Saturday 23 June 2012

Catch the wind in your sails

LP and I signed up for a one day basic windsurfing course and I had a fantastic experience!



The morning session consisted of a theory session and then some hands-on practice out at sea. I managed to get onto the board but couldn't really balance well so ended up drinking quite a bit of sea water.



We had another small theory session after lunch and then off we went out to the sea again. This time, everyone did so much better! Almost all of us could sail for a distance. I managed to sail out into the open area but I turned back after a while because I didn't want to go too far out from shore. But yay, I was pretty proud of myself. And I managed to change direction too, under the guidance of the instructors. Around 5pm, we had to stop and return the equipment. So sad, I was really enjoying myself. While washing our sails, who should I meet but my senior! What a small tiny world. Then we had a debrief and it was time to head home.

I think the most tiring part for me was pulling up the sail (rig? Lots of technical terms today, boom, uphaul, outhaul, daggerboard, fin, mast, mastfoot, starboard..), especially when you're tired.. It can feel REALLY heavy. The most difficult part was maintaining your stance; we normally lean forward for balance but this throws us off balance while sailing, so we actually need to lean back. But after a while, I think you'll get used to it. I'm really glad I managed to ride with the wind today :)

LP and I decided to take a leisurely stroll to Parkway Parade from PA Water Venture and we ended up walking for two plus hours.. when we started the walk, we were like "what a nice cooling evening for a stroll!", towards the middle "oh my, it's SO far??!" and 1hr40mins later, "ARE WE THERE YET?!?".

I bet I'm going to ache all over tomorrow. And I got scratches and bruises on my leg from trying to climb onto the board.. But it was all worth it! :)