The Trip

The Last Day

2009-07-30T20:11:00.000-07:00

I took Ray to the Sacramento airport at 6 o'clock this morning to catch his flight back to Maui while Luke did the same for Juan Pablo up in Portland.

"What now?" Do I go home, shut the windows, turn on the air conditioning and hide from the 100

degree weather that's been baking the west coast over the past few days? Is this when real life starts again?

No more lofty jumps, flying with the seaguls

over the beautiful Oregon coast. No more sailing Santa Cruz, listening to the dolphins chirp at us in the water while we're all in search of our own perfect waves. No more cruising with a flock of pelicans under the Golden gate, one of the most scenic windsurfing venues in the entire world. Woah! Not so fast...

After I left Ray at the airport I chose to not head home and instead continue onward with my friend Sontian from South Africa to Rio Vista. Some of the best wind in the continental U.S. today was right in my neck of the woods.

A steady 25 - 30 mph breeze turned California's delta into an excellent freestyle playground and perfect location for Sontian to practice his waterstarts.

The sailing at Rio Vista can best be described as Californa's version of the gorge. The wind blows hard and there are several different places to sail up and down Sherman Island road. The launches, sailing sites, and campgrounds are all top notch thanks to the hard work of the Rio Vista Windsurfing Association. After two long sessions on the water, we called it a day.

"So where do you guys plan on going next?" I heard time after time this month.

"We don't know. We're windsurfers. We don't really make those plans you speak of. The only real plan we have is to go wherever it blows, check the weather reports and visit iwindsurf more often than any teenager checks their facebook. That, and to instantly abandon what we said we were going to do because it's windy."

In a months time that attitude has taken us 5,000 miles. We've visited well over 20 windsurf spots. We've experienced everything from the warm winds of the desert in the Eastern Columbia River Gorge to the turquoise waters of California's Lost Coast and have seen all the friendly faces in between.

This trip has finally ended but our stories will remain and the windsurfing adventures will continue.

Thanks to everyone for reading,

See you on the water!

-Derek

South, South, South

2009-07-28T02:01:00.000-07:00

Following some paddle surfing at our newly found favorite Santa Cruz surf break, and partying like robots the night before, (and no, Pablo and I weren't the only ones dressed like fools) we decided to get back on Highway 1 early Sunday morning. We could sense that the days left on The Trip were slowly winding away and we wanted to make the most of it.

With a full tanks of gas and lingering hangovers, we cruised down some of the most scenic coastlines California has to offer. Was there going to be any wind where we were heading? Any waves? We didn't know and didn't care. All we wanted to do was head south through Big Sur towards our destination of San Simeon and see how many motorhomes and RV's we could pass along the way.

Four hours, and several double americano's later, we skidded into a dusty parking lot on the side of the road where several kiters were setting up. "Aren't you guys a little young to be windsurfers?" one of the guys jokingly asked me.

Checking out the beach it was immediately obvious that luck was still on our side. Despite light winds, we rigged up as quick as we could as there was still some remnants of the bomber south swell we had met up with in Santa Cruz. By 7 pm we had all windsurfed, surfed, and even longboard sailed, all after a crazy morning of driving. What a day!

-Ray

Scoring the Santa Cruz South Swell!

2009-07-25T09:56:00.000-07:00

Wow! Luck turned our way as we made it down to Santa Cruz just in time for the largest south swell of the season.

The wind on this leg of the journey has been a little on the light side but certainly enough to get two solid days on the water in the central coast. Yesterday, after Luke and I had a nice stand up session in the morning, we were all eager to see if we could get some real windsurfing conditions as the ground swell grew larger and larger throughout the day. "Why isn't it windy yet? What should we do? Drive 7 hours

north? 4 hours south? We were all huddled around Luke's iphone frantically checking wind forecasts for the entire west coast. Luckily around 4 o'clock the wind finally popped and everyone hit the water. I managed to get behind the lens in the evening and got some shots of the great wave sailing conditions everyone scored.

It has been really great to be down here the past few days; the beaches are beautiful, the windsurfing conditions are incredible, and the local sailors are all really great people. It's been awesome to see just how many windsurfers are out here on the coast ripping it up every sailable day.

