Braaazeeel…ta da dum da dum dum da daa daaaa

I’m still humming and sometimes singing that song this morning (much to Sam’s dismay–he really hates my singing). Diane and I went to see Pink Martini last night. What a great band. I probably should have posted something sooner in case folks on Maui weren’t aware they were doing a show. Pink Martini is a Portland-based band with a tremendous international following. Diane was in Provence a few years ago and was introduced to a friend’s french husband who didn’t speak any English. When he heard she was from Portland he got very excited, rattled off a long paragraph of which the only words she really understood were “PEENK MARTINI”.

If you’re on the Big Island then you’re still in luck, they’re playing in Waimea tonight and tomorrow, and on to Oahu the next day. After that you’d have to catch them in Tokyo.

I’ve been a fan of them for a very long time. Thomas, the pianist and band leader is a huge talent. China Forbes, the singer, is superb, and the band is pro to the very core. Fabulous music and very, very fun. They had a dance floor set up in front of the stage and it was packed all evening. Ari Shapiro from NPR did a couple of numbers with them–he’s got a fine voice.

Pure fun. The only person I recognized in the audience was Giampaolo–I ran into him walking out after the show. he obviously enjoyed the show as much as I did. He was smiling and humming when I walked up to him.

The only thing that could have improved the show would have been to have the Lions of Batucada there as well. I saw them together one time and it was simply amazing. the video is kind of lame–it’s one of those things that you have to see live. Do notice though that the samba dancer women are all very tall-taller than the guys playing drums behind them, and the lady on the far side of the stage with the blue headdress is far taller–her legs come to the waists of the other ladies even though she’s further from the camera. I met her dancing with the group at the opening of the Ron Tonkin motorcycle shop in Portland–she towered over me and I’m 6′2″. The most imposing semi-naked woman I’ve ever seen.

Viento Park to Hood River Downwinder

We were in Hood River today (Diane and I) to finalize purchasing our house there. To celebrate I took a nice downwinder from Viento park to Hood River and used my iPhone to record the trip as a GPS track. There’s the slideshow. clik on the play button to see the animation. Not hugely exciting, but it has possibilities.

Hood river downwind

Widget powered by EveryTrail: Share GPS Tracks

Lots of cool features in the GPS widget. You can mouse over ther speed track and see instand stats for that location and a dropped pin indicating the position on the map. Move the mouse and the pin moves and the stats update. Click the play button the the widget automates the track, showing speed for a given position (elevation too, but that’s just clutter). Near the top of the widget you can select full map view or the default stats view. Double click on the map to zoom. Shift-click to make it smaller.

Paia Inn One Year Party and SUP Race

Paia Inn is where I would stay if I was going to Maui and didn’t have a house within fifteen miles of Paia. Great place, very lively, private beach access to a nice break. Perfect place for a SUP vacation. We reviewed it about a year ago when they first opened, and just love the place. Right next to Lightning Bolt Surf shop and right across the street from Anthony’s, the world’s finest coffee joint. They used to throw really great parties on Friday night, but it got a little too big, so that had to chill. But parties are clearly in their DNA, and they’re having what looks like a great one for their first year anniversary–including a SUP fun race sponsored by Naish.

My prescription for economic doldrums. Go to Maui, stay at the Paia Inn, surf and downwind your guts out every day, and time it so you can do this. May not change your economic situation, but at least you’ll be happy. Here’s the details:

Maui Alarm Clock

The heavy lump resting against my leg leaped from the bed and ran straight into the screen door, barking viciously. “What the hell is that stupid dog barking at” thinks I. I had foolishly trusted Sam to stay in his own bed, but some time in the night he snuck into ours. I looked around to ensure there were no axe murderers lurking. Nada. It doesn’t take much to fire up Sam, he’s been known to go into a startled barking frenzy over his own flatulence. Barking at 1:37 was not the way to remain in his favorite place. “off to bed you lunatic”–I directed him to his bed, erected the baby gate that ensures uninterrupted sleep, and wobbled back to bed.

