the Atlanta Boardsailing Club
windsurfing, kiteboarding and wingsurfing in the Southeast

We were never good with history but we think this guy was pretty big in the Renee Sau Renaissance.

Same guy but in "period" costume..

So, it's been cold lately. Very cold. Terribly cold by Atlanta standards. Not so much in magnitude but in sheer duration. Atlanta usually gets the few odd days each winter of reminder why we live here and not Buffalo, NY. But, this year, we've had so many of those days, we are starting to think we are actually living, well, not Buffalo but someplace a lot colder than here. There have been some windsurfable days lately but the desire to jump in 44 degree water wanes now that spring can't be more than a few weeks away.

- source
Umm... maybe we'll go work on the website instead.

So, we put the time to go use. We've re-arranged the furniture, put up a new coat of paint and dusted the shelves here. We've upgraded, updated, migrated and consolidated. We'll spare you the details (unless someone really wants to know) as those things tend to put most people to sleep and would only reveal the general level of incompetence around here.. We guess you could call it a rebirth of sorts although the less kind might just say we put the old website out of it's misery. It's something that we've been putting off in ways for a long time but some recent core software updates made it more urgently necessary.

The result of all this is a much more unified website with a single log in. The wiki is still somewhat separate but, since after four years, zero edits have been done by anyone else, that wasn't very high on our to-do list. As importantly, the future upgrade path is much more secure.

Here are just some of the changes we've made:

My GoPro was lucky enough to be in Mexico this week

Princess (left) had my GoPro

Unless you've been lucky enough to have been in Mexico for the last week, you've noticed that the temperatures - to paraphrase Bob Dylan - have been "a changin'". And, the changes haven't been good. From our perspective as windsurfers and kiters, Old Man Winter just dropped a giant frozen turd block of ice into Lake Lanier.

Of course, this isn't the first time this season the day time temps haven't broached freezing. Last fall (all two weeks of it), the temperature in early November freakishly didn't do so. But, at the time, the water was still relatively warm. Two weeks prior to that, we'd been racing in shorties. November wasn't only abnormally cold but both November and December offered surprisingly few opportunities to sail. Cold weather usually means the jet stream is in town and, with it, a steady supply of fronts and systems. There should be plenty of chances to get on the water. Instead, we got cold, rainy, windless days one after the other.

This past weekend, we finally got out on the water after a prolonged absence and at the end of the session, someone pointed out the beautiful full moon rising over the trees in the direction of Aqualand.

You are looking at me because there's no wind. Happy Holidays.

Happy Cat-mas, season's greetings and happy holidays. We wish you well and hope that your family and friends are safe, prosperous and in good health.

For those of you not familiar with Cat-mas, it marks the end of one windsurfing year and the beginning of another. Its origins are lost in the murkiness of a time long ago but it has been said that great sailors of long ago - perhaps, Vikings, ancient Greeks or even Polynesians - may have started many of the Cat-mas traditions we have today. Others claim its inception was in the murkiness of a tequila haze but historical scholars are divided on the point.

In Atlanta, Cat-mas is celebrated with particular fervor. Since we live in a place where there isn't much wind and we participate in a sport that requires a fair amount of it, we spend much of our time on the subject of cats. It's not that we have special affection for cats (in our household, we are "dog people"), but it's how we attempt to keep a sense of humor in the dark times between periods of wind.

In cultures that don't celebrate Cat-mas, statistics show that when it's not windy, crimes of domestic violence increase. Usually, it's a spouse, friend or family member who tires of the whining about the lack of wind and pops an unfortunate windsurfer or kiter over the head with a skillet. But let's not dwell on the negative during this holiday period. A very happy Cat-mas to you and yours and may the New Year bring you warm winds.

The annual Atlanta Boardsailing Club will host the Holiday Party again this year at the Grogan's Bluff Subdivision Clubhouse. Starting at 6:30 PM on Sunday December 7th.

A few things to remember and more details and directions will follow:

1. A main course dish will be provided (ham, turkey or the like) by the Club, as will soft drinks and beer. So don't eat before hand. There will be plenty of food.
2. Please bring 1 covered dish with either a dinner or desert item (e.g. salad, cookies, chips, dip, casserole, soup, fruit.) The item need not be complicated and can certainly be picked up at the store on the way to the party.
3. Family members, kids, relatives, friends, spouses, lovers (but not both at the same time) and your entourage, or groupies are all welcome. As are kiters, landsailors, or anyone interested in wind related sports.
4. The White Elephant Gift Exchange will be held again, as always. Bring a gift and you can participate. It may be something windsurfing, kiting, sailing, sports related that just didn't work for you, or that stupid necktie you got last year for Christmas that you want to regift or just about anything. Each person in your party may bring one gift.