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Boatramps Len Howard = Fun sail, just waited for gusts, noice to see 36kts on the dial, its been a while, just warming up for the season ahead.  Mistral 95/55, TR-7 5.9m, Pepeweed, 22/48

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Glory Holes, Australind, WA, AU

a good day at the local.

no flat water to be found and some smoking gusts made it interesting.

good to catch up with stretch,henry and gary.

used a iso 107 with the usual choko weedy and a 6.2 severne R3

JP SS 125L, NP RSR E7 7.0m JP Slalom 44cm

Everbody was of the water by the time I hit the water, had the smaller SS set up but some wise words from Paul had me change the board for the lareger version to contend with the lulls.

Was very exciting on the first couple of runs with the board liking the tail walk, got the mast foot sorted on the last run, flagged it after 3 runs, nice and happy with blasting in the lumpy goodness.

F'ken ALF's are out in force already, lost count at 8 of the little feckers kicked 2 f'ken big ones one of which drew blood. all of which lad me leaping around like a unco drunken gazelle

Short version: Top Ten Fangy Day, had a ball :-)

I wandered down to Nairns after lunch. I had promised myself that I would take it quietly and be sensible about the current state of my lungs. It seems I keep my promises only slightly better than the average pollie. At the end of most runs, I had to sit and gasp for breath like a beached blowie for a few minutes. It was brilliant to be back on the water and totally worth the discomfort.

The Vintage Screamer and the Party Barge got outings today plugged in with the Koncept 6.6.  It was my first decent test of my aluminium FangyFin Mk1. The fin is 20cm, at 55degrees with a similar foil to a Delta slalom.

The fin certainly felt slippery enough, and behaved pretty much like a delta. The inside area of Fangy’s improved as the day progressed and the fin worked well in these conditions. Out in the chop, not so happy. 

The old Screamer was quicker, but I had to work harder on take off as it is no match for my bulk, and I simply ran out of puff too quickly. I downgraded to the Party Barge just so I could cruise around. Interestingly the barge was only slightly slower. I guess because its prodigious length and weight kept the arse of the board firmly in the water through the chop and that gave me a bit more confidence downhill. I did my usual ground and weed testing where I could. The aluminium held up at least as well as the G10 to the scratches from sand and little rocks. There was no wear on the leading edge, but that was more likely due to the scarcity of weed.

Tugger and offspring along with Shane joined me for a while. Shane looked really nicely locked in and comfortable on the runs I saw. And typically, he was still knocking out some kms when I left. 

As I said, stoked to be out cruising again, albeit with the fitness that only a zombie would be jealous. Oh, and no crabs yet, my toes were unscathed. Top Ten Fangy Day for sure.

4 categories

Drove around the first part of the morning, looking for flatish water, ended up at Nth Novara. Rigged the 5.4, plugged into the 48cm board with a 21cm 45d weedy I haven't used for ages. Sailed into alpha land, and found some great flat water, went for a longish run and also found some big weedburgs, I'm sure 'ken can confirm it resulted in a lot of displaced water. Saw hardy st Len howards, and yes of course the master has found the best water, a noice stretch just north of the hootchie down to Tomski's gybe marker. Had a play there, and got my best speed. To rough for me to try for anything useful, so just used it to test out the shoulder and keep sailing fitness up.

Luckily my big splash didn't involve the sore shoulder.

Very much looking forward to some nice seabreezes!!!!!!!!

Here's the gpsvisualizer view.

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Novara Beach, WA, AU

Spent a lot of the morning trying decide where to sail and looking at all the spots, then deciding what to rig. Eventually got on the water with the captain and Gav. Was joined a bit later by Hardie and chatted to Elmo while he rigged, but didn't get to see the results. Didn't manage much speed wise today but good to have a properly windy day and had a fun sail anyway.

Decrepit's dismount over the handlebars was something to see. He looked like he was picking up speed on a good bear-off... Then really suddenly, just a huge splash.  Was surprised but relieved to see him sail away a minute or two later.

Manta 86  6.0 HSM GPS S

Exmouth, WA, AU Hit the 30knot target firiebob!!!! CA 58, 6.2 overdrive