Messages

31

Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Re: Foiling in the Grenadines

« on: February 27, 2023, 01:27:05 PM »

Beautiful spot.  SMOOOTH turn.  This site need a thumbs up button.

Haha thanks Admin, easy foiling in those conditions..I am used to victory at sea on the other side of the island below my house.

32

Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Re: Foiling in the Grenadines

« on: February 27, 2023, 01:26:02 PM »

I never see any other foilers in your videos. Are you the only one?

I'll bet you can't wait to get back to the cool clear waters of Maine.   

Hey Badger Grew up down here and was almost always the only surfer, windsurfer, SUP surfer and now foiler on the water around Bequia.  Passing boats would sometimes bring European windsurfers, but they visit the other side of the island. On the south side where I live we get biggest wind and waves and not many tourists venture this side as the conditions can be intimidating and tough access.. I did see 1 wing foiler in the harbor this trip and always see a e-foil or 2  off some mega yacht   Neighboring St.Vincent has great surf and only recently did some local kids start surfing.for years it was just me and a friend who owns a charter boat company.

33

Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Re: Foiling in the Grenadines

« on: February 27, 2023, 01:19:40 PM »

Stella blu, great sailing, foiling, kiting and yes surfing throughout St.Vincent and Grenadines.  I’ve been surfing and windsurfing down here all my life.  On Bequia where I have my home,  we have a few reef bream and an incredible point break when conditions are right...more of a SUP surfing wave and I have posted videos in this forum before.  St. Vincent has amazing surf, sometimes very very big. Reef, point and beach breaks line the east coast.  Expect to surf alone as I do..can be spooky.  Some reef breaks around Union, Palm and Canouan ..as you already know Tobago Cays are amazing place for wind sports...

Usually good winds here in the winter months. I have been here 3 weeks and will have foiled 13 days of 20and surfed the other 3 .could have wing foiled 4m everyday.  The trade winds are pretty constant here December through March..Christmas winds are off the charts and sometimes I have to stay home 4m wing too big. 

34

Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Re: UFO unidentified floating object...

« on: February 27, 2023, 01:15:04 PM »

Yes lots of turtles and I always see them, but never saw anything before impact

35

Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / UFO unidentified floating object...

« on: February 27, 2023, 06:33:16 AM »

Not sure what I hit but it brought me to a quick and violent stop...

36

Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Foiling in the Grenadines

« on: February 23, 2023, 08:01:08 PM »

So used to foiling in big swells and chop below my house, I finally went to other side of the island to enjoy some well behaved, relaxing  flat water for a change on Bequia, St.Vincent & Grenadines.

37

Sessions / Re: First time out in a while ..forgot how fun it was

« on: February 04, 2023, 05:52:03 AM »

Hey Creek! Great news you bought a place down here.  We have to get together. I am in Vero Beach but only shore pound here so I usually head up Melbourne way .  I’ve been so into foiling ocean and flat water, that I don’t SUP much, but had a blast last week.  Knowing you are around, I’d be happy to surf more.  I leave Tuesday for 3 weeks down to Grenadines but back in March ..
I do enjoy my 8’7” Jimmy Lewis Kwad..a little sluggish compared to my Hobie Raw, but I am not in the best SUP shape and like the additional width and volume.   Looking forward to meeting up...

38

Sessions / Re: Travel blunder, but some great recovery!

« on: February 03, 2023, 12:01:15 PM »

all my flights are international on American, and when I book the ticket I have to submit my Passport # and expiration etc.  Then again when I check in online I have to submit the passport info...funny you didn't have to do that when booking your trip.

You are right about some countries not allowing you to enter if your passport close to expiring. I was in Trinidad and had 10 months left on my passport, and immigration took me into a private room and gave me the once over.  They let me stay, but it was eye opening.

Lesson learned...

39

Sessions / Re: First time out in a while ..forgot how fun it was

« on: February 01, 2023, 09:54:13 AM »

hey Badger, ya the 8'7x29" JL Kwaad..still a fun board and catches waves surprisingly easily for such a short board. I felt a bit out of shape for SUP surfing, but had a blast

so funny how these days I pray for wind for foiling...been out in some decent sized non breaking swells and loving it.   hope you are well and keeping warm!

