THE FAMLY STONE IS TOURING !

After I finished up all the things that I needed to address today I went to the beach and really couldn’t figure out just what to rig. The launch was totally deserted other than one person snorkeling in the channel .I had the full Maui Quiver with me and no one on the beach or out sailing to judge the conditions by. That makes things difficult.

It was such a nice day and the wind was blowing and there was even a few head high peaks popping up from time to time. I knew that I was going to sail but I really wasn’t in a hurry to rig so I chilled out on the log we call a bench and sat in the shade taking in the experience of Maui on a deserted beach on a beautiful day.

I noticed this green Goya sail up wind and that was the only windsurfer that I could see.

The sailor was heading in my direction. I thought that he was on a beeline to the channel when he turned and smacked one of those little peaks and then he headed right through the rocks and up to the beach.

I figured that I was in luck and the guy could give me an accurate idea of what the wind was like so I could decide what to rig.

When the guy got closer I recognized him and said,”Hi Josh!” It was none other than Josh Stone. We chatted a bit and this is how our chat went.

I asked about the wind and got a good idea of what to rig.

I asked him if he was going to Waddell and the next thing you know he is bubbling over with sheer excitement.

 Josh told me that he was more stoked about this contest than any he had been involved with since they first started the World Cup. In fact he stated that he was incredibly stoked about the whole American Windsurfing Tour in general and intended to make every stop if he could.

He mentioned how very impressed he was with Sam Bittner’s success with bringing wave sailing competitions back to the USA once again.

  Josh was stoked to be traveling with his old friend and team mate Francisco Goya and a bunch of the Maui Goya team.

 A few words about Josh from Francisco…

Josh is out of reach, after a busy pro career that included 2 World Titles and multiple podium finishes he also was the one behind the start up of the Freestyle World Tour, that made possible to bring wave sailors spirits to the lakes.

Today he continues to ride every time it's good at his home in Maui and also he goes to Jaws or travels to other neighbor islands on his Amy Blue boat. Today his son Harley is starting to get into the sport!

But that wasn’t the biggest reason Josh was so stoked and I knew why because I had heard that his son Harley was going on this trip. And this time it was as a competitor in his first wave sailing contest. Josh went on to tell me how proud he was to be sharing this experience with his son. He also made the comment that Harley was brought up traveling with him on the PWA world tour. The first years he can remember were full of exotic destinations, dynamic people and wave sailing.

Josh said that Harley has only been sailing about a year and a half and is getting pretty close to a clean forward loop. He told me this story about going mountain biking with Brian Talma. I guess Harley is a pretty good mountain biker and showed Brian up.  Then Harley made a bold statement about wind surfing to Brian. Well the next time they went on the water together Brian schooled Harley pretty good. Harley was a bit discouraged so Josh had a little chat with him and told him, “If you really want to loop, this is how you do it.”

Josh said, “Harley thought about it for a moment and jumped on his board and went for it!” He did just what his dad told him to do; he made the commitment and initiated the first part of a forward. Then he tried again and got further and again and got even rotated past half way. Josh said the he and Brian were astounded and amazed at Harley’s progress. Harley walked away from that sesh knowing that that he was defiantly going to loop.

Josh went on to say that he was stoked that the skill level of the AWT competitors was so high.   He said “There’s a lot of young talented wave sailors entered and they are all going to be going for it big time. Some of the kids from The Gorge are doing some really impressive stuff.”

He said with delight “You know Olaf there are 4 World Champions competing in the Waddell event Francisco, Kevin, Matt, and me. He also mentioned that if Robbie enters it will be 5. That caliber of talent is pretty unheard of in any type of sporting contest!”

We went on to talk about the Pistol River Wave Bash that is scheduled for late June and that even more of our fiend s are planning their summer vacation around that event as well. I told him that I was going to try and make that one again this year.

 

After our chat Josh left and I rigged up and had a delightful little bump and jump session on a 4,7 and my 78ltr.board with only my board shorts on.

Some other really cool things happened today but that is another story.