GS11 - Big Thank You to the Community. Much Love. Reports start on pg. 38

DA MAN!

The "Awkward" fruit!  (I'm referring to the banana).

Now you know why we got 12 ft swells all weekend. 

Thanks for that beautiful portrait, Keith. 

Loving these reports - I'm really stoked with how the event turned out.  Big thanks to everybody. 

GS lives on - Hike and Dive with Ron today, and then NCKA dinner at The Tides.  We're milking it for all it's worth.

More reports - keep 'em coming!

thank you everyone!  i had a blast!

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Thanks everyone for the hospitality and good cheer you showed dead prez aka Mike  and I this past weekend. It's funny, its only our 2nd year, but it feels like we have been part of this community a lot longer. The fact is we don't get to experience anything like this down south, but every year we will make this 10hr trek to be part of something really special .. thank you Eric! U r right..As it is not about winning a tournament, its about the people and  the experiences this weekend provides for all of us.. we r all connected in more ways than can imagine..  few shout outs. Eric, thanks for taking Mike and I out abalone hunting on Friday pm considering all that goes on with planning  this weekend. U absolutely rock! Doug aka oyster boy.. u r da man. Thanks for being  you! Oh.. and the oysters😎...  brudah . You are so full of life.. never change. To the father / son ensemble that we seem to always meet at the fillet station... thanks for always taking the time to be so cordial and informative.

To close, as Mike and I were leaving and filled up in garberville,  a redway gentlemen walked up to us and said " I need to pic your brains about what u have on your truck  " , and after 5 mins of filling, we were able to excite him about the joys of what we do with our kayaks..we exchanged phone #s and made a friend!

Hope to see you all next year!
God bless,
Joe

Are you the 2 guys that I talked with at the Potluck from Ventura County. I was blown away how far you came to be part of the GS event?
Aloha,
Da Bruddah

Thanks for another wonderful GS event at The Cove Eric.  Looking forward to GSXII.  Only 51 weeks to go 

Thanks again for organizing the best tournament and fun time of the year. Your family focus is what makes this tourney special. My brother and I were fortunate to get into some quality lings. I think what helps us is that are legs are so long we could wrap them around our kayaks to keep from falling off! I did show my age when I mentioned to one of the younger participants that it was an E-ticket ride out there and he had no idea what I was talking about. 


I also want to thank you for the dive trip on Monday. As usual you put an epic adventure together. I highly reccomend Eric's guide services. There is no one better!

Bald Eagle wrote:

I did show my age when I mentioned to one of the younger participants that it was an E-ticket ride out there and he had no idea what I was talking about.

That's a great one!

Thanks for another wonderful GS event at The Cove Eric.  Looking forward to GSXII.  Only 51 weeks to go 

Start the countdown now Sonny! lol!

Thanks , everyone for everything.  The Cove is a special place and my soul is drawn to it.   It was my first NCKA/GS event and I was stoked to hang out with such a grounded group of folks.   See everyone next year.

Here's my report and pics and vid.

Thursday AM I took my daughter Jayme on a field trip to Pacific Grove, raced home, zisco picked me up and we hit the road.

Thursday night was up until well past midnight getting caught up and chilling with friends old and new.

Friday AM I paddled out with my good buddy Adam415, but the forecast was rougher than predicted and we had to "settle" for 9+ inch abalone instead of the coveted 10s. All good, cuz I didn't get ANY abalone last year so I was stoked to just see the cool snails again!

Also got my first Shelter Cove Scallop, and Adam put his excellent diving skills to work and pulled us a quick limit of fat urchins to bring back in the MoochYak for ShuLand.

Friday night we did abalone and scallops and uni bombs, and I ended the night partying at the bar which is always fun. 

Saturday I was feeling a little "tired" but Adam dragged me out of bed and we paddled out into even sloppier seas...

Found a safe spot to anchor the yaks offshore and swam in to hunt for some meat.

I found a nice little cave down at 27 feet stuffed full of nice abalone.

With my heavy ab iron on the marker float line I was confident I would not lose the spot, so took one ab at a time leaving them on the floor of the cave until I had popped three then grabbed them all, swam to the surface, made an ab sandwich of all three, and swam back to the yak and we got the heck back to shore. 

Went back to the Motel, showered and changed, had some of Josie's world class Lumpia, rolled through camp to say hi to Jack and folks, got two twelve packs and some ice and headed back to beach to hand out cold beers to landing kayakers and see the fishies being brought in.

Saturday night was raffle and potluck and partying, and more bar time, and more food, and more fun. 

Sunday Am packed up, had some breakfast burritos, a little hair of the dog and poured myself into Zisco's truck and woke up once he got me home. Gifted him two abalone for being a great buddy and for getting me up and back safe and sound. 

Here's a little vid of some underwater fun, and a bunch of pics.



So much fun! Let's do it again!!!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

More...

 

 

Thank you Eric for making GS-11 and amazing event. 
You really made it about the whole community.
Bob

Thank you Eric for organizing and everyone that made it a fun weekend. I had a blast once again. Fishing was tough and challenging specially on tourney day. A wave surged while I was on top of it and threw me overboard. Got back on it and fished for a few more hours, but nothing else  would bite. Food and people were great and I can't wait for GS12