Bonus Update: On the road to Mulege!

Made it through the biggest day of driving, San Quintin (pronounced: San keen-teen... gringo) to Mulege (pronounced: mool-uh-hay... whiteboy)- if you didn't check out the map from the previous post (Day 2) give it a look and you can see where we are. I just got done eating a giant bowl of pozole (a tasty mexican soup) and I am exhausted. Cool that this little hotel had wi-fi access because here I am with a bonus road update for you!

We did close to 9 hours of driving today, that's the longest stretch. Tomorrow we'll be on the road for about six hours and we should be surfing by 1 or 2pm. Can't wait to jump into that warm, blue water. The first surf is always the sweetest- you're reminded of what it's like to surf in trunks... and it's December!

This is a shot out the window of the truck as we zoomed by the harbor at Santa Rosalia. Santa Rosalia is the first town you come to as you cross the peninsula from Guerrero Negro to the Sea of Cortez. If Popeye was going to live in Baja, this is where he'd live. It's crusty and colorful and cool- someday I'll schedule in a couple more hang out days on the way down to paddle all these cool little spots. There's tons of flatwater paddling opportunities in Baja.

This is pretty standard in Baja. You can go zooming down the road for a hundred miles and then you're stuck behind a slow truck for twenty minutes. The road from TJ to Cabo is much narrower than any highway in the United States. If a truck is coming at you, there's a definite white knuckle moment right when it goes freight-training by you. You are separated by what seems like inches. It's really very close. Close enough, in fact, for people to have their mirrors swiped right off their vehicles- happened to me once and I don't even have the big ol' elephant ear mirrors that you see on big Ford or Dodge diesels. If I owned one of those trucks, the first thing I'd do would be to take those big old flappers right off. A friend in an F250 lost a mirror and the window of the back seat when his got smacked outside of Loreto. Not fun.

Here's the road through Catavina. Imagine traveling hundreds of miles through dry, hot, barren desert then working through a giant boulder garden and finding yourself driving over water running out of a desert spring in an old river bottom. It's weird to think that water just oozes out of the ground at some points in the desert. But it does and here in Catavina it comes out enough to support palm trees including the blue palm which is a Catavina specialty. You couldn't really call Catavina a town, there's probably twenty people who live there year round- but it's an interesting place to check out. There's an airstrip tucked back off the highway and there's an old timer who's been there for decades, living in his concrete home that's dug into the side of a mountain. Baja's full of odd stuff like that.

Day 2: The big push, San Quintin to Mulege.

This is a big driving day, ten hours at least behind the wheel. We start off on the Pacific side in San Quintin, run down the middle of the peninsula through the rock garden at Catavina and into the town of Guerrero Negro or G.N. as I like to call it. G.N. is on the border of the state of Baja Sur, once you pass through G.N. you're in southern Baja, a whole different state. After G.N. you run across the plains outside of town and across to the Sea of Cortez and the little sleepy town of Mulege. Check out our Day 2 progress:

Here we are, Day 2 in green. San Quintin to Mulege, 10 hours- lots of pretty sights but be careful, this road can be dangerous!

Day 1: Check out the map!

I'll try my best to post updates as we're driving down- but it might be tough finding Wi-Fi. Since I know you'll go nuts if you can't get your p.net fix, I'll set this joint up so it automatically posts a daily map of our route. I know, it's bare bones. Believe me, once I'm down there, settled in and surfing- I'll fill in all the blanks. For now, here's a cool map our progress (Day 1 in red):

Here's our Day 1 Progress. That's a five to six hour drive from San Diego to San Quintin. You're not really in Baja until you're past San Quintin. Once you get past that town, you start to see interesting things, the desert opens up and you get the urge to roll on down the road. It's sweet.

Locked and Loaded...

It's always the same before any Baja trip, the night before is brutal! Always seems like there's a million little things that need to be done before you can kick back with your well earned beer and finally start to relax.

Hows that packing job? Two big stand up boards on top, two smaller ones down beneath the sleeping/cargo platform I built. What you can't see are the two other surfboards that I've got down there as well as a boogie board. My truck swallows up gear.

