Wandering in the Wind

Board Test Photoshoot

2009-04-08T05:52:00.000-07:00

Board Test Shoot Out-take shots

2009-02-19T15:58:00.000-08:00

Kieran Devanney

Kieran Devanney, James Douglass, Dominique Vallee

Your righteous blogger 'n mag editor.

Dominique Vallee

James Douglass.

And one for an old friend ... Cate, - you deserve this ;-)

2009-02-07T06:42:00.000-08:00

Look closer.

SUPping Wekiva River, Sunday Sailing Sesh

2008-12-02T15:49:00.000-08:00

So where CAN you take your SUP boards?

Lotsa places, that's where.

After a big ol' turkey dinner at gramma's house, I dropped by my buddy Zach's place, where I ran into my buddy Brent, who surfs, kayaks, and is learning to windsurf... anyhoo, we were kicking around some ideas for what to do with our Friday off of work, and we decided we were going to go explore the Wekiva River.

We put in right below Wekiva Springs, and paddled until about a quarter mile past the intersection of the Rock Springs Run. Not a very physically invigorating paddle, but it was definitely a cool way to check out the river. No, I didn't see any gators. What I did find out is that the fin I was using didn't like running into logs very much (then again, it never has) - I need to find (or make) a fin that's better suited for shallow river exploration. I'm thinking something long and shallow, like a keel... anybody have any ideas, or seen anything?

Me, turning around to face the camera...

Andrew, a JAG from Destin, FL, enjoying his first time on a SUP ....

Brent, paddling around....

Then, two days later, we scored some wind and waves out at Cocoa Beach in front of the Banana River resort. Lacking a big, wave-y shortboard, I opted to start out with my Kona 11'5 - but once the wind really picked up, I rustled up a smaller shortboard, which proved to be *very* fun. Unfortunately, not long after this little frontside hit, the wind crapped out, and that was it for shortboarding for the day.

I have to say, that was a FUN day... jeepers. I wish everyday was like that.

First Florida Sesh

2008-11-15T14:27:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning amped - we had a killer adventure the night before (which you'll find out more about later), and I was stoked for my first florida paddleboard sesh.

That lasted about five minutes after I got wet. Florida, you see, is not Maui. The wave faces are choppy. The wave period is short. All the paddleboarding I'd done in Maui (and in the lake near my office last week) was for naught - I felt like I was a beginner again. The sunken tail, one-stroke board 180 I had thought I had mastered? Pssshh. I could barely stand on the board.

My frustration lasted for about ten minutes before I said "Screw it, I'm getting a sail." \

That changed EVERYTHING. The wind was VERY light and very offshore, and the waves were breaking pretty close to the beach, so I didn't get many rides as I really wanted to only take the set waves that would give me a chance to ride then pop out before getting caught in the dead zone of the shorebreak. The few rides I did get, though, were top notch, according to my buddy Brent who was surfing.

Post-sesh, we grabbed some IHOP, then headed back to the resort to get Brent windsurfing - he'd taken a lesson a few years ago, but hadn't sailed since. It's a tribute to his athleticism that he was basically sailing on his own after just a few minutes of instruction. I bounced between boards and sails (Aerotech Phantom 6.8, Severne Element 7.5, Sailworks NC4 8.5, Kona 11'5, Kona One, Starboard Serenity, Exocet S-Cross 145...) the wind picked up enough to send us all running for shortboards, but the wind died just as a I got the 8.5 rigged and on the water.

Oh well.

Non-windsurfing stuff...

2008-11-05T06:36:00.000-08:00

Last night I flew into NYC to visit some family and friends. I started chatting with a gal on the subway on the way from Grand Central to Port Authority, and she was heading down to Times Square to be among the throngs watching the election on the big screen... really incredible. I figured I had a few minutes to spare before I caught the bus to Scranton/Wilkesbarre to see my Gramma, but the gal from the subway dragged me down to Times Square, and I'm really glad I went ... It's been a long time since I've seen that many people so happy about one thing that wasn't a sporting event, and man, was it cool. Political platforms aside, I have to say that Obama has a rare talent for inspiration, and merely hearing him speak has been a refreshing change from the Bush years.

Turns out the Peconic Puffin was there too...

Now, here's a few pictures from my drive that I've been meaning to put up....

Some odd stuff around Arizona, including the largest Teepee in the Southwest... and a town by the odd name of "Truth or Consequences" .... I wonder if they support capital punishment.

Then, I stopped in Marfa, Texas, about 70 miles south of I-10, to see some an old family friend, who was just recently named FAA Instructor of the Year - he teaches gliding lessons at his flight school, Marfa Gliders.

Anyways, now I'm on "vacation" - maybe a NY post or something ;-)

The office ....

2008-11-03T08:11:00.000-08:00

...is still standing.

Home!

2008-11-01T17:17:00.000-07:00

.... tired.

Left Berkeley Tuesday AM.

Flagstaff, Marfa, Ft. Walton Beach, Orlando. 3,130 miles.

The many faces of Dave...

2008-10-23T23:25:00.001-07:00

Just got some of the shots back from Erik...

That Dave guy sure likes to show off!

One happy sailor... and the longest swim..

2008-10-15T00:09:00.000-07:00

The solid NW swell is still hitting Maui's North Shore, and this morning we awoke to more waves, but very light winds. Passing on the SUP sesh to get some cleaning done around the house, before heading over to Kanaha for Chris' last sesh of the trip - with winds hover around 5 knots at shore and 10 outside the reef, we headed out on longboards with 5-meter sails.

The waves were still huge - as big as the whopper I caught SUPping yesterday. I grabbed a couple then headed in to check on Chris. We headed out Upper Kanaha's 2nd (or 3rd?) reef, where two more shortboard sailors had slogged out. One guy was on an older starboard, and what looked like a 5.8 or 6.0 meter sail. This guy was STOKED. I caught a good look at him coming down the line as I was going out, and he was hootin' and hollerin. We even ended up once on the same wave, and he gave me plenty of room, and was smilin' all the time.

After catching a few more rides, we ended up on the same wave again - we had both gone for what looked to be the set wave. Not wanting to ruin his ride, I jibed over the shoulder - and found myself staring into a wall of blue. I threw the mast down, tried to the sink tip down as far as I could - but there was no chance. The gear ripped out of my hands, I felt my back hit reef - not to hard - just enough to know it was there - and it felt like an eternity before I made it back up for air.

When I did come up, my gear was - amazingly - about five feet away - but I could already tell the mast was broken, about halfway down. Now, if the sail had been torn, I would have just tried to sail it in. But the sail had miraculously survived with no damage, and sailing it in would have almost guaranteed tearing the sleeve, so I de-rigged, figuring my buddy on the longboard would soon be out to lend a hand.

This turned out to be a decision I would (slightly) regret. With the swell, Chris was searching for me with his binoculars, but didn't see me broken down. The wind had picked up, blowing me downwind, through Lowers, all the way to Kite Beach. A big shout-out to Juan from Hot Sails who was the only sailor or kiter to offer me a tow in. His 69-liter board wasn't too hot for it though, so after we accidentally separated I told him to go back in and play with the waves. I was pretty beat by the time I made it back to shore - just in time to get Chris, Heather, and their 7-month-old daughter Myla off to the airport to catch their flight to LA layover, before they carry on to London, then Newcastle.

I wanted to find that other sailor that was sailing Uppers with us... he sure got me stoked.

Scared Sh!tless

2008-10-14T01:33:00.000-07:00

I caught the biggest wave of my life today SUPing. It was, wholly and completely, unintentional.

We headed to Kanaha hoping to sail in the fairly decent sized NW swell - it was easily mast-high on Sunday afternoon when Chris caught his first *real* windsurfing wave - we shared a mast-high macker, me just downwind of him, getting a few turns...

