Second Outing on the Hooked SUP

Yesterday after we got back from Goose Creek, I was scrambling around the garage to finish off the shelving rack (next post), cleaning out the Surf Taco from the earlier trip and organizing the other boards. All sweaty and ripe, I figure what better time to break in the Hooked SUP!!! I took the board out for a paddle on Lake Newport but the pictures Marlon took of me got erased in one of the GoPros today. Oh well - that's what these second day pictures are for. This board is MEGA stable - I can walk in circles around the deck. I can walk way back to the tail and not sink it in at a steep angle - that width back in the tail makes a huge difference in stability (but we all knew that already don't we ;) We took four boards with us today - La's Flatwater, the ULI FAQ, the new Tahoe Grom and the Hooked SUP - over to Pohick Bay. It was hot with hardly a breeze - but still 10 degrees cooler than yesterday. We had the big hats on today, neckerchiefs for evaporative cooling, lots of drinking water and we were still hot. The black deck pad didn't help my feet a whole lot. We practiced some towing drills - figure with the kids having to paddle themselves around now (unlike the Big Tuna kayaking days), what would we do if they got too tired or hurt. I had two tow lines rigged and we tried towing. Noe stopped paddling behind me and enjoyed the ride - which was ok, I needed the exercise and old habits die hard (lazy butts). I saw a bunch of fish on the way out - but when I made a follow up pass on the way in, there were three ospreys hanging out in the trees crying out - either pissed at each other, or pissed at us for hanging out in the dining room table. I noticed most of the fish I saw earlier (coincidentally when there were no osprey hanging around) weren't hanging around anymore. I did manage to hook into this bluegill - you can always count of bluegill to keep away the skunkfish - can't get skunked while on your first fishing trip on your new fishing SUP can you? - NO you can't!!! And I didn't!

Hooked SUP All Dressed Up

I took a few minutes this morning to screw in the Scotty mounts and put on the bungee grid on the fore and aft deck of the new board. I used 550 cord for the stand off loops around the leash plugs and some pretty thick gauge bungee from REI for the cross members. For the Scotty mounts, I used #12 Stainless Sheet Metal screws with panheads at 1 1/4" long. 1" will work also (2 of the screws are 1" because the Home Depot near my house can't keep their fastner section squared away - I'll try to change those out when a HD head comes out of a butt orifice). Be forewarned that 1 1/2" screws are too long - when you get the screws to set in better, the foam deck pad will compress and the original clearance gets reduced. Lower the clutch on your drill when you try to set theses mounts onto the deck - slow and steady and you'll be fine. With the mounts, the bungee grids and a SurfCo flexible fin on, this board weighed in at 39.5 pounds (there might have been some water clinging around, but that's just bonus points after the evaporation).

Wildlife Studied Today

Besides these nice Sunnies and several of their friends, I did bring a Small Mouth to hand (flopped away while I was trying to get the picture), several minnows were caught, crayfish a plenty, an aquatic stick bug, the one-eyed turtle, and this snake trying to cool off under a rock (underwater). Again, this park is a wonderful place to spend the day!

AAAARRRRRRRRHHHGGGGHHHHHHHHHH

I tend to get real quiet when I'm fishing - really great way to relax. I also get really still - crane still. So I thought I was being really stealthy while this turtle came wandering along. It got really close - so I picked it up and brought it over to the catch bucket. When I took a closer look, it wasn't my stealth or lightning reflexes - the dude is blind in one eye. We tried feeding it one of the minnows we caught, but it really just wanted to get back to the water. We said "ARRRRGGGHHHHH" to the one-eyed turtle and let it go on it's merry way.

Rolling Down the River

We hit Kephart Park again today and we met up with some old friends - the Thorntons! Mike and a blast catching crayfish with Noe, Melda and La 'rafted' down the creek which drew the kids to walk upstream launch and bounce along the creek several times over and over, Michael, Isaac and Zion fished almost as long as I did. We spent five hours fishing and rafting - and the time flew by.

Hooked SUP Arrived, Part 4

Despite it's dimensions - 11'8" x 36" x 5" (I need to double check the thickness dim), the volume is carried very well across the board. As I am getting older and further away from the physical ocean (3.5 hours is the farthest inland I've lived - except for my year in Baghdad but I'm not going to dredge that up), I am rapidly losing my board snobbery. In my 20's all I wanted to surf were high performance shortboards. My attitude was "shoot me and put me out of my misery if you ever see me on a boogie board". I got into windsurfing in my late 20s and more into kiting in my 30's - again high performance. But now that Marlon and Noe are getting comfortable with being in the surf and the ocean (long drives to the salt are treasured times despite the monkey butt from sitting too long), I am cemented in the idea of going unconventional to extract the maximum stoke out of any situation. My Fourth Gear Flyer surfmat, ULI Fat Ass Quad and now this Hooked SUP are the primary examples of looking beyond mainstream and into the enlightened. It is a big board - huge in fact, but it also looks very well proportioned (again despite the XL numbers). We're going to have tons of fun with this thing!!! Stay tuned!!!