Here's the Ramble Machine locked and loaded: four stand up boards (10'6, 10'10, 9'1, 8'6), two surfboards (6'4, 6'6), four paddles, 15 bottles of wine, a bottle of Corralejo, a liter of vodka, dogfood, surfwax, four digital cameras, batteries, cables, two computers, two gallons of water, 8 soft boiled eggs- man, there's more stuff in there than I can even remember. It always amazes me how much stuff you think you really need. Wouldn't it be a cool experiment to just load your boards, one change of clothes and a cooler (one thing you don't skimp on is cooler treats) and just shove off? 

I'm so beat right now that all I can think about is a hot shower and some shut eye to prime me for the six hours I've got tomorrow. Tomorrow's an easy day. We take it easy on the first day because there's always the little hassle of getting your tourist visa stamped and paid for at the border and there can be traffic through Ensenada- so we plan it so that we end up spending the night at a cool hotel in San Quintin called the Old Mill. The place is a classic- the owner reaches into a cooler outside the door and gives you an icy Pacifico when you register. The rooms are big and clean and the place is dog friendly. 

This is the border crossing on the Mexico side. You need to pull into the inspection area, get out and walk over to the immigration office. Be sure to bring a pen and your passport and some money because you're going to pay for a 180 day tourist visa. The area where you park can be a total circus- I'd hate to pull in here with a rig any larger than the truck I'm driving. If it's busy, the customs agents (Mexican customs that is) put up cones blocking off the exit from the area- why? Who knows why. They just do things in Mexico sometimes for no apparent reason. My friend, Senor Kim, swears they do it because they love to see us gringos get pissed off. Be patient- go to your happy place, you're in Mexico now.

This is the Immigration office at the Tijuana/San Ysidro border crossing. Here's how it's done: First walk into this office and fill out the form. Second, walk out of the office and all the way back to where you came from- there's a bank window right there. Pay your fee (something like twenty bucks I think). Take your receipt all the way back to this office again and get your visa stamped. Hmmmm, seems like they could have cut out a big step there, right? Not the way it works in Mexico.

Here's the check in ritual at the Old Mill in San Quintin. Walk on in, pay the bill and reach your hand into the cooler for an icy cold beer. First one is on the house. The place is right out of the 50's, it's right on the water in San Quintin and it's safe and secure. There's an excellent restaurant, El Jardin, right down the road. Hot showers, dog friendly, safe and secure- what more could you want?

I'll grab some more shots of the Old Mill tomorrow. Check back for an update on our progress down the peninsula.

Just me loving my new 8'6" short SUP, but not in a weird way... more photos!

So much of getting this board dialed in was being able to switch away from what I was used to riding. In this case, I went with much bigger fins. It's kind of hard to tell from this photo but those side fins are enormous- biggest ones I've seen actually. My thought was that the board would be too tracky and not really responsive with such big keel like fins on it. In short, not a chance. That 8'6 rolls from turn to turn really smoothly- I was really surprised at how those fins worked out. If it gets really small, I'm going to pull the middle fin and put a little two inch trailer in there and see how she goes. The fin thing is super fun be sure you've got a quiver of stabs on you, you never know what combo might be the ticket.

A tale of two tails... fun stuff. The swallow tail feels really good for being a wider outline. The whole idea of the swallow is a cool one- basically you've got a board with two pintails on it- all the drive and flow of a longer rail line with a little wedge of area taken out to give you some bite. I'm digging it on this one.

Check the rail line, a sensible, surfy, clean runner. No rooky rails on this girl.

If you're a big Baja fan, be sure to check the site and the paddlesurf.net Facebook page over the next three weeks. I'll be driving down to Southern Baja and surfing that area until early January. The idea is to post while I'm down there (we've rented a killer little house on the beach and the owner assures me that he's got 24 hour wi-fi). I'll be putting up all kinds of Mexico stuff- so if you're into that kind of thing- check back!

