Saturday Nov. 7 Marysville Sun and Fun

A great sunny 70 degree day at Metro in the early morning for a 6.2 Alpha session where it was 15-18K past the pointe with a smooth 2-3 foot lapping swell. Lots of fun but we need more wind and its south so off to Marysville we go. Glad we made the trip because its was 5M-6M mostly throughout the day with a nice swell and glorious sun. Winds 190-210 degrees in the 15-30+ range go the small boards out and the waves slashed up. The 5M and the 85ltr. worked most of the time today although the 6.2 and the 107 were overpowered fun.

All who made the trip were happy - hoping this season got 1 or 2 more sessions left on the weekend - this was a nice one.

Thursday, Nov. 5 Blue Lagoon in 2 hours

A quick run out to Blue Lagoon today at noon for some 5.7 overpowered
fun on a very cold but sunny day. Started on the big 107 but quickly
moved to the 85 as the wind gusted into 30's for a short time at 2pm.
By 3:30 it was over... Gotta blame this one on Millard for rigging a
4.2m. Saturday looks good for more from the south.

Sat. Oct. 31, Hallowind at Metro Delivers Big

Saturday, Oct. 24, Metro was cold, flat and pretty darn solid

LSCM4 - NOAA

CAN Bouy

I had a great time making a 6.2 Alpha and the 107 FSW work in SSW winds going from 10 to 25 all day. The water looked flat but the winds were solid even though not consistently blowing. Had a great time throwing everything (even a couple of Duck Monkey Jibes) I could in case the 2009 season ends tomorrow. The final session on the water was about 2.5 hours and I'm paying for it now in regular Alleve dosing. I hope we get in 2-3 more fall days here as DST is next weekend-boo!

Tunes: Jonah33 - The Strangest Day

Eats: Tim Hortons!

Friday Aug. 23, a Quick Sesh from the East

Well I got a little bit of the tail end of these strong east winds that really blew through earlier in the day 30-40++. Got in about 1.5 hours in on the 5M search in pretty solid and steady 20-25 winds. Oh yeah, it was raining about 90% of the time on the water and it was about 50 degrees - great sport! More on tap for tomorrow though.

Sunday Oct. 18 Tree Farm and the sun!

A quick one hour ride at Lakeshore Park for 12 miles on a dry, hard,
fun trail. Loads of other riders out enjoying the sun and crisp 50
degree temps. Great fall ride while the leaves are still mostly on the
trees.

Wednesday, Oct. 7, off to Blue Lagoon

Storm winds brought a due west gusty day to the Blue Lagoon - winds starting at 8am winds 25-40 solid 4.5 conditions where Jeff B and I had a great start to an alright day. Unfortunately the day was predicted to slip in wind speeds and shift more to the NW. Well the winds shifted lower after noon but they maintained the west direction - very tough direction. Well the day was worth it - got a couple of duck monkey jibes wired.

Gear: JP 85 FSW and 4.5 Search - later 107 FSW and the 5.o Search

There for it: Silver Fox, MB, TJ, Brent, Mike G., Jeff, Dean, Walt

Tuesday, Sept. 29 Belle River not the place to be

Jeff saying "What? I gotta rig a 5.5 Retro?"

It looks good right now...

Belle River CAN, This place has had its chances but yesterday with near gales it was still too lite for me, even at 20WNW gusts to 30 all wavy and mostly onshore. Its a place you have to hike out to get going and make it past the breakwall - I had a 5.7 rigged with the JP 85FSW and it worked for awhile and had lots of potential but then it dropped off after an hour or two. When its not cranking your left with is mushy loud conditions where the wind has no guts... The chart says it all - pretty good up until 2pm. Should have been at KP.

There for it: MB, Jeff and the Silver Fox



Meanwhile the action was north of us....

Kettle Point 9-29-09 from Brent on Vimeo.

Monday, Sept. 29, Metro goes off!

Great 40+ day at Metro - lots of guys out and lots of big SW winds. Many sailing 4M-4.5M sails all day - cold and rainy but hanging on and having a great sesh. Thanks to Bob for the great video summary of the day with the Canon D90. More on tap today!

Sept. 25, its Holly again

Quick run at Holly again with Jabber in 2:01 for 15.5 miles. Misty and foggy but fast...nevermind that, gales are in the forecast for sailing next 2-3 days!!!

Sat. Sept. 19 Torn Shirt Rocks

Jabber and I just made 12.8 miles in 1:58 at Torn Shirt and Murray Lake loops in Brighton on a nice 50 degree morning. Sunny, no people, and a fast dry trail made for great ride. Hope to be sailing next weekend or it's onto HIGHLAND!

Sat. Sept. 12th did Grubers Grinder at Holly

Another great ride today with Jabber today got in 15.6 miles in 2 hours at Holly Rec State Park - East loop. Great place to do a really long ride and today was nice 65 degrees with sun and hard fast single track...I'm coming back next weekend!

Sat. Sept. 4th Charlevoix Ride

A quick one here for Labor Day Weekend 10 miles of exploring the coast
and Mt. McSauba - this is a really awesome MI coastal town. Now add
some NW winds and I'm moving.

