Messages

646

Downwind and Racing / Re: Why not Catamaran OR Tri???

« on: July 21, 2009, 04:10:47 PM »

Great mental image you created of the high speed high catapult Bill - not impressed?? - probably in fear of their lives!!!

I've got this cartoon image in my mind of a big man in red ballooning shorts and a trapeze harness landing hard on the sand with an almighty ooff and poking out from between you and the sand are some petite,  hands and feet with nail polish matching your shorts!

647

Gear Talk / Re: New Kona "Step tail " Sup

« on: July 16, 2009, 08:46:32 PM »

I've got the 10'5" Kona windsurf board and it works pretty well as a SUP, just a bit tippy at 65cm or 25 1/2  inches.

http://www.kona-windsurfing.com/products/kona10_5.asp

It also has the step tail and really does make the board surprisingly loose on a wave.

648

SUP General / Re: help for injury

« on: July 12, 2009, 03:19:04 PM »

Friend of mine went on a surfing trip to New Guinea, got a coral scrape on his ankle and did the "local wisdom" thing of putting lime juice onto it - should have known better, he's a pharmacist! 10 days later his knee swells up and he collapses, ends up in hospital for two weeks on a drip and has had two operations on his knee to scrape out the infected tissue. They told him in hospital that he was lucky, a 16yo kid had to have his heart valve replaced from a similar coral injury - the bugs move though the blood stream and find some nice little backwater to settle into, commonly heart valve or large joints like the knee, known as septic arthritis. Take good care of it Snappyhead and win that race!! 

649

Downwind and Racing / Re: my downwinder today

« on: July 08, 2009, 06:29:02 AM »

You need to get some buddies out there with you Shiner, it's so much more fun. Even if there is a speed difference in the group the front guys just stop and dangle the  legs in for a while to let the others catch up. I've done a couple of windy down-winders on my own, there is this funny little nagging sense of trepidation as you head off knowing that you have 10 or 15 miles out there on your own. In 35 knots on your own things can go wrong real fast, seeing people fall and 12 or 14 feet of epoxy fly through the air certainly makes you think!!

650

SUP General / Re: Joe Blair Jumps On The China Wagon?

« on: June 29, 2009, 03:19:17 PM »

I'd love to see some "Chinese" Joe Blair in Australia. Can't find a symbol for LIVE LONG AND PROSPER    "Y"  maybe,  but you get the idea!

651

SUP General / Re: Coast guard classification of SUP?

« on: June 24, 2009, 02:54:37 PM »

How do you carry your fins? On the board would be comfortable but if your leggie broke no help, I guess you could strap them to your camelback somehow. I remember a friend on Maui used to carry fins when windsurfing bommies far off shore, it's pretty easy to get separated from your windsurf gear in big waves.

652

Technique / Re: tendonitis question- paddling forearm issue

« on: June 22, 2009, 06:28:26 AM »

Pre SUP I had pretty severe tennis elbow for about a year, tried physiotherapists, sports medicine physicians,  massage, strong anti-inflammatories - nothing really worked. Finally someone put me onto a myotherapist, she did "dry needling" on my arm, that is finding trigger points, the really sore stiff points you can feel yourself and putting acupuncture needles into those points. Somehow the needle releases the trigger points - it is not acupuncture, more like a deep tissue massage but far more effective and less painful. Within three sessions pain was completely gone, myotherapists are college trained health professionals, it's not hocus-pocus and for me it worked like nothing else.

She also taught me a stretch which helped keep me out of trouble. Straighten your sore arm by your side, bend your wrist so that your fingers and palm are parallel to the floor and angle them laterally away form your body, then with the other hand pull your sore arm fingers up towards the sore arm shoulder. It seems counter-intuitive, like you should really be stretching your wrist the other way but it stretches right up into your neck, frequently the starting point for tennis elbow. I pretty much do that stretch whenever I think of it or even on the water if I feel and twinge in my neck or elbows.

Good luck with the problem, I know it can be a real downer - feels like one of those things you are going to have for life, I'm sure you can beat it though.  I've also changed to a Kialoa Methane from a Werner Spanker also shortened my stroke length and increased stroke rate, thankfully no problems at all with elbows any more.

