Proof that Santa SUP’s
Nov 1st, 2007 by Bob
I was feeling a bit like Ralphie in the movie “A Christmas Story” only my wish wasn’t for a Red Rider BB gun. I was trying to figure out a way to afford a wetsuit for the winter season but the boss, a.k.a. Grinch, was reminding me of all the other expenses that we have at the moment. She went so far as to say that if I bought a wetsuit “it better be warm because you’ll be sleeping in the shed”. It’s been two weeks since I was last on my board and the thought of going all winter without it was really getting to me.
Today was Christmas……Santa sent me his now redundant wetsuit. A brand spanking new ripcurl 4/3. Thanks to DW for his suggestion that Bill try the gore-tex drysuit. I’ll be heading out this weekend. Hopefully Linter and I can hook up down in RI to check out the waves from TS Noel that are going to hitting our shores.
Of course the 1st thing I had to do was try it on…..OK…now I know I definitely need to drop a few more pounds. XXXL and the boss is snickering as she comments ” How flattering, it’s nice that black is slimming”. Damn good thing I recently lost a bunch of weight or they would have had to skin a few more neoprenes.
Thanks again Santa
If you guys are going to be heading out in RI, myself and another would love to join you in the stand up area, as their aren’t too many others that do SUP in little Rhody.
Hi Brian,
We’ll have to hook up. This weekend is beginning to look too big though. At least for this newb. I was originally planning on hitting the Chatham harbor break on Saturday but the wave forecast is now showing 24 ft at the break. I’d be a statistic for sure.
Linter and I are probably getting together Sunday morning down around Pt Judith. Let me know if you’re interested. I’ll need to get back for the Pats/Indy game though….:) Go Pats!
Bob
Glad it fits you, it was pretty snug on me. Keep the zipper lubricated, and make sure you have the suit pulled all the way up before you try to zip it–it should be giving you a wedgie. Once it’s zipped it will relax. You also should shrug your shoulders together.
I found an extra pair of booties, but too late to toss them in. You’ll want some. If you can find them get the split toe ones–should be $30 for good ones or you might find some inexpensive ones at a big sporting goods store–I’ve bought them for five bucks, but they were a bit junky. Split toe helps your balance a bit since big toe pressure is one of the micro adjustments our bodies do to balance. .
I’m headed out to go paddle the Wilamette, or more precisely, Multnomah channel. Pretty nice water, and it’s beautiful. I’m going to bring a new camera I got for doing the board comparison and other wet shooting. Pretty amazing–it’s the Olympus Stylus 770SW. Not terribly expensive ($330 on Amazon) , 7.1 megapixels for still shots, shoots video to the maximum capacity of your SD card (which should be about 60 minutes) at 640×480, 320×240 or 160×120 @ 15fps with audio, WATERPROOF to 35 feet and shockproof to a five foot drop to concrete.
Looks like a regular compact point and shoot until you pick it up and realize the case is not just thin aluminum over plastic (or silver-painted plastic), but heavy stainless steel. I’ve been told you can stick it in your pocket and sit on it (it takes up to 220 pounds of pressure), but the LCD screen looks vulnerable.
It’s also got image stabilization and a pressure detector that records depth or altitude along with the photo record.
I think this is going to be just the ticket for getting good video and stills on the water. And being so bulletproof, I think it’s my kind of camera. I suspect they’ll get a lot cheaper once they’ve been out for a while–this model is pretty new.
Hey Bill, I have the same camera. Let me know if you find a source for a nice strap that floats. First time out with mine, panic set in when I realized one good wave could knock the camera out of my hands and it would sink like a rock.
I ordered the Olympus floating strap and it was a joke. It was a tiny wrist strap with worthless floatation, not big enough to float it.
By the way, with my first water proof camera, a Pentax, I was slack about following the instructions to soak the camera in fresh water for X amount of time and then drying for X amount of time. That camera died about the 5th time I used it. Water poured out of the housing. Oops.
I’m treating my Olympus way better.
Snug is a good word.
I’m heading out after work to get some gloves and booties. I won’t need them just yet (water is at 60 deg) but I will soon. I don’t think I’ll get a hood just yet. I know it will screw with my balance and my hearing is bad enough as it is.
That camera sounds sweet. I was looking at the one that cammar uses but may put that one on my xmas list. I left my canon A85 out in the rain and was lucky it only screwed up the flash. I could use something bulletproof myself.
I took the Camera with me out on the Columbia yesterday. I made a temprary floating strp by cutting a chunk off from a a block of EPS foam I had in the back of the truck–it’s the tough foam that’s used to make foam airplanes by hot-wiring from templates. Unfortunately I was using a little penknife to cut the foam and wound up sticking myself in the leg. Clumsy of me. Bled like a stuck pig.
Toasty warm this weekend in the new wetsuit. Water at 59, air at 50. I spent 3 hours on , and unfortunately in, the water. Actually had some nice sets coming in to Plymouth beach but my head was playing games on me so my success was limited. Lots of fun though. I’m going to try and start getting out at least every other day for and hour or so.