LINED UP AND CONVERSATING

It had been about two weeks since my last surf session so when I checked the online report and the buoy's read 3.9'@ 4-6 seconds with a south west wind I figured it was worth a go out. To all the non surfing folks out there those wind and swell measurements on a sunny 50 degree day in February translate to 2 hours in the water and a whole lot of fun. When you get a day like that smack in the middle of winter in Maine there's good vibes all around. Dogs are getting walked, kids are running around and just about everyone is walking around with that dopey, good weather perma grin plastered on their face. I suited up and paddled out and immediately caught a couple of fun little zippers. It was during a lull when a dude on a paddle board came out settling just off to my left in the line up . I said hi and commented on the stand up paddle  board he was riding as it was a little different than the usual size and shape that you see out on the water. I asked how it surfed and he replied,"I don't know, I just finished building it and this is my first time out". Nice man, "first paddle board ?" I ask. "No, first board ever!" We proceed to talk boards and shape for the next few minutes while alternately catching waves. Conversations in the line up are usually pretty broken by nature. You'll be in the middle of a full on conversation about the last movie you watched when a set rolls through and one or both of you catch the wave, ride it in, paddle back out and resume the chat you were having like nothing happened. Some of the most interesting and memorable conversations are often broken up by 5-10 seconds of surfing, which in turn makes the conversations that much more memorable. Just talking to this guy who designed, built and surfed his own board was pretty inspiring. One more broken conversation and one more session where I left the ocean more relaxed and stoked than I went in. Thanks for reading.

VIENNA SAUSAGE, OPEN WATER AND AL GORE'S INTERNET

Not only did big Al single handedly create the internet he also created global warming; thereby extending my fishing season exponentially. I may have gotten my facts wrong in that opening statement (I actually created the internet, you're welcome) but what IS a fact is, if the weather keeps doing what it's doing, ice fishing will become a thing of the past. I'm not a huge fan of drilling holes in the ice and waiting for that flag to tip but it beats sitting home watching golf on the idiot box and finding reasons not to paint the master bathroom walls. Just a random example by the way, egg shell white exists for a reason. For me ice fishing exists solely for the excuse to go outside, hang with your friends, and cook some deceased animal over a fire. No matter what you're eating, it always tastes twice as good cooked outdoors. Vienna sausage? Fire it up! Spam? You put enough mustard on it and you'd swear you're eating a flattened hot dog. And don't forget the pinnacle of pulverized animal byproducts, the polska kielbasa (no mustard required, although appreciated). Anyone of these delights cooked over a camp stove or even better, a sterno flame, you're in ice fishing heaven. All the open water this time of year has got me fired up to drag the kayak out of the basement, reline the fishing poles, and oh, wait, forget all that I just watched the weather and it's going to be 12 tomorrow. Get a pack of ball parks, some shiners and just a hint of ambition and let's drill some holes. Thanks for reading.

TDT FREE T-SHIRT CONTEST (because, let's face it, no ones's gonna pay for one of these).

More shameless self promotion and  a completely unoriginal marketing idea from the folks at TDT. Alright, technically you need employees to be "folks" but I thought that might make it sound more legit. Here's the rules: I'm a huge (and freakishly tall movie geek). Come up with an alternative line or ad lib on to one of the most quoted lines from one of the best movies of all time JAWS. "We're gonna need a bigger boat". No disrespect to the late Roy Scheider , and I don't think you can improve on perfection but give it a shot. As far as the rules go, be creative. And obviously spelling doesn't count (it clearly doesn't on this blog). The contest? will be open until 6:00 pm this Friday and the winner will be judged by the folks at TDT (just me really) at 6:01 pm and will be notified within a certain amount of time. Said T-shirt will arrive at your doorstep shortly thereafter. After it goes through the mail etc.....

Not how you land from a triple.

As horrible as this looks both of these riders, Trey Canard on the #41 Honda and Ryan Morias on the #65 Yamaha are both predicted to make full recoveries.  When I first saw this my heart literally dropped. Anytime you see something like this it's awful but being a fan of this sport and knowing a little about these two riders in particular I couldn't have been more bummed. Ryan and Trey are two of the truly good guys in the sport of motocross. I know sports figures shouldn't be role models but I would have no problem with my kids looking up to these two polite and hard working gentlemen. They are both great spokesman and ambassadors for the sport I love and have been a fan of for the last 25+ years. If you've never seen a race, check one out and get to know the personalities a little bit. And when Trey and Ryan return I'll guarantee you'll be pulling for them. Get well soon boys. The next race airs on Sunday @12:00 on CBS.

You can't breathe through Denny's hash browns?

