Merimbula #32 here I come.

[SaltH2Opaddler]

WOW!!! I am officially jealous!!! What a F*!#%^@ line up of demo boards!! A paddlers dream. Again so jealous!

Thank you for providing pics. Looks like that might be the week to visit AU.

Drooling!!!

[DavidJohn]

I've got heaps of pics to post from the last few day and I'll wait till I get home to upload them because internet speed here is worse than dial up speed.. 

Here's a few pics from todays ride down the beach to Pambula and back.. Love'in that bike..   

DJ















[][]

[Muskoka SUP]

That sure is a beauty spot !   Nice beach, some little waves, ... And a great looking Surly..
For a second I thought I was over on the MTBR forum..  

Have a safe drive home, and don't forget to post the rest of your w-ends pics.

DS

[Sup Bajan]

I was going to ask about wearing the helmet riding on sand! Then I saw the rocks in the last pic.
 

Thanksfor the post, great pics so far.

Christo

[DavidJohn]

Day 2 started with my friend Kathy picking up her new 12'6" Walk on Water board.





I got my 12'6" Glide out and hit the water and paddled over to the Bar beach to catch up with Kathy and Anne.







A couple of young girls paddled over demo'ing a couple of new JP boards.. Shame there was no waves.





There was a small ankle high wave breaking at the Bar and this pic shows it.



When my good view left (both of them) I decided to hit the water again and catch some of those ankle high waves.



Alain joined me and he was demo'ing the new Starboard Sprint.



The waves soon dissapeared compleatly so I went for a flat water cruise.. A couple of local girls were demo'ing the new Starboard 12'6" and 14' AllStar boards.





More guys demo'ing boards.





Back at the main contest area you can see the wind has picked up enough for the windsurfers to hit the water.. Most were windsurfing sup's.



Here's some stickers from this years event.. and some more gear from the expo.

DJ

[DavidJohn]

Two more days of pics still to come.. 

DJ

[surfniels]

Looks like a great event,   
That starboard sprint looks really tempting!
Thanks for posting..

[DavidJohn]

Here's how day 3 went.

Another beautiful day.. Fingers crossed for waves.



Bummer!





Oh well.. Might as well pig out at the barbie.



I threw my 12'6" Glide in the water and paddled over to the Bar beach to get ready for the Balmoral Beach to Bar race.



The paddlers to do the second leg of the 4 man (or woman) team race were ready and waiting to see who gets there first.



Some were doing steatches.. anyone recongnize this arse?



Who will it be?



Andy Davies for team Naish... Wot a legend.



Steve for team Fanatic.. He's right on Andy"s tail.



Wooza from RPS looking good.



DC right up there.. Not bad for an old fart.



Alain gets the DC board ready for the second leg.



It was all happening as paddlers starting hiting the beach.. Go Kristi.





Walking on water to tag the WOW paddler.



Look out.



Hudson gets ready to paddle the JP.. Does anyone care who's winning?



Fuzzy Phil with a little too much information.





Nipples out.





There were lots there with the cave man theme and fancy dress.



And they keep in comming.. Go Cam.





Ooh.. Pointy.







Go Dogman!



Go Mel.



Lots of fun.. What a great way to race.



Back at Ford park and the expo.. Still lots of demo'ing going on.







I checked out this nice looking 10' DC wave board.







I then spotted Dogman and checked out some of his Surftech boards.



Ooh.. Pointy.



Back at the viewing platform I could see some windsurfers out.. The kite'ers were going off.. I wonder if there's enough with for a downwinder?





I paddled over to the Bar beach again for a relax in the sun and suddenly I was swamped by about 30 ready to do a downwinder.. The little beach was soon covered with 14' DW boards.







And they're off.. I decided to wimp out with my little 12'6" because it looked like the wind had dropped slightly and it was going to be messy out there.. Yeah I know.. Anyway.. I paddled out to the point with them and took some pictures.









Jacko gives everyone a head start and he calls Angie to ask how she is and tell her how much he misses her.. Jeez.. is that the time.



It wasn't long before everyone was a dot in the distance.. It did look very messy and hard work.. Still.. Kicking myself that I didn't join in on my 12'6".



Paddling back past the peir there were people everywhere.. and long white ribbons flying in the wind.. Once closer I could see that someone was getting married.

That's about it for day 3.

DJ

[DavidJohn]

Day 4 (the last day)  started of.. Glassy, glassy, glassy.

A perfect time to demo some of those new Starrboards that I've been taking pictures of.

First up the 14' AllStar.



Others were out demo'ing boards and enjoying the glass.







Next I tried the Sprint.





Cam took the AllStar for a paddle.. Check out those pefect conditions.





Ooh look.. a little puffer fish.



Ooh look.. a blue bottle.



More people demo'ing.



Arr yes.. very casual.



Back on the beach everyone was getting ready for the Merimbula BOP race.



The big camera's were coming out.



The demo boards were coming in.







It's getting serous now.. The race is about to start.



And they're off and racing.















After the race we heard that Ryan was about to arrive in Merimbula on his epic SUP from the Goldie to Melb to rase money for heart desease.

http://www.seabreeze.com.au/News/Stand%20Up%20Paddle/Paddle-for-Prevention-Ryan-goes-from-the-GC-to-Melbourne_6500276.aspx

We paddled out to join him.



There they all are.. Ryan is paddling a 14' Jamie Mitchal Surftech board.



I suddenly found myself smack bang in the middle of a fleet of paddlers all going the other way and I had to tread the needle to get throug.. and take some pics at the same time.

















I heard a huge applause from the shore as Ryan stepped foot on the beach at Merimbula.

That's my pics for about half of day four... One more lot to go.

DJ

[DavidJohn]

Here"s the last of my pictures.

After Ryan had arrived it was just fun cruising around on the glassy water in the beautiful sunshine.



























Then it was time to hit the barbie and watch the prezie for the BOP race.







Ryan and Andrew Allan.



I then checked out some more boards and gear at the expo.













This is the first that I've seen of the new Kialoa race paddle.. It looks awesome.. This one's the Gerry Lopez version.







I then got to see the new Kialoa adjustable paddle.. Also amazing.





The Ke Nalu - WOW crew.



More Surftech pics.











The new Gerry Lopez DW boards look... Very Pointy.. This is the 12'6".



I decided to take the 14'er for a paddle.. Walking to the water I was amazed to see this weird sea fog roll in.. Sunny sky one minute and pea soup fog the next.













It was super stable and fun to paddle.. I'd love to see how it goes on a real  downwinder.



It was hard to see other paddlers unless you were withing a couple of meters from them.





This is looking towards the beach that was less than a stone throw away and I decided to head in before I got lost on the water.



went and got my fat bike and decided to do a ride along the beach and once I had returned with my bike the for was gone.. Very weird.. I did the ride anyway.



Then it was off to the presintation.. I didn't take many pictures there.. Looking forward to #33 now.

DJ

[supthecreek]

Wow.... you couldn't ask for better conditions....Looked great all week!
Thanks for the pics.... it's nice to see all the different boards in action in the same conditions.

Speaking of pics...
What size do you make them, to get so many in a single posting? They still look good.

[Bean]

Nice work, as always!