Sport Today

Does anyone know of windsurfing instructors in south King county,
Washington?  I have seen windsurfers in the waters of Puget Sound in
the Des Moines/Federal Way/Kent area, and also suppose that the south
end of Lk. Washington might be a good place.  I'm thinking of buying a
wet suit and maybe renting everything else, at least until I find out
whether or not this is just a phase I'm going through.

TIA,

Larry

Larry,  I can't comment on the availability of instructions or rentals as I
am in Tennessee
but I can say this,  If you find a decent instructor who has relatively new
equipment,  after 1 hr of lessons, this will definitely not be a phase.
Most windsurfers are really e***d to get another person into their sport,
if you stop and ask any of those guys you see  I'm sure they would be happy
to point you to the right local shops.

meanwhile,  to feed the growing ***ion

http://SportToday.org/

Dave

Larry,
there's a windsurfer's yahoo group - go to http://SportToday.org/,
search for NW-Windtalk, and join. The message board is very active, and
there are several people on it who, afaik, do instruction in that area.
I'm up in Bellingham, and there's a very sound instructional program
that's run through Western Washington University, but that may be too
much of a drive for you.

And yes, once you get some good instruction on good beginner gear,
you'll probably get ***ed pretty fast. Happened to all of us - just
fair warning ;)

Andreas

Hi Larry :

The closest and likely best windsurf school for you to check our would
be the Mt Baker Rowing and Sailing Center on SW Lake Washinton (located
just north of Seward Park on the Seattle side of the lake).
Wright Wataoka is the director for the Windsurf program and is a
veteran instructor with around 10 yrs experience teaching both in the
Gorge and in King County.
They use modern rigs (Sailworks Ripper Rigs and HiFly Widestyle
Boards), so your learning curve is guaranteed to be quick.
Here is there local contact info :
Mt. Baker Rowing & Sailing Center
Wright Wataoka
3800 Lake Washington Blvd., S.
Seattle, WA  98118
206-386-1913

Windsurf dealers that would be of service to you :
Urban Surf - Seattle (mod to min windsurf supplies available-Ask for
Robin-owner) (206)545-9463(?)
Big Winds - Hood River, OR (pretty much everything available that a
beginner-expert would want or need)
(541)386-6086

Other web resources:
http://home.mindspring.com/~nwba/resources.html
http://www.geocities.com/bwcinfo/
http://outsideconnection.com/
http://home.mindspring.com/~nwba/
http://windsurf.gorge.net/cgwa/

**As Andreas mentioned, NW Windtalk is an excellent resource for
getting to know your local sailors and learning more about local
sailing locations and weather conditions.  Also check in with the local
club, the NW Boardsailing Assoc. for fun local events and trips.

Hope that this helps you out.
Pepi
Sailworks R+D

Hi Larry,
Not sure if it's an employees only group or not, but you might want to get
in touch with the Boeing Windsurfing Club.
They are right in your area I think.
If not check with the folks at Sand Point (??) Sailing. They are up at the
north end of a big park on Lake Washington I think.
Hope this helps,

good wide startboards to learn on. Unfortunately you can't rent good
gear in Seattle, Urban Surf doesn't rent gear any more.