Steve's Windsurfing Journal |
January, 1999. Second week: Florida Keys. Back to Crusty Pete and the gang at Calvert Sailing at Holiday Isle in Islamorada.
May 1: Windsurfer shopping at Island Surf'n'Sail. Think I'll go conservative at get that family HiFly 73.
May 29: Bought and learned how to rig HiFly Magnum with 5.5 Ultra (North) sail. Todd Mehling of Island Surf'n'Sail took a lot of time with me on a busy morning and put me through the paces with the new rig. Messing about in lagoon (no wind).
May 30: Sail HiFly first time, at Harvey Cedars. Bay was really warm, incredibly. Took brother Doug along, he learned how to stand and raise the sail but not much more -- valiant for trying. HiFly is very, very stable and forgiving of imprecise moves, but also very maneuverable relative to other boards I've sailed. Wind was light -- maybe 8-10 knots.
May 31: Lesson with Jack Bushko @ Harvey Cedars. Mostly review & tune-up from the long, sailless winter. But he also showed me how to tune the new sail (Todd had set the boom to small, outhaul too tight -- "he always does that, I don't know why"), some fine points of tacking, and a way to pivot gybe that makes it seem much less like a chancy, exciting operation and more like a walk in the park -- it's like you float around, not whip around. Jack assured me that it would whip around plenty when the wind was up and that I'd be very grateful for the extra stability he was teaching. He also taught me to stay low when handling puffs and lulls. Comment: "You're almost ready for the harness." Lots of sailing back and forth, getting the feel of the new board. A worthy beast! Minor issue with the boom: it tends to slip down. My North boom is like a rock, but this one slips, I think because of the way it relies on the ropes more than the clamp to hold the position.
June 25: Saw "Extreme" at the Lincoln Square IMAX. The surfing sequences (Big Wednesday at Waimea Bay, Oahu) were incredible - 35-foot waves, tow-ins, on an 80x100 foot screen. In comparison, the windsurfing sequences were tame. They consisted mostly of Dunkerbeck, Stone and Naish doing standard (for them!) moves at Ho'okipa. But it was good to see these guys in action after just reading about them for a couple years -- the size of the screen made it possible to see how precisely these guys move. Also, the snowboarding shots were incredible, and the Utah rock-climbing very beautiful.
June 27: Harvey Cedars, hot day but good wind, maybe 12 knots beyond the point at Sunset Park. Sailed outside the canal a lot, but it's very shallow. The HiFly really knows what to do with wind and I was ripping up and down the bay. Very tired after 2.5 hours, because I've never handled a sail that big (ha!) in wind this strong for that long, plus I'm sure I was doing some sloppy things. I love this sport. Jack had a Phoenix 320 there autographed by Josh Stone.
July 11: Harvey Cedars. Light winds, so I mostly just reached back and forth. Nice long reaches, deep into the bay. Tough to beach with such variable winds. The HiFly continues to be a terrific board; the boom, for whatever reason, has stopped sliding so much. I'm going to have to be prepared for these light wind days -- maybe start to work on some freestyle, which means I have to figure out what they are. Or take up surfing as preparation for wavesailing someday, which I think would be fun on its own.
July 26: Aagggh! In a misguided cross-training effort, I have broken a bone in my hand and detached a ligament ROLLERBLADING!!!! There goes the season. There's a story with this that may be worth writing up, but I think I'll put some distance between now and then before doing that, so I don't say the wrong thing.
September 15: OK, the ligament has reattached itself. No surgery needed, thank goodness. Now for 6-8 weeks of delightful hand therapy, because my wrist is stiff as a board and the muscles in my right hand and arm have atrophied.
September-November 1999: Continuing hand therapy and swimming. No sailing whatsoever.
December 10-11, 1999: At Calema, Kelly Park, Merritt Island, FL. The hand holds up under light winds and two 4 hour sessions. Chris Mulready worked my stance and taught me how to hang from the boom in preparation to use the harness. We did a little onshore harness training, but I had to cut the trip short by a day because of nanny logistics back home. Got to sail with a dolphin in the Banana River.