Monday 25^th May – windsurf ***** - Gruissan - sunny – nw 25/40 mph

Xantos 133, 6.4, 34 fin. Max 33.10 kts, hr.23.32 (PB) 149km, 209 mins, ave 30.10kts, alpha 20.90 :(

Moved on to Gruissan and found a top spot to park up in the woods overlooking Gruissan castle :) with the nw wind forecast to blow 20/25 mph it was going to be perfect for a bit of big board (133) cruising in-between Gruissan and Port –la –Nouvelle (6 miles) hoping to get a good hour and some big miles but in the end the wind was 25/40 mph making it an interesting day!!! :) After a relaxing breakfast we headed the short distance to the beach, making it through the concrete chicane – Mag hates this bit as I damaged the van here when it was really new !!!  It’s a bumpy track out past the learner kite etang and salt beds to the beach, we then drove along the back of the beach to the small canal and parked up in a great spot allowing Mag to sit in some comfort behind the van, she even managed her exercises after a bit of shell collecting:) With the wind already gusting way over 25mph I rigged the 6.4 and gave the Xantos a go just to try out the conditions. With my watch set for an hour countdown and my gps rescue beacon down my lifejacket I set off in the lovely flat water towards the snowy Pyrenees :) This was the best hour run as the wind was only 25/30 and not that many other sailors out apart from several kiters where the large Etang enters the sea including several learners complete with rescue boat. My plan was to try to keep in the really flat water close to the shore, this meant some beating and probably not so fast but much easier on the legs than the rougher water further out! You can’t have more fun than this windsurfing and the first hour passed quickly as I did all my runs from the canal to just short of where the etang empties approx 2miles and then I went all the way to Port-la-Nouvelle and back to Gruissan breakwater 5/6 miles and then stopped for a drink and chat with Mag. Refreshed and the watch set for another hour I set off again but this time it was harder as there were a lot more sailors out (Bank holiday) and you were never sure what the kiters were going to do, I tried a few sling-shots to up my top speeds but it wasn’t worth  knackering yourself to gain an odd knot or two!!! So another 20 kt hour passed without incident , it did include another trip to Nouvelle as after a gybe I lost a lot downwind and ended up way offshore in the rough stuff but managed to get in close to shore by the Nouvelle gasworks!!! So it was back for lunch and to recharge my gps, the wind had by this time gone bonkers, gusting to 40 mph but I tried for one last hour even though I should have changed to the 5.8 and 80lt board I continued with the 133 and to be honest it handled the conditions brilliantly not as fast as a modern slalom board but so easy to sail – my favourite board of all time and it only cost me £50 – I love ebay :) The final hour was very challenging having to weave in and out of sailors standing in the shallow water at the edge and gybing was hard too as the board just bounced out so I stopped at the end of each run even though I was sailing much faster but was completely shot to pieces by this time so called it a day having covered 149 km in 209 mins not as far as my 200 km best but still a fantastic 5 star day sunny /windy day !!! We just chucked all my sandy kit inside our poor old van – there was no way to tie them on in 40 mph winds and headed off the beach, spotting an Avocet and several Kentish Plovers on the way. We drove round to the camper aire by the beach to top up with water before heading up to the shelter of the hills to de-sand the van yet again – can’t wait for this wind to stop blowing it must be two weeks non-stop now, I don’t know how the locals put up with it – it would drive me crazy !!! I then washed the sand off me, read my book in the sun, had a great tea and then a short walk in the beautiful countryside :)