We had a great 2 day touristy drive down to Cape Hatteras. Jen, Phillip and I stopped in Washington for a day of museums during the 16 hours of driving. A highlight was seeing the original Wrights Flyer at the Smithstonian. We also stopped at the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk.  So it was 4pm by the time we actually arrived at the big rental house in Avon on the Outer Banks. I quickly started rigging gear as the wind had started building. It had been unsettling on the drive down as it was so windy and I felt like we were leaving when to find wind.  But it was s ..read more

April 2! Almost a month earlier than I’ve ever been one the water in Northern Georgian Bay. We were up opening the cottage and collecting the gear to get ready for a drive down to Cape Hatteras. Post session thumbs up! An unusual east wind was blowing. It was 10°C air and sunny but the water was 2°C. I had the 4.7 Duke still rigged that I’d hoped to use for winter ice sailing but that never happened this year. So that was the sail I put on to the Fanatic 140l Stingray which still had the 99 cm foil underneath it.  The strong east wind - very unusual 2°C water t ..read more

Well it isn’t really a wind sport, but it seems like an adventure worthy of a blog post! After getting back from our great trip to Bonaire, the ski hill was still open and was promoting their Retro Pond Skim. I’ve never done a pond skim, but decided to give it a try. I was pretty nervous the night before, debating whether to ski or snowboard across the 100 foot pond. What was certain was that I’d be wearing the crazy unicorn outfit I’d received a few years ago at a work party. In the morning I headed to registration where I was pleased to hear that NO people get hurt doing this. Jen and Katie ..read more

With the wind dropping off to almost nothing for our last full day in Bonaire, it was time to hang out on the leeward side of the island. Flying on the little Lift E-foil We started with a sunrise yoga session with Ladina at Ocean Oasis.  Morning yoga Nice beach at Ocean Oasis Cheesy Dutch post yoga breakfast Nearby CrossFit at the abandoned hotel site Then a quick breakfast there and back to our room. Jen and I went snorkeling for a bit - there were definitely a variety of fish but the corals are suffering. Finding Nemo? I ..read more

After a lazy morning and cooking breakfast in our hotel room I headed to Frans Paradise again. There was only one other wing foiler out. 79 year old Steve W was on his 6.5 DLab Duotone Unit. He’s helping me set a new goal for what I want to be doing 20 years from now! My new hero - 79 year old Steve the wingfoiler My gear this morning My 6.2m GA wing The beach scene at Frans Paradise I got a GA 6.2 wing (their largest) from Frans Paradise and picked a 117 L Tabou board with 1750 foil. I slogged a bit but managed to get up on the foil. I blew a few jibe ..read more

Over 30 years ago Charles Dasher helped me get better at jibing. He gave Jen and me instruction in Aruba out of Sailboard Vacations back when that was THE hotspot to have a windsurfing vacation. He took one look at my windsurfing jibe and said “what are you doing with your hands - it’s boom boom boom boom.” And it worked - my jibes instantly got better - like in this video from back then. So I was very excited to reconnect with Dasher in Bonaire where he is now teaching the 4 year new sport of wing foiling. I wanted some foiling tips but also wanted to learn how he is teaching wing foiling so ..read more

I decided I should make the most of the last fully windy day predicted here in Bonaire. It was nice and steady, but lighter than the last few days in the morning. I was happy to be at the Frans Paradise again where they have the deep water plus wing and wind foiling options. I went out wing foiling first. They didn’t have any Duotone gear available so I was using a 5.4 Vayu wing. And another 97 L Tabou pocket air foilboard with a GA 1450 foil and footstraps this time. I found it pretty easy to get going but it did take a while to figure out my taxiing. Ready to wing foil T ..read more

Last time we were in Bonaire in 2019 wingfoiling hadn’t really been invented. Sure wind foiling was just starting and we talked about it at our ABK clinic and watched Balz Mueller for the first time doing windfoil freestyle. I didn’t ever imagine that I’d be foiling in the shallow waters of Lac Bay! But they are doing it here now and when the tide is high it is actually a good place to learn or get better. Caesar at Jibe City hooked me up with a Duotone 5m Slick wing and Fanatic Sky 105 board with the 1750 foil and 45 cm mast. I’d never used a mast that short for foiling, although I did u ..read more

It has been a while since we’ve been in Bonaire. After Aruba built the big hotels 20 years ago we started going to Bonaire. In 2007 or 08 we took my mom. Then Vanessa stayed for several years. A good 2nd day but I forgot gloves and have blisters now In 2010 we stayed for a full month with the kids doing scuba and remote schooling. Then in 2012 we did a family ABK clinic and came back with the kids one more time in 2013. Jen and I had a stay at Sorobon in 2018 and Resort Bonaire in 2019. That was 5 years ago! So it feels great to be back. Casual breakfast Familiar roads ..read more

After 74 days of skiing this winter and six cold days of foiling in March, we decided that a trip to Bonaire would be perfect to start working on windsurfing, coaching and foiling skills for 2024. Yeah Jibe City and a Skate 108! It was a nice direct flight and vacation package with WestJet from Toronto to Kralendijk. Jen and I arrived at 3 in the afternoon got through customs super quickly. Picked up our rental truck (in a new building) promptly too. We went to the Van den Tweel supermarket getting sunscreen and then straight to Jibe City for a 5 till 6 o’clock windsurf session.&nb ..read more