Catharsis, Hatch and Tail

As an act of purification, all current paddleboard projects were scrapped. That includes two 14's and a 16. It was wasteful to chop all that wood and extremely helpful to clean the slate for a new year. I will burn the wood tomorrow and adhere to a new focus on flat-top, cedar framed, Blake Styled American Paddleboards.
I exploited this new freedom from invention to take time and put a hatch in the Mac and fix the tail where the fin had pierced the skin.
It was a good year and the next shall be better.
You can't dance and stay uptight, so let there be dancing tonight.

Rails and Frame

Rails and frame cut and assembled. Fourteen foot paddleboard with 6 inches of rocker faired nose to tail and 24 inches wide at center.

Sun, Beard and Sand

New paddleboard construction begins tomorrow. I used my last day of vacation, for the year, and spent the afternoon on the beach. Apparently my beard is made of sunshine, the beach is part of an epic model train display and there is tiny shorebreak. But the sun was warm, the breeze was cool and the water, pretty to view.

Parasail-Exploration

Taking to the air over scenic Ft. Myers Beach, our intrepid adventurer declares "Ft. Myers Beach, a prime destination for paddleboarding... except for the abundance of sharks, powerboats and alligators! Huzzah!". Huzzah indeed, Chuck.

Team Vespucci

The Docs wedding provided the fertile grounds for a complete, well kind of complete, portrait of Team Vespucci. All members were captured at their most flattering wearing their standard issue, Chuck Vespucci, hunter blaze balaclava. Missing from said portrait are stealth members Saucer and Bronner.

The bottom picture features a risque-ly clad, AmPadCo donned, Sistah Sarah, as she coins her newest power, the Compliment, Request. It goes a little like this, ""you are so adorable, can I have a sip". Well played Sistah, Well Played.

Google Maps Rulio

View Larger Map

This is where the doc and the lady got hitched. and this is where luther grabbed his junk (underwater).

And I am not sure what Brienne is doing in this photo, but it is definitely underwater and she is definitely a wicked woodcutter.

A Wedding Aquatic

The Dental Ding Doc and his Special Lady were wedded this past weekend on the Isle of Puerto Rico. Their's was a non traditional wedding portrait, taken sub surface. Donning their newly earned, hunter blaze, Team Vespucci, balaclava the doc and his wife started their union in style.

*Note: the Doc is holding a Preserve recycled toothbrush at the post reception, ultra late night, pool party. Way to stay focused Doc - Truly an Inspiration.

The Mighty Oculist

The Doc took the Oculist out for it's maiden voyage last Saturday. She's a fat 8' and heavy as the proverbial fouck. Doc said she felt nimble and responsive but a deficiency in construction proved to be fatal. While glassing, I missed several small areas along the rail. The comic books provided no structural support, so the project has been scrapped until further notice. "The Oculist" is the name of the first Conan comic I applied to the board - it means "eye doctor
".

Doc Goes South

Doc and Campbell Bros. Bonzeroni. My Beach, No Waves, I'm Going Home.

Photo Courtesy of 10cam
Air:80 / Water:67 / Wind:still

Great Light

Every December we get a clear afternoon with great light. Time of year, time of day, they come together for deep blues and bright whites. Plus, it doesn't hurt that the air temp is in the low 80's.
Air:80 / Water:67 / Wind:easy breezey

Dental Ding Doc Breaks the Blogging Veil

Pre-dawn preparation including a skull bucket and finely tuned barbarian slide canon catches the Dental Ding Doc in a brief moment of quietude that can only be a sure indicator of the pummeling to come.

Preparations on the beach were made fast by the author and a spool of large primate adhesive. The newly minted, Team Vespucci, hunter blaze, balaclava adorns the crown of lead-paddler, Chuck Z. Vespucci.

Dawn came shrouded in a gaussian blur as the horizon was breached. Turn, and a last photo of the Doc, stroking shore-ward, on the mighty Oculist.

The camera obscura aqua was then sacrificed to the unintentional immersion gods and joined the rest of the crew in Davey Jones' locker.

(translation: jason and i went paddling.it was foggy and i dropped the camera in the water.)

Air:50 / Water:68 / Wind: Minimal - Just Trunks.

