Kitesurfing Hurricane Irene at Bald Head Friday

Too much fun for photos

Sorry, only took 6 photos today. This was the only decent shot. Way too good to be wasting time shooting. Last evening and this morning were like a dream. You should have seen Jacky. I've never seen her surf so good. The new tail pad bump is helping a lot.

Jacky on her 7'3

The Morning after Hurricane Irene

We lost power at 2:30 am. It came back on at 8:30 this morning. Wave size already down to chest to head high due to off shore winds in the 30-50 range

2 levels of the walkway buried

I think that was the keep off the dune sign

The steep beach is gone. Nice and gradual now.

Beaches Gone, Walkways Next

Walkway to beach. Beach gone, walkway likely gone by morning

Hurricane Irene at 3pm Today

Boo

Depressing from the inside

I haven't done this in years

Hurricane Swell Morning

Z on his 7'8 Naish

Gotcha!

Surf Machine on his 8'0 PSH

Surf Machine

The inside reform spanks him! It got me today too!

How I Increased my Surfing Performance

Ever hear about people who can't chew gum and walk at the same time? Well maybe I'm one of those. I've been putting Dakine tail pads on my SUPs in a failed attempt to get better feel for the tail of the board. It just wasn't working for me. I'd surf a wave and still wouldn't know "exactly" where my rear foot had been when it was over. I think the paddle caused enough of a mental distraction, that I was not aware of where my rear foot was. Other that what I'd feel in the way the board performed on the wave. I wanted more.

So I built my own tail pad with a double height arch bump. A bump so high, it feels slightly uncomfortable testing it on the beach.

But on the water, WOW. The pad felt fantastic and I was "fully" aware of my exact foot position on every wave. I felt empowered and my surfing felt better than ever.  Maybe SUPs need bigger arch bumps.

Jacky loves it too!

7'3 Hokua

7'3 and 7'8 Hokua's with new deck pads

Jacky's board weight 7.72 kg

The Deck Pad Work has Begun

I vacuum bagged my custom tail pad tonight

9'0 Naish Mana FOR SALE

It still looks like this.......like new  $1549 retail asking $999

Caught a couple on Jacky's board this morning

Autry on Justin's 8'6

Brad on his 8'0 narrow

190 lbs on Jacky's 7'3

Brad

Redecking my Naish 7'8 Hokua

Knowing that I was going to remove the Naish deck pad, I decided to experiment with color accents by washing away some of the factory silk screen. Then using a magic marker I filled in other areas. This gives a hint about what the new deck pad will look like using white and black/white marble pads to make my own pad design. Stay tuned for part 2 when the new pad is installed in a few days. The old pad was getting slippery. Time to freshen things up with new grip.

Deck pad getting pulled off

Pulls right off. No mess, no fuss. Naish uses some kind of cement to adhere the pad. None of that messy gooey 3M film.

Fresh razor blade with points sanded round to prevent cutting the glass deck.

As stripped

The weight? Converts to 17.5 lbs. Sounds about right.

Cement remnants sanded off. 

Paper template made for cutting the new pad. The green tape is 3 layers thick to make tracing the paper template easy.

New Mystery Naish

This one looks sweet. Swallow winged quad. I wonder what the dimensions are. It wasn't in the leaked Naish specs we've seen so far. UPDATE. It is a kite surfboard.

Marker 9-10 at 11am this Morning

Jacky on her 7'3

Dwight on the 7'8

What is it?

Is this a 7'3 or 7'8 Soft Top Naish Hokua? Who is this market to?

Is it marketed toward kids?

Surf Videos are Back

Video shot this morning at the North End