Drawn by the urge to migrate north Patrick Rebstock and the LivingTheDream crew venture out of the dry dessert that is California to the wild North West Coast. Starting in Santa Barbara I met up with Jessie Richmond, to drive towards Santa Cruz in search of less people and more waves. Cody Cerf Santa Cruz resident, took us to some misto breaks surrounded by bull kelp and bull elephant seals. The saltwater therapy of the dawn surf did its job and we set off North to see if we could put some miles under our belt. Every mile we drove north there was less people and more trees.
Big trees, we were in the land of the giants now. We drove deep into the wilderness of Humbolt to find Jessie's hobbit shire, a place of isolation and peace, off the radar of the modern world.
Feeling rejuvenated from the forest and a dip in the river we set off for the coast of Oregon for our first kite session. We were greeted with a empty beach 6m winds and fun surf, the perfect welcome to the wild North West. The 2015 Rally kite from Slingshot was wonderful in the surf providing smooth control in the extreme wind. The 5"2' Slingshot Screamer drew nice lines on the groomed miles of empty beach break.
Content on an epic session we bombed to Floras Lake to join in the 4th of July festivities. With dawn stoke in one of my favorite places i hit the water and ran over the sandbar greeted by a lonely ocean. On my 11m Slingshot Key borrowed from Will Brady, of Floras Lake Kiteboarding and Windsurfing School, and Floras Lake Bed and Breakfast, i caught wave after wave with not a sole in sight. After hopping in the Sauna, my friend Bill rocked up with a foilboard which he wanted me to try. I rode it for hours chasing the catamarans around the lake. When Reed Brady got done teaching we hit the coast for a Whiskey Run down winder, followed by another three hour foil session. I am always shocked at how long the days are when you travel north. With about 4 days worth of kiting already packed into one we had and awesome Brady 4th of July BBQ by the lake.
A Lake 4th isn't complete without the Port Orford fireworks show which the locals never miss. After a night of celebrating our independence i got a nice morning foil session before saying bye to the Brady Bunch and heading for Hood River and the Kiteboard 4 Cancer event.
Patagonia sponsored the KB4C and our team the "Patagonia Randoms" consisting of myself, Reo Stevens, Eric Rienstra and James Ropner.
We raced for 6hrs of extreme conditions to take home first place for a good cause. We raced on the 17m Slingshot Turbine, and 2015 Rally's and my new Maurice Cole Tow/surf board which proved to smoke the competition. It was a awesome event with great people and i couldn't be happier to help make it a big success bringing in over 100k dollars to a charitable cause.
One of my favorite activities in the Columbia Gorge is floating the rivers on rafts with my friends. The klickatat always delivers with Ishy Fishy its largest rapid providing plenty of excitement. To top it off fresh black berries line the river waiting to fill your belly.
Working on Foil boards with Tony Logosz of Slingshot and harness's with Coleman Buckley of Ride Engine is my current adventure. I really am lucky to get to work with such talented and inspired people on such fun projects.
See you at Windance Boardshop tomorrow at 10-12 if you are in the hood river area!
photo: Cole Elsassor 2015