Windsurfing in November

The Peconic Puffin is right, there is a lot of fun to be had in light wind. Two weeks ago, I enjoyed the lowest winds I've ever windsurfed in. Saturday’s winds were forecast in the 6-10 MPH range. Even the flimsy flag on that old mast over Worldwinds looked disappointed. 

Clearly it was uphaul weather, not water start weather, so I initially wanted a lighter sail than my 6.5 Meter. Something nice for practicing freestyle tricks. When I asked Olivier at Worldwinds about renting equipment, he told me to consider renting a Kona longboard with a 7.5 meter sail.

I've never sailed a longboard, but I've seen them used when an instructor wants to round up a wayward student. Olivier sold it when he said that I could do some "actual sailing." That sounded pleasant. Why not? 

Olivier advised me to put the daggerboard down when I'm sailing upwind, but to only lower it to a 45 degree angle to discourage seaweed from wrapping around it. He also promised that I could sail downwind on the Kona without any problem.

After my first beach start, I practiced tacking on the Kona. The giant board turned slowly in the light wind, but it felt no more difficult to turn than any other board. The real sticking point was getting the daggerboard down. It took some elbow grease to get the lever to loosen up.

From the shore of Bird Island Basin, there are a handful of islands visible. One of them is a spoil left from the dredging of the Intracoastal Waterway. It has several fishing cabins on it, and that’s where I aimed the board.

I crossed the shipping channel and tacked just 50 feet shy of the docks on the spoil. It felt strange sailing in the backyard of a fishing cabin. When I say cabin, don't think of a log cabin, or Walden Pond. These cabins look more like pre-manufactured homes. Boxy shapes, siding, and a foundation of raised piers.

On the tack back to Worldwinds, I made significant progress upwind. When I hit the shallow water near the beach, I performed the first half of a jibe, tilting the mast windward, then I stood square on the board as I sailed straight downwind. As promised, running downwind was easy. I balanced the sail on its tack and trying not to rock the board side to side much.

When I got close to my launch site, I pulled the mast back, pointing the clew skyward to turn the board upwind. I then flipped the sail to complete the second half-jibe.

Now I was roughly aimed me back at the spoil where I could see two other windsurfers circumnavigating it. It looked like a fun way to test my skills, so I decided to follow their lead. 

I didn't quite make it far enough upwind of the island on my initial approach. I had to tack two or three times to get upwind of the docks that reached from each cabin out to the deeper water surrounding the spoil. I was impressed with how much progress against the wind I could make with each short tack. Daggerboards are nice in light winds.

As I passed near the end of a dock, it occurred to me that the spoil was probably uninhabited. There were no boats docked, no sounds, and no visible inhabitants. I later learned that the cabins on these spoils are leased out in five year increments by the Texas General Land Office. They're intended for recreational purposes, not as residences. If you look at the satellite view of the area on Google Maps, you can see the hundreds of cabins built on or near spoils along the Intracoastal waterway.

I grew up in Florida where the spoils are unspoiled. They're just piles of sand with lots of vegetation growing on them. It's interesting that Texas allows folks to build on them, although I can't say that the boxy cabins do much for the view. I bet it's a lot of fun to camp in one though!

I turned the board downwind to sail behind the spoil, making another wide jibe that pulled me around the island. As I passed the sandbar on it's downwind side, I flipped my sail and glided back to Worldwinds.

Before the sun started to set, I aimed the Kona at King Ranch, on the opposite shore of the Laguna Madre, which is more than two miles wide at this point. After crossing the channel a bit downwind of the fishing cabins, the pond-like waters gave way to a little more chop.

This would have been fine, but the wind dropped even more and the waves slapping the board’s bow made the job of holding the sail more tricky. It's amazing how much more effort a sail is to handle when the wind is so low.

At first I didn't realize what had happened. I thought that things were becoming more difficult through some failure in my technique. I used my usual trick to get reoriented: I tacked. The slowness of my tack, halfway between Worldwinds and the King Ranch, revealed the truth: the wind was dying. I didn't want to get stranded on the wrong side of the shipping channel as the sun was setting, so I started slogging back to Worldwinds.

As I sailed back across the channel, I saw a barge approaching from the West. Despite my fears of the wind dying, I couldn't resist hanging out to get a closer look. I timed a few tacks so I could stay a safe distance from the main channel. The towboat was pushing a wide rust-colored barge towards Corpus Christi Bay. Other than a few bits of piping sticking out here and there, it was just a feature-less geometric shape plowing through the water. Happy seagulls followed in the wake, feasting on something stirred up in the foam from the tug's props.

After satisfying my curiosity, I tacked again towards Worldwinds. Just outside of a comfortable walking distance from the shore, the wind dropped again. I adjusted my stance and hoped that I wouldn't have to make a cold, exhausting walk back to the beach. My headway was barely evident in the tiny ripples behind the board. Soon the wake looked more like wrinkles than ripples. As soon as the daggerboard hit bottom, I carried the rental equipment back to Worldwinds, satisfied that I had wrung the last puffs of air out of the day.

On Sunday, the wind conditions were similar. The Kona was already on the water so I rented a 190 liter Fanatic Viper, a stubby board in comparison, but still equipped with a daggerboard. I stayed closer to shore this time, renting a smaller sail and choosing to practice technique instead of repeating yesterday's expeditions into deeper waters.

I played with more tacking and jibing, including clew-first sailing. I even did some clew-first tacks, awkwardly pulling the clew over my head instead of stepping in front of the mast. I also practiced some back-winded sailing. Mostly just goofing off and making things up. Why not?

Jennie rented a beginner board. In the light wind, it wasn't much use. The small sail and table-shaped board makes balance easier in the wind, but it just behaved like a mule in the light breeze. The table-sized board only wanted to go downwind. At Randy’s suggestion she traded the beginner board in for my Viper's twin, and a 5.3 square meter sail.

The smaller, more rounded board and larger sail were much more suited to the conditions. Jennie had a much easier time staying upwind, tacking, and jibing, and quickly remembered her skills. Soon we were both sailing around each other on the Laguna Madre. Slowly.

The winds were so low that an instructor taught her student how to self-rescue when becalmed: lay the sail down on the back of the board, lie on the nose of the board, and paddle home. They paddled much faster than I could sail. I sometimes forget that walking isn't the only method of self-rescue, spoiled as I am to sail the (mostly) shallow Laguna Madre. It was a nice reminder.

I knew it was time to drive back to Austin when the winds died nearly completely. It was difficult to know if my tacks worked because of the wind, or just from my flapping. Judging by the bubbles I passed, the wind was blowing enough to move me at a rate of about 1 foot per second, which is around 1 MPH. 

Corpus Christi News

I have sad news for starving surfers. Ichiban, the Japanese buffet on South Padre Island Drive has closed. I guess we won't be stuffing our faces with all-you-can-eat sushi anymore.

The Surfside Sandwich Shoppe serves delicious hot and cold sandwiches on the island off of SPID near Whitecap. Nice guys, tasty food, and I loved their craft beer selection. 

JB’s German Bakery is another good option for food on the Island. We stopped here on our way back to Austin. I highly recommend their German Burger, which is giant meatball with german potato salad and a freshly baked bun. I also enjoyed a fresh apple strudel. It’s not health food, and they definitely operate on Island Time. The burger makes up for it.

I'm happy to report that Dragonfly is still a great place to get a fancier meal, and a decent cocktail on the island.

Speaking of Dragonfly, I noticed a castle-like structure being built behind it. My first thought: huh, that looks like Schlitterbahn! So it is. Schlitterbahn is opening a new park and restaurant on North Padre Island in 2015. It looks like a lot of fun!

Trip Report: Labor Day 2010

Trip Report 7-9 August 2009

Friday

Aashish, Gordon, and Pern took their beginner Worldwinds windsurfing class Friday morning. By the time Jennie and I arrived, the wind was gusty, but strong enough that I could plane 80% of the time on the one sail I own: a blue 6.5 Meter.

