Splintering

This upcoming weekend represents a huge step in the Velasco family.

We will journey North to pick up our new boat!!!

If you have been following this blog, you know the boats under consideration were narrowed down to the Hobie 16 and the Weta Trimaran. Well after much debate and consideration, we decided the ability to carry our entire family (without them getting totally wet) and the compactness of the Weta was worth going with the Trimaran (or as the cat sailors say - a cat and a half).

With this announcement, I will start a sister blog to the Life Amphibious where we will post highlights of our adventures with the trimaran (as of yet un-named, but we are pretty close to a name - I just don't want to jinx it). It won't be the official log (that we will maintain on the boat), but it will have the fun stuff that we want to share.

By Sunday this new blog (which will bear the boat's name - but again, we need to do this properly) should be up and running

Stay tuned!

Seabee Divers Association Reunion weekend (35th Anniversary)

This weekend's reunion was awesome!!!

Of course we had the jolly jumper (to help burn off the extra energy the kids always seem to have when they are around each other) - only this one had a slide and a jumping section - one word - AWESOME.

I got to meet some really interesting people who were instrumental in shaping the Underwater Construction Teams (Thanks all!!! I definitely feel my roots got stronger).

One of the events we sponsored was allowing guests and family members to try on our MK-21 hats (also known to the civilian diving community as the Kirby Morgan Superlite 17) to get an appreciation for how heavy the gear is.

I had to bribe both Big M and La to wear the neck dam so I could take these pictures.

Second to last fidgeting

After sanding yesterday, I cleaned up the fin boxes, placed the worm screws in and took a look-see.

I saw small, narrow channels of "shiny" - areas not hit by the sander.

Instead of more sanding (and risk of oversanding), I placed a gloss coat on (bottom first).

Tomorrow I'll do the same to the top and fill in the void around the leash plugs.

Thursday will be vent and pad install day leading into...

Friday and the liquid christening!!!!

If I had to shape this board over again, I would thin the tail out more and increase the exit rocker.

Any how - one step closer!

Almost finished...

Sanded the board today.

I think I am going to squeegee one last coat of epoxy onto the board, just to get a gloss coat on, instead of living with the matte look.

Those steps will slow down the christening, but what are a few more days for a project that will last for a long time (remember the glassing schedule - 2x 4oz on bottom, 2x 4oz on top of the bamboo and a layer of 6oz all with epoxy resin - bullet proof).

I also have to fix a small slip up with the leash plugs, add the decking pads (front and rear foot only - either monster paint or wax in between), and the last step will be the vent (since the core is EPS foam).

If I can put the time I want to into the board this week, I should be surfing MEGASHREADZILLA on Friday morning.

A-LO-HA!!!

First board finished

The surfboard making class I put on is coming to a close.

The first one finished turned out awesome!!!

The significance behind the images and colors:

- Red is the port (left) running light on a ship or watercraft
- Green is the Starboard (right, looking forward at the bow)
- The "fish" are "dolphin" fish - possessors of strength and speed and long admired by sailors and hungry people
- If you zoom in, the purple/white object is a mermaid - the shaper's wife's tattoo

He painted the blank black, but had a friend airbrush the details. He also took it to a glasser to make sure it wasn't ruined (we're all amateur glassers aren't we - professionals are all either aliens from another planet who can control air bubbles and plastics with supernatural powers, or mutants that can control gravity). The glassers let him do a lot of the polishing work too to gain that experience.

The other boards will be coming to fruition soon (hopefully this week) - especially megashreadzilla - I'm going to need a new SUP - the Walden and the Naish may get sold today.... more on this later.

A-LO-HA!

Gulfport, Mississippi

And here is where we are moving to - Gulfport.

The beaches are wide and the wind is side-on shore.

The water is brown...

There was no surf to speak of - not even wind swell.

I'll have to transition back to kiting and distance SUPing and...

we'll have to get one of these to distract me (the Weta or a Hobie, still trying to decide)!!!

Also, the reference I made to knowing that 20 miles of paddling is reassuring - there are offshore islands that block the surf - I can either paddle to them and back or paddle to them, blow them up so the surf will come through (JUST KIDDING - if you were offended, I was just kidding).

GO LA GO!!!!

La had a race this past weekend also!!!

She did awesome from having had to recover from a hip injury after a half marathon (don't we all go through that???.... seems as if it is a rite of passage that all runners go through to get in touch with your joints in the lower half of your body - I digress).

The AFLAC Irongirl!!!

Race last weekend

I've been out of town for this past week - I'm drained from the travel, but I'll post today from some of the happenings over the past week:

Bay 2 Bay (Mission to San Diego) Race last weekend. After this race I know I need to get a weed fin (Father's Day present???). I also need to paddle more. This one was 20 miles (ouch). 4:30+ to finish.

I used the C4 paddle thinking the bigger surface area would make me go faster - didn't work. I need to paddle more.

Fun race and I have it in my mind I can do at least 20 miles.

Last Deep Dive

The last known deep dive I am likely to make. My line of work after this job will have very few opportunities - much less than I have now - to make really deep dives.

I hit 174' on this one.

I got NO2 narcosis really good towards the end of this one -

Have I said I love my job????

Hoo Yah!!!

Whitey

If you look closely, you will see a creature that demands complete and utter respect. Anything that stops 23 Hooyah Deep Sea divers and a crew of 5 hardened sailors on a 120 foot vessel in their tracks, make a tight U-turn and stare with awe is one of several politically incorrect human-object scenarios or something big that can eat you.

The estimates ranged from 12' (most probable) to over 25' (estimates from the known embellishers) - this fish was scared of no one...

I've got a race that hits a stretch of open ocean on Saturday... hmmmmmmm.....

Respect to the fish -

Nick's Boards

Nick's new sticks!!!









6'0" Kiteboard/Surfboard - thin bugger - d-cell all the way

The big one is a SUP - nice traction pattern Nick!