The Michigan Daily-Thursday, June 3, 1982-Page 9-B
Enjoy summer; take to the water and Swim!
(Continued from Page 8>
who crave competition, they also hold
races every other Sunday. "That's ex-
citing," Carter said, "Small lakes are
tricky, with all the wind shifts and
gusts."
If you really want to hike out and fly
across the surfact of the water, try For-
tune Marine on Whitmore Lake, who
rent catamarans for about $20 an hour
or $38 for four hours.
No matter where you go or who you
are with, sailing is one of the most
relaxing, and at the same time exciting
adventures your summer can provide
you. Don't mess it up. Give these places
a call and hoist that sail!
Windsurfing
This is it, the hottest, wettest, wildest
way to sail and the sport that's
sweeping the country. If there are any
laws of nature, we have to add one
more; you can't have a bad time win-
dsurfing.
For those of you who are unfamiliar
with the sport, a windsurfer is a kind of
sailboat/surfboard hybrid that whips
across the water at speeds approaching
20 knots. They're safe, fun, and the
most addictive piece of enjoyment sin-
ce the Frisbee.
The Ann Arbor windsurfer's mecca is
Gallup Park and the Geddes Pond area
of the Huron River.
"WE RACE, have fun outings, and
really just have a blast," said Ron
Derman, a member of the Ann Arbor
Windsurfing Club and an employee at
the Ann Arbor Sailing Center, a local
vendor of windsurfing boards.
Derman said that the club has about
120 members, "most of whom don't pay
the dues," though typically 40 or 50 will
attend their weekly outings.
They hold races every Sunday at
Gallup Park, and have a Wednesday
Evening Fun Night, when the members
can get together and sail, laugh,and
talk about their windboards.
OF COURSE, any lake that can be
used for sailing can be used for win-
dsurfing, but Derman says that the
windsurfers tend to prefer Gallup Park,
and Barton Pond.
"We send some people to Silver Lake
or Half Moan lake once in a while, but
most of us like the (Gallup) park bet-
ter," he said.
If you plan your windsurfing trip on a
Saturday afternoon, make sure you
know. the rules of the road; Geddes
Pond gets pretty crowded when 50 or so
crazy windsurfers are flying around
trying to gain all the speed they can.
"It's funny sometimes to see how many
people want to (wind)surf on that pond
at one time. It gets pretty hairy once in
a while," Derman said.
BESIDES ANN ARBOR Sailing Cen-
ter, you can rent a windsurfer from T-J
Sales on Portage Lake. Rates are about
$4-$8 for the first hour and about $4 an
hour after that, although Derman said
he prefers people to call him, and he'll
bring a board down to Gallup Park for
them,, it will be less expensive that
way to boot.
This is another one you shouldn't
screw up. Windsurfing is quite simply a
gas. It'll take a while to get acclimated
to the unsteadiness of the board under
you and the right moves to make will
take time to learn, but believe me,
learning was never so much fun.
Canoeing
Yearning for the white water? Do you
want to smash your way down the
rapids of the Colorado River? If so, cat-
ch a plane. If, however, your tastes run
along the lines of a peaceful paddle
down a gently winding river with a few
mild rapids to break up the time, Huron
River canoeing awaits you and your
friends. This one's really cheap, too,
folks.
Let's get a few things straight right
away. The idea here is leisure, not
careening down rapid after rapid.
When canoeing you stress the time
spent getting there; it's not a wild race
to the end.
The Ann Arbor Department of Parks
and Recreation runs two canoe liveries,
one at Gallup Park and the other at
Argo Park. Since canoes can only be
paddled downstream (for any distance)
the Gallup Park canoes are rented by
the hour for use on the Geddes Pond
area only.
ARGO PARK, however, is the star-
ting point of four different trips down
the mighty Huron River. Three of the
river cruises, from Dexter, Delhi, or
Portage Lake access follow the Huron
down to Argo Park. A canoeist and his
canoe will leave Argo by shuttle for
these trips at specified times during the
day. They are longer and meant for
more experienced canoeists, the brave,
and the crazy.
The most popular trip leaves Argo
Park and follows the Huron down to
Gallup Park. The trip takes at most
three hours and costs a meager seven
dollars. Take a friend or two along with
a picnic lunch and you have an after-
noon's worth of fun for the price you'd
normally pay for a lunch at Mc-
Donald's.
The river at this point is not very
swift, but some experience in steering a
canoe is necessary. My experience is
that after you have been in the canoe
for about fifteen minutes, you will
figure it out quite nicely.
THE CANOE LIVERY will furnish
you with everything you will need: a
canoe, paddles, life jackets and a
cushion if you want it, and .the only
things left to you are the beverages and
a committment to enjoy yourself.
They even point your canoe in' the
right direction for you, and once that's
started, you have only to avoid bridges,
fallen trees and broken branches.
The river meanders behind the train
station, past parks and houses and next
to Fuller field. You'll see Ann Arbor
from a perspective that standing on
land can'tmatch.
THE RIVER SLOWS down even more
between Fuller Field and Gallup Park.
During this periodyou'll be treated to
some fascinating bird, duck, and
wildlife watching.
It seemed so slown, so easy going,
and now your muscles have a kind of
pleasant ache in them. You've seen
things from theriver, and you have a
whole new outlook on the area around
the city. You're free to paddle around
Geddes pond, but by this time you're
ready to relax and talk about the new
world your eyes opened up to on an af-
ternoon canoe trip down the Huron.
THESE ARE the basics, friends.
Using your imagination, try coming up
with any number of activities one might
practice in the water. Go get wet this
summer, I can tell you that your swim-
suit is all for it.
Nleeds ride
out of town?
Check the 4J tdt
classifieds under
transportation
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