Day 101 Water sports

The kids wake surf
Yesterday's wake surfing had been a huge hit. All of the kids wanted to give it a try so most of the day was spent with the kids finally mastering the technique and the adults giving it a second go.
Wake surfing starts with a life jacketed swimmer in the water holding on to the ski rope and laying on his/her back with their feet on the surf board that is floating in front of them. The board is perpendicular to the direction of the pull so when the boat accelerates it is possible to push against the board and stand up. The kids use a different technique since they can stand on the board when it is still in the water thus they start on their knees and slowly get to their feet once the board is moving.
The boat speed is slower than normal water skiing or wake boarding and the surfboard is less maneuverable as it only has small rear fins. Also, since the rider's feet are not attached to the board, any attempt to cross the boat's wake quickly results in the rider proceeding without the board - a short distance to be sure.
For riders who have water skied or wake boarded before, the excitement is a bit short lived but for the rest, there is a big adrenaline rush that lasts long enough to overcome the sore muscles that result. No one is accustomed to pulling on a rope so hard for so long and the next day everyone complained of sore arms, shoulders and back.
The afternoon ended with swimming and water football. Because of the re-occurance of a large infection on my back, I am temporarily staying out of the water. Except for this, I have not been disappointed in any part of this trip but the beautiful warm clear water is so inviting and the ability to get some great exercise so compelling I find it hard to just sit and watch. The infection is now at the volcano stage so I am hoping I will be able to get back to swimming is a week or so. Bummer!
One unexpected benefit of this trip is the opportunity to interact with the other members of the Southern Star crew. Many people remark at how well we get along and we have heard some horror stories about other boats whose crew leaves the boat and captain at the first chance they have to fly home. I guess we get along because we are all tolerant enough to prevent friction and we have all found roles that contribute to the welfare of the boat. We do, however, represent three generations with both similarities and differences. We talk quite a bit about this (at least as much as guys ever talk) and sometimes discover surprises. One might expect that we are surprised by how different the world is in each generation but sometimes the surprise is to find how little some things change. I have not asked the others but to me this is a great chance to learn and to try to understand the world a bit better.