Stories and profiles from 2009
Pictures from a November kiting session
11.30.09
Wachusett Brewery's Ned LaFortune met up with Wahines Cathleen Creedon, Lisa Brown, and Desiree Moyer for a pre-Turkey Day kite sesh on the ocean last Sunday (the 22nd).
Last Sunday was a gorgeous sunny, 50 degree day with chest high waves at the most beautiful beach in the country, Coast Guard Beach in Eastham. (Coast Guard was voted the most beautiful beach in the US in 2009.)
The photos are from Lisa Brown.
Thanksgiving, holiday shopping, and our sponsors
Marietta Hitzemann, surfing wahine
11.25.09
Thanksgiving is almost here and I’m thankful to be spending another one on the Cape. Last year I got to see whales on the ocean side, hear loons calling to each other on the bay, and taste the best gravy my husband has ever made. Someday I may even be one of those wahines who surfs on Thanksgiving Day.
Thanksgiving is also a good time to say “Yay! Hooray!” to all of our sponsors and to remind all you wahines and watermen that the odds of finding holiday presents that the folks on your list really want increase dramatically when you shop with our sponsors.
Gearing up for Cape Cod winter surf
Carrie Crook, surfing wahine
11.15.09
I have never been a fan of cold weather or cold water. I remember thinking that the high fifties was a cold ocean temperature when I lived in San Diego. Now, six years later, after leaving sunny southern California and living on Cape Cod all of these years, I have finally got the gear and the courage to hit the surf this winter.
I still think it is crazy, but a few of the wahines assure me that this is the best time to hit the beach and catch some waves. I know that the waves are better (and the crowds are gone in the late fall through the winter), but the frigid water is less than ideal for me. So I hope that after I gear up a few times and develop a routine, I’ll become a winter surfer, too.
Wachusett Brewing Company sponsors the CCW
09.29.09
Cheers to Team Rider Desiree Moyer. After kiting with Ned LaFortune from the Wachusett Brewing Company during the summer, she scored us a new sponsor and some tasty brews for this past weekend’s bonfire party at McGuire’s/LeCount Hollow Beach in Wellfleet.
We’re not sure which beer was the favorite since our taste test wasn’t exactly methodical. But based on the Facebook comments, it was probably the Ryde, or maybe the Blueberry, or perhaps the Green Monsta, or …Here's to you Ned, and to you Quinny, and to the Wachusett Brewing Company: thanks!
By the end of the evening there was a large group of wahines, watermen, and juniors, including some new faces. Liz Patton took these photos early in the evening, while we were still setting up and there was still some daylight:
Video and photos from vintage longboard competition
Marietta Hitzemann, surfing wahine
09.21.09
Summer felt so short this year, but we were still really looking forward to Labor Day Sunday (September 5), the second attempt for the 2009 Cape Cod Oldtimers Longboard Classic. Those Hurricane Bill waves on August 23 were too big to risk the ancient longboards, so the contest was rescheduled for the 5th.
It was a beautiful evening – chilly, but beautiful. I was psyched because I’ve wanted to see those antique boards ever since I heard about the competition. You all know the rules by now: vintage longboards (pre-1970), no wetsuits, no leashes.
Safety review for the September season
Scott McKay, windsurfing and newbie kiting waterman
09.04.09
We’re just now heading into the windiest part of the year and there have already been several incidents this year at Cape Cod and Rhode Island locations that required that a windsurfer or kiter be rescued.
While the people in question happily managed to avoid very serious outcomes, the fact is, the whole windsurfing and kiting community suffers from these incidents. It makes the people charged with keeping the beaches safe much more inclined to close the beaches in weather that many of us might think is great for windsurfing and kiting. We've already seen beaches closed all over the Cape, in relatively modest storm conditions.
Big fun for Juniors at the June Surf Sessions
6.23.09
It's official: the 2009 Junior Wahine June Surf Sessions were a ton of fun. Here's the group from Saturday, June 20, the last session in the series.
A heartfelt thanks to everyone who participated and made it possible.
Jessi is the goddess who organizes it all and makes it happen. These sessions wouldn't happen without her. Cheers and hat's off to our noble sponsor, Pump House Surf Shop (located in Orleans, MA).
A big woo hoo for Carrie. She really helped people make progress this year and showed up for every Saturday. And many thanks to Daniel. He's always willing to schlepp gear and help kids catch a wave.
See you all next year!
Stand up paddle (SUP) clinic hooks newbie
Damon Crook, SUP convert
6.10.09
A few weeks ago my wife Carrie, (a Cape Cod Wahine team rider), asked if I wanted to try paddle boarding, as there was a class coming up on June 6, organized by the owners of Sailworld in Buzzards Bay. At first I had my doubts as I usually have the balance skills of a lobotomized chimp that’s been heavily drinking and been spun around a few times.