I laid back, closed my eyes, and heard it “Slap, slap…slap followed by a long deep breath. YIKES. My scalp tingled. Perhaps there IS an axe murderer. I felt Diane go stiff besides me. “what the hell is that” she said. Diane’s general set of spousal expectations include my taking care of dead things, bugs, and things that go slap, slap…slap whooosh in the night. So I got up and went to the screen door that still had Sam’s nose mark on it. I listened intently, and finally recognized the sound–whale. Out in Uao Bay a whale was slapping it’s tail and blowing through it’s blowhole.

Marvelous.

I told Diane that our axe murderer was safely at sea, apologized to Sam (but didn’t let him back on the bed) and laid back, enjoying the sounds until I drifted off.

I had a conference call in the morning, so no reason to get up at 5:30 to go surf–as if there was any surf. I planned to sleep in, but at 6:30 the whale must have decided I’d slept enough. Wham, wham…wham, whooosh. Our axe murderer was still there and from the sound, either closer in or banging harder. I got up to see and there he was, directly below the house, very close in, banging away. When he or she paused in the banging I could see the whole body under the water. I decided I could probably sleep through this, headed back to bed.

And then the neighborhood rooster kicked in, with a francolin yammering back at him. I swear there’s some Coq au Vin in my future, perhaps accompanied by some delicious game birds. the whale i can’t do much about

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Maliko Do-Over

What a difference a day makes. Today’s Maliko run was much like yesterday’s, the wind was a little lighter, and the swells were head high instead of overhead. And I was on a different board, Bill Foote’s purpose-built Maliko board.

I’ve gotta tell you, pretty it ain’t. Bill calls this particular board “Gumby” because the color and the vague shape is kind of Gumby-like. It doesn’t look like a race board at all, I bet it’s pretty slow in flat water. Bill even said “don’t try to run any other race with this thing, it’s just for Malko”. But on the Malko Gulch run, it’s a magic carpet. I don’t really understand how a surfboard shaper/designer like Bill Foote can look at a unique performance challenge like Maliko and say “the board has to look like this” especially when it doesn’t look like anyone else’s idea of what it takes to have fun in that maelstrom. but it works like gangbusters.

Here’s Gumby:

the wind was not as brutal as yesterday, but close. When we left the gulch around 12:30 it was gusting above 30 with 20kts average. The larger swells were head high, and seemed smoother than yesterdays. There was quite a bit of cross chop, but the Foote board didn’t seem affected by it, or maybe I’m just starting to get my Maliko Legs.

Randy, Randy, Chan, Tracy, Jack and Jeremy took off pretty quickly while I was still trying to get the board settled down. It was like surfing in a washing machine, but I immediately started getting some runs on the swells, and once the board was moving it felt very stable. I paddled for about half an hour without falling, saw Chan and Tracy way on the inside near Ho’okipa more or less parallel to me. I thought “I’m moving along pretty well” and immediately fell. That fall was followed by roughly eighteen more in rapid succession, and shortly Chan, Tracy and the rest of the crew disappeared over the horizon.

Alone, on an angry sea. I can’t see a tremendous number of people wanting to do this. The conditions are a little intimidating, and when you look towards the shore you see nothing but huge waves pounding on reefs. Not a lot of good places to bail out. But when you get your board settled out, calm your body some and relax, then catch a swell that gives you a fifty yard ride it’s pretty exciting.

After my spate of falls I calmed down and got a rythym again. Caught a lot of nice runs, settle down and continued paddling. Then I noticed that I had drifted inwards quite a ways catching runners and was headed straight for the big breaking wave west of Paia. I think it’s called Spartans, but I’m not sure. What I do know is that it looked really big and was breaking with an explosive thump and then rolling and rolling and rolling. I turned the board out to sea and started paddling hard as the wind and current pushed me towards the reef. At one point I though I might be better off heading towards the beach and passing on the inside of the reef, but then a doubled up wave crested about a hundred yards in front of me and turned the entire area I was considering into boiling nuclear waste. I stroked for the horizon, passed the reef at least fifty yards out, still pumping like a madman, turned back downwind and fell in celebration.

