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WaterTurtle (95 unread)

Standup Paddle Nuggets

Posted: November 16th, 2009, 1:43am CET

5+ miler today on the lake with Rob...

LKN SUP from WaterTurtle Productions on Vimeo.

Found the next 2 items posted on Standup Paddle Flatwater blog...

Go catch a Marlin on a Standup Paddle board...

Funny interview with Laird Hamilton...

Highway 12 Closed

Posted: November 15th, 2009, 4:58am CET

Wow...The ocean always wins...

Island Free Press updates on Highway 12 closure due to this week's storm - Includes many pictures and video

OBX Bill post with local pics

Permalink for 'WaterTurtle/2009/11/12/What_Rain_'

Took the day off work today....spent some time with the family this morning, took some work calls anyway, took my son to the dentist, ran errands, got a haircut...ho hum...

...and then I windsurfed in Ida's remains. First time sailing at Beattys Ford access on the west side of Lake Norman in the NE wind. Fully powered (mostly) on 5.5 and nice lovely ramps. I say that even though I'm not a good jumper...but I did have a couple of good airs as it was hard not to since sailing at Beatties Ford provides for a very long fetch to the NE. My first 1/2 hr out there it was almost perfect consistent wind. Then the gusts and lulls started to hit. But all in all a very good day on the lake. I barely even noticed the driving rain since I wore my Gath helmet. Water was relatively warm too. I started out solo but Raceboard Dude (Jeff) came out. Now I know why Raceboard Dude is called Raceboard Dude. He had his race board and race sail dialed in and was crankin' it out there with some serious speed. Sorry no pics...but stoked just the same.

THANK YOU VETERANS!!!

The Next Generation

Posted: November 9th, 2009, 3:11am CET

The Next Generation of waterturtles...

A couple of weeks ago, we visited friends at High Rock Lake and got their kids on the stand up paddle boards with my daughter...they loved it even though it was a brisk fall day and the water was cold.

Fast forward to this weekend...beautiful, sunny, and 70s. My wife was out of town and I had daddy duty (1 min video...go here to see it in full HD)...

Lazy Lake Fall Day from WaterTurtle Productions on Vimeo.

What Does a Windsurfer on Hatteras Island Do When the Wind Stops Blowing?

Posted: October 30th, 2009, 10:20pm CET

What can windsurfers on the Outer Banks/Hatteras Island do when the wind goes away and the swell is flat? Go on a recon to find where some fun small waves are breaking so you do some stand up paddle surfing.

This is a short video of 4 inland and lake bound windsurfers still learning how to surf their stand up paddle boards in some fun small waves on a beautiful sunny and early fall day. It includes some footage of the local wildlife as well. This took place between 2 windy bookends to our week's adventure that included the Hatteras Wave Jam. See the "Hatteras Island Windsurfing Fall 2009" video for the rest of the week, which includes some footage of us doing some light wind wavesailing on our SUP boards.

Laird Hamilton said in Endless Summer 2, (paraphrasing) "I'd rather surf in 2 foot waves with my friends than surf in 20 foot waves with a bunch of jerks". And Dave Kalama said something similar in Step Into Liquid about surfing small waves. Cheers to that. And cheers to the big waves too of course. It's all good.

Oh, and by the way...if you don't like The Clash, there is something seriously wrong with you.

Life Without Wind from WaterTurtle Productions on Vimeo.

Lake Images

Posted: October 27th, 2009, 1:59am CET

Sailed in light winds on Saturday in what was supposed to be stronger wind. But it turned out to be a beautiful day after all the evening and morning rain. Probably the last combined warm air and water temps day on the lake this year. Very thankful.

Resting between runs - couple of shots at one of the lake's islands

Rob and his purty new sail...

Hatteras Island Windsurfing Video

Posted: October 21st, 2009, 12:50pm CEST

Hatteras Island Windsurfing Fall 2009 from WaterTurtle Productions on Vimeo.

This is a video compilation of our Hatteras Island adventure in late Sept/early Oct before it got cold and wetsuits were required.

Comments:
- Some of the video is from the new Sanyo Xacti HD waterproof camera. HD is a whole new ball of wax when it comes to editing. If you don't have the proper PC specs (like a $6,000 machine) which I don't, it can be a nightmare editing a final cut. Combining HD footage with regular digital avi footage (GoPro) can also be an editing nightmare when rendering. I spent way too many late nights troubleshooting these problems, lots of format conversions, error messages, restarts, etc...and I'm not completely happy with the outcome...you can see how the video is "boxed" in...I didn't have much of a choice. Click to the actual Vimeo link for the video and it shows up better for viewing. I have to rethink this whole HD thing and the editing hw/sw I have.

- Some of you aren't in the video. Sorry about that George, Ken, and Bill. Either we were on the beach at the same time and you weren't on the water when filming or the camera didn't get focused on you for various odd reasons....we just didn't have any good footage of you...sorry about that. This video comes from footage taken by Rob, Mark, and myself...and from Go Pro, Sanyo Xacti HD, and regular DV footage.

- It was a great week...period. Andy already commented on how we wrapped it up....tearing it up out in the sound under the moonlight after the sun had already gone down. That was a great experience. But what a week....it was still mostly sunny, 70s, mostly in boardshorts, wavesailing, bump & jump windsurfing, speed sailing, SUP wavesailing, along with SUP surfing in fun small waves and crystal clear water. And we participated in the Hatteras Wave Jam, which was a lot of fun...thanks again Bill!

Always looking forward to the next Hatteras trip...

Sean Aiken video

Posted: October 19th, 2009, 4:20am CEST

Thanks to Alan for alerting to this one...great GoPro video of Sean Aiken sailing the Gorge (Stevenson)...includes footage of sailing away on a plane after looping. Enjoy...

Sean wants to take you for a ride on his windsurfer from Sean Aiken on Vimeo.

Great Quote

Posted: October 16th, 2009, 12:10am CEST

Found this one on Glen's site:

"The man who has not given himself completely to the sun, wind and cold sting of the
waves will never know all the meanings of life" - Annette Kellerman

...That's deep.

Sanyo Xacti waterproof digital camcorder/camera for sale

Posted: October 13th, 2009, 3:42am CEST

I have two Sanyo Xacti digital camcorders for sale on Ebay:

one is waterproof up to 5 ft deep....

and the other is weather-proof (not submersible)....

both are used but in very good working condition....both also take 6 megapixel stills.

SUP days on Hatteras Island

Posted: October 2nd, 2009, 2:54pm CEST

From l to r: Rob Cornwell, Mac Barnhardt, Mark Pace, Ralph Moore (photo from Rob's camera)

Wednesday and Thursday were our stand up paddle surfing days of the week here on Hatteras Island. Both days Rob, Mark, Ralph, and I paddled and surfed for hours and caught tons of waves. Its been beautiful blue sky sunny 70s days with knee to waist high waves at The Old Lighthouse Beach. The water was crystal clear. We saw several bluefish schools feeding on baitfish, dolphin jumping around, and a ray that was as wide as my paddle is long. Here is a quick 20 sec GoPro clip of me on one of the waves in front of the lighthouse....

Stand Up Paddle Surfing at The Old Lighthouse Beach from WaterTurtle Productions on Vimeo.

Rob has some great photos here and video here.

...and George just posted some great pics from Day 2 of the Hatteras Island Wave Jam here that really depict the fun day we had.

Looks like back to windsurfing this afternoon....

Windy with a Chance of Stoke (Hatteras Wave Jam)

Posted: September 30th, 2009, 3:10am CEST

...and stoke there was. A high concentration of it.

I have some good pics and video but it will take a while to sort through it all. In the meantime, here is a 1:40 minute teaser video...

Hatteras Island Windsurfing teaser video from WaterTurtle Productions on Vimeo.

First of all, big thanks to Bill for organizing and putting on the Hatteras Wave Jam Festival. Thanks to Andy for the wavesailing clinic and other festival responsibilities. And also big thanks to Janis Markopoulos for taking literally thousands of photos from the beach....she is very talented.

Here we are in the beautiful Outer Banks....and loving it. By our landlubbing standards, it's been an awesome week already and its still early in the week. There was no easing into the week. We began at the Hatteras Wave Jam Festival. Most of us missed the Friday action as we were arriving that evening but we got there in time for Andy's excellent wavesailing 101 clinic. I did however, arrive on Hatteras Island in time to grab a quick 30-40 minute sesh at Canadian Hole on a 4.6 as it got dark and before heading over to the clinic. Great group photo here after we scored some swag from the contest sponsors.

Saturday was contest day and a good opportunity for us lesser experienced wavesailors to get some more wave time. The winds were ESE so that put us on the south facing beaches at The Bath House in Frisco. It was side onshore winds with some decent sized waves. I was powered up on a 5.4 with some shlogging. It was a "first" day for me as I helped judge and score a heat and I sailed in a heat making it my first ever wavesailing competition. The heat was 20 minutes long which seemed like an eternity. I scored 4 decent waves in fairly quick succession and came in thinking surely time had run out. Andy and the judges were yelling at me that I had 5 more minutes! My heart was beating out of my chest (hey, lets see other landlubbing lake sailors get out there!) and I looked back out in the water, only to see my 3 heat mates down in the wash in a wind lull and trying to slog back out. So I stayed put. Perhaps I could have scored another wave....but then again maybe not. But let me tell you....even though it wasn't the greatest conditions by the locals' standards, it was pure fun and good to get some more time in the waves. My confidence level went up a notch also considering there was some serious current running on the inside.

Some of us went on to Canadian Hole for a late afternoon 20mph offshore ESE sesh in the sound. That evening, Bill brought the cookout and awards there. It was a good time had by all and we even had a blogger group photo (here). The Long Island blogger contingent was obviously missing....maybe next year we'll all be on OBX at the same time for a bigger photo. Sunday was a no wind lazy day but we ended up having a party at our house and had a great time with many of the visitors and locals from the Hatteras Wave Jam.

Monday brought SW 20-30mph winds and sunny 80 degrees. We started in the sound on 5.4s and found some great outside ramps and swell riding. We got Andy's message to stop dilly dally'an and get our butts down to Old Lifeguard Beach for more wavesailing. So we did...and boy did we. We rigged 5.4s and hit the water. There was more shorebreak to deal with, a warbly inside wash, then some big wave peak sections to get through to the outside. On the outside, it was choppy with good sized swell. I would sail back, thinking I was starting out on a nice wave, working upwind on the swell and taking my time to then go down the line....only to go down the line and the wave disappeared.

I think we got there a little late and the high tide broke up the longer lines. From our crew, Donald and Alain caught some good wave rides. Once again, it appears wave selection is my biggest area of needed improvement. I felt a little better later when some of the locals were saying their good wave rides were out of sheer luck due to the conditions, and they couldn't tell if they were even on a good wave until well after they were on it. Then the wind picked up a notch. We went for some more rides out and back. Rob, Alain, Donald, and I all got worked pretty hard in the wash. I think I recall saying something last year after the Punta San Carlos trip that I needed to go pay some dues at Hatteras. Well, I did....and took several on the head....just remembering to hold that mast tip and keeping myself between the gear and the waves. Finally got back to the beach however, and watching the locals...Andy, Keith, Olaf, Donny, and Stuart....they were killing it. Fun to watch.

Ken Kellar, Rob Cornwell, and the Lighthouse

Our crew packed it up and headed back to the sound for a killer sunset 4.6 bump and jump session that went well after the sun went down. It turned into a moonlight session as the moon had come up right as the sun went down. Sweet.

Rob has some more pics and a quick post here.

Tuesday morning, it was an hour powered up on 8.0 for some moderate NW wind. Then it was on to the Bath House beach again in Frisco for some side side-off light wind wavesailing. We all started out on floaty shortboards but it was too light. Only Ken stuck with his floaty shortboard while the rest of us got out the secret weapons - stand up paddle boards with mast tracks. It was like a conveyor belt of waveriding. We caught so many waves it was ridiculous. Good times.

We have forged new friendships this week with many people we only knew of through the blogs. It was great to finally meet so many people in person and have real live conversations with them. I talked to my wife on the phone and told her I was with "my people". I'm looking forward to more gatherings.

Looks like the next couple of days are going to be very light wind so it could be stand up paddle surfing on tap. More time on the water...

Soon, My Love

Posted: September 18th, 2009, 3:10am CEST

The Windsurfing Crew's April '08 Outer Banks Adventure from WaterTurtle Productions on Vimeo.

Dawn Patrol

Posted: September 12th, 2009, 3:56pm CEST

Had a great paddle with 5 others early this morning for the sunrise. Rob captured it here.

Thank Goodness for Stand Up Paddling

Posted: September 4th, 2009, 2:11am CEST

...or I would go even more crazy. Still waiting for the fall winds to kick in around here now that the boating crowd is mostly off the water. Yeah...I know Hatteras is cranking right now...some of our local crew made the trip down for the excellent NE winds and I can't get out of here...too much going on. But my time is coming...making the Hatteras trek in a few weeks.

In the meantime, I've still been getting time on the water by way of stand up paddling and its keeping me in decent shape. SUP has been a great no wind alternative that keeps me on the water and is an outstanding core workout. Now my daughter is going out with me which is great that we've found something else we can do together. She is using my old Original Windsurfer and an adjustable SUP paddle I got for friends to use. Now its "hers" and she's getting really good now. Rob and I have been getting in some sunrise and sunset sessions.

We have also found other locals who paddle and have started to go out with them on some group paddles.

We also have a new SUP shop in the area...check it out.

Here is the video of the Intracoastal SUP race last May. Rob and I make an appearance in it...

Intracoastal SUP Cup 2009 from Coastal Urge on Vimeo.

Coastal Urge is putting on another race on Sept 26...

but I may be at this...

...and another SUP race in Charleston in October. Man its going to be fun this fall.

Hurricane Bill Surfing Photos and Video

Posted: August 25th, 2009, 2:21am CEST

I love surf photography.

This photo was taken by Hayne Palmour IV at Wrightsville Beach, NC and was posted on Surfline.

Is that a wave or what?

Click here to go check out the other 300+ photos from other east coasters who experienced the Hurricane Bill swell. This is where I found that awesome photo posted by Mr. Palmour. There are pics from the Outer Banks and other spots all up and down the east coast from the weekend.

Click here for some other Hurricane Bill pics that Surfline highlighted.

...and I found this video of Hurricane Bill surfing on the Outer Banks (Kitty Hawk)

Human Catapulting in the Bay Area

Posted: August 18th, 2009, 2:19am CEST

My wife and I got together with our neighbors/friends for a 5 day jaunt to San Francisco last week. So naturally, I contacted Catapulting Aaron to line up a sesh while I was out there. It worked out great. I flew in, had some lunch in the city, Aaron picked me up, and we were off. Our plan was to sail wherever the conditions were forecasted to be the best and Coyote Point was the call that afternoon. I sailed on Aaron's 5.3 sail/104lt board and had an absolute blast. I've sailed Coyote before but it was lighter wind around 15-20 at that time. This time around we got 20-25 and sizable swell/chop up to waist high. It wasn't the best day by Coyote regulars' standards because of holes in the wind and the crazy chop, but I'm used to that kind of sailing anyway. A day like that on the lake would have rated very high.

I met some of the other local sailors, including Kevin from Sunset Sailboards. Everyone was great. They must have been trying to make a real good impression on me because someone handed me a beer (thanks Jacob!) after we came off the water. Well....it worked! Seriously though, I was already all smiles when I came off the water...but the beer was definitely a bonus. Afterwards, we drove over to Candlestick Park to check out the flat water freestyle action there.

Big thanks to Aaron for going out of his way to pick me up, taking me back to my friends (and saving me a ton on taxi cab costs), for loaning me his gear, and taking me to sail together at one of his local spots. Oh...and by the way, I find it interesting that on Aaron's site, he says "I'm a bad windsurfer who just moved to San Francisco". He is no longer a "bad" windsurfer and is now ripping. He's working on some new advanced moves but I won't spoil the surprise and let him tell you once he's nailed it.

Thanks to that sesh, I was relaxed for the rest of our stay and it was a great rest of our stay with my friends. We played in the city, went for a tour of some of Sonoma and Napa's finest wineries, ate some incredible food, and got in some awesome hiking in the Marin headlands. Here are a few pics and a real quick 1 min video of some of the best views in the area.

The only decent shot of windsurfing I was able to get (other than a couple of long distance shots below). This is Kevin at Candlestick.

Highway 1 at Muir Beach Overlook looking north...we lucked out on the sunny days and little fog while we were there.

Chinatown

the mandatory tourist stop at Pier 39 to check out the always fun sea lions

Tennessee Cove in Marin County...one of the highlights of our hike

We stayed on a houseboat in Sausalito...this was our view of Mt. Tamalpais from the hot tub

I never get tired of this view

That was a big container ship....after he got into the bay, I watched as a windsurfer and a kiter both "wavesailed" forever "down the line" on the ship's wake

Click on these shots to check out the action out in the bay...this was the view from the Marin County side looking back towards the city and Crissy Field

Hardcore windsurfing videos

Posted: August 8th, 2009, 4:45pm CEST

Thanks to Beach Telegraph for first linking to these...

New windsurfing video coming in September from Andre Paskowski, Jose Gollito Estredo and co....here's the official trailer. I love the effects...these guys have been putting out some sweet footage last couple of years.

Click here to see the official trailer.

...and Trudy Lary put out another great compilation of hardcore Gorge action with the Poor brothers, Wyatt Miller, and co. You've seen the pictures of Dale Cook getting massive air in the magazines...now see it on video...he's literally hanging in the air.

2009 Windsurfing the Gorge from Trudy Lary on Vimeo.

On the other end of the hardcore video spectrum, check out Windy Waters for the summary of our hilarious madcap adventure last week. Yes, I've returned to windsurfing after taking a hiatus to the mountains and had a great hour of speed slalom sailing on the lake until the storms came....here's the rest of the story with some video of our swim across the lake....all still in good spirits.

The Video Puts You There (epic Colorado trip)

Posted: August 2nd, 2009, 11:29pm CEST

There is no substitute for physically being there and every picture can tell a story, but video fits right in between and definitely does the pictures more justice.

I put together 2 videos of our recent epic Colorado trip, about 7 minutes apiece, and tried to convey the feel of the moments we had through the music, the footage, and some special effects play. In the "No Guts No Glory" video of our Longs Peak attempt, you'll see it's a fairly dramatic interpretation of that day.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed putting them together. Turn up the volume!

Altitude Sickness from WaterTurtle Productions on Vimeo.

No Guts No Glory from WaterTurtle Productions on Vimeo.

Altitude Sickness

Posted: July 28th, 2009, 1:41pm CEST

WARNING: IF YOU DON'T LIKE LONG BLOG POSTS AND TIRE EASILY OF STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL MOUNTAIN VISTAS, DO NOT GO ANY FURTHER...otherwise, you'll need to settle in for this trip report, grab a brew, turn on some Blues Traveler, Phish, or John Hiatt...click on the pics you like for best viewing...and enjoy (video to come soon).

...It started out as a sort of bucket list item, casually discussed amongst some friends. It soon turned real when some of them actually committed to it and started the planning. There was no turning back.

These friends are ones I've known for over 20 years. They were college and rugby mates of mine and we've kept in close touch ever since, gathering for reunions once or twice a year, along with several others from that crazy motley crew.

One of them, Neil, has been living in Colorado for a while. I've been out there skiing a few times with him but up until his wedding almost 2 years ago, I had not spent any warm weather time out there. So John, Tom, and I commit to joining Neil in a 5 day Colorado backcountry summer adventure. But wait....John, Tom, and I are sea level east coasters. The plan was to go hiking and camping into the backcountry for 3 days between 9,000 - 12,000 ft elevation and wrap it up with an attempt to summit Longs Peak, one of the most technical 14,000 ft climbs in Colorado.

