Lake Isabella Windsurfing Trip, Oct. 8 - 10, 2004

After participating in countless (ok, five) club windsurfing trips to Lake Isabella over the years – all organized by the grand master, Branislav Kecman – I promised to take the initiative to organize such a trip myself this year. I postponed the trip until very late in the season, finally settling on the second week of October.

The response to the mailing was very strong. In the end, 19 people participated in the trip: Pawel, Robert and Dima; Jason and Smarada;  Dave and his girlfriend;  Jonathan and his brother; James and his girlfriend; Ming-Shr, Dang and Yu-Jiu; Erika, Rachel and her boyfriend; Gaylord; and myself. Everyone except for Erika, Gaylord and myself were either in the "first time" category or else the "tried it once or twice but really have no idea how it's done" category.

As expected, the weather was reasonably warm  Contrary to what was expected, the wind was surprisingly strong on both days, especially Sunday afternoon. The wind is the reason why we drive all the up to Lake Isabella (it's a 3 hour drive, located in the Kern River area in the south-western Sierras).  However, there is such a thing as too much wind, at least for people less experienced than Branislav. Several people had to be rescued after being blown to the center of the lake.

I wish that I had taken more pictures – at least one of every person. We should have a designated photographer next time.

My little SUV loaded with gear, upon arrival at Lake Isabella.		Dave, definitely in the "tried this once or twice and kinda know what I'm doing" category.
It looks like Rachel is stepping onto the board. I'm guessing that she's actually stepping off of it. I'm not sure who is in the water behind her.		This is not one of the club members, just one of the Lake Isabella regulars. These guys are pretty amazing to watch.
Rachel, Dima, Gaylord, Erika, Robert and Pawel having a round-table political debate. (Such a debate is nearly always on the agenda when Gaylord is around, I'm guessing....)		"Pause the discussion and smile for the camera!"
Dave brought firewood, and lots of it! His fire burned for something like 5 hours.		Dima was still trying to get the hang of things as darkness fell. The wind continued unabbatted all evening and all night.
Pawel and someone (Ming-shr?) trying with renewed determination Sunday morning.		I took my favorite board, the Mistral, and cruised out.
... a little further out.		And still further out.
Dima, Pawel and Gaylord Sunday afternoon.		The wind, still trying to squash my tent.
Me, posing for a picture before we broke camp.		Pawel, also posing.
Dima, Pawel and Robert, with all the equipment loaded onto the SUVs.		Me, Pawel and Robert.

A video of Gaylord cruising into shore.		One of the locals flying past us when the wind was at the peak of its strength. I'm guessing that this guy was going 30-40 miles per hour! It was incredible.
A rather long video of me cruising into shore.