Saturday, December 20, 2014

Merry Christmas!

Holiday Greetings! (here follows my version of the annual XMAS letter!)
What a year it has been.
I'd love to brag that I have traveled the planet promoting the MoaB (TM) Repositioner, but I have actually only been inside an area 8000 miles wide that lies wholly above the equator.
And I must confess that a LOT more of my energy has been directed towards keeping prototype testing and product development secret  (before the patent issued). In any event, it has been a VERY busy year and I did get my passport stamped for the first time.
Emma and I had a very lovely small wedding at our home in Troutdale in May.

My brother-in-law Jim and I backpacked in the eastern Oregon Wallowas in August, our first time visiting such an amazing landscape of mountains and lakes.

I continue to work as a clinical laboratory scientist for Providence Health and Services, providing bench coverage and growing my knowledge and skills in lab medicine.
And I had the best year of health in a decade. Not a single incidence of sustained arrhythmia!
Very few gluten exposures! No concussions!
Windsurfed 10 out of 12 months this year, with the total number of sessions a new lifetime record (by far).

Of course I have my new full time job as an inventor and product developer at Disruptive Wind to both thank and curse. It has kept me fully engaged and occupied on my personal mission to "save" windsurfing. I have met so many new great people, new friends. I apologize to those friends and family that I did not have as much time for as we both would have liked; I hope this can change in the future!

A brief bit about project "Dark Side":
I was graciously invited by my friend Cully (in yellow helmet above) to spend some time on his island helping get the place ready for the season and making sure all the great water sport toys were in working order. As luck would have it, there was plenty of great windsurfing to be had, as well as fine conditions for the other sports as well. Here's a link to his blog/website:
http://belizeadventure.com/2014/12/belizes-windy-early-season/

From a business standpoint: because I was unable to import a MoaB (TM) Repositioner to the island (airplane/customs/financial reasons), all the windsurfing I did there was "old school". This proved to be very helpful as I was able to "relearn" the sport as it has been traditionally practiced. Thus verifying the benefits of my invention and gaining some new insights during the process. I was able to have discussions with other world class water sport adventurers as well, which helped me to refine how I explain this to others. They also offered some great ideas and perspective. I am greatly encouraged by their support!
I should wrap this up so I will leave you with a 6 minute video I made of an amazing event: a hatch of endangered Hawksbill sea turtles! We helped every last one of the 157 make it safely to the sea!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcXIhtv_jcM
Have a great 2015!