Correction

In the Spring Outer Banks trip post below, I originally said that Mark's new camera was an Olympus Stylus. I stand corrected in that it is actually a Pentax Optio W20, 7MP, Class 8 Waterproof camera. I've corrected it below but wanted to point it out since it is a very nice camera.

Windsurfing video from our Outer Banks spring trip

Here is the completed windsurfing video of our spring Outer Banks trip. Rob, Mark, Todd, and myself sailed 5 out of 7 days there the week of April 7th and had a blast out in the water...even if it was a chilly start to the week (high of 47 degrees...brrrr). This video is a compilation from my new Oregon Scientific ATC2K waterproof camera that can be attached to a helmet, boom, or whatever. I never tried the boom attachment but will try that another time. I attached it to my helmet for sailor view footage and also held it in my hand for some regular footage by just pointing at the subject (there isn't a viewfinder). Some of the footage from the helmetcam is quite jerky so I need to work on improving that over time. There is other footage on here from Mark's new Pentax Optio W20, 7MP, Class 8 Waterproof camera. That camera is pretty awesome, is shockproof, waterproof, and provides great quality video. See if you can tell which footage is from that camera. I tried to include footage from my Sanyo Xacti camcorder but had technical issues doing video format conversion so I will try to do another video another time with that footage when I get the kinks worked out. Anyway, enjoy this one and please give me your feedback. Also, check out the photo album for more pictures from the trip.

OBX Spring Trip

Greetings, it's been a while since my last post. I've been very busy with a lot of different things between work, family, etc. But we just got back from our spring Outer Banks trip to Hatteras Island. My family and I stayed a week in one of the Island Creek houses in Avon. The usual windsurfing crew suspects (Rob, Mark, and Todd) stayed in another house close by. The week started out with a chill...so much so that it actually snowed on the drive down and the first 2 days of sailing in 47 degree air temps led to very cold hands forcing me to wear the dreaded "glacier" gloves. But as the week wore on, it did get warmer with last Thursday reaching a high in the low 70s and sunny. We sailed 5 days out of 7 that included a couple of awesome 20-25kt days on smaller sails/boards.

I got to spend some great quality time with the family with walks to the beach, eating out (at The Mad Crabber, The Pickled Steamer - get the Blackened Tuna Flat Top, and The Top Dog Cafe...all were great once again...regular stops for us), a lazy day trip to Ocracoke Island, a visit to the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, and just plain hanging out at the house by the water.

Another highlight of the week was hanging out with the legendary Jim Drake, largely credited with being the modern inventor of windsurfing. He was staying in a house down the street with his family and gave a talk one night at the newly relocated SailWorld shop. Check out the photo of us with Jim (l to r: Mark, Rob, Jim, Todd, and Mac). Look out for more on Jim in a future post as I have gotten to know him in the last few years and I have a great story to tell. I also tried out my new Oregon Scientific ATC2K water proof camera that can be attached on a helmet, boom, or held in the hand. Check out the short clip. Its not the best quality but works pretty good for some cool footage. I'll be working on a longer, more complete video from our trip with music soon and will post it when ready.


The other pics are of me windsurfing (thanks for taking the pics Mark) and of a lone sailor at sunset. I'll post many more pics in the online photo album soon...keep checking back.

Hatteras Island is a completely different state of mind. Its a great place to disconnect from the hectic pace of life - work, the kids' hectic weekly activities and practices, etc. You can completely lose yourself there, as you can just windsurfing. I'll be back there soon.