July 2005 - N.C. update

Now that Tropical storm Franklin has made it's way toward Bermuda, the wave size has decreased. Currently we turn our focus to the African coast for upcoming storms...

On Sunday Rodrigo Miranda and Jimmy Blumenfeld, our mission surfers, both made it through their amateur heats. Rodrigo got put out in his second heat, but Jimmy made it through to the quarter-finals of the pro division. Today Rodrigo made it through one heat in the amateurs before getting put out in the semi-finals for a 5th place finish. Jimmy ended up getting 3rd in his quarter-final in the pros to win $300 cash and an equal 9th placing, and got 2nd in the amateurs, winning a brand new board bag, Dragon sunglasses, a DaKine backpack, and a $200 gift certificate for Reef. The waves were in the waist to chest high range with semi-choppy surface conditions. A full moon morning high tide made for mushy shorepound before the waves started breaking more outside on the lower tide.

Until the next storm...

M

July 2005

Finally sunday is here. A day to unwind, catch up from the weekend and update...

Friday through today was some of the best surfing in Florida. A consistent swell from Tropical storm Franklin lasted until today. There was some left over swell today but they were very small comparatively. My new board is great. I had a fun time during the two sessions at A street yesterday.
The reports from North Carolina came in yesterday from the team. In short, the guys got a good day at OBX on Thursday. The surf there was about waist to chest and glassy. There are some pics in the gallery under the surf album. On Friday the guys got several hours of kiting in at Cape Hatteras when the wind came up to @ 25mph for the expression session. I am still waiting on pictures. I will have the footage up on the site soon. As for Saturday, Jimmy Blumenfeld, one of our team riders, beat Rob Machado in the first heat of the Planet Reef Pro surf contest. At the time I received the call, the second heat was in 2o minutes. I should have more details as they come in. Unfortunately Rodrigo got knocked out of the first heat. Sundays details will be updated soon...Stay tuned.

M

July 2005

Wooohooo!

I am so stoked on this season so far in the sunshine state. Today I was thinking I couldn't take it anymore with the heat...OMG! It is sooo hot in Florida. I have a new definition of hot and how much one person can sweat...But the one thing that keeps me here, as I write the newest update at 12:51, is the hot bed of tropical development in the Caribbean and South east Atlantic.
As of 11pm, Tropical storm Fraklin is getting ready to spin its way up the coast of Florida by NHC predictions. We'll have to wait and see what Ol' Frank has to say about it. I have an eye on the buoy reports. I am ready to get some waves on my newly acquisitioned surfboard from the day at the Ponce Inlet during Hurricane Dennis...
Meanwhile the boys are in North Carolina at the Fly to...Red Bull comp. I will pin them down tomorrow to get a report from Wrightsville Beach. I am dying to hear about the craziness that is going on at the Real Kiteboarding camp...Until then, I wish you all where here...

Stay tuned
M

July 2005

Big weekend ahead...

Today the crew heads out to North Carolina for the Red Bull Fly to.....competition at Cape Hatteras for Thursday-Friday and The Reef Pro/Am competition on Saturday-Sunday.

They should have an interesting 4 days of action. On Thursday-Friday they will be filming with last years top place finisher, Cameron Dietrich. This year Cameron heads north from his tropical home base Caberete to retain his title. We look forward to hanging with Pete Cabrinha and Cameron as they unveil the new Cabrinha Crossbow. We will have in-depth coverage of the mayhem on Thursday night and the expression session on Friday.

Then on Friday night, they head south for the Reef Pro/Am comp on Saturday-Sunday where our riders Rodrigo Miranda and Jimmy Blumenfeld will compete as pro in hopes of capturing the "baby fund" of $10,000 green backs. With a newborn on the way, Rodrigo has the motivation and the skill to capture it all. And if the latest Florida E.S.A. comps are any barometer, Rodrigo and Jimmy will take 1st and 2nd like they have in the recent contest. Keep an eye on the contest results through the blog. In addition to the comp, Eddie will be filming all the action off the beach as the Reef girls strut their stuff...

As for me, I will be holding down the base camp editing footage and catching the swell as it hits Florida...

Stay tuned for the most in-depth coverage here at the mission:blog

M

July 2005

Mission update.....7.18.05

Hurricane Emily is now in the gulf and weakened to a cat 1. The swell will be good but short lived through tonight/ into the early morning. For those in the pan handle area bring a headlamp. We have decided to wait it out and keep our eyes on the satellite imagery to tell us what is on the horizon. With this only being July, an impressive July to say the least, we have August and September to look forward to. I have switched the light to Red. I will update the blog through the week if anything developes in the Atlantic...

