Wolf happened to be a very good spot for sailing yesterday. The weeds and algae were mostly gone as it magically happens most years and the water was very warm and relatively clear /for Wolf standards/. Wind from the south gusting to over 30 mph at times, but with some longish lulls at times which tricked me into rigging a 5.7 at first. Tuning it to the absolute max wasn’t enough and I decided to take out the 5.2 at some point instead of wearing myself down prematurely. The 5.2 at medium setting was the right call feeling more then adequate most of the time so I started getting increasingly cocky even replacing the single fin with tri. Surfing the Wolf swell is fun, but it’s actually more difficult compared to the Big Lake, because its small and requires very sharp, quick turns so I had a few falls doing it and twisting my foot during one of them when it got stuck in the foot strap. That was enough goofing around for the day and the single fin was back in, tri out. The fun continued until past 4 when the wind started dropping and I decided to rig a 6.5 with the Atom and experiment with a new footstrap setting . At the same time an increasing cloudiness was announcing the incoming storm, but I hoped I’ll have enough time for some blasting until it starts raining. It proved me wrong though and merely 10 min after I went out the wind suddenly shot up catching me with the wrong equipment for the occasion. I was able to hold on though for the most of it, the stiff 460 mast and the 7 battens of the freerace sail keeping the rig solid and the Atom glued to the surface . Fighting like this for about an hour drained completely the little energy I have left and I just couldn’t hold the boom any more and my upper legs developed painful cramps at the same time. At this point in the middle of the lake I just sat down on my board and let myself being transported gently to the launch by wind and current while enjoying the view and applauding Rich for his jibes. We got lucky actually and the storm missed us so a few rain drops were all we got from it. Great day and the new footstraps setting proved to be spot on !

Cool! Fun reading your post. Looks like we had similar experiences on the water yesterday, even-though we were 2.5 hours away! On our end here in Sheboygan, during my last return runs towards shore, I saw the black horizon and menacing dark clouds going straight at us. It was time to pack. I think it took me less than 12 minutes de-rigging both sails and getting in the car minutes before things got totally crazy here: Uprooted trees here and there - some blocking roads. It didn't last long but I think some section of town experienced some kind of micro-burst with nasty swirly winds. Passing in front of North Beach and all the vacationers were scrambling into apocalypse weather! Glad to hear the storm just skimmed through on your side.
Foot stuck in straps: ouch! Be careful with that. I can attest first hand with my meniscus/MCL injury last year that got me in pain for 6 months straight. ...And I got lucky to not go through surgery!

You are right, I shouldn’t risk too much in the middle of the season and without health insurance, but I just can’t control myself sometimes / most of the time actually/. I’ve seen windsurfers that barely ever fall and for a while I even admired them until I started taking a closer look at what they are doing and try to copy them. It turned out they sail extremely safe- doing the same back and forth blasting, jibing the same way at exactly the same spots every single time where the water is the most flat. You’ve probably guessed it already that my admiration stopped there, doing the same routine developed to perfection every session, year after year and never trying anything even slightly different for fear of falling is not my thing, it would bore me to death honestly.

Completely understand. I don't like routine either. Hope you stay safe though.

I went out on Lake Michigan last Sunday on a 6.0, it was crazy gusty (well over 30) but got some great rides on the way in. Hard to keep the board on the water on the way out, with that wind direction it feels like you are going straight into the chop, even thought it is a beam reach. I wish I was better at jumping, I did a couple small jumps by accident. Not my favorite conditions for the lake but it was still fun, nice to be sailing without even needing a shorty!

Keeping an eye on conditions today, I was hoping to get out this morning but seems to be fading already. Wlimette buoy says 10 gusting to 14 knots.