Messages

1

SUP General / Surfline vid shows me nearly hit by party boat

« on: May 26, 2019, 06:38:23 AM »

Was paddling back into Morro Bay Harbor yesterday (May 25) and was almost clipped by a cattle boat heading out. To see on Surfline rewind- yesterday May 25, video clip of Morro Bay Harbor Entrance, clip starts at 7:06 am, you can first see me trying to come in around the North Jetty at 6:20 minutes into the video. Starts to get really hairy 8 minutes into the video clip. Wind conditions were nice yesterday so decided to paddle out to the Whistle Buoy outside the harbor. Boat traffic pushed me way north coming back in, so decided to try to sneak in along the North Jetty (to avoid boat traffic). As I was scrambling to get in between the jetty and the green "can," the party boat Fiesta banked a hard right and headed straight at me. Then, instead of going around, it decided to go between me and the jetty. I was probably about 50 yards from the jetty. Thought I was dead. Looked up to watch it go by. Of course the boat behind the Fiesta buzzed me from the other side, just to make it more exciting. Told the Harbor Patrol about the incident. Not sure of that outcome. Kinda thought I was overreacting until I saw the Surfline vid. Now I am just pissed.

2

Gear Talk / water sports fitness tracker

« on: April 11, 2018, 09:51:26 AM »

Thinking of getting another fitness tracker for SUP and swimming. Currently have a Garmin Vivoactive HR. Works great but is too snappy to auto-delete activities from contact with a wet sleeve or other forms of moisture. Like today, after a paddle, pushed the stop button, took off my gloves to save the activity, and my wet sleeve contacted the screen and erased the activity. Bummer. And for swimming forget it. Stop-start-erase-athon when taking a break. Any other products out their that are not so sensitive to accidental touch screen water contact? Cheers
d

3

SUP General / Re: Snapped paddle update

« on: March 03, 2018, 12:28:09 PM »

Really meant for this to be a more positive story and if anything the negativity belonged to me and not the company. Also, like someone else mentioned, sounds like more patience was needed on my part. Hope to do better next time. Cheers.

4

SUP General / Snapped paddle update

« on: March 01, 2018, 09:33:35 AM »

A while back snapped my paddle shaft from a relatively small incident. Called the company and was initially annoyed when they didn't get right back to me. Apparently ZRE's working hours aren't so year round in NY as we are here in sunny (not today though) California . Go figure. Anyway, they did eventually get back to me and said that if I sent back the paddle face and handle they would replace the shaft with a beefier version, free of charge. OK, now am much less annoyed and actually quite pleased. Love when companies stand up tp their products. Just thought I share this happy ending. Cheers.
d

5

SUP General / Cracked my paddle in open ocean

« on: February 02, 2018, 01:46:10 PM »

Decided to take the skinny board outside of Morro Bay today. Looked really clean but lots of side swell a ways outside. Made it around the whistle buoy about a half mile out when a sneaker pitched me. Paddle got in the way of my downward pursuit and definitely didn't like how it felt after. Such a bummer. My other paddle, the V-Drive, has literally broken my falls too many times to count, with more than a few times being surprised that it hadn't snapped. Anyways limped my way back inside and from the looks of it was lucky it got me back in.  Funny thing was that I was thinking about getting a prone board this morning just to get a little stronger in that department. On the plus side had some extra time to improve my swimming skills and am nearly up to 1000 meters. Cheers and Happy SB Day.
d

6

SUP General / Re: How well can you swim?

« on: January 31, 2018, 04:49:36 PM »

Excellent replies to all. A little disclaimer here. I did this 50 yard swim 20 minutes after finishing up a 9 mile SUP paddle. So I was already more than a little gassed. But that really is the point here. Were I to be dropped out from a boat and told to swim in, with wetsuit on, I am sure it would be no problem. But then were I to paddle 4.5 miles up to the Ab Farm from Morro, with but boardshots and a patagonia shirt, and then get into trouble, boy that would be tough in 50 something degree water and a not so friendly coastline. So mainly brought this subject up for all of us to consider in real world conditions and what could we do if tragedy were to strike. For example, I never paddle salt water w/o a VHF radio. Would it save me? Maybe, but it's just one more tool to keep me above ground (or seas). Just hoping to keep us zoners out of trouble or at least ready to take it on. And yeah, swimming is becoming part of my regualr regime. Cheers.
d

7

SUP General / How well can you swim?

