Thursday, December 29, 2011

A Look Back and Wishing You A Happy New Year

A 7 minute look back at 2011, including a sneak peek at some Maui/Hawaii footage (will post more Maui/Hawaii video in the near future)...

...and wishing you a Happy New Year!

WaterTurtle's Year In Review - 2011 from WaterTurtle Productions on Vimeo.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Thursday, December 22, 2011

What You Don't See In The Hookipa Videos

I like to watch videos of Hookipa windsurfing as much as the next guy, but it would always bug me that not one video would ever show what happens when a pro isn't riding a wave. If you haven't actually been to Hookipa but heard about the rocks, current, and light wind on the inside, perhaps you wondered how a windsurfer actually navigates his or her way out at this world famous spot. Maybe its just me, but I always wondered this.

Its no different with the weekend golfer when they take in a PGA event or someone who played high school football taking in a NFL game. As an amateur windsurfer, being at Hookipa on Maui and taking in the action is the same. And when we watch the Sportscenter highlights of PGA or NFL or watching windsurfing videos, we don't see everything else that happens in between the highlights.

Leave it to Waterturtle to capture the fringe of the fringe just for you. This video from my recent trip to Maui shows Bernd Roediger (1st 1:20 minutes) and Graham Ezzy (the next 3 minutes) getting out at Hookipa. This was on Monday, November 28th. Note the extremely light wind on the inside, the current pushing them downwind around the rocks, and their patience and skill in getting out to catch some tasty waves. I know...this isn't nearly as good as carving bottom turns, snappy cutbacks, and massive airs, but you might just learn something. Enjoy!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Injuries and Windsurfing Addiction

Yep, Graham Ezzy pretty much explains it right here. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Big Sur

After Maui and Hawaii, it was off to California for work but I still had one more free day when I arrived and no plans. I've been to the Bay area many times, have seen many of the sights, and have done many things in and around that area, but I had still never driven south on Hwy 1 past Carmel nor seen the Big Sur area. When I arrived on the red eye that Sunday morning, it was a clear and sunny day. Perfect for a drive down Hwy 1 and some hiking along the coastal trails...and it was stunning...













Saturday, December 10, 2011

The Big Island

After Maui, it was on to the Big Island where the work part of the trip started. Don't worry, we had plenty of fun too and I left the work part out of this post...

Hawaii – The Big Island is simply put, a beautiful island. From the black lava beaches to the lush green hills with waterfalls, this place is stunning. I only wish we had more time to see more of the island. Other plans prevented us from seeing more than the Kona area west and Hiwa area northwest side of the island.

Flying into Honolulu, before connecting to Kona - note Diamond Head on the right.

The black lava landscape around Kona











The Stand Up World Surf Tour was in Hilo but we just didn’t have time to get over there to watch it. I did manage to go stand up paddle surfing for a couple of hours near Kona and found a fun wave off to the side of a crowded prone surf lineup. Interestingly, on the way to the beach, I got the cutthroat sign from a SUP hater walking on the side of the road when he saw the SUP board on top of my rental car. But it was all aloha when I hit the water and stayed clear of the prone surfers and their peak wave. I shared a side peak with a couple of other prone surfers who were also staying clear of the crowded lineup...and we had no problem sharing waves. I even told them to take whatever wave they wanted and I'd stay clear. Everyone was happy. Sorry...no pics of that session.



A big highlight was renting a convertible for a few hours and driving north to the “end of the road” past Hiwa and hiking down a rocky path to a black sand beach. As soon as we rounded the corner to where the road ended, it was one of the most beautiful views I’ve ever seen. We ended that adventure with the return drive at sunset down a winding mountain road from over 4,000 ft elevation. The elevation and temperature change was incredible.







See Kris resting on that log?










We also went offroading upcountry in an old 6 wheel drive Pinzgauer to a waterfall hike and swam around one of the waterfalls.


















Other highlights included seeing Chris Isaak in concert. That guy still has it and sounded great.


Snorkeling









The Green Turtle and his buddies made a lot of appearances.










After Hawaii, it was on to California for more work, but I had an open day before work started and I didn't have any plans. What to do? Stay tuned...