Sunday, Aug. 30 Kettle Pointe Dawn Patrol Classic

Windsurfing Kettle Point, Ontario August 2009 from Brent on Vimeo.

I need a break...

The Fox

The WeatherMan

Happy Boy!

East Oscoda Bouy tells it best - NW and WINDY!

Yes - an exhausting day of 5.7M, 5.0M and 4.5M overpowered conditions at KP. 6am wakeup call was the key to hitting it right on time. Getting to the beach first on a Sunday at 8am and finding mostly flat 5.7M conditions was a little bit of a bummer. Add in the rain occasionally poring down to the point where it was difficult to see didn't help but it was solid wind and just kept getting stronger as the day wore on. By 10AM the 5M was out and the waves were starting to build on the outside 4-6ft. By noon the 4.5M was out and overpowered alot of the time with waves in the 10-12 ft. range - classic KP day for the taking. Sun even came out after 3pm so we really had a chance to see all the waves start to light up. This is a great sailing site when it happens NW.

The days highlight was Brent with numerous back loop attempts was hitting the port tack stuff as well as the starboard. Craig lofting his classic big airs on the way out and Millard cruising down the line way faster than I could keep up with. The wave riding was great in the later afternoon as things started to clean up in the "pit" as the wind turned more north. What a day though of non-stop action - totally burned out all energy, most exhausted I've ever been sailing. I'm good for a week atleast now - bring on the Alleve! Thanks you mother nature...now if we could just get a straight north and a Lex day.

Winds: WNW 20-30K with NW later in PM

Waves: Mostly bumpy 6-12ft. but a couple of mast high 15ft. monsters too!

The Dawn Patrol crew: Brent, Millard, Craig

Catering: Thanks you Tim Hortons!

Tunes: 7th Day Slumber, Forever the Sickest Kids

Saturday at Metro, August 29 Afternoon Delight

The chart says be rigged and ready at 3pm!

Glad to have driven to Metro this afternoon for sure. Sun and 70 degrees and winds that kicked in at 3pm 15-25mph SSW - 5.7 Expression overpowered most of the time with the 107 FSW to start and them on to the 85. Weeds poised no issues we me this session as I cut them to pieces with the 12" Weed Blade at 20mph+. Great 3 hour session with the whole crew of regulars out to enjoy - rumors holding that tomorrow NW winds mean dawn patrol for KP....stay tuned.

Friday Aug. 21, Lovin' a 2 sport day

Played 18 holes at the Inn at St. John in the morning and them headed over to Metro for the 5M consistent SW winds in the afternoon. Great 2 sport day and having missed yesterday's 4.5M at Metro a great save for the 2 most solid days on wind this month. Sun and the overpowered 5.7M with the JP FSW 84 was more than enough to play off the Metro point and into the main basin of LSC. The waves weren't there but the wind very disappointed staying steady and non-holey from 2-5pm whn I was out. By all reports it just kept blowing until dark! The graph for LSCM4 says it all 20-30 SSW - yes.

Sat. Aug. 15, X-XC at Boyne Highlands

Boyne High evening sesh - still wet from the days' rain but a pretty eXtreme XC ride on the the north side off the mountain. Super moist with sandy sections and I had to pump up my tires to the max the week before. Only about a 6 mile ride but hoofing it uphill for about 35% of the ride made it a 50+ minute ride. One highlight is the Pontiac Lake like halfpipe that is 10 times the length and speed. Great job marking the trails too - you can actually figure out where you are at most of the time. The MTB director there said they sold 100 lift tix - one of the best days ever. I can't wait to come back and do the DH with all the protective gear.

Thursday, Aug. 13 at Hickory Glen

Quick 7.8 miles at Hickory Glen - only 45 minutes for an hours drive - yeah I'm getting the rides in whenever I can...Runkeeper is right on but the mileage is way off - 3 miles in 45 minutes...I don't think so.

Monday Aug. 3, 2009 Marysville is the new Groge

Com' on now - Look down!

Great day at Marysville from 1pm - 5pm - - a really windy great day. We needed it too. We sailed in 25-35++ winds with big waves at Marysville. Probably the best session I've ever had there. 200 degree winds being just solid as a rock and the waves being as big as think I've seen up to 5-6 feet in the middle occasionally. With the 4.5M Search and the 84 JP FSW I had the perfect setup for the sesh. Very close to the Gorge sessions last week but alot better when you got your own gear. I don't know if it was a coincidence but it started to drop and get holey once JB showed up? Alleve and Gatorade for dinner on the way home. We need some more days like this!

There for it: Brent, Millard, Craig, Keith, JAB Sports

Winds and waves: SSW 20-40++ & 2-6 feet

Sunday, Aug. 2 Island Lake Ride

Nice 14.2 miles of very fast singletrack with Bemonz. 1:20 minutes
with my iPhone 3GS now tracking all the fun. Pretty accurate GPS of
the ride. Not close though to riding off last nights pizza...

Vids: Gorge Day 3 and 4 Swell/Hatch

Gorge dayz 3 & 4

Bridge Up! Never saw that one before...

Silver Fox at Swell

Swell and I got the place to myself 6pm

Bob's beach was the place for wind Sunday....

