We just got back from a 5 day stay at St. Simons and it was great! PM sailing with the sea breeze kicking in. I've got my beach starts down and even through the surf. The Prodigy was fantasic on the swells and ocean sailing is soooo much fun! The locals couldn't believe I was a beginner. As of now, probably not anymore... Anyway, I got my fix with hours and hours of planing and practicing beach and water starts. BTW, they pulled out a 7-foot alligator on the beach near where we were sailing - it wandered in from a nearby river and no, I didn't see it in person, thankfully. We took a day trip down to St. Augustine to check out the other windsurfing site, Anastasia (listed on this website). It seemed pretty nice for beginners and beach-side for advanced sailors. There's an outpost where you can rent equipment and receive instruction. We didn't do any sailing because of thunderstorms.
Mimi
It did appear like you had winsurfed alot more than twenty times. What's your secret?
I'm the guy w/ the ripped sail. Anyway, I'm interested in
purchasing a shorter board and new sail. Without the ability to demo boards and sails around here it's difficult. What equip do you use and how did you make your choice.
Thanks,
PV
You know that Jekyll, just a 1/4 mile as the crow flies, has a sandbar that goes straight out from the beach. When the wind is southerly the water on the leeward side of the sandbar is a smoothe as a babies butt. It is really a neat place to sail. People walk straight out on the sandbar and there you come flying past them only 20 feet away. At high tide some people get stranded out on that sandbar.
Peter,
There are others visiting this forum that are way more qualified than I to give you advice as to purchasing equipment that's right for you and your sailing spots. Try Chuck Hardin with Whitecap Windsurfing (see the links). There's Gene's consignment for used stuff. Chuck has a huge trailer and he can get boards and sails for you to try out. I know he is familiar with St. Simons. I didn't know about him before I started and was desperate to learn how to windsurf. That was before I joined ABC, so I decided to go to Destin to learn and choose a board with Rogue Wave Windsurfing's Jack Stringfellow. He taught me the basics in two, 3-hour lessons and advised me to try several boards keeping in mind we are by lakes. I settled with the Mistral Prodigy and a 5.8 Ezzy wave sail which you saw worked out just fine even in the surf and chop. You can check out my previous posts about my experiences since starting and it might eplain why I didn't look like a beginner...
Mimi