June 17, 2011
A3
Island Moon
GulfBreeze Tompson Sails & Kite Repairs By Mike Murphy Windsurfers and kiters in the local area are fortunate to have an outstanding sail and kite repair service. Sandra and Bob Thompson have been repairing kites and windsurfing sails from their home locally since 1998. Thompson Sails is one of the top four busiest windsurfing sail repair lofts in the country. Background…..leaving Texas Sandra is from Robstown, graduated from Alice High School and Texas A&I University. She taught homemaking in Troy, Texas near Temple for seventeen years. Sandra began sailing boats on Belton Lake where she met Bob and both served as officers in the Lake Belton Yacht Club.
ceives a lot of business from visiting windsurfers; many also send sails and kites here for repairs from all over the US and Mexico. Other stuff…..always an interesting project The sail repair business has remained fairly steady but Bob has pursued several other projects since retirement. Bob built several sailboards, converting one old board into a hollow one and making two of his current boards from scratch. He also developed a heavy duty shade umbrella that plugs into a trailer hitch but the market wasn’t ready for it so he shelved it for the time being. For two winters he and Sandra stayed in Quartzsite, Arizona, the winter mecca for Recreational Vehicles and related flea markets. Each year, about 500,000 RV’s converge on Quartzsite to spend the winter. While there the Thompson’s owned a shop which sold high quality RV mattresses produced in Phoenix. Their RV bedding business sold a wide variety of upscale RV bedding including memory foam toppers, down blankets and premium cotton sheets.
Bob is originally from Port Townsend, Wa s h i n g t o n near Seattle. He learned how to sail in 1969 on Woodlawn Lake in San Antonio when he was stationed there in the Air Force. He built his first racing sailboat in 1983, followed by another larger one in 1988. He learned how to windsurf in 1990 on Lake Belton after buying some mismatched windsurfing gear at a Houston swap meet.
Ten years ago Sandra and Bob began traveling with a camper trailer. They usually make two long trips each year, about a month each and always go to different places. One of their trips found them leaving Washington DC on 9/11 about two hours ahead of the plane hitting the Pentagon. Another trip, they went to New Orleans after Katrina and volunteered to help clean up the schools in preparation for the kids return. Often, when traveling they stay at city and national forest parks with RV spaces, usually without hook-ups.
Bob got his Master’s Degree in Architecture at Texas A&M and started an architectural firm in Austin in 1981. Sandra worked with him as he designed high end residential houses, banks, churches and schools. After about ten years the business slowed and they moved to St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands not long after Hurricane Hugo struck there. Bob continued his architectural career in St. Thomas for the next two years.
Their next trip will be this fall and will include attending the Indian Arts festival in Santa Fe, New Mexico; visiting the Monument Valley Navajo Center and the Arches National Park in Utah. From there it’s off to Reno to take in the Nugget BBQ Rib Cook-off, the world’s largest BBQ Rib cook-off with over 1200 competitors. The final destination is California, for a week of grape harvest festivals and wine tasting in Sonoma and Napa Valley.
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Travel…..tidbits and highlights
Windsurfing……another Lagunatic Bob moved to the local area to windsurfed and he did at Bird Island Basin for four years. Then in 1998, he started sailing at the end of Laguna Shores road near the Pita Island area. He also coordinated several annual cleanups at the launch site before Bluff’s Landing made significant improvements and began offering paid access.
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When the wind is in the optimum direction Bob makes a 22 mile round trip to Bird Island Basin, he averages 25-30 of these round-trips a year and otherwise he heads south to sail along the King Ranch shoreline. Bob has helped locate and give sails and other gear to over a dozen windsurfing newbies.
Texas Surf Camps is now offering daily and weekly surf camps in Corpus Christi @ Bob Hall Pier!!
Locally…..back to Texas The Thompson’s decided to move here in 1994, Sandra returned to teaching special education and Bob worked for an architectural firm until they both retired in 2001. One of Bob’s last projects was completing all the design work for the Driscoll Children’s Hospital expansion from 1997 to 2001.
Come learn to surf with Quiksilver Pro Surfer Morgan Faulkner and the best surf instructors in Texas!!
Thompson Sails also began during this time, Sandra did kite repairs while Bob focused on windsurfing sails. They invested in top quality Bernina and Juki sewing machines and can replicate most stitches while replacing damaged areas with original manufacturers’ materials. Thompson Sails averages 400 sail repairs a year and re-
Surf camps run 8:45am-2pm @ Bob Hall Pier on North Padre Island. Attend daily or weekly. Camps also available Mon-Sat in Port Aransas @ Horace Caldwell Pier. Equipment and surf instruction provided plus free Quik & Roxy gear!! All instructors CPR & 1st Aid Certified!! Ages 5 & up.
This Momma Pied Billed grebe feeds her young a fish at The Birding Center in Port Aransas.
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Get more info & sign-up online at www.texassurfcamps.com or call (361) 749-6956