Delmarva Moonrise

Last night, Janis and I went down to the beach to watch the Moonrise. It was spectacular.

Unfortunately, the photos don't do it justice. We should have brought the tripod along. We had to use slow shutter speed, and without the tripod there was no way we could hold the cameras absolutely still for 20+ seconds, hence the lack of clarity.

Personally, I think the most spectacular moment was when the moon first began to emerge on the horizen. I can best describe it as though there where a ship on fire way off on the edge of the earth. And as the moon began to rise, the fire intensified. Spectular.

Again, sorry for the poor quality.

I bet the show down in Hatteres was epic. How bout it guys?

PS-the show moonrise over the Atlantic reminded Janis and I of the sunrise on Haleakala, Maui.

This literally brought Janis to tears

If you ever make it to Maui. The sunrise is a must do.

pps-my boards from RRD ship today. Next weekend can't come soon enough! I'm so ready to get back on it!

live2sail

Richard Greene Custom Race Board For Sale

 

A little history behind this board. Back in the day (mid 90’s) before kiting took the weaker of our kind, the Dewey Beach crew mostly sailed at New Road. Well two of the fastest sailors there were Alfred DuPont and Bruce Sheppard.

Now I don’t know that their speed was due so much because of skill (they were certainly good sailors) as much as it was their equipment. They both rode custom Richard Greene boards, GEM.

Gem was an acronym, I believe, for Green Earth Maui. Man those boards where the fastest, sexiest looking boards around. I definitely had board envy, and was frustrated when they continually passed me.
So if you can’t beat em, join em right?!

So I pick up the phone and call Maui, “ uhm hello, Richard? My name is George Markopoulos. Nice to talk to you. Listen, you’ve been building custom boards for two guys that I sail with here on the east coast, their names are Al DuPont and Bruce Shepherd. Oh really, you have the exact specs for those boards there in your records? Excellent. Well, I want you to build me a faster board, one that I can smoke them on. Cost is no concern, hehehehe”.

Long story short, Richard Greene did build me a board, and in my opinion, it was, and probably still is one of the fastest board around the Delmarva.

The board is in great shape: brand new straps, two custom handmade race fins by Maui Fins which are autographed by the man himself Bjorn Dunkerbeck.

This is the fin i use when super powered up, the phone intended to provide scale

The board is super stiff and light, weighing in at approximately 16 pounds (thats including straps and fin and deck pad). I’ve since gotten away from slalom sailing/drag racing, and I primarily sail in the waves and bump-n-jump conditions. For the past few years, we’ve had the board in the house, propped up against the wall as art (does anyone else do that?). Well coming off the heels of the very successful post last week in where I sold pretty much all of my old gear, I think it would be a shame to not at least find a home for her.

The bottom is un-painted  to save on weight.

The front straps are set up on the rails for maximum speed. I’m telling you this board is a rocket ship.

If speed is your thing, this is your board. Hook in and hold on! I paid over to 2,000 for her. I'll let the right sailor have it for $800. That includes the straps and fins. Trust me, if you’re in the market for super light rocket fast slalom board, you gotta consider this board! Email me if you’re interested.

Shoulder Surgery SLAP Repair

Most of ya’ll know I’ve been off the water now for close to four months (actually it was 109 days ago when I last had a sail in my hands). SLAP is an acronym for Superior Labrum Anterior to Posterior.

I suffered a pretty significant SLAP labral tear on this jump during my epic News Years Day Sesh

Click on the photo to view in the full screen shot

I was overpowered on my 3.6, and caught way more altitude than I expected. As I left the ramp, I started to kick the board away, but the front foot was stuck in the strap, so I held onto the sail and tried to make the best of it.

When I landed, the board obviously accelerated-and the sail powered up. Not a pretty scenario huh?

It was violent. The two most common mechanisms of injury causing SLAP lesions are compression forces such as would occur when attempting to catch a heavy, falling object and traction forces. Basically the labrum is attached to the biceps. and is a big part of what keeps your arm, or more specifically, the head of the humerus, in the socket.

A SLAP tear or lesion occurs when there is damage to the superior or uppermost area of the labrum. SLAP lesions have come into public awareness with their increasing frequency in overhead and particularly throwing athlet

The labrum is the last defense against dislocation. Labrum injuries are essentially a traction injury-or a violent tug on the arm and shoulder. Well, it my shoulder didn’t dislocate, but the labrum was completely torn as you can see in this picture, especially the left column, 2nd from the top. Uggh.... that’s gotta hurt eh?

Well, my rehab is coming along great. As I said, I've been off the water for 109 days now. Its been 64 days since my shoulder was scoped, and as of today, I  have about 10 days to go before I have medical clearance to rig up! What can I say, I play a CPA on tv, but in real life, I'm a windsurfer. ;)

My doctor is extremely pleased with my progess. I highly recomend Potomac Valley Orthopedics . Specifically, Dr Douglas Murphy is an extremely gifted surgeon. In addition to the excellent labral repair, his after-care and follow-up attention is far better than anything I’ve ever experienced before when I’ve been hurt. I feel blessed to have chosen him to do the repair, and I give him my unqualified endorsement.

In addition, my therapist is doing his best to not express too much satisfaction with my progress, lest I interpret that to be a premature green light to rig up. Speaking of physical therapy, Calvert Physical Therapy and Sports Fitness Center rocks, and I highly recomnend them. The director, Michael Kuegler, PT worked wonders with my shoulder. I'm telling you,the day after my first therapy session, the difference was amazing. Stoked!

Where is that fedex truck?? My new gear from RRD is arriving any day now!!

cya on the water May 1st

Live2sail

Windsurfing Gear For Sale

My new team gear from RRD will be arriving soon, so I have alot of stuff to let go.

This is probably the primo offering: Ezzy 7.0 along with carbon mast, carbon boom, and carbon extension. You can have the entire kit for $500. Note, this kit was used perhaps 5 times. Mint condition

****UPDATE***** the 7.0 kit is sold!

Ezzy Carbon Masts-$150 each

***Update only the 400 is still available***

Simmer 6.1 $175. note this sail has never been used-brand spankin new

***Update-Sold***

Simmer 5.6 $145.  I've used this sail maybe 5-6 times.

Carbon Booms: 2 fiberspar ($175 each) and one Hawaiin Proline ($250)

***Update-all booms Sold***

Ezzy 4.5. Still a lot of life left in this one. $100

Sailworks 3.6 great storm sail. Yours for $100

***Update-Sold***

Epic board bag, with wheels. Never been used. $50

***Update-Sold***

Dakine mast bag. Holds several masts. $30

***Update-Sold***

If you're interested, I'd be stoked if you emailed me

Tower Road-Gettin the Led Out

Saturday afternoon, Janis and I stopped in to watch the action at Tower Road. Warm and windy conditions prevailed, and everyone was fairly well stoked.

Just a few sessions under is his belt this season, and Andy Pierce is lighting it up

This was Dave Gale's first day on the water this season, and he was in excellent form

Smiles all around-Jules showing the stoke

Donna's got some rocker on that board. Great to see you guys with a sail in your hands

Dave

Dave gettin the aforementioned Lead out!

The Zamboni is coming off a knee scope, and taking it one step at a time

I've got May 1st circled as the weekend I'll be back on the water

Live2sail