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Messages - JP4

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1
Downwind and Racing / Re: Nuking in the gorge
« on: October 12, 2017, 02:52:16 PM »
Well, it wasn't exactly nukin', but Joel and I got out a couple days ago and did a rain squall powered Viento. It was actually a pretty good run and super fun. We stayed super close to shore in case the wind died, but I've found that to be a pretty fun line because you get some wild swell around a few of the rocky outcroppings that stand up pretty good when combined with the eddy line. Really good long glides until just before Split Rock when it died to about 8-10kts. With the current down to 107k cfs it was still really easy to get back in slow cruise mode. The water temp is still about 61f, but with air temps in the 50's and rain squalls, the 3/2 full suit was the right call. Hopefully we'll get in a few more runs before winter, but with heavy snow down to low altitudes forecast the next few days, I'm not going to hold my breath. A good way to cap the season that was put on hold for the better part of a month by the fires.
JP

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2
Foil SUP / Re: 8'0" L41
« on: October 04, 2017, 09:40:07 AM »
I've got an 8'4" x 31" 130 liter L41 ST and it's very stable in chop. For comparison it's way more stable than my 9'0 x 29" Starboard Pro at the same volume. I'm 170 lbs.
Pono put a foil on I believe an 8'8" L41.
JP

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3
Foil SUP / Re: Chinese foils hitting the market.
« on: October 01, 2017, 07:53:02 PM »
Interesting. In the bicycle industry, the Chinese direct companies have pretty much taken over the market for aftermarket carbon wheels and frames, among racers and serious geeks anyway. We've been riding their products for years. I should be dead right now because the Chinese products are poorly made and not tested, according the the bicycle industry anyway. Kind of funny since that's where the vast majority of bikes come from anyway. There are probably some crappy products available, but through consumer testing and review, it quickly becomes apparent which products are decent.  Yeah, warranty claims might be difficult, but with the amount of money you save, it can be worth the risk.
There are quite a few bike companies, at least two in Portland alone, that buy this stuff, put their stickers on it, and sell it at about a 300% mark up as their own brand. 
I've bought two sets of carbon wheels and a frame direct from China and had zero issues. Even the customer service can be really good. With the wheels I was able to chat on line with a rep and order exactly the wheels I wanted, a true custom build, and have it delivered, carefully packaged, to my door three weeks later. It would be hard to get that kind of service locally unless you live in a large city.
These foils seem pretty simple to manufacture and I can see this becoming a common source for these things.

4
SUP General / Re: Hood River Fire
« on: September 18, 2017, 05:45:47 PM »
I was hoping to drive to Bill's shop from Seattle tomorrow.  Is there any way to get into Hood River from the east?
From Seattle just go I-5, I-205, then Washington hwy 14 East until you get to the Hood River bridge. From it will only add about 30 minutes to your trip over the normal I-84 route. I've been driving it the last few weeks.
JP

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5
Environment / Re: Eagle Creek Fire Timelapse
« on: September 06, 2017, 04:49:22 PM »
Argh, with the west wind my house is starting to fill with smoke. All the windows and doors sealed, but it's still getting in. Visibility is down to about 1/2 mile to a mile.
JP

6
Environment / Re: Eagle Creek Fire Timelapse
« on: September 06, 2017, 03:40:30 PM »
What's really amazing is how fast that blew up. I took this photo the second day of the fire from my office at 37k'. This was just a day before that time lapse was taken, and the morning they got all the hikers out of there.
Apparently the fire traveled about 12 miles in less than a day, powered by the Gorge easterlies.
Now we have the Westerlies spooling up for a few days. It's going to be interesting.
JP


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7
Gear Talk / Re: Taking my next big step down in board size.
« on: August 27, 2017, 07:02:09 AM »
JP did you get the 2017 9.0 pro? if so what are your impressions?
Yes, I got the 2017 in starlite construction. Its a really fun board that surfs smaller than it really is.  I wanted something that would catch waves a little easier and turn a little quicker than my L41 and this checked both those boxes. It's actually about 2 litres smaller than my L41. It's quite a bit tougher to stand on and paddle in the chop though, and ultimately a little slower in top speed, but then everything I've ridden is slower than the L41. I was getting a little frustrated in bigger surf with the really wide tail and high speed of the L41 . I need to be into the critical section of the wave to take off on it consistently, but then it requires a big step to the rail and a lot of weight to get it to stay high on the wave. The Starboard makes all that really easy and I don't have to move my back foot when changing directions.
Under shoulder high the L41 is great because it's so fast that it makes it easy to make sections that are hard to connect on slower boards.
I did have an issue with the Starboard leaking. From day one it would drip from the middle of the back pad, about halfway between the handle and the tail, always in the same spot..I got a warranty replacement and the new one doesn't leak. When they pealed the pad on the old one, they found a hole take had been clearly drilled into the board and plugged with some sort of resin. This board has no vent, so of course that wasn't going to work. Whether this was a manufacturing error or part of the production process I don't know, but I'm hoping my new one doesn't have a similar hole in it.
Overall though, I'm really happy with the Starboard. It's pretty light and super versatile for not a lot of money. It'll surf the knee high stuff but is very composed in overhead waves too.
JP

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8
Foil SUP / Re: Rod nailing it on the Sunova/GoFoil
« on: August 26, 2017, 10:36:16 PM »
I think this is actually TJ's board, but everyone seems to want it. If this is the same board I'm surprised he's not keeping under lock and key. Rod's got this pretty dialed in now. Looks like pretty punky conditions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGKlOkaD04k
This was the board TJ was on a couple days ago. Rod's photo I poached off FB. Different board than the one Rod's on in the video.


