SUP Rentals at Port Union Road...

As yesterday was the first "Official Day of Winter", and also pretty mild, I took the SUP out for a spin in the Lake. Conditions were perfect for cruising along the shoreline. This is a really fun way to get out and keep in shape during the winter months. Get rid of some of that extra weight caused by too many Turkey Dinners over the Holidays and have fun at the same time. Rentals are out of the Port Union Road Waterfront Park @ $40.00 for 2 hours or $80.00 for a full day (Off season rates apply). Contact me or Mike of Surf Ontario for availability, to book a lesson, or for more information...

A Saturday Session...

The South Westerly forecast for Saturday looked good, but when I looked in at my Local Break in the morning it was pretty small. Decided to head East and checked in at Cobourg around 2:30pm. Mushy waves, and not a soul on the Pier except for me and about a thousand seagulls. Piled back into the car and headed for Bond Head. Arrived to find Mike and Rob already in the water. Suited up and enjoyed some really clean lefts for around 1 1/2 hours. A great session, and as Mike put it "Only 3 guys and a couple of chunks of ice in the line-up". What more could you want. Had to drive home in my wetsuit as the zipper iced up. Not nearly as warm as it was in Cuba, but not at all bad for a December in Canada...

Cards and Stickers...

The updated Business Cards and the new Stickers have arrived from the Printer. I think they look pretty good. If you would like a "Free Sticker", either ask me for one at the beach or email me and I will give you the address to send a SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) to. You will need to send a C6 size envelope as the stickers are 5" in diameter. Just prefect for covering any rust spots on your car or nasty dings you may have on your board...

A Week in Cuba...

Just got back from "A Week in Cuba" to the snow and freezing temperatures of Ontario. In Cuba, the air and water temperaatures were almost the same. Had a great time there, drinking Rum, relaxing on the beach, eating seafood and snorkelling on the coral reefs. Took a couple of day trips, one to a fishing village, a cigar factory, a local market and another to the city of Holguin. The Cuban people are very friendly and the whole area reminds me a lot of Mozambique. The so called 'Underwater Camera" stopped working after two shots, which was rather disappointing as the reef was teeming with all kinds of colourful marine life. Anyway, it's under warranty and now in for repair. Luckily I took my Olympus 550UZ as well, so there are lots of pics for your viewing pleasure. Click on the link to check them out...

The Torontoist Article...

I was contacted by Steve Kupferman of "The Torontoist" a couple of weeks ago. He had stumbled across my Web Site while browsing the Origin Surf Forum and expressed interest in doing an article about winter surfing on Lake Ontario. After a telephone conversation to reassure Steve that I was not completely crazy, and a check on the surf forecast we agreed to meet at one of the local spots when the conditions were right. I contacted Mike and Grant from Surf Ontario and we all headed out to the lake. The surf was pretty reasonable, and as usual it was cold and windy. Steve showed up with Miles and Christopher, two photographers from The Torontoist and that was about it. Click on the photo to read the article and see all the photos. Nice to have someone else taking the photos for a change...

NW Clean Up...

Well, we had 2 great sessions at my "Local Break". On Tuesday, the strong Easterlies generated a decent sized swell. Surfed solo from 3pm until dark, on the East side of the Gazebo. The current was so strong, that it was best to start off on the left of the small pier further east and surf until you ended up at the headland, then walk back to the pier. Better than fighting the current. Some pretty good lefts to be had. Also tried the lefts on the west side of the headland until it got too dark to see.
Dawn Patrol on Wednesday with Kristoffer was pretty good. It was still dark at 6:45am when we got into the water. Overnight the wind had switched to SW and the waves were smaller, but it was fun. Surfed until 8:30am.
Dropped Lynn at work, checked out A-Bay and the Lighthouse, but by that time everything had been blown out by 35 knot NW gales. Looks like we will get some more surf on Friday and Saturday. Now that would be nice...

