Four of the Best Days of Sailing, EVER!!!!

I just wrapped up four of the best sailing days I've ever had. I've said it before, Hatteras is a special place; and I'll be back, very soon. We had a great time at the Hatteras Loop Fest. Thanks to everyone involved. It was just what the doctor ordered to reach the rotation I've been longing for. I've really taken my sailing to another level and I'm so stoked!

First thing this morning we checked out Old Lifeguard Beach. Great spot. Epic Epic sesh yesterday that won't be forgotten soon.



Then over to Ego to check out the conditions. It looked pretty sweeeeet!






I rigged my 5.8 with the 91 ltr. Ken and I hit some nice jumps. There wasn't much wind on the inside, but the outside was magical with a fun little peep from a seal, who poked his head up, only to see me bearing down on him. He took the deep dive, quick.

I must have had an hour and a half sesh without coming in once because I knew as soon as I hit the beach, this epic trip would end and we'd have to hit the road for our trek back to Delaware, so I wanted to savor a little solitude on the outside, and make it last as long as I could.

Ken is slammin' through the break and catchin' a little air.






I purposely sailed today with my back hand further back on the boom all day today. This will position a jump like this to rotate much easier. Jumps were floaty and nice on the outside.









It takes us about 6 hours to scoot up the eastern shore to our Delaware house. A couple cool shots along the way.





What's the forecast for next weekend?

Sunday - Old Lifeguard Beach

I've been to Maui many times, but the sailing yesterday at Old Lifeguard Beach was about as good as it gets! The outer bar was breaking, waves were chest to head high, and the wind was solid SW mid twenties, water was warm and the UVs were beamin'.




What a cool venue to hang out with some great sailors.



I'm really honin' in on my well earned, new found foward skill with my two best rotations attempts yet. Bill commented that the sail rotated perfectly, landing in the water start position.





I'll be working on gettin' that back hand back, pulling in with the back hand, and lookin' back. Bill and Keith, thanks for all the encouragement and coaching. I'm deeply gratefull.

Bad fall today. Going into a bottom turn and my footstap yanked out of the insert. I'm talking the entire screw just popped out. Needless to say I wiped out pretty bad. My hand is pretty swollen, but its all good. war wounds.

Ken also had his best rotation while Bill, Janis and I stood on the beach cheering! This event has been completely awesome for both of us as we both achieved our goals!

Here's Ken's best forward to date:







The are so many good photos of me and my friends. My wife is so awesome!




Ken


Keith






Bill Havin' an Absolute Blast!


One of the best bail out shots I've ever seen. So much fun!










There are too many photos. Check out this slide show to see a few more.

More of my friends:














The end of one of the best days ever.


I have lots of GO PRO footage to go thru and edit so check back later for video action.

The Main Event - Loop-Off Day

What an amazing day! The conditions were almost perfect for the Main Event. South West mid-twenties.

While I have yet to sail away from a forward and am not a serious competitor (this year anyway), it was still a lot of fun to participate. I feel so fortunate to be part of the first ever Hatteras Loop Fest.

With the gallery up on the beach and dunes watching and photographers documenting the action, it felt like a PWA event.

Bill smacking a lip:+


Bill again:


and again:




Loop off King Keith McCulloch




Keith again


Just having a blast!




Andy setting up to smack the lip and...

throw some spray





One of the few times I tried a forward today:


Here I'm trying again






One of my better wave rides:










Andy McKinney won the trophy for most loop attempts:


Ken Kellar on a nice one:




Here are some shots from the after event party at Ocean Air

Ken made the commit today!


and scored a new Go-Pro camera

Fitting sunset to an epic day

Fun Times At Ego Beach

Friday, June 27, 2008 - conditions were 5.0 - 5.8, somewhat a gusty day, but still a fun day to be out with a few of my friends.


The only casulty of the day was one broken boom.



