Saturday 1st May - Windsurf ** - River Orwell at Levington – sunshine and showers.

Foil – 17.59 knot max, 16.77 knot ave., 4.06 knot hour, 14.03 knot mile, 15.28 km.,7.81 knot alpha.

Exocet RF AST 91 with Slingshot Hover Glide 76 with Tushingham Lightning 7m.

I didn’t even consider a windsurf today with the winds offshore then switching to ENE but only light with sunshine and showers. So, in the morning Mag went to Lidl then did her garden while I did my exercises in the back room, then David Coles said on WhatsApp that he was probably heading over to Bradfield to make the most of the 4-o clock high tide but then again, he has a brand-new board to try out! I checked Landguard weather station and to be honest the wind was all over the place so didn’t want to risk another drive into Essex. So, with the wind still NW I decided to drive over to local Levington with Mag for lunch with my windsurfing gear, if it was windy, I could foil if not we could go for a walk:) Arrived at the marina at 1.45 in lovely sunshine and there were loads of yachts out on the Orwell making the most of a good breeze on the far side of the river as it was cross off. So, after my roll I decided to give it a try, quickly setting up my board, sail choice was a complete guess with little wind on the beach so I went with my favourite Lightning 7m. Launching around 2.15 in plenty of water I soon hit the wind and started playing Russian Roulette with the large number of yachts, many keeled right over, always exciting to sail in amongst the boats. I had a few flying runs back and forth across the river waving to the yachties, I had had hoped to get some gybe practice but the sky went black and the wind dropped off:( Then the wind turned dead off, probably ENE and picked up and I had the best run of the session flying straight down the river nearly two miles, flying back the wind disappeared once again, time to call it a day. I then had to beat back in light airs but that is no problem on a big foil board, the temperature dropped several degrees when it clouded over! Back in the van with the diesel heater on I soon warmed up with a cuppa with Mag:) Then the rain came so I delayed packing up but watched the birds on the river with included Turn Stones, Oyster Catchers, a Grebe and Geese, just love it here:) So not the best but at least I did a few miles with some good wind coming for Monday and Tuesday but continuing to be chilly:(

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