Gale Warning in effect...

Looks like this will be an interesting couple of days.
Gale warning in effect.
Today Tonight and Wednesday
Winds
Wind light increasing to east 15 knots near noon and to 25 this afternoon. Wind veering to south 20 overnight then to southwest 20 Wednesday morning. Wind increasing to west 35 near noon Wednesday then diminishing to 25 Wednesday evening.
Today Tonight and Wednesday
Waves
Waves less than 1 metre building to 1 this morning and to 2 early this evening. Waves building to 3 near noon Wednesday.

It's Alive...

The revised Site is now "LIVE" as you can probably tell. Also, the Web Cam windows have been enlarged to 640 x 480 pixels. Please email me or leave a comment on this page if you spot anything wrong...

Site Upgrades...

I am busy working behind the scenes on an "Updated" version of the WebSite. It uses an modern theme called Flexture, made by NimbleHost. This theme has tons of options and better navigation. Once I figure out how to tweak some of the settings, I will go "Live", probably some time next week. For a Sneak Peek, click on the image, and please let me know what you think by leaving a comment...

Board Design...

I came across this the other day and figured I should share it.
"BoardCAD is a free, open source CAD-program for surfboards. With the release of version 1.0, modelling has become even easier than before. The new user interface lets the shaper design rocker, outline, and thickness of the board using 2D curves, while still having the possibility to directly edit the generated 3D surfaces. The result is a user-friendly system without any limitations on the design. BoardCAD can read files from aps3000, shape3D, surfcad and akushaper. It exports to STEP, DXF, and STL. Since BoardCAD is written in Java it works on any platform like Windows, Linux, and Mac OS."
I have played around with the program and love it, so what are you waiting for? Download it and design your very own board...

The Fall...

Had two decent sessions at Port Union Road this week. On Wednesday with Rye for around 3 hours and yesterday solo for 2 hours. Both were due to the SW winds and the new sandbank that has formed to the right side of the point. The waves are cleaner and are breaking much further out than usual. Another advantage, is that I don't have to drive anywhere, as the waves and the hot tub are within walking distance. I even managed to convince Lynn to take some pictures yesterday, and deliver several Rum and Coke's to the hot tub. So far, this Fall has been excellent, and we are off to Cuba in 30 days. I see a lot more Rum and Coke in my future...

Social Media Buttons and Things...

I have added "Social Media Buttons" in the Sidebar of a few of the more popular pages on the Site, so now you can click on them to easily "Share" these pages with your friends. Also, as we are now officially into Fall, the view of Lake Ontario from the WebCam is improving, as the leaves are busy falling from the trees. Looks like the Surf will be improving soon, this being is our best season for wind and waves. Also, those of you who signed up to receive Weather Alerts will notice that you are getting a lot more Alerts...

Wednesday...

I headed down to Ashbridge's Bay in the morning, not really expecting any waves. Figured a little SUP'ing would be in order, but was pleasantly surprised to see Mike and Grant in the water. Jeff and Rob showed up shortly afterwards, the rain and wind stopped, the sun came out and the waves were really glassy. Parking was at a premium as a local elementary school was having some kind of cross country meet at the beach. Lots of fun...

Double Dipping...

I managed to get two sessions in on Sunday. Spent 2 hours at Port Union Road in the morning riding lefts with Paul. He had just bought a board and was pretty stoked to be out in a Lake catching waves. The last time he surfed was 20 years ago in Cornwall. Did pretty well, I saw him get a couple of waves and his wife has the photos to prove it. After lunch, I dropped in at the Cove for a while and took a couple of pics of Mike. Later we headed down to A-Bay and surfed until dark. The toe held up OK, just taped 3 of them together...

