Topics

1

General Discussion / Change Email Address in Account Settings

« on: September 03, 2021, 03:48:57 AM »

I need to change my contact email address for the Standup Zone. I'll explain below.

For about 15 years, I have used a Hotmail email address to register for sites and I used it for the Standup Zone when I registered to be a member on this site. But ever since Microsoft bought Hotmail, I started having problems with Hotmail. So I want to drop my Hotmail email account since I'm tired of dealing with Microsoft's screw ups with my Hotmail account.

Basically, I want to drop my Hotmail email account from everything which is tied to it. Since Comcast is my ISP, which I've had since 1993, this gives me a Comcast email account which I rarely use, but I do use it at least four times a month.

I want to point out I do not need a new password. I want to keep using my present password for the Standup Zone. With that said, in my account settings for the Zone, can I change the Hotmail email address to the new Comcast email address by using my present password without creating a hassle for myself?

In other words, can I do the above without having anything sent to my Hotmail email for verification because sometimes I have trouble getting into my Hotmail email account, like now, because of the present screw up from Microsoft concerning my Hotmail account or do I have to send a private message to Admin to help me out in this matter?

2

SUP General / Surfboards (Longboards)

« on: May 15, 2020, 11:49:16 AM »

I had sent a private message to Admin if it would be okay if I started a topic on Surfboards which is the forerunner to the Sup. He told me I could and put it in the General or Gear Talk forums. So I decided to put it in the General forum.

Since being at home all the time doesn't suit me, I am lucky to live in a subdivision with two lakes which I take one of my four sups down to and flat water paddle twice a week because of the virus.

I came down with what I thought was a UTI (urinary tract infection) a few months back, but when antibiotics didn't solve the problem, my urologist ordered a CT Scan and the scan found a half-inch in size kidney stone in my left kidney. Long story short, the stone was removed under general anesthesia this past Wednesday (5-13-2020).

But, as they say in the maritime industry where I used to work, I'm in "drydock" for the next four days. Since "idle hands are the devil's workshop", I have those idle hands. So I got to thinking about surfboards, specifically longboards of at least 9'-9'6" in length. I first learned how to surf on a longboard when I was 15 years old and it's length way back then was 9' in length with one single fin.

On the upper Texas coast, I see many shortboard surfers on their performance boards. If the surf is flat and only knee high wave height, you don't see surfers.

But I figured surfing a longboard again would work if the surfboard was long enough and suited to the general waves where I go on the upper Texas coast. So I started surfing the internet to find some surfing forums where I could lurk and gleen information from them. I found three of them and they are listed below.

http://forum.realsurf.com/forum/

https://surfing-waves.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=15

https://jamboards.com/forums/surfing/

But I wanted to get some opinions from all of you on this site who surfed before they found sups.

Now down to the nitty gritty.

I've done research on some nice longboards from some shapers. I'm sure you'll recognize the names of: Stewart, Carroll and Degree 33.

Now for my criteria. The longboard has to be from 9'-9'6" in length. It must have 3 fins and if I'm lucky, 5 fin boxes. I will say I'm partial to Furtures fin boxes and epoxy constructionwhich are very duralbe since poly boards dent easily. Epoxy is also lighter in weight than poly boards.

I'm 5'8"and 140 lbs right now (which is 63.50 kilograms), a good rule of thumb is to match my weight in kilograms to a longboard between 63.50--72 liters of volume. With that I started my search with Stewart Surfboards and I'm looking at two of them.

One of the Stewarts is a 949 model, 9' x 23" x 3" @ 67.9 liters, 5 Futures fin boxes epoxy construction which is at the link below.

https://stewartsurfboards.com/collections/949

The second Stewart is the Redline 11 (eleven) model, 9'0 x 23 3/4" x  3 1/4" @ 74.7 liters, 3 Furtures fin boxes and expoxy construction.

https://stewartsurfboards.com/collections/redline-11

Another choice is a Ricky Carroll PLB (performance longboard) which is, 9'0 x 22.25" x 2.75" @ unknown liters (one important detail that should always be listed), 5 Futures fin boxes and epoxy construction.

https://www.realwatersports.com/collections/ricky-carroll-surfboards/products/ricky-carroll-plb-pu-poly-90

Another is surfboard from Degree 33 and it is the Ultimate model which is 9.0 x 23" x 3" @ 72.5 liters, 3 FCS fin boxes and epoxy construction.

https://www.degree33surfboards.com/collections/longboards-performance/products/9-ultimate-longboard-surfboard-teal-chevron-epoxy-2019

I've got some videos I can post up, but I don't want to make this topic into reading a manuscript so I'll stop at this point.

