Monday, September 17, 2007

October: When Should We Windsurf?

Folks are starting to ask about Windsurfing in October. Yes, it's true -- you can surf Corpus in October. Help me pick a weekend. It's easy: leave a comment below indicating which weekends you can not attend.

The usual caveats apply. I will try my best to make the most people happy. As before, please don't tell me dates in person. I won't remember, really. Comment below and I'll refer to it as I'm scheduling the next trip. I hope everyone can come. Thanks!

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Trip Plans: Corpus Christi September 28-30

Mark it on your calendar. Prepare your resignation letter. Buy sunscreen. We sail September 28. As usual, we'll be leaving at 7am on Friday. We'll have a full day of surfing after we arrive in Corpus.

If you're a new recruit, take a look at some of our previous trip posts on the blog.

To Join in the fun:

This is your to-do list. Worldwinds treats us very well even though we're maniacs. As a courtesy to them please follow through with your class and board rental reservations ASAP. I promise that it's really easy. Please don't procrastinate -- hotel rooms and classes can fill fast. Commitment isn't that scary, I promise.
  1. If you have an invite please respond. If you don't have an invite, you can shoot a mail to john AT windaddict dot com.
  2. Make reservations at the Best Western Marina Grand hotel, the Bayfront Plaza, the Omni, or arrange to share a room with someone who did. Check in on 28 September, checkout on the 30th. I am staying at the Best Western. When I checked, the 14 day advanced discount was the best deal there. You are responsible for your own hotel reservation.
  3. Call Worldwinds at 1-800-793-7471 and schedule your classes, or reserve a board rental if you don't want to take a class. I am taking the waterstart class at 1pm on Friday. Please tell them that you're with John Knox's group.
  4. Arrange to carpool and share your room. Feel free to post comments (click below) asking for rides, riders, rooms, roommates. I have an extra bed and a few empty seats in my car.
My currently suggested class sequence is as follows: beginner, intermediate, harness, beach start, fast tack, planing in the harness.

Please check out the packing list here. Don't get stuck without the necessities. Feel free to comment, send me a mail, or give a ring if you have any questions. See you on the beach!

August Trip Report: Sunday

I woke early and walked to Agua Java for my ceremonial caffeine dose. Matt, Karen, Chris, and Alex joined me a few ounces later. We only missed Jason, who slept through my phone calls. After leaving a message, we decided that we had a quorum. We walked to La Bahia for the traditional Sunday breakfast.

Chris and Alex started their drive to Austin immediately after eating. The rest of us planned to get some windsurfing in first. Meanwhile we needed to check out of the hotels and Jason needed to get some breakfast.

Matt, Karen, Jason, and I met at Worldwinds as planned. I rented a 6.4 meter sail and Jason rented a 6.0, both of us on the JP X-Cite Ride 145s. Matt and Karen rented JP 180s, the intermediate board. Karen took a refresher class.

The rest of us sailed, experimented, and practiced. The wind was around 18-21 MPH. A good compromise: less intimidating to the early intermediate sailor, but still allowing for planing excitement.

Jason and I both practiced more water starts. My success rate might have gone up slightly, but I still had many of the problems from Saturday. Despite this, I'm happy to know that I'm not far from ditching the uphaul. It will be a joy not to have to wrestle the sail anymore.

I planed a lot, getting more comfortable with the experience. The lighter conditions made it a little more difficult to get on plane, but with less chop it was easier to stay there. Overall, the experience was relaxing.

When I came in around 3:30 for a water break, Karen was just visible as a speck floating on her board. Don was concerned that she would keep drifting further away from shore if she didn't start sailing. Since his giant binoculars didn't reveal the problem, he decided to go check on her in person. Don prepared the huge Kona long board and attached a line to the rear foot straps for the possibility of towing.

As Don prepared his rescue mission, I watched someone sail up to Karen. Karen hoisted the sail up momentarily and they both sailed directly to shallow water down the beach. I was a bit disappointed to miss a "Baywatch" moment, but I suppose this was more dignified than a tow. I peeked through my camera at full zoom and saw that Matt had joined Karen. Both were performing a walking tack back to Worldwinds.

I grabbed two bottles of water and walked out to meet them. It turned out that Karen had a uncomfortably close encounter with a jellyfish. Ouch. Apparently she had felt nervous that she might meet another jelly and decided to float on the board for a while.

As Matt and I carried their boards in, Karen got a vinegar shower at Worldwinds. In addition to making half of a tasty salad dressing, vinegar apparently helps cure jellyfish stings. She smelled great.

As Matt and Karen packed, Jason returned to shore and called it a day. I carried my equipment in and spoke to Matt and Karen about food. We all decided to meet at Subway for dinner.

We compared notes over our tasty gourmet meal. I think we all agreed: another successful trip. After stuffing ourselves, Jason and I started the drive back to Austin. Matt and Karen planned to explore Corpus a bit before doing the same.