There’s no doubt that I will be paddling my favorite rivers and lakes throughout this cool 8th decade of my life, but when the wind picks up and whitecaps form, the Kialoa Paddle goes in the car and out comes my Starboard compact 4.5 sail. What a 1-2 punch combo of a water-fun day when the glassy goodness of morning transitions to the windy wild of afternoon.
Most of the summer I looped nearby Suttle Lake where a circumnavigation was just under 4 miles. Super-nuking afternoon winds are more common there than on my usual go-to: Elk Lake.
It has been about 10 months since I added air to my Starboard Zen inflatable 12’6″ Touring board that easily adapts for windsurfing with its removable mast track system.
I am 71 (as of Fall 2020) and I can easily manage hauling this beauty to and from my car. And it takes under 5 minutes to switch from be a SUP-er to a Windsurfer!
The coolest sail I had all summer was during a trip to the Southern Oregon coast, just south of Bandon to Floras Lake. I had scheduled a lesson with Floras Lake Kite and Windsurf – more for the security of someone watching over me in the 25-30+ winds than anything else. Since my sail is 4.5 I decided to use one of their lesson boards with a smaller sail, and a shorter, more agile board. The day was cold and intimidating. Like wild things, kiters were criss-crossing the lake with exhilarated grins. I stepped onto the unfamiliar board and felt its tippy shape test my balance as I hauled up the sail.
Then – BAM! I was off. Incredible feeling and challenging conditions. I never did get my harness connected, I just tacked that lake and zoomed around for about 45 minutes. By then my jelly legs were rebelling and I had my first swim. Whew! That fun could have gone on forever -but after a few more lake crossings I had to sail back into shore and call it a day – a GREAT day.
When you have a professional like me in your corner holding you accountable to show up and perform, I will drive you, push you and keep you highly motivated. I’m looking out for you and watching your every move. I can cue you technically just as if you were standing right in front of me. I can even give you a cyber high five for a job well done!
You know that time when it was your birthday and the best gift EVER was suddenly yours?
So on my 6th day out with my 
A few weeks before, Ed and I had flown to Hopetown (Abaco Bahamas) revisiting the site of our honeymoon 49 years ago. The Hopetown marina was a challenging place to return to Windsurfing after about 35 years’ hiatus. Dodging moored boats, lots of ferries and floating moorings was a lot like a Frogger game. I was not stellar in skills but WAS 100% STOKED with the way the Compact 4.5 sail setup worked on the board. Flying with both the board and sailing rig was easy-peasey.
Sailing has been a big part of my life since the late 1960’s when my (then high school sweetie) Ed taught me how. We sailed all over the Atlantic off Hollywood Beach, FL until our honeymoon in 1970. Then we chartered a sweet sloop and explored the Abaco, Bahamas out islands.
Once I am back from the Bahamas and home in Bend, I know I will have plenty of days spent up at Elk Lake. Before Hood River and the Columbia Gorge brought sailboarding to new levels of speed, planing and and now – foiling, Elk Lake was the scene of its share of riding the wind. I am hoping to inspire more people to join me this summer!
It’s one thing to sit on the beach and watch the sun kiss the ocean with gold. It is quite another to be skimming over the Pacific on a beautiful catamaran – like the 
A beautiful and easy solution to the problem of plastic straws! Jamie has this to say about her copper straws. “After seeing video after video and email after email from Svein Rasmussen (Founder of Starboard) and my colleagues about the condition of the ocean, it was easy to change my habits. I’ve always been pretty good but there was room for improvement. Being the type of person that I am, I feel like I need to do what I can to spread the message of reducing our habit of single use plastic. I have no problem now suggesting a restaurant carry paper or no straws – or giving a bartender a hard time for giving me a straw after I have requested not to have one. Straws are simply a habit – and straws are one of the most prevalent beach plastic polluter.
We loved planning our day on the sheltered patio just outside of the pool area at the Columbia River Inn. Over coffee in the morning or a local wine in the evening (beer for me) we never tired of the view.
Some people that have inspired me would be my friend Nappy Napolean, who still paddles well into his seventies. He just loves to paddle! And he is such a great ambassador for the sport. I think the fountain of youth is to keep moving, and he is a classic example of what you can do.
I came in 8th out of 24 in the Molo solo and won two M2M races on the one man this summer. I also participate in the Hawaiian Sailing Canoe Racing series with Team Hui Nalu. We sail the entire main Hawaiian Island chain over the course of the summer. I have been canoe sailing for 18 years and it is just amazing. I raced the Napali one man race and the Napali Challenge 6 man race recently.
SO! I had been escorting people for the M2O for a few years, Armie Armstrong from NZ, Annabel Anderson, and a Brazilian Prone paddler last year. I have crossed the Kaiwi channel more than 50 times between OC1, 6man and sailing canoe, but never on a SUP. Kristin Thomas and Jen Fuller from California were my Facebook friends and I knew they were good paddlers, so I threw it out to them to do a team together.