The 2 months leading up to the trip consisted of a lot of biking, yoga, stand up paddling, and practice hikes with a 50 lb backpack where I could find some decent climbs. The final week leading up to departure consisted of taking a daily aspirin and uncomfortably drinking a lot of water to thin the blood and proactively combat altitude sickness. If I had not done all that, I most certainly would have been in trouble. It turns out us east coasters all did surprisingly well with the altitude, but had underestimated the pucker factor of climbing Longs Peak. Maybe it was better we didn't really know what we were in for.

After arriving late morning on our 1st day, we go for a short 2 hour hike in the hills of Lyons, CO followed by some river tubing down the St Vrain. We got the impression it would be a lazy river ride since we took a bag of beers and had on flip flops. This was the first real indication we got that when Neil says, "Hey, lets go check that out", it means you might want to turn around and go back from whence you came. His lovely wife warned us but we were like, "yeah...whatever".

View of Lyons from atop one of our 1st day hike hills

Neil tubing

The hike was more like a Lewis & Clark bushwhacking trek....cactus and all. And we weren't 100 yards down the river and all of us except Neil were already falling off our tubes, getting dunked, losing our flip flops, sunglasses, and beers down the river....DOH!!! The river wasn't so lazy after all....at least not lazy enough to chill with a brew in one hand. We had to actually focus on the river. But of course, thanks to Neil, it was a great adventure and was also his secret mad cap way to get us slowly acclimated to the altitude before we set off into the backcountry the next day.

The crew - John, Mac, Tom, and Neil (photo from Neil)

Bear Warning

One of the many waterfalls along the way

The next morning, we're packed and off for a big early morning breakfast in Nederland before hitting the trailhead. We entered the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area in Roosevelt National Forest by way of the Hessie Trailhead. We followed the Devils Thumb Trail up in elevation approx 6.5 miles the first day, had lunch by Jasper Lake, and set up camp right under the Devils Thumb peak and next to Devils Thumb Lake.

The trail leading up...we're headed to the base of those snow capped mountains

See the elk on the snow?

The four of us at our first lunch spot, Jasper Lake, on the way to our first campsite...not a bad place to eat, huh?

That is about 8 feet of glacial snow the creek is running under and emptying into Devils Thumb Lake. This is next to our first campsite.

The view looking south from our first campsite. We would be hiking up and over that mountain the next day to get to the Continental Divide.

Me and the view looking north at our first campsite. That's Devils Thumb to the left.

The tents going up, looking west at our first campsite

Devils Thumb...you can barely make out our tents at the bottom

Now, Neil is not into the whole Ramen noodles and freeze dried packs for camp eating. He brought the good stuff and we ate good. Our meals consisted of chicken, red peppers, onions, seasoning/spices, bacon/eggs, coffee, pork fried rice and veggies, sausage, cheese, sandwiches, etc. However, with all this food, we had to be extra vigilant about cleaning up well after eating and putting all food related items into the "bear bag". This included anything else that had odors...such as toothpaste. We would tie the bag high up between two trees far away from camp.

I suppose a bear could have still taken down the bag if he really tried hard enough, but at least it wouldn't be near us. For some strange reason, the bear warnings didn't really bother me. The biggest thing I was worried about was the lightning. Lightning is the number one killer of hikers/climbers in Colorado each summer, particularly as you get above the tree line and are left so exposed to the weather. There is always a good chance of some afternoons thunderstorms rolling across those mountains and the weather can change in an instant. We fortunately had great weather...not one rain drop until we were almost off the trail on our 3rd day. The days consisted of high 70s and it fell into the 40s at night.

What did we do for water you ask? Here is John with a small water filter pump, filling water bottles at the creek next to our first campsite

John, Tom, Mac - heading up towards the Continental Divide

Our 2nd day consisted of hiking up and over the Continental Divide on the High Lonesome Trail. I looked up a description of this trail. It read "traverse across the western exposure of the Continental Divide to Rollins Pass. Rock cairns mark the intermittent path across the delicate alpine tundra. Cleverly camouflaged ptarmigan can frequently be discovered upon close examination of the lichen covered tundra rocks." OK....that was what I was going to say, but simply put, it was absolutely beautiful. There were wildflowers everywhere. It made you want to spin around in circles and sing, "The hills are alive, with the sound of....". OK, maybe not, but we talked about it. It was wild seeing snow everywhere along the way. Some sections of eastern facing snowpack never melt. They say you can stand on top of the Continental Divide to pee and it will end up on the west coast or the east coast. Do you want to pee on California? Or do you want to pee on North Carolina?

Neil's GPS watch, measuring our altitude near the top of the Continental Divide

John, Tom, and Neil in front of the Continental Divide wildflowers

Marmot

Lunchspot #2

Hiking down High Lonesome Trail towards Kings Lake Trail. We would later come back up this steep trail to watch the Continental Divide sunset.

Along the way, we found hours old bear scat....hmmm, interesting...and a mental note that we better keep a look out. We ventured down Kings Lake Trail to check out Bob and Betty Lakes. Since Bob Lake had an actual iceberg floating in it, it seemed only natural that we would go for a dip in the water. The very frigid water. Of course, this was soon after Neil said, "hey, lets go check that out". Shrinkage doesn't even begin to describe the experience. It was so cold, our feet were burning. Did I mention there was a freaking iceberg? But we got somewhat clean from all the trail dust and felt refreshed afterwards. We ventured back to Kings Lake to set up camp.

"Hey, lets go check that out" - Neil sniffing out Bob Lake

Brrrrr

After setting up camp and having another great dinner, we saddled up to Kings Lake to see if we could get a bite on the fishing rod Neil brought. Tom was unsuccessful the day before trying to lure some fish on Devils Thumb Lake. John and I settled back on a large boulder to watch and take in the view. All of a sudden, I saw a bear running up the trail past our camp. He was already a far distance away. I yelled for the others to look up and see the "BEAR!!". The bear stopped on the trail, turned around, stood up on his hind legs and looked at us. I guess he didn't like what he saw because he turned back around and took off in the opposite direction up and over a rocky hill. Neil estimated the bear's height standing up around 8 feet...not a small one. Wow, that was excitement enough for the day.

Campsite #2

Check out that reflection. Tom & Neil fishing.

BEAR!!

Since we had the Neil "hey, lets go check that out" afternoon jaunt to Bob Lake and its iceberg, we were to be later introduced to John's "hey, have to see the sunset" jaunt. Now, I thought I was into sunsets. John takes it to a whole new level. At his behest, we hiked back up over 1,000 feet elevation, and back up to the top of the Continental Divide to watch the sunset. It was worth my heart literally beating out of my chest...really. Not a lot of people can say they've sat on the top of the Continental Divide and watched the sunset. Thanks John for pushing us to go. We hiked back down in the dark and with our headlamps on...calling out to Mr Bear.

Continental Divide sunset (photo from Neil)

With all the "jaunts" and circles we did, we ended hiking approx 9 miles on the 2nd day. The 3rd day was an easy hike 6 miles down the trail, into the valley, and back to the car. Even though we had eaten well on the trail, we were eager for some grub and brews in town. As Tom said, we were going to "eat like Vikings". Nederland or "Ned" as the locals like to say, is a cool little mountain town and we found our little oasis at Wild Mountain Smokehouse and Brewery. Incidentally, Ned is the home of the "Frozen Dead Guy Days" Festival. Yeah...we were thirsty. As we started getting too relaxed, we remembered that the real big day was tomorrow and we needed to get some rest. We would wake up at 4am the next morning and be hiking by 5am with headlamps on to begin our journey up Longs Peak at 14,000 ft and a 15 mile roundtrip day.

5am - John sleepy eyed and ready to go

6am - sunrise

Neil, Tom, and John with Longs Peak in the background with the sunrise light on it

We weren't even halfway up the mountain when my back stiffened up. So much so that I was really beginning to question if I could finish this thing. The last thing I wanted was for my back to have a spasm, lock up, those guys having to carry me down the mountain, and me spending the next few days in bed not being able to fly home. We weren't even to the real hard parts of the climb yet. It was getting colder and windier as we progressed higher up the mountain. We stopped for a short break. I took a deep breath and started into what I now affectionately refer back to as the "quitters speech". "Hey guys, here's the deal...my lower back is acting up and...blah, blah, blah". Those guys....god bless 'em....they looked me right in the eye and told me it was my decision. Dammit!! I stretched and decided to go a little further and see how it felt.

Beginning to enter the Boulder Field. Longs Peak to the left and the "Keyhole" to the right.

Well, it must have been adrenaline. It must have been the thoughts of regret in not having finished. It must have been the thought back as to one of the reasons I came to do this in the first place...to see what I was made of. We started to cross the infamous Boulder Field. A rocky wasteland...strewn with boulders the size of cars one after another and everywhere you stepped...you had to hike/climb over them. The hiking poles were now a liability for the rest of the way up, so away they went into our day packs.

Boulder Field and Keyhole (notice the stone shelter built into the wall next to the Keyhole)

Tom in the Keyhole shelter

We ventured through the "Keyhole"...literally an opening like a keyhole into the backside of Longs Peak. As you cross it, you enter the "Ledges". The Ledges is where you cross horizontally, then down and up across the very steep backside of Longs Peak. Now would not be a good time to find you're afraid of heights. The pucker factor really started to set in. There were a couple of sections that if you did not get your footing and hands just right, it would have been a very long and steep drop down the trough. At one point, Tom asked me how my back was doing. My reply, "I have no $#&*ing idea". I couldn't feel a thing. My mind raced through many different emotions and questioning myself...what in the world was I doing. We had to stay mentally alert and focus completely on every single step and rock we were climbing.

The Ledges - that's a long way down

Neil on the Ledges, pointing out the eventual way back

John & Tom - "This is crazy, this is crazy" - the final steep trough up to the top. Yes, it was as long and steep as it looks.

The four of us took our time and eventually made the steep climb up the final trough of the Ledges section. We were almost there. At the very top, it plateaus at 14,000 ft and opens up into a section called the Narrows just below the summit. At this point, the clouds were rolling in. It started to snow, sleet, and the wind wasn't letting up. Another climber was coming back down at this section (and had a helmet on!). He stopped to tell us it was precipitating and making for slick conditions on the Narrows and the final push up to the summit. As the crow flies, we were approx 200 ft away. The Narrows is another "ledge" at the top of a steep drop off with zero room for error. Its very exposed and the fact that it was slick and wet didn't bode well. Plus, more dark clouds were headed in our direction and it would take us a couple of hours to get back below the tree line. We had to think of our safety...I know, what a concept at this point. People have died at this spot. The four of us decided together this was a good time to turn around. We sat at the top point between the Ledges and the Narrows and got one last good look at the view. We had made it to 14,000 feet and felt like we made a huge accomplishment....with no regret of not pushing that final 200 ft.

Looking towards The Narrows section at 14,000 ft - as far as we went - check out the precipitation

The view from almost the top of Longs Peak - clouds rolling in

Me, John, and Tom at the top...almost (photo from Neil)

It was around 11:30am and we still had to go back down 7.5 miles. We couldn't lose our focus climbing down the Ledges. It was just as much of a pucker factor going down as going up. On the way down, we passed some people who didn't seem well equipped to be on the Ledges, much less getting to the summit. You don't want to be on the Ledges or higher after 12noon when the likelihood of thunderstorms increases. As we continued on down, we passed a High Mountain Rescue member climbing up...fast...like a combo of mountain goat and Spider Man. He had someone on the radio and said he going up to rescue someone. I guess we missed this person in distress since we didn't get to the summit...or that person was climbing the more difficult vertical face on the other side. Sadly, as I'm writing this several days later, I discovered that a man did die that morning of a heart attack. He was apparently just past the Narrows at the Homestretch to the summit. If we had pushed on to the summit, we would have come across him and the people already there giving him CPR. They were right around the corner from us and we didn't even know it. From reading the newspaper account, it doesn't appear we would have been able to do anything as others were already there performing CPR in vain.

John, Tom, and I - at the Keyhole ready to make our way back down (photo from Neil)

Wasteland - at the Keyhole, looking down at the Boulder Field and what we're getting ready to climb down and cross

That's a big rockpile

Great view of Rocky Mountain National Park peaks

Chasm Lake (left) and Longs Peak (right)

Sign in the parking lot...we didn't see it that morning since it was dark

The final 3 miles down seemed like forever as our legs were just about to give up. The sun was out again, the wind was getting blocked by the trees, and it started to get hot. However, looking back at the top of Longs Peak, we could see the clouds still rolling through very fast with the heavier wind at that higher elevation. We stepped down into the parking lot right at 3pm and it started to rain heavily. We wrapped the day back in Lyons with a great dinner and brews at Oskar Blues Brewery, home of Dale's Pale Ale among others (the Gordon Pale Ale was excellent).

Thanks to Neil for setting everything up, getting the permits, doing the planning, preparing all the camp supplies and food, and for being our fearless guide. Thanks to his bride, Connie, for the great hospitality and putting up with three stinky guys in their home. And thanks to Neil, John, and Tom for the complete experience we shared together and an adventure we'll never forget. When you're out of your mind hugging a rock at 14,000 ft, its nice to know you can look your friends in the eye and you know they've got your back.

Neil, John, Mac, Tom

A Friendly Reminder Of Just How Insignificant We Really Are

Posted: July 22nd, 2009, 7:12pm CEST

Just got back from epic trip to Colorado. Did 3 day backcountry hiking/camping up and over the Continental Divide that included bear & elk sightings and sunset viewing from top of Continental Divide at 12,000 ft. Then wrapped it up on 4th day with hike/climb up Longs Peak, one of the most technical Colorado 14,000 ft peak treks. That was one of the hardest and scariest things I've ever done in my life and so rewarding at the same time.

Other highlights include hanging out in Lyons and Nederland and sampling the local brew pubs (Dale's Pale Ale anyone?), St Vrains River tubing, and of course...spending the 5 days in the wilderness and bonding with some of my bros/former rugby mates from college.

Much more to come in days/weeks ahead including full report, pictures, and video. I'm still coming up for air (literally, after having spent the last 5 days between 9,000 - 14,000 ft) and catching up on work & family. Here's a couple of pics to whet the appetite.

Why You Should Do The HIHO

Posted: July 13th, 2009, 4:41pm CEST

Pour a cold one, put on the Bob Marley tunes and go along for the ride....

Watching this video is explanation enough as to why you should go do the HIHO. This is the highlight video from the recent 2009 HIHO event in the British Virgin Islands.

Here is my highlight video from our 2007 HIHO trip

Here is the story (with pics) I did about that amazing trip.

And here is a picture slide show from that trip

Grandfather Mountain High

Posted: July 4th, 2009, 5:45pm CEST

I seem to be in mountain mode these days. Its a good time to do it since there hasn't been any wind around here. I'm still conditioning for my upcoming Colorado backcountry trip and decided a climb up and over Grandfather Mountain would help. So the family and I drove up to Blowing Rock late on Thursday and arrived in time for a nice dinner. The next morning, they dropped me off at the Boone Fork Parking Area off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Blowing Rock. I started my hike here while the family drove on to visit the Linville Caverns and go to a local "pick-your-own" apple orchard. The plan was for them to drive up and meet me at the top of Grandfather Mountain that afternoon at the end of my hike.

So off I went...with a 50 lb pack on my back to help simulate what I would be carrying for the CO hike. I snapped a bunch of photos along the way, posted them here with some commentary.....sit back with some tunes, a beverage, and enjoy (click on the photos to enlarge them...they look much better that way).

This is the Daniel Boone Trail on the way up from the Blue Ridge Parkway...very rocky and rooty.

This is a view of the Linn Cove Viaduct on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This is a segmental concrete bridge winding around a very steep and rocky ledge and was apparently the last section of the Blue Ridge Parkway to be built.

Close up of the Linn Cove Viaduct

Grandfather Mountain is known for having very high winds. Wind speeds over 200mph have been recorded. This is a picture of trees downed by wind. This picture doesn't really do it justice but there were a lot of downed trees in this area as if a big wind shear had taken them all down at once.

Standing at the top of Calloway Peak (5,964 ft), the highest point at Grandfather Mountain, looking south towards McCrae Peak where I'm now headed.

WARNING! A sign at one of the designated camping spots along the trail

Looking back north to where I just hiked from - looking at Watauga Peak (rock cliff in the middle) and Calloway Peak (highest point on the right)

Yes, this is part of the trail...a climb up these rocks. This was easy compared to what was to come.

Working my way towards McCrae Peak, standing at Attic Window area, looking back north from where I just hiked from (Watauga and Calloway Peaks)

Self portait - behind me looking west is Sugar Mountain and Highway 105

Yes, the trail snakes along the cliffs and its very very far down. Not for the faint of heart. I was scared to get too close, especially with the wind whipping up those rock faces.

The trail takes you along these rocky cliffs. I'm getting ready to hike over those rocks down to that next wooded point towards the right.

This is looking down a rocky chute. The wind was gnarly as it was funneling up that chute. I'm getting ready to climb down this chute (with my 50 lb pack on....ridiculous).

Looking back up that rocky chute I just descended

Another part of the trail....going over and under giant rocks

Steep sections with ladders and cables mounted to help you along. Because of my 50lb pack, my center of gravity was way from normal. So I had to be extremely careful and focused with my footing for every single step.

The geological survey marker on top of McCrae Peak - 5,939 ft

On top of McCrae Peak looking down towards the Mile High Swinging Bridge area (and the crowds)

Close up of the Mile High Swinging Bridge and the crowds. They are rebuilding the visitors center there. You can drive your car up to that point. This is where I was headed to meet my family. I didn't see a single soul for the first 3 miles of my hike. Saw a few people the next 2.5 miles. Then the last 1 mile got crowded.

At top of McCrae Peak looking back northeast at the Blue Ridge Parkway

Looking back north at the different peaks I just hiked down from

The last steep section I just descended as I neared my destination (and more crowded as you can see)

It took me almost 2 hours to hike the last 1.5 miles because of all the steep sections, ladders, rock chutes, etc. I don't recommend hiking this section of Grandfather Mountain (around McCrae Peak) with a 50 lb backpack. I want to go back and do it again without the pack. Overall, it was a very beautful day to hike, high temp was low 70s, no humidity, partly cloudy with a nice breeze, and no worries of afternoon storms coming in on this day. Although my heart is in the water (ocean and lakes), I still love the mountains.

Unique Perspectives

Posted: June 25th, 2009, 1:23am CEST

Some cool and unique perspectives...

Great fin cam video from SUP board - unique footage of sea lions (and sharks)....

Happy Galapagos Sea Lions from Blane Chambers on Vimeo.

Ever wonder what it looks like underwater around the Cape Hatteras lighthouse jetties? Neither have I....until I saw this. This is an interesting piece and picture slide show about what it looks like around those old jetties. Click here for slide show

Finally, a funny article about kayak fishing....get this...in the Gulf Stream....and...get ready for this...with Hooters Girls. Here's the picture slide show....courtesy of Outer Banks windsurfer (and photographer) Donny Bowers. There are also some cool close up shots of the Diamond Shoals light tower. I've never been up close to it so this was a neat perspective.

A Walk in the Woods

Posted: June 22nd, 2009, 3:36am CEST

Yes, I'm stealing the title from that hilarious take on hiking the Appalachian Trail, written by Bill Bryson. I had my own walk in the woods this morning at Crowders Mountain State Park. I went for a 7.5 mile hike with a 50 lb pack on my back. I'm actually doing some conditioning for a backcountry hiking/camping trip to Colorado next month. Crowders Mountain provided some good long inclines to really get my legs and feet going. Tonight I am feeling it...very worn out.

Crowders Mountain is only 45 minutes away from my house. North Carolina has a great state park system and all these parks are very well maintained. We're very fortunate to have this.

Anyway, a great way to start off Father's Day. I was on the trail at 8am and back home by lunchtime and spent the rest of the day with the family. The picture above was taken at the summit's overlook.