Well the 4m winds definitely were best on Thursday and Friday. Weekend
saw us do Swell on Saturday with the AM gradient holding .08 most of
day which meant 5m gear. Switched in the JP77 for old faithful, the
84FSW. Smaller than expected sailing groups on the weekend as the
declining forecast kept the masses home. Sailed until about 3 pm then
moved to the Hatchery where I sailed an evening sesh for a few hours
while watching the pros make wind in out in front of me. We hooked up
with Jim and Larry who Craig actually talked too on the water doing
long kite downwinder. Town was packed dinner at Full Sail and ice
cream at Mikes.

Sunday was near repeat but it started much stronger than Swell with
the Hatch packed as all the 17-23 winds were focused there. More MI
sailors as the Lansing crew from the demo tour are here sailing with
us. Pretty good am happily powered on 5m's until it dropped at noon
with temps everywhere at 100+. The heat wave is here and that's not
good for winds in the gorge.

We thought that was it but reports were Stevenson was the place for
winds now 20-28 - let's go. We arrived and it was in the 4.7-5m range.
Parking was packed but we rigged big and got some rides nice early
rides in this wide section of the Columbia. Nothing great but were
getting rides at yet another nice site and 4 pm though it dropped and
even the 5m's were not going to work. Great spot though we watched the
kiters next rip it up at their launch up wind (couldn't get Larry to
rig his kite as the launch is so packed). Great hook up to see Andy
and Callie (and future sailor Alec!) for dinner at Full Sail - these
guys have a great home base 50 minutes for HR. Yeah were jealous.

As I finish this it's east here on Monday morning-no winds likely from
the west until Thursday. It's going to be 100 inland and the desert to
so that means were ready to head home too. Off to breakfast at Bette's
and finally time to hit the shops - see you again next summer HR!

Gorge Day 2 yep it's blowing.

Hatchery rocking 4.7m for the crowds

9am Swell City - things looking pretty

It's 6pm Hatch evening sesh.

Day 2 and we get get lucky it's 20++ at Swell and the corridor is the
place to be. 4m's and the 77FSW and 83 Global Wave get the job done
for the morning sesh. 25 with gusts in the 30's keep the smiles on our
faces. Waves and a small crowd of the regulars make the locale seemed
indiscoveted by the masses. We sail until the winds drop a bit and
then in the late afternoon move east to the Hatchery.

Great evening sailing with the pros at the Hatch who are ripping it up
for the crowd at the Jibatorium. 4.7m worked perfectly with a short
spaced tall swell and winds 20-25. I swear the 77FSW planes in
anything and is an exact replica of the 84 only 15% smaller. Fun
sailing while watching shakas, geckos and loops happen right in front
of me. Evening sail ends at 8pm with a short drive to HR for brews and
burgers at Horsefeathers. More coming tomorrow if the gradient holds...

Gorge day 1 Live thru us!

Gorge day one... Yeah those are 3.4's...

Short and sweet... day one had us at 3 sites starting at Dougs beach
where winds were tapping 40 on the first runs out. Craig on a 4m and
me on a 4.2m way too much on the OR side where it was 3.5. We sailed
for an hour or so and were getting beat up by gusty winds and a huge
curling swell in the river midsection. Whatta start, crazy conditions,
let's move before we die.

Next Maryhill rocks. Yes it's 32-39mph here with about 10 people out.
I get killed on a 4.7m and Craig works a 4.0 to perfection. But by 2pm
it's killing both of us and the 3.4m's need to come out. They work
well in the gusts but are so small when I duck jibe I miss the boom
they're so short (130cm). Great site and sailing peak winds in 40's
with PDX to Dalles gradient hitting .20 mb - the most I've ever sailed
in. Too much for us with the back and forearms begging for mercy.

Evening sesh = Arlington/Roosevelt. The best most solid 3 hours of
sailing (4.2) I've ever had. Sun, big waves abound, near 100 temps and
it's only 5 pm with about 30 sailors out. Just a great cap off to the
first day. We sail until 8 pm and have a 1.5hr. Drive back to HR.
Awesome site, day and conditions. We perfectly followed the peak winds
all day as the eastern push moved the gradient down the river toward
the desert. More coming tomorrow...yes it's on.

Sunday, July 19, Island Lake is a good ride

Another biking day and the winds don't seem to want to cooperate. This time Island Lake State Park doing 14.8 miles in 1:20. Brent joining in for a good ride that was dry and fast. Much better place when you loop the blue and yellow trails together!

Thursday at Metro, July 16, we need more wind!

Hardly worth the post, but with a suprise westerly breeze the boys all met up today at Metro. Armed with the 6.2 Alpha and the 107FSW I got about 2.5 hours of up and down winds. Nothing but patches and streeks of 20+ gusts to ride. Weeds abound too. We need some real wind now - looks like we'll have to head to the Gorge to find it!

Sunday, July 12, Tour De Pontiac MTB

Super fast and bone dry - thought I might have broke an hour but still not there yet... Got in 10.58 miles in 1:03 under the sun and nice 75 degrees. Great day on the trails with few people riding the heat of the afternoon - most in the lake. The new rear cog and chain had the Enduro trannie riding and switching so smooth - a great update. The bike was as solid as ever over some huge rock garden outcrops that now are really making some sections at speed very technical (= do not fall). Many thanks for my sponsors of the day Red Bull and Alleve. Pontiac is a great ride always...

