SUP Silver Strand

Dawn Patrol with Nick Yamodis

Clean peelers with a mellow crowd (until the usual crowd showed up).

Pimp my ride

The human operated vent for the 9'6" Walden has been replaced.

I bought a Gortex vent at Infinity Surfboards several months back and thought that it's time I installed it.

I also made holes for FCS plugs at the nose and tail (the tail plug was the drilled out old vent). The FCS plugs will hold the GoPro camera - which came with a mount that uses FCS plugs.

The epoxy is cured (placed it last night) and I'll sand the excess off later today.

You can also see the GripDip I placed on the nose and tail last week. Instant nose and tail guard.

Fish 3, Velascos 0

Well we tried again and as always we got the same results - seaweed.

I thought for sure we were going to get a fish this time. I switched out all the various rigs on the poles for surf rigs and used 3 oz torpedo weights.

I even broke out the new red with green flecks grubs.

I lost one rig and a hook off the other - I think there was a submerged log in the area we were casting in.

Fishing at Mugu is starting to feel like golfing... On the bright side, the kids had fun!

Weather Delay

It has been raining here in SOCAL for the past few days.

The day I took those SUP photos, I forgot to mention the water was pretty stinky - it had rained the day before. You are not supposed to go swimming at the beaches here for 72 hours after a significant rainfall (which is classified as anything over 0.1"). I needed to get rid of my surf itch so I went.

Now - four days later - I've got a weird headache that won't go away. The rain is still coming down and the water looks even nastier that it was on Saturday. I've learned my lesson "don't go surfing after a rain event unless I wear vented earplugs and a nose plug".

There.

With that out of the way, I have been drydocked again due to this inclement weather. Like most surf junkies, I have used this time to start doing gear maintenance. I put "Grip Dip" on the Walden SUP to act as a nose and tail guard (against sand impacts in the shallows), pictures to follow soon. I'm also planning on installing a gortex vent and several FCS plugs to have GoPro mounting options (maybe Thursday?). And I've been reading up (via the net) on how to make GyoTaku - Japanese Fish Rubbings - someday soon I know Marlon and I will catch a fish. That first one is going to be eaten, but before that, we will preserve a record of our catch for posterity. Check out some of what these artists are doing with their fish (get your mind out of the gutter!!!).


Lastly - a gratuitous pitch for the modern aloha shirt. This picture is from the Kahala shirt advertisements. It worked on me... outrigger canoe being surfed solo - I am a sucker for watercraft ancient and new.

See what happens when I can't surf???!!! My randomness gets the best of me... Help! I need some good waves!!!

Sharkbait!!!

Not really - too small, but we recently watched Finding Nemo and Nemo's tank name is sticking in my head.

What these things are are artificial bait/lures. The furry ones are saltwater flies (for fly pitching).

My barber (Ernie) and I get into some long discussions on what's biting and what equipment we use. The red grubs and the green minnow strips I picked up on the trip to Hawaii - supposedly the red grubs will be the winning tickets. We'll see.

The spoon and the minnow jig are for trolling behind the SUP on distance training days.

And the kiddoroos having fun in the sun

Can't forget the pictures of the rest of the family!

Oh, and Big M lost his first tooth today!!!

The tooth fairy will be flying in tonight...

Perspective Number Two - Paddle Mounted Camera

Now here's a closer perspective...

My GoPro 5 megapixel fisheye lensed digitial camera mounted on my paddle shaft.

I am pretty sure these are from the same wave as the previous post.

Pretty cool huh?!?

Perspective One - Traditional Method

The Velasco Family got to spend some time in the sun today. We loaded up the truck and landed at Port Hueneme Beach Park ($2/hour parking #@*&%^$). Clear skies, very light winds and a developing swell greeted us (as did a really stinky layer of water between the cleaner outer section of water and the beach - it rained hard yesterday).

Caught a bunch of waves - mostly waist to chest high - but some gave lots of distance on the rides.

