Topics

1

SoCal / Shark at Sunset

« on: February 15, 2022, 12:21:21 PM »

I have always wondered how I would react to seeing a shark up close while I am in the water. Sunday I found out. I was SUP surfing at Sunset on Sunday afternoon, before the Superbowl party at my neighbor's house, and just as I started to paddle away from the break to head back to my car (on crowded days I park about a half mile up PCH and paddle over to the break) I looked down in the water and saw a 6 or 7 foot long  shark casually swim past my board, a few feet below the surface, going the other way! I yelled back to the other surfers "Shark!" and pointed my paddle  generally toward the direction he was headed. Someone asked "How big?" and I yelled back  "6 or 7 foot".  That was it. I was not nervous or scared. However I wonder if I wasn't already on my way home whether I would have  stayed in the water? I don't know. I felt pretty safe up on my board, but I wouldn't have wanted to fall in.

The fact is, now that I think about it, I have seen sharks in the water in the past, just not quite so clearly. It has never stopped me from going out, and this won't either, but it will make me think.

2

SoCal / Wingdings at Topanga

« on: April 17, 2021, 03:36:24 PM »

I just checked the Topanga cam and saw at least 5 wingers, as well as at least one prone foiler scoring rides. And it is a blown out typical on shore afternoon and still crowded as hell because its the weekend. Must be official now, gotta get a foil and wing!

3

SUP General / Where the term "nukin" comes from.

« on: December 09, 2017, 10:36:09 PM »

If anyone ever wondered where the term came from, this is a perfect example. East winds today at Rooster Rock in the Columbia Gorge. The winds blow from the Hanford nuclear reservation towards the west, hence "nuclear wind".

4

Downwind and Racing / First downwinder in the Gorge since the fires.

« on: September 27, 2017, 07:14:24 PM »

The forecast was for fairly strong east winds today so I rallied my two usual paddling buddies to do a Home Valley to Stevenson run. It was my first run in over a month, for a couple of reasons. First, I had prostate surgery about one month ago! I was recovering for a few weeks so I would not have been able to go had it been good, but unfortunately it hasn't been good at all, with the fire and smoke and upset. Today was the first nice day with wind and it seemed like a good opportunity to get back in the water, on an easy, down current run. Well it was lighter than forecast, more like a downbreezer, but it was a beautiful day. I was as out of shape as I expected to be, maybe more, but it was a worthwhile run. Seeing the path of the fire first hand was sobering. There are still smoking hot spots visible.

5

Downwind and Racing / Surprise treat at the end of Northshore downwinder

« on: September 12, 2016, 10:49:32 PM »

One of the treats of a "Wildside" run in the Gorge is at the very end, where there is a sandbar at the White Salmon that produces some surfable waves. This is an example from yesterday, when I finished a good run with this little ride!

6

Downwind and Racing / Paddle found near Swell City

« on: July 01, 2016, 03:29:56 PM »

The following was posted on the iwindsurf Northwest forum. I am posting it here to accommodate the OP.

"On june 29 a SUP paddle was found floating in the middle of the river close to Swell City. Thinking the paddle might have some connection to Big Winds it was taken there to be returned to its rightful owner.

Not sure this is the most appropriate site to post this, but I am unaware of any other popular forums. Hoping this information can be passed where it might help.

Thanks"

7

SoCal / Recent swell in North LA

« on: January 19, 2016, 08:13:46 PM »

Since I am obliged to stay out of the water, recovering from shoulder surgery, I had not been to the beach in weeks. On Monday I couldn't take it anymore and decided to check out the swell in person.  I took some pix to share. These are my local breaks, Topanga and Sunset,  looking pretty good.

8

Downwind and Racing / Javelin available for Naish Paddle Challenge

« on: August 17, 2015, 07:02:43 PM »

Just want to point out that I have placed a classified to sell my nearly new 2014 Javelin LE. I don't race, and found it too narrow to enjoy in downwinders. My loss, somebody's gain. Located in the Gorge.

9

SUP General / Seagull steals Gopro. Shoots credible aerial footage and selfie.

