Windsurfing A Way Of Life

Joker 102 2007 and Ice 5.0 2007 Spock 1 Handed

Click the pic to see the video clips of Manolis spock 1 handed

Joker 102 2007 and Ice 5.0 2007 Spock 540

Click the pic to see the video clips of Manolis spock 540

Humdulala the wind blew today and its looking good for the next couple of days. So I guess another few late nights infront of the electronic girlfriend ahead to allow so time on the water tomorrow and the day after.

I started on what has become my almost daily pilgrimage to the Club Mistral Windsurfing center in Dahab, to see what was occurring around 11 today. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was quite windy especially out in the second area, however it was not that easy to choose a sail size as people seemed to be sailing on anything from 5.0 to 8.0, go figure. Anyway and this will make a couple of my friends laugh (Onur & Fred) i decided to take 5.7 surprise surprise and a Mistral Syncro 92, its becoming an old friend now this board, and for me here in Dahab its great, small enough to be very maneuverable and also big enough to wobble back through the lagoon when the wind is dropping at the end of a session. Most people seem to choose boards around 92-130 here in Dahab, the Joker is very popular especially the new 102 for 07, we even have an instructor from one of the other centers who comes to borrow one because he loves it so much.

Right, back to business the equipment choice was spot on although for a short time out the back in the swells a 5.3 could have been enough but still you have to keep in mind here the journey back to the beach which is not the easiest on small kit regardless of which center you sail from, still on the positive side my tacking has got superb. I have to say though sailing in warm water and sunny skies in December takes away any thoughts that getting back in offshore conditions is a pain in the bum.

Take care all and update you tomorrow Inshallah.

Well today was almost a repeat of yesturday except due to rather a long evening infront of the computer and being sucked into watching some B movie about going to the center of the earth my late night meant I did not awake until a little later than ususal. So I jumped up thinking I could hear wind outside looked out of the window and relaised it wasn’t quite there yet, stuck the kettle on whipped up a quick bit of breaky, spoke to some work colleagues on messenger sorted out the schedule for the day which of course allowed for a little bit of sailing if the wind picked, luckily it did so I headed off to the center.

The wind came a little later than yesturday and was not as obviously the same strength but being a stubborn old goat and disregarding advice to take a larger board and sail I rigged an Ice 5.7 and took a Mistral Syncro 92 (love this board).

The wobble accross the lagoon was a long one today definatly lighter wind than yesturday but once again turned into the speedy and was away. I set off on my normal route up to the Napolian reef and was pleasantly surprised to find that once in the open sea the wind was quite good and I had in fact taken the correct kit. The swells were still very small but I did find something to ride and jump off.

For some reason today I got a bit paranoid about sharks the light is quite low at the moment and all sorts of strange shadows are visible below the swells and even though in 6 years of sailing out in the Red Sea on and off holidays allowing, I have never seen a shark but the shadows started to play tricks on my mind. The only time I have seen a shark was in the summer when i sailed over the top of a beautiful cruising whale shark which if course is a basking shark and not particularly any kind of threat to me or anyone else come to that, but anyway, I am sure in a gulf 1000 meters deep in places there must be some unfriendly fish down there somewhere.

There were not so many people out today in the swells just 3 or 4 people downwind of me which made it very pleasant sailing pretty much alone a very nice way to clear the mind, relax and enjoy the wind and water. As nice as it is to sail with friends and push each other there are times when a private session alone can be just the ticket.

I don’t think there is anyone who goes windsurfing that doesn’t benefit from the sports ability whatever your level to take your total concentration and let all those day to day stresses move to the back somewhere to be dealt with later. Of course it is also a very sociable sport and I am very glad that I have been privilaged to meet many very nice people around the world because of it.

If you don’t windsurf you should definatly try it!

Hi to anyone out there who has stumbled accross this site.

I was having breakfast this morning and pondering this question, with so much kit on the market all claiming to be the best at what it does how does everyone filter out the kit they really enjoy using on those precious days when the planets align and there is no work , family events and the wind is blowing etc etc.

It would be very interesting to see how much people rely on the magazine tests or if they use holidays at centers etc borrow friends kit to try or if its all just word of mouth and good old fashioned advice from the local shop.