windsurfing attempt 1

Got out and did the ole windsurfing lesson yesterday. It was great fun. And really friggin hard. I’d expected to be far better at it far faster than I ever was. I don’t mean that I thought I’d immediately have the ability to ‘shred’ but I thought I’d be able to zip across the lake, execute a simple turn, and come back. Lake/river/whatever it was, it was called The Hook, and was somehow associated with the Columbia River. Our instructor was Brian, of Brian’s Windsurfing. A nice guy with a funky accent, maybe Jamaican, but not like what you normally hear. He taught us the ‘clock’ method of sailing, which I fairly understood, except that I might’ve had trouble identifying and reactind to the direction of the wind.

The people in our expedition were Bill, Nader, Layne, and me. Bill manned the getaway car beautifully whilst we snacked on goldfish crackers and discussed our planned successes or realized shortcomings, depending on whether we traveled East or West. And pined at our bruises. We met at 8:30 at my place and had bagels before driving to ‘the place’. At the place, we were instructed in the rudiments of sailing and items like tacking (back tack)and standing still without falling in (long arm). Wetsuits were bestowed upon us and we cruised out to the Hook for more dryland practice, with a little theory, and then into the water for application. We all fell pretty much immediately, sometimes ending up a long long way down the Hook and getting the opportunity to rest our bodies by walking back up. I never got too good at it, and only made the circuit of going out, around the buoy, and back one time, and I didn’t quite make it around the buoy, but it was close enough for me! I also found that if I fell in, then I was unable to repeat my prior successes. Still not sure why, but I think it’s because of an inability to read the wind.

Afterwards, we headed up to Full Sail for some tasty beer and burgers, and then the tired ride back into Portland. At home I took a bath where I slept for an hour, got out and slept on the bed for an hour, and then went to bed early that night for a heavy full night’s sleep. Wow. I’ll be back in the saddle again soon.