I couldn’t turn down free food and booze! Pete and some of his friends put together a jam session for everyone. Good times.

Had some good friends staying with us for the past few months and they’re flying out today. Had some good times. The plan is for Ruthie and I to visit then up in Hood River soon.

Always sad to have friends leave.

Down at kitebeach hanging with the Cab crew. Should be a fun week!

No, this isn’t a metaphor.  I woke up this morning and had my mind blown!  Last night and this morning Haleakala got covered in snow.  Not the best pic, but it gets the point across.

So yea, the wind FINALLY came back to Maui.  About freaking time.  Had a mediocre session with Brandon, Craig C., Forrest and Sensi at Kitebeach.  A bit gusty but after so long it was nice to get wet.

Had a chance to finally test the new 2012 Cab Skate prototype.  It definitely took some getting used to.  It’s shorter and wider and I wasn’t sure how it would handle the chop compared to the 2010/11 model.  After an hour I got it tuned and had a fun sesh.

On a side note, if no one heard about the boogie boarder getting his leg chomped at Ledges, then ended up catching the shark.  A bit larger than the estimated 6ft too!  Check the pic!  How did they know this is the shark?  It had the kids fin in it’s stomach!

The Wind or No Wind teaser trailer is up and it looks INSANE!!  I’m having a hard time believing I was there!

Be sure to check out the Wind or No Wind page on Facebook.

Okay, here’s my super duper update!

- Dre is in town, kiting has been good.  We got a sick session at our new “secret spot.”  The images should show up in mags soon.

- Halloween was crazy.  Kids had fun, we had fun.

- Kevin Steen decided to roll into town.  He’s sleeping on Nick and Cam’s couch.  Good to see him after so long.  Hopefully we’ll get some kiting in, the forecast isn’t great.

- I am going to the Wind or No Wind Jam in the Philippines.  I ummed and ahhed about it for awhile but finally got off my ass and put it together.  Super stoked.  It’ll probably be more of a vacation than anything but hanging out with the old crew is going to be insane!  Thanks Morris!!!

- Expect a lot more updates once I start traveling.  I’m planning on updating every day so it should be fun to follow.

So, I had few free hours today and I decided to build a backpack mount for my GoPro.  I’ve been thinking about it for a long time and I had a plan in my head that involved a wood plate, a bunch of screws, an old windsurfing boom and a DaKine backpack.  After a quick trip to the hardware store I scrapped most of that and I ran with some metal strapping, a DaKine backpack, a windsurfing boom and bunch of hose clamps.  The results were impressive to say the least.  In fact it came out much better than I ever imagined!  Here’s some photos of the parts and the mount before I put it in the backpack.

And the total cost was $26 dollars!  That doesn’t include the windsurfing boom which I scavenged out of the pile of junk in my barn.  I used the 2 t-straps to mount one arm of the boom and I connected everything with hose clamps.  I also went through the trouble of bending the t-straps to better fit my back.  Here’s what it looked like after that:

I then used some kite straps to hook into the holes at the ends of the t-straps.  I put the entire thing into a DaKine backpack and punched some holes for the kite straps.  I ran those threw the backpack material, zip-tied the backpack zippers closed and tried it on.  It was awesome.  Light and it didn’t bounce around.  Here are a few pics of the finished product and Nick Rickert modeling it:

Thanks Nick.  And below is a VERY quick clip showing the video from the mount itself.  Synopsis of the trial run at the end.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Synopsis

Overall the test was a success.  There were a few minor setbacks but for the amount of effort and cost of this build it was definitely a win.

Pros

• Low cost ($26)
• Very light
• Very snug
• Doesn’t bounce much

Cons

• Backpack filled up with water right away – I’m talking 10-20 lbs.
• When body-dragging on my stomach the camera mount kept trying to drown me
• The camera mount loved to get caught in my lines

I think overall the main obstacles can be overcome.  The worst one was the water weight.  I’m going to punch some big drainage holes into the bottom of the backpack which should fix that issue.  I’m also thinking of mounting the pole off to the side to do two things, stop it from drowning me and get a different angle that shows the wakeskate better.

My and Phil Sobolev got together and did a quick little “about the Cabrinha Skate” video for the Cabrinha website.  I figured I’d throw it up here as well.  Not a ton of action but there is quite a bit of good info if you are just learning how to skate.

My friend Morris is putting on this sick event, Wind or No Wind, at CWC in the Philippines.  I’m a bit biased since I got invited, but I’d recommend checking out the website and seeing what it’s all about.  Or you can check them out on Twitter at #windornowind.