« on: July 25, 2015, 01:40:09 PM »

http://thenakedcamera.com/seagull-shooting-some-nice-aerial-footage-and-even-a-selfie/

10

SUP General / Interesting picture from The Gorge, July 23

« on: July 24, 2015, 01:38:47 PM »

I thought that this meeting of different watercraft was a nice image. Don't know who the paddler is, maybe someone will recognize himself.

11

SoCal / 3rd point Malibu

« on: April 01, 2015, 09:58:37 PM »

I have been enjoying the continuous swells of the last few days. Friday I hit County Line, pretty blown out and messy, but gaining some size already. Saturday was at Sunset, crowded and fun. Sunday was the best, Topanga, well overhead. Monday Topanga again, still good. I skipped Tuesday, and was going to skip today, nothing looked that good on the surf cams, but my wife called from Malibu, where she was with her niece and her kids, playing in the tide pools. She said come on down, there's even some waves. Not hard to convince me, so I went. It was small, mixed up and had some wind on it but it was still worth a go out.

12

SoCal / Downwinding partners in the Santa Monica to Malibu area.

« on: November 08, 2014, 11:44:53 AM »

I tried this last year without any success, but let me give it another try. If anyone on the westside is up for some downwind runs when the conditions are favorable, please get in touch with me. In addition to shuttling together, I think for safety reasons it would be a good idea to not go alone.

13

SUP General / Impressive video

« on: March 06, 2014, 08:53:38 PM »

I thought this might be of interest..

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140305-dolphins-video-megapod-superpod-california-captain-drone/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_fb20140305news-dolpmega&utm_campaign=Content&sf2049705=1

14

Downwind and Racing / Ordered a custom Gorge board, first pictures

« on: November 21, 2013, 03:35:52 PM »

I got a chance to test North Pacific Surfboards new downwind shape last summer, picture below. I had had conversations the previous year with Jeff Hammer, the owner of North Pacific and my neighbor in Underwood, and Art Colyer the shaper, about them trying to built a Gorge specific downwind board. To that end I brought them my old Glide for Art to get some ideas. I specifically liked the "elf shoe" front rocker of the old Glide, but was looking for more stability. So when Jeff called me last summer and offered to let me try what Art had come up with, I leaped at the chance.

That prototype board came in at 13' x 28", with less extreme nose rocker, and very light weight. I loved using it in big Gorge conditions. My reservations were in lighter, less reliable conditions, where the shorter length was a handicap. I would always choose my SIC F16 on those kinds of days.

So when it came time to order a board, I asked for the following: full 14' length (not because I ever plan to race but I want the additional glide), 29" width (I found the 28" board quite stable, and even the 27" wide Glide isn't a problem any more, but I decided on going for total comfort, plus I saw that the new 2014 Glide is also 29), and full on "elf shoe" nose. This will be a Gorge specific board, intended only for downwind in short period, steep, Columbia river swell.

Art has already shaped my favorite board in SoCal, an 8'10" x 32" Widepoint with full windsurf capability. We changed the rocker just enough, flattening middle section, that the board will actually plane when powered up with a sail. When SUSing,  it still turns on a dime. Art was the originator of the Widepoint, building the first ones for Wardog. Seatrend copied the shape, even crediting Art in their sales literature.

15

SUP General / water quality risk

« on: December 03, 2012, 01:22:50 PM »

I wonder what are the standards that people use for deciding when not to go in the water. I know my standards are somewhat flexible, depending on how desperate I am and how long since I last had a go out. I did something I usually avoid last Saturday, which was to go SUSing during a rain event. I didn't want to miss the swell we were having here in SoCal.  I surfed on Thursday, the first day of the storm, and the water was still OK. But on Saturday the water looked like stale coffe, with a foamy head on it.  Of course I wasn't alone, there were probably 30 crawlers and 5 or 6 of us SUPing at Sunset/Will Rogers. We made jokes about not swallowing any water, if possible. Today, about 35 hours later I woke up with a sore throat and a premonition of worse to come. One would think that by age 64 I would know better. Fortunately the swell is over and hopefully if I do get sick I will recover before the next swell hits.