Cocoa Beach/St. Pete's 10/14, 15

[Kenny]

I had a convention to attend in Orlando. I was able to break free two afternoons. I rode in sloppy 2 - 3 foot waves at Cocoa on Tuesday. I rode 12m fully powered for a couple hours. Water and air temps were in the 80's so no wetsuit required.

The forecast looked stormy at Cocoa on Wednesday, so I rode the Skyway in St. Petersburg. Skies were clear and beautiful. Wind was light so I went out on my 21m Speed 4. The wind slowly built from low teens to mid to high teens. The skyway is an incredible place to ride. The water is only knee deep in most of the area where I rode, so the surface is butter-flat. I scared up large tarpon and other game fish on my first several passes. The wildlife was abundant with cranes, heron, pelicans and other seabirds in the area. To top it off the wind was so smooth that every jump was totally dialed-in.

Goes to show, if you can break away, pack your gear on business trips. I have been skunked on other trips, but rewarded this time around.

[Mike Egan]

The skyway also houses some very large sharks