Retro Day

Light SW winds blowing today. No chance of any windsurfing. That's what I thought, until Gary arrived around noon, with a 20 year old Mistral Malibu, complete with the original sail. The board had been gathering dust at his brother's farm for years. We rigged it up and took it for a spin. The board was very tippy and the sail was not much better. With equipment like that, I'm not surprised that so many people who tried windsurfing, gave it up after the first time. Anyway, we had fun, took a couple of pics, and probably wouldn't have been in the water with a regular board...

A Busy Friday...

Well, Friday was a really busy day. Met up with Mike and Grant at 2:00pm at Bluffer's Park. Admired Mike's new Coreban Wood SUP. Tried out the Waterproof Camera in the Lake, Surfed for 4 1/2 hours, broke a toe, and sold my Olympus FE-340 Camera. It's a lot different handling a camera in the water, and gives quite an interesting perspective to the shots. Maybe next time I'll leave the surfboard on the shore so I have just one thing to concentrate on. Pity about the toe, but at least I managed to bend it back to where it was meant to be before it all swelled up...

Testing the Camera...

I figured I would take the Waterproof Camera down to the Lake for an underwater test, but after last Sunday's SUP paddle I reconsidered. Although I wore a 5/4/3 wetsuit and was pretty toasty in it, my bare feet were cold. The water temperature in Lake Ontario is now 12˚C and can't compare to the water in the hot-tub, which is 38˚C. It was a little unnerving immersing quite an expensive camera, that doesn't even look very waterproof, into the water. Anyway, it passed the test with flying colours as you can see from the picture of the handsome devil on the left. Easy with the comments, please...

End of Summer Surfboard Sale...

Surf Ontario is having an "End of Summer Surfboard Sale." Board prices start at $399 from the following manufactures. NSP, Seven Fish, Webber, Aloha, Blue, and Walden Surfboards.
Orders and Payment need to be in by Thursday the16th of Sept 2010 to take advantage of these prices. All prices exclude taxes and shipping.
If you are interested contact them for more details...

Another Lake Erie Trip...

Got a call from Mike saying that the Surf was up on Lake Erie, so we headed back to the same spot that we went to on our previous trip. Strong winds and big waves made for a fun afternoon. I took a break after about an hour and shot some video and a few pictures before getting back into the water. The came out OK, considering the strong wind and the fact that I couldn't stop shivering from the cold. Quite a few surfers, kite boarders and a windsurfer showed up and took advantage of the conditions. Even Ryan, who had driven all the way up from NJ to surf the Lakes was there. Click here for the Pics and Videos. Looking forward to the next trip. Man, that was great...

An Underwater Camera...

Had "Camera Envy" after seeing Mike and Sonia's waterproof cameras and the shots they were taking with them, so I went shopping on Sunday afternoon. Got a great deal on an Olympus Stylus Tough 6000 and 2, 2gig xD cards. This will come in pretty handy for snorkelling in Cuba in November, and for SUPing, surfing and kayaking in the lakes. I've been a little wary of taking my good cameras for a swim, all except for the $10 GoPro of course. Now all I need is for the water to warm up, and a floating wrist strap...

Pier Jumping...

After a couple of email and phone messages on Saturday morning, we decided to head out to Cobourg Pier. Arrived there to find a couple of surfers already in the water. The strong winds and big waves crashing into the pier made the jump quite hazardous, but it was a lot better than the long paddle out from the beach. You just had to time your jump right! We even made the evening news as you can see on this CTV video. There are more pics in the Cobourg album. Great long rides made for a good day, and it was nice to see friends that I hadn't seen for a while. Later, on the way home, we stopped in at Bond Head and met up with Mike and Grant from Surf Ontario who were surfing and SUPing there. I had been wondering where they had got to...

Lake Erie...

Got a call from Mike last Friday inviting me to join him and Sonia for an afternoon of surfing at an undisclosed location on Lake Erie. We left Toronto in the Surf Ontario van around 2:00 pm and were in the water around 4:00pm. The wind and waves picked up all afternoon, the water was warm and the surfing was good. Probably around 12 surfers in the water at one stage. We left as the sun was setting. Arrived home at 10:00pm. More pics here. Tons of fun...