The Three Amigos got a solid three hours of surfing in their first day, maybe more. All three of the newbies successfully fought the wind to stay upwind without taking the "walk of shame", the dreaded upwind stroll while towing the board. Not bad.

For dinner, the five of us met Freddy and Pamela at the Ichiban Buffet. We ate a vast pile of sushi and seaweed salad. For a nightcap, I passed out a few bottles of my homebrew Texas Blonde Ale.

Saturday

Saturday morning Jennie and I ate the complimentary Best Western breakfast before driving down to the beach. Aashish, Pern, and Gordon sipped coffee at Agua Java and ate at La Bahia.

The wind was strong and reasonably consistent at the beach. The beginner rigs were reserved for a new batch of beginners, so Aashish, Gordon, and Pern had to rent smaller boards with larger sails: two 4.1 meter sails, and one 4.3 meter sail. The Three Amigos took turns sailing with the larger sail, which felt a little out of control to them with 20 MPH winds.

Jay, Dana, Freddy, and Pamela rented boards too, and Jason arrived late in the afternoon to sail his personal rig.

All ten of us met downtown at the Waterstreet Oyster Bar for a huge dinner. This was our largest Windaddict crew to date.

Sunday

In the morning Jay, Dana, Gordon, Aashish, Pern, Jennie, Jason, and I attacked La Bahia for Sunday breakfast. As usual, we ate large amounts of food for small amounts of money.

All of us except Jay and Dana returned to the beach for a few more sailing sessions. Like Saturday, the wind blew in the 20 MPH+ range. I felt lucky to have such strong wind three days in a row. I love planing!

I had noticed on Saturday that my downhaul line was getting frayed near the knot which holds it to the mast extension. Having heard rumors of Spectra line, I upgraded at Worldwinds. I'm not sure if it was just the newness of the line or the magical properties of Spectra, but the new line seemed to make downhauling much easier. The stuff just slithers and slides over the pulleys with no resistance. I'm going to claim that a Spectra downhaul is worth every penny of $6. Why wrestle with rigging to save $2?

I was on plane the entire day, sometimes even a bit overpowered on my 6.5 meter sail. At the peak of the wind, I didn't have to work hard to make the fin lose its grip in the water. The slipping fin was a new experience for me, so it was a bit fun, actually.

I attempted a few chop-hops with varying levels of success, and also tried a little down-wind sailing in preparation for eventually learning a real high-wind jibe. One or two of the chop hop tries seemed to work, I think. I'm sure I'll be looping in no time...

The kind folks at Worldwinds surprised me with a gift before I left: a Worldwinds gift certificate. They apparently wanted to thank me for getting so many people interested in the sport of windsurfing. Don, Angie, Olivier, and Randy are great. I feel undeserving: the Worldwinds folks are so generous with their time and knowledge. All I do is point my friends in the right direction (Worldwinds!) and tell them tall tales about my adventures sailboarding. Thanks guys!

After spending some quality time on the water, Jennie and I ate dinner at Island Italian. The life-size cutout of Elvis on the way to the restroom still startles me. If you ever visit, you'll get scared by Elvis too. The food tasted delightful and filled us right up, a perfect ending to another successful Corpus windsurfing trip.

Trip Report 23-25 May 2009

Friday

Freddy and Pamela were just coming off the water as Jennie, the dogs, and I arrived at Bird Island Basin. We had just driven through an ominous rain storm on the mainland, but the island was dry and slightly breezy.

Since the wind wasn't enthusiastic, Jennie spend her afternoon working with Basil and Mouse in the water. I assembled my windsurfing rig and had fun with light-wind jibes and fooling around.

Once the wind picked up a little, Randy taught Freddy the jibe, and instructed Pamela in the intermediate windsurfing class. Freddy was kind enough to give me a few jibe pointers afterward.

Jennie and I got dinner at Waterstreet Seafood, but had disappointing service. Disappointment seems to be the trend in the Corpus restaurants I pick.

Sunday

Jennie and I drove to the beach early to find no wind. I purchased a copy of the Tricktionary II from Worldwinds so I could get some book learning done. Jennie took turns exercising each of the dogs in the water while I looked at the pretty pictures.

After about a half hour, the wind picked up to the 10-15 MPH range, allowing Jennie and I to enjoy some sailing. Noting the black clouds brewing on the horizon, I kept my tacks close to shore. After surfing for a half hour, I joined Jennie in the shallows to give her some pointers. This went on maybe ten minutes before distant lightning and thunder prompted us to drop our carbon lightning rods and get off the water.

I walked into Worldwinds to avoid the rain and noticed that they were listening to sever weather warnings on the radio station. Severe weather means business in Corpus Christi.

With some sense of panic, I ran back outside to re-evaluate the conditions. Black clouds: check. Forks of lightning: check. Gusty winds: check. OK, that might be severe.

I ran back to my board, detached my sail, and threw it on the beach. I could hear the occasional drop of rain pocking into the sail as the black clouds crept closer. I crossed my fingers that I could de-rig before the winds got too strong.

I unfastened the outhaul, removed the boom, and threw it aside. Meanwhile, the thunder and lightning had moved to within a few miles of us. I loosened the downhaul and started to pull the mast from the sail. The sail material crinkled and slapped in the increasing winds.

To prevent my sail from flying to Madagascar, I pulled the mast out in stages, careful to keep the sail close to the ground. I rolled the sail as I removed the mast to keep it from blowing away.

As cold rain poured on my back, I rolled my sail into a dirty tube, jammed it into the bag, and threw it into the back of the Orange Toaster. The rain mixed with tiny bits of stinging hail. I pulled the mast apart and jammed it next to the sail. Thunder thundered, wind howled.

I rolled up the Orange Toaster's windows before running to the Worldwinds building for shelter. The storm passed over us within a just a few minutes, clocking a peak wind speed of 40MPH.

Freddy and Pamela arrived on the beach not long after the storm hit, just in time to enjoy a little time on the water before dinner.

For Dinner, Freddy and Pamela met Jennie and I at a new restaurant for us: the Ichiban Buffet. This wonderful establishment probably didn't factor hungry windsurfers into it's $13 per person, all-you-can-eat price. It really is amazing how much sushi a sailor can eat after a day on the water. Freddy ate half his weight in crab legs, I ate three or four plates of Sushi, and we were the last patrons to leave that night. The staff was quite gracious considering our enormous appetites.

Monday

Jennie and I met Freddy and Pamela at La Bahia for a Mexican breakfast. As always, the food was tasty and inexpensive.

At the beach Pamela, Jennie, and I all windsurfed while Freddy spent the majority of his time kayaking the Laguna Madre with Gumbo and Bitsy. The winds started light and gradually increased until I could consistently plane. It grew to the point that Pamela and Jennie felt overpowered even after dropping to sails in the 3 square meter range.

On the bright side, this meant that Freddy got a chance to swap the kayak for a windsurfer. He sailed out and practiced his beach starts and harness work.

Trip Report 1-3 May 2009

Jason and I rode down to Corpus Christi in the Orange Toaster, my tangerine-colored Honda Element. For the first time, we stacked boards two high on the roof rack.

On the bottom, we strapped Jason's 160 liter board directly to the rack. On top of that, we used another set of nylon straps to secure my 145 Liter board to the car. Between them we stuffed Jason's rack pads and then cranked down on the top straps. As a failsafe, we tied the excess strapping to the two board's footstraps.

The stack of boards worked, but had a noticeable impact on the Toaster's fuel economy. We probably used 1/3 more fuel to get from Austin to Corpus that Friday. The car also stood a bit tall with a pile of surf boards on top. No low bridges for us.

At Worldwinds, the anemometer spun like a helicopter blade. The winds were blasting in the 20 to 30MPH range. I quickly decided that my 6.5 meter sail would be unmanageable. Since I only own one sail, I rented a 5.3 meter sail from Worldwinds. I kept my 145 liter x-cite ride. Jason opted to stick with his personal rig, the 160 liter x-cite ride and a 6.3 meter from Maui Sail.

