Banks Time

We just returned from the annual beach vacation with the in laws. It was fun. There was no drama, everyone just relaxed and I got in some much needed windsurfing in Duck, NC. I also, finally, got a bran spanking new harness (KaKine Tabu) so now I can donate the circa 1980something, pink and yellow, Windcatcher harness to the VIMS Sail and Paddle Club.

Over the course of the week I sailed three times. The first was Sunday the 6th. I went to Currituck Sound and launched from the deck of North Beach Outfitters (NBO). According the the WET site, this is the only launch in Duck. It was a little tight getting my longboard around the hairpin turns of the wooden stairs and wheelchair ramps to get to the gate that the very nice young lady from NBO gladly unlocked for me. It was a little weird because the launch consisted of a set of stairs that descended from the shopping deck directly into the water. The last step was treacherously slippery with algae. Once in the warm Currituck water there were patches of emergent vegetation where I wedged my board, while I fetched my sail. Then I had a fun session on the sound in the 15 to 20mph SSW wind.

The NBO is a kayak supply and rental store. We also brought a kayak and so we didn't spend a dime there. My boy didn't have his personal flotation device (PFD), but the nice lady (didn't get her name) at NBO gladly lent us one. I offered to rent it but she was totally cool and maintained that I should just borrow it. I'd really like to go back to her store sometime and spend some $$ merely because she was so helpful.





The other two days that I windsurfed were in the ocean. The first was Monday, July 7th. The wind was side shore (SSW at 10 - 20mph) at the Bayberry Street access. The water was chilly and blue. This was my first time windsurfing in the ocean and I was a little nervous but I got out and had a splended time without incident. I sailed from 11 to 1 and then 2 to 4. The swell was beginning to build from Bertha and I thoroughly enjoyed the ascents and descents. I quickly found myself far from shore in inky blue water with dolphins and several cannonball jellyfish (Stomolophus meleagris). When I came in I caught some nice wave rides and got back out every time without incident.



The only downside to my session at the beach was the sand. I got sand in between my mast extension and my mast and they are still currently stuck together. I tried to use the boom for leverage to twist them apart with fruitless results. When I get the time, I'd like to try the same technique, but this time with a strap wrench on the mast extension. I'll post the results of these efforts later.



On the 10th the swell really started picking up to overhead. The wind became light at 5-10mph from the SW, which in Duck is directly offshore. So, against my better judgment, I rigged up and went for a sail. I waited for the sets to subside into what I thought was a lull. I jumped in and then came another BIG F-ing set. I greeted the first breaker in the water, on the wrong side (inshore) of my rig. My UltraCat hit me like a Lincoln Navigator. I quickly caught my breath and re-positioned myself to the offshore side of the rig for the rest of the waves. My wife and father-in-law tried to help, but I told them to get clear, so they wouldn't also get plowed over, and they did. I held the rear footstrap and waited out the set. Then I got on for a lazy sail over huge swells. After about an hour of that I called it quits and went in.

I regretted not having my old surf board, but there were plenty of boogie boards available so I went for some boogie time for the rest of the week. The wind remained light and there was frequent rain.



Now I just gotta get back out so I can get my new harness wet! I got it at the Hatteras Island Sail Shop in Waves. The father and son windsurfer/kite boarders were super helpful and their shop had a TON of gear. The place is on the sound and they have rentals, lessons, and all kinds of cool stuff. My only recommendation is to call first, especially if you have to drive from afar. Their hours are a little wacky, but I think it's worth it since the next shop in Avon is another 50 miles south, which is quite significant with todays gas prices.

Windsurfing Rocks!

My boy is amped about learning to wind surf and he's only 3. Here's a picture from early October.

Fight terrorism, obesity, recession and environmental ruin with the mighty BICYCLE

I’d like to be healthier and burn less gasoline by riding my bike to work, but our roads are not bicycle friendly. Most of the roads in Southeast Virginia have little or no shoulder and they’re edged with gravel dust that can pitch your bike into the ditch and you into the path of a truck. Furthermore, some drivers are downright mean to bicyclists. This tyranny of the automobile fleeces us of the benefits of physical and mental health, environmental and economic improvement, and good strategy in the “war on terror”. It’s downright un-American not to share the road.

Whenever politicians address the American obesity epidemic, they mostly discuss junk food in school cafeterias, which is important. However, much more needs to be done to address the sedentary citizenry. In Virginia the only physical education requirement for the entire 4 years of high school is 2 PE credits. With standards so low, cars to take us everywhere, and more entertainment at the touch of a button than ever, we are compromised yet we don’t realize it.

Imagine if kids had safe bike lanes and pedestrian greenways to school. That would take a bite out of obesity. As it is, our local schools don’t provide bike racks for locking up, because they don’t want to encourage the dangerous behavior of kids actually riding their bikes to school. Frankly, I’m glad because it is too dangerous.

This is unfortunate because we’re missing out on some major benefits. Physical activity improves one’s mood, reduces risk of chronic disease, improves sleep, and strengthens your heart and lungs.

Physical activity is also mentally healthful, in that it improves executive brain function. Linked to the frontal cortex, executive brain function guides complex behavior, decision-making and response control. Regular exercise is also associated with fewer incidences of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

Exercise enhances social health as well. There’s camaraderie among bicyclists. Whenever I ride a trail, fellow bicyclists are usually cordial, since we’re all outside together and not de-personalized in our cars. Probably the endorphins help also.

Besides, Mother Earth would breathe a huge sigh of relief if we decided to ride bikes more. How many billions of gallons less gas? My conservative back of the envelope calculation yields 39 billion gallons per year, or about 778 billion pounds of carbon dioxide per year.

Car exhaust is nasty. Not only does it contain a lot of poisonous carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, but it’s also full of corrosive NOX gases that rain as acid, kill trees, and dissolve ancient statues.

Recently, there was an editorial from the associated press where health and environmental issues were connected. They analyzed the benefits of Americans walking to work. Here’s an excerpt:

“Health experts and climate scientists propose that we can fix the obesity epidemic and cut carbon emissions at the same time if all Americans walk for half an hour a day instead of drive. The payoffs, they note, are huge, but they concede they are unlikely to happen.”

Speaking of payoffs, if we rode our bikes to work and school it would make good strategic sense in the war on terror. Pedestrian access could reduce our dependence on foreign oil, which would hit our enemies in their pocket books. More importantly, our increased mental, societal, physical and environmental well being would strengthen us in the face of our shadowy foe.

Speaking of pocket books, check out the one on this guy. Oil rich Prince Walid bin Talal of Saudi Arabia just paid $300 million for a brand new Airbus for him and his entourage.

The bicycle is the new “smart bomb”. This project needs money, and more importantly, the awareness and willpower of society. The politicians won’t do it for us. They just squabble over how to pay for yet another lane on the interstate.

Here’s a chance to save ourselves, save the environment, save the economy, and win the war on terror. Practically, it’s a no-brainer. Realistically, it will be hard.

We’ve overcome bigger obstacles in our short history as a nation, and we can overcome this. I only hope that we don’t have to degenerate too much before we realized the new “smart bomb” is right in the garage. We just need the pedestrian friendly infrastructure to implement it.

Capitol Trail http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/newcaptrail_faq.asp
Biking in Virginia http://www.virginiadot.org/programs/bk-default.asp