Learning to Wave Sail!

I have always been a little scared to actually try to windsurf in the waves.  Big chop, gorge swell, high wind, big sails....none of those have ever presented a problem, but the thought of actualy breaking waves, being held under water and breaking gear - that's the stuff of nightmares!  So now that I am in Florida more often, I decided that now is the time to learn to wave sail (disclaimer: learning to wave sail on the Gulf Coast of Florida is already starting in the kiddy pool - I know this). 

After having spent quite a few hours paddling a stand-up board (and a few of those in small surf) I felt ready to give it a try in the surf with a sail.  The perfect day presented itself last Saturday at North Beach in Ft. DeSoto here in St. Pete, FL.  There was small surf and some wind - but not really enough for the hard core wave guys to be out.  So I rigged a 5.6, grabbed the Fanatic 10'6" S.U.P. and headed out to see if I could sail in waves without being too scared to breathe. 

It was an absolute blast!  I was grinning from ear to ear and laughing out loud!  The board bobbed out thorugh the waves with ease, I was in control and didn't feel like the ball in a pin-ball machine ricocheting from wave to wave.  Coming back in, I could actually think about riding a wave and maybe even turning on the wave!  Wow - this wave sailing stuff is fun, it might even be the most fun ever!

So if you have ever thought about wave sailing but it is too intimidating - think about giving it a try on a stand-up board.  Rig a sail that is smaller than you would need to be fully powered up, control is your friend and you don't need to be fully planing for the board to be stable.  You can use the board in flat water and light wind for freestyle and cruising and if you have a paddle with you, you don't have to wait for the wind to blow.  The length means you might have to tie it to the roof of the car instead of putting it inside or in the trailer - but that's a small price to pay for the hours of smiles! I wouldn't head to South Texas without one!  Or better yet - come see me in Florida (in St. Pete or Cocoa Beach) and rent one for a few hours.  You can be a wave sailor too!

Your eco friendly ski shop

Everyone is talking about going green these days - and if'it's not going green in an eco-friendly kind of way it's holding on to more of your green, hard earned dollars! 

It can be hard to wade through all the conflicting information about what is and is not environmentally friendly.  It uses less fossil fuels to shop closer to home, but maybe a restaurant that is a little further away uses locally grown and rasied ingredients.  You can buy clothing made from bamboo, thinking you are having less impact on the environment by using a more renewable resource and then find out that the processing of the bamboo is just as bad as making polyester! (see the Wall Street Journal article from Nov. 20)

Here at Larson's we have been doing things that are good for the environment for years....we just thought we were being frugal!  We turn off lights at night and in the basement when no one is down there and we reuse everything we can - from cardboard boxes to file folders in the office to buckles off of otherwise broken ski boots.   Almost all of our employees live within 5 miles of the shop and serveral of them regularly travel to or from work via motorcycle or bicycle. 

Even in our repair shop we try to be effecient about how we use resources.  Our belt waxer that we use for hot waxing skis and snowboards wastes less wax and emits less wax vapor into the air than hot waxing with an iron and our Polyjet machine uses less polyehtelene for repairing ski and snowboard bases than using p-tex candles.

Our retail store is stocked with quality items that will keep you warm in the snow for years to come, so you don't have to replace them as often.  Wool socks from Point6 and wool base layer pieces from I/O Bio are both examples of items that come from a renewable source and will give you years of service in cold weather!  And our ski swaps are a great way to save money and reduce your impact on the environment by passing on gear that your kid's have grown out of to other people who can use it.

We don't claim to be making ski boots out of recycled newspaper or growing our employee lunches out back - but we do try to act responsibly and save money anywhere we can so the savings can be passed on to you!