A good part of the run then passed without drama, all the way down to about Kanaha/Camp One, where I once again found myself too far in. The outer breaks at upper Kanaha can be very big, and very unpredictable. I’ve driven all over them on a windsurfer, but it’s very different when you can’t run away from a wave that suddenly pops double overhead. I took the chicken route and again detoured towards the horizon. I passed Kanaha without falling once, got down to the end of kite beach without incident, then caught a very big runner that seemed to go on forever. after that ride I caught it’s brother, and then it’s little cousin. And once again found myself pretty far in. I looked at the Harbor breakwall and realized that I was going to have to slog out hard to make the corner. I didn’t want to try paddling along the breakwall with wind piling directly onto it and swells smashing directly onto it. So I picked a point north of Waiehu and paddled hard for it. When I reached the harbor mouth I was 50 yards past it, I’m glad I wised up when I did. 50 yards in the other direction might have resulted in a long afternoon slog upwind to try to clear the breakwall.

I turned into the smooth water in the lee of the breakwall with a feeling of deep relief, but also a new confidence. I can do this. I might be slow, but I’ll get faster. I might fall a lot, but I’ll get better.

I can do this.

Do Your Own Run
Now that I’ve done Maliko twice, I’m an expert and can tell you all about it. Actually, like everything in Ke Nalu, the useful informatiion comes from talking to experts. Here’s a few things to consider:

1. Go with people who have done this a lot. But realize you won’t be seeing them often. It’s pretty much impossible to hold someone’s hand for a run. Your guide would have to sit and wait for you every ten minutes. No fun for them.

2. Stay outside. My nightmare is getting caught inside on one of the many outer reef breaks. They can pop up suddenly and when they do the waves are not friendly. Have someone show you the route. Watch ahead very closely for breaking waves. If you see something that looks nasty in front of you, head for the horizon.

3. Saftey gear. A stout leash in good condition, an inflatable PFD, a cell phone in a waterproof case. All good ideas. Some people do Maliko in a pair of boardshorts with no leash. I think they are whacked. If your board gets away in 30 knot wind the chances of seeing it again are very slim. Half a mile is a long way to swim in heavy swells. Even if you can do it, you probably don’t want to.

4. If you plan to go in the harbor, have someone guide you for that last mile. It’s tricky.

This is not a run for newbies, or the timid. Doesn’t mean you need to be a big strong guy. Chan and Tracy together might equal my body mass, and they are VERY good at Maliko. They got to the harbor at least thirty minutes before I did, probably more.

I’ll be doing this a lot more. It’s a unique thing and it’s extremely rewarding. If you are considering a board expressly to do Maliko or a high wind, high swell run like it you should talk to Bill Foote. His board really is magic. I’m buying Gumby from him.

Tough day in Maliko

The Maliko Downwind run is justifiably world famous–a challenging blast down an unforgiving coast in big wind and big swells. I’ve done my own lame version many times–I get to Kanaha beach park early in the morning, find no surf and decide to do an upwind/downwind. Paddle up the coast as far and fast as I can until the wind comes up and I can’t make headway, then turn out and ride the wind and swells back. the reason this is lame is that the wind, almost by definition, is just starting to get going when I turn and run downwind, and the wind swell hasn’t had time and fetch to build up.

When the folks that do serious downwinders go out they wait for the wind to peak and the swells to form. Today that meant 30+ knot gusts and 15+ foot swells. The kind of conditions that the Victory At Sea folks would have rejected as a little too dramatic. So this was actually my first official Maliko Downwinder, the first time I went all the way to the harbor, and the first time out in those conditions on the Penetrator 572.

Does this sound like a story with a happy ending?