Now we're faced with yet another tough choice. Shall we continue on south to Jalama despite a somewhat unpredictable wind forecast? Or chase the south swell back up the coast to Cape Sebastian for some potentially epic conditions?

-Derek

On the Road Again

2009-07-24T00:02:00.000-07:00

A windsurfing road trip can best be described as a weather watching trip with lots of driving involved. A typical day for us involves checking several different wind forecasts tables, swell forecasts, and tide charts on laptops and iphones all in an attempt to meet up with some perfect wind and waves. Depending on the outlook, we make the call to either stay where we are for another day or two, or head off to a new location.

After spending a bit of time on the northern California coast, we were anxious to head further south and continue our journey. We meandered out through the redwoods, made a quick stop at the "Mystery Spot," to verify our centers of gravity, and then pointed our cars toward San Francisco. Originally, the plan was to cruise over through Point Reyes and try to score a session at some good breaks we had heard about, but the weather forecast looked a little dismal there so we decided to press onward.

By 6:00pm we were in the city by the Bay and were on the water at Crissy Field by 6:30pm. The wind was good, a steady 18-22mph which made for some good freestyle conditions and the water, although cold, was noticeably warmer than the Oregon coast. Tomorrow we're off to Santa Cruz for some surfing and some wavesailing.

Cheers,

Ray

Lost.....

2009-07-22T22:41:00.000-07:00

Time after time I hear stories of what the California coast was like before all the cities, traffic and overpopulated suburbs took it over.

After spending some time on the Lost Coast you'll realize that the wild wild west of the Golden State is still here to explore. After driving through several small towns, a seemingly endless windy road through the coastal mountain range, and a wrong turn that led us into a Ranch that I could've sworn belonged to John Wayne's twin brother, we arrived at the coast.

The fog bank creeps down the mountainside, hangs over the Cape and extends out to sea, leaving the entire beach southward to soak up the sunshine. The water is a deep turquoise blue that follows an empty sandy beach as far as you can see. After sunset I found myself sitting on the beach under an unusually bright and beautiful starlit sky; a perfect backdrop to the hillside which calmly rolls to the sea.

If you've never been out here before you owe it to yourself to take a peek at what this amazing stretch of coastline has to offer.

We ventured South from Arcata in search of a couple waves with directions that were vague at best. "You're going to come to a place where you'll think you will be there..... but it's not," said one of our friends up in Oregon. "It'll look like it's not windy, but it is...," and "there's a house on a ranch at the bottom of the hill, you talk to a guy and if you're lucky you'll get in," what is this? A search for the lost city of El Dorado?

We found ourselves out in the middle of nowhere in some of the most beautiful country i've ever seen. The wind was good, but unfortunately the waves were nowhere to be seen. Regardless, it was an adventure well worth experiencing, and there's no question that we'll all be back for more.

-Derek

Heading South....

2009-07-21T12:10:00.000-07:00

After catching several good days of windsurfing the Southern Oregon Coast, we've packed up and are heading south for the Lost Coast. The forecast looks good for Wednesday on out, so on the way out we stopped at the Chetco River and taught some friends to windsurf in waters that were warmer than 40 degrees.

With sunny skies and light winds it was no problem, and probably the easiest lesson I've ever taught. Always good to share the sport with others!

We cruised back to Cape Sebastian for one last quick session with some helmet cam video...

...and then jammed straight for the border. Mendocino and Tubamancha here we come, see ya in California!

-Ray

Cape Sebastian goes off!

2009-07-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

You don't have to experience the wind on the Southern Oregon coast to know how hard it blows here. The branches on the trees grow only on one side pointing south, any shrubbery that is lucky to be alive near the ocean lays low, and rugged sea cliffs stand tall over sand dunes that have larger cornices than you'll find over a whole winter skiing. We woke up yesterday to the sun shining and the wind howling. The fog had burned off and the Oregon coast was ready to deliver the winds that we've all been waiting for.

