The Peconic Puffin Windsurfing Blog

Stained Glass Shredding, Rusalka Wind Sculpture

"Stained Glass Shredding, Rusalka Wind Sculpture"? How about "More cool windsurfing stuff from Ron"?  About a week ago I posted some photos of great looking old boards on Ron's deck, and afterwards Ron ("noshuzbluz" on the iWindsurf forum) turned me on to some other extraordinary windsurfing art living on his patio.  

The stained glass was made by Ron's friend Kevin in Rio Vista.    And here's what Ron had to say about the wood art:  "I get a call from my wife one Saturday afternoon.  She said "Bring your truck, I'm downtown at an antique/junk shop." I get there and she shows me this! Oh how I love my wife! She named it Rusalka. She (and it's definitely a she)is pretty weather worn after 8-10 years. She used to have a jute skirt and ankelets that have since rotted off.   My wife won't let me put a harness on it. Geez! I can't have any fun!

Rusalka...from Wikipedia: In Slavic mythology, a rusalka (plural: rusalki or rusalky) was a female
ghost, water nymph, succubus, or mermaid-like demon that dwelled in a waterway. According to most traditions, the rusalki were fish-women, who lived at the bottom of rivers. In the middle of the night, they would walk out to the bank and dance in meadows. If they saw handsome men, they would fascinate them with songs and dancing, mesmerize them, then lead them away to the river floor to their death."

Ron, that is some good stuff!

Windsurfing Bear Video

Windsurfing bear video.  That's what I said.  Berni sails a JP one handed, loops off of waves, and has the one handed (one pawed?) thing down.

(First spotted on Average Joe Windsurf Blog.)

Windsurfing Boards as Wall Art

 

A recent thread about an old board (and what to do with it) in the iWindsurf forums turned into a discussion of old boards as displayable art.  "Noshuzbluz" Ron displays some beauties on his patio.  In the second photo I admire the parrot, who I suspect is trying to blend in with the boards to evade predators.

My Favorite Hurricane Flood SUP Holiday Card

This made my morning.   Windsurfing friends Cecilia and Greg were home in Connecticut when Hurricane Irene came through.  While they found the winds overly strong for sailing, the flooded streets seemed just fine for some family stand-up paddling.  

OG Puffins Nancy and Bob (now in Florida) usually come through with my favorite card of the year, but I think we may have a Cecilia/Greg upset on our hands!

1111...the Greatest Number in Windsurfing

Robby Naish, the King.  Any questions?

(Who else would the Peconic Puffin rock on 11-11-11?  This most excellent photo borrowed from Jerome Houyvet at windsurfgallery.com...check it out for many more stunning windsurfing photos.)

Cranking A Monster Jibe

That's New England's finest Josh Angulo pulling transorbital G's as he rounds a mark in Fuerteventura last month.   In the ongoing windless hell of 2011, my callouses gone and jibing a distant memory, this image jogged a recollection of jibing in days past (I jibe EXACTLY like Josh.  More or less.  Press "1" for more, "2" for less, "3" for more options.)   Photo courtesy PWA/John Carter...check out more on their mighty web site.  Additional props to James' blog for putting this image under my nose.

A fine day in New York City

by Herbie Hind, as seen on Facebook.

Neil Young Rocking Mistral

I've had the good fortune to meet Neil Young several times over the years.  Have had some good conversations with him, too, though I had no idea that I should have brought up windsurfing.  Dang!  I've never heard of Neil Young being a windsurfer, but I doubt he'd choose to perform before hundreds of thousands of people in a random t-shirt. On the other hand, why wouldn't he?  In any event, there it is.

I grabbed this frame from the following video (Neil playing at Live Aid in 1985.)  The song here is Sugar Mountain, but you can also find Needle and the Damage Done if you look around.

Hybrid Boards, Hybrid Gods?

From the talented stone carver Michael Jamieson (known in these parts as the talented windsurfer Buddha Mike) comes Hari Hara, also known as Shankaranarayana. Buddha Mike tells us "he is a combination of the Hindu gods Shiva and Vishnu from southeast Asia. Almost literally high pressure and low pressure. I call him freestyle and wave, though am not sure which is which."   Ah, the duality of nature.  Yin and Yang.  Life and Death.   Gust and Lull.   Dare I say it...port and starboard?   

Yet these things may well be illusory...reflections from the veil between our eyes and Reality.   Or perhaps we just have water in our eyes.