I was with Randy Strone (?spelling?) who runs the Standup Zone, his wife Chantelle, Tracy Dudley who is also known as NoWorriesHawaii on the Zone, and the other Randy (whose last name I know but some pernicious mental block robs me of. He’s BoltUpright on the Zone). We paddled out of Maliko and turned left, and my troubles began. I simply couldn’t stand up on the Penetrator. I’d get to my feet in the howling wind and chop, give a couple of paddle strokes, be grabbed from behind by a head high swell, and the board would turn right and ditch me. I tried running back to the tail, dragging my paddle on one side or the other, staying in the middle and using the rudder. No help. I concluded it was simply my limited talent and settled down to paddle to the harbor 9.5 miles away on my knees. No big deal, the wind was shoving me along smartly and the board was catching swell after swell and running nicely.

After a while in the spindrift and monster swells I spotted the two Randy’s waiting for me. I paddled up and told them I was fine but couldn’t stand. We agreed to press on and I settled in to paddle. After a substantially longer interval I came upon them again waiting for me, and Randy suggested I try his F16 and he’d paddle the Penetrator. He headed off, wobbling a bit but being successful in the swells. I continued to struggle, but found I could stand for brief periods on the F16 and catch a few swells, but my progress was limited and I resorted once again to knee paddling.

A few miles later I found the Randys waiting for me again, we switched back but I found the Penetrator harder to handle than before. I finally reached the harbor and paddled in to the shore, finding the board hard to stand on even in the relatively flat water. Turns out the rudder was cocked a bit, and I had to paddle hard against it to make any headway. When I finally reached the beach i was surprised to find a big wrinkle in the bottom of the board, and a crack that water ran out of when I lifted the board from the water.

Turns out that when Randy2 (BoltUpright) was riding it he got inside a bit and was caught by a double-overhead breaking wave. My biggest nightmare on this run. He dove into the base of the wave, but the wave caught the board and pulled VERY hard on his leg, enough to completely straighten the coiled leash. We theorize that the board flipped and the wave broke on it, flexing the board against its carbon fiber frame. In fact the frame is probably what saved the board from being broken in half.

Randy is a very standup guy (pun intended) and both apologized profusely and offered to pay for repairs numerous times, but I won’t hear of that. He was quite happy using his own board and only tried the Penetrator because I wanted to see if the problem was the board or me. My responsibility. I also believe firmly that when we set foot into the open ocean, just as when I roll my racecar onto a track, that we assume all the risks to ourselves and our equipment. It’s simply too unforgiving and capricious an environment to hold anyone else responsible.

Anyway, it’s at Mark Raaphorst’s place getting fixed. The carbon fiber construction maintained the integrity of the board. But I think it’s clear that while this board is amazingly fast on the south side, even in strong wind and moderate swells, that it’s beyond my talents to control it in large swell on the North Side.

The F16 Randy was riding

This isn’t a black mark against the Penetrator. It’s horses for courses. Most people assumed it wouldn’t do well on a Maliko run, but I had to see for myself. There probably aren’t many places on the planet that toss up a run with such specific requirements. I think the efficient displacement hull was working against it. the board would catch a swell extremely quickly, but when it reached hull speed and started to transition to a plane, it became less stable. If I were better at paddling the Penetrator, and more experienced with a full-blown Maliko run, things would have been different. As it is, it’s just one more chapter in experiencing this great sport.

Why I Love Madmen

This pretty much sums it up

A little Hydrodynamics

I gotta know.

That’s my burden, probably comes from the ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) that so clearly determined my career path (Motorcycle mechanic, nuclear reactor operator, PR flack, software entrepreneur, technology marketer, direct and interactive agency founder, surf bum). When I start looking at something critically, I have to have some kind of authoritative or at least comprehensible answer for the question “why is it like that?”. And I really can’t let the issue rest until I know.  Questions pop back into my head at any time, distracting me from whatever I’m doing. It might take years, I might still be looking for some particular answers when I kick the bucket. But I gotta know.

