Flightline News

Jakle Air Combat Patrol team members are shown here flying a peactime food drop mission to save snowbound Golden Retrievers from starvation after a heavy winter storm in the Pacific Northwest stranded hundreds of the good natured canines. Navigator Thomas 'Pork Pie" Jakle monitors airspeed while pilot John "Hammer Down' Jakle brings his heavily loaded C-130 Hercules in low over the drop zone, preparing to release pallets of self opening 'Mighty Dog' Beef canned food. (Earlier drops had supplied kibble.) As a result of the flier's humanitarian dedication, all dogs were saved from the snow drifts and returned to their grateful families. Thanks boys! SEE Detailed Mission Images HERE

Loblolly visit 1/28/08

Janet and Sasha going to the farm.

The Day the Contest Was Called Because it was TOO BIG

Michael Charging a Huge Wave (Middle Peak?) Jan 13 2008
Click for large view

The Cougars Surf team showed up at Santa Cruz, Steamer Lane for the contest (the day after Mavericks) and the contest was called off- just too darn big! So what does the team do? Surf all day of course, charging huge waves, and getting swept by an intense current almost to the pier after each ride, fighting to paddle to the steps and walking all the way back to try again and generally having a blast all day long. Check here for more pictures of the team on this and other days.

Mavericks Contest 08

Roark Photo. Album Here

Gallery









SF Chronicle

Beverly Photo

Mavericks 2007/2008 is a memory! Marty instigated a paddle-out through roiled waters to observe the action close up. We somehow thrashed out to the contest area. Once there Mr. Phelps (a watcher) bobbed like a jellyfish alongside rescue jetskis and surf groupies while I, (a doer) surfed mushroom rock.

The fog burned off and the day was glorious, warm sun & blue water dazzling our brains into giddy optimism blurred nicely by adrenaline and endorphins from big-surf paddle exertions. Beverly and Michele biked out to the point and embraced the festivities from beach and cliff. Roark studied the scene from the comforts of a party boat, Tim from the cliff over Ross' Cove.

The contest winner decided to split the 57k pot with all 6 finalists - a surf commie aloha gesture capturing the spirit of the day. As we paddled home across the harbor, Mermen guitar riffs reverbing across the water - the party was really just beginning!

Home later; pasta, Michele's special sauce, salmon, Maverick's ale and Ollala berry pie with Bud's vanilla ice cream served by Beverly to a happy crew of Phelpses, Jordans and Bryan. As conversation subsided, muffled by sub- clinical food comatosity, we wondered idly: finale for 403 Garcia St ?

Grand Canyon!

Sarah On The South Rim Grand Canyon

Hopi Country







Today took us west from Canyon de Chelly across the Hopi Reservation and to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. we had a long drive, but a good time. The reservation is very poor. We drove up on Second Mesa as well as stopped at the Cultural Center and Museum were we had a pleasant lunch.

The South Rim was cold and dreary as we arrived in the late afternoon. We stopped at several overlooks on our way to the the village, and climbed around while taking in the immensity. Just before sunset the the sun broke though the clouds and illuminated the northern and eastern walls. Nice! Album Here

We are holed up in Willaims AZ on old 66 which serves as Main Street. A fine dinner at the Pine Country Diner! Tomorrow we turn for home in earnest on I40 West.

Road Trip Report

After leaving St.Louis early on New years Eve day Sarah and I were at the Acoma Pueblo in time for an early afternoon tour. The Pueblo is about 40 miles west of Albuquerque on a mesa at almost 8,000 ft. The day was bright clear. A bitter cold wind was sweeping the mesa. We had momentary shelter in the church, built by Indians over 12 years under the heavy hand of the Spanish priests in the early 1600s. Hard packed earth floor, heavy pine roof beams, nine foot thick walls, it served as a fortress for resisting warriors when the Spanish retook the Pueblo after the Indian rebellion of 1680. We froze walking the the dusty streets, but it was quite amazing. (The first time time I've seen a mica window.) Those living on the mesa have no electricity, water or plumbing. According to our guide, water is the major problem. After warming up from our descent from the mesa, we pigged at the all you can eat steam trays troughs at the Sky City Casino and headed east and north for Chinle and Canyon de Chelly.

