River People

100 miles east of a slaby, sharky reef I'll never surf, lies an island discovered by two of my friends. A convergence of river channels meet at the tail end of this island creating a seam that sucks you to the bottom. A seam that has become renowned far and wide amongst a tribe. A small tribe of completely stoked and dedicated kayakers. A tribe with more aloha than any I've known. This seam has become the annual gathering place for these people. The Weasel Gathering. Catching up with friends, sleeping under the stars, sending smoke signals to the heavens from the island as thanks and trying to become one with the river are the only real objectives. It's a strange and wonderful way of breath holding and swimming with the fishes.

the peanut gallery

fully tranced

Bounty

in the ebb and flow of life,
this summer has been flowing....over.

On a recent long weekend to the land of white capes we stopped for breakfast from the bush. The Umpqua River Marionberries were going off... the waves were not. Still, nice to share some bowly drops with old timer Terry on the first long period wnw in a good while. It's great to be back in our old neck of the woods, even if only for the summer.

breakfast buffet

double over ankle peelers, midweek morning, not a sole in sight,
looks like logging for breakfast.

Waking Life

it's nice to be up at first light again.
a fleeting moment of clarity and calm
between the dream world and consciousness.
(0.8ft. slack tide, bait fish surface at the inlet)

PRide

Perhaps a little misguided at times, but no shortage of American pride in these here parts of Nor Fla. Happy fourth.

Wavewise:
A little pulse of storm surf pushed through Sunday. 5 @ 8 crossed up, chop and slop. Enough to get some fun drops and race out onto the face for a few well placed cutties if you happened into the the right peak at the right time while paddling in the mini-maelstrom . Actually, it was the biggest surf I've seen in the short time I've been here. Fast enough to get my rails hissing and my fins whistling so I was a happy camper. Can't ask for much more in the summer doldrums I suppose.

MOOOooooo

I'm happy to report that the herding mentality is alive and well on the 1st Coast. A little poking around and a healthy dose of dumb luck put me onto an exposed low tide sand bar at a sharky inlet. The mini peelers were doing their best impression of a sand bottom point down the bar and into the channel. Granted summer is upon us and the only waves of consequence are heat waves. Still, the little summer offerings were glassy and nicely shaped and it was just me and 10 feet of foam while others desperate to get wet congregated like cattle around the pier up the coast.


photo by injun joe

Childhood Stoke

I recently unearthed a box of old photos.
My very first water shots (plus one)...

These were taken with the bright yellow Minolta Weathermatic camera I got for my 14th birthday. They must be from the summer of '85, the year I transitioned from a sponge to a surfboard and had my first stand up rides. I love the expressions of pure stoke in the top two. Doesn't really matter that it is waist deep and ankle high. Joy is where you find it.