There are a number of small bodies of water on Westheimer Parkway. I had never considered them sailable before, but on this day the NW wind was cranking and I spied white caps. I also coincidentally happened to have my gear in the van. What a stroke of luck! I pulled into the car park and quick as a flash the 5.3 and freestyle board were rigged and ready to go.
The wind was all over the place. It was either 30 or zero. So the key to making the most of it was to wait for the gust, blast to the other side, bust a move and repeat. The small body of water was fairly close to the road and passing vehicles kept honking their horns. Cool I thought...
Suddenly a loud voice barked "Exit the water immediately".
I looked upwind to see a police car parked next to my van. "Uh-oh" I thought.
I threw a quick tack, sailed in and walked over to see what the problem was, feeling like a naughty child.
The policeman wound down his window and with a dead pan and grim look said "What you are doing is a federal offence. I can take you to jail for this."
All at once, the fun drained out of me "I'm sorry officer, I..I didn't realize." I stammered.
"Somebody called it in" he said.
"Are you serious?!" I replied before I could stop myself.
"That's right. Do it again and I will lock you up" he said breaking into a grin. "You must be crazy!"
"Yes. Probably". We laughed. "I won't do it again officer. Thank you and Merry Christmas!".
I derigged, put the heater on maximum and headed home.
No comments:
Post a Comment