was overestimating the wind strength and putting on a foil I have not yet gotten wet (Cabrinha Whippit 850/Tweaker 390/140)
Norm made wiser calls on wing and foil size (and he had a great session).
I on the other hand spent my session trying to make it back to dry land in one piece.
I did get on foil early on. The foil felt squirrely so I stopped to move it forward.
If you stopped, the longshore current would grab you and drag you down the coast pretty fast. By the time I figured that out, I was already in front of the Coast Guard Admin Building.
I tried paddling back, but got disheartened seeing despite my best efforts I was still getting dragged out and over.
Just to my right was double overhead pitching waves (which I had intended on staying on the inside to avoid). To my left was a shallow reef (but lucky for me it was a full high tide).
I was drifting towards Bunkers when a gust blew through. I had stopped recording so the track below was filled in by me.
I rode that gust as far I as could looking for a filled in area of wind - if I botched the jibe.... who knows how I would have gotten back to shore.
I made the first jibe and was trying to pull further upwind. I saw I was back at the Admin Building, so I opted to jibe and head back out. The wind was better so I took the line further out to gain more ground.
I made my outside jibe and headed back in - I made it to the first breaking line and a wave stood up in front of me. And I got backwinded. At least by this point I was inside the first breaking line and the current was not as bad.
I took a few whitewater walls to help push me even further in.
I got to the flats and started paddling in hard.
It seemed like the wing was a large part of the problem - I could actually feel the wing pulling me back when the less than strong wind was blowing. And it is nothing but pure drag when paddling. I felt like I was working triple duty and barely moving.
The peaks above 15 were where I was able to get up on foil.
So now I know this foil needs a lot more wind than the Prestige does. I am going to try it out next on Foil Drive (where I think it will excel).
I still like winging - but it's sessions like this where I question my judgement. It would have been way less stress on Foil Drive.
PF:8/W:3/PW:55/FD:41/S:18
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