A week later, I was going through the grocery checkout whilst perusing the usual gossip magazines, and saw pictures of my ex-girlfriends (Kate Hudson, Jennifer Aniston, and Jennifer Garner) all enjoying this growing water sport. Even my wife’s ex-boyfriends (Matthew McConaughey and Laird Hamilton) were photographed enjoying this waterman sport that has a history dating back to the early 20th century. For those of you not familiar with the sport it’s basically a form of surfing but you have a board that is longer and wider than a traditional surfboard. You also use a tall single blade paddle.
Juniors learn importance of conditions and gear
Marietta Hitzemann, surfing wahine
6.10.09
We started the 2009 Junior Wahine June surf sessions (sponsored by the Pump House Surf Shop in Orleans) this past weekend and we started out right: with Jessi making the decision to postpone the first session until Sunday.
- Saturday morning at 8:00 am on June 6, it was gray, raining, just under 50 degrees, and windy. It was blowing North and had been for over a day.
- Sunday morning at 8:00 am on June 7, it was bright and sunny, right around 60 degrees, with no wind and decent waves.
What a difference a day makes!
Reminder about kiting rules on Wellfleet beaches
News from the Wahine team riders
05.29.09
As you may or may not remember, the Wellfleet Board of Selectmen voted against restricting kiting on the Wellfleet-owned beaches in March, but the Cape Cod National Seashore (CCNS) prohibits kiteboarding on its bayside property.
This past week, the Wellfleet kiters who have been following this issue and keeping us informed posted signs on the beaches that explain the regulations in more detail, but some “oops” incidents have already occurred. We’ve heard that Seashore biologists spotted two kiters in closed areas on Mother’s Day (May 10).
Sound and water, my two greatest joys
Sara Grady, surfing wahine
05.15.09
My two greatest joys in life are the ocean and music, and they have more in common than you would initially think. From a purely scientific perspective, ocean waves and sound waves are very similar. They have amplitude, which we feel as the height of the swell as we sit on our boards or hear as the volume of someone rocking out on the microphone. They have frequency - we feel frequency as how often a wave comes and hear it as a thrumming bass line (low frequency) or a scorching guitar solo (high frequency.)
We even have the opportunity to take advantage of constructive interference. In the ocean, it allows smaller waves to combine and create a larger wave. In music, constructive interference by two or more notes in the right intervals creates harmonies and chords.
Wind, waves, and friends
Cathleen Creedon, kite, wave, and windsurfing wahine
05.09.09
For the past 15 years, I have lived on the Cape – and thanks to my husband, Matt, who is the reason I am here, I was introduced to water sports. I had always summered on the Cape and loved it here and felt a remarkable draw to the Ocean.
When I finally moved from Virginia to Massachusetts, I lived in Concord – a beautiful and historic town, but yet I was always running every chance I got to Cape Cod. For me, it was clear, I possessed an inexplicable draw to the sea. I need to be there.
Spring fever gets the grrls to the beach
Desiree Moyer, kite, wave, and windsurfing wahine
04.29.09
Yeah, yeah, you know my opinion about winter surfing -- that it rules, of course. But on Sunday [April 25], spring fever gave me a call and I answered.
After working all morning and early afternoon and taking time out for a short hike with a few of my water buds, I decided that it had been way too long since my last surf sesh. And since it was an unseasonably warm, sunny day on Cape Cod and the waves were nice and glassy, I decided that work could wait til evening.
Spotlight on: Mars, the band
By Chris McCorkindale, windsurfing wahine and Mars fan
04.27.09
Don’t miss a rare chance to hear Boston-based band, Mars, play on Cape Cod this Saturday, May 2, at the Cape Cod Wahines' Spring Pa'ina! Mars is the Boston-based pop-rock outfit of Chris Gorham (guitars, vocals), Devin Brown (bass, vocals), Billy Swizzle (drums, vocals), and Ammo (lead guitar, vocals). Chris Gorham, the band's founder, tells us a little about the band and how they got started.
You're a happily married thirty-something real estate lawyer living in Belmont. What's up with starting a rock band?
The band came out of a project I wanted to do in 2005, which was a one-man solo recording of songs based on themes of married life, having a house, a job—kind of based on McCartney's first solo record that he did in his living room with songs about Linda. I'd bought a drum kit and a multi-track recorder, and I'd written some songs. Then my wife and I had dinner with another couple and I met Devin, who basically became the bass player and second vocalist that night.
