A Big Surfers Reflection

i need to get off my ass and finish the 3 boards i started .... if i dont finish at least 1 of them i will be ashamed

@ Roger - Mitch will be with with us on Hogan Sunday, as he indicates. He wants to so some crazy wakeskate thing first, though! My son James, below, and Mitch will be shredding.

@ Robert - what is the super secret prototype!? I'm sending up the 4'6" Chili Pepper - 250-300 pound worthy, at 4 pounds.

@ Frank and Roger. Foot and fin placement is one of the deviations we make from ocean style boards. I think it was Jerry Price of Shred Stixx that referred to surf style wakesurfs as a tip with a tail. Frank is accurate. If your back foot is too far forward, you get less turning power for the power you apply to the board with your foot, it's a reduction in leverage.

@ Frank - 1 board a week! You're slacking!

started out fast and then got busy with work blah blah blah .... its sad and i have no real excuse .... roger i got a wetsuit that you can wear as long as your not much bigger then me LOL .... its a 3/2 oniel and i wore it when i was 350 .... i got back into ocean surfing and dropped down to 280 4 years ago and then got married again moved to oakley which made santa cruz an extra 20 minute drive which seemed to put it out of reach for all the time surfing and played coach for kids sports and grew again and now want to play hard again at 53

@jeff - This is all rumors and innuendo, but....

I heard there was this big hairy dude, something like a cross between a wookie and a hairless sasquatch, anyway, he is rep for TWP and said he/TWP was working on a secret prototype "Big Guy" board.

I have no other information, and have not details on the board and have not seen it. But I am told it will be there.

Also a new board from Lakewakes that looks very interesting, designed for big guys.

A "Big Frank" version of the EZ-1 from Props.

Plus several other boards that may not work for frank, but work for guys over 200.

All that to say, we have room for at least 5 more guys. If you ever wanted to demo some boards, and get a good selection, I don't think there will ever be an opportunity to do that, and as a bonus you get to jump into water that could cause your gonads to suck up all the way into your chin, like this guy:



Or this guy:

Let me know how to get a hold of you and Monday sounds fun. I have an appointment in Vallejo at 10:00 then I should be free. I need to learn more about foot placement.

Robert... Those pics are awesome!!!!!

roger, that will be awesome if you can get out there on monday.

im looking at my chin in the mirror after being in the water so long last night .... whew .... needless to say i will be able to shave

roger i will pm you my phone number .... we dont have to leave right at 12 .... holland riverside marina or at my house in oakley

that second picture gives me the willies robert .... is that the paradise version of bigfoot?

frank, you need to watch star wars

you telling me your ok with that? plus your profile pic hmmmmmmmmmm LOL

@ Robert "Big Frank" Glassed and almost ready. We are trying to get one more done. I also have an EZ-1 at my house that will make the trip. Might be bringing something up for RJ too. Not a fish, but a board that we made for another kid. Could be cool for RJ or one of the smaller kids to try...if they are allowed on the boat.

Sounds great. Worse case is I will test later and ship back to you or something.

asylum boardz is sending up a Mojo Grande for you folks to test. We get to ride it first, though (nah, nah, nah, nah, nah! )

The design elements would appear to make the board fast down-the-line - 3/4" max depth concave, about 3/4" nose and tail rocker, measured from the bottom of the concave and it weighs 5 pounds, 6.5 ounces ready to ride.

280'ish

Robert, What is our head count looking like?

Sorry guys, I was out for a couple of days. A close cousin died in a car crash this weekend, I traveled down to SoCal to be with the Family. Back home now.

I believe we are at 9 or 10 guys, other than me. Plus a few extra family members. So with 3 boats, we should have plenty of surfing. The weather is looking amazing for this time of year, clear and no wind.



I have some boards that have been sent to me that I need to open up and look at, getting excited. We put a deposit on the 44' party barge, so that is cool. Also got my trailer out to make sure all was working to keep the "spooners" warm.

I will need to talk to you and frank by tomorrow via email to discuss logistics with the boat. As far as surfing sunday, I cannot be there, I have a funeral to go to. But if Dennis was staying I would be happy to let him use my boat and keep pulling people.

Sorry to hear of your loss Robert.

I am planning on bringing up 5 boards with me.

Sounds fantastic. I would say we have room for 3 or 4 more guys. Check this out:

http://www.lakeorovillemarina.com/watercraftdetail.cfm/PatioBoat

Notice the bathroom and shower with HOT water. So if you are freezing, you can rotate into the hot water for a minute. Amy will have some type of hot drinks, plus soft drinks and snacks. Then we will head over to Woodstock's pizza, where I have a large area reserved, pizza and soft drinks on wake9.