Anyhoo, paddled out - there were a few surfers at lowers, nobody at uppers. Being fairly novice SUP'ers, we headed for the edge of the channel where there some really nasty waves breaking - steep and pitchy. Most of the other SUP'ers knew enough to stay out of there - but we knew enough to know that we weren't good enough to get everyone else's way ;-).

So after getting working and worked and missing waves and falling off, we were pretty beat, and were thinking of going in. Chris caught a wave, and happened to lose his paddle - I could see it, so I started paddling towards it to grab it and bring it to him.... as i paddled toward it, I saw a wave coming.

I kept paddling for the paddle.

I got closer.

The wave was getting bigger.

I was twenty feet away from the paddle.

The wave was head-high.

I was ten feet away from the paddle.

"F*$K THE PADDLE" I screamed to Chris.

The wave was probably now head and a half, and not breaking. I paddled like my life depended on it. Somehow, I managed to switch my feet from parallel to perpendicular. I dug one more time. The wave welled up under the board, and took me all the way up the peak - I could feel it getting ready to break - then I pushed the nose straight down the face - kind of like dipping my toes in the water. Chris was right in the way (I have corroboration!) - and confirmed the look I felt on my face - I was scared shitless. He swears to god that 12 foot board was nearly completely vertical when I went screaming down the face, well out into the flats, as the wave caught up behind me and I rode the white water gasping for air and screaming my head off. It wasn't a ride, just a drop, but, holy crap, it was easily the scariest drop-in of my life.

Windsurfing, surfing, paddling, kiting...

waves make it all the better.

Oh and go check Dave's Blog!

2008-10-10T00:31:00.001-07:00

While I was running around the boat setting up shots for the magazine, Troup was getting more shots for his blog - go and look at them!

Epic Sessions

The Boat Photoshoot Day and back to testing

2008-10-10T00:14:00.000-07:00

This morning, we woke up to head to the Red Rhino for a lil' photoshoot - sorry, you don't get to see pictures yet - but Dave will probably post some video outtakes soon. Let's just say we're stoked with the outcome, and you'll see it in the mag ;-)

After that, it was back to Kanaha for - MORE board testing! The last few boards of the fleet arrived today, and, fortunately, they were big'uns... it was a little on the lighter side. However - it was still Maui - which means, even at my 'heavyweight' size (OK, I'm probably even bigger than the average heavyweight) I was planing on ~90 liters boards and a 5.5 with wind averaging about 20 mph. At home in Florida, I'd probably be on 5.7 or probably 6.2, and a 115 liter board. Even so, the wind lightened up, and I hung on the beach while the flyweights planed away. Most impressive was Brit guester Chris "Spider-monkey" Peacock - who blasted by 5 slogging sailors, planed through a nice inside duck jibe, and kept blasting back out to the reef.

Sorry for the lack of posts!

2008-10-08T11:41:00.000-07:00

Fortunately, David has been posting double-time.

The board test is going well - we had a few good days of wind, now it's dropped off for a couple days, giving us some time to rest up, measure boards, do some photo shoots, and maybe today get a hike in - we're thinking bamboo forest, or maybe swinging bridges. Anybody have any suggestions?

Keep an eye on Dave's blog for some epic footage from our new GoPro Hero Wide-Angle.

Now, I'm going to help catapulting Aaron measure some boards... I'll try and get the spreadsheet up soon.

Maui, Two Days In!

2008-10-04T12:24:00.000-07:00

After two days of running around the island getting nearly twenty boards, a dozen sails of varying brands and sizes, and chatting with all the locals, the WindSurfing test team had its first full day of testing yesterday at Kanaha. Winds were a steady 20-25. I was comfortably overpowered on a 5.7 - the rest of the test team used sails from 4.5 to 5.5. Big sail award of the day goes Carl Spiess from Canada, who held down a 6.2 until it got really windy.

Joining us for a longish weekend is Florida Technical Editor Alex Stankie - (his pop's an airline pilot, so he was able to hitch a ride out for free - although not in the board bag he's pictured in here - he actually came First Class!)

Now we're sitting at the test house, having some breakfast, and getting ready for another day of testing - sweet! Aaron, Alex and Jenny H. from Hood River.

Mecca

2008-10-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

If you've been windsurfing for any length of time, you know that Maui is, well, pretty much the center of the windsurfing universe. While it wasn't here that the sport was invented, it was here that the sport grew, flourished, and progressed into the short board era that enthralled people across the world. It's where Robby Naish, Josh Stone, Mark Angulo, Mike Waltze, and many other world-famous sailors cut their teeth on sharp coral reefs and jagged shoreline rocks.

Flying over the North Shore yesterday was invigorating - really getting me excited for sailing here.

Today, I'm running around to different shops and distributors, rounding up the gear for the High Wind board test -and hopefully, getting on the water this afternoon. Fingers crossed!!

Jet Plane Jitters....

2008-09-28T18:46:00.000-07:00

Sunday night - Orlando, FL.

Tomorrow, I'll hop on a plane to San Francisco, where I'll be crashing with a friend before hopping on another plane to the mecca of windsurfing - Maui, Hawaii - specifically, Maui's North Shore. The most legendary coast in windsurfing - the birthplace of wavesailing, home to many of the sport's legends, land of endless trades and massive waves - and WindSurfing's High Wind Board Tests.

And, the best news: There's swell on the horizon.

Sleeping is going to be tough for the next couple days!

Roberto Ricci on his Limited Edition Boards

2008-09-26T12:17:00.000-07:00

Roberto Ricci offers us an inside look on his Limited Edition boards.

Awesome Windsurfing Advertising.

2008-09-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

Most of you probably haven't seen the slick video ads North Sails are making. I have to say, it's some of the best advertising I see happening in windsurfing. The videos are quick, well-produced, and - most importantly - funny and clever. Here's one for the new 3-piece mast, which you'll be reading about in an issue of WindSurfing next year.

More videos here.

A sign of windsurfing maturity.

2008-09-24T06:55:00.000-07:00

Well, it's HONKING here at the Florida coast, and I kind of would like to go sailing.

The problem? My truck - and hence, my gear - is approximately 2,800 miles away.

I've got some parts and pieces lying around - but I'm a couple things short of a full rig - and even if it was a full rig, it would be a 6.5 - and gusts are well into the thirties. Yeah, I'm big, but that doesn't sound like much fun.

Wow. This must be a sign of windsurfing maturity. It's windy, and there's waves, but too windy for my gear, so I'm electing to (probably) not go windsurfing.

Or, it could be that I'm about to go to Maui for two weeks.

Wisconsin

2008-09-20T16:23:00.000-07:00

A non-work windsurfing trip to hang out with my buddies up in the great (green) north.

Took off on a whim for a good forecast - it wasn't epic, but Lake Michigan did deliver - powered up on 5.7 (Dave wants you to know he was on a 5.3) yesterday, and 6.4 today (Again, Dave wants you to know he was on a 5.8.) Some random pics...

Now we are going to have a Wisconsin experience known as a "Supper Club". I've been warned.

Windsurf like a rock-star

2008-09-18T08:58:00.000-07:00

I'm going to Wisconsin. Flight leaves in three hours. See ya!

FRIDAY...SOUTH WINDS TO 30 KNOTS INCREASING TO GALES TO
35 KNOTS. WAVES 5 TO 8 FEET BUILDING TO 6 TO 10 FEET IN THE
AFTERNOON.

Have you seen this page?

2008-09-17T14:12:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the blatant self-pimping, (Wait. No I don't.) but this page is awesome.

Mexican Decompression

2008-09-14T05:30:00.000-07:00

After three months on the road, I'm finally back in Orlando - and it feels....

hot.

Seriously, as we were walking out of the airport at 1 AM, I could already feel the moisture condensing on my skin. And, this being Florida in the summer, there ain't much of a breeze.