Here is a good one of me going left, with loads of board moving around (with the help of the paddle initiated turn).

Crustacean Parole

There is a 125 gallon saltwater tank at the breakroom at my office. When the crew goes on training dives, sometimes they bring back some denizens of the deep and they get temporarily holed up.

This guy has been in the tank for almost 6 months. He's molted 3 times but hasn't grown much. We don't do nearly the amount of water changes that we should (or chemical additions) to sustain a spiny lobster. He's slowly been losing his dark coloring (lack of some minerals that he would normally pull from the water).

SO, today I fished him out of the tank and set him FREE!!! Sting would be so proud (free, free, set them free).

Aloha spiny lobster dude! Next time I see you, you better run!

Nick's Garage

When I was visiting BRAVO out on Oahu, I got to spend a few hours with my great friend Nick.

He showed me all the videos he's been shooting with his GoPro helmet mounted camera and the polished up products. I need to get busy with my camera...

He also took me to the garage and showed me the current work in progress (11'x 31" SUP) and the other finished boards on the racks.

Getting to talk with someone who has nearly the same interests is truly an awesome thing - When Nick first started shaping (grad student at Berkeley), he used standard techniques and glass layup - his comment long ago was "it's a messy process". When I first started shaping, I tried to use vacuum bag lamination and XPS foam - for me it was a messy process. Time has passed and somewhere along the way, Nick continued the composites track that I once thought I was going down and here I am going more and more primative (alaia). Pretty ironic (at least to a person who shapes boards and knows both Nick and I).

Here is Nick showing off his current arsenal of wave slashing devices.

Oh yeah - my new addiction...

No pictures on this post, and really just a teaser -

With La's permission, I have embarked on yet another journey -

Saltwater Fly Fishing

Stay tuned as my web of saltwater activity entanglement gets even deeper... (I think I should start a second blog on this topic to preserve the "surfing" and "loved ones" emphasis of this page...)

Off to da'Aina

I'm going to Oahu to visit BRAVO as they continue work on a pier restoration project (jacketing piles).

Of course while I am there, I will have to pay Mother Ocean a courtesy call...

I'll blog again when I return.

In the meantime - La just finished her first 1/2 Marathon!!! Hooyah!

She was so giddy leading up to the start - she's definitely caught the bug.

You may be asking yourself "Why is Vic blogging about a marathon in his aquatics based discussion?" - if you aren't then use this pause to do so .....


Well the answer my friends is that this was the "Surf City Marathon" and the medals for finishing were tiny surfboard replicas!!!

There you go - more to come - keep having fun!!!

New paddle grip

I found this stuff at Boater's World - Deck grip made of EVA foam (I am guessing).

I cut it into three strips and after putting it on the front of my paddle shaft, I used La's hair dryer to soften up the foam long enough to let it conform to the Kialoa Methane's oval shape.

After it was on, I tapered the edges (beveled about 45 degrees) and the results are AWESOME!

Great grip without adding shaft diameter - nice grip without the wax or blisters from a sticky, naked grip (get your mind out of the gutter!).

A lot happened this weekend - several posts forthcoming...

First of a few posts -

I paddled in the Hanohano Canoe Club paddle race this past Saturday out in Mission Bay in San Diego.

I raced in the 12'6 and under SUP catagory, but it was really cool to be among every other type of human powered small craft out there - kayaks, outrigger canoes (1 and 2 man), surf skis, paddleboards and standup paddleboards - all sharing the water and having a great time making lines.

I do not know how I fared yet - the club has not posted results and I did not want to wait around (much longer than we did). More to follow but I felt really good about the race (and isn't that what it'll all about???!!!)

What I can say with absolute certainty is that this board really rides swell - I've noticed it on training run up and down Silver Strand - Oxnard Beaches and now riding boat wake in flat water. Gained 10 board lengths on the stock paddleboard I was pacing off in the last half of the racejust riding the wake - nice!!!