Wingsday '05 Wingnut

Monday morning came off with little fanfare. We celebrated Father's Day, yesterday, on the quiet side with family dinner and a gift. Diana and I had bought Dad a Samsung Portable DVD Player--as if he doesn't already have too many tech toys, but he really liked this one.

At just an hour past noon, I went down to the lake for some windsurfing before Kendo pratice. Sadly, much like the calm weekend, the wind blew over a little more than ripples across the lake. Not enough to windsurf on.

Michelle was on the lakefront by herself assembling the club's new windsurfing boards. Larger, though perhaps lighter than the Melodies, the German made Mambo and Motion boards looked sharp. I told her that I'd lend a hand after I decide whether or not I wanted to go out on the water.

In the tunnel, I signed up for a Sloop lesson since one was heading out and I needed a rating on the boat. I had never taken a lesson with Jessica but soon found her a fun instructor. Out on the lake, we practiced man-overboard drills and I volunteered to be the man overboard. That means I jump in the water, the skipper and crew get to pull me into the boat. Ha!, treading water on a hot day--not what I had planned but it'll do.

Nearing the end of the lesson the wind started picking up. There was some excitement at the windsurfing pier as a group was rigging up and getting ready to go out. As soon as the Sloop landed, I got anxious to join the windsurfers on their quest to catch the wind. I saw Rui fly out there on a board and he reminded me about tonight's Wingsday. Of course!

I rigged up my board as fast as I could. I chose a 6.5 sail confident I could control its power. From the moment I uphauled and pointed the board where I wanted to go, the Melody board slashed through the water and had me flying. Out past the mooring field, I joined the other guys, catching wind and getting the board to plane. As quickly as it had come, the wind began to die--really, there was no more. A lot of us tried to surf back but it was pretty dire. Joining others I unrigged, strapped the sail to my back and swam towards shore.

By the time I reached the windsurfing deck my arms were exhausted. I was one of the first to get back so I helped the others get their sails up. Some of the people caught out in the middle of the lake had to be brought back in by motor boat. With sunset about an hour away, I helped put together the new boards and cleaned up all the trash in the area.

With no place to shower I headed directly to Lucky's Bar. Steph was the first to arrive on the scene. And what appears now to be a new tradition, first set by her father, we put in for a pre-wing order. Soon some of the Scuba guys started to show up including Mick and Rui and then Chen and Kristen. It wouldn't have been a Wingsday if James didn't show up, but of course he did along with Metzger and Kevin. Matt and Adriana dropped by to round us out and orders upon orders of buffalo hot wings came and then went. The Scuba guys seemed to be having fun, despite thinking it was a digusting practice at first. At the end of the night, we consumed a total of 112 wings. The new addition brings us to a grand total of 3,800 with 4,000 in sight. A new chapter is being written. Ahh, yes, a taste of victory.

Wingsday '05 Wingnut
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