You can’t control the tide, but you can learn how to Surf!

 The first time I tried windsurfing I nearly ended up with a severe concussion. It was in Lorient, In Northwest France and I was about 22 years old. I had taken a coach from London to Paris with my friend Malcolm and we were very excited about the prospect of learning to sail. We were staying at a friend’s villa on the coast and we were expecting some good strong winds for the 2 weeks we were there. We had driven up to Lorient from Breuillet, a village south of Paris, where we were staying at our friend Arnaud’s house. It had taken us a good six hours to get there and all along the journey we were talking about windsurfing which was still a relatively new sport that became popular in France in the late 1970’s. Arnaud was quite an experienced windsurfer who had sailed competitively and for pleasure. He had taught others to windsurf and was going to be our instructor on this trip. Little did we know that there was a storm brewing and our single day out on the water turned into the first and last time it was safe to venture out. We arrived in the evening at the villa. Arnaud and his friend Herve, prepared dinner and discussed the plan of action for the next day. They were a little concerned about the weather, but we all wanted it to be windy because, without that, we would not be sailing anywhere. 

The next morning, we got suited up in our wetsuits and Arnaud brought the boards and sails to the beach where we prepared to launch. After some basic instruction, I was out on in the water and struggled to get the sail up while kneeling on the board. The wind was so strong that for a beginner like myself, it was impossible to control the sail and the mast came crashing down on my head, not once, but a total of 3 times. After the 3^rd time, I had enough and gave up, deciding that this windsurfing stuff was not for me. The next day, the wind was even more powerful, and a small craft warning was issued on the radio. Needless to say, we did not venture out that day or for the next two weeks of our stay. We saw boats being wrecked by the high winds and many had capsized in the marina, so our windsurfing adventure turned into a storm watching experience. Although I did not learn to windsurf on this trip, I did get quite good at ‘WhiteWater’ pinball instead which we played daily at the local arcade. 

‘White Water’ The machine that lead to us becoming Pinball Wizards instead of windsurfers

Incidentally, the earliest windsurfers were ‘invented’ by Polynesians who had been riding the wind and waves for centuries, early accounts told of people standing upright on an adapted voyaging canoe with a vertical sail. Much later, in 1948 Newman Darby invented the first ‘sailboard’, but did not have the funds to patent it. The basic design was a rectangular board with a sail attached by a universal joint that allowed the sail to be moved in any direction. The first patented design was actually developed by an aeronautical engineer, Jim Drake who applied the principles of flight to design the sail to function like the wing of an aircraft, pivoting on the universal joint as before. The sail was manoeuvred by adding a wishbone boom, so it could easily be moved in the universal joint while standing. He and his surfer buddy, Hoyle Schweitzer, also changed the design to resemble a surfboard with a fin and added a keel and the windsurfer was born!

Illustration from Patent of windsurfer filed in 1968 Credit: Wikipedia.com

About 10 years later, on English Bay in Vancouver, British Columbia, I was given the opportunity to try again under better conditions, when my friend Charlie suggested I have a go on his windsurfer. I really did not think it was even worth trying as I was much older then and thought that it was too difficult to learn something new that required both technical skills as well as balance. I declined at first, but Charlie insisted that I at least try and balance on the board and see if I could even stand up on that without the sail. He was a better motivator than he was a teacher but sometimes that is precisely what you need to start anything!

I found it easier this time as the water was much calmer, so I managed to get up and stay up for a while. When he saw this, he took me through the basics of how to pull up the sail and hold it, rehearsing on the beach with the mast planted in the sand. Again, I did not have much confidence in myself and half-heartedly went through the motions, though it was more to please my friend than myself.

I managed to get the sail up with the board on the water. It was a beautiful sunny day; the water was calm and there was a gentle breeze. I was standing on the board with the sail correctly positioned and I was just about to lose my balance…when the magic happened! The sail swelled and distended. At the same time, I felt a sensation of being propelled forward with a great force. It was an incredible feeling. The wind had caught in the sail and I was pulled as if by an invisible hand out to sea, not too fast but enough for it to be exhilarating. I heard a friend’s voice shout from behind, “You’re doing It…. you’re actually doing it! It only lasted for about 30 seconds but that was enough to get me hooked. For the next few weeks, I was down at the beach every afternoon, hauling up the sail, practicing the “chicken wing” and falling in the water most of the time. I didn’t manage to actually sail for as long as the first time, but now I couldn’t give up. I was now addicted!

The harnessing of this great force of nature, the wind, to move through the water is a Zen-like moment. There is a strange calmness of mind and body working in unison at a task that is both peaceful as well as exciting, particularly when I reached that instant when all forces were working together. The wind, the waves, the force of my arms pulling in the sail and my balance- everything had to be in the perfect proportion to make the whole system work and propel me forwards. I would imagine the wind as an invisible creature that could be summoned by will and sometimes it seemed like it could. The waves were another kind of animal, sometimes angry and unhelpful to my endeavor, other times calm and serenely guiding me along. I would come down to the beach every day after work practicing, many times just losing my balance and falling in with the sail landing on me unceremoniously.

