Ch 5: A Whale, a Pack of Sharks and a Pod of Dolphins

Ch 6: A Gold Medal and Sponsorship

Ch 7: Island Politics

Ch 8: H.A.W.A.I.I. Makes Waves

Ch 9: Fast Racers, Slow Boat

Ch 10: More Racing, Less Boat

Ch 11: Maui No Ka Oi

Ch 12: Honors I'll Always Appreciate

Chapter 3: Not Designed to Live in the Cold

Bend, Oregon: 1985. Windsurfing had come to Central Oregon! Even K-Mart had brought in some O'Brien boards. They were inexpensive enough ... as I recall, less than $400 for the complete outfit ... so I bought THREE of the Friendship models [for my oldest son Dan Twelker, my daughter, Darla Twelker and for me. My second son Dave Twelker decided to wait for his board and take an intermediate level board rather than a beginner board, which of course was a very wise decision!] There were two lakes a short distance away from our home which were suitable for learning (except for the cold water that is): Tumalo Reservoir and Suttle Lake, and those are the places I taught all my kids to windsurf. I also tried to teach my brother Paul Twelker but I must have forgotten to tell him about 'visualization' or something because he spent most of his time in the water just like I did at first.

We all had fun but I never quite got used to Central Oregon's cold water. Nor did I enjoy the ten months of Winter every year! July and August were great but the wind was light and fluky. I'll never forget going around in circles on Tumalo Reservoir while waiting for the afternoon wind to fill in. The Gorge usually had great summer wind (except the times I made the seven hour round trip up there and back). I'll never forget the first time sailing at the Dalles in 95 degree heat ... and jumping off the board and feeling that chill run up my spine and neck and then hit me on top of the head as it left. I concluded that my tall, lean body and cold water just weren't compatible. It just took all the fun out of windsurfing.

Back in Bend, I stopped by Randy Barna's windsurfing shop where I bought my first board with footstraps, a Bic 750. I'd read about drysuits so wanted to try one on. "That'll keep you warm" Randy said, as I forced the neck opening, which felt more like an arm opening, over my head. He continued, "It's one of the best --- an O'Neill" and just then, that tight rubber seal slipped off my chin and hit my neck. I started turning red and getting dizzy but I managed to gasp " help me ... get ... this ... thing ... off" as I pulled and yanked and twisted and turned and thought for sure I was going to suffocate. I didn't like wearing a necktie or turtle neck sweater or a T-Shirt with a tight neck even ... and the drysuit was a hundred times worse than any of those. In fact, some people probably wonder why all my T's have droopy necks.

It was about this time that I began telling people, "If Human Beings were created to live in the cold, we would have been born with fur instead of hair!"

Kailua, Oahu: 1986. the Hawaii Amateur Windsurfing Association International Inc. was formed by a small group of Kailua area windsurfers. Growing quickly at first then leveling off, it seemed handicapped by a lack of qualified volunteer help. Running the association and conducting events several times a year fell largely to two members, Steve Crocker and Paul Staples.

Bend, Oregon: November, 1986: All night long, hot water circulated in the floor of my Central Oregon energy efficient geodesic dome while the wood stove provided additional warmth and ambiance. I certainly had no complaints of ever being cold in my new "dream home" between Bend and Sisters, with its clear view of the Cascade Mountains and the "Three Sisters" not far away. (This group of three jagged volcanos reaching 10,000' are considered the most scenic in Central Oregon and they're snow covered most of the year.) And I loved living close to Mt. Bachelor with its Alpine and Nordic skiing! While I loved both kinds of skiing, my greatest challenge was keeping dry and warm. I sweat freely and everyone knows what happens when sweat hits freezing air ... the sweat turns to ice and quickly freezes all the way back down to the skin ... then it's only a matter of time before hypothermia sets in. It was during that freezing process that I repeated over and over to myself, "If human beings were created to live in a cold climate, we would've been born with fur instead of hair!"

I've always been an early riser and this particular morning in November was no exception. I looked outside and everything was white and the wind was driving the snow nearly horizontally. "Great day for windsurfing --- in Hawaii" I thought. Several months before I had enjoyed a windsurfing holiday on Maui courtesy of Shaklee Corporation with my oldest son Dan Twelker and one of my first level Supervisors, Mike Prescott. My youngest son Dave and my daughter Darla couldn't go or I would have taken them too. We took waterstart and jibing lessons from Alan Cadiz of HST and all week I'd been wondering what it would be like to live in Hawaii where daytime temperatures average low 80's in the winter (28C.) and high 80's in the summer (31 C.) and water temperatures average low to mid 70's (22-24 C.). I looked outside again at the Juniper trees loaded with snow. Then I thought, "I'm not a tree ... I can move"! I began to visualize "moving" and soon I found myself jumping out of bed, running to the garage for boxes and right then and there, I started packing. I tell you ... this thing called "visualization" works! (Go to: httm://papamaui.com/visualization.htm)

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