Finally, the stars aligned and got some flights down in Tarpon after - literally - mowing the grass all afternoon. The tide filled in enough to lift me above the grass and the 15-18 mph breeze was enough power with the 6m.
Answers to inevitable questions:
1) Yes, prior experience windsurfing and any type of foiling helps a lot.
2) Yes, it is a cool feeling once you get up.
3) Yes, I'm glad I waited for warm water because I spent A LOT of time getting wet.
It's a little different than handling a sail but the principles are close enough that windsurfers will figure out a wing pretty quickly. Hardest parts are getting it far enough over your head, not holding it vertical like a sail and not holding the handles too far forward. But that stuff sorts itself out pretty quickly.
On the foil, having been foiling on something else pays off in spades. I wasn't perfect by any means but had a good notion of what to do and what it should feel like. It'll take a bit of practice to translate previous experiences into what the wing and board should do while winging but it doesn't feel as alien as it did when I first started windfoiling and everything was strange and sometimes imponderable.
If anyone wants to be entertained, I'll probably be practicing this summer on days when we have decent white caps. As has been said many times, power is your friend when starting out.
Lastly, no, not selling windfoil gear. There are still some special sensations in both light and heavy wind that I enjoy on the windfoil. Not seeing that change for a long time the same way I still own a 100 l. windsurf board.
Thanks to Neil, Al, Roland and the other wingers who gave great advice along the way.
Congratulations on joining the Wing Foiling club!!! Eager to see you winging at Lanier.
Barrett
Congrats! So, if going from windsurfing to kiting is called "going to the darkside", what's the term for going "wingin"? Asking for a friend...
Going spaceballs?
Howard
Have you paid your dues, or just another toll booth on the road to ruin?
What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.
Rashida Jones and Foo Fighters. You, sir, are a man of culture.
Yeah, probably like the first toll booth on the Florida turnpike