Stephen Squirrell (34966km):
4680 days ago  Our best night’s sleep in a while in the shelter by the small Etang just outside Peyriac-de-Mer :) Pete texted to say it was looking good at speed beach at La Franqui so we headed over after breakfast. All the windblown water was gone off the beach and Pete was parked a lot closer than yesterday and in an effort to join him I stupidly got stuck in the sand for the second time this holiday !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but with some pushing from Pete and Mag and using our floor mats and board bags under the wheels we managed to get out !!! Not a good start to the day :( Pete had rigged 5.8 with his Fanatic Falcon 80 and went out and did some 37 kt runs :) but by the time I had rigged my 5.8 and taken my Falcon 90 to the water the wind was gusting to 40 mph!!!! so I quickly got the Falcon speed board out – the first time I have used it for nearly 9 months !!! and was way over the top sail wise and course was very bumpy :( so I struggled back to the van and rigged the 5.2 which was alot better and could even get back upwind as long as the wind was strong !!! I to was getting 37 kt max runs – it’s so hard to get to 40 and the three sailors out today were all getting similar times. I tried a mile a couple of times and am disappointed by the result :( the wind was patchy down the run and perhaps I didn’t sail far enough??? I was getting some creaking noises sailing upwind and thought it eas my mast giving up but no it was my boom connection rope which broke on my leaving me a bit of a hike to fix it. With the boom fixed the wind had eased :( and the 7/8 kiters who were here last week appeared a 1:30 and gave us a show with 6m kites!!! Pete said that I could have ago on his 80 and had three runs including my best max of 39.28 :) the 80 is a top board being easy to sail, good upwind and a bit faster than my 90 !!! so if I am to continue speedsailing it might be time to swop ??? (Anyone out there wants a Fanatic Falcon 90 or swop/part exchange for a Falcon 80???)
With the wind now dropping and couldn’t face rigging another sail and with Mag getting bored – who can blame her stuck on a windy, isolated beach with the sand taking a layer of skin off your legs!!! So I packed up at 4:30 chucked all my kit in the van leaving Pete to his slalom sailing and headed to our favourite spot at Peyraic :)
We got to our parking spot and there were three cars already there!!!! :( but we parked around the corner for a while and luckily they moved :) So we had a pick at the contents of the fridge tea,had another great outdoor plastic bag shower and read :) then at just gone eight we set off on another wonderful walk around the small Etang, this time turning left along the stony path high above the water with stunning views to Gruissan,Bages,Narbonne,Port-la-Nouveile and Peyriac :) we were gone an hour and a half and once again watched the sun set over the mountains, loads of the resident flamingos and even saw a heron soaring in the wind !!!!
Maybe a little wind tomorrow so will look at Gruissan and decide then????
Fanatic Falcon Speed and Tushingham x - 15 5.2 + Tectonics F1 Falcon 25
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