Imagine this...

I've been surfing since I was basically 13 but I grew up in a landlocked VA town so it really wasn't until I was in my early 20's that I started going through surfboards. Even still I'm guessing that over the years I've owned probably 20 - 30 surfboards all of which were or are PU/fiberglass boards with the only exception being the SUP that I ride which is an epoxy. I've also always been at least somewhat conscious about my consumption of goods and production of waste and really am enjoying the attention being paid to being Earth consciousness that's more prevalent in recent years. Surfboards are TOXIC - period. Surfboards are non-biodegradable, non-recyclable, and made from non-renewable petroleum resources that are at the heart of most major international conflict. As in touch with the Earth as many surfers are we contribute to some of the worst things going on this planet and treat it no better than anyone else when it comes to our waste surfboards. I hate to say it but it's true... Until now.

Back in December Andy sent me an email with the subject line "Check..." and in the body of the email it simply said "... this out" and he provided me with the following link on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_fI1nzJSl4&feature=PlayList&p=53E285814A9046AA&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=23 Better yet here's the YouTube video:



So it turns out there's this guy in Montreal, Canada that has figured out a way to use RECYCLED foam to make surfboard blanks which are WATERPROOF then he glasses them with flexible bamboo Fiber! Are you kidding me? I was in Costa Rica at the time and did as much research on the guy and the company as I could find online and when I got back to the US spoke to my brother about it. We both agreed that it's a great idea and were both really amped to find out more but like all surfers we were nervous about how they would ride and what the hell does anyone in Montreal know about surfing!! I emailed Corran at Imagine Surfboards introducing myself and asking for more information and got back a long detailed email and was told that one of his riders was actually on the island with some boards and that he would arrange to have him come by the shop and show them to us. Stoked!! Julian came by the shop a few days later and we were blown away with what he showed us - beautiful white boards with a real wood stringer that flex nice with a little pressure. Julian hung out for a while and told us his experience with the boards and shared some other killer personal experience (you'll have to come by and talk with one of us to get the FULL skinny). The bottom line is this: We ordered boards and are expecting our first batch this week, I've ordered 3 for myself and Kevin & Andy are getting one as well, my other boards are on the used rack as are Andy's and Kevin already sold one of his, I feel GOOD about these new boards coming - I know that when they were shaped the offcut foam was collected and is going to be put back into a bin to be made into another blank - I know that the board was glassed with bamboo fiber which is one of the most renewable fibers on the planet - I also know that when I get a ding in one of these boards I don't need to worry about water gettin into it because the foam is waterproof and if and when I break a board I can strip off the glass and ship the foam back and have it recycled back into a new board blank.

This is what surfing needs - a truly new approach to building boards not just another formulation of the same toxic things. I'll be posting more about this but please ask me questions and come by the shop and I'll chew your ear for hours!

Overdue!!

Normally when I haven't posted anything it's because there isn't a whole lot going on to talk about - not this time. In this case the only excuse I can offer is that my arms have been too tired to type. Not buying it? I don't blame you - really there's no excuse because there has been a ton of action recently and we've been surfing a lot - especially for June. Andy posted on his blog a couple days ago with some photos but even he was slacking a bit as by the time he put up his post we were surfing smaller less powerful waves so there are no photos of us on the bigger, cleaner, better days. Call it selfish or just call it childlike excitement that we didn't even think to bring a camera until we had a couple days of surf under our belts. I suppose it is a legitimate argument that we were coming off a serious surf lull and while we were expecting surf I don't thing we were expecting it to be as fun as it has been! That's not to say that it's been September/October hurricane swell style but, again, for June it's been a lot of fun. We started things off with an evening session at the Lighthouse in Buxton taking off on some pretty bumpy but big lefthanders that were kind of difficult due to the bumpy conditions but some of which lined up really well making for fun long rides. The following morning was more of the same down at the lighthouse and from there it's been a blur of sessions one after another through the Buxton/Avon area. We'll go out in the morning on shortboards catching clean offshore waves - rotate working in the shop and surfing the afternoon on longboards & SUP's then another evening session on fishes. In the past week I've ridden my 6'1" Shortboard, a 6'1" fish (which I blew out a fin plug on), a 6'6" fish, and a 10'0' SUP. I apologize for slacking this swell and I'll try not to let it happen again on the next! Big props to Anne because she's been surfing better than I've seen her surf ever - really making strides this summer and it's a lot of fun to watch! Stuart has also been stepping up his game since he picked up his Rusty Pro-ject - if you talk to him he'll tell you that he needs to work on this or work on that & that he's not a very good surfer blah blah - the truth is that he is killing it considering he hasn't been surfing all that long. I've seen him take off on some sizeable waves in critical sections and making it, laying down solid bottom turns, making cutbacks and adjustments in the right places - looking good bro! Andy's wave selection is getting to be remarkable - he seems to have a knack for finding exactly the right spot to sit to get the most of what's in the water and is pulling great rides on a variety of boards from Shortboard to fish to longboard to SUP a lot of fun to watch and surf with. Laura has gotten some epic length rides on the longboard the past couple of days - I didn't even realize that the length of ride was even out there for some of them but you'll see her paddling and take off then you'll duck dive a wave or two and look back towards the beach and she's still riding the same wave - incredible. So check out Andy's post (it starts with some windsurfing then gets into the surfing) and keep in mind that it represents the lesser of what's been going on!

Finally!!

