Carrying wide board kits

Perviously, there was a post about carrying your gear to water, but it did not address the new wider kits now in wide use. So, I have included below a brief description of how to do it. The article is from my new book, 'Living with the Scorn of being Width Challenged,' Big Boy Press, 2002 (page 30012).

Carrying the kit...

Ok, I sail wide boards, from Starts to Formula boards. I use the tried and tested method of carrying my gear to the water as it is more reliable than the older methods.

First you insert the key and start the engine of your crane. Attach the lifting cable to the mast base with the sail already attached. Carefully lift the whole rig, with the sail secured by a second guy line from both the head and the mast base and held by your helper on the ground. The helper stands upwind and plays the second line back and forth to keep the mast of the sail perpendicular to the wind. Slowly continue lifting until the crane has lifted the kit above the level of the truck bed upon which you are placing your kit. Rotate the crane and gently deposit the kit on the truck bed, and disengage the cable and guy line.

Start the Truck engine and drive the whole 18 wheels 50 feet down to the beach. Return and move the crane into position to lift the gear off the trailor bed to beach. Repeat the earlier steps to place the kit on the beach. Then call your helper over to move the gear into the water.

If money is not problem, get a bigger crane and dispense with the 18-wheeler altogether.

That's all there is to carrying your gear to the water. This method is preferred over the older methods used for long boards when you employeed a team of porters and weight lifters to manually move the gear to the water. The old method was frought with peril since you may have forgotten to pay social security benefits to your moving team and could be charged penalties for back taxes.

Charles, you've just made me choke on my lunch! wiping away the tears of laughter, and the crumbs in the keyboard,

Previously, there was a post about carrying your gear to water, but it did not address the new wider kits now in wide use. So, I have included below a brief description of how to do it. The article is from my new book, 'Living with the Scorn of being Width Challenged,' Big Boy Press, 2002 (page 30012).

Carrying the kit...

Ok, I sail wide boards, from Starts to Formula boards. I use the tried and tested method of carrying my gear to the water as it is more reliable than the older methods.

First you insert the key and start the engine of your crane. Attach the lifting cable to the mast base with the sail already attached. Carefully lift the whole rig, with the sail secured by a second guy line from both the head and the mast base and held by your helper on the ground. The helper stands upwind and plays the second line back and forth to keep the mast of the sail perpendicular to the wind. Slowly continue lifting until the crane has lifted the kit above the level of the truck bed upon which you are placing your kit. Rotate the crane and gently deposit the kit on the truck bed, and disengage the cable and guy line.

Start the Truck engine and drive the whole 18 wheels 50 feet down to the beach. Return and move the crane into position to lift the gear off the trailer bed to beach. Repeat the earlier steps to place the kit on the beach. Then call your helper over to move the gear into the water.

If money is not problem, get a bigger crane and dispense with the 18-wheeler altogether.

That's all there is to carrying your gear to the water. This method is preferred over the older methods used for long boards when you employed a team of porters and weight lifters to manually move the gear to the water. The old method was fraught with peril since you may have forgotten to pay social security benefits to your moving team and could be charged penalties for back taxes.

CI, Pretty funny... You have to admit, however, that the Exocet Cruiser with the integrated roller wheel in the tail of the board is a more 'elegant' solution... http://www.surfingsports.com/exocet_cruiser.asp

WARDOG

The roller works pretty well, except in deep sand, and when pulling it into the wind. A nice lively board when on the water too! Ellen