2020-09-13 Heading Home

Lac La Biche - Big Jim's Place

Calm, Cool, and Damp morning!

We were all a little slow getting up today.  The morning was cold and damp, so there was no hint of anyone doing any Stand Up Paddling or anything like that...

The skunk smell is dissipating, but still noticeable.  I will probably have to leave some of my clothes in the garage when I get home.

We took our time, each making our own breakfast, and then finishing packing and cleaning up. 

We had a bit of excitement when Big Air Jim moved his trailer ahead to get it off the wooden block which he had been using to level it when one of the blocks flipped up and jammed between the tires.  No amount of pounding with a pickaxe could move the wood.  I don't think you could have purposely put that wood in that exact place to effectively disable the trailer if you tried 100 times.  Big Jim ended up bringing out a Sawzall which was used to jut the wood out - even then it didn't release without a struggle.  Anyway, it all turned out OK with no damage to anything except a couple of 2x6 boards.

Jim trying to dislodge the rogue wood block!

Most of us left before noon.  I stopped at Subway in town to buy a sandwich for lunch and then drove non-stop back to Camrose, arriving home around 3:00.  It rained for the first half of the trip, but dried up for the last hour or so.

What a fantastic trip!  Thanks Jim for hosting us all and for the wonderful hospitality.  It was so good to see everyone again - and to get in some sailing/boarding/foiling/winging in as well!

I hope I can visit again soon!

It wasn't a Gorge Trip, but then again if we were in the Gorge right now, we probably wouldn't be sailing because of all the smoke and fires, never mind all the other things going on down there right now!

I am looking forward to the next time!

Here are some photos that I received from Cynthia once I got home.  Thanks Cynthia!

Social Distancing

Brad and Big Jim - surveying the action!

Ted, enjoying his dinner!
(Huckleberry's BBQ Pack).

Big Air Jim and Ted - enjoying the fire!

Golf Lessons

2020-09-12 Golfing

Lac la Biche - Big Jim's Place

Molly - watching the action!

I got up at 3:00am because there was an acidy smell.  It smelled something like an electrical/plastic smell, but also was sweet.  I got up and walked through all three floors of the house to see if I could find the source, and even went outside to check.  It seemed to be less outside.  I couldn't find anything, so I went back to bed.  

We got up to a calm day and 6c.   When Eddy got up, he asked if anyone else had noticed the smell.  Blaine said he noticed it too, but we didn't know what it was.  Then Big Jim came down and told us the story.

He had fallen asleep in the basement watching golf.  He got up and heard something outside (we all think he went out on the deck to pee off the edge).  It was dark so he couldn't see well.  A skunk was going through the garbage and eating what was left of our ribs from dinner the night before.  Jim startled him, so he sprayed Jim!  Jim said it was so strong wasn't sure what had happened.  He left his clothes outside and then went to bed.  It was Jim that we were all smelling!

Handre dropped by to say hi but then left as he had a bunch of stuff to do during the day.  After a slow start, the guy's decided to go golfing. 

Gerry and Eddy decided to get an early start, and they headed home.

Mike, Andreas, Sue, Big Air Jim, Big Jim, Brad, Blaine, and Al all went golfing.  We heard a few stories.  Al missed and Eagle by only a foot.  It would have been his very first.  Everyone was impressed with a long shot Andreas made over some trees on a dogleg, and as usual, both Jim's had lots to say.

Cam, Cynthia, Madeline, Katie and Lucielle drove over to the provincial park and went for a walk.  Apparently it was beautiful.

Blaine left for home after golfing.

Ross went for a bike ride, and I cycled over to Scott Currie's cabin and spent a very pleasant afternoon swapping stories with him.  He is sure a great guy, with so many interesting experiences and stories.

When Cam and Cynthia got home from their walk, we started a fire in Jim's fireplace down by the lake and had a happy hour.  The guys arrived back from their golfing, and joined us.  Big Jim enjoyed trying to teach Madeline and Katie how to putt on his putting green.

Golfing!

Al joined us for a while, but then headed home.

We all did our own thing for supper.

After supper, a few of us watched the Lakers win their NBA series.

I think everyone was tired - it was an early night.

Golf Pro Big Jim!

2020-09-11 Foiling Frenzy

 Lac La Biche - Big Jim's Place

Brad and Blaine get the early bird award.  It looked windy, so they were rigging by 8:00am.  They rigged big, and then the wind came up more so they re-rigged.  Even with the re-rigging, they were out on the water by 8:30.  

The others weren't as excited to go out in the 10c temperature.  I made myself breakfast and finished working on yesterday's blog,

Kent, who was camping his trailer, got up early, but knowing that this group is slow to get going, made himself a leisurely breakfast, and then wandered over to the house with his coffee at around 9:30.  He joined Eddy, Gerry, and I in the sunroom looking over the lake.  THEN HE SAW BLAINE AND BRAD BOTH FOIL PAST!!!   WHAT!!!!  HE WAS MISSING IT!!!  DAMN!!!  He went running out to rig.

