Time for a Change

[Tighe]

Who would have known back in the mid 90’s, when I created LAWA that it would become what it has become today. Originally developed to provide information on local lakes for windsurfing, it quickly grew into so much more. Back then God-in-a-box weather radios were our daily Delphi, though in time the weather models found on the internet helped us get better at chasing the wind. The Stories section and eventually the forum allow the site to capture the spirit of our ride in Minnesota. Kiting emerging on the scene lead to a name change; LAKAWA sounded so much better anyway.
Anyway, it’s been a great journey, for me personally as the webmaster of this great site, which now is defined more by the voices of the community, who stroll in and out of the forum, than anything I do.

My personal journey is taking a different path as of late and I just don’t have the time to keep up the site as I once had. It is time for a change. I am excited to announce that the stewardship of Lakawa is being given over to Mike Kratochwill. Those of you who know Mike, know his stoke and energy. He is committed to the safe growth of windsports in Minnesota. He will continue to grow and develop the school as the area’s premiere kiteboarding instructional resource. Obviously letting go of my role in Lakawa will be challenging for me, though Mike’s character and commitments to our community, make it considerably easier.

With the change, will come of a new server for Lakawa. I want to thank Coach and Blue Earth Interactive for providing a home for Lakawa for more than a decade. In addition, the tech support that Coach, his team, Tom Lowe, Tyson, and others have provided over the years is extremely appreciated.

Mike plans to make an announcement, though a new child and ongoing commitments to Foss Swim School may delay that a bit.

Small note. Ensure that your bookmarks for this site use the lakawa.com domain. Windancing.com will continue to point to this site for awhile but will eventually cease.

I’m not going anywhere. I’ll still be loitering around in Chat, showing up at the lake, and doing what I can to get the word out about Slingshot products.

Thanks for all the support over the years.

See you in the wind.

[JRN]

I WANT TO BE THE 1ST TO THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU'VE DONE FOR US OVER THE YEARS. That "Kite Kamp" that you & Coach gave down in Spirit Lake led me to the sport, and also to making a new friend. Not to mention all the events, sessions, trips and other new friends made while kiting, thanks to you. Glad you'll still be around to share the stoke. Good choice in Mike!

[MK]

Thank you. I'll have a more formal announcement once the dust settles but I share your sentiment with getting involved in the sport. Tighe, you taught me in the winter of 2004. Coming up on 2K10 means this will be 6 yrs in the sport and in the community - both were reasons for my decision to take this leap of faith.

[DavidKnight]

Tighe- thanks for giving birth to LAKAWA, and for having the foresight to hand the reigns to someone who will keep this informative resource available to our wind powered community. Also, a big thanks to Coach and the rest of the tech support staff for keeping this site humming. Mike- thanks go to you for having the guts to take this project on. Best of luck to all of you during this transition. See you on the ice...

[Tom L]

Tighe - Thanks for all you've done for the wind community. It's been one great ride. We've got a great group here in the midwest, due in no small part to all your efforts and good spirit. See you out at the island this winter.

[johnz]

Congrats to both Tighe and Mike!!!

Tighe, thanks for surviving all the slings and arrows over the years. This sport and this community have really added to the quality of life for me. Whadda sport! Whadda group!!

It will be fun to see what spin the conspiracy theorists put on this, though...

[Reds]

Cheers Tighe! You are a great steward of this sport. I can definitely say my life changed the day you got me up and riding. And The LAKAWA site has been like a warm fire to gather around. See you out there!

[Randy]

Sounds like a party of gratitude could be in order for what you, Coach and others have given our community through your stewardship of this site. As years pass the Law of Impermanence screams loud, but the Law of Interconnection screams louder. The benefits to our community through conversations on this site will never disappear. Seems like the last week of December could be a good time to gather for a toast of kindness and gratitude to this site and to those riders who've left their bodies, but not their mark, on our community. I'd suggest December 28, and offer my studio in Lowertown, unless you guys would like another site. Any interest?
I think it would be great if you guys could put together your story about LAKAWA and if people could relate a favorite experience where the site served them. Just a thought.

Everything changes. Nothing disappears.

[scottchapman]

I'm up for a memories party...Randy!

Ah yes, the days of God in the Box and Jim Kerr's videos. Lake Waconia...Lake Wind advisory before sunrise...Branches breaking off of the trees outside your window...couple of giddy phone calls add to the caffeine like adrenaline rush... (The chatter on our phones back and forth. We were creating our own little network)......meeting at Tighe's apartment to load up the Cadillac Sedan Deville & the trailer...Off to Lake Waconia...arriving at the lake....the Parking lot NO PARKING signs are waggling their warnings...a look at the whitecaps and rollers...a spike in adrenaline...suit up in baggy OS-System drysuits, wool socks, plastic shopping bags, bootie...Playtex gloves, open palm mitt...rubber hood with helmet....and finally petroleum jelly on face and lips...It's a cold one...28 degrees with a -3 wind chill...out we go....barely able to walk to the water with the gear in hand...gusts to 60 MPH... Waves 5 feet with the classic "smoke on the water" cap ripping power...one last look of fear as you look into the camera before struggling out....Ahh early December in MN 15+ years ago...I need to track down this video for the party... [We all need to find some of our hardcore cold weather windsurfing videos for the party at the end of the month?]

