Island Moon A 3June 17, 2011

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Duane Ebert Cell: (361) 658-2459 Bus: (361) 949-0661

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Padre IslandBusiness Assoc.

GulfBreezeTompson Sails & Kite Repairs

By Mike Murphy

Windsurfers and kiters in the local area are fortunate to have an outstanding sail and kite repair service. San-dra and Bob Thompson have been repairing kites and windsur� ng sails from their home locally since 1998. Thompson Sails is one of the top four busiest windsurf-ing sail repair lofts in the country.

Background…..leaving TexasSandra is from Robstown, graduated from Alice High

School and Texas A&I University. She taught home-making in Troy, Texas near Temple for seventeen years. Sandra began sailing boats on Belton Lake where she met Bob and both served as of� -cers in the Lake Belton Yacht Club.

Bob is orig-inally 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 sta-tioned there in the Air Force. He built his � rst racing sail-boat in 1983, followed by an-other larger one in 1988. He learned how to windsurf in 1990 on Lake Belton after buying some mismatched windsur� ng gear at a Houston swap meet.

Bob got his Master’s Degree in Architecture at Tex-as A&M and started an architectural � rm 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 ca-reer in St. Thomas for the next two years.

Locally…..back to TexasThe Thompson’s decided to move here in 1994, Sandra

returned to teaching special education and Bob worked for an architectural � rm until they both retired in 2001. One of Bob’s last projects was completing all the de-sign work for the Driscoll Children’s Hospital expansion from 1997 to 2001.

Thompson Sails also began during this time, Sandra did kite repairs while Bob focused on windsur� ng 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-

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 projectThe 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 um-brella 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 re-lated � ea markets. Each year, about 500,000 RV’s converge on Quartzsite to spend the win-ter. 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 up-scale RV bedding including mem-ory foam toppers, down blankets and premium cotton sheets.

Travel…..tidbits and highlightsTen years ago Sandra and Bob

began traveling with a camp-er trailer. They usually make two long trips each year, about a month each and always go to dif-ferent places. One of their trips found them leaving Washing-ton DC on 9/11 about two hours ahead of the plane hitting the Pen-tagon. 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.

Their next trip will be this fall and will include attending the Indian Arts festival in Santa Fe, New Mexico; visit-ing 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 � -nal destination is California, for a week of grape harvest festivals and wine tasting in Sonoma and Napa Valley.

Windsurfi ng……another LagunaticBob moved to the local area to windsurfed and he did at

Bird Island Basin for four years. Then in 1998, he start-ed sailing at the end of Laguna Shores road near the Pita Island area. He also coordinated several annual clean-ups at the launch site before Bluff’s Landing made sig-ni� cant improvements and began offering paid access.

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 doz-en windsur� ng newbies.

hair salon

949-0794

www.theislandsedgehairsalon.com

Texas Surf Camps is now offering daily and weekly surf camps in Corpus Christi @ Bob Hall Pier!!

Come learn to surf with Quiksilver Pro Surfer Morgan Faulkner and the best surf instructors in Texas!!

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.

Get more info & sign-up online at

www.texassurfcamps.com or call (361) 749-6956

This Momma Pied Billed grebe feeds her young a � sh at The Birding Center in Port Aransas.