Two weekends ago I had a wedding to attend in Ocean City, NJ. It wasn’t a great time to leave the island for me and knew I wasn’t even going to be able to bring my equipment. But when I checked the forecast the long range vaguely showed the possibility of a windy weekend so I threw my harness in the back of the mini-van with no expectations but just a chance in the back of my mind.
Ocean City, NJ is super fun in the summer if a little hot and the wedding went off in fine style. It was clear that Sunday was my only window for sailing and yet miraculously the forecast held steady, 15-20 from the South on Sunday. As soon as I arrived I dropped a few texts on my friends there giving them the heads up and putting out a request for gear to borrow. I used to live there in a past life and I have kept up some good connections. These are guys I used to windsurf with in the old days.
Sunday dawned hot, sunny and windy and I got on the phone right away. The family plan was a big beach party in the afternoon and I knew I couldn’t totally blow that off. But still a good opening was there for kiting. I started to get some calls back, got a board, got a kite last I got a ride to the launch spot for the first downwinder of the day. Everything was lining up. How lucky could I get?
Ocean City is a barrior island on the New Jersey coast and there are many opportunities for ocean downwinders. A friend picked me up and I tossed my harness and a beach cruiser bike into the back of his truck and we headed for the South end of the island. Along the way we picked up another sailor and by the time we got to the launch in Strathmere the group was about 7 guys. I was pretty well frothing and my friends had already rigged my kite. All I had to do was pull on my rash guard and launch. Pretty nice service I have to say.
Sailing OC is a bit different than Nantucket. First there are so many people. My kite was laid out next to a big group of beach goers. It turns out that the kite was there first and they just set up camp next to it. My kite was a 14 Slingshot. A lot of guys were on 10s but I didn’t care. I don’t mind riding over a bit. My board was some Cabrinia surfboard that Marke had put straps on that morning. Sweet setup.
The surf was decent and I’d guess that the downwinder was about 5 miles or so. It was a fun run. Alot of the way is unguarded beach so you can sail right in the surf. I got some great turns as we took our time getting back to 59th st in OC.
We arrived at our destination and immediatly went back for round 2. The wind was building nicely and by this time it was mid afternoon. The second run was basically the same with a bit more wind. It was way more crowded. There were 38 kites visible at the launch spot. Plus all the rest of the crazyness of a busy NJ Sunday on the beach. We sailed through a few surf spots, and a really popular jetski spot right at the inlet. It was a bit chaotic but just awesome. The water temp was 78 and the wind was really solid by this point.
At the end of the run I just came in because there were so many kiters right along the beach. It was pretty crowded and I was pretty cooked. It was 2pm or so and I felt so good. My bros took off to grab lunch and go for round 3. I had to peel off and get back to my family. I biked back up to 29th st and made it to the beach just as the beach party was getting rolling. The group dynamics of a really large party are so sluggish that no one had really missed me yet. It was still ripping. I couldn’t believe how well I had hit it.
Serious thanks to Mark, Marke, Charlie and Dr. John for the hookup! Sometimes things just work out for you.
