VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

I'm still STOKED! ;)

Driving to the Nat and seeing dust blowing off the road just past the height of land between Cowichan and Nitinat valley (if it does this, its cranking at the lake!), then seeing solid big caps on the lake

Hearing anyone yahoo while sailing (though its most often Kus as the waves start to build)

Spontaneous whoops and high fives in the parking lot after a gnarly session. It is so satisfying to not only survive, but to have fun in conditions I once assumed I'd never be good enough/fit enough to sail in

Unwrapping the bubble wrap from a new board and fitting the vent plug and fin for the first time

Watching, hearing about, or even reading in a log, a newbie reaching some milestone for the first time.

spotting, then picking up for the first time in 10,000 years, a beautifuly made spearhead, or washing the mud away to reveal a 3,000 year old maple basket or cedar rope

hearing the whispering hiss of light, fitful wind in the high subalpine trees and getting a second wind to keep climbing even higher

Stoked!

Waking up and looking out the window at my trusty wind tree and seeing it waving happily at me
Being LIT on a small kite
Making it to the outside on the Oregon coast after several aborts and seeing what double head hi looks like up close
Fog bank at Nitinat
That moment if zero gravity at the apex of a big kiteloop You called that one windoc!
The moment after the apex of a big kiteloop getting yanked in the opposite direction causing a supermanesque posture
KITELOOPS
Pulling up to goose spit with the boys at high tide and caps in the bay
That first sip of amnesiac(or any nice IPA) after a big day on the water
The look on a students face after their first powerstroke/waterstart/ride/teabag
Sailing with the fantastic people of Vancouver island
Mexico is great but I cant wait to see you all again in April!

Great topic. Some moments of Stoke for me:
• Lying in bed at 1 am and hearing the first few big gusts in the tops of the Douglas firs outside, signalling the imminent great Pipers NW.
• Red and 'Salmon' on the model…on my day off!
• Whitecaps!
• Arriving at CB to a bunch of other stoked wind nuts.
• Completing that move or getting noticeably better: fully rotating that back loop attempt, gybing smoothly onto that big one on the outside…
• Capturing someone's great move with my camera --and their excitement later when I tell them.

I'd like to distinguish here the feeling of stoke from the feeling of flow, sometimes called "being in the zone" or "having the tao". It is a great feeling too, but for me it is different (though it often leads to stoke or excitement). That feeling where your equipment is balanced to you and the conditions, and your timing is perfect that results in a sense of harmony with nature, the earth, the universe. Time slows. Worries are non-existent. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's great! It is one of the main reasons I windsurf.

Nice pic, Moo, wife ok with the new "babe" in your life?

MartyD wrote:That first sip of amnesiac IPA

Got one waiting in the fridge....and to think it's brewed right here in Victoria! It's worth the tag

~~~~~4j~~ wrote:distinguish here the feeling of stoke from the feeling of flow, sometimes called "being in the zone" ...your equipment is balanced to you and the conditions, and your timing is perfect that results in a sense of harmony with nature, the earth, the universe. Time slows. Worries are non-existent. It doesn't happen often..

Indeed. I feel for people who maybe haven't gotten there but hope u will stick with it til you do

The more I read this stuff the more STOKED I get, I find myself nodding, smiling, saying "Yesssss!", probably the best thread yet, Wdoc, to get us thru the doldrums upon us.

Gonna plant some evergreens today to help mother nature out and also to filter my neighbor's weed smoke from my kids Interestingly enough nobody has mentioned this, good thing I figure if u can think of more powerful things

<a href="/http://video.mpora.com/watch/QMfO6KQJZ/" target="_blank">stoke or flow? I've had lots of both on my RRD board</a>

Happy that in one week, we get to jump an hour ahead on the clock...thermals must be just around the spring corner.

edited out, some other time

I had fun tonight.

Nearly ever session.

First Forward Loop landed (about my third or 4th attempt)
First ankle dry forward!

Good work wind d .
Been meaning to pull the trigger on forwards, can do them in my head.
Soooo if anyone sees me at a beach near them, with swells, and I am not attempting please kick my sorry ass.

Why did you edit that Kus? The original was inspirational (i.e., stoke-producing)!!

Impressive WDude! I've never even attempted a forward. Just not comfortable enough even being in the air. Maybe it should be a goal before my 65 birthday..........

Watching my son (14 yrs) testing out the use of a harness while planing with a 3.2 and in the foot-straps.

Getting back to the beach after a self-induced equipment failure out on the water, on a 3.5 day at Doug's B, and then going back out for more sailing.

Watching sailors rip it up at Cape S. and realizing how much more there is to learn, and do, in this sport.

Realizing that good equipment purchases allow me to get off the beach on the not so great wind days and yet because I don't get out all that often, its still good fun. Ya, I know, for sure the RBG days don't even come close to Howlin' Gorge Days.

When Kiters & Windsurfers get along

googling best windsurfing pictures and finding this...