Surfski Knowledge Base

Denise Weeks 09/22/22 #32389

Yes, you might wonder why we need to go to Tarifa, Spain, when there is such good water in Bellingham, and such a dedicated crew, too. We carry the good word of our community with us as we meet new paddlers from around the world. Now we have an invite to go to Australia—and I’m sure any of you lot could tag along with us if you wanted the added adventure of cracking shore break and sharks and all that.

On this run the wind was not the biggest. In the first section I am just coming out of a great section of standing waves into long rollers. Then I am approaching land and working on keeping up speed while still cutting right. There’s also the opportunity to practice beach starts and landings. So far there haven’t been any challenges in that department except remembering to take the leash off before jumping out of the boat.

Bigger wind is supposed to arrive this weekend, just in time for Dennis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auzJr-1E6Ss

Mas de Tarifa

Denise Weeks 09/25/22 #32402

Buenos dias, amigos.

Paul and I extended our stay in Tarifa by a few days to catch the good wind that Dennis is bringing with him. Haven't seen DMow yet, but we should get a run with him tomorrow. It'll be at least this good or better, according to the wind apps. https://youtu.be/fVH9lP9ddcA

Good luck to Julian, who's doing the World Marathon Canoe race tomorrow. Find results here: https://timetable.canoemarathonportugal.com/index.php?gmt=2&gmt2=-120

Denise

Dan Mayhew 09/25/22 #32403

How wonderful Denise. Your travels are inspiring!

David Hooper 09/25/22 #32404

Awesome, Denise! I like the clip where you turned around - gives a much better picture of the wave size, though we can tell they must have been big by the long rides you were getting.

This is on my bucket list!
Dave

Paul Reavley 09/25/22 #32405

Boyan posted this nice blog write-up of our first Gibraltar run with photos and video:

https://www.surfskicenter.com/post/flat-water-start-where-is-the-downwind

Paul Reavley 09/26/22 #32411

Installment #2 from Boyan's blog:.

https://www.surfskicenter.com/post/don-t-change-a-winning-formula

Tarifa Installment #3 D'Mow
Paul Reavley 09/29/22 #32416

https://www.surfskicenter.com/post/lost-luggage-no-paddling

Blog post #3 - Dennis has taken over for Denise and me now that we have moved on to Portugal.

The Path to Portugal Champs

Dennis Mowry 10/02/22 #32422

My lovely wife Elissa and I left Bellingham Friday 9/23. Since we used air miles to make the trip more feasible, limited our seating, and us waiting overnight to confirm the tickets until the morning, all the seats evaporated. This and a couple flight changes due to cancelations, left us with a 6 hr layout in Seattle then a red-eye coach to Austin and a 12 hr layover. We planned on getting a hotel to crash in for the day but most check-in's were after 1:00 and we would need to head back to the airport at 5:00. Not wanting to walk around town with luggage and go through security again we stayedat the airport. We, mostly me, napped on the floor or seats with metal arm rests digging into my side & very loud announcements over the speakers.
We eventually got on another red-eye to London. With a 7 hr layover, that turned in 9 hrs. Then on to Malaga, Spain, arriving at the hotel at midnight 3 days later.

We arrived without our luggage. Elissa's clothes in 1 bag and about $3000 worth of my gear in 2 bags. The plan was to take a bus to Tarifa before the World Open Ocean Race in Portugal and spend 5 days doing a workshop with Boyen. Class time in the morning then 2 downwind runs a day, typically 24 k, 2 hrs. My butt is still burning from different boats, different conditions.

After the race we would be heading south to Penice, Portugal so I also had packed surf gear.

Boyen set me up with the essentials. We paddled in a complete variety of conditions. The weather & water was still reasonably warm so I was able to dress light & go barefoot. The conditions were great. It would take a lot to describe paddling with Boyen in the Atlantic coast and the Striats of Gibraltar, between Europe & Africa. I paddled with 3 different very fun groups.

Boyen was very amazing to watch surfing, seemingly effortless. His focus is efficiency. In spite of the flight I would consider coming back and working with Boyen again. He has loaned me a long john and pfd in case my gear doesn't show up for the event in Porto.

We left this morning on a bus back to Malaga, now on to Porto. Elissa recovered her bag, mine has been located. After finding the gear, it sat in Austin 4 days and they couldn't or wouldn't say why. It is supposed to be shipped to the event site. The event is starting today. We'll see since it's been 10 days of misinformation, miscommunication and un-cooperation. We'll see, still doing our best to roll with it.

It's interesting to me to see what competitors have to do to show up “Race Ready” at a race. The time change has been interesting, going to bed at 10:00 then waking up a 2:00, 7:00 PST, wide awake for hours. Trying to get the body to adjust.

I'm not complaining, updates later, it's now off for further fun adventures,

:Dennis