Finally a blaster

Sunday, the first of March, I drove down A1A to News Cut which is between Sebastian Inlet and the village of Orchid. We had great winds for blasting in the straps. I went out to what is called (but not signed) Clam Beach which is a half mile south of the Inlet bridge. I met a group of sailors at a spot that was vegetated. After digging out an old map, I found the name [i]News Cut[/i] for it. Here the Indian River widens into a bay of sorts and the barrier island narrows to a width of a few hundred feet. I was able to get in some tremendously long reaches of 2 miles or more across this body of water. It isn't as shallow as the other areas I have been sailing, and I can easily see taking a big fin and wide board over it (something I can't say for the other locations I've posted about). The waves were decent, too. This poly board I have actually was too big and heavy. I could have used something smaller and lighter for most of the session. Whatever, I continued to sail with my old equipment and made a pretty good go of it if I do say so myself. The winds were gusty, but I've now gotten used to sailing with a stiff leech again. In fact, I can handle it rather well and received some compliments from the peanut gallery that was watching. What was all that fuss regarding the new sails? There were other sailors, of course, on the water, and I could see kiters over on Coconut Point. The 175 lb. guy who launched with me was using a 4.7 and was overpowered at times. I debated between a 5 and 6 but chose the 6. It was too much to gybe but put me solidly into the straps from one end of the vast expanse of water to the other. After a while the winds abated as predicted and that definitely made me glad that I had rigged the 6.0. During my breaks, I found the conversation with the three people on the beach a welcome relief from what I have been enduring at the Gables. One of their group was doing the sailing. When he came in, I went out. In this way I was able to obtain the necessary rest between some of the rather demanding sailing I was doing. Since I'm shooting for 5,000 now on the read here, I want to add a bit more about my memorable experiences in Florida. It's been over a month since I last sailed Clam Beach there, but I can't forget one story a woman told to us while we were siting on the beach watching her husband sail. She related an experience she had had on the open ocean thereabouts. While windsurfing, a Manta Ray appeared close to the surface and, as you can well imagine, scared the living daylights out of her. I certainly can't match the way she told it, but this sea animal followed her for a while. They are plankton feeders and aren't predatory, but given their size Manta Rays are much more impressive a sight than dolphins. This morning I did a little research and found this out about them. >>Mantas are extremely curious around humans, and are fond of swimming with scuba divers. Although they may approach humans, if touched, their mucus membrane is removed, causing lesions and infections on their skin. They often surface to investigate boats without engines running. They have the largest brain-to-body ratio of the sharks and rays. Mantas are also known to breach the water into the air.<< Although this was my 13th session in Florida, I had a rather upbeat experience overall. We talked windsurfing and kiting for quite some time. After my company left, I went out for some more sailing. The winds had subsided, though, and it wasn't as enjoyable. I managed to separate my rig from my board in a fathom of water. Luckily I wasn't terribly far from shore. I released the board and let it wash ashore. Dragging the rig, I swam/walked in. Once ashore I reconnected the equipment and sailed the short distance to the end of the beach, near my car. No harm done. They told me that this site is a great place for Westerly winds. I second that. However, I think it might be a good place in Easterlies, too. It's just one damn good spot. There was no boat traffic, plenty of beach and good kindred company. What more can a windsurfer want?