A Nice Surprise...

It looked like the wind was picking up around 5:00 pm yesterday, so I jumped on the bicycle and rode down to the Lake to check it out. Saw a couple of whitecaps, so decided to load up the Surfing / Windsurfing trailer. Loaded up the surfboard as well, just in case the wind decided to shut off. I wanted to have all the bases covered. Got back to the beach, the wind had died, but a decent sized, glassy little wave had started breaking on the sandbank just to the left of the Gazebo. Had it all to myself for an hour, just me and a bunch of curious onlookers! No pics of the surf, but met up with Lynn and her camera on the walk back...

Heat Alert...

Well, I heard today on 680 News that the City of Toronto was under a "Heat Alert", so I dropped everything except my $10 GoPro Camera and rushed down to my nearest "Cooling Center." The heat wasn't that bad, and considering that I grew up in South Africa, I actually found it to be quite pleasant. However, just to be on the safe side, I immersed myself in Lake Ontario for an hour. That did the trick. Got a lot of strange glances from the passers by though. A couple more pics and videos are available here. Honestly, I didn't find it all that hot...

Boom Repairs...

Last week while windsurfing at Frenchman's Bay I managed to break the head of my boom for the second time. This happened about a 1/2 mile out, but luckily it stayed together and in one piece. I managed to gybe and sail back to the shore. As decent carbon booms are now priced at around $700 I decided that a repair was the way to go. Gary had some epoxy. kevlar and carbon fibre at home and repaired the boom the following day. After letting it cure for a week, I tried it out yesterday with a 7.5 in about 16 knots. Everything held together. Thanks Gary, I saved a bundle. Maybe now that new Severne 5.5 will become a reality...

A Day Trip...

After meeting up at Mike's place at 6:00 am, the four of us loaded up the Surf Ontario van and headed north to Lake Huron. Surfed and SUP'ed two great spots, one being a "Secret Spot" and the other being Kincardine. Crystal clear water, good waves, friendly locals, sunshine and great company made it a memorable day. Arrived back home by 10:00 pm, tired and happy. Looking forward to the next trip, gotta get another one in locally before my surprise trip to Cuba...

Three days in a row...

Well, this has been a pleasant surprise, waves on the Lake for three days in a row. This almost never happens, especially in the summer, when the water is warmish. After checking out the Lake this morning I rushed home, grabbed my board and wetsuit and headed back down there. I called Jeff, but he was heading up to Meaford with his family, Gary was out somewhere and Grant was working so I went solo. I was in the water for over 2 1/2 hrs and rode some of the biggest Lake waves I have seen in a while. Took a couple of pics post session which you can see here. Nasty ShoreBreak too! I still can't believe it...

SUP Sunday...

I met Mike and Grant of Surf Ontario early Sunday morning at Ashbridge's Bay. Mike lent me a Coreban SUP to test drive for a couple of hours. Really had a good time playing around with it in the waves. Standing on the board in the waves is a lot harder than it looks, but I managed to catch two waves all the way in to the shore. Of course, Mike and Grant made it look easy. If you are interested in trying out a Stand Up Paddleboard contact Mike. Gotta try this again soon, it's loads of fun...

Surf on Saturday...

I checked out the Cove at 9am. Figured it would work on the easterly swell. There was one guy out and not much going on, so I headed home and cycled down to the break at Port Union Road. There was a small left break that lasted for about 2hrs. The water was warm, no wetsuit needed! My photographer managed to get some shots, as her ankle is on the mend. A couple more pics available here. Now that's dedication...

Summer...

