Aloha,

Saturday was a awesome day just like every other day! Margareta, Sean and I woke up early at Sean’s house in Long Beach and started to head to San Diego for the Hano Hano SUP race. This was a small course, but it was really fun and filled with a lot of great competitors. The total amount of competitors in the whole event was around 200, about 80 of which were SUP. The race was really fun and overall put together great! I ended up finishing 6^th overall out of all the SUP competitors, unfortunately they did not have a under 20 division but a 6^th out of all the older guys and Brandy was good enough for me!

            Directly after the awards, Sean, Margareta and I shot it up to Big Bear because we heard it was getting dumped with snow a foot everyday and every night. All of us were so excited to see the snow again and to go snowboarding and stand-up-paddle snow surfing. When we got to the mountain after a 3 and a half hour drive, there were police blocking of the entrance to the highway that led up the mountain. They were stopping people from going up because there had been a dangerous amount of snow and they didn't want anyone driving in the icy conditions. This was a huge buzz kill, our plan was to rough it out in a near by hotel and then leave early in the morning before the police were there, and this was exactly what we did. We woke up early and got to the bottom of the highway and we stoked to see nobody there, so we started our mission again up the mountain.

As you can see, I was super excited to see snow again!

There was easily 5 feet of powder everywhere!

Off course we had to get some shots for Starboard before we went up the lifts, so we hiked up a small but steep mountain with a 8' SUP board which is a lot harder than you think, especially when your waking in 4 feet of powder up to your waist. Every body we passed were so baffled and confused to see these boards up in the mountain, but then again everyone was interested to see how it turned out. 

 Our fist run up!

Unfortunately we did not make it to Big Bear because there was to much new snow fall, and once again there were police blocking the entrance to Big Bear mountain. So we ended up just going to the mountain lifts before it called Snow Valley.

It was unreal to be at the beach one day then up in the mountains having a blast snowboarding the next.

 Our unfortunate visit to this place brought a minor set back to our plans. Sean was ripping up the mountains a little to hard and dislocated his shoulder. I remember seeing him riding towards me with his right shoulder considerably lower than his left, as he approached me he told me this, "Okay Zane, on three pull my shoulder as hard as you can towards the ground then push it up back into the socket". I told him no way, we are going to mountain patrol. Mountain patrol told us they cannot do anything about it and they sent us to the hospital where the doctor can x ray everything and put the shoulder back into place. Sean said the pain was immediately relieved when his shoulder was back in the right spot but still the doctor said no way he could go surfing.

    A few of my friends from Maui who go to SBCC that I called up when we got back down the mountain to shoot some wave shots in Santa Barbara. We bought some steak and had a killer BBQ at our house we rented in Ventura for the two days we were shooting in Santa Barbara. After SB, Sean had to head it back home and get his arm some rest.

Aloha,   

     Once again another awesome day at the surf expo! I met a lotof really cool people and had a lot of fun! There were skate parks, indoor poolfor SUP, food courts, runways for swim suit models and a whole lot of booths.

    On the second day a few companies arranged the first everindoor SUP race at the Trade Show. There was a girls division and a mendivision, this was a big attraction for a lot of the people who haven’t seenSUP ever done and also for the people who are out there everyday. 1^stplace for the girls was big wave champ Kainoa’s girl friend, Kalani, and forthe men division I took home 1^st against Kainoa and Slater Trout.

Ekolu Kalama, Honora, and I.

The Maui Jim Team and I.

Up and Coming Grom at the Starboard booth.

Kainoa and I after the heat between us.

Kainoa and I before the start of our heat.

Mahalo to Tavik clothing for letting me use their shorts during the contest.

Anne Feeter, daughter of Clay Feeter, the founder of Stand Up Journal, Slater Trout and I.

Anna, Kirra Feeter and I

After the surf Expo I headed out to Coco Beach to meet up with Beth and Greg Winkler, I ended up staying there for two nights. We had a really fun time together, we did some windsurfing and SUP while we were there.

Beth Winkler and I at her house.

This is their house that I stayed in about three years ago with Connor for the Midwinters in Merritt Island.

SUP sesh in front of Beth and Gregs house.

One of the near by beaches called the Pier. Iain McFarland is one of the local SUP riders in Coco beach area and is also a life guard at this beach. He got this small 4x4 golf cart to take all of our boards down to the beach where we taught a group of 8 girls to SUP.

Once I finished the lesson I got out of the water and checked my phone and had 6 missed calls from my mom. When I called her back she asked if I made it onto my flight okay, I was freaking out thinking that my flight was Tuesday at 2 instead of Monday at 2. I ended up called US airways and they said if I made it to the airport before 4 they will get me another flight with no extra charges. So I rushed to Beth and Greg's house and packed my bag, within 5 minutes we were out the door and heading to the airport.

When I got to the airport I was told that the next flight out that I could get on was Tuesday morning at 5:00AM. Off course Beth already drove away, so I had two choices; sleep in the airport, or call a friend who lives in the Orlando area.

So I got a Hold of Josh Sampiero, the editor of Windsurfing magazine. He picked me up and right away we got into the water to do something fun before it was completely dark.

He took me to a near by lake where we went for a really nice 3 mile paddle just before it was dark.

After our paddle, we met up with Eddie Patricelli, formal editor of Windsurfing Magazine, his wife Jessica Patricelli, Zach Stovall, the Caribbean travel and life photographer, and I went out to dinner.

 Jessica is pregnant with Jake who should be coming to this world in the next month. Congratulations Eddie and Jessica!!