Hmmm.... seems like we were all at The Wall that day. The news was a
real shock, and it was even worse when I read the name. I'm pretty
sure I've met him as he was a friend of a friend and he apparently
spent a lot of time at the Hatch. Sometimes I take too much for
granted... the friend I was traveling with did not have much
experience sailing in high wind, yet I threw him out at the Hatch that
morning OP'd on a 3.8... thinking he would be fine. He did sail for
awhile and made it back to shore safely, but he definitely felt in
over his head and had a little panic attack trying to waterstart in
the big swell. Sure, it's only water, but we still have to use common
sense. I definitely took my share of licks this trip and had people
sail up to me to ask if I was OK. I guess there are advantages to
sailing among the crowd and not finding your own piece of water upwind
or downwind. Sometimes it's nice to get away from everybody, but it's
probably a good idea to bring at least one person with you.
On Jul 22, 11:33 am, "Alan White" <alannc44~nosp...@ix.netcom.com>
wrote:
> "LakeSurf" <dtr
...@solinus.com> wrote in message
> news:11a9657d-39a7-4307-86f0-4235dd5e0741@m44g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
> > We were sailing at the Wall at the time, but a good friend of mine (a
> > 200lbs guy) was sailing Dougs when it happened and
> > he was on a 3.2 if that helps visualize the winds at the time. He
> > knew the coroner and commented that at the time they weren't sure if
> > he had drowned or broke his neck with the facial impact. Being that he
> > was nailed in the face, would a helmet mattered? Who can tell, but I
> > know I've not worn my helmet in years and I've got a wife and three
> > grom's that I need to come home to. Food for thought...
> > Total bummer on what was otherwise an epic day....
> Yes, it is a bummer. Things happen so fast in those kinds of winds. I used
> to look for that kind of wind whenever I could....deliberately seeking out
> the strongest wind, etc. Now that I'm looping and trying some other tricks,
> I find myself looking for that 4.2-5.0 range of wind. On this particular
> day, we drove right by Doug's. You could see the big wind from I-84.
> Thinking that the swell would be really fun, we drove out to The Wall and
> sailed there. It was a lot of fun at The Wall, but the winds were far from
> nuclear @ around 25-30. I even wore my own helmet:http://www.ibscc.org/ore08.htm despite the mellowness. My own close call
> several years ago at Pistol (http://imageevent.com/srfjm/jmsgallery/alanouchtherock;jsessionid=420...)
> taught me how, even if you don't get killed, a bad accident will ruin your
> week. I've also found that I tend to be a little more bolder with a helmet.
> That boldness gets me through some stunts that I'm sure I would hesitate
> otherwise.
> FWIW, I've hit the mast several times, but I wonder if perhaps it wasn't the
> board that might have flown around and smacked poor Damian. Those things are
> even less forgiving in high winds than masts.
> Alan
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