PRESENT DAY
Nearly thirty years on, I’m back In Fuerteventura, keen to see how the recollections of my youth match up to the island’s current guise. Having travelled throughout the Canaries, I remember the winds on the north shore being lighter than the other islands. Back in the day, floating on your wave board was a precarious balancing act, best suited to the scrawny grommet I was. Fast forward a few decades and kilos later and I’m plugging my 5.0 into a super easy to sail and float on 94 litre wave board, no delicate balance required, the ease of use of modern equipment makes Fuerte’s dreamy shores even more of a pleasure. Present – 1, past – 0.
I’m sailing at Flag beach, just a few minutes outside of Corralejo, the main town on the North Shore. It’s easy sailing on a hazard free beach and the perfect way to wash off the stains of travel and convenient to our cheap hotel at the edge of town. My first trip to Fuerteventura required no warm up sail on arrival as I’d sailed over from Lanzarote, underpowered on too small a sail and too small a board. For the record, I’d take flying over reaching any day; it was that sort of a sail! But back then it was all part of the experience, Fuerteventura was edgy. Windsurfing legends and careers were made out of risky sessions on its rocky shores.