Surfed Saturday morning for a couple of hours at Peacock Point on Lake Erie and windsurfed Monday afternoon at Frenchman's Bay on Lake Ontario. Broke a boom about 1/2 a mile out, but managed to sail back to shore without too many problems. Trunked it both days as the water was surprisingly warm. Gotta make the most of our short summers! No pictures are available, as my photographer sprained her ankle and was not in the best of moods. I'm off to the dentist to have a tooth extracted tomorrow. That'll be fun, but not nearly as painful as the ankle...

The Roof Cam...

Well, as promised, I installed the Rotor and the Roof Cam and it is now able to rotate through 360˚. The best views are as follows:
1. The Pickering Nuke Plant (E)
2. The Original Position (SE)
3. The Gap between the trees. (S)
4. The Village Park. (SE)
Click on the image to see the camera rotate.
The view of the Lake will probably be a lot better during the winter months when all the leaves have fallen from the trees. In the meantime the Cam will be pointed randomly in one of the above 4 directions. Anyway, let me know which direction you prefer...

Congratulations...

Mike and Grant of Surf Ontario completed the 65km Paddle for MS across Lake Ontario in 13 1/2 hours and raised $7000 for MS Research. They arrived at Ashbridge's Bay at 8pm Saturday, were welcomed by a crowd of supporters and interviewed by Global News. Check out the pictures of the finish. Congratulations again on a job well done...

A Rotor at Last...

Last weekend while at Peacock Point I was lucky enough to find a Rotor attached to an old antenna. Then on Monday I found a controller for $20 on Kijiji. Things are definitely looking good. I picked up 60 feet of cable yesterday, so sometime next week I plan to attach the Roof Cam to the Rotor. This will allow me to pan the camera through 360˚ anytime I feel like it, using the controller which will be set up next to the server.
Soon we will be able to see the conditions on Lake Ontario, all the way from the Pickering Nuclear Power Station in the East to the CN Tower in the West, without having to climb up onto the roof to move the camera. Now that's progress...

Surf Ontario's Paddle for MS...

Surf Ontario's SUP Paddle for MS from Hamilton Harbour to Ashbridge's Bay, Toronto will begin early Saturday morning. Mike and Grant are aiming to paddle 65km in 12 hours. Their arrival at Ashbridge's Bay is expected to be between 6:30pm -7:30pm Saturday evening. Follow them on FaceBook and check out the Route Map. So far they have raised close to $6000, so be sure to donate. We hope to see as many of you as possible at the finish...

Peacock Point...

We spent the weekend with Gabe and Nancy at their cottage on Peacock Point, Lake Erie. Relaxing, sailing a Hobie Cat and kayaking. Good times...

Another Great Weekend...

Woke up early Saturday morning and checked out the Lake at around 7am. Nothing doing. Tried again at 11 and was surprised to find that the wind was blowing a steady 18 knots from the SW. What was more unusual is that it was warm and the sun was shining. This rarely happens. Managed to get in a good 1 1/2 hours before leaving to go to a BBQ. Click on the image to see the video. More pics here.
Tried a Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) for the first time on Sunday morning, thanks to Mike and Grant of Surf Ontario. Had a lot of fun, and would have had even more fun if there had been some waves. A couple of pics here. This is probably another hobby I need to get into. After all, from what I have read, I believe anything is better than Golf...

Bicycle Racks...

Although it's just a 5 minute walk from my house to the Lake, there is a pretty decent break about a mile further west along the waterfront trail. I figured that the quickest way to get there was by bicycle. But how do I get my board there? I tried riding the bike with my surfboard tucked under my left arm, but that was just an accident waiting to happen. So, I figured I needed surfboard racks for the bicycle. Google to the rescue! I stumbled across some Bicycle Rack Plans and after a trip to the local hardware store and 1/2 an hour messing around in the garage I was ready for a test drive. All is well, now we just need some westerly winds to kick up some waves.

The Downside to Streaming WebCams...