M

Mission update.....7.17.05

Hurricane Emily is steadily approaching the Yucatan channel with nothing in her way but warm waters and shore birds. Although in the last 24hrs, Emily has shown recent signs of weakening. There is a potential for re-intensifing. The overall size of Emily might be the deciding factor.

Planning continues...

On stand by.

Stay tuned.
M

July 2005

Tropical Update.

With it only being July the tropics are heating up more than normal. The storms off Africa are creating and making their way to the Caribbean and Florida Coast. Tropical Storm Emily is spinning with speed toward the lesser Antilles/windward islands and should become a hurricane in the next 3 days. Meanwhile behind her, swell generating storms are being born and creating swell. Now all eyes are on the mid latitudes for activity. Here at the South east base camp we're so ready for an epic season ahead...Stay tuned.

M

July 2005

Hurricane Dennis Update...
We had a great day of kiting and surfing yesterday. Although we stayed on the East Coast, well out of the way of Dennis, we caught a good wind swell at Ponce Inlet. Check out the gallery for a couple of shots in between filming. We filmed with Rodrigo Miranda and Eddie Toy. Rodrigo is an amazing surfer. He was definitely dominating the line up yesterday. With his powerful rides down the line, slashing the lip, going reverse and snappy bottom turns, the jetty onlookers had all eyes on Rodrigo.
Eddie, as you all know, kites with more intensity than anyone I know. If there is wind, he's a go. After a brief surfing session, he decided to put up his 13 meter flexifoil stryke and take to the air. The wind, as he described, was perfect. Making the wave riding look effortless, he stole the attention of the jetty onlookers between Rodrigo's waves. The two of them were definitely captivating the audience. I will have the footage of the day posted on the video page by the end of the week...
Then in the middle of the second filming session, I took my attention off the camera to see a lone surfboard washing towards the rocks of the jetty. About 30 yards away a surfer was making his way to the board. With too much distance between him and the board, the waves beat the board against the rocks. It must have hit the rocks 2-3 times before he started swimming in. We were all yelling to him that the board was down here below us on the jetty walkway. With a distraught look on his face, he threw his hands up in the air. I couldn't believe he was just going to leave his board behind, neither did the dozen onlookers. Every time the board hit against the rocks I cringed. I had to stop this senseless abuse of this brand new board. After negotiating the slippery rocks and crashing waves, the board washed up onto the rocks. I grabbed the board and made my way onto the jetty. With the surfer now on shore, I held the board up in the air as to show him I got it. He just coiled up his leash and kept walking. I couldn't believe he was leaving. Out of the audience of on lookers I heard one guy say, "looks like you have a new board, spend about a hundred bucks on ding repair and a new fin and it's good as new." I held onto the board while I continued to film but he never came to get it. Oh well, that's a first.

Max

July 2005

Huricane Dennis UPDATE.

11 AM EDT SAT JUL 09 2005
DENNIS IS CURRENTLY MOVING OVER A COOL EDDY...BUT IS
EXPECTED TOMOVE BACK OVER WARMER WATER IN 12-18 HOURS.
THE UPPER-LEVEL SHEARIS EXPECTED TO REMAIN LOW AND
THE OUTFLOW PATTERN IS FORECAST TO REMAIN QUITE IMPRESSIVE.
THE SSTS AHEAD OF DENNIS ARE WARM ENOUGH TO SUPPORT
A CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE UP UNTIL LANDFALL...
SO THE ONLY INHIBITING FACTOR IS IF THE INNER-CORE
STRUCTURE DOES NOT REGAIN ITS ORIGINAL STRUCTURE.
BUT GIVEN THAT THE EYE DIAMETER IS ONLY10-15 MILES...
IT WOULD NOT TAKE MUCH CONVECTION TO DEVELOP AROUND THE
EYE FOR DENNIS TO MAKE A SIGNIFICANT COMEBACK IN A SHORT
PERIOD OF TIME.MORE

New Updates...We are going to sit this one out. The
reorganization and fast movement has sped up the track.
Sunday will be too dangerous.We will be sticking around
St. Augustine and catching the outer wind
bands that will create 15-20 knot wind speeds...

Max