Prepare to be Mezmerized

Posted: June 12th, 2009, 2:11am CEST

I found this at Beach Telegraph. This video is beautifully done in slow motion, giving you a real sense of just how fluid Josh Angulo rides these waves in Cabo Verde. Watch how he mostly stays squarely in the most critical section of the wave. Its a beautiful and mesmerizing thing to watch.

Josh at home from umi pictures on Vimeo.

SUP pics

Posted: June 8th, 2009, 4:12am CEST

Thanks to Mark for taking some video of us stand up paddle surfing 3 weeks ago at Carolina Beach. The video was a bit shaky but I was able to capture some sequence clips of me on a wave.

Good times!

Return By Water

Posted: May 27th, 2009, 4:43am CEST

I had the good fortune to return by water only a week after that great SUP/windsurf weekend in Carolina Beach area by taking the family to Hatteras Island. The forecast was very light on wind but it was an absolutely gorgeous weekend with sun and high 70s/low 80s. I did luck into a short session at Canadian Hole in planable 15 mph winds for about 45 minutes (and missed Drew who was out there). It was apparently a lot windier at points north in Nags Head area.

But the best time on the water this past weekend were the three consecutive early mornings I went stand up paddle surfing in the waves...capped off on the last day joined by Andy and Anne. Its always more fun when joined on the water by like minded people. I'm continuing to progress little by little. I'm catching waves and getting some good rides down the line....now I just need to work on the cutbacks, bottom turns, etc.

Standing out however was spending time with the family, playing and relaxing on the beach with them (and our dog), and remembering our fallen soldiers who've made the ultimate sacrifice recently and in years past.

I stole the title of this post from a great book I read recently, Return by Water by Kimball Taylor, a well known surfing journalist. Its in paperback and is a great short story read when traveling.

No pics or video of the on the water action but here are a few pics from the weekend.

Kids + Beach = Fun (that was a big hole on the beach dug by someone else)

Never get tired of the ocean

Post sesh eats and a brew with a view...that Sierra Nevada Summerfest is pretty dang good

Sunset poses

A visit to the Wright Brothers Memorial on Memorial Day...a perfect compliment to my daughter's upcoming school presentation on the Wright Brothers

excuse me Mr. Alligator, may I have this wave?

Posted: May 23rd, 2009, 7:25pm CEST

When looking up wave etiquette, there's no mention of who has right of way when sharing a wave with an alligator. Maybe this guy can rewrite the rules. I'm sure it would say something along the lines of "...and when you see an alligator, make sure you let him have the wave all to himself so you don't tick off the locals and/or get eaten". Click here for story, which happened not too far away in Georgia.

It Was A Stand Up Weekend...

Posted: May 19th, 2009, 2:00am CEST

...and a great waterman's weekend as well. Everything from Stand Up Paddle (SUP) racing, to SUP in the waves, to light wind SUP wavesailing, to flat water windsurf speed blasting.

Rob, Mark, and I went down to the Carolina/Wrightsville Beach area for the weekend. The weekend was centered around the 1st Annual Intracoastal SUP Cup race around Harbor Island in Wrightsville Beach.

This took place Saturday morning. 35 racers entered the event and it was a 3.5 mile race in flat water. It was a "sailing" start...ie. a 3 minute warning was given to the start and you could paddle all the way up to the starting line with momentum as they sounded the horn. I misread the start line and had a terrible start ending up in the back of everyone. I felt like such a slug with my 10'6" surf oriented board but after the first 1 mile leg, the course took a turn into the 10-15mph wind. My board suddenly had an advantage, I had a sudden burst of energy, and I took off passing 7 people on that 1 mile+ upwind leg. I passed a couple more folks after that and finished 23rd overall out of 35 people (21st in the 12.5ft & under Unlimited Class) with a time of 55 minutes. It was a great experience....fun and I certainly learned a lot after not really knowing what to expect. I learned that I need to have a much better start and I need to maintain focus on my stroke technique, which also needs improving. I look forward to doing it again and going to more races. Coastal Urge did a great job hosting the race and gave away a ton of cool stuff (I won a very cool North Face water resistant pack bag for my efforts) thanks to the many sponsors.

7:45am bright and early arriving at the race (photo by Mark)

Here is another blog post about the race and results.

After the race, we had the rest of the weekend to play in the water. We certainly took advantage of it. Early Saturday afternoon after the race, we decided to do some light wind wavesailing with 5.4 sails on our SUP boards. The wind was side-shore about 10mph. We opted not to go to the better wave spot at North End Carolina Beach because it looked very crowded with lots of cars and fishermen on the beach. So we stayed closer and upwind of the pier. The only problem was we underestimated the bad shorebreak and the sketchy launch that had large rocks blocking good beach access at high tide. I had a heck of a time getting out through the shorebreak. Once out, I caught one decent wave back in and got caught in the shorebreak again. It ripped the webbing that held one of my battens in place making my sail almost useless. So I gave it up and Rob came in too after having similar difficulty in the shorebreak. Oh well...live and learn.

After chilling out for a couple of hours back at our room, we trekked back out around 5pm to the North End Carolina Beach for some SUP surfing since the crowd there had thinned out. The wind had backed down a bit making it easier to paddle in the waves. We surfed for a couple of hours and caught some good wave rides (but still fell a lot too). We're still learning but certainly progressed since the last time out in the waves back in January.

Me & Rob paddling into position (photo by Mark)

Can you see our smiles? (photo by Mark)

After a good nights sleep, we were back at North End Carolina Beach at 8am the next morning for more SUP surfing. This time, the local SUP crew showed up and we all hit the water. The local crew consisted of Brian M, Dwight & Jacky, Brian A, Brad (C4 rep), and others. We had a light southwest wind making for side-off conditions. It was a lot of fun being on the water with 6 other paddle surfers. Big thanks again to them for sharing their spot with us. I think we progressed that much more that morning as we caught some good wave rides once again. It was certainly our best SUP wave session so far.

Here are some pics from that morning (the lighting was bad for picture taking), plus here is another blog post with some video that shows the conditions we had.

Jacky

Unidentified SUP'er

The Three Amigos - Mark, myself, and Rob (photo by Brian M)

The wind started to pick up which could only mean one thing - windsurfing. We were a bit worn out from all the SUP surfing so we decided to go flat water blasting at the south end of Carolina Beach (Fort Fisher) at The Basin to wrap up the weekend. This has to be one of the best and most easily accessible flat water sailing spots in the country. Way back in the "old days" of windsurfing, Ken Winner's Speed Series was held here and this spot also produced NC speed records at the time. The southwest wind started out around 15mph and then kicked up to around 20mph. We sailed for 2 solid hours, flat water speed blasting, and practicing our duck gybes. I nailed 3 of them but they weren't pretty (and I fell on many more than that)....I still need to work on my form. Rob is nailing his duck gybes...I saw him hit 4 in a row.

I surprised myself by the amount of energy I had all weekend and hitting the water for five different sessions over 2 days. However, I can tell I'm a landlubber because I'm very sore right now and my body is beat up...the downside of being a weekend warrior 4 hours away from the nearest waves.

They say that when you fall off the SUP board, you're supposed to fall AWAY from the board. I didn't do that very well.

I love the Outer Banks for all it has to offer but I was pleasantly reminded how diverse the conditions and spots are in the Carolina Beach area for all the great watersports (windsurfing, surfing, SUP for flat water and surfing, and kiting).

NASCAR, Windsurfing, and Talladega Nights

Posted: May 7th, 2009, 2:57am CEST

Hey Andy, I wasn't kidding when I wanted to borrow your black & white checkered hooded sweatshirt to take to Talladega with me!

I went to the Talladega 500 NASCAR race 2 weekends ago. Although I do reserve the right to post non-windsurfing topics on this site, this post is actually related to windsurfing. Stay with me and read on...

Yes, this was the race that ended in a spectacular crash that sent #99 Carl Edwards' car into the catch fence at the finish line with flying parts that injured some fans, luckily none of them very serious. Fortunately, we weren't sitting close to where the crash happened. It is a very big track and we were sitting in a great spot in the stands watching the cars come off turn 4 into the tri-oval, just before the finish line.

Click here for a 3:30 minute video summary of the Talladega 500 race

Yes, I am a race fan. And Talladega is one of the most exciting tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup series with the cars racing 3 or 4 wide on the race track nose to tail at 190mph most of the race. Get into an actual race car and either drive it around a race track or go as a passenger sometime and you'll gain a whole new appreciation for the sport. You'll then truly understand how amazing it is for those cars to race like they do at large tracks like Talladega and Daytona.

Some neighbors and I made a weekend of it by renting an RV, driving to Alabama, and camping in the infield of the 2.6 mile Talladega International Superspeedway. It was a fascinating and fun weekend. Fascinating from the standpoint that we were mere amateurs with our little rented 31 ft Cruise America RV compared to the real race fan pros in attendance with their giant bus RVs with extensions, giant grills, giant sound systems, recessed lighting, and every other nice amenity you could want on a fancy camping trip. Also a fascinating night life amongst the infield race fans. The best way to describe it is calling it a "redneck madris gras". I say that as a term of endearment since I am really an old redneck from Surry County myself. Also fascinating since we got to spend time in the garage and pit areas before the races on Saturday and Sunday. We were very close to many of the drivers, crews, and the cars. This was courtesy of pit passes provided to us from a friend of mine who works for one of the race teams. Pretty cool. It turned out to be the two most exciting races I've seen in a long time...both with very close and exciting finishes.

Our home away from home

The crew preparing the tires before the race in the pit area

Pit Row

The #48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's Racing hauler in the garage area

NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Kurt Busch

2008 Daytona 500 Champion Ryan Newman

3 time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"Rowdy" Kyle Busch

2 time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart

Miss America - I had no idea who that was. I had to ask someone who was that girl surrounded by security going into Dale Jr's hauler. She later sang the National Anthem.

The classic fly over after the National Anthem

Boogity! Boogity! Boogity!...Lets Go Racin Boys!

Turn 4 and the infield front row spectators atop their giant RVs

This 10 second video clip is what 190mph looks like...

So I was trying to figure out how I could possibly tie this post to windsurfing. Not that I had to or needed to but I figured I would at least try. I was innocently and coincidentally perusing a few windsurfing web sites including Miami Windsurfing and look at what I came across...

I lifted these pictures from the Miami Windsurfing web site. Imagine my excitement when I saw this. I had no idea that a real NASCAR driver actually windsurfs. It turns out that #42 Juan Pablo Montoya lives and windsurfs in Miami in his free time in the off-season and in between race weekends and appearances. Montoya originally hails from Colombia and used to be an open wheel champion including winning the Indianapolis 500. He made the switch to NASCAR a couple of years ago. He actually had the pole position at Talladega. There are a couple of mentions of Montoya on the Miami Windsurfing web site and it promises to soon post an interview with him about windsurfing. Big thanks to Miami Windsurfing for posting this. Montoya's race team is based near where I live. I'm going to have to get him out on the lake windsurfing sometime when he's here.

So there...you learned something new and also found that NASCAR and windsurfing do in fact mix!

Cabarete Reef Video

Posted: May 1st, 2009, 3:32am CEST

OK, first of all...I've found that the GoPro camera makes the waves look A LOT smaller than they really were...no lie. So this video isn't really that rad and doesn't do the Cabarete reef wavesailing any justice. Here is an example...check out this still photo I captured from the GoPro footage -

Note the size of the whitewater against the windsurfer behind me. This was after the wave built up and broke. The whitewater is about chest high to that sailor (and I'm on that same wave) but the waves before breaking were getting up to head high that day and that wasn't the biggest day that week. You would never know this by watching the helmetcam footage alone. Also, that sailor in the picture was a lot closer to me than that shot indicates. That's a result of the wide-angle lense. You'll see in the video he comes in from upwind of me on the same tack and makes a downwind move on the wave and scoots down behind me. We barely missed each other but the video makes it look like he was far away.

Anyway, I'm not trying to build it up so much except to prove a point about the GoPro camera not depicting the real size of the waves, swell, chop, and distance to other sailors. Even my past GoPro lake sailing footage makes the lake look totally flat when in reality there was some decent chop. In this Cabarete video there is a clip of me jibing on an ocean swell face. The swell was pretty big but you can't tell at all in the video. I'm not complaining...just an observation. The last half of this video is a complete run out through the reef, past it into the big blue ocean, jibing, and coming back to catch some waves. OK, enough about that...here's the dang video (3 1/2 minutes)...enjoy because it really was fun out there!

Cabarete Reef from WaterTurtle Productions on Vimeo.

Final Thoughts on Cabarete

Posted: April 21st, 2009, 2:56am CEST

We're back home and rested. Some final thoughts on Cabarete and a few final pics:

- Sailed 5 straight days mostly on 5 meter sails. On the 6th day it was very light so I took my daughter out on a big board and we played around, plus I went for a SUP paddle. The final and 7th day, the wind came straight onshore at around 15mph and was very overcast which wasn't very inviting so I passed and hung out with the family.

- Overall, great windsurfing spot as I mentioned earlier if you like bump & jump, big ocean swell, and onshore reef wavesailing. On small swell days, it can be fairly flat on the inside. With big swells, there can be quite a shorebreak. The reef (coral) was about 4 ft deep at its shallowest below the waves so it was generally safe to ride aggressively. On the biggest day of the week, the waves were reaching well overhead and I hear they can get bigger on larger swells. In my last post, click on the reef windsurfing pictures I took from long distance. Notice the height of the waves compared to some of the sailors. Although I paid some dues, the waves were user friendly and didn't thrash you too hard if you fell as they sort of crumbled on themselves instead of throwing big tubes. The interesting thing was doing the wavesailing so far from the beach instead of right there at the beach. I'm a reasonably skilled windsurfer but I don't have a lot of wave experience. So it was a good and fun challenge for me and it gave me more confidence for attacking the waves again in the future.

- Yes, Cabarete is a very big kiting place. However, most of the kiters were concentrated well west and downwind of us at "kite beach". Click on one the kite pictures from my last post and you can see how many kiters were out there. Kite Beach also has their own large reef to play in which I understand is pretty shallow. There is an unwritten rule that kiters aren't supposed to play at the reef where the windsurfers are. However, that rule was broken consistently by about 3-4 kiters each day. It wasn't really a problem for me since I'm used to windsurfing around kiters but one did get in my way on a wave...he fell and I had to go around him and miss the last half of a nice wave ride.

- The weather was great. Low 80s during the day, and around 70 at night...very comfortable and not overly hot. The water felt great. We had a couple of showers at night and on the morning of our departure. There were some mosquitos and no-see-ums so you needed to have the bugspray around at night but it wasn't too bothersome.

- The one big negative in my opinion and something I wasn't aware of - the beach vendors. Every day, every hour, there was someone coming up trying to sell us something....fruit, hair braiding, massages, wooden carvings, newspapers, cookies, etc. The same people over and over coming up to us. At first I was real irritated but after a couple of days I settled into the "irie" island vibe, relaxed, and we started striking up friendly conversations (thanks to my friendly wife) with them and got to know a few of them. And yes, we bought some stuff including a beautiful handcarved wooden waterturtle. Still though, I wasn't a big fan of the constant barrage each day.

- We arrived on the last day of Semana Santa (April 12th), a very popular holiday in Cabarete. It had been a week long celebration that included parties all day and night on the beach with restricted windsurfing access because of the crowds. We were warned about this by Vela which is one reason we arrived on Sunday versus that Saturday. We talked to some folks who arrived on Saturday and they said there were thousands of people on the beach and they partied very loudly well into the wee hours of the morning. There were 5 concert stages being taken down on Sunday and Monday after we arrived. Although there was an effort to clean the beach after the celebration, there sadly were many trash remnants that remained the entire week we were there.

- The food was mostly good - LAX, Voy Voy, Cafe Pitu, Pomodoro, Onnos, and La Casita were all good. We stuck to all the restaurants on the beach within walking distance. They all had seating on the beach so you could sit there with your toes in the sand. However, unless you had the local Dominican chicken dish every night (120 pesos = about $3.50), it wasn't nearly as cheap as I was led to believe. The Presidente beers were about 90 pesos apiece. Aside from the inexpensive beer and local fare, many dinners ended up costing almost as much as other islands we've been to. This was mostly due to the 16% tax they put on the bill. Many of the bars/restaurants turned into live music spots or discos at night and there was consistently a young crowd there to party until very late.

- Cabarete Palm Beach Condos was a nice place and family friendly. There were other families there. Of course, the kids loved the pool which was a saving grace at times. It was mostly quiet except you could hear some thumping music late on Wednesday night coming from down the beach at one of the bars.

- Vela was awesome. Great equipment selection and great atmosphere for just hanging out to eat/drink as well (Voy Voy). They also had great beginner equipment and SUP boards/paddles. The staff was friendly and knowledgable. It was less than 5 minute walk from Palm Beach Condos.

- We did not rent a car, nor did we do much exploring which is a big departure from most of our trips. We told ourselves that unless the wind didn't blow, we were going to just stay at the beach. There are many other things to do there such as surfing, mountain biking, hiking, canyoneering, waterfalls, river kayaking, wakeboarding, national parks/forts, etc but we didn't do any of that, except for the one morning of surfing with my daughter. It was a small regret that we didn't do more exploring but we sure did relax. If I hadn't sailed 5 days in a row, I'm sure we would have done more. And it was nice to be able to walk everywhere...all the restaurants and shopping right there. Its recommended not to venture too far into the interior of the Dominican Republic as there isn't much in terms of infrastructure or medical help and its supposedly not safe after dark.

- I have friends who went there in the early 90s before there was much there and it was much wilder. It is still a little bit of the "wild west" there...which is appealing to some folks I suppose. There were shotgun wielding armed guards placed at certain spots (outside banks and some hotel entrances) and I noticed some prostitution. However, we felt very safe at all times.

- Although Palm Beach Condos supposedly had "filtered" water, we brushed our teeth with the bottled water that was provided and kept our mouths shut when showering. We also tried to stray from iced drinks and raw leafy vegetables, although that wasn't foolproof. Both Kris and I had some minor stomach aches and one of our kids had a 3 hour bout on the can but it passed after that. We met a family whose 14 year old had spent 2 days sick and throwing up. You just have to be careful what you eat and drink there like you would in any other Latin American/Caribbean country. We proactively packed prescription medicine for treating bacterial issues in case we got it real bad.

- There were many French and German people there. We met a few Canadians and Americans, including some very nice couples from Washington, Minnesota, and Colorado that I think may now come and vacation in the Outer Banks based on my recommendations. Most of the locals knew some English. It wasn't too hard to communicate if you knew a few key Spanish words and were good at using your arms and hands :-)

As you can tell in the pictures, its a very beautiful place. Overall, a great vacation and highly recommended if you liked what you read and saw here and can deal with some of the things I pointed out.

I'll post the GoPro helmetcam video of the reef windsurfing in the near future.

Cabarete Images

Posted: April 18th, 2009, 4:01am CEST

Waves Got Bigger

Posted: April 15th, 2009, 3:06pm CEST

Cabarete morning 4/15/09 update - I got worked pretty good on Tuesday as the waves at the reef were bigger than Monday and it was another windy day. They were getting over head high. I went for a swim after getting separated from my gear but "no problema" as I just relaxed and got to my gear, waited for the big sets to rumble on my head, found the lull in the sets and waterstarted. I was however, also able to catch some good ones and have fun out at the reef despite the bigger wave size and my inexperience in them. I had my GoPro helmetcam with me for part of the afternoon session and thought I had some great footage of a complete ride out through the reef, jibing out in the open ocean, and riding waves back in....but for some reason the clip stopped before I even got to the reef. I need to figure out what's going on with my GoPro...its being fickle on me.

In the morning, we went to Playa Encuentro, the surfing beach a few miles away. I paddle surfed while my daughter had a surfing lesson. She wasn't a big fan of the coral reef bottom (as opposed to our sandy bottom beaches back home). But she persevered and caught a few small waves. I caught one good wave before I went in to help her out.