Look for this fine graven image in the Outer Banks during April.   Contemplate eternity, measure your breath, then take a deep one and shout "Yo, Buddha Mike!" to the guy on the Skate.

(Images courtesy the artist.)

Snow Board and other photos by Peconic Jeff

Peconic Jeff has the eye.   When he puts a camera between that eye (I think it's his right one) and water sport stuff, I'm always a fan of the result.

Here are two recent Puffin pleasers...Snow Board (self explanatory) and a shot from a recent Meschutt sesh that I overcropped for a blog post, so I want to highlight it in its full glory.   Go to Jeff's Flickr page to see these images in even fuller glory, plus his recent work with Mecox ice boats, advection fog (I have no idea) the obligatory bowl of fruit and more.

James’ Windsurfing Man Cave

Having been married for well over a decade, I am well trained to “put away my toys”.  But I remember what it was like to have a boom in my living room.  And guitars used to hang from the walls!   But a new video on James’ Blog provides me a glimpse of true windsurfing man-caveness.    If I had windsurfed in my 20’s this work of art and design may well have been mine!

 

Robby Framed (or isn't he?)

(Two people...see the comments...have expressed doubt that it's Robby Naish in the photo.  My world is shaken...I've seen this thing before and been told that it's Robby, but examing the original art with a magnifying glass (and blowing it up in Photoshop) provides inconclusive results.   So maybe I screwed this up.  The original post is below...meanwhile I'm going to search for an answer elsewhere.  What follows is my original post:)

 

I was at my mom's place looking through a group of framed family photos when I noticed some old packaging stuck inside the back of one of the frames.   I pulled it out and there was Robby Naish, on what looks like a late 80's Neil Pryde rig.    The Babe Ruth of windsurfing in a stock photo...I wonder how many windsurfers bought the frame back in the day and just put it on their mantlepiece.

The Sand Was Blowing (great photo)

The Wolf and Scott look for sand blowing on the beach before they rig.  How does this look, gentlemen?

This fine photo was taken by Janis Markopoulos for her husband George's blog Live to Sail at his session last Saturday in Deleware.   Nice shot Janis (I liked all the others too!)

 

Butt Floss

Those guys at Hot Sails have a sense of humor.  This is not, as I first suspected, a photo from the 80's (check out the board.

As seen on Just Messin' Around.

Review: The Windsurfing Movie II

1.  The Windsurfing Movie II is much, much better than The Windsurfing Movie.

2.   It is not more of the first movie.  It is different.

That may be all you need to know.   Here’s more anyway:

Like the first film, “II” features absolutely spectacular footage of brilliant windsurfing in extraordinary conditions.  Filmmakers Johnny DeCesare and Jace Panebianco have actually improved their skills at capturing the beauty and kinetic energy of windsurfing as practiced by the masters.    But unlike the first film, “II” has some meaningful story lines that hold it all together more elegantly than the Interview/Rad footage/Interview/Rad footage motif of the first movie.

Did I just say “motif”?  Slap me.

Maybe this is what I should say:  I watched the first film twice, but haven’t taken out the DVD since.   I’ve watched the new one twice, and I think I’m going to watch it again this weekend.  And many times more.    I’m still trying to wrap my head around some of the wavesailing!

I have no interest in full disclosure (secrets are cool) but I’ll remind the regular reader and tell the irregular that one of the filmmakers (Jace Panebiano) is a friend, and was part of the original Peconic Puffin community way back in 1993.   I asked Jace for a quote for this piece, and he waxed Peconic:

“The community of windsurfing is really tight, I feel like I've got friends all over the world because of windsurfing.  But it all started in the Peconic Bay.

I went home a month ago and took the boat to Homes' Hill, ran up the sand dune and looked out over the Peconic; to my house, then to New Suffolk, then way out past Jessups'. It really made me homesick in that moment, being away from it so much of the time.  Then I just thought back to being a kid; how cool was it for a 14 year old kid to be able to visit friends by windsurfing to their house.  Those friends, the OG Puffins, a fun loving, creative bunch really influenced some of myformative years. I've been really lucky that the people closest to me always reinforced the idea that you could choose your own path. “

Another time we’ll have to get more from Jace on his windsurfing to the Puffin House…he once arrived by board unannounced at midnight!   But enough about Jace Panebianco…this is a review of The Windsurfing Movie II”:

It’s outstanding.  Better even than you think it’s going to be.    See genuinely wonderful windsurfing by featured riders Levi Siver, Kai Lenny, Mark Angulo, Robby Naish, Jason Polakow, Baptiste Gossein and others I forget.