The Ohmygoditsfreezing Gorge Report

[JP4]

Finally got my first downwinder of the season, after being here for several weeks already. Also my first downwinder after shoulder surgery and my first time out on my latest board, a Bullet 14 V2. All in all, a good day! We did our usual Northshore run, from Drano lake to the White Salmon. It will take a few more runs before I get back in shape, and the same to get the new board dialed in. I don't know if was just me but the middle of the run, from tunnel 5 through the Hatchery, was as mixed up and confused as I have ever seen it. I went through there feeling, and looking I'm sure, like a kook. Fell off multiple times. Had a wise ass kiter go by while I was sitting on my board after another fall and ask if I was "stuck".

The good news is my shoulder doesn't hurt. The bad news is that everything else does.

Got out today too. What time did you go? We had a really solid run that got just a little soft from Mitchell to Split Rock and then was throttling pretty good the rest of the way.
My buddy Tre and I had a great run at 1pm.  The current is way down today (maybe for the oil leak at Mosier Ck?) so the bumps were ridiculously easy to connect. Wind was a little out of the south so we ended up on the Washington side most of the run. This was my first run after getting some bone spurs chiseled out of my knee and getting some more meniscus sucked out  2 1/2 weeks ago, but I had it wrapped up well, so not much pain. I also broke a toe a couple days ago. Fixed that with duct tape. I was not going to be denied on a blow dryer thermal day
Lazlo, I think we had the same board progression the last couple years. I went from a 2014 Naish Jav LE to a Bullet V2 as well. I'd like to hear your impression of the change. For me it's been a breath of fresh air. Though I had no balance issue on the LE, I just couldn't make it go fast like the big boys do (or even vertically challenged guys with big arms, gorgeous hair and nice tans, not naming any names   ). 
I'm loving the V2. It's so surfy and easy to ride and I'm getting it pretty dialed (I've probably got 20 days on it, including about 8 downwinders). I find I tend to stand  farther back than I did on previous boards, maybe about 10-12" behind the handle when it's blowing pretty good, which seems to make it take off better and being nice and narrow back there, super turny. It's so much more maneuverable that I'm able to hit the seams a lot more accurately and consequently connect more bumps. I think it's the perfect lazy man's Gorge board. The only thing I don't like is the leash plug is a little forward, so I tend to step on my leash more. Might be time for the waist leash.
JP

[PonoBill]

I did a run today, I needed it. Light, but there were a few bumps to be had. Tomorrow is supposed to nuke, but I have to go to Portland for my annual physical--keeping up my car racing license. I should be back about 3:00, and I'll progbably go straight to Viento and do a run. Either get my wife to shuttle me back or hitch.

[covesurfer]

JP4, you are a faka. And, since you insist on being a faka, I'll share this: Today's Kihei to Makena run had a water temp of approximately 78 degrees. No oil in the water and it was crystal blue, not muddy brown. Air was about 81 degrees. Wind in the low 20's. Not a bad day for a downwindah in Hawai'i nei.

(On the other hand, Headmount had a shark stalking him after he fell in. His leash wrapped on his rudder and the shark was about 2 meters away. He cleared the leash with his paddle from the relative comfort and safety of his board deck and continued on his run. However, I'm happy to report that no geezers were hurt during today's downwind run off Kihei.)

And, you definitely should rock the waist leash. That would be freakin kook perfection right there. Just a hint, if PB does it, it is not automatically kool. Kool is just one letter away from Kook

[PonoBill]

I do confess I lack the fashion sense to understand why a leash on my ankle or calf is cool but one attched to the camelback I already wear is kooky. Ankle leashes feel funny on my blue and white compression socks anyway, and the red lettering on the cuff clashes with my purple and orange boardshorts.

[covesurfer]

Yeah, and we miss you ovah hea. I don't get to call you every single day and ask you 'eh, wea you stay?' On the other hand, my gear is a lot safer and there is less chance to encounter a pilau compression sleeve.

We are supposed to get a big south swell maybe as soon as Thursday. Last swell was nice with the west side pulling in waist to shoulder to some head hi for about 5 or 6 days. But that was a week ago now. In other news, HM is in one serious training mode. He is doing M2M with Steve R in July. I've never seen him this dedicated.

[PonoBill]

Okay, that's scary. Not doing M2M, but serious training?

[JP4]

My pre-paddle kook look, just for you Cove. All I need is a floppy sun hat and a waist leash to complete the ensemble.
I took today off, and it sounds like it died in the afternoon, so probably a good call. Looked good early.
It looks like I might need to dig out the duct tape if tomorrow goes off.
Lot's of weeds in the river already, but so far no crude oil stains on my board 
JP

[PonoBill]

Good one today. Fukitznukin, 25 to 30 in theory, but I bet the actual was a bit higher. Monster waves at Mitchell. I did it on my 11'11" SIC  Recon, which made it super fun but a hell of a lot of work. My knees and hips are aching from all the running around. I had a no-fall run going until I decided to try to see why I couldn't connect anything. I know why, the recon is downright tubby compared to my 12'2" Starboard. It has the same rocker, but it's 30" wide instead of 26" and the rails are curved instead of straight.

Turned out it would connect, but I had to stand well forward and keep the nose low. Very hazardous to my general dryness since the nose can't be retrieved once it pearls. the rounded top just grabs hold of the water and takes 'er down. Even when I ran to the tail. Wouldn't come up. All going to the tail meant was that when the nose got deep enough and the swell behind tossed me off like a trebuchet, the arc was higher and the landing zone was further away.

Had a blast at the Wells Express. There were three foot breaking waves on the shallowest part of the sandbar. I had to get into it, even though I could see the water was only a few inches deep under the face. I just stayed high. Worked great. Amazing speed.