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9
Gear Talk / Re: Taking my next big step down in board size.
« on: August 22, 2017, 09:11:00 AM »
Congrats on the L41. I also have an ST in very similar construction with the carbon rails. Over the last two years I've really beaten the crap out of it and it's been on a plane to Mexico and Hawaii. Really welll made board. It's still holding up great and is water tight. I have RSPro tape on mine, but I don't know if that was necessary as those rails are as hard as concrete, though I'm not a rail banger. Mines an 8'4"x31", which at 170lbs is on the big side for performance, but it's my go to board when it's windy because it's easy to stand on.
I actually went up in length this year to a Starboard Pro 9x29 and that's allowed me to catch more waves and is actually much turnier than the L41. It's a little harder to stand up on though. Catches waves a lot easier than the L41 but lower top speed. That L41 hauls ass!

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10
Downwind and Racing / Re: Nuking in the gorge
« on: August 18, 2017, 06:29:36 PM »
We need more days like this. Maybe some early fall frontal passages will save us from the doldrums of late summer blow dryer thermals. Pass the whine please.

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11
Downwind and Racing / Re: Nuking in the gorge
« on: August 18, 2017, 04:41:48 PM »
Guys to help brings things in perspective for the downwind beginners, these numbers of stroke are for what distance? Thank you
For the Viento run, a little less than 8 miles going upstream against the current.

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12
Downwind and Racing / Re: Nuking in the gorge
« on: August 18, 2017, 04:40:51 PM »
I am wondering if anyone else has noticed that the swell has gotten more consistent and better lined up lately? I believe it is because of the unusually low water level in the river. There is less reverb, that is less confusing backwash and side chop coming at the board. Because the water level is now lower than many of the rock walls on shore the waves tend to dissipate in the shorebreak, rather than bounce back. At least that is my theory.
Hmm, I think there are a lot of variables at play Laszlo and certainly the lower water makes it easier to connect bumps, even if they're small like they've been the last month or so. More than anything I think steady wind is what lines up the bumps and for me it seemed like May into June when it was really blowing hard was when we really had them stacked up. The downside to that was that the current was 4X stronger and even with overhead swell and 35-40kts of wind at your back, progress was slow and the drops, while much bigger, were much harder to connect.
That being said I really miss the late spring - early summer conditions when it was crazy out there. That just doesn't seem to happen much in August. It's nice to be warm though!

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13
Downwind and Racing / Re: Nuking in the gorge
« on: August 17, 2017, 09:21:39 PM »
I was at 2800 strokes today on my V3. That's on the low end of what I usually do. It was really easy to connect the bumps today on a dw board. The one big mistake I made in my line was being a little right of center at the Hatchery. It was so shallow there today that right in the center of the river was probably the right spot. I got into those crazy side on breaking waves which were happening right on top of the giant piles off weeds. Not a fast line. Jan said he went too far to the Washington side and had to surf back into the South wind. Also not fast. Good fun though today.

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14
Downwind and Racing / Re: Nuking in the gorge
« on: August 17, 2017, 06:16:10 PM »
Not exactly nuking today, with light southerly winds at the beginning gradually filling in to nice and windy by Split Rock. The bonus was the water was super low and not much current, which apparently is a good recipe for fast runs.
 I went out determined not to work too hard as I've been dealing with a lot of personal bs and just wanted to relax, plus I'd already done a mt bike ride in the morning. So I was kind of surprised when I hit the Hatchery on PR pace for me, which is not remarkably fast for most, but I decided not to chase it and just cruised. By the time I passed Wells at just over an hour it was blowing the sand off the spit, so I decided to put in a little effort. I ended up with a PR at 1:14 and was kind of pissed I didn't work harder earlier as I think I could have busted 1:10. I ran into Jan and Jarko and they did a 1:07, so I don't feel to bad, since I'm not a Northern European alien like they are.
I heard that Kai was out on his 3'8" potato chip foil making the rest of us look like we're driving sternwheelers. I would have liked to see him flash by. Robby Naish was sitting in the parking lot in the shade with his leg all busted up. I've watched Annabelle launch in front of me two days in a row and disappear within a few minutes. Crazy fast people in the Gorge this week. Fun to see the circus come to town. I'm off to work so I  won't get to see Pono contest the surfboard class again in the course race. Good luck with that. Try not to stroke out on us :)
JP

15
SUP General / Re: GoPro Injury...
« on: August 08, 2017, 10:20:25 PM »
It happens. I broke my hand when I was first learning to downwind. I pearled on a big drop and punched my GoPro with the back of my hand as I was being shot off the front of my board. That was the old GoPro with the plastic case. The new little one is quite a bit safer with the cushy orange floaty covering it.

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