Weekend of 8 May 2010.

Lots of wind action apparently in Cape Town - the weatherman on the radio said gale force NW and 6 meter swells for the weekend. That means only one thing - a cold front should be on its way to Gauteng which in turn means some wind (hopefully). And so it is - Donovan phones me on Saturday morning to say that he's at the dam and its blowing 12 knots. I pack and head off in an easterly direction only to find that there's absolutely no sign of wind along the road - the bushes and trees are motionless. Disgusted, I turn around and head back home. Where's the wind ? I get a phone call from Gabi later that evening claiming that he, Donovan and Jules had had a "legendary" sailing day at Bronks. The only legendary thing was the fact that Bronks saw the highest density of 10 sq.m sails per square kilometer in the southern hemisphere. Put it this way - Donovan at 65kg on a 130 liter board and 9.8 sq.m sail barely planing - puts it in perspective, doesn't it. There is definitely some truth in the rumour that Hungarians are soft.

Anyway, Guru was predicting more wind for Sunday - around 12 knots westerly at 2PM. As per the rules of Bronks sailing, a westerly usually provides more wind than Guru forecasts. The faithful gathered on the western edge of TCC to pay homage to the wind gods : Breda, Carlo, Carl (a Homestead regular but newbie to Bronks), Gunter, Michael (Gunter's new sidekick at Joluka), Peter (newbie, ex-Cape Town surfer, now landlocked in dusgusting Egoli), Johan, Lourens, Glyn, Donovan, Andy and me. Rigs ranged in size from 7 to 10,5 sq.m and 130 to 160 liter boards. The wind gusted on and off for most of the day. This type of sailing is actually more tiring than a constant 25 knots. Late in the day, just after everyone had reached that state of sore hands, stretched arms and general tiredness, the wind kicked in for about 30 minutes at 15 knots +. Had some big moments on Formula board and 9 sq.m sail but what a wonderful 30 minutes it was. All in all though, a reasonable day although not quite as windy as one hoped with the passage of a cold front.

But where were some of the regulars - Snitch, Gabi, Jules ? We have it on good authority that Snitch is miff with Glyn after having been banned from drinking beer in the windsurf-mobile. Can I have your 130 Fanatic please, if you're not going to use it anymore. Jules and Gabi were apparently too shagged out after their "epic" 10.5 sq.m day on Saturday. Ag shame. Anyway, good to see the emerging interest in windsurfing with three new arrivals in the past two sailing sessions - keep it up lads ! There's still space for many more. And who was the sailor who appeared out of nowhere ? None other than Jarrod, last seen many moons ago. When asked why he parks at the nature reserve with the pap gooiers, his reply is that it's closer to Joeys (by 2km) so he can therefore get on the water quicker ! Anyway, he discovered the sudden stopping power of the TCC weeds. Due to the high water level over the past few years, these weeds have flourished and lie a few centimeters beneath the water, ready to trap the unwary - rule #1 at Bronks : always stay at least 50 meters from the shore when sailing fast.

Till next time then.......

Cheers
Malcolm