Vela Windsurf is top notch...great equipment and they even had some super glue for me to apply to the one dang blister on my hand. The food at their adjacent bar/restaurant (Voy Voy) is also very good...we ate at their Dominican buffett last evening...it was delicious.

Room With A View

Still working on my duck gybes...not there yet

On the new Neil Pryde Firefly 5.4 sail and JP/Australia 101 Freestyle Wave board. I liked the Firefly...nice power. I tried and didn't like the Combat wave sail..not enough power for me. I think I'm just used to having more power from all the lake windsurfing.

The Locals

The surf camp at Playa Encuentro

My daughter surfing

me doing a little bit of stand up paddle surfing

We're here...Cabarete

Posted: April 14th, 2009, 12:31am CEST

Made it to the Dominican Republic...and was already windsurfing a couple of hours after we got off the plane on Sunday in light 15 mph wind. Sailed 2 hours today on 5.7 in stronger winds.

The windsurfing is great here if you like bump & jump, big ocean swell, and side-on waves/wind. This is probably the closest type of conditions we have back home in coastal oceanside NC/SC when its windy so I'm getting some pretty good practice for those rare (rare for me) ocean days back home.

Taking my daughter surfing in the morning. I have the whole family here with me and we're enjoying it, albeit quite different from other places we've been...I'll explain later....gotta go. Here are a few pics:

Warming up...this is in front of our place...nice grassy area and palm trees for shade -

One of the locals getting ready to launch into one those crazy freestyle moves I can't pronounce. The local kids were out in force today and were pulling off some serious freestyle moves -

Like my purty purple sail with the twinkle? -

A half mile in front of me is the reef where the onshore wind waves are....lots of fun out there riding waves backside and jibing on wave faces -

Death Cab for Cutie & Cold War Kids

Posted: April 10th, 2009, 6:46am CEST

Death Cab for Cutie and Cold War Kids rocked Davidson tonight. Sorry...we missed opening band Ra Ra Riot. Great show but if you go to a concert at Belk Arena, get on the floor out front...the sound is so much better there.

Post work sesh & "local" wavesailing update

Posted: April 7th, 2009, 2:35am CEST

Got in a post work sesh today. Gotta love daylight savings time. Was fully powered on my 5.4 and my 100lt board (I'm 200lbs in wetsuit and harness) in WNW 20-30mph wind.

Here's Tommy coming in for a smaller board & sail...the wind was picking up -

Donald on a speed run -

Last Friday, Sullivan Island Dave reported nice side-off down the line wavesailing in light winds and waist to chest high waves on his 5.3 and SUP board at Isle of Palm, SC.

On the same day, Alan and Donald trekked down to Kure Beach/Fort Fisher/Corncake Inlet for some solid wavesailing along with local Brian on 4s/5s. We all love Hatteras but this spot is 2 hours closer than Hatteras and easily can be made in a day trip. Here's Donald smacking a nice wave - great shot taken by Alan that I lifted off the Charlotte Windsurfing web site. Go there and click on Donald's wavesailing photo to see some more pics. Also check out the forum section for some great pics taken by Donald.

Going to Caberete, Dominican Republic next week. I think our place has wireless internet so I hope to be posting fairly regularly with some updates.

What Gerry Said (Sunday, March 29th)

Posted: April 1st, 2009, 3:51am CEST

I love it when I read or hear someone say something that speaks for me in a way that I never really thought of but completely agree with.

Take the new issue of Stand Up Surf & Sail Journal. There is a great article, titled "The Big Score" by surf legend Gerry Lopez who has taken up Stand Up Paddle Surfing.

I'll quote the opening paragraph:
"Yesterday I scored big. It was one of those rare days that left me so pumped up when it was over I knew I was going to have trouble falling asleep that night. I figured I better write it down before the afterglow faded, and later I could savor it again. One of the sad things about surfing is that the best memories are fleeting. Before one knows it, they have all but disappeared, been erased like they never existed. Sometimes when the focus is so intense, the concentration so great, it seems as though they don't even get recorded..."

You'll have to get this issue to read the rest, but that opening salvo can also speak for windsurfing. At least we can more easily record the fun these days with video, pictures, blogging, etc so we don't forget and as Gerry says, "savor it again".

That brings me to Sunday, March 29th. What a great day of windsurfing for everyone on the east coast. Spring is here and everyone is FIRED UP! I love it when everyone gets some on the same day. Andy, Bill, George, Michael, and James have all posted about last Sunday to "savor it again".

Even Rob came out of hiding to resurrect his blog and even do a new video of the action, including a hilarious intro (and great music). And Alan posted some pics at the top of the Charlotte area windsurfing web site.

We had 20-30mph wind on Lake Norman all day long and sunny 65 degree air temps. We started on 4m sails in the morning around 10:30am and apparently didn't get there early enough. It was perfect for about 15 minutes. I haven't sailed Hood River, but Alan said it was very "Gorge-like" with the big wind swell coming through. We surfed and jumped that swell while we had it. Then the wind came down just a notch....enough to send us back in to rerig 5m sails. No complaints however...you can't complain when its still blowing hard enough for 5m sails, especially on the lake.

Speaking of what Gerry said....I brought my GoPro wide-angle camera to record the action. Except this time, I wanted to test the still pictures feature and had it mounted on my helmet. There is a feature where the camera will take pictures every 2 seconds and I wanted to see how that came out. Rob, Alan, Dmitri, Tommy, Donald, and I all worked ourselves upwind out into the open channel where the wind was more consistent and powerful. I was in such great position for some great action....duck gybes, heli-tacks, sail 360s, chop hops, etc. Unfortunately, I had it on the wrong setting (basic picture mode instead of every 2 sec mode) and even then I apparently wasn't pushing the button hard enough...lessons learned for next time. I hate that I missed capturing all the great action out there.

Hence what Gerry said "....the best memories are fleeting. Before one knows it, they have all but disappeared, been erased like they never existed. Sometimes when the focus is so intense, the concentration so great, it seems as though they don't even get recorded..."

But I was so fired up after Sunday that I'm still just a few days later able to recall some of the images in my mind of that session. Until the next great day on the water, I think these memories will last a little longer than usual...thankfully with a little help of course from Rob's video and Alan's pics.

Even though I goofed the on the water action shots...I was able to capture a few pics from shore and one picture turned out from the GoPro wide-angle helmetcam.

The Ever Elusive Chuck

Matt P (the other Matt P) - Welcome Matt!

SuperFreak Alan

Speed Demon Dmitri

Spring is here!

Demolition Derby Fun

Posted: March 26th, 2009, 1:42am CET

Non-windsurfing post alert....but fun nonetheless (depending on your tastes)....

Anyone remember that cliffhanger episode of "Happy Days" where we were introduced to Pinky Tuscadero as she was competing in a demolition derby and Fonzi jumping the cars as the cliffhanger? We see this pink car just completely destroying all the other cars and we're wondering who this "guy" is who is driving the pink junker. "He" gets out of the car, takes off "his" helmet, and it turns out to be a tall attractive long haired redhead who is Fonzi's girlfriend. Anyway...

Although I love to have new and interesting experiences at least once, I don't really have an official bucket list. If I did have a bucket list, it would have included going to a real demolition derby.

Check that one off the list...

Kris was out of town for the weekend, so I had daddy duty and had the kids all to myself. So what to do?

Fortunately, I know of a little dirt race track (Millbridge Speedway)that I pass every week when I go visit one of my customers. For the last 2 months, there has been a sign out front advertising an upcoming demolition derby. I passed it so many times, it finally got my attention and it finally hit me like a brick that maybe the kids will love to see this too.

So I included some neighbors and their kids in my fiendish fun just to make sure more people shared in this new experience (and in case it turned out to be terrible, we could share in the misery). You may not believe it but we had an awesome time. The kids of course loved it. It was hilarious...watching grown men (and one woman) beating the you-know-what out of each other in old junkers with doors welded shut, big customized bumpers, and other parts mish-mashed on their cars for efficiently wrecking each other. I have to say I loved it as did my friends/neighbors and their kids.

This was apparently a big deal with an actual winners purse of $750 to the winner of the compact class and $900 to the winner of the 8 cylinder class. Folks came from all over NC & SC. Someone told our group that some of these cars are bought for $50 from junk yards and "souped up for wrecking" as a hobby. This is a passion for them just like windsurfing is a passion for us. They even have their own internet forum and Demolition Derby Association.

No better way to share this than to show a quick 1.5 minute video. Expand your minds, broaden your horizons, and turn up the volume!

Demolition Derby from WaterTurtle Productions on Vimeo

Ring of Fire

Posted: March 21st, 2009, 3:31am CET

I had never heard of Tonga until this week.

I had heard of the "ring of fire" before but couldn't have told you the exact range or size of it. It turns out its a very big area in the Pacific.

Quoting from MSNBC article: "Tonga, a 170-island archipelago about halfway between Australia and Tahiti, is part of the Pacific "ring of fire" — an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretching from Chile in South America through Alaska and down through Vanuatu to Tonga."

This is very cool...an actual underwater volcano erupting near Tonga...mother nature truly in action. There are actually 36 underwater volcanos like this one clustered together in this area and this could happen with any one of them. Fortunately it's currently not a threat to nearby islanders. No mention of big waves/tsunami created by this volcanic activity. You would think a big wave or swell from the volcano would be swamping that boat full of scientists/photographers.

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Permalink for 'WaterTurtle/2009/03/11/DST'

DST

Posted: March 11th, 2009, 3:13am CET

Life is so much better when its daylight longer. Its even better when its the first day of Daylight Savings Time and the wind is blowing. I could sniff that forecast a week in advance. Rob joined me and our traveling wind compadre Jim joined us as well. Sunny sky, 80 degree air temps, 3/2 wetsuit with short sleeves, and SW 15-25mph wind got us out on 5s & 6s sails and small-mid size boards most of the afternoon. The water was a shock (from the freezing temps and snow we had less than a week before) when I first fell in but after a while it wasn't so bad. I went for some duck gybes and heli-tacks (still learning) and got wet a lot. Got some good GoPro footage as well (below). Here is Rob, Jim, and I post sesh...

3 minute GoPro wide-angle boom mounted camera footage - anyone recognize the music (from 1990)? -

DST from Mac on Vimeo

Windsurfing is Cheaper Than Therapy

Posted: March 7th, 2009, 5:02am CET

Our good buddy Mark said that once. So true. Cheaper than drugs and mistresses too.

Light Wind Windsurfing from Mac Barnhardt on Vimeo

This was 2 Saturdays ago on the last warm day we had until this weekend. It was very light wind 8-12mph...picked up to 15mph at the very end of our session. Temps were high 50s and sunny. Rob and I took advantage with our big sails and wide-style boards. I mounted the Go Pro wide-angle camera on the front of the boom for this shot. Those dorky sunglasses are Sun Specs...those things work great when there is a ton of glare on the water...saves my eyes. I would always rather have 25 mph wind, but planing along in 10mph wind is better than not windsurfing at all....especially when you live inland 4 hours away from the closest beach.

It Doesn't Really Snow in These Parts...

Posted: March 2nd, 2009, 2:39pm CET

...but it did today. A rare treat and the kids are loving it. Yes, I'm guessing all the milk and bread is sold out at the stores....gotta love the south!

Full Moons and Key Lime Pies

Posted: February 19th, 2009, 3:32am CET

Anyone ever been to The Moorings or remember the old Seatrend "Flapper" (and early widestyle) boards? Here is a blast from the past. Below is a trip report I did for the Triad Windsurfing (Greensboro/Winston-Salem area) Club's newsletter back in early 2002. It's exactly as it appeared in the newsletter.

My daughter wasn't even 3 years old and our two sons hadn't been born yet. Many of you may recall a place called The Moorings Village in Islamorada, FL. It used to advertise in the magazines and was once a big windsurfing destination, and even hosted a big annual winter race. It still exists but doesn't emphasize the windsurfing anymore from what I can tell. I don't think the windsurfing rental outfit mentioned below is there anymore...I think this part of the Keys have become more of a kiteboarding destination lately.

Has anyone been to Islamorada recently? Is windsurfing still alive down there? I would love to know....
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

[One of my favorite pictures ever...my daughter and I over 7 years ago...she's already getting so big.]

We went to Florida and had key lime pie and saw a full moon. It wasn’t just any key lime pie, mind you. Nor was it just any full moon. It was the best damn key lime pie I’ve ever had. And yes, you guessed it...the full moon wasn’t bad either. Top it off with New Years Eve and that’s not a bad deal. Oh yeah...I windsurfed too.

Kris, McIntyre, (wife & daughter) and I flew to Miami, hopped in a rental car, drove to Orlando, and went to Disney World one day and Seaworld the next. The theme parks were for McIntyre to enjoy and for Kris and I to watch her have a blast and just smile.

After two days of more crowds than we could stand, we got back in the car and headed back towards Miami and drove further south. We ended up in Islamorada. Islamorada is almost halfway between Miami and Key West. It bills itself as the sport fishing capital of the world. If you ever watch ESPN on Saturday mornings, you’ll usually see some folks fly fishing for bonefish in flat bottom skiffs surrounded by Caribbean blue crystal clear water. They are doing this in Islamorada.

We found a little slice of paradise by staying at The Moorings Village. The Moorings Village is owned by a windsurfer and is very windsurfer friendly. It is the site of the nation’s longest running Pro-Am windsurfing regatta, held every year in November. Open up a windsurfing magazine in January or February and it usually has an article about the race and it’s host, The Moorings Village. What makes this place so special is it’s natural charm and beauty. The owner didn’t cut down any trees or build any high rises. The property is approximately 17 acres and the lodging consists of small, medium, to large size houses, each with it’s own style and appeal. Each of the houses sit among the palm trees. There is a large white sandy beach that is covered in palm trees and offers a lot of shade. Then there is the water...crystal clear blue water. It’s knee to waist deep for hundreds of yards out. There are many picturesque spots on the beach and elsewhere on the property. I have read in the past that this is a popular place for modeling photo shoots.

The afternoon we checked in, the wind started to pick up. Right in front of our beach front cottage was a windsurfing board and sail rack. There was some pretty good gear sitting there all rigged up ready to go. I had called a few weeks before to reserve windsurfing gear from the only place that rents performance gear on the island – Bump and Jump Windsurfing. The owner, Gilles, must have dropped my gear off before I got there. I picked up a Bic Techno 283 and an Aerotech VMG 7.5 and hit the water. I got in about an hour of good sailing as the sun began to go down. I came in for a breather. A guy came up to me and informed me that I was on his rental gear. Horrors! I couldn’t believe what I had done. I should have known better than to just grab a rig and hit the water without finding out if it was my rental gear. My starvation for wind clearly blinded my better judgement. I apologized profusely. He was very nice about it and didn’t give me any grief. As it turns out, he was from Norfolk and has his own place in Nags Head. I told him to hit the water before the wind died. The next day, I ran into him again. His name is Arthur and his son, Brian, was with him. We joked about my thievery the evening before and talked about windsurfing on the Outer Banks. Arthur’s place in Nags Head is just an hour and a half from his home in Norfolk and he goes there every weekend. I invited him to join us at Windfest and I got an invitation to his place in Nags Head.

This day didn’t have much wind, but it was the sunniest and warmest day we had all week. I did get out there on a big wide longboard with a small sail and just played around. I also took McIntyre out in a sea kayak and we paddled to wherever the birds were. As Kris, McIntyre, and I sat on the beach and basked in the sun, a small group of people were gathering at the water’s edge. We sat up and watched as a priest walked up to them and another person was carrying a small box. The priest said a few words and then a prayer. Some other people said a few words. A woman walked to each person in the group and poured them each a cup of what looked like lemonade. Then three members of the group walked out in the water, said a few more words, then one of them poured ashes out of the small box into the water. Everyone took a drink from their cups then poured the rest of it into the water. The memorial service ended and the group broke up. The man who poured the ashes walked by us and said “Another fisherman left to the sea…that was my dad”. The place is so beautiful, I could see why someone would want to have their ashes spread out there.

That night, we ate at Manny and Isa’s, a Spanish American eatery. The menu said they had “the best Key Lime Pie”. So of course, we had to see for ourselves. After eating our main course of Cuban style Yellowfin Snapper and Picadillo, we got two slices of the pie to go. We took it back to our place and ate it under the full moon on a hammock on the beach. The moon was so bright, it made huge shadows of the palm trees on the white sand.

The next day was cloudy all day with very little wind. We spent the day sleeping, reading, and just hanging out. That night, we ate dinner at the Moorings-owned restaurant, Morada Bay. Morada Bay is on the bay side of Islamorada across from the Moorings. It sits right on the water and has a big sandy beach right off the outdoor dining deck. They had a full moon party going that night. They had bonfires burning, a live band playing on the beach, and the ever popular glow sticks for the kids. The fresh fish was great and fun was had by all that night.

Our last full day consisted of rain. Again, we began the day sleeping and reading. But later in the afternoon, the rain began to subside. Between bands of rain, the wind would pick up. So I got out there for two separate sessions between the heavy bands of rain. This time, I was on a Seatrend Allstar 70 and an old Aerotech VMG 8.0 race sail that must have been 3-4 years old. This set-up used to belong to a professional PWA racer. They added a fifth camber to the sail and the flapper on the Seatrend board was modified to a hard plastic shortened piece, instead of the normal flexible rubbery flap normally used. It was amazing. The entire rig got me on a plane with almost no effort. When a gust came along, it didn’t tug on me like most other rigs. It just got faster with no effort on my part to stabilize it. I experienced first-hand what a real racing rig is like and it was pretty awesome. The one knock I had read about flapper boards was true though, and it’s that the board would slide out from under me as though the fin wouldn’t keep it in a straight line. I have read that this is just a matter of learning to sail that type board over time to get over that problem.

That night was New Year’s Eve. We spent a quiet evening at the house and hit the sack before midnight, but were awakened by fireworks when the clock struck twelve. The next morning, we left to go to the airport just as the sun was coming out from behind the clouds...figures. We had a great time and there was something for everyone.

First use of the Go Pro wide-angle camera

Posted: February 13th, 2009, 5:12am CET

I went from this:

to this:

I love this new GoPro wide-angle camera. It gives a whole new perspective on the sailor's/rider's point of view in the middle of the action. Here's a short 3 minute video of a recent February '09 winter windsurfing session on Lake Norman - the inaugural use of my new wide-angle GoPro. I need to make a slight adjustment to the camera angle. You'll notice my nose, eye lashes, and helmet in the video...it looks funny...actually gives a surreal feeling to the footage since you can see part of my head.

Lake Norman Windsurfing - GoPro wide-angle footage from Mac Barnhardt on Vimeo

Windsurfing to the Rescue (again)

Posted: February 8th, 2009, 3:18am CET

I say "again" because I heard several stories from other windsurfers last year of rescuing someone in distress....other windsurfers, boaters, swimmers, kiteboarders, etc. This included Alan and Rob helping a grounded sailboat on the lake last December, one of our coastal windsurfing friends saving some swimmers from drowning at the beach, and countless other stories that were in some of the windsurfing magazines about towing kiteboarders in that had lost their kites. Today was my turn.

The forecast today was supposed to be another light wind 10-15 southwest wind day. It was very warm....approaching 70 so I decided on the thinner 3/2 wetsuit with short sleeves. Because of the light wind forecast, all I brought was my big 9.6 sail and widestyle board. I arrive and the wind is blowing close to 20. I should have known better. It's already close to 3pm and I don't feel like going back to my house for smaller sails/boards. I rig up, crank the downhaul, and prepare the adjustable outhaul to max outhaul settings right off the bat. As I'm rigging, I notice a boat making its way out of the cove I'm in. As I launch, I notice the boat is sitting and drifting at the mouth of the cove. I'm tacking upwind to get into the channel where there is a long open fetch to windward. All of a sudden, I hear sirens. My first thought, did someone think I was in trouble? I can see the fire trucks go down the street from where I launched to the very end of the street that dead ends into the lake. Then I notice the boat has drifted into the very shallow water just off the point where the fire trucks are. I know that point and how shallow it is. So I sail over there and can see that everyone in the boat appears to be ok. I carry my gear to shore, then walk out to the boat which is now grounded in knee deep water.