Needless to say, neither Jason nor I had any issues with water starts. Not unless you count getting flipped to the other side of the board. But playing human catapult is half the fun, right?

My first sailing session was fun, but I realized that I was sailing too cautiously. Instead of rocketing with the gusts, I sailed like a big wuss. I tended to over-sheet and aim upwind to the point of stalling.

For my second session, I was determined to get over it. I hooked in, strapped in, and let 'er rip. The second session was much faster, more fun, and surprisingly relaxing. Speed isn't scary unless you try to fight it.

After windsurfing, Jason and I desalinated and grabbed dinner at Waterstreet Restaurant.

Saturday's beach weather was crazy. The highest recorded gust hit and insane 42 MPH. Otherwise the winds bounced in the high 20's and mid 30's. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see my 145 Liter board and 6.5 meter sail wouldn't be much fun. I rented a Fanatic Hawk 123 Liter board and a 4.5 meter Ezzy sail from Worldwinds. Jason rented a similar rig.

Like Friday, waterstarts were easy. My tacks, however, were a different story. I might have completed one tack successfully that day. Maybe not. Otherwise the wind and choppy water always dumped me off the board.

Necessity is the abusive parent of invention. I invented the following Windsurfing trick:

1. Achieve an overpowered plane on a too-large board
2. When you've gone as far as you like, turn upwind and begin a tack
3. As you nose upwind, let the chop flop you off the board
4. Finish turning the board from the water -- extra points for using the sail
   
5. Water start and sail away in your new direction

I call this the "Falling Tack". Be sure to give me credit.

For dinner, Jason and I feasted at Aka Sushi.

On Sunday, the wind calmed down to the 18-25 MPH range. This meant that I was finally able to use my own 6.5 Meter sail and board. It also meant that I was able to tack and waterstart with ease, although I do admit that I missed the 123 Liter Fanatic a bit. It was a fun little board!

The more relaxed weather was the perfect conclusion for our three-day weekend. After a few hours of sailing, Jason and I made the long drive back to Austin.

Trip Report 27-29 March 2009

Jennie and I spent Friday morning stuffing an unbelievable quantity of dog and windsurfing equipment into my bright orange Element. This feat was followed by actually stuffing two dogs and two humans into the same tiny vehicle, and then driving for three and one half hours down to Corpus Christi.

We arrived at the beach a few minutes late for Jennie's beginner class appointment, but luckily 30 minutes earlier than the rest of her class. While waiting for them to arrive, Jennie played with Basil (tiny dog) and Mouse (giant dog) in the water.

The windsurfing lessons appeared to go well until the wind moved from gentle to dead. Then the windsufring lessons became balancing-floppy-sails-on-tippy-platforms lessons.

The weak winds didn't last long though. After an hour or two, the wind jumped to planing speeds. That was my cue to rig up and remember how to windsurf.

Freddy and Pamela arrived later in the day, and opted to take their tiny dogs on a Kayak tour of the choppy laguna madre.

As the sun started to set, we all got off the water and checked into the usual hotel: the Marina Grand.

For dinner, Freddy and I advocated U & I Restaurant. We spoke of the great steaks we ate there, which was no lie. Unfortunately, we forgot how mediocre the rest of the food was.

As we were ordering our food, we learned of a salad dressing called "Green Goddess". With a name like that, of course we all had to order it. In windsurfing parlance, this was a mistake.

Green Goddess turned out to be a flavorless green gel with the consistency of mayonnaise. If you felt generous you might call it salad lubricant, but probably not dressing. I enjoyed my steak and shrimp quite a lot, but the rest of the meal only tasted good when compared to the Green Goddess. At least it was good for a laugh.

Saturday morning, Jennie and I walked along the Corpus Christi sea wall with the dogs before returning to the beach. The wind was already starting to pick up, even in the morning.

At the beach Freddy and I windsurfed, but Jennie and Pamela opted out. The wind made for tricky conditions on the Laguna Madre, at least for beginners.

For dinner, Freddy and I chose Havana. Unfortunately, this wasn't their finest hour either. Although "El Infidel" didn't fail to impress, the rest of the meal wasn't quite as tasty as Freddy and I promised. I guess we're slow to learn. Pamela and Jennie are now certain that Freddy and I have no taste.

Sunday morning, conditions were perfect for Pamela to take the windsurfing beginner class. Jennie also was able to join her on the water to enjoy the more moderate wind. It was a great way to end the trip.

Overall, the trip was a success. Everyone got to surf, and Worldwinds successfully taught two new beginners how to windsurf. The only challenge left was stuffing the dogs, humans, and luggage back into the car and returning to Austin.

Trip Report 25-27 July 2008

The July trip to Corpus Christi gets filed under "success". Freddy, Gumbo, Jason, and Mo (the new recruit) joined me.

Clowning Around With Wait Staff

Friday Afternoon, Freddy and I stopped for lunch at Hooters on the way to the beach. Our table happened to have a tiny pile of lettuce. The waitress carefully swept it into her hand before tossing the greens on the floor.

"I saw that," I joked, "we're from Corporate."

She suddenly looked concerned. Apparently throwing lettuce on the floor isn't in the employee handbook. I reassured her that we were just joking around.

The waitress spent a lot of time with us. She even told us we were her favorite table. Was it because she though we worked for Hooters Headquarters? Or was it because Freddy and I are hilarious pranksters? The world may never know.

Good Winds

The leftovers from hurricane Dolly provided great wind for most of the trip. Friday and Sunday were great planing days with winds from 20-30 MPH. Saturday wasn't as windy, but it still gusted into planing speeds.

Freddy took the beach start class, spending almost an entire day popping out of the water. He also practiced the harness, which will come in handy since he's getting close to planing speeds.

Mo had a downwind adventure his first day, but he quickly got up to speed. On his second day he took the harness class. He managed to stay upwind and to get lots of time hooked in.

Jason started to attempt the front foot straps while rocketing around on plane.

I spent more serious time with both feet in the straps. I'm getting pretty comfortable sliding into the back strap, although my technique could still use a little refining.

The Birthday Cake

On Friday night, Freddy and I split a big bottle of Duvel before visiting Havana for a meal of Tapas and Mojitos.

Our waitress was Michelle, and she remembered us as "the fun table" from months ago! The pressure was on: we had a reputation to maintain.

We munched on "El Infidel", goat cheese, and fried yucca. A birthday party gathered at a nearby table. Ideas started to form.

When Michelle returned to ask if we needed anything, I requested a slice of birthday cake.

"No," she claimed, "we don't have birthday cake."

"But they do," I pointed to the nearby table. Michelle laughed, but the answer was still no.

When Michelle came by again, I eyed the cake and requested forks and plates.

"No," Michelle laughed, "you can't steal their cake! It's theirs!"

After Michelle left, I ran to the birthday table. I snagged two discarded plates, complete with cake crumbs and forks. I placed one in front of Freddy, one in front of myself.

When Michelle returned, she laughed hysterically, "No! You didn't!"

Mission accomplished.

Cover, No Cover

Freddy and I strode to Katz 21, still laughing from our prank at Havana. Inside, two ladies told us there was a $5 cover. Freddy handed over a five just as I insisted that they should let cool guys like us in for free.

"That's true," Freddy chimed in. Freddy's five hovered over the cash register while we bantered. We both went back and fourth with the ladies, joking about how awesome we were and how we were good for business.

Finally, one of the ladies actually returned Freddy's money, declaring "No cover."

Again, it wasn't clear if we got in for free because we were cool, or because we were annoying. I'm going to hope that annoying people don't get discounts at clubs. Either way: victory.

Aristotle and the Hostess

Saturday night, Freddy, Jason, Mo, and I ate at the U & I Steak House. When we checked in, the hostess asked for a name for the waiting list. Freddy developed a wicked grin and answered "Aristotle."

The hostess started writing down "ARI..." before giving up on the spelling. She crossed it out, laughed, and walked away. A few minutes later, she returned. "Okay Aristotle, you're table is ready."

