Hello again 
It has been a bit over a month since I last posted and consequently last sailed 
It seems to be hard to juggle work and a b/f who also likes to sail. The wind seems to be better for him at the moment than me.. *sigh* does the wind god not like me????
Got a really nice surprise at work yesterday, on a side note. Got sent some lovely red roses. Awwww I hear you say. Yes it was very very wonderful and sweet. I wonder who sent me those 
But my day just got even better ....
Finally got back in the water yesterday.woohoo. Not at Kurnell but at Ramsgate (me thinks), just in one of those sand beachy bits. Wasn't too bad in the scheme of things. Saved the drive all the way round to Kurnell.
Got out my big white board (Bic) and my Neil Pryde Sail, the cute pink and yellow one, and strapped on a GPS 
I reckon I really looked the part. Felt pretty good too, until not 2 secs in, I fell off, and then fell off and then fell off. Had a fan club watching me from the shore ( a couple of Asian girls).
Finally got up and underway. They were cheering :) I was Cheering, Spanners was Cheering woohoo!!!! and then crash. Fell off trying to turn. Haven't quite mastered that yet.
Fell off a few more times. Didn't feel too bad about that though as Spanners hopped on to show me how to turn etc and he couldn't get underway :) Apparently its really hard to stay up on the board when there is no wind. How the hell was I, the novice spose to do it!!!
After an hour going out, falling off, coming back, falling off, going out etc I tried one more run. Got out.. fell off and 
ouch the boomy thing came down on my head. Nice lump there today. I tried for some sympathy off Spanners and all I got was "It Happens" where's the love I ask??? (hehe later .. sorry daydreaming 
)
Ok, I know you have been reading this with baited breathe.. and here it is.. My GPS results. I think they are wrong, cause i am sure i went further, cant say faster cause there was really no wind at all, just lots of chop.
2 sec avg: 3.84 impressive i think remember no wind
10 sec avg: 0.7 lol
1 hour avg: 0.14 woohoo I was flying
Alpha: 0.26 gotta be pleased with that!
100m: 0.33
Total Distance: 0.38 I Rock!!
and below for your viewing pleasure ....
my Google earth Overlay :)
what did you think I was gonna show you????
thanks again for sharing my fun with me.
and thanks Spanners for being really patient with me and giving me encouragement
Until next time
Hooroo
My wife is also learning, she can sail out and back for a bit without falling in. Her board is very big and easy to sail.
Join the GPS challenge so you can keep track of your sailing and mark your progress.
Hi Mobydisc
I thought about joining, but not too sure I am up to standard yet:) Wouldn't my slow times bring a team down?
Its quite fun learning and I am sure soon I will get the turns. I am not sure its windy enough to get the board around. I can stand on the board for like minutes and nothing. Doesn't seem to be enough wind to make it turn while i am on it :(
I hope your wife is enjoying it as much as I am :) where does she learn?
We mainly sail at Narrabeen Lake. We are planning to go windsurfing this Saturday. The forecast winds are a bit light so thats fine for her. I'm not sure where but probably to Narrabeen or perhaps on the Central Coast.
The way the GPS Teams Challenge scoring is structured, your results won't drag the team down. For a session to count you need two or more sailors to submit results for the day. The best two results count on that day. So if it was only you and someone else who sailed that day the score would be the averages of both results. If more than two sail and your results are lower than the others then your results won't count. I think thats how it works but the main point of how it works is to encourage people to windsurf.
My wife joined but there was a cull of sailors who had not submitted a score recently and she dropped out as she hadn't submitted any results yet. I'll ask her if she wants to join again and submit a result.
I Rock!!
Hmm I believe it is doppler. Not sure of the difference. I just loaded my Gps info into the KA72 website and got the figures off that.
. But some days when I sit on the beach watching Spanners and Table Top Russ, I think..." gee that looks awesome"
well went sailing again yesterday getting to be a bit of a habit yayay
slightly stronger wind, think it got up to like 12-14 knots there. the other day was prolly under 10.
I could certainaly feel myself going faster 
I have calculated my results below and my overlay. Kinda loving KA72 ... how easy is it to use?
I am thinking not too bad for a newbie. I will keep plodding along. The areas I need to work on are turning (of course still haven't managed that, hehe my turn consists of dropping the sail a tad, waiting for the board to come round a bit and then falling off pulling the sail the right side as I fall. Not very graceful, but effective ); and coming back in. Getting out is ok (kinda) but I can't seem to position the sail to get the wind to come back in. what takes me 20 secs to get out takes me 3 minutes to get back hehehe
I have decided to have a rest today and prolly for the weekend (maybe). I think its Spanners turn to sail. Today might be just enough wind for him to have some fun.
I will relax on the beach get some sun and nurse my many bruises that have developed mainly on my knees and shins from climbing up on the board
And thats enough for me for another day.
Hope you all have a great day and have lots of wind
Until next time
Hooroo
The board is white and has BIC on it. About, I think, 3 meters maybe, very long. I should measure it this arvo when i get home from work.
And the sail is a yellow and pink Neil Pryde 4.0
I think that is the info you have asked :)
Carol's board is a RRD Easyrider. Its a big wide board and easy to ride. She uses an old 3.7 or 4.2 sail depending on the wind. She can turn it around okay without falling off too often.
Hopefully we can get out for a sail tomorrow.
Sounds great. I am hoping for some wind this arvo so my b/f can go sailing. He's been hanging for the last couple of weeks
That was my third lesson yesterday, so I am hoping I will get better. Well I am determined ton anyway. I will keep sailing until I have perfected a turn and.. just quietly... gotten close to at least once on a freaky day beat my b/f fastest time haha it may take me some time to do that though. Long way off yet.
It's great fun and I am enjoying it, despite the bumps and bruises.
Yeah windsurfing is great when you are new and making progress. My wife has a stressful job. When she sails she has to concentrate on the sail, board, water and wind. So she stops thinking about work and all the other crap going on. She really enjoys it. Especially as its something different to what her colleagues do. They spend their spare time shopping for expensive handbags and stuff like that.
uughh. I couldn't think of anything worse than shopping. Now that is a hobby, sport, past-time that is highly overrated.
I totally agree with your wife. Much rather be out in the water in the fresh air, getting wet and having fun than shopping for useless stuff like handbags, clothes, shoes etc. Hmm maybe that's why my b/f likes me so much lol
Its great to be able to switch off and concentrate on something other than work. So I know where she is coming from.
Buying ws gear, really about the only time a windsurfer shops (save food, clothes - mainly new water gear).
Elgin...welcome to an awesome sport. Seriously addictive, in the good way! It's good to see how a beginner is getting better, with empirical evidence, in a couple of years into the sport and its hard to track progress sometimes. But a I guess a new skill, harder conditions, different sailing locations, ability to use smaller or different gear is other ways to track this too. Goodluck
worried I look too much like a seal or something flapping around on the board. Jaws is out there somewhere.