It's a young married couple with a gigantic beautiful black Newfoundland dog. They were pretty happy to see me. The husband explains they did in fact have an engine fire but that he had put it out with the boat extinguisher. He called 911 to get a tow off the shallow point figuring the wildlife officers would show up in their boat...but he must have mentioned the fire too so the fire trucks showed up. I walked back to shore and told the firefighters the fire was out. They were relieved about that and told me a fire boat was on its way and could pull them out. I went back to the boat and waited with the couple and their dog. After all, I was in a wetsuit...there wasn't any point in anyone else having to get in the water to get that boat off the point.

After a while, the fire boat showed up. At this point, I started wishing I wore my 5/3 full suit because that water was very cold and my toes were starting to go numb. I had to walk out in over waist deep to catch a line from the fire boat, then walk it back to the stranded boat, took their line, tied the two lines together with a bowline (yes, I still know this knot...thank you Boy Scouts & sailing all those years with Dad). Then I helped push the boat as the fire boat pulled. It came out fairly easily and were on their way. The couple was very nice and appreciative. My good deed for the day. I was just glad they had a fire extinguisher on the boat. It could have been a lot worse. Thankfully it turned out to not be that big of a deal. I was more helpful than actually "rescuing".

Hopefully this was good exposure for windsurfing on our lake. A wildlife officer boat showed up, then there were the fire fighters, the couple on the boat, plus all the other people watching from shore and from other boats. Maybe some of them will say, "that nice windsurfer stopped and helped..." and hopefully that will generate some goodwill for us local windsurfers down the road when we need it.

I lost almost an hour with that episode but was able to go on to sail for a little while. I could have probably sailed a 6.5 on a smaller board but I was still in control overpowered on the the big stuff (note to self...bring everything like you do when going to the Outer Banks). Several great speed runs across the channel (with numb toes) and then I packed it in with one long last screaming downwind run back to my launch.

Beautiful day today and glad I was there to help that couple.

They Just Don't Understand

Posted: February 6th, 2009, 4:22am CET

Recent email exchange with friend/neighbor -

Friend: Hey guys, wanna come over for Daytona 500 race on the big screen?

Me: I'm in, unless the wind's blowing.

Friend: What? Dude, it's the Daytona 500! Once a year!

Me: You can't DVR the wind.

Friend: The wind blows often, Daytona happens only once!

Me: Ha! I wish the wind blew often.

They Just Don't Understand...

Drive-By Truckers

Posted: February 5th, 2009, 2:16am CET

Drive-By Truckers rocked the Orange Peel in Asheville last Saturday night. Great show!

Oh yeah...caught a little bit of wind and windsurfed pre-Super Bowl for a couple of hours Sunday afternoon. Air temps around 60 and warm southwest wind around 10-15 made for great slalom speed runs across the channel.

Surfwise

Posted: January 17th, 2009, 5:39am CET

Just watched the movie documentary, Surfwise. It follows the life of Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz, a Stanford grad doctor and renowned surfer who dropped out of the medical profession to search for something bigger in his life. Along with his wife, they went on to raise nine kids on the road, in a camper, searching for waves. The kids never went to school and followed a strict regimented lifestyle with their parents. Everyone speaks out in this movie about how their unique upbringing has impacted their lives.

Words to describe this movie - fascinating, disturbing, funny, sad, and (finally) sweet.

Blast From the Past

Posted: January 16th, 2009, 2:23am CET

I used to write the newsletter for the Belews Creek Windsurfing Club. That club was made up of members in the Greensboro/Winston-Salem area. It still exists today but is now called the Triad Windsurfing Club. Anyway, I still have copies of most of those newsletters. Its ironic that I've transitioned that writing to a blog site. I still feel like I'm sometimes writing a newsletter. Below is an old photo from March 2001 after a session at Belews Creek, and the exact caption that was under the photo on the newsletter's cover. From time to time this year, I may post some of that old material as there were some really good (and hilarious) trip reports that are still somewhat useful and valid today.

Above: Nothing Like Spring Sailin’! Several of the club members showed up at our site on Belews Creek to sail on a windy Saturday in March. From left to right: Jeff Clark, Rob Cornwell, Mac Barnhardt, Jeff Shanklin, Karol Wolicki, Don Wrenn, and Jan De Looze. More photos from Belews and the recent WindFest 2001 in Hatteras inside.

Bright Lights, Big City

Posted: January 11th, 2009, 11:37pm CET

In NYC on business. Watched Giants game with some friends and other unruly Giants fans in local NYC bar. After the Panthers miserable loss on Saturday, I think I brought some bad luck to NYC. Hey Michael, would loved to have come up to LI to watch you guys sail in dry suits and frigid waters but too booked up in meetings, dinners, yada yada yada.

Statue of Liberty (shot taken from my incoming flight to LaGuardia)

Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn Bridge, and East River

Empire State Building

Times Square view from my hotel room

Mountains to Sea

Posted: January 4th, 2009, 8:33pm CET

In the span of 24 hours soon after the start of 2009, I had the good fortune of being in the mountains of NC and then the coast of NC...for some snow tubing, ice skating, then some light wind wavesailing and paddle surfing. It started with a brief 3 day trip to Blowing Rock, NC with my family, in-laws and cousins. The goal was to get the kids (and myself) on the slopes for some skiing, as well as some other winter sports fun. We had the winter sports fun but weren't able to ski, but not for a lack of trying. On our first day, we arrived too late at Appalachian Ski Mountain to get the kids into the ski lessons...they were booked! Need to plan better next time. So we went snow tubing at Hawksnest that afternoon instead which was a lot of fun and the kids loved it.

Grinning ear to ear

Short video clip of a tube ride. It was faster than it looks.

We were planning to go skiing the next day and get there early enough to get the kids into their lessons....but we woke up to 70 mph winds! We didn't think that would be a good fun and conducive environment for the kids to learn to ski. I took one walk out onto the deck of our rental house, got blown around pretty good, then spent the rest of the day indoors catching up on a lot of reading, and knowing my buddies back home were getting some good sailing in on Lake Norman...which they did. That was New Years Eve...I didn't even make it to midnight...fell asleep reading before the ball dropped. We departed the next day but not before I woke up to go for an early morning sunrise walk to the top of the ridge to take in some beautiful views and watch the sun come up over the valley below us. It was so clear I could even see the Charlotte skyline from there...thats about 95 miles away!

Charlotte skyline 95 miles away

First Sunrise of 2009

The backside of Grandfather Mountain just outside our rental house. The wind speeds were measured at over 100 mph at the top on New Years Eve.

On our way out, we took the kids ice skating at Appalachian Ski Mountain.

We arrived back home on the afternoon of New Years Day. I talked to my buddy Rob and we decided the next day looked good at the beach for some potential light wind wavesailing and paddle surfing on our SUP boards. So off we went early the next morning...and at 11am we were on the beach just below Kure Beach/Fort Fisher.

The forecast called for SW winds building to 15-20 knots in the afternoon. But we knew there would be a "dome" effect whereas the warm wind wouldn't be able to penetrate the air over the cold water. Sure enough, the wind tried to build but didn't get more than around 10-15mph...perfect however for small sails on our SUP boards. The waves were anywhere between knee to chest high...depending on the tide at the time (it was outgoing). The SW wind was sideoff which made for some good front side rides on the waves. After a few hours of wavesailing, the wind dropped completely, so we ditched the sails in favor of our paddles and did some stand up paddle surfing. I caught some decent paddle surf rides and felt more confident this time around. I think I'm starting to figure out the paddling stance and getting onto a wave early enough for a good ride on the swell before it breaks. Rob and I had a great day playing in the waves. SUP boards definitely open up the fun factor for waves and more time on the water when the wind isn't particularly strong. We didn't get much in terms of pictures or video but here are a few shots. The last two are stills taken from some shaky video not worth posting.

Rob going out, up and over

Rob

Mac

A great holiday break all the way around. Spent quality time with family, got in some
windsurfing and stand up paddling at the lake and on the coast, and had some fun in the mountains. In addition, my wife and I watched the John Adams miniseries on DVD, which was very good and I highly recommend it if you like history. I also read 4 books, including:
- Laird Hamilton's "Force of Nature" - very good...a glimpse into what makes Laird tick. This includes his philosophy, diet, work out regiment, life on the water, surfing and stand up paddle surfing, etc. This book made me want to eat better. Read it and you'll see why.
- a John Wooden book on leadership/leaders/coaching - very good, I can clearly see now why John Wooden won all those championships at UCLA.
- "Making John Falcone" - a wild and fascinating true story of an undercover FBI agent who infiltrated the Mafia between 2003-2005.

Hoping and wishing a great 2009 for all of you! Definitely looking forward to more time on the water.

Sometimes You Have To Trust The Forecast...

Posted: December 29th, 2008, 5:32pm CET

Forecast for Sunday, Dec 28th was SW winds 10-20mph and temps in the 60s. I figured it would be a great day for my still fairly new 8.0 sail. The wind window of opportunity looked to be between 10am-1pm. I was on the water at 10:30am and it was only blowing around 10-15mph, and still foggy with a light drizzling rain. I start thinking bad thoughts of a skunk. I'm schlogging around out in the lake channel and just hoping for the wind to pick up some. Around 11:30am, it does. A solid 15-20 with gusts to 25. I get to a shallow spot off a land point and add more downhaul and outhaul to my 8.0 and it then proceeds to sail like a dream with good control. I could have been on my 6.4 at this point, but it was a long way back to my launch point and to relaunch from there meant tacking back upwind for 15 minutes or so to get back out in the open channel. I'm back on land just after 1pm as it starts to rain some more. I'm back at home with my family soon after, surrounded by my kids watching that awesome Carolina Panthers win over the New Orleans Saints. A great day all around. Just goes to show....the forecast should sometimes be trusted, even when in doubt. Of course, this doesn't always work and sometimes a skunk happens. When it does, then you write a blog post titled, "Sometimes You Can't Trust The Forecast".

Merry Christmas

Posted: December 24th, 2008, 8:08pm CET

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family...

Enjoy the windsurfing and paddle surfing Santas!

This is John Fulton in Canada...raising awareness for homelessness by windsurfing across the Niagara River as Santa Claus for the 24th consecutive year -

Thanks to Glen for first posting this one of a fellow paddle surfer as Santa in the UK -

and my favorite Christmas ornament...

The Gift

Posted: December 20th, 2008, 3:13am CET

Things happen for a reason. I had a big customer meeting scheduled for today. Two days ago, that customer called to tell me they had a new conflict come up and needed to reschedule. I was disappointed until I realized what the wind forecast was. I took other meetings this morning, then took the afternoon off (and working some over the holidays to catch up and make up for it...amazing how things pile up) to go windsurfing. It was a gift. Air temps in high 60s and it blew SW 20-30. Many of the local crew showed up...about 10 windsurfers and 3 kiters.

Last year by this time, we had several good days on the lake in late fall/early winter. I haven't sailed since October and I felt it too. I'm so not in windsurfing shape right now. Note to self...start the daily pullup routine again (and stretch). Plus, I was on my new board (RRD Freestyle Wave 100lt) and spent the first hour trying to get used to it. I finally got it dialed in and love it.

Donald duck gybing

Dmitri one footed jump...I'm sure that was on purpose ;-)

Tommy blazing a path

James in hot pursuit

Dave kiting towards sunset

Looks like some wind for Sunday too!

Mavericks

Posted: December 15th, 2008, 4:23am CET

Its that time of year when Mavericks is firing. Check out this footage from a big swell there on Nov 30th. This is from the "official" Mavericks web site. Scary stuff....can only watch in awe...

Sigh...

Posted: December 11th, 2008, 2:14am CET

Yes, I'm jealous of those bastards on Maui (and I mean that in the nicest way). Here is video evidence of why I'm so jealous....courtesy of pro windsurfer Kevin Pritchard. Also more evidence of why those new wide angle Go Pro cameras are pretty sweet. Christmas is coming.

Cape Hatteras doings (or "What I Did After Thanksgiving")

Posted: November 30th, 2008, 10:08pm CET

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. We sure did.

My family and I had originally planned to spend part of Thanksgiving week on Hatteras Island with some friends, however after some uneasiness by a few of us about the forecasted cooler weather at the beach, we bagged those plans and just did Thanksgiving with our friends at their place in Greensboro. Not to worry as I got the kitchen pass to motor on down to Cape Hatteras the day after Thanksgiving for the weekend. That day was forecasted for SW 20-25mph winds in the afternoon and NW 15-20mph the next morning. Plus, I had to pick up a new board I had already purchased...yeeha!

I arrive to pick up my new board around lunchtime, I continue on down to Canadian Hole to adjust the foot straps, and wait on the forecasted wind. I see some white caps, there's a puff of wind....could it be coming now? NADA! I got skunked! Apparently, the soundside water was too cold for the warm southwest wind and wouldn't pick up at the water's surface. Good thing I had my SUP board. I continued on down to the south facing beaches to see if I could catch some light wind wavesailing. The wind was barely blowing...not enough wind to power me through the surf and the waves were too disorganized for stand up paddling. Dangit...I was going to get on the water somehow so I just put in soundside at Isabels and went for a flat water paddle. I did capture a golden sunset when I came off the water.

That evening, I hooked up with my friend Don for dinner. I used to live in Greensboro and was part of the Triad Windsurfing Club. I met Don through the club and he continues to be an active member there. He and his wife Debbie go to Cape Hatteras as much as they can to windsurf and fish. I was hoping to get some time on the water windsurfing with Don and Debbie, just like old times. But it was not to be...but it was good to grab some dinner and catch up with Don (Debbie was off shopping all day for Black Friday).

The next morning, the forecast continued to change to a very light NE wind so I headed back to the south facing beaches again for some stand up paddle surfing. There were some decent knee to waist high waves...standing up a bit from the offshore breeze...and no chop. Perfect for me since I'm really still learning to stand up paddle surf. I started near the Frisco Pier for an hour, then decided to drive out on the beach up towards The Cove. I found some more decent waves about halfway to The Cove. I surfed for about another hour. All in all, it was fun even though there was a light rain for most of my sessions. I fell a lot...I'm definitely still learning and trying to get my confidence back from my lower back issues this past summer. I was able to catch and ride a few waves that morning, so it's getting better, the confidence is coming back, and I had fun out there. The water wasn't too bad in my 5/3 suit, gloves, and wetsuit tobagan (even though its in the low 50s right now).

It sure was nice to drive on the beach and find some space with no one around. There were some fishermen out but space was aplenty. On my drive out to check The Cove, I unfortunately came across a dead dolphin that had washed ashore. There's no telling how it died but it appeared to have some wounds...perhaps from a shark? Could have been attacked after it died though....who knows.

Speaking of which, a dead great white shark was recently found washed ashore on Morris Island, SC (near Hilton Head/Charleston). It's a mystery as to how it died as there weren't any apparent wounds on it. Thanks to Glen for first posting this. This picture was lifted from the news article and was taken by Josh Loefer.

I saw The Gypsy Dane parked on a big trailer at Ramp 38 in Avon. The Gypsy Dane is a 50 ft ketch that washed ashore in Avon two weeks ago and has been keeping Hatteras Island abuzz since then. Andy posted this story as it happened here and here.

A French National living in Canada, was sailing down to Charleston on the boat, had some initial trouble offshore Virginia and rescued by the Coast Guard. He continued on his way and apparently had gone under deck for a while, came back on deck and found he was washed ashore at Cape Hatteras. Welcome to the Graveyard of the Atlantic. It's a sad story as this poor guy had to sign over the boat to a moving company so they could move it off the beach. He apparently couldn't afford to pay them (or just wouldn't pay them...unsure which). Read the entire updated story here in the Island Free Press, with more pics.

Here are some pics I took:

Other Outer Banks happenings: As I drove over Oregon Inlet and the Bonner Bridge, I noticed the big dredging ship out there again. It was there last Memorial Day weekend. When reading the local "Coastland Times", I discovered that commercial fishing vessels haven't been able to pass through Oregon Inlet because its too shallow. It filled in (again) after the last two nor'easter storms in late September and October. They hope the current dredging will have it deep enough in a couple more weeks. The article said boats in Wanchese are going out of Beaufort Inlet and taking 24 more hours for their trips, instead of the normal 4 hour return trip. I'm wondering why they can't go out of Hatteras Inlet.

Speaking of the Bonner Bridge, I also read it was decided the shorter option replacement bridge would be built. It will sit on the west side of the existing bridge and work is supposed to be completed in 2014. In addition to that, they are planning to build short bridge sections over the trouble spots on Highway 12 leading into Rodanthe.

Finally, the big topic this year has been beach access. The National Park Service's Negotiated Rulemaking Committee is back at it and trying to come up with a long range rule for ORVs on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Don tells me the local economy saw a 30% decrease in business and is suffering. He thought there were between 9-13 piping plover nests this year. Many people who came this past summer and discovered they couldn't drive on the beach didn't renew for their normal rental weeks in 2009. Wow...local economy vs 13 nesting birds...birds win. Or did they? I wonder how they fared during the September storms.

Things sure are changing on the Outer Banks. Even the movie theater in Avon is closed. And Real Kiteboarding has a new behemoth store building in Waves and appears to be building condos next door to it.

After I came off the water on Saturday, I checked the forecast and found rain for the next day or so. I decided to go home early and spend Sunday with my family. The rain chased me away. 2 days at Cape Hatteras stand up paddle surfing in rain is better than most other days not at the beach...so no complaints whatsoever. It's still a beautiful place...even in the rain. I'll be back for the wind another time. Signing off for now...and definitely giving thanks for many things.

Big Wave Action

Posted: November 12th, 2008, 3:22am CET

My first reaction when I saw this picture was "Holy $%@#!" Look at the thickness of the wave and how it doubles on itself as it pitches over.

This picture is courtesy of Reuters and found here at dailymail.co.uk along with an article about it. This apparently took place at a secret outer reef off Australia.

And here is a short 4 minute interview (along with some brief action clips including him windsurfing) with big wave waterman Laird Hamilton, who has been promoting his new book.

GoPro Video from San Carlos - made by Taylor Congdon

Posted: November 5th, 2008, 3:00am CET

Thanks to Josh and Windsurfing Magazine for posting this and linking to GoPro Camera's web site which had it first.

Taylor Congdon is mostly known as a motocross filmmaker, but he has been windsurfing since age 11 and has been going to Punta San Carlos for a long time. He was there with pro Kevin McGillivary the same week our crew was there. Here is a cool video he put together from GoPro camera footage he took from his boom and helmetcam mounts. As you can see, Taylor rips. Enjoy!

The Best Windsurfing Video Ever. GoPro. from GoPro on Vimeo.

What Else Has Been Going On

Posted: November 1st, 2008, 3:55am CET

A lot has been going on the last two months since I got back from San Carlos. Both my beautiful bride and I turned 40. She walked in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer event in Charlotte. She and some of the other neighborhood women walked 40 miles over 2 days and as a team raised over $17,000 for breast cancer research!

I've been doing a little bit of windsurfing and stand up paddling on the lake. The family and I enjoyed some of the last warm water and weather days on the lake before it started to get chilly. Had a mole with suspicious cells removed from my arm that turned out to be benign....but left me with 9 stitches. Its been a good year to have health care....with this mole removal, lower back treatments, and hernia surgery. Is this what happens when you turn 40?

There have been so many other happenings that have kept me from going to the coast. All three kids are getting ready to play basketball so we're getting even busier. Thank goodness I live close to the water so I can still play when I'm doing so many things keeping me at home.

