STEALTH MISSION Joining us on this half term getaway was my Isle of Wight windsurfing buddy Dave Wade better known to windsurf’s audience as ‘Downwind Dave’ along with his wife and daughter. Obviously the story to our beloved wives was that our family holiday was the first priority on this trip but after Dave scored a few pics in the magazine from St Lucia I could sense the fame had gone to his head and he would walk over hot coal if needed for another shot at glossy glory. So all in all with my darling wife and two angelically behaved boys, there were seven of us in total, so realistically there was no way we were going to be able to bring Dave’s windsurf gear without it becoming a major hassle, plus bringing kit would obviously blow our cover. The closest replacements I could muster up were a couple of inflatable paddle boards on which I was intending to put Dave to shame after practicing all summer to gain the upper hand. Then lady luck threw us a bone; a few weeks before departure I mentioned I was headed to Antigua to Scotty McKercher who immediately told me to contact ex PWA racer Eli Fuller, an Antiguan native who runs boat trips around the island but more importantly was bound to have some windsurf equipment knocking around and might be able to show us the spots. With contact initiated and a favourable reply from Eli, the pieces of the jigsaw were finally slotting together, all we needed now was a bit of luck with the wind and ‘Downwind Dave’ might well be on his way to his next step into the limelight.