OBX 2009! My annual pilgrimage to the Outer Banks
Liz Patton, windsurfing (and surfing) wahine
04.18.09
My 3rd annual pilgrimage brought typical Outer Banks weather -- sometimes windy and unpredictable, sometimes not windy, but at least sunny and kind of warm - sometimes! My chaperones and guardians, Doug and Nancy Sheeley, packed prudently and towed our priceless cargo of gear, wetsuits and personal items in the trailer behind the trusty minivan. Despite the long drive, we were excited to see the warmer southern waters and plenty of friends and family who were distributed among the neighboring waterfront houses rented on Island Creek in Avon, NC.
Spotlight on: Sailworld
04.03.09
Marietta Hitzemann, surfing wahine
Question: What do you get when a body-surfing, scuba diving California girl transplanted to Florida meets a downhill ski racer turned windsurfing instructor from Austria?
Answer: Buzzard’s Bay’s Sailworld, one of the Cape Cod Wahines’ first sponsors!
Sailworld is owned and operated by Pam and Jim Ballantyne, a couple who have been windsurfing together for around 25 years. If you’re a serious windsurfer, you’ve probably used their web site to locate a piece of gear at some point. Additionally, they sell World Sails, a line of sails that Jim designs.
So how did they get to Buzzard’s Bay? I stopped by in mid-March to find out.
News for kiters: Wellfleet beaches and the CCNS 1/4 mile rule
03.27.09
Some CCW folks went to the Wellfleet Board of Selectmen meeting on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 to find out whether Wellfleet would adopt proposed beach regulations that would ban kiting from Town of Wellfleet beaches from April 1 through October 1. They have some good news and some not so good news to report.
- The good news: the Selectmen voted not to implement any regulations on kiting on town owned beaches.
- The not so good news: the Cape Cod National Seashore (CCNS) is again prohibiting kiteboarding on its bayside property -- which includes water within 1/4 mile of the mean low water mark on CCNS bayside beaches.
What does that mean? While you can launch from Wellfleet town landings on the bayside, you're not allowed to kite within a 1/4 mile – that’s 1300 feet – of the mean low water mark on CCNS bayside beaches from April 1 until the last plover fledges, which is generally sometime in August.
Can't we all just get a long board?
Jerry Evans, kite, wave, and windsurfing (wahine) waterman
03.21.09
Let's get it straight. Surfing is here to stay, windsurfing is here to stay and kitesurfing is here to stay. They are all the coolest sports you can do on the water. It’s that simple.
If you surf you should do it when the conditions are right. Waves are glassy and clean without any wind or with light off shore winds. Don’t surf in choppy waves when there is wind. It’s dumb, Go windsurfing or kitesurfing.
Why ski when you can surf?
Desiree Moyer, kite, wave, and windsurfing wahine
03.07.09
“Wow, are you crazy or addicted…or both?!” Folks say that to me as I grab my board and run to the water. Ahhh, winter surfing! To me, off-season surfing just plain ROCKS. With the right gear and a light wind, a sunny, 40 degree day with waist high waves can be a real treat to shake off those winter blues.
Surfing the Cape Cod National Seashore
By Carrie Crook, surfing wahine
02.21.09
Surfing the Cape Cod National Seashore is always an adventure. You never know what you might encounter on your trek out to the beach or as you paddle out to your favorite spot. The wildlife is one of the best parts of surfing. There is nothing like riding a wave and seeing a grey seal pop up nearby or even a pilot whale. There are also times of the year when you and your board may be covered in comb jellies (which do not sting) or you may be pulling up your hands and feet when a school of bluefish swim through the line-up. It is such an empowering feeling! You become part of their world and part of nature. I appreciate every minute out on the ocean and feel that my session is complete when I see something interesting.
For a little bit of wind, I am grateful
By Emily, windsurfing wahine
02.01.09
There are some days windsurfing that are simply glorious. These are the days when you feel inspired and thrilled to be even a small part of the sport. On these days, the wind kicks up enough, but not too much. The water is warm, and the sun lightly warms your arms. You can't decide whether to wear a shorty or to just go out in board shorts. Every move on the water seems natural, and you realize how beautiful and amazing it is to be effortlessly working with the wind instead of fighting it like you do when walking or riding a bike. Well, that is the perfect day for me. Everyone feels different.
Spotlight on: The Pump House Surf Shop
Marietta Hitzemann, surfing wahine
01.25.09
If you’re looking for a well-stocked surf shop that specializes in high-quality gear, hand-selected for our local Cape Cod conditions, check out the Pump House Surf Shop in Orleans. The owners, Matt Rivers and Jamie Demetri, have lived on the Cape their entire lives and have been CCW sponsors since 2006. By the way, the Pump House is also the best skate shop on the Outer Cape.
I stopped by in mid-December to interview Jamie for a Wahine profile and ended up writing about the two of them, instead. Theirs is a long, fun story – complete with a romantic subplot – and this short profile barely scratches the surface.