Meaty!

As they say, good things come to those who wait. We drove an hour through the rain up north to Ephraim in Door County and after a big of checking, we headed to Eagle Bluff point in the state park. A place I've not sailed since I was 16 or so.

The point was taking some amazing waves, but early in the sesh, you didn't wanna get caught inside as the wind was picking off the water to get over the bluff onshore. 30 minutes into the sesh, the wind jacked, and so did the waves. Mike and I sailed over to the island to add some downhaul since there was no way to make it back to the rocky beach where we had launched from. We had other options for when we had to make it back, but for now, we were gonna stay out and tear it up.

We'd been sailing for 2 hours now, and the waves were head to logo high with the occasional mast high set. Our 5.3's were WAAAY too big, but since returning to rig down wasn't an option, we stayed out. Its about this time that some friends of ours finally made it out to us on their small kites having launched from another protected cove.

The waves were super meaty - lots of pitching and pounding with very little room for error as if you went down, you'd be on the rocks in no time at all. I got hammered by a medium sized one and barely, BARELY made it out of there. Way sketchy, but worth it.

We packed it out just before sunset and I enjoyed a little post sailing carnivore delight. 24oz of local prime rib (photo above) to feed my body for a job well done. ;-)

Anyone for a road trip?

Anyone up for a little road trip? Looks like newly formed Danny is gonna make a visit to the outer banks.

To the victor go the spoils!

Last spring when Catapult and I were visiting our good friends Chris and Heather in the UK, a little wager was put between Chris and Catapult as to who would do a forward loop first. They each put 20 quid on the bet, and I tossed in an additional 20 to bring the pot to a healthy 60 quid.

Now Chris had been trying a few on the previous Maui trip in October '08, and tried a few more on that UK trip when we had a nice day of sailing on the NE coast of England. (gotta tell ya - sailing with castles in the background is pretty damn cool!) I was thinking that Chris had the upper hand, but Catapult just posted this video.





Well, that settles it. Catapult gets the 60 quid. Congrats Aaron!!

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.