Me trying to go forward:


Andy on a nice one:

cut back by Keith


Ken going down the line

Andy again:

and again:



The price you pay:

Ken Kellar

Ken again:

Nice sequence by Andy:





Bill Bell

Bill again:


George (last name? from Frisco)



One of my wave rides:







Donald Obst:










Keith again:

Ken Kellar


Keith


Me trying to going into a forward. I crashed out hard, but it was painless (Sort off):



Here some video I shot w/the helmet cam:

Lighthouse session revisited.....

I combined the footage from the first session (helmet cam) with the second session (mast mount). Add some kicking music from Kid Rock, and you have my latest video "Lighthouse Session Revisited".



Fantastic forecast this weekend! 20-25 friday thru Monday. Janis and I leave for Hatteras tonight. Ken follows tomorrow.

The Loop Off is scheduled to go down Saturday. Gonna be lots of energy, excitement, and rotation!

Made It Back Home

Made it home last evening, but not before stopping in Nagshead to pick up my new Simmer Xflex 5.6 wave sail! Another big thank you to Hatteras Loop Fest 2008 event organizer Bill Bell and event sponser Avon Sail House who served up this sweet prize. I also scored a new T3 waist harness and a few t-shirts from DaKine.
Mahalo to everyone.




Looking back at the photos from the trip, here are a few of my favorite. Stuart, Thanks for taking them:





Ken Kellar layin it down at the Canadian Hole:

Ken again:

and again:



Looking at the long range forecast, the weekend looks sweet! Janis and I are going to go back down Friday morning for a four day weeekend. Don't want to miss the loop off! I've perfected a great back loop bail out that I think I could probably take the trophy for most spetacular loop crash! Been had plenty of those!

Sweet late afternoon/evening sesh at the Hole

Turns out we had to check out of our cottage today, so it was a mad rush to get out by 9am. I helped Ken out by taking his kayaks back. My van was packed to the gills

So long Ken

This is where I'm staying tonight.

I'm in the end unit:


In the town of Buxton


Had breakfast here:

Very close to the Light House








Canadian Hole:


Andy, Anne and I scored a fantastic late afternoon sesh at the hole. We had the entire place to ourselves! Wind was I think SSE so slightly offshore at the hole. Perfect for flat water freestylin.

Andy showed me some tricks like body drags, vulcans, heli tacks, and probably a few other that I don't have any idea what they where. The guy rips. Andy, next time I'm back (which could be soon!) I'll hopefully be sailing away from forwards. Smack talk wont be far behind!!!

Took some shots of Andy. Its the least I can do since he got me over the hurdle to toss forwards! Andy-beers on me in perpetuity bud!





Sweet body drag!


I spent a good part of the day at Sailworld wating for the wind to come up. Andy showed me how to knock down an old fin and covert to a freestyle fin. I was pretty much shocked that i could fairly well rock w/such a short fin. Was a blast to spin the board around!



I don't think the weather is going to support the loop off tomorrow so I'm leaving the island tomorrow morning. I've had a great time. Had many great ocean sessions, and a bunch at the hole too. My sailing has improved. Heck, I'm tossing forward loops now! Assateague, here I come!

I'm anxious to get home though, I miss my wife very much.

Look at that horizan! Another beautiful sunset at the Canadian Hole:




Here is the video:

Hucked two more forwards today!

Today I tossed two more forwards on starboard. The other day I threw em on port. Conditions today were moderately powered 5.8 on the 109 at ego beach. I crashed out hard on the first one as I wasn't powered up enough, and I barely cleared the fin (if at all) and got yanked out of the straps. Not pretty.

But the second one was sweet. Nice springy jump on the outside, just off wind, got some decent altitude and went around. Landed fairly well on my back. Amazing thing about that one was my vision, which is starting to expand during rotation, no longer have a narrow focus. I could begin to sense how high I was and where I was in relation to the wind. Lindsey was a witness to this one.

Looping really is one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had. To harness the wind in your sail, and just blast over the water, launch off a ramp, and spin threw the wind. Beautiful stuff.

Ken drove his SUV on the beach today:


Dan and Lindsey had fun:

From left to right: Chad Perkins, Me, and Ken Kellar

I had fun too!





