WINCHING WITH
JOEL DEROCHE Pict : Kile Mass
It was a brisk morning in late February here in Northern California. I remember getting out of bed, around 6:30am, looking out my kitchen window and seeing a thin layer of fog in the air as I started making some coffee and packing up my cameras. Instantly, I knew we were in for a cold one. The crew that day included, Kyle Maas @cali_kyle, Mike Powell @miekpowell, and myself @joelderoche3. The cold was not going to kill the vibe though! All of us were hungry to get some clips. We started early, the boys were in my drive way with the van waiting to be loaded up around 7:30 am. Kyle came through in the clutch with the Ford Cargo Van. We loaded up the kicker, boards, winch, cameras, food, others supplies and we were out. It was going to be a short drive up Highway 5 North towards Stockton, CA. As we pulled into a small marina in the Stockton Port area, all we could see were fire engines, police cars and search and rescue boats. Right then we thought maybe this spot was dead for the day. After asking a few observers who were watching search and rescue, we found out they were looking for a dead body somewhere in the water. Now the question was, do any of us want to get in the water if there is a dead body floating around? Without hesitation we all said, “Hell yea! If that’s what it takes to get the shot!” As soon as all the emergency vehicles left we set up the spot. We had a slide in start to a kicker with the drop into the water. Without hesitation we went for it! Huge props to Kyle Maas for snapping this dope photo. This one’s for Kyle... Kyle should be riding with us. Unfortunately, Kyle can’t be out there riding for health reasons. Surgeries may have been taking away Kyle’s riding time but it hasn’t taking away the passion and drive he has to be involved and help push the sport that he loves. Expect to see a lot more content from Kyle 59
and the crew the rest of the year. Huge props to Kyle and Mike Powell for the time, commitment, and the great pulls to get this rad shot! Cheers boys! As soon as I saw this spot my heart strating racing! The anxiety, adrenaline and commitment juices were flowing through me! I went riding on the Delta with my good friend Jim Aiken in Stockton, Ca. at a place called Whiskey Slough. I had passed these huge irrigation pipes many times but, they never had a small pond of water in the middle of them to make this spot possible to hit. After riding that one day, the following week we were out there ready to gap up to these huge concrete pipes. At first sight, one would think these pipes were a lot smoother than they actually are. We had no idea if we were going to get caught or not so we quickly set up the kicker in the water. The water was only 12 to 18 inches deep. We thought the kicker could sit in the water and still have enough height to get up to the pipes but that wasn’t going to happen. Thankfully, we found a tumble weed, put the kick in the tumble weed to give the kicker a little more height out of the water and some stability. My boy Mike Powell @miekpowell was providing the pulls on the winch. The homies, Kyle Maas @cali_kyle and Jordan Jin @wakeaholicmic were snapping photos and grabbing clips. When everyone was finally in position, I went for it. It was one of the more riskier spots I’ve ever hit but thankfully all went well and we were able to snag these photos. Be on the lookout for more photos and these video clips to be out later this year in my final edit for 2018 called, “The Main Course” Cheers, Joel DeRoche @joelderoche3
