Parruba

Well, well… This is it. My first blog to PARRUBA pages.

To start with, I write few words about me and my background. When I was much younger than today my favorite hobby was windsurfing. On late 80’s I used to compete in Mistral One Design -class in Finland.

As you may know in Finland sea and lakes are frozen about 4 months per year so from weather perspective it is not an ideal place for surfers. However, on 80’s windsurfing was highly popular in this northern country. One of the main reasons behind popularity was the beauty of the Finnish archipelago and its 170 thousand lakes where it was pleasure to surf long distance races. And still is. Because of a climate and mostly light winds (under 20 knots) without major waves the most popular modes of windsurfing are allround cruising and slalom.

Above is a picture of me about 33 years ago. Getting ready for the raceday in 1989 Mistral One Design Class European Championships in Yyteri Beach, Finland.

Furthermore, on my early days I was actively doing skateboarding and of course snowboarding as almost all Finnish kids are, because of long winter. Then the ”normal life” -thing happened also to me and living became ordinary. Studying, working, career, businesses, family, kids, sailing, golf, tennis etc. Everything nice and important, but no board riding anymore. No hang/loose feeling. Luckily things changed and now riding is definitely back in my life on its every platform: water, snow and asphalt.

This is my longboard. Classic Santa Cruz deck with long tail. Board has seen a littlebit life during years, but it is still a damn good cruiser.

Couple of years ago I realized in Facebook the bustling around appearance of Windsurfer LT. Retro surfing was coming back with highly developed, up-to-date, sport equipment. And it was coming back really fast. Windsurfer LT class has grown rapidly and it is speeding up more and more. In my darkest moment of the day I thought that if everybody else are trying to return in sport, why not me? So I reserved my old racing number 1800 again and got the equipment.

However, there were few small roadblocks on my way, like 30 kilos extra weight in my living standard belly thanks to thousands of pints and my loving of cooking good food. Now that issue is almost tackled down and I am ready to return on board on more serious level than in recent years. Lets see what happens. I’ll keep you posted.

Getting ready for the Windsurfer LT summer 2022

During summer 2022 my target is to travel in Finland and have fun on boards. I will present on these PARRUBA pages couple of best windsurfing spots by my opinion in Finland like Hanko, Yyteri, Vilniemi Beach, Mellsten, “Lago di” Lohja, Punkaharju and Imatra. Just to mention some in this context. Other issues which I will share blogs on these PARRUBA pages are mostly related to travelling with my surf van called Reddington. The real predator on wheels.

This is my surf van. The real predator on wheels called Reddington. Don´t worry. There will also be blogs in the future only focused to Reddington and its dirty secrets as well as camper van lifestyle.

Furthermore, one of my favourite ways to waste time is walking around flea markets. I collect vintage antique toys mostly related to Star Wars, Indiana Jones and other Harrison Ford films. When following PARRUBA you can’t escape also these posts.

This is one of my findings from my flea market walks: Millennium Falcon with original box. The most ultimate vehicle from Star Wars movies. Driven by its skipper Han Solo and co-pilot Chewbacca the ship made Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. Isn’t that something fellows?

My next blog will be a story from Tarifa, Spain where I have spent some time in this spring. My target is to publish one blog per week. So if you like, please follow this PARRUBA -page. I will build up social media channels in coming weeks.

Newsletter type publication is under development. It is called ”Junkride Splash”. You can make subscription of Junkride Splash Bulletin at the main page of PARRUBA. First Junkride Splash Bulletin will be published on Midsummer in June 20, 2022 and there will be a lottery among all subscribers to win nice suprise prize in PARRUBA style.

Windsurfer statute. At Pozo Izquierdo, Gran Canaria. Nearby Björn Dunkerbeck´s (ESP 11) surf schools and shops.

Finally before I stop writing this first blog: A question…

You may think where name PARRUBA comes? It is a good question. For me it is a combination of my nickname ”Parru” and a vision of an isolated tropical mystery island in some warm and windy paradise.

Destiny Follows Dreams. Keep on pushing amigos.

This is official PARRUBA -logo. Maybe later there will be some cool t-shirts, caps, mugs and other stuff available. You never know.