Ken caught the nicest wave ride of the day:


Around 4.30, a storm rolled threw and the winds went offshore:

So I carried my stuff back over the dunes and worked on transitions and blasted at the hole.


Nice mule kick:


Here is some video action:


We're extending our trip for one extra day, departing on Sunday. Loop off is scheduled tomorrow, pray for good conditions.

No wind today

So its now been 36 hours or so since that epic sesh yestderday where I went for my first forward loops. I'd like to report that I don't have a single bruise. Amazing.
My neck however seems to be a little stiff, but I think thats because I was so tense and didn't really roll with the flow on impact. Next time I will "be like water my friend" (quote from Bruce Lee)

These flowers in front of Ocean Air Sports (formerly Windsurfing Hatteras) reminded me of Maui.


Old Road




Went surfing at the lighthouse this afternoon. There seemed to be a decent swell rolling in, but I can't say that I really rode any decent waves.



Came back to the cottage and tended to the van, tweaked the gear, changed my lines


Rinsed of the carbon and my boards:



They're forecasting some good wind for the next 3 days so everyone is getting pretty amped up in anticipation. Well, the van is locked and loaded-ready to deploy to the next windy beach.



Canadian Hole as the sun is going dowm. The fading light plays so sweet off the water at sunset:

The Forward Loop

A new day is dawning:




So alot of my success yesterday I think has alot to do w/my first session. It allowed me to get dialed and comfortable out there. I sailed alone at the lighthouse from about 7am until Andy arrived which I think was 8.30ish. The wind was strongest during that session and I absolutely was rockin out there. Was pretty magical to be out there, sun coming up over the eastern horizan, beautiful glare on the water, nice texture out of the NE. Sweet!




Warm up dawn patrol sesh:


My first forward loop commits:






I’m amazed by the fact that as soon as I tossed the first one (which I did with in 30seconds of launching, that within another 5 minutes I hucked two more! For years now, doing forwards has basically been foremost in my mind as I’m sailing (and while not sailing for that matter), and I never could get the courage to toss ‘em, and I was pretty hard on myself for that. Yet the very moment I went for that first one yesterday, I was over it. I’d broken thru, and I began looking for more opportunities to rotate. They really are painless if you hold on.




One of my fears was that the board would come off my feet, and I’d go around hanging on to the booms looking like that Dunkerbeck crash in one of the videos. That didn’t happen. I committed the sail to the rotation and hung on. My feet were snug in the straps, but not “white knuckled” so to speak.

While the description of a forward is a “catapult on purpose”, I did not find them violent at all. For me, it was a lot like going down the line on a wave, in that the sail gets very light in your hand and the physics of the movement during rotation felt very intuitive and natural.



Indeed after reflecting on the session and watching the go-pro footage, I think I know what I did wrong. I need to do the fundamental control motions in a more exaggerated fashion. For my own personal mental bookmarking purposes, I want document what I perceive to be the fundamental steps.
1. I need to make sure my front hand is palms down (except when gibing or riding waves, and now looping, I always sail front hand palms up)
2. Bear off, unhook and pop a jump high enough to clear the fin.
3. All in one motion reach back with the back hand, pull up with the back leg, extend the front arm forward and leeward . The net effect of that pushes the rigs center of effort forward and leeward and that is what initiates the rotation. Also, aggressively look back, and hold on.



Looking at the video, I basically only did the first two, w/only a half hearted effort to do the 3rd part, and I still went around and basically landed on my back. Also, I didn’t look back. I’m confident that the next time, if I aggressively do all the steps, that I’ll sail away. I’m completely confident of that.



I once asked Dana Miller why we look back when doing forwards. Because in all sports, we’re taught to look where we’re going, and the body always follows. But in looping, you’re supposed to look back. What he told me makes total sense and is consistent w/the linear concept of the body following the head. He said that yeah, you want to look back because that’s where you want the body (and kit) to go, back and around. Way counter-intuitive, but also completely logical and totally elegant.

Lighthouse Dawn Patrol-AND-I made the commit!!