And- don't be afraid to become a paddlesurf.net "Follower". Check the box in the right margin with all the p.net fans- why don't you join 'em? I'd like to take the number of followers from 85 to 100 before the New Year- you in?

Just a few photos from a couple years ago...

I remember this day- the surf was firing. Wally snapped these- check out the camera mounted on my paddle. I'll search around and see if I've got the shots from the paddle cam. Cool stuff, playing with the Go-Pro and seeing what it could do- fun times!

Clean, offshore and cold... still wish we had more like this!

Fingers crossed for more fun days like this! 

 Wasn't kidding, it was GOING OFF!

New Board: Stamps 8'6 x 30" x 4.25" Curvy little mind-blower!

I'm pretty much over trying to make the call about the bottom end dimensions for my stand up boards. Once upon a time, I popped off saying that I didn't really see any reason to go below 10'. Now my long board stando, the one I pull out when it's small and gutless, is only a couple inches longer than that. As our skills improved (meaning our balance got a whole hell of a lot better) we started wondering if we could loosen the things up a little bit. It was inevitable that we'd want smaller, more maneuverable boards.

Comparison time: On top, in blue, my new 8'6. Below, in green, my 9'1. Two totally different boards with two totally different feels to them. Both boards are 30" wide but the outlines are completely different. Especially the tails, each shape producing a different effect. The wider swallow tail: zippy and punchy off the bottom, big arcing turns with speed. The winged rounded pin: pivoty, snappy turns, this template allows precise placement and correction in the pocket.

What's happened is that we (we? I should really say, the shapers) figured out how to move the foam around to create small, yet surprisingly stable stand up boards. Sub 9' (and now even sub 8' or 7') stand up boards are now fairly common. If you've got the waves to power them up, you'll eventually want a smaller stick. My advice? Try before you buy. Surprisingly, the small board isn't a freak anymore. If you're ready to push your limits there are many choices out there. 

Stamps made this one similar to an 8'6 that came through his shop and ended up at my beach. That 8'6 was do-able for me. It wasn't easy but I could balance on it and paddle it into waves. Once surfing, the thing was magic- loose, fast, ready and willing to go where ever I wanted it to. The balance thing, though disconcerting, wasn't a deal breaker. I figured my version of the 8'6 would just fill a spot in my quiver. I'd pull it out only when it was glassy and calm. Fast forward to two days ago when I first surfed the board above. Wow. Stamps had done something to the board- the wobbles, the tippiness had been hugely dampened. I don't know what was done but I like it- and the thing still surfs unreal!

 Best of all are the hand made, custom boards. These will always be at the bloody end of the pointed stick of stando development.  Us big guys benefit hugely from the research and design that these guys are doing. The results are boards available that will work if you're solidly in the two hundred plus range. The boards are designed and shaped by craftsmen who know how to blend the necessary volume into a small package. Sure you could hack out a sub-8', rounded version of Sponge Bob, paddle it around and even catch a wave or two but does the thing feel and move like a surfboard? Or is it just a fat disc of foam, more of a freak show than a purposeful surfing craft?

The business end of my new 8'6. I had to switch my fin set up after my first surf. I wasn't getting the drive I was used to from the Gerry Lopez thruster set I've been running on my other boards. I switched the side fins out for some very large, one off, twin fins cut in creamy, flexy g-10 material (thanks Stu!). The wider based fins (these things are mackers) are still flexy, the big bases produce solid drive for the wide tail. I also switched out the middle fin to a 6" surfy shaped fin. Voila! The board went full Frampton and came alive. All fins are by Futures... thanks Futures you guys rule!

I am solidly in the sub 9' camp now- a true believer ever since I've started surfing this curvy little 8'6 mind blower that Stamps put together for me. The board isn't just a quiver filler- it's not a specialized tool to be used only under glassy conditions- this one might just become my go-to board, it's that fun to surf. Performance points include: on demand speed (a product of that wide tail), positive hold off the bottom and nice drive down the line (provided you run the right fin configuration- think big, wide twin fin outlines and a slightly bigger box fin). Off the top, the board is snappy and, with a little extra rocker in the front half (thanks Stamps!) the board is not prone to stuffing itself on the re-entry. I'm super excited to get this thing down south into some warm, blue Southern Baja surf; my winter time proving grounds with a girl who's ready to run. I'll keep you posted! 