Trail ituneage: The Becoming - Vol. 1, Kutless - To Know That You're Alive, The Wedding - Polarity, Skillet - Comatose

Great day of sailing west winds at Blue Lagoon blowing 15-30++ with 40 high gusts at about 5:30pm. All attending were happy with the winds once they kicked in and had a little bit of WNW going. For the record, one of the choppiest days ever, as Jeff put it, - it's like a day of mogul skiiing. Most were overpowered on 5.7 and5.8's but very happy to be outrunning the numerous jets skiers, motor boats and offshore racers congesting Anchor Bay. Great ending session after 7pm when the boaters had gone and the chop flattened out. Blue Lagoon shines after a slow month of June, this site is really nice for these days when the west wind blows...

Gear: 6.2 Alpha and 107 then 5.7 Xpresh and 85 FSW

Sat, June 20 ABM = Another Broken Mast

Blue Lagoon day and I made a late day trip after the boys said it was blowing - I guess it was... Rigged up the 6.2 Alpha and the 107 FSW and went out in some nice 15-20 blows only to have the nearly brand new PowerX Wave 60 snap on the long ride out. Great time for a swim and walk in have 2 minutes of sailing! Rigged another 430 and off I went (hole in bottom of Alpha sleeve now) got an hour or so of good WNW before the 7PM switch to full N/NE... day over. After 3 weeks of no wind here this was a tease but I'll take it for now.

Tunes: Ever Stays Red - On the Brink Of It All

Brent's POV Cab Video from Day 7 on Da Reef

CABARATE TRIP 2009 DAY 7

Friday, May 29, 2009 "Last Day, Lets Make it the Best!"

When we woke up, you could already see the palms waving in the moderate breeze and you could see the waves building and small whitecaps farther out in the ocean in front of El Magnifico. This was a very good sign. We headed out early to Cafe Pitu for the Omlettes we could not get enough of. $149 Dominican Pesos, thats about $4 bucks for the best Omlette you ever had. It is not as cheap as it was the first time I visited in 2000, but it is still very reasonable here.
Once at the Vela center, we could see it was going to be a very good day. We were the first ones there and we were ready for the wind. I started on a 122L Starboard Kode while Chris went w/ a smaller 107L JP FSW. I was ripping on a bigger board and a 6.9 sail. I was a bit board, so I decided to beat up wind out of Cabarete bay and found the wind changed direction slighly about a half mile out, with enough north in it to allow me to rip up the coast almost a mile or so to some unsailed territory. There was nobody on the beach and I sailed along until I reached the last building I could see along the beach. I was a ways east of the bay, way off shore and definitely out of site of the Vela Center. I decided to sail back down to the bay because an equipment failure would really suck this far away.

The down winder was full-on seat of my shorts sailing with big ocean swell and incredible speed down the faces. By the time I was back in the bay I was nearly exhausted from trying to keep it all together on the ride down the coast. Definitely a highlight of the weeks sailing! I could see things had also picked up in the bay during my two hours outside the bay so I headed in to get lunch and change to wave gear.

About 2:30pm, JAB showed up and went out with an 84L Twinser and a 5.4 sail. Chris was on the same sail with a Freestyle wave 84. I had enjoyed the speed earlier in the day, so I decided on a 6.2 Alpha for power and a 94L Kode. I mounted up the GoPro video camera on the booms and headed out. The waves were getting bigger and some of them has steep faces for big air. It was getting perfect for a few more loop attempts!

John was having his best session of the week on the twinser, working the waves like a champ and even pulling off some duck-jibes. Chris was 100% on his duck jibes all week and ripping the waves. I saw him slash the top of a wave and drop down the face of a nice 5 footer right in front of me while I was heading out...I wish I had a picture of that!

I returned the favor a bit later with Chris following me out. A perfect ramp set-up and I launched it into a backie at top speed. He got to see it all close up from 30 feet behind me. I got some still frames I pulled from the video so you can check out the action.

We continued on until the very end...6pm. We wre all completely exhausted, but we got it all on our final day of sailing. Nobody injured, no gear broken (except for Chris breaking the carbon tail on a pair of booms earlier in the week). A great session!

6pm stated happy hour so a small celebration was on order. We toasted to the best day of the week!

At 7:30 we meet Will one of the instructors at the Vela Center as well as Boris and JoAnn (from Austria) and Steve and Nichole (Steve a RAF fighter test pilot). The nine of us went down the street for a round of put-put golf before going to dinner. It was a spirited game of 18 holes and a value for the price of 50 pesos, about a buck-fifty per person. The winner was decided by a bet that Will could not rest the ball above a sloped hole on the 17th. By accident he accomplished it (on his fith stroke) and was given a "1" for the hole...which saved the game for him.

For dinner we walked back into town for Chinese...What? Yes, even a Chinese restaurant in Cabarete. Keep in mind all of these places are open air...which also means open to bugs, roaches ect. Who knows what goes on in the kitchen, but the food was good and substantial. One of the best meals of the week, with the exception of our first night at lax for pizza and spagetti!

