April 2007 Trip Review: Friday

Friday the 13th marked the start of this trip to Corpus Christi. The cast of characters included Jason, Saurabh, Mike, Jacob, Justin, Jeff, Matt, Karen, Gumbo (the dog), Freddy, and myself.

The excitement started early when a rental car had to be returned to the airport before Jason's crew could start for Corpus. The detour delayed my rendezvous with them at the Whataburger at Slaughter and I-35 where we evened out the carload for the drove down.

Jason and Jacob rode with me. We chatted for a while, Jacob told us some very funny stories, and we listened to a podcast of Cory Doctorow's Ownz0red to pass the time.

We stopped for some McDonalds before meeting everyone at Worldwinds -- almost right on time. The wind was blowing near around 25 Mph. As the day progressed, it got near 30 Mph with gusts up to 41. Holy smokes.

Justin, Saurabh, Mike, Jeff, and Jacob all took the intro to windsurfing class. Considering the amount of wind, they did quite well. In fact, they were more successful than Jason, Freddy, and myself -- all who had taken the intermediate class and were renting smaller boards. Show-offs.

I rode a JP 160 xcite ride, and flew a 4.7. the other intermediates had various sails and started with JP 180 boards. Everyone but the beginners had an incredibly difficult time uphauling and sailing in the stiff wind and choppy water. The sail tended to whip out of my hands, or the board tip before I could get moving. Almost the only time I got really moving, it was by performing beach starts.

I think everyone got blown around a lot. All of us got to take what has been dubbed the "walk of shame" back upwind. Many of us had the pleasure of walking several times. Overall, it was a difficult day for us intermediates.

After the sailing the day away, we drove to the hotel and desalinated before meeting at Waterstreet Seafood. We ate lots and lots of excellent seafood and gave the waitress a difficult time.

Sometime after dinner, Matt and Karen arrived. Matt joined us for a few beers downtown at Cassidy's Irish Pub and then Bourbon Street where Freddy made a new friend.

The trip photos are here.