Big Paddle , Bigger Night!!!!!!!

Well well well.... We survived the big smoke but only just...More on that later. Saturday Morning dawned and the Hennesey's International Race was Upon us. It was a chili morning but not as cold as San Fransisco can get.. The race started at 830am and we all started in waves. Sort of like a Triathlon. The Stock boards went 1st then us Unlimited paddleboards,then the Unlimited SUP and finally the SUP Stock which raced a shorted course. We all started 2 min apart. After nearly missing the start me Mick and Sean headed off for the 10 mile paddle(16km) and Joss,Shaq and Billy were close behind in the Stock SUP race.. Also there racing was Danny and Sue Sheard from The Sunshine Coast, Australia and they raced in the Stock SUP also. The race was a awesome and beautiful scenic paddle around Angel Island and then back around Alcatraz and back to Fisherman's Wharf. Pretty cool to be paddling around these famous landmarks(not to mention the Golden Gate Bridge that we could see the whole time). As always us Aussies put in a 100% and all done very well.. I was lucky to come away with a win and Sean finished 3rd and Mick 4th. Shakira and Joss finished 2nd and 6th and Billy Finished 3rd. Everyone pretty happy with how we went and how good the weather was. After the race it was pretty interesting to see all the different SUP Boards and different designs.I think we are just at the beginning of what we can and will be paddling in the future.I think there is a long way to go when it comes to design.

So after a quick shower we all headed to the Presentation /Lunch and had a few quiet beers and some lunch and talked story with everyone.Good times. We then decided to take the Party to Capuro's which is a cool Italian bar/ restaurant and that's when things started to go a little sideways. Some Aussies, Californian's, Hawaiians a few shots , some memory loss and a very bad hangover the next day and boom it was over..Lots more could be said but lets leave it at that and maybe a few photos??

In true fighting spirit we got up early and done the Tourist thing on Sunday.. Went to Alcatraz and done the tour then we jumped in our hire car and drove to Half Moon Bay and i showed the crew Mavericks. After a quick look around we were on our way back to the City and to a final dinner with all the Hennesey's crew and off to a much sought after sleep.. Then before we knew it we were up again on the road to the Airport and here we are back in LA... Battle of the Paddle is this weekend and ill post again soon..Cheers JM

DELAY on the WAY To SF BAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Well here we are sitting in LAX waiting for our flight to San Francisco. And what do u know we are delayed for 2 hrs.. Thank god for Wireless Internet. We had a pretty good flight from Bris Vegas to LA yesterday and thanks to our mate George for picking us up and then giving us a free feed at his restaurant Koffee Kart.. Just what we needed after a 12 hr flight.. Then we went and picked all our boards up from Nathan's place (my mate who is a Aussie but lives here in LA). And stoked there was no damage.. So after a long day recovering yesterday and a good sleep here we are stuck at the Airport..But its all good i guess.. Part and parcel of travelling.. I will say one thing though... GO THE EELS..My footy team just won last night and is in the Grand Final next week.. We are going to have to find somewhere to watch it over here in the U.S.A. Well the race is tomorrow and the weather is looking like its going to be HOT. But the water will be freezing in the Bay so should make for interesting conditions.. Will let u know how it all goes ..Take Care JM

As they say (A WHALE OF A TIME!)

Well how do i start... Umm well i pretty much had one of the best experiences I've ever had in the ocean yesterday... I was out doing some filming off the Gold Coast/Tweed Border paddling on my Stand Up when a pod of whales decided to come play with me... I wont say too much but lets just say it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and ill remember it till the day i die... Check out ninemsn.com.au The phones been running hot as newspapers from all over the world have seen the shot and want to do interviews about it. Even the Times from London called me!! Crazy.. Well I'm off to bed its been a crazy couple of hours .. Oh yeah here is the shot that's sent everyone nuts.. I'm off the LA in 36hrs as well..Not looking forward to cattle class and 12 hrs..U think whale boy could get a upgrade??? HaHa.. Take Care JM

The JM Experience..........

The JM Experience? mmm.. Im nervous.. But anyway Kaenon Polarized my sunnies sponsor have decided to use my time in the states and hold a night of story telling and Q and A in Cardiff, Southern California.. Ill attach the clip to see what im talking about.. Lucky ill have my Girlfriend and best mates there for support and even get them up there with me share some stories from over the years..So dust off those public speaking voices crew! you know who u are..haha. Anyway got to go my beloved PARRA is playing the Footy tonight against the Titans and should be a epic game.. Cant wait.. Go the Blue and Gold... JM

Countdown Begins!!!!!!!!!