A glassy morning on the lake - Rob paddling

Rob's SUP board on the left (Starboard Ultimate Blend 11'2", 30 in wide), my board on the right (Sean Ordenez Shape 10'10", 28.5 in wide). Notice the shape differences at the nose and tail.

Healing Up - Wear Sunscreen!

Sunset

Pulling my nephew Evan

My daughter enjoying one the last warm water days of the season

My nephew Vic on his way to a 3rd place in a youth regatta...way to go Vic!

I took some of our neighbors' kids out for a spin when the wind picked up one weekend. I bought this used Starboard Start board many years ago...its been a great board for the kids to play around on, and for me to take them out windsurfing.

One of our neighbors "surfing" on the nose of the board, getting the sensation of windsurfing. On this day, after all the kids had their fill, I got a smaller board and windsurfed out in the channel, fully powered on my 5.6

Another weekend we got 20mph winds at the lake. Rob and I hit it and I stuck the Oregon Scientific ATC2K camera on my boom. Didn't quite get the angle I wanted. It looks like the camera is right on top of me here, but it's really not. I may have to get one of those new GoPro cameras that have a wide angle lens that captures so much more in the picture compared to this. But you can still feel the speed in this short clip.

Punta San Carlos picture slideshow

Posted: October 28th, 2008, 1:42am CET

OK...this is really it...I promise. I went through all the photos one last time and decided one final slideshow was in order. A few photos I've already posted...many I have not. Now I feel better. Enjoy!

The Windsurfing Crew in San Carlos - Slideshow from Mac Barnhardt on Vimeo.

Summer Camp Finale - Parts 5 & 6

Posted: October 24th, 2008, 3:57am CEST

Wah-lah! Here's the finale of the "Summer Camp" video series...parts 5 & 6. Hopefully you're not too sick of it. I had fun putting it all together. Putting it all together from intro to Part 6 is about 30 minutes long...about the length of some other full length windsurfing video releases. Of course, I still have a lot of work to do in terms of bringing my work up to a real professional video and editing look and feel. I think releasing it in chapters made it a bit more watchable and fun. Hopefully, this video series gave you a real good sense of what it's like at San Carlos if you've never been, and a real good sense of wonder of why its taking you so long to get back if you have been there.

Lets face it - I'm married with 3 children and I don't live close to the coast. I'm not going to be a great wavesailor anytime soon. But damn - I sure did have fun at San Carlos. I know I was at the very far end of the spectrum compared to when you watch guys like Wyatt Miller and Kevin McGillivary (Duh!), but it sure felt good out there on those waves.

The problem with San Carlos? Now I'm spoiled. There wasn't any current, there was a nice long swell period, side off wind, no crazy chop or washing machine-like conditions between the waves, no huge shorepound to get through, and long crumbly waves that went forever....a wave riding dream. I would be real lucky to get conditions exactly like those anywhere on the Carolina coast...it just doesn't happen. Either there is a wicked current, major shorepound, the ocean is boiling, or something. I'll just have to suck it up, get out there in our local waves, pay some dues, and enjoy the heck out of it.

I think I'm going back to San Carlos. Who wants to go?

Part 5 - "Summer Camp" - The Dirt

The Windsurfing Crew in San Carlos - The Dirt from Mac Barnhardt on Vimeo.

Part 6 - "Summer Camp" - Finale - Camp Life & Departure

The Windsurfing Crew in San Carlos - Finale - Camp Life & Departure from Mac Barnhardt on Vimeo.

Special thanks to the Solo Sports crew - they were great, kept us laughing, and gave us great tips all week that helped our sailing and gear selection. Kudos go to Kevin Trejo for running a great operation in the middle of freaking nowhere for the past 20+ years and running. And kudos to his compadres Clark Merritt, Rodney, Joey, the local Mexican cooks and maintenance crew, and the local pilots. Thanks also to Wyatt Miller, Kevin McGillivary, Taylor Congdon, and Casey Hauser for providing us the ripping moves and impressive wavesailing...and for being very cool with helpful tips on and off the water. Thanks Kevin for coaxing me onto that nice wave even though you had right of way! Sorry Taylor - I thought I had footage of you wavesailing but the few shots I got of you didn't turn out well....you definitely rip! Thanks also to Taylor for the video tips. And thanks to Josh for being....well, Josh. Always fun to hang out with you and glad you were there for our next big adventure (as you were there for HIHO with us last year). Come back to sail with us in NC!

Special thanks also to my traveling and windsurfing mates - Alain, Alan, Donald, Jim, Rob, Tommy, and Troy. I had a great time with all of you and I'm ready to do it again. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting and getting to know our new friends Ken from Portland, Mike - Sergai - Hugh from San Fran, Mike from Santa Barbara, and John from Cleveland.

May you always have wind in your hair and sand in your shorts.

Mother Nature Provides a Beat Down

Posted: October 23rd, 2008, 2:42am CEST

Wow. Another reminder of the power of mother nature...

Thanks to Drew for first posting this. Its a slide show of the recent storm that hit Hatteras Island. Donny Bowers, windsurfer and local photographer, took great shots. It includes shots of the house, Serendipity, (used in the filming of the movie Nights in Rodanthe), surrounded by the ocean and another house nearby that fell into the ocean.

Humbling isn't it?

The Pros - Part 4 of "Summer Camp" San Carlos video

Posted: October 10th, 2008, 2:29am CEST

Didn't I mention there were some pros at San Carlos with us? It was the Kevin and Wyatt show. Rock on....

Untitled from Mac Barnhardt on Vimeo.

"Summer Camp" - Part 3

Posted: October 6th, 2008, 2:17am CEST

Here is part 3 of the "Summer Camp" Punta San Carlos videos. This one is dedicated to the waves and to The Windsurfing Crew. Thanks to Alan for the "poke & destroy" theme song inspiration - Enjoy!

The Windsurfing Crew in San Carlos - The Waves from Mac Barnhardt on Vimeo.

"Summer Camp" - The San Carlos videos

Posted: September 30th, 2008, 4:03am CEST

Yeah, I'm still on a high from the San Carlos trip. I'd go back next week except I have to work and support a family and everything. I've been on the lake windsurfing just once since I got back. It was still great even though I wasn't on a juicy down the line wave ride. So, I've been up late nights the last three weeks poring through all the video footage and pictures. Hopefully, I won't bore you with it all, but I've got some pretty decent material to work with.

Here's a start - it's what I call Parts 1 & 2 of my new San Carlos video series - lets call it "Summer Camp". Parts 3 and 4, and maybe even a 5 will come in the weeks ahead...heck, we'll see what happens...it's still all a work in process. I figured it would be more interesting if I did this in pieces rather than one long video. Anyway, this is meant to be an intro sneak peak and an introduction to the motley bunch I traveled with to San Carlos...I like to call The Windsurfing Crew ("The Windsurfing Crew" is my trademarked patented pending term for any group of people that windsurf with little old me). I want your feedback so please comment! Enjoy!

The Windsurfing Crew in San Carlos - "Summer Camp" - Intro

The Windsurfing Crew in San Carlos - Intro from Mac Barnhardt on Vimeo.

The Windsurfing Crew in San Carlos - "Summer Camp" - The Players
(Parents beware - this is one is PG-13 - parental supervision is required!)

The Windsurfing Crew in San Carlos - The Players from Mac Barnhardt on Vimeo.

Moments - The San Carlos Experience

Posted: September 9th, 2008, 2:15am CEST

(Picture taken by Jim Crawford)

Yeah...thats what it was....an experience. You could call it an adventure, a trip, or an event. But it was the experience of it all. As Kevin Trejo says, "you just don't know until you go".

It was also somewhat of a milestone for me as well. A full week of wavesailing of which I've never done before. 7 straight days of wavesailing. It would have been 8 straight days but I went mountain biking the last morning we were there. My back and hands were done after that. And to think I almost didn't go because of my recent back issues. I'm so glad I went. My back is pretty sore and stiff but now I can focus the next few weeks on rehabilitating it back to 100%. Been windsurfing for 20+ years and only been in the waves a few times. And that was in onshore winds, mushy waves, and riding backside. So you can call me a beginner wavesailor. What in the world was I doing going to what many pros say is arguably the best windsurfing wave in the world?

(Picture taken by Rob Cornwell)

Well, besides being a wave the pros love for it's long down the line rides and seemingly endless bottom turns, it's also a user friendly wave. Most east coast waves have short period swells along with onshore winds meaning there are waves on top of waves and lots of chop in high winds. Baja had long period swells and side offshore winds meaning there is relatively flat water in between the waves. And the way the ocean floor, rocks, and geography are made up there make for very long waves that you can ride frontside and surf "down the line". Finally, when the wave breaks at San Carlos, it crumbles on itself. It doesn't curl over and pound you like other big wave spots. So it's hard to get into trouble if you fall in the impact zone. Just hold onto the mast tip, keep yourself between the wave and the gear, take a wave on the head, plenty of time to waterstart between waves because of the aforementioned long swell period, and you're golden. This has to be the best place to learn to wavesail. Problem is...now I'm spoiled on side-off down the line wavesailing.

Me, on a sweet San Carlos wave (picture taken by Jim Crawford...thanks Jim!)

Now we're back home and still dreaming of the place. Hard to get going at work for sure. I keep thinking of the "moments".....just observations of all the cool stuff we did all week long. If you've ever thought of going to Punta San Carlos, here are some of those "moments" for you to ponder....

Food – Omigosh! The food was amazing. Eating at a Mexican restaurant at home will never be the same again - we had fresh salmon, huevos rancheros, tamales, cheeseburgers, Mexican chicken and rice soup, sliced avocados, breakfast burritos, crab claws, ribs, fish tacos, posole (Mexican fish soup), pancakes & bacon, fresh fruits, and salads. The Mexican ladies there can cook up some serious food.

(Picture taken by Rob Cornwell)

(Picture taken by Rob Cornwell)

The Beach Bar - fun...day and night.

(Picture taken by Jim Crawford)

The Lounge - outdoor lounge with comfy sofas and all the windsurfing/kiting/surfing magazines you wanted to peruse.

(Picture taken by Jim Crawford)

Jim napping

Tents - large and comfortable with air mattress

The Thatched Umbrella overlooking The Beach Break - you roll out of your tent and the view is all in front of you. You could sit anywhere in camp and see the wavesailing action on the water but the old van seats under the thatched umbrella provided the best action watching and picture taking.

The Bombora, The Beach Break, The Point, The Chili Bowl, Bird%#&! Rock, Fish Camp - From right to left facing the water...those are all the different breaks you could surf/sail.

Beer & Tequila – All the alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages you wanted. Kevin pulled out the very good aged tequila from his long time family Guadalaharan friends…from wooden barrels...very nice!

The Cessna plane ride down and back - a lot quicker and more convenient than driving...and great views of the Baja coastline. Fun landing on the dirt and rock landing strip at the beach camp. I have video of the landing...stay tuned for future post of videos.

(Wyatt, Mac, Clark, Josh, Rob, Mike)

The People You Meet -
- Solo Sports owner Kevin Trejo, camp photographer and author Clark Merritt, Gear Master Rodney, SoCal Joey, and the local Mexican staff - It was a laugh a minute...you better have a good sense of humor.
- Josh Sampiero/Editor of Windsurfing Magazine

- NorCal and Gorge Pro Wyatt Miller - he said it was his “best week at San Carlos ever” then told us the story of how he fell off the beach cliff on his 1st trip there (in the first 5 minutes after he arrived) at age 15 with his father....funny but scary story.

- Taylor Congdon – famous motocross producer and videographer and former downhill mountain bike racer, turns out he's been windsurfing since age 11 and loves to sail/mtn bike San Carlos.
- Kevin McGillavry – Central Cal Pro, great guy and gave helpful tips.
(Picture taken by Jim Crawford)
- Brian Caserio – former pro windsurfer back in the 80s and 90s, waterman filmmaker, and can also rip on a kite and stand up paddle board. Brian was one of the pioneers of San Carlos.
- SoCal pro Casey Hauser
- Our other Solo Sports campers - take Coogey for instance. Coogey was our Japanese guy who was there for 3 weeks straight. He had a knee injury but was out there ripping it up every day. He'd go in the water and come off the water limping. He supposedly didn't know any English. So his only form of communication was the internet and he was on it...a lot. He would have 20 web pages open at once and be watching Japanese Youtube...and bring down the internet every time he was on it. Kevin tried to ban him from the wifi but when Kevin walked away, Coogey was back on it bringing down the internet again. We now think he was playing us all week and actually knows English...what a riot. And then there was Sergai, our new Russian friend...plus our new friends from Portland (Iron Man Ken...he logged the most time of anyone on the water kiteboarding), San Francisco Mike, San Francisco Hugh, Santa Barbara Mike, and Cleveland John.

The gear - all good stuff from RRD, Ezzy, Quatro, Real Wind, Goya, and Streamlined.

(Picture taken by Rob Cornwell)

Here's a rundown on my daily equipment:
Sat – Real Wind 270 with Ezzy Wave 6.3 (light wind)
Sun – RRD Freestyle Wave 110 with Ezzy Wave 6.0 overpowered and dropped down to 5.2
Mon – RRD Freestyle Wave 102 with Ezzy Wave 5.0
Tues – RRD Freestyle Wave 102 with Ezzy Wave 5.5
Wed – 102 with 5.5
Thurs – 102 with 5.2
Fri – 102 with 5.5 (way overpowered, should have been on 4.7 or 5.0 easy)

Sat – mountain biking on Cannondale bike. The trails were awesome...world class. (Picture taken by Rob Cornwell)

Surfing, stand up paddle surfing, and mountain biking - Every morning campers would partake, then wavesail in the afternoon, like clockwork.

Donald with stand up paddle board in hand (picture taken by Jim Crawford)

Rob on a wave

Troy

I read “In Search of Captain Zero” by Alan Weisbecker, the perfect book for this trip. There were surf/kite/windsurf mags everywhere, and a great library of old books left by campers.

Reading Room - The outhouses....'nuff said.

Recreation room - pool table, foosball table, dinner table, wifi, TV/DVD with all kinds of videos.

Blisters - I was out of action for almost 2 months leading up to the trip with back issues so I lost my hand calluses from all the spring windsurfing. I should have dipped them in rubbing alcohol for a few days before going (the apparent tip that supposedly works). Here's the results after 8 days of adrenaline...ouch!

Exploring - you could go hiking and biking for miles and find all kinds of cool stuff like ancient indian petroglyphs and awesome views.....

Seals - we saw seals everyday...very cool. One popped up about 10 feet beside me as I sailed by. I said "greetings". He said "whats up" and ducked under.

Whale - Even cooler, we saw a whale breaching our last day there. Rodney said it unusual for this time of year. We also saw dolphin and porpoise. I never get tired of seeing dolphin.

There are rattlesnakes and scorpions around but we didn't see any the entire week. Pelicans and seagulls aplenty.

The kelp and seaweed - this was a new experience for me. There wasn't a lot of it in the general sailing area but there were some clumps here and there. It was closer to the shallower beach break that made it interesting. If you stopped there to rest, or were entering or exiting the water, it was almost like the stuff would wrap itself around your legs and not let you go.

Warm water – I was in a 3/2 short sleeve wetsuit and got a bit warm some days. There were others out in only their trunks. Solo Sports usually recommends a 4/3 suit as the water does get colder.

Thats a wrap. I have a ton more pics and video footage so I'll be working on a picture/music slide show and edited videos over the next couple of months, so check back for more on San Carlos.

Special thanks goes out to Alan for organizing the trip and giving us helpful tips throughout, the rest of the NC windsurfing crew (Rob, Jim, Tommy, Donald, Troy, Alan, and Alain) for such a great time together, and to the Solo Sports staff (Kevin, Clark, Rodney, Joey, and the Mexican staff) for being such great hosts.

The Swell Arrived

Posted: September 5th, 2008, 6:30pm CEST

Thursday gave us the biggest waves and wind of the week. There were some waves over logo high out there. Everyone got out there and some said it was their best day ever. I caught my best wave of the week (of my life, Kevin Trejo reminded me) with 6 bottom turns. Not bad for a beginner wavesailor. I'm still learning but catching waves nonetheless. My challenge has been the timing of catching waves, but I'm learning more and more each day. Trying to lean forward into those bottom turns too. Anyway, here are a few more pics....Adios Amigos!

Rob at the Solo Sports entrance sign on an early morning mountain bike ride

The Crew - No Pulse Tommy, Dammit Jim, Frenchie Alain, WaterTurtle Mac, Goatherder Alan, Troy Boy, Rob Not Robert, and Don Juan Swayze Donald

Camp view - Hugh watching Donald on a wave

Jim catching a wave

What Day Is It?

Posted: September 4th, 2008, 7:30am CEST

The Crew - Troy, Alan, Rob, Donald, Jim, and Tommy

Central Cal Pro Kevin McGillivary

More at Rob's site

Baja Fog to Baja Sun

Posted: September 2nd, 2008, 6:41pm CEST

"I vontz to dreenk zee wo-TAIR".

Huh?

Oh...you meant to say you want to drink the water. C'mon Sergai...help me out here...we're just a bunch of boys from North Carolina.

Sergai is our resident camp Russian, now living in San Francisco. We have a nice little international contingent thing going on here. We also have Coogey....a Japanese fellow who doesn't know a lick of English...and he's here for 3 weeks. And then there's Frenchie Alain, who lives in Atlanta...and who came with us, courtesy of a Donald & Troy connection. There are also guys from Santa Barbara, San Fran, Portland, and even Cleveland. Josh Sampiero, editor of Windsurfing Magazine is here along with SoCal sailor Casey Hauser and pro Wyatt Miller. They are camping just south of us on The Point. I hear other pros and former pros such as Kevin McGivillary and Brian Caserio are on their way down to catch the upcoming swell. And then there's us...the NC crew.

We're here and we're having a great time. Punta San Carlos is sweet!

Our Cessna plane ride in was a nice trip with awesome views of the Mexican Pacific coastline all the way down. That Saturday evening, we got our Baja Fog initiation after an afternoon of light wind wavesailing. A Baja Fog is a Corona beer with Tequila and lime in it. Actually tasted pretty darn good....could be my new post sesh beverage at the beaches back home. As if on cue, the next morning a big fog swept through the area. Not to fear, as the sun broke through and we got to wavesail again on days 2 & 3...each day the wind getting a little stronger. The waves have been a mix of chest to knee high so far depending on the sets and the tide. I've been on 6.3, 6.0, 5.2, and 5.0 sails...in that succession over the first 3 days. The forecast is calling for a bigger swell so everyone is getting excited. My back is doing fairly well (knock, knock) but I've been holding back and trying to ease into it....not outdoing myself. The first 3 days of smaller waves and wind have been good for us beginner wavesailors to get warmed up and initiated to this spot.

Rob has already posted an early video of our arrival on Saturday here...no wavesailing shots in this but gives a great perspective of the camp and our Baja Fog initiation, etc. He's also got some other wavesailing pictures posted on there as well...check it out at the link above.

Here are a couple of pics...the wifi connection here is spotty and very slow...so I'll be posting many more after I get home, along with video. Adios!

Yours truly (picture taken by Alain Ciclet)

Pro Wyatt Miller doing into a "Goiter"

Alan with rooster tail spray

Rob SUP surfing

Tommy soul surfing with my friend, the pelican

SoCal sailor Casey Hauser off the lip

Baja...Here we come! (and an OBX wavesailing update)

Posted: August 29th, 2008, 2:27am CEST

First, I've been remiss in mentioning the upcoming Hatteras Wave Fest 2008 event that OBX Bill has organized. It will be held September 15 - 29, 2008 oceanside on Hatteras Island. The event will consist of three elements which include: Freeform wave sailing, Wave Clinic, and Wave Challenge competitive event. Click on the link above for more details. Thanks to Bill for organizing this and getting the competitive juices flowing again on the Outer Banks....it's been awhile.

