Do you guys see what I see?? I think I might be looking at a Sheboygan trip this Wed !

Ady, NNE is a great sailing direction at greenwood in evanston. It should be rocking here, with likely a half dozen sailors out. Since the wind is coming up on the day, the shorebreak will be manageable. Bonus-it will save you a 5 hour drive !

Agree Alan, it's just that according the forcasts Im looking at, the farther north the lesser chance of rain showers and the wind is stronger. Will see come Wed morning.

Sheboygan is super fun on a NE! I'm watching Wed as well. I have some work commitments in the AM, but plan on being to the beach by 1:30 if the forecast holds. Last Friday was similar conditions and it was powered-up 5.3 all day with 4 foot waves.

It's going to be Evanston for me today after all. Cribs readings are good. I'll see you guys later !

Wow, this was my best wave riding session ever! I went to Greenwood St. beach in Evanston and got there right on time to start rigging and launch with Alan and Mike. Conditions were perfect ...almost-wind in the 20s , but a bit cold. Wind was increasing some gradually while being very steady and the waves got bigger and bigger. I used a 5.7 and my Kode 94 with the stock 28cm fin but then got so excited and switched to 3 fins and it made a big difference when turning. The 3 fin setup is a bit draggy though and I catapulted twice on my first sailing out, but then I got more careful and didn't have any more issues. The great thing about multi fins is how they make the board ride like on rails-so grippy and make it easy to stay with the wave which is a challenge with a fast single fin. I could have used a 5.2 perhaps later in the day, but didn't want to waste precious time and there was a bit of a wind shadow from the Northwestern buildings to the north, so I just downhauled to the max and kept going. Did some jumping as well and unlike the lonely south side beaches there were 5 or six other windsurfers out there which made it more fun.

I think my new /bought used/ Kode Freewave 94 made a BIG difference. I attribute the joy of yesterday to the board the most and the conditions second. It's a huge difference from the 2012 Kode 86 that I was struggling with before in almost every aspect of sailing with the exception of jumping. The older one was jumping way too easy though /its as close to a freestyle board as you can find in a freewave/ and overall was doing all kinds of unexpected crap that made me crack my ribs twice.
I may still keep it though-as a trash board for when I get my act together and start practicing Forwards.
I'm pretty sure I was on the smallest board yesterday as most people were on 100+ L boards, even the lighter guys and I rarely felt the need of more volume. It slogged through the beach break and wind shadow just fine and then just point downwind and off it goes. It was just a bit harder to plane in the 3 fin mode, but nothing significant. What really surprised me was how much more grip the 3 fins /4.5" sides and 22 MFC AR center/ compared to the single 28 cm MFC Freewave! They rarely spun out and when they did the recovery was instantaneous. And then on the waves-the 3 fins give you an incredible control! With the single fin I had a constant trouble staying with the wave and not outrunning it. No such issues with the 3 fins -quick turning , easily slowing down when the short wave disappears and I had to wait for the next one. No problem with accelerating either, just throw few sail pumps and catching a wave ahead is easy. Also a big difference in the bottom turn compared to a single and even jybes are easier as the board bounces less somehow. So much fun ,I highly recommend multi fin Freewave boards for Lake Michigan / or any big enough lake/ to those who still doubt their usefulness for our conditions.
Also now I'm finally confident that together my Windsup and the Kode 94 will be able to cover all of the Lake Michigan wave conditions: from 0 to 40 + mph with biggest sail being 5.7 awesome!!

There you go! My own observations reflected in the wise words of P. Hart:



For even more insides about onshore wave riding you can read his entire article:
www.windsurf.co.uk/peter-hart-stepping-out-of-the-onshore-ruts/

Sounded like a lot of fun. I'm jealous.
Spent the past windy days cleaning my garage and built shelves to put the boards and gear up... till I can go back OTW.