We drove south to Cape Sebastian where we were greeted by a familiar white capped ocean and a nice westerly swell as a bonus. Luke, at 200 lbs was powered on a 3.5. I put up my 3.7 and somehow Ray and Juan Pablo, the lighter weights, were out ripping on 4.3's. Sunya came down to join us sailing from Floras Lake along with our good friends Patrick and Paul Nicholson, the whole Pistol River crew, and a couple of Ray's friends from Chico.

There was definitely no shortage of action from everyone on the water. The tourists lining the cliffside along highway 101 were entertained with 5 hours of aerials, back loops, forward loops, wave 360's, air chacho's, 1 handed goiters and sick wave rides.

Video was rolling, cameras were out and Ray even threw on the helmet cam. Check back for an update with footage.

Today is supposed to be another windy day and it looks like the lost coast is going to start firing wednesday and thursday. The adventure continues...

Stay tuned!

-Derek

Umm...windsurfing at Cape Blanco?

2009-07-18T11:50:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Check our previous post for some video action at the lake...

Well we tried. And we learned that just because there are nice looking waves and wind on the water, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's good conditions for sailing.

Regardless, we decided to ignore everybody's advice and rig up. Nobody else was around except for some lonely seals and a few campers who weren't sure what a windsurfer was.

I've sailed in some pretty gusty side-off shore conditions but this was above and beyond any of my previous experiences. One second we'd be fully powered, and the next everyone was sinking up to their waist in freezing cold water. Luke decided he didn't even need his board on one of the waves, (note the underwater bottom turn.)

Anyway, we all had fun, sailed a new spot that definitely has some potential. If you're ever in the area be sure to check it out. The more westerly the wind, the better!

Peace out!

-Ray

No Wind, No Problem

2009-07-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

Driving north from the Pistol River area we made it up to Floras Lake in time to get together with a great group of friends who some of us haven't seen for 5 years. Unfortunately the valley inland heated up a little too much, blanketing the coast with a marine layer that shut down the

wind.

We took out the jet ski for some tow in windsurfing, something we've only done one time before in the narrow Chetco river which ended with me completely shredding one of Luke's nice fins on the river bar. The lake proved to be a much easier venue to tow, which gave us room to accelerate fast enough to pull some fully planning freestyle moves on a 5.0 in 5 knots of wind!

Regardless, Luke and I were determined to get our freestyle fix in the fog at the lake. Sometimes you can slog out in light wind and catch waves, and sometime you need 1000lbs of steel and burning gasoline to get yourself going.

The plan is to sail Cape Sebastian with a little north swell today with all our friends and then start heading south towards Cape Mendocino for the California portion of our adventure.

Onwards!

-Derek

All Smiles on the Southern Oregon Coast

2009-07-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

We've had two day's with solid 4.2 wind and a little wind swell. After an excellent day of sailing at Pistol River, we decided to stick with what was working good and headed back there on Tuesday for another epic session.

Winds were cranking when we pulled up and the wind swell had built a little bit to give us some good ramps for jumping. Pablo snagged a pair of booties from Ray to keep his feet warm this time around and it seemed to keep him in the water a little longer, (but not by much!)

After this we're planning to venture a little bit north to Floras Lake to meet up with friends and family, and hopefully get some nice freestyle conditions.

Cheers!

-Ray

DD in the cold at Pistol River

2009-07-14T10:51:00.000-07:00

Wow!!! Let me tell you beforehand that I grew up in a small island in the Caribbean with 80 degree waters. When I was 19 I moved to Hawaii and now I find myself on the west coast doing

The Trip, going in the water with this uncomfortable rubber suit to protect me from the cold, and wishing I had way more accessories to beat the low temperature

of the water.Before I decided to embark on this amazing and epic adventure I thought nothing would matter once I was in the water ripping the waves, but oh boy was I wrong!! I had to take short breaks yesterday to warm up my feet. They were so numb I didn't even know if I had them in the straps.

Regardless of the cold water for me, and I say

"for me" only because the rest of the guys and the locals thought the water temperature was great. The wind was perfect. 4.2 conditions and small ramps that allowed us to throw some sick

loops and other intense moves.
The session was great and like everything in life is just matter of getting familar to it. Today I hope to cope better with the cold water, and maybe we'll be able to get our masts separated a little easier after the session.
The Colombian ( Pablo )

On the Coast Again!

