Labor Day Weekend: Kent Island Relay

Labor Day Weekend In Kent Island is our most favorite race weekend of the year.

This year we took the SUPER Fleet north to the best outrigger race of the ECORA season for a SUP relay.

I was going to put something on the blog immediately after the Labor Day Weekend but a few things delayed this post. I was waiting for some actual race photos (as evidenced by the lack of the same above), if you have some send them in and I will post them.
The surf has been pretty good this summer (see the posts below).
It has taken me this long to clear the Mai Tais out of my system! (see photo above) We went through two 5 gallon coolers full of Mai Tais!


We had 24 hardy souls that showed up to paddle SUPs and race Sunday morning.

Hardy souls because they raced 35 miles around Kent Island the day before in 6-person Hawaiian Outriggers and then partied like rock stars after wards until the wee hours of Sunday morning. That qualifies them as hardy. But getting on a SUP board, paddle around for a few minutes and then relay race around a half mile (+/-) circuit, that makes them...SUPER paddlers.


This woman was still smiling after falling off her board no less than a half dozen times. She was one of the last to get off the dance floor the night before...Hard-core!


Then there was this paddler. Her first day out on a Stand-Up-Paddle board and she had it down. Spinning around on the tail ala SUP Rodeo. Must be the cool board.

Special thanks to all of our schwag sponsors. These two good looking paddlers look even better with some Revision Hellflys on.

Freedom Surf has been the real savior for the inaugural SUPER season. Without Dave Shotton's support, there wouldn't have been a SUPER series. Boards, paddles, leashes and cool schwag...he really leaned forward. Any one that got out a board and had fun owes Dave a big Mahalo. DaKine rep, MikeConnolly, stoked us out with cool shirts, leashes and some killer hydration systems that will be handed out at the final two SUPER races, Oct 11th and Oct 18th, in Sandbridge and Seaford respectively. So come out to Sandbridge the weekend of the 11th and have some fun. Hopefully Mother Nature will cooperate and we can do a downwinder. Either way the Baja and the Pineapple Lanai will be open, the beer and grinds will be good!

Aloha,

Dukey

False Cape "Small Kine" Wave Sequence

Cool series of shots taken by Cindy at False Cape state park in the outer banks of Virginia.
Sweet 10'6" SUP Surf made by Tim Nolte for Bill "Corky" Graf.

We loaded up all of our gear (boards, coolers, etc) on to a couple of boats and headed south through the Back Bay. A half mile walk through the state park empties out on to a deserted beach with no sign of human encroachment as far as you can see. We were here last weekend after tropical storm Hanna and the waves were excellent. This is our new, get-away-from-it-all destination.


Bill Has the coolest board hauler I have ever seen. Breaks down in to two separate pieces, holds a half dozen SUPs plus and rolls easily across soft sand. (especially when you have a large Samoan pack mule!) I will get all the pertinent info and post it here later. What a nice weekend.

Aloha,

Dukey

Downwind Hanna SUP'ing

45 MPH winds with 50+ gusting!
Let me start out by mentioning that it wasn't a dangerous paddle.
The Back Bay of Sandbridge is shallow. Every time I was blown off the board, I was able to stand up on the bottom. I was wearing a leash. I was never more than a few hundred yards from shore and people knew where I was as noted by the photos. Never paddle out into a situation where you aren't certain if you can get back in!
My only mistake was leaving the 9" race fin on the board when the stock "Shark" fin would have given me much better hold on the short/steep/fast wind-waves.
Once I was moving truly downwind it wasn't a big deal. I had to crab across the waves for the first 15 minutes or so and that was an adventure. During an exceptionally vigorous gust of wind I was blown off the board and as it cart wheeled over my head, it sounded like a helicopter rotor. The board was literally flapping on the surface when I retrieved it...without a leash, I would have been walking/swimming home and someone would have wound up with a 12'6" storm trophy in there yard. Possibly sticking out of their house!
After successive blow-offs and once I cleared the point that would give me a clear shot towards the Mill-pond and home, it was game on. The JL Distance was stable, fast and tracked very well.
it took me less than 20 minutes to travel the 2 miles to the house and that was with a stop to conduct an interview with the local news station. I didn't bring the GPS but I am sure I was moving at speeds approaching ocean SUP surfing for most of the time I was on the water.
Good stuff but near my fun - insanity threshold!
Play-hard but play safe.

Aloha,
Dukey