New Years day was clear and cold (about 10 degrees) early in the day. We found a Navajo guide, Ben Teller to take us into the Canyon. Ben is an old timer who has guided since 1957 and lives in the Canyon near Antelope House. As we hiked down from the rim along a snowy trail he filled us in on the doings of his 10 grandchildren, and the stories of life in the canyon passed down to him by his grandfather. His family memories go back to the time of the captivity at Fort Sumner.

We spent about 4 hours hiking the the Canyon bottom, occasionally passing hogans and small flocks of sheep. About 150 people live within the canyon in cabins and hogans. Ben told us his cabin is typical. He hauls water from the river and stores it in a cave to keep it from freezing in the winter. He has a small generator and uses a Coleman stove to cook.

We exited the canyon near the White House ruins. A fine day. PHOTO ALBUM

Yale 1950 Philadelphia Reunion

TOP PHOTO:The re-union group at the Philadelphia Art School
Jim and Janet Knight, 2nd row, third and fourth from left.
Yale Mini reunion in Philadelphia, October, 2007
BOTTOM PHOTO:Jim and Janet Knight at the Mummer's Museum for class dinner.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!

 

Its all about FUN!

Fitzgerald Marine Preserve

 















Taking a break from holiday shopping, Beverly and I took a quick walk at the marine reserve as the full moon rose and the sun set through the fog. The negative tide was ebbing near its low. We had an enjoyable time scrambling over the exposed rocks and peering into tide pools in the gathering dark. This anemone was in about 3 inches of water. Enlarge the photo and you can see a hermit crab peeking out from his snail shell just to the left of the anemone. 'Hermies' appeared to be everywhere!

Surfing Cougars Win!

Half Moon Bay Surfing Cougars Wahines at "The Hook" in Santa Cruz at last weekend'surf contest. Rachel bottom, Camile left, Sam right. (Cindy Phelps Photo)


Rachel in the Curl (Cindy Phelps Photo)

Photo Album HERE
Santa Crux is surf city and the surf team to beat. Which is what the Surfing Cougars did in the team's second meet. WOW. Coaches and kids had a lot to be proud about in a day of inconsistent surf at The Hook. Everyone gave their all,showed the aloha spirit and most important had a blast. The team is really coming on strong!
A nice write up in the Review here.

Lora Groves Open Studio

If you received a handmade invitation to an open studio that looked like this I suspect you'd be excited to go! Click the image for a much better view.


So was I. Lora Groves is a wonderful coastside artist who works in a secluded studio in the redwoods about 5 miles above Pescadero. She often works in large sheets of cloth as pictured here. I think they are linen, which she colors, paints and sews into evocative patterns of light, color and dark. Bran and I visited her open studio and had a chance not only to view her art, but also to meet family and other friends. I wish we could have stayed longer! I met Lora when she used to occasionally work part time at Moon News ( World's best bookstore!)

She is picture here with (left)"The Whole Cycle of Growth and Renewal is Love" and
(Right)"Some Come in, Some Go Out".

The People's Choice

 

The Half Moon Bay Ritz Carleton hosts a gingerbread house contest and silent auction every year. The proceeds go to benefit the Coastside Children's Programs (CCP) in Half Moon Bay. CCP is the number one childcare agency on the coast and has been serving children and families from multicultural and diverse socio-economic backgrounds for over 30 years.

This year's 'People's Choice' Gingerbread House winner is one of our own! The multi talented Emily Phelps took time out of school, firefighting and charity responsibilities to create a winner. She is pictured here with with her prize winning house. Way to go Em! Baking and constructing a winning gingerbread house is tough enough, but Emily also had to somehow keep her entry out of LaVerne's mouth. Nice work Ms. Phelps.

December 4, 2007. Mavs Goes Off!

This past week in Northern CA, a tremendous swell came through. The big day was on Tuesday with a 27-30 foot swell on 20 second intervals. Huge. Unusually, Maverick's broke out on the 3rd reef, where the big dogs were towing in. This shot by Doug Acton,the best surf photographer ever of the action at Mavericks over the years, shows that wave faces were in the 60 foot plus range. This shot is of Kealii Mamela. Doug took time out from his Half Moon Bay Surf team coaching duties to document the action as he has for every swell for decades.

Star Turns!

John "Music Man" J. and Thomas "El Diablo" J. meet their panting public. I only wish we could hear the mellifluous vibrations that accompanied this scene, but the pictures and imagination will have to suffice (unless Aunt Sarah made a recording that we could post.)