We enjoyed a fabulous meal of mesquite-grilled steak and seafood, and orange juice Mexican Martinis. When the waitress came with the check, she asked "Aristotle" if he was married. She handed Freddy a slip of paper with the Hostess's phone number. Freddy had a new friend.

Crazy Ladies

Freddy and I had some strange encounters with the Corpus ladies. First, an older lady with giant punched-in-the-mouth lips fell in love with Freddy.

Between spells of dancing, she would sit down with us and pout at Freddy. Whenever she left, she was careful to leave a drink or bag near Freddy to mark her territory.

On Sunday, Freddy spent several hours at Agua Java with the world's most talkative woman. Freddy was kind enough to introduce me. The millisecond we shook hands, she launched into the most incredible stream of consciousness narrative I've ever heard. Car accident, ear-locating metal detectors, legally dead, ball-bearing elbows, glass eyes, world records, and so on.

It was an incredible experience, but I didn't know what to make of the odd carnival sideshow narrative. It was odd, delightful, confusing, and nerdy all at the same time. What exactly does one say to a pretty lady who happens to be crazy?

Freddy and I said goodbye to crazy lady and picked up some burgers from What-a-burger Headquarters. As we drove back to Austin munching our food, we pondered our many adventures this weekend.

Trip Report 13-15 June 2008

A passing stranger asked me what size sail I was rigging early Friday afternoon. He got a funny look on his face when I said 6.5 meter. I felt the same way. A bigger sail would have been nice for the light breeze. But I only own one sail. On windy days I sail a 6.5. On still days I sail a 6.5.

Lucky for me, the wind didn't wait long to get serious. While the wind grew to fit my sail, the stranger struggled with an overpowered 8.0.

I was thrilled to get enough wind to plane. My goal this weekend was to get my feet into both foot straps, and a light breeze wouldn't cut it.

Up to this point I had only managed to slip in the front straps. When I mentioned this problem to Angela at Worldwinds, she said the back strap was much easier than the front for her.

With this encouraging thought, I returned to the water. I easily planed with my front foot strapped in. I could easily get my back foot next to its strap too. But when I lifted my back foot to slide it in, the board immediately carved upwind. I was sinking the rail, but I couldn't really see how to prevent it.

Just like the harness and the front foot strap, the maneuver felt a lot more dangerous than it was. Even as I flubbed the back foot strap, 80% of the time I was able to recover by stepping to the mast and tacking, or by simply turning back downwind. When that didn't work, I simply fell over backwards with almost no speed.

After rocketing around Laguna Madre for several hours, I drove downtown to the hotel to clean up. I met Jonathan and Marty at the Executive Surf Club where we played a few games of foosball before dinner at Waterstreet Seafood Co. After that, we watched a band play at Bourbon Rocks.

Saturday morning, I met Jonathan and Marty at the City Diner for breakfast. We carpooled down to world winds as we listened to You Look Nice Today. Jason met us at the beach.

Jonathan and Marty practiced for a while before their class with Olivier. Much to their surprise, Olivier had them wear a harness for what they thought would be an intermediate class. Despite their initial reluctance to strap a sail to their waist, they did well. It was difficult to believe this was their second trip to Corpus.

Meanwhile, Jason finally pulled the trigger and purchased his own windsurfing rig. He got a completely new rig: a Maui Sails "Switch" 6.4 meter sail, a JP Australia X-cite ride 160 board, and a very light 55% carbon mast.

After surfing, all of us met Carlos and Vincent at Aka Sushi for dinner. Jonathan, Carlos, and Vincent left a little early to set up for their performance as Milhouse. The rest of us then met up with them at the Mug Room to watch the show. Although the bar was freezing inside, the show was quite entertaining. I think everyone agreed it was sophisticated too.

Sunday morning, I got coffee at Agua Java before we all met for breakfast at La Bahia.

At the beach, Marty and Jonathan rigged up with bigger sails for more harness practice. I went out to take a few more shots at the back foot strap. Meanwhile Jason assembled a new roof rack on his Civic.

Jonathan was really hauling on a 180 liter board. Both the Worldwinds staff and I tried to convince him to get a smaller board or bigger sail, but he seemed content to practice harness with the board he had.

After a few hours on the water, I came in for a break. While I was hydrating, I told Randy of Worldwinds about my frustration with the back foot strap. He suggested that I put the toes of my back foot directly on top of the back foot strap. Once I got stable in that position, I could pivot my foot into the strap without lifting it.

I returned to the water and tried Randy's suggestion. I easily put my foot on top of the back foot strap, but I had a hard time using only my toes. Gradually, through sheer force of will, I pulled my toes back to the edge of the strap. As my toes fell off the top, I pushed them under the pad. For a tantalizing instant before the board lost power carving upwind, my toes were in the strap.

Determined to get it to work, I repeated the exercise. This time, I focused on keeping the sail powered, and struggled to keep the board level by pushing with my front toes. As soon as my back foot found the strap's opening, I jammed it in hard. The board again turned upwind slightly, but this time I corrected the motion by getting low and pushing through my toes.

It took a few seconds for the exciting truth to register: I was finally planing in both straps. I did it!

As I experimented with my stance in the straps, I found that I could really lean out and back now that I was anchored to the board. I could also lean the sail back enough to nearly touch the foot of the sail to the deck. Going upwind was also much easier; it felt like I could rocket directly into it. Straps are fun.

Like many windsurfing skills, the straps felt almost trivially easy after only doing it once. After I tacked at the end of my first back strap run, I jammed my feet into the straps like I had been doing it all my life. What was the big deal again?

Trip Report: 19-20 April 2008

The first challenge of Saturday was securing my damaged board to the top of the car. As you know, my previous system -- a Yakima Strap Thang -- utterly failed at 70 MPH. Instead of hugging my precious board, it threw it to the asphalt of I-37.

To replace the Strap Thang, I had purchased an assortment of inexpensive NRS 1" cam straps (as suggested by Cool Tools) to anchor the board to my roof rack. These straps are rated for 1,500 lbs. I'm fairly certain now that the rack will uproot before the straps fail.

Unfortunately, I underestimated how much strap I would need to secure the board. I had purchased one 4' loop strap for each of the two rack crossbars. Both were about 2 or 3 inches too short to reach over my JP Australia X-cite ride 145. On the bright side, I had purchased an assortment of other 1" NRS straps for odd jobs. Using these extra straps I was able to securely lash the board down.

I safely arrived at the beach, board still firmly attached to roof. When I showed my scarred board to the Worldwinds staff, they had a curious reaction. Instead of expressing horror at my board damage, they laughed. "That's nothing," they said. "No problem." What a relief.

I rented a little blue Tabou Rocket 135 -- part of the Worldwinds test fleet -- and a 7.5 meter Ezzy sail. The Rocket may have been only 10 liters smaller than my JP, but it felt a lot smaller to me.

My biggest difficulty with the board was sinking the nose. Off plane, I had no problem submarining the Rocket. This was probably more my fault than the boards, and I should note that it didn't prevent me from tacking or from water starting. In fact, I'm really starting to get the hang of this water starting thing; I'm often getting up on my first try.

My other difficulty was turning the board off the wind. Those occasional times that I would sink the tail or pull a slower tack, I struggled to turn the board downwind again. Perhaps this is because the board has a pretty smooth underside compared to my JP. The bottom of the Tabou only seems to have a slight smooth bulge along the centerline, unlike the harder chines on the bottom of the JP. User error again, of course. Sinking the tail is bad.

I was able to get the Tabou on plane, but I wasn't able to get into the straps. The board just felt really sensitive to my foot movements. I also had difficulty jamming my foot in even with the straps pretty loose. Mostly though, I simply didn't feel confident enough on that board.

After windsurfing I attempted to check in to the Omni Bayfront Hotel. Things went smoothly until I tried to find room 623. Naturally I went to the 6th floor, but the signs outside the elevator indicated room numbers starting at 625. I asked a housekeeper how to find room 623. "Oh, that's for the other hotel down the street." What?