3

SUP Gear Reviews / Newly Acquired / On Order / My Second Blue Planet "Duke": 10'5" x 32"x 4.5" @ 190 Liters

« on: March 01, 2020, 05:50:43 PM »

Some of you know in another topic thread I have been looking for a replacement set of Gerry Lopez GL2-5 Fin Futures fins for my Blue Planet "Duke". I bought my first set of GL2-5 Fins from Blue Planet when I bought my first Duke. I really like the GL Futures fins. They make my "Duke" perform very well in the smallish type of waves on the upper Texas coast.

I received my second set of GL2-5 Fin, from Amazon, and these "were" going to be my spare set in case anything bad happened to my first set of GL2 Futures fins. I received the second set of GL2-5 Fin on Saturday, Feb 8th.

But on late Sunday night around 11:00 pm, Feb 9th, I saw Robert's (of Blue Planet) post stating he was moving his shop to a new location and he was reducing the prices on his 2019 sup models. I looked up the price of the 2019 year "Duke" and it was priced at $799. Then I went looking to see what the price of a 2020 year "Duke" would be, but I found out the "Duke" was being discontinued.

So I checked Robert's "All Board Inventory" which has a link and the link is below.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16mKsrbMifP3X4mIcInd4LK0knjG5QsS4IWbPZlnD2uU/edit#gid=515514258

The inventory showed three "Dukes" left. One was a blue colored bamboo expoxy and two were the teal colored bamboo epoxy. I wanted the blue colored one.

Since Robert's shop was closed at the time; on Tuesday, Feb 11th at 2:00 pm central time which is my time, it is 10:00 am in Honolulu. I briefly talked with Robert and he transferred me to Michael for a "quote" since I wanted a few other items to be included in the quote.

I received the quote and told Michael I was placing the order right then. I talked with Michael and I wanted him to know if he could ship my ordered "Duke" with United Airlines Cargo instead of shipping by Delta Cargo.

Since Houston is the hub for United Airlines, I already knew United flew to Honolulu non-stop from Houston. I was hoping United had a cargo plane that could fly from Honolulu to Houston non-stop. Michael said he would see if he could "swing this". And he did.

When got off the phone, the BP's "All Board Inventory" showed the blue colored "Duke" was gone since I bought it. A day later on Wednesday, Feb12th, I checked the "All Board Inventory" again and the two teal colored Dukes were gone.

Moving up in time, I received an email from Michael with my air waybill number so I could track the board. The United flight number was 252 and it left Honolulu at 8:31 pm on Feb 29th for an over night flight. I tracked the flight on Flight Radar 24 and watched it coming into Houston where the plane landed, today, at 7:11 am, Sunday, Mar 1st.

The link to Flight Radar 24 is below for those interested.

https://www.flightradar24.com/

I called United Cargo at 8:15 am this Sunday morning and they told me the board had been scanned and it was at United Cargo's Houston facility at Intercontinental Airport Houston (IAH). Great news for me! I then asked if they were open on Sundays and I was told United Cargo was open 24/7 of every month. More great news.

I then asked if I could come down and pick up my freight (board). The woman agent said I could pick up my freight (board) four hours after the plane has arrived. Since the plane arrived at 7:11 am, I could come and pick up my freight (board) at 11:11 am.

I called my next door neighbor and told him I was going to the airport and I wanted to borrow his iPad for pictures and oh by the way, teach me how to take pictures with the iPad. My neighbor told me he would go with me. The news for me was getting better and better.

Anyhow, we arrived at the cargo terminal at 11:13 am this Sunday morning to pickup my board. The woman agent at the counter asked for my ID and air waybill number. I gave her my DL for ID and the air waybill number. I signed the paper with my signature and right below my signature I printed; Possible Concealed Damage Pending Full Inspection.

My board was on a pallet. The United employee gently lifted the pallet with his forklift with my packaged board on top of the pallet. The shipping carton was in "pristine condition" since it had "No forklift", in large black letters, on both sides of the shipping carton. No holes anywhere in the cardboard.

Inside the shipping carton lay my second "Duke" and it was mummified. On top of the bubble wrap was heavy cardboard placed on top, bottom and both sides. Once all the protection was removed; my board, fins were inside the board bag and so was my undamaged "Duke".

At this time, a light rain started so my neighbor and I loaded my board onto my truck cab's roof racks. Then took the shipping carton and bubble wrap and put all of that garbage in my truck's camper shell. Then we "beat feet' back to my home just before the heavy rain came down.

We didn't take any pictures because of the rain, but I will take pictures sometime this week since this week we have rain forecasted for Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Monday is a cloudy day, not good for picture taking, but this upcoming Thursday is to be a sunny day. And my second set of Gerry Lopez Futures GL2-5 fins are already installed on my second "Duke".

I want to give a public, "Thank you"; to Robert, Michael and Tony of Blue Planet for working with me and having some patience with me. Especially when it came to United Cargo.

4

Gear Talk / A Great Find: Gerry Lopez Futures GL2- 5 Fin Set

« on: February 17, 2020, 08:09:53 AM »

My next door neighbor and I went down to Surfside, Texas last Thursday, Feb 6th, to do a little jetty fishing for speckled trout (weakfish for those on th East Coast of the US). We had a good day where we both caught 10 keepers apiece ranging from 16"-22" in length.