When I started looking at SUP race/distance boards they looked “wrong” to me. The majority had long, tapering pintails. How could that work? Most of the folks I talked to said the idea was to disturb the water as little as possible, to join the flow back at the tail of the hull. That sounded a bit too zen for me. It looked to me that the flow would start separating from the rails as soon as they started to converge. That you’d have turbulence on both sides, causing not only parasitic drag, but also uneven buffeting force against the rails and the stabilizing fin, which would add more drag.

The Ku Nalu board is known to be a relatively fast standard board with a short nose and squash tail that permit straight rails

Most race boards, even 12′ ones like this Naish Glide, tend to have long pintails

Joe Bark’s racing boards, like this 16 footer, are even more extreme

While the S.I.C. F16’s and F18 tend to have blunter tails

I talked with designers like Mark Raaphorst whose F16’s figure large in the top ten finishers at almost any race, almost any place. Most of Mark’s open class race boards have a somewhat flattened tail. I asked him why his boards didn’t have pintails.  I didn’t take notes, so these aren’t really quotes–just the sense of what I recall  Mark saying:

Some of them do. Depends on what people are using the board for and where they paddle. If people are going to paddle in flatwater then a pintail is great, but in swells, especially following ones or in high wind, the squarer tail separates flow cleaner and the straighter rails let you catch the swells and plane quicker.

I suggested that the pintail might balance buoyancy better and he said: Nah, look how little difference we’re talking about. He grabbed a pintail template off the wall and dropped it onto a F16 tail. I could immediately see that it wasn’t much. This is all about flow and making a board catch a swell, or not.

Mark’s explanation made sense–sort of, but I still didn’t really know why a pinail would work in flat water.  One of the guys on the Stand Up Zone came to my rescue with an email address for a guy named Al Bowers who he said was an aerodynamicist for Nasa and a Surfski paddler. I sent him this email:

A fellow Stand Up Zone member gave me your email address and said you might be able to blow some smoke away from the issue of watercraft tail design.  I’ve seen that most Surf Canoes, OC’s and racing SUP boards have a pintail, and this doesn’t seem particularly logical to me. Most of the designers I talked to say something like “All the successful designs have Pintails” or “The idea is to disturb the water as little as possible” but neither of these are satisfactory answers.

Viewing the issue strictly from a viscous drag and friction side, it seems the pintail would have more drag for a similar waterline length since the flow would (I think) be separating along the length of the converging sides and the unequal turbulence would create side thrusts as it does in race cars. Seems to me that straight rails and a relatively abrupt square or squash tail would offer less drag.

I would appreciate your views on the subject. I’ve done quite a bit of searching on the web, but haven’t found many technical papers that offered enlightenment. I’m not planning to design any craft, I’m just looking to satisfy my curiosity and perhaps stimulate some new thinking on these issues. People tend to design things because they have “always been done that way”. Absent budgets for tank testing and sophisticated analysis I don’t think attempts to make a better hull will be very creative without some discussion to spark experimentation.

Thanks for your time in considering this request.

In  remarkably short time I got this reply:

Thanks for the note. I dunno if you’ve received any info on my background. I spent 20 years as an aerodynamicist in the Fluid Mechanics branch here at NASA dryden (located at Edwards Air force Base). I love aircraft, especially low speed and motorless flight (both a hang glider pilot and a sailplane pilot). I did my graduate work on laminar flow and sailplane airfoil computer code validation against wind tunnel and flight research data. I’m also an avid sailor (since I was a kid), paddler, and rower. Used to swim a bit and freedive. The one thing I never did do was surf (long story here, but I didn’t have much time for it, you see I also backpack, hike, do photography at a very serious level, and a bit of climbing). I’m also a bit of a musician (guitar mostly), did some studio work a zillion years ago. After I did my 20 years as a working aerodynamicist, I was promoted to the position of Chief of Aerodynamics, and then did a stint as the Deputy Director of Research at NASA Dryden, and I did an invited residency as a Special Assistant to the Associate Administrator of Aeronautics at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC. I am currently the Director of Aeronautics Projects at NASA Dryden. One other bit, I have sat on the board of Cal Poly University (San Luis Obispo) for 16 years for Mechanical Engineering, and two years ago I paid for four students to do their research project building a custom ICF Sprint K1 based on an optimal genetic algorithm (we were trying to rebalance the wave drag to skin friction drag, the theory said we should see a 3-4% decrease in drag at sprint speeds, we didn’t succeed, but the kayak worked as predicted, it failed due to other problems; I still have the boat and the molds). BTW, my wife and I paid for that project out of our own pockets.

