Good day going downwind

[Old School]

Had a great paddle today – just short of perfect.  I’ve been in the surf a few times (just enough to know I have no idea what I’m doing), but I’m mainly a flatwater guy.  We had a rare 15 knot wind out of the NNE today – predicted at 340 degrees, perfect direction for running down the Indian River Lagoon.  I know that’s not enough wind to get the Hawaiian crowd excited, but in Florida we have to take what we can get. 

I was nice to the wife all morning, and got her to drop me off about 6 miles north of the house, at the end of a partially dirt road that I was reasonably sure was public property.  While getting the board off the truck, two guys pulled up in a golf cart, complete with loaded racks for both rifles and fishing rods.  Turned out to be a couple of kids who lived on that road and were curious about the board.  I gave them some paddling advice, they showed me their favorite fishing lures for the immediate vicinity, all was good.   

Even before I hit the water I knew the wind wasn’t quite perfect – looked to be dead north, about twenty degrees off from a run straight down the lagoon.  This limited the fetch and made staying out of the shallows a pain, but it was a great day nonetheless.

I was surprised at how hard it was at first to stay on the little bumps.  Was trying to get one foot way back with limited success, but eventually came to a spot with both feet squared up about 15” behind dead center, and the board would cruise on the tiniest of “swells”.  I was amazed at the pace I was moving when on a good run. 

Luckily I had put an old beat up dolphin fin on the board, as the bottom was a bit rocky, and low tide is shallower than the chart says in a couple of spots.

Only trouble was one sandbar (siltbar?).  I didn’t see it in time to get around it, and even if I had that meant going all the way around a scrub island and into the intracoastal, at least a ˝ mile angled across and into the wind.  No thank you.  Not sure which is harder – paddling through 2” of water, or walking through mud that you sink in to the knees.  But it only took a minute and I was riding again.   

Wind dropped a notch or two just as I was rounding Memorial Island to pull into Riverside Park in Vero Beach.  Maybe it knew I was beat and didn’t want me to have to fight my way in those last couple hundred yards. 

All in all a fun day – only the wind direction could have been slightly improved.  Its got me dreaming of longer boards and stronger winds already.   

[PilonSUP]

Right On...I'd be doin D Winders too if i was still there(melbourne) in the ditch,just got to keep an eye out for boats...& manatees

[Old School]

dont' have to worry about boats in unless I'm in the channel - that's the one nice thing about the manatee zone speed limit restriction - I can outrun the boats when they are limited to 5 mph. 

[SUPpaddler]

I too did my first "downwinder" in the Intercoastal with NNE winds around 20-25 mph.  Really fun, and challenging.  Somehow I managed to stay on the board but couldn't control it enough to stay out of the channel, was too scared to move my feet, and missed my takeout by 100 yards because I couldn't go cross-wind.  Typical begginer, I suppose.

[Old School]

I've been paddling for a year and a half, so no issues staying on the board or with control - but learning to stay on the little bumps was new.  20-25 knots would have been great.  Only issue with the lagoon is that it is so narrow the winds got to be at just the right angle.  Hope to make another run soon, but those kind of winds aren't that common.  If we had a good East to West run, I'd be out there all the time.