An early post for a Friday Night as my headache wants to get away and head home as soon as the clock hits 5.30pm! After a forecast full of excitement.. the winds have done the dirty and dropped right back this afternoon, just when the Tide state would have allowed afternoon play to take place. I guess the wing foils (I saw ‘many’ involved in frantic rigging down by the river on the way in this morning) and kites may still be enjoying what could be the last ‘warm’ blow of 2023 but those of you that have driven a long way to enjoy the forecasted stronger winds and waves, will be a little bit peeved and quite rightly so. If the forecasters got the winds wrong I bet they are right with the rain and it’s bound to turn up at 5.30pm, just when we bring the kit in (it’s a given fact)! Sadly, none of this can now be changed, so is anyone looking for a Windsup for the coming winter of fun?
If the winds let you down, a SUP (the Bike of the Water) can give you the hours of on-water exercise and fun you need, with very little time spent rigging bits of kit together.. just put your wetsuit on and out you go! With that in mind…can you believe that we have traded in a Fanatic Allwave 9’3” 2022 in really nice condition! In case you are new to the sport, the Allwave is as it sounds, it is a one board option that will do a bit of everything, so a great choice for those that may want to paddle waves or even paddle a river. It’s 32” wide and has 160lt volume, so very stable due to the width and enough volume to be used on freshwater, depending upon how far up the river you go! The board has the windsurf option making it perfect for use as a light wind wave board, for when those lovely little swells roll in but arejust too small for most windsurf boards to connect up with. Condition wise there are a couple of marks, the worst being a small transit crack up on the port side of the bow but it has been sealed and is fine, otherwise it looks like new (a couple of ION stickers added but these are decorative and not hiding anything, I hope!) The board is supplied with the three OEM Future fins and is a bargain at £699.00.. in our view! Come and take a look. Now time for the weather and tides for this weekend..
Saturday, the wind is in from the West’Nor’West during the first half of the day, at around 10-19kts , it then swings more to the Nor’West early afternoon and dropping back to 10 -17kt. The temperature drops off to around 14°C but don’t be surprised if it feels chillier in that breeze. Tide is High at 11.58hrs on a 6.1m, so I would expect that the river will be busy again with the Wings.
Sunday, the winds are from the North 8-14kts and due to that direction the air temp drops off even more, with 11°C given as the High (bit of a change from today!). This is just to get us ready for a chilly blast that is currently due to follow next week! The wind is expected to turn to the East’Nor’East by Monday afternoon and it could be very windy and possibly very wet on Wednesday and Thursday. I guess Autumn does have to arrive eventually but 15°C all winter would be fine with me. Tide hits High at 12.24hrs on a 6.1m. Again, a day for Wings on the River if the wind is strong enough.
And that is that. Sorry it’s short but this is the best I can do under the circumstances (please forgive any typos etc) James is now looking ‘Clear’ on the Covid Test front so he will be seeing most people this weekend while I hide in the office. I hope your weekend goes well and do ask if you need anything.. we are here to Cough… I mean help!
Chow.