Kent - relaxing morning - just before he saw Blaine and Brad foil past!

I finished the blog and went down to rig as well.  I got out at about the same time as Kent, because my gear was already down the hill.

We all sailed until about 11:00 when the wind dropped off.  Blaine and Brad each sailed over 30km.  Big Jim got out and had some good runs!  Kent had a great sail but was mad that he missed the first hour.

Andreas found a launch site and was out practicing his kite foiling.

We all made ourselves our own lunches (practicing good social distancing), and put on lots and lots of clothes to try to warm up.

Gerry, Eddy, and Blaine - keeping warm!

Big Air Jim and Luciel arrived with their camper and dog Jewel.  Al arrived shortly afterward.

The wind picked up again around 3:00.  All went out on a flapper board and his 7.7.  Blaine, Brad, Kent, and Big Jim all got out, most of them on bigger gear than in the morning.  Big Air Jim also got out, but a little later than the others.  Handre took out his board and 7.0 flyer and did some finning, blasting back and forth until the wind dropped a bit, and then he came in and swapped his fin for a foil and went out again and had some good runs.

Handre "Finning" - Blaine "Foiling"

Brad and Kent

Al on his 7.7

The wind was up and down, but everyone had some good runs.

Ross, Andreas, and Mike found a Kite launch near the house.  Andreas and Ross are doing really well with their kite foiling and starting to make some jibes.  Mike was out on his 15m kite and having a lot of fun as well!

There was some excitement when Ross was re-launching by himself and had to walk around a storage container.  He was watching his footing and not the kite, and managed to get a line caught on a tree.  It took some work by all of them to get the kite out of the tree, but they did manage to do it.  Kitemare avoided.

Look close - Kite in a tree

I sat on the deck with Eddy and took photos of the action.  I still had a chill, and with Kent on a 7.0 and not foiling all the time, I am not sure how good it would have been.  I was still tired from my foiling in the morning - all good excuses, but I still felt like a wimp.  Louise would tell me that I am just getting smarter and it was a good decision - but ...  I still missed what might be the last session of the season.  At least I got lots of photos of everyone.

Big Jim's neighbor, John, came over rigged, and also had a great sail!  Jim says he is an opera singer and teaches at UofA.

Everyone was off the water by 6:30 or 7:00.  The wind actually picked up again and looked as strong or stronger than it had been all day, but no one was anxious to go out again.

Kent packed up and left because his son is planning a big pulled pork BBQ on Saturday, which sounds like a lot of fun.

Sue and Karen arrived and got settled into the cabin with Andreas and Ross.

Handre's wife, Lazelle, prepared some ribs and dessert which Handre brought over as a snack.  Both were very nice.  The desert was a Milk Tart which is a traditional South African dish.  It was very light and flavourful!  Everyone then did their own things to fill in the gaps for supper.

Cam, Cynthia arrived with their girls, Madeline and Katie, and their dog Molly.

A few of us watched the Raptors come close to winning the series.  

Lots of stories were told and probably too much beer and wine consumed.  

There was a bit of star gazing again, but it was quite cold and windy, so it didn't last long.

Everyone was in bed by midnight.  

You can see more photos on my Flickr Site Here!

2020-09-10 Multi Sport Day

Lac la Biche - Big Jim's Place

It was another beautiful day, with a bit of an off-shore wind.  The algae that had built up yesterday was all gone and the lake was clear!

After breakfast, the day started with a paddling Frenzie.   I was a bit late joining everyone as I finished my blog update before heading out.  I met Big Jim, Andreas, Kent, and Gerry as they were coming back from the island.  I continued on, and Brad joined me.  We paddled to the end of the point, then across to the island.  Andreas joined us in a kayak for the last leg home.

Big Jim

Gerry on SUP, Andreas and Mike in the Canoe

Ross took out the Sun Fish sailboat and toured out to the island and all the way around this end of the lake.  Halfway through his sail, Big Jim took out the Jetski and delivered a beer to him.

Ross - master sailor

When Ross was getting close to shore, we noticed the perfect technique that he had perfected; prepare to tack, move the beer to the leeward rail, tack, set the sail, cleat it in, have a sip of beer, and settle into the new tack.  Probably the most exciting event of the day was when his beer tipped over and fell into the lake.  Ross had to execute an emergency jibe, but was able to recover the beer in short order, to loud cheers from the peanut gallery on the beach deck!

Beer - Rescued

Beach Deck - Peanut Gallery!

Andreas, Ross and I all did some foiling behind the jet ski.  Andreas is trying to practice switching his feet on the board - that also provided entertainment for the crew on the beach, as Jim, who was driving the jet ski made sure to keep all the activity close to the viewing area on the beach deck!

Andreas - up!

This is easy!

Ouch - that one hurt!

Handre and Lazelle stopped by in the afternoon.  They were part way through a bike trip.

