Where is the wind and surf????

January 19 thru 23, 2010

For the past few day we have had lots of wind and surf. On Thursday I posted my first YouTube video, video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RvCIA09rRo. That same day my son Dan made it on KCAL9 news. If you want to see Dan and our windsurfing friend Christopher click on http://cbs2.com/video/?cid=71. Then drag "Heavy Rain Damages Cal State Long Beach Buildings" into the SEARCH window. After the commercial at :28 you will see Gabor Vagi and at 2:21 is the interview with Dan. You could also go to "Great day for surfing if you dare" to see Christopher. And "Storm Doesn't Keep Kite Surfers Away" on page 53. Drew is in this one.

On YouTube catch my new video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-cHflvusOc
or by searching Surf Long Beach, Cal. Really rare!! Jan. 23, 2010

While you're at it there are a few others videos showing Long Beach surfing.

A few days later I ran into Danny and Robert checking out the surf.

This is what they saw....surfers.

Pretty flat in this shot.

A few more in this shot.

When I went home I found Sara and Bebe doing a fashion show. Unbelievable as it may seem Sara purchased her sweater at a different time and place from Ruth, who picked up this little thing for Bebe. Together though they seemed like a matched pair.

Our first clearing winds...in January

Monday, January 18, 2010

The texts started early today at 8:30. "How's the wind?" "What direction is it?" "How's the surf?" Hey I went to to bed at 2 A.M. What do I know about what's happening in the morning?

After her morning "duties" Ruth decides to take Bebe for a walk. Double click on the picture and check out the "Bling" Ruth put around her neck. All this for a little walk.

Two seconds later Ruth decides to put a red babushka around her head. We don't want the princess to get cold do we????

I had to drive up to storage to sell some equipment. In the mean time I see about five kiters on the water and three kites pumping. I wonder if this is Faycal getting ready to go out?

I couldn't believe my eyes, surf in Belmont Shore? Looking good!!!!

My neighbor Christopher is out on his windsurfer, as one kite gets gobbled up by a wave.

Not to worry, he's back up and running. Check it out!!!! Three sets of waves...in Belmont.

I heard from one of the guys that was kiting today that a new lifeguard called him in for kiting inside the swim zone. Our kite friend said "What??? We are on winter rules now." And the new guard Ian, said "Do you want me to give you a ticket?" Fortunately the stand-off did not escalate too far. Fair warning, Ian is just following the rules. He's new.

Bebe is home in bed now. I wonder what's going to happen next on the beaches of Belmont??
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Today is Tuesday and "Uncle Klaus" just returned from a work trip to Oregon.

In this shot Ruth had Bebe in her jacket keeping her warm. Check out the cap and the look.

But this shot really shows off Bebe's present. She's wearing a genuine Harley Davidson leather hat. Naturally it's extra small and it fits perfectly. Great gift Klaus. Bebe loves it.

We finally celebrate Christmas and New Year!!

January 17, 2010

The Corbett Family finally celebrates Christmas and New Years on January 16th. and there's football and the Golden Globes too.

Naturally Christmas is all about food. Here Ruth, Sara and Dan are in the kitchen cutting and preparing. The evening started with shrimp and cheese and bread. The main course was turkey and gravy, duck with a fruit glaze, Parmesan potatoes Au gratin, wasabi blue potatoes, green salad topped with toasted sliced almonds, tomatoes and avocados. Desert was assorted cheese cakes with vanilla ice cream. WOW!!!

Naturally Ruth got out the good china for the occasion.

A party is not a party unless you can show Bebe's new wardrobe. Check out the rack.

When Randy and Liz arrived Bebe had a new friend to play with, Cody.

It was the cutest thing seeing Bebe walk on her hind legs. Cody just watched in amazement.

The dinner bell rang and we all sat down like good, hungry folks.

Sara and Brian had to kiss before they could dive in to the food.

After dinner it was time for some champagne. Here Dan and Kristin enjoy Bebe's company. After all we were celebrating New Years too.


It was time for presents. Ruth's brother Randy started the party. Great shade of green.

Then Ruth read the Christmas card from Dan and Kristin. As you can see she got a chuckle out of it.

