Harlingen

Harlingen, a harbour in the north of Holland.



Signs of the spring? let's hope so.. Allthough it looks nice/sunny, we still got frosty temperatures.

foam..

Hey Winfried!..

Come over and bring some foam (Eps), I know you still got some big pieces that needs to be

"sanded";-))

What goes up, must come down..

Torben, pic by JePe

"Forced" to shape again ;-)

Received this Birthday package from Hawaii.

Couldn't believe my eyes. Someone is sharing some magic blueprints/scoop rockerlines with me. This is as receiving the treasure map.

Thanx Sean, Paige and Winfried!

Sean at Hookipa. Call it testing, call training... call it anything you want.. I call it sharing the stoke! Love you guys!

Februari started cold

We received loads of extra water from the Alps. The rivers can't handle it anymore. Luckely we
have dykes so that we keep our feets dry

Wave skiing..

If you thought you've seen it all.... Well, than there is this: waveskiing!

Tricky stuff, if you imagine how heavy+fixed the boots/bindings are. No fast safety dives are possible..

Here a movie!

Paul at the coast

January, cold, rainy etc.. Think Paul is getting to like the taste of saltwater.

What if an architect builds a car...

My mouth felt open when I saw this car. Love at first sight.

Read here the full story about this dream machine

Thanx neighbours!

Boozzz unlimited... It was if there was a mojito/caipirinha factory inside of my house.

Rhum, limes, mint, suger, and loads of ice everywhere..

add some music..

and till far in the night/morning we stayed alive/"loud"....

Thanx neighbours, for not complaining ;-))))

Rose

Paul Smith of Glide surfboards made this superb "rose" resintint. Fresh flowers in the crib should be the alibi to get something like this in the house....

more of his beautyful work you can find on his blog

Family picture

Came across this family photo of Ronja (totally brown pup). Here she is sitting on the sofa with her mother, father, brother and sisters.

First sessions of 2011

With expected winds of over 30 knots and almost tropical temperatures of around 9 degrees Celsius, it was time to hit the water for the first sessions of 2011. David send me a message at 8 o'clock in the morning saying he was heading to Wijk aan Zee. But because of my arm injury, I decided to go to a more relaxed spot. I wanted to check if my arm could handle it. And I am very happy, because my arm could handle it perfectly ;-) I immediately thought: 'Damn, I should have gone to Wijk aan Zee!' But I still had loads of fun in my first session since November. Sailed till dusk ;-)

Perfect safety when the lights go out ;-)

The next day I spoke with David. He hadn't been very lucky. Second time going out he had a mr. Miyagi moment, where he trashed his sail with his forehead. I know it requires complete focus and concentration to do this without getting hurt (broke my ribs in a similar attempt). After all he still managed to sail a couple of hours with a broken sail and had very nice session, before waking up the next morning with a bruised chin.

Some old ads

When search around on the web you can find some very nice old VW ads.
Here are some that made me smile

Feira

When we are in Portugal we always go to the 'feira', the market. I always enjoy going there. I like it because most things are a bit different from the markets in the Netherlands.

For example, meat of small animals (chickens, turkeys and rabbits) is often not sold as meat, but you buy the animal. Alive!! It's DIY meat ;-)

Local farmers sell fruits and vegetables.

And the butcher is a real butcher. In the Netherlands the butchers sell pre-cut meat. Often cut several days earlier. At the 'feira' they cut the meat of the bone while you're watching.

It might not be the prettiest sight, but I think it's good to know where your meat comes from.

And at the 'feira' you can clearly see where it comes from. Hello miss Piggy ;-)