Better budget a few minutes for this one, folks...

First things first- A wholehearted "Nice Job!!" to the Avon Volunteer Fire Department and all the neighboring crews who swooped in to help keep a huge house fire from spreading throughout the whole neighborhood last night!!


Not even a speck of ash on those neighboring homes!

Nice work, thanks for helping to keep our community safe!!

While I'm thanking people- I'd like to let all my customers know that I truly appreciate them! I especially appreciate the ones who bring me treats :) For example, this morning I ate the last of 2 dozen bagels delivered straight from Brooklyn, by Chip! And last night I imbibed in the last "Alexander Keiths" beer that Don so thoughtfully brought down from Nova Scotia. And Mark! Mark dropped off a bottle of Jamaican Rum the other day! Yup, I truly am lucky, and I really do appreciate the gifts, guys!! Thanks!

How am I supposed to get any work done?!

Moving on-

We've had a lot of warm SW wind over the weekend and the beginning of this week. There's a pretty solid Bermuda High sitting out there, but it's a little too close to us to really pump the afternoon winds that we like so much. As it is, we've been seeing a mild afternoon build into the mid to upper teens most every afternoon. It certainly hasn't been epic, but it sure has been fun!

Here's a little play by play:

Saturday Cranked SW. Windy windy, all afternoon. I gave Gary and Mike a jibe lesson late in the evening, and they both did great, despite having sailed for hours prior to our commitment. Stu and I closed down the hole on 5.0s and caught an amazing sunset from out in the water. Gotta love it!

Some action at the Canadian Hole

Anne and I took out the Starboard Gemini tandem on Sunday afternoon. It was pretty fun even though the winds were kind of light. I taught Anne how to sail backwinded and we worked on helitacks and duck jibes and all that fun stuff. Wendy and Roland showed up at the beach, and seemed like they were looking for some fun, so I sent them out on the Tandem, and strapped a GoPro helmet cam to Roland's noggin'. This was the outcome:


Wendy and Roland sail the Gemini! from Andy McKinney on Vimeo.


Since it didn't seem like the wind was really filling in, we made some plans to do a standup paddleboard down-winder. Wendy decided to pull the trigger and bought the Naish 11'6" that she's been eyeing up for the last week or two. So we went and grabbed it from the shop, and set off on a Hole to the house downwinder, which is about 5 or 6 miles!

Wendy and her new Naish!

Anne and Wendy setting out on the voyage

Of course, since we were determined to go paddling, the wind DID fill in to some pretty good levels, and the whole way through Avon we were dodging windsurfers and kiteboarders who were out enjoying the evening winds (or were they dodging us??). There was one group of guys on some kites that had us all laughing, as they were obviously trying to show off, and were catching about 18 inches of air and then faceplanting in knee deep water. It was, uhhh, entertaining...


Nothing like finishing up a voyage by paddling to your backyard!

Here's Stu, at the Hole, lit up on a 7.5:

Nice form!

And here's Mike, on Stu's 7.5. I gave Mike a jibe lesson a day earlier. Hmmmm, maybe I didn't do so good of a job!! Haha!

Nice dismount!

Last night, the wind faded out to the low teens, and I was able to take advantage of it and test out the Tabou Rocket 135! It's been awhile since I bombed around on an 8.5 and big freeride board, and man, was it fun! That is one smooth, fast board, that's for sure! I let Dave C. take it for a spin, and he came back in and simply stated "That's the best 130 liter board I've ever ridden!" Here's some more GoPro action for you guys:


Testing the Tabou Rocket 135 from Andy McKinney on Vimeo.


By the way, every morning has provided a fun little longboard wave in the waist high range. Stuart and Chris went SUPing this morning and I happened to pass them while walking Banana (the dog). Fun surf in the mornings, afternoon siestas, and evening breezes... If only I weren't stuck in the shop all day...

Stuart and Chris, SUPing the shorebreak

Looks like a pretty big wind event is in store for this weekend! All you weekend warriors need to get the truck filled with gas and the boards on the roof rack 'cause its gonna get good!! Awwww yeah!

Hope to see y'all soon! Swing by the shop and say hello when you get here!