However, it was pleasant to be home after our extended Mexican adventure. What? You want to know how I got stuck in Mexico for three days AFTER we camped at San Carlos for a week?

Well.

We left San Carlos in a leisurely fashion on Saturday afternoon. Wyatt rode his dirtbike out, I drove the truck. At some point, he pulled off to pee or check out a view or get mystic with the local plantlife (just kidding) and I passed him - without realizing it. Thinking he was ahead of me - far enough that he was way out of sight - I gunned it, averaging probably 40+. This may have had something do with what happened later, but probably not. To be honest, folks, the road in ain't that bad. There's been tales of a compact four-door making it all the way to San Carlos.

Anyhoo, we got outta the dirt, gassed up and grubbed in El Rosario, loaded the dirtbike in the truck (there was about two inches of clearances between the tire and the wheel well) and headed for El Norte.

As we passed through downtown Ensenada, Wyatt turned to me and said, 'Hey man, this town is kind of hoppin, maybe we should go out and party tonight and finish the drive tomorrow."

"Nah," I said, "let's just keep going."

Five minutes later.

"Well," I said, "maybe we should stop. It's already eight o'clock."

This time Wyatt demurred.

Finally we decided to scope out the motel situation and make our decision then.

So I went to push in the clutch and put the car in gear - and pushed the clutch straight to the floor. Clearly, our decision had been made for us.

The luckiest part was breaking down directly in front of two motels. One was booked, one wasn't. I was able to start the car in gear and drive it to the motel, and we got a room.

This being Saturday night, we knew our chances of finding a mechanic the next day were pretty slim. So we went out pretty big that night. Let me tell you - beer is cheap in Mexico!

We did get the trucked dragged to the Dodge dealership on Sunday, then on Monday they took 'er apart, and on Tuesday, put 'er back together. (Brand new clutch, master and slave cylinder. Cost $1200, comparable to the cost in the states.)

Having nowhere else to go, we spent a lot of time at the dealership, buddying up with the mechanics and drinking beer on the dealership steps. giving 'em mags and DVD's and stuff. Finally, at 6 PM on Tuesday, she was done - we paid the bill and got the hell outta town. We made it from Ensenada to Bezerkeley in a record 10 hours - including the border crossing. Now the truck's stashed up at Wyatt's family orchard near the Cache River, and I'm in Florida - we basically flew in, slept, and hit three days of Surf Expo - pictures and posts to come.

Somebody asked me to explain this picture. I won't, because I can't. This is all the explanation I got, so that's all the explanation you get.

Late update - Glad we didn't see this sign in Mexico:

BACK IN THE USA! .... and... SURF EXPO!

2008-09-11T09:22:00.000-07:00

Never been so glad to see customs in my life ... even if they did send us to secondary! (Guess we looked a little suspicious.)

Heading back to Orlando for Surf Expo. Stay tuned to this blog and www.windsurfingmag.com for pictures and updates of all the new toys.

Should we stop and party in Ensenada?

2008-09-06T20:57:00.000-07:00

When your clutch goes, you don't have a choice.

San Carlos is the best place on the planet.

2008-09-04T14:02:00.001-07:00

Seriously.

Totally. Freaking. Epic.

Pictures...

2008-08-30T12:30:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-28T21:21:00.000-07:00

Cheap Maui Eats

2008-08-27T20:52:00.000-07:00

Sweet - Cheap Maui eats.

Got our Maui crew finalized. I'm stoked.

East Coast Wave Sailing

2008-08-26T19:23:00.000-07:00

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

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

Is this Windsurfing?

2008-08-26T12:23:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-08-24T12:15:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-22T12:10:00.000-07:00

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

Pics from Bezerkeley, going to Waddell

2008-08-21T12:25:00.001-07:00

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...

2008-08-18T21:45:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-18T09:57:00.001-07:00

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...

2008-08-14T19:49:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-08-14T14:09:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-13T06:46:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-12T20:05:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-12T16:03:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-08-08T20:45:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-07T23:14:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-04T21:33:00.000-07:00

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.

Slide Show Wednesday - party Saturday!

2008-07-29T08:34:00.000-07:00

First off, photographer extraordinaire Richard Hallman is having a slide show Wednesday night at Dog River (I believe it's at eight - I'll double check.)

Second, Windance's Dave Nunn just told me they're having a party on Saturday night, hosted by Graham Ezzy of Ezzy Sails. Free food, free beer, just bring a fun time! If you haven't had the chance, drop by the shop - it looks great, and Dave and his staff are super-stoked.

Grinding away...

2008-07-27T10:57:00.000-07:00

More constant posts return late this week.

From Maryhill

2008-07-24T00:47:00.001-07:00

For Alan. Three from Charlotte, two from Illinois, one from Wisconsin, two from FL, and one from Cuba.

Great to have some rec.dotter's out here to sail. Rathokan and Human Catapult were just getting to the Gorge when this shot was taken - they would join us at the Wall the next day.

How much wind does it take...

2008-07-22T22:20:00.000-07:00

... to get a 240 lbs man on a 3.3?

This much.

Of all the places and people I've sailed with over the past few years, today was a day that will definitely stick out in memory, for a couple reasons ....

One - my friend Ingrid almost had her leg broken when another sailor ran into her at The Wall.
Fortunately, three advil and thirteen beers later, she's got a big smile on her face (and a huge contusion on her leg.)

At first, I thought the day was lost - that I'd be driving Ingrid back to the hospital for x-rays.

I severely underestimated the French-Canadian's stamina.

She said she didn't mind if we kept sailing, since she knew we had a photo shoot planned later on... so we hopped into the car, grabbed some supplies, and got ready to head to Arlington (30 miles further east....)

About halfway there, we got a call that the wind had died, but Doug's Beach was reaching epic conditions. So we bombed back west, joined by Richard Hallman, who was planning on hopping in the water for some shots with the Poor Boys, Dale Cook, Wyatt Miller, and a few other peeps. Sailors always huck it harder when they're on film, so it's exciting to be sailing near a photo shoot when it's really windy - that's the second reason I'll remember today.

The final reason today will be memorable is because I used the smallest sail of my life. After sailing on my 4.2 (my smallest sail), I came in for a break, and Casey told me to go out on his 3.3. I laughed.... but then I thought, 'Hey, worth a try!'

I was slogging in the lulls, but very comfortably powered in what many estimate to be near 50-knot gusts. (We're talking spindrift on the water, kids....) It was a ton of fun - much easier to jibe since I wasn't ridonkulously OP'd!

Anyhoo. We all headed back to the Windance house, and scarfed down 60 inches of pizza and some wings, while Richard Hallman showed us some of his sick shots on his laptop.

All My Friends All Over the World

2008-07-21T17:16:00.000-07:00

Brian is workin' for the summer at Sailworld Cape Cod.

Whitney is on a boat in Alaska, doing research for NOAA.

Hugh and Adrian are back in San Fran from a great Maui Trip.

Aaron and Kevin just drove to the Gorge and scored three epic days of sailing - and lost their roof rack on the way back.

Andre is on the PWA tour.

Nancy is getting ready for the Olympics.

Pia is getting ready for her Medical boards.

Danny had his first solid kite sesh.

The OBX boys are scoring waves... sort of.

Marian is studying her butt off in Boston and is on question #64 of The Impossible Quiz.

Dave is back at home with the wife and kids - left the Gorge having sailed every day.

Ray is back in NYC - and got a new job - but he says he's coming back next summer - maybe to stay.

Rangela is in Corpus Christi - getting ready for a hurricane.

Andy and Emily left Orlando to move to Denver. Cuz' they wanted to.

Wyatt is sailing at Doug's Beach.

Robert and Cormac are both in Cambridge, and I think it's a shame they've never met.

