Pictures...

Going offline for yet-to-be determined amount of time.

Cheap Maui Eats

Sweet - Cheap Maui eats.

Got our Maui crew finalized. I'm stoked.

East Coast Wave Sailing

Alan, you guys are gonna be glad to get to San Carlos!

http://www.ibscc.org/fay.htm

Is this Windsurfing?

I found this on Steve B's blog (Steve, you are now added to my blog list - don't know how I missed you before!)



The length that these guys are going to to have a windsurfing event is impressive for sure - but I'm not wholly convinced it's windsurfing.

Sure, they're using boards, and skills, and certainly all the guys skilled enough to do these tricks in this fashion are skilled enough to do them in actual wind (I think.) It's definitely great no-wind training for freestyle.

But, if it's windsurfing...

Where's the wind?!?!?

If a PWA contest is skunked, and they use boat-assisted planing to get results, should they be valid?

I would love to see a big-time freestyle event here in the states - even a small tour - but I don't think I'd go to those lengths to do it.

Of course, I couldn't really tell from the video - the boat assisted sailing may have been merely goof-off, fun, expression sessions.

Readers, what's your take?

Laundry List

Our little soiree on Sunday was a buncha fun... post-sesh, the Cal Sailing Club broke out the grill, I bought a buncha beers, and a party commenced, complete with live music and dancing. After I commented on how much fun I was having, a Berkeley regular goes, "Oh, this happens all the time". It's a great crew there - look for more on them in the a spring issue next year.



Damos with a total babe...


Harlin's hollerin' at the grill...


Post-sesh jam sesh...


Now, a few pictures to whet your appetite.. I headed down - or up?!? ;-) - the coast again for some more waves. Much smaller than the last swell, but great wind, a decent wave that was about head high at some spots, and great light. Plus, it was high tide, so folks were taking rides past the point, which made for some nice shots.





Finally, one video for stoke, and one video for laughs.
The stoke: Andre Paskowski's video, STACKED.



And, for laughs - a Home Alone/I am Legend mashup. Much better if you've seen I Am Legend (which was an OK movie, not great.) I assume you've seen Home Alone. If not... well... I just don't know what to say.

Laughing out loud...

OK, a couple things ...

1. If you're in the Bay Area, come sail at Berkeley today, and stick around for post-sesh beers at Cal Sailing Club compliments of WindSurfing Mag.

2. If you haven't seen Dave's blog, this (below) was hil-AR-ious. A new riff on this old vid.....

3. If I can find H's tweezers, I'm taking my stitches out. Sweet.

Secret Cali Spot

No more commentary - don't wanna anger the locals too much ... understandably so...

Pics from Bezerkeley, going to Waddell

waveswaveswaveswaveswaveswaves

not big but gonna be something

going to waddell

pics from yesterday with Kevin K. (((who is usually nicer than he is in that pic...)))

Memories from Days of Yore...

These are from back when I broke boards rather than boards breaking me...

My first real-deal wave sailing sesh. Man, that feels like a really long time ago... I guess it wasn't so long ago.


The Hughster with his broken board.



Josh and his broken Fanatic. I can still remember crouching down in the sand for that pic, then running to grab my Mistral Screamer and head back out.

Somebody ended up giving me $50 for this board because they loved the design on it so much.

Looking back, so did I!! Anybody got one of these they wanna part with? It would look great on my wall.

Big Sur

Is big.

Bixby Bridge.
A nice scenic viewpoint.


Purple sand at Pfeiffer State Park Beach.



Lone surfer paddles out.

No wind down here; lots of fog. Could be fun on a longboard with a small sail.

Sittin' on a Porch in the Bay...

It was a cold November day, back in Tallahassee - I was in college at Florida State. It was Friday night, and it was pretty par for the course - we were just finishing up the sailing club's beer tasting party. Earlier that day, I had been reading through posts on the local windsurfing bulletin board when I saw one from a sailor who was telling everyone of possibly epic wavesailing conditions at St. George's Island.



That sailor was my buddy H., and that was my first day ever sailing in the waves. There's a couple pictures from that day... I'm going to see if H. still has them. If he does, I'll post them here...

