Windsurfing invitation

DIANE has me thinking about sailing.

I have a Hobie Cat but I also took up WINDSURFING a few years ago. I'm not that good at it yet. I never thought I'd windsurf, but it's pretty cool. Probably as close as I'll ever come to flying. Sometimes I feel like a dragonfly or something skimming across the water with one clear wing. It's more high impact than I thought it would be when I first started. It can be brutal when it comes to punishing you for mistakes. Imagine holding on to a large sheet of plywood in a strong wind. When you start going fast the board comes out of the water for the most part. You really have to manage your weight and position or you will get pasted into the water. When you crash it isn't like skiing where you slide down the hill. You come to an abrubt stop and get submerged in water usually under the sail. Then you have to unhook from the harness and swim up into the air. One time I almost didn't make it back up as I coudln't get unhooked and I took in a bunch of water in my nose and mouth. It did freak me out, but I lived.

Anyway this guy I know who is really good at it has invited me to go to the GORGE with him for more instruction. So when it warms up more I'm going. He buys new sails all the time and he sold me one of his old ones. Old means it's only been used a few times and these guys buy a whole new "quiver" of sails every couple of years. A sail like this costs about $700 or so, and these guys have 5 or 6 of them of different sizes in a quiver for different wind speeds, and they replace them every few years. And that's only part of the cost. The photo above is of the sail he sold me. It's a NORTHWAVE SURFLITE. Check out the color selection page on their website. It's always fun from a design standpoint to play with these things.

My friend taught me to do a "waterstart" with this sail. That is where you are in the water and let the sail fill with air and lift you out of the water and onto the board. It's a skill that is critical to have to sail at the gorge. I need to practice doing that more. Perhaps with the right instruction I can get better at this before my body can't take it anymore.