Tuesday 28th June - Windsurf ***** - River Orwell at Levington – sunny and warm.

Longboard Fin – 21.85 knot max, 20.41 knot ave.,, 10.12 knot hour, 14.52 knot mile, 58.93 km., 11.45 knot alpha.

Fanatic Cat with Tushingham Lightning 8.5m and 39 fin.

With my new foil finally arriving at the windsurfing shop in Colchester this might be my last longboard outing for awhile as am keen to get back foiling to see if I remember how to do it??? I will keep my much loved and well battered Fanatic Cat on my trailer so I can take it out from time to time as its not always easy to launch a foil at my home spot of Felixstowe if there is a shorebreak! Again I was hoping to go to the River Orwell at Levington to make the most of a favourable high water but with winds light first thing it was not looking great so decided to do my exercises in the garden enjoying the warm sunshine. With the southerly wind building nicely I decide to hitch up the trailer arriving at the marina around 10.30 with the parking area already full with four foilers about to head out in a good breeze straight down the Orwell from Felixstowe docks:) My plan today was to sail around to Wrabness on the River Stour to say hello to Jason Powell who messaged me last night inviting me over for a sail:) Just for a change I was last on the water today sailing straight into loads of wind making another good beat down the Orwell to Felixstowe docks, the beauty of this old long is you could use the full width of the river and not worry about hitting the bottom, something on a foil you have to think about all the time! It took 18 tacks to make the Stour, I had to do some shorter runs in front of the docks as a huge container ship was coming in, passing Shotley marina and the recently refurbished Halfpenny pier as I started the 6 mile beat up the pretty Stour, the wind was a little patchy but included some good gusts with again some amazing skies:) As I passed Holbrook school, I could see Jason in the distance out on his fin board with 7.3. I had to tack and sail across the river but did not make the launch beach so landed to take a few pics before continuing up river, taking opposite Bradfield before meeting up with Jason who was now packing up. After a nice chat, I haven’t seen him for awhile but with the tide now going out and the wind looked to have eased I thought it best to head for home! It was the start for another verry pleasant sail back, not windy enough to move the tack back and I still used some plate but very comfortable, it did chop up where the two rivers meet but the wind had picked up here so stopped just past Shotley Marina to move my tack back as it is difficult to do while sailing! With the tide now whizzing out it had roughed up being nowhere near as flat as the outward trip. I had a nice dual with a yacht sailing upriver and soon left him behind and soon broke 20 knots:) I waved at windsurfing mate Mark Swain out teaching boat handling in a rib:) Then with the wind still up I carried on broad reaching towards Pin Mill in hope of getting a 20-knot average which I managed plus this was my second longest trip of the year, covering nearly 37 miles in the sunshine. With the tide dropping it was time to call it a day, pack up, shower before driving the 6 miles back home but not before stopping for a chat with James who works at the marina who I haven’t seen for ages, so another 5-star session on the old longboard with warm sunshine all the way:)

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