The PELAGIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well it's been a while everyone ..Sorry it has been a busy few months with travelling and getting ready for a wedding. But i did just manage to sneak away for 2 weeks to the Mentawai's Island's in Indonesia for a SUP Surfing trip with a great crew.. Jason Kenworthy organised the trip and put together a epic bunch of people and on a world class boat the Pelagic. On the Boat we had Dave Kalama , Chuck Patterson, Slater Trout, Connor Baxter, Dave Boehne, and Talia Gangini plus Editor of SUP Magazine Joe Carberry and Videographers Brent Deal and Bryce Lowe-White and Jason was Shooting stills along with his assistant Kevin Voegtlin.. So we had all angles covered.

I'm not going to go into too much detail about the trip as it will be covered in SUP Magazine and also hopefully made into a cool litte doco. But we did get some fun waves and everyone was surfing great and going for it.. Was a great mix of Youth and Experience.

What i did want to touch on was the Boat and crew.. What a great way to see the Mentawai's and access all areas and waves. The Pelagic and its Captain Griff made us so welcome and the crew on the boat were Epic. There was enough food that u couldn't eat it all even if you tried.. And with a crew like ours that is hard. There were Bintang's a plenty and good times.. If you are thinking of a boat trip i highly recommend these guys. Especially if u are looking to take your SUP's Griff has it dialled with where to go and how to stay away from the crowds.. We didn't surf with another boat the whole trip which was so good.. There is also a Jet Ski and Smaller Skiff on the Boat to zip you in and out of the breaks and to go and check spots as well...

So if u get the urge go and check out http://www.pelagic-charters.com/... I guarantee you wont be disappointed. So it's now back to reality and time to get my ass into some heavy training. Molokai will be here before i know it.. Take care JM

Victorian SUP Weekend....

Well i was Lucky enough to be invited to go to Victoria this past weekend for a few SUP events. Paul and Lynda Lim invited me down to take part in the Peninsula Paddle from Sorrento to Portsea which was in aid of raising money for a group called Rec Link(who help under privileged kids and kids who have social issues and get them back into activities in the outdoor world). That was on the Saturday then on Sunday i travelled to Sandringham to take part in SHQ Cerebus Paddle.. It was a fun 5 km out and back course along the coast . It was great to see a big turnout and see that SUP Racing in Victoria is well on its way with plenty of races and support down there.. The people were great and it was fun hanging out with everyone. Me and Jacko were travelling together and Woogie was also in town for a Demo Day so it was good to see QLD showing some support. I just want to say thankyou to everyone for making us feel so welcome and i had a great time Sunday arvo having a few beers with some of the crew and then me and Jacko finished off with a trip to the Casino... Unsuccessful trip haha... Keep paddling and look forward to my next venture down south.. Take care JM

Ive attached a little clip of our trip...

Vicco SUP Weekend from Jamie Mitchell on Vimeo.

Lets Unite and Make a Difference.

Here is a Press Release about a Fundraising Event a few friends and i have come up with.. If you can please try and get a team together or come paddle by yourself for however long and take part. Only $25 per person to be involved in a great event that will help countless people.. Thanks JM

Media Release

24HR PADDLEBOARDING MARATHON EVENT TO RAISE MONEY FOR QUEENSLAND FLOOD VICTIMS

For Immediate Release

In response to the recent Queensland floods Gold Coast stand up paddleboarders will this weekend come together and paddle in teams for 24hrs in an effort to raise much needed funds for the victims of Queenslands largest natural disaster.

The paddle marathon which is being led by nine time world paddleboarding champion Jamie Mitchell, his brother Justin Mitchell who runs the Jamie Mitchell School of Paddle and Surf and Paul Jackson owner of Paddleboarding retailer ROAR Industries will be held on Currumbin Creek starting at midday on Saturday the 5^th of February and continue through until midday Sunday.

Jamie who will this year make his annual pilgrimage to Hawaii to take on the worlds best in an effort to secure an unprecedented 10^th straight World Championship said “When you see the devastation caused by events like these it’s easy to be left feeling powerless to help, the fact is that you can help and this is our way of doing our small part to help those that have lost so much of what we generally take for granted.”

Paul Jackson who recently returned from winning Australia’s premier SUP distance race in Western Australia is intending to undertake the marathon solo said “The lives of the people affected by these floods have been changed forever, for us to take 24hrs out of our lives to raise some money for our fellow Queenslanders feels like the least we can do.”

Justin Mitchell a former international paddleboarding champ who now runs the Jamie Mitchell School of Paddle and Surf says that the event has already had great support from local business through the donation floodlights and other equipment needed to safely stage a paddling event throughout the night.

The trio of paddleboarding champs are encouraging all members of the paddleboarding community to get involved with the event this weekend. All monies raised through the paddle marathon will be donated to flood victims through the Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal.

Individuals and teams wishing to take place in this great community event should contact Justin Mitchell to register on 0416 075 994.

When – Saturday the 5^th of Feb Starting Midday-to-Midday Sunday the 6^th of Feb

Where – Currumbin Creek (Winders Park)

Contact – Justin Mitchell 0416 075 994

Kamp Kalama..........

Well i just got back from a fun trip to the state's which saw me go to the Maverick's Opening Ceremony in Northern California which is now the Jay Moriarity Event and then straight to Hawaii for the Eddie Opening Ceremony. Both Ceremony's were awesome and a honor to be involved with. After the Eddie i had about 7 days to hang out and do whatever i please. The Triple Crown was on and the whole surf circus in on the Nth Shore so i called my mate Davo on Maui and said hey I'm on my way.

