Sitkasurfboards

OceanGybe Update: Nice work, Nature!

This morning, Khulula is in the midst of a Discovery Channel feature entitled “Dolphins at sea”. For the past three hours we have been escorted by a pod of about 40 dolphins! They are everywhere, jumping and surfacing, diving under the hull, and leaping forward of the boys. Every now and then you see a school of fish surfacing and fleeing in a panic, pursued by a pod of these wonderful creatures. The sky is overcast and the temperature is mild. The sea is calm (other than the large long period south swell that gently lifts and lowers Khulula as it marches NE - no doubt to satisfy the surf hungry residents of Reunion and Mauritius).

The weather so far is being very nice to us, although the winds are a little light. The forecast is for strengthening NE winds as this high moves to the east of us, and then the inevitable cold front that generally lies on the back side of a high. The question is, will the cold front be a birthday surprise for Bryson (who turns 27 on 22nd Nov), or will be get to celebrate in nice north easters! Time will tell.

In other news, we have exited the area of historical cyclone tracks - reducing our chance of converging with an early season cyclone to zero. Sure, this coast is famous for rough weather and cold fronts, but those we can deal with! For now though, the weather is fantastic.

Jon & Roy Holiday Special

Atomique Productions, CBC Radio 2 and The Zone present

In time to kick off the holiday spirit and festivities, Jon and Roy are proud to announce their largest show to date, ‘The Jon and Roy Holiday Special’. On December 6th 2008, at the beautiful and intimate Alix Goolden Hall, the band will be joined by a host of friends and guests featuring:

Ryan Guldemond (Mother Mother)
Current Swell acoustic trio
The Haints Old-Time Stringband (Outlaw Social/Erynn Marshall)
Adam and Antonia (Jets Overhead)
Jean Paul Maurice (Maurice)
Laura Smith
Stephen Franke (Noises from the Toolshed)

Presented by the Zone 91.3 (Zone show number 165), the event will also be recorded and rebroadcast by CBC Radio 2 Canada Live with a portion of door proceeds and donations to go to the Mustard Seed Food bank.

Tickets $18.00 Available at Lyle’s Place, Ditch, http://www.jonandroy.ca and http://www.ticketweb.ca. $20 at the door based upon availability.

The easiest and cheapest way to buy advance tix is on their website under store. You’re name and address will be recorded (not sold) and the tix will be left at the door under your name. Voila! From your home! No need to find/remember the tix before showtime…

Get more info here.

Find out more

OceanGybe Update: Shift Work on Khulula

Date: 28 October 2008
Lat: 18 degrees 42 min S
Long: 066 degrees 38 min E

A tap on the shoulder and I’m awake. A friendly voice and a head lamp tells me its my shift. I look at my watch in some half coherent daze
yup 3:00 AM. It’s time to take my turn on watch. As I climb out of my bunk, the boat is tossing and rolling in every direction. The feelings of nausea quickly rush me. I quickly throw on some boardies and my stripy hoody. I grab my harness, life jacket, tether, and head lamp. The air is cool and everything is damp. I sit down in the cockpit, the same place I feel like I’ve sat for the last 2 weeks. I look up at the sails to see what sort of configuration the last guy was flying. I glance at the wind gauges and GPS: another 600 NM to Mauritius. It seems like a lifetime. Bryson pokes his head up from below and asks me what sort of tea I would fancy. “English Breakfast,” I reply. On goes the kettle. He comes up one last time a few minutes later to deliver a warm cup of goodness and explain any weather/swell abnormalities that he witnessed on his shift. Then he’s gone. Before I can take a sip of my tea, he’s got earplugs in and awaiting a blissful slumber. A wave of jealously comes over me. Dam.. I wish I was climbing back into my bunk… Read More…

Find out more

Beaverfish Results

The Beaverfish results are in and the Sitka team did awesome! We’re stoked on Leah and Noah’s performance and want to congratulate them on a job well done… Nice work! Check out the results below and check back for pictures soon.

PRO-AM
Peter Devries $500
Sepp Bruhwiler
Shannon Brown
Noah Cohen
Ben Murphy
Raph Bruhwiler

JUNIORS
Janek Peladeau
Frazer Mayor
Simon Bauer
Ryan Oke
James Martin
Lance Gauld

GROM
Simon Bauer
Jack Sanford
Angelo Carlazzoli
Mitchell Soaunderson
Kevin Porteous
James Martin

GIRLS
Catherine Bruhwiler
Leah Oke
Steph Wightman
Shaddy Kariatsumari
Carmen Meyer
Tai Travis

Find out more

Noah Cohen 49th in WSG 2008 Overall Standings

Noah Cohen is 49th out of 108 in the 2008 WSG Men’s Open Standings!!

Leah Oke came 37th in the women’s division. A huge congrats goes out to both Leah and Noah for making it to the WSG and holding their own while they were there!

Check out the full list of standings of here.

Find out more

Congrats OceanGybe! - Half Way Around the World!

The OceanGybe crew has officially made it half way around the world! We want to congratulate them on making such a huge mission! Here’s what they have to say about it…

October 28, 2008
Lat: 18 degrees 33 minutes S
Long: 67 degrees 55 minutes E

The small little numbers flashing away on the GPS tell us many things. They give us our boat speed, they tell us which direction we are sailing (heading), they tell us how far we have to go until solid ground again, they show us how far we have sailed from our homes,
Those small constantly changing numbers tie us down to the imaginary lines of latitude and longitude and give us a sense of place in the aqueous world of blue water sailing. Most of decisions are based on those little numbers.

Today, those little numbers had a new story to tell. Today, we passed 70 deg 08′ E of latitude. Nothing too special when taken in isolation, but when compared to our departure point on the OceanGybe Expedition, some 18 months ago, a startling fact began to emerge. Cabo San Lucas, on the southern tip of the Baja peninsular, is located at 109 deg 52′ W. Last year, in order to get to the international date line (180 deg) we traveled 70 deg 08′, and now we have traveled another 109 deg 52′ which combined give us a total traveled distance of 180 deg. The world is 360 deg around, so we are HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD!!!!!!…. Read More….

Find out more

Team Rider Christian Moutinho on SBC Surf Website

A short video of surf team rider Christian Moutinho is posted on the SBC Surf Videos website.

Find out more