Kingston Beginners' Night

I was in Kingston last night for the River Rats beginners' night. I was going to bring my friend Jim, but he got pretty sick. I was ridiculously late because I took the quick road, 1-87, instead of the slow road, 9W. I was forced to make my way through Kingston and went in circles for a good hour or so. Sometimes the slow way is the fastest way. (Thank you, oh wise one.) I got there and had already missed a lot of the festivities.

The winds were lousy to crappy to nonexistent. Some beginners were actually getting towed by their instructors to get a sense of what a board feels like when its' moving. I broke out the Kona and SUP paddle and proceeded to paddle around and make wry comments to everybody. I didn't actually do anything helpful; I just amused myself, and said hello to everyone.

Notice the high winds and heavy chop! I could hardly stand on my board! Actually, the conditions were so calm I didn't even take off my glasses. I took some pictures of first-timer SUPer Sven Anderson. After some prodding he got on his Mistral longboard and scooted around.

An excellent windsurfer named Ben showed me a freestyle move on his Mistral One-Design, which he couldn't quite complete because of the lack of winds. Kudos for trying.

Ben and I later exchanged boards. I got to sail a famous Mistral One-Design for the first time which he tried paddling my Kona. It was a smooth board in the very low winds. Ben told me he used to sail competitively in the 1980s and was nationally ranked. He showed me how to rail the longboard, which was a great technique when your daggerboard is down. You push the leeward rail into the water, bringing the board to a 45º angle. During this time you lean heavily on the boom to apply mast-base pressure. You can even take the foot closest to the mast and put it underneath the board, lifting it up higher. I'm definitely going to practice this. It's a great technique for pointing high upwind.

I came home with a new River Rats tee-shirt and a smile. I really enjoy hanging out with them. I'm also impressed with the different type of teaching. I'm not a great teacher of physical skills, and I'm glad other people were in the water doing it. (Teaching literature is another story.)