Wallis and Brit are in living the dream in NYC.

The best writer I know is think-tanking in DC.

Eddy is working hard - and nursing a bum ankle.

Chris and Heather are enjoying their new baby - and looking forward to doing some windsurfing in Maui.

Jay is studying for the bar.

Emma är inte jätteförtjust i Fuerteventura, men det är kul o få segla iaf.

Jarrett is in Cape Mendo.

Where are you? Post in the comments!

Gorge Games 'n Fun Stuff ...

2008-07-20T23:08:00.000-07:00

So this weekend marked the return of the Gorge Games. There were some things they did really well, some that I thought could have been better. $20 admission for windsurfing spectators?! Windsurfers, a *notoriously* cheap breed - (Hate to say it, but it's true... ) are supposed to pay twenty bucks to sit on the event site lawn to watch racing with announcing from a Gorge Games volunteer who didn't know the difference between a duck jibe and a duck dive and only knew the name of one competitor?! (Sorry, Bruce!)

I should have gone over and grabbed the microphone; I'm not sure why I didn't.

It's getting a little late here; I'll post some pics up in the AM!

Sad News from the Gorge

2008-07-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, a man sailing Doug's Beach here in the Gorge died while windsurfing; apparently after hitting his head on the mast and subsequently drowning.

More details here.

Really sad.

I think I really need to start wearing a helmet..

I bet every store in the Gorge sells out of them today.

Ma-ma-MARYHILL!

2008-07-17T20:02:00.001-07:00

If you go to the Gorge, and don't sail one of the spots out east (Maryhill, The Wall, Celilo, Avery, Arlington, Roosevelt...) you are REALLY missing out. The wind blows like a fan - warm and steady.

What a great day.

Wind is BACK!

2008-07-16T08:21:00.000-07:00

Gotta go get a morning sesh and calm the jones. First time in about a week anything east of Stevenson has held an average of 20 for more than 20 consecutive minutes. Sweet!

Ray's Videos...

2008-07-14T22:38:00.000-07:00

Ray's First Day; Light Winds...

2008-07-13T23:09:00.000-07:00

So we woke up to easterlies, but a good westerly forecast for the afternoon.

By noon, it was blowing 18 at the Hatch.... us Gorge vets were 'meh'...

Ray, however was stoked. We headed over to grab some parking and wait for it to fill in...

We rigged Ray up a 5.5 Naish ATV, and a RRD 100 FSW - the first board he ever used with just three foot straps, and he planed off on his first run - Dave captured the experience on his Go-Pro video cam (coming soon... the raw footage is hilarious. It's kinda like watching one of those reactions to 'Two Girls, One Cup', except totally awesome and not gross.)

Wind hovered between 15 and 18 all day - super light for the Hatch - if it wasn't a Sunday, I think there would have been about three people sailing. Ray and Dave got a couple great runs in, and some of the freestyle kids went out to beat the heat and do some lightwind freestyle.
Steve Gates from Big Wind joined us, then the Poor Boys headed out. I was kinda bored, so I bet Tyson $5 he couldn't plane off enough to come in and stick a move. I kinda figured he'd find a gust, but I wanted something to entertain all of us on the beach. Sure enough, he got one, and came in and stuck a switch chachoo just outside the jibatorium. Good for a hoot'n holler from the small crowd.

Royn Bartholdi, Freestyle Frenzy organizer, brought a keg of Full Sail over for the post-event party, so there's a bit of a gathering over here at the Windance house tonight. Hopefully it's not too late!

Cuba, NYC, Hood River...

2008-07-12T23:38:00.000-07:00

From left: Dave, Don, Mike, Ray, Dan, Josh

So on a windless afternoon yesterday, some friends and I had an idea...

Dave (red shirt, mentioned in last issues' Call of the Wind) rented a house in the Gorge, but since all his buddies bailed on their Gorge trip, there was plenty of room in the house. We figured we'd try and get some of our friends from out of town to join us. We called friends from Florida, California, and everywhere in between. Then we had a better idea.

We knew somebody who would love to sail the Gorge.

Former Cuban national Raydel Armas.

A few quick calls to Ray to make sure he was in, and Dave used some airline miles to book him a ticket for the next day from NYC to PDX. He met our buddy Don who was landing in the airport at the same time, and headed into Hood River. Tomorrow will be his first day of sailing in the Gorge -and probably his first day of sailing 5.0 or smaller.

Ray's here for a week - we're pretty sure he's going to have some fun.

It's Hot.

2008-07-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

Might have to pack up and do a day trip to the coast tomorrow.

Freestyle Frenzy Picture Frenzy

2008-07-10T20:34:00.000-07:00

It was a pretty solid Hatch Day - 4.2 thru 4.7 for most, good swell, nice and smooth on the inside. The only difference? This time, there was money (and pride!) on the line.

Have fun.

Peter Lake...
Sean Aiken in the foreground...

Jake Miller...

...and Jake Miller bailing out.

Crowd on the rocks.

Nick Allen.

Just got back from the Coast ...

2008-07-10T00:48:00.000-07:00

.... sorry for the lack of internet!

... need sleep. More soon, fo' realz this time.

Oh. And go see Wall-E. It's frickin' hilarious.

Coast shots... it was kinda foggy, and back-lit. Lame-o for pictures.

The Hatch goes OFF!

2008-07-07T14:25:00.000-07:00

It is rare that I rig 4.2.

Sunday, I needed it all day.

It was sweet.

Updated! Here's some pics...

Tyson going up in a crowd..
Rob Warwick, chuckin' it.

I was aiming at Kieran, but Tyson decided to drop in...

Finally, yours truly going for one of many back loop attempts. Crash.

Hidden Canyon Hike ...

2008-07-05T18:34:00.000-07:00

Took a day off from sailing to do some hiking with my girlfriend who is visiting from Boston. At Eric Sanford's behest, we did the Hidden Canyon hike just a few miles east of Bingen. Very cool. Apparently, Eric does know something about something... Well, anyways. Everybody, meet Marian.

None of you astute mag or blog readers noticed my little joke in the post below! First person to point out the mistake - AND explain why it's funny (you'd have to read the mag to know that...) gets a free WindSurfing t-shirt, and their sailing picture on the blog...

Happy 4th, headed to the Windance Party...

2008-07-04T21:33:00.001-07:00

I'll leave you w/ one cool shot of my buddy Casey looking out over The Wall....

Meetings, Punch Bowl, Hatch, Andy Brandt in heezy!

2008-07-02T21:46:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the crummy pics, guys - those are taken with the camera on my laptop - I need to charge my batteries on my real camera!

So I kicked off the morning with some quick meetings (above - Instructional Editor Dan Thomson and I meet in our office to discuss next issue's instructional feature.)
By 3:30, it was smoking hot in town, and no wind on the river, so we headed up to the Punch Bowl - about 12 miles up the Hood River, where there's a nice place to catch some sun and jump of the cliff into the water.

When we left the Punch Bowl, it was blowing a solid 25 at the Hatch, so everybody hauled butt over there for the evening sesh, which was a lot of fun. Had a chance to catch up with former board testers Zoe and Peter Najim, which was cool - but I busted a boom on a back loop, which was lame.

Now I'm sitting with Instructional Guru Andy Brandt at the Windance house - and he's agreed to sit for a few questions.

I'd be glad too, Josh - anything for the cause. Preferably technical questions. No kiteboarding jokes.

Watch out, this is verbatim, big guy!

Oh, shit. There once was a man from Nantucket...

Andy, how many nights have you spent in a van?

It would be quantified in years. This year? Probably 50 nights.

Any of those nights in a bar room parking lot?

No!

Do you guys have fun in LA?

It was the the Poor Brother's first big adventure. They had a lot of fun. I was baby-sitting.

What's the most embarassing thing Whit ever did during an ABK camp?