I love Maui and hanging with Dave and his Family.. They have a beautiful place up on one of the Mountain's there and its so refreshing to be able to go back after a day on the ocean and Unwind. Every time we get together we always find stuff to do whether its ocean based or land based. It's funny cause we have this relationship that's pretty cool that we can talk about anything to do with Paddling,SUP Surfing,Technique, how we are training and what we are doing to improve, nutrition and how we can help each other out to get better and saving the world etc haha.. But we want to kick each other's ass at everything as well.. We are how shall i say COMPETITIVE with each other. Its a good thing but. I think we thrive on it. Dave won Molokai this year on the SUP and after the previous year and his troubles in the race i think i was more stoked than him. I saw the effort he put in this year and the pain from the year before. But what i do know is that he wasn't completely satisfied! Why? Because he doesn't have the fastest time across the channel on a Paddleboard. Yes he does on the SUP but i have a faster time on the paddleboard.. He wants that record. And he told me so. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it is really special to have a bond like that which is open and honest and where we are willing to try to help each other to beat each other? Funny hey..

My time this trip on Maui was no different to most. I call it Kamp Kalama. From beach workouts to 1 man Maliko runs to my 1st Mountain Bike trail run we did alot. Then add our HORSE competitions on the Basketball Court(yes Dave is a Fanatic Lakers Fan) and our famous 7 hr Cornhole contest with about 25 Coors Light's to boot and u have a action filled week. Oh yeah i forgot to mention we taught 3 Tour de France riders from Team Garmin how to SUP and got them out on Dave's 4 man.

But i must say the most defining experience of my trip was a pretty funny moment i had while i was babysitting Dave's son Cash. He was asleep upstairs and i thought how easy is this till i hear Dadda Dadda.. So i raced upstairs to Cash saying Poop Poop and pointing to his Diaper. So hear i am trying to work out what to do next while the whole time Cash is telling me how to change his Diaper.It was too funny. I pulled it off but. I was pretty Proud. haha.

So in finishing if anyone is thinking of going to Maui and needs that extra help with there stroke or some coaching then Dave is your man. Check out his blog www.davidkalama.com and you will see what i mean. He has a wealth of Knowledge that goes far beyond Paddling. You will come out a better person as well... Or check out his Kamp Kalama Camps he does.

Thanks for another great trip mate and watch out I'm practising my Jump shot's haha.

Im going to attach a video of Dave predicting my next year of racing. Don't miss it it's quite funny.

Kalama Interview from Jamie Mitchell on Vimeo.

1 Man Relay

Hey guys i done a 1 man changes race on the weekend and took my HD Go Pro along and we got some footage.. It wasnt epic conditions by any means with super light winds but we still had fun.I cut together a little video and here it is... Thanks to Woogie for organizing the Hiko Canoe and everything and Billy for driving the ski and escorting us.. Cheers JM

1 Man Relay with Woogie(www.jamie-mitchell.com) from Jamie Mitchell on Vimeo.

Water!!! And how important is it..

Well its a funny question isn't it.Not one we probably ask ourselves everyday but something that keeps us alive and ticking each and single day.. I had a think about it and i asked myself what do i drink day in day out to keep myself hydrated and quench my thirst. And too be honest I'm quite boring. I really only drink water. And lots of it.. I LOVE IT.. I don't drink any sort of Sports Drinks and never ever any of those Energy Drinks.They just don't do it for me. But give me a 600ml water when I'm thirsty and boom its gone. It just feels like its meant to be in your body and system.

So when i was lucky enough to be able to have a meeting with a Company from Byron Bay who take there water Quality seriously and then take it to another level with Alkaline levels well i was very interested to see what was going on. I'm not going to go into details about how this does that and so on but what i did learn was enough for me to take a trial with the system and see how it make me feel.. As a athlete i can usually tell pretty well if something is helping me or not. I wont say yeah it works when it doesn't just to make a quick buck or endorse something i don't believe in but after a few weeks I'm let's say pleasantly surprised. And if u are spending money on all these fancy supplements well it may be just as easy as pure H20 to give you that extra edge. It makes me cringe when i see TV reports about whats in our water or how the so called Purified water we buy in the Bottles are just as bad as tap water in some places. The way i see it is when u add up all the money we spend on Bottled water (e.g say you buy one 1.5 litre bottle a day 5 days a week and each bottle costs u say $4.00(yes $4.00 in Australia) that's $20 a week and over a year well u do the maths its over $1000 a year. When you look at it that way it makes spending a little bit of money on something that's so good for your well being a no brainer. For me anyway! Well if you want to check out in more detail about Alkaline water and how it works check out there website www.alkaway.com.au Cheers JM

Some 1 man Fun!!!!!

A few weeks ago i had a call from a mate of mine Woogie who lives up in Noosa. He asked if i wanted to paddle in a team with him in a race that was going to happen in a few weeks time. To be honest I'm sort of over paddling right now and just want to surf so i had to think about it but because its on a 1 man Canoe and i don't really have much experience on them i thought why not.Should be fun(if there's wind). Like anything there are lots of little tricks and techniques with paddling a 1 man that i don't know about so i asked if he could get me a canoe to use for a few sessions before the race.. Lucky Woogie has hooked up with his good mate Maui Kjeldsen who has designed a new canoe called the WAINUI and is selling the canoe in Australia and was able to get one for me.. Thanks mate. So this arvo we had a little pulse in the swell here on the Gold Coast and the wind backed off and i thought there's no better time to go test it out so i called me mate Sean and we went out to Currumbin Alley and got some fun waves till dark. I took my Go Pro and tried to get some footage while we were mucking around and here is a little clip.. Its not much but we had fun... And don't worry Woogie its in 1 piece.HAHA

1 Man Alley (www.jamie-mitchell.com) from Jamie Mitchell on Vimeo.