On the way back home, we had to go though the small community of Surfside where all the beach houses are. These homes are places where the year round residents live and there are beach houses for rent by the weekends, week and month for "snow birds".

I'll cut to the chase now.

At one of the beachhouses, a resident had a yard sale going on and there were lots of surfing gear laid out on the ground and on tables. I thought I would stop and see if there were any "hidden jewels" which I could find.

On one table there were surfing fins for prone surfboards and sups. What caught my eye was a Gerry Lopez Futures GL1 (2 + 1) fin set. Bummer for me.

Since the lady home owner in charge of the yard sale saw me looking at the GL1 fins, she came over and started to talk to me. To make a long conversation short, I asked if she knew where her late husband had bought the GL1's from.

She told me she didn't know, but she also said her husband was a detailed oriented guy and who lived in a "paper empire" which means he kept every sales receipt from all of the "hobby" items he had purchased down through the decades in one huge paper folder in a filing cabinet in her home. Her late husband sounded just like me.

I told her I was hoping to find a "gem" which were a set of Gerry Lopez Futures GL2 - 5 Fin set for a sup since the GL2's are installed on my Blue Planet "Duke" sup. This fin set is hard to find since they are discontinued. But if I could find them, I would have a backup set in case something happened to my original GL2's.

She told me if I would like, I could look through his folder and see if I could find the receipt for the GL1's to see where her husband had bought them from. I told her I would like that.

So she asked her daughter to go into their house and the daughter brought out the folder. It was a huge folder about a 12" in thickness. I told my next door neighbor, since I'm driving my truck, you're basically a "captive audience" right now. He told me he didn't mind because he knows when I get on the trail of something, "I'm like a bloodhound on a blood hunt".

Anyhow, I did find the receipt for the GL1 fin set. It came from BC Surf in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I wrote the information down a piece of paper, thanked the woman for her hospitality and me and my neighbor continued on our way home from our fishing trip.

After cleaning the fish and taking care of the fishing equipment, I got on my computer to see if BC Surf had a website. BC did with a search field for their store. Later on I found out BC Surf has about 15 stores now.

Anyhow, they had "one" GL2 - 5 fin set for a sup left in stock and the picture of it was an exact match to the GL2's I have on my Duke". The GL2's were new with a price of ($140). But right below the price was a little context window button and it said, "Please see our Amazon store".

So I clicked on the button and their Amazon store came up and there were the GL2's. But then I got a shock because instead of $140, they were on clearance with a price of ($69). So I got out my credit card and placed the order which did go through on Feb 7th. When I went back to the link where the GL2's were, the page that came up now said, "currently unavailable" since I had bought the last item. The link is below and I don't know if it will still show up.

https://www.amazon.com/Future-Fins-Stand-Paddle-Board/dp/B01H0O40HW/ref=sr_1_54?tag=landlockedriv-20

Then in my email account, I got a confirmation order with a tracking number. This past Saturday, Feb 15th, my Gerry Lopez Futures GL2 - 5 Fin Set for a sup arrived at my home at 1:31 pm CST.

I really like these fins. They work perfect for my Duke at 190 liters for the typical waves we have here on the upper Texas coast along with my 144 pound weight.

Now for a closing "teaser".

Although I bought this second set of GL2's for my Duke; while on my computer, I came upon another item which I found on clearance on Sunday night, Feb 9th. So after making a phone call on Tuesday, Feb 11th, I'm in the process of having something finalized and which this second set of GL2's "will come into play" as well.

5

Random / Is The Zoner Site Having Server Problems

« on: January 27, 2020, 04:23:04 PM »

For the last week, I've been having trouble sometimes getting to the this Zoner site. If I click on my bookmark link, it takes sometimes 30-50 seconds before I'm able to access this site.

At other times, I get timed out with the prompt below:

Code: [Select]

Service Unavailable

The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later.

Additionally, a 503 Service Unavailable error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
Also, there are times when I'm on the Zoner site, when I want to go to another sub forum, it takes again about 30-60 seconds or I get timed out with the prompt above.

What really gets me is when I type a message and I can't Submit it because I get the prompt again. I've used 4 different computers, 3 different mice and two different operating systems which are a linux distro (Mint) and Windows 7.

When I look at the guests, sometimes there are between 3,000- 8,000 guests with like 5-7 actual registered users. I have a hard time believing there are between 3,000-8,000 guests.

So I'm thinking there is a server problem because it can't handle all the guest traffic or these guests might be "bots" doing a DoS (Denial of Service) attack.

Is anyone else having problems with the Zoner site? And I'll have to copy this post just in case the post won't take. If I get timed out, with a copy of this post, I can post it later if I'm able to get back in to the Zoner site.