Hooked SUP Arrived, Part 3

This board doesn't seem to have a mast track - I've probed deck with thin needles to see if the track is just covered by the deck pad, but to my dismay, I do not get any indications that there is a covered up track (no voids). I sold the Big Tuna kayak and paid $1650 for this board (and an additional $99 for shipping) because it was supposed to have a mast track. This board was to replace both the Naish Glide and the Starboard Blend in my quiver (both of which had windsurfing mast inserts - not a track). I emailed the shop I ordered this board from to see if they have any insight as to what could be the issue - no track, track covered up, track located somewhere where I am not looking, etc. I don't want you to think that is an irrecoverable issue - I just did not want to have to do surgery on a new board (and having paid $1650 for a board without a mast track - I could have gotten a Jackson Kayak SUPerFishal for half the cost). Worst case scenario, I'll install a mast track myself. Strapless SUP Windsurfing is not supposed to place the same loads on the board that a high wind, wave windsurfing board would have to endure. And a deck pad overlay will hide all the fiberglass, reinforcements and sanding that will have to go into adding a mast track. Despite all that potential work, I still think this is an evolutionary stop (really advanced) board. This board came out in the 2009 - 2010 timeframe if I'm not mistaken and just now has the "simmons" ratio been finding it's way into the mainstream - Alex Aguera implemented a great template in my opinion. The rails are super boxy - I've done similar with the boards I've shaped for flatwater paddling so I can tell this board will be super stable. I am looking forward to paddling the board around to get "my feet" wet!!!

Hooked SUP Arrived, Part 2

The board was packed well, but not over packed like some. Just enough foam in the right places. Recyclable materials and as I said not too much to unwrap. Not a scratch on the board when I brought it out of the packaging!!! As you have seen, I have designed, shaped and glassed my own boards - so why did I buy this one??? Two reasons - I can't shape and glass in the house we currently live in (particular neighbors - I'm amazed I haven't been given citations already...); and I don't install windsurfing mast tracks. However....

Hooked SUP Arrived, Part 1

I've been tracking the delivery and I saw it arrive at the local freight terminal this morning. I called and asked if I could just stop by and pick it up. I loaded it (104 degrees out today) and drove it home. I had a migraine by the time I got home so I didn't unpack the board until evening time. No issues with the box or pick up. The Bak Flip Tonneau folded up and I had the boxed board (with a red flag of course) hanging out the back of the bed. Have I said I love my truck??? If not - "I love my truck" and I am stoked the board is here!

Iguana Ice Cream Snack

Marlon and Noe recently got pets - they each got a green iguana. No hair to shed on the couch. No need to run them around the block and pick up the poop. We can leave them for a weekend vacation (with proper planning of course). I haven't posted much on "Iggy" and "Brownie" - but here's one of them chilling. And here's Marlon downing some summertime snacks - although he eats these "mochi" ice cream balls year round.

Future Drone Pilot

When I was growing up, I wanted to be an Astronaut. And I believed the way to get there was to be a Naval Aviator. I managed to pick up a ROTC scholarship and got my Mechanical Engineering degree - I believed that working to understand the physics behind getting a heavier than air device to fly would help. With all the bernoullis on aircraft (turbine blades, wings, control surfaces, etc) I figured I'd be set for selection. Unfortunately, all that studying and my genetics pushed my eyesight to pre-LASIK unacceptability. I am glad things turned out the way they did and I have zero regrets. Fast forward a bunch of years and we have Marlon flying his Parrot Quadcopter. This isn't a toy - it has a pretty sophisticated control system and has two cameras installed. He is getting more proficient at controlling it and he's got it banking turns and flairing stops. I'm not sure if you've read the recent reports on the Navy successfully landing an unmanned drone on an Aircraft Carrier - makes me wonder in 10 years when Marlon is graduating from college if there will even be pilot positions open - more like remote piloting. For now, these two quadcopter barnstormers are having summertime fun!

It's Coming!!!

The Hooked SUP I ordered is on it's way!!! It should be here by Friday. I've already ordered two Scotty mounts and pulled out my windsurfing equipment (mast bases, mast extensions, etc). I have high expectations of this board and will be documenting the heck out of the uses and conquests I execute with this board. I can honestly say that I've been looking at this board for a few years now - and having recently streamlined the board quiver, I am looking forward to maximize the use of just a few boards (the ULI FAQ, the Starboard Element and the Hooked SUP). It's Christmas in July (except that I recently sold off the Big Tuna, the Naish Glide and the Starboard Blend to get to this point, as well as the other boards over the past year - culling the unused was actually a really good thing - less stuff)!!!

Fun Busy Saturday, Part 7

I consider it a rare day that I see a fish species that I have not been exposed to before - by book or by hook, I have studied, caught, eaten or raised more than I can remember. But as we walked through the aquarium, I found myself staring a tank full of Boarfish - what a day!!!

Fun Busy Saturday, Part 6

It has been a long while, so we stopped into the Virginia Beach Marine Science Museum (Aquarium). They definitely switched things up a bit - the old entrance exhibit is now the end (Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel) and they added exhibits from the Red Sea, Malaysia and Africa. Marlon wanted to see a Spot - to remember what one looked like (he caught one once when we went fishing at Annapolis in the Severn River) and I actually saw something I've never seen before...

Fun Busy Saturday, Part 5

After the wind kicked up and the surf mushed out at the high tide peak, I brought out the surf rod, grabbed a few sand crabs and hooked into a Southern Kingfish. No skunkfish around on Saturday!!!! If I haven't said it - "We love Virginia Beach"!!!