chachi's world

Spring Time in Hatteras Just got Better!!!

2012-02-08T16:14:00.000-08:00

The last week or so around here has been a bust! I can't remember the last time we've had a lull like this but we're in a big one and nothing looks good until the weekend.
Luckily, I just received and AWESOME email from the guys at Makani to get my mind on Hatteras! Check out http://blog.makanifins.com/ for details... They got Pro Sailors giving free clinics, Racing, Freestyle Jams, Give Aways, and more!!! I can't wait!!! Thank you Makani and all the other event sponsors for bringing so much windsurfing excitement to the east coast! See you there!!!

As if April in Hatteras wasn't good enough!!!!!

January Recap

2012-01-31T18:15:00.000-08:00

What a month! Last year at this time us Long Island sailors were struggling to find bodies of water that weren't frozen over and testing our tolerances for cold water sailing. This January was so warm I logged a day sailed with out gloves! And with 9 solid sessions this month I'm very much looking forward to February!
Here are some highlights:

Makani Testing- Because of Long Islands reputation for some most notoriously weedy windsurfing conditions in North America, Mike Burns and I were asked to assist in the development of Makani Fin's next generation of Freestyle Weed fin. We received two rockin' prototypes and got to work spinning, flipping, and shedding weeds over the span of several windy days right here on Long Island. That' Right! Available this spring, the new Makani fins received their final stamp of approval right here!
The most exciting day of testing was the final day which went down at West Meadow, where the shallow water challenged our ability to navigate the narrow puddles that formed between the sand bars. The water was glass flat, but we were barely clearing the fins at times, to the point where a if the board sunk even a half inch, we'd be run aground.
After a few runs tighter than flying an X-wing through the Death Star trenches we had our lines dialed, and the fins were put to the test. To be honest, I didn't even realize I had a weed fin on. The new fins are so close to a standard high performance freestyle fin in every way that I will never hesitate to put on a weed fin again. Combined with the new, more durable construction, Makani's new weed fin is everything we could have hoped for and more. Hell, Mike even hit his first double spock while testing. How about that!

Tanner Perfection- I don't know why I don't spend more time at Tanner. Maybe it's because I only sail there in the winter on fluky southerlies when Joe's Beach is closed. The chop bounces off the bulk heads and makes for mogul sailing on either side of the launch, and when you're struggling to stay on a plane to begin with it's very hard to justify sailing there. To avoid this you need to cross over the the island upwind of the launch, which takes a lot of work when the wind isn't consistent and the island itself has some elevation so the wind can be very gusty by the time you're in the flat water to it's lee.
Saturday was a different story. I was well powered and took off for the islands east of the launch in the middle of the bay, where I had never sailed before. There had to be a mile of flat, waist deep water and micro chop over there, and the wind was steady! My sail never felt a gust of a lull, just steady power on long reaches back and forth as I watched the sunset behind the Jones Beach Amphitheater.
As it turns out, Tanner is about a half hour closer to my new job than Joe's, which means I will be spending quite a bit more time exploring the potential freestyle spots tucked away between the islands.

Helmet Cam Madness!- I finally used the Contour helmet cam that's been sitting next to my bed for close to a year (turns out I crash and curse a lot)!!! The quality of the images is incredible. I got so excited that I picked up a Go Pro as well. All I need now is to invest in some editing software and a clew-view!

What a great month! The forecast seems to be keeping this same pattern of warmth and wind, which means if thing's stay this way, we'll be sailing in board shorts by April!!

Mysto Thursday

2012-01-13T21:27:00.000-08:00

Sailing head high down the line waves with a Freestyle board is like taking home a smoking hot girl and realzing that you don't have any protection. Damn right, you do it anyway and worry about the consequences later.

This is me mid consequence.Too bad you can't pick up a wave board at the local convience store...

The reason I'm on a freestyle board is because of the forecast, there was nothing suggesting a wave session, but when I woke up Thursday at Amy's house the meters reading east and in the mid 30's. My "Mysto" alarm immidiately and I bolted out the door to C.I.B.
The sustained winds were around 40 mph and waves were pushing over head, which isn't bad considering this in not an ocean break, but a wind swell that takes form from a perfectly place point.
Sailing rediculously over powered I managed a few top turns and aerials on the smaller sections, but it took alot of energy to hold on and after a few runs my fore arms were burning.
The peaks up in the corner had some size, and after a few conservative turns I decided to try to tuck in for some real lick smackers, which of course is where the freestyle board met its limit. Wrapping around the nose dug into the wave and I got ejected. Actually, several times this happened as I was not willing to accept the rejection, but in the end the wind and waves were winning.
Feeling fatigued, and in need of some documented proof, I ran to the car grabbed my helmet cam to film the last couple of runs.

2012 Fanatic Skate: Better than Sex!

2011-12-18T18:35:00.000-08:00

And if you disagree then clearly you haven't ridden one. A technical review for this board is not necessary, it's the best freestyle board on the market.
Oh yea, the new Norths are pretty rad too.
Carry on.

That Escalated Quickly!

2011-10-25T06:26:00.000-07:00

My phrase of the week: "that escalated quickly." Every time I set foot on the water I had to come back in for a sail two sizes smaller than what I started with, which is a good problem to have. The 4.2 was used 4 out of the 5 days I sailed last week and that includes two wave sessions! Things have been very interesting on Long Island lately, but the session at Gilgo last Wednesday was by far the stand out.
Usually Wednesday is a work day, but a switch with a co-worker landed me one dark and soggy, but windy day off. Right off the bat, the Long Island sound was exceeding predictions, with Bayville, thanks to it's unique geographical features that funnel the easterly winds through the sound, reporting upper twenties early in the morning and predicted to build. Waiting for closer sites to pick up, I quickly caved and began my pilgrimage to CIB, a launch in Bayville famous for it's "Mysto Wave" that some times forms during strong easterlies much like the one we were experiencing.
After an hour drive I arrived, no Mysto, just some waist high peaks that looked fun for jumping. While deciding on what to rig, I double checked the meters to see that the ocean had picked up. There were still no waves, though a swell was due to arrive that afternoon. I reasoned that since the tide in the sound was incoming, the chances of the mysto wave forming were next to zero, so I packed it up drove another 45 minutes from Bayville to Gilgo.
At Gilgo, waves were knee to waist high and breaking no more than 30 yards from the shore with slightly side off winds blowing about 5.0. The game plan was to rig, play around in the tiny surf for a bit, and if the waves didn't pick up, I would head into the back bay behind the parking lot for some glassy flat freestyle.
So I rigged and sailed for about twenty mintues before I started to get over powered on my 5.0. No sooner did I unravel the 4.7 than winds began to howl. The street sign next to my van began twisting and shaking violently while tightly packed white caps with spray wisking off their tops formed instantly on the protected, shallow bay behind me. For ten minutes this gale went, easily breaking the 40 knot barrier before leveling off, and with a 4.2 rigged I began walking towards to dunes to cross back to the ocean, which I could now hear from the edge of the parking lot, and as I came over the top of the dune it was no longer knee to waist, but over head.
It's hard to remember the last time I witnessed a change so dramatic in such a short period of time. No more than fifteen minutes could have been spent at the van, yet the ocean some how completely transformed. I can't imagine the power it must take to accomplish such a feat, to stir up the seas in the blink of an eye, but with a sail and a board, I was able to harness it to my advantage and enjoyed a wet and soggy Wednesday, Windsurfing.

Who Killed the Wind?!

2011-09-26T22:08:00.000-07:00

Here on Long Island, August is not a very windy time of year. If windsurfing was a traditional sport, I'd say that our August off season is followed up directly with the Playoffs of the Fall windy season. It's a feast after famine transition how we go from weeks of 9.0 wouldn't go to "where'd I leave my 3.7, is that going to be too big?" From an athlete's perspective, it's like showing up to the rink after weeks of golfing and being told that you'll be playing for the Stanley Cup tomorrow night.
This August was started out quite typical and actually ended a with a bit more windy days than usual. Then September hit and BAM! It was windy almost everyday for the first two weeks and things were great! So what happened? It's been over ten days since I've rigged a sail. I even made binding plans last saturday, my day off, in advance, and even that didn't stir up a tempting gust.
So here we are, starving through the middle of September. Hopefully the feast of frontal sailing is on it's way, because I need a fix and soon.

Windy Week!

2011-07-26T08:22:00.000-07:00

Seven sailers in one small frame, just a sample of the population

We finally had a good thermal pattern last week, catching four windy days over a seven day span, with three of them being solid 4.2 conditions. Sunday, which was one of the best, blew over 25 for most of the afternoon. Pulling up to the beach the water looked more like The Hatchery than Heckscher State Park. There had to be at least 40 people on the water all on 4.5 sails or smaller and waveboards. Guys were flying, trying all kinds of moves like shuv its, vulcans, and willy skippers, all of which were made to look heroic in the strong winds and the ensuing crashes were often spectacular as the victim would be ejected from the rig then disappear into a ball of white water!

Shakas are challenging when the wind speed hits 30. Photo: John Dunn

Personally, I finally got up the guts to try a one handed Ponch. This is a move that I have wired with both hands on the boom, but the occasional screw up has been known to end numerous session prematurely and painfully, which is in part an explanation for my hesitation to progress the trick. The conditions were ripe for ponches, which I was already getting bored with and the wind was a bit strong to attempt some of the other, more technical tricks, so I decided it was time to go for it. Four attempts later I made one, and went on to hit another 5 that day. Immediately, I was disappointed that I hadn't gone for it sooner. It's amazing how mental freestyle can be, to think that I could have make this move a long time ago if I just had the guts to go for it.

Looks like some sea breeze potential later on this week, can't wait to see everyone at the beach!

Road Trip!!!

2011-07-14T20:34:00.000-07:00

Checking the forecast for Tuesday, I confirmed that the wind outlook for Long Island sucked. This was terrible as it was Monday afternoon and Heckscher was firing while I, of all places, was stuck at work. You see, Monday is the only day of the week I work late and on this particular Monday, a co worker of mine had already called in sick, reducing my chances of making it to the beach to zero.
However, I am a wind addict, and I do not give up so easily. Because while I sat at work watching the meters boost out of control, plans were being made for a road trip in search of wind. A facebook conversation between Graham F and I had tipped me off that there would be wind in the region, about 5 1/2 hours away.
Yes, the forecast for Long Island sucked, but Cape Cod was still showing signs of hope. And even though winds were only predicted to last through noon, at best, desperation had a hold of me and an offer from Chris Eldridge to crash at his place sealed the deal.
Leaving from work at 9pm, I proceeded straight to the Cape, arriving to Chris' place at 2:30am, and making it to sleep at 3am.
6:45am, my alarm goes off. I check the wind, it's dropping. Disappointed, I go back to sleep.
7:00am, Chris walks into the room, and tells me to get up, it's windy.
Kalmus is a fantastic place to windsurf. I'd been there once, about four years ago, which was the last time I sailed Cape Cod. The spot offers everything from glass flat water to knee high chop, perfect for all types of freestyle mahem. On this particular morning, the wind was moderate to strong, so I rigged a 4.7 and threw in my 16cm koi, expecting that it would be my only chance at the smaller gear before the wind dropped off.
Once on the water, I was surprised at how powered I was and took a few runs in front of the launch before heading into the back bay for the flattest water I've ever sailed. It seemed like every time I did a trick, it was the cleanest I ever landed... until the next one. Once that got old, we headed into the channel, where there was some small, but playful rolling chop. The wind began to fill in even more, changing the trick menu from flat water sliders to ariel antics.
We sailed until the wind finally died, around noon, breaking only for breakfast, 4.7 the whole time. In my head, I debated over which should be the highlight of the trip: seeing a ferry named "Gay Head" (which I'd post a picture of but I'm afraid to google) or watching a windsurfing almost kill himself going for a no handed carve jibe dangerously close to a jetti trying to impress two young women in bikinis.
Hmm, bikinis or Gay Head, perhaps another trip Cape Cod is in order.

Thank You Makani!!!

2011-07-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

Check out what I just found in my email!!!!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Company name :MAKANI FINS www.makanifins.com

Marketing director : Jean-Robert Wilhelmy, sales@makanifins.com

MAKANI FINS – Fall wave CLINICS HATTERAS ’11 with Casey Hauser, Ingrid Larouche and Andy McKinney and AMERICAN WINDSURFING TOUR – Hatteras wave Jam From sept 11th til until sept 17th in AVON, NC.

Make sure not to miss the MAKANI fins free wave clinics and the AMERICAN WINDSURFING TOUR Hatteras Wave Jam. You always dreamed of going in the ocean and rip the waves well this is the perfect occasion. Ingrid, Casey and Andy will teach you all the tricks you need to get out there and enjoy the surf. Plus you will have a chance to ride with the best in the World and see them competing at the HATTERAS WAVE JAM AWT event!!! Everyone can also get a chance to win a TABOU DA CURVE 85 with 3 MAKANI wave fins. Raffle tickets go for $10 and available online at makanifins.com and at Wind NC in Avon.

Wow! If you aren't familiar with these names, I had the chance to sail with Casey down in San Carlos last fall, he absolutely knows how to tear up waves and he's a really chill guy to hang out on the beach with. Ingrid won the womens division at just about every constest last year, including waves, freestyle, and slalom. (I heard she entered in the mens division this year and smoked lots of dudes). And Andy is one of the local hard core rippers down in NC and is super cool for not kicking me out of his shop after hours of loitering. I can't wait for this event!

No, Women.

2011-07-07T05:20:00.000-07:00

If you have not yet seen the above photo, it ran in this months issue of Windsurfing Magazine under the title "Should Windsurfing Be Sexy" and has sparked quite a bit of controversy (although it would make a great beach clean up ad for surf rider.)
First and foremost, it's masterminds were offended that it was taken out of context, that the picture was ran without the corresponding article, found here. And secondly, that why should we have to debate if attractive women in bikinis should be acceptable in our sport?
I found the original article interesting, and yes I read all of it despite my short attention span and all those awesome, blissfully distracting photos of women ripping it up. Certainly there are plenty of articles about why we love windsurfing and how Maui is paradise, but I think that fact that the article was cut attests to a larger issue than people seem to be grasping. "Should Windsurfing Be Sexy" is not asking sailors if there should be more pictures of women published, (that's a yes) but should they be objectified the way they have in other action sports publications?
Let's face it, there are only two major sources of print for windsurfing in North America, Windsport and Windsurfing Magazine, and they both do a fine job of including women in a meaningful manner. It's been a long time since I picked up a surf, snow, ski, or wake magazine and seen a picture of a women doing anything else but standing in a bikini on the beach to sell some kind peripheral product. Mean while, the author of "Maui Maids", Shawna Cropas is featured in a full page ad in June's Issue for Vela Resort doing a nice aerial and Anne-Marie Reichman's (also featured in Maui Maids) has full page ad sailing for Starboard in July's learn to windsurf feature (which had one of the Moreno sisters on the cover), crediting not just the magazines but the Industry as a whole for their use of women to promote the sport and products in a meaningful way. Not to mention that there was great coverage of a trip to Tahiti only a few pages back from the photo, featuring: you guessed it, a women windsurfing!

"Is it such a man’s sport (and mag) that an article about windsurfing women couldn’t find space between gear testing and Jon Sassone throwing a f*#k you flaka at a kiter?" as blogger Rebecca wrote on the magazines website, but did she not notice that page 45 of that same gear test has a picture of a young women, gear testing? As for the flaka, well that's just two pages of straight up sex appeal. Sorry ladies.
So, should windsurfing be sexy? No!
Sexy is the Reef model selling sandals to surfers. The only time she's ever touched a board is on the beach during her photo shoot. Sexy is the girl in the bikini advertising the wake boat, she probably doesn't even know the term "clearing the wake." Than Lange girls strutting around in ski boots and bikinis?(Pam Anderson was once a Lange girl, FYI) Only recently did Lange start using actual athletes, but wouldn't you rather see them in action? I'm not opposed to it in other sports, but women who windsurf are not subjected to any of that because Windsurfing is as it should be, real, and if it turns some heads in the process who gives a flying F*#k, which is exactly the point Shawna intended to make with that picture in the first place, isn't it?

As a disclaimer, I invite all women who disagree with me to discuss their point of view over a beer in the hot tub...after a sailing session of course. If you're a man just post in the comment section.

Heckscher Blow Out

2011-06-07T06:09:00.000-07:00

The forecast for last Wednesday of "upper teens" did not seem to sit right with some of us here on the island, above all for Mike Burns. An approaching cold front coupled with the warm temperatures is a classic set up for an easy low 20's blow, which is what Mike believed the forecast should have read.

So the day before I got a phone call "I emailed 'them' to let them know how they keep under forecasting the Great South Bay" said Mike, in some sort of angst. Then, reading through the yahoo group, a post by Mike guaranteed 4.7 the next day. "I can already hear my 4.7 is calling my name."

Mike has become Long Islands version of a Temira Wagonfeld when it comes to forecasting summer thermals, but this charade had to risk being a wind Jinx. You can't just run around saying things like that, even if we all agree, it just doesn't sit well with the wind gods. Even so, the small boards were loaded in the van as a precaution and I double checked for the 3.7 which has not seen daylight since Hatteras last April.

Was Mike right? By Price is Right rules perhaps, he guessed closer to the number than our premium forecast service, but still by the time I got to the beach at 4:30 Mike was lit on 3.7 as we had sustained winds in the upper 20's, gusting to 30.
So if you're thinking about coming to this years East Coast Wind Fest, look to only one forecast, and don't forget your small gear, because anything can happen at Heckscher and if you aren't ready for it, you could miss and epic session.

Unforecasted Double Session??

2011-05-31T14:39:00.000-07:00

Today was unexpected; never was there a talk of wind or waves, but out of habit I woke up and checked the wind reports and wave cams anyway. The meters were all in the single digits and seemed hopeless, but there was a nice little bump on the ocean, so I grabbed some wax and a wetsuite and headed for democrats to find consistent waist to shoulder high, glassy, peeling waves. The surf was good for about out two hours where I was able link together 4 to 5 turns easily on the long, well formed lines until the incoming tide eventually smothered the sand bar.
Driving out of the parking lot I found myself to be in a great mood after the fun surf sesh, it must have been the thrill of actually scoring some waves on my day off, but as I came to the bridge I noticed there was an abundance of white caps on the Great South Bay coming from an easterly direction. A quick call to Mike Burns confirmed that the meter at near by Blue Point had just spiked to 19, so I stepped on the gas and headed to Heckscher.
On site, 5.4 was the call and with the freestyle board it was planeable for about 45 minutes on relatively flat chop. The water, which required a 4/3 suite just two weeks ago was warm enough to get away with board shorts and a rash guard.
Today was by no means the most epic, gnarly or awesome conditions I've ever had, but the stoke of getting something from nothing made it seem that way.

Gear Review: 2011 F2 Rodeo and F2 Rave

2011-05-09T07:53:00.000-07:00

Chachi goes "Ponchie"

F2 Rodeo 98: When I first saw the new rodeo sitting on display at Ocean Air Sports in Avon, NC, I immediately felt the need to examine every square inch of the board for noticeable changes. Since last year, the rumor has been that the only difference from the 2010 version was that F2 had moved the fin slightly further forward.
Being a huge fan of last years model this was alright with me.
Once on the water however I noticed a few things:
1. The board has better top end speed. I noticed a smoother release of water from the tail at speeds where I used to feel a bit of drag, allowing the board to hit a higher speed than it's predecessor.
2. A more balanced distribution of volume. The Rodeo finds most of it's volume under the tail, like alot of freestyle boards. This years seems to have an extra liter or two up by the mast base to help keep the nose free during spins, and spin smooth it does!
3. Cosmetics. The bottom graphic is painted on this year, which is a step up from the stickers that peeled off my 2010.
Overall: the 2011 Rodeo planes extremely fast, has tons of pop, and spins quick. A freestyler at any level should consider making the Rodeo their go to board as it is easy to sail and is highly capable of all maneuvers.

F2 Rave 84: I've only sailed the twin fin Rave in on shore and side shore bump and jump conditions, so I cannot yet comment on it's wave riding abilities (though I anticipate excellence). So far, it's been great. With the stock fins (Choco 16.5's) set back on the track I've had no problems getting up wind or popping onto a plane. Through the chop it has a Cadillac smooth feel, which is a clear benefit of riding on a twin. As a wave board I expected great jibing at all radius but the real thrill is how easy it is to keep speed through the turn and come out planing on exit. If you've had a bad experience with twins in the past, consider that this is built as an all around twin fin and not a pure down the line twin like you may have sailed.
On the freestyle front, I had no problems going through my arsenal of switch stance moves, loops, Shaka's, flakas, ponches, spocks, etc. I would recommend smaller fins with less of a curve than what is provided stock as the 16.5s are a bit catchy. Certainly no one claimed this board to have any freestyle purpose, though I'm finding that the F2 wave boards are not shy to spins and grins.
Buyer be conscious: if you don't know the benefits of a twin verse a single fin (the F2 Rebel single fin is my favorite all around wave board of all time) you may wish to try one out first. Twins generally have less lift compared to a single fin, which helps make a smooth ride in chop but can lack drive for situations like lining up jumps in onshore conditions, which would be a draw back to the Rave. However, I was able to adopt a more centered and upright stance to draw out some pretty nice straight airs from the onshore bumps.

Spring Time

2011-03-14T23:22:00.000-07:00

It was only a few weeks ago that I was rigging in my snowboard outfit, climbing plow mounds to get to the water and watching ice form on my Ice.

But spring is here and the temperatures are quickly rising, the water is almost 40 degrees and the has snow has all but disappeared.

Gradually, people are making their way to their favorite launch sites, coming out of the wood works to rejoin with those who never hung up their harness for the winter.

Saturday was warm enough to shed the hood and gloves for the first time since November, allowing for a heightened sense of sail and weather. Feeling the boom against the skin of my lightly callused palms and listening to the gusts of wind as air rushed over my now naked ears I quickly forgot about the months of numb, muted, conservative sailing. A more ferine approach awoke from it's hibernated state, attacking move after move until every muscle in my body was weak from exertion. My sudden spike in motivation seemed all but unprecedented as the confines of the cold were now lifted. If not for anything else brumal windsurfing instills an unrivaled passion into its sparse population, amplified by the appreciation for regained senses and a distinct feeling of readiness for the on coming season.

Spring is here and it's on, go get some!

Rob Warwick Video

2010-11-18T19:10:00.000-08:00

Here's another great clip from Cold Water productions, this time of Gorge local Rob Warwick. Two summers ago he introduced me to many of the sailing sites around the Gorge and has no problem ripping them all.

Rob Worwick 2010 from Bryan Metcalf-Perez on Vimeo.

West Meadow Explodes!

2010-11-12T09:35:00.000-08:00

I remember debating for a while over whether or not I should purchase a 3.7. Rio Vista is a windy place, and I sailed 5.0 or better every day, yet never too much for a 4.2 with my wave board, even in the Gorge the 3.7 came out only a handful of times. Yet as I prepared to leave California to move to New York, I couldn't help but think my quiver was incomplete without something small, and as I stood on the rocky sand at West Meadow watching overhead rollers breaking as far as the eye could see with 40knot gusts rushing over the foamy water, I laughed.

From the start I was juiced, even with my smallest gear. In an attempted to own the day I lined up a back loop ramp just a few yards from the beach, over rotating and swimming after my gear. Within twenty minutes of bailed airs and long swims I was out of breathe on the beach. Mike Burns showed up and gave it a go, but within 15 minutes he was derigging and off to the training grounds, in hopes of lighter air and flatter water. Mike Colombo came down from Connecticut rigged a 3.3, and was perfectly powered. I gained my breath and we sailed for another hour before reaching total exhaustion, ducking through huge waves that spit spray in your face just as they were about to break, thinking that even if today was the only day I used my new sail, it was worth it.

California wrap-up

2010-10-21T05:30:00.000-07:00

After a year living in NorCal I have to say that it is astounding more people don't travel to the Bay Area to sail. From the beggining of April to the end of September somewhere in the reigon the wind broke into the low 20's EVERY DAY! I sailed 27 days in July at the Delta alone, and that was all 5.0 or smaller.
I sailed almost every morning and afternoon like clock work, and consistant ocean conditions through early summer could remedy anyone sick of the groundhogs day bump and jump forecast.
Eqaully as impressive as the consistant wind are the sailors. The level of sailing in all catagories is higher than just about every else on the mainland except maybe the Gorge, but then again alot of the hot shot Gorge sailors are transplants from the bay area. The Freestylers here can all through down, so can the wave guys, and the Racers are actually really fast.
Geographically, we were at perfect striking distance for a variety road trips. San Carlos wasn't a bad drive, nor was the Oregon coast, and my all time favorite spot, the Gorge. Not to mention 4 major airports within and hour or so drive makes escaping to other windy destinations a breeze.
California sailing is no secret, yet the amount of tourists there is limited. I guess a big part of it was that none of the shops offered adequate rental gear, especially when compared to Hood River. Still, it's so easy to fly in, rent a car, and be guarenteed sailing that more people should be visiting as a windsurfing destination, or maybe the locals just prefer to keep it all to themselves. Eitherway, California Loves windsurfers, and I will miss it this winter when I'm in my drysuite chasing the wind around Long Island.

Most Epic Trip Ever

2010-10-10T20:29:00.000-07:00

Sure, I almost didn't make it to San Carlos, twice. First when my car broke down on I-5 then when it got stuck on the Dirt Road. The Chevy deal sent chills down my spine when they said it could take up to 3 days for parts to arrive, and the contraption of roof straps tied to ropes tied to the other van, which had a flat, seemed more likely to snap than pull my car up the hill of loose dust.

But on the 7th full day of mast high waves and side off winds I couldn't think about anything but my next bottom turn - top turn combo. All's fair in Love and Wave sailing, and I'd of done anything not to miss a moment of the most epic trip ever.

Derek Ripping on the Test Gear

Above: Rob Warwick says he hasn't sailed waves in 3 years, this massive goiter says "bull shit"

Bryan Metcalf-Perez is Solid!

A random camper scores some head hight san carlos perfection

Packing for San Carlos on Monday...

2010-09-24T14:02:00.000-07:00

...and reviewing the list of activities that I will not be allowed to participate in.
1. Drinking heavily when Ted is driving "home"
2.Bailing while back looping, and
3.Sleeping drunk in a tent.
I've had three minor mishaps on three of my previous trips, which means I have a streak going. What will happen to Chachi on trip 4? stay tuned!

New Stuff, Old Stuff

2010-09-14T20:56:00.000-07:00

The odds that this afternoon would be productive looked good until the UPS guy knocked on my door. Nothing could have distracted me more, (since I just got home from windsurfing) than the arrival of my 2011 sails. Oh, Brown Santa, how you brought unexpected joy to my day! My pile of laundry, dirty car, and messy appartment will have to wait til tomorrow..
Immediately I began opening things, neglecting the burrito I was cooking, and consequently almost burning it. Removing the foam and tissue paper which the sails are wrapped in, I stood in awe of their beauty. The shiney, clean, uncrinkled monofilm made me grin in away only my girl friend could be jealous of. It's like Christmas in September, can't wait to get on the water with my new quiver.

Weird wind

2010-09-09T10:48:00.000-07:00

Growing up windsurfing on Long Island I never really fell for the end of summer blues. For us, September marks the peak of the Hurricane Season and the beginning of the windy season.
For a West Coaster, it means your local spot is turning off. Time to buy some Mexican Car insurance and head to Baja.
The wind here in the Delta the last two days has been, how shall I say, really weird. For most of July and August I wouldn't even check the wind, I would just go, and was able to sail both morning and afternoon everyday.
This Tuesday the wind at the end of the road wasn't even sail able. The flags hung limp from their posts and the water looked glassy. Yet a hint from an iwindsurf text message suggested that back down the road, no more than two miles away, there was wind. So follow it I did, and sure enough not only was it good, but the call was 4.2, yet looking back were I came from, it still looked dead.
I'm not one to question things, it just struck me as odd, that a body of water, with no geographical obstructions could have no wind in one spot, and then maybe less two miles away be solid blowing 25.
Then yesterday I got to the beach early in the morning. There was enough of a breeze to make some ripples on the water, but that was it. I figured I'd wait it out in my van, playing games on my Ipod until something happened.
About twenty-five minutes later Dave, a regular at Sherman, came knocking on my window. Apparently the wind picked up, but from a different direction than normal. I could see the white caps in the channel, but couldn't feel any wind on the beach. I rigged and as soon as I got on the water I was lit out of my mind. The SW direction was keeping the inside completely flat while some knee and waist high chop began forming in the channel, the best set up I've seen since I got here. I came in and rigged down, sailed for about 45 minutes and then the wind shut down, not returning until evening.
Yes, the wind season here in California is on it's last legs. Lucky for me I only have two weeks left to worry about it, then off to San Carlos for ten days, followed by the east coast.

Too Many Friends! Day 2

2010-09-03T18:15:00.001-07:00

Tried to send Robby a friend request again today, still too many. Check back tomorrow.

Too Many Friends!

2010-09-02T19:18:00.000-07:00

Today Facebook suggested Robby Naish as someone I might know. I was very excited to see that Robby had a profile, so I immediately clicked to send a request only to get a very strange message "Sorry, this user already has too many friend requests."
Wow! Robby is one popular guy! I've never heard of anything like this.
I'm sure he's out ripping up perfect waves somewhere. I just hope that one day, he comes in, checks his facebook account, and accepts all these people so that I may have the chance to send him a request of friendship and maybe even ask him how many requests it takes to have too many.

Treasure Island

2010-08-31T08:05:00.000-07:00

A northern California sailor will tell you that between April and September you can sail every single day somewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area if you are willing to drive. Since the 4th of July weekend, it's blown everyday at the Delta so I've had no need to travel for wind, until now.
Watching Iwindsurf on Sunday, it was apparent that a few other spots were going off while the Sherman Markers 12 and 14 danced around, well, 12 and 14mph. The out look was the same on Monday, and with the day off I called a friend and headed toward the Bay in search of wind.
Treasure Island sits under the Bay Bridge, smack in the middle of the San Francisco Bay. As you exit off the freeway onto the island you descend down a hill, looking at an almost unobstructed view of the world famous skyline. The road then levels out and rides along the clear green water and a side walk paralleled with white sand and lined with palm trees. The island appears tropical with all the lush green vegetation, and then you get out of your car only to go running back for a sweat shirt as the words of Mark Twain "The coldest winter I ever spent..." echo in your head.

With very detailed instructions, Lisa and I navigate our way through the restored, now civilian, military barracks until we see another sailor parked in front of a set of boarded up apartments, rigging on the brown, unmaintained front lawn. He escorts us behind the building and through an opening in a chain link fence toward the launch, on which hangs a sign that says "Sailboarding Prohibited." He kindly gives us the low down on the spot, then we head back to our cars to rig.

Catapulting Aaron pulled in next to my van just as we finished setting up, so I waited briefly then followed him into the water, around the Jetti that enclosed the launch and immediately out to the middle of the bay. Winds in the solid mid twenties were sweeping the water outside the launch into knee to waist high chop,we were both well powered on 4.2's and began a bit of a freestyle session.

Spinning through a Shaka I could see everything in one glance, Alcatraz, Crissy Field, the Skyline, the Bridge, Treasure, Oakland, Berkly and then Alcatraz again. The feeling of sailing in the middle of the San Francisco bay is so surreal in the sense that one can find solitude smack in the middle of one of the largest, busiest metropolitan areas in the world.
We sailed for maybe two hours then headed back in. I was stoked. There was no wind in the Delta, yet here I was, an hour away, just getting off the water from a 4.2 session at one of the most astounding windsurfing locations I'd ever been. Tuesday isn't looking good for Sherman, but I'm a believer that if I'm willing to fill my gas tank, I'll be sailing some where not too far away.

Delta Video: East Coast West Coast Biotch!

2010-08-20T04:27:00.000-07:00

edited by Chris Eldridge

Full Power Delta Freestyle from Chris Eldridge on Vimeo.

Zero to Spock in 10 days: An interview with Jan Nilsen

2010-08-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

Jan showed up to Rio earlier this month with the goal of landing a Vulcan in 7 days or less.
If you don't windsurf, this is a very ambitious and lofty goal for sailors at any level of the sport and is usually not met. The Vulcan is one of the most difficult moves in the sport to learn and can take people years before they make one.
So when this Colorado native showed up, his smallest sail being a 5.2 (that's most guys big sail here) and no prior attempts, we thought it would be a long shot. However Jan was committed to his goal, he had the right board and fin for the task and once on the water I don't think I saw the guy jibe once. Every single run he went for it, over and over again.
Not only did Jan meet his goal, but he exceeded it taking things one step further my landing a Spock.
I had the chance to ask Jan a few questions, and here is what he said:

Chachi: How long have you been windsurfing?
Jan: Maybe 10 years but very sporadic.

Chachi: Did you have your freestyle board before you decided to learn the Vulcan or did you buy it after you set your goal?
Jan: I got my freestyle board in the fall of last year, wanted it because of the planing capabilities and i figured it would help me do slide moves one day.

Chachi:Tell me a bit about your background as a skier?
Jan: I skied since I was little, gates first then mogul/aerials professionally on/off for 10 years.

Chachi: How many Days did it take you to land it? How did this all go down?
Jan: I had just taken a 9 day personal training class in San Diego and I was ready to have some fun. I was on a mission to land or at least get close to landing a Vulcan and I had a week to do it, all I needed was some place windy. So i drove north to Rio Vista; cool place but where's the flat water? Conditions looked a bit intimidating. Anyway, i rigged and reminded my self to "cowboy up cream puff"

Day 1 was spent looking and feeling like a cat out the window. I kept chucking airs ( probably got about 30 tries in the first day) and at the end of the day 1 i actually started to get around past 1/4 turn digging my rails in, to sliding a little. That was enough information and attempts for one day.

Day 2 the first thing I wanted to work on was the timing on the takeoff. I remember from my mogul skiing days it's all in the takeoff if you wanna fly straight and land straight. I got super cognitive in my takeoff attempts, to make sure i would not program in a faulty motor engram. This took all day, and at the end of day 2 I felt the timing was getting there. The difference this made was huge, it meant that almost every time I jumped, I now made it past the point of digging the rail in, whip lashing, ankle twisting, to a very nice slide and soft fall. Probably had another 30 tries total day 2.

Day 3 I was starting to feel the abuse from previous days carnage. I decided to sail around less to conserve energy, and only go far enough out to have enough speed to do the next vulcan attempt. The timing was there, but I knew I needed more speed. What do you know? you go twice as fast, you only have to pop half as hard. It now started to feel really good in my takeoffs but planing backwards in landing was not. Had a total of 25-30 reps day 3.

Day 4 started with my mind wanting to do more vulcan attempts, but my body thought otherwise, mind over matter right? I'm back in the water stiff as hell, forcing out some reps. Took half a day just to get warmed up. Started thinking about, for the first time, what the sail and hands were doing? This messed with the timing of the takeoff, but at the end of the day I was getting very close to landing my first vulcan.

Day 5 second attempt, I did it, I landed the vulcan, celebrated for ONE minute, ( this is how my mind works, go figure) got greedy and down on my self for not landing another one until the next day. Totally ignoring the fact of the accomplishment I came for was now in the bag!

Day 6 a much needed rest day for lack of wind. wanted more, shuffled my schedule around so I could stay another 3-5 days.

Day 7-9 I was trying to get some consistency with my vulcan and also started to try them going on port. This was almost like starting completely over again. Cognitive motor programing, but also couldn't help my self for trying spocks on my good side.

Day 10 I landed my first spock, tried the rest of the day to repeat, I couldn't.

Day 11 I was overpowered on my 5.2, tried a few tricks but realized just sailing around enjoying my self was good enough today as I only had the morning session before I had to pack up and leave to go back to Colorado. What an adventure it had been!

Chachi: Anything else you want to add?
Jan: I'll be the first one to admit it's easy to get caught up in making that vulcan or next move yesterday, at 46 feeding a pathological ego is still fun, but I also realize every day is Sunday and the wind and the waves are my church!

Thanks Jan! We're looking forward to seeing you out there again, maybe another two weeks and you'll go pro!

Photos By Brendon Baird Quinn aka "The Wind Gypsy"

Delta from the eyes of a Sick Chick

2010-08-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

Great post Emily,
you really hit the nail on the head, it's great to read about the Delta from another point of view. How about the Gorge next year?
http://sick-chick.tumblr.com/post/963935766/rio-rage-and-west-coast-sick-chicks?ref=nf

Sick Sessions for All

2010-08-15T20:47:00.000-07:00

This past week at the Delta was an epic one. Not because the conditions were so epic ( they were) and not because I got new gear (it comes next week), and not even because there were hot chicks windsurfing(no specific numbers but it was higher than usual). No, it's because people were out there getting shit done! First Vulcans, first spocks, first loops and first toads. Maybe something was in the air, no pun intended, but people were going for it and sticking it!
There's nothing more exciting than sucess, it breeds energy, fosters creativity and inspires others to push their limits. With that in mind, Chachis World will be coordinating with the Wind Gypsy to bring you stories, insights, photos, and video of this past week at the Delta, because one post is not enough. Prepare yourself for awesomeness.

Team East Coast

2010-08-12T08:55:00.000-07:00

"Wow, another guy from the east coast who rips?!" declared Lisa St. Clair after watching a totally lit up spock across the play pen.
"Yup" was all I replied,"and it's not even Mike Burns"
It can be difficult for most west coasters to imagine that anyone from the east coast can do more than jibe, let alone spock! So when Chris Eldridge of Connecticut showed up throwing Shakas, Funnels, and so on all day long last friday it was not without notice.(Although he's gotten no where near the attention as his girlfriend with her clam digger)
Though choppy, we've had wind every day this month, which Chris and Emily have been taking full advantage of for the first half of their trip. "It's not as good as Kalmus at low tide" they both agreed "but it's windy way more often."
We have been filming much of the trip and will have a video out soon, mean while Emily has taken note of all the women who windsurf out here, and is working on a post about it for her blog, Sick Chick.
The wind continues to blow over the brown waters of the Delta, and I have broken 20 days in a row 5.0 and below and no signs of stopping. See you out there!

Putting your Hero on Hold

2010-08-04T21:09:00.000-07:00

It's no overstatement to call Francisco Goya a hero of mine, especially after watching him sail at Pistol River this past June. The guy goes huge! So when he called the shop the other day to see how business was doing, it broke my heart to have to put the World Champion wave sailor on hold, three times! I was the only guy in the shop, so I had to be available to the customers as they approached the register with questions.
I felt so bad, it would be like working at a Foot Locker and taking a phone call from Michael Jordan. "Hold on MJ, some one needs a size 12." How ridiculous? Well after speaking to Francisco for a bit, I'd have to say he's one of the nicest and most humble guys I've ever met, sorry for putting you on hold, hope to see you on the water!

July Summary

2010-07-31T20:57:00.000-07:00

If I marked on a calendar everyday I sailed this month I'd probably be out of ink. Fortunately I record that sacred data on a word file and it reads that I sailed 27 days this month! This is a personaly record for me, as I have never exceeded 21 days before. I might have also boasted that every one of those days was on a 5.0 or smaller, but I did leave the Delta to sail Crissy for two days at nationals where I used a 5.4 (it's now listed as for sale on I windsurf since I never use it).

Everyone at Sherman has been buzzing about how this has been one of the best months in a long time, and how could they not? All but two days this month had wind, the 3rd and 4th, and I dont think anyone regrets passing up those croweded days.

So no wave sailing for me this sailing this month :( , but the Nationals, followed by a post Nationals freestyle-jam format type event did occur at the Delta. Participating in events like these are always fun, it brings out a bunch of stoked sailors and shows how high the level of sailing has gotten over the years. We saw some big named hot shots from the Gorge on the Levee who drew crowds and cheers from windsurfers and non windsurfers alike. Can't wait to do it again!

The Delta Windsurf Co. began their Paddle race series, and are now 4 races deep, however attendance was low this race due in part to the fact that everyone was exhausted from sailing so much. They had an awesome BBQ by the way, so it might be worth taking some time off the water to check out next week.

I'm looking forward to August, as I have a list of tricks that I need to start hacking away at before heading back east.

The RVWA has a fund raiser this coming Saturday at the sign, so be sure to show up and support them. Also East Coast hot shot Chris Eldridge is making his way out to the Bay Area this month, I'll bet he's excited to windsurf in August for a change.

Nationals Expression Session Video

2010-07-29T13:51:00.000-07:00

I found this posted on the iwindsurf forum, not sure who put it together but some great highlights from Fridays Freestyle Session. My Favorite is Andy Brandts range of highwind and lightwind moves. He's got a few freestyle camps taking place out here in the Delta this August, FYI.

Best Video I've seen in a While

2010-07-28T21:10:00.001-07:00

Steven van Broeckhoven South Africa 2010 from Windsurfmoves on Vimeo.

July 25th Expression Session Video

2010-07-26T20:51:00.000-07:00

A few Clips from Sundays Session

Wind

2010-07-26T20:48:00.000-07:00

Sherman today.

Any They're saying the same thing tomorrow!

Sloppy Seconds

2010-07-25T22:44:00.000-07:00

That's what it seemed like to me, Sloppy Seconds. We were all greatful that the US National Windsurfing Championships included freestyle at the event, but after sitting around in the cold all day watching endless slalom heats in nuking wind only to an organizer tell me "oh yea, i guess we could do freestyle" was well, frustrating.

We finally took to the water on the last day of competition as winds diminished and managed to get through a few rounds of single elmination format before the wind and water currents totally shut us down.

The awards dinner was great, we heard all about the tremendous athletes who braved the conditions in course racing, formula, and slalom, but for the organization who boast and hoast the championships of our sport ignored its fastest growing indication that they were a bit out of touch.

Fortunatly Windsport and RRD under stand that there is more to windsurfing than racing and got together to organize a freestyle event of their own out in the delta. We saw all the top talent of the West Coast and representing their hard work today in 25+ knots of wind. All the other sailors cleared to water, without being asked, and watched eagerly from the shores. Loud cheers were heard everytime a move was attempted, and even the occasional "I didn't know they could do that" was murmered on the beach.

In the end we all had great time just being at the beach supporting each other, and I know for sure that the people watching got a fresh breath of life from the sport they love.

My Yacht

2010-07-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

When filling out my application for US Windsurfing National Championships today I noticed a mandatory field which required the name of my Yacht. I am officially captain of the 232cm Rodeo sailing vessel. Ironic even more so since my board is the shortest freestyle stick on the market.
But size does not matter because with the registration of my new vessel comes many priveledges such as access to the St.Francis Yatch club, including the saunas and spas. This is very generous of them, but I see this going down kind of like the scene in Catty Shack where they opened up the pool to the catties.
Anyway, it's great that freestyle will be represented at the largest windsurfing competion on the mainland, and I'm excited to be participating.

This week at Sherman

2010-07-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

5 days in a row of solid 4.2 at the delta and I'm feeling good. People are starting to set their watches by the wind, and rightfully so. I've haven't seen so many happy faces on the beach in quite a while and if things continue like this then there're sure to be more.
Today might be a bit lighter, just in time for the first of 8 SUP races taking place every Saturday, which should be alot of fun. See you on the water!

Solid 4.2, again.

2010-07-06T21:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterdays 8 hour sail started on 4.2, then 4.7, then 4.2 again. I worked on all the tricks I could think of until every muscle in my body was sore. I had so much fun and smiled so hard that you would think it was my first time on the poo brown delta water, but it wasn't. I love days off when the wind blows from sunrise to sunset, but if I had known today was going to blow 30's (mid day "lulls" were to 26mph) all day, I would have saved some energy.

This morning I woke up early, around 7am, and got on the water for about an hour before work, fully lit 4.2 on the wave stick. Every muscle in my body was sore from the day before, but I still got out. I then headed over to the shop and proceeded to fill request after request for small sails and boards until 5, then went back out on the water for another fully lit 4.2 session on the 75ltr. (I still don't regret passing up the 3.7, thanks to whoever put the lower grommet on the my Norths this year)

I'm physically exhausted! but wind is in the forecast and I can't think of anything else I'd rather do.
I hope it's windy where you are, but if it's not come join us getting dirty at the Delta!

Above: Sherman Marker 12 from 7/05/2010
Left: Sherman Marker 14 from 7/06/2010

Windsurfing Look-a-Likes, Yes I was Bored.

2010-07-04T13:33:00.000-07:00

If Taty put on a Lakers jersey while sailing one might think Kobe Bryant had found a new hobby, or that Taty lost his rash guard. Eitherway, they both dominate their sports with style.

Are we sure windsurfing instructor Jason Voss wasn't in 'Forgetting Sarah Marshal'?Hey Jason, "Have you seen my Sandal?"

Paskoski and Tarantino, no wonder Andre makes such sick films!

It's the hair! Young Michael Jackson and Sarah Quita. He topped Charts, she topped the womens PWA tour. Thriller!

Laure Treboux could be Tina Fey's stunt double perhaps? If Laure does a Sarah Palin impression maybe the otherway around.

Former board tester and windsurfing globe trotter Mike Colombo smiles because he's got beer, Edward Norton is angry because he can't have any.

Windsurfing Movie II

2010-06-28T15:40:00.000-07:00

The mainland US premier of the Windsurfing Movie II is tomorrow night and within a 6 hour drive of my current location. I'm not going.
I want to see this thing with every fiber of my being. I watched many days as they filmed in the Gorge last season and have long anticipated it's release.
It's not the the distance is too far, nor that any obligations exist which would restrain me.
No, the reason is that tomorrow and wensday are going to blow here, and not so much there.
Sorry guys, I'll catch it on DVD some other time, but right now I need to go windsurfing.

2010-06-24T08:35:00.000-07:00

Here's a video of some freestyle happening at Sherman. Not bad for only 30minutes of shooting.

Untitled from jon sassone on Vimeo.

Camanche Yesterday; Plus East Coast Windfest Update

2010-06-12T19:45:00.000-07:00

We made it up to the Camanche Reservoir yesterday to take advantage of the unseasonable northerly winds. The last time Amy and I were there was during a rain storm in April, with almost no visibility and muddy waters, so the blue skies, clear water, and snow capped Sierras looming over head was a real contrast. Even better, we launched from the South Shore of lake this time and found not only flat water, but the mellow chop perfect for freestyle which I've only experience once before, at Lac Bay.

Windsurfing is a very special sport, in that it inspires you to go out and find places that you would normally over look. I can't think of a reason to have ever gone there besides to windsurf, and upon arrival, I was content in just being there, in admiration of the landscape. Being able to sail was just a bonus.

In other news the East Coast Windsurfing Festival is under was and they've broken the 20mph barrier on the first day! It was much to my regret that I couldn't be there this year, but the fact that they're having a blast is enough to get me stoked. Word on the street is there is a massive judging dilemma on how to call the moves in the Pro Division. Which is should win; a Shaka, a switch Chacho, or a Donkey Jibe? Inside sources say the old school grabbed some unanticipated support, but we will have to wait until tomorrow to find out the verdict. Good luck to all who are participating!

Right: Chris Eldridge throws a switch chacho between heats at the 2010 ECWF.

Photo by Bill Doutney.

The Streak

2010-06-08T21:34:00.000-07:00

It's seems like the season is finally under way here in the Delta. Memorial day and everyday since I've gone out on 5.4 of smaller, bringing me up to 9 days in a row so far. My personal record is 13 days in a row, which was set last June in the Gorge. So will Rio Vista claim the record, or will my Gorge summer forever be my windiest?

It's hard to tell, and so far it looks like Friday, the all important and pivotal 12th day, is not looking good, but anything can happen. As it is, yesterday, day number 8, and today should not have happened due to Sundays mishap. (It's amazing what a fist full of pain killers can do.)

Jump, Jibe, and Bail: I might have Michael Alex beat!

2010-06-06T20:05:00.000-07:00

Sherman absolutely fired this afternoon! After a brief stop at the shop Amy, Lisa, and myself shot over to Powerlines around 3:30 to find a handful of sailors getting off the water to rig down. Alex was still out on his 5.0 but looking very powered, so I rigged a 4.2 and decided to try out my new 75ltr F2 Rebel, with the Rodeo in my back pocket if it wasn't enough(it was plenty). Amy and Lisa rigged three somethings and we hit the water.
I've never been so on fire before, I was hitting full on planning Ponches one right after the other, Looping and so on. The girls we excited to see some ramps and got to working on their jumps. Both Amy and Lisa looked very good for two girls in their 2nd and 3rd seasons of windsurfing and they held on tight as the wind steadily built into the 30's. (Most of the guys had already called it quits) I really give them both credit for charging it today, and this is only the beginning of the season!
I ended up on the D.L. after a Ponch gone wrong. A bit over powered I botched my take off and swung out of the straps, landing with all my weight on my right thigh on top of the board. Micheal Alex, the bruise is coming on and I might have you beat! Then again I don't bruise too easily so we'll have to wait 'til it shows up tomorrow. At any rate I may be off the water for a few days as I can't bend my leg too much.
Today was day number 7 in a row, and it nuked. Tomorrow and all the days in the extended forecast look good, so if you're thinking about visiting the Delta get on it! The season is on!