Today is a very special day for me as I commited and rotated into my first forward loops. I tossed three of them. I'm pretty sure I was close to landing clean on my back, and that was my goal today, to commit and rotate, and not have a violent experience. Thats how it went down. They felt really natural and were basically painless.

Conditions were moderately powered 5.8, with nice ramps on the outside. Just the conditions I'd been waiting for!


I was on the water at 7am. Epic venue.


Venue couldn't have been better, well maybe Hookipa, but I'll take the lighthouse at Hatteras any day.

Left, my loop instructor/loop guru and friend Andy Mckinney after I successfully comitted to my first several forwards loops!

Huge props to Bill Bell.
Bill organized the Hatteras Loop Fest and it was this event that gave me the final motivation I needed to finally go for it.

At the risk of being too melodramatic, I should thank several people. First my wife for supporting my passion for this sport. I know my obsession w/sailing, watching the weather trends, etc etc is tasking. Your the best windsurfing wife anyone could wish for, AND, a damn good photographer too!

Secondly Dana Miller for all the advice and instruction he's given me the past few years. The loop clinic he gave me here in Hatteras a few years ago help me build the fundamentals.

The final touches to getting me over hurdle and committing goes to Andy Mckinney of Sailworld. Your advice and encouragement since I've arrived here on the island where just what I needed. Thanks for sailing w/me today and sharing that moment. Cool to have witnesses too.

Stuart Proctor of Ocean Air Sports also provided invaluable tips and critical feedback. Thanks to everyone!

Anne, congrats on your first ocean sesh today. Not too shabby a venue for your first ocean sesh huh!
They say you see a light when its time to, well you know. This was pulled from the video, and shows me as I go thru the rotation, with the sun behind me.


I had the Go-Pro mounted to my mast so we have a full frontal view of my mug as my world got inverted!

Here is the video:


I'm still pretty much floating on a "loopers high". I'm sure I'll have more to say as I reflect on this mornings session. I know what i need to do now to sail away clean, and I'm just waiting for the wind to fill back in. I'm super stoked to be sure!


Oh, i also have about 30 minutes of pre loop-getting dialed-helmet cam action from my solo session early this morning. I've looked at some of it, and it rocks. I'll save that for another post a bit later. Almost time for a well deserved beer!

Light wind day

Light wind day so Ken and I took long boards out into Pamlico Sound and went exploring:

We're staying in this house i think is called Avon Windsurfers delight. Its pretty much right on the sound.

Starboard Serenity, the board slices through glassy water like soft butter.

We sailed around tiny islands, and up and down different channels.

I think thats the IWindsurf Avon Sound sensor.


So here is a very short mast mount of me cruising Pamlico Sound. It may not look very exciting, but it is so relaxing to be out there all by yourself just gliding over the water. I rented this one from Sailworld. They have a great selection of boards so just stop by the shop which is right next to Video Village in Avon.
Also, Sailworld is the closest shop to the Canadian Hole.



Around 6.30pm, weather front came thru w/some heavy rain. This shot is amazing, can't even distinguish the horizon from the sound.


After dinner, the weather quickly cleared, so I went outside and worked on sail handling technique during the forward loop. All in the same motion, reach further back on the boom and sheet in w/the back arm, extend the front arm, both of which has the effect of canting the rig forward and leeward. Look back like you mean it, and pull up w/back leg. Those steps are burned into my brain. Looking at these shots, all appears correct, but I wonder if i've reach back far enough w/the back hand?


Took an evening walk and snapped these shots.

I've stayed there before. This year we're right next door.

Upon further review, this one from yesterday derserves putting up:

This is a cool shot of the reflection on the water of the house across canal:

Finally got some decent wind

Began the day surfing, then the wind filled in around 3pm and had a sweet 5.8 session at ego. Awesome to get out on the ocean down here. The water is so blue.
Hit some pretty sweet springy jumps off of ramps on the outside. No solid waves really, although I did make a few turns.



Then we carried our stuff back over the dunes to blast at the hole.



A lot of Hatteras locales showed up, and the skill level of the sailing was very high. No loop attempts from me today although there where plenty of flat water loops tossed by Bill Bell and Andy Mckinney. Stuart, thanks for getting most of these shots!

