About Me

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Sacramento, California, United States
so salty pieces of coral from surfing Hawaii in the 60's and 70's getting reef pounded living in my body fall through my skin from time to time!

sailing to Oahu

Jimi Hendrix was playing on Oahu. I had never sailed. Surfed Mexico, California, Hawaii! Aw, how hard could it be to sail 90-110 miles from Kauai to Oahu? Piece of cake, right? Remember it was the 60's! This is so bad. We thought we were looking at Kaiena Point,Ohau, knowing we weren't going to make the concert! But at least we were in site of Oahu-wrong! Coy, who had never sailed before, me,who had never sailed before, jeff and Abbott etc. We were looking at the sleeping giant on Kauai! We had done three-sixty's in the night! We sailed on the only tri-marran I've ever sailed on ( except later ) in my life, missed the concert! It was at the Waikiki Shell Ampitheater ( Moon eclipsed . We finally made Nawilwili Harbor! The Skipper tried to give us his boat saying, " It's trying to kill me"! We watched him go stark raving mad not even realising that had we got caught in the channel current we were on our way to Japan! Remember it was the 60's and we were going to see Hendrix. I left out some of the good stuff but I will make up for it later!

Monday, September 21, 2009

I Live In "The House Of Pain"!!

What is pain Jim Davis?
Do we choose to feel it? Where is it felt? In my mind that received a signal from a damaged area of my body? I stubbed my toe. Does my toe hurt? It doesn't have a mind of it's own, so it tells it's representitive, " My mind " to feel pain for it. In a way " my mind " beingthe awareness center of all the appendages called, " the body ", can simply say, " I am uncomfortable with pain "! " Pain is disallowed "!! You think? What is bizarre to me is a thought process. One chooses or holds on to a " type of thinking ", a (in German) veltinshoung, a world view. A way of looking and a perception that defines oneself, kind of a, " What I stand for ", concept. Unbelief is a choice, One chooses to believe or disbelieve based upon a personal relationship with a particular idea. It doesn't matter what the said idea may be about! It doesn't matter who brought it up, where it came from or who expressed it! What does matter is your willingness to explore a dicey idea and see if it has any merit? Without prejudice. That is hard. I prefer, The Absense Of Pain"! I am having fun writing down these thoughts. While I am FOCUSED on writing, I have forgotten or am so focused on what I am sharing, the pain that I am feeling from the car that threw me unto the street yesterday!!Off the bicycle I was riding is simply pushed into an un-focused, non-essential, de-prioratized, appathetic,un-feeling Sea of Forgetfulness. Sea ( as in the ocean ) what I'm driving at? It seems that fixed ideas, opinions and the strength of our convictions determine our identity or who we " think ", WE ARE. Does this remind you of captivity or prison? When my focus is outside of myself there is no pain. There is no doubt! However, there are many questions. In the pursuit of answers to these questions I witness myself changing. The desire for truth leads one to an under going which brings froward an overcoming to a thought process that is continually active. Not Static but in motion. Re-difining itself daily. I took a break and thought about Emerson and Thoreau. Sipped my beer and the pain hit me. My ribs might be broken but when I focus on what I am discourseing with you there is no pain! When I look at the " American River ", and the bicycle that brought me here, I can only wonder at how I have and still am having a great adventure. There are many phases of pain, but truly, where are they felt? You decide. Is the pain you are experiencing physical, mental or spiritual? When you can ask this question you already are the proud pocessor of the answer even if you don't know it YET! But you Will. A few Quotes...... Heal thyself physician To thine own self be true.... Me Thinks thou protesteth to much! Love thine enemy as thyself! Paved paradise, put in a parking lot........ Remember the things we used to know, Please photograph them before they go! Just because I said it doesn't mean it's not true! Better living through chemistry. To be or not to be, That is the question. What is wind? I can't see it' But........ Is trust a type of faith? Does hope float? Sin or swim! Is; Honesty is the best policy. Oppisition breeds good composition. Good from far but far from good..... Measure twice cut once. A wise man asks what a fool pretends to know. A stitch in time saves nine. All is vanity You shouldn't have took more than you gave. Give onto Ceaser what is Ceaser's! Ask and ye will receive. The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Don't ask me, I'll tell you..... If I want your opinion I'll give it to you! Is a glass half full or half empty? Might is right!!!! Possession is 9/10 the of the law Seek and ye will find!!!!!!!!!! ``

