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So I decided to separate my life a little and create a new blog on this site just for my Amateur Radio activities.  The address is jasontag.com/wh6dls.  wh6dls is my call sign registered with the FCC so I figure that would be a good name for it.  I’ll mostly be writing about my experiences with ham radio.  Talking about projects I’m working on, things I’m doing with radios and that kind of stuff.  But for now it’s just a shell that I need to populate with stuff…  stay tuned!

Ever since I got back into kayaking, I find myself thinking about it a lot.  I love the feeling of being out on the ocean despite the fact that the ocean scares me like nothing else.  I am just as much attracted to the ocean as I am scared of it.  And I think it’s healthy to be afraid of what the ocean can do.  But I also think that my fears are preventing me from experiencing something amazing and beautiful.  Which is why I kayak.

Since my last outing I’ve been thinking a lot about why I feel like I’m going to end up swimming whenever I go out.  And the reason is because I don’t quite feel like I have any control of the boat.  I usually feel like I’m just fighting to keep the kayak upright.  Stay perpendicular to the waves, and when I need to paddle my ass off…. paddle my ass off!  And of course this puts myself into a flight or flight situation mentally which in turn makes my body rigid and stiff.  WHat I realized today was that this attitude is really the wrong way to aproach kayaking.

Kayaking is supposed to be fun and enjoyable, not stressful.  And what I need to do is to get myself on the water and learn how to move my body in concert with my boat and the ocean to keep the boat upright rather than fight the ocean.  When a swell moves under me, I can lean into it so that the boat stays where I want it to.  I realized that what I should do the next time I go out is to just sit on the ocean, don’t paddle, don’t go anywhere.  Just sit.  Get used to the feeling of the ocean and see if I can learn to feel my boat and move with it.

Now I can’t wait to get back out there!

On Saturday mornings I usually have to work.  This past Saturday however I did not.  And I was planning on an early morning paddle in Kailua Bay.  A quiet ,relaxing paddle where I could just enjoy the water, the sun, the birds and the fresh air.   This is a big reason why I wanted to get back into paddling again.  As well as it being a way to get over some fears, it’s also a way for me to relax and just enjoy life.  However what ended up happening is that I didn’t sleep very well Friday night and as a result I slept in a little on Saturday morning.  By the time I woke up, it was 8:30am.  I got up and started geting everything together.  I got the kayak on the car and headed to the store to pick up a snack, some electrolyte replacing drinks and breakfast. After eating breakfast and getting the kayak in the water it was about 9:30 which now I know is way too late to be heading out if all I’m after is a relaxing paddle.

It was tough to find parking near my put in point.  And when I got there I had to really get my stuff together quickly as there were outrigger canoe teams getting ready to put their boats in the water as well as other kayakers heading out that morning.  Once I got out there though it was nice until a sailboat almost hit me.  That sent me flailing a little and fighting to keep the kayak upright.  A few feet later I found that I had to do some evasive maneuvers to avoid paddling down the backside of a wave and right on top of a snorkeler.  I turned the boat to the north and paddled hard to avoid getting broadsided by waves coming in at my right.  Just in time I was able to get the nose back pointing east and into the waves to avoid a capsize.  After a few minutes of paddling I had to again slow my pace to avoid getting into the track of a kite surfer.  This was getting dangerous very quickly.  I decided that I would paddle to flat island and calm down a bit before trying to paddle to the other side of Kailua Bay.   This was all in a period of about 10 minutes.  The most dangerous 10 minutes I have ever experienced while kayaking.

Once I got to the island I surveyed the ocean and realized it was getting very crowded out there.  The swimmers, snorkelers, kayakers, sailboarders, kite-surfers, and sailboaters were really making it tough to be out there safely.    It was just too crowded and everybody was only doing exactly what I was doing.  Enjoying the ocean in their own way.

As I sat there watching all of this I realized that it’s not the ocean I have to fear, it’s all the other people out on the water.  The kite surfers and sailboarders go pretty fast and they can’t exactly stop on a dime. They can turn a hell of a lot faster than I ever could though.  The swimmers and snorkelers are a different story.  They have their heads in the water and most likely don’t even know you’re there at all.  They are so low in the water that you sometimes can’t see them until you’re almost on top of them.  With the waves bobbing you up and down you might only see a swimmer when you’re on top of a wave.  When you’re in the trough all you see is the next wave.  you can’t see what’s in the trough after the next wave!

