Windsurfing

As if salsa dancing and guitar lessons weren't enough this year, we've taken up windsurfing! Bryan's an expert and has been encouraging Andy to give it a try, but we didn't get around to it until last month. There's a lake not far from here that has supposedly ideal conditions, especially for beginners, and there is a guy that gives lessons there daily.

Windsurfing has a big reputation as being difficult, so I was nervous about trying and opted for watching the first go round. Andy did really well and all the instructors were really keen to have me sign up for next time... so I did, in fact, we signed up for a set of 10 lessons.

So what is it? Well, you stand on a surf-type board that has a mast in the center which supports a sail. You hold onto a boom that wraps around both sides of the sail and steer by tilting and rotating the sail. Generally, you move perpendicular to or at an angle to the wind... tack to turn upwind or gybe/jibe to turn downwind. It's been a lot for me to swallow and little things like balancing have been a challenge, but Andy's doing fantastic!

It takes some time to get comfortable and get all the moves down, but after that you can really move... lean over the side of the board, have it up at an angle and really fly across the water. Our instructors and other "pros" out on the lake are really amazing to watch! Even though we won't have an ocean near by to continue this at home, there's no shortage of wind or lakes in KS & MO, so you never know!