WIND- or at least some dutch wind

After 2 weeks of being in Holland without much wind- I was beginning to wonder if I was cursed. Maybe just blessed form living in SF for the past 6 years but with no racing this w-end I finally found the "inner joy" of windsurfing again.
The wind was up- from 14-18k in Almere so I took out my 11.0 for a little bit of punishment-no not the self torture of trying to finesse a 11.0 in 8k but the grunt of holding down a 11.0 in gust up to 18k. This was the sailing I was used to. Ok the swell wasn't exactly there but I was enjoying the sunshine, the wind and the fun of exploring a new sailing venue!
With no other formula sailors around I had the lake- or 'gooimeer' to myself- well at least to share with the hordes of other dutch classic wooden sailboats making their way up channel on the lake.
Its hard to explain whats what as the dutch have actually surrounded their country with a dyke and are constantly filling in to create new land for the population to grow in. Almere is such a place of reclaimed land- so is the other side of the lake. If you look on the map- it does eventually connect to the North Seas- in a round about way. Click here for more info on the dutch wonders of the zuiderzee
Sailing a formula board is a great way to really explore an area. I was out earlier this week slalom sailing in marginal conditions when I found the bottom- real quick. Apparently the far side is a lot shallower than I thought. Better to have found that out on a production slalom fin vs a custom carbon fin.
Sailing alone can get a little dry after a hour or so so I had to keep my concentration up- working on tacks and gybes through the chop of passing boats. Practice makes perfect ...err perfect practice makes perfect. Anyways I was enjoying it all today and finally found my groove again. Cant wait to get back on the course again in some breeze.
I did remember some sailing drills from way back in the junior sailing days when the coach would blow his whistle every 15 seconds where you would need to tack or gybe.
Keep this up for a few minutes, break and then repeat for a good workout.