I’ve just completed my first year of SUP surfing. I celebrated by catching a weekend of waves at Tiana with Steve (OG Puffin), who was himself catching his own first SUP waves. Sunday was my 44th day in the waves sans sail…precisely one year after Jeff talked me into trying waveSUPing. That day was gentle two-footers…last Sunday featured six and seven footers with the nasty habit of closing out with little notice. I had to dive out the back of one bomber that took my board, yanked hard and snapped my leash. Thus began the long swim, with thoughts of my board (please let it not hit anybody, please let someone yank it out of the break before it gets broke). After two minutes of swimming I saw Jeff paddling out with my board across his board. What a save! But Jeff wasn’t finished. A minute later he was rescuing another board, that another SUPper had lost when his leash broke. Double bad luck, double good luck. Jeff has some good karma on account.
(Top: Peter and Steve catch one. Bottom: The editor goes left. These and many more photos of the weekend's sessions can be found on Jeff's Flickr page. Or you can go to Jeff's blog for video from the weekend, as well as photos.)
Windsurfing, kiteboarding, stand up paddling...all are having a swap meet at Long Island's Hampton Watersports on Saturday September 18th.
Even if you don't need to buy or sell, swap meets are fun...you meet people you haven't seen in awhile, and get to take a tour down Equipment Memory Lane. But the prime business is swapping (and "year end" sales on new gear.) If you have gear to sell, drop it off at the shop sometime in the week before the event, or come early (before 9AM) on Saturday. If you're looking to buy, remember to bring any specs you might need (ie if you're shopping for a used carbon boom, know how long/short you need it to be for your sail quiver.) And if you're looking to get a deal on closeouts of new equipment, proprietor Jonathan Ford says he'll have "Fanatic, JP, Starboard, Maui Sails, Ezzy, Naish, Ozone, Cabrinha, Dakine, Nobile all on sale 20-60% off."
Drysuits, rigging in slush, cold hands, ice cream headaches...they are all coming. And they're all good, as the windsurfing is outstanding in winter. But if you're a sissy who whines about wearing gloves, who doesn't want to buy a 5/3 or a drysuit, then make sure you're getting every minute on the water you can right now.
"Monday is the windiest day of the week," Andy Brandt tells his windsurfing students. In case you felt that it was just you who was being persecuted by the wind gods, this pearl of windsuffering is presented to let you know that you are not alone.
Right now it's blowing 20 on the ocean, waves shoulder to head high. I sit in front of a computer in Manhattan, whilst friends drive to the Bowl to tear it up.
This just in from windsurfing guru and ABK-meister Andy Brandt: The dates for the second of two September ABK windsurfing clinics at Napeague...the "freestyle" clinic (a regular ABK clinic that adds a special freestyle group for advanced windsurfers interested in learning freestyle) has been moved to October 1-3. The clinic scheduled for September 17-19...the "racing" clinic (same thing...a regular clinic with a special racing group added for those interested) remains at the original dates. So come learn to windsurf, or learn to windsurf better (and have a great time and make friends doing it) with ABK Boardsports on Long Island on the following dates:
September 17-19 (special Racing clinic available for interested windsurfers)
October 1-3 (special Freestyle clinic available for interested windsurfers.)
That was fast. Less than 24 hours after the wind prayer post the Peconic Bays started to whitecap. Then the Wolf called from South Jamesport, where he was rigging a 5.2. Drop what you’re doing…it’s time to sail (if you remember how)!
I arrived and rigged a 6.2 (the Wolf reported holes, and I just had to rip). Soon Scott showed up (5.8) followed by Peconic Jeff and the game was on….reach and jibe, reach and jibe. Sure enough my 6.2 on the JP 109 kept me going through the lulls (“that thing planes on a dime!” said Lord Scotworth). The waters were warm and mostly flat, so I was duck jibing on the outside, messing with freestyle on the inside (hit my first backwinded jibe that I planed through, tried a duck tack that nearly took my head off, and played with some 360’s.)
On shore during a break a little girl (perhaps four years old) walked up to the Wolf and said “are you the Wolf?” She wasn’t even Little Red Riding Hood! Anyhow she was adorable, the Wolf’s face was split by an enormous smile, and the day was even better. (Earlier Jeff had given him up to the charmer whilst she quizzed Jeff about windsurfing.)
How bad a year has it been for wind? When Bill Barber arrived and rigged he proclaimed it “my third day windsurfing this year.”
How great did it feel to get back in the straps? You know. Oh man I love windsurfing!
It has been more than a calendar month since I've hooked in or slid my feet into the footstraps. Yes I've had a few nonplaning sessions (I do love the light wind freestyle) but I'm worried that I've forgotten how to jibe! Christian says "can you imagine this summer without stand up paddle surfing?" It would be a hellish nightmare.
About a week ago I noted that I was drydocked until I repaired a nose ding to my Naish SUP board. Thanks to tips from everyone from Rotorhead at Island Dreams Surf Design to the local Stand Up Paddle surf shop Hampton Watersports (also our local windsurfing shop...duh) to the website of the venerable Eva the Board Lady, the repair turned out much much better than I had hoped. I was so stoked by the results that I've been doing touch-up work elsewhere on the board, and no longer suffer from Fear of Fiberglass. Thanks to everyone who responded online or in person!
