Another Epic Day!

Another epic day yesterday of this 2-week Habagat run. Forecast was 20-25 knots in Boracay so Cebu should get about 15-20. It was Sunday and after the mid-morning coffee, we headed to the beach! I was amazed of the car's ability to carry the rig inside the cabin but the bad news is that the gf have nowhere to sit.


Anyway, at the beach, main wind line was very far from the beach, about 100 meters. But once you reach there, it was heaven. Clear wind and small chops. I adjusted the footstraps inboard and it makes footstrapping easier with lower wind requirement, although lack of control when really going full speed. I actually used the fishermen as my buoy so I will have a point of reference.

After about an hour, I feel I have to go back to the beach. Kingking rigged her sail and we take turns with the board. Due to a smaller vehicle, we can only carry one board to the beach. I also let Mizuki ride with me in her sail just for fun.

Mizuki felt windchill after surfing. So, I made him a cape and now she looks like a superdoggie. :P

Kingking actually enjoyed sailing herself and is tempted to go farther.

I really love her abs. When can mine be like this? hehe

The bad news about Sunday windsurfing is the crowd. You have to be careful not to hit those heads. Here is Kingking killing the engine farther from the beach.

It will be another week or two before another tropical depression sets in. Anyway, next week is low tide so the timing might be perfect. I hope I can get a bigger van/pick-up before next week so we can bring our gears conveniently to the beach already.

A no-work holiday with a perfect Habagat wind

Southwesterly monsoon (Habagat) brings good wind but wet. However, if there's a tropical depression further north of the Philippines, Cebu gets good winds and a relatively higher atmospheric pressure. This translates to a windy and sunny beach day!

Yesterday was perfect. Forecast says it's 15-20 knots, high tide near noon and weather is cloudy to clear. It was also a no-work holiday because it was the late Tita Cory's burial. As planned, we honored her by wearing yellow and attaching a yellow ribbon on our sail. I finally found a good spot for the Habagat in Liloan where the SW wind is clearer.

At the beach, Mizuki keenly observed how to uphaul the sail. Looks like she is itching to hitch-hike with me again.
And yes, she gave it a go. Too bad I already took off. People at the beach were simply amazed of the dog's desire to swim by herself.

She tried it again when I came back from my initial run. I felt cramps on my calves at this time. Im becoming out of shape as I have also reduced my number of basketball days due to work commitments (at work or at home).

I just loved the yellow ribbon on the sail. It shows our nationalistic spirit.

Just a couple of meters from the beach is the main wind line and it's blowing hard while the water is flat. This could have been perfect to practice carve jibing but I chose to just enjoy speeding up and practicing control. I just noticed now that even a 1 cm adustment of the mast track makes a difference.

It looks like I have been shouting with joy. In reality, my core muscles are aching already, particulaly my abs. My calves are closed to cramping and my hamstrings are overstretched. I think it's time to go back to my windsurfing specific workouts in preparation of the amihan season in November.

My gf also was sailing with her sail, also having the yellow ribbon in honor of Tita Cory.

Mizuki's constant pestering of the kids almost put me in trouble so I just leashed her. She was also with her new sister (a Jack Russel Terrier) who was just introduced to the beach and still afraid of the water. In time, she will also be a swimmer, just like Mizuki.

Almost Done

The fiancee just finished painting the planks and we really admired how it turned out to be. It was just perfect for the southwestern atmosphere.



Last Saturday was blowing like nuts. It was around 20-25 knots, perfect for the small sail. I was contemplating on testing the waters but also wanted to do some carpentry works. The rain made the decision easier for me. I thought it was better to stay at home rather than at the beach complaining about the rain and lightning.

And so, I decided to build a house for my tools. These babies helped me a lot in building the house. What was supposedly done in 4 man-hours, I can do so in 1. This means if 4 people can make a cabinet in 1 hour, I can do myself in the same amount of time or if 1 person can build the cabinet in 4 hours, I can do it in 1. Still makes sense?

Funds are limited these days so I made use of the leftover wood from construction and just bought another sheet. The hardest part was arriving at a measurement to maximize the wood available while still having a cabinet that's future-proof (i.e., always have room for one more tool). I ended up something like 14 3/4 for the sides, 15 3/8 for the top and bottom and 10 3/4 for the shelves.

The cutting was done on the floor but the mask gave me a lung-ache the next day. Maybe I will have to buy a battle-grade dust mask in the future for my sensitive respiratory system.


After all the boards were cut to size, here comes the easy part: assembling. It helps to have two drills, one for the pilot hole and one for the screw.

The most time consuming was attaching the piano hinge but it was worth it. It will give enormous strength to the doors. I bought a local hinge (for Php 140) because the top brass brand cost something like Php 2,100 which is not very practical.

I was lucky that the new plywood I got has a very good face which is perfect for staining and achieving that exotic hardwood look. I attached the cabinet to the wall using SIX! 3/8 lag screws on 5/8 galvanized plugs. Drilling a 5/8 hole in a concrete wall is like a having a volcanic eruption. I was filled with dust and have to take a bath right after drilling. These plugs have some 100lb capacity in them which would make this cabinet take 600lbs! That's the Adz' philosophy: always over-build.

Now that the tool house is done, time to put some furnishings. Tools are small items and organizing them is pretty tricky but fun. I started with the rulers, squares, screwdrivers and saws which take up the most space. Next would be the tapes, chisels, pliers and clamps which I would do during my next carpentry session.

Tommorrow's forecast looks promising and it's already sunny. I have also bought myself a yellow boardshorts in honor of Tita Cory, the symbol of Philippine democracy and non-violent revolution, who will be buried also tommorrow. We shall honor her at the beach.

Mabuhay tayong lahat! L-L-L-L-L