Surfboard Repair

While Charlie gets to travel abroad, the most exciting thing I have on my "things-to-do" list is repair a couple of dings in my Al Merrick 6'4" and my O'Neill 7'4" surfboards. While I am not a professional ding repairman, the process is fairly simple and I take pride in doing things like this on my own.

The process begins with me collecting the necessary items I need. I use latex gloves and a protective mask to keep the repair materials off of my skin as well as outside of my respiratory system. The ding repair kit I have is made by "Ding All Surfboard Repair Products". The black bottle is the resin and it comes with a smaller clear bottle which is the hardener. Some kits come with fiberglass sheets in case a larger repair needs to be made (luckily I don't need to make those type of repairs right now).

I begin by using some fine sandpaper to remove all sharp fiberglass around the area where I will be making the repair. I then take the resin (black bottle) and pour about 2 ounces into a plastic cup. I then begin to add about 10 drops of the hardener (smaller clear bottle). I use a popsicle stick to stir the resin/hardener mix for about one minute. I then begin to slowly pour a little of the liquid mix onto the area of the ding, about the size of a quarter. As I smooth it out with the popsicle stick, I clean the drips if there are any. I also am generous with the resin to make sure I cover all necessary areas of the repair. Any excess resin can be sanded away.

The resin/hardener mix will harden over night. The following day, I'll take a piece of fine sandpaper and begin to smooth out any of the bump created by the resin. The goal is to smooth out the repair as if there was nothing there at all. This will help reduce any drag that a poor repair might create in the water. This is the process of repairing a ding in a fiberglass surfboard. I do not own an epoxy surfboard, but those repairs involve a different process.

Surfing for me is an escape. The way waves are created boggles my mind and I am so fascinated by this. The feeling of standing up on a wave and riding it is indescribable. I'll leave you with a quote from David Henry Thoreau, "Launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment."

Italian Solo Itinerary

On September 11th, I will depart on a solo journey through Italy that will conclude with me meeting up with friends for Oktoberfest, a short trip to Austria, and a few days in Prague. Because I am trying to explore the world without going broke, I will be staying in hostels for this leg of the trip. I booked them online, after sifting through a multitude of reviews, and even after that, it is pretty much a crapshoot. I will be happy if I do not see any bedbugs on my trip. The itinerary for the Italian portion of the trip is as below, as for an activity itinerary, I don't like to plan that far in advance. The beauty of a solo trip is that I can do whatever I want, whenever I want to do it.

September 11th: Fly from Chicago to Rome through Philadelphia

September 12th: Arrive Rome approx 8:30 AM

: Train to Naples

September 13th: Stay in Naples

September 14th: Train back to Rome

September 15hth: Rome

September 16th: Rome

September 17th: Train to Florence

: Stay in Florence

September 18th: Train to Venice

:Explore Venice for the day

: Night Train to Munich

September 19th: Arrive in Munich 6:30 AM

Hostels: Naples: La Controra Flashpackers Hostel

Rome: The Yellow Hostel

Florence: Florence Youth Hostel

Before my departure, I have some gear that I am hoping to buy. Included in this list is a new backpack(50-60 L), sunglasses, a money pouch, maybe a new Camera, and possibly some form of ultra-lite summer sleeping bag. I will keep the Adventuring Blog a breast of these pre-planning activities.

Linda Mar Surfing

Destination: Pacifica Latitude: 37.59915 Longitude: -122.50

I have become a regular at Linda Mar, a surf spot located in the City of Pacifica, in Northern California. This spot offers quite a few amenities that are not typical at most surf spots: Showers, Bathrooms, and a Taco Bell that offers walk-up service for the waterlogged surfer. This Surf spot is somewhat protected from the wind and offers a pretty consistent wave for beginners and intermediate surfers, which makes the line-ups rather crowded. The beach is a mile long with dark sand and numerous rocks scattered around. The south end of the beach is littered with rocks on the ocean floor and can present quite an obstacle if you aren’t wearing booties. I find myself here more and more because of the convenience, there is ample parking, and I know that if I wait long enough a large enough wave will come through. I learned to surf almost 10 years ago on the smaller waves of the east coast of Florida, but stopped surfing when I moved to Chicago in 2002. Seven years later I am reviving my passion for the sport of Surfing. I am working on improving my surfing skills so that I can seek adventures at more remote and wild surf spots. I intend to put together some surf camping trips near-by and eventually spread out further up and down the coast and someday travel abroad to search for surfing adventures. The next step will be a Big Sur Camping Trip, Stay tuned for updated, and progress.

Coming Soon: A New Contributor

Lately I have been relatively adventureless. I have been focusing on trying to move into a new apartment in Chicago, and have been saving my resources for the Euro Adventuring I will be doing in a little under a month.

My other contributors Brian and Jeff have had no dry spell in the adventure department, but what they are lacking is the limited effort and time it takes to write a summary of their most recent activity.

In an effort to add to both the quality and quantity of posts, my friend Brandon will soon begin contributing to the Adventuring Blog.

He is currently high atop of Machu Pichu in Peru gathering up adventures that he can bestow upon the blog here.

In addition, I will begin posting as to the final preparation for my trip to Europe.