Elk 08, GuitarZan is The Man!!!

the peach cobbler was great for breakfast.
ben's painting of a fish's eye view was awesome!
and adams pictorial is excellent.
ps. to abking-my new camera is on order.

What a great event!  Sean and Leah are the best for organizing such an outstanding weekend.  THANKS!  It was more than worth the time I spent driving from the Santa Barbara area to Elk and back (about 20 hours).

Everyone was really friendly and I totally enjoyed meeting everyone, checking out all of the kayaks and how they were set up.  It was fun to hang out with Sean and Laura, not only at Elk, but at their redwood retreat in the mountains behind Santa Cruz on Thursday and Sunday nights, too.  Eric B.....what a cool dude......instead of eating a frozen burrito on Friday, he provided the best teriyaki style beef to go with Sean and Laura's sausage and veggies, plus tequila for later.  The Saturday pot luck was crazy good.  Everyone showed off their A rated dishes.  Mooch, he tried to hex me with his banana.  I don't know if it worked or not, what can I say?

Even sleeping was a treat.  The cacophony of snoring lulled me to sleep.

It was fun fishing a new spot.  I let my 25 in. ling go.  I'll catch him again in a few years when he'll be a winner.  (I'm trying to build good fishing karma for the future.)

ELK ROCKS!  Thanks everyone!

OK, I have finally gone through my pics and I'm ready for a long report. The nice thing about having a wife that scrapbooks is that I always have plenty of pics when she comes along!

This was our first time at Elk and we loved it! Thanks to Sean and Leah for putting on such a great event. As I've told Sean, I scheduled all of my work vacation around NCKA events this year. Next event is BAM in October and then the Islander Trip. I can't wait!
 
The sign as we approached the community center


Home sweet home at the community center


This was my first real shot at a surf launch. I've been in rough water and strong current in the Bay, but this was something I was looking forward to. Fortunately, it was nice and smooth at the launch. The swells outside of the bay were a bit big later in the day, but overall it was a good lesson for me to learn that my practice and paddling allowed me to paddle with confidence.

The view from above the launch


Gearing up


The "surf"


I'm heading out!


A bit of a bobble as I stepped in a hole


But I recovered and made my way out

The great thing about this event is that is has great fishing and it's a lot of fun for wives and families. My wife met up with Anita (Ben's wife) and Laura (Sean W's wife) and the three of them were able to paddle and explore together. Also there was plenty for the kids.

This was Theresa and Anita's first time in the ocean!
Here's Theresa:


And Anita:


And Laura demonstrating to the girls that fish aren't the only edible thing in the ocean!



Back in camp the kids had a lot to do, like flying kites


And making fish prints

Of course it couldn't be an NCKA event without massive amounts of food and camraderie. 

Here was the spread


Hanging out at the campsite


Waiting for the shower... 


Making Pizza!


And last but not least, is the big winner! Everybodyt was really happy to see Guitarzan take the big prize! 

The big fish! 


Accepting the plaque


The winner on his brand new ride! 


Congratulations to all the winners! I can't wait until next year!

What a blast congrats to Ben on a great win he sure makes it look easy.
Thanks to Shawn a family for another great ELK just gets better every year.

Thanks for all that cooked it was delicious don’t eat like that every day
I think I will try to come up with some kind of dish for next year, moms
Macaroni salad is the best so I should try that .

And as for the trek from the camp spot to the launch it is just under a half mile
On the GPS, ouch! I need to build that dam cart or are you sure I can't use
A gas motor I can make it real quiet after all it is not a motorize vehicle
If you are not riding it I can make the gas one real cheap but the electric
Will cost about 400.00 to build.

see you at MBK
Duane

         
 

All the reports are awsome, I will surely try to make the tourney next year! Kudos on all those pics my Silver and Black brother....(FishHunter) ....Andy

I just thought of this.......maybe next year we could have a big group photo of everyone who attended. Just a thought.

CHEERS!

Congrats to all the winners...especially Ben. You definitely deserve it, my man!

I had planned on coming up Friday, but ended up having to work...so I then planned to come up for the day on Saturday, and woke up with a hell of a migraine that got worse through the day. I swear I can't catch a f***ing break. 

Next year...

First of all, mega-thanks to the Whites for putting on the tourney. Our entire family had a great time and look forward to next year.
Secondly, congratulations to Ben. Way to go!!

I had a great time, fishing a good solid bite all day long, as I was catching fish all the way until 12:30 or so. Even better was to bust my ab cherry. Let me tell you, when all you've been able to do is dive in the evenings in 6-8 feet of viz, the conditions on Saturday were like a walk in the park. Thanks to Freddie, I started diving an area that actually had snails.

woke up with a hell of a migraine that got worse through the day. I swear I can't catch a f***ing break. 

Ouch, Man that sucks 

I had told many that I was not feeling well "Physically", and was glad I made the trek, but what got me was the amount of participants that were also "walking wounded" at the Event...

 I had a screwed up Back,

JTF was Nursing a Sprained Knee

someone else came up and showed me a " Heavy Duty " brace on his lower leg,

 Just wondering how many others " Patched and Drugged " themselves up to make this event....?

Wow! What another great event. Big Whoo-hoo to Ben on the win and the others who placed.
What else can I say that others haven't - Sean and the family put on another fantastic event.  I already have dreamy eyes for next year.
Mark thanks for letting my barrow your extra PFD. If it wasn't for your kindness I would have been crying the whole weekend.
Everyone was awesome and so kind and the family truly enjoyed it and can't wait for the next event/get together.

Thanks again Sean and everyone else.

p.s.
We forgot the name of the fellow kayaker who barrowed a kayak seat from Frank and got to caught up in all the excitement and forgot to return it?
now we have a scrambler xt  missing a seat.

We forgot the name of the fellow kayaker who barrowed a kayak seat from Frank and got to caught up in all the excitement and forgot to return it?
now we have a scrambler xt  missing a seat.

I got your seat!....I'll have my peeps PM yours and you'll get it back bro!   

LOTS of great pics and reports...thanks!  We ate Paiges ab last night...very cool (and tasty) moment.

thanks for the thanks, on the pics, my fellow bruthas!    

...and a few more

pic1~ TallPaul paddling in sunday morn.

pic2~ Rocketman hits the sand.

pic3~ BrianG playin it safe, waiting for the nasty stuff to pass.