Enjoy your Holidays as we embark on the “Gloved Season”

Enjoy your Holidays as we embark on the “Gloved Season”

OK. I apologize for chiming into several threads at once. 

I haven't really had the time to read what’s been going on. 

So if I bore you to death…move on.

Impact vests: I use the DaKine non-Coast Guard approved floatation vest. It does not  provide the unconscious face up protection of a PFD. 

http://images.nitrosell.com/product_images/14/3446/large-DK_15_SurfaceVest.jpg

I can wear it with no interference, along with my “Low-Waist” harness. While it has no kevlar panels, it’s extra layer of neoprene provide, warmth, and rib protection. Because it has less flotation; I can still duck dive with it. [Helpful in waves, or when a boat is about to run you over at Joe’s.] I always keep my safety strobe light attached to the shoulder. But I admittedly, do not wear my helmet all the time. Helmet use is a whole other thread.

MULTI FIN BOARDS: I am a new player in the multi-fin game. In spite of their fantastic performance in the correct conditions , there are several ‘problems’ I have with them.

Let me start off by saying that I believe consistency in your windsurfing quiver is very important.

For close to two decades I rode the same sail design, [Ezzy Waves] in 10 percent size gaps, and the same boards [RRD FSW’s, 90 ltr, 108 ltr, & 120 ltr;  ;All with single, Power-box Fins]. This is why when I replaced my sales this year; I replaced every sail from 4.2 up to 6.7 with 2015 Severne  Blade wave sails.  I don’t sail every day. So I need to understand the sailing and jibing characteristics of one sail and board type. 

I was spoiled with the power box system as well. They are easy to change, no shimming, or figuring out the correct fin position. Plus, if you have to lock your boards; a thin rubber coated cable through the board does the trick.

Back to the boards; last winter I purchased a 100 ltr Quad. An RRD Wave Cult. I bought it as my new wave board. Specifically for Demo. Yes a Quad is slower; but that does not matter in waves. Plus, as Brook mentioned It is almost impossible to overpower. So while not ideal…I can actually sail it with a 4.2.[ No not by choice .]…And that extra volume gets me home if the wind dies.

My original plan was to replace the  RRD 108 ltr FSW with the 100 lt. Quad. But since it took me three sessions to dial in where all the fins should go. I am never taking them out.

I still sail the 108 with a weed fin at Joe’s in the Summer. Other brands may behave differently; but I don’t like my Quad in flat or choppy water. So I now have a 4; instead of 3 board quiver.

Once you do get the Quad set up correctly, it’s like cheating. In actual swell and waves…I have never had so much fun, or sailed a board more forgiving of my shortcomings as a windsurfer.

My problem with Quads….All the different fins needed. [Slot fins…”A” Box fins…shims…]  What a pain in the ass. And a very, un-versatile board.

I do own a 90 lt. FSW Tri-Fin; but I have not sailed it enough to form an opinion. [Intuitively, it seems like a more versatile option.]

Lastly…

If you said you wanted to by gear from me this season:

Please get in touch with me. I am trying to clean out my old gear. 

If you don’t want it anymore; just tell me.

If you do want to buy it; show up with cash. And no you don’t get to test ride it. 

Enjoy your Holidays as we embark on the “Gloved Season”

	YEAR	WINDSURF Boards		FIN - BOX	Volume	Length	Width	Condition	sail size
$150.00	2008	Mistral Syncro	Carbon-Sandwich	Powerbox	90 Ltrs	243 CM	59 CM	B- nose repair	4.5 - 6.2
$300.00	2003	F2 Powerglide	Epoxy, lots of float easy to control. not fast	Powerbox	160 ltrs	269 CM	80 CM	A- small cosmetic paint chip	5.0 - 9.0
	YEAR	SAIL		SIZE	need	LUFF LENGTH	BOOM LENGTH	Condition
$50.00	2010	Ezzy Free Ride	Spectra X-Ply. NO Monofilm	6.5		470	193	B-	No tears or repairs
$50.00	2008	sailworks Revo Wave		5.8				B-	No tears or repairs
$200.00	2013	Ezzy Wave Tiger	Spectra X-Ply. NO Monofilm	6.0		450 - 452	177 - 184	A-
$50.00		North Aluminum	Aluminum				140 - 190	B-	old  aluminum. Grip in great shape
		MASTS					Length
$25.00		Fiberspar mast STD	Quick tip Reflex Carbon	460			460	B	at least 10 years old
$50.00		North STD	Wave mast	400			400	A-	at least 10 years old
This  quiver	will	become	available	if	the	original	buyer	falls	through
	YEAR	SAIL		SIZE	need	LUFF LENGTH	BOOM LENGTH	Condition
$500 for the whole quiver!	2010	Ezzy Wave Panther	Spectra X-Ply. NO Monofilm	5.0	RDM	418 - 419	166 - 171	B	No tears or repairs
quiver!	2011	Ezzy Wave Panther 2	Spectra X-Ply. NO Monofilm	5.5	RDM	436 - 437	171 - 177	B	No tears or repairs
quiver!	2012	Ezzy Wave Tiger	Spectra X-Ply. NO Monofilm	6.3	RDM	456 - 458	184 - 191	B	No tears or repairs
quiver!	2010	Ezzy Wave Panther	Spectra X-Ply. NO Monofilm	6.9	RDM	485	186 - 193	B	No tears or repairs

TS Joaquin

TS Joaquin. It delivered the best surfing and windsurfing in years. And it did so for weeks. More great days than I could possibly enjoy.

