Busting the Berlin wall

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choco
choco
SA
4186 posts
SA, 4186 posts
8 Nov 2009 11:09pm
Just watching a doco on the Berlin wall on SBS and it showed a couple of guys who windsurfed to freedom across the Baltic sea escaping from East Germany.
stehsegler
stehsegler
WA
3580 posts
WA, 3580 posts
8 Nov 2009 9:57pm
yup... remember an article in a German wind mag about it...

... all pretty rad... they made harnesses out of seat belts (which apparently was a common way to build gear in the former East), build their own boards (cause you couldn't buy any) and otherwise were pretty inventive when it came to the whole escape plan...

... I guess my mum and her parents getting on an East Berlin city train and slipping past the federal police at the only station in the West sector ain't "quite as adventures".

From what they two guys said in the magazine article they actually nearly died in the process.
Fredstyles
Fredstyles
86 posts
86 posts
8 Nov 2009 11:13pm
Docu in german language showing their original homebuilt gear.

pierrec45
pierrec45
NSW
2005 posts
NSW, 2005 posts
9 Nov 2009 1:00pm
> homebuilt gear

I must be missing something, plus me don't speak german. The shaping of boards and booms, I can see.

But building efficient, working sails out of magazines, sounds rather difficult.
Note too the hands: without gloves and efficient boots in those waters, forget it. I know from these parts here.
stehsegler
stehsegler
WA
3580 posts
WA, 3580 posts
9 Nov 2009 10:43am
pierrec45 said...

> homebuilt gear

I must be missing something, plus me don't speak german. The shaping of boards and booms, I can see.

But building efficient, working sails out of magazines, sounds rather difficult.
Note too the hands: without gloves and efficient boots in those waters, forget it. I know from these parts here.


you are right but you can build a sail from an old sailboat setup. I have also seen wetsuits made from insulation neoprene.

You'd be surprised how ingenious DDR folk used to be when it came to making due with what they had. Their Trabant car was another one of those examples. Due to the lack of spare parts many people would simply make their own.
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