Then when we started opening the presents from them it was a huge surprise. It came in two parts. The first was a digital screen to show your digital pictures off of an SD chip. The second part was a printout of my blog,

This was very emotional. The printout was created by Dan and Kristin. They printed it out and put the whole thing together. It was fantastic to see. Thank you!!

Sara and Brian knew that I love sunrises, sunsets and shots of waves. They came across this photo artist Clark Little. Check out his work at http://www.clarklittlephotography.com/.
I can't wait to see the shot near my computer. Thank you Sara and Brian. A picture of a picture does not do it justice.

Ruth got everyone a pair of glasses. Here Sara and Brian ham it up.

Dan and Kris look very Hollywood in theirs.

Randy's offered a bribe for his glasses. I guess he's the only one that got a brown pair..........

Then we posed for next years Christmas card. I'm just kidding.

The weekend was also filled with football. On Saturday Reggie Bush and the New Orleans Saint beat Arizona. And the Colts beat the Baltimore Ravens. On Sunday the Minnesota Vikings beat the Cowboys, 34 to 3. Brett Farve looked great. But to me the most important game this weekend was Mark Sanchez and the Jets. New York beat the Chargers in San Diego 17 to 14. Next Sunday for the AFC championship, the Jets play Indianapolis at Indianapolis. Go Jets, Go Sanchez!!!! For the NFC championship its the Minnesota Vikings playing New Orleans Saints. I hope New Orleans can pull off an upset.

To top it off, on Sunday evening we watched the Golden Globes. I was very happy that James Cameron won for best Director and Best Film.

Avatar was awesome!!!

January 13, 2010

There were some clearing winds today but I didn't go out. After returning from La Ventana I caught a cold. Then, just when I thought I was over it, it came back. So today was the best day for me in two weeks.

Ruth and I celebrated by taking Bebe for a walk up on 2nd Street. We had a late lunch at George's Greek Restaurant and then continued our walk to the west end of 2nd. Naturally we had to drop in to the dog store, Pussy and Pouch. Sure we bought something. We have to keep up our reputation and spread the wealth.

Then we drove over to the Edwards theater on Carson and saw Avatar. It was just coming out when we left for LV. So tonight was the night to see it in 3D. I definitely can see why people see it more than once, because I can't wait to see it again.

I predict a lot of awards come Oscar time for James Cameron the director, but that's just me.

We arrived home to a new pet, Bebe

January 4th and 5th, 2010

Sorry, we've been out of town for a couple of weeks and haven't had a chance to wish all of you a

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Monday and Tuesday were our first days back in Los Angeles, and it was a bit of a culture shock. All of the traffic, the people and OH by the way, we have a new dog, Bebe.

When I arrived home from the airport Bebe was actually in the shower. It was a flash back to the "Scooby The Snake" days. Ruth had put Bebe there because the last time Bebe was in the car she got car sick.

This is her "home" when she's downstairs.

Since it was my first day back I needed some exercise, so we went for a walk up to 2nd Street.

Louis lives just a few doors north of us so naturally Bebe and Louis had to say "Hello." He's a very large lab. Just what Bebe needs. She likes her boys BIG.

Only one day back and I was having a taco and beer craze so we had to drop into Taco Surf. Mmmmm.

Next stop was to the hardware store for a "doggy door" and then to Pussy and Pouch. Ruth's new favorite store next to Petco.

While there James, the store manager, had to show Ruth a new tote bag. She ordered one.

On Tuesday I had to go to Court and contest a traffic ticket. Rijk went with me. On our way home I called Ruth. So Rijk, Ruth and I went out to lunch.

Naturally Bebe had to be dressed in a coordinating outfit.....pink.

We ate at Le Creperie and it was very good. Bebe and her new friend waited outside.

Our next stop was Pussy and Pouch again. Ruth had to show Bebe how to dress "boy."

Then a potty break. Unfortunately Bebe did not cooperate.

I think the shot of the day was Ruth walking with Bebe in her pink poodle doggy carrier. It just cracks me up. Naturally Ruth has a matching purse.

La Ventana, part 1, the fishing trip

December 19 through January 3rd....

Our vacation to La Ventana was fantastic. Here is one portion the fishing trip.


