Barbado-thon Phase 2

Glenn leaves for his stint in Barbados this evening, but has big shoes to fill in terms of Mike's impressive 16/16 sailing record. The forecast looks like a couple of warm up days late this week/early weekend, and the building into next week.

Max is our temporary replacement for whoever is in Barbados. He was in Mikes office for the past two weeks, and will make his way downstairs to Glenns starting tomorrow morning.

I am sure Mike has plenty of pictures for the gallery that he will be posting, and I will have the same when I get back.

Silver Sands Shot of the Day

Great picture of a classic push loop at the reef by Yann Sune. Taken by Mike on the boardwalk at Silver Sands Hotel.

If you figure the wave he takes off from is about 10 feet (and hasn't fully jacked yet!), and his mast is in the 13 foot range......I am guessing he is up there about 25 - 30 feet.

Silver Sands was firing this morning and yesterday with 4.2 - 5.4 conditions and logo to mast high waves. The trade winds are back and conditions this winter are like those seen in Barbados 10 - 20 years ago.

Not many on the water this morning due to a lot of sore hands and heads after the gang sailed all day, then rocked it up into the wee hours at McBrides last night!

Perfect 4.2 day in Barbados....too bad Mike only had a 4.7

Barbados Battle Wound

Now that is what I call a bicep bruise.

Mike's arm after it met his boom in the rinse cycle during Barbado-thon 2006. A logo high macker closed out on Mike while water starting in the impact zone at the reef.

Latest report from Mike is 5.7 Gaastra Manic on the Fanatic NewWave 81 in sweet side off conditions this morning, with head to logo high waves. Mike has extended his stay until Wednesday due to the www.windguru.com Barbados forecast. Saturday through Wednesday calls for side off 20 - 27 knots and waves up to 4.5m (15'). The reef is going to be huge!

9 for 9 at Silver Sands

Barbado-thon 2006 is off to a great start!

Mike reports scoring 9 straight days of wave riding and jumping. The first seven were on 4.7 or 5.3 2006 Gaastra Manic and Fanatic NewWave 81! Yesterday and today he was flying on the new 6.2 Gaastra Poison or 5.7 Manic and the awesome Fanatic FreeWave 98. He took delight in planing before most kiters!

Things are looking epic for later this week and early next week with 25 knots and a big swell on the way to Barbados. Mike is talking about extending a few days until Glenn arrives to take advantage of the forecast 4m+ waves with 11 second intervals (mast high at the Silver Sands reef). Glenn's countdown is now at 11 days!

That is our mate, U.K. Dave "the Wave" (aka Padders) in action a couple days ago.

Strong Start

Tabou/Gaastra team rider Thomas Traversa gets the year off to a strong start at the 2006 London Indoor event with a second place finish.

A Tabou 3S and an 2006 Gaastra Manic......a very sweet combination for waves, freestyle, flatwater, freeride, and pretty much anything between.

Should I remove the vent plug?

Your board has a vent plug to allow trapped air out in cases where it will experience drastic changes in pressure. Air travel, driving over mountains, or sitting in a hot car are three cases when you should remove the plug. But I have seen more boards ruined because the vent was left out while sailing, than I have seen blown up and delamed because the plug left in. Most boards have the vent right in front of the mast track. A handy place to put your vent when you remove it is in your Chinook Two Bolt Mast Plate. You can lock it in there, you won't lose it and it will be impossible to go sailing with out noticing that it is missing.

Barbado-thon 2006

GAME ON!

Guess the time?

No sun in the sky (which turns an erie blue), full moon behind, it must be at least......1:30? Yep, went on a couple of long cross country skiis, and snapped this shot of the scenery just before it got dark, at 1:30. This is just on the arctic circle, about 50 kms from the Finland/Russia border.

A little closer the equator, Mike reports 4.7 and head high waves from Barbados today. My countdown is at 16 days until I head down!

Up, up, and away in 2006

Happy New Year to everyone, lets all hope for a windy and warm 2006.

Glenn is just back from Finland, and Mike just kicked Barbado-thon 2006 this morning, and from the sounds of it, getting some wind on the very first day. Warm and windy for him today, however Glenn is glad to just be seeing daylight after nearly 3 weeks of darkness! I will post a Finland picture or two, but it was a great trip. Did a lot of snowboarding, cross country skiing, and traveling around the country in a 1982 Saab meeting my better half's family.

Does anyone have some pictures from a Christmas sailing trip? If so, send them to me at glenn@windsurfing-direct.com and I will get them up in the gallery ASAP.