You know I think I've titled other posts "Finally!" as well - I'll have to check into that. So the onshore flow that we had going on resulted in some waves finally. Thursday was a bit on the messy side but Andy, Stuart, Laura and I hit up a little roadside spot we like took off on a few bumpy waves and managed some fun rides. Yesterday morning early Stuart was up and telling us that the wind was light offshore so we scrambled up to the same spot and sure enough there were clean glassy lines coming through - stoked! The waves were generally in the waist to stomach high range and pretty racy and a little tough to catch. Also kind of lacking in power so it turned out to be kind of an "it looked better from the beach" situation. Now that's not to completely discredit it however because there were some fun waves to be had and it was fun and certainly worth getting up for. My only complaint was that I snapped a fin off my board which normally wouldn't be a big deal but the fin plug broke as well so the board is useless until I replace the plug. I had the day off yesterday so after my surf I took a little nap then lazed around on the beach for a bit then went with Laura just before sunset for a paddle on the sound on the SUP's. It was Laura's first time on a sup and she did great - she's a surfer so the big board and calm sound was easy for her - I'm looking forward to getting her out on the ocean and into some waves on the SUP.
Surf today has dropped a bit but there the buoys are still reading 2.5 feet at 9 seconds and there's a relatively light Southwest wind so there is a small rideable wave out there. Low tide is right about now so it should for the next 2-3 hours this is the window to get out there.
I looked at it at about 9:30 this morning so that's when the picture is from - conditions may be a bit different now. I'm at work so go catch a few and let me know how it was!

Tough Times

The most difficult thing about writing a blog based primarily on Surfing is that from time to time you find yourself faced with lulls in action. This is one of those times. June last year was great and we had a lot of really fun days but this June has thus far been pretty miserable. Just no swell - Andy and I managed to catch a few micro waves about a week ago on SUP's but my shortboards are gathering dust. We have a pretty stiff onshore wind blowing right now and are expecting it to continue through tomorrow so I'm hoping that on Thursday we have an actual wave to ride. In the meantime just spending lots of time in the shop and trying to find other activities to burn some energy - although windsurfing hasn't been so hot recently either! It'll change though I know - this IS Hatteras after all!

Avon, NC Tuesday Surf Report

Gorgeous day!! Crystal clear water knee to waist high with offshore
wind absolutely perfect conditions for surf lessons or a first time on
a Standup Paddleboard. Fun little longboard wave or on the set waves
you could also manage a fish - get out there and enjoy it!

Just an update

Well it's been a few days since I've posted anything - it's tough to post when there aren't photos to go along, you know the whole "picture tells 1000 words" thing. There hasn't been any surf worth talking about and as I continue to learn how to windsurf I'm just not good enough to handle the windsurf rig and operate a camera at the same time. I DID meet a gentleman by the name of Dennis Keim who is a professional photographer and who got some shots of Andy and I windsurfing the other day at Canadian Hole. I don't feel at liberty to post them though since they aren't mine and since he gets paid for his work. I don't have any problem giving him a plug though so click on his name up there and check out his work - pretty impressive stuff. I ran up to DC the other day to pick up my friend from Lithuania, Renata, from the airport. Renata is the girl at the top of this post that you probably keep scrolling back up to look at - believe me - I know and I understand go ahead and look again. Ok one more time... now pay attention! So I picked up Renata and we crashed for a couple of nights at my dad's house and I was able to celebrate my birthday with my family and get some nice home cooked meals. I took Renata into Annapolis to walk around because she'd never been there - we had a nice afternoon walking around the Naval Academy, took a little boat tour, and had a Painkiller at Pussers pub. On Wednesday we got up early and drove back to Avon and I made it back in time to have a windsurf with Andy down at Canadian Hole. I continue to get better about getting into the harness & footstraps as well as waterstarting more reliably. I'm also able to begin to carve into jibs but still haven't ridden out of one. I think I actually feel comfortable enough with my waterstart that I could go into the ocean if there was enough wind but not too much rough surf - if it was big & choppy I'm pretty sure I'd get slaughtered. I'm not going to go on too long because there isn't much point in talking about the lack of surf, crappy weather, or the dip in sales between Memorial day and when kids start getting out of school. I'm looking forward to a little birthday celebration with my friends this evening and the wind is picking up as I write this so maybe tomorrow we'll have some shots to post of windsurfing and or my par-tay. In the meantime go ahead and check out Renata's photo again - I know you're going to anyway.

Blowboarding update

Stuart dropped by the shop yesterday with a little gift for me - my very own set of harness lines! I'm a lucky dude when it comes to learning to windsurf because I neither own nor rent gear yet I get to ride decent stuff and as I progress I'm able to progress the gear I'm using as well. It's an ideal situation as I'm learning and I realize how lucky I am that my buddies let me use their gear and the available rental gear from their shops. I guess this is a good time to plug both Sailworld Hatteras where Andy works and Ocean Air Sports where Stuart works thanks for "sponsoring" me guys! After work yesterday Andy, Stuart, Anne and I all went to Canadian Hole (in 4 separate cars - shame on us by the way for that) and I initially rigged up a 4.2 with my new fancy dancy harness lines and promptly went nowhere! Just not enough wind and not enough sail - here's where the hookup kicks in though! I derigged the 4.2 and there was a 5.7 available for me to use so I got that setup and off I went - popped into the harness lines got locked into the footstraps and off I went! Much better! I zipped back and forth a little bit and did some solid deepwater starts without much grief at all - it's really nice to spend less time treading water and more time riding. The only problem I found myself having was a pretty extreme wobble as I'm putting my foot in the rear footstrap - I can recover from it but I sheet out in the process slowing me down so I need to fix that and still need to jibe as well. I didn't see any but Andy Stuart and Anne all said that they saw a lot of jellyfish but didn't get stung - I DID have a small skate swim right between my feet as I was walking in - so happy it decided not to sting me - that would have sucked! Wind has shifted out of the North Northeast today which should prolong the little cold bite going on in the ocean (grrrrrr). I'm headed up to DC tomorrow after work for a couple days but will be back on Wednesday evening. Hopefully I'll get out this evening have a good one!