A Tale of Two Windsurfers.....

johnl · Joined: 05 Jun 1994 Posts: 1330 Location: Hood River OR

Sit back and let me tell you a tale.......

Marina Bay, Friday, wind blowing light 5.7.

One sailor arrives while the wind is light. He parks next to a fisherman (an older, 45+ year old black man) who is obviously getting ready to fish off the launch. He chats with him, asks him what he is fishing for, what he usually catches, stuff like that. Then when he hears the fisherman realize he forgot his knive to cut the line, loans him his.

When he launches, the fisherman pulls his line off to the side to give him clear water. He launches and never looks back. Comes back in an hour and a half later, goes a bit upwind from the fisherman, drops in the water and looks for the line. The Fisherman pulls in his line and even offers to help the windsurfer who is having problem getting his gear out during high tide and gusty wind.

10 minutes later another windsurfer launches. He has rude words with the fisherman before launching, then sails off and snags his line and calls the fisherman an asshole (among other names) and cusses at him while trying to get his line off him. Then sails off leaving the fisherman sitting on the launch shocked that somebody called him an asshole for fishing.

The first windsurfer goes down and tries to repair the damage done to the relationship that he TRIED to form between windsurfers and fisherman....

Anybody else see a problem with this???

wandrian · Joined: 29 May 2008 Posts: 22

John I am glad you brought this up. I was rigging up when this event occurred. I was about 20 yards away on the grass in front of the launch. I saw the whole thing go down. It was all so totally unnecessary.

I had talked to the guy before he launched and asked him what he was rigging (6.6 & 110 RRD FSW), he seemed a little grumpy that the wind was up and down. I then went back to rig up my sail (5). He walked past me on his way down to the launch and I heard him saying "f$#%ing fishermen". I then saw him have words with the guy fishing by the launch. I could not hear what he said. I went back to rigging. I then heard a commotion. I looked up and the guy was in the water having a major tantrum. He shouted "F#$%ing Asshole" or something similar at the fisherman, who looked pretty shocked. The fisherman then reeled in his gear and left shortly afterwards, looking pretty unsettled. My wife was by our car when the guy returned from sailing and de-rigged and she said he still seemed angry.

I really don't understand people like that. Fishermen have as much right as us to use the area and causing unnecessary conflict is just so stupid. I have always found them to be friendly and courteous. This kind of behavior gives us windsurfers a bad name with the fisherman and also with any other people that happened to see this event. I was ashamed!

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

We had a similar problem with a windsurfer chewing out a Navajo sheep herder watering her sheep at a lake ... on a Navajo reservation they generously let us sail on. Intervention and a lecture helped him see the error in his ways, she thanked us and went about her business, and we're not aware of a repeat problem.

Mike \m/

WindSapien · Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 12:29 pm Post subject: Promoting Good Relations

A couple of months ago I posted about The Lake Isabella Fishing Derby.
This event is the biggest of the year generating tons of revenue for local business in an area that has suffered considerably in this economy. The post was intended to suggest that on this weekend and only on this weekend it might be beneficial to us wind surfers to let the couple thousand fishermen have the lake for themselves. There have been conflicts in the past and I can tell you that here in this community the fishermen will prevail if push comes to shove. The response to my post was mixed . Some said thanks for the notice , others stated that they had the right to and intended to sail anyways. Fishing Derby or not. Now I don't give a hoot about fishing but I do love to sail a mile from my house. This selfish attitude will quite possibly be the demise of our sport. This sense of entitlement can and does work against all of us. Have a little class. Show respect for others and you will be surprised how much more affective it is opposed to shouting obscenities. Now if I can just adhere to these principles. I do pretty good until I get to that first freeway on ramp. WS

jse · Joined: 17 Apr 1995 Posts: 1460 Location: Maui

Johnl, is this someone we know? I mean a MB regular? Pretty wierd.

Steve

johnl · Joined: 05 Jun 1994 Posts: 1330 Location: Hood River OR

Steve,

I don't know if I have talked to him before, but I have seen him sail there before. I'm not sure I could even describe him other than a little heavy set (compared to most windsurfers), and an older white guy (in other words probably my age Cool

). That's about it.

The fisherman in this case was totally cool. I try real hard to make conversation with the guys fishing off the steps. That way when it's time to launch it goes smoother. I know we see it as the only place we can launch, but they have other choices. They of course see the steps as a nice place to cast without balancing on the rocks.

Normally their lines end up going out and then to the left (downwind), so a little bit of effort and you can go around them. Granted if it was crowded, they would probably pull up and leave. But in this case there was just me when I launched and 3 of us when I came out.....

John

chibichibi · Joined: 26 Jun 2006 Posts: 275

You can also launch upwind/west from the MB steps at the playground beach area. Fisherman are usually out on the rock jetty/seawall. Better launch than the stairs in my opinion. Kite launchable too if that's your thing.