Lopez by the Numbers
by Fuzzman    9/14/07

Yo,

   Lopez was a good time this weekend. Couldn’t find anybody to join me, so hauled up there Saturday AM solo. Got to the campsite around 10 AM. As I was checking in, a guy and a girl (Andy and Vicki) came to the next window, asking if there were campsites available. Turns out, the camp was full, so I offered to let these two park in the campsite with me. Turns out, they were pretty cool. They usually sail Leo, but head up here when the coastal eddy sets in. After sailing all day, they mentioned that they were planning on going to the Italian place (Gina's) in town for dinner. Sweet! I was planning on heading there myself, so I joined them, as did one other guy. So four of us had dinner, and I of course went to Doc Burnstein's afterwards, and then walked over the walk bridge in order to cover all of the basics for the trip.

   Sailing was pretty good. It was blowing pretty light when I got there, and so I rigged the 8.7 Diablo and my big board. Got all dialed in on that set up. Very few people on the water (everyone waiting for the wind to come up, or on small stuff like 6.0 and 5.7... Strange). After an hour, it picked up some, and I was thinking of rigging the 6.1, but was trying to decide between that and the 7.0. I didn’t rig either before it dropped again, and I went back out on the 8.7 instead. I had much better luck with it this weekend. I had it rigged pretty sweet, and I think you were right, having it on the bigger board, and with a bigger fin made all the difference. I hit 25.2 mph on the GPS, not bad for wind <= 18 I think. By 3 or 4 I was pretty beat, so I de-rigged and headed up to camp, got the tent set up, inflated my air mattress with my new ELP (extremely loud pump) before dark, and then headed into town for dinner.

   Sunday came up a little later. I was hoping to rig something smaller, and so didn’t rig the 8.7 when it came up around 10:30. By noon it was enough to get me going on the 7.0. Still on the big board. At 1:00 I was slightly overpowered / tired on the 7.0 (chart shows it at 20, but I don’t think it was that strong), and I came in and rigged the 6.1 and the Baby-Bell Bass. I only took 2 or 3 runs on it. I was marginally planing, and decided the 7.0 was the better call. Had some more fun on the 7.0, tried many jibes, fell a lot, water started most of the time.

   I hit the road around 4, home at 9 after sitting in SB traffic per usual.

   Oh, and you would have laughed. There was this dude trying to teach himself to beach start. Got his a$$ kicked for about 20 minutes, and it was quite obvious that a cam had fallen off his mast. At first when I looked, I thought his mast was broken, his sail was so messed up. Anyway, after letting him suffer the appropriate amount of time, I asked if he could use some help, which he gladly accepted. I told him that we needed to re-rig his sail, and I asked if he had a downhaul tool. He said "What's a downhaul tool?" No kidding. I was like "Oh boy, somebody help that guy!". So, I downhauled his sail by hand, and he was like "That much?!" I'm not sure if he believed me when I told him that even that was not enough. Anyway, 2 minutes later he gets a beach start and is off. He actually did alright once his sail had some shape in it. I see him an hour later, and he says to me "You know, it was easier to pop the sail after you downhauled it" I was thinking, "Yes, having the cams on the mast helps with that." Good stuff.

   I got a voucher for the camp fees for Sunday night. Don’t know if you can use it for the reservations you have in Sept? Anyway, I'll give you $$ for this weekend. By the way, Buck 14 was about the best, biggest site I have ever had. Sweet.

   At least April had the baby so I guess you were actually needed at home.

Lopez by the numbers:
   Number of sails rigged: 3
   Number of Boards sailed: 2
   Number of jibes attempted: about 30 (for a lifetime total of about 8973)
   Number of jibes completed: 0 (for lifetime total of about 0)
   Top speed: 25.2
   Number of broken pieces of equipment: 0
   Number of babes in bikinis on the beach: 2
   Number of dudes in bikinis on the beach: 2 (not the guy I helped)
   Number of tent poles broken: 0
   Number of trips to Doc Burnstein's: 2 (stopped on the way home, too).
   Number of deer seen: a lot
   Number of turkeys seen: 0, but someone else said they saw some

   All in all, a good weekend.

Fuzzman