Video- Chris Eldridge Does Bonaire

This freestyle video inspires me and makes me feel clumsy at the same time. Thanks for sharing, Chris!

Bonaire 2009 from Chris Eldridge on Vimeo.

Scratching the Itch with a Landboard

Nahant, landboard heaven Beautiful conditions for landboarding at Nahant, low tide, onshore wind, no crowds. As the sun went down, the wet beach glistened and reflected the colored lights from the nearby city, very nice. I boarded until well after sunset, derigged in the parking lot lights. Best Moments- Racing along the waters edge, carving upwind and down, into the edge of the water and back out, like I was carving up and down a wave face. Worst Moments- Washing all that fine Nahant sand off of the equipment later. Nahant Notes- don't park in the gated section late in the day. They'll happily tow any vehicles before they lock the gates. Park on either end, outside of the gates. Nahant, Landboarded, NE 10-20, 4.2 & 6.2/ Landboard, with 1 kiter.

Hooley Downwind Dash

This is being put on by a shop in Newport, sounds like fun! SPRING DOWNWIND DASH 2009 The first annual Hooley Downwind Dash......... Any one interested in a 12.4 mile Downwinder from Point Judith RI to Newport's 2nd beach RI in may 2009, before the summer starts? There will be a waiting period, the first three weekends in may, 15 KNOTS minimum required and you must be an intermediate sailor. This is a FUN event and not a FUNdraizer, but there is a $30 entrance fee payable to Hooley Boardroom for putting on this event/barbecue. A Support boat will be on hand as well for the crossing, so GET INVOLVED..... Beer and barbecue at the boardroom afterward's..... For info on this event please contact christian on Tel 401 849-0084 or via email christian@hooleyusa.com or join "the wrong group" on Facebook updates.http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=70293306427

Gentle Wind at The Cut

The Cut, in a quiet mood Marginal wind session, planing off and on. It was good for exploring- the south point, the north point, up towards Scatteree and back. The wind came up just before I had to leave. Typical.

The Cut, Windsurfed, E 10-22, 5.7/ Acid 94, Solo

A Corporate Spanking

I spent the morning paying my Corporate dues. I got caught inside after 1 run, slightly underpowered on 4.2/85 liters, and refused to believe that I couldn't fight my way out and back up to the launch. I couldn't. I stayed down wind, flogging myself in the shorebreak, for way too long. When I Finally made the long walk back and put up a 5.2/94 liters I started sailing for real and had a good time. By the end I felt a small sliver of self respect starting to come back. Corporation Beach, unknown sailor I'm very glad that my back didn't expire while I was out in the waves getting slapped around. My back lives to sail another day. Windsurfed, Corporation, NW 23-35, NNW 13-27, With Igor, Jerry E, Peter, Mike, Others.

Message in a Bottle

This is the real thing! Found on Saturday, April 4, while windsurfing at Kalmus. Olivier found it and suggested that I put it online so that everyone in the world would see it. Message from the sea Olivier and I both got a kick out of this! It was like a gift from the sea. Ben, (my 12 year old), is going to help me write a note on the back, reseal it, and deliver it back to the wind and waves of Kalmus. To Katie & friends. If you're wondering why the bottle didn't travel further, maybe it came back to Kalmus because it was trying to return to you. It did travel through time- ten months. The lobster seems very happy. I think he likes traveling by bottle. He's wondering where he'll go next.

A Moth to the Light

My back is returning from the land of the dead. I feel like I'm coming back to the light. Like a moth rediscovering the beauty of the front porch light bulb. I'm so happy. I was out of work for a week. I took steroids, muscle relaxant, doc visits, physical therapy, but now I'm feeling about 75% back to where I was before my back went dead, one month ago. I talk to my back. I asked it what it needs to get back to 100%. It said windsurfing. So I did a short session at Kalmus, shallow water, steady wind, no breaking waves, perfect sail size. I think it will fix me right up. I couldn't resist a few hops (don't forget the moth analogy) Kalmus notes- It was great to see the crew at Kalmus! The season has changed in the last month. The cold is no longer a factor. I didn't even wear my hood. The wind at Kalmus was particularly steady, 8 to 12 MPH spread. I'll never doubt Kalmus winds in WSW again. W is a different story. After I stopped it went W and had a 20+ spread. Normal gravity doesn't apply to Chris Kalmus, Windsurfed, WSW 25-35, 30-40, RealWind85/ 4.2, with Gerry, Olivier, Scott, Chris, Sergey, others. Thanks for the pictures Olivier!