Windsurfing » Road Trip '08

Road Trip '08 (52 unread)

Board Test Photoshoot

Posted: April 8th, 2009, 2:52pm CEST
Board Test Shoot Out-take shots

Posted: February 20th, 2009, 12:58am CET

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 ;-)
Look closer.

Posted: February 7th, 2009, 3:42pm CET

Look closer.
SUPping Wekiva River, Sunday Sailing Sesh

Posted: December 3rd, 2008, 12:49am CET

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

Posted: November 15th, 2008, 11:27pm CET

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...

Posted: November 5th, 2008, 3:36pm CET

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 ....

Posted: November 3rd, 2008, 5:11pm CET

...is still standing.
Home!

Posted: November 2nd, 2008, 1:17am CET

.... tired.

Left Berkeley Tuesday AM.

Flagstaff, Marfa, Ft. Walton Beach, Orlando. 3,130 miles.
The many faces of Dave...

Posted: October 24th, 2008, 8:25am CEST

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

That Dave guy sure likes to show off!
One happy sailor... and the longest swim..

Posted: October 15th, 2008, 9:09am CEST

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

Posted: October 14th, 2008, 10:33am CEST

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!

Posted: October 10th, 2008, 9:31am CEST

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

Posted: October 10th, 2008, 9:14am CEST

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!

Posted: October 8th, 2008, 8:41pm CEST

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!

Posted: October 4th, 2008, 9:24pm CEST

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

Posted: October 1st, 2008, 5:56pm CEST

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....

Posted: September 29th, 2008, 3:46am CEST

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

Posted: September 26th, 2008, 9:17pm CEST

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

Posted: September 24th, 2008, 5:51pm CEST

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.

Posted: September 24th, 2008, 3:55pm CEST

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

Posted: September 21st, 2008, 1:23am CEST

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

Posted: September 18th, 2008, 5:58pm CEST

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?

Posted: September 17th, 2008, 11:12pm CEST

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

Posted: September 14th, 2008, 2:30pm CEST

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!

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 6:22pm CEST

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?

Posted: September 7th, 2008, 5:57am CEST

When your clutch goes, you don't have a choice.
San Carlos is the best place on the planet.

Posted: September 4th, 2008, 11:02pm CEST

Seriously.

Totally. Freaking. Epic.
Pictures...

Posted: August 30th, 2008, 9:30pm CEST
Going offline for yet-to-be determined amount of time.

Posted: August 29th, 2008, 6:21am CEST
Cheap Maui Eats

Posted: August 28th, 2008, 5:52am CEST

Sweet - Cheap Maui eats.

Got our Maui crew finalized. I'm stoked.
East Coast Wave Sailing

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 4:23am CEST

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

http://www.ibscc.org/fay.htm
Is this Windsurfing?

Posted: August 26th, 2008, 9:23pm CEST

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

Posted: August 26th, 2008, 6:16pm CEST

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...

Posted: August 24th, 2008, 9:15pm CEST

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

Posted: August 22nd, 2008, 9:10pm CEST

No more commentary - don't wanna anger the locals too much ... understandably so...
Pics from Bezerkeley, going to Waddell

Posted: August 21st, 2008, 9:25pm CEST

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...

Posted: August 19th, 2008, 6:45am CEST

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

Posted: August 18th, 2008, 6:57pm CEST

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...

Posted: August 15th, 2008, 4:49am CEST

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.

Posted: August 14th, 2008, 11:09pm CEST

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!

Posted: August 13th, 2008, 3:46pm CEST

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!

Posted: August 13th, 2008, 5:05am CEST

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

Posted: August 13th, 2008, 1:03am CEST

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.

Posted: August 9th, 2008, 5:45am CEST

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

Posted: August 8th, 2008, 8:14am CEST

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

Posted: August 5th, 2008, 6:33am CEST

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!

Posted: July 29th, 2008, 5:34pm CEST

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...

Posted: July 27th, 2008, 7:57pm CEST

More constant posts return late this week.
From Maryhill

Posted: July 24th, 2008, 9:47am CEST

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...

Posted: July 23rd, 2008, 7:20am CEST

... 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

Posted: July 22nd, 2008, 2:16am CEST

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 ...

Posted: July 21st, 2008, 8:08am CEST

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!