He wasn't there long enough! We once had an instructor who was very good at peeing in his wetsuit while lecturing. On land. While he was dry.

How old is that ratty-looking hat?

This hat was given to me by sponsors, NP, not too long ago. But the washing machine in the van is broken.

Who's a better instructor, Casey or Whit?

Easy! Whit was trained by me.

How many pros have you formerly taught, trained, and or hired?

Probably ten!

Who is pulling up in the parking lot?

Some dude driving a chevy. Looks like a rental. Let's change this up. I'm going to interview myself, since I talk a lot anyway. What's my favorite van ever? It's a toss-up between the first stick-shift Dodge with the X-Crane bridge testing mounts of the front vs. the current new New York City Ambulance combo which is like moving into a three bedroom apartment. Except the dish-washer still doesn't work. (It's the same as the washing machine.)

I got a bullhorn for a tip (as in, gratuity) last week. We were going to use it when we pulled up to the house... I've gotten a GPS unit, money, food, beer, trips...

Do people still look you up from way back?

Yes. And if they've done more than one camp, I'll probably remember their name. And car. And gear.

Parting comment?

If it was easy, we'd call it kiteboarding!

Sweet Hatch Day

2008-07-02T00:20:00.001-07:00

Got to the Hatch, did a photo shoot with Russ Farout of Isthmus West on the '09 Ezzys and OES boards before rigging a 5.5 Naish All Terrain for a sesh of my own.

The wind came up strong when I hit the water, and I was pretty OP'd on the 5.5, but loving it anyways. I was using a Naish Freestyle, which was a little weird for me at first - I like to carve hard and tight on the swell, but the little freestyle fin didn't like that so much, and I ended up digging the rail in, killing the speed... after I while watching the other guys I realized I had to turn it with a much more upright stance and less rail pressure (easy to do w/ the little fin.) After a few minutes on the water, we had another surprise - Matt Pritchard walking down the Hatchery rocks. Matt is such a fun guy, and great to sail with - always stokes out my sesh.

After I was totally whooped, I came in, changed, and was sitting on the rocks with Tyson Poor and Nick Allen, watching Wyatt and Whit catch the last bit ... then, all of the sudden, they were the only two on the water, and it was blowing stink. I couldn't resist - and ran back to the truck, pulled on my wet board shorts, and went out for a final half hour to work on backies. The ramps were crummy, but I came close-ish on one (and crashed a lot of others.) When I was working on them before, the problem was spotting the landing - I think I'm getting that a little better now. Can't wait for a solid 4.7 day with some real ramps.

Too tired to do photos. OK, one. No, two. No, three. Fine, four. Russ Farout, Nick Allen, Ascanio D'Ascanio. Nick w/ the tongue, Russ with the crash, Ascanio with the goofy ass look on his face. All with the fun.

Nighty-night.

Tunes...

2008-06-30T21:59:00.000-07:00

This is a post I meant to do while I was on the road but never got around too - my driving music. When you're covering 3,000+ miles, it's pretty important to have a plethora of musical options to choose from. Which is why my iPod is so much better than Sirius (cheaper, too.) Anyhoo, here's a sampling of the playlists - and some links to bands that kick ass.

The Hold Steady - Think Bruce Springsteen meets Green Day with a dash of Dave Matthews, born drinkin' beer under the bridge in suburban Minneapolis. Simple rock for smart people.

Vampire Weekend - One would think rich, preppy Columbia University students complaining about their vacations on Cape Cod would get annoying. Instead, it's incredibly catchy.

There's one song on there that I think is one of the best songs of 2007 - All my Friends by LCD Soundsystem. I'm not a huge fan of LCD Soundsystem, but that one song just gets me going everytime. It starts off kind of like The Who's Baba O'Riley - you feel like it's leading you up to this big, cathartic crescendo - but instead, it just.... goes.

Lastly, I need to include this song and this video where I found it.
It's called Johnny Appleseed, by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, and I first heard it on the opening credits of the HBO show, John from Cincinnati, so it's going to be forever associated in my mind with surfing and waves... I love the part where the back-up chorus comes in (...it's at about 0:34 ... " Hey - look there goes... If you're after getting the honey - don't go killing all the bees..) ... anyways, that "Hey" is kinda what dropping in on a good wave feels like, or what getting on a plane used to feel like when I was learning to windsurf.

Also, are people having trouble commenting on the blog? There were good comments going for awhile, but the last few posts (good ones, I thought!) have no comments...

Laws of the Windsurfing Universe

2008-06-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

Bylaw 5: If the title of your event has the word 'Wind' in it, your chances of actually receiving said wind decrease by 76.2%.

Bylaw 430.17:
If your wind-titled event receives little to light wind throughout the course of the event, it will start blowing like snot as soon as the majority of demo participants have begun to think about packing up their gear.

Bylaw 218.42: When borrowing your buddy's gear, it's OK to adjust the boom height.

When the wind picked up, my buddy Jake Miller from Quatro and Goya Sails was coming in on an 8.2, so instead of letting him carry it up the beach, I grabbed it in the water.

Whoops. Jake is about 5'6". The boom felt like it was at my belly button.

I scored a quick sesh, then headed out on the point to get some pictures of the freestyle kids, even though the skies were cloudy and not much light. LOTSA PICS BELOW! (Blog bylaw 3: I'm too busy to caption and name all of dem der pics. Just enjoy.) Oooh - I'll caption the last pic: You know you're living in a windsurfing frat house when somebody decides to make frozen pizza for breakfast - and everybody else thinks it's a sweet idea. Wyatt Miller with his "breezy fo' sheezy", the Red Baron.

Interview: JP Bowles and Royn Bartholdi

2008-06-30T08:46:00.000-07:00

California Coastal Traveler JP Bowles and Freestyle Frenzy organizer Royn Bartholdi were chillin' in the WindSurfing mag tent, so I tried to keep up with typing our casual conversation...

JP, Where ya from?
Mount Shasta, California.

You're American? I thought you were Canadian.
I like the beer, eh?

Where's your favorite spot to sail?

The Wall.

No, I mean in the world...

I like The Wall. And Secret Spot # 4.

What's your favorite sail?
5.0 Ezzy Wave. Magic. It's the one.

Board?
I don't know! Do I have a favorite board?

You don't have a favorite board?

Not really. Haven't found it yet. Still searching. My surfboards.

If you were the editor of WindSurfing, what would you put in WindSurfing?

WAVES, WAVES, WAVES. The search for more waves. I usually just windsurf waves, and surf. Windsurfing gear is tough to beat on the waves ... It's just good.

Royn, what's your favorite sailing spot?
Gnaraloo, West Oz. Hands down.

Your most epic sesh there? Seven days straight on logo-sized waves.. 12-17 bottom turns all day long.

It's blowing 16 knots - do you kite or windsurf?
JP: Windsurf...

12 knots...

You go kite unless there's waves.

Who's a better windsurfer? Royn or JP?

JP: Oh, definitely Royn. He's way better. This is a nice chair.

Royn, how's your chair?

This chair is all good. I didn't know we were doing an interview! I woulda fixed my hair...

Windfest!

2008-06-28T17:07:00.000-07:00

This morning saw the event site packed with all the brand new windsurfing gear on the market for Gorge Windfest '08. Tons of toys, lotsa people, not much wind - but fun nonetheless.

Josh Angulo was in town - very cool.

Other industry figures did some clinics.

More later ...

Josh Sampiero (left) and Josh Angulo
Casey Hauser
Rick Bruner and Bill Klein (sp? Kline?)
Wyatt Cohen, Dave Combe and Brian Wheeler from WindSurfing and Kiteboarding mags...
Dean Baker, Kai Lenny, and Berndt Roediger from Maui.

Hot. Sunny. No wind.

