What I learned from (learning) Windsurfing.

This past 10 days I was on the Kenya Coast, tacking on vacation after a week of meetings in Nairobi. Our organization got me good rates at a nice resort, so it was a great break. [I refrain from using the term “well-earned vacation” – therein lies another blog post. Why can’t we in our work-oriented Western culture just TAKE vacations without having to justify them?]

The sails to the windsurf boards.

 One of the activities they had at the Turtle Bay Beach Club was windsurfing. There were 3 days of lessons and after that you could take the board out whenever you wanted. I am happy to say that I mastered the art of standing and steering and catching the wind well enough to go out on my own about 4 times, successfully surfing out to the Turtle Rock and back 4 different times unassisted.

Learning a totally new skill allowed me to reflect some on how to go about learning, teaching and mentoring. But I also had further thoughts on the “life as sport” metaphor which is a rich source of life lessons.

•  Theory is important before you get your feet wet. My teacher and I spent my time on the beach with the equipment, learning the names of things, and the basic principles of turning, standing, etc. Without that basic theory, I would never have been able to stand up or go very far.

•   Language or at least “shared conventions” is important in learning any new discipline. My instructor was not a native speaker of English and once I was finally up on the board and surfing, he kept yelling “forward”. I thought he wanted me to “go straight forward”, but instead he wanted me to move the boom forward, which would result in me turning into the wind – left of right.

• When learning a new technique, it’s important to know the reason behind it and when to use it as opposed to other techniques. We learned a relatively easy way of turning the first day, On day two we abandoned this for “tacking”, which to me seemed a much harder way to turn and also a very easy way to fall down. I could never understand which one I should choose, until they finally told me that the easy way caused you to drift and so was not really used very much. 

Tidal pools at low tide.

•  It’s okay to fall off. If you’re not willing to, you won’t get very far. (I was tortured by having seen a family of moray eels in one of the tidal pools the night before my lesson.  The big one, named “King George”, was over a meter long and pretty scary looking. At low tide, you could walk out to the tidal pools and I was always leery of falling into one of them when surfing in that area when the waters were higher.)   

King George, The Moray Eel

  

•  It’s good to have someone push you out of your comfort zone and to go alongside of you where you would be afraid to go on your own. – On day, one we stayed within few meters of the beach, and I mastered basic techniques and the turns. Day two, I had a different instructor and within 10 minutes we were heading away from the beach straight out to Turtle Rock half a mile out, through deeper water where I wasn’t sure I could stand – and then beyond that to the sand bar/Island where I could. I was afraid of falling where I would not be able to stand up and get back on. And without my glasses, it was hard to judge how deep the water was, even though it was fairly clear. Needless to say, I was not confident to go out there on my own and probably never would had I not been forced to do by my teacher.

•  Never doubt in the deep water what you learned in the shallow. Turning around in the deep water isn’t technically any harder than in the shallows. But psychologically, there is the fear of the unknown. How deep is the water? Will I be able to get back on if I fall?  I supposed the corollary of this is 

•  “It’s good to practice in the shallow water, so that technique becomes second nature in the deep water.” (Have your contingency plans done before the crisis hits).

• Gentle course corrections are better than lurching back and forth. It took me a while to learn this and a good deal of trust in what the instructor was saying. I would notice that I was veering off to the right and so I would move quickly and forcefully towards the left with strong pulls on the sail, which then required a counter correction. I had to learn to hold the sail more gently and make small corrections gradually. 

•  Relax your hold; relax your shoulders and legs. Grabbing tightly gives the illusion of control but wears you out. 

•  Singing helps when you get tense. (And yes, I dug the words to “Sail On” by the Imperials from the depths of my mind). 

•  You have to have «points de repère » (landmarks) to keep you on track. Otherwise, it is easy to drift off course. Sailors have a compass and the stars, but without these you have to rely on points on the shore, stationary boats, rocks, flags, etc, to keep you from drifting. 

•  There really is no way to go when there is no wind. Or if there is too much. It doesn’t matter how much you try. After my lessons were over, I was frustrated by the cycle of high tide which made it impossible to go out when I had access to the board. On two occasions, the tides were right, but the first time there was simply no wind and I came back in after 5 minutes. Another time, the water was right and the wind was blowing but it was too strong and again I was in after just a few minutes. Which leads to the last point: 

•  Sometimes you just have to be still and wait until the time is right. (Wait upon the Lord!). As I found, there is no point in forcing things if the conditions are not right. You will wear yourself out and not get anywhere.

And if you wait patiently, you will be reward by perfect conditions for awesome surfing.  My last day I had to check out at 10 a.m. and leave at 1:30 pm. I went out sea kayaking around 10 a.m. thinking I could go surfing at 11. But when I came in the water was WAY TOO SHALLOW to do much of anything. I resigned myself to not surfing, and read on the beach and had lunch at 12:00. At 12:30, I went out to the beach and realized that the conditions were perfect and so I surfed from 12:35 -12:55, just enough time for two final trips out to the Turtle rock and back. An awesome way to close off a great 10 days!