6

SUP General / Starboard Discontinuing Sup Models: Blend, Drive & Element

« on: December 24, 2019, 10:52:10 AM »

I went to the Starboard site to see what is new in their product line for the year 2020.

https://sup.star-board.com/

But I got a rude awakening when I visited the site. First, their website loads very slowly. Secondly, it seems Starboard has discontinued the Blend 11'2" x 30", the Drive 10'5" x 31" and the Element 9'8" x 30". I can remember about three years ago the Drive was 10'5' x 30" and Starboard increased it's width to 31".

Now the Drive is no more. I'm guessing all of these models didn't sell well enough to keep them in Starboard's product line. It seems these discontinued models have now been relegated to the Wide Point series which are 11'2" x 32", 10'5" x 32" & 9'5" x 32".

I can remember when I was looking for an 11' sup. I had looked many times at the 2014 year model Blend 11'2" x 30" x 3.9" @ 174 liters. Three main items always kept me from it. The first was the Blend always came with 3 fin boxes and I'm a fan of 5 fin boxes. The second was the 3.9" thickness. Just a little too thin thickness wise for my tastes. Lastly, the 50/50 rails. I like 60/40 rails.

Starting in 2015, the Blend's thickness was increased to 4.4" and the liters increased in volume from 174 liters to 178 liters.

Long story short. I eventually came across the Stand Up PaddleSports (Sup Sports) site and after lots of research on their production made One World 11'1" x 30" x 4.6" @ 200 liters, I asked Warren Thomas if he could build me a custom One World according to my likes, wants and needs.

After a long phone from Warren, (WarDog) when he was on this Zoner site, he custom built for me my One World 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 liters with 5 fin boxes, a Blue Planet Sup Grip handle, pulled in nose, 60/40 rails (thinned out), narrow pin tail, comfy deck pad with a kick pad.

I enjoy riding my One World whether I take it out for flat water cruising on lakes, sup surfing the waves on the upper Texas coast or tanker bow wave surfing (inbound) in the Houston ship channel. But, my custom built One World was basically patterned after Starboards 2015 year model Blend. I'm sad to see the Blend 11'2" x 30" has been discontinued.

And below is a short video of the Starboard 2014 year model Blend 11'2" x 30" @ 174 liters with Scott McKercher riding it. And I never get tired of watching this video.

7

Sunova SUP / 12' Point Break Not Listed On Sunova's Website

« on: December 16, 2019, 08:58:01 AM »

I prefer l-o-n-g sup boards. My two favorite boards are my custom built Sup Sports "One World", 11'1" x 30" and my production made Blue Planet "Duke", 10'5" x 32".

Recently, I began looking into a "mini aircraft carrier" sups which are close to 12' in length. While researching sups on YouTube, I ran across one of "supthecreek's" videos on the Sunova Point Break, 12' x 32" @ 199 Liters.



This isn't the first time I've seen this video on his review of it, but when doing research for sup boards close to 12' length, it caught my eye (again) since it has 5 fin boxes and I really like 5 fin boxes on sups whether they can be custom built or production made.

So I went to the Sunova website and under the SUP heading, the 12' Point Break is not listed.

https://sunovasurfboards.com/en/sup

So I thought to myself it had to be listed some where so I checked the other sub headings of; Pro Surfing, Surfing, Allaround and Flatwater/Touring/Race and the Point Break isn't listed there either.

I'm guessing the Point Break is a custom built model and this is the reason why it isn't listed. But even if it can be custom built, it should be listed on Sunova's website.

I hoping "supthecreek" (Rick) sees this post and can give me a reason why the 12' Point Break is not listed on Sunova's website.

8

Sessions / Paddling A Straight Line Into A 10 MPH Crosswind

« on: October 15, 2019, 09:49:58 AM »

Since this summer has been brutally hot with very little wind to create surfable waves down at Surfside, I've been doing lots of flat water paddling on the largest private lake in our subdivision where I live where there has been zero wind in the early mornings from 6:30 am till 9:00 am.

I've been paddling my 11'1 One World and my 10'5" Duke. I've been concentrating on improving my paddling technique and form. With no wind, I can easily paddle a straight line, paddling only on my right side with the paddle length set at 67" along with different standing positions on both boards since they have more volume in them than what I weigh.

Tonight we're having a nice canadien cold front come through from the northwest with a 90% chance of heavy rain, but before that, the high temperature at my house today is going to be 89 degrees F. This morning the wind started stirring around 7:30 am and by 8:00 am, the wind was up around 10 mph from the southwest on the lake.

So I decided to be on the lake by 8:20 am to see if I could paddle a straight line with a 10 mph crosswind using my Duke. The Duke's specs are 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 liters. Since I weigh 144 pounds right now, the Duke's width and liters would be a good test for this experiment. The fin configuration for this test was a 4 fin quad setup (Gerry Lopez GL2 Sup 5 Fin Set) with (2, 5.10" front) and (2, 4.34" rear) installed.

