5/31/07, Satatoga Pelican Point, 7.0/115L S-Type

[kenonstott]

The 3-day wind graphs were showing some good wind for UL late in the day. I couldn’t see from the weather maps why but I left the Mesonet up all afternoon. It was nice of the wind to wait until quitting time. I was really surprised to see the trees bent over at the Redwood-Lehi junction. When I arrived, the lake was covered with whitecaps and huge waves were crashing into the jetty. The waves were so big there were 3 teenagers trying to surf. That was the 1st time I have seen anyone doing that in Utah. I was ready to rig a 5.0 based on the visual but Provo Muni was 15 gusting 19 and my wind meter confirmed this. It must have had something to do with how NE the wind was. I rigged the 7.0 based on the wind meters. The sail was the right size but the S-type, although only 7’11”, had a little too much bottom surface area to be crashing through huge waves. It may have been that I still don’t have the straps/downhaul/outhaul right on my new sail, or it may have been my body is still so trashed from the hard sailing over Memorial Day weekend, but I only made 2 round trips before I came in for some Ibroprofen. Great winds on a gorgeous afternoon made for a great after work session. The only downside was the contractors hauling rock out on the jetty to raise it. The only place you could park was by the restrooms, which is a long walk, and the dust was pretty bad while rigging. It seems like a waste of taxpayer money as the lake is sure to fall this year. No one else showed up so the weather forecast must have baffled everyone else too.