ENOUGH! It turns out your friends are right. A pintail IS the optimum for most of the paddling we do. The flow REALLY does stay attached and flow back along the sides, FOR MOST OF THE PADDLING WE DO. Note the caveat at the end. Below hull speed (that taking the LWL in feet, take the square root of that, then multiply by 1.34, and that is the approximate “hull speed” in displacement mode) we are operating in pure displacement mode. Above this speed, we start to experience some hydrodynamic lift. By the time we get to double the hull speed, there is enough hydrodynamic lift that we start to leave the displacement mode behind. This regime is the transition range. Above this, we make enough hydrodynamic lift that we can consider ourselves planing. To plane is where all shortboard surfers and windsurfers operate. They need enough speed to LIFT the board and rider out of the water. At this point you don’t want a pintail anymore. You NEED straight rails and the hull should resemble a speedboat or a ski boat more than a kayak hull.

Now, back to those speeds, the “hull speed” of a 17 ft paddleboard or kayak is about 5.5 knots. A 21 ft surfski or solo outrigger is about 6.2 knots. So to breakout and plane we need to be going about 11-12 knots. This is well within the range of surfing.

There’s a long complicated theory with all this, but that’s the way it works out for us. BTW, sprint speeds are right in that 10-11 knot range. And people have played with planing type hulls for the 500m and 1000m races sprinter run. But its VERY marginal to plane. There was a French windsurfer that built a special low-speed planing board some years ago. In the 7-10 knot range his board was unbeatable. Below that, the old style long boards crushed him. And above that speed, the shortboards annihilated him. It always works out this way.

I hope this helps. If you’ve got further questions, drop me a line.

Best regards,

Al Bowers

So OK. Now I know. On to the next question

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Training with a GPS

I ordered a GPS training system to help me optimize my paddle workouts. After reading a thread on best GPS units on the Standup Zone I decided on the Garmin Forerunner 305. So far I’m very pleased. I tried it out today on the course I’ve been using to train for the Battle of the Paddle. Only problem is that I have no way of knowing if this is fast or slow. I suspect fairly slow. I have a month to work on the speed and now I have a good baseline. Here’s today’s workout.

I got the version with the heart rate monitor. I used to do my bicycle training with a heart rate monitor and it was very useful. Looks like I’m staying at about 85% of max for my age. My max heart rate is supposed to be 159 (you find max heart rate by subtracting your age from 220)

You can see that I stopped twice–one time when I realized I forgot to put my iPod earphones in (gotta have that music) and once when I hit a log and thought I might have lost my fin. It was just shoved to the end of the fin box, I pushed it back towards the front and it felt good again.

This Garmin 305 has lots of features, most of which I’ll never use. One that looks like it might be useful is the Virtual Partner. You can set up a course and pace and the watch shows you when you are on, ahead, or behind the pace. The Forerunner is really made for running or cycling, and I’ll probably use it with my bike. I think the GPS will also be handy for doing some long open water paddles. I’ll keep you posted as I play with this thing.

One good thing, it says I burned an extra 726 calories paddling. I guess I can have that beer.

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A Thousand Pardons

I screwed up. I was fixing the Forum feature on KeNalu and accidentally deleted about half the users on Ke Nalu–including a lot of long-time friends. The good news is the Forum is fixed. The bad news is that many of you need to re-register on Ke Nalu.

Please be assured I won’t do that again.

