Photo Of The Day!!!

ricki · #1 11-04-2008, 04:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loscocco

in the winter we have big storms that come in and pound the Norcal coast for a few days at a time.. they are definitely NOT ideal kiting conditions most of the time as they can be very cold and gusty but still fun for the hardy and rather crazy guys like me

I always thought you had some powerful storms. Had a few guys swearing up and down for a couple of years that Norcal never had squalls or hazardous wind conditions. One of them was a magazine editor too. It is hard to hide those powerful systems that send fronts across the USA like clockwork through the winter though. I suspect you know about the loss of Daniel Bergin in one of these systems about a year ago. A lot rides on you and your gear performing just so. Statistically, that just won't happen all the time in wx extremes. Good luck out there.

ricki · #2 11-04-2008, 04:18 AM

I visited Neil's operation at Tiki Beach in Ft. Lauderdale yesterday. More unexpected good wind, there has been quite a bit of that recently. The boat show was just winding down so easy access to the area will be restored very soon.

Helga rides though

Somebody told me that sails on the starboard side have McCain and Palin. Didn't hang out long enough to see it, wonder if it is so (not).

William sets up for a trick

The masked rider. Thought he might have had a particular sensitivity to sun. The mask came off on landing so not sure.

Clew In · #3 11-04-2008, 06:54 PM

Hey,

Short video from Saint Augustine:

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=12W3DK4owEI

Clew In

ricki · #4 11-05-2008, 05:33 AM

This Photo Of the Day is dedicated to Chris and Tammy on their nuptials and pending honeymoon in the Hawaiian Islands. Have fun out there folks!

Hanalei Bay on the north shore of Kauai

Umauma Falls just north of Hilo on the eastern shore of the Big Island

Southpoint on the Big Island. Further south than Key West and far more remote. It is supposed to be the first landfall of the Polynesians when they first came to the Sandwich Islands. Tough landing!

Monk seal between the Lehau caldera and Niihau west of Kauai. Was dying to free dive with this guy but was already carrying residual N2 time from SCUBA.

Akaka Falls north of Hilo on the Big Island

Sunset off Kona on the Big Island. Not sure why the setting sun can look different over the Pacific but it does.

La Perouse Bay, Maui

Sunset over Niihau from Waiokapua, Kauai

C. Moore · #5 11-05-2008, 07:34 AM

Thanks Rick. December can't come soon enough.

ricki · #6 11-05-2008, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C. Moore

Thanks Rick. December can't come soon enough.

You're most welcome Chris! Can't think of a better place to launch your lives together. As you may have noticed, I have zip photos from Oahu. We landed there for a few minutes between islands. So, if you think of it while visiting your home island, snap a few for us folks way back down east. Have a great time, you'll be flying west in no time I suspect.

ricki · #7 11-06-2008, 11:45 AM

Continuing on with some more images from Hawaii ...

A look east towards the lighthouse on Kilauea Point on the north shore of Kauai while standing on molten lava! Well, so it's several centuries old, it was molten just a while back. They have these neat lava pools all over the shoreline in places complete with submerged lava tubes in places.

Mark Twain called this the Grand Canyon of the Pacific way back when. I have trouble imagining what he went through just to get up to see Waimea Canyon on Kauai in those days. Driving up takes time and walking down into and up the valleys through heavy growth is no picnic today. A core traveler and writer!

Foils off Kauai, true story. The fellow is riding off of Hanakapi ai beach off the north shore of Kauai, I think.

One of the many river outflows to the ocean along the north shore of Kauai

Another outflow, this time off the east coast of the Big Island north of Hilo. No end of easy kite launches off the windward or eastern shore of the big island, not. With a few exceptions there is a lot of iron shore to deal with the millenia of tradewind driven seas.

Not too far to the west of Kauai you'll find Niihau, the Forbidden Island. A Scottish family though they found a great deal with lush forests and good rainfall in the 1830's when they bought this island from the Hawaiian Royal Family. Trouble is, it had been raining quite a lot recently and eventually went back to the normal arid conditions. So the farming paradise sort of dried up and blew away, partially. You are allowed to land on the island only with permission (hence the Forbidden Island) with Hawaiian being the official language there. Some world class diving in the area though.

Waioli Huiia Church in Hanalei on the north shore of Kauai. Hanalei is an unusual place, a surfer colony in which affluence and higher costs seem to have snuck in through the side door.

ricki · #8 11-09-2008, 12:18 AM

Please check this video clip out, it's short.

then, look below ...

So what is so unusual about the riding clip? Nothing really, just what the guy in riding. I had never seen the like myself, at least not in over a century. Asked a bunch of surfers in the area and they hadn't heard of such a thing.

The last time I saw a board like this was in this photo from Hawaii far in the past

From: http://www.balsasurfers.com/balsafaq.html

I saw one very similar to it today and being used.

Check this puppy out, it's a door! I could be made of balsa but it looked like mahogany to me. No skegs, rocker to speak of, still this guy makes it work and well. This is the guy in the three short clips in the video. I wish I could have caught more riding footage of the retro woody surfer.

An edge view.

Look how low the guy is sitting in the water, now we know why.

He said it is hard to paddle, no surprise there but says when your in the wave, it's fast! Bet the turning for aerials is tricky too. Amazing stuff. I could have sworn he called it a "Monaleia board". Have found zip under that and other spellings. Does anyone know more about these rideable doors?

ricki · #9 11-10-2008, 01:32 PM

I've learned more about this board, an alaia. It is apparently inspired by the surfboards used by Hawaiians back in the old days. A guy named Tom Wegener has researched the old designs and has been shaping them. An interview with Tom including a number of photos appears at: http://tinyurl.com/5lhygn

From: http://legendarysurfers.com/blog/labels/lala.html

A video about alaia boards from another shaper.

loscocco · #10 11-10-2008, 10:30 PM

ics from yesterdays Ocean Rodeo trip up to Dillon Beach California.
Very well powered on my 8m and lots of choopy waves. Halfway thru the session a guy had to ditch his kite and board after being hit by several waves on the outside and he said the freezing current was taking him out to sea fast. It took 4 other kiters taking turns towing the guy half mile or more back thru the surf and when Andrew motioned me over to help drag him the last few hundred yards to the beach. Very lucky guy!
Reminds you just how quickly things can go bad out there and even scarier when you think that your right on the dinner table of the great whites.
As Andrew said he felt like he was trolling for sharks with live bait behind him. I am sure the guy was thinking the same thing. Never got to speak with him other than a few seconds in the surf but i hope your okay.

Here are pics from the day
Fully Gallery
http://www.wmd.com/20081109dillonbeach/