mortontoemike: "Vic was a great friend, mentor, and inspiration. He was a testimony to the fact that windsurfing is a life-long passion not just a young mans game. Seeing him convinced me that I could learn the sport late in life and have many years of joy being free on the water. Thanks for that Vic..."
Russian Dood: "Good bye Vic. You were a great inspiration for all of us. I will always remember those nights by the fire sharing stories, laughter and joy of life. Thank you for being there for us, we all going to miss you..."
Jellyfish: "Vic was a man filled with a passion and love for life that kept his optimism so strong that he was able to beat the odds placed against him by a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer for for the past five years...I was fortunate to spend some time with him yesterday afternoon. I told him it was a good day for sailing. The leaves were dancing on the trees outside his room and the sun was shining in. I wasn't surprised this morning when I heard ....... I knew he was in a hurry to chase the wind. Your spirit will always be there..... Pat Ashton"
More Force 4: "He got me waterstarting with confidence - and there is no bigger gift for a windsurfer! And his fireside was always full of interesting people and had room on the benches for one or two more. He had an amazing knowledge of the plants, mushrooms, and wind and weather at Nitinat.
One of my favourite stories of Vic was learning about the Nat's thermal wind. All one morning we sat on the beach, teased by zephyrs and catspaws. Each sign of whitecaps was greeted by "maybe that's the thermal starting" and Vic would answer "No, not yet". Finally, the lake is glassy calm and Vic pipes up "There's the thermal starting. If you go and get your wetsuit on it will be sailable by the time your ready". I looked at him with disbelief and asked how he knew. He said "listen". I listened, and there was the faint sigh of wind in the treetops. He told me how the thermal always comes in high before it drops to lake level a few minutes later. That sort of detailed local knowledge, and method of teaching so you wouldn't forget, was typical of Vic.
I'll always think of Vic when going by his camp, or having coffee in the early morning mist, or having that first after-session beer in a chair on the beach. Morley Eldridge"
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