Sailing a new spot on the other side of my adopted home in Gran Canaria reminded me of my love affair with windsurfing on islands. Over the last 15 years I think I have spent more time on islands than off them: Canaries, Maui, Tiree, and Great Britain! Mostly I like them because of the possibility of conditions. Canaries and Maui speak for themselves, but what’s great about somewhere like Tiree is that no matter what direction of wind, you can always find somewhere that suits you, whether it’s cross offshore riding, or a perfect flat water bay. Off the water I think I would go a little bit crazy living all year on one of the smaller, lesser inhabited islands. Firstly it seems that the smaller the population of an island, the lazier it seems to be! I love Fuerteventura for a few weeks holiday, but the year I lived there, it drove me mad! One month to repair a brand new phone for example, or 2 weeks to fix something simple on your car! Plus everyone knows everything about everyone! Thankfully I have ended up in somewhere I would call the perfect balance. Gran Canaria is big enough in population to mean things run efficiently, and big enough to not know everyone’s business. However at the same time, it is small enough geographically to be able to drive from north to south in less than an hour. No matter what the wind, or swell direction, you can normally find something to do in the water, which is what I love. It also seems that when you have so many options of windsurfing, surfing, mountains and beaches, you really don’t need much to live on, which means life is both cheap and happy…. until there is a tsunami, and then we are screwed!!!