Don

40

Sessions / First time out in a while ..forgot how fun it was

« on: February 01, 2023, 06:04:12 AM »

With wing foiling consuming 99% of my time and loving it, a calm day with long period swells got me back on my SUP for the first time in a year.  Had a fun clean session in Melbourne Beach, FL  with friends.  It was a lot of fun, and brought back memories.

41

Travel, Trips, Destinations / Re: Costa Rica - Familly trip with a bit SUP Surfing?

« on: January 13, 2023, 07:46:23 AM »

+1 on Nosara...something for everyone

42

Training, Diet, and Fitness / Re: Sciatica pain: What to avoid and what to do

« on: December 30, 2022, 07:15:20 AM »

Suffered from Sciatica a couple of summers ago.  It can be life changing. My relief and solution was doing the MacKenzie stretches multiple times a day. They really work and now when I feel the slightest hint of sciatica, I stretch and it goes away.  I do them almost everyday even when  pain free.

43

General Discussion / Re: Sinus Infection

« on: December 14, 2022, 06:34:53 AM »

Learned about balloon sinuplasty procedure from this video about big wave surfer.....I imagine he gets quite a lot of water in his head after wipe outs.  Problem with a deviated septum like mine, the water  won’t drain out leading to infection.

44

General Discussion / Re: Sinus Infection

« on: December 11, 2022, 06:25:52 AM »

I have sinus infections a lot and I just met with an ear nose and throat dr.  I have a deviated septum.  Smoke and bad air from dirty air conditioner filters in hotels usually trigger my infections.  Surfing did too, but now that I SUP and foil more I don’t get much water in my head.

I am possibly having an”balloon sinuplasty “ procedure  in which they inflate a ballon in your nose opening up the nasal passage to help drain and prevent infections.  It’s permanent , an easy in office procedure and back to work in a day and surfing in a week.
If this works it will be a dream come true as I have battled painful sinus infections for too long.

45

General Discussion / Re: Should this site be renamed the foil zone?

« on: November 29, 2022, 05:13:28 AM »

I was as stoked as anyone with the introduction of SUP and SUP surfing, and it rejuvenated my hibernating surfing career.  I started surfing in 1970 at age 9 and I lived and breathed surfing through my college years.  Jobs scattered around the country and world didn't always offer me the  opportunity to surf.  Enter windsurfing which I was drawn to and a way to be on the water and adrenaline pumping despite the lack of surf.  Once I started wave sailing, I became addicted to windsurfing, and I'd pray for wind as much as I would pray for surf. Conditions at my Caribbean home favored windsurfing to surfing, so there I was. I also loved the fact I could windsurf alone, far from any maddening crowds.   Then I discovered SUP..it allowed me to surf outer breaks which I never would have experienced or ventured out to investigate.   Suddenly I was praying for no wind again.   I could catch waves on my SUP that I could never prone paddle into. It was a new world for me and one I enjoy to this day and a part of my exercise routine.  Flat water SUP I also enjoy very much, and I have 10 Cape Cod Bay Challenges in the books as a result.  As years went by and more and more people got into SUP surfing here in the U.S. , I found the crowds, parking issues and altercations in the water all too common, and my stoke was quickly fading.  I still enjoy many solitary surf sessions in the Caribbean which I relish, but back in the U.S., I just wasn't enjoying SUP surfing any more and would find excuses not to paddle out or even check the surf cams...  next Covid hit and I spent hours upon hours on YouTube checking out windsurfing videos which led me to some Naish foiling videos, and I knew I had to try wing foiling.   At 60 I couldn't believe there was a new sport, aside from pickle ball that someone at my age could learn and be totally stoked all over again.  With a surfing and windsurfing background, wing foiling came pretty easily to me.  I also had many great suggestions and tips from fellow 'Zoners and for that I am most grateful to this site.  Foiling is so much easier on my aging body than the constant pounding of windsurfing, and riding unbroken swells far from shore and far from the crowds is such an amazing feeling.  I describe it to friends as a "Magic carpet Ride."  While I haven't turned my back on the world of SUP, or the Stand up Zone, I just have another hobby which takes a lot of my time and interest, and I am thankful that many foilers contribute to the 'Zone.  I am a fan  of anything that gets you out of the house and on the water.