Well, after returning home from North Carolina I discovered "The Downside to Streaming WebCams". What seemed like a nice idea, allowing all viewers to check "Live" conditions on the Lake for free, has resulted in a huge increase in bandwidth. I had already purchased a monthly allowance of 40 GB on top of what my service provider normally allows, at an additional cost. Unfortunately, when users spend hours viewing the Lake and don't disconnect from the Streaming WebCams, I am in fact "Uploading" to their computers. As you can understand, this becomes pretty expensive, especially now, as I have surpassed my monthly allowance. I therefore have switched the cameras off until the next billing cycle. They will be back on after the 20th of June, but will only upload images every couple of minutes, until I can determine the amount of bandwidth that is being used. My last resort will be to block the IP Numbers of the offenders (You know who you are), or to put passwords on the cameras that will allow only registered users to access them...

A Paddle in the Lake...

We arrived back home from North Carolina late Saturday night after driving straight through. The trip took 16 1/2 hours. Nice to be home, but I do miss the Ocean. Yesterday, being such a nice day, I went for a paddle in the Lake. Quite far actually. Took my $10 GoPro WristCam with me.
For those of you who are interested, here is what the Anemometer that has been located off the Scarborough Bluffs looks like. There were a couple of guys working on it who were quite surprised to see me. Anyway, they said it would be ready soon... See the rest of the pics and 3 videos here.

Cape Hatteras

Well, we had a lot of fun, early morning surfing, evening windsurfing, good company, cheap beer and great seafood. Met up with Garrett from Burlington at the Lighthouse for a session. Took a lot of pictures which can be seen in the "Hatteras Album". So much nicer to be in Salt water as opposed to Lake water. Lots of new stores in Avon although it seems like the economy there is struggling a bit compared to what I have seen in previous years. Did the tourist thing and picked up a few T-Shirts as well as some New Sandals. The worn out old ones featured as the logo in the header of the website have been retired and replaced with the new pair. Looking good...

A week in Hatteras

A taste of yesterday...

Gary, on the Sound at Brigand's Bay. The video was taken from the deck of the house we rented. We will see what the rest of the week will bring. Can't get much closer to the action...

A Guest Book...

Last week I added a Guest Book to the Site. If you like the site or have any ides for improvements, please leave a comment. Click on the closed Guest Book icon, it will open and a form should appear where you can leave a message. It would also be interesting to find out what City and Country you are visiting from...

The Street Cam

The Street Cam has now been relocated and is on the roof next to the Roof Cam. This Cam has a 6mm lens which gives a much more panoramic view of the Lake. It also has 35 IR LED's, which give it a kind of "Night Vision" range for 55 feet . Installation was a breeze, as I have installed an "Escape Hatch" on the roof, which is accessible from the attic. Good, no more ladders! Will update the Blog with details of the Roof Hatch in the next couple of days...

It's a Small World...

Yesterday, while on FaceBook, I made contact with 3 friends that I have not heard from in over 44 years. Les, pictured on the left in the photo, Colin and Rodney. We grew up together in Durban, South Africa, surfing, riding motorcycles, chasing girls and generally getting to all kinds of trouble. It's amazing that we survived. Les and Colin are still in South Africa, Rod is in Australia and I ended up in Canada. Brings back a lot of good memories. Like Rod said, we used to call you "Gamat". Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time. I hope they have some photos from way back then. They would really be worth seeing. Something to show the kids, or not! Boy, those were the days...

Sidetracked...

It all started when I decided to search the web for a rotor to enable me to pan the webcam. This seemed like a less expensive solution than the $1200 PTZ webcams I had been looking at. I stumbled across this YouTube video while searching. It looked pretty interesting, OTA (over the air) HD TV with an antenna made out of coat hangers. Who would have thought…
It took me about 20 minutes to make the antenna out of junk that I had in the garage and hooked it up to the TV. Lo and behold, it worked! It actually worked so well, that we have cancelled Bell ExpressVu view and now watch free HD TV. Saves a bundle as there are no monthly payments and the picture quality is better than what we were getting from satellite. Well, sometimes it pays to get sidetracked. Now where was I?

