Maui

Well school ended june 16th and i've been traveling ever since. However, I reached my highlight destination of the summer Maui!!!!! I had never been to maui and decided back in march that I was going to spend the month of July on the north shore.

Here is a brief breakdown of the trip so far.

June 26th flew from Philly to San Diego

hung out in san diego with my cousine for a few days did some hiking and surfing at mission beach.

June 29th flew from San Diego to Maui

got into Maui around 2:30 pm and met Giampaolo who's studio I am renting and drove 1 mile down the road to hookipa.

This was probably one of the most incredible views I have seen. The exciting part is I will probably stop by that bluff atleast once a day for the next 30 days.

Anway there wasn't any sailable wind Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday so I surfed each day and toured the island. (the biggest sail I have here is 5.3 so i need close to 20 to plane.)

Finally today (Thursday) the wind came up and I was able to get around 3 hours of sailing at sprecks. I was mainly bump and jump but there were a few swells to do some turns on.

It looks like the trades are going to kick in starting tomorrow so hopefully there will be alot of sailing in the near future.

Beach Kiting

Flew the kite on the beach the other day. Would have been a nice day to sail but the wind was topping out around 15 and I wasn't motivated to get wet for marginal conditions. However, clear blue skies, moderate temperatures 43 degrees, and standing on the beach made me apprecitate my move. Back in Indiana, PA my parents are looking out their windows to 4 inches of snow.

Tomorrow we are getting some south wind and rain. Could be a chance to get out one last time before the drive to western PA.

Cold

Its been pretty cold lately and with wrestling practice 6 days a week I haven't been in the water lately. I did pick up a rush HQ 2.5 meter trainer kite and have been flying that in my limited free time. Its pretty incedible how much power that a little kite can generate. Last weekend I was flying it in 20 mph winds with gusts to the high twenties. On several occasions it had enough power to pick me mabey 3 or 4 feet off the ground. I'll pick up a big kite in the spring for the days where the wind is 10-16. There are several guys in the NJ area that kite and windsurf depeding upon the conditions. Its always fun to learn something new. Lets hope for some warm south winds this winter so I can get back on the water.

Hatteras Part 1

It was NJ teachers conference weekend so when I got home from school wednesday night, took a nap, woke up around 11:30 pm, packed the truck, and hit the road for hatteras. I did associate with several other teachers doing the same thing so we did have some "staff development."



The ride was pretty smooth untill i hit the bay bridge tunnel and innitially wasn't allowed to cross beacuse of high winds. After a half and hour of waiting I was allowed to cross and it was empty roads till I rolled into Nags Head. It looked windy up north but I kept driving towards the blue skies that were above the hole. Unfortunately the wind was pretty marginal at the hole but I was able to get an hour or so on the water.

However, at the hole I was able to meet the members of WOW (windsurfers of washington). I wasn't really sure where I was going to stay and these guys had an extra bed. In addition to that every night someone cooks dinner.

A sound view house sure beats camping.

Fall Sailing

Well Since July I have had quite a few sessions, met many of the local sailors, and have found several launches. I've spent 5 sessions in the ocean 3 of which occured on days that the swell was well overhead. Being out in the ocean on these days was a challenge and is deffinately making me a better sailor. You know its a good day out there when the only thing you can see on shore is the top of the water towers. Last weekend we got a rare warm and strong SE wind and Lakes Bay was lit up. My roomate was nice enough to stop by and grab some video.


I think I did just about everything wrong in that duck jibe attempt. Hopefully I'll have a lot of time to practice this comming weekend. The NJ teachers conference is going on which gives me a 6 day weekend and a chance to spend some time in Hatteras.

SUP
Well late summer and fall provided some epic Stand UP days. Some of the hurricanes provided epic swell and lately the North Winds that have been hitting the coast have provided some great days. Getting out has been rater interesting. On quite a few occasions dragging a 9'8" board through head high sets has provide some beatings.

check out the SUP Clinic 08 sponsered by Extreme Windsurfing

I've got the 9'8" starboard fish tie die - blue trunks white rash guard. Jim, the owner of extreme, got a great on the water shot of me eating it after a late takeoff.

Light wind action

Moving

Moving is a pain but if it takes you closer to the coast it can be worth it. From reading several of the windsurfing blogs out there it seems as though moving is a common theme this year. Catapulting aaron moved to Cali, I moved to the NJ coast, and james is moving to florida.

My new location is about 5 miles from extreme windsurfing located right outside of atlantic city. I've had about 7 sessions since i moved in early july mainly 6.6 and down.

Old school 5.0

Living in a much more wind prone area is tempting me to sell my 10.6 and formula board. I just don't need it on days there is wind. For the days without wind I picked up a 9'8" SUP that i've used about 12 times and it is an absoulute blast. I'm deffinately looking forward to fall when I will be able to get out after school for the "windy" season.