Since I am a lightweight, the Duke's 190 liters gives me a very large "sweet spot". So I stared with my usual sweet spot, modified surf stance and 67" paddle length.

I started paddling with the wind 90 degrees broadside to my left side with me paddling on my right side with no switch over to the left side. My paddle stroke starts about 45 degrees to the right rail on the pull of the stroke, and then curves parallel to the Duke with a slight angle on the paddle blade. The paddle blade comes out of the water just past the end of my right foot's heel.

Within 3 paddle strokes, my Duke was moving to the left. Bummer! So I thought lengthening the paddle from 67" to 69" would help. It did, but not enough. So I sat down on my board and started thinking while I was drifting along with the wind.

Since I'm light in weight compared to the liters of the Duke and with the Duke's large "sweet spot" with me paddling her, I decided to stand further back on my board while lengthening the paddle to 71" to keep the paddle blade into the water just a little longer on the stroke. This really made a big difference. I could paddle on my right side for around 6 paddle strokes before my Duke started to go left.

I knew I was close. I figured a combination of one more adjustment might be the ticket. So I moved my standing stance a little further back. This put my left foot's big toe parallel to the top of the Sup Grip handle while my right foot's big toe, in a modified surf stance, was 2.5" back from the the top of the Sup Grip handle.

I also lengthened the paddle to 73". On the pull of the stoke, I also changed the blade angle slightly as the blade came towards the right rail at a 45 degree angle until it started to go parallel to the right rail and came out of the water at the end of my right foot's heel.

This proved to be the right combination as I could paddle a straight line while paddling on my right side, without having to switch over to my left side. Needless to say, I was "giddy" with excitement to be able to paddle a straight line, paddling broadside to a 10 mph crosswind.

By the time I left the lake at 10:20 am, the wind speed had increased to 12 mph, but I could still paddle a straight line with the crosswind. My next experiment will be with my 11'1" One World.

9

Random / Users "Location" In Posted Messages

« on: August 27, 2019, 02:17:58 PM »

I've noticed some users have their Locations shown. With me, my Location is never shown in any of my posted messages.

In my Profile under Location, I have Texas listed. I've tried the abbreviations for Texas which TX and Tx and still when I've posted a message, my  Location is never shown.

Does anyone know why my Location is never shown?

10

Sessions / Lake Session: Sup Sports One World

« on: August 24, 2019, 08:44:29 AM »

A little experimentation for today.

Earlier today, from 6:40 am till 8:15 am, I did some experimentation on my One World based on what I did with my Duke in a previous session.

I'm 5'8", 145 pounds. My One World is 11"1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 liters. My Duke is 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 liters. The One World has a pulled in pointed nose while the Duke has a more rounded nose which is good for nose riding.

The paddle I use for both is a 2017 model Naish Alana 75 Vario (adjustable) RDS (reduced diameter shaft). With my One World, I "was" using a 68" paddle length. With my Duke, I use a 66" paddle length.

Today I wanted to see if I could paddle a straight line with my One World, like I can with my Duke, using a 4 fin quad fin setup (2, 5") (2, 4") with a 66" paddle length instead of my usual 68" length. Why did I want to paddle a straight line with this 4 fin quad setup? With the prevailing tiny to small wind driven waves usually found on the upper Texas coast (1'-2' in height), I prefer to surf my long length wise and large liter volume boards with a 4 fin quad setup. With more liters of volume than what I weigh, I can get a nice long gliding ride due to the small dynamic lift these waves can generate. 

BTW; a 9' x 28" @ 125 liters performance sup and the rider weighing 190 pounds (and up) on the waves normally found on the upper Texas coast, the rider won't be surfing any long distance (if at all) since there isn't enough dynamic lift in these waves to give the rider a long ride. You'll basically be wallowing.

This morning there again was no wind, dead calm. Perfect lake conditions for experimentation. Since I'm so light in weight at 145 pounds, I have a large sweet spot where I can stand on my One World and on my Duke since they both have more liters of volume in them compared to my weight.

With both boards, I can place the heel of both of my feet just a little ways right and left above the opening on the top of the BP Sup Grip handle, going towards the nose of both boards.

I've learned how to paddle with my left and right hands by just placing the top of the T-handle against the palm of my hand with only my thumb under the T-handle. My four fingers do not grip the T-handle. This type of grip forces both of my arms to paddle without bending my arms on the down or up stroke.

I was easily able to paddle a straight line, paddling only on my right side and never switching over to my left side with this grip above and sometimes adjusting the angle of the paddle blade to keep paddling in a straight line. The video below makes it easier to see how I paddle in a straight line than by trying to explain it.



With a 66" paddle length, the top of my hand height wise, is about where t he top of my chest meets the hole at the beginning of my throat (right below the Adam's Apple). This short 66" length is perfect for my two surgically repaired right and left shoulder joints.