Motocross is my favorite sport. If we grew up together, we either watched, or road tripped to a motocross race at one time together. Those roadies have provided me with some of the best memories of my life. From blacking out the lights on a tour through the Howe cavern's in upstate New York (I can still hear my father telling us to quit it while he was trying not to laugh), to my buddy Hank turning beat red and nearly choking to death on a quadruple order of hash brown's at Denny's. Alright, I need to elaborate on the last one. Denny's hash brown's are the holy grail of breakfast sides as far as my boy Hank is concerned. Forget about the  Lumberjack or some Moons Over Mi-Hammy. Hank could care less about these breakfast staples. It's hash browns and lots of em' He's sitting, knife in one hand fork in the other, business ends of each pointing at the ceiling waiting for the waitress to take our order. My wife (girlfriend at the time) puts her order in, my buddy Steve  orders, then me. All the usual questions come from the waitress. What kind of toast? How would you like your eggs? etc... Then she gets to Hank. And for you? Four orders of hash browns! Dead silence and a somewhat funny/puzzled look comes across her face. That's four orders of hash brown's? Yup, Hank replies in a somewhat annoyed way. You really need to know Hank to fully appreciate this but I think you're starting to get the picture. All he cares about are his hash browns and how quickly they land in front of him. So, ordering is done, and yes we do make fun of him for both his order and the  determined and completely disturbing look in his eyes. The food arrives a short time later, although not nearly quick enough for the hash brown junkie sitting next to me and that's when it goes down. And by it I mean the savagery Hank unleashes on this poor pile of shredded potatoes. He lowers his head about 6 inches from the plate and mechanically starts shoveling this golden brown tater mound into his gullet. Now we're already staring in disbelief and cracking up when Hank's erratic breathing sucks an errant piece of spud down his windpipe. This is where the real comedy starts. He starts coughing. Everyone knows the "something went down the wrong pipe" cough, right? Well, it usually doesn't happen in front of three good friends and a packed Sunday morning breakfast crowd in Denny's. Some other tables start to notice what's happening while our buddy is coughing like he's got the plague and turning a completely unnatural shade of red/purple. The whole restaurant finally goes silent. Except for Hank's relentless coughing and his 3 "friends" who are turning the same shade of red/purple from being doubled over laughing at him. Hank eventually cleared his throat (no thanks to us) and finished every molecule of the quad hash brown order,  scarring any witnesses to this disturbing scene for life. I strayed off my original point from this blog being that motocross is my favorite sport. Now Looking back on this and the endless other stories that have come from this sport I love so much I know why. It's provided me with a life time of amazing experiences often times before the races even take place.

Hello! Buddy the Elf!

The idea for this product and the subsequent company that's growing out of it has been a constant source of fun and challenges to work through. Fun being the key word. Keep it ELF! Huh?  This was my response the first time my brother-in-law and fishing bud Paul dropped this anagram on me. If it's not EASY, LUCRATIVE and FUN why do it? Simple right? Yup. So, keeping ELF in mind, I've been making contacts and moving forward with getting thatdangthing/TDT off the ground. From ordering T-shirts. How many? What color? If you get 48 they're cheaper. To calling lawyers. What's the company? National? local? This is going to cost $$$$$$$$$!? Every phone call so far has resulted in talking to helpful, intelligent people and has raised twice as many questions as I had before I made the calls. So far the whole thing has been somewhat EASY and definitely FUN. This blog being the mostest, funnest part so far. As far as LUCRATIVE that's still up in the air. Thank you to everyone that's helped so far. And if anyone has any small business advice/comments/anecdotes keep them to yourself. Now that was FUN.(sarcasm) Thanks for reading.

Mountain biking to go surfing: The Braindead Bi-athalon

This surf session has been about 1 year in the making. There's a spot that we've been checking for the last year or so that only works on the right size swell with the proper direction and enough size to make it break properly. Even the name of the spot is cool, "Hydraulics". Just sounds like some waters moving when you say it. After the checking of buoys and forecasts and a phone call from my buddy, Chris, it was shaping up to come together for this fickle spot to really line up and start firing. Here's where the mountain bikes come in. The easiest access to the water for this spot is through a private yacht club sailboat launch. And the only hassle free place to park is in a town beach lot about a mile away, enter the bikes. We roll up and check the surf to see, hell yeah, it was clean and peeling! Next step is to ditch the boards over the guardrail and bring the trucks down to the beach lot and suit up. Hop on the bikes, pedal the mile back to the yacht club, ditch the bikes behind the yacht club storage shed and jump in the water. The day was already a classic before we caught the first wave. And yeah, we scored.