« on: January 31, 2018, 12:40:39 PM »

Thinking of joining the Pale Kai OC race team in Avila and have to do a swim test to qualify. Not much, just a 50 yard swim. Have always felt quite safe in the water, especially with a leash attached to the most fun PFD ever. Have recently done a couple practice swim tests and damn, I am in trouble if I lose my board way outside in open ocean. That haunting scene in the movie Under the Skin keeps popping up in my thoughts. Hoping to remedy this with a regular swim day each week. Just curious how many of ya'll feel like me and just pray that that leash doesn't break at the worst possible time. Cheers.
d

8

SUP General / Re: Local fishes seen in your region

« on: December 09, 2017, 09:03:29 PM »

HaHa Rider. We all saw the one "token" guitar fish. Cheers.
d

9

SUP General / Local fishes seen in your region

« on: December 09, 2017, 02:36:40 PM »

On my last paddle saw a nice quattro of fish species- batrays, leopard sharks, a round stingray, and a guitarfish. Just curious about what kinda fish other zoners are seeing on their local paddles. Cheers.
derek

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Downwind and Racing / Re: "Chimneys" Downwind Run - Long Island, NY, USA

« on: November 24, 2017, 04:17:37 PM »

That was great. Started out with a "found footage" feel and was just waiting for everything to go sideways. Good job.
d

11

Gear Talk / Re: Battle of the clogs

« on: November 24, 2017, 04:06:26 PM »

Was hoping that this thread got some traction...

12

SUP General / Re: What are you thankful for?

« on: November 23, 2017, 02:12:55 PM »

A roof over my head, regular meals, health, and that I can hear the whistle buoys at night. Mostly the whistle buoys!
d

13

SUP General / 1st "good" ding

« on: November 23, 2017, 12:14:32 PM »

After getting out of the water from practicing some buoy turns front and back, someone yells "you're bleeding D!" Look down and yep, shin is covered in blood, coming from a nice gouge in my knee. Another childhood badge of honor. Go over to the board and there it is, a mighty rail ding that still contains some hair and flesh. Now instead of getting bummed about my first ding in the Puma, I get a warm fuzzy that this ding originated from something good, like practicing a backside pivot turn out in some chop and getting pitched for my efforts. Unlike every other ding, which usually involves the tail bonking into a rock from a lazy walk up the trail, this one can only be a source of pride, one that I will happily patch up manana. Not all buggers are bad I guess. Happy Turkey Day.
derek

14

Gear Talk / QuickBlade V-Drive vs ZRE Power Surge ZX4

« on: November 06, 2017, 01:06:50 PM »

Still groggy from the flight home from Florida yesterday, accidently grabbed the V-Drive (91) instead of the spanking new ZX4 (90) for this morning's chilly as Hell paddle. Great problem to have I guess. Man that V-Drive is easy to paddle. The ZX4 paddles really well, but damn does it seem to take extra attention to get a clean initial catch. The second my mind veers off, splash-fests and cavitations galore follow. On the V-Drive, that initial catch just seems to do all the work by itself, just grabbing up every molecule of water and holding it like Hannibal Lecter's body restraints. On the plus side, the ZX4 is as advertised in reguards to shoulder fatigue. After 8 miles of digging water, the upper extremities feel ready for a second run. With the V-Drive, my arms and delts are barking like a guard dog on Halloween only half way through. Still hoping to put both paddles through their paces, using the V-Drive for the shorter runs and races and keeping the ZX4 on hand for the long hauls, at least if I can finally figure out how to initiate a consistantly clean catch. Cheers.
derek

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Gear Talk / Re: The Fin Thread

« on: October 29, 2017, 12:35:23 PM »

Yeah you're right Burchas, a tad ambitious. Wow 19 pages for that thread. Sheesh! That's some great info Luc. Cheers
d