After dinner we were full and exhausted. It was our last night and we had to get packed so we headed home. We wanted to get some sleep before our long trip back on Saturday. What a day it was!

CABARATE TRIP 2009 DAY 6

Thursday May 28, 2009

Yep, they had fun. Now they are paying for it. Chris and John were slow moving this morning. They were out late and tired this am.
Tim had already had breakfast and was on his way to Vela. I convinced JAB to go down the beach with me for breakfast at Cafe Pitu. Chris came along shortly after. This place is great. Right on the beach, 50 feet to the water, wiFi, and the best Omlettes we had had all week. The beach was quite and you can enjoy the beauty and the silence. The only distraction was the frequent beach vendors walking by offering the latest movies DVD's or local necklaces for sale. They are all over the beaches trying to make a buck and earn a living. "No Gracias."

Around 1 pm the wind did finally start and we were on the usual 120/122L board and 6.9 sails to start. The wind continued to improve during the afternoon, eventually getting to 90L boards and 6.2m sails. The waves picked up on the outside as well. We sailed until the wind died off around 6pm.
The sky was clear for the afternoon, which we hoped would help the regular trade pattern of winds continue to improve. We were hoping that tomorrow, our final day of sailing would be the best yet.

CABARATE TRIP 2009 DAY 5

Wednesday May 27, 2009 "Getting Tired"

We got up for breakfast and headed to the little Hotel Clairo breakfast patio just up the ally towads the main road. Breakfast burrito please!
This is a great little palce, quiet and personal. The server is a 20 something from Germany, here for a few months. She is a kiteboarding instructor and that is her main job here. She does the restaurant gig for extra cash. She speaks perfect english, spanish, and of course German.

We walked down the beach to Vela as usual around 10:30 to wait for the wind. Chris went out on a 122 Kode and 6.9 sail. Time seemd to find his perfect set-up with and Excess 6.5 and an Excite 130L board. I was waiting for it to get better. John had gone down to the kite center for his morning to early afternoon kiting. Always a 10M kite.

The wind today was not that great, probably our lightest day so far. I took a rest day, sailing no more than two hours or so. The other guys sailed a bit more.

Wednesday night Chris and John wanted to go to the German restaurant for dinner so they got a group from the center to taxi over there about 7pm. It had started raining so motoconcho was not an option. Tim wanted to find someplace to watch the Wings game #5 so he opted out, and I joined him.
I think Chris and John had a group of nine to dinner. Amaizingly they found the place first shot. I was not there, but I know there were beer yards that were consumed along with Schnitzel and other German gastric delights. Ralph, a kite boarder was along with them, and he was a native German. Though he now lived in New Jersey, I'm sure he set them-up with all the right food.

Tim and I watched the wings game at Jalapenos and had great Mexican for about $7. We also met a guy from Orange County California on a diving trip for the week. It's funny all the people you meet in this little caribbean town. Tim and I stayed until 10pm watching the game. The placed closed at 9pm, but they let us stay to watch the game. Unfortunately, we missed the game winning goal for the wings as it went into overtime, and we had to get out of there so the exterminator could do his job...he had gratiously waited at the owners request for over an hour while we watched the game.

I can only assume the dinner at the German place was fun...those guys were still out at 11pm when I went to sleep.

CABARATE TRIP 2009 DAY 4

Tuesday May 26, 2009 " My Bleeding Hands"

OK, today will be a painful one, but it is part of the job. The superglue failed after 15 minutes on the water, so sailing was both exilerating and tourturous. The salt water shows no mercy to open wounds...they simply will never heal unless you stay out of the water. So much for that. When we woke up, John was surprisingly functional after last evenings bar tour. That is the great thing about the pace here..nothing happens before 11am.
we walked up the ally road to the breakfast patio at another small hotel just 100 yard towards the main road. We have been here already this trip, but the breakfast burrito is awsome. We were almost out of water too so after breakfast we made a quick trip to the Supermercado for more.

We were ready for some more good wind and walked down to Vela a bit early as the palms up at the hotel were already showing promise.
John was off to grab a motorcycle ride down to Dare to Fly to kite, as he does each morning. He gets 3-4 hours in before coming back to Vela to sail with us. We can see the kiters about a mile down the beach from Vela. Chris and Tim started the session on 120L boards and 6.5m sails ripping out and back to Da Reef. The longer they satayed out, the more sailors they enticed out to join them. Slowly the wind stated to build, and they came in to change gear. I went out with them on a JP FSW 101 and a 5.8 Alpha. It was decent and the waves were building along with the wind. Ultimately, we were on 85/94 L boards and 5.7m sails and fully powered as the wind continued to improve through the afternoon all the way to 5:30 when it lightened up and we quit. I got some good photos of Chris and Tim from the beach.

The bonehead move of the day goes to john...when he arrived to sail, we were on 85L boards for a while so he grabbed the same, a Starboard Kode. We watched him beach start and head out. Promlem was he was not really going anywhere but down..to his waste in water. still he struggled on eventually hitting the wind line farther out and getting planning. When he came back in doing the same sinking towards the beach in lighter wind...we realized the problem...when he put the board back in the rack, it was actually a 68 L board....he read the size backwards and thought it was an 86 L hull. Nice!

