11/19/22 - 2.8m Notso sMoOtH sAiLiNg 60 mph 7’6” Quad Thruster Windsurfing Gorge struggle easterlies

It is not very often that I do NOT have to pump my 2.8 Hurricane Super Nuker just a bit to get underway.A 3.0 would have been able to get me to the outside but was too tired to rig another sail after a few reaches. It was so gusty that I really needed a bit larger sail (and board) to pull me through the lulls. A week of strong easterlies in the Gorge. Old school 7’6” Animal Bonzer Quad thruster. Lester Polyester I give you thanks. Technically I should have sunk to the bottom at 60yrs young & 235 lbs and should not be able to sail this small of a glass board. It is my only windsurfing board that reminds me of my son pulling me behind our boat wakeboarding. Just tiny. It is a rush to sail. The rocks just below the surface here can destroy your finbox and more if not knowing where they live. I think a few Sasquatch came down to skip boulders just to piss me off as it seems there are more boulders out here now. Windy day… I have a keen sense of the obvious. Next time I will remember my pfd and rig a tad bigger like I said a 3.0 for extra help on the inside and just hang on once I hit the wind line. Felt like a punch once I hit the line. 37 degree air 48 degree water = good physical therapy. Very grateful that the knee pain levels have dropped off precipitously in the last few weeks. Working at 15 yrs old at a cement plant in upstate N.Y. I got my leg pulled through between 2 steel rollers on a thick rubber conveyor belt palatizing 80lb bags of concrete mix. Crushed my leg all the way up past the knee and now in my 60s father time has caught up to me and my knee injury puts me back on crutches and Physical therapy from time to time. A Hells Angel co worker heard my screams from inside the plant and he hit the emergency power switch to the entire plant. It took 3 guys to pull me out, 2 with cro bars on either side of me and another behind to lift my up and out. An Angel saved my life. I hear a Harley out and about and it’s music to my ears. Glad to be alive and thought I would never be able to sail again. Push through the discomfort and get up on a vigorous plane and don’t complain. More clips of this particular day and other days with even stronger wind have been posted as well. Thanks for watching :) Now get out there and get it.