SO CLOSE YET SO FAR
Wednesday: I awoke at 6:30 a.m. to a 25-30 knot SE Trade wind. I have to admit I was getting super excited. I’d organized the day before to get a spot on the 10 a.m. boat out to Namotu or Cloudbreak, depending on where everyone wanted to go. I knew I’d be on a boat with surfers who’d probably get to choose the spot. The chances of there being anyone else there windsurfing were so slim that I’d given up hope on that. I had reconciled myself to sharing a boat with surfers, meaning I’d have to rig after they got off the boat and be back at the boat and de-rigged before they returned. Even so, I was likely to be treated to some pretty fun waves.
Imagine the disappointment upon arriving at the dock for the launch when I realized that the surfers had bailed out of the boat trip due to the wind – the very thing I needed. The boat trip was going to be just me and I couldn’t justify the cost. That coupled with the very real fears of sailing a break I’d never seen other than on YouTube and the chances of breaking equipment on the reef and suddenly I’d talked myself out of the trip-of-a-lifetime. Dejected, I wandered back to my cabin and my family. I even went for a flat-water blast in lovely warm water of the lagoon, but ultimately I knew I’d let everyone down. Not really! I love flat-water sailing too! I was powered up and hammering – it was awesome, but I had to stop after about half an hour because the tide dropped and my fins started hitting the sand!