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Elixer

Alan Turk, Linda, Ru-Ru ( the baby ) and Buster. Where are you? I'll be in San Francisco October 5Th for a kind of " Gathering of the Tribes", fete! Is Elixir gone? Larry is! Where did time and us go? I think a terrible mistake was made so long ago. It was a Rolling Stones song sung while we were rafted together on Maui, " Send me dead flowers in the morning"! Take me down little Susan, take me down! I know you think you're the queen of the underground! And you could etc!! This, however is the story of us leaving Nawiliwili to Oahu and not making it! Are you up for it? Elixir is a "42ft" Gaff rigged schooner-lean and mean! What! 12' beam? With top sails and a flying fisherman she goes. Just a puff ( not a bullet ) knocks her down. (as we found out the hard way off the south shore of Oahu) Hopefully, Gut, all your portals are closed! (not) So where was/am I? Oh yea! Gut needed to get to Oahu and decided to leave Nawiliwili Harbor with a storm brewing. We got our asses kicked. The lightning accented the size of the swells which we couldn't see because it was raining so hard not only was visibility extinct but one needed a snorkel to breath!! I must admit we were game and learned more about " to weather ", sailing than any of us had known before. God, gaff rigging has a peak and a helm, double halyard system that needs to be addressed and balanced. In heavy seas and weather it is a nightmare ( especially at night )to get it right! Ru-Ru thought it was great fun! Alan and Buster ( I was just an able bodied seaman ) decided enough after 12 hours of in your face on the nose beating to weather ass kicking winter Hawaiian/Aleutian crap!! With the lightening and " the lighthouse " guiding us downwind it was excellent to be home on Kauai in a safe harbor and a safe anchorage. Later we sailed to Oahu. It was magnificently uneventful! Ha! Go figure.

Monday, September 14, 2009

The Ocean and Me

I couldn't believe when I was ten years old how far " Berdoo " was from the ocean. Our parents took us to La Costa Downs/ Carlsbad on camping trips every year because the grunion ran and Dad loved to surf fish, fishing boats, fish Bishop, Big Bear,
Lake Arrowhead or anywhere fish could be caught. He knew that he could find peace and his young little crumb snatchers and wife, would allow him, as bread winner, to fish until he had found a kind of peace that would allow him to face the daily battles of Norton Air Force Base and raising a family for another year! But and this is a big BUTT! I fell in love with a surfboard. Dick Dell and The Delltones, The Beachboys, even The Ventures, all came later. By the time I was 13 I knew people with cars but at 14 I was tieing a string around my arm,leading it outside my window to be pulled by S.B.friends with a car and with my parents permission to be picked up at 4 in the morning to make the dawn patrol at " Train Station " or " Poche " in San Clemente. Later I built on my surfing experience and a a desire for " Trestles ", which consists of many breaks with names. I'm a goofy foot so of course I loved " Cottons"! It was piratical fun in the mid to late sixties. You had to sneak into "Camp Pendleton", and I don't care if you were going to " Mile 0"! God, I loved it when the marines would try and get us out of the water. Most of these guys are form places like Kansas and they would paddle these " Zodiac " like green marine inflatables and ask us to please remove ourselves from the water, " You are on a government installation!" Duh, I only either walked along the trestle from San Clemente or paddled down the river from the bridge or got a pass on occasion from the gate itself. Before Nixon moved to- oh hell, that's another story. But Brodie used to run the gate at the private housing where John Severson lived and every now and then he let some of us come in and walk almost straight out to " Cottons"! I moved to San Clemente after I graduated from high school in Sacramento, California. Worked at the San O'nofre Nuclear Reactor and was a chauffeur for a good guy who had lost his license and needed a driver. He worked for the Pennysaver in Dana Point. I was riding a " Hobie" at the time. I broke that 9'9" inch Hobie Nose rider at Haleiwa, Hawaii in the winter of "67". I broke a Bing, Nuuhiwa/lightweight at 8' pipeline. For the next 20 years I only rode a couple boards that weren't shaped by Dick Brewer. I had found my home. Kauai Hawaii. I loved a hollow balsa I bought from Jimmy Lucas shaped by Mike Diffendorfer. Skip Harmon at the Hanapepe surf shop was being taught by Brewer and I loved Skip and Leigh. Skip let me ride some experimental stuff he was goofing around with. I've riden a couple " Lighting Bolts ". I think of all people Gerry Lopez was taught and learned more from the greatest shaper that has ever been than anyone else could glean from Brewer. Gerry is an inspirational surfer!!! Surfing led me into a relationship with the ocean. Up close and personal in that I have functioned as a fisherman, diver, U.S. Merchant Mariner, sailor and surfer. Me and a couple friends owned a restaurant in Hanalei, Kauai, called " The Rice Mill ". I had worked at the " Hofbrau " across from Queens in "67" and realized that working in the food and beverage business is absolutely the greatest job on Earth for a surfer. Work nights and days when there are no swells! Then work as little as possible to hold your job when " The Season " arrives. Worked for me. Gather round children and you shall hear!!!

