Top Deck Hot Coat

Hot coat applied this morning after several minutes of grinding the laps down.

This is the longest board I've ever built, but the fun thing is it's the one that is progressing the fastest.

When we hit the errand running circuit today, we'll pick out some paint and by Wednesday this thing should be in the water.

I already measured out the finbox spot and I lined up the vent and leash cups. Tonight I'll set the finbox and hot coat the bottom deck.

I did not track it accurately, but I'd say this board will be finished under 35 total hours.

Top Deck Lamination

No pictures because no one was awake to take some. Started the lam job at 2130 - didn't finish until 0030.

Top deck Schedule:

6 oz patch
6 oz full length - cut to bottom of rail
6 oz full length - cut for 1" lap

3 hours of work with 3 separate epoxy pours - lots of work but the lam was perfect!!!

The nose has significant glass to protect it from La's rough-ish handling - but overall it's still very light, especially when compared to the Infinity we had.

Bottom Lam for La's Flatwater SUP

Last night's progress.

One of my better lam jobs.

Today is top deck (2 x 6 ounce + 4 ounce patch).

Tomorrow is fill and sand.

Sunday is finbox(s) - may go twinzer on this one - smaller fins but more resistance to lateral motion.

Packers will be here on the 15th. This board has to be done before then...

Welcome to the pressure cooker (I wish - an autoclave would be the 5h!t)!

Wednesday Hookie

I punched the clock a hair early (is 1630 early???) to get to the beach -

The wind was pushing ALL DAY - except when I got to the beach - the NOAA anemometer at Gulfport Harbor read 9 - 17 during the period I was out, but I think I had less at the Pink House Beach. I think I had 8 - 12.

Crossbow 16, Wide and Flat Yellow board and away I go!!!

Bye bye stress!!!!

Saturday Afternoon SUPing

Another day relaxing on the beach...

Life is going to change pretty quickly for the Velasco family...

In a good way - stay tuned

Sailing Sunday

Sunday the wind was supposed to hit 25 (in the gusts) - but the forecast Sunday morning had the winds lower than 20.

Roger, myself, Bill (Whitmire) and Stan-O (Wiles) went out around 1145 and the wind was a solid 15 mph. The engine choked up pulling out of the dock - we had just gone over a drill to throw out the anchor if something like that happened - self fulfilling prophecy???

We hit 14.5 mph on the way out to Cat Island (upwind) and 15.9 on the way back (broadreach).

The beaches were relatively clean (no visible oil) and the weather was as nice as it could be.

Not so good backing down from Cat - prop dug and popped the transom - fiberglass repair time.

It was great crewing for Roger on the F28 these past couple of years. I learned a lot that I hope to be able to apply in the future on my own F-boat (and on my Weta).

Spackling

No pictures tonight -

Been busy with move preps, specifically:

- drained the fish tank and removed most of the sand
- deep cleaned the bathroom and kitchen sink
- spackled the top deck of La's new 12'2"

I want to have the glassing done by Sunday on this board.

More to come with pictures...

New Flatwater SUP for La

Coming together...

I need to spackle this one - has some gaps from where I spliced some foam onto the blank (the nose had too much rocker so I reversed it - but needed to slap on some foam to correct the 'new' tail rocker).

I had it rough cut and planed in last weekend. Today was sanding day. I made the deck rail a little less boxy and faired in the nose and tail.

Next weekend should be laminating and hot coat. This one has a tight timeline - moving to Virginia in 23 days....

Stay tuned

Ship Island Sail

Roger called up yesterday and with a promising forecast (10-15 from 1200-1500, 15-20 from 1500-1700), I got to help break-in the new standing rigging he put up on his F-28.

The wind was howling for most of the trip - close reaching on the outbound run getting 17.1 mph.

Spent about an hour out at Ship Island right by the pier. Nice facilities, but everything was closed (off season???).

The run back was a broad reach (started out as a beam) and we would get swell pushing from the port stern quarter. Made for a quick run back hitting a max downwind speed of 17.9 mph.

The anemometer at Gulfport never recorded a gust past 20 mph while we were out on the water - real efficient sailing.

Boosting

Punched out a bit earlier than normal - had to - such a nice day and the wind was cranking!!!!

Have I mentioned I LOVE THIS KITE!!!!!!? The pic shows a jump with 12' of air - and this wasn't even the biggest air of the day. Smooth power and loft, and nearly endless depower make this an extremely useful kite down here on the Gulf Coast with the gusty winds.

I read 18 mph on my windmeter and I recorded a max speed of 26 mph on the GPS! Maybe more wind like this on Saturday.

Spring is here!

Because the Blue Crabs are back!

I see them in the shallows (along with baby mullet, threadfins and larger stingrays). The water is in the high 60's/low 70's.

I think this is going to a very warm year for the GOM.

Aloha Kanani!!!

We went to the American Girl doll store near Atlanta.

We brought home a Kanani doll.

Aloha!

Georgia Aquarium

We went to see the Georgia Aquarium last Saturday.

NEVER go to this place on a weekend - total madhouse.

Despite the sardine can effect, this aquarium had some jaw dropping exhibits - particularly the Ocean Explorer.

Not one, not two, but three Whale Sharks - a good sized Great Hammerhead and several Mantas - all in a huge tank.

Impressive to say the least.

The other displays were good, but I think the crowd threw us off from taking it all in.

SO, to date we have been to the following aquariums:
Virginia Beach Marine Science Museum
Baltimore Aquarium
Long Beach Aquarium
Seattle Aquarium
Georgia Aquarium
Aquarium of the Americas (New Orleans)
Enoshima Aquarium (Shonan, Japan)
Monterey Aquarium
Waikiki Aquarium
Sea World San Diego
Underwater World Guam
The Bass Pro Shops in Destin, San Antonio, Knoxville, Baton Rogue, Corona, and several others
Smaller ones that I can't remember

Looking forward to getting a membership at the Baltimore Aquarium soon

Delinquent Entries - Outer Banks

We're back in Gulfport and have been for about a week - I'm not caught up at work (and will probably never be - good thing I leave in 33 days), but now that things are back to normal, I'm going to try and post on all things aquatic that we did on our road trip up to DC and back.

First up, we did make it to the Outer Banks (oh how I LOVE that place). We brought the Starboard 9'8", but the wind was blowing the crap out of the swell and the longshore current looked evil so I didn't get in the water (I did SUP surf the next day - see last post).

We did get to visit our favorite wind shops during the day - Kitty Hawk Kites, REAL Watersports, 17th St Surf and a few others along the way.

But Marlon at the Marlin was one of the highlights for me!

65th St North End Virginia Beach

44 degree water - check

Light offshore winds - check

Sunny disposition - check

Kiddoroosters running around the beach - check

Patient wife/photographer setup on the beach - check

Stoke generation mission - complete

It has been too long!!!

Got to bring the family back to one of our previous haunts and it felt like home!!!

North End on Dwellable