Avon, Thursday, p.m.

[wind_whiner]

Got to sail for a while on Thursday afternoon.  We waited for it to warm up a
bit.  First it was west, then switched to SW.  I had some good rides on my 6.5/Hifly.

Need to repair my wetsuit. It has some holes in very inconvenient places. :^)
How can you tell when it's time to replace a wetsuit?  10-15 holes, repair?
15-25 holes, replace?  Size of holes?  Age of suit? (It's 13 years old.)

Sailed, solo, until my hands were too cold to function very well.

There is a LOT of seaweed in the water.  It's not the standard brown Hatteras
stuff, but is green and looks like it was freshly plucked from somewhere.
Sailed up to the island to turn around in shallow water--and landed up
to my waist in fresh seaweed.  Oh well, at least it wasn't a nest of eels or
crabs.

It is so strange to be a Hatteras with so few people here.   Roofing crews
nearby are repairing damage (?).  Over on the beach side the tide washed up
a huge number of horseshoe crabs and starfish (which I NEVER have seen
here before).  More unfortunate victims of Sandy?

w.w.

[Rich_A.]

Got to sail for a while on Thursday afternoon.  We waited for it to warm up a
bit.  First it was west, then switched to SW.  I had some good rides on my 6.5/Hifly.

Need to repair my wetsuit. It has some holes in very inconvenient places. :^)
How can you tell when it's time to replace a wetsuit?  10-15 holes, repair?
15-25 holes, replace?  Size of holes?  Age of suit? (It's 13 years old.)

Sailed, solo, until my hands were too cold to function very well.

There is a LOT of seaweed in the water.  It's not the standard brown Hatteras
stuff, but is green and looks like it was freshly plucked from somewhere.
Sailed up to the island to turn around in shallow water--and landed up
to my waist in fresh seaweed.  Oh well, at least it wasn't a nest of eels or
crabs.

It is so strange to be a Hatteras with so few people here.   Roofing crews
nearby are repairing damage (?).  Over on the beach side the tide washed up
a huge number of horseshoe crabs and starfish (which I NEVER have seen
here before).  More unfortunate victims of Sandy?

w.w.

Just get a new suit.  I replaced my similarly aged one this year and the new ones are nice and stretchy... much more comfy and easier to get on/off.  I got the Neil Pryde 3000 3/3 Steamer FWIW.  I like it a lot.  I also got the thin slip on sleeves that I was skeptical of, but are surprisingly effective.

http://wind-nc.enstore.com/item/mens-3000-series-33-short-sleeve-steamer

[DH]

I wish I was there.  I've seen some amazing pics.  One was of hundreds of clams that had washed up. 
Get a new suit.  :-)

[wind_whiner]

Just get a new suit.  I replaced my similarly aged one this year and the new ones are nice and stretchy... much more comfy and easier to get on/off.  I got the Neil Pryde 3000 3/3 Steamer FWIW.  I like it a lot.  I also got the thin slip on sleeves that I was skeptical of, but are surprisingly effective.

http://wind-nc.enstore.com/item/mens-3000-series-33-short-sleeve-steamer

OK, thanks for the tip. I did a thorough inspection of my old one and found that
it needed multiple repairs, most of which would probably not be successful, so I
did buy myself a new wetsuit.  Neil Pryde 5.2 3K series.  With no other customers
in the store, I got the owner's full attention.  This suit is somewhat more
complicated than my old one.  Looks like full ingress into this baby will remain
a two-man operation.

Looking forward to
trying it out this afternoon, if the wind comes back.  It did yesterday, so, thinking
magically, it will likely do so again today.   (In addition to insouciant optimism,
magical thinking is an important weapon in the windsurfer's arsenal.) :^)

We're looking forward to/dreading the two-hour ferry ride from Rodanthe
to Stumpy Point.  Still hoping there won't be a crush of people trying to
get off the island on Saturday morning early.

w.w.

[DH]

Good luck and let us know how it goes!