Topics

1

Downwind and Racing / Alabama 650

« on: October 10, 2023, 09:43:50 AM »

It's not the absolute longest (Yukon 1000 - Bart DeZwart! ) or longest unsupported ( Race to Alaska is unsupported and 750 miles of salt/ocean- go Karl Kruger! ) - I think it's the longest non-stop river race, or paddle-only non-stop race - and 650 miles in a CAR is a race! First time a sup has finished, and two of them made it. John Knippers is a down-to-earth dude with just incredible stamina and good attitude. https://www.alabamascenicrivertrail.com/great-alabama-650/
All the "live stuff" I can find seems to be Facebook.  https://www.facebook.com/GreatAlabama650
https://www.facebook.com/GreatAlabama650/posts/pfbid0bGRSwh4ewuNPRTDKsJjEafsQHeyPJnHEYsp1YPug1HzaSta3vVvV8X8zULn9xVTNl

https://trackleaders.com/alabama650-23i.php?name=John_Knippers

He started on a 19' Speedboard - finished on his inflatable 17' SIC -not sure when/why he switched out.

2nd SUP  - and no slouch - Brad Friesen of Canada
 

https://trackleaders.com/alabama650-23i.php?name=Brad_Friesen

2

General Discussion / Moving

« on: August 20, 2023, 12:13:10 AM »

Been in Alaska most of my life, 29 years in the current house. Packing/Selling/Dumping/Giving everything away is a huge pain, and physically I'm never going to be able to do this ever again. All the good things SUP does for me have been put on hold.  Good news is I'm 100% working from home  and have lots of options.  Mom's yard is stage 1 for now, in Gray's Harbor area of Washington,  near Olympia.  I had a tantrum and insisted I needed one more paddle up here and got 3 hours in on Friday. Super pretty our, and the salmon were in the creeks to make it fun .

3

Flatwater and Touring / Short video, Spring on the Knik 2023

« on: May 02, 2023, 02:24:19 AM »

Still working on the best ways to use the invisible stick camera. I think I need some secure mounts on the nose,tail and some that can stick it out to the side and just stop and remount it every so often. On this trip I lost my Sony RX100ii and didn't realize it fell off. I usually just grab it or go bsck forit. But this isnt a lake. It went places and i didn't catch the moment it abandoned ship. I paddled 4 miles or so downriver trying to find it, and back up in the current and shallows was  a beotch. Fun fact,  a trapper (beaver, 😉 seriously ) found it yesterday and posted up to find the owner. A chain of 3 more people and I was meeting up to get it. Facebook doesn't always suck.
Video just ends, I ran out of battery. But it's interesting,cold and pretty and not too long at 2 minutes. 😀

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Flatwater and Touring / Old video I made in 2017 wayyyy better with new music

« on: March 28, 2023, 09:14:48 PM »

I mean, I think I need to find the old raw footage now.

5

Flatwater and Touring / Insta360 3x for Christmas

« on: February 13, 2023, 04:20:47 PM »

I've played with it twice - I'm still figuring out how I want to mount it. Tried a waist mount - SUP stroke engages the hips - and it's too much swinging around even for this amazing stabilization technology - basically the scene is stable and I wobble back and forth in it. I put it on a pole on the board - this is better - but still whips the camera back and forth a couple of feet. I think I need a weighted "steady cam selfie-stick" - so the camera is more or less in place while the board tips back and forth. This is partly due to primary instability vs secondary, I think. I love the Joe Bark secondary - I had no idea I was constantly wobbling like this . I think I need the blue-tooth remote - there is just SO MUCH VIDEO in a 360 - I can't deal with it. I used to like my Blackberry videos I had like, 10 seconds at a time - that was it. Very good for focusing on what you really want. I think it's going to do what I want - be a drone that follows me around but doesn't fall in and destroy itself if I don't watch it.

First attempt. 7 minutes - I cut it down from about 45 minutes I will say  -  there is a spot where the camera is not quite clearing a walking bridge - and there are 3 cuts I made of that - coming at it, hitting it, going through - same event, looking to the side - same event - looking back. This camera is getting ALL directions, all the time. I need to learn to take advantage of that .

https://photos.app.goo.gl/vgoLX5rsCjFrLu48A


2nd attempt - board mounted. 9 minutes. More jumping ahead with the zoom-bar I'm sure.  Yes - this is the same place For those who are new - I have only one place with liquid water close by, else it's go to the northernmost ice-free port in America (at the time the Army opened it in the 1940s, anyway ) in Whittier, Alaska. For me - that's about 2.5 hours or so away, depending on tunnel schedule - so most of my winter paddling is spent here at Eklutna Tailrace / Knik River. It's pretty. It trains me in cold-weather paddling in a "relatively safe" scenario.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/272Cxe2j2zJSaRdj8

