Weekend Emails!

UDT/XL Fun = No baskets that day!

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Hi Paul,

Here´s a pic of the Vespa and the XL at Pleasure Point. The waves were mostly nice for the mat and it wasn´t too crowded at this spot.

Next month 2 days of Brazilian winter, then vacation to Brittany - lots of opportunities to slide, I hope.

Maybe we can arrange a meeting (with surf!) again in the fall.

Hope all is well.

Tom

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Hello Paul

I am Ryan from Minot ND, the geological center of North America. I recently moved to Oakland, CA in 2009 and was introduced to the Pacific Ocean. For 2 years I watched friends surf while I clung to the shoreline. I grew up on a lake and in rivers so I feel I am a strong swimmer but the ocean intimidated me.

I moved from Oakland to Santa Cruz for the summer of last year and lived with Sean Hellfritsch and Rob Wilson, two avid SC surfmatters. They introduced me to your 4th gear flyer surfmat. The added buoyancy of the inflated surfmat gave me the courage to paddle out into the Manresa shore break. I had never been in the ocean until this moment.

Sean showed me a few tricks for balance and took me to where the waves where swelling. He then showed me how to set up for a wave, catch and ride one. It took a few tries but I caught one (my first wave) and was reminded of how much I loved sledding on the snow covered hills as a child. I had to catch another!

I've been riding a 4th Gear Tracker which I had received for my birthday 9/28/11 and I love it! Thank you Paul for providing such an awesome interactive water craft. I would have never gotten into the ocean without it.

My wife Kimberly has recently taken an interest in surfmatting. We went out at Pleasure point last weekend and she had a go with my tracker. She caught her first wave and immediately said she wants a surfmat of her own. I am so stoked to get her in the ocean with me!

So, will you build Kimberly a surfmat?

Height 5' 2'', weight 120 lbs, Bolinas and Santa Cruz are our current surf destinations.

Thanks Paul.

-Ryan

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Hey Paul... I sufed swami's for 4 plus hours today! The first half hour was on my surfboard and you know the rest... a quick run back up the stairs to get my mat! I've really got the hang of the vespa. I'm getting the feel of the whole mat, twisting it and gliding it across waves. I'm still at a pretty heavy inflation for a heavier weight guy but now that I've figured it out I'm going to start decreasing the inflation. KenDog what is a great help over the phone when I was first getting started.

Cheers, Henry

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Paul, I took this pic, then went out, one of the better days I've had on the learning curve, good exercise for the old guy,

the best, Michael