Speaking of Bill, he put together a great video of the Loop Fest event he also organized. Check it out here along with some other videos from others. Oh yeah, and our very own Donald makes an appearance in Bill's video as well.

Second, I'm off to Punta San Carlos this weekend. I'm a beginner wavesailor, so this will be a great learning experience for me...and one heck of a trip. I hope to post some updates and pics as next week progresses, so check back. Charlie from Ride Hatteras put together this cool 1 minute video from his trip there last winter. If you can't open it from the link, copy and paste this link into your browser and the video should start automatically: http://www.ridehatteras.com/videos/sancarlos.mpg

Adios!

Local Crew Strikes Charleston area

Posted: August 27th, 2008, 2:29am CEST

Last week, with remnants from TS Fay, some of the local crew traveled to the Charleston area and wavesailed at Isle of Palms. Here are some great pictures of Alan and Donald, along with Charleston area resident, Dave. Pictures taken by Donald's bro, Tommy.

Pain Killers Anyone?

Posted: August 22nd, 2008, 4:08am CEST

Catapulting Aaron said it best, "Ouch!"

Lets list the recent blogger casualties, shall we?
Aaron's ribs
Andy's hand
Stuart's ankle
Mark's board
Josh's leg - don't read if you have a weak stomach
Bill's sick truck got a new engine - this counts since its his windsurfmobile and it kept him out of some action too.
Stuck in Duck Billy's ruptured disc

Each of these people took carefully calculated risks in conditions that weren't beyond their abilities, yet things do still happen sometimes and they suffered relatively minor injuries.

As opposed to this guy - every windsurfer and kitesurfer around the world who was watching the news or internet this week knows about Kevin Kearney and how Mother Nature (Tropical Storm Fay) defeated him in a big way. For my family and friends who haven't already seen this, check out this scary video:
WKRG.com Video
Amazingly and thankfully, Kevin will live to see another day, but he is very lucky. Lesson learned - don't ever kitesurf in a tropical storm, or any storm for that matter.

Then there is me. I can't get hurt windsurfing. I get hurt just doing the dishes.

My back is in bad shape. 1 1/2 years ago, I was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease. My two lowest lumbar discs have degenerated. Since then, I have been doing tons of core exercise and staying in pretty good shape with no problems. I've been very active in windsurfing and biking the last 1 1/2 years with no issues.

About 6 weeks ago, my back went out on me at home. I bent over doing the dishes and BAM...it hit me. I think not having been able to exercise since my hernia surgery in May made my back weak and vulnerable. Immediately after this episode, I went to the doc and got a steroid epidural injection to mask the pain so I could work and get around. I starting exercising again 2 weeks later including the SUP session with Rob at the lake with no problems.

Then my family and I spent a weekend in Beaufort/Emerald Isle area. That Saturday morning, I was stand up paddle surfing in the waves. I did fine except for the fact that it was a major workout and I was literally out of breath and my heart racing due to me being out shape since hernia surgery, etc. But I caught a few waves and it was fun. Then, that Sat afternoon, the wind picked up to around 15mph straight onshore. Despite the onshore wind and the crowded beach, I put the 5.4 sail on my SUP board and did some light wind wavesailing. I didn't stay out long because it was difficult to get upwind out past the breaking waves and then catch them coming back in. However, I did catch a couple of good wave rides and then packed it in. I was feeling good but tired (it was also very hot).

The following Sunday morning, I went back to the beach for one more stand up paddle surf session. The water was a bit choppier than I wanted due to a light breeze. But I went out with the paddle and found myself struggling a bit....off balance, falling in, etc. And then....BAM....my back went out again. This time, it was more painful than the last time. I saw the doc the following Monday and started icing it, taking prescription meds for the pain, etc. Since then, I've even been trying acupuncture. The combination of time, prescription meds, and acupuncture have me feeling better, but still having some weakness, stiffness, and some pain in certain positions.

In one more week, I'm supposed to depart for Punta San Carlos, Baja Mexico. There was a point I didn't think I would be going because of my back. I was in a serious funk about it and struggling with what to do. This is one of those top 10 trips I've had on my list for a long time. A trip of a lifetime. But now, I may not even be able to windsurf. I think I'm still going to go and just take it very slow, and ease into the windsurfing depending on how I feel. We have a great group of guys going so I'm looking forward to the camraderie. At the very least, I'll hopefully get some killer pictures and video and put something really creative together that I can post here. I probably won't be doing any prone surfing because of the hyper extension on the back and I probably won't be doing any SUP surfing unless it's really glassy and the waves aren't too big and I'm feeling good, then I might get out there. I feel like I could windsurf if my back is feeling ok, but I'm just going to have to listen to my body. Mountain biking is a maybe....I definitely won't be at my best.

I've never felt pain while windsurfing. I feel some pain afterwards sometimes, but nothing major..just normal muscle soreness from not having sailed in a while. Stand up paddling on flat water is great core exercise and doesn't seem to hurt my back. Stand up paddling the waves is also great core exercise but also has sponteneous and unexpected moments of putting you into positions that can hurt your lower back if you're not careful. I've talked to some folks on the SUP Forum and they all say SUP'ing is good for the back and core when done properly (stance, paddle length, etc) but like anything else, you can hurt yourself in different ways when not careful.

Don't feel sorry for me. It could be worse and I'm a fortunate man in so many other aspects of my life compared to folks I know who are fighting cancer, or have lost children, etc. Right now, my attitude is to just go, still have a great time, relax, and get some great pics and videos of my friends...even though I'm not 100% and may not be able to hit the water like I want.

Pain killers anyone?

Olympic windsurfing

Posted: August 15th, 2008, 4:35am CEST

NBC's Olympic coverage certainly has brought us the big names like Michael Phelps and....well, Michael Phelps. Is there anyone else?

Well, for us windsurfers, our big names are Ben Barger and Nancy Rios. They are representing the U.S. in the RS:X Windsurfing Class. RS:X is the chosen one design class of windsurfing racing for the Olympics. The boards are wide, stable, and have an adjustable centerboard for lighter winds, but is also shaped to perform well in stronger winds.

RS:X Windsurfing Video

Ben and Nancy don't appear to be in medal contention but are representing the U.S. with class. They have interesting backgrounds. For example, Nancy is a first generation American who helped raised her siblings. U.S. Olympic sailing and windsurfing hopefuls aren't given a ton of resources for their training, relative to what the other countries are providing to their competing sailors. Our sailors have to raise most of the funds required for training on their own.

Ben is posting his Olympic experience here. And here is a video of his journey to the Olympics:

Nancy is posting her Olympic experience here.

You can keep up with all the Olympic sailing results here.

Thanks to the International Sailing Federation for the top two pictures. The picture of Nancy (USA8) is from her web site. You can see more pictures here.

Some of the local crew have been having fun in Oregon

Posted: August 11th, 2008, 4:14am CEST

The last post below has a great video of the best of the best at Hood River (The Gorge), Oregon. Some of our fearless local crew have been taking advantage of the awesome summer conditions there as well.

Alan, Donald, and Scott got it good a few weeks ago in Hood River. Here are some great pics from Alan.
Congratulations to Alan and Jen for getting engaged!

Alan returned to Pistol River on the Oregon Coast for some wavesailing and got these great pics.

Meanwhile, Josh took a nasty cut from a fin while windsurfing during his summer sojourn to Hood River. If you're faint of heart, don't click here. Heal Fast Josh!

Finally, my body is still a trainwreck, now with some lower back issues that have crept back up on me. I'll save the details for another post later. Trying to heal (and keep a positive attitude) so I can get back on the water.

New windsurfing videos

Posted: August 8th, 2008, 4:39am CEST

Found these at Continent Seven....

New Mistral promotional video trailer for "Committed Reloaded"

....and a new video of Hood River/Gorge windsurfing.....Enjoy!

Windsurfing the Hatchery from Trudy Lary on Vimeo.

Sunset SUP

Posted: August 1st, 2008, 4:13am CEST

Rob and I went for a sunset paddle session after work tonight. Great exercise and beautiful sunset views. Pictures say it all I guess. We were on Lake Davidson...notice the traffic on I-77 as it runs in between Lake Norman and Lake Davidson. We got a few honks from the truckers and another guy fishing off a dock said he had never seen anything like us before.

We Rocked Our Faces Off!

Posted: July 27th, 2008, 5:04am CEST

That's what Jeff said. "We rocked our faces off."

Rob is the link that brought he, his friend Jeff, and I together on Friday evening to attend the Old 97s concert in Charlotte at the Visulite Theater.

What a great show. These guys left it all on the stage with such high energy and sweat. It's tough to classify the Old 97s...but I guess it's best described as alternative country rock.

So what does this have to do with windsurfing? Before you get all snippy on me, remember this blog from time to time will have something other than windsurfing in it. However, Rob has used Old 97s music in some of his windsurfing videos, such as this one. When I hear certain songs, it makes me think of windsurfing, surfing, mountain biking, etc and then I start envisioning my next video creation and what song will be in it.

Rob introduced me to the Old 97s and has also turned me onto some other great bands of similar persuasion. I have always been into various types of music. For example, here is a sample of some of my iPod playlists:

"Island" - Jack Johnson, G Love, Ben Harper, Donavon Frankenreiter, The Beautiful Girls, Jimmy Buffett, Bob Marley, Ziggy Marley, Peter Tosh, etc.

"Alternative" - Death Cab for Cutie, Interpol, My Morning Jacket, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Killers, RadioHead, Modest Mouse, Keane, Joseph Arthur, Moby, Angels and Airwaves, Silversun Pickups, O.A.R., etc. Also includes some great oldie alternative bands like Concrete Blonde, the Pixies, Buffalo Tom, The Replacements, etc.

"Heavy" - includes some "mandatory metal" and other fast paced hard rock such as Disturbed, Korn, Cold, Saliva, My Chemical Romance, Nine Inch Nails, The Offspring, Everclear, Green Day, Foo Fighters, etc.

I've always steered towards alternative. But lately, this alternative country rock thing has really stirred up the musical juices. I've been collecting some stuff that Rob and Jeff are really into and putting into my "Roadtrip" mix since it's so suitable for driving....bands such as:
Wilco, Averitt Brothers, Drive By Truckers, Caleb Caudle, Old 97s, and Rhett Miller (lead singer of Old 97s...his solo stuff). Blues Traveler and Ben Lee also round out this playlist nicely.

I put a Wilco song into this 3 minute Outer Banks picture montage a while back -

Anyway, music is the soundtrack of our lives....I thought I would share some recent stoke about a cool band we saw and mention some of the other music I've been listening to.

It Barely Blew 10mph and We Didn't Get Skunked

Posted: July 14th, 2008, 1:22am CEST

I have seen the promised land.

OK...thats overdoing it...but Rob and I did get to finally experience something we've been reading and hearing about....light wind wavesailing on a SUP (Stand Up Paddle) board. It all started with a classic 24 hr day trip. Rob and I had identified Saturday July 12th as a day trip day several weeks back. If the wind blew...great. If the wind didn't blow, we would go stand up paddling. The location was still to be determined. We were looking at several spots all week up and down the NC/SC coast. While we've done Hatteras Island before in a 24 hr day trip, we just didn't feel like driving the extra 2 hrs (one way) this time around since we were looking for a drive that was 4.5 hrs and under. The wind forecast wasn't looking so good late in the week but Hurricane Bertha was giving the coast some nice waves. However, Rob and I didn't have our own SUP boards yet. Not to worry I thought. We can call Glen at Hilton Head Island. As it turned out, Rob's sister was also staying in Hilton Head for the week and had a spare room for Rob and I to crash in Friday night. Perfect.

We meet Glen Saturday morning with the 3 SUP boards he brought along and we hit the ocean. I tried a Sean Ordenez Shape (SOS) Big Blue 10'10" board and Rob took the SOS Big Red 11'11" board. Glen was on a new Danai Fish 10'2" quad + 1 fin set up. It was low tide so there weren't any waves to be had yet. But we paddled up the beach, then a light breeze started up and we paddled back downwind. We were out there for a couple of hours just enjoying the exercise, the view, the company, and the wildlife (a few jellyfish and a spinner shark coming out of the water going after a school of fish). The board I was on was nice and stable, yet I could feel it was still a board I would need to work my way into especially for surfing the waves. But I liked it. As it turns out, Glen has a friend who works for a local surf shop and had a used SOS Big Blue SUP board for sale...just like the one I was on that morning, except this one had a mast track so you can put a sail on it for light wind wavesailing. The other shops I had been talking to didn't have the other model SUP boards I was looking at and didn't know when any more were arriving (and I have more beach time planned this summer), so I went for it and bought the used SOS Big Blue. Ain't she a beaut? (Picture by Glen Barroncini)

Rob and I went to have lunch with his sister and her family and Rob got to spend some time with his nieces. Then it was off to hit the water one more time with my new purchase. Except this time, the wind had picked up...all the way to a rousing 10mph side onshore. Luckily we brought our windsurfing gear (just in case!) and I whipped out my 5.4 sail. There has been a lot of hype about sticking a small sail on a SUP board in light winds with the goal of just catching and riding waves. You aren't supposed to be planing as the small sail is supposed to give you just enough momentum to get you out through the waves. Once you're in position to catch a wave, you let the board do the rest. OK, so lets see this theory work for ourselves.

It was high tide and the waves had arrived. The most popular surf break at Hilton Head Island (not known for its waves) was crowded with many surfers and people in the water. The surfers were on the best waves and the lineup was very crowded. So Rob and I scoped a gap without surfers and people just down the beach. The waves weren't as good, but hey...thats what a SUP is for. We rigged the 5.4, stuck it on, and I went out for the inaugural ride. That board cut right through the whitewater going out. I get past the breakers, tack, and head back in to catch a wave. I catch my first wave and that was all she wrote. That board was like it was on rails as I was wavesailing backside on a wave that peaked over waist high before breaking. Even riding the whitewater in was fun. I got a couple more waves and then it was Rob's turn. Now keep in mind that Rob and I have been windsurfing for 20+ years, yet we are beginner wavesailors. Rob gets his first wave and sails it with no problem. We took turns on the board/sail for another hour or so. The waves were classic east coast....small and mushy. But we were getting our mandatory time on the water and having a blast. Needless to say, there were big smiles on our faces for the ride home that night.

I want to thank Glen again for being such an awesome host, hooking Rob and I up Saturday morning, and for linking me to that used board for sale. Glen, you should be getting a finders fee for that! If you're ever in the Hilton Head area, look Glen up and he'll take you out for lessons, demos, rentals, SUP equipment sales, and just plain fun stand up paddling. He is the ultimate SUP ambassador and a nice guy too.

Here's a short 1:25 video clip and some pictures below that (Rob has the hat on and I'm hatless):

Rob

Yours truly and Glen

Glen

Rob and I playing around

Me heading out through the whitewater

Rob enjoying my board and sail. How big is that smile? Can you say STOKE?

Rob

Who Says the Wind Doesn't Blow in the Summer?

Posted: July 2nd, 2008, 3:49am CEST

Everybody got some this past weekend! A Bermuda High sat off the coast for several days producing some solid SW winds for the coast and even reached inland a bit.

Where to start....

My Greensboro buddies, Mark and Todd, combined work in the Wilmington area with some windsurfing and scored at The Basin in Fort Fisher. A submerged metal box reached up and attacked Mark....here is his description of the carnage: "Here it is: the new hinge-tailed slalom board. Available in 2 piece and 3 piece versions. Board can be stored in the trunk of your car or in the overhead compartment for you frequent fliers..."

Todd busted his sail too. Guys, it's time for new gear!

Alan made the roadtrip to Kure Beach and sailed the ocean opposite The Basin....called Corncake. He reported solid 5.0 wind but the waves didn't show up.

The Charleston, SC gang also reported 5.0 conditions with chest high waves in side-shore wind.

The Hatteras LoopFest went off in excellent conditions. There are great summaries and awesome pictures at Andy's, Bill's, and George's blogs. And there is a great
Loopfest video here.
Donald made the trip and showed up in some of the pictures on George's blog. I took these pics of Donald off George's blog...they were taken by George's wife, Janis Markopoulos. This is Donald's first year of wavesailing...I'd say he's taken to it just fine.

As for myself, I finally got to windsurf for the first time in almost 2 months after my hernia surgery. I didn't make the trip to the coast but I was able to score at the lake on a rare windy summer day here. I was fully powered on my new 6.4 sail for 2 hours solid in 15-25 winds. There was a bit of boat traffic in the main channel but I was able to get upwind and play in an open area next to an island where no boats were and just had an absolute blast.

HIHO revisited

Posted: June 27th, 2008, 7:41pm CEST

This weekend marks the start of the annual HIHO race event in the British Virgin Islands. I was fortunate enough to participate in it last year and I hope to get back there again within the next few years. What an awesome experience it was and I still have great memories of it. Even if you're not into racing (it was my 2nd official race in 20+ years of windsurfing), this is something you won't regret doing. I wrote a story about the experience that appeared here on my blog first, then on Windsurfing Magazine's website, and edited again for All At Sea Magazine.

Pics & video -

Enjoy!

SUPing in Hilton Head

Posted: June 17th, 2008, 6:50pm CEST

I was visiting Hilton Head Island last weeked for a reunion with old friends (I'll post a summary of that reunion as a separate post later). The focus of the weekend was the reunion itself so I didn't make plans to get on the water until everyone was leaving Sunday morning. I had earlier done a search of Hilton Head Stand Up Paddling on StandUpZone.com and found Glen. I emailed him and made plans to meet for a SUP session. The ocean was flat so we decided to hit the inland waterway since it might provide an opportunity to see more wildlife. I brought my own paddle and Glen let me try out a couple of nice boards. We had a great session and workout which included a mother and baby bottlenose dolphin pair swimming around us....so close I could see the mother's eye looking right at me to check me out. That's when I realized I left my camera in the car...DOH!

Glen is a great guy and a pleasure to SUP with. If you're ever in the Hilton Head area, contact him to get out on the water. He reps and sells for a couple of SUP companies and has demo boards available. He also provides lessons.

By the way, Glen's brother is deployed in Iraq serving with the Army's 320th MP Co. It's guys like Keith that enable people like Glen and I to be able to have the freedom to go SUP'ing. Thank you Keith for all you're doing and hoping for your safe return this fall.

My sisters are in town visiting this week and have their kids in a local sailing camp. I took one of my sisters out on the lake for a SUP session and now she loves it. She's big into yoga and instantly recognized the exercise and core workout benefits of SUP'ing. Another convert!

Fun with NEWJ & Windsurfing Magazine

Posted: June 12th, 2008, 4:08am CEST

Stoked! Two of my pictures from our April Outer Banks trip made it into the New England Windsurfing Journal June 2008 issue (page 4, WindFest article). Our sailing compadre, Rob Cornwell, was correctly credited as the sailor in the picture. And my Sanyo Xacti helmetcam set up was featured. Here they are again:

On another note, I joined Alan, Rob, Donald, and Mark for some dinner in Charlotte last week as Alan hosted Josh Sampiero, the Senior Editor of Windsurfing Magazine. Josh was passing through town on his cross country summer road trip from Florida to California and Oregon. The wind didn't blow for those guys that day but they still got time on the water...wakeboarding. I first met Josh at last year's HIHO race event. He's a great ambassador for windsurfing and has made significant improvements to the magazine. Like I told Josh, I envy his job and I don't envy his job because it's hard to please all the readers. He gets a ton of accolades and criticism from readers about what they want to see in the mag and he handles it all very well. You can follow his cross country adventures on his new blog .

Last but not least, it's been 6 weeks now since my hernia surgery and I'm ready to go windsurfing. I've been doing some early morning lake SUP'ing to start getting back into shape. This weekend I'm headed off to Hilton Head Island for a reunion with some old friends. Not sure if I'll get to sail or SUP...we'll see.

