Got a text last night saying Big Winds was going to do a repeat of the infamous Hellfire run of a few years ago. The wind prediction for today was off the charts in the east end of the gorge. This presents a conundrum. Unlike other years I kind of quit downwinding early. I haven’t …
The big plan for Fritz is for it to be all electric and capable of extended dry camping, meaning no campground, no plugging in to handy electric outlets, self-contained–and still comfortable. That’s kind of a big requirement to pull off without propane, but I think I’m in the ballpark. Most RV solar installations put a …
More progress on Fritz. I think people will be puzzled when they see the interior. Minimal. Actually, the far edge of minimal. The living area will be two chairs, a bar cabinet, facing cabinet, and some shelves. The chairs detach and can move outside. Nice little side tables. An aluminum plank that converts the side …
Several people emailed me, saying that they thought the interior is great. They should come get it before I haul it to the dump. I don’t mean to sound cruel, but it just isn’t what we want. My goal is pretty simple: Have a nice bedroom, a usable and simple kitchen, and a space that’s …
I’ve been looking at a lot of videos about Sprinter van conversions, mostly because I’ve got a major league surf jones that I can’t do much about, because I just had carpal tunnel surgery on both hands, and the doc says NO for about 6 more weeks. But the more I looked, the more I …
Last year foils on SUP showed up in the Gorge. I was getting my downwind board off the shuttle at Viento Park for another run a few days before the Gorge Paddle Challenge when I faintly heard someone yell “Uncle Bill”. I don’t have any nieces or nephews in a reasonable range, so I didn’t think …
About thirty years ago I was sitting in a barber chair, reading an article in a car magazine (I think it was Motor Trend) that said used exotic cars were selling for amazingly low prices. My imagination was fired by the notion of a Ferrari, Maserati or Aston Martin sitting in my garage. I certainly …
I’ve been playing with tail handles for quite a few years, ever since a surly guy named Sam Pae and I started insulting each other on the Standup Zone. Sam had started a thread talking about tail handles, wondering if anyone else was using them. I chimed in that I had added a strap to …
I’m biased against production boards. Ever since I got my first custom board–which was a Bill Foote 10’10 X 29″–I’ve been a custom board snob. But I’ve been looking at the board Bill himself rides most of the time, and it has really nice exposed carbon on the rails of the last foot of tail. …
Most times when someone get a shacked, tubed, covered, ducks into the green room–AKA gets a tube ride–it’s for a few seconds. Then the wave closes and they either get out, or don’t. This video, from the talented loons at LastNameFirst.TV, is the ultimate tube. A magnificent sandbar break on the cost of africa, where …
A few years ago, after a downwinder on the south side of Maui, Dave Kalama showed me his rope system for tying down boards. He had small boat-mooring cleats attached to his rack to tie the rope off to. I didn’t see the point of his system–why not just use straps? But when my new …
As ubiquitous as Standup Paddle boards are today, it’s hard to believe that the sport is more or less only six or seven years old. Yeah, Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama were doing it earlier, and so were a bunch of guys in California. And lets not forget Pops Ah Choy, John Zabotocky, lots of …