I went back to the service desk to see if they would have a more accommodating answer. They didn't. This time I was told that the hotel had two "towers". This key was for the other hotel -- the less fancy one without the usable balcony. Oh well.

After cleaning up, I met Matt and Karen at the hotel bar. We decided to try Mamma Mia's for dinner, a restaurant suggested by one of Karen's friends.

There was one thing I immediately noticed about Mamma Mia's. This seemed like the sort of place where students take their dates for the Prom. In fact, the place was full of kids dressed up for the prom. This isn't a negative thing, but it does establish the sort of reputation the place has: fancy date place.

This impression was reinforced by the menu. No credit cards. The cheapest entrée was about $19. Salads cost extra.

That said, the food was good. Maybe not great as the price, but who is counting?

After the meal, the three of us had a Mojito nightcap at Havana.

Sunday morning, I met Matt at Agua Java for breakfast. As Matt and I sat chatting, we were approached by a smiling lady brandishing a $20 bill. She was named Julie, and she is one of those interesting happy people that make you feel like a boring sourpuss by comparison.

Julie was an expert in painting murals and faux finishes. At the moment, she was on a vacation roadtrip with her husband. The twenty was her proposed payment to use Matt's laptop to buy plane tickets. Matt politely refused the money and offered the use of his Macbook for free.

As she ordered tickets back to Tampa -- she and her husband were tired of driving -- she told us funny tales of painting Epcot, eating in Louisiana, Pantone colors, feeling sick in Louisiana, drinking in Corpus, paint, language barriers, the housing collapse, and raising kids. Who says talking to strangers is bad?

After breakfast, I rented a 2008 JP Australia X-Cite Ride 145 and a 6 meter sail. Except for a few minor changes and the lack of holes, this board was nearly identical to my busted 145. Home sweet home.

The 145 felt much more stable than the Tabou Rocket. After a little practice, I was able to summon the courage to try the front foot strap. I was rewarded with victory. Oh yeah: the front footstrap isn't scary. Silly me.

After surfing for a few hours, I started my journey back to Austin while my board stayed at Worldwinds for repairs. The weekend past without major injury or incident.

Trip Report Sunday 23 March: Part Two

I met Freddy and Gumbo back at the Best Western where he had been camping out and reading. Since he had already eaten lunch, I hit the mega What-a-burger drive through for lunch. Freddy kindly offered to drive while I ate my lunch.

"Bad: surfboard floating on the highway. Worse: on the highway at 60 mph." -- Yakima Website

Freddy had been driving on I-37 for some time when it happened. We were listening to The Drabblecast at the time.

Thwap. Thunk. Thwang. Thunk.

Freddy and I turned to look out the back simultaneously. My board, my JP Australia X-Cite Ride 145, was flying through the air behind us. Noooooooooooooooo....

As I yelled at Freddy to pull over, I considered the Yakima StrapThang. You know, I though, I always felt a little nervous about the design of that board strap. The Yakima rack itself rocks. They way it attaches and detaches from my Honda Element in seconds really impresses me. The rack always felt rock-solid too.

But consider the little rubber straps of the Yakima StrapThang. They were very convenient, sure. You just put the board on the rack pads, throw the two straps over the top, and hook them over the end of the crossbar. Attaching a board only took seconds.

But would they hold up? When I got the straps about six months ago, I must have fallen for the bold marketing. Surely they wouldn't joke about surfboards smashed on the highway if they had any doubts about their product. Right?

Despite this, I was always careful to remove the rack from my car when it wasn't in use. I didn't want sunlight to weaken the straps. Likewise, I was careful to always take a look at the straps when I attached the surfboard. Despite my care, my board just soared down I-37. It had been lying undisturbed on the rack for hours of highway driving. Now it just flew off.

Once Freddy managed to safely pull over, I sat for a few seconds cursing up a storm. I pocketed my cell phone and ran across I-37.

As I walked along the median, I contemplated my board. Would it be totaled? More cursing. Maybe it landed in the grass. Or maybe a semi ran it over. My stomach sank.

As I crested a hill, I saw it laying on the shoulder about 100 yards away. In a panic, I started running. Could it be in one piece? Would it be possible to fix? I cursed the gods of roof racks.

As I passed a broken chunk of StrapThang, I scooped it up. Grrrr. Dumb expensive piece of garbage. I laughed insanely as my stomach churned.

Finally I reached the board itself. I couldn't believe my luck. It was in one piece. Yes, there were scrapes, dings, missing paint, and a few large holes. Some of the holes even exposed the foam core of the board.

But one piece. And nothing had run it over! Somehow it stayed in one piece even after surfing down the highway at 70 MPH. It even landed on the grooved pavement shoulder. JP Australia: you rock.

I tied the StrapThang piece to a board strap to use as a handle -- not that I trusted it. I lifted the board and started the long walk back to my car.

I suddenly felt foot shy in my ancient Teva sandals. Might I discover some dangerous critters with my tender toes? I wasn't sure which I was more afraid of -- an infested median or slaloming tractor trailers. Another curse to my failed StrapThang. I watched my toes and dodged trucks as I plodded back along I-37.

I finally saw my car again, and raced across the highway carrying my unwieldy load. As I approached, I thanked my lucky stars for buying a car with enough interior space to hold my board. I did not look forward to the cramped ride home.

At the car, Freddy helped me lift the board into the car. We placed the board alongside the passenger seat, nose down. Gumbo growled. He didn't appreciate the idea. I used some bungees and fragments of the self-destroyed StrapThang to anchor the board.

Freddy volunteered to ride under the damaged board. The adventure apparently had reduced his enthusiasm for driving. We both cursed Yakima for good measure, and I hopped in the driver's side. Freddy reclined beneath the board.

As I started the engine, my cell phone rang. Jason. Just as I opened the phone, he hung up. Simultaneously, his car pulled onto the shoulder ahead of us. He came running out to ask what happened.

We told Jason that we weren't hurt -- just terrified. We gave him a brief overview of the story, but declined to go into details. We were still too jittery to really want to talk on the shoulder of the road. We just wanted to get back to Austin. Jason wished us well, and we both started on our way back to Austin.

Freddy and I listed to Car Talk to calm our nerves. I occasionally laughed like a maniac at what a miracle it was nobody was hurt. Even if my board is totaled, I'm quite relieved the damage was limited to stuff. The only injuries were to the board, the StrapThang, and a small area on the roof of my car.

None of us had further adventures on the way home. Thank goodness!

Trip Report Sunday 23 March 2008: Part One

You may already know about the disaster of Sunday afternoon. For dramatic effect, I'll put that story in another post.

With Sunday morning came gray skies and high winds. While Jason and I visited the beach, Freddy remained behind at Agua Java to hang out and read with Gumbo.

At Worldwinds, the anemometer read winds in the high 30's with gusts pushing as high as 48 MPH. Since I only own a 145 Liter board and a 6.5 Meter sail, I knew I would have to rent today. I decided to wait and see how Jason did in the gale before venturing out.

Jason rented a wetsuit, a 130 Liter board, and a 4.2 square Meter sail. As Angela was wearing Jeans, she asked if I would help Jason rig. As I carried the sail out I couldn't help but notice how cold the water was. How the usual bath water at Bird Island spoils us!

Once Jason made it out to deep water, he attempted a water start. After the wind toyed with him for a bit, he managed to stay aboard. Even completely sheeted out, Jason blasted along. I'm sure he was only barely not planing.

I couldn't let Jason have all the fun. I rented a 123 Liter Fanatic Hawk and a 4.5 meter sail. This is the smallest board I've sailed so far. I donned my thin neoprene top, a harness, and walked the board out to the water.

After a couple of tries, I water started without an immediate launch off the board. Clearly one of the challenges with a board that sinks is getting up without submarining the nose in the chop. At the same time, you have to watch the tail too. Stand too far forward and you plow the nose. Too far back, and the board swings into the wind.