OBX Revisited - Memorial Day weekend

Posted: May 28th, 2008, 2:46am CEST

My family and I met our friends, Cary and Julie and their two kids, on Hatteras Island for Memorial Day weekend. Our friends, former neighbors who now live in Phoenix, returned to NC for a week to visit with everyone in our neighborhood and joined us for a taste of the Outer Banks. We stayed a couple of nights in an oceanfront house in Avon, then took the ferry down to Ocracoke Island on Sunday and stayed there one night, then ventured on the long ferry down to Cedar Island and on to Beaufort on Monday, then home.

It was a relaxing weekend for me with no activity since I was still recovering from my hernia surgery. It was tough to sit by and wishing I could be on the water windsurfing or SUP'ing. But I didn't miss much. There was a little bit of sailable wind for a couple of hours each of the first 2 days and the surf was flat. I took advantage of the situation by taking in the sights, spend time with family and friends, and doing a few things I might not have otherwise done.

Our oceanfront house was in south Avon almost at the very end of the beach houses before heading to Canadian Hole. The house had a very cool kitchen backsplash...check it out...

On Friday, I went to SailWorld Hatteras and Hatteras Island Boardsports and saw Andy and Drew. Andy and I were lamenting about our respective ailments (his broken hand and my recent hernia surgery), when Stu walked in and showed off his broken ankle. Andy and Stu can at least claim their injuries were the results of windsurfing to the extreme....definitely not the case for me. I happened to mention that maybe this will be it for everyone since bad things happen in threes. Wrong! That night, one hour after our friends arrived at the house, their son Ian broke his foot on the stairs. Doh! They spent the night until 4:30am in the Nags Head ER. I have to hand it to Ian and his cool parents...they didn't let it ruin the weekend and Ian stayed in great spirits the whole time. He hopped his way around or got rides on his dad's back. Cary got a workout over the weekend carrying Ian around. Great attitudes all around....blame it on the OBX perhaps?

Unfortunately, Ian did miss out on the next day's surfing lesson with his sister and my daughter. The girls had a great time learning from Crew, one of Drew's surfing instructors. Even though it was a little chilly and rainy on Saturday morning, the girls didn't let it ruin their fun. It definitely helped that Drew and his brother Kevin were able to dig out some wetsuits for them to use for the lesson. Thanks guys!

One sour note is the amount of trash I found on the stretch of beach in front of our house in south Avon. This was not where Off Road Vehicles are allowed either. I am convinced that most of the beach going populace are good citizens, care about the beaches, and don't litter. But there will always be the bad apples in the bunch. My three kids and I picked up a small trash bag's worth of garbage, including a condom (unopened in its wrapper and unused by the way). I was quick on my feet and explained to my kids it was a pack of mustard....whew. Anyway, it was a good learning lesson for the kids and we did our good deed for the day. Another side note to this - while watching the girls in their surfing lesson, I saw a plastic bag blow away from a fisherman off the pier into the water. A few minutes later, another fisherman was able to cast his line, catch the bag on the hook, then reel it back in. Nice catch!

Ocracoke did not disappoint. I was pleasantly surprised there wasn't a long ferry line in Hatteras for the ferry over. I had heard stories of 2 hour ferry lines last year since Ocracoke was rated as the best beach in the US by "Doctor Beach". The high gas prices must have kept people home because we showed up and got right on the ferry with no waiting (the price of gas on the Outer Banks by the way was $4.15....ouch!). Ocracoke Village and the area around "the Creek" (Silver Lake) always makes me feel like I'm in the Caribbean. Sitting there enjoying my fish sandwich and a beer with a view of The Creek made me think this must be what Jimmy Buffett had in mind when he wrote half those songs.

We saw dolphin from both ferries, and from the long ferry to Cedar Island, we watched two different groups of dolphin swim directly to the bow of the ferry then peel off and swim away.

I always love driving through Cedar Island and going through the towns of Sea Level, Atlantic, Davis, and Stacy. These are fascinating fishing villages that are in the middle of some beautiful country that resembles more of the Louisiana bayou lowlands and marshes than anything else in North Carolina. Beaufort was a fitting end to the weekend with brunch on the waterfront boardwalk and a stroll along the boardwalk to watch all the boats coming and going.

About the only other stuff we did was check out the Cape Hatteras and Ocracoke Lighthouses, did some shopping, spent some quality time on the beach, and ate some good seafood. It was great to be back on the Outer Banks even if I couldn't get on the water...definitely good for the soul.

You, Me, Drake and the License Plate

Posted: May 17th, 2008, 5:07pm CEST

I don’t like those vanity license plates...never have. I roll my eyes when I see tags like “LUVNIT”, “MOMZVAN”, or “TUFENUF”. But when my beautiful bride gives me one for my birthday several years ago, how am I supposed to respond? It was a personalized plate that has to do with windsurfing, of course. Picture this in your mind as I said, “thanks honey” with all the enthusiasm I could muster. I was ridiculed by friends. I just played it off...”it’s a birthday gift from my wife” was the perfect truthful excuse. It’s not my fault she gave it to me...I can’t just go and trash it.

A few years ago not long after getting that license plate, while walking out of a restaurant after a customer lunch meeting, I noticed a torn off piece of paper under my wiper blades. It said “Do you windsurf? Email me at xxxxxx, Jim Drake”.

I’m fairly knowledgeable about windsurfing, so I knew who Jim Drake was. But it couldn’t possibly be him. For those of you reading this who don’t know who Jim Drake is, he is widely considered to be the “father of windsurfing”. He invented windsurfing (with Hoyle Schweitzer) in 1967.*** What a lot of people don’t know is that Jim has another claim to fame. He’s also a real “rocket scientist”. He was the first man to design an aircraft on a computer. One of his designs (with lots of help he says) was the X-15 rocket plane, which still to this day holds the world speed record for a manned aircraft. He also did the first designs for what became the B-70 and the cruise missile. And now, on top of all that, he can also claim to be a part of the new world speed sailing record of 49.09 knots recently set by Frenchman windsurfer Antoine Albeau, since he was on a Starboard speed board.

But this had to be a joke. I live in North Carolina. Doesn’t Jim Drake live in California or Hawaii? Whoever it was must have seen my personalized windsurfing license plate. Someone had to be playing a joke on me. I bit however and sent an email to that address. I said something to the effect of “If you’re not the real Jim Drake, stop being cruel and leave me alone. But if you are the real Jim Drake, by all means...please reply.”

I got a response. He claimed to be the real Jim Drake. We corresponded a couple of times via email until I was satisfied it was no joke and we finally decided to meet for lunch, at the same restaurant I found the note. Turns out Jim and his wife had friends who lived in the area and had convinced them to move there from California.

Imagine if you were a basketball fanatic and you met James Naismith. I couldn’t believe this was happening. We hit it off as Jim was very easy to talk to. We talked about many things including those years back when he designed and tested the first board, how far windsurfing had come, Formula boards and racing, the future of the sport, etc. It was a real treat to be sitting across from the man who basically was responsible for my wind addiction. We had lunch again after that and had more great conversation. Jim even joined our local windsurfing club at the time and helped promote our annual “Learn to Sail” day event with the local TV news. I have since moved to another town in North Carolina but I've seen Jim a couple of times the last few years in the Outer Banks. We got to meet a couple of his sons (between he and his second wife, they have eight children and sixteen grandchildren), got a sneak peek at the new Starboard Serenity and Gemeni boards last year, and joined Jim at a talk he gave at one of the local windsurfing shops.

If it had not been for that very personalized license plate that I was agonizing over, I would never have met the father of windsurfing himself. So thank you Kris for the wonderful gift that kept on giving and...thank you Jim for bringing us the best sport in the world. My life has been truly enriched by windsurfing and I know I speak for many people when I say we’re all very grateful.

(From left to right): Mark Pace, Rob Cornwell, Jim Drake, Todd Morris, and Mac Barnhardt - last year at SailWorld Hatteras

Notes on Jim Drake and origins of windsurfing -

Its been over 40 years since that first creation and Jim is still innovating. He designs for Starboard windsurfing company, does a great deal of fin design, and still consults with the Pentagon.

His most recent board design is the Serenity.

More on Jim here.

Here is Jim’s original scientific paper on windsurfing in 1969.

***There is some debate as to who actually invented windsurfing first. While it can be said that Newman Darby (and an Englishman Peter Chilvers) designed and invented the sailboard before Jim, Jim is the guy who actually invented “modern” windsurfing by making it workable and much more efficient. Here is an old interview with Jim about this and how it all happened.

More on Newman Darby here.

Corncake Inlet, Fort Fisher, NC

Posted: May 10th, 2008, 9:27pm CEST

Some of the local crew got in some wavesailing yesterday in Fort Fisher, NC near Corncake Inlet. Here are some links to great pictures taken by Alan White and Donald Obst:

Alan's IBSSC web site pictures

Donald's pictures:
Alan
Alan again
Don Wrenn
Alain Ciclett
Lou Cerbone

Nice SUP video

Posted: May 8th, 2008, 6:08pm CEST

Here is a great depiction of why Stand Up Paddle (SUP) surfing is so appealing when the wind isn't blowing. Great video (from the south side of Maui) and great music...you can just feel the positive vibes watching this. I got this from Stand Up Paddle Zone web site -

Stand Up Paddle Surfing on Maui's South Shore from standupzone dotcom on Vimeo.

....and they put poor Humpty Dumpty back together again

Posted: May 4th, 2008, 3:18pm CEST

The lake has been good the past few days with good southwest wind in the 10-20 mph range. Some folks got it on Friday and more of us made it out on Saturday at Ramsey Creek/Lake Norman, including myself and 8 other windsurfers, plus 3 kiters. Sailed my new Aerotech Cuben Fiber Free Speed 8.0....very light and a lot of pull. Everyone else was out on everything from 5.8 to 9.5. The water is getting warm now as well and folks were out in everything from shorts only to shorty wetsuits.

This was my last session for a while as I seem to be falling apart. I go under the knife for hernia surgery this week. I've apparently had it for a while and it became very apparent while windsurfing in the Outer Banks a couple of weeks ago....tenderness and a big bump in my groin. The doc says I'll be out of commission for 6 weeks...hopefully he's being conversative...we'll see. Of course, this means there will be lots of wind in the next few weeks.

No pictures from yesterday (too busy sailing!) but here's another couple of pictures from our Hatteras Island adventure. These are stills of Rob I captured from the noggin-cam footage.

Life in the Wind (and Sun) - Another great OBX trip

Posted: April 21st, 2008, 3:23am CEST

Another great trip to Hatteras Island last week. We stayed in a soundfront house about 2 miles north of Frisco Woods, site of the annual Windfest. Here's the general water action summary:

Wed 4/16 - 4.6 late in the day through sunset (gotta love the sunset cruise) in strong 25-30+ N/NE winds. I missed the previous two days where Mark, Donald, and Tommy windsurfed in 30-35mph winds on 3.7s.
Thurs 4/17 - 5.4 and 6.5 before the wind faded in the afternoon (N/NW 20-25 mph winds).
Fri 4/18 - no wind - went stand up paddle surfing in the ocean. Absolutely beautiful day...sunny and high 70s.
Sat 4/19 - 8.0 mid afternoon until almost sunset at Canadian Hole in S/SE 15 mph wind. Another sunny and beautiful 70s day.
Sun 4/20 - Left early but looks like it could have been another 8.0 15 mph day in SE winds.

Highlights:
- Our buddy Mark turned 50! We celebrated the momentus occasion with the old man over birthday candles at Cafe 12, with flat tops, the "volcano" dessert, and his new AARP card. Everyone in the restaurant sang "Happy Birthday" to Mark....it was hilarious.

- Coincidentally ran into Chris (from Charlotte) out on the water at Canadian Hole on Saturday and he joined us for dinner and late night poker.

- Cafe 12 used to be the Pickled Steamer and it changed ownership last year. They kept the now famous flat tops and they are still very good (although the price has gone up). Mad Crabber was still good for dinner (the surfing videos have returned after a long absence), as was the breakfast burrito and apple uglies at the Orange Blossom.

- Windfest - very light attendance by the board & sail manufacturers/reps this year. I heard different theories on this from different folks including some of the shop people. Big props go to Roger Jackson & Ellen Faller who are consistently there every year with the Starboard/Sailworks gear, plus out there teaching people to windsurf. Real Wind and Hobie were also there.

- Met a couple of fellow windsurfing bloggers in person at Windfest, James and Catapulting Aaron. It was cool to put faces with the....well...their web sites...even though I already knew James' face from his site (thats how I recognized him and introduced myself). It turns out that Catapulting Aaron and I work for the same company...too funny and somehow very strange at the same time!

- Ran into Jim Drake again...this seems to be an annual pattern now of seeing him in the Outer Banks in the spring. Always a super nice guy and very approachable. Look here on this blog in the not-too-distant future about how I first met Jim...an unusual story.

- My buddy Rob was finally nailing his duck gybes on a fairly consistent basis and I have video evidence (in video below). Now I really have to buckle down and learn to do the same dammit!

- One of our sailing buddies and housemates, Donald, ventured out into the waves with the local OBX crew at the north end of Ocracoke Island. OBX Bill has a good recap of that day here.

- No weeds! I can't remember the last time I sailed without weed fins in the Outer Banks.

- Rob, Donald, and Tommy paddled out into some heavy surf on Friday in north Avon to catch some big A frame waves well over head high. Donald caught a couple of huge ones and ripped them up.

- Stand Up Paddle (SUP) Surfing - I had been SUP'ing on the lake for close to a year now. I learned to surf in Costa Rica. I knew that applying the two together in the ocean would be hard and I would spend time in the water, not on it. Only when you get out there do you realize this for sure...and more. I felt like I was learning to windsurf again! Its very humbling. Rob and I finally got the hang of the board and the not so flat ocean. Once out past the breaking waves, we were paddling pretty good out in the open ocean in the swells. Coming back in and catching the waves is going to take a lot more practice. Getting a much bigger board to do what I wanted on a wave was MUCH different than the 9'4 longboard I was surfing in Costa Rica. We should have been in smaller waves for our first time but I think these were going to be the smallest we would get anywhere that day (Friday) since there was decent size surf everywhere on the island still left over from the previous 3 day north wind extravaganza. I also learned that wide is good. We rented 2 boards...one was a 12'2 board with 27 inch width. We also had a 11'8 board with 29 inch width and I did much better on that one. I look forward to SUP'ing in the ocean more and even trying it with a small sail in light winds.

- A couple of poker late nights - an OBX tradition with this motley crew.

- Aggravated my wrist/forearm which I apparently first hurt 2 weekends ago when my harness line snapped out on the lake. Now it's gotten worse after windsurfing and SUP'ing last week. I can't bend my wrist or barely use my right hand. Maybe it's tendonitis? It must get better soon. Of course, it didn't hurt on the water while windsurfing (nothing hurts when you're windsurfing) but it hurts like a mother off the water. I know...I must suck it up.

- I got to try out the improved modified helmetcam I mentioned in an earlier post. The results were pretty good. It was much more comfortable and worked great. Here are pictures of the new set-up. Note the much shorter boom length.

Rob made a great video with his own helmetcam here. We both looked like space aliens out there on the water sailing around with cameras attached to our noggins. From now on, they'll be known as noggin-cams.

The Windsurfing Crew rides again! Here is a 13 minute video from our trip that includes some helmetcam footage (with the new set-up shown above) from the 5.4/6.5 day in 20-25 mph winds. There is some fun helmetcam footage of Rob and I chasing each other around. Rob really knows how to find the camera :-) I wanted to make a shorter video but I couldn't bring myself to take out a bunch of good footage that I think really captures a windsurfer's journey in the Outer Banks. Also, listen to the quote at the end....do you recognize it? Tell me if you know who the mystery quoter is and where it first appeared and you will win...nothing....hmmm...ok, you get bragging rights, how's that?

Please comment on the video. Do you like the helmetcam footage or is it a tired act? Do you think the video is too long? Please let me know what you think in the comments section.

More pictures -

Lets go SUP'ing! (photo by Mark Pace)

Stand up paddling out through the waves (Photo by Mark Pace)

Happy Birthday Mark! (l to r: Todd, Rob, and Mark)

Donald shredding it up on a 3.7 in nukin' winds (top and bottom, photos by Mark Pace)

l to r: Jim, Rob (with noggin-cam), and Mark

Donald and Rob venturing out into the big waves

Aren't these a "Beaut"?

Windfest

Windmobiles lined up at Canadian Hole

Smile...you're windsurfing!

Rob passing a kiter - Canadian Hole

I never get tired of this - enjoying a brew at sunset after a great day on the water

OBX report

Posted: April 19th, 2008, 2:52am CEST

I'll post more after I get back home, but here's a couple of pics. I didn't realize until now that I didn't have any good still pics of windsurfing from this week, only video (which I'll put together later and post, includes new helmetcam footage with my improved modified helmetcam). Had great wind on Wed & Thurs and it was blowing even harder earlier in the week. Sailed 4.6 on Wed and 5.4/6.5 on Thurs. Went stand up paddle surfing in the ocean today since there was no wind....more on that later too....it was great fun yet humbling. Here with Rob, Mark, Todd, Donald, Tommy & Eliza....good times. Always a beautiful sunset here.

We Give Thanks for the Outer Banks

Posted: April 15th, 2008, 3:43am CEST

I'm Hatteras bound later this week. Forecast is mixed with big wind, some sun, light wind, then more wind...classic OBX. Here's something to hold us over until we get there...

I found this little gem while reading about the beach access issue at Island Free Press.

Donnie Bowers is a windsurfing and board shaping icon on Hatteras Island and apparently is also a talented photographer. This is a great pictorial he put together of everything we love about the Outer Banks.

Enjoy!

Everybody got some!

Posted: April 13th, 2008, 10:58pm CEST

Alan, Donald, and Tommy made the road trip down to Kure Beach on Saturday and got some killer wind on 4.x sails, along with a few others. Donald posted some great shots at the IBSSC Forum.

The rest of us got some wind on Lake Norman - big group of folks made it out on Saturday at Ramsey Creek Park....Rob, Chuck, Dimitri, and several others who I didn't know. One of them, Chris, I met for the first time. Dave and Jeff were kiting. I showed up late and missed the better wind which had apparently been blowing around 20mph. It was more like 15mph when I got there. I still got some until one of my harness lines snapped, which must have been a sign because by that time, I had to go anyway. I did get off a few shots.

Rob

Chris

Rob (left), Jeff (middle, kiting) and Dave (kiting, in mid-air)

Modified Helmetcam Footage

Posted: April 7th, 2008, 3:23am CEST

The latest issue of WindSport Magazine had a short piece on the Sanyo Xacti VPC-E1 Waterproof video camera and also had an adjoining piece on a modified helmetcam setup using this camera. Before that came out, I had found a different set up from someone on a SUP forum using the above pictured modification.

Rob and I hit the lake today in 10-15mph wind on our 9.6 sails. Hey, no snickering you windsnobs...we get what we can get on our lake...the stoke's the same! It was a good time to try out the modified helmetcam Sanyo Xacti camera. I had been using the Oregon Scientific ATC-2K helmetcam in the past. The Sanyo has better video quality (still not great video quality but better). The way I attached it to my helmet allowed me to be able to see the camera controls. The Sanyo Xacti records only when the viewing window is open so I can also see the window now. The picture is also more stable and not nearly as bouncy. I couldn't do any of this with the ATC-2K.

The test run allowed me to see that I still need to make some improvements. The PVC pipe is too long and makes the camera weight down the helmet so that it scrunches down my forehead making it uncomfortable. I need to cut it down some more. The fact that the pipe was too long also made it difficult to tack or jibe without the video camera hitting up against the sail or boom. I also need to turn the screws in the helmet inside out so the ends are facing outside the helmet, as they were rubbing my skin. I hope these improvements will also make it usable in higher winds. Notice the blue keychain floaties in the pictures above. I attach them to the camera in case it somehow falls into the water. It will float and I won't lose it to the bottom.

Here's some of the footage from our session today, a 3 minute video: