Quit yer bitchin!

Earlier this summer I was sailing on the west side of Green Bay with a few friends of mine who were kiting. It was super flat and the wave angle really sucked for jumping, but it was warm and windy and I was happy to be sailing. As much as I was frustrated with the wave angles, I was still smiling, but kinda grumpy. I just couldn't shake my frustration with the lack of waves...

While I was in for a break, an old sailing friend Paul shows up at the beach. Mind you, this is a guy I've not sailed with in 25+ years. Really. He lives nearby (I'd not known that) and was stoked to see someone sailing as he usually sails alone.

"Should I get my gear and come sail with ya?" he asked.

"Hell yeah! That would be awesome!" I replied with enthusiasm.

He got a worried look on his face, "Uh ... my gear is kinda old."

"Who cares? It worked then, it will work now, right?"

"Ok!" he smiled. "I'll be right back!"

In 15 minutes, he showed up. I could NOT believe my eyes. He rolls in with his Windsurfer Rocket 103, circa 1985!!


Duuuude! I was in amazement. Minutes later, we were on the water, all smiles just as we were 25+ years ago. And just like back then, he was blazing on his '103 having a blast.

Next time you're bitchin' about your gear or the conditions, think about this story. Suck it up and get out there and smile!

Classic Hatchery Action

I love the Gorge. I love sailing big swell at the Wall and rocket ramps at Arlington. But gimme a killer day at the Hatchery, and I'm in Heaven. On this day (July 11), I had some downtime with my elbow so I parked on the rocks for a bit and caught some of the action. I was getting killed on a 4.0 that I borrowed from Casey - and most guys my size were on 3.7's.

Ride with Jake!

Take a ride with Jake Miller on a wicked 3.7 day at Arlington. Yup - the same day as the video from two posts ago.

HD on board?

This is something I've been waiting for - GoPro is FINALLY going to sell an HD capable GoPro WIDE camera. Not only does this baby do 1080p at 30fps, but also will do 720p at 60fps. Anyone who's used the GoPro's will tell you that they eat batteries like candy - and in this new HD version they'll finally ship it with a rechargeable battery for 2-3 hours of recording time.

Me. Want. Now.

The Gorge delivers!

I have to admit - when I arrived on Friday, the forecast didn't look all that good. They were calling for Easterlies on Saturday, and light westerlies Sunday, etc. But early Saturday morning, Temira called and exclaimed "Its 25 at Hatch!". I didn't believe her. Not one bit. A quick check of the HatchCam and I was shaken back to reality as it was a solid 25-27 and building. That was four days ago - the past 3 days I've been overpowered on a 3.7 every day.

Shot a lot of video, but we've been sailing too much to get through it all. This is from Monday (yesterday) at Arlington. Enjoy!

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In Da Hood!

Just arrived in the Gorge and all sorts of interesting thing going on. First off - hard to not notice the barge stuck on the sand bar right out front of town! Seems an errant barge driver managed to get 1/2 mile out of the channel last night a 3:30am and plowed his barge full of GASOLINE onto the sand bar. They've raised the water level (via the damn) up 3+ feet, but alas, she's still stuck like glue to the sand bar.


Ran into Francisco Goya over at Windance where they're doing some GOYA product demos this weekend when the wind returns. And of course, we don't need wind for the BBQ Saturday night!

That's all for now - I'm off to do a quick SUP sesh on the river. Catch ya'll tomorrow with more reports, photos, videos, and possibly.... possibly.... live action! ;-)