Killing it In Baja Part II and... The Gemini!

I'm totally blowing it Blogger-wise. I should post really good stuff one photo at a time- really stretch it out. After all, you never know when the photo well might run dry or you might wake up in a totally vacuous state with absolutely nothing to say (my contingency plan is to revert to "board porn" you know- super close-ups of rails, fins and... tails! Ooh la la!). I can't help myself though- so here's some good stuff all at once.

You may remember Mike and Dan from the "Killing it in Baja..." piece earlier in the year. Mike just dropped me an email with these two killer photos from their trip to San Carlos in August. Mike says, " I swear we only photographed the in-between-set waves, because during the sets, whoever was photographing was too busy scrambling for the outside to take pictures!" I think it's safe to say that this trip will be logged as an A+ adventure for these guys for the remainder of their earthly years. Check the the dorsal color on the whitey in the top photo, that's fresh. How about the paddle floating in the background- I can just imagine the pandemonium that followed the gaffing... paddles askew, these guys laughing their asses off, barely able to hold steady enough to snap the photo. Michael, you gotta give us the full story!

Most Progressive Paddleboard in the water? Steve (aka Capt. Neg9) rides only Alexander Gemini shapes. Check out the stand up board he had done. How radical is this thing? There will need to be a serious question and answer forum for this shape- I know I've got mine. Check back for some shots of the bottom workings on this ride- pretty radical stuff.

Updates: Haven't forgotten about your questions regarding the board cutting process- working on my "sources". And...there may be a new Stamps Carve Machine in my future... Merry Christmas to me!

Alert! New world record speared at La Ventana

Hot off the press: Tim Hatler, co-owner of Palapas Ventana spears a giant roosterfish- 76lbs. the new world record! We'll have the whole story soon!

Paddlesurfing Baja: Palapas Ventana

Cerritos was small but fun, I could have spent two or three more days paddlesurfing and hanging out there. Rumors of a new swell sent us on the road to Punta Conejo which ended up being surfable (you'll have to wait for the video to see this spot) but a little bumpy with some red tide in the water. Our good friend Tim Hatler, one of the owners of Palapas Ventana (www.palapasventana.com) met us at Conejo and with reports of good fishing and diving we broke camp and headed south to La Ventana.

La Ventana is a little town about half an hour outside of La Paz. In the winter the place is world famous for the steady thermal wind that blows down the channel between La Ventana and nearby Isla Cerralvo offshore. It's a perfect spot for winter time windsurfing and kitesurfing- the water is deep blue and warm. On some winter days a different wind can blow. El Norte is a brutal wind which can sweep down from the far northern end of the Sea of Cortez and just crank through La Ventana- creating the type of small kite and small sail riding that wind junkies dream about. It also creates some interesting surfing conditions which you'd have to see to believe.

Tim and his mother Karon own and operate the nicest place in town. Palapas Ventana is a small bed and breakfast/action sport resort. In the winter time the place is packed with kite and windsurfers who enjoy staying in the unique, round casitas that dot the compound. In the summer, fishermen and spearfishermen invade hoping to land a giant wahoo, dorado or amberjack that swim in the waters around Isla Cerralvo. Tim's operation has it's own private sand beach so fisherman roll out of bed and walk fifty yards to their waiting pangas each morning. Tough life.