Windsurfing is always a little more exciting when you lose site of land. One way I've found to get the thrill while reducing the chances of being lost at sea is to go fog sailing on small bays where I know the landmarks. Head off into the grey...shred awhile, jibe, and then head back, and when land is back in site, I'm hopefully looking at the launch site.
Mecox and Napeague are excellent bays for this...little or no boat traffic, and the longest reach possible is only a mile or two, so if you really screw up it's still quite manageable.
(Here is a photo of Jeff outward bound from the Yacht Club, with no land visible behind him.)
It got a little more interesting today, with a few duck hunters blasting away from blinds at Mecox. Sailing with Jeff into the fog, hearing the occasional series of shots not too far away, I kept waiting for the sound of pellets bouncing off (hopefull) or piercing my 6.2. Got ninety minutes in before the wind died. Didn't get shot.
(This is not the first time the editor has nearly windsurfed his way into the wrong end of a shotgun. The first such encounter/near debacle was chronicled in the Peconic Puffin newspaper in 1998 and is reprinted here.)
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