I dig the freshy (especially the early 90's color fade) but both of these are coming down south- as well as a 12' to log some miles... gotta stay sharp for the Hanohano! And, maybe my 10'6 for the small days... and, okay, a couple of prone boards too. What the heck, why not?

Covewater Stand Up Paddle Santa Cruz: Joe Bark 14' Dominator and 12'6 Competitor

Covewater Stand Up Paddle Santa Cruz is the hub of the stand up paddling scene in Northern California. Recently they've been testing out some new race boards, and shared this review of the new Surftech 14' Bark Dominator which is coming to race waters in mid-December:

Huge developments in SUP race boards are expected for the 2011 Race Season. Perhaps none larger than the debut of the Surftech 14' Joe Bark Dominator. If you attended a single SUP race last summer, you probably noticed that seemingly one in five stock boards was the Surftech 12'6" Bark Competitor. Well, the 14' Bark Dominator promises to be the board in the 14' class in 2011. We've had the opportunity to test paddle the board in a variety of flat water and ocean conditions and can tell you - - this board moves!

The Dominator provides remarkable glide, especially noticeable was the sustained glide between the exit and catch paddling phases, due to the extremely slender displacement nose and efficient transition into nearly perfectly flat bottom rocker. Yet the Dominator exhibits the same high stability that made the 12'6 Bark Competitor the sport's most popular race board last summer. I suspect that the influence of the Dominator is going to really grow the numbers of people racing in the 14' class. Those of us who have raced in the 12'6 stock class have all experienced the frustrating feeling of watching the 14' class rather quickly pull away from the pack in the first mile or two of the race. Its only natural that more people are progressing to the fourteens - especially for longer races and point-to-point races. Chuck Patterson expressed similar views in his recent interview on SUP Connect. The 12'6" will always be a popular class however, and are a natural for buoy races and surf zone races like the Battle of the Paddle.

The Dominator is constructed in Surftech's new Pro-Elite technology. Pro-Elite is composed of:

- 1-pound, fused-cell EPS core (no stringer and no air pockets to absorb water)
- Deck: Two layers of fiberglass, reinforced with high density sheet foam in heavy impact areas
- Bottom: One layer fiberglass combined with a full layer of biaxial/carbon
- Board is hand sanded, the graphic design is airbrushed on then the board is hand polished

As a result, the Pro-Elite Dominator is very light for a 14' racer at about 26 pounds (including fin and traction pad), however are more fragile as compared to Surftech's bulletproof Turflite construction. Both the 12'6" Competitor and the 14' Dominator will be available in Pro-Elite in 2011.

There is an extremely limited run of the Dominator coming out in mid-December which has already been snapped up by dealers on pre-order. Covewater Stand Up Paddling Santa Cruz is among those select shops, and will be receiving a few of the December pre-orders. Additional Dominators will be available in early 2011. To pre-order your Dominator, give Covewater Santa Cruz Stand Up Paddling a call at (831) 600-7230. Dominators will be sold on a first come/first-reserved basis.

Kalama Kamp in Turks and Caicos: Part II

So the camp is run by Dave Kalama, Brody Welte, and guest host John Denney. I don't think you could ask for a more dynamic group of individuals to teach, entertain, and share good times with. Brody has a stand up fitness business called Standup Fitness, Inc. as well as a retail SUP store in St. Petersburg Florida. He's spent considerable time in San Diego, Kauai, and most recently Florida. Brody is one those guys that you can't help but like, always spitting out his stream-of-consciousness, which ranges from funny, to odd, to just out and out weird. His love of stupid movie quotes, kept me on my toes the whole week. John, on the other hand is this big, boisterous, teddy bear of a guy. John Denney has been friends with Dave for a long time and is a well known big wave surfer/ waterman that resided in Maui for years before recently moving to Florida and opening up a SUP retail business called JuniperPaddleboarding.com. Brody and John, have a incredibly "unique" relationship in which they constantly try to one up each other. Keeps things interesting!