Well since we had eventful night prior we were all a bit weary of doing it again. We went to Vela for the all-you-can-eat Dominican feast on Tuesday night. We had a great meal, beef, fish, chicken, plantains, rice, even cake for dessert. It was great and we were stuffed. Tim called it a nite, and Chris, JAB, and Brent headed down the beach to non other tha LAX bar...our favorite place. We had one round of drinks and chatted with Gina, the Swiss, tall blond, super nice waitress who we has waited on us the three times we have come there. That was it, not to exciting, we went back to the room and enjoyed the AC, did some email and get a good nites rest.

CABARATE TRIP 2009 DAY 3

Monday 5-25-09 Memorial Day "Sailing In Honor of Those Who Serve"

Well this was the type of day we wanted...at 3pm it cranked and blew us away on our JF FSW 101 boards and Firefly 6m sails. As I was sailing out a guy in front of me just got drilled by a gust over 30 and went over the handlebars - still in the straps - the board went with him! It was a spectacular crash on a full plane at full speed. We all came in to change gear, now to a wave board for me (tried a Tabou 3S and loved it) and smaller gear for everyone. John was on his way back from from Dare to fly around the point where the kiters ride. He had been on a 10m all day and packed up to join the windsurfers at Vela when he got overpower on the kite. Tim had finally gotten comfortable on a Excite Ride and Firefly sail and had his best session yet as the wind started to crank. He called it a day, while JAB arrived, scampering to get set-up and Chris and I split a RedBull to gear up for the small stuff and the huge ramps building on the outside. We all went out on 85L and 5.0/5.4 sails. John was ripping it up, not struggling with a recent knee repair like prior years. Chris was duck-jibing all over and getting solid stalled jumps. I was energised by the RedBull and felt like I had wings. The outside had six foot waves and mad chop but the ramps were huge, and we were sailing on the edge with 5.4's. It was super windy! I had 8-10 big back loop attemps, nearly landing two of them. John got a board bottom view riding the waves in while I was rocketing out to a ramp. I was afraid to look down in the air, I knew it was scarely high but John judged the hight at "at least mast high" in his own words. It was the first time I stuck the landing, but could not hang on the the sail with the impact. Such went the rest of my day trying to top the effort. We were so amped in the conditions nobody wanted to come in and get cameras for some on the water shots (sorry guys, maybe tomorrow). We had two and a half hours of full-on conditions and my hands finally gave way in the salt water. A few big blisters I'll have to deal with for the week. I'll pull out the super-glue from the First-Aid kit.

After an epic session(we had planned on none for the week based on the forcasts before our departure) we celebrated at Happy Hour to recognize our good fortune. Just as soon as Happy Hour started, the clouds come out over the water and a gentle rain began. It cooled down and felt nice. We walked back to the hotel without shirts off, in the rain. Three ultra-white guys walking in the pouring rain, shirtless. These things are normal in the town of Cabarete.

For dinner, we hit Jalapenos for Mexican and finished off with a jello shot. But that was not the end, we wandered on to LAX bar, and ordered frozen daqueries. We had Sara in tow, a single mom from San Fran who is down for the week. She enjoyed the company as she has been here on her own for the second week now. The first daqueries were not so great so they brought another, this time tasting correct, along with shots for the whole table. They were called Dominican Viagra....uh oh.

We left after finishing those and stopped at Voy Voy, the Vela Center that turns into a bar in the evening. It was Karioke night and the place was packed with 50 or so people. We watched for awhile and finally walked back to the El Magnifico.

It was quite a day of sailing, a great dinner, and a little too much spirits for some. Classic!

CABARATE TRIP 2009 DAY 2

SUN. May 24, 2009 "Will there be wind?"

Before our trip down here, we had been checking the Dominican wind forcasts from home. Suffice to say they sucked. We were very bummed, but optimistic to make the best of what had been predicted as a week without wind. Through our first night, the trades seemd to be cranking as the windows whistled while we slept. We were hoping that was going to be a good sign for the day. We left the condo about 8 am to head up the street for breakfast since we had not yet been to the supermercado for groceries. We had a very satisfying meal and settled into the vacation pace with no priorities or issues at hand. From breakfast we hit the grocery store and secured the basics for the week.

We had a few hours to kill before the wind would come up around noon, so we spent time getting organized after our fire drill yesteday. By 11am the palm trees were all waving in the wind and we took off for the Vela center to sail.

Initially not very impressive winds requiring 122L boards and 6.9M sails, but we were powered up and that was good. Despite what we had prepaired ourselves for (no wind), so far we were getting it done. As the day wore on we were getting more wind...by 3pm we wer on 86L boards with 5.7M sails and getting some decent 3-4 foot waves out on the reef. Definitely respectable conditions. So far the group consensus is favoring the new Starboard Kode over the JP FSW. The FireFly seems to be the sail of choice for us.

