Sunday, September 13, 2009

Epic Bowl Wave Sailing

EPIC conditions at the Bowl, down-the-line frontside wave sailing, jumping off of 12' waves fully juiced on 4.2, riding logo to mast high waves with the crew and even getting treated to a Graham Ezzy backloop just 50 feet away! It all came together on September 10th & 11th, 2009 when a weak low off of Hatteras ran up against a Maine/Nova Scotia high and sent us several days of side-off Northeasterlies. For a complete rundown, check out the Peconic Puffin's excellent reporting: Land of the Giants at the Bowl and From The Bowl: More Waves, More Wind.

I know the word "epic" can get overused after an inspirational session. This session blew away all previous contenders by far, and was definitely epic for me, but I've only been wave sailing for 3 years. When I heard the 10-20 year veterans, however, raving in disbelief with looks of euphoria on their face, I knew it was indeed a rare, special event.

Video footage shot from the beach, Days 1 & 2:



Photos from Day 1:



Photos from Day 2:



I got the idea for the following video from Andy McKinney's Lost in Hatteras: Lighthouse Video. He found the best spot to mount a boom cam - the clew! I gave it a go on the second day about 20 minutes before the thunderstorms hit (missing the big stuff), and caught a couple interesting moments. One thing is for sure - wide-angle is the way to go - I may get one of those GoPro's after all....

9 comments:

PeconicPuffin said...

Outstanding stuff. I particularly like the photo essays, though the clew camera video looks like the future!

Andreas Choulet said...

Really nice!
Can you post a picture of the mount?
I've been trying mounts but never got it this good.
andreas[@]ohana.se

bonnie said...

Loved the wipeout at 1:43!

George Markopoulos said...

i cant watch the video from, work, but i can imagine! awesome Jeff.
See you at wavejam next week?

Jeff, aka Peconic Jeff said...

Thanks for your comments everyone!

Andreas, I mounted a Gorillapod tripod, which has flexible arms. You can see a picture of it in action in my first boomcam post. For the clew mount I wrapped the arms around the very end of the boom and mounted the camera upside down - then flipped & reversed the video after importing.

George, I'd love to attend WaveJam, but I'm already signed up to do the ABK freestyle clinic that weekend. Next time!

Unknown said...

This up-state, lake-bound, ocean-dreaming sailor loved the video from the sessions at the Bowl- great stuff!

After a few years of trying/wishing, I'm finally getting out to Eastern Long Island for several days this weekend. Would you mind if I bounce a couple of questions about launch sites off you? I'm looking at Google Earth, in anticipation of north/northeast winds on Friday, but don't know what is private vs. public. I'm staying in East Hampton- thinking maybe Maidstone Park? It looks like there might be public access along Navy Rd. or Hither Woods Preserve Rd. on Fort Pond Bay? Or the big parking lot at the end of W. Lake Dr. in Montauk (next to Gossman's Restaurant)?

I'm at cby2@cornell.edu, if you don't mind giving a bit of advice.

Think wind!
Chris

PeconicPuffin said...

CBY, you want Napeague Bay at the end of Lazy Point Road.

Bunty said...

This Sept 09 entry is the most recent entry I can get on your blog no matter what I try! Just wanted to say what a great pic that is on Pec Puff's blog of your SUP'ing session. Looks like you had a really 'swell' (excuse the pun!?!) time.

Jeff, aka Peconic Jeff said...

Thanks Bunty! After a long hiatus, I've finally got a new post up. It was indeed a swell and wavelicious time!

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