653

SUP General / Re: Stoneaxe Surgery

« on: June 18, 2009, 01:41:44 AM »

Get well Stoneaxe, I often think of you because your fantastic positive outlook comes through in every post. But you know what, the image I like best is you doing the tattoo on your daughters leg - wild!

654

Gear Talk / Re: dihedral (werner nitro) or no dihedral (kialoa methane)?

« on: June 16, 2009, 02:56:16 PM »

Hi Linter, I have both paddles as David said. It took me a couple of sessions to fully adapt to the lack of dihedral of the Methane, certainly different to the locked in feel of the Spanker.

I find that first timers I take out are better on the Werner, the dihedral keeps the paddle straighter in the water and they have something to pull against which maybe gives them a greater sense of stability. Seems to take people quite a while to get to the point that they can comfortably increase the stroke rate and "get" the benefit of the smaller paddle, I'm talking beginners here, not advanced people who just prefer the grunt of a bigger dihedral.

 I'm only 145lbs so take that into account,  I almost always use the Methane - but - if I'm in the mood for a good workout it is fun to swap back to the Spanker and grind out a bit of a power run. Because I'm familiar with both paddles they feel natural, there is almost no adjustment time when swapping between. I enjoy having the variety, bit like a quiver of boards, if I had to pick it would be the Methane without a doubt though, particularly in surf. Going by your brutal "weak"self assessment (which I don't believe!) you will love the Methane once you get used to the difference.

I have found on the Penetrator that the lightness of the Methane seems to go well with subtlety of balancing the displacement hull. The rounder hull shape is very sensitive to trim, if you paddle with one rail depressed the board will turn with each stroke. The combo of higher stroke rate, smaller paddle and faster boat speed is just superb.

655

Downwind and Racing / Re: Curtis racing fins

« on: June 04, 2009, 07:31:08 PM »

Are these just weed fins? Wondering if Curtis will make the more upright "traditional" raceboard SUP fins as well.

656

Downwind and Racing / Re: New 14' Penetrator pics.

« on: June 02, 2009, 11:08:25 PM »

Hi LaPerouse Bay. certainly appreciate the sentiment, just have this funny feeling that even at 50yo I'm not grown up enough to own anything with the prancing horse on it  . That logo would certainly look very fine though.

657

Downwind and Racing / Re: New 14' Penetrator pics.

« on: June 02, 2009, 02:10:22 PM »

Funny you say that Kaweeka, I even talked to Stuey about an Ed "Daddy" Roth type image on the nose! Imagine the crazy bloodshot eye guy with his hand on top of the gear shift - pretty easy to turn that into a hand on top of a paddle. In a way I'm glad I just kept it really clean though.

658

Downwind and Racing / Re: New 14' Penetrator pics.

« on: June 02, 2009, 01:22:18 PM »

I'm the proud owner! Board was designed for both flat water and for downwind runs in our local Port Phillip Bay. The bay get very strong winds at times, usually for a down-winder it can be 30 knots or more and because it is relatively shallow develops significant waves. We did a run last year that was pretty extreme conditions, by the end a 12 foot board looked small on the face!! I've really only caught ripples on it so far, just haven't had the right conditions yet, it's an absolute pleasure in flat water though.

659

Gear Talk / Re: Anyone try the AHD Sea Lion ?

« on: June 01, 2009, 04:51:07 PM »

Sorry to hear that Bill, the first board that I tried that had your name on it was an AHD wave board and I loved it. After hearing what happened to you the experience has "soured" somewhat.
I can still remember the few people that ripped me off over the years in business, those memories are pretty hard to shake unfortunately. 

660

Technique / Re: fastest way to catch a wave

« on: May 28, 2009, 08:11:34 PM »

I've found that doing down-winders on longer boards has really helped me catch surfing waves on a short board. During a down-winder (at least where I do them) you don't see the next wave coming, instead you just feel the nose of the board drop down as the wave before passes by - that is the time to paddle, right at the bottom of the wave as the wave starts to lift the tail. It's almost as if you are trying to plough into the back of the wave that has just passed.

Until I got this most of the waves simply went under the board, I also think that leaning right forward and really paddling deep for just a couple of strokes seems to engage the front of the board. For me it's a little like snow skiing, the steeper it is the more you need to lean forward, in the case of the ski to engage the tip and start the ski flexing. Different reason for doing it on a sup but similar feel.