Like many sports, windsurfing looks easier than it really is. The first challenge for a beginner is to lift a sail several square meters in size out of the water into an upright position without the sail, the surfer, or both collapsing into the water.
It doesn't look difficult when executed by a seasoned windsurfer, but novices quickly discover that the sail is loosely attached to the board allowing for a full range of movement and the board has a tiny rudder which means it wobbles as though it were perched atop a beach ball.
The key, then, is to gain balance, which takes different amounts of time depending on the surfer. But first-time riders should expect to spend the first half of a day teetering on the board hefting the sail and then being either catapulted forward by the sail into the water or tumbling backward into the water under the sail.
It's a maddening and repetitive cycle that I watched this week giggling from the relative stability of shore at the Dapeng Bay National Scenic Area in Pingtung County just outside Donggang.
The site is one of over a dozen locations in Taiwan where the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports is subsidizing three-day instruction in non-motorized watersports such as windsurfing, sea kayaking and saiilng in an attempt to increase the number of people engaged in water activities other than riding around on noisy jet-skis.
To do so, the council has arranged for 48 young men picked from physical education colleges to perform alternative military service in support of its plan.
"[The plan is] meant to get more Taiwanese people outside on the sea doing the sports," said John Hsu (
But watching the unflappable beginners in Dapeng Bay this week trying windsurfing for the first time, attaining these goals could be a long-term project. The short-term goals, however, of promoting the sport and getting people outside taking advantage of Taiwan's sea environment are more easily attained.
One man, after dumping continuously into the water for almost a half hour and not once sailing farther than a few meters, took a breather on shore and gave a vigorous thumbs-up in my direction. "This is a blast," he said.
His enthusiasm was inspiring but not infectious, because I ultimately opted for a tool around the bay in a sea kayak, which in smooth waters are nearly impossible to flip.
Dapeng Bay, until a few years ago, was filled with oyster farms that were harvested over so many decades that the tossed shells have created an island in the middle of the bay -- aptly named Oyster Shell Island, which is now a popular tourist site. Kayaking from the recreation area's wharf to the island takes about 30 minutes.
The bay is slated to change drastically in the coming decade, though, as the government carries out an enormous plan to transform the bay into a recreation area comlete with hotels, a golf course, an exposition center and two marinas. That program is intended to dovetail with the current focus on promoting watersports.
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