So anyway...  I'm The Dog.  If you follow rec.windsurfing on USENET, then you know who I am.  I'm not nearly as active in the forum as I used to be, but I still try to make a few public service posts from time to time.  While rec.windsurfing has its share of kooks, trolls and agenda driven merchants, it's actually a pretty good place to get information. 

My real claim to fame in the windsurfing world has nothing to do with sailing...  I am a Windsurfing Trailer GOD (note that I did not say "expert").  In fact, to hear some people tell it, I've forgotten more about trailers than most people have ever known.  That may be true because I've built and customized more trailers than most folks too.  More on that subject later...
 

My single handed goal is to save windsurfing from all the people who take themselves too seriously.  Obviously, I have my work cut out for me.  Like many people who started windsurfing back in the '80's, I'm a sick, twisted individual.  You had to be back then to learn how to windsurf.  The equipment was lousy, there were no instructors, you typically sailed alone (if it could be called sailing) and planing through a jibe was an unknown concept...  At least in East Tennessee.  And I kept doing it the hard way after I moved to Dallas in 1985.  Despite the fact that I could get lessons, I never did.  Even now, I'm a self taught sailor (save for a single clinic I took from Andy Brandt in pretty much zero wind conditions).  Pretty sad if you think about it.  Lessons?  Just do it.  And never try to teach you spouse, girlfriend, Significant Other a single thing about windsurfing.  Learn from my mistakes (and the lumps on my head)..

Is windsurfing compatible with the rest of your life?  Perhaps.  I know a lot of windsurfers, and some definitely have no life.  You can be married, though it helps a lot to be married to someone who windsurfs too.  You can also have children.  You just have to be prepared for the the day when they might say "windsurfing sucks."  And you can have gainful employment no matter how bad your addiction, just don't get a window office.  Most people who sail regularly (i.e.  every few days) are either self employed, or have the kind of job where they don't spend a lot of time in the office.  And yes, you can even have other hobbies.  After all, it's not windy every day.  That's why shooting is such a natural match for people who windsurf.  But that's another page in this website...

I wasn't ever gonna think about getting married
'til I found a woman who would camp, windsurf,
shoot guns, drink beer and piss in the woods.

Yeah, I actually said something like that.  Worse yet, it made it into a national windsurfing magazine ( Windtracks, July '98).  Seems that the editor Clay Feeter, while down to enjoy the Texas State Championships, caught me in one of my more verbose moods.  I'd been dating Lynne about 6 months at the time.  We bought a house about two months later and got married on Lake Ray Hubbard the following Memorial Day weekend.  Kind of tells you some things about Lynne, doesn't it...  (sorry, honey...  It's not like it was a secret.)
 

Our boards in2002 (yes, they all fit in the trailer) Some of them have changed.  Lynne now sails a Go165 and I have a Madd 135 as my main ride.  The Xantos, Tiga 260 and Hip Hop are gone. The E-Rock and '90 Screamer are wall art in our home.  And I picked up a nice Tiga 259 to replace the 260.

So anyway....  (that's one of my favorite phrases) I've been windsurfing a dang long time.  Half my life as of 2002.  Yeah, I'm old.  Seems like most people who windsurf are old.  Yeah, we have a few young pups at the launch, but "kids" seem to be much more into the instant gratification thing.  You just can't get that out of windsurfing.  The adrenaline rush bump and jump doesn't come till you've paid your dues.  I guess kids these days aren't as pig headed as I was/am.  Yeah...  You hear people whining about the cost of windsurfing.  But as inflation goes, windsurfing is cheaper now than it ever was.  The only problem now is finding a shop that actually carries the gear.  Mariner Sails is the only shop left in Dallas.  There used to be 5 or 6 in the DFW area.  It's kind of depressing when I think about it.  But I'm rambling again...
 

OK, so if you're still reading, then it means that you probably didn't know that much about windsurfing (or you are easily amused by the ramblings of the perpetually delusional). So...  This page is supposed to be educational.  Let's get on with the educational parts.

Windsurfing Links...  Every windsurfing website has them, and The Dog House is no exception.  I've tried to compile a random set of sites with useful data.  Where necessary, I've added descriptions, but most links should be self-explanatory.  Just check them out cause there's a little of everything.  

The Dog's Trailer...  Yeah, this is what you think it is.  You've heard about it, you've read about it, now see it in virtual reality.  After all, it is "one of the choicest trailers anywhere."  (Windtracks , July '98)

Texas Windsurfing Trailers...  And vans and such.  Some of the rigs my buds and buddettes use to get their gear to their favorite launches.   

Pictures From Bird Island Basin...  Many of us from the North Texas area do an "unofficial" club trip to Corpus Christi every Thanksgiving.  It's a long standing tradition.  Here's a pictorial.