Once I did manage to properly mount the board, the wind immediately slapped me on plane. I don't know if the smaller board caused me problems, or just the abundance of wind. Either way, the board seemed much more sensitive than I'm used to.

The slightest tilt or shift in balance produced dramatic reaction from the board. The sheer speed of the board over the water had me worried that I'd be blown to sea before I could get comfortable with the controls. I didn't have to worry long. As I tried to shift into a more comfortable position, the board spun out. The board turned upwind while the sail and I slammed downwind.

As I stood draining water out of my ears, nose, and mouth, I tried to understand how I messed up. I decided that I needed to get my weight lower so I could pull down on the sail more. Feeling the strength of the gusts, I decided I needed to pay attention to conditions upwind more too.

I water started again, bounced onto plane, and nervously watched for approaching gusts. Again my speed felt rocket-like, especially riding on such a small board. As my heels dragged a bit over the rail, the cold water sprayed me. A little sun would have been nice.

As a gust approached, I braced myself for impact. I lowered myself to pull the boom down. My butt dragged in the water, much to my surprise. I've never been that low before. As I tried to get a little more altitude, the wind chucked me and the sail right over the top. Shoot.

I decided to stand in the water and shiver a bit while my bravery returned. Clearly I had a bit to learn about these smaller boards.

Hopping back on the board, I thought now would be a good time to turn around. I pulled the sail back and started a turn upwind. As I stepped in front of the mast, the nose sank into the waves. I found myself standing once again on the muddy bottom of Laguna Madre. Ah. Perhaps a sinky board means no tacking.

Mentally I raised the Jibe class higher on my to-do list. I felt that I had accumulated enough ice-cold defeat for one day. I much prefer eating dirt on warm sunny days, thank you.

I jumped aboard again and sheeted out enough to keep be just below planing as I slogged back to shore. Jason was getting an impromptu water starting lesson on the beach from Angela when I returned my board. I listened in for some pointers.

After his lecture, Jason hit the water again like a trooper. I shot the breeze with a few Worldwinds loiterers. One of the fellows I talked to claimed that his son had tried all the different stand up paddleboards currently on the market. He claimed that his son measured how far each board went with a single stroke, among other things. He said the Mistral Pacifico won, although I wonder how scientific the test was.

Convinced that the weather wouldn't magically get warm, I packed in, said my goodbyes, and started for downtown to get Freddy and Gumbo.

Trip Report Saturday 22 March 2008

Freddy and I got the usual breakfast at Agua Java before cruising down to the beach around noon. There wasn't much wind yet, maybe the occasional puff upto 8 MPH.

I decided to borrow the stand up paddleboard from Worldwinds, a Mistral Pacifico. A stand up paddleboard is a long surfboard intended for paddling from a standing position. At around eleven feet, the board looks gargantuan compared to the usual short boards.

Worldwinds didn't have the proper paddle for the Pacifico yet. Instead, they made a Swiss Family Robinson paddle using a canoe paddle, a chunk of mast, electrical tape, and probably some coconuts. It works, even if it probably cost a few hundred dollars less than a proper paddle.

I asked Rob for advice on how to use the Paddle Board. Rob is a windsurfing pro who has been hanging around Worldwinds for a while. He gave me a few pointers on the operation of the board before I embarked.

Of course, the first thing I did was to step on the side of the board instead of the middle. Duh! After stumbling I remembered to step on the centerline. From there, it actually felt fairly stable as I took position on the board.

Unlike a normal surfboard, the standard position on a paddleboard is to face squarely forward, legs shoulder-width apart, toes facing forward. Unless you're riding a wave, but not many waves disturbed the face of Laguna Madre today.

The top of the Pacifico (entirely covered with a nice foam pad) is marked with a nice tan oval. Rob advised to keep my feet within the oval for stability. I could walk towards the nose to raise the fin in shallow water, or towards the back to lift the nose.

Although keeping my feet wide near the edge of the oval felt strongest and most stable for paddling, walking up and down the board this way felt tippy. Walking along the centerline felt quite stable.

I paddled in the shallow water to get my sea legs, and then decided to go investigate some curious man-made structures along the shoreline. Paddling the board isn't exactly fast -- I'm fairly certain that a kayak or canoe would have been faster (although I admit the problem could be my paddle technique). However, I think I prefer standing up while moving. The view is better, and standing feels a lot more comfortable than the typical canoe or kayak seat.

The Paddle Board also can be a lot more maneuverable than a canoe in certain cases. If you trot to the tail and sink the back, the board becomes quite easy to spin around. If you're in a contest to turn around, the Paddle Board will definitely win over a canoe.

As I tried to return to Worldwinds, I discovered why Rob warned against paddling back against the wind. Even though the wind came from the side, I had difficulty keeping the Pacifico tracking straight. Unlike a canoe, which generally has a keel to help the worst paddlers move straight, the Pacifico only has a fin at the back of the board. Proper technique, and forward headway is critical to staying on course. I'm not saying I had either, but I think it would have helped.

Also, I suspect that there are better places to stand on the board when the wind picks up. Since my body probably acts like a sail, maybe the place to stand is further back, closer to the fin. Honestly though, I just brute-forced it. I paddled stronger, really putting my knees into the stroke. That helped.

Once I got back comfortably close to Worldwinds, I noticed that Jason had finally arrived and made it out on the water. He was out trying to perform a water start. I was able to paddle right up to him and have a chat.

There is something to be said for not having a huge sail hindering you when you're just trying to stand on your board and chat. As I discussed water starts with Jason, I got to stand tall astride my golden Pacifico. Jason got to stand in the muddy bottom of Laguna Madre. I bet Paddle Boarding with friends would be a bit more social than windsurfing -- but where are the beer holders on this thing?

As I paddled away from Jason, I attempted to show off with my fancy tail sink 360 move that probably has a real name. I fell into the water instead. Of course! My first time falling off a Paddle Board, right when I'm showing off. Pity.

After fooling around a bit more, I returned the Pacifico and broke out my own gear for some windsurfing. Unfortunately, the winds remained mostly light with the occasional gust clocking from odd directions.

I spent most of the day sailing with my weight and the sail forward to help me follow the changing wind directions. Occasionally I got pushed briefly on plane, but mostly it was a low wind day. I'm not complaining though, the weather was at nice, and any day on the beach is a good day.

Freddy, Jason, and I all got off the water early so we could get to Cirque Du Soleil's Saltimbanco on time. For dinner, we stopped at the Island Italian Restaurant and devoured their awesome sandwiches.

We all met in the Best Western lobby after cleaning up. From there, we walked along the sea wall to the American Bank Center Arena. I thought it was neat how a mix of tourists, joggers, and Saltimbanco audience were wandering on the sea wall. As we approached the arena, we knew we were going the right way because the concentration of well-dressed Cirque goers increased.

Inside the arena, a brightly colored stage was partially covered by a white tent, obscuring the middle and back portions. Suspended above the stage, a decorative circular structure of interlocking rings held lighting equipment.

As everyone got their seats, some colorfully dressed performers came out on stage and began performing skits. These skits mostly involved pantomime, funny sounds, and audience members. If you want to become part of the show, front row seats are your best bet.

Finally the show actually started and the "tent" was pulled back to reveal the stage, some acrobatic apparatus, and a live band. From that point on, the show became intense.

There were trapeze girls who hung from each other's feet. A biker who rode a bike just about every way imaginable. Acrobats launched from giant swings to land on the shoulders of colleagues. In each act, the whole stage was alive with performers crawling and rolling and running as if they were catnip addicts.

After the show, we walked to Havana to get another round of tapas and mojitos from Stephanie. As we ate "El Infidel", we reflected on the crazy awesomeness of Cirque.

To round out the night, we paid visits to Club 21 and Bourbon Street. Other than accusing a few women of following us around, we didn't get into too much trouble at the clubs. Returning back to the hotel, we discovered several women riding hotel luggage carts down the sidewalk. I interrupted their fun to chat and try out the luggage cart.