Tested: Duke, Rodeo, and Local Honey

2010-06-02T08:57:00.000-07:00

Well the ABK guys are in town, which means fun times on the water. In fact, I probably would have missed the best part of the wind on Thursday if I hadn't stayed out doing light wind stuff with Andy, Brendon, and Derek for a half hour or so. It's amazing how quickly those guys can shift gears from fully planing loops to sailing back winded inside the boom and back again. You really don't need too much wind to have fun windsurfing and ABK reminds me of that every time.
We had just enough wind to get out Wensday and Thursday with the flood tides keeping everything nice and flat. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday totally tanked only to be redeemed by Monday and Tuesdays all day blows. I landed a sort of Vulcan-Bob thing, which makes me confident that I might land the actual Bob soon, though the sail throw is still inconsistent.

Anyway, I've sailed my 2010 North Duke 5.4 on my 76, 84, and 98 ltr now and feel safe enough to give it a review. First, as with every North, it's very easy to rig correctly, and required very little tweaking. It planes super quick and can be rigged on a 400 with the right extension. The power delivery is very steady, to the point where I can barely feel the gusts and lulls. The pocket is deeper than my beloved Ice but it still goes neutral during moves like flakas and spocks and doesn't hinder top end speed. My only gripe is the boom is a bit long for the size of sail, but I think that's the feature that gives the 5.4 the power of a 6.0 so I'll deal.
Over all impression: Worth It! for everyone into bump n jump, freestyle and waves; especially those who like power.

The F2 Rodeo Air 98ltr was used with a 4.7, 5.0, and 5.4m sail. In all cases it planed really quick, in fact for each sail I used I would have needed the next size up on any other board. The board moves so fast I passed a 6.5 slalom sailor 3 separate times while on my 4.7 yesterday, Yikes! The rocker is really flat, which not only makes the board plane quick(get the point?) but also spin very fast. Because the board is so flat carving can feel a bit lethargic. *(who carves on a freestyle board anyway? I don't know, but some people care about that)* The rails are a bit sharp from nose to tail, which can sometimes bite the chop during moves, but they help in getting up with and keeping the board from spinning out with that tiny little fin. The grippy rails also make up for the lack of rocker on moves like Konos and Shakas, which do have a quick snap turn to them. Most of the volume is in the tail, so you'll find it easier to stay in the foot straps and you won't loose speed switching stance, though my only real gripe besides the sharp rails under the nose is a little more nose volume would help during under powered slides.
Overall impression: Totally Worth It for freestylers of all abilities. Bump and jump guys would like the early planing and fantastic pop, but may have issues with carving.

Dakine Contour Straps: (currently on the rodeo) It was my first time using these bad boys and damn are they a pain in the neck to dial in, but once you've got 'em you're set. It'd say worth it if you really care about every performance advantage you can get, otherwise a good set of stock straps work. Personally, I'm Contouring it for now on.

Local Honey: Have Allergies? I never did until living out here in the Central Valley. Five Stars! beat the crap out of the OTC stuff I was taking and saved the last two sessions.

Gary's World

2010-05-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

I recently got back in touch with a friend of mine from high school. Gary, one of the homies I used to skateboard with back in the day, decided to become a world traveler and now keeps a blog of his exploits. So far he's traveled throughout Europe and the Caribbean and is heading out to San Fran in a couple of weeks.
He was interested in some of the windsurfing travels I've done an decided to make a post about it.
Check it out, along with some others at Gary Misner.com.
(I'd like to point out that he did make one very flattering mistake. I don't know who started the rumor in my home town, but I'll have to put an end to it. Eventually.)
Keep it up Gary, I'll see you soon.

Weekend Summary: an Explaination of Why I Missed the Lost Series Finale

2010-05-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

After getting blown off the water at Sherman Friday evening, Amy and I decided to make a break for the coast on Saturday to meet up with Alex, who was staying with some friends in Santa Cruz.
During the drive we got a call saying that the winds were backing off by the ocean, so we jumped on the San Mateo bridge and crossed over to third for a quick freestyle session.
The wind was really up and down and the chop was coming from all different directions, so I only sailed for a short time before packing it up.

Amy found a band playing in Santa Cruz, so we headed south and found a camp ground near by, pitched a tent, and then went into town for the night. It ended up being a Samba band, who absolutely rocked. Everybody in the place was moving, and by the end of the night my hips were so soar I had no idea how I was going to sail the next moring.

We woke up Sunday, grabbed a bite to eat in town and then headed out to Daveport. The swell was messy, but the winds were picking up so I rigged up my new Duke 5.4 and got out.

They say it's a bad idea to sail new gear in the surf, but that's what I bought the sail for so I figured might as well use it. Anyway, I jibed out of my first wave only to find myself face to face with a big meat eater section of a wave. I wanted to try to pop over it but I had absolutely no power in my sail; needless to say I got run over but the logo high freight train without a chance of getting out of the way.

When I popped up there was another wave coming so tactfully sunk my sail. Luckly, it didn't break. I then water started and made it to the beach. The sail was fine, but my head was throbbing a bit from something hitting me during the wipeout.
Alex then went out on his 5.8, but was over powered. We both rerigged to 5.0 and sailed until we couldn't hold on anymore.

It was hard to find good rides, though the regulars seemed to know where the waves would pop up pretty well. Some of the guys were shooting for a break right next to the cliff where the wind was really light. This of course made for some interesting situations as we watched rigs wash up on the rocks. One of the locals said it was a pretty messy day in terms of swell, and that normally the waves are much cleaner and more consistant. I'm looking forward to getting back there for another day sometime in the near future, but for right now I'm hoping to get some freestyle in on my new Rodeo which is due to arrive this week.

5.4 Test-postponed

2010-05-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally broke down and purchased a 5.4 Duke this week. I really thought my 5.0 would be more than enough as my "big" sail for the Delta this season, but El Nino patterns have created some weird wind and 5.0 has been marginal on too many days.

Below: Amy 3.7 and 84ltr

Going into a Kono on the 76ltr

Anyway, I was really excited to try out the new Duke but winds were, well, strong. Figures. Amy was on her 3.7 and I sailed 4.2. Maybe I'll get to try the 5.4 out today, but then again hopefully not.

Pictures from today

2010-05-16T17:12:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of pics of Alex and myself from todays session at Sherman. Winds were low to mid 20's today, with warm air temps and a favorable current. What a great day to be on the water! Thanks Amy for the sweet shots!

Delta Force

2010-05-10T23:59:00.000-07:00

Amy and I arrived at Sherman around 5 O'clock to find Alex lit up on his 4.0. This was a pleasant surprise, as I was sure the strong winds would die off by the time we got to there. Fortunately, I was wrong. The wind was still very strong and I was surprised to see Amy pull out her 4.2 and not 3.7, but since she started sailing a smaller board I shrugged it off. She hit the water and took off like a bat out of hell, and she stuck it out for a while until the gusts started reaching into the mid 30's. By the time she got into the beach she was exhausted, but a huge smile stretched across her face.

I was blasting around on my wave board and eventually managed to pull in front of Alex on starboard. I figured since I told him I landed a loop while he was stuck in class the other day, I'd better come through with a solid rotation for him to see. I accelerated off the wind, head on into a meaty knee high ramp with way more speed than I would have liked. The board turned down and the sail loaded with power. I really really did not want to do it, but with an audience I did not want to chicken out. I sheeted in and spun. The nose of the board pointed down toward the water in that scary 'about to die' way that only fowards do, I looked for a second then closed my eyes and tucked. This was way too fast for me to be comfortable considering I just landed my first loop on startboard two days ago and I knew a crash would be bone jarring. Fortunately, the rig spun through all the way and I sailed out of it, but my heart was pounding the inside of my chest like it might pop through my ribs.

This inspired Alex who then decided to try a few fowards also, all of which were very close. Infact, as close as one could possibly get without actually sailing away. By my count, he's right around ten tries total, and on track to land a loop within the next two sessions. Not bad, not at all.

After about 2 hours the wind backed off and we packed it up for the day. On the way out we ran into the Dereks who had just sailed powerlines. They both agreed it was epic, and that Amy and I would need to join them next time it's ebbing and nuking.Tomorrow has some promise, but the rest of the week is predicted to fade. We'll see how that plays out since today was forcast for 18-22. Hope everyone else got some.

Behold: The Ambi Looper

2010-05-08T08:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, four years after landing my first loop on port, I became a looper on both tacks. Only this time, it took a mere 8 tries from my first attempt to actually landing a foward.
Learning to loop starboard confirmed what I already knew, that the loop is not technichally difficult but a mental manuvour. By controlling my thoughts and committing to the move from the start, I was able to quickly overcome the challenge with an extremely short learning curve.
Now it's time to complete my experiment with loops and see if I can transfer this advice to someone who has never looped before and get them to land one as quickly. I know it's possible, especially since I've met people who can loop but not jibe. Just remember, it's all in your head. Commit.

Tease winds, new gear update, and some wind?

2010-05-07T08:27:00.000-07:00

The last week of April we sailed 5 out of 7 days, but now a week into May we've seen about one good day out here in the Delta. Mean while the Bay Area has been on fire. Time to drive I guess...
The biggest tease, however, is that for most sailors, 4 of the past 7 afternoons might have be sailable if not for the ultra strong flood tide. Drifting down wind trying to pump on a plane to throw a flaka and then having to rock climb out of the water and walk a half mile up wind to your car just isn't as fun as I'd thought it'd be. Ok, so zero good days so far this month.
For this week a series of strong afternoon Ebs will make for some great afternoon sessions, so with a bit of wind the Delta could be the place.
On the gear front, I finally used the production freestyle fin I got for Christmas. I'll admit, I was hesitant. I mean, I can take just about any old fin and turn it into a custom freestyle stub for little to no cost, so why spend over $100 bucks to get one at the shop? Well, after replacing my custom freestyle/weed fin with a brand new 16cm MFC production freestyle fin, I was sold.
The production fin cuts through the water with so much more efficiency that I now plane quicker and find greater top end speed. Not to mention the thing virtually disappears while I'm spinning.
Conclusion: Worth it!!!
Dakine finally filled in the gaps of their beloved Mono lines and I was able to pick up a set of 26's. What a huge difference from my 24's interms of ability to get the mast upright, and yet I didn't get the stretched out monkey arm feeling like I do from 28's; so much more comfortable. (Delta Windsurfing just got a truck load of fins and lines in, FYI.)
Also, by the end of next week, I should be the proud owner of a brand new F2 Rodeo 98 and a Rebel 75. From what I've heard, the Rodeo could be best production freestyle board of 2010, but I won't get ahead of myself. What I will say is that the only real way to get them is through special order with Ocean Air, and supplies are limited, so I will review them quickly for any interested parties (I over estimate the interest of my fan base). Otherwise purewindsurfing.blogspot.com posted a helpful review on the Rodeo and is currently the only North American to have one.

Euro Trax

2010-05-06T08:16:00.000-07:00

I love windsurfing and I love watching windsurfing videos, however the music in the back ground of some of these clips for the last couple of years has been terrible. Italian rapping, German techno, Euro trance; come on, really? There's certainly some great music out there, why isn't it in your videos?
I mean, I play a clip; the action is great and the video quality is professional, but then I'm racing to find the mute button because some slightly syncopated, synthesized beat is raping my ears. I really can't remember the last time I saw something from a windsurfer on youtube or vimeo and said "Hey, great song, I must immediately download it and listen to it over and over."(Actually, I can. Kasabien "Club Foot" about 4 years ago)
All I'm trying to say is that you super talented freestyle and wave guys looking to post your footage from your latest sailing adventures and trips, before you upload that track into your time line ask your friendly Chachis World Media Consultant about your choice of tunes. It's free, and apparently necessary.

April Summary

2010-05-02T09:41:00.000-07:00

Both March and April were sad months for wind out here in the Delta. Most days barely reached low teens, while the stronger days were gusty and shifty. The last week of April saw some better wind, which leads me to believe that May will be much better.
My new loop goal is end of May.

Loop Progress

2010-04-26T20:51:00.000-07:00

Loop Attempts to date:
Chachi: 4
Alex K : 2

So far inconsistent winds (or lack there of) have limited loop attempts. I'm only counting starboard for myself since I can loop port. If anyone else wants in, e-mail me at windsass01@yahoo.com with name and loop attempts.
Since looping is mostly mental, keeping yourself accountable to attempting it and having someone else to push you is key, so I'm hoping this record will help us stay motivated.

Mishka

2010-04-23T17:17:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year I was turned on to a singer named 'Mishka' through a movie called 'Surfer Dude.' His style is a unique cross between a Jack Johnson and Bob Marley, and alot of his song lyrics talk about the ocean and surfing.
What really drew my attention to this artist was that Mishka used to be a competitive windsurfer, and infact represented Bermuda at the Windsurfing World Championships in 1991 and 1992.
Since then Mishka has released a couple of albums, and he is also the face for O'Neills' eco friendly clothing line.
Check out his website for more info: http://www.mishka.com/

Finally, Some Wind!

2010-04-21T19:48:00.000-07:00

Even though todays big forecast was a bust for the Delta, the past two days brought in some wind for Sherman. The wind quality was less than perfect, but I'll take what I can get at this point. Based on stats, I expected to be on the water 15 and 20 days this month, so far I have 3 (and I havn't missed any opportunity). Needless to say we were all stoked to have anything at all.
Monday saw a fairly strong mid afternoon session which I sailed my 4.2 for about an hour. Derek was around so we went back and forth doing some freestyle and cruising until the wind dropped off. At this point, Alex (who I advised to cut class at UC Davis) showed up. I felt bad because I thought he got skunked, but within an hour the wind was back blowing solid 5.0.
Tuesday was very up and down, basically you could have rigged any size you wanted and it would have been right. For the most part, that's what happened. Guys (and Lisa) were rigged anywhere from 4.8 to 8.0, and we all had our moments.
As far my starboard loop quest, I made my first two (out of six possible) attempts on Monday. It was as scarey on starboard as it was the first time on Port, but I know from experience that the move is mostly mental so I'm focussed on just going for it. Hopefully the wind will stay a while so I'll have a chance of making my goal to land one by the end of the month.

Where are you Wind?

2010-04-15T20:27:00.000-07:00

Maybe the sailors in the Bay Area are doing better, but out here in the delta the winds have been miserable. Based on wind data, I was expecting somewhere between 15 to 20 days this month, so far I have 1. It's almost unbearable to sail so few days; perhaps I'll need to organize a support group soon.
I feel like I'm stuck in the movie "surfer dude" (which is play instant on netflix if you're down on account of the skunkage).
Does anyone have a solution? Can you point me in the direction of wind?
So anyway, a big "F-U" to El Nino, for screwing up the winds this season. I hope you go to hell and die.

New Spot: Commanche Day Point

2010-04-11T19:46:00.000-07:00

Amy decided to call the ranger at the Commanche Resevior and ask what the wind conditions were like, a very smart idea since I rely soley on iwindsurf for data, and I wasn't about to drive up there to be skunked.

He said "It's really windy, you could almost surf some of those waves out there..." and with that we off.

We'd never been here before, nor had anyone ever recommended the spot to us. I found Commanche on mapquest, and guessed that the north shore could work on the southerly storm winds, but I had no idea if it would be good or not.

When we got there I saw what looked to be a portion of glass flat water tucked a low lying strip of land just high enough to keep the chop out, but not the wind.

At first I couldn't help but think that something was wrong, I mean this was too good to be true. The spot had to be too shallow, or maybe the wind was being blocked on the inside. It's not everyday you drive some where randomly that you've never been and find a top notch freestyle spot, and yet that seemed to be the case. A few pumps got me speeding across the buttery smoothe surface with a huge smile on my face. I took a couple of speed runs to get my blood flowing and than began to work on some freestyle. In normal conditions I would have been way over powered, bouncing out of control, but here it was easy to control my board speed.

I don't think Amy has ever been in water as flat as we did today, and she really seemed to enjoy herself. She had no problem working on foot straps, jibes and tacks with the confidance that comes from not bumping all over the place while trying to think.

We were all smiles at the end of the day, but I couldn't help but think how many southerly storms winds I chased around Rio Vista only to be disappointed. At least now I know where to go, and if there's anymore storms winds this season I will gladly drive up to the Commanche Resivior for some of the best freestyle conditions I've ever seen.

Learning to Loop....again

2010-03-30T21:47:00.000-07:00

I am not an ambi-looper! Like Derek Zoolander couldn't turn left I cannot loop to the right. In fact, the thought of a Starboard tack foward seems so unnatural that I have trouble even visualizing the move.
With the wind is turning on for the season I am setting the goal to learn to loop again, and I'm going to do it by the end of April. I'm giving myself one month to re-learn on of the most notorisous of tricks, so if any of you non loopers out there (or non ambi loopers) are interested I will be posting my progress everytime I sail.
I'm hoping that the thought of writing about not attempting to loop during each session will keep me accountable to going for it everytime I sail until I reach my goal of being an ambi looper.

Taking Shuv-its higher

2010-03-10T11:12:00.000-08:00

The Shuv-it is one of the most fun and simple tricks in new school freestyle. It's one of the few moves that doesn't list the Vulcan as a prerequisite and tends to have a relatively gentle learning curve. On the water, I've seen several people trying it but with little success, the biggest mistake being that they try to simply jump and lay the sail over, and creating little to no lift from the sail.
Here's my take on the move:
First, find some chop. I like to find something fairly steep, not quite about to break but not so round that I don't get any natural air. Anything from ankle high to head high is fair game, but for learning knee high is best.
Once you've found your ramp it's important to line things up properly. Your board should be pointed somewhere along a beam reach in order to have enough room to carve into the wind.
Now the most important part: the carve. As hard as you can slam on your heels to carve into the wind while hanging from the boom with the sail still straight up and down. You want the board to go from beam reach to inside the no go zone as quickly as possible. Visualize yourself carving so hard that you might just do a full 360 (shaka). When done properly you'll feel the board bounce or pop off the chop.
Now it's time to lay the sail over. It's important to keep pressure on the board as if trying to continue carving in the air, if not you will most likely rotate away from the wind and kill the lift that the sail will provide. Now, at the same time you feel the board bouncing off the water extend your sail and body out across the wind. Your body should follow the sail, keeping its weight on the front arm and laying the sail parallel to the waters surface. You need to lock out your front arm and keep it straight to prevent the sail from coming back up prematurely.
At this point your sail will now create lift as wind flows evenly over both sides, so hang on and enjoy the boost.
When you're ready to land relax your front arm and the sail will flow up on it's own in a back winded position, so sheet in slightly as you touch down as not to kill all you're speed.
Summery: Carving hard and laying the sail over creates lift. It pushes the sailor higher into the air and gives the move more style and control. If you don't feel the sail creating lift, you're doing move wrong and need to do some trouble shooting to correct your form.
That's it, enjoy.

2010-03-09T20:17:00.000-08:00

Finally some wind! Actually, 2 days in a row! Amy and I drove out to the Bay Area on Sunday to check out 3rd ave. The wind was a bit light for my taste, but Amy was out cruising on her 5.3 and Techno. Monday morning I got a solo session before work, about 2 hours on the 4.2, and I even made a new move.... I can't wait for more! The season is just getting started and I'm so pumped to be out on the water!

It's about time!

2010-02-20T21:21:00.000-08:00

I finally got to sail today, for the first time this month! In fact, in the last two months I've sailed two days. It's hard to spend so much time away from the water but the windy season is about to start, so I'm very much looking foward to spending the next few months sailing!

The day was very up and down to start. Amy crapped out early so I jumped on her Techno and did some free riding. It was actually alot of fun, and I got to work on some old school freestyle moves and basic technique.

Once the wind stablized a bit I was able to get out on my own gear and worked on some new moves which I will be throwing down at the ECWF in June. Unfortuately, the wind didn't last for too long so I was forced to go home and celebrate with tequilla night. Magritas were the call, tequilla with a splash of mix, just the way I like it. Cheers the start of a new season!

Chachi's World Wide Website

2010-02-19T20:05:00.000-08:00

For those of you who just don't get enough Chachi from my blog, I've created a website. I hope to create something a little more comprehensive than the blog, which I will continue to update. Enjoy!
http://www.windchachi.weebly.com/ (no, i didn't shell out the big bucks to host my own domain, but I can dream).

Gear Guide- Wetsuites

2010-01-18T20:24:00.000-08:00

For Amy's Birthday I got her a brand new 4/3 wetsuite, today was her first day wearing it. As with most new gear, she had several questions concerning the specs and proper use, especially since it was her first 4/3. Lucky for her, I was there with my expert knowledge ready for guidance.
The conversation went as follows:

Amy: (After sailing) Since the 4/3 is a semi-dry, is it still OK to pee in it?
Me: Yea, I pee in mine.
Amy: Ok, good.

For those of you who need thicker suites than a 4/3 this winter, use the following for guidance: it's ok to pee in up to, but no more than 5mm of neopreme. Peeing in drysuites is obserd and should be punished, but no more severly than not peeing in a peeable thickness of neopreme when need be, especially if one should ever break from sailing to remove their wetsuite to pee and then put it back on to resume sailing afterwards.
I hope that sets some minds at ease, and keeps some bodies warm in these coldest months of sailing.

2009 recapped, 2010 anticipations

2010-01-17T21:21:00.000-08:00

For 2009 I sailed 134 days from January 1'st through December 31'st which is almost double anything I've recorded; even my best years, and not to mention that I got to travel all over to do it. I learned 8 new tricks and had one injury which required 7 stitches.

The year started at West Meadow, New York in epic 4.2 storm conditions, head high surf, and wind chills into the low 20's. Ice developed in most of the water ways and the wind chills dipped into the teens so I made the decision to take the rest of the month off after only 2 sailing days.

Three weeks later I was in Bonaire, sailing the warm winds in the flat shallow water of Lac Bay, a total contrast to the conditions at home. The trip was incredible, I landed my first Shaka, Funnel, and even came home with the nick name "Chachi." Not to mention I got to witnessTonky, Taty, Kiri, and a whole entourage of locals in person doing things I'd only seen in videos.

I got home and two weeks later Amy landed a 6 month contract studying fish in the Gorge, so we stuffed as much gear, clothes, and other belongings into the car and drove cross country, from Lond Island, New York to Hood River, Oregon where we spend the next 6 months.

In June I visited east for the ECWF and placed third below the worlds top light wind freestyler, a Bonaire local name Caesar Finnes, and Long Islands local hero/East Coast top freestyle sailer, Mike Burns.

I returned to the Gorge to sail just over 100 days from March to September, at least 90 of which were on my 4.1 or smaller. I learned another 5 or so tricks, and had a really worked on aerials and power sailing moves. I was fortunate to meet the mainlands top pro's, amongst some of windsurfings legends and super stars like Robby Naish, Dave Kalama, Levi Siver, and Kai Lenny.

In September Amy found a new contract down in California's Delta region, so we packed up our gear and headed down to the small town of Lodi, about 20 miles east of Rio Vista.

After another trip home in early October, and a sweet 4.7 session at West Meadow, I returned to the Delta and immediately began a caravan down to Baja as part of Windsport Magazines gear test team.

San Carlos was my first down the line wave sailing experience, which was long over due. On this trip I was injured from a fin and recieved 7 stitches in my wrist after I bailed on a back loop. I missed most of November while I waited for my wrist to heal and missed the Corpus Cristi board test as a result.

I ended up scoring another 3 or 4 sessions on the Delta with my new North Sails before the year ended.

I have not windsurfed yet this year, but then again I only sailed two days last January back on Long Island before the ice set in so I don't feel too far behind. This is one of the longest periods of time that I've had to endure without windsurfing, nearly three weeks, but I've noticed that the symptoms of withdrawl have moderated quite substancailly.

However, the wind season is upon us, and my goals are ambitious for this year: The Culo, Bob, Air Bob, Burner, and Toad are top priorities, in addition to wave moves like the goiter and taka.

