Changeitude

This blog post is made up of scraps, each, in itself, much too boring to merit an entire blog post. My hope, however, is that by tying the disparate pieces together under the common theme of "changeitude", I can create an integrated whole that is less uninteresting than the second most uninteresting thing you might read on the Internet during the course of a day, thereby meriting your attention.

I'll start with the obvious: WE WON! Happy happy joy joy! How awesome that FLORIDA and VIRGINA went blue, too. Makes me happy to have lived and voted and sneezed my liberal germs all over both those places. The future of this country might actually be pretty good. Although progressives still have a lot of work to do, including undoing the stupid anti-gay laws that passed in several states.


Next up is an exciting (to me) change in my habitations that I have hinted at in previous posts: the giant board rack that my dad built for my apartment. Johnny Douglass prides himself as a connoisseur of racks - with this wonderful creation he successfully defends his reputation. Thanks, dad.


The final change to report is also windsurfing-related. I bought a new board! I have to live the rest of the month on peanut butter and crackers to pay for it, but I rode the thing Tuesday after work and have to say - it was worth it! The board is an Exocet Cross II 106 2008 (the blue one in the picture), and it replaces the Fanatic Skate 63 2001 (the white one in the picture) that was my favorite moderate-wind shortboard up until Tuesday. The main difference between the Cross and the Skate is that the Cross is shorter (242 vs. 263 cm) and has slightly less volume (106 vs. 114 liters). It still planes early, though, because it remains wide, especially in the tail section where it counts most.


The fin for the Cross (right) is really different from the one I've been using on the Skate (left). Its longer and skinner, with a higher "aspect ratio" as they say. Normally that makes a fin faster and more efficient, but more susceptible to spinning out. Also because it's not raked, it won't shed weeds. And because it doesn't have as much surface area it won't balance out as large a sail. Anyway, I'm going to try the old fin on the new board next time I go out to see how that works.


PS- The Skate (still an awesome board) is for sale, and I need to sell it quick to afford the peanut butter and crackers. I put an ad here on the Treasure Coast Windsurfing Forum.