Brilliant Idea!!!

This was originally posted at www.standupzone.com on their Wind Powered tab. Now this is another way to SUP Sail - looks like we will all have to make a distinction between WindSUPing and SUP Sailing from now on. Seeing this picture sent my mind spinning (trolling lures without the logistics of managing a windsurfing rig, paddling upwind for exercise and sail-farting around back downwind, sailing until the wind dies and then paddle, teaching the kids how to sail downwind - and on and on!!! The things you can do on a SUP never cease to amaze me - besides this being a fun way to SUP on a lazy breezy day, it would also be fantastic spinnaker training - even jibing the chute!!! I've got an old kite downstairs and a crafty wifey who can sew.... I'm not sure who to credit for the picture, but who ever you are - thanks for the catalyst!!!

Steps 1 -3

I bribed Noe to go for a spin on the longboard (SUP). I had to pay $2 to get her to come out and ride.

She did show a degree of flexibility in riding - three different ways of tandem windsurfing

Noserider - Piggyback -Uppie (our name for shoulder ride)

10 years from now I wonder if Marlon and Noe will be playing on their own with the boards (La and I aren't pushing them to do/not do these water activities or land based team sports). For now, I got my $2 worth!!!

Surf Expedition

Surfing trips are great experiences.

The anticipation of the journey and the waves to come make me feel like a kid going on a long awaited field trip.

This one is especially pivotal for me as it has been over a year since I have surfed legitimate waves - yes I did say ONE YEAR.

Sure there has been sailing, kiting, windsurfing and paddling - but that all was on flat water or open water swell - not the flowing energy of gravity waves rising up to defy the shoaling and having all the elements come together in that singular moment - yes I miss it.

We'll be back on Monday night - stay tuned for what waves we catch!

I'm bringing everything (except kites) - the Blend, paddles, the 5.8 rig, a surfing mat, a boogie board and fins. I will not be skunked!!!

There are no storms scheduled to push large surf in, but the blend can catch anything.

The place I learned to surf over 22 years ago is where we'll be for the weekend - hopefully after this sabbatical I won't look like I did 22 years ago.

Stay tuned...

Getting the hang of it!

Marlon was on fire today!!!

He's standing up on his board and paddling around, even in choppy conditions. The wind picked up today so choppy conditions was what we had, but if it was too much to stand, he'd drop to his knees and kept on going!!!

Big M is awesome!!!

He would paddle out straight up wind and then turn the board around, wait for some swell to peak and then he was catching legitimate swell and running DDW! His DNA is finally showing!

Oh - and I got to windsurf too - at the midpoint of the session, I'd have been in the footstraps (if I had them).

La did make a declaration that the stretch of beach we have been going to (across from a pink house in Long Beach along Hwy 90) is now "Our Beach". The last time we made that declaration was in the Outer Banks (mile marker 11 had a nice cutout before Hurricane Isabel rearranged the dunes).

Nice day!

Holding on to Labor Day Weekend

Did the lawn, checked on the neighbor's car, cleaned the bathroom, checked up on some stuff at work and then...

spent the rest of the day at the BEACH!!!

The wind spiked higher a few hours before we went, but being baked as well as we had been throughout the weekend, it was better that we went later.

I still got some decent runs in (REMEMBER - I AM TRYING TO REALLY LIKE WHERE I AM AT - SO THIS IS A RELATIVE ISSUE). And I nailed some great pivot jibes. This old school trip I'm on is actually fun (TRUTH, NOT REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY).

The kids and I also found an alternate use for a boogie board when there is no surf.

We topped it all off with some sushi and that's it - the weekend is done!

Sunburnt

We spent the majority of yesterday at the beach (no surprise huh).

Tandem paddling, tandem windsurfing (in nearly zero wind - 5-8 mph on the Gulfport Harbor anemometer) and digging holes at the beach.

I nailed every jibe and made my tacks with the kids on board. I don't remember being able to do that when I was windsurfing back in Kailua. The Starboard Blend - a magic board!

Elemental

Work has been brutal and so has the weather. Finally got to take a break today.

Had a bunch of stuff to do this morning - work, laundry, cleaning up, groceries - oh, and Noe went horsing around and fell backwards from the couch. After a stint at the local hospital (just to make sure everything was fine), we went back to the house and all breathed a sigh of relief.

Then I got a call from Roger - he was fixing the weight bearing bunkers on his trailer for the F28. The wind was howling and he needed a third pair of hands on the boat to get the boat back on the trailer and put away again.

Well, since we were heading to the beach AND the wind happened to be howling, we might as well PUT A SAIL UP!

We broke out the Element for the first time - La got the board in the water first and paddled it around (despite the wind) - SHE-RA!!!

Then I took it out for a sail - NICE!!! Having multipurpose boards is a wonderful thing!!!

I nailed about half my jibes (way better than I ever did before) and got several tacks in as well. Having been kiting all these years and only dabbling back in windsurfing, it actually feels fun to get the basics back (kinda like riding a bike, kinda - jibes ain't that easy...)

Did I say I love these multipurpose boards?

Oh, and Noe is fine - bouncing around again like nothing even happened.

Swing Weight

Here's an older Naish Boxer rigged and working. I used this yesterday. It's a 5.8 and it is well balanced. By today's standards, a lot more monofilm.

Short luff, fathead for power - nice sail for SUP Sailing.

Today, I rigged up a older Gaastra Poison - dedicated wave sail. This is a 5.4 and granted, today's wind sucked, but the sail seemed to want a bunch more wind to deliver the goods. I'll have to try it again in stringer winds (5-12 mph - ha! I never thought I'd be windsurfing in that low a breeze. Technically its SUP Sailing...)

The forums and blogs also state the Hot Sails Maui Super Freak is a great sail - dacron so it has a steadier, less abrupt onset of power (maybe better for my elbows and shoulders, oh and my knees).

The sails don't look that different. The wind sure did laid out a 'bait and switch' - oh well, Fall is coming and so are the winds...

Today was not the same as yesterday...

Less clouds.

Wind shift (from the WNW).

Much hotter (our SUV thermometer read 112 at one point!!!).

Jellyfish everywhere (damn b@st@rds even got me).

We completely got this one wrong.

But even though there were negatives, it was still fun!