Training Log

I’m training for Brother Bob’s (or Stoneaxe as he’s called in the Forums) Plymouth to Provincetown paddle–24 miles in open ocean. I’ve been doing some long flatwater paddles in the Willamette river and Multnomah channel to get in some semblance of condition. Somehow I’ve gained about ten or so pounds since we’ve been back on the mainland. I haven’t been overeating, I guess my metabolism must be in “lay back” mode now that I’m not spending the whole day in the water.

Most of the guys that are participating have been training since May. I only decided to do this in late June. Got to do an accelerated schedule. My first run will be a tough one to see if I can even get in the ballpark of doing 24 miles.

Here’s my training log so far:

July 1st: I did 17 miles today, the last eight against a nasty headwind. I think it was equivalent to at least 20. I’m sore, but I didn’t have any real problem doing it. Willamette river, from Cathedral Park under the Saint John’s bridge to the dock at Tom McCall Park in downtown Portland, and then paddled back. The first leg I had a mild tailwind but I was paddling against the current. On the return I was going with the current but the wind picked up and I was struggling into a headwind. the last few miles were very tough.

July 3rd: 18 miles, from Fred’s Marina at the top of the multnomah channel to Rocky Point Marina and back. the trip downriver was into growing wind, with the last mile being very hard, paddling into at least a ten knot wind, with gusts to fifteen. Enough wind to make rollers and whitecaps in the middle of the river. On the way back I was paddling against a strong current with favorable wind. The rollers were big enough to surf, and I had a really good time.

I didn’t do much for the last week and a half–my daughter Cassie and her kids have been here. I count playing with Grandkids as training, though it isn’t all that physical. I also race one weekend in Seattle and one in Portland.

July 12th: Eighteen miles in a little over three and a half hours, including a brief stop for lunch (two bars and some water). Favorable current going against a light wind in one direction, strong wind against the current coming back. As far as I can tell I’m paddling about as fast as a fat lady jogs.

July 19th: I tried to do 25 miles today but it turned into about six. The wind picked up too much on the river. Had some fun wake rides behind a skiboat though. Bunch of guys and one seriously festive young lady in a bikini were out wakeboarding. Their boat had tanks and bladders enough to add 1500 pounds of water besides the eight hundred pounds for all the passengers. Threw a really nice wake. For some reason I couldn’t stay in the wake very well though–I only got a few hundred yards each ride. Finally I tried turning into the wake and aiming at the center of the boat and I zoomed right up within a few feet of the tail. Could have gone any distance in that slot–I even had enough momentum to do some gentle maneuvers. I finally tried a noseride and got five toes on the nose before I ditched.

July 20th: Brother Bob posted on the forums that he thought we could do the 24 miles in three hours if we had a fifteen knot tailwind.

My response: THREE HOURS–to go 24 miles, have you lost your mind? You have us confused with Dave Kalama. We’ll be lucky to do it in five. I did three hours this morning, before watching the F1 race (a GREAT race btw, Hamilton was amazing, overcoming a truely boneheaded pit strategy by McLaren that left everyone scratching their heads, and Nelson Piquet JR got on the podium with a very lucky second, though I certainly don’t discount the fact that he managed to hold Massa off, who probably damaged his undertray going all rallycross when Hamilton block-passed him.)

I didn’t figure my mileage for three hours but it wasn’t much since I was fighting a headwind for the first half, but I doubt I did ten miles. I hope we do have a little chop. I’ve learned that my hip starts to hurt if the water is too glassy. When it’s a little choppy I get enough wiggle in that the joint doesn’t seize up. Maybe I’ll have to put some Shakira on the iPod. I guess I never did post my video “Shakira SUPs”–it’s pretty goofy. I’ll have to do that one of these days when my ego is feeling EXTREMELY secure.

I need to pick up the training pace–only three weeks left. I’m going to get out at least five times next week–that’s my goal.