The voice mail messages & taped answering machine we had in our excitement to experience the drug of wind and power.

I remember when "the internet" was rising to the masses. The Web started its birth into humanity.

I remember being so excited after a 3.7 windsurfing day at Cannon and coming home to write the "You know it's really windy When:" top ten list in the Stories section. Overtime the weather links that slowly took over for our TV, GIAB and Radio weather reports...

A great walk-about for Tighe on his journey through kitedom. Like the aborigines in Australia he searched for his mission to create a world of windsurfing and kiting fellowship. What do people need on my site? What are their needs...How can we make the sport better for the public and shared access....teaching those who wanted to experience the thrill that we all get; when our bodies and wind are one!

I met Tighe on the north side of Lake Calhoun back in the early 90's... He had slashed his calf on a very sharp fin. Off went Tighe to get some stitches with a friend, I gathered his gear and got it to him the next day.

You have created a great way to share our experiences and learn from each other. We all created a club of fun and dedicated kiters and windsurfers. Westside boys, Eastside boys. the Northern Contingent, it's like you've know them all your life...You've chatted back and forth and now the name in cyber-space becomes a reality.

Hats off to you my friend and your gift to our area! May yourself and LAKAWA continue to grow and evolve.

See you on the water creating more style points with your new found freedom. Ironic...dancing in the wind...

[Geo]

Cheers, Tighe. Lakawa is a great resource to hold the community together. All you have to do is browse forums in other areas of the country to understand how good we have it here in terms of community.
Thanks for all the great effort.

[Randy]

Hey Scott,
Fun to review the awesome journey we've had. Lakawa gave us a new opportunity to participate. For this I'm very grateful. I'll never forget a prolific rider coming to the shop Dec. 20, 1999. He'd been fighting an aggressive cancer. He stood in the hallway between our showroom and bathrooms and pronounced his commitment to riding his last days. He went to Colorado for a few weeks, came home and rode Trollhaugen as hard as he could and left his body later that winter. The stories and insights shared on this site over the years have captured this element of riding that goes to our core.
So...Scott, if you or any others are up to a toast and a few more recalled memories, I'll be at my studio December 28, 7:30pm, to raise a toast to this gift of opportunity in gratitude for the participation (unless an alternative comes up).

[Pat Hinch]

Tighe -- Your commitment to LAKAWA and windsports in Minnesota... and beyond, is a model of stewardship.
I especially appreciate your dedication to maintaining the website and allowing our tribe to have a voice and a place to gather.
All of us who enjoy "dancin' in the wind" owe you a debt of gratitude for all you've done.

See you out there.

[toyletbowl]

yo tighe,

beers are on me if you can make it to madison again this winter. it's been fun riding with you on the few occasions and sharing stories through the years, and hope for many more to come. i'm going to try hard to make it to the crossing this year, but winters are super tough for me to get away on weekends.

give me a jingle if you are ever heading this way.

[ice_kmauve]

Tighe--

In all likelihood I would never have learned to kiteboard were it not for your presence on the scene. Your encouragement, the website, help and advice at the beach, and your stoke were what made the difference for me.

You are constantly encouraging people to learn the next thing, and the very real time and effort that you put into this scene allows new boarders a path to getting up and riding without hurting themselves or others (excessively).

by running this site, by planning affordable trips to padre and elsewhere, by very clearly loving the sport and the people around it you do a lot to make MN a kite destination. The good examples you provide in terms of attitude, respect for safety and gonzo enthusiasm resonate around the beaches and snowfields every season.

As you join the ranks of us regular kiters (although you will hardly every be accused of being regular) you may lose a bit of sway with the ladies. But don't worry, wearing a yellow helmet can always make the difference, as I have found. and for my part, I promise to never drag your leading edge over snail shells.

Thanks, thanks, and thanks again.

(And hire me at your new company )

Dave

[scottchapman]

Randy,

The Vikings are playing Chicago on Monday night, 12/28/09...Can we pick another night? I'm sure that's part of the problem...

[Randy]

No problem. I hadn't realized this. Thanks.

[Tighe]

is this on? Randy?

[Randy]

Sorry about any ambiguity. Given Scott's realization of the Vikes, I didn't go forward. Also, didn't seem to be much interest. Will certainly reschedule if there is interest.

[Paul F]

I moved to Oregon 12 years ago after growing up in Minnesota and this site has been one of my connections home. Thanks, Tighe.

Tech note:
I use Firefox on XP and the menu bar on the home page doesn't have drop down menus on the new server. Also, the picture frame has a huge white spot under the picture. Twitter and Facebook are nice additions. They need the locations of kiters/surfers with GPS phones.

[Tighe]

Thanks Paul.

The drop down menus were dropped because there are far more forums than could be listed on the drop down menus.

Good to hear your voice in the forum every once and awhile.