One of the cart racers insisted that she had never at any point worked for the hotel. Of course she had. Who else would know how to ride a luggage cart? How else could she have recognized me as a hotel regular?

Defying death in a luggage cart seemed like a good end to the night. We said goodnight to the ladies.

Trip Report Friday 21 March 2008

As expected, Freddy, Gumbo, and I woke at the crack of dawn for the drive to Corpus Christi. On the way to the beach, we stopped to drop Gumbo off at the hotel. Hilarity ensued.

The previous weekend, Freddy had left his cellphone charger in the hotel room wall socket. He called the hotel the very next day to ask them to look for it. They agreed to investigate.

We now asked the front desk about it in person. Did they find the charger? Nobody knew. But they did have "hundreds" of chargers for us to look at. None of them matched Freddy's phone.

The desk attendant agreed to contact housekeeping about the charger. What was the brand of the phone? Kyocera. What? Kyocera. Not Nokia? K-y-o-c-e-r-a. Okay...

In the mean time, Freddy and I decided to get Lunch at the Hooters on the way to Worldwinds. This time I got the "Three Mile Island" sauce on my buffalo chicken sandwich. Much better -- this sauce had flavor!

At the beach, the wind was gusty. I managed to get on plane a few times, and I pulled off a few water starts. Freddy practiced using his harness and performing tacks.

After a day of sailing, we cleaned up and paid Havana another visit. We ordered Mojitos and a bunch of tapas: an "El Infidel!" sandwich, Ropas Viejas, and roasted plantains. I enjoyed all of it, especially El Infidel.

We asked Stephanie the waitress about the sauce for "El Infidel!". She read the menu and told us it was cilantro aioli. Somehow the word aioli struck our funny bones. It became the official word of the trip.

Over Mojitos, Freddy and I devised a fantastic prank. You see, at a particular company, all the executives get Starbucks coffee in their break room. The engineers get coffee that nobody could even be bothered to name: Brand coffee. I'm told that Brand approximates the flavor of dried, recycled Folgers grounds combined with a hint of paint thinner.

We came up with a plan that combines princess and the pea and the Folgers taste test. Our hero would sneak into the executive break room and refill a sack of Starbucks with Brand. Ideally, a nice fresh pot of Brand could be made too.

Do you think the big-shots would pretend to like it if the bag was labeled Kopi Luwak?

Trip Report Saturday 15 March 2008

At breakfast, we all met at Agua Java for the traditional coffee and treats. Freddy and I planned our brunch, while James and Jolyon braced for the long drive back to Florida.

Near noon, Freddy and I paid a visit to Hooters. We had (at least) two goals in mind: eating spicy food, and gathering intelligence on the nightlife. Valarie was able to help us with both. Sorta.

I ordered a Buffalo Chicken Sandwich (hot) with bacon and cheese. It tasted OK, but I didn't feel that bacon and cheese really added to the flavor too much. Next time I'll skip it. Also, I found the "hot" sauce weak. I'll go three-alarm in the future.

When we asked Valarie about the nightlife, she asked us if we knew where Staples was. Freddy and I immediately laughed at her. Do the ladies dig office supplies? Nooooo, Staples is a street name.

At Worldwinds, the wind teased us. It frequently gusted me on plane, but never kept me there long. In addition, I noticed a second group of windsurfers sailing in a nearly perpendicular direction to my own.

I ran into Freddy and Randy just as Freddy's harness class ended. I mentioned the weird shifty wind, and Randy pointed out to me how further up the beach the wind came from a different direction and stronger. Strange!

I sailed out to the mystery wind and managed to get on plane for a bit longer than before. Quirky.

After using up the wind, Freddy and I returned downtown to desalinate. For dinner, we decided to try something new. We went to Havana to drink Mojitos and eat Tapas. We enjoyed "El Infidel!" sandwiches, some Cuban bread, Arroz con Pollo, and some tasty marinated steak.

After trying to get our waitress to laugh, we got bad directions to Club 21 and attempted to follow them. Freddy and joked as we walked how all directions in Corpus Christi have you go two blocks in "that direction", make a left, and walk two more blocks. Do the natives navigate by smell?

After proving the directions wrong, I asked some random girls how to find Club 21. "We're not from here. We're from Austin!" was the proud response. We responded the same, and learned that they were really from Georgetown or some such non-Austin place. Busted!

Eventually we found the bar -- really called Katz Club 21. The place was nice, but not the hive of women we were promised. The bathroom attendant explained that all the women were at some concert -- usually the place was packed with them! Hmm. I don't care much for the bathroom patrol or the ratio.

Freddy and I discovered another bar inside the Katz restaurant: a small, empty lounge. The general manager was hanging out here, and chatted with us for a while. Freddy and I returned to the main bar to watch the band and the dancing drunks.

As we chatted, some mystery admirer bought us some shots. Since no princess came to join us, we figured the GM sent them our way. We enjoyed club 21 for a while more before trying Bourbon Rocks, which felt even more gender imbalanced than club 21.

After the bars closed, we returned to the Best Western where we discovered three women chatting in the hallway. They didn't seem to want to chat with Freddy or I. Time to escalate.

When Freddy and I got to our room, we unveiled the ultimate weapon. As Gumbo ran towards me to lick my fingers, I took two steps into the hall. Missiles away...

Awwwww! Puppy!

We spent the next two hours chatting with the hall monitors, watching the spring break drama unfold in the other rooms. One room had an unintelligible argument concerning fidelity and slamming doors. Another had a constant train of odd characters intent on violating the hotel smoking policy. It lent a nice Spring Break atmosphere.

Trip Report Friday 14 March 2008

Friday morning we all woke up early for the drive to Corpus Christi. James and Jolyon left at 7:30 am so they could arrive in time for their beginner lesson. Freddy, Gumbo, and I soon followed in The Orange Toaster .

Freddy and I got subs at Island Italian after dropping Gumbo off at the Hotel. At the beach, the wind was adequate, but not quite planing speeds -- at least for me.

While James and Jolyon took their lessons, Freddy rented a 180 x-cite ride and a 5.5 meter sail. I used my personal rig: a JP Australia X-Cite Ride 145 and a 6.5 meter sail.

As the day wore on, the wind increased in strength. Gradually the wind grew until I was able to stay on plane the rest of the day. To top it off, the few times I needed to, I was able to beach and water start. I even was able to really steer while on plane. It was probably the best windsurfing day I've ever had.

Freddy had a good day too, he swapped his 180 in for a smaller 160 liter board. James and Jolyon enjoyed the surfing too. James thought he preferred traditional surfing, but Jolyon seemed really into windsurfing.

For dinner, we ate at Waterstreet Seafood Co. I enjoyed a Wasabi Seared Tuna. So did Freddy. So did James. After dinner, we walked around the Marina before calling it a night. We were all pretty tired from the surfing, driving, and waking up early.

September 2007 Trip Report: Sunday

Following the traditional meal at Agua Java we all sailed at Worldwinds. I sailed the 2007 JP X-cite Ride 145 and a 7 meter sail for the light 10-15 MPH winds.

Yun took the beginner class while Matt and Justin took the harness class. Karen practiced on the intermediate board. I practiced trying to go downwind.

If you think getting upwind is difficult, try aiming more than a few degrees downwind. I guess everything needs practice to feel natural, but I swear that downwind was the only place I went when I first learned to windsurf.

After sailing for a few hours, I purchased the JP X-Cite Ride 145 rental board and a 6.5 meter sail from Worldwinds. Don and Angela instructed me on how to assemble and disassemble everything. Here is a list of all the major pieces of the rig: the board, a mast, a sail, a mast extension, a mast base, a fin, a boom, a uphaul line, two harness lines, and a mast shim.

With some nervousness, I loaded my Honda Element with the equipment and started the trip home. The Yakima rack with the crossbar pads and "Strap Thang" worked surprisingly well to hold the board. Even at 70 MPH, the board didn't even wobble. I made it home safely with no problem.

