Show Posts

316

Sessions / Re: Winter Storm Damon

« on: December 11, 2014, 06:10:42 PM »

No Sups or windsurfers out, just surfers. It was head high to double plus. I would have tried to windsurf on Tuesday, but had to work in the AM and then at night. That left me a short time to dogleg between job sites and shoot a few. 20 minute window without downpour . taken in South County RI. Guy in first shot got creamed just after the photo.
JP

317

Gear Talk / Re: New Tail Handle

« on: November 18, 2014, 07:25:50 PM »

I have been reading this thread for a while, trying to figure out what might work for my fish shaped board. Maybe try this next week when the temps come out of the 30's.

I used a piece of 3/4" abs plastic and some surgical tubing stuffed inside to keep the rope in place. The rope has overhand knots at the ends of the pipe and bowlines at the oval SS clevis ring. I weaved the excess rope around the ring to keep it from dinging the board.

One of my stipulations on this handle is easy removal, as I sail the board more than paddling it. Would like to refine it by replacing all the weaved rope with a neoprene collar and re-doing the 3" line that attaches the leash.

Work in progress.

JP

318

Wind Powered / Re: Adding a sail to fanatic fly11'

« on: October 10, 2014, 08:32:34 AM »

I agree with the 5.8 as a good size. As you get into really big sails, the fun factor tends to go down. If you had an 8.5, you would need a 5 or 6 meter as a second sail. You can handle a reasonable wind range with a 5.8, maybe 10-25mph for your weight.

enjoy it, JP

319

SUP General / Re: Dude.... it swam right through the line-up!!!

« on: October 08, 2014, 06:17:26 PM »

According to ocearch, the shark that was just to the north in Wellfleet went into the bay and is just off Corporation beach. These things really get around. It was 10 miles offshore a few days before.

Kind of funny, it shows the route traveled between pings and it has the shark going right thru Wellfleet center.

Looks like great conditions. It's been 2 months since my last day at Coast Guard, Kind of miss the sandy beach. The rocks in Rhode Island are torture at low tide.

JP

320

Sessions / Rhode Island

« on: September 23, 2014, 04:33:41 AM »

Some big surf in RI. I picked a site that would get some wind, which I figured was a 50/50 proposition. Ended up sailing the sup all day. Early am was biggest surf and it looked a little angry so I kept to an easier spot with 3-5ft waves. Eventually sailed the main break, GOOD stuff! B&W shot was in the am before I went out. 2nd shot of my friend windsurfing after I was done.

JP

321

Sessions / Re: Great day off

« on: September 20, 2014, 08:23:56 PM »

Quote from: supthecreek on September 19, 2014, 10:06:37 AM

sand that hole down... make it smooth, or it will cut through the cord.

It might be an attribute of being an engineer, but it seems I have to modify anything I buy in order to make it right for me.

Monday is now looking good !

322

Sessions / Leashes

« on: September 19, 2014, 04:38:19 AM »

One leg is already shorter than the other . . . Frustrating that the replacement leash, a 10ft surfboard leash, looks a bit less durable than the one I started with. The connection to the board side at the universal is a small cord that seems like it will get abraded quickly, as the hole it goes thru isn't perfectly smooth.

I thank you both for the warning.

JP

323

Sessions / Re: Great day off

« on: September 18, 2014, 06:57:25 AM »

Don't want to lose your board when your far out. I swam toward shore for over 20 minutes one day when a big wave blew up on me about 1/2 mile out in cape cod bay. Windsurfing in 40kt winds, I watched the wind pick up and throw my rig multiple times. I caught up to it about the time it washed up on shore.
I was surprised to see that the leash didn't have some kind of core inside, just solid urethane. Not having a core would have the advantage of some shock absorbing capabilities. Might try Making a leash by threading some rope into flexible tubing.

JP

324

Sessions / Re: Great day off

« on: September 18, 2014, 05:00:11 AM »

Great day off is right.

Morning session in Point Judith area was glassy. At a quick glance it looked really small, but every 5 minutes or so a good set would come through. I got in almost 2 hours when my leash broke. Grabbed the board before it ended up on the rocks. Really odd that it broke a foot in from the board side, not at an end joint. Maybe it somehow got cut by a fin.
Packed it in, ride up to Narraganset surf shop, lunch break, and back down south and met some friends for the breezy afternoon session. I had my windmeter up and got a steady 9-10mph. Any more wind and I would have rigged a sail. It was still surfable, but less people and the waves got bigger, so it was good by me. Waist high plus every few minutes, one overhead set came thru but broke 100ft out past the starting zone we were waiting in.

Shot taken late afternoon after I called it.

JP

325

SUP General / Re: Shark repellant

« on: September 11, 2014, 04:49:18 AM »

Quote from: Off-Shore on September 10, 2014, 12:19:31 PM

The medical term for sweaty feet is hyperhidrosis, while the term for smelly feet is bromhidrosis. Whether booties infused with necremones will smell worse than bronhidrosis is debatable, but it could work..

Stinkfoot puts the hurts on my nose ...

326

SUP General / Risk and Random occurance

« on: September 08, 2014, 05:56:11 PM »

As stated earlier, the odds of being attacked by a shark are low. But it happens. The shark attack is a random happening, and you have little to do to control it. It's an odd kind of demon, hiding dragon. No-one that I or most of us know have been attacked or died of a shark attack. But I bet if 50 of us were standing on a beach ready to surf and a Great White swam visibly by , not one person would rush on out to surf. Maybe some would after a few minutes, others in an hour, some might call it a day. But no-one has been eaten and we still change our behavior because we see something that we all know is there SOMEWHERE.

All the good sports have risk. You can drown, but that's really under your control, somewhat. Motorcycle accidents, Bear attacks, hang glider crashes all dangerous. I ski in Wyoming every winter, and over the last 17 years, I have known about 8 people killed in avalanches or falls, and many more serious injuries. It's far more dangerous than shark attacks but you are the one in control, it's somewhat random if a slope slides when you ski it, but it's your decision on if you want to ski a particular shot on a risky day.

To be honest, I put the fear level of shark attack in seal infested waters in the same worry level as an avalanche, but I pick my days to stay in safe zones and when to go for it.

Surf On, might be good in RI tomorrow.

JP

327