We are going to have to make this an annual event. Maybe end of october though, so as to not push the weather issue. It usually starts raining right at 11/1 here.

I think making this an anual event would be awesome!

Ok guys. So I was working how we were going to get this done on Saturday. We are going to be staging with the huge 44' party barge wet bar, which should be fun. But with 3 boats I want to be able to have all of out there at the same time without running over each other's wakes. So check out this pic of the very north end of lake oroville:



The green pentagon is where the barge will be and we will have separate directions to surf in. The good thing is that all of these paths are fairly protected from wind and surfable even though the lake is low. The south path may get a bit choppy if there is wind but is still fairly smooth when windy. If wind picks up the south path would move to the red area, then we would be completely sheltered from wind.

Can't wait, gonna be fun. I think my boat will be setup goofy and the other 2 regular.

I am so wishing I was able to make this trip!!!!! Sounds like it is coming together beautifully!! Nice work Robert. If we have a fat boy convention next year I will be able to come with a bit more advance notice. And I second that we should have it mid October! You guys have fun and I can't wait to see all the pics and read the reviews of all the boards! I am waiting to make my Christmas list until after the results of this event are in !!!

I was just thinking, we are probably gonna piss off a few fisherman on saturday. D'oh!

I am thinking 10/23/2010 for the 2nd Annual Wake9 Polar Bear Wakesurf Spectacle

I think I have to call it "Spectacle" instead of "Spectacular" because Dennis told me he was going to be changing in and out of his wetsuit on the barge and he is too old to hide under a towel anymore. I said, "Well what do you wear under your wetsuit?" To which Dennis replied, "Just Dennis, baby, just Dennis."

and you guys think me and dtw are weird.....

Wow Ragboy that is NOT quite they way I put it today. But you are right Just Dennis under the wetsuit.

Close enough. ;-)

so robert where is this other launch site? roger is going to follow me up in his car so we can launch and ill leave my truck there and roger can drive to your boat and ill drive the boat there ..... that way my truck will be there sunday and his car will be at your place saturday night and i will not have to drive at all saturday night and i can actually have a few!!

bidwell canyon marina? in town right side of damn .... 801 bidwell canyon oroville?

so it looks like i just go north west out of the marina and turn left at the first arm and that heads me to your marina? actually thats the rendevouz point aint it?

Yes, bidwell canyon marina. I thought you were staying over to Sunday? I got you a slip for your boat so when we come in on Saturday you will just dock your boat at the slip and leave it over night. It is in the same covered, gated, secure slips that my boats are in. You are actually going to be next to my boat, I think. So you should be set. You don't have to remove the boat til sunday. Check your email, I sent you several messages. Here are some directions for you: ;-)

The video for this better be GOOD.

yes robert im staying over .... thats why im leaving my truck at bidwell, i will use the berth overnight .... roger is not staying overnight so its cool that he can take his car to lime saddle so i dont have to drive back to bidwell saturday evening

Great, I will see if my younger brother can maybe go down with you so you have some help. We can work that out when you get here. Can you launch at 9:30 to be at lime saddle by 10?

looks like im going to leave around 6:30 so i should be at bidwell by 9 at the very very latest .... so being at lime saddle should be no problem .... i got roger map quest directions to lime saddle from bidwell as he will help me launch .... everything looks cool other then the fact first trip with no kids ever .... sniff

How long will it take me to get from one end to the other in the car?

~ 25 mins from marina to marina by car. About the same by boat.

Could you give a quick update here or on your site about times and locations(addresses). This thread is so long I want to make sure everything is straight in my mind.

I will post and send out email in a few hours when I get to my desk. Had a prop incident with a steel cable. Fixing.

Sorry so late, but with the Funeral stuff and the prop issue, been nuts. I will be posting official info here in about 20 mins.

http://wake9.com/blogs/blog/tag/polar-bear/

Frank and slimjim, check you email soon, I will be sending you info.

Thought I would post some pics of the barge we took today.

There is actually a slide on the back of this thing. Dennis, I will give you $5 to get video of you going "Wee" down the slide. and a doctor pepper.

I can't get up there,so you guys have a good time,and take lots of pics........

Just a quick note. Thanks to all that made today possible. It was a great day. I will let Robert post all the info but thanks to Wake9 and those that brought boats and boards. Those that did not show up missed a great trip and a great opportunity.

I know. I was thinking all day how I should have been there!!!! We got 3 inches of snow today. A high temp of 34 degree's its now a balmy 24 outside.
Can't wait to see the pics!