The joy of a crappy session

I'm back. After 2 1/2 months off the water to heal my shoulder, I had my first session today. By any reasonable standard, it was just south of marginal - very flukey, gusty winds; temps hovering just above freezing (it started sleeting at the end), another failed glove experiment resulting in painfully frozen fingers, and the the wind started picking up with a vengeance and going completely offshore - so I was way overpowered on my formula gear on the outside, then struggling to make it back in through the big hole near shore. And the whole time, I had a big fat *$&#-eating grin on my face...

There's something about the sensation of windsurfing, skimming across the water, fast and weightless and effortless. It's been a long road; it's taken a lot of discipline to heal, train around the damage, stabilize the shoulder, and not give in too early and re-injure things. My PT told me that I had healed better and faster than I had any right to expect; he then grinned and added that being a little compulsive can come in handy sometimes...

It's good to be back. And if someone has any killer tips on gloves/mittens that actually work w/o cramping up your forearms or making it impossible to get a good grip on the boom, let me know.

Spring's here - sort of...

Got a nice session on the first day of spring - seemed appropriate. Of course, this being the Pacific Northwest, spring is a variable time of year for weather. After already having been spoiled with the occasional 60 degree days (both with warm rain and with sunshine), yesterday looked more like January with dark gray skies and 41 degree air temps. I held out for an hour way overpowered on the 10.8 and big fin before my hands and feet were just too numb. Looks like more of the same today.