A Board Meeting...

After a call from Kelly I threw the board on the car and headed out to the Point at Cobourg. The waves were small, but the weather was warmer than it has been for a while. Met up with Kelly and Warren for a couple of waves. Enjoyed the sunshine and realized that it's only 32 days before we leave for Cape Hatteras. Better start getting into shape! As usual there are a few more pics available here.

Endless Entertainment...

Now that the Cam is on the roof I have discovered a source of "Endless Entertainment". The Rouge Hill Go Station is situated a little east of the Web Cam and the new Parking Lot just to the west. The commuters usually seem to arrive at the Parking Lot a little later than they had anticipated, so there is a great deal of "Running for the Train". I am finding all this quite amusing in a perverse kind of way. For your convenience I have included a Train Schedule so you can too can enjoy the action. Have fun...

Progress...

Well, it's up on the roof at last. A little scary to say the least!
Here are the two pics of the Weather Station, Web Cam and Location.
Thanks go to Gary for the mountaineering equipment.
Some tweaking to do when it stops raining and I get up there again. Will point and zoom the Camera at the light standard where it was before.
I'm looking for an old Channel Master antenna rotor and controller like the ones used at cottages. If you have one lying around let me know. I figure I can set it up to pan the camera left to right. A cheaper version of the professional Cams.
If you have any comments or suggestions about the positioning of the cam, please let me know before I get up there again. I will post some "Before" and "After" pics when I am done.

A Great Weekend...

We had solid wind and waves for three days in a row. Now that doesn't happen very often on the Lakes. Winds were from the East at around 20 knots. The swell built up nicely and "The Cove" was the place to be. The shorebreak was pounding as usual and at least one board was snapped in half. Snapped a couple of pics of Jeff out Kite Sailing and a whole bunch of surfing pics. Check them out in "The Cove" Album.

The Roof Cam...

I now have the Sony HC26 Camcorder installed in a heated outdoor housing with a mounting bracket and enough cable to reach from the roof to the server. Thank you Mike for the generous donation. As soon as it stops raining I will install a power outlet up there and then we should be ready to roll. The view should be a lot better as the camera will be about 25' higher. I am now looking for a used Channel Master Rotor and Controller, like the ones used on old TV antennas. If you have one gathering dust and would like to donate it, please let me know. If I can mount the camera housing on the rotor, it will allow the camera to automatically pan through 180 degrees. Check back early next week to see what progress has been made...

A Hatteras Vacation...

Well, after much consideration, we finally broke down and rented a house in Hatteras for a week in May. Here's a picture of the house called "Gale Warning", we have stayed there before, in the spring of 2007. Can't get much closer to the water, can we? Should be warm, windy and the waves should be great. Windsurfing, surfing, relaxing in the sun, beer, can hardly wait. Should be able to blog and post pictures on the web site while we are there, so stay tuned...

The New Fish...

On Tuesday morning I picked up another gently used Fish from Bob at Fishstick. This one is 6’ 10” x 22.85” x 3”, has a quad FCS Fin setup and should be even faster and more floaty than the smaller Fish. Can't wait to try it out, but the weather on Lake Ontario is not co-operating. See a few more pictures of the board here.

Paddle for MS...

Yesterday a good friend, Mike Sandusky of Surf Ontario informed me that his sister has been diagnosed with MS. As a fundraiser this summer, he is planning a long distance Stand Up Paddle Board paddle across Lake Ontario from Burlington Beach to Ashbridges Bay in Toronto. The paddle is approximately 67 kilometres and will take 12-16 hours to complete. Grant Kennedy, a close friend, web designer and fellow lake surfer will be joining him in this feat. They will set off on this journey between August 6th and 9th, depending on favourable wind and weather conditions.  To sponsor them and to see how much they have raised to date, click here.