So I decided that I wouldn’t contribute to the madness on the water that day. I would stay out of the water until it was time to go home then I would paddle straight back.  no detours, no turns, just straight back to shore.   I did get the chance to just relax and enjoy the sun and fresh air.  I ate my snack and then headed home.  Thankfully the paddle back was a little less crazy and all I had to worry about were the waves at my back, gently guiding me home.

All in all, I did enjoy my time kayaking but it does make me re-think when and where I paddle from this point forward.

p.s. The vibram five finger shoes were quite nice to paddle in.  very comfortable.  It hardly felt like I was even wearing anything on my feet at all!  And they held up nicely on land as well.  Walking on the rocks was no problem and my feet remained comfortable and unharmed.

It’s a little late but about a week ago I was without my car and pretty bummed that I couldn’t go anywhere until I realized that I still had my bike and there was this mountain I had been wanting to hike ever since I moved to Kailua.  So I went for it! I rode over to the trail head for the Pillbox hike on Kaiwa ridge overlooking Lanikai!  I’m super stoked that I did the hike despite how crazy it seemed as I was doing it.  It was a really cool way to spend an afternoon and it wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be.  Here’s the video… Enjoy!

About a year ago a friend of mine came in to my office wearing the strangest shoes I’ve ever seen! I mean It isn’t really weird to see him wearing weird shoes though. He owns a pair of shoes that have a big spring on the heel. I think they were called moon shoes. Normally he wears them but on this particular day he was wearing shoes that looked a little a glove for your feet. He showed them to me talked about how comfortable they were and all that. I pretty much put it out of my mind… until the day I was kayaking and almost destroyed the sandals I kayak with. Then I remembered the glove shoes. So I did some searching and discovered the Vibram Five Finger Shoes.

Vibram FIve Finger Shoes - TREKSPORT

The model I bought is the Treksport. The sales person at the store recommended them for use in the water because of the neoperene material in the upper part of the shoe and with the thicker sole so I can probably walk out on the tide pools and rocks we have here in Hawaii without hurting my feet. So far I haven’t taken them in the water yet. I just walked around the house in them to get used to how they feel. And I have to say they are quite comfortable but weird feeling. I’m not used to have fabric between my toes! They are very lightweight and almost feel like you’re barefoot except you know you’re wearing shoes. Overall I’m happy I bought them and can’t wait to test the out on the water. I’m thinking that I might even be able to swim with them!

I’ve been kayaking for a quite a while now but in the past few years I’ve been too busy to go out and I sold my first kayak because it really wasn’t the right boat for what I wanted to do. It was more of a surf ski than kayak. But recently I’ve been missing being on the water and enjoying the ocean. So I decided I would save for a new kayak. This time I would buy a brand new one that would be able to do what I wanted to do with it. Which is simply to hold enough gear for a day trip and be stable and forgiving enough for me to feel comfortable when I’m out instead of feeling like I’m going to fall over the side anytime a one foot wave gets near me.

I also was trying to figure out how I would pay for it. The kayak I wanted was about $550 and I would also need to buy a new paddle. Everything else I would need I already had. Dry bag, Lifejacket(which is required by law for all boaters by the U.S. Coast Guard), knee straps, and seat. It had taken me about three months to save half of what I needed but waiting another 3 or 4 months to get the rest was really getting me bummed. During this time there was also some pretty heavy stuff going on with my family and it was clear that I needed to quit smoking. This time for good! The e-cig I wrote about previously really didn’t help me to quit. I did some math and realized that if I quit smoking I would have an extra $400 a month in my bank account.

So I quit smoking. I picked up the patch and a few bags of lifesavers candies to munch on whenever I got a craving. I started putting the money I would’ve spent on packs of cigarettes into my savings account and when I got to the point where I could afford the kayak I would buy it. Well that really only took about two and a half weeks!

When I looked at various kayaks, I was originally looking at the Cobra Escape as the choice for me. It had a very generous tank well in the rear and excellent stability characteristics. I was sure I’d have no problem carrying all the stuff I wanted to bring with me on the water. I also looked at the Cobra Explorer and once I saw the carrying capacity of both I realized that the Explorer would be a better choice for me. That and it’s a little bit longer which means I’ll be able to paddle a little more efficiently in it. So I left the store that day having purchased the Explorer. A little more expensive but a decision I don’t regret. The Explorer really was the right kayak for me.