Ghosts of October from Thomas Brookins on Vimeo.

I hope it broke the spell Sandy cast upon this region. 

I used to wish for hurricanes… until one actually hit us. 

[Now I hope for Tropical Depressions that stay south of us, offshore; in order the generate ‘long period swell’ {with a wave period of 12 seconds or so}. Then I hope the TS degrades in wind strength; stalls just north east of us and blows North Easterly for a week or so to clean up the swell, and create ‘Side Off, Down The Line conditions.] 

It’s been 3 years since Sandy, and we still have not fully recovered. This May, I helped build a roof on someone’s home who lost it to Sandy. Some of my friends are still hoping to raise their homes, like they do on Hatteras.

Sandy hit us: but not head on…Jersey, Staten Island, The Rockaway’s, Long Beach, and the less fortunate areas on LI’s South Shore were hit.

In contrast, Joaquin created an epic playground. More than enough windy days. More than enough epic surf. For weeks; not days. “Missed yesterday?” “So what,” “today is just as good;” “tomorrow; might even be better.”

It washed away the guilt. There used to be joy in watching the tracks of tropical storms. Excitement in the anticipation. “How big will the swell get?” 

“How windy?” “What direction?” “Will ‘the Mysto” appear?”

I actually have boards and sails that sit in my garage waiting. Too small to be part of my everyday quiver. But perfect for those Goldilocks conditions when the storm got just close enough; but not too close. I still have dreams about some of my best sessions… Bill in 09, Ernesto in 06, the Halloween Nor’easter in 91, Gloria in 85…I only understood the rides; the excitement; not the devastation, and loss. 

This clip By Peconic Windsurfer, was from October 09: a Goldilocks session.

Sandy changed that forever. I felt like an asshole for not understanding what landfall really meant.Joaquin returned some of that childlike innocence. It let us forget the bad parts. The friends who died, or lost everything.  

Joaquin: brought back the fun. This shot was taken by a Kiter, who we shared waves with all day.

But it also brought back Localism. 

Don’t get me wrong… a little localism can be a good thing. I live in a heavy populated part of the world, and “surfing” has exploded in NY. So localism can mean, order, and safety.

We as a region have been enjoying a more relaxed, friendlier version since Sandy. Not the kind that reared it’s ugly head during the first week of Joaquin.

After all, it’s a little difficult to be an asshole to a people who after Sandy, helped deliver you, and your family; food, clothes, and helped you re-build your home. People who worked with the Parks to re-build dunes, and access to our precious beaches, waves, and water.

But that wasn't everyone. Maybe they just have short memories. Maybe they just will always be assholes? I know there are times I wish it was like the 70’s or 80’s. We were the only guys out; we had it all to ourselves. We were young, dumb, an indestructible.

I wasn’t 100% this season. It’s a hard reality. I missed one perfect DTL day because I was busy finding fuel for the generator, ice, and batteries. Plus, I had only been surfing and windsurfing a few times since I cut up my arm this Summer; I understood that if something broke down, my body was not up for a life saving swim in the ocean.

I’m a weekend warrior now. I don’t get to go everyday. But if you do…that’s great. I’m even happy for you. But it doesn’t mean that it’s your spot. It’s not “your” beach. It’s not “your” ocean. Especially if its in a Public State Park.

Localism.

I witnessed people bullying those they thought ruined, or were less entitled to “their" break, or spot; “their” beach. Windsurfers don’t seem to have this “localism’ problem. Over the years I have windsurfed with professional windsurfers all over the world. We always share; and are genuinely stoked to meet new windsurfers making the jump to wave sailing.

The ‘Localism’ I saw, was a taught behavior, not based on natural selection. It wasn’t about safety.  It was a pecking order, an elitism, a learned ‘entitlement’. An effort to make something private.

Not earned; not deserved; but learned.

We all recognize that when some rich asshole builds a house on a sandbar, with a traditional public right of way to the beach…and then tries to claim that beach, or break is now somehow his private property…that he is wrong. 

We use the Public Trust Doctrine, or the Donegan Patent to ensure that beach stays public. At the very least, up the the mean high tide mark. And that there is still a public “right of Way” to access that beach

Some surfers…believe they are more public than others. They believe, and are taught that they have more right to a certain spot than anyone else.

The worst case I witnessed, was a group of guys who claimed a certain spot in a to be “theirs”. It played out on social media; threats made to people old enough to be their fathers. People who had surfed “their spot” long before the bullies were even born. I’ve seen this before; people who fight for certain rights, only to fight against that same right, if it’s for someone else.

Just as selfish as the guy with millions of dollars who buys up some beach front property; and then tries to claim the ocean as his own.

Screw everyone else. It’s mine now…we seemed to have no trouble sharing waves in the 40's....

Malibu - 1940s from ENCYCLOPEDIA of SURFING videos on Vimeo.

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