Kite-surfing around Fay

Bobby Koser, 21, from Tampa, wind-surfs Anna Maria Sound on Tuesday afternoon

As the outskirts of Tropical Storm Fay whisked by Bradenton on Tuesday afternoon, at least one local duo took advantage of the storm's gusts.

Bradenton resident Dr. Bob Koser, 54, and son Bobby, 21, from Tampa, spent a couple hours wind surfing on Anna Maria Sound.

"I'm playing hooky from work to do this," Bob said.

They glided across the water, sometimes up to 15 mph in the southwest corner of the Sound, just before storm clouds became to threatening to stay on the water at 2 p.m.

The wind was dangerous enough.

"When you go out there 100 yards or so," Bob said, "it's crazy and it gets hard to get back in."

It also can be hard just to stay on the board.

"There were a lot of crosswinds today," Bobby said. "You'll get going really nice and all of a sudden the wind will go south to north and the wind blows you right off the board."

Wednesday no doubt was an ideal day for all varieties of surfers who rely on strong winds, from kite surfers to wind surfers.

Bob said he saw a clip on a local news station of a kite surfer in St. Petersburg who got caught up in a gust and was slammed to the beach. "Then he held onto the line," Bob said, "he got back in the air, and it looked like he slammed into a house."

As Fay approached the Florida Keys late Monday, there wasn't much of a feeling of nervousness for Bobby.

"I was just thinking about making waves on the board," he said.