(Top: The finished repair. Bottom: Fiberglass over filler early in the process.)
It started out as my best wave ride of the day. It ended with my nearly taking Peconic Jeff's head off. It all began when Peter and I caught a nice head-high wave on the outer sand bar. Jeff was about halfway in toward the beach shooting video and taking photos, so my only Jeff thought was "surf well and maybe you'll get a picture!"
I'm not very good in either direction but I'm worse on backside, so when I found myself comfortable and balanced (for me) and feeling in control going left, I was excited.
Usually I find myself too far to the bottom of the wave, and when I managed to bottom turn a bit and get back up the wave for a cutback, I was giddy. With my eyes riveted on the ten feet of water immediately in front of me, I carved back down the wave.
With my eyes riveted on the ten feet of water immediately in front of me, I am unaware that I am now bearing down on Jeff, who is capturing it all. He sees my face pointing towards him and assumes that my eyes are along for the ride.
A moment later I see him as he swings the camera down (for I don't know what reason, because he's not yelling at me to be careful.) I'm going to plow right into his head. I shouted Jeff's name (leaving off "Peconic" for brevity) and jumped off the board, hoping both to turn it to the left (to miss his head) and lighten it (in case, as I was sure it would, the board hit him.)
The board crashed across the tail of Jeff's board, immediately to the wave side of his head. Then the wave, which still had plenty of gusto, rolled both boards into Jeff, and then the three of them into me.
There was a good deal of floundering on my part before I got back to the surface. Incredibly no blood was gushing from Jeff's head. At first glance neither board was damaged (which seemed impossible,) so shaken and with concern for our gear (and me apologizing a mile per minute) we returned to the beach.
Incredibly, the boards had some minor scratches but no damage. I was nauseous for about an hour...I KNEW I was about to seriously injure a friend, and the endless moment kept replaying in my head. Jeff's been very gracious about this. Me, I feel I was lucky. I haven't been on the water since, but I believe that when I return I'm going to be paying an enormous amount of new attention to people in the water all around me, as I do windsurfing. A newbie level of awareness doesn't cut it. Hell, a newbie level of awareness should still be better than mine last Sunday. Writing this post has brought the feeling of nausea back.
Here's the video Jeff shot. It all happens pretty fast so I slowed it down. Keep watching and it plays again in real time, complete with my shout.
Scott is overpowered on a 5.7 (Jeff and the Wolf were on 5.2's) this day at the flattest spot I've ever sailed: the north sand bar of Robins Island. When the wind is just right (SSW I think...one of the guys will comment to correct me if I'm wrong) you can buzz alongside the sand bar on a broad reach at crazy speeds (it's like sailing on a pool table) and then crank the G's with a hero jibe at the end of the run. It's not a bad place to freestyle, either.
Where to begin? Every day was different, but they were all special.
Friday at Road L the waves were 6-8 feet, with a few heavyweight 9 footers rolling through. They stood tall in the offshore breeze, and the crew (Adam, Peconic Jeff, Jon Ford, Peter, and the Wolf) were catching plenty of dramatic late drops into sweet rides. I have a fantastic image in my mind of Jeff dropping in and carving left on a wall of water at least nine feet high (if only there was a USB jack in the back of my head). And Jeff’s camera has a good shot of me on an impressive wave. But what with the 6-8 foot plus waves, Jeff and his camera were parted in the wash. Which was worse, the loss of a day of spectacular imagery, or the loss of the camera? Me I’m a practical joe, and despite the loss of the Michael The Wave God photo, I said “the camera.” But Jeff said it was the photos, because…
Saturday was Jeff’s birthday, and amongst Jeff’s presents was a brand new camera ("much better than the old one"), knee to waist high waves, and a freakishly clear ocean. Standing on the board in eight feet of water, you could see the gentlest sand swirl on the bottom as a swell passed by. A crab walking along may as well have had a spotlight on it. Nearby a teenage girl was taking a surf lesson…she said to her instructor “it’s like “I Spy On the Bottom of the Ocean!” The instructor (a local veteran) said he’d never seen it this clear in his entire life.
The surfing was playful, and the crazy clear water made it exotic. In the SUP lineup were Jeff, the Wolf, Christian, and Paul from Sydney.
Sunday we moved down the road to Tiana, but a description of that day will wait for more photos and video from Jeff.
(Photos and video by Jeff: At the top, Christian and Paul at Road L. Middle, I catch a wave in the crystal clear waters. Bottom, Jeff's video from the clear day at L. You can find it all in his blog post.)
Jeff caught a lot of birthday waves today, actually! Following yesterday's fantastic 5-8 foot wave day at Road L (which claimed one of Jeff's cameras) today was a playground of knee to chest high swell. Way to the back of the photo are myself and Christian Charles.
Anyhow Happy Birthday Peconic Jeff!
There is now a webcam at Napeague (courtesy of Luke’s Kiteboarding) and what a webcam it is: Not only does it bring a live video stream, but the user can control the camera, which features tilt, pan, and zoom features. Check it out the next time there’s a solid SW blow out east.
When I first heard Robby Naish say of SUP surfing "Stand up paddling makes crappy waves fun" I had no idea what he meant. I've long since learned the joys of catching small waves, or waves that aren't particularly well formed. Above, the Wolf enjoys some knee-high action. I'd like to be there right now.
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