Oh - I got a new drysuit this year. I had a tear at a seam in my O'Neal and I realized - if I fell in a mile or so downstream at -20f, and this tore, I'd be in deep sh*t. Kokatat Brand (and actual GoreTex)  - it isn't Kevlar or anything - but the build quality is very high and it's much tougher than the O'Neal. Also they have a size King above 3X and 4X Seems to be almost custom for a guy like me. Loose and comfy everywhere but the calves. I waded in up to my chest after my paddle yesterday, to confirm it is as non-leaky as a thought. My boots do take on a bit of water - but with built-in sock-feet in the drysuit this is less of an issue. Temps were not extreme and I was headed home - this was not a test of paddling upstream for an hour at -15 - which would be less fun. It was in the 20's, and I didn't use mittens, just gloves. Spares on board as usual - hat, mittens, more gloves and I turned up my Bivy  - this time I went for the 1 year contract - at $15 a month, having the option of "Call out the rescue" with GPS location is worth it to me. And I have unlimited "Hey - I'm fine" type messages and it happens to also have GPS data in that. Pretty great, I think.

Grabbed a few photos to let you avoid the video I don't watch a lot of video either, lol. Last 3 are just phone pics.

6

Flatwater and Touring / Alaska - More from last winter. And this year.

« on: September 03, 2022, 03:03:26 AM »

I guess I got bored posting the same river over and over lol and y'all are all about winging anyway 

Here's a few from last winter into this spring on the Bark - I'm starting to call this a "stand up sea kayak" to explain what I am doing to people. Around here, sup is mostly the cheapest isups. Some exceptions - not many.

First pic is Dec. 26, 2021 - screen captured from one minute video from the drone some random nice lady sent me
link to video https://photos.app.goo.gl/YTDNGzZjU3WKcJ667
Then Dec 31 - a traffic jam! Well - I met two other paddlers plus my kayaking friend (she's a kayaking nut - going to be over 200 days on the water by the end of the year or more).
Jan 30, 2022
Sept.17, 2021 - out of order - Portage Glacier my second trip here  - I don't think I posted this glacier trip? The lake turned on us on the way out - rough water and it's a fjord-lake - no beaches you just stick it out. or don't make it.

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Flatwater and Touring / Actually rather sketch winter paddle

« on: December 18, 2021, 10:04:53 PM »

I have been down and back up the Knik a few times last winter but I wanted to share the trip with a new paddling buddy(kayaker and new to that as well as to Alaska).As a kayak it's actually tougher to get across sandbars upstream than on sup sup the trip needed to be doswnstream only. Turns out my newbie kayaker was barely able to overcome the current even without a sandbar screwingup thr stroke. I really should have done this run once as a one-way at least once before bringing anyone else. It turned out just fine tho. No pics at the sketchy part . Too much serious paddling.

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Flatwater and Touring / Back to winter paddling

« on: November 14, 2021, 10:00:15 PM »

0f today. Winter came all at once last Thursday with 12 inches of powder and temps that were in 30s to teens and below . I was paddling lakes 2 weeks ago but now everything froze over but the Tailrace.
It was pretty tho.

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The Shape Shack / Melted it. I'm an idiot.

« on: July 20, 2021, 04:35:50 AM »

First - I'm an idiot for not being careful. Tripped/fell on my Joe Bark unlimited up on shore - and shattered the fin mount. I was pretty unhappy with myself - but I figured this was within my normal "figure it out" skill set. I also realized - this had been cracked awhile- a long time - it was REALLY wet in the foam when I cut out the mount. Did some reading - and I knew of course not to leave it in the direct HOT SUN (yeah I did say I am an idiot tho....). Summer is usually pretty cool here in Alaska - I left it outside, covered by a clear plastic to keep out the rain showers. The paper towels stuffed in the cavity were wet the first day but mostly I could just feel dampness in the foam after that. Next morning - I meant to pull a tarp over it - but got called out for work and didn't come out for hours. Well  - that wasn't good to see.

