On Saturday, I woke up at 2 p.m. after seeing a sms. Not much wind left by the time I got down to PA, but the currents were super strong. So, it wasn't surprising that I had a tough time making my way back to the shore on my shortboard.
Today was the best out the 3 days when I was at East Coast Park. We reached PA at 10 plus a.m. and started sailing at 11 plus. We were going to sail from PA all the way to Lagoon Food Centre that's near Bedok Jetty; it was my first time sailing such a long distance so naturally, I was a little apprehensive. Started off with relatively light wind blowing, and we were heading upwind. All was fine until we drew closer to Bedok Jetty; the wind picked up and it was so gusty my knees were shaking (strong winds scare me most of the time), and it was much harder to uphaul my sail when it dropped into the water. The wind speed peaked at around 15 knots. We landed two bays away from the food-centre but Chubby brought us over on the powerboat. Lunched and we had a short theory assessment after. The journey back was relaxing because we only had to sail downwind the whole time; took it slow and really enjoyed the surf. Arrived at PA again sometime close to 1 or 2 p.m. and it was time for windsurf training to start proper! Did a bit of guiding today; to the juniors who came down for training.
The guiding went on for awhile until Gerald took over so I could practise my beach-starts. I'm not as quick a learner as most other windsurfers, but I think I'm finally getting it, more than I used to! Lili showed me my problem when I do my beach-starts, I always end up kneeling on the board and Mingle and Chubby gave me tips on how to open up the sail, etc etc.
Did a few gybes within the bay and I thought that I was doing okay, until someone came up to me and volunteered to demonstrate how to perform effective and correct gybes. He flipped the sail from side to side so effortlessly like it was a piece of paper la. Gave me tips on how to shift my feet around the board when I want to do a gybe, things that I've never really gave much thought about before. I learnt so many things about gybing today! Anyway, I later learnt that he was an ex-national windsurfer during supper.
The juniors are making good progress; they're much faster learners than I was when I just picked up the sport. Kay Yong is able to move about quite comfortably now and even though Uyanga seems to be falling a lot, she's got the main ideas in her head; all she needs is to work a little more on the balancing.
I am really happy today. I think that's all because I've come to better understand the Kona board. Whee.
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