Fun run all the way. It would have been smokin' on the 17 Bullet, but even on the 11'11" with all the swell and wind I was able to more or less keep up with the regulars on the run. They finished about two or three minutes ahead of me.  There were some newbies along--super full shuttle. We went down to the sand bar cafe for a beer and some Chicken Teriyaki at Local Grinds. They still hadn't shown up by the time I finished and loaded up. Hope they're OK. It was pretty wild and wooly. Even the most wicked Viento run can be mellowed a lot if you hug the Oregon side and stay in the eddy line. Hope they knew that. Otherwise it was probably a long afternoon on their knees.

[covesurfer]

Good god Parker! You look like you should be on the couch healing up, not in that nasty river.

Sounds like a fun day. Tats arrives tomorrow evening. So does a swell. I found her a used, hollow F14 with a rudder so we should be able to get some glides and surf.

Pono, she was going to call you to help her take her Wiki blade off her paddle so she could bring it with and I will attach it over here to one of my paddles - all of my blades are going to be too big for her so bringing the Wiki was my solution. Did she ever do that?

[JP4]

I started off my morning at physical therapy, where after measuring the strength in my atrophied left quad, I was advised that downwinding was not a good idea at this point. I promised that I  would use good judgment and not go if the swell was over head high  .  Picked up Kelly and Tre and launched into some pretty solid conditions, probably about 30ish kts at Viento. A couple guys were launching small kites to do a downwinder, and that procedure looked downright life threatening near the trees there. One guy flying his kite with one hand while launching his buddies kite with the other hand. They clearly knew what they were doing, but the price of failure would have been high in that spot.
Viento to Mitchell was really solid with some big drops here and there. After Mitchell the swell stayed pretty big, but the wind backed off a notch until Split Rock where it come back up a bit for some fine down the line on the Wells Express. After Wells, it got pretty inconsistent, but not too bad. Overall really fun run with one little fall and my knee was no worse for wear, so I'm not in trouble with my PT 
JP

[covesurfer]

JP4, you will be ready to downwind in Maui if you ever come over here for more than a few hours. I have the F14 that you can use. Of course, if you keep going on the river and really injure yourself, or get a nasty infection like the one I had, you won't get a chance to do much paddling. Our first big s swell is almost here. I am so damn excited I can't sleep.

[PonoBill]

Didn't hear from her, I'm sure she figured it out.

JP--call me if you need a shuttle. We need to re-establish the viento junkies text list. Or maybe there still is one and my connection got toasted. I lost most of the numbers in my address book. We can stagger around together and make Covesurfer nervous. Yours will probably heal though, mine is more or less permanent.

[LaPerouseBay]

/ or get a nasty infection like the one I had, you won't get a chance to do much paddling. Our first big s swell is almost here. I am so damn excited I can't sleep.

I hope that swell works for you guys.  Beware Kalama Park. 

http://mauitime.com/news/science-and-environment/the-county-of-maui-is-already-in-hot-water-over-sewage-in-the-ocean-off-west-maui-but-a-new-study-says-that-the-kihei-coast-is-far-worse/

   

[laszlo]

Lazlo, I think we had the same board progression the last couple years. I went from a 2014 Naish Jav LE to a Bullet V2 as well. I'd like to hear your impression of the change. For me it's been a breath of fresh air. Though I had no balance issue on the LE, I just couldn't make it go fast like the big boys do (or even vertically challenged guys with big arms, gorgeous hair and nice tans, not naming any names   ). 
I'm loving the V2. It's so surfy and easy to ride and I'm getting it pretty dialed (I've probably got 20 days on it, including about 8 downwinders). I find I tend to stand  farther back than I did on previous boards, maybe about 10-12" behind the handle when it's blowing pretty good, which seems to make it take off better and being nice and narrow back there, super turny. It's so much more maneuverable that I'm able to hit the seams a lot more accurately and consequently connect more bumps. I think it's the perfect lazy man's Gorge board. The only thing I don't like is the leash plug is a little forward, so I tend to step on my leash more. Might be time for the waist leash.
JP

Hey JP4 you are right, we have gone through the same boards recently. I got the Javelin for more speed on lighter days and was trying to get used to it all last season. I think if I did Viento runs all the time I might have kept it, but since I do most of my runs on the Washington side, in generally bigger, more mixed up swell, I found that I just could not ever relax on it. Going through Swell City and The Hatchery was not fun, and I never got  faster, on the contrary I slowed down. I am hoping the Bullet V2 will be more user friendly, yet still faster than my F16 or my North Pacific custom, which comes into its own on really big days. As far as the F16, I haven't used it much in the last couple of seasons because of the weed problem. I am now working on a secret project to address that, and hope to have a novel solution that I will reveal when it's finished!

[PonoBill]

Cove and LaPerouse. According to the report it's not bacteria that's the major issue, it's phosphorous and lower salinity in affected areas. Unlikely you'll get a bacterial infection in Hawaiian waters--I don't believe vibrio vulnificus has ever been detected there. Gut bacteria doesn't live long in water with salt concentrations much above Normal saline (0.9% salt), sea water around Hawaii is 3.45% salt.  The beach is a different story. Most human gut bacteria survives well in sand--dry or wet, but wet is better, as long as it's fresh water. I'd be really careful around the beach showers--they concentrate human population and some of the people using them are likely to have open infections. It's pretty telling that the majority of MRSA infections on Maui are below the knees.  Bare feet are not a great idea in beach showers. One more reason I carry my slippahs on my board. They might be a contaminated site all on their own, but it's my personal contaminants.