I've been fortunate enough to play in some very strong winds
recently - and on Saturday I had another chance to experience a downwind paddle
in a gale.
At speed - downwind paddling at its best!
Gordon Brown and I had intended to do a Millers Run from
Millers Point to Fish Hoek here in False Bay, Cape Town. I'd checked the wind reading at Roman Rock on
the Internet (http://www.spaceweather.co.za/Romanrock.htm)
and the gusts were registering over 50kts so I knew it was going to be
interesting.
Normally the launch point at Millers Point is quite
sheltered from the wind and you can get out to the turning point at Bakoven
Rock without too much effort. Today,
however, the wind seemed to be coming from a slightly different angle and I
could see that we'd struggle to get out of the little bay past the rocks, let
alone get out to Bakoven. The gusts were
lifting a veil of spray off the water and were swirling over the sea in
mini-whirlwinds.
It just wasn't worth taking the risk (besides my family were
watching and were exhibiting signs of extreme tension.) So we took the easy way out. There's another ramp on the north side of
Millers Point - completely sheltered from wind and waves. It wasn't going to be a regular Millers Run,
but we'd get out safely and have a great downwind anyway.
Gordon Brown on the next wave
So that's what we did - I had the helmet cam with me and
made the accompanying video - somewhat better quality than the last one.
12kph - without
paddling.
About a minute into the video you can see that I'm still on
relatively calm water - but I've stopped paddling and you can hear the wind
roaring. At that point I was doing 12kph
- without paddling.
Getting klapped by a
wave
About 5min into the clip, you can see where we started
heading right towards Fish Hoek - at about 5:45 I wallowed and got whacked from
the right by a breaking wave & spun about 90degrees to my left!
Getting hit from the side by a breaking wave (fortunately small!)
Just after that you can see me getting taken out by a wave
from behind and the cockpit filling with water.
One thing I REALLY enjoy about the ski is the feeling of security that
the incredible cockpit drainage gives me - one wave and the cockpit is empty
again.
Getting swamped from behind
I recorded a max speed of around 30kph again on this run -
gotta say, I really live for this stuff!
Was the wind really 50kts?
I don't know - I don't think so actually - it might have been at the
start where we were cruising along without paddling but it varied through the
run. I do think that it was
significantly stronger than the 30kts that we're used to on Millers runs
though.
Here's the clip:
[Update - I uploaded the clip onto Blip.tv, with much clearer results. The link is below.]
Great video, Rob. It's been colder than usual in Southern California this week but your vid is inspiring me to put on my lifevest, hook up the leash, and get a downwinder in.
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... written by James Lancaster,
January 31, 2008
Sooo good thanks for awesome footage great to see what its like in conditions like that!! I want some! good for the sport to be able to link footage like that and send to your friends to get them excited and give them a taste as to what they're missing out on!
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Camera Head written by Jeff Raymond,
January 31, 2008
Great videos Rob...perhaps you could post a picture of how you attach the camera to your head such that it withstands those gale force winds.
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... written by Gareth Tudor -Jones,
January 31, 2008
Nice surfing there Rob. I've done a few paddles there too. I'm starting up in Canada now. Watch out for those sharks. Cheers Gareth
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... written by Greg P,
January 31, 2008
Hi Rob
How about that review on the RED7 ? You must be quite familiar with it by now ?
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West Aus Runs written by Ash Nesbit,
January 31, 2008
Nice work Rob looked like you where catching those runs pretty well!!
We will try to get some footage from this side of the world!!
Cheers Ash
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... written by Stuart Knaggs,
January 31, 2008
Hi Rob - nice toy - I want one too. What camera setup did you use?
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... written by MFB,
January 31, 2008
Hi Rob,
Great shots! What ski did you use on this one?
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Ski written by Rob Mousley,
January 31, 2008
Used the Red7 Surf70Pro for all of these videos. Next project is to do similar stuff on the V10 Sport Ultra, if I can get Alain to let go of it...
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... written by superted,
February 01, 2008
Great work Rob! That Mako 6 must be collecting some dust
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Good One written by Paul,
February 01, 2008
Very nice clip Rob! One of the first that really gives the feeling of a good run. You're really lucky to be able to line up a downwind run like that. Around here (San Diego) we have to claw upwind before we can turn around and run for home. That's too much work for a good long run when the conditions are up.
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... written by Trinpad,
February 01, 2008
Nice video Rob! Tell us about the camera? Nigel
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Head cam written by Martin,
February 02, 2008
Howzit Rob
Can you give us a run down on the camera set-up you use with the resolution used, pros and cons? the footage is very good.
Cheers Martin
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Fantastic written by Lindsay Wiland,
February 02, 2008
Well Done Rob, Great vision. These are the images that will take our sport to a huge spectator audience. I hope you can find a way to get a broad distribution of this footage. I was hootin' all the way!!
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... written by ian newland,
February 03, 2008
Hi Rob, considering the amount spray and salt flying a round, you did a great job of avoiding blurry images. Try a rear facing view on one of your runs, it really shows the wave height and speed much better and gives a different perspective. There's some dang big holes in that Millers Run, capturing size from a POV setup is really difficult, well done.
Cheers Rambo
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... written by Ute Mad,
February 06, 2008
Great vid ..Love to see one on a V10 Sport.. I just bought one the other week and coming out of a Kayak i am having fun getting my balance in crosswinds.. Hats off to you on that run
Cheers Utemad
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V10 Sport video written by Rob Mousley,
February 06, 2008
>> Love to see one on a V10 Sport.. Funny you should say that... That's the next project - I'm about to hijack Alain's V10 Sport Ultra for a couple of Millers runs!
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