2009-07-12T12:18:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning we decided to leave Hood River and head back to the beach again. Rush hour traffic seemed like it was never going to let us out of Portland, but after 2 hours of sitting through gridlock and an hour of winding through the

mountain pass we finally made it out to Pacific City. We lucked out and scored the last campsite in the whole town, set up camp and headed straight for the local pub, Pelican Pub and Brewery. Stop in if you get a chance, their Tsunami Stout is mighty delicious.

After a little breakfast the next morning and some jam'n on the ukulele, Ray and Luke headed out for a Stand Up session in the small but glassy surf. After swapping boards mid sessions, Luke had to keep up his reputation of destruction by somehow breaking a leash in 3 foot surf. Sweet!

The Oregon coast looks like it's prepared to deliver the goods after the weekend with 30 kt Northerlies and some good wind swell in the forecast. Sounds like a recipe for some epic jumping conditions at The Rock. Stay tuned!

-Derek

Chinook Headquarters

2009-07-11T12:37:00.000-07:00

After sailing the Hatchery the other day, we decided to pack up camp and head for the coast (again).

On our way out of town we cruised by Chinook headquarters in Cascade Locks to see where all of the bits and pieces that keep the sport of windsurfing together are made.

Dan at Chinook was more than willing to show us around the place. Most of everything is made right there, from carbon extensions, carbon booms right down to the nuts and bolts.

Here's the plastic molding device that churns out boom heads, clamps, tail pieces, vent plugs, etc., etc., etc.

Plastic pellets go in one side, and windsurfing hardware comes out the other end.

Ever wonder where all those odd shaped bolts and washers and screws come from? Right here from this lathe, hand made.

Dan showing off some of the extensions we're going to be testing out for him over the next couple weeks...

If you get a chance stop by and say hi to the guys here.

Peace!

-Ray

Go Pro Sessions.....

2009-07-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

Helllllloooo....

Quick post here. I stuck the Go Pro wide angle video on a helmet, strapped it onto my brothers head and watched him freestyle around Arlington/Roosevelt the other day.

Check it!

Aloha,

Ray

Freestyle at the Hatchery...

2009-07-09T17:11:00.000-07:00

Hood River, what a place. Grind breakfast sandwiches in the morning, drive 5 minutes and score some epic windsurfing sessions at the Hatchery. Now I can see why so many people call this place home.

After cruising into town from our campsite for the mandatory morning caffeine fix, we made our way across the toll bridge for some freestyle madness. The Hatchery is such a perfect venue for freestyle sailing and watching, we couldn't help but sail all afternoon.

I sailed for about an hour or so and then decided to load up the water housing for a flat water photo shoot. Using a super wide angle lens, the only pictures worth taking were when the guys were practically jumping on top my head. Hey, I didn't even get hit this time, cool!

Peace!

-Ray

Da wind is blowing

2009-07-08T19:49:00.000-07:00

Good morning America! Bless mother nature and the wind that is given to us to shred the waters on our windsurfers. The sun is shinning and we are ready to hit the water. Boards are in, cameras are out, and the best part, the water is not too cold.

Almost 4 hours of sailing pulling some sick Flakas, almost double-Spocks, Shakas, Ponches, and a few more moves left us with big smiles in our faces and a huge appetite.

I have to give big props and many mahalos to our main photographer Ray for enduring the warm and burning sun on his back while we were bathing in adrenaline and cold refreshing water. He found a really nice place to shoot in top of a cliff giving him the best view for his wide angle lens.

After collecting the best footage of what we could have gotten we decided to call it a day. The moon rose slowly with her glamorous glare and beauty of lady like. It's time to lay back and enjoy the quiet evening among friends.

Tomorrow will be another day!!!

The Colombian ( Pablo )

Back in The Gorge

2009-07-08T18:55:00.000-07:00

After celebrating the 4th of July on the Southern Oregon coast we decided to head back to the Gorge instead of Santa Cruz due to an optimistic forecast. When we arrived the next morning the wind wasn't blowing very hard in the corridor but was blasting further east. Onward!