So I figured I'd give everyone a preview what the days were like for us during the camp. Each morning the group gathered on the beach for a Kalama beach workout. For most of us, working out requires going to the gym, using specialized weights/ equipment, and so on. For Dave who is a very fit individual takes a very simple approach. His beach workouts consists of deep sand runs on the beach, a variety of pushups/ pull ups/ dips/ crunches/ lunges, etc. Dave's simplicity surfaces in his use of his use of $4 worth of rope that he utilizes to do a variety of upper body exercises using whatever he can find to serve as a post. I'm guessing Dave has access to state of the art exercise facilities, personal trainers and the like but I think for Dave, he favors the simplicity of being on the beach with like minded individuals using what our creator has provided. I assure you, the beach workouts were no easy endeavor for any of us. For those not accustom to beach runs and lunges, it's a wake up call to what we should be able to do before stepping foot in the water. It seems that Dave has been able to accomplish extraordinary things by keeping very fit, both mentality and physically.

After workouts and group breakfast each morning, we would head to the Big Blue Unlimited headquarters. Big Blue, is a adventure company that provides visitors the opportunity to paddle, kite board, windsurf, scuba, snorkel, kayak, etc. It's difficult to convey how awesome Big Blue and one of the co-owners of 12 + years, Phillip was in accommodating our group, taking us by car and boat anywhere and everywhere that we wanted to explore. Phillip is quite a character. Raised primarily in Turks and Caicos, Phillip spent much of his life on the island in between his boarding school education in England. Phillip is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the islands. He has a thorough knowledge of the workings of the ocean, sea life, the archeology/ history of the area, etc. In addition to being a great host, he's quite a character and kept us entertained with his conspiracy theories!

Part III coming soon....
Mike
www.CoronadoStyle.com

Kalama Kamp in Turks and Caicos: Part I

Ok, just a short intro, my name is Mike, I live and work in Coronado. I had the unique opportunity to attend Kalama Kamp in Turks and Caicos (British West Indies/
Carribean) hosted by none other than Dave Kalama. The camp took place from November 13-21st of this year. I wanted to share my experiences so I decided that PaddleSurf.net was the idea place as John is the most enthusiastic promoter of stand up paddling that I know! This was the second Kalama Kamp that Dave hosted, the first camp was in Florida. I originally heard about the camp after a couple months of following Dave's blog.

I was intrigued by his blog's on the Tahitian stroke technique that he's adopted from the Tahitian outrigger paddlers. It seemed from what I had read/ heard that this particular technique might offer some much needed efficiency in my own stroke. I asked Dave during the trip why chose to develop this technique to others? His simple answer was that "when somebody using a different technique could beat the Tahitians, he would consider something else". In addition, Dave just believes that this particular stroke is the most efficient he's found and since paddling requires so much repetition of movement, the smaller you can make each movement the faster and more efficient you will be!

So after talking to other paddlers that have personal instruction from Dave, I pulled the trigger, booked my flight, paid for the camp, and counted the days until I would leave for T&C. I will admit, at first I was a little hesitant because of the cost but after factoring in that all the food, booze (yes all the booze you can drink), equipment and transportation was included, the camp seemed to provide good value. Besides, how often do us mere mortals get to learn from one of the best at what they do, and in paradise nonetheless?


As an avid SUP racer and surfer, my initial motivation was primarily to increase my speed for racing and improve my surfing technique, but little did I know the simple lessons about life that Dave would pass on to us.

I arrived on the island of Provo on Sunday around 2 pm, November 14th. After a quick ride to Club Med, I was greeted by a beach scene that can only be described as "spectacular". I had never seen a beach and crystal blue/ green water anything like this my life!