Good going guys! We will expect a duet concert in St. Louis over Christmas

Secret SpotTrip Report

Well, the reports are in from the Intrepid Thanksgiving Secret Spot Hike-Surf Trippers:

Roark: Epic!
Bob: Great
Eric: Pretty Good
Tim: Never Again

I've never done the trip, but it involves a 7-8 mile hike,including a stretch that must be navigated at low tide. Tough going through loose sand etc. Tim reportedly had to be cajoled with unspecified threats and blandishments in order to induce him to stand again after a trail side collapse. (Hard to believe, but perhaps he IS the sane one!) They had rain, big, (too big) surf that kept them out of the water part of the time, but they were able to score when conditions permitted. Four nights camping on the beach. The packs must have been seriously heavy for enough beer to last that long!
Way to go boys!

Se Roark's Photo Album HERE

Radical Rodents

This one is for John & Thomas. Do you think it is hard to make itty bitty surf boards?

Light Parade

Paradew Photo ALbum Link

Bobbie Simmons Drving - Look out!

Oscar Gift Wrapped














The Half Moon Bay parade of lights took place this evening with the largest crowd in memory looking on. Kings Mountain was strongly represented with a Bronco towed Christmas tree lit with thousands of colored bulbs powered by a 5 KV generator accompanied by 2000 watts of mobile Christmas carol stereo power. Oscar (Phelps) had on his usual flannel lined Christmas package costume, while Bobbie Simmons was lead driver in the posse of Kings Mountain Christmas race cars that set the pace for the parade. Let the shopping begin!

Character Revealed or "Beverly Enjoys the Beach Her Own Way"

ALBUM LINK

Gee, Dan told me there are these things called 'Killer Logs.' Big heavy logs that look safe but get moved by the waves and crush people- or some such silly thing like that-hey! Is that one over there? Think I'll check it out. Hmmm.. easy to balance...let's see... never stand on beach logs, check....never turn your back on the ocean, check!......Whoaaa!!! Wheeee!! Awesome! Can I do it again? No?
OK then, I give killer logs a 'D' for DONE!

Kids: Be don't be Beverly- be safe! Here is the real scoop from the State of Oregon.

"They're called sneaker waves because they appear without warning, often surging high up on the beach with deadly force, and are impossible to predict.
How to play it safe: Never turn your back on the ocean.

Watch those logs The ocean is strong enough to pick up even the biggest log and plop it down on top of you. Some logs may look small, but even the tiny ones can be waterlogged and weigh tons.
How to play it safe: If you see a log in the surf or on wet sand, stay off it
.....Oregon Coastal Saftey excerpt.Read the whole site HERE

Punkin' Pickers

I know it is late for Halloween pictures, but here is a classic pose that deserves to be shared. John and Thomas, taking a break from heavy pumpkin picking duties on a beautiful fall day with a prize winning squash between them. What's with the bolt cutters, guys? Did you have to go through a fence to get into Farmer Jones' field? Where is your Dad?

Cougars Surf Team's First Meet!

The Cougars did very well in their first competetive outing at Santa Cruz on the weekend before Thanksgiving. Great write up in the the HMB Review

Way to go, Doug and Marty!

Practice Cowboy

Lots of cowpokes play the fiddle. Most people don't realize that it takes practice, practice,practice to be able to entertain the boys around the campfire.
And it always pays to wear your sidearm! A cowboy never knows when crooks or rattlesnakes might need shootin'. Here is Thomas, hog leg strapped on his hip, ready for anything. Shin'ichi Suzuki would be right proud of this boy!

Theory of Everything

It is about time. A surf bum has come up with a unified theory of everything, using the E8 as his inspiration.

The E8 root system consists of 240 vectors in an eight-dimensional space. Those vectors are the vertices (corners) of an eight-dimensional object called the Gosset polytope 421.In the 1960s, Peter McMullen drew (by hand) a 2-dimensional representation of the Gosset polytope 421. The image shown above was computer-generated by John Stembridge, based on McMullen's drawing.
Quote:
"Garrett Lisi, 39, has a doctorate but no university affiliation and spends most of the year surfing in Hawaii, where he has also been a hiking guide and bridge builder.