Friday, September 11, 2009

A rock to return to

I am caught inside but so is Jim Pollock and Ambrose Curry! Does that make it better? No! It makes it more problematic! Hanalei Bay is a wave with nuances depending on the swell direction, tide and what the originater of the swells is capable of generating. If it is a giant northern swell from a storm in the Aluetians maybe we move over to " The Left's In The Center Of The Bay "! No fun getting caught inside there either! When you are surfing Hanalei 6' to 8' feet with an occasional 10-12' it is a harry adventure! So ambrose, jim and I catch 6 waves apiece while Ralph Young and Rick Mc Duff and more are sitting and waiting and waiting and sometimes waiting even longer! We aren't! But here is the price you pay! When an outside set announces itself you can feel it before you see it. You begin to paddle frantically as you watch a mountain shape itself before your very eyes. You decide that you can make it over the first one, knowing there is another and another behind the visual. So what are your choices? It is way to late to buy a bigger board! Do I want to go over the falls with a board cord tied to my leg? Is it time to sing a CSN and Y song, " rejoice, rejoice, you have no choice, but to carry on!!!! Good-bye Jim! He didn't make the first big wave! Damn close! " Good from far, but far from good! Shit, I didn't make the 2nd biggie and almost died being held under water with my board crushing me, holding me by the pressure of the force of water on the bottom of the ocean's floor until I almost was forced to inhale salt water. Almost-again! Ambrose made it outside of that particular series of mixed size waves. But I saw him take off on a wave I didn't think he could make. He made the take-off and bottom turn and was driving towards me when it closed. I think my view was better than his. I watched the wave pass him so that he was going faster than the board he was riding was designed for. He didn't make it but he was tubular for an extremely long time, so long that I, watching my friend, forgot where I was an got sucked over the falls at intersections. It's really shallow there. Sometimes it is more fun watching a friend get the ultimate ride and you getting sucked over the falls is a price worth paying. We all have gone on to surf another day. I think I need to return to a rock, " The Jewell of the Pacific", The Garden Isle, Kauai No ka Oi!!! Aloha pumehana

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Tomarrow Is Two Days After Yesterday

