Dear Windsurfatlanta.org Part 32
Sign of the times?
As internet auteurs provocateurs, we endeavor to piss off as many of our constituency as possible. We found the following in our Inbox.
I've been associated with this club for about 15 years. I enjoy windsurfing even if it's on those big old plastic boards you love to ridicule. Some things about the club and this web site, I like. Other things, meh.
Usually not too much raises the hackles on my back. But, I've got to say I'm really getting tired of this "cat" thing.I've never really understood this internet fascination with cats: cat videos, cat haz cheezburgers, cat pictures. Seriously, lose the cats. Cats have nothing to do with windsurfing.
And, while you are at it, lose the wind whining. I can tell you from many years of experience, no one wants to hear you or me whine.
Your web site is pretty crappy anyway. Now, it's starting to smell like a litter box.
Signed,
R. T. T. [name withheld]
This email seemed more like a troll than anyone we know around here. We don't see that many big old boards any more and rarely in the hands of someone who has been windsurfing 15+ years. If they do come out, we're not seeing them. So we decided some investigating and "fact-checking" was in order. Fact-checking seems to be all the rage these days.
Who is this windsurfer who claims to have been around for years? Turns out his story is legit and is much closer to home then we would have guessed. Not only is RTT (if that's actually his name, we don't think so) a real windsurfer, he was on the front page of our newsletter many years ago:
That's him! Maybe at Vann's Tavern?
And he races, too! I'll bet he's not pleased by the ISAF decision about windsurfing in the Olympics.
Yep, that's the guy. On one of those plastic thingies that I love so much. Poor rascal must have worn himself out dragging it down to the water. But, he seems to have mastered the thing.
Apparently, he's not the only one of his kind out on the water. It's more popular than you might think. Most of his buds are light air sailors. While good swimmers, they don't find that there are enough foot straps on a board for planing conditions or have trouble getting their feet into them. We think there's also the issue here in the South, for all the talk of civil rights, of park officials practicing subtle discrimination.
The sport is going to the...
Foot strap issues aside, some of them short board and can get through the break. Here's a vid:
But, the cat thing. I always thought cats had a lot to do with windsurfing. Of course, we're talking the feline not the 'amaran variety. Heck, every time we visit Gene's, it's sail, board, cat, mast, boom, cat. So, we did a little googling for "cat windsurfing".
A cat sitting on a board in someone's living room and a Japanese cartoon cat.
Well, that's disappointing but not surprising. Cats don't have a reputation as a water loving animal. We guess it must be pretty bad for dogs, too.
Go dogs go!
No, no, he's right. There seem to be lots of dogs windsurfing while maybe some cat is sitting on the board you are trying to move. We guess a mea culpa is in order.
On the whining thing, though, given how our friends here whine to be let out and then immediately whine to be let back in, you guys have nothing on us when we complain about the wind. Just sayin'.
When we were searching for RTT's original photo, we did a google image search. We put in his pic and then clicked for "similar" photos. Among the few photos returned were a couple of really interesting ones including "Kate Upton Body Painting". Nice to know that dogs and Google are looking out for us.
That's a good boy! Who's my friend? You're my friend.