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....

LI Summer SUP Part 2 - Danny's Waves

Our next round came one weekend later from another offshore storm- Tropical Storm Danny. Danny petered out and threw its energy into a frontal storm off of Hatteras, though he still managed to send meaty 6' to 9'+ waves into the Bowl. I somehow grabbed a couple of these giant waves amidst a crowd of 25 surfers on my 11'2" Starboard SUP, an utterly thrilling and exhausting experience (I think I experienced endorphin fatigue!).

The next morning we took refuge and long rides on the bay side of the inlet. This session was a total blast and excellent workout. A mix of surfers, kayakers and SUP'ers shared in the wave bounty, often in "party waves".

The next day, winds went off-shore and cleaned up long-period left-overs. I joined Jon Ford and John van der Wolf at the Cut for some beautiful glassy waves in the chest to shoulder-high range.

Check out the full photoset (with 2 videos) in this slideshow (can be made to fit full-screen):

Windsurfing: The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of Defeat

The Thrill of Victory : Wave Sailing at the Bowl, October 25, 2008
Picture 1/13 of Bill Doutney's Album

The Agony of Defeat : Denied by the Iron Pier Shorebreak, November 16, 2008
Picture 3/15 of Bill Doutney's Album

Bowl Wave Sailing video - Nov 2008

High-quality youtube (direct link) [note: you can add &fmt=18 to any youtube link to see high quality]

Low-quality youtube:


Slow-loading, high-quality Quicktime format:

Windsurfing the Bowl with a Camera

Usually, windsurfing at the Bowl in Hampton Bays means clouds, rain and generally subpar video and photo opportunities due to the cold, easterly winds. On September 25th, however, our bowl session actually started with some sun, thanks to getting stuck between a Carolina coastal low / Canadian high pressure combo that delivered NE side-off wind in the 20's. Before racing off to the water myself, I filmed a few minutes of the early action:

also available: youtube version

After donning the wetsuit, the waterproof Olympus 970 got a workout:


I also attempted some more on-the-water shooting, including this hand-held footage (back hand on camera, front hand on boom) while on starboard tack, heading back to shore (you can see beach and jetty in the background):

Wave Sailing TS Hanna at the Bowl - Sept 2008

Finally back on the water after a long, long wind drought, thanks to Tropical Storm Hanna. About 10 of us snagged a long overdue wave sailing session as Hanna finally arrived with only 2 hours of daylight remaining. Check out the photos here:

.Mac Gallery (I refuse to call it "Mobile Me")

or

Flickr Photoset



Added: Peconic Puffin's Hannah recap

Bowl Wave Sailing video - May 2008

Side-shore wave sailing at Ponquogue Beach and the Bowl at Shinnecock Inlet in Hampton Bays, Long Island, NY. Conditions started with low tide and small, sloppy waves on 5.8 - 6.2 and big boards, and grew 6 hours later to 4.7 on small boards, dodging (or not) the shore break at high tide. Personally I've been attacking the waves more aggressively, and saw several others out there pushing themselves as well (George Pav). Special thanks to my girlfriend Chiaying, who bundled up against 20-30+ mph easterly (read "cold") wind and blowing sand, for shooting the video. For a much more colorful and complete description of the day, check out the post on the Peconic Puffin.



Watch on Youtube or downloadable Quicktime file (better resolution and larger size).

Windsurfing Ernesto

Another tropical storm visits Long Island, this time as the remnants of Ernesto, which double-teamed with high pressure to the north to whip up some incredible east winds. The Shinnecock Inlet tower recorded 34 hours of 30-40 mph wind from Friday night through Sunday morning, with a peak gust of 55 mph late Saturday afternoon.

Peconic Bay, Saturday morning:

I got out Friday afternoon on Peconic Bay, and progressed from my 6.2 to the 5.2 as wind built from 15 mph to 25. It was such pleasure to be perfectly balanced with the small sail, fully powered by reliable wind, and jump off of cresting white caps and 2-4 foot swells. On one jump, however, my feet came out of the straps and I neglected to unhook and sheet out, and I catapulted around the front. My friend Steve says I would have done a forward if I had kept my feet in the straps - ha, that's one way to think of it. Fortunately, the Deviator kept me from smashing the board's nose, but the impact on the weak side still opened the crack created in TS Beryl. What a bummer, after an awesome day.

Around Noon on Saturday I swung over to the Shinnecock Inlet. The winds were really cranking at this point, and waves were crashing into the rocks, sending sea spray well downwind. A couple of surfers were braving the rough surf, but windsurfers stowed their 3.5 sails and gear as winds started hitting 40 to 55 mph. I've got 19 photos from that day here: Ernesto at Shinnecock Inlet - Sep 2, 06. Here are two that I like:



The constant east wind funneled a lot of water into the inner bays, and by the final high tide of the storm there was some minor coastal flooding, but nothing too serious:

First Bowl Wave Sailing Session

Awesome day on the Ocean for me, though I didn't deserve it. I spent the lazy Sunday morning making eggs and oat bran, watching "Meet The Press", and expecting the winds to build 15-20 in the afternoon. The SE winds meant side-onshore conditions, the first wave sailing since April. Unfortunately, I had missed the best by the time I got there at Noon. My brother and I came across a kite surfer at Ponquogue, who said windsurfers were blasting away on their 5.3's over at the bowl. When we rolled up, however, the guys were packing it in. The winds were getting fluky, and most had just had enough.

Contemplation:

I came back an hour later and the winds had picked up enough to get me to rig. For about 20 minutes I was underpowered on my 6.2, but I was able to schlog upwind and get out to the breakers at the sand bar. The swells were pretty deep, and I was happy to just keep my balance and finally enjoy being on the ocean after 4 long months.

Luckily, the winds picked up and delivered 40 minutes of moderate to slightly overpowered planing. I loved jibing near the shore, in the smooth water between waves. Smooth water made for smooth carving, though not for smooth sail flips.

It was fun avoiding the breakers, and I got some pretty decent air a bunch of times, with only two crashes (one involving surging white water). I also saw some fish fins protruding from the water - they seemed to be feasting on something, but I couldn't tell if I was looking at small sharks or striped bass or dogfish.

5 more pics from the day are here: The Bowl - Aug 27th 06.