Sometimes it's more fun to start in the middle of a story rather than what might appear to be the beginning! Fourteen days out of San Diego I realized that sailing, " Down-Hill ", isn't all it's cliched about! I had heard amazing stories about , " Trans-Pac " racers, boats with crews headed to Hawaii and then, to points unknown. People headed onwards and frowards to see the imaginings of worlds only accessible to vessels with hearts- to find treasures and places only shallow draft boats could access! I had only delivered boats whose dreams were unrealized. These boats needed to be returned to ports on the mainland coast of the Pacific Ocean. I was a paid sailor who loved sailing so gained experience. And for that I have no regrets. I was fortunate to have a command of the English language. Naught to sound like an arrogant POME but an American from the " Colonies " ! So Be It! I barely was allowed to sail from Shelter Island, San Diego, on a Cullen Archer,32ft, Faro-cement, slutter to Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, if Judy had said to me, " You got my husband Mark drunk on the night of our sail"," How dare you, stand on this pier, drinking three Budweiser's! And the clock ticks three o'clock in the morning? Little did I know that I had 2,800 miles of water to flow under Sea Rover's hull. Damn it! It was always harder to sail from Hawaii to the mainland than it is to sail from the mainland to Hawaii!!!.. In all my travels I have never experienced a puke fest that I witnessed with my friend. I always thought I could coach anyone out of motion sickness. I am wrong and yet I am right! I met a human being that loved her husband to a degree that defies understanding.A wan-a-be sailor meets a true sailor! Judy met Mark in a place called " Cabo San Lucas "! Mark had a sailboat and not only is a marine surveyor but is a master sailor and shipwright! Judy fell hard for Mark and married him hoping that she could follow his dream. I had the pleasure of meeting Judy's Dad and Mark's mother and father and consider myself a friend of these two people and family.. Judy puked from California to Maui, Hawaii. Nineteen days and six-teen hours. She lost weight and her palor was death warmed over! She married a sailor and she is a sailor! No one that I have ever sailed with has fought so hard to stay in something so diametrically opposed to her very nature and yet has fought so hard to find a place that fits with the one she loves that is contrary to her nature! I love you Judy because I saw you sail. I sail into Coff's Harbor Aus, and find out that you had berthed a son, Eric, in Australia! It was written on a yacht club board! I was on my way to Perth with my New Zealand wife. Having no children and being newly married ( two years ) we were driving from Cairns, Queensland to Perth! Oh what a long drive that was! The fog in San Diego at times creates a mood. Mark and I drank but three beers, contemplating a passage. Regardless of what all had done before, racing, sailing, motoring, etc, so what? Mark is sailing with his wife and child and a crew member and a cat!!! And what? We are in the sucking S.D. fog on the only fisherman's pier drinking the devils own drug- alcohol!!!! Forsooth! I'm being facetious. So after fourteen days of Judy puking I was worried. Not just for Judy and the weight she was losing but what was happening in the cockpit with Mark and I!! "Sea Rover " is a double ender with a Norwegian keel! It took all of our strength to hold Rover on course. We hooked up a double cockpit return hook center to drive with sails set properly low maintenance steerage! Mark and I blew out a Tiller-Master because the helm on Sea Rover required constant attention and a body that could drive the boat. I learned that when sailing to Hawaii you may cross some major shipping lanes. What I wasn't aware of was that that in order to survive as a small boat on a vast ocean , regardless of your radar deflector, is you must pay attention because they ( cargo cruisers, Matson Container Ships ) are not! Mark and I became tired when standing watch after watch. We placed a ten minute timer on our chest so we could visualize the horizon so that as we two stood watch after watch, three on, three off, and fatigue came upon us, day after day, hour after hour! Aw fuck, Ain't sniveling! You got a visual on the horizon! If a cargo ship is smoking at 34 knots, you have six minutes. Either get out of his way or don't! Nobody is at the wheel ( on their boat ). Might is right! They will run you down as if you didn't even exist! So you set your egg timer and it wakes you up even though you have slept in the cock-pit for four daze and you drop your pick off the Buddha on Maui and say, " Let's do it again real soon! Ha! And I say O.K. Can you imagine solo? No! Love you two RB ARH-H-H!!!!!

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