Clean Ocean Wooden Fish

Dr. Matt's board is taking shape thanks to the skill of TI. Photos courtesy of Mattzilla.
Air/Water/Wind....I'll find out in a couple hours.

Keep Your Shoes On

Drew Bishop was a phenomenal singer/songwriter that died before he reached the spotlight. We were pretty good friends and I took this picture of him on the street that separated our houses. "Keep Your Shoes On" was a song he recorded in my living room one day. I recorded a bunch of his songs and some of them are available (for free) at DrewBishop.com
Air:55 / Water:68 / Wind:light

Extra Crispy

Two quick checks on the 10cam this morning, A crisp, cool, fall morning in North Florida.
Air:47 / Water:68 / Wind:NNW3

Morning, Sand and Evening

I went to the beach twice today but not long enough to paddle out. Maybe if I would have gone once it would have been long enough to get wet. Hindsight is a beach. Sand looks cool sometimes. Say Cheese.
Air:59 / Water:68 / Wind:light

24,000 Year Old Sand Dunes

In North Central Florida lies the Goldhead Branch State Park. Headland to the Goldhead Branch and home to 24,000 year old coastal dunes (top photo). The landscape also featured a 60 foot ravine and I learned the white wood of the American Holly tree was prized for making false teeth (shout out to the Dental Ding Doc).

Clean Ocean Surfboards Factory

I headed over to see my friend, Tony Ianaronne, at his surfboard factory. I've known T.I. for about 4 years and this was my first visit to the factory that he produces umpteen thousand foam boards out of....Well today he was working on a Chambered Cedar Surfboard. Check it bra.

Interview with the Dental Ding Doc

In an amazing twist of fate or errant kismet this photo of the Dental Ding Doc (DDD), pictured on skatecraft, was unearthed on the ever popular Surfy Surfy blog, original post Sunday, November 6th 2005. The following is an interview with DDD, conducted by Chuck Zissou Vespucci, via electronic mail.

CZV:what's the story behind said photo?
DDD:Story behind said photo - NYC 2004 - Our friend Tim of San Clemente, CA visited from NYC. A dedicated surf addict and stoked NYC explorer - he spotted the CAUTION: HOLLOW SIDEWALK down on Bleeker and following photo ensued. I was on my way home from the dental clinic riding the best NYC transportation in town. On that note, there is nothing better than sneaking out of NYC to go for a surf and hours later be back in the big city in all its glory.

CZV:how did you find it on surfy?
DDD:My friend Mike, also in the pic, emailed me months later and lead me to the photo on surfy surfy. I think I got the email on a particularly painful day of dental school and was stoked to see it. That's how Mike and I got through dental school and kept the focus on what was important while experiencing the brutality of the daily dental school grind.

CZV:how long have you been blogging?
DDD:Been blogging for less than one month. Two or three weeks maybe. A wise man once said, blogging is like leaving a message on the world's answering machine. Classic, and true.

CZV:where and what is flevoland?
DDD:Flevoland is another word for Florida. Not sure where that came from, I read it somewhere.

CZV:Well it's been great talking with you, cheesefacedmongrol. Great insights, the kids will love it. Any parting words?
DDD:Gingivitis leads to periodontitis which leads to surfitis. Cheese glow.

end interview.

note to our reader: Flevoland is a province of the Netherlands. DDD is apparently a cheese-huffer. Although as noted by Wikipedia; On the MySpace web site, users who selected "Florida" as their home state wound up with "Flevoland" displayed in error on the site. It was assumed by some users that "Flevoland" was slang for "Florida", but it was actually a glitch in the MySpace program. Well done DDD.
Air:66 / Water:68 / Wind:NNE10

Spring Tide Brings Teeth

Walking this morning was epic due to a rising Nor'Easter on the shoulders of a peaking Spring Tide. All kinds of flotsam and jetsam littering the dune line. But the most curious of all were these two teeth. I found them 10 yards apart and have never seen their type before. After a hearty Googling, I am at a loss. Any idea's?

The Cheese is Dead, Long Live the Cheese

This is the last known photo of the Chuck Zissou signature model, wool cap. Taken Friday mid morning, it was lost in an attempt to rescue this fair maiden from almost certain salvation.

If you see the cheese, kill the cheese.
Air:66 / Water:69 / Wind:NE20kts (gonna be a howler on the beach)