28 TRAVEL BONAIRE
Then there's Marianne, from Petersfield, who I had the
pleasure of coaching over a 3 month period. I helped
her use her harness confidently, progress to using the
footstraps and enjoy planing with control. That might not
sound so difficult, until I reveal that up until four years
ago Marianne was unable to do any form of exercise
due to illness. Now in her 50s and having only 50% of
her lungs, she helped us take belief to the next level.
After every run out and back she has to hug her board
and catch her breath, before she can even listen to my
feedback or next instructions, her lungs desperate for
air. However, Marianne is keener than anyone to get on
the water and progress, and Bonaire allows her to do
this safely.
And finally there's Trevor, also in his 60s, who has been
sailing in Bonaire for years, but with no meniscus in his
knee (and unknowingly suffering a serious heart defect)
he thought that his days on the water were limited.
However, having had both his heart and knee fixed he
knew that Bonaire was the perfect place to build up his
“Lac Bay provides an amazing training ground
for professional windsurfers. It’s not
uncommon to be sailing with slalom and
freestyle world champions.”
strength and confidence to enjoy windsurfing once again
and is now seen thundering across the Bay trying to
beat his speed record.
Bonaire offers the opportunity for people of all ages to
enjoy windsurfing: you will see young children learning to
hook in and blast around on their own, local kids
learning freestyle or taking up slalom on a mixture of
incredibly dated, incredibly worn out equipment, and
also holding down more modern, huge fully cammed
sails. Then at the other end of the spectrum older
sailors in their 70s and beyond are on the water every
day loving it. You can frequently enjoy watching an
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WIND
SURFING