Beating the Habbit

Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose DIY and wondering who you are on a Sunday morning.

I chose not to choose life: I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got windsurfing?

People think it's all about misery and desperation and death and all that shite, which is not to be ignored, but what they forget is the pleasure of it. Otherwise we wouldn't do it. After all, we're not stupid. At least, we're not that stupid. Take the best orgasm you ever had, multiply it by a thousand and you're still nowhere near it. When you're on your board you have only one worry: wind. When you're off it you are suddenly obliged to worry about all sorts of other shite. Got no money: can't get to the wind. Got money: no wind to be found. You have to worry about bills, about food, about some football team that never wins, about human relationships and all the things that really don't matter when you've got a sincere and truthful windsurfing habit.

So why did I do it? I could offer a million answers, all false. The truth is that I'm a bad person, but that's going to change, I'm going to change. This is the last of this sort of thing. I'm cleaning up and I'm moving on, going straight and choosing life. I'm looking forward to it already. I'm going to be just like you: the job, the family, the big television, the washing machine, the car, the compact disc and electrical tin opener, good health, low cholesterol, dental insurance, mortgage, starter home, leisurewear, luggage, three-piece suite, DIY, game shows, junk food, children, walks in the park, nine to five, good at golf, washing the car, choice of sweaters, family Christmas, indexed pension, tax exemption, clearing the gutters, getting by, looking ahead

Relinquishing junk. Stage One: preparation. For this you will need: one used longboard which is cheap; one Chinook base for which you'll drill one hole in the longboard; one boom which you have retired or do not care if it gets scratched; one parking lot that remains calm in 0 to 100mph+ wind.

Pimpin on a NP Warp Slalom 7.0 on a 47" pintail.

What? No wind? Dark? See if you can find some gravity and Carve baby.

* Adapted from the movie Trainspotting. A must watch to understand the life of a windsurfer far from the coast. If you can't adapt your environment to you adapt to your environment.

The Perfect Local Break

This winter has been especially harsh. I've not been wet since new years day but we did have some strong wind to go with the bitter cold and of course it was time to skate sail. Andy inspired me to try land sailing last winter with this.

I started with a worn out trick board and then got a used pintail longboard. You already know the story- just drill a hole in the deck for the Chinook base and you have a land kit. For your viewing pleasure- this is my first attempt at a turf board. (Mud flaps hadn't come in yet)

If you have access to a little breeze skate sailing is way more fun than you think. I love working on jibes with the longboard. Having that sail in hand is like a pacifier. We had enough cold wind that I got really used to skate sailing for a while and when it died it was a huge let down. I thought about stand up paddle surfing being the sanity saver for windsurfers on calm days. I put 2 and 2 together, though I'm no rocket surgeon, and decided if the wind power wasn't there I could just paddle the skate board. 1 broom handle + 1 tennis ball later I had my first land paddle cruiser. When I used to get on a skate board without a paddle I would vapor lock. Put a stick in my hands and I got the warm fuzzies. Feels a heck of a lot like SUPing folks.




After I had so much fun with this I started poking around on the web and found out lots of SUPers have already decided this was cool.

I know what you are thinking and YES it is as sweet as it looks. Pictured below are my current pavement machines with a land paddle idea I got here. I made this board with my dad last winter to use for street sailing and it works well carving little hills. Mountain board trucks can carve like a champ.