For a holiday week in the States, things seemed a bit slow for Cabarete tourism...the are only 18 guests booked for the week with Vela. Good news for us, we can pretty much sail whatever gear we want. Tim ended early and headed down to Jose o' Shay's to watch the Red Wings game. After we finished sailing and had a few cocktails, we walked down the beach to join him. We saw the third period and started another bar tab than ran to $46 bucks. We need to get some food in us. We headed back to Magnifico to change and walk over to Ali's for Churoso (steak). It was a great dinner for US$ 9 dollars. On the walk home, we ventured to the Casino just east of Cabarete. It was very small but looked like a palace compared toe the rest of Cabaretes construction. Chris sat down for some $10 blackjack and made some friends from Portland and Russia. Not a winner though, the house got his $80.

That was it for the day....we hope for more tomorrow.

CABARATE TRIP 2009 DAY 1

SAT. May 23, 2009 “You should have seen those Americans coming” (John, Tim, Chris, Brent)

Hola sailors! Well its Saturday, the day of our arrival. Pretty uneventful except for the momentary jolt as our airplane hit one patch of turbulence out of Miami and dropped 100 feet instantly. Everyone awake now?

We flew into Santiago this trip instead of Puerto Plata since the flights were cheaper. This required an hour and a half drive from the city to the coast. It was very slow at times because the Dominican roads are in poor shape, and there are no rules of the road… think Mad Max driving through the country. On our journey had to cross over the highest mountain in the Caribbean. The scenery was beautiful but the section of twisty roads and changes in speed nearly has a few of us looking for our barf bags. Along the way we passed several little impoverish villages, broken down cars, washed out road sections, a donkey tied to a fence, several stray dogs and crazy drivers all over the road in cars and motor scooters. You really put your life in the hands of the driver to judge how crazy the rest of the drivers are. We neary side-swiped several cars ond motor scooters along the drive! About 15 minutes outside of Cabarete we had to stop for what looked like armed militia running some sort of check point. We got the once over from the guy with the M-16 rifle and were allowed to co ntinue on.

We finally arrived at our hotel about 3:30 minus chris’ suitcase which was still in Miami thanks to American Airlines. We did a fire drill down to the beach to try and get some rides before the wind ended for the day. I’d say we had a few, but it was a short session as the wind had already begun to shut-off. At least we got on the water.

Speaking of, not one of us had had any water or food since we left Miami at 1:20pm. It was now nearly 6:30 pm and we were well on our way through happy hour and 2for1 drinks at the Vela bar Voy Voy. We grabbed our gear and headed down the beach to get some dinner.

We were starving! We stopped at LAX bar to check on the specials and were we in luck…Pizza or Spagetti Bolognase for $299 pesos just about $9 bucks US. We all ordered and continued with more drink specials. Somewhere along the way we crossed the line from tourist to annoying Americans with the drinks flowing the voices getting louder and the cameras going off – mostly trained on our tall, elegant Swiss Miss waitress with long blond hair…I think there is even one in there of someone getting a kiss…

Well that was about the extent of the evening. Everyone was feeling the Dominican vibe and we were in much need of sleep. By 9pm we were walking back down the beach to the El Magnifico hotel to get some rest for the next full day of sailing we tomorrow20(we hope).

Thursday, May 21 a Two Sport Day

Quick post for a two sport day: got some sailing in at Metro as it teased SW 10-15G20 but nothing great so after an hour or two of the 6.9 Expression and the 107 FSW I packed it in and headed to Novi Tree Farm for 10.5 miles in 1.03. Alleve for dinner.

Thursday, May 14, A Metro Blast Short and Sweet

Still blowing when I left Metro, on a 5M Search and the 85 for most of three hours of 20-35+ WSW winds. Really good (4M) from 10-12pm before I got there but a bit holey later on with it picking back up after 3pm. Could'nt find the right fin (always pair fin size with sail size!) or dial in my straps but still well worth the trip and the sesh.

There for it: Brent, Millard, Jason, Dean, Jeff

Tues. May 12 A Quick Loop at Tree Farm

Not alot of time but a nice 8.63 miles in 1.01 at Novi on a nice sunny day. First loop of the year there and it was fairly dry and fast. I'm getting back here next week for the full ride.

Tunes: The Send -Cosmos

Sat. May 9th, All Over the Place

Crazy day of winds - starting at Metro 4.5M and ending as quickly as it began. Super windy and bumpy ride out and then winds switched to the north breaking up what would have been a great morning. Hell Craig was on a 4M just before I went out. Thats all she wrote for Metro. Next its off to the Blue Lagoon for some more up and down and hole-filled frustrations as the west winds there early on just aren't fun with a 4.5 and the 107 FSW. Next up is a drag in for Rick who snaps his mast about a 1/4 mile out - good save and the long walk back up wind to the beach. By 4pm the sun is out and its NW and I finally got the right setup with the 5.7 and the 101. Powered up and could of body grag attempts latter things are working and thats when the day ends. DR in 2 weeks....hoping to get in 1 or 2 more before then.

Monday April 27th, Back to Metro - Brent and I rip Da Reef

Sun and wind south 20-30 = good times

5M search was better late in the day...