With a 4 fin quad setup for both my One World and Duke, I don't have to change out fin setups if I don't want to whether I'm paddling on flat  water (lake, coastal cruising,) or sup (wave, tanker) surfing.

There are trade offs though. With a 4 fin quad setup instead of a large 9" single fin, the quad setup gives up some glide, some speed and some manoeuvrability (turning) on flat water. But I'm into leisurely paddling. Just enjoying the ride.

As an example. If I'm gong from Point A to Point B; but if something on the bank catches my interest, I'll paddle over there to check it out, which I will call Point C. After my curiosity has been satisfied, then I will  resume/continue on to Point B.

11

Sessions / Moonlight Paddle - Aug 15th, 2019

« on: August 16, 2019, 09:07:15 AM »

It has been extremely hot this summer here in southeast Texas where I live. Starting around June 1st, we've been close to 100 degrees F everyday since then with heat indexes ranging from 101 degrees F to 108 degrees F. Last week we had 6 straight days of 101-102 degrees F with corresponding heat indexes ranging from 106 degrees F to 113 degrees F. All because of a dome of high pressure with it's center over Texas.

We did have a small cool front come through in the last week of July and it dropped the morning temperatures into the high 60's for three days and that was it. Our morning temperatures this time of the year are around 78 degrees F, but the last 6 days the morning temperatures have been between 81-83 degrees F with heat indexes of around 92 degrees F at 6:30 am.

Of course, this dome of high pressure suppresses the wind so there are hardly any waves of any size out in the Gulf of Mexico and zero waves along the beachfront so no sup surfing. Only paddle sessions I've been able to do is early in the morning on our subdivision's big private lake.

But with a dome of high pressure, there are no clouds at night and with no clouds, a full moon is a good way to enjoy a flat water paddle. I have not taken my new BP Duke for a moonlight paddle so last night was my night for a moonlight paddle with my Duke.

My Blue Planet "Duke" is 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 liters. It also has 5 Futures fin boxes. I've decided to do all of my paddling, flatwater and sup surfing, with a Gerry Lopez GL-2 honeycomb, 4 fin quad setup (2, 5.10") (2, 4.34"). I do give up speed and glide with this setup for flat water paddling, but I've never been in a hurry when I'm flat water paddling. And with no wind, the glide I get is quite sufficient for me.

With this setup above, I don't have to change any fins out to do sup surfing on the upper Texas coast (Bolivar Peninsula, Galveston Island or at the surfing venue at Surfside).

I'm 5'8" (68") and weigh 145 pounds. The paddle I use is a 2017 model Naish Alana 75 Vario (adjustable) RDS which is basically a women's sup paddle, but it is is perfect for my small skeletal frame and with my Duke, the length I prefer is 67". I was also wearing my Mustang PFD as a precaution. I did not take along my sup leash though. In the dark, if I were to fall off my board, I didn't want the leash to get tangled around my legs.

Last night (8-15-2019) we had a full moon. I decided to go for a moonlight paddle. When I got down to the lake at 11:00 pm, the air temperature was 83 degrees F with a heat index of 92 degrees F. The lake water temperature was a "balmy" 91 degrees F. Felt like warm bath water.

I paddled for 2 hours with 4 rest breaks. I had brought along 2 bottles of Gatorade and left it on the shore at my launching point so my breaks were at my launching point.

As usual, this was a cloudless night with no wind. The moon looked big and bright. The moon's reflection on the lake's surface kept me company for my 2 hour paddling session. There were quite a few ducks on the shore close to the lake's edge. The turtles were out as usual and I could hear the big splashes and swirls right next to the shoreline where the largemouth black bass were in feeding mode.

If there is one thing I notice about a moonlight paddle, it is how quiet it is on the lake. The only noise being generated was from my paddle strokes. I never generated any wave noise from the nose of my board since I was paddling leisurely. Just paddling slowly and letting my sup glide every now and then is my usual flat water routine.

And my Duke's deck pad is quite comfortable since I've been paddling my Duke and my One World with Seal Skinz booties on my feet and no shoes when I'm paddling my sups. My feet and toes do not get tired or sore.

The houses that surround the edge of the lake keep their outdoor lights on all night and with the light from the full moon, there was plenty of light to see.

I returned to my launching spot at 1:00 am, loaded my sup up in the bed of my truck and was back at my home by 1:10 am. Off loaded everything, cleaned up my Duke and the rest of my gear by 1:30 am, took a shower and I went to bed at 1:50 am.

If the heat is getting to you this time of the year and if you can do a moonlight paddle when the moon is full or if there is enough light around a freshwater or saltwater marina, you should try a moonlight or a night paddle. It is a great way to beat the daytime summer heat at this time of the year and you will not regret it.

BTW, I've become a fan of sups which have more liters of volume in them than what I weigh. I really enjoy my Duke and my One World sups.

