I’ve been doing a fair amount of paddling and some surfing. The oregon coast is not as friendly as Maui–even with a drysuit. But I’m having fun. Went to Manzanita for about a week to do some work on my old beach house there, and get in a little surfing. I’m planning to sell the house. It’s a very cool little thing, designed for low upkeep, low costs, and nearly zero maintenance, but I’m not using it, and that’s just a shame. Next time I go I’ll shoot some pictures–you never know, someone reading this might be interested.

My friend Paul Montgomery came down for a couple of days of SUP surfing. He’s an old Seaside surfer, but I turned him to the dark side last year in Maui. We hit Pacific City on Saturday and ran into Randall Barna. Randy has a popular blog on SUP and runs around with a bunch of loonies in Bend that are paddling in the deschutes and the lakes of Central Oregon, as well as doing the 170 mile “commute” to Pacific Beach every so often for some waves. Quite a coincidence bumping into him and his nice family. A real pleasure.

The waves were dinky, the water was 43 degrees, it was windy and choppy–in other words, we had a great time. Surfed until we couldn’t paddle any more, went back to Manzanita and collapsed, then did it again the next morning. No wind, but even smaller waves because the tide was out. Once it came in the wind came up, but we had a fine morning session, then back to Portland.

Stand Up Paddlesurfing seems much worse than longboarding for coral cuts. I think it’s because the big floaty boards tempt you deeper into trouble, or just that they don’t turn out the back of a wave very easily. I’ve become an expert at falling on a reef. I do it all the time. I’ve invested in Pfizer to offset my ointment purchases. Most surf spots include a place that can grate a few ounces off your feet knees and elbows. Here’s how to deal with a reef:

1. Stay outta there! Turn out of the wave long before you get to the shallows. Don’t straighten up and run with the foam if the wave closes out, pop out the back if you can. You might not want to get worked by the closeout, but riding the whitewater in can leave you in a much worse condition–paddling over a shallow reef with whitewater bearing down on you. Not fun.

2. Don’t fall! As soon as you see that you are well and truly screwed, step back on the board to raise the nose and brake your speed, and drop down onto your board.

3. Be one with the surface. When you fall, fall flat. Spread your arms and legs, don’t dive, fall onto your back as flat as you can. Think like a sheet of paper. Arch your back as you hit, don’t stick your butt down. Pretend you’re falling onto a bed of pitchforks–because you are. Paddle on your back until you can collect your board, crawl onto it, and beat feet.

4. Don’t stand on the reef. It doesn’t even matter if you think you see a sandy spot, there might be something there waiting to stick you. Sure, you look like a putz flopping around on your back weakly trying to get onto your board, but standing on the reef–even with booties on, it’s a sure recipe for a coral cut. You might get away with it two times out of three, but the third time can be a doozy. Perhaps a nice sea urchin spine between your toes, or a deep slice above your heel when a wave rocks you backwards.

5. Watch how you kick. Most of my cuts are on top of my toes–kicked a rock getting on, ouch! Make your body float up parallel to the surface before you kick, and then kick horizontally. Grab your board by the far edge and pull it under you. The edge of a deck pad helps with this maneuver.

6. Go with the flow. The water is heading off the reef just like you. Unless it’s taking you towards an exposed rock, you are usually best off going with the heaviest flow.

My sandbox for working on the site is at www.kenalu2.com. Please feel free to take a look at what I’m up to and kick the tires some. Don’t expect too much at first, I’m mostly writing code and experimenting, but it will get prettier over the next couple of weeks.

Should be up in the next few days. In the meantime, get out and paddle!

4×4 conversion,460 cu in gas motor, Detroit locker rear end. Over drive trans, Heavy duty Warn winch, 25 gal propane tank,40 gal fresh water tank, Propane powered fridge/freezer, Microwave, 1500 watt inverter, Huge stereo system with two amps and 12″ sub, Propane heater, and way more. Over 30k invested. Asking $12,500.00. Located , South point, Big Island, HI. Contact info: email: johnsonbigstick(at sign)mac(dot)com cell # 949-412-6980.

All the best to all of you. Don’t forget to have some fun today. This ain’t a rehearsal, this is your life.

It’s just kind of taken the air out of me, but I really do feel a lot more like celebrating this remarkable man’s life than mourning his death. I could tell I was on the mend yesterday when I saw a SUP board on a van and immediately brightened up. I doubt I’ll have a chance to get in the water this week, but even the thought of it is cheering.

To all of you SUP friends, the most enjoyable quote I found when trying to find something wise to say about this tragedy is: “Never knock on death’s door, ring the bell and run away. Death hates that”.

I did the mat myself. Started with a Hawaiian Island Surf and Sport mat and whacked it all up. I wanted it a bit wider in the tail and a little longer, so this is my artsy way of accomplishing that.

Diane found the Gecko on a tattoo art site. We printed it out in tiles and traced it onto rice paper. I used acrylic paint to fill in the black, but unfortunately used a Sharpie for the outline. When Bill tested the art it blew all over the place, so Dave the Painter had to redo it in a much more difficult manner–hand masking it.

Nice shape, yah? Hmm, maybe I’m spending too much time on Maui. I’m getting sun tan lotion off my hands.

A bit of rocker in the tail too. Makes it turn nice when you step back. The board is 10′11″ by 30″. A little concave under the feet, going to a slight V and flattening out in the tail.

Beach start. I do like having a pretty board to look at while I’m paddling.

Up and away

She floats, captain. Taking a bit ‘O water amidships, but nice and stable

If we only had a wave