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Showing posts from January, 2012

A Scandinavian Experience

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Looking back on it now, it has to be seen as one's vain attempt to escape the winter blues. But with temperatures gradually falling, thanks to a constant flux of cold air arriving from eastern Europe, this had to be one of the last occasions to get on the water for the next couple of days. They announced winds from the south east, which is usually a good call for Dierhagen, a flat water spot on the Bodden nearby. However, the forecast dropped a lot when day X was approaching so we started looking for alternatives. It didn't take long to convince Markus to join me on a ferry trip over to the other side of our little Baltic sea, where the wind would be stronger and more consistent. It's always kind of crazy to get there. Since taking the car on the ferry costs a fortune, we used a small trailer for the gear and then walked the distance from the port to the spot. This is not a big deal in summer, but doing so in January was a very special experience. Luckily, we already got in

Riding on a Flooded Field

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Thomas and Gabriel, two fellow windsurfers from Rostock, convinced me to go windsurfing today. I wasn't really motivated as I wanted to study after yesterday's session. Forecast was for about 16 knots pretty much directly from the north. We headed to Roggow, a spot at the Salzhaff, which is a Baltic Sea inlet. Already on the way to the spot, we noticed that many fields were flooded and that this provided perfect flat water. In the beginning we were only joking about sailing on a puddle just in front of Ikea. But when we finally arrived at the spot, we actually noticed that the whole field behind the beach was completely flooded. Unlike the main spot, this patch of water offered perfectly flat conditions. After testing out the depth of the water, we finally gave it a shot. Unfortunately, the wind was not very strong and quite gusty, too. The 4.6 Sailloft Quad proved to be the right choice as it gives you loads of power, even in the lulls. Luckily, the farmer didn't show up.

Friday Afternoon

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There's nothing like a good windsurf session at the end of a busy week! The wind had already dropped a bit when I went on the water just after lunchtime. But the Patrik Diethelm Trailer Wave 78 and the Sailloft Quad 4.4 worked just fine in these conditions. With the water level being about 70cm above average the waves did not break in the proper sense of the word. They just built up, started to peel, then backed off again and finally hit the shore. So there was a bit of a shorebreak - but nothing too serious, if it hadn't been for the submerged groynes popping up here and there. Surfers didn't seem too happy either with the conditions. But then again, after all that hype about this spot, this might be a good thing to happen. My girlfriend took some photos and we were also doing some filming, so I was really keen to show some nice takas. But that wasn't to be, since every time I went down the line it was really hard to keep the speed and every time I wanted to hit the l