by Alissa Inman
On most windy afternoons, Karl
Schuler can be found tearing around the Laguna Madre or the Oso
Bay. However, this 10-year CCWA member is even quicker off the
water, with his hands and mind. Karl is a skilled woodworker,
blacksmith, engineer, world traveler, and more.
When did you start to windsurf?
I started in 1988 with a basic lesson
in New Mexico. My wife actually
bought me a board. It was an
anniversary gift. She thought it
would be the last board I’d ever
have. I’ve been through more than
a dozen since then.
Hometown: I was born in New
York and went to graduate school
in Chicago, but I spent most of my
life in Albuquerque.
How long have you lived in
Texas?
10 years.
What brought you to Corpus
Christi?
In 1989 we came down
here to take windsurfing lessons
from Vicki Harraghy at Texas
Excursions. New Mexico is a very
frustrating place to learn to windsurf.
From 1989 to 1996 we would come
here every year for a week or two,
and once we stayed for a month.
Does Linda windsurf?
She’s not a
water person.
Did that make it a harder decision
to move to Corpus?
Not really. We
had both decided we did not want to
keep the big house in New Mexico.
Favorite launches and conditions:
I like the shallow water in either the
Oso Bay or Laguna Shores. The Oso is better in north, northeast, or
west winds. The Laguna is good in south or southeast.
Any favorite gear?
I’ve got three Basset boards: an 8’6’’, a 9’0’’, and a
9’6’’. That pretty well covers everything I have to do here.
Occupation:
I’m a mechanical engineer. I still do consulting, and I teach
material science and manufacturing processes (at Texas A&M
University-Corpus Christi).
Do you find relationships between engineering and windsurfing?
Once I took a whole bunch of broken windsurfing stuff and brought it in
to the lab to show my material sciences students how materials fail.
Scariest time windsurfing? I was windsurfing with my son in New
Mexico when a thunderstorm came. Fortunately we got off the water just
in time, because it blew everything out of place, even turned over the
port-a-potties. The people still on the water were getting blown to who
knows where (no one got hurt). I had a friend who got hit by lightning
once, though, and ever since then I’ve been very leery of lightning
conditions.
Hobbies:
I do a lot of woodworking and cabinet working. I built all the
cabinets in our house and in our last house. I built the beds, the dining
room table, the TV cabinet…and we just finished building Linda a
quilting room.
Do you do other types of craftsmanship?
Welding and blacksmithing.
I made a candelabra and a rose that
got sold in a world hunger auction,
and I was pretty proud of the price
they fetched.
You also travel a lot, right?
Linda and I travel about two times a year.
For the next two years we will probably be traveling every six months
to Ireland to spend time with my
son, who is working there, my
daughter-in-law, and my two
granddaughters.
What are some other favorite
places you’ve been?
We went to
New Zealand last year, we’ve
been to Aruba, and I especially like
Bonaire and the Grand Canyon. I
almost got to windsurf in Russia,
but I missed it by one day. The
club there does a weekly sail on
Sunday and I
found out about it
on Monday.
Other CCWA
involvement:
I’m the CCWA representative
for the Watershed Advisory Group for
Oso Creek/Oso Bay. (Watch for a
report soon!)
