Coronavirus in OR and WA

[ZeroR2]

... nobody there so I have the whole gym to myself.

Damn it. They just shutdown the gym at work for the rest of the month

Time to focus on cardio and forget the strength training. I have been going daily up into the mountains and it has been great.

[ZeroR2]

Day 1 of full time telework. Already cabin fever...

I'm a political lightweight but the Russia / Saudia Arabia oil price war (& related US sanctions etc etc) at a time like this is rather "disappointing." .

Or maybe not. Russia break-even is a $42 barrel. All time lowest approval rating of Putin. They are using 1/4 of wealth fund to prop up economy. It will fail. Time to remove Putin and let the people vote in a real election. The carnage is Alberta, US E&P companies and smaller banks holding too much junk bonds. Look at the positives.

[Slappy]

no regular wind in the near term - a tough run for the foreseable future.

Just get a hydrofoil, this is prime time LW season in Vancouver. When the water is still 7-8 degrees and the land gets up to 12-13 we get a thermal every day in the 10-14 knot range at Spanish Banks.

With my big surf hydrofoil I can easily have fun in 9-10 knots and ride down to 8 knots, this is using a 5m kite too.

Alternatively a 17m + finless skim work really well this time of year, but only when the tide is low. The key is finless skims on non-choppy waters have almost no drag. With my OR Flite 17m + Exile skim I can have fun in 9 knots, slog down to 8 knots, and hold it down up to 20 knots. On top of that because of the low tide if there are lulls in the wind you just stand around a bit and wait for it to come back.

Honestly, spring in Vancouver is one of the best times of the year to be on the water, you'll need a good wetsuit though, and I wear gloves too.

[Mike]

Just get a hydrofoil, this is prime time LW season in Vancouver. When the water is still 7-8 degrees and the land gets up to 12-13 we get a thermal every day in the 10-14 knot range at Spanish Banks. .

Thanks Slappy. I actually have a kite foil and maybe now is the time to get better at my light wind kite flying.

[8mdude]

I knew it. It’s only a matter of time.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/17/politics/us-canada-suspend-travel/index.html

So much for my all summer long plan to stay in Columbia River Gorge and Gold Beach OR to take a break from the Spit. Even that will be closed. SHUTDOWN

Ironically Spit may be shutdown sooner than next year. Salmons would thank Coronavirus. Poor salmons can’t rely on humans.

[8mdude]

Borders officially suspended

Now an earthquake in Utah.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/18/us/utah-earthquake/index.html

Weird times.

Feeling shaky in BC too

[Slappy]

maybe now is the time to get better at my light wind kite flying.

Another option you might consider if you like freeride foiling (no jumping basically) is to pick up a Flysurfer Peak 4, either 5m or 8m.

I'm 165 lbs and ride a big surf wing with the 5m:
8 knots: not fun but doable with a lot of effort
10 knots: a bit under powered but fun
12-14 knots: perfect
16 knots: getting flappy
18 knots: time for a smaller kite

The Peak 4 is a very reasonably priced kite, I use my normal Cabrinha bar with it.

The biggest advantage of the kite is that it will stay in the air in as low as 4 knots so you don't have to worry about dropping your kite unless you steer it in to the water. I found that a lot of time with my 0 or 1 strut kites in 8 knots they would fall out of the sky in lulls and you can't relaunch them in that low wind so it was much better to just commit to a single skin kite that can't be relaunched but never needs to be because it's so hard to drop.

There are other advantages to it as well, it is one of the easiest kites to fly in very light winds and it has insane drift. You wouldn't even believe the drift until you've tried it. What I like to do is kite up to the second dolphin and then surf the little bumps back down to the Jericho pier.

[Alton]

fuck'n idiots !!!

[Brian C]

Yup. Bunch of morons!!
They need to implement fines like in France; Adrien says they’re fining people 135 euros for being out in the public (including some surfers recently).
People better behave here or we’ll be in for the same kind of drastic measures.

[LeopardSkin]

Check out this 2011 film.

https://www.netflix.com/title/70185071?s=a&trkid=13747225&t=cp