12

Sessions / Lake Session: Blue Planet Duke

« on: June 25, 2019, 10:19:07 AM »

I received my board last Saturday morning and took it home. On Sunday, at  6:00 am it was a blue bird sky without any clouds and it was extremely hot and muggy.

I decided to take my BP Duke for a flat water paddle on Monday morning, but alas, a split in the jet stream brought us 4 hours of a steady rain which totaled 2.5" of rain from 4:37 am till 9:50 am. Then the sun came out and it got hot real quick.

Today (Tuesday) at 6:40 am, there was no rain on the radar close to me so I took my Duke down to the largest lake in our subdivision and went for a supposedly 2 hours paddling session, but since i was enjoying my new Duke so much, the session lasted 3.5 hours.

Now for the nitty gritty details. I will be comparing my Duke to my One World in this topic thread. I'm 5'8" and 146 lbs. My Duke's specs are 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 liters. My One World's specs are 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 liters. My Duke has a rounded nose and my One World has a  pulled in pointed nose.

The paddle I prefer to use is a Naish Alana 75 Vario RDS adjustable paddle. I like the small diameter shaft of this paddle with it's 75 square inch blade. Also for this comparison, both boards were using a single 9" fin.

As for weather conditions, the temperature was 73 degrees F and the wind was dead calm.

The first time I stood up on my Duke, since the Duke is 32" wide, it was easy for me to find the "sweet spot" for me. I immediately felt how  comfortable my feet felt on the deckpad of the Duke. More comfortable than my feet felt on my One World's deckpad.

I use a 77" paddle length when I'm paddling my One World for flat water paddling. However, it only took me about 10 paddle strokes paddling the Duke to realize the 77" paddle length felt "short". I lengthened my paddle length to 78" and then the paddle felt perfect me when paddling the Duke.

For the comparisons below, keep in mind the Duke has 190 liters of volume and the One World has 173 liters of volume.

Speed:

The Duke, with it's round nose and being 8" shorter and 2" wider than my One World, is slower than my One World.

Stability:

Since the Duke is 8" shorter and 2" wider than my One World, the Duke is "much" more stable than my One World.

Glide:

Since the Duke is 8" shorter in length and 2" wider than my One World, my One World has the better glide.

Maneuverability:

The Duke being 8" shorter and 2" wider than my One World, the Duke was much easier to turn than my One World. With both boards traveling forward at a good clip of speed, it was much easier to turn my Duke 90 degrees to the left or right than it was to turn my One World.

Tracking:

I'm right handed. When it came to tracking, this was a real "eye opener". When I paddle my One World, in order to track a straight line with a dead calm wind, I paddle 7 strokes on the right side and 7 strokes on the left side.

There is a tree on one side of the lake. I have a range finder and from my launch point, the distance to that tree is 145 yards. With the same dead calm wind, I could paddle the Duke from my launch point to that tree 145 yards away in a straight line by only paddling on my right side and never switching over to my left side.

If the nose of the Duke started to drift to the right or left of the straight line, all I had to do was change the angle of the blade on the stroke to keep the nose of the Duke going straight. I cannot do that with my One World. I think the Duke's rounded nose has an advantage over a pulled in straight nose when it comes to paddling a straight line when flat water paddling.

And now for a picture when I got back home.

13

SUP Gear Reviews / Newly Acquired / On Order / Blue Planet "Duke" 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 liters

« on: June 13, 2019, 04:49:47 AM »

I finally pulled the trigger on a Guest Board that not only my guests can use for flat water paddling and sup surfing, but I can use as well. I've done a lot of research. The Duke's specs are 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 liters with 5 fin (Futures) boxes.

For flat water paddling, my 170 pound friend (A) didn't have too much trouble, balance wise, flat water paddling my One World  11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 liters sup. However, my 190 pound friend (B) did have trouble, balance wise, on my One World. (A) said he could handle the 30" width, but he admitted my Hammer 8'11' x 31" x 4" @ 140 liters seemed to "feel" wider than 31". (B) also felt my Hammer's 31" width felt much wider than my One World's 30" width.

For sup surfing down on the upper Texas coast (the lower end of Galveston Island), both (A) and (B) had no trouble sup surfing my One World in 3.5" height waves. I will say, it took them both 30 minutes of time to get used to my One World since they weren't used to waves and they fell off the board more than they stayed on the board. But after the first 30 minutes, they were staying on the board and sup surfing.

Yesterday morning (Wednesday), we used a conference phone call so we could talk with one another. Both of my friends told me what they liked and did not like in a sup for flat water paddling and sup surfing. The flat water concerns were basically about the width of a board and both agreed they would prefer a 32" width.

For sup surfing the smallish waves on the upper Texas coast, which are wind driven waves since the bottom contour from the beach out to one half mile is flat like a dinner plate, a sup with at least 10' of lenght, 32" of width and lots of volume between 180-190 liters, would be perfect for them as well as me since I can adapt to 180-190 liters of volume.