After a quick bite at our hotel, Club Med, I hopped a ride with a few others to Big Blue Unlimited's headquarters. Big Blue is the adventure company that is providing us equipment (all Naish and the good stuff) and local knowledge, transportation (boat and auto) etc. Myself and a few other hit the incredible turquoise water and paddled for a few hours checking out some of the mangroves, beaches and small islands. We were also introduced to a small island inhabited by thousands of iguana's. Pretty cool!

Stand Up Paddle Racing: Butch's 2 Cents

I've said it before, the best part of maintaining the blog are the people who populate this little corner of the internet. There's all kinds of interesting characters in the stand up paddle world who drop by every now and then. Every so often, you'll speak out. Sometimes your comments are constructive, sometimes they're abrasive, sometimes you're in agreement with me and other times it seems like a restraining order might be a good call. 

One of the more frequent contributors is a guy named Butch. Butch sends me all kinds of stuff: photos, opinions and lots of good advice. I think Butch even sent me the never before published Gerry Lopez photos in Indo- we kept those on the hush-hush, didn't we Butch? Butch doesn't sugar coat things, he's a straight up kind of guy. If Butch thinks something is lame, he'll tell you. If you think you're bitchen, Butch will bring you back down to earth. The guy has been involved in stand up paddling and racing since this whole thing started. He's an excellent resource and a colorful character, I'm glad he's chosen to participate on the site. Yesterday, after reading my second Everyman Racer piece Butch sent me some of his own advice. He calls it his 2 cents, check it out:

Mickey Munoz on the left, Butch on the right... check the Primo Hat. He must be an Everyman Racer.

Butch's 2 Cents

I'm concur with your criteria, except # 2. I always think I might have a heart attack running up the beach. And I don't know how you can do anything but stay working as hard as you can.  

Here's how I pick the one to pass, about 4 or so miles into it, there always seems to be one or two people that are just ahead. These are guys you have been with the whole race. Don't choose the one that is 20 yards ahead, you want the ones that are a two or three boards lengths away. I always wait until the very last part of the race. Wait until you're close to the finish and then go completely nuts! Go into the perfect stroke, maybe start screaming on the pull, just go berserk.  

Here's a start tip, on the beach or a water start, line up behind the fastest guys. The ones you know are going to be in the top ten, they will always clear a path, always. You won't be able to stay with them long, but as you know- the starts are crucial and that first twenty yards means a lot. Here's what I do, I focus on the tail of the fast guy's board.  

One more thing, no Mister Nice Guy shit. They don't call it a race for nothing. If you get a chance to snake someone at a mark, you do it, you bang rails, just keep powering, get mean!  You can be all buddy-buddy at the end when your having those beers!  Unlike sail boat racing they have not come up with a bunch of rules, not yet anyway. It's pretty much a free for all out there, especially the starts and going around marks. When you round those marks, go in a little wide and then cut as close to it as you dare. You want to line up your cut so your are heading right toward the next mark.   

There's some great advice in there. My favorite? "no Mister Nice Guy shit.". And to that, I totally agree. At the Battle of the Paddle in the Open Event, if I saw a hole at a mark I just barged right in. I know I was wreaking havoc but like Butch says, "They don't call it racing for nothing". Thanks Butch! 

Some Florida junk, Cold, windy, FUN...

Board: 8'10" blunt nose PIG, nose 22" mid 29.5" tail 16.25" thick 5", round tail quad

Capt Ron at the helm just playing around. Hope everyone is getting a few.

Finally getting a few shots with the new camera can pull stills right now but cannot edit video with this calculator of a computer I have. Going to update anyone have any ideas on a good turnkey computer that I can edit HD vid without it freezing up?

Peace,

Capt Ron

The Everyman Racer: My three criteria for a successfully completed SUP race

Here are my three criteria for a successful race. If I pull these off, I drive home with a smile on my face even if I've watched the whole thing from the middle of the pack and finished ten minutes behind the leaders (once again, how can they be that fast?).