Andy Mckinney, i think doing a vulcan


Andy again

Somebody exploded:


Ken Kellar duck gybe:


Ken again:


Me gybing at the hole

Me again


Andy again:

We all unrigged as the sun was going down over the sound, then Andy and Anne, Bill, Stuart, Drew and I headed over to Mack Daddy's for some grinds and beer. I'm so stoked to have made new friends down here.

Shot lots of video today. Here is the first short video pulled from Ken's helmet cam.

This video is from my helmet cam:

So a great sunny and windy day on Hatteras, a special place for sure. Wind is cranking out there tonight and is should continue thru late AM. Looks like a dawn patrol at Izzies. I'm all over that.

Happy Fathers day

I miss you Dad.

Ken and I tried for a dawn patrol at Izzies. It wasnt happening.





Wind wasn't happening so went for an early morning swim. The water is so warm down here.


John Constos is from Virginia Beach:


Ken Kellar headed back to Avon to.......

do kayaking and SUP. The Kellars are: Lyndsy, Ken, and Dan. Miss you Sharon

Hit the beach late morning. surf was very small, but the smoke from the wild fires in North Carolina was very bad. The west wind is blowing that smoke right over Hateras island today.



Our house a sweet game room, including a Ms Pacman game!


Late evening sesh w/big stuff. Sailed away from more helitacks than ever before.

Cape Hatteras, North Carolina

Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel

Controlled burn of some crops in North Carolina


Gettin close now! Just over the Oregan Inlet Bridge onto Hatteras Island:



I'm not that good w/out a sail attached to my board, but even a kook like me could catch these waves. So much fun!











Back the parking lot at the hole

My soul mate



Saturday evening, Andy Mckinney of Sailworld hosted an informal loop clinic. I am so appreciate of both Andy and Bill for the effort and organization involved. I walked away from the clinic w/new thoughts and techincal knowledge on the forward.

Andy Mckinney of Sailworld, and Bill Bell


Andy giving out some knowledge:

Stuart was also a wealth of knowledge:

Tossing forwards is easy! Lift and sheet in w/back hand, extend front front hand, amongst a few other critical points:

All of the loopfest partcipants scored some swag!
I was lucky and scored the grand prize, a brand new DaKine T3 harness!

Co-habitaten at keybox

James Roe and I shared the water with about a dozen kiters. Thermals seem to be filing in during the later afternoon, so i cruised down to Keybox and rigged my 5.8
and 109 ltr rrd. 50/50 planing schlogging mix. Still was awesome to get out on the ocean in just boardshorts and a rash guard.

Hi tide was around 5pm, so when I arrived around 3pm, the waves where pretty much breaking right on the beach. That being said, from the look of the swell hitting the beach, I think the waves must of been pretty nice earlier in the day.

Perfect conditions for Kiting really as they could rip up the waves crashing right on the beach, not so good for windsurfing.

Here is Mathew Ramsey. He kites and windsrufs..and does both very well





Gotta run now to do the final packin for Hatteras. Leavin at sunrise!

OBX Loop Fest 2008

I'm headed down to Hatteras Saturday morning to participate in the OBX Loop Fest 2008

http://www.hiss-waves.com/projects/obxloopfest/.
This is the first organized windsurfing event that I’ve ever participated in.

The month long event (entire month of June) primarily focuses on first time loopers. I certainly hope to be able to call my self a new looper by the end of this trip. The event is intended primarily to be informal gatherings oceanside, along with tips from local loopers, and more importantly, sailing encouragement to go for it by watching others doing it.

Tossing forwards is something I’ve been aspiring to for a long time now, and I’m hoping that by sailing along side Hatteras locales, I’ll be inspired to follow suit. I’m so ready to rotate, and I want it bad.

Dana Miller-Pistol River July07


I hope to stay current with the web site while I’m down there, so check back daily for updates. Wish me luck!

SavageFest 2008

No, not Michael Savage, but Savage, Md. The annual Savage fest, 2 day event. Vendors, live music, unique food.