In winter, he heads to the mountains near Lake Tahoe, Nevada, where he snowboards. "Being poor sucks," Lisi says. "It's hard to figure out the secrets of the universe when you're trying to figure out where you and your girlfriend are going to sleep next month."

Despite this unusual career path, his proposal is remarkable because, by the arcane standards of particle physics, it does not require highly complex mathematics.

Even better, it does not require more than one dimension of time and three of space, when some rival theories need ten or even more spatial dimensions and other bizarre concepts. And it may even be possible to test his theory, which predicts a host of new particles, perhaps even using the new Large Hadron Collider atom smasher that will go into action near Geneva next year." Quoted from the Telegraph See full text here

Half Moon Bay High School Surf Club is Launched!

Freshmen Mike and Skyler charging hard at a practice for the Half Moon Bay High School Surf Club Saturday at Kelly Street. These photos were shot by the team's coach, pro surf photographer and waterman Doug Acton

The team was recently formed, sparked by Exec Director Marty and is now sanctioned by the league. About 25 kids have turned out with lots of talent and enthusiasm on the part of both parents and kids. With Doug as the coach they will go far!

Andrew Pays But Comes Up Smiling

 

Sometimes the ocean bites back. Andrew H.shown sporting a nice souvenir. Today's good times are tommorrow's good memories!

Surf Report: First Winter Swell

Sunday morning. Calm, clear and warm, the roar of the ocean rising up and falling through my bedroom window as it had all night. Jupiter high and bright in the eastern sky, I loaded up.(It was Jupiter, right Dan & Elizabeth?) Sun broke over the ridge line at almost the exact moment my boat slid off the beach. Gliding glassy harbor water, loosening stiff shoulders, pulling long to stretch, the roar beyond the break water grew louder as a lone surfer, his yellow 'gun' underarm, paralleled my track across the water, walking the path along the harbor edge to the Point where we would converge. His presence and few early bird spectators with binoculars on the cliff confirmed that Maverick's was breaking. I didn't look, but Ross's Cove was probably going off big time.

Beautiful session, jockeying to paddle into clean 10-12 foot wave faces with occasional triple overheads, the line-up about 50 yards beyond Mushroom Rock. There long, long rides with time for multiple cutbacks and then the wave would reform and offer a second drop and bottom turn. A few times the price was paid with a swim in the impact zone, but adrenaline overcame lack of fitness and practice. Outside clean-up sets loping through occasionally forced all out attempts to claw up the wave before it broke or a frenzied paddle to get out in front to try and hang on as the wall crashed behind me. Quite engaging.

There were 15-20 guys (yes all guys)out at the Mavericks line up, a few towing in, although it wasn't big enough to be necessary. One paddle surfer was catching clean shoulder rides and looked as though he could have been charging the bowl with no problem. Impressive!

I had the inner break all to myself until a crew of rodeo boats showed, but only one of them ventured Mushroom Rock. There would have been plenty of room for you!

Note: The first map shows undersea topography at Pillar Point with my crude attempt to indicate the location of Mushroom and Maverick's added, second and third charts show ocean wave conditions by color from this Sunday morning. Pretty aren't they?

Radical Reel

A few weekend ago, Beverly organized a great trip to UC Santa Cruz to view Radical Reels, a collection of short films on extreme sports from the Banff Mountain Film Festival. I thought you who couldn't come that night might enjoy the trailer which I've finally gotten around to posting!(SEE BELOW) My favorite was a spoof on "Touching The Void" called "Touching Myself." The agony of choice and a badly broken baguette high on the mountain.

The UC expedition included the Mohr family, Bryan, Beverley, Sarah, Joe F. and me. We survived a chaotic visit to Pleasure Pizza before the show. We will know to order by the slice next time!

See prior post...

Radical Reels Intro Video

Young Man with Large Hammer- Look Out!

 

















This unusual photograph captures a very serious side of croquet competition. Mr. Thomas J. comes to play for keeps and it shows. I wouldn't want to be on the other team when this young man wacks the ball toward the wicket.

Mountain Man Climbing High in Seattle

John showing how it is done - with fearless abandon!
Shortly after this photo was taken Sally, Betsy, John, Thomas, Khaki, Dan and I had a nice game of Frisbee throwing as a light rain began to fall. Hey - its Seattle!
For more Seattle trip photos go HERE