Da Pecker Delivers

No I'm not gay - & this isn't about old-aged exploits reincarnated by the miracles of modern medecine.

Since the cobwebs were getting a little thick on this forum I thought I'd stir it a bit.

With a solid 2-day forecast for east winds on Ft Peck I packed the van & rolled east. What an interesting lake. Not just the hugeness of it but the way things line up & work there - its just totally different.

Thought I had the perfect spot figured out for ESE winds & after crossing the dam & seeing the forecasts were panning out accurate for the day I arrived at the preconceived spot to discover not enough wind.....huh? Well was this just a lull or was I dreaming when I drove past all those whitecaps by the dam. So I drove back and set up by the spillway on the SE corner of the dam. I wasn't dreaming...wind was on. 90+ temps & boardshorts warm water. Very steady wind. It was really mostly cross chop there but solid 14M side-on wind. After about 3 hrs kiting the wind clocked a bit more ENE and it was blowing offshore from that location(although still solid). I thought it best to call it and it was almost 8pm anyway and any boats I'd seen earlier were gone in so - if I needed rescue I could end up near Jordan before I was discovered.

I looked over the next days forecast & it was ramped up and solid. I decided to head over to The Pines area on the N side thinking it should be receiving great swell & wind at the end of one of those long isthmuses. I was on the way in & it was getting dark & just awestruck at the vastness of the country. No gorge drama out here that's for sure. I spotted a small herd of 7 bull elk off a ways from road so I stopped & watched them a bit as the sun went down. Decided to just camp on the ridge & enjoy the cooling winds blowing through the camper. Sunrise the next day was incredible. Vast terrain overlooking a huge lake & a cup of coffee & all is good.

Saw some sharptails on the way down & let the setter out & he got to point birds so the canine crew was stoked. Headed down and this is where it all got unique. Wind seemed light at shore...right direction based from the forecast but when you looked out across the water I thought, 9M gotta be - waves are huge rolling on shore. Nice breakers off the point onto what seems to be a decent sandbar. I'm thinking its going to light up as soon as I get 50 yds from shore. Got out on the 9 and it didn't change that much. Enough wind to stay up wind and boost little boosts off the waves but kinda lacking in thrill factor. The waves out front of the point are like 50 yd long breakers that you can definitely get down-the-line rides on perfectly going right. Probably waist to chest high in the troughs.

I came back in & got my 14 out. BTW if anyone loves their SS rally but isn't liking the bar - I'm using my Ozone Zephyr bar with my 14 Rally & its perfect for me. So anyways the wind is amazingly rock solid for the next 2 hours with these incredible waves. I honestly can't remember feeling a gust. As it backed off it was like the gentlest tapering with a slight decrease in wave size noticeable. Riding the 14 on waves like that and getting ramps that size to lift off of was just not like anywhere I'd ever ridden on water. It would have been great to see someone like Bob, Cale, Brian, Todd or etc... ramping off that swell. Also the waves and breakers added variety to the whole setup so it was soemthing for everyone type riding...except everyone was only me. Oh well. Once I got back to the rig(way down in there a zillion miles from everything & had 3G & full cell service) I checked the wind reports and it looked like it was really backing off. Whats wierd though is that the dam area had been reporting 7-9M conditions all that time I'd been on the 14 where I was. I'm not sure how often that dynamic plays out or if I was just super lucky.

I packed up & headed back through Glasgow & Harlem & had some solid east wind so decided to stop at Nelson on the way home. What a cool flat water that place has on east wind days. These little islands and shallows make the most perfect flat water and the bottom is so sandy. Perfect finish to a weekend taht I won't forget.

Sorry this was so long...I swear I don't think I embellished anything. Any time there's a forecast over there and anyone else feels up to the drive........