I was dumped on the beach regularly by the waves 

Sometimes I felt that the wind was playing with me, gusting at just the right moment to send me for a quick burst of speed, only to overpower me a moment later and push me over like a mischievous child. I would continue trying again and again, day after day until the sunset reminded me that it was time to go home.

Summer came and went, and the water became too cold, so I waited till the next summer and took lessons at Jericho beach where there was a sailing school. I perfected my balance and learnt how to tack and jibe. 

Finally getting the hang of it.

By the end of the summer I was confident enough to go out on my own and was now sailing for an hour or more each time. I became good enough to go out in high winds and choppy seas. I was constantly watching the wind radar to see when the wind was strong, and I would particularly go out on those days as I had a need for speed!

English Bay, my home for the summer

 I eventually bought a board and sail from a friend and would sail around English bay on summer afternoons with Charlie. Sometimes we would play “chicken” and sail our boards at each other to see who would be the first one to change course at the last minute.

 

Charlie playing Chicken with his rig

I have never been a great swimmer, but I could always swim far enough with the added buoyancy of a board and lifejacket to get back to shore if there was a problem. It was this lack of respect for the power of nature that was to be my undoing and taught me a lesson I shall never forget.

  I woke up one Saturday morning and looked at the wind forecast for the day. It was about 20-25 knots- a pretty good speed for some high-octane sailing. I made myself some eggs for breakfast to prepare for the day and drove down to the beach. After setting up my rig I looked at the horizon and saw the bent-over sails of some morning sailors and thought I would have some fun that day. As I paddled out on my board, I realized I didn’t have my lifejacket with me, but I had become quite confident in my abilities that I felt I didn’t always need to wear one.

Even if I fell off the board it was not usually too far to get back to the board, so I foolishly carried on. I got up on the board and caught a good strong wind that was constant and not gusting- perfect! In no time at all, I was planing across the water and could feel the wind and spray on my face. The adrenaline was pumping through my body and I did not want to stop. I managed to get to Jericho beach in just 10 minutes and zig-zagged my way out to the mouth of the bay where the water changed colour to a deep blue and the waves and swell where much bigger than I had ever previously experienced. 

I was still unaware of the dangerous situation I was in until a huge gust of wind pushed my sail with such force that I catapulted right over my board and into the water about 15 feet away! The arm that had been holding onto the boom had been yanked so hard, that It felt it had come out of the socket. It hadn’t, but I was in pain and I could not swim as fast as usual. As I got closer to the board, suddenly a wave would take it away further from me. I panicked as the realization dawned on me, I was not wearing a lifejacket and was now out in the open ocean. I prayed that I could get back to my board and put all my effort into swimming as fast as I could before another wave pushed my board further from me. With great difficulty and on a wing and a prayer I somehow managed to grasp my board just as another wave came in. I pulled myself back up on the board while still gasping for breath. I knew that I could not risk being separated again from the board, but I still needed to get back to safety, so I pulled up the sail very slowly.

 Every time I tried to grab the boom the swell of the ocean would unbalance me, and the wind howled around me. It was an impossible task. After about half an hour of struggling with the sail I was out of breath and very tired. I sat on the board, bobbing around in the waves, despondent and somewhat defeated, wondering how on earth I had got myself into this situation. I vowed never to sail without a lifejacket again in high winds or even go out in such conditions this far away from the shore. As I sat there pondering my predicament, I noticed a red dot on the horizon getting bigger and bigger. It was the coastguard who had come out to rescue me! I felt a mixture of embarrassment and relief as they threw me a rope and said they would tow me into the shallows. I talked to the crew as they towed me into shore, and they told me that a small craft warning had been issued and they were telling all the small vessels to come into shore.   

 This incident gave me a healthy respect for mother nature. I have been humbled by the first-hand knowledge that the great forces of water and wind can toss us mere mortal humans around like rag dolls. This just reaffirms the feeling of awe and wonder at the delicate balance of forces that hold our fragile planet together. Now, whenever I decide to go out for a sail, I will usually spend a little time on the beach first looking out at the water and watching the movement of waves and any sails I see on the horizon. I do this partly to gauge the conditions, particularly on windy days, but I also do it to out of a need to maintain that spiritual connection. I know I cannot control these powerful forces, but I can appreciate them and work in unison with them. Since those early days, I have had the good fortune to windsurf in numerous places around the world, including, the Jersey shore in the US, Canada, India, Mexico, Cuba, and Morocco.

Windsurfing in Essaouira, Morocco near one of the ‘Castles Made of Sand’ Jimi Hendrix sang about.

I recommend it to both young and old as a very enjoyable sport, the equipment is much lighter than it was 40 years ago, and it is more about technique than strength. I recently sold my old board and sail to a 70-year-old woman, who was an avid windsurfer in her younger days and recognized my board as the same brand she had previously owned. When I met her, I was reminded of my lack of confidence to try windsurfing in my 30’s. My self-imposed limitations and assumptions came back for a moment. I watched as she balanced herself carefully on the board. Seeing her give the rig a test-run and taking off as easily as if she were riding a bicycle just confirmed you are never too old to do something you enjoy.