September 2007 Trip Report: Saturday

I woke early Saturday to watch a storm pass through downtown Corpus Christi. After the storm left, I got coffee and breakfast at Agua Java.

When I arrived at Worldwinds, the wind blew weakly, maybe 6-10 MPH. Storms floated on the horizon, occasionally distant thunder could be heard.

I rented their new Fanatic Shark 145 liter board and a giant 7.5 meter sail. The 7.5 is the largest sail I've ever used. I guess I'm getting used to big sails -- it didn't seem too much larger than the 7.0.

The Fanatic Shark had an interesting contraption to protect the nose. Rather than a hard plastic bumper on the front of the board, the board was equipped with a device attached to the mast base -- the deviator. This little gizmo is basically a little raised projection with a roller on top. If the mast falls towards the front of the board, the device deflects the mast away from the nose. The deviator works well, and definitely looks nicer than a nose protector. But it also makes it much more difficult to lift the mast over the nose when in the water -- you have to lift it much higher to clear the roller.

The Fanatic was a fine light wind board. Despite the iffy wind, I let the fun of sailing lure me out well past the buoys. I was alright for perhaps an hour before the storms got closer and the wind started acting shifty. At that point I started tacking back in towards Worldwinds.

I got perhaps half way back to Worldwinds when I lost power in the sail. I figured that the wind must have changed directions, so I tacked. The tack went fine, but I still had no power. I tacked again. And again. And again. No luck. The wind seemed to have vanished. Oh no.

I jumped off the board and started swimming in. As I was swimming back in with the mast over my shoulders, I watched the storm move closer. It looked like I might get rained on. I continued inching towards shore where there was a bit of a crowd -- how embarrassing.

As I continued swimming, I felt a little breeze on my face. Would the wind save me? I turned to look in the direction of the breeze -- and storm. As I watched, a sheet of darkness moved across the water towards me. Wind. Maybe 30 mph. Maybe 100. Either way, it immediately stirred up a nasty chop.

I decided not to attempt a waterstart. I thought my 7.5 meter sail might launch me to Mexico. I climbed on the board and uphauled. A gust immediately tore the sail from my hands. I uphauled again and was thrown from the board.

Frustrated, I floated in the water collecting my wits. Third time's the charm, right? I climbed up, hoisted the sail, and quickly hooked onto the boom with a two-hand death grip. Even without sheeting in, the board started moving.

Somehow I managed the sail by staying back and low, cutting as much upwind as possible. The board rocketed forward and covered the remaining distance to Worldwinds in seconds. If I had sheeted in more, I probably could have shot up the ramp and into the garage. I was just happy not to have to swim any more. Now I know what the calm before the storm is.

Lesson learned: stay close to shore in weak wind and stormy weather. I would have kissed the ground if it wasn't so dirty.

As I left Worldwinds, I learned that Matt and Karen, Justin and Yun all decided to skip the beach today on account of the storm. I returned to the hotel to clean up. Afterwards, I met them all for dinner at the Water Street Oyster Bar. Afterwards, we had a few drinks at Havana.

September 2007 Trip Report: Friday

Friday's weather was perfect for windsurfing. The wind blew around 25 gusting to 29 MPH. Unfortunately, I was the only one in our group arrived Friday. Their loss. The Worldwinds staff agreed that it was the best windsurfing day they'd had in a month.

After a little practice on the JP X-cite Ride 145 and a 6.0 meter sail, I took the waterstart class with Olivier. He also gave me some pointers on my beach start and getting into the front footstrap.

For the beachstart, his biggest hint was to keep the boom close to the body. The boom is supposed to do all the work as you gradually twist the sail into the wind. Yanking on the boom and jumping on the board is poor form.

In waterstarting, the ah-ha moment was turning my hips forward as I get pulled out of the water. With the hips forward, it becomes possible to collapse the back leg to pull the board into position under the body. The motion of the arms in the waterstart is very similar to the beachstart except the arms are above the head. Again, the front arm pushes forward and out as the back hand sheets in. Once the sail is just right, you pop out of the water. The back leg pulls the board under your body, and the front foot lands on the board.

I tried getting into the front foot strap a few times, but never quite managed it. I get my foot right next to the strap, but I keep unintentionally sheeting out as I concentrate on my feet. If I can get one more day of good planing wind to practice, I think I can make it.

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.

August Trip Report: Saturday

As tradition demands, most of us ate at Agua Java for breakfast. Unfortunately Jason didn't feel well. He dozed through breakfast despite a wake-up call. He still made it out for windsurfing though.

At the beach the wind ran 18-25 MPH. Perfect weather for planing. Jason decided to purchase his own harness. I believe he got a DaKine Nexus. Meanwhile Alex took the introduction class. Chris, Matt, and Karen rented boards and just fooled around.

On the water I scored lots of planing action. I'm getting better control over the planing process and steering. Still, I occasionally drop out of plane for no good reason. I suspect that I am unintentionally sheeting out or maybe cutting too close to the wind. Despite this, my comfort level really increased over the course of the day.

For the most part I resisted the urge to wrestle with the boom as I skimmed along. Instead I tried to lean back in the harness and relax. Of course, this is hard when you're having fun going faster than ever before. Blasting along at power boat speeds on a tiny sail-powered board is insanely fun.

I still need to improve my steering, but my new challenge is dealing with chop. I have trouble maintaining direction and speed in the larger chop that the wind occasionally kicked up. The faces of the waves bump the nose of the board around. When I get launched off the bigger waves and catch a little air, I tend to sheet out. I have no idea if this is the right move or not. I suspect that getting into the foot straps might help, but I'm still a little nervous about them. I worry that I'll get catapulted while my feet stay behind.

Speaking of catapulting, I think I had my first serious launch off the board. A giant gust hit me when I was standing far too upright on the board. Next thing I knew, I was shooting down and off the top of the sail like a slip 'n slide. Surprisingly it was a lot of fun. A quick inventory revealed no damage to myself or the board, but from the shore it probably looked like I bought the farm.

Jason and I both experimented independently and attempted a few water starts. Although I managed to get on the board, it was a real trial and error sort of maneuver. More often than not, the board would steer into the wind or sink as I tried to get up. When it did work, it felt surprisingly graceful, easy, and lucky. I think I'll take the water start class next. I'm guessing that some actual instruction on the topic will help significantly.

Jason apparently still didn't feel well, and after a few hours rode back to the hotel wedged in the back of Matt and Karen's TT coupe. After a couple more hours on the water I returned to hotel to decontaminate. Jason had been napping, but seemed ready for some food.

Matt, Karen, Jason, and I met at Aka Sushi for dinner. Alex and Chris opted for the Executive Surf Club instead. I ordered a spicy beef hot bowl and shared in the sushi with the rest of the table. The beef bowl arrived in a big smoking-hot stone bowl. Resting on top of the food was a partially cooked egg. I gathered from the waitress's vigorous stirring motions that I was to mix the egg into the food and let the bowl finish cooking it.

Jason must have felt a lot better. He devoured his own meal in addition to a share of the sushi. I agree with the sentiment. Although I was previously wary of the wasabi-colored sushi restaurant, I really enjoyed the food there. The 80's music they played was pretty cool too. Yet another good restaurant within easy walking distance of the hotel.

After dinner, we all wandered downtown to Smokie's Bikini Bar. Now, the idea of a bikini bar seems sound to me. Until I visited this one, I even never suspected that you could go wrong. Silly me. The service wasn't too great, and the main attraction could have been a little more attractive. Understandably there weren't many folks hanging out there. The place seemed new -- perhaps they will get the hang of it later.

After abandoning Smokie's, we walked to Havana. Most of us ordered the (expensive) mojitos. Jason opted to make up for his missed breakfast by ordering an "El Infidel" sandwich. He seemed surprised that no one else wanted a second dinner, but wasn't too concerned. While he ate, the rest of us constructed swizzle stick sculptures and joked around.

We looked for more trouble after leaving Havana. Not finding any, we decided to call it a night.