Windsurfing

Since our windsurfing lessons last August have we attempted to windsurf only once - and that time we didn't even end up going in the water since we had forgotten some critical equipment. This year wasn't looking much better, given that it is already July and we haven't been in yet!

"Intermediate" board

Thankfully our friends Kris and Amy motivated us to join them Saturday. (They had asked us to go earlier in the week, but we were still embroiled in trying to resolve our irrigation problems; more on that in another post.) When I asked Kris if he had ever been windsurfing before, his response was: "I don't even know what an uphaul is and have never worn a wetsuit." This should be fun.

True "Beginner" board

We only ended up with one set of gear between the four of us, and it turned out to be not quite beginner enough for our collective skill level. Beginner boards are wide, have a center fin, and will usually float no matter what you do; the board we had would float, but it wasn't terribly stable. ("Expert" boards don't even float - you have to be constantly moving across the water to even use them!) So we took turns struggling for probably an hour before an instructor from one of the local windsurfing shops took pity on us and gave us a set of beginner gear to borrow for a while. We still weren't very good, but at least it was more fun.

With any luck we'll be able to get out at least once more this summer. Summer is just so dang busy!

- Mike (& Corinne)