Awesome day for a south winds at Metro. I first rigged a 3.7 as it was 25++ out of the SSW, but realized a 4.5M Search would work just fine as 20-30 stayed solid. Brent and I then headed out for Da Point Reef a shallows about 500 yards SSE of the Metro Beach Point. There it was a sunny playground of long waves and curling swells. Very much a Cabarete vibe to the whole section - tons of craving opportunities and ramps. Truly a place we need to bring a camera out too for some photo and video. The winds stayed steady for about 2 hours out there then the classic holes and mushy winds started requiring a 5M Search. Stayed on the JP FSW 85 all day which afforded a great chance to get used to the small kit. Tons of kiters ripping it up as well. Have to call the first few hours today the "best" I've ever had Metro condition wise. Makes missing Marysville seem alright if you head to Da Reef.

Saturday at Metro, April 25th Back for More

Sunny and cool Saturday morning at Metro - 20+ SSW winds took a while to fill in but by 10am its on for what was a great day. Overpowered and loving it on the 6.2 Search and JP 107 FSW again today even thought a smaller kit could have been the call. I was the only one out for the first few hours and had the place to myself. Luckily that no weeds are present yet and my fin and hull combo perfect for slicing up a nice south swell. 2 days now back to back - feeling the 2009 seasons starting off right...

Friday, April 24th my Birthday Sail

Got to sail the 6.2M Search and the JP FSW 107 and really enjoyed a 3 hour session ripping some SSW winds and some nice swell. I really like the 107 now when it up and planning - it's heavy but its an identical riding copy of the the smaller 85 just a little longer, wider and the thicker.

Sunny and 15-20 powered up - very nice way to spend a day getting older...

Sat., April 18, Pontiac opens the MTB season

It was a sunny 75+ degree day with JB ripping it up (on a new Cannondale ride no less) on a very dry Pontiac Lake MTB trail. Honestly, I was horribly out of shape - I think 10+ people passed me - single speeders, ladies, 2-9ers, you name it. I was however able to finish 10.6 miles in 1:10. Good start to the season that felt like it was mid-summer already. Easily the most riders and most crowded I have ever seen on a mountain bike trail. Now we simply need to dry everywhere else out around here so we can all spread out...

Tunes: Anthems for the Underdogs - 12 Stones

Saturday, April 4, Sun and Fun at the Blue Lagoon

Great morning of 20 NW cold air and sun (to make you think its warm)

Those out early got the best of the day...

Upon arrival finding nice 5M conditions

I don't care what the thermometer says when its a Saturday morning and 20-30NW is in 9am the forecast you go and sail. Atleast you go and check it out, so thats what I did after an hour of wondering what the lake would be like with LCSM4 reading 25G31. My reward - the first hour solid 5M and I was the only one out. JB, Silver Fox, Tommy and Monz there to join in a bit later. I stayed on a 5.7 Expression and the 85 JP, which was more than enough up until the wind died at 2pm. Totally worth getting into the drysuit for 3 hours of sailing with the sun and the solid NW winds keeping me warm inside the whole time. My motto if the water's not frozen: "you're only cold when your schlogging".

Tunes: Jon Foreman - Spring and Summer

Now in HD from last Sunday Sailskating Metro

Sailskating Metro 3-29-08 from Chris Lyons on Vimeo.

Wed. April 1 - We're Fools for the Winds

Tom Mid-Duck

Brent playing in the shore swell

Plenty of Fun in the South Waves

Sun and 30+ SSW winds in the later afternoon...

Lots more smaller sails got rigged later in the session

Great day at Metro once the winds picked up at 2pm and the west component filled in. Most on 5M got in the the 4's later in the evening. Classic cold temps with and sun got things going and just kept building through the day 15-25 then 20-35+. 5M fully downhauled worked well with the JP FSW 85 but from all reports the next size down worked in the late evening. Wave and swell action was really good too. Great call by NOAA this time on a forecast that looked to be too good to be true. Good start to April and great follow-up to Sunday's sailing.

Sunday, March 29 - the 2009 Opener

LSCM4 today

The 09' season started today and while it was cold it was also up and down (30+ gusts early and 15 holes) - rigged 3 sails....4.5M Search, 5M search and 6.2 Alpha. Started out windy enough and good for the JP FSW 85 out of the SSW but quickly it came down and I had to rig up and try out the new JP FSW 107 with the Alpha - that worked well enough and was the best session of the afternoon. Jeff had the worst of the day blowing out two (yes 2) sails in the first hour. Brent was the smartest of the 3 of us rigging just the 5.9 Duke with the Fanatic 104. Temps never an issue (40-50) once in the water and we even had sun for the first hour or two...rain ended the day though by 4pm. Good enough starting sesh for knocking the rust off.

Eats: Tim Hortons

Tunes: The Afters - Never Going Back to OK

Sat. Feb. 7th - Burrrr The 09' Season Begins!

2009 Season begins! SW 20 on Saturday Feb. 7th for the first sail of 2009. A 4.2 ART (cicra 1980) and the the 88CM Mongoose Mtn. Board. Now if the the lot snow would just melt some more we'd have alot more room to sail! Anyway - good to hold a rig again!




Its going to be awhile before any water based sailing begins as you can see below the lake is still frozen solid.