It's about time! Yet we are thankful. A half dozen windsurfers brushed off the cobwebs to see if the Yacht Club was still the place to windsurf summer southerlies. I found OG Puffin Eileen (who 21 summers ago used to sail over to my floundering ass to make sure I wasn't drowning, back in my first season) on a 5.0 semiplaning, so I rigged the new 7.5 (Maui Sails Switch) for its maiden voyage. Lovely it was on my 109, but within 30 minutes too big for the building winds. You know the drill: Rig the 6.2, enjoy that for awhile. Then downsize the board (Skate 99!) and the fun really got going. It's been so long since I've sailed (a few minutes of underpowered windsurfing in early June, a 4.0 day in April) that it took me awhile to remember how to tack. By the end of it I had scored a few shaky duck jibes, backwinded jibes, and a carve 360, but the most wonderful thing was simply to hike out and skim across the water without a care. It was Mecox at her best! The only not-great news was how out of windsurfing shape I am. My hands hurt. Puffin and wind chimp that I am, my hands haven't hurt from windsurfing since…the 90's? I gotta get back out there.
Quoting Eileen from her Facebook post: "Too good to take a break. I'm on land, but still feel like I'm sailing. What a gift from the Universe. So grateful that I had the opportunity to get on the water and fly."
She says it much better than I.
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