Happy 2010, I hope 2009 was a great year but let's make this one the best so far!

Stop Playing With Your Balls

2009-11-27T21:08:00.000-08:00

I took a sports marketing class once in high school. My friend; an avid skier, and myself; a snowboarder, enrolled together in an attempt to find a way to justify planning ski trips on school time. The plan seemed fool proof, as it was a class full of jocks taught by the basketball coach in pursuit of an easy "A".

The entire course was to: 1. Design a Baseball Stadium, 2. Maintain a Fantasy Basketball Team and 3. raise your GPA enough to play on the sports team. That's it. Even the most brain dead of brawn sat shoulders back with the confidence of someone who actually possessed an IQ, and since my GPA was already high enough to participate on sports teams, I figured this was a piece of cake.

Things didn't exactly go according to plan. Besides designing a stadium that revolved around snow sports (which our teacher dubbed a poor marketing strategy for the MLB), our fantasy Basketball team came in last due to our poor draft choices. Yes, the class got a good laugh as our top three draft picks were all retired. Shouldn't the joke have been on them? I thought it was called fantasy, right?

Needless to say there were two students in the class that didn't get A's, and they were both in the two man group that my friend and I were a part of.

Today I was all but skunked at the beach. The forecast predicted wind all day getting stronger in the afternoon. In reality I waited in my van for three hours to get 15 minutes of wind before a thunderstorm rolled through and shut everything down. I was bummed, I'll admit, but those 15 minutes were glorious. More glorious than any moment on any sports team I ever played for, and certainly more glorious than the 6 hours I spent watching Thanksgiving day football yesterday. It was a reaffirmation of a lesson I learned almost ten years ago, that even 15 minutes of sliding sideways beats a life time of playing with balls.

A Tale of Two Grommets

2009-11-18T11:42:00.000-08:00

Checking out the 2010 gear I noticed a bunch of features that look to improve windsurfing. The idea of dual outhaul grommets is not new but it's certainly the most effective the industry has been in utalizing its potential.
In particular the North Ice that drew my attention.
Experimenting with their system I found that I could signifcantly change the power of the sail without adjusting boom length or down haul tension, but by simply changing the grommet, and was able to do so without drastically changing the overall feel of the sail. I liked them so much I bought three, and I'm looking to possibly pick up two more.

Take a look at North-windsurf.com

Rig to the top to max your efficiency or to the bottom to with stand gut wrenching gusts.

Back on Track

2009-11-09T21:44:00.000-08:00

It took some selling, but after a minute or so I convince Amy to rig a 4.2 instead of 3.7. She usually ends up being under powered and I feel she will enjoy her sesssion more by rigging up. I give her a bunch of great reasons to go 4.2, but in the end it's seeing that the new North is purple that closes the deal. Go figure.
I make my way to the water and cautiously beach start. My stitches have been out for only two days now and I want to keep my cut as dry as possible, though the biggest challenge for me is resisting the the temptation to freestyle. I see perfect ramps every where and the need to rotate something is almost unbareable. I fight the temptation and sail over to Amy, who is practicing her jibe. She makes one clean so I throw her a wave and a smile which she sees and is pumped.
It's not always what you do on the water, but who you share the water with that makes windsurfing fun, and even just jibing and tacking can be a great time if the people you sail with are stoked. It feels good to be on the water again, and I'm looking forward to all the adventures that winter sailing has to offer.

Baja Part 3: Surviving San Carlos

2009-11-06T12:40:00.000-08:00

We arrive at the camp with maybe 3 hours of sunlight left. The wind is up and so is the surf. Looking out there were at least a dozen sails on the water, turning up and down the waves which peeled from the edge of a small rock island to my right all the way to the point on my left, spanning the distance of about 2 football fields.

The three of us were eager to get on the water, but we need to set up the tarps and arrange the vans as necessary to spend the night before it was too dark to see. We park our two vans in an "L" shape to block the wind, in the corner of which Pete begins pitch his tent while Derek and I lay the boards around the outside of the vans to keep the wind from blowing underneath the vehicles. My van, which was full of gear and food supplies needs to be organized so I'll have a place to sleep. I push over my sails just enough to fit my body between my board rack and the wall of my van, then laid out a foam twin size egg create to make a bed; luxury accommodations.

I quickly finish setting up my space and rush to help Derek lay the tarps, which require us to drive gigantic iron nails perhaps better suited for slaying vampires than holding tarps, into the hard desert clay to keep them in place. We continue to set up camp, but after about twenty minutes, our combined attention spans had dwindled to the point that any word not related to the act of getting on the water came out as a "dahhh" or a "buhhh."

Racing against the setting sun we rig and get on the water and after only one wave I'd lost count of how many turns I had made. I would half schlog/half plane through the surf, pinch up wind, tack, catch a wave and then rip down the line, repeating this process until the sun sank below the horizon. After a sweet sunset session the three of us met on the beach and formed a fire brigade style line to hand the gear up the large cliff, which I had barely noticed when I first rushed to the water.

For the next 5 days straight, we would wake up, eat, sail, eat, sail some more, eat, drink Ballenas, and go to sleep. Every day there was swell, and by noon the wind would be up. One of my favorite activities was to stick a sail on one of the SUP's and go wave sailing in the morning when the wind was light. I enjoyed it some much, in fact, that if we weren’t supposed to be gear testing, I may very well have stayed out on the long board the whole time.

On the water we were joined by sea lions and dolphins swimming near by and some times even in the waves. I was fascinated; especially since the only marine life I had the pleasure of sharing the water with sailing on Long Island was the occasional blue fish or horseshoe crab. Perhaps I would have enjoyed the company of the seals more if Pete hadn't shared his story about being chased around on his surf board by a curious sea lion, a story which I found both comical and alarming since I am especially cautious of anything I share the water with.

By Tuesday the swell had jacked up to be about logo high and the wind was cranking. At one point I had to take out my 4.2 and 76ltr wave board and abandon the test gear completely. Wednesday the wind shifted more offshore, causing the waves to stand up too long and breaking in large closeout sections while the wind itself became gusty and unreliable, especially on the inside where the waves were breaking into the shore. I pulled out a 5.3 and an 84 ltr twin fin from the test gear, figuring the sail would keep me powered on the inside where getting out was critical, and the board would be a blend buoyancy with maneuverability, neither of which I was willing to sacrifice.

I was right and for the first time, I was fully planing heading through the surf. The twin was super fun; it was quick to plane, loose on the face of the wave, and tracked up wind fast. I felt like super man, flying where ever I wanted quickly and effortlessly, blasting through the surf to get to my wave of choice and then making top turn combos like I'd been doing it all my life.

I was heading out from the inside when a wave about head high stood up to break, a perfect back loop ramp. From the beach, Pete and Derek paused from their lunch break knowing what I was about to set up. I launched it, climbing high into the air, and then stalling at the peak. But for some reason it seemed wrong, like the board wasn't going to rotate and I wasn't really comfortable being upside down that high. Thinking I'd land on my back I decided to eject and come down feet first.

I regret letting go, I know better, I knew better.

The fin came down and landed right on my left arm, leaving me in a lot of pain. I managed to sail into the beach where Derek had to push me up the cliff while Pete went to find a doctor. I leave out many details of the in-between, only to say that about an hour went by, seven stitches went in, and three shots of tequila to kill the pain went down. I could never be more grateful to Solo Sports and Dr. Denis for fixing me up. Thank you!

The next two days involved me eating, filming, reading, and drinking Ballenas. I personally was in no hurry to leave, mostly since we still had beer and the weather was nice. Pete and Derek went into serious test mode as they methodically and tediously went through each piece of gear; tweaking it, tuning it, trying different sail board combos until they were satisfied and then moved to the next piece of gear.

On the eighth day we packed up and began the journey home. We spent three and a half hours bouncing down that dirt road before reaching the highway, then headed straight for the border.

After successfully navigating our way to Tijuana, we were unknowingly about to miss the turn, the crucial left which to our best knowledge we had already made. Not only was it the way home, but failure to turn would mean driving through one of the worst areas of Tijuana and it was already quite late in the day.

As we approach the intersection the light turns red and from the side walk comes an entourage of window cleaners. At this point I'm sick of being approached by solicitors, for every time I slow my car someone will run into the street and knock on my window, trying to sell, service, or just straight out ask for money. But my car, having been painted Baja Brown from that notorious dirt road to San Carlos, might as well have had the words "Clean Me" ( in Spanish ) written boldly on every window. I tried to resist, but both me and the street cleaner knew it was useless, and I soon surrendered the dirt on my windshield to his rag and squeegee.

As he was cleaning I pulled some singles from my wallet and cracked the window just enough to pass them through. He was thankful, and as he took the money he said the words which I realized soon after were worth much more than the two bucks I'd just gave him: "turn left here." At first I wasn't sure if it was some kind of a trick to detour us into a full on car wash, but all his friends were pointing left, the white van which Derek and Pete were driving seemed obedient, and damn if that wasn't the cleanest windshield I ever had the pleasure of looking through. I decided to follow, and sure enough there were the signs leading to the US border.

Approaching customs was a bit like driving through a flea market. There were people every where, trying to sell whatever they could, water, food, Jesus pictures, sombreros. Little kids were running in-between the stand still traffic, juggling in front of cars hoping to get some spare change. It was a spectacle unlike any I'd ever seen.

Once through, I breathed a sign of relief. My first trip to Mexico and I was back in one piece (arguably). I was certainly glad to be back, but I couldn't help but think about the next trip. Derek asked if I would still be interested next time he plans a trip to San Carlos, in light of what happened. For me there was little to think about, I'm in.

Baja Part 2: The Movie

2009-10-27T12:15:00.000-07:00

Punta San Carlos from jon sassone on Vimeo.

Baja part 1

2009-10-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

I was not prepared for the culture shock. Derek told me about everything else, the remoteness of San Carlos, the heat, the cold, the dirt, the beer, but as I crossed the boarder the world around me changed abruptly into something much unanticipated. The highway was wide, like the four lane I-5 which we used to get there, only it had no lines drawn and people driving guessed at where they should be, while others simply swerved back and forth across the road. There were no markings where major dips and drops cut the pavement, so frequent unexpected bumps and jumps occurred. I gasp a bit as I realize the money I just spent on Mexican Car Insurance (i'm so serious) was more than a line to open a joke with.

To my right was the infamous "fence" which looked more like the Berlin wall with barbwire fences on either side of the huge concrete edifice and enough room in between for border patrol to get a good shot if someone did make it over one of them.

To my left were the "Houses", constructed of some painted ply wood leaned against some sticks with a sheet of metal for the roof. It reminded me of a scene of Slumdog Millionaire where they show a picture of a shanty city stretching for as long as the eye can see, such is Tijuana.

We drove on for 3 hours.

Flash back: it's seven o'clock in the morning and I'm in a 7/11. I buy a map of Baja and go out to my car to read it. It's wrapped in plastic which I peel off and then unfold the map, only to let out a "WTF" and throw the map on my passenger seat. It only has three roads depicted on it. I wanted a road map, not a picture of the peninsula. What a rip off!

Back to the moment: As we pull over for gas I laugh, realizing that there really are only three roads in Baja.
Not a rip off after all, just honest. The other dirt roads wash out every time it rains, and therefore any attempt at documentation would be in vein.

Next we stop at a local Bodega. Non of us really spoke Spanish, but Derek is fluent in getting beer. 3 boxes of Ballena's (980 ml bottles pronounced Bah-yeen-ah) for a grand total of 300 pesos, about thirty dollars for 36 of these jugs. Oh, about third of that price was bottle deposit. I'm liking Mexico.

After driving 4 hours down "paved" Mexican highway, a sign made of ply wood and spray paint stands casually, set back from the highway in a field of dirt and small cacti. You don't want to miss it, because it's the only indication you get that you're supposed to turn and the next town is far, as you're now in the middle of now where. It reads "Punta San Carols 60 km."

The dirt road it's self is a little bumpy to start, enough so that you know you're on a dirt road at first but still you get used to it after about ten minutes. It's forty miles long which, after doing some math in my head, realizing I'm only going ten miles and hour and I want to wave sail, prompts me to speed up to about 20. At this point I can still see through my windows and mirrors and now behind me is big enterprise rented box truck, cruising at about 45, and bouncing violently as it approaches. The driver starts honking obnoxiously. He's close to me now, enough that I recognize the Dakine hat on his head. It's Wyatt, who has obviously purchased rental insurance and is being encouraged by Tyson and his other two passengers to drive like an ese loco. They wave, yell some things, and then take off, leaving the first layer of dust on my van.

