Messages

31

Random / Re: Crikey!

« on: August 22, 2021, 11:26:41 AM »

Whoah!

More From Boston Dynamic

32

Sessions / Re: Summer pulse

« on: August 15, 2021, 02:27:38 PM »

J and Cookie

Thanks for posting! Good waves and surfing. Next week picking up a bit here on the NW Pacific coast. Will try to dust of the Soloshot. The last session filming a friend in DO big waves it did not track well. The camera seemed to get lost in the big pits. Perhaps not set up high enough?

Cheers

Bob

33

Gear Talk / Re: if you could only have one board (2021 version)

« on: July 21, 2021, 11:59:13 AM »

I ride my 8 10 Sunova Speed 95% of the time. There are very few conditions I'd doesn't do well in.

+1 for 8’10” Speeed. I always seem to find an excuse to take it out.

Bob

34

Foil SUP / Re: Prone at the Gorge

« on: July 18, 2021, 07:26:13 PM »

That is insane! What a ride!

Bob

35

Random / Re: Delta Variant is here...

« on: July 14, 2021, 03:30:05 PM »

Thanks TD for the note.

Good news that your wife has recovered. As I am sure you know the vaccinations decrease the probability of being infected by about 90% for the variants before Delta. It is likely lower for the Delta variant but I have not read what the number is. What the vaccines dramatically decrease is the chances of severe illness, hospitalisation and death (all by more than 98%) if you are infected. As viral load and shedding is also decreased they do decrease the risk of transmission if you are infected. In Canada now a large majority of those hospitalised have not been vaccinated. BC is now over 80% of eligible population vaccinated with one dose and two doses around 50%. This is all very positive and provides much hope for the future. We are a long way from the end of this pandemic. There is no consensus as of yet on third vaccinations and when to have them. I have well educated young relatives who are "vaccine hesitant" and who have been infected. I truly hope that our door remains open to them and that their young age shields them from severe illness. It would be easy to climb up on a high horse. In all likelihood I am up on that horse now and do not even realise it. Bob

36

General Discussion / Re: the "state of the market" for kids' boards these days?

« on: July 12, 2021, 05:47:17 PM »

Hi Logan

There is a kids wavestorm SUP advertised on our local craigslist.

https://vancouver.craigslist.org/rds/spo/d/surrey-south-sup-durable-eps-foam/7345374565.html

Unfortunately it is a long way from Florida. Looks like it would tick all of your boxes. I suspect at 89 lbs your daughter might be able to paddle a 9' wavestorm surf board.

Cheers

Bob

37

General Discussion / Re: Is anyone just SUP Surfing anymore?

« on: June 16, 2021, 05:44:18 PM »

Only SUP surf. Mostly try for dawn patrols now as our beaches are crowded by late morning. Hope to follow Creek's example and keep surfing well into my 70s. Crazy good fun!

Bob

38

Random / Re: Steve Gates Memorial Ribbon Cutting

« on: June 14, 2021, 11:56:22 AM »

Magical moment! Thanks for posting.

Bob

39

Random / Re: Electric Surf Vehicles in 2020

« on: May 31, 2021, 01:53:15 AM »

I would break out in a rash if I bought another ICE vehicle. I spent the afternoon getting my race car ready for my last race in July. I thought I was done with this, but this year's Kastner Cup race is in Portland, and Kas did everyone the disservice of dying this year. Super cool guy, I want to be Kas when I grow up, but nope, not happening. So one more race. Today I got everything hooked up, added all the appropriate fluids, installed the distributor perfectly, farted around with a host of little issues, and then discovered:
A. I wasn't getting sparks all the time

and B: cylinders three and four have water in them.

So yeah, fuck me, I have to pull the cylinder head and see WTF the head gasket is doing. Electric cars don't have cylinder heads or head gaskets. they don't make 140 horsepower, they make like 600 horsepower and require maintenance every alternate millennium.

Grumpy.

Then I did a little welding for a friend and had nothing but problems. WTF is going on with my spool gun? I'm trying to weld aluminum and the weld is stacking up and burning. Is nothing working today? Well, it might work better if you had aluminum wire in the gun instead of stainless steel. Who put that in there!?! Oh, yeah, me.

So that was my day. How was yours.

Thanks Bill!
Your post made me smile. My day was interesting and vaguely weird .....how do you get a clean catch urine specimen from your 102 year old mother and then my wife calls me from 1000 kilometres away that our old dog is having troubles lifting his leg to pee (I have flown into the Covid North American epi-center). Such is life! While I wish it was not so, it is better than the alternative that your friend Kas has chosen. Monday I will fly/drive back home in my M3 electric surf(?) vehicle and Tuesday back out in the surf. I am insanely fortunate.

Cheers

Bob

40

Random / Re: Cover songs.

« on: May 24, 2021, 09:32:12 PM »

I recommend the movie "Echo in the Canyon" to anyone that likes this flavor of CaliRock.

Just watched "Echo in the Canyon" on Fri nite, and I enjoyed it too.
Next on the list for that genre is ... "The Wrecking Crew"

If you liked "Echo in the Canyon" in a similar vein is Linda Ronstadt's "The Sound of My Voice". What an amazing vocalist. Able to do it all, including opera and Jazz.

Bob

https://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Linda-Ronstadt-The-Sound-of-My-Voice/81112630

41

Gear Talk / Re: New board next week!?

