Who was out on Wac in the storm on Friday 11/18?

[Chummers]

I heard one of the local news channels showed two people windsurfing on Waconia in the winter storm last Friday! Who was it please???? And how did you keep your fingertips from freezing? Mine freeze inside my Dakine neoprene mittens pretty quickly in those temps!

[Piotr]

I was windsurfing in the winter storm last Friday, but on Snail Lake and not on Waconia. My fingers got cold pretty quickly im my neoprene gloves, but when I changed to mittens, they were warm. Of course drysuit, many layers underneeth, 6 mm booties and hood. It helped that I was often overpowered, so it was a workout that produced a lot of heat.

Piotr

[Professor Robae']

I was windsurfing on Lake Minnetonka - it was pretty windy and extreme!
I have a pair of the Dakine mitts that I have "customized."
Cut a very thin slot in the mitts - 1/4" wide - located between your two knuckles on your hands when hanging onto the boom. This lessens the arm fatigue a little bit - but the main reason:
When your hands get cold - immediately sail to the shallows - hop off the board and blow hot air into your mitts until you fingers de-thaw and warm.
Also: I have put several layers of duck tape over the tops of the mitts - then seal it with water proof shoe gue - this lessens this wind chill factor through the mitts.
Also: bring a Hillbilly hot tub: Fill a cooler with hot water: submerse your feet & hands prior to going out and between sessions.
Works like a charm!

[bbernu]

That was me (Barry, white Tacoma) and Rob (Natural Shores guy).
It looked like a nice day to sail, so we thought would give it a whirl. We rigged up at the south beach on Waconia (zero wind protection there). Fun rigging in 34 degree air, wet sloppy ground, pelting ice...
We really didn't get going much at all as it was impossible to see. The eye wear fogged up, and with no eye protection you couldn't see a thing from the snow/ice pellets blasting you in the eyes. I was on an 85L Mistral with 4.0 Sailworks Revo; Rob was on his 78L JP and a 4.0 Sailworks Gyro. We were both getting flattened in the gusts (allegedly hitting 40-50+ MPH).
Neither one of us was cold at all, and we weren't out long enough for the hands to freeze.

There were a couple kiters out on the water when we bailed around 2:30-3:00PM... I think they were on 4.0 kites and seemed to be handling it pretty well...

We also went out on Saturday to Waconia (along with Gary). Air temp was 29-30 degrees, perfect 6.5 conditions (coldest air I've ever water sailed in). The gear would ice up a bit, but quickly thawed in the 40+ degree water. Sailed a good 1.5 hours, planing 90% of the time... Only the hands got cold.
All three of us suffered the usual hand freeze/thaw/burn on Saturday...

For what it's worth, here's what we wore:
Me: O'Neill Psyco Tech 5.5/4 with hood, 5mm ONeill boots, 3mm ONeill Gloves
Rob: Patagonia R4 with hood, 5mm boots, DaKine mitts
Gary: Ocean Rodeo Drysuit, Sorel boots, welding gloves, football helmet

Water's not frozen yet - get out there while you can
Barry