Saturday, April 12, 2008

My California Day

I don't know how hot it was in El Cajon today but I'll tell you it was just perfect down here at the beach. Some type of high pressure magic slid in and showed us what summer should really be like. I had a great day. It would've been a perfect day if my X-acti (you know Sanyo's five hundred dollar water proof video camera, my second one after the first just decided to die on me) hadn't made a frying noise and emitted a little puff of electric smoke. It was kind of like when the tapes burn up in the old Mission Impossible shows- just a buzz and a poof- toasted.

Including my morning paddle surf, I completed three seperate paddle sessions today. One of them was a lesson on the bay (yep, it's starting early this year- this could be a big summer for stand up paddle surfing) and the other was a three mile back bay cruise with my wife Kathy.

The lesson was great; two friends who'd heard about stand up paddling and wanted to give it a shot- both were naturals at it. We spent a couple of minutes on the beach and then pushed off into the bay and cruised around the yachts and hidden waterways of the San Diego back bay. Lessons are great- it's really rewarding to watch a person realize how fun and accessible this sport really is- and it's just fun helping someone learn something that's undeniably cool.

Kathy's three mile paddle turned into a bit of a workout when the north wind came up and pushed back against us as we paddle back to the beach. The wind also got my old kite surfing hackles up and so I was pushing hard to get us back so I could pump up before the wind died completely. No luck- I flew the big kite and ended up doing a couple of mushy runs as the wind was slowly leaving the beach.

A dying evening wind isn't such a bad thing. Especially when it means that there'd be a chance for a nice little sunset glass off- which did happen, but I was too tired to even think about it. So I did the next best thing, I sat under a palm tree in my back yard and sipped a margarita. Don't need a million dollars to live like a millionaire. And tomorrow's supposed to get even better!

7 comments:

Gregoire said...

I love the one foot trick in sinc with the music. the groom is getting better and better.... keep it up.
Catching a red eye from Hawaii tonight to San Diego and then Nor Cal bound for the week. Ready to try the new 4/3 I just got from the calikites crew.
Tex.

Anonymous said...

sorry to hear about your xacti. i want one myself but so many seem to have problems that i'm thinking maybe i'll hold off until the next gen comes through.
nice vid, though. i esp like the backside shot; very smooth!

srfnff said...

Nice vid and a sweet little backside ride on that one. Good weather up here too, set to expire tomorrow though. Enjoy!

John Ashley said...

Hey Tex-

Can't wait to hear about how Hawaii was for you. Snap some photos of NorCal!

John Ashley said...

Hey Anon.

Yes I think the X-acti's got a bunch of problems... everybody I know has had theirs break at least once.

I'm going to write to Sanyo and let them know how many problems we've had- don't know if it'll do any good- I'll keep you posted.

John Ashley said...

Gary- I rode that right just for you and the land of the right hand point break.

The weather's ridiculous down here right now, dead calm and very warm. I had a fun session on the 8'0 this morning- I'm thinking my next one is going to be around 9'4" or 9'6"

K3rM1t said...

You missed the wind on Saturday?! It was great for about 2 hours and ridable for a few more. I love the standup but can't pass up the wind and kites!