Firstly great to see so many GenX 'ers returning to the sport now that our kids are old enough to handle a full day on the beach...I grew up in South Africa on a Windsurfer Rocket 99 in the 80's and slowly migrated after a 12 year break to a JP Excite...wow the new equipment has come a long way!!

The reason I wanted to post was to hear you handle surf/ life balance? I got caught out this weekend slipping out yesterday (Valentine’s Day, probably my first mistake) for a sail, the wind was crap, still not to waste a free day, wet the board but had a disappointing afternoon.

Now here's the problem, woke up this morning and the wind's blowing, so I explore the possibility of getting another sail in this afternoon, but you see I've used up my turn??

In defence of my ever understanding life partner who’s really supportive of my habit never whinges...but I am feeling pressure on the home front, especially when they can't come along and spend the day on the beach with me (which is generally when I like to go, as crap day on the beach is generally a great day on the water).

So to cut a long story short, keen to hear from you guys (and more so, the girls) on how to strike the best balance between my windsurfing habit and family...because I love spending time with her and the kids, but how do I get the leave pass when the wind is blowing while maintaining Karma in universe?

If you can get your family involved in windsurfing through the purchase of easy to use beginner gear the family will be reading from the same book. Back in the old days companies made boards 3 meters long and 1 meter wide. Nowdays beginner boards are almost as wide as they are long. They are so easy to learn how to sail on as balance is no longer a huge issue. Of course for a variety of reasons this may not be possible.

If I wanted to go for a sail on a good Saturday and knew my wife may not want to do it, I'd get up early in the morning, do two or three hours of housework; washing up, washing the bathroom and kitchen, washing clothes and hanging them on the line, folding and putting away clothes, tidying up, paying bills and doing paper work etc.

By the time she was up everything was sweet and could go out and enjoy the day.

Goodluck in your quest - let us in on the secret if you find the answer!

That seems like a pretty impossible task Eanv because the family isn't used of your windsurfing addiction, however you can do it.

You will need to start getting them used of it by firstly just going when it's windy, tell the family you're off for a windsurf, tell them where and a rough time you'll be back. Also you will need to get them to learn that there is no such thing as booking a family event on a windy day however understandably this can't always be avoided.

Leave pass??? You have a lot of retraining to do, you need to abolish leave passes and you need to adopt the just tell the family where your going rule.

They will need to learn that unless they can learn to do their own thing sometimes and cope with out dad then they might want to start windsurfing too, not such a bad idea!

You got your self into this mess, now it's up to you to get your self out of it.

Thank you

Dr phil

My wife married me as a surfer. She knew what she was getting herself into. Im not going to ever change and she will never want me to change. If there is no wind and the surfs up, I go surfing/stand up paddling. If the wind and waves are up, I go windsurfing. The kids help me pack my gear in the car. Now that they are getting older they are getting more interested in why I go to the beach everyday. Our family holidays are to surf/windsurf destinations. Maybe Im just lucky? But I also give my wife and kids the same amount of time. If Im going windsurfing in the arvo I spend the morning with the family. If I go for a paddle in the morning I spend the arvo with the family. What goes around comes around and we are all happy. But like I said first... my wife married me as a surfer

Helps a lot if your partner has got something they are as into as you are into windsurfing.

My wife does yoga 3-4 times a week and is also training to be an instructor. When she's doing Yoga I stay home with the kids and earn some brownie points.

Smelly Skater the 'Leave Pass' system is the tried and true method of maintaining marital harmony! It's an imperfect system, but it's all we've got . The modern Australian woman doesn't tolerate just 'being told'. That might fly where your from, but in Australia our other halves expect some respect and consideration...go figure?

Back to the question...Eanv if you were out yesterday, it's probably pushing it to expect to go sailing again today. I virtually never sail both days of the weekend. Ya gotta roll the dice and pick either Sat or Sunday. Make it up with some sessions during the week after work. I actually find it much easier to leave work early and come home a little later, than disappear for 3-4 hours on the weekend.

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Pointman said...

Back to the question...Eanv if you were out yesterday, it's probably pushing it to expect to go sailing again today. I virtually never sail both days of the weekend. Ya gotta roll the dice and pick either Sat or Sunday. Make it up with some sessions during the week after work. I actually find it much easier to leave work early and come home a little later, than disappear for 3-4 hours on the weekend.

Another thing that I forgot to mention was that I have reserved every Sunday for family day. I never go paddling or windsurfing on Sunday even if its good. Thats why I can go any time during the six other days. My wife and I look at the forecast for the week, usually the three day forecast is more acurate. We write it on the calander on the fridge and work it around work, study and kids.
Happy wife, happy life.
Happy husband, happy... er... um...