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We started planning a trip to Costa Rica. My soon-to-be wife had always wanted to go there, but I didn't know very much about the place, and so wasn't all that excited about it. But a vacation is a vacation, so what the heck. As the planning progressed, it became clear that a 2 week trip wouldn't be long enough, and my interest grew. My minimal amount of research at that point (I watched "Endless Summer" for the 23rd time) led me to make one request: If we were going to spend 3 weeks in Costa Rica, we would spend at least 3 days in Tamarindo, surfing. Barbara does not surf, and so this was a concession on her part which she readily agreed to. Months went by, and we had the itinerary pretty well set, but we left plenty of room for changes on the fly. The Costa Rica guide book mentioned Lake Arenal as premier windsurfing spot, and so that was stuck in the back of my head. Now, Barbara does windsurf, so trading a day in Tamarindo for a day on Lake Arenal was certainly in the back of my mind.
The first week of the trip we spent in the southern part of the country. No wind, but the beaches were gorgeous, and the jungle was pretty amazing. Scarlet Macaws, toucans, other birds that did tricks I can't even describe. From there we went to the mountains, and eventually over to the town of Arenal. Arenal is mostly known for the volcano which looms overhead and sits at the edge of Lake Arenal. At night, you can see the lava spewing forth and down the side of the mountain. It was truly amazing. We went for a hike through a (cooled) lava field, and at one point were deep in a bamboo forest, which prevented us from seeing the volcano. Pretty regularly, the volcano would grumble, and some ashes would spew forth. Somewhat intimidating, but we were about a mile from the volcano, so we pressed on. Suddenly, the grumble became an explosion. I really thought the whole thing just blew open. Now, we couldn't see the volcano from where we were, so we just kind of looked at each other, not knowing if this was a regular occurrence, or if the whole town was about to erased from the map. We hiked over a small hill so we could see the volcano. It was still there, so we chalked it up to a normal occurrence and pressed on. Good fun. But I digress. Back to the windsurfing...
As we planned the next stage of the trip, we realized we had a choice. We could either go around the lake the short way on a dirt road, or take the long way around on a "paved" road. Now, the paved roads in Costa Rica are actually about 50% potholes, 50% dirt, and 10% pavement. We hadn't tried a dirt road, but we figured it would be 50% tree roots, and 50% quicksand or something like that. So we opted to take the long way around, which coincidentally took us right passed the Hotel Tilawa, and the windy side of the lake. Sweet. Also, the book said it was about a 6 hour drive from the volcano to Monteverde, which is where we were headed next. Those books must assume that people drive 60 mph on these roads (which the locals are able to), but we averaged more like 25 mph, so clearly we needed to stay overnight somewhere. Hotel Tilawa was it. The guide book pointed out "You'll never hear "You should have been yesterday" when you windsurf on Lake Arenal, because it is windy all day, every day." Additionally, December is their windy month, and the date was November 30, I think. Pretty much a sure bet. We called and made reservations for the next day. I asked the guy, and he looked out the window, and said it looked like people were on 4.3 - 5.0. Sweet.
So we get up early, and make what should be a 1.5 hour drive. 3 hours later, we arrive at the lake, ready to rent some championship gear and hit the water. There is ABSOLUTELY no wind. The guy at the rental counter is all "This is pretty weird. You should have been yesterday." Grrrr. The promising thing is that the gear is all pretty new. JP boards and Neil Pryde sails, not more than 2 years old, most of it less than a year. And more 5.0s than 6.0s, so I figure the books weren't lying. So we go check-in to the hotel and ask if it looked like it would be windy tomorrow. "Should be. It's windy everyday. You should have been yesterday". Grrr. We went down to the hotel's rental area to check out the gear there. Not bad, but not quite as new as what we saw at the rental place down the road. So we relaxed for the rest of the day, thinking we had another shot to get some sailing in if it got windy in the morning.
Morning came and we saw some whitecaps on the lake. Looks promising. We got over to the rental place, and it was blowing about 12 - 15. A little light, but good for Barbara. She gets ready to go on the one large board they have. But the guy warns us that he did have someone who called and reserved that board, and they might show up at any time. But she could use it until they got there. Just as she was suited up and ready to go, the others pulled into the parking lot. We missed the window to get Barbara out on the water. It was blowing a steady 15 by now, so I got on the biggest thing available, which was a 117 L JP Freeride, with a 6.7 NP. It was steady, comfortable cruising on a reach about 3 times as long as [Lake Isabella, CA. -ed.] Izzy (see Photo).
Windmills up on the hilltop downwind of the lake. The volcano looming way upwind. Water must have been about 80 degrees. Perfect for board shorts and a rash guard. The JP was an easy board to sail, particularly in these conditions. Perfectly trimmed and all dialed in, I blasted across the flat water, thinking to myself, "I am Hauling A$$ in Costa Rica!". The session was short, as the wind died after only a few runs, but it was a sweet bonus session that I hadn't planned on getting.--Fuzz
