More windsurfing blunders

Today we decided to try our hand at windsurfing again. We took the second beginner level lesson, which taught us how to turn around 180 degrees and how to sail upwind. This instructor seemed to be a lot better than our first instructor, and I really started to understand the mechanics behind using the sail rather than just trying to stay upright on my board. :) First he taught us the Jibe turn, for which Jibe City, the windsurfing place we have used here in Bonaire, is named. To Jibe is to turn downwind, and just entails turn the board around and shifting the foot position. The other turn, which I forgot the name of, consists of turn the board upwind and requires the rider to walk all the way around the sail to the other side of the board, which was a bit harder to keep your balance. To sail upwind we learned how to balance speed with turning to make a kind of zig zag to go upwind. Eventually, you could get the right balance of speed and turn to not have to zig zag and maintain a constant speed. It was a really useful lesson, and I found myself able to now steer away from possible collisions instead of screaming "I can't steer!" at anyone who came near me. :)

When we headed back to land for lunch, Gavin and I met at the beach and as he walked out of the water, I noticed he must be feeling a little extra breeze windsurfing... He had completely ripped the crotch out of his shorts - a good eight inches! And he hadn't even noticed!! He had no other shorts with him, so he had to buy some shorts for $75 at Jibe City - they didn't sell anything cheaper!! After that, we had lunch at Jibe City's bar, then we went out windsurfing again for a couple hours. I was feeling pretty proficient with the turns, but after the first hour I started to get really tired; the wind was stronger and I was also trying to use a bigger sail. I started making more mistakes, and I finally crashed on my back in water only a couple feet deep, and it happened to be one of those few places in Lac Bay that jagged rocks instead of soft, white sand... I scraped and bruised up my hands and back a bit, so adding the the pile of "battle scars" I had gained on my first day windsurfing... Gavin survived the day with no more wounds other than a pretty bad sunburn on his back. :)

After our day of windsurfing, we headed back to the apartment to relax until dinner. We made some more tasty piña coladas and took them down to the small pool that is part of the apartment complex - we were the only ones swimming, so nobody to tell us that drinking by the pool is not allowed... :)

For dinner we went back to Jibe City's bar/restaurant. On Thursdays nights they do a special candlelight dinner where they put a tiny charcoal grill on your table and several kinds of meat for you to grill on it. We got steaks, pork chops, hamburgers, chicken breasts and fish, all nicely spiced. As if that wasn't enough, they also gave us salad, baked potatoes, bread and dessert, and also offered us more meat if we wanted it! This was by far the best meal we had in Bonaire - lovely spiced meat, and we did a great job grilling it, too! And yes, we finished all the food; Gavin and I are not amateurs at gluttony. :) We ended our night sipping wine in the outdoor bar, listening to the wind and the ocean waves...

Jibe City at night.

 

A meat-tastic candlelight dinner.

Grilling on the table.

 

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