Kayak to the troll...

Went out on my plastic surfski that I got a few months back to get a better look at the bay bridge troll.

I think there's 2.  

  There's a smaller white guy you can see on the bike path... and the big dude is on the pillar.  You can see him on that western side...at the top of the pillar from below.  I haven't seen him from the bike path, but now I know where to look.  

Surfskiing!

I lightly tweaked my ankle a few weeks ago.  I think it's my posterior tibial tendonitis flaring up again... playing too much soccer, and barefoot running.  I really don't think barefoot running is good for overpronators.  At least more than a mile or two...

Anyway.... so now I've been biking and kayaking more.  I can't get out as quickly or easily, but I do enjoy those activities more anyway... so it's been working out.

So a few weeks back, when the tides were right, I doubled the number of surfski commutes to six.  And slowly and steadily, my average speed has been creeping up.  PROGRESS!!!

I've been paying attention to maintain a better paddle stroke... arms straighter, leaning forward more, and get proper rotation... requires more core.  My paddle stroke needs a bit of work... http://tcsurfski.com/surfski-technique-videos/

But the most fun part is returning from work when there is a slight breeze and there are some waves to catch.  I'm not very good at it, but I'll be working on that for sure... I wish I could do downwinders all day.  The basic concept of catching a wave (paddle hard), then easing off (to stay on the wave), and maintaining speed to catch the next wave (skill required here...) is what I try to focus on.  Right now, I'm not good at catching waves, and am not even sure if the conditions are good enough to catch a good downwinder, so I'm just trying to spend more time on the water to become more familiar with my boat....
http://tcsurfski.com/2014/07/11/downwind-surfski-paddling-elation/#comment-1375
http://tcsurfski.com/downwind-surfski-videos/

Oct 28th - portview park, tried out the chest mount (on movie mode) on the way back... good to analyze my paddling... not very good for timelapse.


Oct 30th - from portview park after dropping Kai off.... fell in 2x on the way home...

big boat...

Nov 4th - from signal beach

sayonara Kai chan!

the wake from Hyndai

too close to the bridge?  sorry...

Another surfski commute...

This time, I felt a lot better on my surfski.  Maybe I'm improving, maybe the conditions were better... who knows?  It sure gave me a bit more confidence, and I'm hoping that I'll start to see improvement slowly, but steadily...

Also, knowing that remounting is so easy, and the water actually is quite tolerable helped me with my confidence.  I can't wait to get back on the surfski with the wind on my back again...

I think reading articles and watching videos like this one: https://vimeo.com/84523848 gave me a sense of what to do.  There is a TON of technique in surfski-ing... and being able to "read" the water is something that comes with practice.  On the way home, I was quite tired, but I still managed to average 5.2 mph during the windiest section.

http://www.strava.com/activities/201689774/analysis/110/481 

After that I slowed down as I was getting really tired, but I felt quite comfortable on the surfski, a lot more stable than last time, which let me focus on paddling.

other links
http://kayakcoaching.com.au/media/TMSM_Article_-_Downwind.pdf

Surfski Commute!

So a few months ago I got me a surfski... like this guy's

The one an only: Magnum P.I!... I actually just want to be just like this guy, who cares about paddling.  His boat, "Hammerhead" is the same brand surfski that I got.... now just gotta work on that 'stache.

These things are supposed to glide over the water like a hot knife through butta'... so I was curious and kept one eye open.  And I found one on craigslist sooner than I thought.  My hammerhead is 19 ft long and 19 in wide... a good entry level surfski.  On flatwater folks can get up to 10+ mph (not for long), and the limit is endless when riding big swells.  Think of these as an uber long board that can catch the smallest waves (i.e swells)... for an extreme example check out these maniacs below...



As for my experience.... I've taken the surfski out a few times on Lake Merritt at night after putting the kids down.  I usually put in next to the boat house where young kids like to deal drugs.... so it's pretty fun rolling up carrying a 19 ft boat next to a smoke filled SUV... anyway.  After taking the SUP across and knowing that the weather has been so nice, I decided to try out the surfski across the bay.  After all, I've been itching to catch small swells on this boat and there aren't any on Lake Merritt.  And it was quite the humbling experience... I had visions of me gliding across the water, reaching SF in no time, and coming back even faster... but I ended up going basically the same speed as I do on my kayak or Alexis' SUP.  The surfski takes a lot of skill to master, and I was spending too much of my time bracing and inefficiently paddling.  Also, having an ancient boat probably has something to do with it as well... but as Lance says, "It's not about the bike..." (although we all know he meant... "it's all about doping!!!")

Below are some selected shots from the timelapse... featuring my first 2 capsizes ever on my surfski... which you may not have caught on the youtube vid.  The remount on these boats are very easy.  And if you ever feel really unstable, you can just put your feel over the side, and the boat feels uber solid. 

whoa....

and 2 seconds later...

18 seconds later... back on top...

2nd fall...

this time, I decided to bail rather than take the boat with me...

10 seconds later... the beauty of a surfski is the quick and easy re-mount. 

back at the beach, ready to take her home.  Another good thing about these boats is their weight.... making it relatively easy for one person to carry.