We left the party at about two AM, and drove to St. George's Island, falling asleep in the truck. We were up at eight, and it was HOWLING. I was totally OP'd on 5.0... I ended up breaking my wave board in half. Sailed it in flopping in two pieces. Grabbed the Screamer II. Back out for more. That, my friends, was a truly epic session that I'll never forget. I believe there were three broken boards, a trashed rig, and a broken nose that day. Awesome.

Hit play...




Anyhoo, fast forward a few years and H and his girlfriend A got tired of the lack of wind and lack of culture in Tally and pulled the plug, heading to SF, where Hugh works as an architect, A travels the country for her job with IBM - and there's so much more sailing options than Florida. I've come out to visit them for three summers now. This year, they just moved into a pimp new pad on Twin Peaks - check out the view:


Oh, wait. That's foggy. Here, check out this view....


That's downtown San Francisco you see behind my smiling face.

Anyways, they're on vacation for a bit, but heading back on Monday - excited to see 'em.

Now, on to the sailing part... but first ... the disgusting part.

Sitting here in the house, watching the wind sensors, I couldn't take it anymore. My leg didn't hurt much - it was just cut - and I wanted to go sailing. So I decided to wrap it up as well as I could, and hit the water...

Here's the process.


Leg.



Must create a waterproof seal. Hair does not help this. So I went Michael Phelps on my left calf. Not sure if it improved my speed in the water like it does his... but wow, I have really smooth skin! Must be all the moisturizing.




The final result. Under there is a Nexcare waterproof bandage, wrapped up with some flexible medical tape, wrapped in saran-wrap, then duct-taped. I pulled on my wetsuit over it - very gently- and it seemed pretty solid. The pressure kinda hurt, but not too bad.



At the Crissy Field launch, I met Catapulting Aaron...

This dude is hil-AR-ious. Expect an article from him next year. He's also the only male I know who can rock white sunglasses without looking gay or gangster.

Anyway, after a few hitches - (I left a boom clip in Hood River by accident, but borrowed one from Abisail, who's had a bit of bad luck lately...) it was time to get wet. (Or, try and stay dry.) I wasn't going to push, so I grabbed the longboard. Plus, there was a huge wind shadow, and I didn't want to swim.

First launch - totally dry. Sailed out - realized new harness lines were about five inches too long for comfort. (I've been playing with my rig a lot - lately I've been running my boom as high as possible, so I was going to try the super-long lines. But, these were definitely too long. It was weird - the rig was super upright, and felt very light- fingertip control - but overall, I wasn't a fan.

Oh, as for how the water-proofing worked - I think it worked well. The only only problem? I sweat. Especially sailing totally OP'd in a 5/4 wetsuit. So there was definitely some moisture under the bandage, but not much. I don't think any water got IN, which was the point. Not sure if it'll take a good wave washing, but I'll probably try it next week.

I really like this pic Aaron took. The blue sail is pretty cool. That's the Golden Gate fogged in in the background.

This weekend, I'm off to Big Sur for a good friend's wedding - posts resume on Sunday night/Monday.

In Which I drive long distances on little sleep, and encounter fire, cows, hitchhikers and ...Svein Rasmussen.

Yesterday, by the hour:

6 AM-Awake, finish packing. These nasty looking bugs had taken up residence in my footstrap holes - nasty little things!


7:30 - en route to the Oregon Coast - for the Starboard Dealer meeting. Just wanted to drop in and say hi...

I arrived, unfortunately, as Svein was departing to return home to Thailand... we shook hands, and made some plans to visit later in this year for a very cool story we're working on. No pics with Svein, but....

Scott McKercher and Declan Sacre talk about the Starboard SUP line..


2 PM - Depart Oregon Coast. Twiddle thumbs through scenic drive - most of it behind a guy with a dog on the ROOF of his pickup, ala MJ Fox in Werewolf ... I'm not sure this was safe. But the dog seemed to enjoy it, and never appeared to lose his balance. I kept my distance.