As they disappear over the horizon I speed up a bit more, finding the strips of "white gold" or small strips of smooth dirt running along side the rocky dirty road that allow me to speed up to 30. "Sweet, I'll be there in no time" I think to my self.

I begin to zigzag back an fourth along the bumpy road following the white gold until I see the tire tracks in front off me deepen. I slam the brakes but it's too late, I'm bottoming out on the dirt. My van is in engulfed in a cloud of dust so thick it blocks on the glaring Mexican sun like a total solar eclipse. It takes a while for the dust to settle. I can no longer see out of any windows or mirrors, save for the windshield which I cleared with my wipers. The once red van is now painted Baja Brown.

I press the gas peddle again and my tires spin in the loose soil as I try to navigate my way back to the dirt road. There’s now thirty miles to go, I decide to take it slow.

I pass cactus the size of a large oak tree, live cattle standing right on the edge of the road, and the occasional skeleton of the cow that wondered to far from the water trough. The road winds through mountains, dry river beds and canyons. It deteriorates in condition, and now I've slowed to a crawl, carefully negotiating pot holes, large rocks, and trenches at to not damage my van.

It's an adventure to say the least, but after 3 hours I finally get a glimpse of the ocean. I follow Derek and Pete right to the edge of a 20 foot cliff which stands over the water; we park our vans and get out. About a dozen sails are on the water, riding waves that line up for as far as the eye can see.

We've made it, time to sail.

Columbus Day Wind Weekend

2009-10-15T07:35:00.000-07:00

I flew in to Long Island's JFK airport Saturday evening watching the white caps on the Atlantic from my window seat. The sun was setting quickly so I knew a session was out of the question and not having seen my family or friends since the June ECWF I was content with relinquishing any thoughts of windsurfing upon arrival. But still, being on Long Island in October, in prime wind season, I was hoping deeply for a classic West Meadow session and on the last day of my stay, the meadow delivered.

It was great seeing the West Meadow crew in full force as winds quickly climbed into the mid twenties with higher gusts, sending sailors scurrying in for their small gear. Most of the guys ended up rigging in the low 4's.

I, not having any of my own gear, ended up borrowing Mike's 4.7 and smaller 85 ltr style.

Every one was jumping, sliding, wave riding and smiling. The level of Long Island sailing has grown constantly over the years, and Tuesday was a great show case.

I saw some great sailing from Joe and Ryan, who both seemed to be air borne every time I looked in their directions. Gorge Pav was looking very Spock worthy and Rich Simmons took advantage of the remaining flat water on the inside.

Mike Burns out there killing it as usual, shredding the Shaka and throwing big planing Ponches amongst his usual repertoire...

In the end it was a classic West Meadow session, flat freestyle insides leading to chest high waves on the out side. I had been thinking about this place all summer long, and it made my stay to score a sick session.

A special thanks to everyone who offered to lend me gear!

Fun with Photo Shop

2009-10-02T14:15:00.001-07:00

Sherman Island Blows!

2009-10-01T14:15:00.000-07:00

In the distance Mt. Diablo loomed over the vast flats of the Delta, breaking the otherwise flat horizon line and following me where ever I drove. For a moment it reminded me of Mount Hood, only on a smaller scale and surronded by much less dynamic terrain. After three days in California the wind decided to kick in, sending me out in search of the local windsurfing spots.
Twenty some odd identical miles of road and vinyards passed before a bent old street sign half hidden behind a tree branch reading "Sherman Island Rd" suddenly appeared. Matching the name on the sign to a launch I had read about on iwindsurf, I slammed the breaks, swerved to the right and continued on bouncing along the narrow, crooked levee road. Down the road the tight channels of irrigation water relaxed and began to widen as a significant number white caps appeared on the surface of the water. In the distance two kites and a sail became visible, surrendering the position of the spot for which I'd been searching.
I found a place to park in a grassy feild behind a large levee and walked over to the waters edge. The wind was blowing steady, certainly enough to sail. Taking a minute to survey the water for any hazards, I found to spot to be safe and returned to my car to rig.
Once on the water I was well powered. The chop was small, even flat in most spots, making for some great freestyle conditions. However, being only on a 4.7 and having virtually no ramps to launch off of I found it hard to do many of the new areil manuevours I'd learned in the Gorge, but quickly adjusted to more "slidy" style tricks.
I sailed about 4 hours before taking a break. Then, heading back to my car I noticed a silver van with a horizontal blue stripe down the side, topped with Dakine gear bags and a pile of Naish gear behind it. The owner was standing on the rear bumper, pulling at one of the bags tied to the roof.
It was Wyatt Miller.
We talked a bit while him and his buddy rigged up and then head back to the water.
Upon return, the tide had changed, shifting the currents against the wind (which had come up about another 5 knots) and causing the small chop to turn into steeper ramps. Wyatt reffered to it as a sort of "mini-gorge." I lasted about another hour or so, but before I left I witnessed Wyatt through some unbelievable twisting, flipping, spinning moves of which I'd only seen in videos.
Yes, after three days in California I got same good sailing in, and I'm looking forward to much more of it in the months ahead.

Stuck in Lodi Again

2009-09-27T11:51:00.000-07:00

After 6 months and 102 days recorded of windsurfing, I've left the Gorge.
With my van packed to capacity I turned my back to the windiest place I've ever been and headed south, to Lodi, California.
Forecast for Monday, Tuesday, and Wensday calls for strong gusty winds...

Gorge Summer Highlights Part 1

2009-09-02T19:30:00.000-07:00

As summer slowly draws to an end so does my time here in the Gorge. It seems everyday brought some form of adventure. Plenty of windsurfing combined with an endless amount of non wind activities often left me wishing for more daylight and energy. I’m excited when I think about the epic conditions the fall will bring to some of my favorite spots around Long Island and that I potentially might spend the winter down in Texas, but still the Gorge has drawn me in. Its relentless strong winds and rough river water put me in touch with a side of windsurfing that I had never known.
Checking iwindsurf frequently has always been a habit of mine. On this day I was working, and as usual making the proper arrangements to sneak out early. Doug's was blowing steady in the upper 20's. With warm air temps and a steady water flow all the ingredients necessary for an epic session were coming together.

It was hardly a gamble, as sometimes leaving work to windsurf can be. Getting skunked sucks, but it stings a little extra when hours are given up only to be left standing on a windless beach. It happens to everyone I guess, but today it was not a question. I poked my head into the office and told my boss I was leaving for the day. Before he could turn around to rebuttal I was out the door and on my way.

When I arrived I could see waves capping from the parking lot. A fine sprey streaked horizontally off the peaks, smoking across the waters surface. The mist coming off the leeward side a passing sailboard carried into the air with no intention of setting down. As I gazed around it occurred to me that no one was slogging.This excited me, I knew it was at least 4.1 with a small board and as I turned around to face my car again an approaching sailor caught my eye. He was wet, carrying a rolled up sail under his arm, rigging down I assumed. Looking more at my gear as I shuffled through my the trunk of my car than the person I asked,

"How was it?"
"Good," he replied. "A bit over powered on my 4.7, I think 4.4 is better"
"Sweet" was all I effort I cared to put into my sentence. I wasn’t trying to be rude, after all the wind was blowing and I had to get rigged but, wait...did he say 4.7 to 4.4? Who the heck rigs in those incriments? Strange. He looked familiar, but he wasn't a Doug's regular. I swung my head to look but he had already passed. Walking away from me I noticed the logo's on his sail sail, all the brand new gear and hawiian tan; it was Levi Siver. Now I was really motivated to hit the water. I rigged quickly and ran to the river keeping my eyes on the launch, waiting for Levi.

Eventually his sail appeared. It flickered as it passed behind the scattered mass of sailors. Levi navigated skillfully towards a set of waves and has he carved up the face of a breaking roller his image became clear to me. His board left the water and then, as if watching him in a movie, he began to slowly rotate backwards, upside down. His mast pointed down at the water and his board aimed at the sky, and as he came around over vertical I noticed the entire time he had his eyes focused calmly on one spot, his landing.
Like a high diver the nose of Levi’s board broke the waters surface pointing straight down, not splashing until the tail touched. It was huge, smooth, and precise. Simple even, the back loop is a move of finesse and grace. It can be done by many sailors, yet few can make it look as impressive as the legends of the sport.
Inspired by his presence, I sailed hard that day. I threw down huge ponches, shuv-its so high I looked straight down the luff sleeve of a passing sailor and flakas so fast that I bounced off the water like a skipping stone mid way though the move. Levi did none of this stuff, he didn’t even try. Yet his massive back loops, push loops, and stalled forwards seemed to easily over shadow anything any freestyle sailor could have done.

On the beach I turned ideas around in my head. Ideas about my sailing, about his sailing, about the conditions of the Gorge and I debated over my ability to adapt to them. While I was sitting there Levi came out of the water. He walked across the field of sailors and put his gear down over by a fence at the edge of the rigging area.
I hesitated for a moment and then I walked over an introduced myself. He was as friendly as anyone I’d ever met, and after a few minutes of small talk I had to ask “How do you back loop like that?”
He smiled, and replied very simply. The advice he gave was the furthest from anything I would expect, but it made perfect sense.

For me that’s when my view on windsurfing shifted. Over the next two weeks I almost completely abandoned my freestyle board and focused strictly on my wave deck. Levi’s words echoed in my head every time I sailed, and they couldn’t have come at a better time because the next few weeks would prove to be the most intense Gorge conditions of the summer…

thanks Melissa for the awesome photos

My Pimpin' new/used Ride

2009-08-23T07:27:00.000-07:00

For some reason my car had no windsurfing gear in it that night. Usually it's packed with more equipment than one would think physically possible. I'll take the boards off the roof for safe keeping but I'm never ambitious enough to remove my quiver of sails, masts, booms, extensions, ect from the trunk and yet for some reason on this night, I did.

So when a drunk driver decided to plow into my parked Hyundai at 3 am, he destroyed only my car and none of the gear which is usually inside. That's right, all the gear was safe.

So with all the means to get on the water but lacking the means to actually get to the water, it was time to go car shopping.

So you may ask "what kind of vehicle 23 year old with an insurance check and a dream go out an purchase?" What is fast, sexy, something that all the ladies will love, and still have room for windsurfing gear? Well, at least there's room for windsurfing gear.

It's a Mini Van.

Gear Guide- 3 steps to proper harness use

2009-08-20T20:34:00.000-07:00

Your harness saves your arms from total exhaustion, supports your back, and gives you funky tan lines. Most recently, I discovered it to be a perfect bottle opener.

Step 1: obtain beer and a Dakine Harness

Step 2: Insert beer in to Harness clip

Step 3: Consume Beer

the Start

2009-08-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

From the start it was a shit show. While that description may be crude, the phrase was stuck in my head and I uttered it repeatedly out loud.
It was 5:30 in the morning, still dark, raining and cold. I was tying a load of windsurfing gear to my car that just about matched the small Hyundai in size, and possibly weight (for sure it held triple the value). Three boards, three masts, nine sails and two booms. All but a Bic Techno, located at the bottom of the pile, was packed tightly into my over sized board bag.
Of course, we were an hour behind because in trying to take the fin out of the Techno, we found one of the bolts to be corroded in the threads. I tried arranging the gear in several different forms hoping one would allow for the fin to stay in place, but none seemed to do. The fin had to be removed.
I tried my best with a screw driver, yet no matter how much effort I put forth the bolt wouldn't budge. Frustrated and tired, I was low on ideas. Out came the cordless drill. (Yes, the thought of mutilating a perfectly fine sailboard did not sit well with me, but we were losing time and hell, it wasn't my board...)
In the back seat sat everything my beautiful girl friend Amy and I could possibly fit. Clothes, shoes, snacks, more windsurfing gear, we scrambled to squeeze in all we could until every square inch of space was occupied.
Between us we had a negative net worth (unless windsurfing gear counts as a form of equity), 1 job lined up, 1 car, no place to stay, and 3000 miles of road.
Out to the parkway then across the Throgs Neck. We gazed upon the city that never sleeps as though for the last time, then drove on watching as the world became less and less familiar.
For now it was good bye Long Island, next stop: The Gorge