Bikers - Handre and Lazelle!

Eddy also arrived but explained that he won't be kiting because his hip is hurting too badly.

Later in the day, Kent, Ross, and I took out my Wind Wings.  I had the 6m, Kent had the 5m and Ross had the 4m.  Unfortunately, the 4 wasn't quite enough for the very light conditions, so Ross ended up downwind.  What wind there was, was off-shore for the most part, so all of us had to be towed in at the end of our session, but we were able to sail back and forth, and I think both Kent and Ross started to get the feel for it.  Kent did really well - with the slightly larger wing, he was able to keep it powered and make his SUP track and even go upwind.

Kent being towed in after a great Wind Wing Session!

Brad set up his telescope with a special filter so he could look at the sun.  Apparently, the sun currently has no sunspots, which is quite unusual.  So basically they were looking at NOTHING, which was apparently very exciting.

Everyone did their own things for supper.  Andreas and Ross went to town, but everyone else did their own thing.

The evening was more subdued than yesterday, with most people gone to bed by 11:00.

Blaine on the peddle kayak!

Brad taking videos of all the action from the Kayak, and
Ted swimming in after Andreas and Ross abandoned him in the middle
of the lake - after he had volunteered to go out and show Ross
how to get going on the foil board.

2020-09-09 No Wind but lots of action!

Lac la Biche - Big Jim's Place

The day started off cool but calm.  Brad did some fishing off the deck, and actually caught a fair size jack.  Unfortunately, when he was trying to take the hook out, the leader broke, so the hook ended up staying in the poor fellow's mouth, which put a bit of a damper on the event.  Brad felt badly for the fish.

Fisherman Brad

Jim, Blaine, and I rode our bikes down to Scott Currie's cabin about a kilometer down the beach.  He has an amazing collection of gear.  We arranged to go RC/Drone flying a bit later in the day.

As usual with the group, it took a while to get organized...  Andreas and Kent showed up in the morning, and then Ross, and Gerry showed up later.  Now we are just waiting for Big Air Jim, Eddy, Harold, and Al, although we are not sure if all of them will be coming.

The day warmed up, but there was absolutely no wind.  Jim said it was probably the calmest day he had seen all year.  

At noon, Jim and I met Scott at a big field behind the cabins with our RC and Drone gear.  A few of the other guys tagged along to watch.  Scott flew my drone and sorted out some issues I had been having with my goggles.  He then put on demonstrations with his drone, and we passed around my goggles so people could watch a pilot's view as he flew.  I also flew my Kinetic powered glider and my Micro Yak 34.  

Scott setting up his Quad Copter

Scott flying his Quad Copter

By the time we were done flying, it was almost hot out.  A side effect of the heat, was that the lake turned absolutely green with a thick scum and patches of blue.  

We played with Jim's RC surfer, and then Andreas asked if we could go out and try my wake foil behind the jet ski.  Jim got out the jet ski.   We went out a fair distance from shore, thinking the algae would get better, but it seemed to go all the way across the lake.  I got in and went for a foil or two, but I was careful not to fall or get my head wet.

RC Surfer 3

Mike was out in the Kayak to watch, Kent was in a canoe to take photos, and Andreas and Ross suited up and came out on the SUPs.  Ross decided he didn't want to get in the water (I can't blame him), but Andreas gave it a go.  After a few tries, he got the hang of it and had a good ride.

When we got out of the water, we, and all the equipment, were covered in green slime.  It took quite a while to hose it all off.

Nice looking water!!! (Kent's photo)

Ted - Foiling and being careful not to fall!
(Kent's photo)

Andreas - Foiling (Kent's photo)

Andreas - oops! (Kent's photo)

Blaine and Brad went for a bike ride in one direction, and Ross, Kent, and Andreas went for a bike ride in another direction.  Both had great rides on nice trails, low traffic, and great weather.

Kent and Ross -(Andreas's photo)

Andreas - Selfie!

Handre arrived, and Brad presented him with his 40-10 shirt.  He is now, or will be in October after his birthday, an official member of the 5.0 club!

Handre - the latest member of the 5.0 club!

We all sat on the lower deck by the water and watched one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen.  The water was so calm you could hardly tell the difference between the sky and the reflection in the lake.  Beautiful!

Around 8:00 everyone got organized for supper.  Steaks and fresh potatoes from the garden were the main courses.

I went to bed early, but Jim and Brad led a group out back to do some star gazing  Brad said it was a perfect night.  You could see deep sky objects with the naked eye.  I hear they stayed out until about midnight.

It's too bad we didn't have wind, (I guess you can expect that when a bunch of windsurfers gather at the same place), but it was still a great day!

Scott - Having Fun flying my Kinetic Glider!

Kent in Jim's Peddle-Powered Kayak - very cool!

Ted - taking the SUP back to shore after giving Andreas the foil.
(Kent's photo)

Washing the slime off the gear (Kent's photo)

The background is the reflection in the water - not the sky!