2008-06-27T23:10:00.000-07:00

Locked down at the Event site tomorrow while the east wind blows in Stevenson.

It's also good at the coast - interesting, when the weather gets 'nice' in Hood River (warm, sunny, and of course, no wind...) everybody bails on town and heads to the coast. Man, I wish I could go!

Nevertheless, Windfest is fun, and you never know who is going to show up - you run into a lot of old friends from all over. It'll be cool to hang around and toss out some mags and stuff.

We had our editorial planning meeting today, and afterwards, most of the boys went on a kayak trip; I headed down to the AWSI/Surf Expo happy hour, then over to Windance, where there was a barbecue and party because Josh Angulo was in town. It was cool to chat with Josh and hear about Cabo Verde - we had a long talk about light-air wavesailing, and how the PWA needs to lower the wind minimums for wave sailing. Josh might do a rant on it for Tweaked - in the meantime, check out his opinions here.

Josh is a cool guy - he's very personable and easy to chat with. It was interesting to see him interacting with the locals like he's BS'ing with his buddies back on the rock.

Ended up at Doug's this morning.

2008-06-26T23:47:00.000-07:00

First one on the water. It was good. I was WAY op'd on 5.0 - I brought a 4.2, and a mast to rig it on - but not a standard extension. Would have been nice to have that small sail for swell slashing - super clean eight foot rollers.

Good night!

Dawn Patrol, Yesterday at the Hatch

2008-06-26T06:33:00.000-07:00

OK, so it's gonna be 'late dawn' by the time I get there, but it's still freakin' early. And chilly.
But strong westerlies are definitely going to quit sometime today for the next three days (Why?! 'Cuz Windfest is in town!) so I wanna go get some before it does.

Probably not a bad thing that the wind is shutting off for me, as I've got quite a busy weekend planned. The entire mag staff is in town for our Edit Planning meeting, and there's an AWSI meeting as well.

Now, some pics from yesterday....

Windy, not-so-busy at the Hatch...

Rob Warwick

Nick Allen
Tyson Poor says "Hi" to Casey Hauser...

Whit Poor...

By far the most entertaining moves of the day were Tyson and Whit's shakas into flakas. They are getting the board COMPLETELY out of the water on the second rotation. Sick...

All in all, a great day at the Hatch - I got about 4 one hour sessions in. Very fun. Now, it's off for more!

Gabbin' about town....

2008-06-24T22:36:00.000-07:00

First off, for all you Gorge-ios, there's an interesting thread on iwindsurf.com that has caught my attenion - not for the topic in the title, but the discussion of the use of waterfront property in the biggest windsurfing town in the country.

I sure wish the town would work with the windsurfing shops to give them some permanent access down there. Then we could have windfest every day of the summer...

Like yesterday, today was slightly lackluster in the Gorge. Sailors were on 'big' gear - 5.7's at the windy spots, much bigger other places. Nevertheless, it was sunny, warm and windy - even if this shot from the event site doesn't show it.

Still, it was enough for a 6.8 for me, and a 5.7 for my friend Cat, and we blasted up to the White Salmon bridge and played in the swell

Where it has been windy, however, is in the Canary islands, where the PWA is conducting the Costa Teguise freestyle event... I sent an e-mail to Brawsinho that I saw he was leading the event, he promises he'll deliver more tomorrow. It's interesting that Campello is no longer dominating the freestyle scene - the new guys are training hard, and sticking incredible moves. What's really great to see is a fresh face on top of the women's competition - the young Sarah Quita has been chasing the Morenos for a couple of years now, and is really starting prove her own in the freestyle events. We think it's the hair...

So far, no good hiking or other exploring here in the Gorge - one good skate ride in the Mosier Tunnels I was too nervous to bring the camera on. But plenty more of that coming soon, I promise!

Other than that, I had a nice chat with the guys over at Dakine today, and they tossed me the new Nexus Harness, which I used this afternoon, and have to say, is pretty sweet. I prefer it to the their T-3 because I prefer a bar that doesn't slide. What about you, readers? Slide-y bar or no slide-y bar?

R-OH!-wena

2008-06-23T23:02:00.000-07:00

After teasing us all day, the wind finally came up in the afternoon. I sailed Rowena. I'm tired, more pics this afternoon.

Update - couple of pics from Rowena. I used a 5.7 and my Kona longboard - got some funny looks from sailors walking down to the water with it - but when I got out, they were pretty impressed with how well it handled the winds (~20) and chop, and how well it ripped through the jibes. It's amazing that a board so big can turn so well.

Why haven't you sailed the Gorge?

2008-06-23T12:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we sailed Doug's Beach, on the Washington side of the Gorge.

It was the best sesh I've had all year.

Solid 5.0, 100-liter FSW board, and decent little swells for jumping and slashing.

Seriously, I can't even begin to tell you how much I love windsurfing on days like that. It's so much freaking fun that I want to be singing at the top of my lungs when I'm out on the water. (I quit that habit.)

Anyways, I was talking to a couple of sailors here who were here for the first time, and were a little apprehensive about sailing the Gorge.

Sure, there are some spots in the Gorge that (on some days) make for incredibly challenging sailing conditions - but if you can waterstart, you can sail the Gorge. If you can't waterstart, come here anyways and get a lesson from one of the best instructors in the country. Regardless, the constant wind means time on the water - and that means you learns quick.

The Big Winds crew was out in force at Doug's - from top to bottom - Erin Dies; Patrick Getches and Rob and Erin Dies; and Patrick again in the bottom two.

By the way, if you're in Hood River, and you don't have atleast a few meals at the Hood River Taqueria, you're officially missing out. I recommend the Torta Cubana.

OK, a little bit more work before I hit the Hatch ...

No Wind yet, waiting patiently ...

2008-06-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

In the meantime, I've been cruising town, saying hi to folks, and, errr, partying my butt off at the Windance house. Last night's "Tattoos and Techno" theme party got a little outtahand.... thankfully the camera didn't come out for much of it. ;-)

One of the greatest things about being in Hood River is being surrounded by windsurfing shops. I just spent twenty minutes talking boards to a windsurfer in a local shop before I was able to mention that I didn't work there. Funny...

Anyways, we went and skated the Mosier tunnels yesterday. Pretty sweet until I had a wheel come off halfway down. Managed to stay on the board and grind to a stop, find all the nuts and bearings, borrow a wrench from a biker, and piece it back together.

Later today I'm going to head down to the Event Site and check out the Gorge Cup.

Hike and Driving and Bears, oh my...

2008-06-20T08:37:00.001-07:00

So I took the second day in Yellowstone to do some exploring and see some cool stuff. I know many of you have probably heard what an incredible place it is, but it's really hard to do it justice in pictures or words.

Anyways, I went for a beer in the town by the North Entrance of the Park - Gardiner, MT - the night after sailing, and met a few park employees who were doing some hiking the next day.

We did a quick hike behind the Roosevelt lodge, which was short, but surprisingly vertical - lots of fun. After the hike, we saw an animal traffic jam on the road ahead of us - a pretty common sight in yellow stone. Usually it's an elk or moose - this time it was a bear.

On the other side of the truck from the bear, there was a stagecoach tour passing by...

In the afternoon, I headed solo up Bunsen Peak, a relatively easy climb, but a lot of snow to scramble over at the top. There were a few ominous storm clouds, but I figured I'd go for it anyways... I got to the top, and the skies just opened up. It was pretty crazy being up there alone with the wind whipping and the rain coming down. I hauled ass back down pretty quick, and of course, by the time I was two-thirds of the way down the mountain, the sun was out and the sky was blue again. Figures!

The Terraces, down below Bunsen Peak...

In the morning, I woke up and drove to Hood River - 750 miles. It was a long day, with jsut stops for gas - I was treated to a sweet sunset driving in to Hood River, but just wanted to get there ASAP so I snapped a quick shot throught windshield.

