Tandem Mat Riding

I rode a surf mat up into my 8^th month, after which I stuck to swimming in calm water, day or night.  Little Kai Alana has arrived since I wrote this. Baby and Mama are doing great, and looking forward to the day when they can get into the waves again.  Here is what I wrote during my second trimester:

My mother told me that when she got pregnant, she noticed that she stopped running aground while sailing her boat.  Something in her had become more cautious, and she stopped putting herself in potentially sketchy situations until she noticed when we had grown up a bit that she had started running aground again.  While I wish I could be like Jericho Poppler and surf into my 8^th month, I’ve definitely become more nervous around hard surfcraft and their captains since the start of this gestation project.  My solution?  The surf mat! 

Thanks to fellow ape Justin Valdes for introducing me to this glorious wave vehicle at last year’s Mat Meet, I knew this magic wave carpet was just what I needed to provide my passenger Little Monkey and me a soft and safe ride in the salty brine, away from the fray of the peak.  The little girl inside me is pure aquatic ape, surfing up an amniotic stoke in my belly, while I immerse myself in the ocean, so similar to the blood whose expanded volumes are cruising around in my pregnant veins.  

My wetsuit stretches over my belly, cradling Little Monkey snugly.  The water provides sweet relief from gravity, the increasing enemy of my expanded girth.  A trimester of inactivity leaves me winded, and the new body requires negotiation, but I no longer have to walk the beach pining for the waves that all the board riders are gliding.  Thanks to my sweet partner ape Brian, for getting me this best birthday present early so I can enjoy the whole season until this bun in the oven is cooked.

Halloween festivities in Rockaway Sat 11/2!

"Tales From the Tube", with open costume surfing contest at 3 and after party at the Surf Club!  Get a costume and come out!!

NASA used Surfboard Builders to put Man on the Moon 1960's

...and taking it back to surfboards again:

insomKNEEac ciKNEEma

When the Foot Hits The Fin

   With storm season swells on the horizon here in the North Atlantic, it's worth taking note of what's in the old board bag when it comes to first aid. During a recent surf this past spring in north Jersey the waves were macking, and fellow ape Brian paddled into a steep one, nearly making the drop, but in the froth he took a swift fin ding to his foot. It was just shy of needing stitches. Thankfully, from growing up in a medical household in Florida, having no car for the last 10 years, and hunting for big days at Rockaway and Long Beach I've learned to carry some first-aid essentials. 

   After the thrashing, Brian calmly paddled over saying he thought he took a hit, and spun around to show us his foot. Upon first glance, I thought it was a much bigger flapper than it was. I instantly ran down the list in my head of all the items I had back at his car...definitely antiseptic of some sort, and a few old-but-sterile gauze pads for anything "gnarly" (but which probably wouldn't do much in the event of a serious wound). I was pretty confident it was enough to patch him up so I told him specifically where to find it as he reluctantly made the call to end his session.  As Justin and I pondered what to do in the maxing long-period swell, we decided we should check on Brian.  

   Once we all regrouped back on dry land, we made due with what supplies we had, doused it with fresh water and fashioned an ace bandage out of a plastic shopping bag. Afterward he carefully drove us to a nearby grocery store where we stocked up on the essentials and properly treated the gash. With his foot since healed, he is back in the water, but we had all taken home the valuable lesson of traveling with some type of first aid gear. Even if you're not surfing mysto reefs alone down some steep, no-beach cliffs, you can still get hit by your board on a fluke wipe-out, or hell, by someone else's wipeout. There are basic things that might come in handy should anyone suffer an injury. Below is a list of handy items that may save your skin...and maybe even the stuff underneath. 

- Antiseptic like hydrogen-peroxide for your rock, reef, metal, glass or creature injuries
- New Skin Liquid Bandage w/ antiseptic spray is good on medium to large abrasions 

- Sterile gauze pads

- Medical tape

- An ACE bandage

- Adhesive bandages and regular Band-Aids for small cuts and abrasions 

- Aloe or hydrocortisone lotion for gnarly sunburn, skin rashes or jellyfish stings  

- Tweezers for urchins spines or pieces of reef embedded in your skin
- Scissors or a cutting device of some sort
- Ibuprofen (2-4) for pain relief and anti-inflammation (if you can't do ice compressions)

- Sterile gloves for protecting the injured and the "medic" from infections
- Duct tape can't hurt either because you never know

   Keeping some of these items on you when you go to the beach could mean the difference between calling it a day and getting back out in the lineup, or even going to hospital versus going home.