These guys rocked!




The Savage Volunteer Fire Department:


Cletis was drivng, and looking for the General Lee:

Rock climbing:


Some video from Saturday:


This was the first weekend in I can't remember how long, that theres been no sailable wind. Don't know really what to do with myself when I can't get on the water. Its like something is off with me. Heck, it was so hot and humid around here this weekend, i didn't even want to rig the skate sail. Thats pretty bad.

Headin to Hatteras next weekend to try and commit to tossing a forward. Pray for wind and waves!

Assateague delivers, again!

What a weekend it was! Saturday was an unqualified epic day. What were the odds of scoring there again? Well, this week it was 100%. Ken Kellar made it out this time to make up for what he missed on saturday. He took full advatnage of the flukey winds, rigging his sailworks 5.8 to perfection as he always does. We arrived at 8am and sailed till about 2pm. Not epic, but tons of fun!

The Assateague sensor was down. This is the graph from Ocean City, 15 miles or so to the north:


Now while that graph doesn't look like much, we were able to make it work w/5.8s and our JP fsw 91ltrs.

Because Ken missed out on the epic sailing saturday, he also missed out on fantastic photographs my wife took (thank you sweetheart), and I know missing out the photo shoot was just about as painful as missing the sailing. Well not quite, but close. So I felt compelled to sit one session out and snap a few shots of Ken w/the Nikon. I know my shots leave alot to be desired, but the light wasn't as good, and blah blah blah.

Now while the wind was lighter than saturday, the waves where a heckuva lot bigger, and we had a blast!







We arrived at high tide so the shore break was bigger too:

Launching:



Some air time!

Headin out:


I like this one:



Another nice jump.. pull in with the back hand and look back over your shoulder!

That one!


Backside riding:



No place I'd rather be then a windy beach with my gear:

Down the line rides w/light wind and a strong current often translated into a few "walks".. but it was all worth it!

My stuff getting a rest as I played photographer:


Hatteras in 9 days. Cant wait!!

Reflections on an epic day

Somehow i've caught a pretty wicked cold. So what do you do when you're off of work and home all day? Go thru the video of course and try and find some nice still frames in there. Here are a few.

Splash on touch down:

I'm setting up to ride this one:

Cool splash from a lip smack:


Rolling swell on the outside:

In between:

Nice view thru my sail:

James Roe headin out:

Lastly, i re-edited the video into a shorter piece. I also choose to keep the original auido. Something about hearing the board slap the water makes it seem more authenitic. I love how it goes all quiet when your on a wave.


***Update****
Here is ancillary anecdote from Saturday involving a kiter. I came off the water around 3.30. Niko, Josh, James and I were on the beach reflecting on the action, and we see a kite down in the water, heading downwind to Ocean City. Obviously a kiter had had some trouble. Well one of the kiters friends comes running up to us and asked to borrow one of our boards to. He was gonna paddle out and recover the kite.

Turns out, Niko sailed out and tried to recover the kite himself. This was about 4pm.
If you look at the wind graph from my post yesterday, the wind went offshore shortly after 4pm. Violent storms moved thru the area. We're talking a tornado warning was issued.

I got an email from Niko last night that went something like this:
“Not sure if you heard what happened, but I lost my stuff trying to recover that kite. Board, sail, mast, boom, everything, and had to swim about a mile to get back to the beach”.

Now he didn’t give me alot more detail than that, but I figure it had to of been the off shore wind and violent storms that conspired to make an otherwise epic day for Niko very costly. I wonder if he can get the kiter to reimburse him? Sounds reasonable to me, no? One day I'll do a post on the time a kiter smsashed into my van windshield and had to medivac'd to shock trauma.

****Update****
I was wrong about the wind going offshore. Apparently, he tried to tow the kite with his board. When he reached the kite, he grabbed the bar tried to fly it. No go. Then apparently he stuck the bar in his back strap and pulled it across the wind, thinking he may have been able to drag it in, or at least close enough for the kiter to get to it. When he began his water start, the kite took off spinning in the air dragging his equipment. Quite a long swim after that.