Saturday, August 28, 2010

Windjammer (restored?!)

This made an incredibly lasting impression on me when I saw it with my family in 1958....The images carried us to to our sailing on the Cape, of our Lightning in Marblehead, (and maybe, even, influenced SD to try and find the same experience in the most unlikely of placesLOL)
 
Windjammer 

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Nice Return to Copley Sq.

Great day! Good breeze, fantastic conditions and nice direction down Boylston St. An adoring crowd of tourists made it a memorable day of scooter-sailing. Lots of positive feedback and affirmations, much appreciated after yesterday's disappointing debut of the windskate sail.
Scooterdude's faith in the project reaffirmed. "Hey, when are you going to patent that?!"


("psst, any help in this would be welcome.")

'WindSkate' Sail Report - Not Promising, Yet, Scooterdude's Niche!

Palm trees line Ocean AvenueImage via Wikipedia
In the debut of the impressive WindSkate sail here in Boston at Castle Island, things don't appear as promising as hoped.

This is not due to the addition of the sail itself, nor of the improved skills of Scooterdude in handling the more formal and professional wind-sport equipme

He was just getting used  to  the stronger breeze at Castle Island and developing the skill required to maneuver the scooter with this huge and brightly colored sail. And, it seemed that there was a positive interest and approval by most of the other visitors of this new recreation to appear along the water.
But, as could be predicted, the park rangers quickly moved in. Seems that Scooterdude, or this kind of sport, is prohibited at the best location available in Boston.
It kinda went like this,
Rangers pull up in a large white van.
"Hey! YOU CAN'T DO THAT HERE!" Ranger One says.

 "Okay, do you have any suggestions where?" Scooterdude asks.

"THERE'S NONE OF THAT HERE. YOU CAN SKATEBOARD (dubious!) on the walk or sail out there on the water, but you can't do both. We just sent two to the hospital for doing this and another one we caught and sent him away." (dubious, even more so! These types of fabrications in the comments tend to reveal a total unfamiliarity of  how unique my craft and skill is. They're usually speaking out of real ignorance of what I've been doing for over five years and much more out of their own fear.)

Scooterdude has learned that there's no discussion to be had in these kinds of situations, so he moved on, much resigned to this latest display of poor imagination and limited understanding.

There's so much to write about this, and I'll eventually post more on this huge subject.
Suffice it to say here and now, there appears no possibility in Boston for the advancement of a more serious  Wind Scooter culture....... (This is no Santa Monica CA!)

I'll still hunt out some other locations but given the size and imposing frame of the sail, it's not likely I'll find any other more accommodating locations.

I guess the bright side of all of this is that, after spending the several hundred $ on the sail, I'm forced back to my own unique design for 'urban-surfing' wind-scootering and even more inspired to proceed with a patent and then production. It has all confirmed Scooterdude's niche!





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