surfing (197)

Mr. Sharkey’s Fat-Tire Electric Bike in the Oregon Sand Dunes

February 28, 2022 at 3:30 am

Particulars on my fat-tire e-bike:

It’s a custom build, consisting of:

  • Soma “Sandworm” chrome-moly steel frame
  • Single-speed chain drive (no derailleur to need adjustment or break on the trail)
  • Bafang BBSHD mid-drive motor
  • Luna Cycle 1,000-watt controller and display, with the controller software reprogrammed to 30 amperes of current at 52 volts (1,500 watts, or 2 horsepower)
  • Luna Cycle 4p14s 52-volt, 12 ampere-hour lithium battery
  • Relatively inexpensive after market hydraulic front forks
  • 26 × 4.40 sand tires, running ~5 PSI (pressure depends on sand conditions)
  • Salsa “Bend” 23-degree swept-back handlebars (for arthritic thumb comfort)
  • More than I can remember at one sitting

Basically, this bike was custom assembled for riding on sand dunes. It’s also comfortable on the beach, and I even use it around the farm to get from place to place instead of walking sometimes.

The Luna controller integrates nicely with the Bafang motor and allows nine levels of pedal assist, which comes in handy for a variety of sand conditions and terrain slopes. The hand throttle is always available for use when desired.

Much of the riding I’ve been doing lately is going out on isolated dunes and seeking out wind-swept contours to surf, climbing to heights and carving the curves and troughs on the downhill run. Sometimes it’s possible to find formations that mimic a road course with banked turns, deep drops into depressions with easy exit slopes, or moguls, small jumps and the sort for some light trick riding. There’s also a fair amount of coastal forest trails connecting various dunes, which provides to opportunity for obstacle course practice and collision avoidance. Crashes are not uncommon, but the sand is pretty forgiving to the falling rider. Bruises are temporary, but good times live forever!
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Shipwrecked

January 24, 2022 at 3:30 am

A friend gave me this sleek little surfing kayak; I was excited and suited up and went surfing.

So excited I didn’t think of attaching a leash (connecting me to kayak should I get dumped), forgot a life jacket, and was wearing a 15-year-old 4/5 mil wetsuit that was stiff from age.

You can see where this is going, right?

It was kinda rough in the channel, and I wasn’t in paddling shape, but I went out and got a small wave — and was impressed that the kayak surfed pretty well (which most kayaks don’t).

I was tired, thought I’d go in, but — maybe just one more wave. And got dumped.

The kayak headed shoreward and I was getting slowly swept out to sea in an outgoing current (heading towards a minus tide). Tried swimming while holding on to paddle, but was getting nowhere, so abandoned paddle. Tried swimming to shore but the suit was so stiff I could hardly raise my arms. PLUS the the way it floated me, I couldn’t get horizontal to swim. I couldn’t get closer to the beach. (Same beach where I was a lifeguard 60 years ago — ironic.

I didn’t panic, but was worried, even contemplative: what if I can’t get to shore? How long do I have? I mean, I’m a lifetime swimmer, surfer, swim instructor, lifeguard at Lake Tahoe, Santa Cruz, Stinson Beach, and this was the first time I couldn’t swim to where I wanted to go. Shit!

There were a couple of people on the beach. Guess I could wave arms and yell “Help!” but “…the shame of it all” (a la Lee Marvin in The Wild One. Kook!

Well lo and behold, here comes a surfer, towing my kayak out. I was too tired to climb aboard, so I grabbed the back of it and he started towing me to shore. Halfway there, a girl on a longboard paddled over, let me borrow it and I paddled on in.

The kindness of strangers.

My rescuer turned out to be Kater Murch, who I remember as a kid in town and who was now a physicist living in St. Louis and home for the holidays. (This was on the afternoon of Christmas eve.)

Beyond the call of duty.

You saved my ass, I said, and hugged him.

OK, OK, if I go kayaking again, I’ll use a leash, wear a lifejacket, and wear a new stretchy wetsuit.

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The Art of Polynesian Navigation

January 20, 2022 at 6:05 pm

View of Maitavie Bay, Tahiti; painting by William Hodges (1776)

…Although the details of Tupaia’s knowledge may be lost to history, Pacific people continue to voyage in his wake. To mark the 250-year anniversary of Tupaia’s voyage, in 2019 Galenon and Teipoarii navigated the ship  by the moon and stars from Tahiti to Aotearoa. They are part of a Pacific-wide movement of modern wayfinders who hope to restore inter-island networks disrupted by colonization and to build regional unity around shared challenges like climate change.

