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

More Kiting Pictures because it was that much fun!

The blurry one would have been the 5h!t -

Buzzing Bees

The kids asked to go SUPing again - how could I say no?

They are getting very confident with their skills now and even Noe is starting to stand up and paddle (E Ku I Luna A Hoe!!!!)

They readily shoot out for any reason (especially to say 'hi' to Dad flying by on a kiteboard) and would take turns riding the 6" surf back in.

The funniest thing that happened today? Noe carrying her board to the beach and when she got to the water she didn't even turn around - she kept on going and said 'bye-bye Daddy'

FINALLY!!!!

The wind and my timing converged today -

Usually I see the wind from my office window, and I have to keep on working. Or - I'm not working and the wind is not up. This problem was compounded by the fact I had a 2011 Cabrihna 16m^2 Crossbow, a 2011 CrazyFly Raptor and a recently finished lightwind kiteboard all sitting in the garage staring at me and planting images of perfect conditions and me ripping the heck out of the water with these tools...

Ahhh to go to me happy place...

No need to daydream today - right at 1300 the wind jumped from 8 mph to 11 mph and with that, La launched me and with barely a whitecap in the water (see the picture with the board I made in use - smooth water) I was cruising! The big Crossbow was incredible!!!!

I rotated out the boards and the CrazyFly Raptor was also a winner! The combination of the Raptor, the Crossbow and the wind (by that time 13-16 mph) made for some wicked high jumps - nothing crazy - 12' vertical with 20' across ground.

We stayed most of the day at the beach - I haven't been this sunburnt or this sore for months!!!!

And I can't wipe the smile off my face - it's good to be stoked again!

Another Sailing Day

The forecast for yesterday called for marginal kiting winds so I hooked the boat up. I started telling the kids that we were going sailing and they asked to SUP instead.

I told them that they were going to go sailing and that they would like it - but that I would also bring out their SUPs and they could have fun with them too.

We ended up going to Henderson Point (last spot of land before crossing the Bay of St Louis Bridge here in Southern Mississippi).

Getting the boat down to beach level from the road was not too bad (swung the ramps over) but the drop height looked to be challenging for the return trip.

We got the boat rigged and I took the kids out for a run - 10.7 mph under jib and main alone.

From there, I did another 3 runs shuttling friends back and forth. The wind backed down for the second run, but slowly picked up for the third and forth runs. I used the screacher on the last three runs and by the last run with La, we hit 13.7 mph - there were barely whitecaps on the water.

Meanwhile, the kids on the beach were all over the place on their SUPs. Put them in wetsuits and their fear goes away - they were way offshore at times just buzzing around.

Fun Saturday!!!

The Wind that was not to be

Between work, La running half marathons and just the general lack of wind, we haven't been out to the beach much. Sure the weather has been wonderful (60s to even low 70s), but without surf or wind, the idea of going to the beach just hasn't sunk in.

Also, with limited time left in my hands before we have to pick up and move again, I have been trying to knock out all the board projects I have in the garage (but that is for another post).

Well that nonsense of not going to the beach ended Sunday. We got up and went to the beach. Not really enough wind to make it thrilling - or even worth setting up the sail for - I ended up bulldozing in the tent. And actually, the extra sleep was well appreciated.

And it really ended on Monday - President's Day - the day that we take to remember the 42 other birthdays of those who have led this country - but more importantly, the weekend La and I got married 10 years ago (eloped - Vegas - but that's yet another story).

Back to the topic at hand - beach, no more nonsense, blah blah blah...

So - 2.5 hours before we have to pick up the kids, I pondered over a dubious wind forecast and declare to La "Let's go sailing - I don't see the wind picking up to forecasted strength and I'm pretty sure I'll get skunked if I try to bring the kites". From the pictures it's obvious we went.

Well - not only did the wind not pick up to the forecasted 15 mph, we were lucky in some instances to be even moving (lots of holes in the wind field). We did get into some breezes and topped out at 9.6 mph - averaged out to 4.0 mph.

We had the screecher out on the outbound leg, tacked with all three sails up and got it furled away nicely on the way back in.

Record breakdown speed and away we went. Nice afternoon sailing with La!

Mini Trimarans

Took the small boats out today -

I jumped on the 11'2" and paddled the boats out to a suitable drop off point so the kids could watch them sail in.

They made it and they were pretty stable. Still not enough forward buoyancy.

And between the proas and the trimarans, the proas actually sailed better... I think it is the sail positioning, but BLAH - no more tweaking, more sailing!

53 F temps and very light winds we're enough to get the kids in the water. Nice day!

On another note, I did get the deckpad on the kiteboard - it's actually looking awesome now! The only thing totally stopping me from getting it wet is the lack of wind. And the lack of a logo. I've got one tee'd up, just need to breakout the Posca pens and the rice paper. Stay tuned for that.