The time was about 6 o'clock. We were supposed to meet up with the fishing boat captain. Little did we know we were supposed to meet him at the water.

Judy drove up to the road and told us "Hey the boat is down waiting for you guys at the water." So we ran down and jumped into the boat. Our captain was glad to see us.

It took quite a while to get to the fishing spot. The sun was starting to come up and we weren't even half way there.

Once we got the bait Klaus and Rijk got to work.

By this time we had caught three Jacks. But they were not good eating. Here Dan has a big bite. We had no idea what was at the other end.

You can see by his expression that Dan is pretty happy about his catch, a blue fin Tuna. Nice and big too.

There was another boat just a few feet away. Yes she was catching fish too.

There were quite a few bites. Here I pulled in a Dorado. Nice and a pretty good fight too!!!

Next Rijk hooked up to a Marlin. He really had to work that fish and the fishing pole. He was only using 25 pound test line and a very small hook.

At about 2 hours into the catch, Dan took a break. But he was ready with his gaff hook just in case.

At one point Rijk had to relieve himself. So he passed the reeling chores off to me. I just didn't want to loose the marlin so I was very conservative.

Klaus was taking videos, I was taking stills and Dan had the gaffing hook. But this fish was smart. It would come up to the boat and then go around and under the boat. Taco would have to take the pole and walk it around until the marlin was out from the bottom of the boat.

After 4 hours the marlin was finally giving up.

Now the trick was to get it on-board. The captain had his nose and Dan had the gaff and they were able to pull it in.

After a long boat ride we made it back to the beach. Here Rijk holds his prize.

There was a very nice young lady that was kind enough to take this shot of the group of us. Two Dorado's, one Tuna and one Marlin. Not a bad days work.

Next stop was kiting and dinner.

Here Mike Noel and Judy prepare dinner. We started out having a few pieces of the fresh Tuna raw, then Mike cooked a few pieces along with potatoes and stir fried veggies. MMMMM.

One shot I was very proud of was the sun just creaping through the clouds. The time stamp was 6:20 A.M.

Pre-Ventana venting....kite!!!!

December 13, 2009

Everyone wanted to kite today because we knew that in the next day or two we would have to start packing our gear for La Ventana. Got an email from Mike today, he made it to Baja in just two days. He was out there body surfing, in Baja. Life is good.

On Sunday we all met up at Belmont, but the wind was dying. Matt and Todd drove by and said they were heading to Huntington. The idea was to meet up at dog beach.

Kristin was great. She planted herself in the rocks and took all of the shots. Here Dan is rigging. Dog beach is a little challenge because they were running all over out gear. Sorry no shots of that.

I launched Rijk and he got out OK but there wasn't a lot of wind. It's very cool seeing the guys out at the pier. Next time we'll go there.

I was almost ready to go, but the first time out I found my booties were too big for the foot straps so I came in and took them off. You can see what I mean about the curious dogs. They often ran through my kite while I was pumping.

Kris got a shot of either Todd or Matt in the surf line. I think Hank was with them too.

Dan just took to the waves. I'm sure that those sessions at Leo helped out a lot.

He was just tearing up the waves in both directions.

Great timing Kris!! She got me going up and over one of the waves. What fun!!!!

I think at this point Rijk figured that the wind had come up a little. Dan and I were on 13's but Rijk was on a 12 and a small board too.

Kris got a lot of Dan's jumps but this one looked cool with the waves behind him. In control.

I think this is Rijk going through the waves. Some times it's hard to tell.

Great shot Kris catching Dan going out with the sun reflecting on the water. WOW!!

This is where I have fun, out in the wide open spaces. The ocean.....FUN!!!!!

Another great shot of Dan in the surf with the sun going down. This shot says so much to me.

The session is over and time to wrap up our gear and head home. Thanks again Kristin for the great shots.

As the sun sets in the West, I called Ruth to let her know where we were and to see what's going on. We all headed for the house for a great dinner. Ribs, chicken, soup, salad and wine. We may have surprised Ruth when Dan, Kristin, Rijk, Rosemary, Ruth and I walked in, but she was great about it. Then we started the fireplace and everything was warm and fantastic.

Next stop, La Ventana. We leave Friday.....we can't wait.