Paddling Plymouth to Provincetown

My brother Bob is organizing a distance paddle event to go from Plymouth Massachusetts across Cape Cod Bay to Provincetown on the tip of the cape–22 miles. In a moment of weakness I said I’d participate. I’m kind of looking forward to it, but I need to train and there isn’t much time left–it’s August 9th. I haven’t done much paddling or surfing lately–I’ve been working feverishly on my race car–Peyote–that was damaged heavily at a race in Watkins Glen, NY last year. I’ve gained about ten pounds since I stopped surfing or windsurfing every day. I’m not quite as worried about the weight (though it sure would be good to shed it) as I am about general condition.

So last Monday I decided to do a long paddle just to see what it’s like. I did seventeen miles on the Willamette river, from Cathedral Park under the Saint John’s bridge to the dock at Tom McCall Park in downtown Portland, and then paddled back. The first leg I had a mild tailwind but I was paddling against the current. On the return I was going with the current but the wind picked up and I was struggling into a headwind. the last few miles were very tough.

Yesterday was a layoff day, I spent it working on my race car getting ready for the Portland Historic Races this weekend. Today I did 18 miles, from Fred’s Marina at the top of the multnomah channel to Rocky Point Marina and back. the trip downriver was into growing wind, with the last mile being very hard, paddling into at least a ten knot wind, with gusts to fifteen. Enough wind to make rollers and whitecaps in the middle of the river. On the way back I was paddling against a strong current with favorable wind. The rollers were big enough to surf, and I had a really good time.

I’m pretty sure I’ll be okay for the Cape Cod paddle. But I plan to train up until I get on the plane. Probably some shorter run–it takes a long time to do 18 miles.

New Look and Feel

I have the new site pretty well built. Now I need to tune the load times–it’s pretty awful right now. But I think everyone will find this a much more accessible site. You can take a sneak preview at http://www.kenalu2.com . Please let me know what you think.

Portland Chase Boat

A casual conversation with Diane about paddling in Northwest rivers quickly turned into a new toy–only not for me. Diane bought a Kayak yesterday, a very slick, light 14 foot Necky Manitou composite Kayak. It took a while for her to get outfitted but as usual the guys at Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe in [...]

Swag Bags

Diane reminds me that I really do know how to publicize stuff. I guess thirty years as a marketer gets forgotten quickly when you’re screwing off. With that in mind we’re putting together swag bags for the board comparison. Of course the testers get them, as will a few random friends and probably the lifeguards [...]

Something New Every Day

Just because I’m getting old doesn’t mean I have to think like a geezer. I spent most of yesterday looking at PHP code and figuring out how to modify the template for Ke Nalu magazine. I also finished up the through-the-skin toolbox I’ve been building for my race car trailer. Looks cool. But even better, [...]

New Online Magazine Coming: Ke Nalu

In working on this board comparison I’ve come up against the architectural limitations of blogs one too many times. I finally decided to bite the bullet and start an online magazine to launch along with the board test. I’ll keep doing this blog–it’s a fine place for personal ruminations and interacting with fellow water folks. [...]

New Starboard Boards

Along with an enthusiastic response, Starboard sent along press releases for their new 2008 boards. They didn’t embargo them, so I guess it’s okay to post them. If this was supposed to be a secret I apologize in advance.
Click on the thumbnails to view full size
12′6 Cruiser

12.0 Mr. Easy

11′2″ Ultimate Blend

9 to 9′8″ Extremists

They’re also [...]

Board Test Participants So Far

It’s still early in this process, but we’ve got an impressive lineup. I don’t know yet which and how many boards each builder will provide, but it’s clear we’ll have great representation. Below is the list of companies that have responded positively so far. If you have a favorite builder that isn’t mentioned, let me [...]

Artwork for “Save the Children” paddle

I’ll be auctioning off this paddle sometime in the next couple of weeks for a charity event at the lumberjocks.com website.
I still need to epoxy and varnish the blade. Should be done this week. I’ll post it here and on a number of other forums when it’s all ready.
The paddle that the artwork has been [...]

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