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Journal Entry: April 8

Submitted by webguy on Mon, 04/10/2017 - 13:20

When I began seriously windsurfing, I began to keep a journal, notes in a little spiral bound notebook. It was quite helpful. I logged my sessions and noted sail trim settings - downhaul, outhaul, etc.
I ran across it the other day when cleaning out the garage and ran across this entry:

That was twenty three years ago. I'd had a good day windsurfing and then got in the car and turned on the radio.

I would have written that differently had I known that it would be posted for public consumption. Nirvana was a big deal as we transitioned from the synth New Wave and hair metal of the 80s to the grunge of the 90s and Kurt Cobain was, arguably, its biggest voice.

As is typical for me, the self-discipline petered out after a few more entries. That's probably for the best as a few of the other entries were horribly arrogant for a newbie. I'm not very good now, two decades later, so to read my self-assessment then is a bit cringey. Ah, the folly of youth.

Oh, and Amy is one my wife's good friends from med school. Just in case anybody was thinking, "What?"

—

You Are Not Average

Submitted by webguy on Mon, 03/20/2017 - 12:39
Quote:
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that. - George Carlin

Fortunately, we aren't talking about your intelligence but, rather, your body size. A lot of us aren't average. We are bigger, smaller, heavier and lighter than the "average" windsurfer. And, certainly, we don't windsurf in an average place.

Peter Hart has written a pair of articles about windsurfing when you aren't the average size. We can't recommend these enough. You should read both whether you are a larger or smaller than average person as there is a lot of wisdom to be gleaned.

Drone

Submitted by webguy on Mon, 03/13/2017 - 00:38

We've been wanting to write about this for quite some time: how drone photography changes the way that we and the rest of the world sees windsurfing.

For those of us who have windsurfed for a long time, still photography was the more common method of relaying the windsurfing experience to others. If done by a family member, it usually resulted in a nice seascape with a smudge on the horizon which indicated "windsurfer". Unless you had a friend with a really good telephoto lens, this was really the way the world saw you - that dot on the horizon. Colorful dacron sails at least made us noticeable but then we had to go and ruin that with the advent of the monofilm sail. While monofilm had distinct performance advantages with it's lack of stretch, it made windsurfing about as visually appealing as a Pringle potato chip.

Yard Sale - Spring 2017 Edition

Submitted by webguy on Sun, 02/26/2017 - 23:26

Spring has sprung. Well, it's a bit early being late February but we personally witnessed Trey windsurfing in just a shorty the other day, so it must be true. Okay, so he forgot his long suit at home but some years at this time, we're debating whether it will break 40 degrees and warm up enough to even go.

With the change of seasons, some of us need to clear out the garage to make room for newer toys. Others just need to thin the herd a bit. For some of us, we swear that there were only four boards in the garage last August so we haven't a clue how suddenly (and, legitimately) there are six. We aren't aware that boards, fins or sails can procreate like rabbits but they keep popping up.

There are new or progressing windsurfers who are looking to expand their quivers. Maybe it's that first short board or maybe a larger sail. It's time to go shopping and the budget may not allow brand new kit so decent used kit is appealing.

So, it's time for a yard sale. Post what you have or what you are looking for on this thread in the forums: https://windsportatlanta.com/content/yard-sale-2017-22617

If you've listed something recently, just post a link to your existing post if you wish - no need to do it all again.

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