Wing Foiling Session - 9/29/2023

Got in a pau hana winging session today - while I was setting up there were white caps on the outside.  I didn't have confidence that strength wind would last the whole session.  I also brought out the smaller gear (No.32, Spitfire 840), so I opted for the bigger wing today.

There were some waves still coming through - I caught several head high and a few overhead waves on the outside of the cabins.

Marlon was going to prone foil again today - but he ended up talking story with one of the other photographers who was taking pictures at the beach.

Decent stats!

I actually got in a bunch of tacks to drop on to incoming waves.  I also got in a tack off a wave on the inside (when a surfer took off on a wave I was on - had to bail to avoid getting stuck inside - made it!)

Mostly up session.  So much so my right quads were getting sore (but I can and did switch). 

Also mostly up session because I saw a decent sized shark...

Marlon did fly the drone - but he has not downloaded the footage yet.  I may edit this once he post processes.

Great session!

W:101/F:90/S:36

Dawn Patrol - 12/31/2022

Dawn patrolled with Marlon.  There was still some energy in the water - especially if you waited for the sets (20 to 25 minutes apart).  No wind and a medium rising tide made for funs conditions (but it was cold...)

Marlon brought his longboard and headed over to Coves, where he subsequently saw a 6' shark and then came in.

I brought the Axis ART 999 and tested it to see if my sanding messed it up.  I also didn't change out the mast from the last time I went out - so this was probably the first time I used this foil prone on the 75cm mast.

The extra height wasn't an issue with the tide this morning.  And it was an asset since I didn't have to worry about trimming right at takeoff (so the rear stabilizer doesn't breach).  And I found another reason why this mast height is good - I caught a few already broken waves and with the extra depth, the foil was out of the turbulence, and I was able to takeoff and ride.  With the shorter 68cm mast, I probably would have not been able to recover.

I caught several waves, got a bunch of double dips and even a couple of triples - so this was a great last prone foil surfing session for 2022.  I may try and get an evening surf session, but we'll see.

W:128/F:101/S:46

Wing Foiling Session - 6/9/2021

 Wind was supposed to be strong again today - and it did not disappoint.  I was out from 4 to 6pm.

The wind was pretty steady above 20, but when I was rigging up it didn't seem like 4.5 wind, so up went the 5.2 again.  The HA1125/232 also went on - so same setup as the second session yesterday.

Kalani setup up his 1550v1 and 300 rear.  Harris was also out so the three of us headed out to Firsts.  The wind was blowing harder outside - made me wish I had the 4.5.  After riding a few waves, I was milking one in to the inside of Firsts and noticed something dark in the water.  In the past these have turned out to be turtles, a monk seal and even a big manta ray - but this one was a 6' tiger.  From that point on I was trying to stay up on foil... On one ride, I actually hit Prayot's anchor line for his boat - good thing it is nylon.  And from that point on I was glad to have the 5.2 - got up faster out of the water.

Headed in after several more waves - with the wind blowing that hard, it was hard to get through tacks.  I got in 15.3 nm and hit a top speed of 17.6 kt

Roland and Prayot showed up later.  Roland was out on Prayot's new 4'10" and Prayot was out on Roland's 5'2".  With the wind as strong as it was, both were making really long runs and completing jibes.

Tomorrow I'm going to bring out the NWFB and the Go Foil - so I can start trying to jump.

Random Pictures from a Random Surfer's Journal

I took a break after lunch - we went back to Patagonia and I sat on their couch and browsed through a Surfer's Journal.  Cool pictures abound -

I love the surf culture and how prevalent it is everywhere you look up here.  Oh, and the shop had these cool patches.

La got the Whale Shark one for me!

Lacy Veach Day of Discovery

I volunteered to help out with a circuits workshop at the Astronaut Lacy Veach Day of Discovery. This event is held at the Punahou campus because Lacy Veach was a graduate of the school. After the workshop (we held two sessions), I got to walk around spent some time at the Polynesian Voyaging Society display. I had a long conversation with one of the PVS volunteers - I asked how the Navigation Circle worked. Prior to this conversation, I wasn't sure how the circle worked - was it stationary, or did it rotate with the vessel? How did the iwa in the middle work? Well... I think it was truly fitting that I became educated on this central Polynesian Navigating tool at the Lacy Veach Day of Discovery! Although I didn't get to see everything (I missed the drones), I did get to see some fish (both dead and alive). Nice event! I'm glad I volunteered to help! Oh - one more thing - Noe dissected a squid - I'll post pictures when I down load those.

Reptilian Souvenir Paradise

Been a while since I've posted, but we've been looking at houses, I've been trying to finalize the job hunt and generally been distracted. I'll post some recent stuff to stir the pot. We stopped by one of the hundreds of tourist shops just of I-95. This one has a taxidermied 13'6" alligator, several of his smaller friends (just the heads), and a handful of babies that get to swim around all day and look at their elder sibling's heads. In all my travels across this great country of ours, and even across several parts of the planet, I have yet to find a more densely packed, consistently cheesy, and brightly colored place for tourists to buy trinkets to remind them of their great visit. I say this with a big smile because I love cheese!!!

Fishing Report 8/21/2014

I took the paddleboard out this morning. I had the St Croix Tidemaster and the Orvis Hydros out with me. I started out by casting a pretty long gummy minnow. Within a few minutes, something had grabbed it, pulled a bit and took off with my fly - good sign. I spent the next 45 minutes trying different flies. I got a few more takes on a chartreuse clouser, but nothing hooked on. I started throwing a popping lure (mullet) and got no interest either. By this time I had also seen three mantas (small ones - 3 foot across) and one shark - maybe a 4 footer. I finally switched out the popper for a 5/8 ounce deep lure and started trolling it (which I think is pretty cool from a paddleboard). I got a hit - smaller Spanish Mackerel. I got another hit - a bluefish. Now is where the fun really begins. I cast the swimming lure again and I quickly got another hook up. This one was bigger and was moving pretty quickly. I did not turn the GoPro on (but really should have). I got the fish in sight and saw color - it was another bluefish - but it started to pull drag and WOOSH!!!! A big shark threw a bunch of water while trying to eat the bluefish. For a second I thought "there is no way that I have that shark hooked... it would have broken off a long time ago - and how the heck am I going to get my lure out that mouth..." - but then I saw the bluefish jumping to get out of the water. I got the fish on deck and decided that it was time to paddle in. That shark was bigger than the 4 footer that I saw earlier - and way thicker... I have not had that much adrenaline flowing through me since I was in Diego Garcia and had a bluefin trevally on the end of my flyline and it was running from a shark!!!

National Aquarium - Sharks, Turtles and an Old Whale

I took this past Tuesday off from work to help chaperone Marlon's field trip to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. They are advertising a new exhibit - the "Black Tip Reef" but it didn't seem that different since I had last seen this place several years ago. In fact, the whole aquarium seemed smaller to me - which is impossible, but maybe familiarity has gotten the best of me. That said, the whole experience was still enjoyable. The whale skeleton was still hanging from the ceiling. It's a neat exhibit - but it feels kind of out of place in this spot. Especially since the whole area has a dark atmosphere to it (lower lights equals less stress to the fish). This display did offer a different view than you can get of the whale skeletons at the Natural History Museum in DC. Marlon worked hard to try and get a picture of their green sea turtle that seemed to be missing a front left arm. This guy was pretty big as far as sea turtles go.