« on: April 21, 2021, 12:23:12 PM »

Hopefully pulling the trigger on my new board next week. Wanted to touch base and get any last minute feedback/extra info.

I really only take surf seriously. Any flatwater paddling usually has the dog involved and is me trying to reach an island to relax on for the day.

So:

My intro to surfing was through kiting. After around 300 strapless sessions I gave paddleboarding a shot to save me on the no wind days. Little did I know that I would be so insanely hooked so fast...

I learned to catch waves on the Hala Playa inflatable 10'11" x 30" and totally fell in love. Maybe it was the empty break and endless waves. Maybe it was the dolphins around me. Maybe it was the fantastic pounding I took. Not sure, but that board was fun to learn on.

After that, I switched to the Starboard Blend/Element 9'8" x 30" 146l. This pushed me way forward but still felt really big, plus, weighing in at over 20lbs it was a bear to carry in to a lot of places. The nice thing is that this was still a viable all around board.

So that brings me to next week:

Looking at the Quatro Carve Pro, but I can't seem to find too many people who own it, or have feedback on it. I'm especially drawn to it because the lengths seem a lot shorter to me than the average paddleboard I've come across. I'm used to riding a 5'1" board when doing all my airs, fliptricks, etc as a kiter, and step up to my 5'3" "gun" lol when the waves get big.

The carve pro sizes I am looking at are the 8'4" x 30' 130l gf 1.5 (I'm guessing that with wetsuit, paddle, lunch on board I'm at my heaviest at 86.36kg.)

and the 8'2" x 29" 120l gf 1.39 in the spring. I tend to swing about 10lbs from winter to summer time so, in theory my summer gf on this board could be 1.46.

I'm still learning, and don't have any illusions about being amazing on the board yet, but I'm really drawn to the smaller board because of the slightly narrower width. I can usually stay out for a maximum of 3 hours before my energy bottoms out.

Has anyone ridden these boards?
Am I biting off more than I can chew if I drop to the 120l board?
Everything I've ridden has been 30" wide, will it feel like a big difference dropping to 29" wide?

I guess I'll also throw out that I have 50 days scheduled for surfing this year from May-September. Always in 5 day chunks. So, time to get acclimated to a board seems reasonable in my mind.

Thanks in advance everyone!

I suspect you have looked at this but here is a bit more info that might help. https://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php?topic=35450.0

42

Random / Re: Surfing Quotes

« on: April 19, 2021, 07:19:28 PM »

At every beach there is a pack of locals, mostly older guys. All of them with vans. Some moderately employed, some moderately retired. They love to stand on the bluff, car park, trail head, or pier entrance and drink coffee. Stand close enough and you can hear these same quotes from LaJolla to Tofino:


"Can't believe the number of kooks in the water today" - Old guys with arms crossed on the bluff

"If the tide was right this would be a good day to go out" - Old guys with arms crossed on the bluff

"There's so many groms in the water its not even worth going out today" - Old guys with arms crossed on the bluff

"Can't believe how many fuckin' pansies show up when the weather is warm, where were you when it was 38 degrees and raining?" Old guys with arms crossed on the bluff

"Look at this kook, trying to go right on a left" - Old guys with arms crossed on the bluff

"Wind is going to pick up in 20 minutes or I would be out there"  - Old guys with arms crossed on the bluff

"Didn't even put on my suit Saturday it was a zoo" -  Old guys with arms crossed on the bluff

"Doesn't anyone work anymore?" Old guys with arms crossed on the bluff

"This pier/jetty used to break perfectly until (insert agency) built the (insert object), mother fuckers." Old guys with arms crossed on the bluff



Never hear this stuff in Hawaii, the old guys all actually surf there.

Priceless! (Old guy with arms crossed laughing !)

43

Random / Re: Doge to a Dollar

« on: April 19, 2021, 06:08:43 AM »

Yes I also was totally clueless. I had no idea what these posts meant. Thanks(?) for keeping me current. I have been on a news fast trying to give myself a mental holiday.

Bob

44

Random / Re: Electric Surf Vehicles in 2020

« on: April 18, 2021, 12:51:53 PM »

We were very close (placed a deposit) to purchasing a Hyundai Kona EV over a year ago. The dealer tried to sell us an extended warranty that included free oil changes. When we crunched the numbers the Hyundia was going to cost approximately 3K more than a base model Tesla 3 standard range plus. The Kona would have been a better surf vehicle but we decided on the Tesla. Thank goodness we did. All of the Kona’s world wide have been recalled because of fires. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hyundai-motor-electric-recall-idUSKBN2BG3ET

Traditional methods of putting cars together by traditional auto companies are going to have difficulty competing with a the non-traditional North American company that is Tesla. It is a year out and I still love taking this car out for a drive. The drive across island is one of the most winding mountain roads in Canada. Sports bikes commonly drive it on Sundays. This little car is insanely well built and handles and accelerates like a sports car.

Cheers

Bob

45

Random / Re: Surfing Quotes

« on: April 16, 2021, 06:45:36 PM »

Anything from Spicolli

I had no idea who this was! Found a Spicoli (Sean Penn) quote "Surfing is not a sport. It's a way of life - no hobby. It's a way of looking at that wave and saying: 'hey bud, let's party!" "Oh, gnarly!"