10

Gear Talk / I freaking love my Joe Bark unlimited

« on: June 13, 2021, 07:47:31 AM »

I've had some time to compare it and the Hobie, do some back-to-back paddling with a friend to paddle one or the other with me. The Hobie is a bit faster in a straight line on flat water,  I can manage about 9kph on the Hobie with what feels like the same effort on the Bark doing 8-ish - but it REALLY doesn't turn well - unless you have wind from the side - then it REALLY only wants to turn downwind. I bet it's great as a downwinder. I plan to add a steering rudder - maybe I'll like it then. The Hobie was actually really good as a river tourer this last winter. But the Bark - it's so stable yet makes very good speed. A couple weeks ago I did a couple laps of about 4 miles on a local lake in fairly windy conditions. I looked it up on local pilot-forecast sites, 10 knots with gusts at 15 to 20. Waves on the lake were under a foot - they don't have a lot of time to build. My first lap averaged 5.1 mph even with the battle upwind being pretty strong. The downwind was really really fun - I could actually feel the push of the waves, and when they rolled up under the board a few times they would pour over my feet as I tilted to steer or keep balance on the EXCELLENT secondary stability. What really had me happy was being able to turn across the wind at the bottom of the run and paddle (on one side) while getting hit over and over by waves on the side and STILL I stayed up and felt confident. I really must have liked it because after one lap I did another - at 4.7 average - I blame the wind Maybe it was higher the 2nd time? Man if I lived in Seward I'd be arranging a sea-taxi ride up Ressurection Bay about 2 times a week That downwind stuff is really fun.

I took the Bark yesterday on a river "Race" our local paddling group has put up the last 3 years. This year there was only one other "Racer" - mostly it is people wanting to hang out, take it easy. The one other racer is actually pretty fast, he's paddled the Yukon River Quest. He was in his single canoe he had built especially for racing the YRQ  - he said he's had a couple of attempts with doubles but the partners bailed out so he went solo. I don't think he was putting it all in - but he was tough to catch up to - and to my surprise I passed him and ended up a good half mile ahead for the "win" About 8 miles at about 1:02 - I figure the river is 3mph and I managed a solid 5mph. My GPS on deck was still KPH  - and I was  somewhere from 11 to 14 kph all the time, minus some coasting to take photos. Perhaps if I keep losing weight on Keto I'll get a bit faster - it can't help to have an extra 65 pounds (I'm dreaming of getting down to 200 ) but it's for sure better than the 85-90 I was hauling around before.

So - I love love love the Joe Bark. It's almost perfect. Make it hollow with hatches to stuff it full of gear and I will take it touring on Kechemak Bay. Add steering and (maybe a lee-board?  ) to help with crosswinds/sidewinds and I feel like it would handle more weather than my tendency to get seasick can handle. I wasn't sure that the amount of rocker it has would be good for the paddling I do (mostly flatwater lakes)  - but it's clearly part of the magic of this board. Stable enough, fast enough, maneuverable enough. Not enough tie downs .

I found a video from 2009 with Joe talking about this type of board - so the design is at least that old. Talldude - than you THANK you for putting me onto this board. The Hobie is fun too - but the Bark is awesome. And even with all the shipping costs I have way less cash into BOTH boards than just the Bark at new price (2009 Joe says "about $3500" in the video).

11

Flatwater and Touring / Finally it's breakup in Alaska

« on: May 09, 2021, 03:42:41 PM »

And I finally got a chance to see how the Bark paddles without a current pushing or fighting me. I think it can cruise aat 8kph.

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General Discussion / Finbox on topside? Joe Bark Unlimited

« on: May 09, 2021, 03:30:59 PM »

What's it for? What's the wooden nub fin for? And, does anyone understand how the steering works on Joe Bark SUPs and should I try to copy/build/buy it? No steering on the one I have. On the fun side my local lake is finally partly thawed and I zoomed around the leads and played icebreaker in the rotted chandelier crystals. I am happily able to cruise at 8kph and have touched 10 a few times. I am stable enough to look behind me on this board - usually trying that dumps me

13

Gear Talk / Black Project Hydro Flowx - considering a new paddle

« on: April 26, 2021, 03:44:03 PM »

Super neato looking - maybe I'm a sucker for weird shapes. The "fin" at the top of the blade - to encourage water to close around the shaft - I assume.

Has anyone tried this? The price is startling. Would be about $550 with a first buy discount. I'm thinking a "large" - about 88" - my current goto Ke Nalu is a Konihi 95 cut to 79".

Erik

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Flatwater and Touring / Hobie unlimited 12 klicks on the Knik

« on: February 27, 2021, 11:50:40 PM »

At a balmy 34f! So much warmer than last time out. I decided to make an attempt at getting downriver to where salt and tides interact with ice.

15

Flatwater and Touring / Joe Bark unlimited at -5f

« on: February 14, 2021, 07:11:53 PM »

Got it loaded up this morning.  15f at my house but -5f in the shadow of the  mountain.  I at least got to try it out. Just as Talldude says, good secondary stability.  I wasn't able to try different positions as the deck got super icy except under my feet. The solid foam doesn't transmit any of the warmth like the inflatable.Hit almost 12 kph  ... but I thinks I got a 2 or 3 kph boost from the light current.