Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Edge of Sandy - Sunday Doubleheader

I've missed out on the last two windy days of windsurfing due to work and family commitments, but I was able to hit the water on Sunday.  The forecast called for NNW 15mph+ in the morning, then NNW 15-20mph+ in the afternoon.  So I went for a rare two-fer for the lake --- a SUP downwinder and windsurfing.  As it turned out, it wasn't close to epic as the wind didn't really cooperate as forecasted.

Matt and Fred joined me for the downwinder and we paddled 10+ miles with the light wind at our backs.  We still had a straight north 10-15mph wind for the SUP downwinder.   Because of how the lake twists and turns for that 10 miles, there was a lot of flat water in the leeward sections of the lake.  But there are also a couple of open channel spots that have a long fetch, and those spots have a ton of potential for really good SUP downwind swell.  We know that because of windsurfing on the lake.  On really windy days, there is knee-high+ size swell/chop in the open channel areas.  On Sunday, there were some small rollers that we could catch and surf a little bit and you can see some of that on the video below.  With different wind directions (such as NE and SW wind), there are good opportunities for 4-5+ mile open channel SUP downwinders with much bigger wind swell.

The forecasted NNW wind didn't really happen in the afternoon either for my windsurfing plan, as it actually switched to NNE.  That forced me to launch solo at a different than usual spot.  I only got a few runs in before the wind and my GoPro battery died.

So here is my sub 3 minute little ditty about my Sunday double-header on the very edge of Hurricane Sandy...

Edge of Sandy - Sunday Doubleheader from WaterTurtle Productions on Vimeo.



Saturday, October 13, 2012

My Aloha

I'm very proud to participate in a sport that gives back to the local community.  From Georgia to North and South Carolina to Lake Tahoe, I think every stand up paddle race we've done (since 2008) has benefitted local charities and causes.

Our local SUP shop, My Aloha Paddle Sports, put on another local race last weekend.  Stoked with a 1st in Men's Elite 14' and 1st for my daughter in Women's Elite 12'6" race....but more importantly the event raised more than $1900 for the local Habitat for Humanity chapter, Our Towns.  We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day for the race.  Dan Myers did a great job setting up the triangular buoy (and almost 5 mile) course and running the race.  Big thanks to both Dan and to Rob Bennett and the folks at My Aloha for putting on the event and supporting a great local cause.

A couple pics below that my bride took, plus here are some great pics here, here, and here.