Well when i wake up tomorrow morning it will be the week countdown till i leave to California. Yes another trip but it should be fun as me and my girlfriend along with Mick,Shaq,Billy and Sean are all heading to the big smoke for a couple of paddle races. 2 completely different races 2 completely different environments. 1st race is in San Fransisco on the 26th September which is the Hennesey's International Paddleboard Championships. It should be a fun race which will see us paddling in San Fransisco Bay around Alcatraz Island and battling the raging winds and currents that its famous for.Hopefully its not too cold for us Aussies.. Might have to stock up on some Booties and Thermals? The day after the race I'm hoping to take the crew down towards Half Moon Bay and check out Mavericks. Show them where it is and where it breaks.Its a special place.. Then it will be back to LA and hanging out for a week leading up to the Rainbow Sandals Battle of the Paddle which will be at Dana Point .. The Battle is a weekend long festival of everything Stand Up which has some races for all ages and ability and plenty of companies showing off all the new gear and gadgets. So should be fun. And in between lots of other stuff going on .Ill be blogging on the road so be sure to check it out and keep up to date with how the trip is going..Cheers JM

TAHITI pt 2

Well i am writing here from Auckland Airport where i am in transit from Tahiti. What a trip. Lots of good times were had but unfortunately no waves and no chopes! Well we did paddle out yesterday but it wasn't really what u would consider real Teahupoo. We did however kill some time doing some cool stuff like swimming with the sharks like i mentioned in my previous post and yesterday we paddled into this beautiful little freshwater river and hiked up to this awesome cave and had a look around.Lucky for us that if u want to get skunked on a surf trip Tahiti is the place to have it happen.Its such a beautiful place and yesterday it was in all its glory. Not a cloud in the sky, the water was crystal clear and the mountains looked epic..

One other thing that happens on boat trips is u get pretty bored and twitchy easy if theres no surf. So everyone was coming up with ideas to keep us entertained. One day Kealii came up with if u said MINE u would have to do 20 push ups on the spot.It was pretty funny seeing everyone trying to catch everyone out with that.. Kainoa even said it himself as he was about to do 20 so he made it 40. Then it was the Hinano Cup one other day. Team Hawaii vs Team International(3 guys each team) and 3 events. 1st was a relay comprising of each team having to do a Relay circuit race around our 2 catamarans which included SUP, Paddleboard and Swimming. Team International took it out in a close race. The next event included putting a Hinano can under water about 20 ft deep and having man on man races to see who could dive off the boat and retrieve the can 1st.. Pretty funny.Ended up being MMA under water.haha. And again Team International took 2 from 3 which gave us the overall win and a bit of bragging rights over the Hawaiians. Well done Chuck,Dave who made up our team.

And to top it off one of Kealii's friends and his family were nice enough to have us over to his place for dinner. William and his wife and 2 kids were awesome and made us a killer spread of food. Did i mention he is a head Chef!! It was nice to get off the boat on to land for a bit.. And that's where we had the dance off... haha. Me and Ekolu were singing Land Down Under and if u have ever heard Ekolu sing and me sing well lets just say he made me look silly so i grabbed a chair and done a little dance to stop the humiliation. And if u have seen me dance as well its not pretty and i never dance but team international pride was on the line so..

So i was up @ 300am this morning and on the plane at 7am.. I am currently on a 4 hr stopover in NZ and then its off to Brisbane and hopefully my girlfriend will be there to pick me up for the drive back in Peak HR. Cant wait. Till next time JM

Oh yeh and did i mention that there is a swell on the way to Tahiti thats hitting there tomorrow and Wednesday. Good timing hey..?

TAHITI

Iaoana from Tahiti. Which is hello.. Arrived here a few days ago and hooked up with all the guys from the Waterman Leauge which is the group who is running the World Standup Tour next year.. I got invited to go on a boat trip with a bunch of the guys who will be in the tour next year.. Guys like Chuck Patterson, Ekolu Kalama, Dwayne DeSoto, Kainoa Magee, Kealii Mamala, and a few of the local boys like Raimana, Patrice and Arsene. Waves have been pretty shitty since we have been here..Lots of wind and little swell. But for everyone else its been pretty funny watching me.. I havent been having the best luck so far haha. But shit happens hey. 1st day we surfed a little left called Tapuna and i lost my new Go Pro camera on my 1st wave of the trip.. Then proceeded to cut my heel pretty good and to top it off my paddle got jammed up my shorts and then the blade jammed into the reef and decided to try and buckle me and half then snapped the blade of my brand new paddle in half.. That was nice for the 2km paddle back..HA HA. Next day we went back to Tapuna for a early session and i decided to try one too many turns and ended up cheese grating myself on the reef on my forearm and back and ass. And in Tahitian style got the lime treatment on the cuts.. I dont reccomend that..

So we decided to try our luck on Moorea a island about 25 km away and 10 min into the trip it just started to hammer with wind .. We had a rought trip and night anchored in a pass as the winds hit 50 knots... Next day we surfed a left called Ha'apiti.. It was 4-6 feet and pretty fun with some carnage on the inside bowl with it shutting down. I snapped my leash at the end of the sesh then realised that my leash holder had ripped a big gash in my board!! Nice. Lucky for me the wind came up and it was too windy to surf for the rest of the day.

Next day we were hoping for more of the same but awoke up to onshore conditions.. We decided to head to another part of the island and go swim with some sharks and Rays in this perfect little spot.. It was awesome.Little Black Tips and Stingrays everywhere.. I took my Go Pro and got some killer footage. And here we are today.. We were meant to leave for Teauhpoo this morning but found a little left called Sapenouse. We surfed for a few hrs had some fun and as i type the captain decided that we would go Halfway this afternoon to Chopes and anchor for the night.. So looks like waves are coming and hopefully we will get waves in Teauhpoo within the next few days.. So stay tuned and ill try and post some more photos.. Internet is a little sketchy here so be patient.. Till next time.. JM... Thanks to Ditty for the photos!