1. Beat the guy in front of me. If you're an Everyman Racer like me, there will always be somebody in front of you. I make it my goal to pass at least one person in front of me. I try to gauge when to make my move and I try to keep something in reserve for that final push. When the time comes, I sell out and give it my all to catch and pass that paddler.

Frequently, I'm the one who gets left behind. At the Hennessey's International Championships I was following an older gentleman on a custom Hobie, carbon fiber raceboard. It was one of those Darth Vader looking race-needles with the weird looking canoe bow (yeah, the high end board should have been the first indication that this guy was no chump). I was thinking, I'll just hang out here ten yards back and then pass him around the next bend. Wrong. That guy, who was paddling so casually it looked like he was falling asleep, kicked it into another gear and just smoked me.

When that happens, I just find the closest pack of paddlers, fall in with them and look for the guy paddling the inflatable pool toy.

2. Finish exhausted (give it your full effort). I don't want to finish the race feeling good- I want to feel like I've given it my all. I want to do the best I can. This Saturday, at the Becky Stuart Memorial in Oceanside I almost blew groceries onto my feet trying to pass the guy in front of me. He was wickedly fast, phenomenally strong and had an iron will- he would not break. He was also sixty five years old. He just laughed when I found out he was more than twenty years older than me. He said, "Now I don't feel so bad". I may have crossed the line thirty seconds before him- but he definitely won.

3. Learn something. I always try to stay alert, to look around, to notice things. I want to learn and I want to improve while I'm out there. At the Battle of the Paddle, I learned something about my stroke (heck no, I'm not going to tell you... get out and do your Homework!) that's made me faster. It was an eye-opener. I watched a guy go by me- saw what he was doing, copied it and like that I was catching and passing people. Unfortunately, I possess a little bit more than the 3% body fat of my unwitting teacher and I couldn't maintain the stroke but, still, I learned from it. At the King's Race, I learned that drinking a bottle of Pinot the night before a race is not carbo-loading. I am now certain that it does not make you faster. In fact, you pretty much just want to die.

These are my three criteria and they've served me well. I've had a great time at every event I've entered. What do you strive to accomplish?

Paddle Report: Ron House - Spreading the Stoke

It's the people in our sport who make it so special. Almost everybody is super cool- even the heavy hitters are accessible, humble and stoked to get you out and paddling! Here's a write up my friend Glenn threw together after a memorable session he had out here in California. If you are new to the sport and haven't heard of Ron House or his contribution to stand up paddle- you need to hit the books. Ron House was one of the pioneering stand up board shapers here on the west coast. He built some of Laird's earliest boards and is still posted up in San Clemente mowing foam, shaping masterpieces and ripping the Dog Patch on his custom stand up boards.

Ron House  -  Spreading the Stoke

 by Glenn Bunting

What to do . . .

Your job keeps you away from home and out of the water way too much, and you’re hooked like a grom on stand up paddle surfing.  On occasion you have the opportunity to squeeze in a free day or weekend when working in Southern California, but your gear is 3000 miles away.  What to do?

1. Call John Ashley – hands down my Southern California go-to guy for all things SUP.  John has family obligations?  Darn.

2. Rent a SUP in Malibu?  Tried it a couple of times, but if the waves are decent and you want to surf rather than just paddle, it’ll almost certainly be more fun to rent a prone board and avoid the heavy vibe associated with paddle surfing the Point. 

3. Throw yourself on the mercy of a legendary California shaper and ask for a demo?  Hey, come to think of it  -  I love my Ron House single fin; it loves me back; therefore, Ron House and I are practically family – right?       

So with that family connection in mind, I contacted Ron and asked if he might have a demo available for one of his SUP performance shapes. 

Jackpot!  Sight unseen, Ron suggested I come to his San Clemente home where he would loan me his PERSONAL custom standup board.   A VERY sweet board - 9’6” X 28 ½ X 3 7/8  –  thruster setup.   

“Need a paddle – no problem, take mine.  Straps for the car – here you go.  Oh, and why don’t you take my annual pass to save the $15 entrance fee at San Onofre.”    

