Camping for the first time was quite an experience. To say the least. Overall it was an amazing time, but there were for sure some rough spots along the way. That could be the allure of it all though, depends who you ask. Being a proficient kayaker/canoer’ definitely helped a great deal, as the river was way low making it seem like we were like Sean Connery from the movie ‘Hunt for Red October’ as he had to navigate through that ocean ridge. Needless to say we ran aground, a lot, which was tough for the couple that weren’t so experienced. A definite down spot for me was when shifting my weight my kayak half flipped, allowing a tremendous amount of water flood in soaking everything. Including my camera, which was quickly disassembled and left to dry for the next 5 days in a bag of rice. Thankfully, its all good and back in working order, the autofocus may be a little slower though. It is a point&shoot, had my other camera got wet, I would have called for immediate air evacuation. I now wont ever take my gear anywhere like that without proper protection and insurance, I guess it only takes once to realize what could actually happen. Here are a few of the photo’s from the first day before my cam went under.

We though we picked the easiest side to go down, until we came to the end and it was completely blocked off. Had to paddle back up to this little crossing near the start.

Limbo was a necessary skill set.

At an attempt to be creative with photography I headed down to the dock this past weekend while I was in Harbor Springs, MI.  This weekend was also the weekend of the LTYC Ugotta-Regatta race, and if you have been a follower of the blog, you may remember our second post, but first with actual content. No shirts this year as I got mixed up on the days, but I saw them around and they were way better than last time.  Anyway, I knew what kind of photo I wanted to take, it was just a matter of finding it.Pair of my favorite sailboats, the Melges 32.

A week ago, July 20th, meant that we have been in business for 1 year.  So far I have had an amazing time ever since the beginning, and I cannot see it stopping anytime.  I would like to thank those people who have made it possible for us to continue on into another year.  It is awesome to see that people are willing to put their trust in us, and our product.  It is a conscience decision that some have made to be more aware of the products they buy and the habits that they have, and we are happy that we can offer a product that they can use.  The call to action of this post will be that for those who have already gotten on board with the Ocean lifestyle is to spread the word so that our following can grow into a much greater movement than it already is.  For everything, Thank you and lets shred this winter!

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This year I’m going to give a few behind the scenes looks as to what goes into making the wax.  Here is how the bags are made that the wax comes in.  It’s pretty self explanatory, so just follow along.

Step 1.Step 2.Step 3.Step 4. Step5. There you have it, 10.11 Ocean bags all pressed and ready to go.  Next little look into what we do, will be about the wax, I’m just waiting for a solid block of time to devote to it.

Success has somewhat tapered off the past few weeks in terms of actually catching any fish, but that doesn’t stop us from going back.  Last weekend I got the opportunity to go fish my favorite river, which is more or less of a creek.  What’s intriguing about it is because of its small size, there is a lot of strategy that has to go into maneuvering into a spot that will put you in a good position to get the fly on the water, and not in a tree; which caught me off guard more than once……Not so rock n’ roll.  With the line tangled in the branch of a small pine tree, the line slipped through my fingers as the bend of the branch pulled back.  Leaving me with a barbed hook stuck all the way down in my finger.  I did get it out after about 30 minutes of psyching myself out.  Surprisingly it left nothing more than a small hole that healed up within an hour.  I’ll be more cautious next time.

Wes Jones

Biggest news as of late for Ocean products is having them now be stocked at People Skate & Snowboard, some Warm Temp wax is on the shelf for those who are going out west to enjoy some summer time shred at either Hood or Whistler.  If your from around town go check out the shop, great people and a awesome vibe throughout the store.  3375 Orchard Lake Road Keego Harbor, MI 48320Look for a full line up stocked this winter!

Picked up a Loaded Dervish yesterday and I’m reading to shred all summer now.

Mini Review: The best set up anyone could ask for, I wouldn’t waste your time on anything else.  The Flex 2 is just so smooth, jumping in/out of turns with no effort, along with holding its edge all the way through the radius.  It has the perfect amount of bounce and pop, and does it consistently.  The Orangatang Stimulus (70mm) wheels are super grippy, but will break away at the right time to give a nice swish through a turn.  Other than the deck, the Paris 150 trucks are what make the board.  If anyone has the option between 180mm and 150mm trucks, go with the 150′s.  They are much more responsive, getting over from one side to the other so quick it’ll take some getting use to.  I didn’t think the 30mm difference would be enough to notice, but side by side, its night and day.I love how the Ocean Wave blends so nicely with the bottom graphic, and how it pops off the dark purple wheels.

These past two weeks I’ve finally been able to get Up North to go fly fishing.  Pictures are scarce at the moment because the only camera we had was one of those Kodak instant cam’s where you have to wind the film.  I hadn’t used one of those in so long, but I think they would be fun for an art project or something, not really sure yet.  Anyways the highlights have been the 14″ brown trout, that is the biggest fish that I have caught in MI, and when I thought I ran out of tipped and didn’t have any leaders left.  I decided to look once more and like magic I had a bran new spool!I was so happy at that moment, resulting in this post.

Something I had never done, was eat crab, or any type of shellfish for that matter other than the occasional shrimp.  Anyone who has had it will tell you its quite an ordeal to go through only to yield such small quantities of meat.  Pretty eclectic undertaking with all of the tools and utensils that only a veteran crab man can wield deftly, letting them easily take half the time as it took me for one crab.  This may be a little out there, but I’d be willing to bet eating crab is like eating celery in that more calories are burned, than what you’d get from the food.Night boating has been somewhat of a hot topic lately.

I wish I would have thought of this, too cool!

http://boxedwaterisbetter.com/