- As a bonus, watch this medic demonstrate how to administer CPR here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPEFskCrdhQ

Also:

Outside Magazine's Guide to First Aid: Rescuing a Drowning Victim

Outside Magazine's Guide to First Aid - First Aid Kit
(*But don't take 12 ibuprofen like they suggest. As seen here, 200-600mg in 12 hours is a safe bet. And always use on a full stomach. Too much Ibuprofen is known to cause stomach ulcers, but it is far safer for your liver than its widely-used counterpart, acetaminophen, aka Tylenol.)

photos by Albert Shelton and Brian Wengrofsky

All swell that ends whale

Thanks peeps for turning out! Paipopolis 2013 came and went. We lucked out with nice waves first thing in the morning and breaching humback whales at the end of the day. There was tons of gear to share with lots of paipos, bellyboards, handplanes, mats and a quiver of boards to try.It’s like having your very own massive collection of planing surfaces at the beach WITH a bunch of friends new and old around. Can there really be anything better when some nice little waves show up? And even when they don’t the paipos/bellyboards shall abide.

sharing is caring y’all...

photo credits: Albert Weaver, Albert Shelton

Paipopolis drops on the metropolis Sunday September 22nd.

Paipo: noun - Any wooden prone-ridden surf-craft 

SERVICE ALERT the A switches to shuttle bus at Euclid to JFK tomorrow.

http://www.mta.info/weekender/lineview.html?r=a

Make your way to the 67th street stop on the A train in Far Rockaway on the morning of the 22nd. I will try to be there earlyish (8ish) and will be there the rest of the day. Roll in when you want. 

Directions: Walk to the beach, all the way to the water and make a left and walk downtown. Stop when you run into some folks with lots of wooden and alternative craft.  If you have walked past the last jetty then you have gone too far. We will probably be between the 62nd and 65th st jetties. if not there then between 62nd and 59th.

Bring paipos, bellyboards, handplanes, mats, spoons, alaias and anything else you want to share! contact me at justinvaldes@gmail.com. Will update on this blog if weather or other factors get in the way of the event. If you need a wetsuit, you can rent one at Breakwater below the 67th st subway station.

Photos from last year:

What has two thumbs and is having the most fun?

This Guy:

SOFT TOP REVOLUTION from Jack Coleman.

Team Jacob Surfs...

 

No pics this time sports fans, just words to float on your grey matter. Took a little trip to the Olympic peninsula and after crossing over the high divide trail at Mt. Bogachiel and dipping in Hoh lake up above 5k feet we made our way to the Hoh Rainforest Center.

Between us and the rainforest were the towns of Forks and La Push. On the road, boards on top of cars started passing by and I got all randy about it wondering where the hell they're going. Turns out in Jacob, Edward and Bella country there are waves, not good ones when I was there but good ones I've seen in the brochure. If you get skunked you'll still be in a coniferous gangster's paradise.

Tsukiji (築地市場, Tsukiji Shijō)

A series of images from photographer, Emily Kloppenburg, documenting the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market (東京都中央卸売市場 Tōkyō-to Chūō Oroshiuri Shijō), commonly known as the Tsukiji Market (築地市場 Tsukiji shijō), in June of this year. Located in Tokyo's central district, this wholesale fish market of nearly 1,000 licensed vendors handles close to 2,000 tons of the world's most exceptional seafood each day.

Emily Kloppenburg lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

www.emilykloppenburgphotography.com

Shaun Tomson comes to town for his new book "The Code".

WHAT: warm celebrates Shaun Tomson's new book, The Code

WHEN: Tuesday, August 13 6PM-8PM

WHERE: warm (181 Mott St btw Kenmare & Broome)

Additionally, 10% of the evening's proceeds will benefit Stoked, an organization dedicated to mentoring under-served youth through action sports culture. Shaun will be at the event signing copies!

CADmanship

 From the Peugeot Design Lab.