We drove all the way up to

Roosevelt State Park, Washington, an hour east of Hood River where we finally found some solid 4.2 conditions. If you've never been out east of Hood River in the Gorge put this on your list of places to visit. The wind blows hard, the grass is green, the camping is free, the showers are hot, and all your camping neighbors are windsurfers.

After a long day of sailing until 8 o'clock, we set up camp to relax for the evening.

Life was good until 10 o'clock arrived and

we found ourselves caught in the middle of what every Roosevelt windsurfer must know, "the sprinklers". Our lovely campsite suddenly looked like it had been sprayed down with a couple fire hoses, but luckily Ray and Juan Pablo were there ready to hustle and moved all our gear to dry

ground.

It looks like the Gorge is going to keep blowing for a while so the plan is to stick around until the Oregon coast finally lights up.

-Derek

Further south we go...

2009-07-05T17:56:00.000-07:00

After making an offering by burning an old windsurfing board, finally we found some wind. We arrived into Floras Lake yesterday evening and caught up with old friends (and their HUGE dogs) who we haven't seen in a while.

Derek, Luke and I originally all met here when we were about 7 years old, learning to windsurf in the shallow warm waters of the lake. Having not been around the area for the last 5 years, it was

like coming home again.

The weather pattern on the oregon coast continues to be upset by a low pressure system sitting over the north pacific. South winds came in this morning and we were able to get on the water for a little freestyle session.

Tomorrow? Either Hood River or Santa Cruz.

-Ray

well well well

2009-07-04T12:54:00.001-07:00

So "The Wind Trip" has gave us no wind but all smiles from the boys. We all had good PreFunk sessions before the trip (Ray catching Maui's Southshore, The Freestyle boys JP and Derek at the Hatch, and myself at the Newport Jetti and Oceanside.

So now after the skim session in the Gorge, "the McDonalds incident" we are on the coast!!! The cooler weather gave us new energy and we hit the sand hill at Cape Kiwanda followed by a

super fun surf session. We treked to Newport and grabbed some Dutch Bros and set up camp at Southbeach in newport. We met a freestyle rapper and some other friends and were merry all night long.

Today we will head towards the lake and hopefully sneek a quick mini south swell session in Port Orford. We will be monitoring our coastlines for anything interesting and worth our while.

Much Love
Luke

Arrived at the Coast

2009-07-03T07:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening we decided to head out to the coast and ditched the windless 99 degree weather of Hood River and the Gorge. We drove west towards Seaside and then south to Canon Beach only to find that the campgrounds were completely full for the fourth of July weekend. We found a spot tucked away off the road overlooking Manzanita near Oswald west. Not too shabby, the view was incredible.

Unfortunately it looks like the wind is dead at the coast today so we are packing up and heading down to Pacific City for a standup paddle session.

Peace!

-Derek

Arriving....

2009-07-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

Whoa, what a day of packing, flying, and driving.

I started the morning in sunny Haiku, Maui, loaded up 3 windsurf boards, 1 surfboard, 4 sails, 3 masts, booms, extensions, fins, camera stuff, clothes etc. etc. etc. All in all my luggage came out to a little over 300 lbs for 5 bags.

Upon arriving at the Portland airport I was stoked to see my good friend Luke pull up to the sidewalk with a boards, bikes, and a jet ski behind. After loading up, we were off to a friends house in Rowena, about an hour away where we camped out for the night on their beautiful front yard right on the water.

Unfortunately I didn't wake up to howling wind coming down the canyon. The wind forecast is looking a little dismal right now. Sounds like time for a little tow in skim boarding!

Ray

The Hatch

2009-07-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

Its been 2 days since Derek and I (Pablo) arrived to Hood River. The wind has been blasting and the conditions have been solid. It's the third day and we are waiting for the rest of the Hot Sails Maui crew (Ray and Luke) to arrive. I am so beat from sailing with 4.1 conditions that I decided to take some shots of Derek. The sun is shinning, winds are blasting and Derek has the determination to show some sick moves in front of the camera. He goes for some sick Flakas and Spocks on the inside. After a good session we go for a good burrito at Taco del Mar and called it a day.

The Colombian ( Pablo )