LAKAWA

On my way to SW Mn in hopes of wind and water...if I'm not "worthy" of Okebena, perhaps I'll find "Spirit" somewhere else. Looks like 15-30MPH with higher gusts and temps in mid 70's.

Forecast for Sunday in SW Minn is 20-30MPH from the SW. I hear Okebena is open in Worthington. Anyone know about Spirit?

May 10. It happens early...done by noon, so be early.

Yes...it was the kind of day we dream of. I didn't get out until two, but was inspired by two high school guys ripping it up on the snow with their kites and snowboards. For one of them, it was only his second time out. It might be interesting if those of you riding a lake other than Waconia could p...

After spending the first two weeks of February in Maui, I kind of got used to that predictable, smooth ocean air. Since I've been home, I've either gone to lakes too small, tried to make the wrong end of the lake work, or have been thrashed by super gusty winds and the gnarliest lake surface I've ev...

Eddy Patricelli, editor of Windsurfing Magazine, has contacted me looking for shots of our Midwest sailing. I know Eric and Pete captured some great shots last year. If you think you have something that would work for magazine quality it would greatly help the cause if you could shoot 'em down to Fl...

Hey Steve, I think the temp drop this weekend will take care of this, leaving a hard surface again that's substantially faster. For me, on a snowboard, it's crucial to have steady power and movement. As soon as I loose speed I sink and my board, even when waxed well, becomes an anchor. Hey, looks li...

Yesterday I skipped out of work for a short sesson at Lake Owasso. I'll never do that again on a S/SE wind. One minute I could barely keep the kite in the sky, the next I'm being pulled straight up in the neutral position. Today I opted for the bigger lake on a west wind and hit Bellaire at about 3p...

I think I've been to just about every destination center you can think of, and Maui is my all time favorite. It's awesome sailing twelve months a year. In the summer it's flat water inside the reef with swells outside. The rest of the year it's waves on the outside and bump and jump inside. The sout...

Sounds like I've been missing some greatly needed snow. Very excited to get home to see the kite festival. Arrived here Jan. 31 to building trade winds. It's been beautiful 5-6.5M wind just about every day....only a couple kona wind days. Yesterday was perhaps the most outstanding day of the trip......

Last week many of you showed up at Calhoun for an awesome day on the ice. Irv, the cameraman, captured a lot of good video of just about every contraption invented. The show is set to air this Saturday at 11am on Channel 45, unless college basketball gets in the way, which could push it back possibl...

Pat,
Give me a call when you can.

Irv, from Environmental Journal on Channel 45 and ESPN-2 will be doing more filming for a show airing a week from this Sunday on the various types of wind toys we engage in Minnesota winters. If you kite, Snofer, Skimbat, Dutch sail/kite, Freeskate, Bavarian style it, whatever...come join us. He pla...

As many of you know, I can be quite long winded. I've posted my own particular take on the day in the Knowledge section. It truly was a great day culminating in a spectacular incident that's left us all grateful and more aware of all the conditions that go into riding at the extreme. Alex, you're mo...

Lake Calhoun- Jan. 12 If ever there were to be a “gathering” of winter sailing devices, the conditions forecast for this past Sunday were nearly perfect. After extreme cold, the forecast was for moderating temps in the mid-20’s and 15-25MPH winds out of the southwest. I checked Windancing.com’s chat...

Hey Voita and crew, Stephan, from the Environmental show, ESPN 2 and Channel 45, is doing a segment on winter sailing devices. I told him about this site and the event you've got going today. I'm not sure if they'll make it or not. We had a shooting session on Calhoun yesterday. Unfortunately, the w...

Coach,
I think it was NSP that called the cops on us. Yes, it's got some shallow spots where a depth meter on your deck would feel better. Still, some of my best speed runs have been there, sailing just next to the ice.

In my younger days, we'd always sail the Black Dog power plant in January. We usually got in a couple good hours before the police came and kicked us out. The water is quite shallow. but it works quite well for a w or nw wind.

Many of you may know my views about skying out over hard surfaces. Yet, I have to admit these photos of Alex touch a sense of freedom seldom seen before. His one handed, laid out position against the sunset captures the spirit of riding like seldom seen. A couple of these photos need to go to public...

This will be a particularly dangerous ice freeze, given the strong winds we've had. We have several sections of our lake that are four inches thick and large parts that are still open. So, if you haven't seen the actual "process" of the lake freeze, knowing what's froze almost two weeks la...