I sent my friends some Blue Planet videos which are below so they could actually see and get some info on how Blue Planet's boards are shipped from their manufacturing facility to BP's Hawaii's shop in Honolulu, how BP gets their board ready for air shipment and the toughness and durability of BP's boards.

So we all came to a consensus the Duke, with it's 5 fin boxes could handle any type of waves we would encounter on the upper Texas coast. BTW, have I ever mentioned on this site I'm a big fan of 5 fin boxes? 







I'm a detailed oriented person, so if someone puts something on the internet that is hard to find and I find it, I will save it as a bookmark. With that said, in one of Blue Planet's videos, I found a link to Blue Planets "All Board Inventory" which let me see if the Duke was available in the Bamboo Epoxy build in the Blue color. The link to BP's inventory is below.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16mKsrbMifP3X4mIcInd4LK0knjG5QsS4IWbPZlnD2uU/edit#gid=515514258

There is a 5 hour time difference between Honolulu time and my time here in southeast Texas. Blue Planet's shop hours are 10 am-6 pm. So I had to wait till 3 pm my time to contact BP. I spoke with Robert for a very short time to ask him some specific questions which he answered. Then I was transferred over to Mike who answered some pointed questions in detail.

It just so happens Mike weighs between 145-50 pounds so that was perfect for me at my 146 pounds. I asked him if he had ever ridden the Duke and he said he had. After some discussion with the kind of waves we have on the upper Texas coast, I didn't go with the plastic fins that comes with the Duke. I went with a Gerry Lopez quad system which includes 5 fins.

The Gerry Lopez fins I went with were: 1 single 6" center fin; 2, 6" front fins and 2, 4.5" rear fins. This will allow me to use the single 6" center fin for flat water paddling. For sup surfing; a true thruster setup consisting of 2, 6" front fins with one (1) single 6" center fin and my favorite fin setup which is a quad 4 fin setup to generate speed; 2, 6" front fins with 2, 4.5" rear fins. This setup should be good for me and I hope for both of my friends as well when it comes to sup surfing. The jury will be out for them. I'm also having the dyneema strings attached to the two leash plugs as well as RailSaver Pro attached to both rails.

Air shipment will be Delta Cargo from Honolulu to Intercontinental Airport Houston.

https://www.deltacargo.com/Cargo/

The Duke will be shipped this upcoming Friday (June 14th) and I hope it arrives at the Delta Cargo air shipping terminal next Friday (June 21st). The one good thing about the DC shipping terminal, it is open 24 hours a day and (I think) 7 days a week.

14

SUP General / Innegra Rails or Kevlar Rails

« on: June 10, 2019, 08:34:47 PM »

Which is better material wise for durability when used in sup rails? Is it innegra or kevlar?

15

Gear Talk / Naish Alana 75 Vario Adjustable Backup Paddle: Good Find: Great Price

« on: May 30, 2019, 09:54:14 PM »

After my right shoulder was surgically repaired back in March of 2017, my orthopedic surgeon told me to ditch my Werner all carbon Trance 85 adjustable paddle since it was too much square inch blade for my right shoulder. He told me to look for a small diameter shaft paddle with a 75 blade size. Basically a woman's paddle.

A few months later in the summer of 2017, while I was rehabbing my right shoulder, I demoed a woman's 2009 year model Starboard Blend 11'2" x 30" x 4.4" @ 168 liters sup. I never said what paddle she was using, but it was a Naish Alana Vario 75 adjustable carbon paddle with a small diameter shaft. In essence, a paddle made for a woman. I have a small skeletal frame since I weighed 146 pounds at that time.

I liked the feel of that paddle back then (and still do to this day). So I searched online for a Naish dealer who had this Alana paddle and the dealer where I found this paddle was Stand On Liquid in Bend, Oregon. At that time, I paid $339 for that paddle with $24.99 for shipping, my total purchase price was ($363.99). After my one year of shoulder rehab was over and I had my 11'1" One World, I enjoyed paddling my OW with my Alana paddle.

Fast forward to 8 days ago. I decided I was going to get a second Alana paddle so I visited Stand On Liquid's website again and found to my delight, another 2017 Naish Alana Vario 75 adjustable carbon paddle. But, as an added bonus, since it was a 2017 model and looked just like my other Alana paddle, the price was only ($179). So with the same $24.99 shipping charge, my backup Alana paddle only cost me ($203.99).

https://www.standonliquid.com/sup-paddles/recreational/naish-alana-vario-adjustable-paddle

Even though I'm 5'8" in height; I prefer an adjustable length paddle because for flat water paddling with my cranky lower back, I like a 77" length and when I'm sup surfing, I like a 75" length. So in essence, for a second Alana 75, a good find with a great price for an all carbon paddle. It arrived at my home today at 5:40 pm via UPS.