Pics from Mavs, VIP area

Wow, we had the best seats in da house... the view from the Air Force installation looks right down onto the break.  We also got to eat the same free food that the press got catered to them... a nice surprise touch!

There were some yakers out on the water... any NCKA'ers?

Here's some pics from today...

Judge's stand


Da flotila O-madness


Flotila zoom


Whirlybird


Rare right and left launch


Mo' Whirlybird


Zoom-zoom-zoom


Sequence shot 1: the drop is look'n good


Sequence shot 2: Uh-oh, dropped in a half second too late... will he make it?


Sequence shot 3: Nope...  But he did win the bellyflop contest... that had to have hurt!


That wetsuit will need to be sterilized...

Great pics...those guys are NUTS

What Sean said!!  That report was better than what I just saw on the news!

GREAT PICS!!!  I shoulda gone there instead of the ISE show

Great Pics!!!!

  Thanks........Danglin

GREAT PICS!!!  I shoulda gone there instead of the ISE show

Yeah, the wife and I have always wanted to check out Mavericks but it seems to always fall in the middle of the week.  I told the wife that I could put off the ISE until Sunday if she wanted, but she decided to let me go.

Backcountry, AMAZING PICTURES!!!

Michael

Thanks for the pics backcountry.  Did you see me out there on my Mango hobie outback?!

j/k.

I really wanted to check it out but didn't want to deal with the crowds.  So I chartered a helicopter for me, kristal, and kristal's friend.  We were pretty stoked.  we were s'posed to lift off at 1200, after our pilot was going to drop off his first client, some professional photog.  He touched down at 1210, pilot killed the engine, they came out, we piled in.  Then the engine wouldn't fire.  His battery had mysteriously died.  I told him to get a jump from the HMB Airport mechanics on hand.  He said we could do that and get up, but the strip didn't let any charter do hotload/hotdump of passengers.  Crap, I didn't care if we had to fastrope out of there so long as we got out to the break and saw it up close.  But no. Not only was this guy a lousy wrench with his bird, he was also a pu$$.  Long story short, we were grounded. 

I was pretty f'ing pissed, particularly b/c during their sales pitch, this guy was really promoting his safety and maintenance record.  cokehead.  anyway, don't charter Bay Aerial.

their lame and unsolicited reply is copied below, just for y'all to reference.  Shoulda done that maintenance  yesterday suckers.  Can't believe some people can be so incompetent.  I mean, did he not

We ended up driving over and jumping on the shuttle to take some pics from cliff's north of BC's prime location.  Very nice, but nothing like seeing it OTW.

__

Hello [yakuza],
I heard you had some problems and were unable to fly. We apologize and would
like to invite you back for a another look at mavericks and our advertised
tour of the bay area which we feel is more interesting. We offer our this
tour at $550 per hour and it is a truly an awesome ride. The helicopter has
been repaired and is in perfect order if you choose to come see us again at
the San Carlos airport. Again we at Bay Aerial apologize for your
inconvenience and hope to see you soon.

Stephanie Lee
Reservations
www.bayaerial.com

Yakuza, were you stuck with a bill yesterday.  If so, the least they could do is give you a complimentary ride.  Bummer about your ordeal, I can totally understand why you were so pi$$ed.

Michael

Right and left launch shot is totally awesome, Backcountry.  

I watched part of the live webcast.  That was cool.

For you guys who have been out from HMB a lot:
    Maybe 3 yrs ago I watched from the end of the rocky beach and from the cliff to the south of the military fence, and even with binoculars, about all I could see were the takeoffs of little specks, and might be seriously interested in paddling out for a better view.
  So here are my questions:
    In conditions like the contest day(looked like light winds and big swells), how challenging is it to get out in a yak and stay where the fleet was watching from(assuming the yakker had been on the ocean quite a few times)?
    Do you think the yakkers out there were able to see much of the action?
    I assume dealing with the crowds just to get the kayak company tents and launch, even rolling on a cart from parking elsewhere would be difficult, but is it in the ridiculous catagory?
    Or should I just be content with the great pics and video here and elsewhere?
   
     

Fuzzy Tom if you want to get behind it just follow the buoys out from the jaws and stay out of the triangle It's not such a long trip out

I launched from the beach where the breakwater meets land and went between the worst spots it was breaking, but then couldn't get back in because it closed up So I had to go the long way back following the buoys

not sure about the north end of the break but I was on the south end and was able to get a little bit of video before my headcam went on the fritz


Looking at the photo of all those boats behind the break is pretty amazing   They're pretty much sitting ducks in a spot like that

Mav's is a really unpredictable place The break can pop up anywhere

The pb captains must've been making some pretty good $$$ to chance it

I kept and eye on the triangle all day... Mavs was having a small to medium day, with A LOT of time between sets... there were periods when no waves were breaking that were 10-20 minutes long, and then a small set would come in, and then maybe 5 minutes later a much bigger set would roll through.  What this meant is that the triangle was attracting a lot of kayakers, because most of the time waves were not breaking there and it looked like a safe shortcut out to the observation flotila... but when a set did roll through, it was a yardsale.  When there's a big swell, the safe way to paddle out to the break is to follow the channel markers around the south side of the triangle.

These four peeps eventually made it out, but they took a small thrashing, and were obviously skilled at navigating a kayak through breakers...

The pb captains must've been making some pretty good $$$ to chance it

If you could get a spot on one of the viewing boats, it would run ~$250. 

You only go through there if you're looking for excitement

That can be real mahem in there, I tried sneaking through on my way in but the monsters chased me out

I had to do the loop around the buoys in the dark

Hi Yakers:

            Nice pics! I heard some Kayakers had to be rescued!
Yakuza I would ask for a refund. Sounds like no Pre flight check on Alt.
and they fly by the seat of their pants.
                                                                                   Ernie