Like Tupaia, they exchanged oral traditions with people they met along the voyage. ‘Our ancestors would navigate to maintain relationships,’ says Galenon. ‘The canoe was the link.’

Above painting is Tahiti.

knowablemagazine.org/article/society/2021/reading-pacific-navigators-mysterious-map

Also, Polynesian Navigation on Wiki: wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynesian_navigation

From Dan Dwyer

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Camping in a Tacoma

December 25, 2021 at 3:30 am

Our truck, “The Greasy Devil,” all set up for a clear, but windy night’s sleep in Wyoming. We have an awning to add over the feet if the weather is raining/snowing or too cold.

Dear Lloyd,

I just wanna say thank you for putting out such great books over the years! I found Shelter Pub by way of picking up a Whole Earth Catalog in a thrift store while in high school about ten years ago and have been a fan ever since. Homework was my lockdown reading of choice last year!

I am writing because my husband and I are currently on a long road/camping trip and will be driving through Baja next month. Our rig is a 2018 6-cylinder manual Toyota Tacoma with a homemade sleeping platform and a Softopper (we jokingly call it ultralight overlanding since the softopper weighs about 40lbs). We just did about 5 weeks throughout Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Nevada, and Northern California. Next week we will leave our hometown of Boulder, CO to travel through New Mexico, Arizona, southern California, and Baja for the next 2 months.

I have gone over your blog posts about camping in Baja and was wondering if you have any tips or recommendations you would be willing to share. It will be our first time there, my first time in Mexico and we cannot wait! Our truck is pretty off-road equipped, with a 3″ lift, an air compressor, and recovery gear so we don’t mind going through tough terrain. We love mountain bikes and motorcycles (even though we are not planning on bringing any, maybe rent for a day or two?) and are beginner surfers with a love for the water (the one problem with living in Colorado!).

Anyways, thanks again for all of the wonderful work you put out. I have gone to multiple lectures while I lived in Oakland during college, always leaving inspired and hopeful. I actually had Marianne Rogoff as a writing teacher my freshman year, who told me she worked for you back in the day! I love following along your posts online, your trip to Rome looked simply amazing. I have always wanted to write to you to say thanks, but felt too shy, until now that I have an extra reason to say hi.

–Jessica Milavitz
SUNSHINE CANYON FURNITURE COMPANY
www.sunshinecanyonfurniture.com
instagram.com/ultralight_overland

Note: For lots of info on Baja from my travels there, see: lloydkahn.com/?s=baja

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Crystal Voyager — Music by Pink Floyd, Photography by George Greenough —1973

December 24, 2021 at 3:30 am

Crystal Voyager: Echoes from Jacob H on Vimeo.

In 1971, Bob Easton and I were putting the finishing touches on Domebook 2 at his home in Santa Barbara. Bob said his next-door neighbor was a surfer and liked to use the large white walls of Bob’s house on which to project his surfing films. Should I invite him over, said Bob. Well, duh…

When it got dark, over came the neighbor — George Greenough, with a projector, and as we watched George’s footage of hot dog surfers in Southern California, Bob played an Albert King blues album.

Later in the early 70s, when Bob and I were working on the book Shelter in Bolinas, George came up from Santa Barbara with the footage for this film, and we showed it to friends in my dome, and then to everyone down at the community center. He subsequently made a deal with Pink Floyd where they projected this footage along with their song “Echoes” in concerts, and George used the music in his 1973 film, “The Crystal Voyager.”

George was the originator of in-the-tube surf photography, using a homemade 30-pound waterproof camera mounted on his shoulder, riding a homemade spoon kneeboard. Resolution is a pretty crappy 240p, but you get the idea: you are inside the chamber of the tube with the barrel getting smaller and smaller, like the f-stop on a camera, until — wham! — psychedelic bubbles, turbulence, and spinning.

George went on to become a surfing legend legend and now lives in Australia.

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On the Pavement Again

September 13, 2021 at 5:30 am
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Breaking my arm (compound fracture) 2 years ago traumatized me (first broken bone in 84 yrs.). I gave up skating, but in about 2 weeks thought fuck it I’m not giving up.

Started skating after I was healed, but it was as if I’d aged 20 years. I felt awkward, tentative. I hoped no one was watching. Once I’m rolling I feel OK, but it’s the pumping then jumping on the board transition where I feel nervous.

But I’m easing back into it, poco a poco. Not pushing it any more. Just gentle slopes where I can carve.

On my way back from Louie’s last week I found a gentle down slope and a couple of guys filmed me from their truck.

What you gain in skating, as opposed to surfing, is the wave to yourself; no crowd problem. What you lose is a soft place to land.

And yes, Mom, I’m wearing safety gear.

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