Quality Time With Ohana

Here are a few shots of my family from the holiday.

We went on a nature walk along the Patuxant River, which is walking distance from our home in Maryland.






Last night we put together a Gingerbread House!



Forecast for Monday Dec 1st is huge!

Looking forward................

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for family, good health, and tons of strong wind and epic windsurfing!

Didn't get score anything close to an epic sesh this Thanksgiving, but I'm totally thankfull for the ones I've had this past year, and totally stoked for the ones to come in the near future!

OBX Photo Contest!!

Most visitors to this site are familiar with OBX Bill's blog.


I personaly check his blog on a daily basis.

Well its been a phenomenal year of windsurfing in Hatteras.


And with all the new windsuring events like Loopfest and Wavefest, not to mention all the storms and nor'easters we've been blessed with, there has also been some extraordinary photography to document all the action. Possibly some of the best photography ever showcasing the awesome windsurfing in the OBX!

Here is a sequence of Ken Kellar on Ocracoke Island. We scored some great conditions there back on Sept 19th during Wavefest.



Bill has begun a photo contest of his blog header shots! Those shots are unquestionably the best of the best pictures from the entire year 2008! Over the coming weeks, there will be seven heats comprised of six or seven photos each. Visitors to his site can participate by voting on each heat, thus narrowing down the finalists. After we've voted on each heat, the winner from each will go head to head in the final, arriving at the unofficial photo of the year!

Please visit his website on a regular basis and vote for your choice. Don't forget to check back through the first weeks of decemeber for each successive heat!

Looking forward.....

Neil Pryde Dry Suits

So I shipped off my Neil Pryde dry suit today for warranty repairs. The suit is exactly one year old, and I'm already dealing with leaks. I'm missing the strong NW blow out in Lewes today, but I should have it back before we head to the coast for Thanksgiving. Remember kids, It always blows on turkey day!


I love the comfort and reassurance provided from a dry suit. Granted, a 6/5/4 wetsuit may indeed have the same warmth, but psychologically, a dry suit just gives me that inspired confidence to sail in the dead of winter in freezing conditions. Heck, I've unrigged with ice on my sails, and been completely toasty in that suit. Now that being said, these dry suits are just so darn prissy, you can poke a hole in the dang thing with a long fingernail, or wearing it while rigging and sitting on the ground covered with burs or sticks can do it too.


I may have to look into those Billabong suits Andy has been raving about. He seems to be pretty convinced they are the way to go.

The Graveyard of the Atlantic

They don't call it the Graveyard Of The Atlantic for no good reason. Click here for an amazing story about a sailboat currently stranded on the beach down in Hatteras.


Photos lifted from Drew's site The Pursuit Of Paradise

Juiced 4.5 Conditions At New Road

Strong NNW wind blowing at New Road (paved lot). Nice ramps on both tacks. Come out and join me.. The temps was around 38-40 degrees all day today, but that didn't keep me off the water. I arrived around noon to solid 4.5 conditions.

and chilly temps


.....and blowing sand across the parking lot

SWEEEEEEEEEEET!


Small Kit! 4.5 is my favorite sail.

Amazingly, the UV rays where so strong that I felt comfortable enough to go out for the first session w/o gloves. It actually wasn’t too bad, and I stayed out for about 45 minutes, before coming in to put on a pair of gloves. In case you’re wondering, I wear a Neil Pryde dry suit, along with a superfreak booties, NP mittens, and a full hood.

The character of the water was a lot saner than the jump-a-looza session Sunday. Lots of space in between the ramps to get comfortably dialed before bearing up to hit a ramp at full speed.


It was honking today!

On the drive home thru Deleware, it began to snow a little. Gotta love it


reminds me of that scene in the Wizard of Oz. so sleeeepy..





No one else came out to sail today, so no action photos. I did however shoot some mast mount video today, here you go:



Live2sail

Go-Pro Video from Saturday at Tower Road

I'm super stoked at how this video turned out. I used my new "Clew-View" mount. This was an experimental session, and the video far exceeds my expectations. I'm so used to the mast mount and the helmet cam as the only two POV perspectives. But with the clew-view, I feel the action is better represented, and I'm excited to get it out on the ocean!





The added weight was not an issue. After a bit, I didn't even know it was there.

Lewes, De. The Secret Spot

Today James Roe and I scored fabulous conditions on the Deleware Bay! The Secret Spot was firing! I've dubbed the session "The Jump-a-palooza" at the Secret Spot!
The wind was WNW which is pretty much side shore at this venue. The ramps on the outside where perfect for busting out big floaty jumps.


We hit the water around 9.30, I rode my 91 ltr and a juiced 5.0. Sailed that for about 30 minutes, then it got really windy. Time to pull out the 77ltr board! Rigged down to my 4.5. I was LIT! In the gusts, could of been on a 3.6! Beautiful sun light off the water on the reach back to the beach. Pretty magical and was great to share the experience with someone else.

Pulled from the go-pro footage


Man, the junps on the outside where some of my biggest ever on the Deleware bay. That aint too hard in side shore 4.5 conditions at a deep water venue! Huge!
small kit



mast mount


I took a few minutes out of the action to snap a few shots of James. He was on a 4.2







Driving home thru Deleware




Red Sky at night............


COASTAL WATERS FROM CAPE HENLOPEN TO FENWICK ISLAND DE OUT 20 NM-
330 AM EST MON NOV 17 2008

Tuesday and Weds look great:

...GALE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH LATE TUESDAY
NIGHT...

TUE
N WINDS 20 TO 25 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 30 KT...INCREASING TO 25
TO 30 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 40 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 3 TO 5 FT...
BUILDING TO 4 TO 7 FT IN THE AFTERNOON. A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW.

WED
NW WINDS 25 TO 30 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 40 KT...DIMINISHING TO
20 TO 25 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 30 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 4 TO 7 FT.

looking forward.........