Klaus got his new board and my neighbor passed.

Klaus, Ruth and I had hangovers on Saturday from the Oktoberfest, but I don't know about Charles and Tony. Maybe they were able to control themselves. I think we had too many shooters.

OK, so we lost Saturday, but on Sunday we actually got some wind at Belmont and I was ready. But I was not ready for the cold water or the cold wind. Man what a whimp.

When I walked out on the Claremont ramp I didn't think the wind was going to come up. As a matter of fact Klaus had come down and he said, "Forget it, not enough wind. I'm going to Alpine Village." Then the wind came up. Thanks for the sacrifice Klaus.

No one had any idea that it was going to blow for over three hours. I wish I could access the wind report but SORRY. I think it blew about 15 mph.

Chad got out, so did Charles, Tony, Luca, Todd....etc...etc

Check out Juliano. He's riding Tony's directional.

Wow, everyone is riding these directionals.

Wow, what a close call. Look how close these two boats got to the shoreline. The boat on the left finally was able to pull the other boat to safety. Nice job friend.

When I finally walked home at 5:30 Ruth said, "Let's go, we're expected at Lenni's in a half hour." I took a quick T-P wash down and we made it for dinner. What a day.

It's Monday....and very few people know that Ruth has a "Secret Place" next to our house. Here she is re-potting a number of plants that we just purchased at Home Depot.

On Monday there were only two of us that got out. Here Dave, a new friend that usually kites at Leo, came to Belmont hoping to kite. He was able to get out on his 5'6" surfboard and his Naish 16. It was a fair day for us, but it too surfboards.

Dan drove down after I called him but he saw that the wind wasn't that good so he brought beer and good cheer to the beach. Thanks for helping me wrap us my stuff.

It's now Tuesday and for any of you that have dropped by the house you have see me working on my stuff, or your stuff, in the yard next door. Well I'm sad to report my neighbor of five years has passed on to a better place. Jenny has been fighting breast cancer as well as other problems for years. On Monday she found freedom. Thank you Jenny for letting me use your yard all these years.
We will miss you.

Then Klaus came over to show me his new North directional board. Not only did he get a new board but he also got a North flag and all these stick on things. Cool.

Obviously his new board is the white one. The red one is Dan's Becker 6'8" surfboard. Klaus can't wait to get his board on the water....maybe tomorrow.

At the end of the day today I went down to take a sunset shot. My favorite thing to do at the end of the day. There was one kiter that tried, but NO.

At the end of the day the sky was beautiful. Don't you think?

Tomorrow is another day. May the wind blow hard so Klaus can try out his new board.

Kiteboarding, the Oktoberfest and beyond....

On Friday I stepped out onto Santa Ana to check the wind and who should drive up on his Harley...

..my old buddy, fireman Tim Howell on his beautiful Harley. Man has he tricked it out.

As I pushed my cart to the beach Tim and his buddy drove by. Man is his horn loud...almost sounds like a fire truck. Hmmmm????

October. Just in time for a suntan.......

And a trip to the hot water tub at the lifeguard center. Yes you thought it was the end of stingray season, but it's not. Faycal found out the hard way. Ouch!!!!

When the wind came up it was time to hit the beach, chat with Big Mike, call Klaus and pump up. But once rigged the wind dropped off. That was it. Time to go home, clean-up and go to the Oktoberfest.

We drove to the Oktoberfest that is celebrated at Old World, near Huntington Beach.

Time for two friends to have a beer and listen to the German Umm-Pa-pa band.

Ruth, Tony and Charles were ready for a good time too.

The first order of business was to get some food and another round of beer. Good stuff.

Next Klaus would go up and ask the Shooter Girls "If you understand what I'm saying in German I will buy all of your shooters." None of the girls understood. He had fun anyway.

In addition to the band there was an MC that was constantly yelling, (sounded like this--Klaus you can correct me), "Ticky, tacky, ticky, tacky, Oy, oy, oy." After a while he got very loud and it hurt my ears. I think it was a call to drink.

It seemed like about every fifth song was the chicken dance. It got a lot of people on the dance floor. I think it must be the national favorite.

Klaus tried the same thing on this young girl but it didn't phase her. Then Klaus wanted to play a German game. He asked her to bring a round of 5 shooters and on the bottom of each bottle there is a number printed. Then he said "Hi or Low?" This would determine the winner or looser. So it was decided the looser was the lowest number. Klaus went around and read all the numbers on the bottles. Klaus had the low number and lost. He bought the round.

Oh boy the party is about to go to the next level....I can just feel it.

Then the entertainment came on. It was two twin sisters that were about 90 years old. OYE! OYE! OYE!

At the end of their 15 minute skit the audience was eating out of their hands. Who could say anything bad about two older lady gymnasts that could do all these tricks. We all want to be there.

The shooters girls came up to introduce the drinking contest. You GO girls!! Check out Klaus in the back. He wanted to take their picture. Next time Klaus.

At the end of the next Chicken Dance Ruth and I had to pose with the chicken. This guy was very hot and sweaty. I'm glad I didn't have to dance in that outfit.

Naturally there was a beer drinking contest. What would an Oktoberfest be without one. Are you ready? One, Two, Three.....DRINK.

The winner and new champion......what do we have as a prize for this young man? The young lady on his right? I think she was checking out his suspenders, don't ya think?

The party was ready to go off the chart.

But our bodies could only handle so much beer and so many shooters. We had run out of money and it was past our bedtime. Time to pack it in.

Say goodnight to the MC, "Ticky, tacky, ticky, tacky.....Oy, oy, oy."

Say goodnight to the band.....

And say goodnight to the ball.......see you next year.

Seal Beach, yesterday and today

I went to Seal Beach on Tuesday and Wednesday. I just had a hunch it might blow there.

On Tuesday I arrived at about 2:30. It was blowing about 12 to 14 mph. Good enough to go out.

There were 5 kiters that were rigged but there were only 3 that had kites or boards big enough.

Even though the water was pretty flat there were a number of surfers out today. I ran into Mitch's dad Brian Bradshaw. If you remember, Mitch was the lifeguard on the Claremont ramp in Belmont this summer. Brian said that he currently makes surfboards and will soon be making smaller boards for kiting too. I don't have a web site for Brian but if I get it I will publish it. What a small world.

My secret weapon was my Rhino 12 and Dan's Becker 6'8" surfboard. It was easy to get up on and very floaty. As long as I was able to keep my kite in the air I could get up and out.

The water was so flat that I could almost touch the oil platform when I was out. I almost made a transition. I'll get it one of these days.

After the wind shut down I caught this surfer having a well deserved cigarette next to the San Gabriel River. It is very peaceful at the end of the day at Seal.

Wednesday was not a repeat. There was a little wind but with the warning I decided I didn't need to push my luck with an infection. No ER visit please. But it didn't seem to bother the surfers.

I drove back to Belmont to see what was up. No wind, but Peter was taking pictures of another
beautiful car

You can check out Peter's car photos at www.autofucus.net

Thanks Peter for sending me one of your shots...beautiful.

Can you believe how groomed the sand is. Great sand...BUT NO WIND.

At the end of the day this group of vollyballers had the right idea. It was warm, beautiful and time to play ball.