Since I bought the kayak I’ve been able to take it out twice. The first time I took it out was for a sunset paddle. I really only had about 45 minutes of good light but I decided I would practice my launching and landing in surf. A very important skill since all the beaches in Hawaii have surf to contend with. The second time I got to take it out was yesterday morning. It was a trip I was planning since I got the kayak. My goal was to spend a few hours on the water getting comfortable with the boat. Getting used to how it feels and handles and pushing my own comfort zone a little.

I started out about 7:30am from Kailua Bay Beach Park. I brought with me some snacks and lunch, my camel back filled with water, two bottles of gatorade and my Go Pro camera mounted to a chest harness. I also wanted to shoot some video of the paddle. It was a beautiful morning and I was sure to get some really good video.

The water looked quite nice and I headed out. It was a little rougher than it looked from shore but the ocean is a dynamic environment. A landscape in constant flux. Once I got out past the surf zone the water got calmer and I felt good about the stability of the kayak. I turned on my camera and headed out to Popoia Island. Once I got there I walked around, shot some more video and enjoyed a nice breakfast looking back at Kailua. It was kinda funny because at one point I realized I could see my car across the bay. It made me giggle a little to think that I had left the island of Oahu and could still see my car.

I spent some time paddling in circles in the bay getting used to the kayak and being out on the water. It was nice being the only kayak out there. Usually the rental kayakers show up around 9am and don’t paddle out until about 9:30am. The rental guys usually do a safety briefing and some training before letting people got out. So I had the bay almost all to myself. Except for the occasional swimmer and kite surfer. On one occasion I had to seriously change course to avoid a possible impact with a swimmer. I realized how easily I could have come too close to them and not even really know it. I changed course 180 degrees and in order to put more space between us. after paddling for a few minutes I changed back to my original course and was clear of them. At one point I did get a chance to say hi to a surfer heading out. When I was done I headed back to shore feeling happy in my purchase and accomplishment in finally beating my smoking addiction.

In January I got my new e-cig from E-Smokeytreats.com and I have to say that it is so much better this time around than it was the first time I tried to go smoke free.  I picked up the E-Go by Joye.  the battery life on this e-cig over my last, which was a Joye 510, is a major leap forward.  On the E-Go e-cig batteries last about 10-12 hours where as the 510 had a battery life of about 90 minutes.  But that might be different for you depending on your won vaping habits.  For me it’s good.  It means I don’t have to carry as many batteries with me each day.

Another huge improvement is that the E-Go now comes with a tank cartridge system that allows for a better way to get the liquid into the atomizer for vaping.  the taste is alos purer than through the traditional atomizer methods.

All in all I like my E-Go and look forward to leading a smoke free life.

This morning as I was playing with my new iPhone 4g I found a cool app called spyglass.  It’s pretty much a compass on steroids!  it will do waypoint tracking and even track stars, the sun and moon.  It’ll also do rangefinding for things of known height (I have yet to figure this feature out.)  and it operates as a sextant for navigation.  like I said… compass on steroids!  But I was searching for more information on how to understand what the app was showing me I saw that it was called an “AR tracker”.  I was curious about the acronym “AR” and found that it stood for “Augmented Reality“.  What’s that? I asked.

I have since found a whole slew of augmented apps for the iPhone 4g.  My favorite so far is acrossair Browser.  It packs a ton of information overlayed on your iphone screen.  As you point the camera around at various places around you, data is placed over various places the camera is looking at.  You can search for restaurants, bars, or even wiki articles about buildings and places near you, and you can also see tweets that people have posted near you.

Even Yelp has gotten into the game with adding augmented reality to it’s iPhone app!  Although it’s a bit jerky, it’s still a cool way to find activities near you, navigate to them and see what other people think about those places.

I’m sure I’ll many many more augmented reality apps to play with over the next few days and I’ll write a more complete review once I’ve had a chance to play around some more.

I saw this story on QRZ.com and thought it was quite interesting…

http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?t=257668

After a week and a half of being an ordained minister, I find that what started out as something fun and funny, has me now thinking seriously about my life and my faith.  I’ve never really been a religious person, well maybe when I was younger but as I grew up I spent a great deal of time thinking about spiritual matters, not neccessarily religious, but spiritual.

I find it interesting that something that started with a trivial action has caused me to think so intensely about my life and what I might do now because of the title of Reverend.  Maybe there is good to be done, maybe there was a reason for it that I don’t quite know yet. Whatever it is, It’s starting to affect me.  as I’ve said before, not in a religious way, but certainly spiritually