I went to Canton yesterday when the W came through. I got stuck in a traffic jam possibly caused by powerlines bought down by the wind..Stuck on the Toukley bridge I looked across at the water 
3-4 ft steep chop with crumbling tops , spume blown across the water and lines of mist /spume . @## don't think I'm going out in this!
I got to Canton and everyone was just standing hanging onto their gear so it wouldn't cartwheel away..
It died down a bit so I rigged the 3.8m + 95ltre board. I was standing ready to beachstart and the wind blew the board upside down. Then the whole lot got blownout of my grip and blew 20 ft downwind . When I got it the fin had been impaled 1/2 " into a bit of wood that had been floating on the water.. I thought this will be an interesting sail..
Actually it was brilliant. I'd been out a few days before in rough water & averaged 25% success with gybes & spent a lot of time deepwaterstarting 
Felt like a hero in the flat water as I was getting 95% of my gybes & planing out 
. At one stage I was so overpowered I decided to just let the sail go and carve the board & see if I could gybe & I planed out!
Pity I can't do it in chop..
Hi sboardcrazy,
Like your story, I'm just starting out so for me 20kts and a bit of slop or chop makes for um?....interesting times that pictographically could be represented somewhat like this: @#$%**^!! 
and make for exciting visuals for the spectators on shore as they watch me attempt to bury myself head first into a sandbar while my whole rig says bye
and travels on without me.
Hooked though, I figure the five to ten minutes it sometimes takes me just to get up and running is thoroughly worth the 2-300 metre run I get before stacking it again.
its windy when... you only attach your handky to the mast and you are STILL overpowered 
and make for exciting visuals for the spectators on shore as they watch me attempt to bury myself head first into a sandbar while my whole rig says bye and travels on without me. I think you've got to have a good sense of humour to survive learning to sailboard.. ( or be pigheaded like I was/am..)..