Needless to say, I was completely overwhelmed by Ron’s generosity and kindness!  

Ron House  -  master craftsman & shaper, surfer AND all-around class act

P.S.  As you would expect, Ron’s 9’6” absolutely RIPS!  

Lilly the stunt dog's newest trick... Dead Dog.

We are professionals, do not try this at home!

T'n'T Surf Shop: Festivus for the rest of us! Friday, December 3rd... come check it out.

I remember the first surf shop I ever went into- it was dark, smelled like resin, Mr. Zog's Sex Wax and special tobacco. Every now and again the place was wracked by the whine of a Skill 100 mowing  foam. I was pretty dorky but I knew cool when I saw it and that place was it- I was hooked. You could go in, hang out, watch a guy shape a board in the back and chat up the insanely hot girl who worked the counter. Well, I was actually too shy to try to actually, you know, physically talk to her- so I just checked out the rad Dennis Jarvis twin fins in the rack by the window and tried not to embarrass myself while my buddies bought grip tape and stickers. 

Surf shops are still cool (I, unfortunately, never quite lost the dorkiness) and one of the most soulful shops is right here in Imperial Beach. The T'n'T shop is small but it's got all kinds of heart and the folks running the place have surfing running through their veins. Plus, they're supporting our funky little beach-art scene. Tomorrow night they're hosting an art show called Festivus for the Rest of Us. There'll be a DJ, light refreshment and art hung all over the walls. Last time, the gathering was like a who's who of south San Diego surfing and the photographic art was pretty stunning. If you're down this way, roll on by and peak your head in... there might even be an insanely hot chick behind the counter!

Stand Up Paddle Racing: My GPS set up Garmin Etrex Venture HC

A month ago I saw a little video bio of Hobie team racer Byron Kurt. Byron's biggest piece of advice was to mount a GPS on your board to see if what you're doing out on the water was really helping you to go faster. In fact, I remember that in a certain part of the clip he said that during a workout or race (I can't remember the exact quote) he's pretty much got his head down and his eyes on the GPS trying to give the board what it needs to keep his speed up. The logic of that struck me- so I went out and picked one up and have been using it for the past week's workouts. Here's my setup:

I choose the Garmin Etrex Venture HC. Why? Because it was cheap!

I went with the second cheapest, waterproof GPS that I could find. It's the Garmin etrex Venture HC. It works off of two double A batteries, has a color screen, a large number display (good for seeing your speed from the standing position) floats and is waterproof. I can't remember for sure but I think I paid somewhere between $100 and $120 dollars for mine and had it shipped overnight from the WalMart website. I read a couple reviews about the model and noticed that one of the eTrex's best qualities was  the ease of reading the display in full sunlight. That's obviously important for us stand up racers since we're generally creatures of the sun. 

This is what the unit looks like mounted on the board. Be sure you mount it far enough forward- you don't want it in the path of your blade as you swing it from one side to the other.

The next thing I had to do was purchase a mount. My friend, Kiwi, made a nice mount from plastic that he bought at Home Depot. He attached it to the board with industrial strength velcro- that's a great idea, you want to be able to remove the GPS from your board when you've got it on the racks or in a bag. I opted for a Garmin dashboard mount with a flat base that is stuck to the board/dash with an adhesive disk. Here's what it looks like:

The disk has a lock that keeps the GPS mount from popping off of it. I thought it was pretty cool, I purchased two of the disks, one for my new race board and another one for the dashboard of my truck... why not?

I've never used a GPS before so I'm sure that I'm not using this thing to it's full potential. But, so far, it's been super fun and informative to have it aboard. It's been great for getting the true distance for my route and for getting a look at how fast I'm really going (I'm not that speedy... my best average so far is 4.6 mph over the 4.5 mile course). Eventually, I'd like to use it to fine tune my stroke and for determining where I should be standing to keep the board in trim. Of course, this will take time. I'm still getting used to having the thing right in front of my face and I do find myself fixating on the ever changing numbers on the screen. Hopefully, with enough practice, I'll get them to change in my favor.