Windsurfing
I was wondering how many fellow RV’rs and rv.net enthusiasts also have the windsurfing bug? I would be interested in hearing about, and seeing (pics) of, places you have been and how you outfit your ...
Forum Discussion
Actually, those solar panels are 175W each, and we have six of them (the rear-most two aren't shown in that photo). So that's 1050 Watts, and we could live in Corpus until the end of time without the generator.
You have a great deal being able to use the half-price national park pass. I still have a few years to go--been thinking I should get a fake ID. Is there a senior discount for fake IDs? :) We looked at the place you stayed in Frisco, but for the same price, we opted for a FHU site, albeit a regular old RV park with no view. For half that price, I likely would have opted for no hookups and a view. With extreme conservation, we could delay the 9-mile trip to the dump station for 3 weeks, although 2 weeks is more comfortable. No way I'm taking freezing showers.
I hate sailing in crowds, and the deep hole at Canadian Hole made it all the worse. Dodging people AND trying not to fall in. When we stay in Corpus, if the wind is even remotely up I'll be the first on the water, and I'll come in when everybody else starts sailing. It's easy because we're staying right there, and Carey can do his own thing until the wind comes up enough for him to want to go. That place is a humid salty pit, but I'm becoming more convinced it's the one that most fits my checklist.
I sailed a 120-liter Mistral Explosion (I weigh 125) for 12 straight years, and then found a different board behind the shop in Corpus, for free. A guy recently told me that it was an early model for the Mistral Screamer. It's 103 liters and I can really tell when the wind picks up--I can handle probably 4 or 5 mph more of wind before the new board wants to become airborne. Sometimes it was downright scary trying to keep that Explosion on the water. I think it was aptly named.
We're in Autin and miraculously had real wind all three days of the Memorial Day weekend. (Go figure--you get 5 days out of 14 in Hatteras, and we get 3 out of 3 on Memorial Day.)
Lake Pflugerville is a tiny little lake outside Austin. They don't allow motorboats, but they do allow kiters. But since it's so little and a south wind is offshore, the water is really flat, and vastly flatter than Lake Travis in wind AND with a million boat wakes.
But oh lord I haven't been in gusts like that in forever. I would be hanging on for dear life one second, and just standing there the next. Plus, it's got weeds, or rather bush-like things that are growing under the water. They're more or less okay right this minute, as long as you're going fast and your fin isn't way down in the water. But I tried to waterstart in some of them and couldn't get my leg free to put it on the board.
Not a great place, but it beats becoming a Memorial Day statistic out at Lake Travis.
But I tell you--people lose a good 20 IQ points just being near water, and more like 30 points if it's a holiday. Adults who can't swim playing in a lake with an unbelievably slippery mud bottom, with no life jacket or anything. Adults who can swim carrying babies into the water, with no flotation anywhere. People swimming across the lake with no flotation, downwind, not giving much thought to how it's going to be a wee bit tougher on the way back, into 30 mph wind. And I can't count the number of items that were blown away by the wind.
On the other hand, it's great to hear about a shop with a good vibe. I find a lot of them intimidating. I thought it was because I'm a girl, but Carey gets the same feeling sometimes, which is particularly ridiculous because he can sail circles around most anybody. Or maybe they just look at our crappy old equipment and realize we're probably good only for harness lines, or a boom if we're really desperate, and treat us accordingly. :)
You have a great deal being able to use the half-price national park pass. I still have a few years to go--been thinking I should get a fake ID. Is there a senior discount for fake IDs? :) We looked at the place you stayed in Frisco, but for the same price, we opted for a FHU site, albeit a regular old RV park with no view. For half that price, I likely would have opted for no hookups and a view. With extreme conservation, we could delay the 9-mile trip to the dump station for 3 weeks, although 2 weeks is more comfortable. No way I'm taking freezing showers.
I hate sailing in crowds, and the deep hole at Canadian Hole made it all the worse. Dodging people AND trying not to fall in. When we stay in Corpus, if the wind is even remotely up I'll be the first on the water, and I'll come in when everybody else starts sailing. It's easy because we're staying right there, and Carey can do his own thing until the wind comes up enough for him to want to go. That place is a humid salty pit, but I'm becoming more convinced it's the one that most fits my checklist.
I sailed a 120-liter Mistral Explosion (I weigh 125) for 12 straight years, and then found a different board behind the shop in Corpus, for free. A guy recently told me that it was an early model for the Mistral Screamer. It's 103 liters and I can really tell when the wind picks up--I can handle probably 4 or 5 mph more of wind before the new board wants to become airborne. Sometimes it was downright scary trying to keep that Explosion on the water. I think it was aptly named.
We're in Autin and miraculously had real wind all three days of the Memorial Day weekend. (Go figure--you get 5 days out of 14 in Hatteras, and we get 3 out of 3 on Memorial Day.)
Lake Pflugerville is a tiny little lake outside Austin. They don't allow motorboats, but they do allow kiters. But since it's so little and a south wind is offshore, the water is really flat, and vastly flatter than Lake Travis in wind AND with a million boat wakes.
But oh lord I haven't been in gusts like that in forever. I would be hanging on for dear life one second, and just standing there the next. Plus, it's got weeds, or rather bush-like things that are growing under the water. They're more or less okay right this minute, as long as you're going fast and your fin isn't way down in the water. But I tried to waterstart in some of them and couldn't get my leg free to put it on the board.
Not a great place, but it beats becoming a Memorial Day statistic out at Lake Travis.
But I tell you--people lose a good 20 IQ points just being near water, and more like 30 points if it's a holiday. Adults who can't swim playing in a lake with an unbelievably slippery mud bottom, with no life jacket or anything. Adults who can swim carrying babies into the water, with no flotation anywhere. People swimming across the lake with no flotation, downwind, not giving much thought to how it's going to be a wee bit tougher on the way back, into 30 mph wind. And I can't count the number of items that were blown away by the wind.
On the other hand, it's great to hear about a shop with a good vibe. I find a lot of them intimidating. I thought it was because I'm a girl, but Carey gets the same feeling sometimes, which is particularly ridiculous because he can sail circles around most anybody. Or maybe they just look at our crappy old equipment and realize we're probably good only for harness lines, or a boom if we're really desperate, and treat us accordingly. :)