3 PM - Finally hit i-5. Push 'er up to eighty... then slam on the brakes as traffic comes grinding to halt. There's a puny little fire by the road, backing up traffic for 10 miles, and of course, gapers gaped as gapers must.



4:30 - I ejected from the highway and looked for detours - only to be traffic-jammed by a herd of cows crossing the road. I was not happy. I did not take pictures.

5:30 - I reached Eugene, where I'd made plans to pick up Trevor., who had e-mailed me after I posted a rideshare on craigslist. T.'s a singer from NY, kickin' it on the west coast for a bit ... Here's a shoutout to his myspace page..

We put the pedal to the metal and hauled butt for the OR border. Trevor is cool. We have a mutual friend in NY. He surfs.

8:30 - I'm tired - just a few hours of sleep, and lots of driving... I'm thinking it's time to pull off for coffee, and I don't even DRINK coffee.

9ish - I was on the phone after we hit the Cali border..

Trevor: 'Dide, we just got flashed!
Me: F(@#(!!! I'm doin' like eighty-five! Hey... I don't see any cops...
Trevor: No, flashed!
Me: You mean by somebody coming the other way?
Trevor: No, BOOBS!

Sure enough, a couple of California gals came by and said 'hello' again. After a little cat and mouse, they followed us when we pulled off to pull up.

I told 'em (legitimately!) that I wanted a picture for my road trip blog, and they were happy to oblige. Our friendly flasher was the the cutest of the bunch... you can guess which one.


9:30 - Strangely invigorated. No longer feel the need for caffeine.

11:30 - Billy Joel sing-along. What can we say?

1:21 AM - Cross the Bay Bridge. It's windy. Drop off Trevor in the Tenderloin, and head to H & A's place in Twin Peaks. Find key, fall asleep.


Today, I wrapped my hurt leg and went sailing - more posts about this tomorrow...

Hasta la vista, Hood River!

See you at the debates, bitches!

(This is about as political as you'll see this blog ever get... I couldn't resist. This was hilarious.)

King of the HOOK!

Since I was infirm, I helped man the mike for the always-awesome King of the Hook.

It's a killer event that really is all about simply having fun while windsurfing. I'll let the pics talk for themselves!

Sail Bag Desperately seeks Sail

So, in the midst of my hauling-ass to the ER on Friday, I appear to have misplaced my beloved 5.0 Aerotech.

It's red, and I love it.

Chances are, it was left at the Hatch, near the trees in the first row. If it pops up, please let me know, or return it to Second Wind with my name on it.

It's a prototype, so there's no sail size or rigging specs on it.

Come on, I know the windsurfing community is pretty tight - please let me know if you found my sail! I'll definitely find a way to reward your honesty.....



*****ULTIMATE EDIT********

So, midway through this post, I realized what became of this sail. (I'm leaving the rest up there for your amusement.)

While rigging that day I tore the headstrap. (Good thing, cuz i needed the 4.2 instead of the 5.0).

Immediately after leaving the hospital, I 'misplaced' it at Sailworks for repair.

Guess my mind was a little scrambled that day...

39% of you are right.

Don't read if you've got a weak stomach.


The first thing Josh broke during his back loops attempts was.......drum rollllll.....

.... himself.

Let me give you a bit of advice - in attempting loops of any sort - most times, it's best to hold on.

Tight.

The day started out GREAT - powered up 4.2 at the Hatch. Not too crowded, good buddies on the water, lotsa fun. I was trying back loops, and .... sort-of flakas. (I hestitate to even call them attempts. They were ugly. )

Anyways, third sesh, I went for BIG backloop on my first run. At the peak of my jump, I wussed out and kicked off the board - and kicked my fin.

Hard.

Thanks to Chris B., who forwarded this to me AS I was typing this post. Not sure if this is the one, but that's probably what it looked like. Looking at my left leg, there's a good chance this was it.


I knew it was a good hit, but waterstarted and sailed away, waiting to see if it the pain would ease. It did, but I saw a spot of blood, so I figured I'd better go in. When I pulled up the wetsuit, it was immediately clear I'd need stitches... a buddy offered to de-rig my gear and bring it home, I was going to drive myself to the hospital.



