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Summer water sports/hobbies

tball

Unzipped
Skier
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Nov 12, 2015
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4,362
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Denver, CO
I miss windsurfing. My friend with the gear moved away, and I never had the motivation to do it on my own. I'd love to do a week-long windsurfing camp. There are a couple islands I'd love to return to... hmmm.
 

mdf

entering the Big Couloir
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Team Gathermeister
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Nov 12, 2015
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Boston Suburbs
I had another windsurfing adventure that made me glad I was in a lake, not the ocean. My universal (the connection between the board and mast) came apart. A nut came off the bolt that held it together. It did have lock tight on it, but it is 20 years old and has seen a lot of hard use.

Fortunately the nut was semi-trapped under a clip, and I managed to get a couple of threads to catch even though I couldn't reach it. I did lose the washer. Just enough to gently sail back home.

Home Depot had a socket deep and narrow enough to reach the nut, so I was able to put it back together. I checked the tendon while I had it apart, and it is still in good shape.
 

Doug Briggs

"Douche Bag Local"
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Breckenridge, CO
Sailboat racing has its ups and downs. Especially when there is no wind any you are bobbing around for two days.

20160806_113252_La Bonte Street.jpg

Master and Captain Wiebe, Nate and Mike. Mike had been asking Wiebe if he could crew on a race day and was not rewarded with a single race. As a matter of fact, he paddled the boat (race boats reduce weight by not bringing their outboards) back to the docks after the second day. His usual boat is an Oyster 56 (currently in NZ).

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Waiting...

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And more waiting...

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Leads to shenanigans!

Two weekends before, we had races called due to too much wind. And so it goes.
 

Crank

Making fresh tracks
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Joined
Dec 19, 2015
Posts
2,626
Spent last weekend at a friend's place in Hampton Bays, NY. Hampton bays is the working class neighborhood of the Hamptons. Went for a ride along the beach and did a little body surfing on Saturday. Sunday we went for a paddle in the kayaks on Peconic Bay. Swam there as well. Tried to wait out the traffic before heading home last night and still hit some though not too bad. Hamptons are great it's just getting there and back that sucks.

Today I stashed the kayaks on the deck of my boat. We are going to sail for a few days here and there for a few days over the next week or so. I love sailing and messing around in boats... I hate saibloat racing. Got roped into crewing for a few series last summer and it only served to remind me how much I don't like it.
 

Doug Briggs

"Douche Bag Local"
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Breckenridge, CO
@Crank , I hear you on the racing, but the two boats I've raced on were pretty low key. The captains were not screamers and were always very supportive, even when mistakes were made. For me, it was a way to get on a boat. Any boat. I do like cruising a lot more which is why I'm helping pay slip fees for a friend that just bought a Hunter 18.5. I think this is going to be the perfect boat for Dillon.

The best boat to sail on is the one you don't own. (I may be repeating myself, but it bears repetition)

My family water skis as hard as we snow ski.


Terrific videos!
 

ScotsSkier

USSA Coach
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Nov 12, 2015
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North Lake Tahoe, NV
Update on my SUP experiences

I started paddling 2 years ago and the first year I used a 12' 33inch surf type board (ATX). Great stability and good for learning on but slow in the water. So last season I upgraded to a 12'6' 30 inch (Wai-Sup hybrid) displacement hull board. A definite improvement and a nice board but still not as quick through the water as i had hoped. So this season I went for a semi-race 14' 27inch board (Hobie Apex). Quite a difference! A lot less stable (which has meant me falling off a few times :() but a whole different experience, and, as I had hoped , moves a lot faster through the water.

But what I have started to notice is that with this board, there is a lot more cross-over to skiing than I had ever realized with my other boards. Because it is a lot less stable you need to be much more active with differential knee/leg/foot pressure and being more fluid from the waist while still keeping a vertical upper body. In lots of ways, just like letting rip in the course where you are focused ahead and letting the legs absorb the terrain. And, just like a race ski, the board is a lot more stable with some speed . Also been playing about a lot more with position on the board ( a lot easier when you dont need to drill!) and am now 12 inches further forward than when i started the season, getting the board trimmed a lot more flat to improve glide. So, now as well as getting a core work-out I can see other benefits which have justified the upgrade. Still more board than my skill level justifies but i am starting to get to grips with it and experimenting with stroke style, position etc - although big boat wakes still present some challenges :eek:

Some shots from earlier in the season, courtesy of paddle images.com
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2-Ray.7.14.16.1B-001.jpg
3-Ray.7.14.16.1C-001.jpg
 

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