OK, now I'm here, lotsastuff to do! See ya!

Leaving Yellowstone ...

2008-06-19T08:10:00.000-07:00

Good forecast for Saturday in the Gorge...

Bill, here comes your Gorge lifestyle blog!

Through ice 'n snow we shall preva...errr, sail!

2008-06-17T21:03:00.000-07:00

Left Worthington, trailing a guy with a hound:

Richard White, of Portland, Oregon, and his dog Murphy were heading west, and was down to some exploring with me.

We hauled butt out of MN, straight to Cody, WY - 50 miles east of the entrance to Yellowstone Park. I saw a big reservoir on the map just past town, and some leaves blowin' in the wind, so I sent Richard out into some unknown waters (The Buffalo Bill State Park Reservoir ) for a sail on my gear. It was pretty cool - wind was gusty but strong - and he got powered on the 6.8 a few times. A run-in with a log made quick work of my a-box fin - at least this time I can tell 'em somebody else did it!

After that, we had some great barbecue, and found a spot to camp for the night - it was pitch dark. This is what we woke up to:

Then it was time for the drive in to Yellowstone....

Yellowstone Lake - atleast 8,000 feet above sea level. It was calm in the morning...

But by afternoon, there was some real wind. How cold was the water? Feet-numbingly cold. Apparently, the lake had been frozen over a week ago. Didn't stop us.

Yellowstone Bound....

2008-06-16T13:51:00.001-07:00

Currently en route to Yellowstone National Park. Got a big lake, we're going windsurfing. Pics soon.

Last Day of Nationals

2008-06-15T08:30:00.001-07:00

More good racing yesterday in lighter winds, with plenty of fun on the water. I goofed and did some lightwind freestyle.

I'll try and get the spreadsheet of race leaders and post it here soon - I'm sure it will be available on uswindsurfing.org as well. I believe Fernando Martinez of Miami is leading the Formula Class; I'm not sure who's leading the Open class.

Randy Johnson, of The House, and his band, Ride, played a GREAT set last night for us in front of a beautiful sunset. It was really spectacular.

More Pics, Mucho Wind

2008-06-13T07:31:00.000-07:00

Pics.

Wind.

Peace!

Scotia Bauer - Executive Director of US Windsurfing

2008-06-12T08:27:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in the home office of Bill Keitel, one of the principal organizers of the regatta, with Scotia Bauer, who was recently named Executive of US WindSurfing. Scotia lives in Hood River, and has been instrumental in organizing the Gorge Cup, Gorge Blowout, and numerous other events in Hood River over the past few years.

She's agreed to take a few (very candid) questions, so here goes!

Scotia, how was your first tornado experience? HA! - we don't brew 'em like that in Oregon.

I was scared out of my wits. Yeah, your heart was going. It was kinda of shocking - sailors were on the water twenty minutes before that. People piled into houses in their wetsuits. Can you plug this in for me?

Sure. Thanks. It was funny to see the people from the midwest, who were much less concerned than everybody else. OK, down to business. Do you see a new direction for US Windsurfing under your leadership? I hope - the vision needs to be revised to reflect the current state of the industry - our perceived mission has previously been more focused on racing. I think we need to focus more on the non-racing community to grow as an organization and a sport. We need to support the existing schools and starting clinic programs for new-sailors. We'd like to tie non-racing elements into regattas. The junior program is a huge commitment of course. We've gotten a huge monetary commitment from US Sailing for junior programs, which speaks of their greater support for windsurfing, as well.

Has US Windsurfing membership been growing? In general, no - but we're committed to re-growing it and have started a strong campaign to do so, with good initial results. We want people to have a tangible benefit to being a US Windsurfing - many sailors don't know that we have equipment insurance for incredibly cheap. (Check out more about it here).That's the BIGGEST benefit, and very few people utilize that. If your board decides to fly off your car in the middle of the freeway - insurance covers it. Plus, you get a mag subscription, discounts on many regattas, a newsletter... and a sweet bumper sticker.

Who's a better target market?
I say fifteen year olds, but that's my opinions - our demographic is aging, and we need to get passion instilled early.

Do you think it's a good idea to have Nationals in a different spot every year? I do. Windsurfing has amazing support here - it's a great opportunity for communities to gain support for the programs, and expose windsurfing to different markets. I'd love to see an East Coast US Nationals. I'd like to see some national level sponsorships, so the entire burden isn't on the local organizers.

Windsurfers really like to drink beer. I've heard US Windsurfing has turned down national sponsorships from alcohol vendors - is that true? If so, why? Not that I know of. In 2005, there was some talk of a national sponsorship with Budweiser, but as far as I know, there was never an offer put on the table. I think it's safe to say it's something we would consider. Beer is good. Admittedly, though, it's a tough place - to strongly support junior programs - and promote something like Budweiser at the same time.

You and a few of the regional directors here in town will be meeting tonight - what's on the agenda for discussion?
It's an executive committee meeting, not a general board meeting. We'll be discussing the Olympic board, and whether US Windsurfing should take a stance, and what that stance would be. We'll talk about the Junior Olympic training program. Fiscal status stuff, reporting on membership, and financials, etc.

Your friendly WindSurfing rep Josh, left, and US Windsurfing Executive Director Scotia Bauer.

Thanks for your time, Scotia - WindSurfing mag is looking forward to your leadership at US Windsurfing.

Big Scare!

2008-06-12T08:14:00.000-07:00

At about six o'clock yesterday, competitors were just coming off the water, when word quickly spread around the beach - there were tornados spotted a few miles southwest of town, heading our way. We were quickly put on a tornado watch, and sailors scurried to derig gear before the estimated arrival - it was moving quickly northeast. Dozens of sails were de-rigged within minutes, and sailors snuck into the basements of many of the homes along Lakefront Drive.

Fortunately, the tornadic activity (Sweet word - I wondered if the newscaster made it up!) passed southeast of Lake Okabena, and while we saw some heavy rain and high winds, there was little to no damage. By 7:30, we were walking around in the sunshine, and some of us were even considering re-rigging for another sail.

The Daily Globe's report on the tornado.

The Globe is also posting plenty about the regatta here.

In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out where to head between here and Hood River - who's got suggestions? I don't want to go t0o far out of the way, but it would be really cool to stop and sail or just meet some windsurfers along the way.

Windy Windy Worthington

2008-06-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

On the first day of the regatta, winds are strong but gusty - I was out on a 6.8 and the Kona 11'5 - winds are probably ranging from 12-28. There's about 30 to 40 sailors out on the water, and a few more on the beach, waiting for conditions to calm down. They've completed about three races, and probably will attempt 2 or 3 more. The gusts are wicked, and there's been a few gear casualties (not mine!) but not too bad.

Here's some of the people at the race:

Woody from Canada, eh?

Guy Miller from Texas, Beth from the UK, and Allison Shreeve.
Renae Kremer (from our Worthington 'host family') and Texan Todd Selby.

Peter Ifju drove up from Florida with his wife and two daughters.

Texan Guy Miller and Bostonian Miles Borasch.

Arnie Cleveland is excited to be here.
Diane Ifju in front of their custom Air-stream - always a good place to find a snack!
Floridian Fernando Martinez is a litle chilly...

Most of the action is still really far from shore, and the light is pretty bad, so I haven't gotten many good sailing shots - but hopefully should have some soon.

Quick Post - It's Windy!

2008-06-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

Woke up to thunder and lightning here in Worthington - but rain soon abated and the wind is sideshore and strong, but gusty. Was blasting way OP'd on a 6.8, racers are headed out now.

As promised, our surprise racer: World Formula Champ Allison Shreeve, here to promote the Formula One Design concept from Starboard.

Check out some more pics here, longer post later!

A thousand bugs shall die by the nose of my board.

