Re: Recommend board for learning waterstarts

Thanks for everyone's suggestions. To answer a few of the questions that
came up:

> very windy, that could be a good choice.  Do you plane?

No, I think the Vinta is too heavy to plane.  I have trouble carrying it.

> Do you use straps?

I have used them, but they don't seem to help much on my current board.

> how about a harness?

Yes I use alway use one.

> would you go $750.

Yes, I'll spend what I need to spend to get a board that is light and will
be useful for a long time.

> I'm not sure what kind of a sail tha "Vinta" came with, but my guess
> is that
> you'll be wanting a new rig also, and none of these prices include a
> rig.

My boom and sails are newer, they were the first things I upgraded.  I
might want to get a new lighter mast though.

> Of course it's always best to try the board before you buy it, but
> since
> you're riding a "Vinta" (a very very old board), and since you're
> looking
> at "The House", I'm guessing there's no shop near you, and no
> windsurfing
> club or organization knowledge for you to leverage, yes?

There isn't much.  I live in Santa Cruz, CA and have done most of my
sailing at Shoreline lake in Palo Alto.  Also went to Rio Vista twice
last year.  I would like to start going to other places that are better
than Shoreline because it's not very windy there usually.  There are
probably some clubs in the bay area, but I don't know of them and I
don't have lots of time to be tracking them down.  The only shop with
a decent selection I've found was in Rio Vista, and it's both a long
drive and seemed pretty expensive, and I doubt they would let me demo
a board anyway so I may as well take my chances with a web purchase.