First pic - at the hospital, pre cleaning. I left my wetsuit on for compression, and the doctor said that was the perfect thing to do.



Second pic - Novocaine, and cleaned up quite a bit. You could see the sheath covering the bone.


Third Pic - Doc D, a kiter and windsurfer, sewing me up. He was friendly and chatty, and didn't mind me taking pictures. They asked me what the pain was like, I said "Meh. Two out of ten." This would greatly change in a few hours.





Four and Five - stitched up. Off the water for about 10-14 days. The cut was in a good spot, so no limited mobility. I can ride a bike in a couple days, says Doc. He gave me a scrip for vicodin, which I didn't fill.

Fast forward a few hours - HOLY CRAP! My legs feels like it's in a vise, with a fire brand where the stitches are. Killin' me. I got Tyson to haul me to the Rx for pain pills, where I limped into the pharmacy and a friendly technician hurried my drugs along.

Now I'm sitting here watching the Olympic ceremony (Go Nancy!) and don't plan on moving much.

Well, Stu and Andy, I can now sympathize with you guys - I am going to be off the water for two weeks in the middle of peak season. Had a coast trip planned in a few days to meet up with the Starboard dudes for some SUP and some sailing, definitely out now. And the next two days of wind.


Ugh.

deadlines and windlines

The good thing about deadlines and wind lines is you can see both of them coming. Deadlines loom over your head like a dark, wind-sucking cloud - wind-lines hover on the horizon.

Fortunately, you usually reach both.

After two weeks of waking up around 6 or 7 AM and immediately getting online to be available to my Florida office, missing wind here in the Gorge, the mag has shipped (on time, no less!) and the pressure is off! I think it's going to be a great issue - it's got the most real-world coverage of any issue of the year.

Anyways, back to windlines and deadlines. the biggest difference? You're always happy to see a deadline disappear. the windline ... not necessarily. After a few days of high pressure (and light wind) here in the Gorge, the wind turned back on this afternoon, picking up to a solid 18-22 at the Hatch. Needless to say, we all went to get some. Being greedy, I stayed out for quite a while after most sailors left. After one underpowered reach across the river, I figured it was time to call it quits, and was planning on heading in on the next reach. Half-way through - I couldn't get on a plane - I heard a barge blast. I looked up, and sure enough, a big ol' mother was heading right toward my partially-submerged board. After quickly deciding I didn't want to risk it, I pivot-jibed and headed back out. That was the last time I'd get my feet on my board for at least twenty minutes. The wind shut off like somebody killed the fan - and now I was halfway back across the river. I was adrift, barely being held up river by the sail I was struggling to keep above my head. I managed to waterstart once holding on to the mast and the foot of the sail; but was only able to schlog about 50 feet before sinking to my waist again. Finally a good puff came, and you never seen such a big kid waterstart so damn fast. I had drifted below the hatch, but into the good current - I was just trying to stay on the board while it took me upwind. Finally, about 30 minutes after that barge had passed, I climbed up the hatchery rocks, commiserated with fellow swimmer "Duck Jibe Pete" Wagoner, and headed out, thoroughly satisfied to have sailed.

More tomorrow, can't wait.

Interesting Reading

Sorry for the extreme slow-down in postings. I'm jamming hard on the next issue of the mag, which you should see in about three weeks.

Also, except for one day that I ended up at Red Bull Flugtag in Portland, the wind has been fairly light. (It was blowing like 15 when we left, with no forecast for more - by the time we were gridlocked in traffic, it was 35 plus. Suffice it to say, we were not happy.)

Anyway, Flugtag was pretty cool - hell, anytime you launch anything of a 30-foot pier is cool. I think a team of bright windsurfers could come up with something really keen - of course, I mentioned this to Bruce Peterson, who told me that custom board shaper Rob Mulder won it in Vancouver 2 years ago with a detachable glider that traveled 160 feet.





Anyhoo, here's some interesting reading that I ran across today in on the web.

Wired.

Wikipedia.

Boing Boing.