2008-06-10T10:30:00.000-07:00

**Edit: Can any of you bloggers tell me how to post larger pics in the post itself, without them being so fuzzy?**

So yesterday I left Green Bay, Wisconsin, and drove almost 500 miles to Worthington, MN - where sailors are streaming in from across the country and across the world for 5 days of racing on windy Lake Okabena.

I posted some more truck pictures - some of you have asked how my truck is set up. It's got a platform over half the bed - the sails go under, a mattress goes on top. Along the left side, I have some shelves built in the back for my clothes, and some big plastic tubs for my wetsuits and random surf gear.

After the first hour out of Green Bay, I hit WI-21 - which was basically a two-lane country road. I didn't stop to take pictures, but it was very scenic - rolling hills and old-fashioned farm houses. I counted 743 cows. There were also, apparently, a few bugs - when I got out this morning to take my boards off my truck, they were COVERED in bugs.

Here in Worthington, regatta planning is just getting underway - the lakefront (picture below) is soon going to be filled with sails and sailors. So far we've got sailors from California, Texas, Florida, Illinios, Minnesota, and even Great Britain in town - soon we're going to have a LOT more - including one surprise guest that's sure to turn a few heads. Look for an exclusive interview later this week.

Sturgeon Bay

2008-06-08T20:56:00.001-07:00

Spent the weekend up in Sturgeon Bay, chasing some wind and goofing off on the water. Sailed out of the backyard yesterday, in some gusty winds that came along the storm front - check out the pictures.

I'm still set on scoring a Great Lakes wave sesh; it might happen in the next couple days. We were kicking around a few ideas after sailing for cool stories next year in the mag; I'm betting you'll see some of them come to fruition. Here's an idea for you - can you remember the first time you got on a plane?

Highcliff Park

2008-06-06T20:51:00.000-07:00

This was where we ended up on Friday after there was no wind on the big lake. It was up'n down 5.0. When the light came through, it really lit up the tree-lined banks of Lake Winnebago.

Skunked - Saved by SUP!

2008-06-05T20:49:00.000-07:00

20 knot forecast = 3 knots actual wind.

I decided to head out to the beach in Muskegon and see where the locals sailed, and there were a couple of guys from Mac Kites headed out to do some SUP'ing, and they invited me to join 'em.

THAT WATER IS FREAKIN' COLD!!

I'm not really sure, but I think I heard someone toss around the phrase "40 degrees".

We had a fun paddle - I fell in a couple times! - and then I hopped back in the truck to take the ferry across Lake Michigan. Pretty cool, it was an impressive boat - I was bummed though that I had a great angle on the beautiful coastline, but it was really clouded and overcast.

The wrecked boat is the old Milwaukee Clipper - somebody standing on the passenger deck told me it used to take people out on the lake for night cruises and parties. Kinda cool.

Once we were out on the lake, the fog settled in pretty thick, and it was really eerie to be on this high-speed boat blasting into complete invisible nothing - weird! I should have asked one of the crew how fast we were going, but I'm sure it was 25+ knots, maybe more... hard to say, we're so high above the water.

Some more pics up now, and actual WINDSURFING pics coming tonight - it's blowing 26 at Sheboygan now! We're going to round up some other sailors and carpool down there.

Michigan by 747 - miles driving.

2008-06-04T20:46:00.000-07:00

So, I discovered something interesting just now - google maps on my phone and google maps on my computer disagree. Apparently, google maps on the computer is a little smarter, 'cuz it would have saved me 100 miles between Charlotte and Lansing.

Oh well, it was a pretty drive - but REALLY long! Our forecast for the next three days at Lake Michigan looks GREAT - should have 4 solid days of sailing.

Lake Norman

2008-06-03T20:45:00.000-07:00

Last Updated by Josh S 4 days ago
I arrived in Charlotte to meet Alan White of rec.windsurfing; we headed up to his lake house, where a lot of Charlotte area sailors launch for NW winds. Unfortunately, the wind wasn't cranking, so we headed out on the boat for a little bit of wakeboarding with another sailor, Donald - who totally sandbagged us - he was hitting wake-to-wake 180's no prob! After a quick sesh, we headed back to Alan's downtown condo, before we met up w/ a few more sailors for dinner at a local greek restaurant; which was much needed. Then, it was back to Alan for some home-videos of Baja wave sailing - and a good nights' rest! Next time I promise not to drift off so early...

June 2nd

2008-06-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

I'm heading to Charlotte, NC to meet up with windsurfer Alan White and a few of his sailin' buddies. Wind is forecasted to be light, but we'll probably meet at Lake Norman, where the locals sail, and grab dinner at a nearby restaurant.

If you're linking to this map from other forums, I posted a long response to some comments from other sailors on rec.windsurfing - Some of you may want to read it - it's here.

St. Simon's Island

2008-06-02T20:41:00.000-07:00

May 31- June 1 -

The crew from Aerotech and Exocet is getting together with Whitecap Windsurfing for a fun demo weekend on the beach. If you're in the area, come out and and join us!

June 1: We had GREAT wind yesterday afternoon for a killer demo session. When I arrived at 12, Chuck from Whitecap immediately put me to work helpin' out with lessons - we got a bunch of people on the simulator and on the water, and then when the wind picked up to about 16 or 17, we all got some good sailing in.

After the clean up, a few us were sitting around the trailers when local Rick brought over a cool piece a memorabilia - the instruction pamphlet from the Darby Windglider, saved in mint condition. Really cool.

June 2nd - Windsurfing Recovery.

After another full day of teaching and hanging out on the beach, we dragged all our gear up the trailer, picked up the tent, cleaned the beach, derigged the sails - so by about 7:25 we had everything cleaned up and were all figuring out where to go to dinner.

Perfect time for it to start blowing twenty knots!

So out came the gear, and I may have set a record time for rigging. John Ingebritsen shuffled a few boards to the beach for those of us going to sail, and myself, Chuck Hardin, local John Laing (sp?) and on other St. Simon's Surf Sailor grabbed about 40 minutes on the water before a storm rolled in. We de-rigged in the dark; and barely made it to the local seafood joint in time for a big plate of fried shrimp and oysters (which may have tasted better than anything I've ever eaten at that point; however, I wouldn't know as I consumed it in about three minutes.)

Now it's Monday morning - and I'm trying to figure out where to go next!

One little rant from yesterday - We Need More Instructors.

I couldn't help but think how many more people we could have gotten moving today had we had a few more willing windsurfers to get out in the water and help some beginners.

Dinner with Mom.

2008-05-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

I'm going to spend Friday night in the nation's oldest city, St. Augustine. There's a decent windsurfing spot here, Matanzas inlet, but it doesn't look like the wind and waves will be happening.

Thursday - WindSurfing Mag Headquarters

2008-05-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

It's the last day of shipping, and I'm getting antsy - cleaning up my office a little bit as we ship the last pages of the mag. Tomorrow I'll be packing and getting my truck ready for the first bit of my drive.

Here's what I think I'm going to bring:

Exocet Kona 11'5
Naish All Terrain 115
F2 Guerilla 86
6.8 Aerotech Phantom
5.8 Aerotech Phantom
5.0 Aerotech Charge
460 Skinny
430 Skinny
2 skinny extensions
1 carbon boom
1 mast foot
5/4 Semidry
Dakine Waist Harness
Epic Gear Seat Harness
Fins, etc.
Of course, windsurfing's not the only fun I can have. So...

2 longboard skateboards (It's always more fun to skate with somebody!)
Basketball
Frisbee

Other stuff I can't forget:

Extra mag copies
WindSurfing flag
computer
digital and video camera
crackberry
toothbrush

Tomorrow, I'll put together some shots of how my truck will be set up and what it's going to look like. (Hint: it's ugly.)

What am I missing?!?