Disapointment

Sunday was not nearly as exciting as I hoped for. It started with me waiting at the place where our group was supposed to meet. It was 15min after everyone was supposed to meet and nobody had showed up and I was getting ready to solo it to where we were supposed to surf. Just then I got a call asking where I was and was I going to join them surfing the other spot.

"What!?! Yeah, I'll be right over."

They had changed the meeting place and the surfing place. I wanted to say forget it, I'm going where the waves will be GOOD, but it was a special occasion and I didn't want to throw a tantrum. It was our friends "Leaving Cali" last surf and it was the only time that all 6 of us who work together and "surf" were together. I put surf in quotes because one is a pure beginner, two surf a few times a year, one is in a kayak, and the guy who was leaving was the only one who would join me when the waves got over 3' tall.

When we got there the waves were smaller than I surfed Saturday. The wind was blowing worse than Saturday. The crowd was 4 times larger than Saturday. I tried to let it go and followed the group to the peak where the waves were hardly breaking before disappearing into deep water. I "rode" three waves and sat around and then just paddled in.

It wasn't much of a going away surf but it was nice to get all the pieces together for once. Without him I doubt the other guys will surf much since he was the one who would talk them into joining us. I would rather not invite them since it often means going where the waves are more suitable for beginers.

Looking to the future I'll be surfing alone before work now. This means a larger hit to the thin wallet and nothing holding me back from getting to the beach at first light, surfing where I want, when I want. My productivity at work may go up without having someone to recap the surf with, or maybe I'll sink into the web-surf world looking for an outlet to share the stoke.

Ride Report, Junod and Fineline

On Tuesday I went down to the beach. The waves were small and a bit junky but there was no wind and only one guy out. I'd been dry for too long so I went out anyway. I was on the Junod fat-tri with the large 512 sides and the mini center fin. Although there wasn't much to the waves, mostly closeouts, I was able to find a few corners and make a few speed runs. The new large fins work great for generating speed on a bottom turn and I'm not noticing them stiffening up the board. I started standing a bit further back on the board and it really loosened up. It got to the point where I was wiggling the board all over on a wave that wasn't doing anything but I couldn't stop the board from turning this way or that. So, now I know how far back is too far back. It was a so-so session in so-so waves.

This morning was a repeat at this same spot only with sunshine and 50+ more people scattered about. I still got plenty of waves since everything was so disorganized and everyone was spread out. Similar conditions but this time on the Fineline GeeBee. It took a few waves to get used to how the GB feels compared to the fat-tri. The board doesn't let you just lean over and make a quick turn, you really have to take your time and make it happen. I have to add more body english. I also noticed, and this may be my imagination, but I had one wave where I tried to stand on the tail on the take-off to stall in the pocket. I think it was all the width in the tail but the board just shot off down the face of the wave and I almost fell off the back. Maybe I would have had more luck if I pointed the board down the line before I try to tail stall. I did manage to get a tiny bit of air coming off the lip of a close-out, but I didn't manage to land it. Another so-so session in so-so waves.

Planing on surfing again tomorrow, this time somewhere different. Either of these two boards would work where I'm headed, and maybe I'll bring both and switch-off. Or maybe it's time to try the mat again... No reason I can't bring all three!

The end of cool

I've been waiting for it to come around again. Surfing gets mainstream attention every 5-10 years and becomes cool. This brings more people into the water, few of whom are going to stick with it. Some get good (teenagers, mostly) but many are just fair surfers and get in the way. The good part of it is that there are often more surf shops around, which means more selection. The bad parts are too numerous to mention. It seems like this last string of "Surfing is Cool" has lasted since the mid-90's with only a few minor drops in popularity. I've been waiting for the cool to go out of surfing and people to leave, I've been feeling it lately, but I've been looking for a sign. Well, today I found it, and here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLVjyDvH11c

This is it, the end of surfing being cool. I've only seen this preview but if the movie is anything like the preview then nobody who sees this movie will think surfing is cool. Surfers will go back to being seen as dumb, lazy stoners. Great!

I'm a generally nice person and appreciate beginners and others who are enjoying the ocean that we all share. I never give people a hard time and almost always welcome people to the peak I'm surfing with a smile. But deep down inside I'm protective and greedy with the waves.

Early 90's GOTCHA add:
"If you don't surf, don't start. If you surf, never stop."

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Late Addition!

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24061768-462,00.html

Mr Hyman said manufacturers had over-produced following predictions of an undersupply. "We've been hit by the double whammy of a huge glut of surfboards and the economy taking a dive," he said.

Surf Mat

Dimensions: Bout 4' x 2.5' x 4" or something like that. The point of this thing is that it has no dimensions. Gas is defined as a fluid that expands or contracts to fill it's container, and that's a pretty good description of the surf mat. Surf mats aren't as obscure as they were when I first got one, but some people may not know much about them. One misconception I often get is that they are blown up tight. They're not, in fact they're rather soft. Not floppy, but you can bend one to a 90deg angle when their in the correct inflation range. Skipping the rest for now, I'll give a ride report.

I bought a surf mat looking for the fastest thing on a wave. The back-up justification is that they are ultimately portable. Good thing for the back-up because I can't get going very fast at all. There is a good sensation of speed because you're right at the waters level, but bodyboarding as a kid and body surfing give a similar feeling.

It's hard to describe what it's like to ride one, but I can compare it to other surfing. Compared to bodysurfing you're getting the same feel as being a little at the mercy of the wave. Without fins attached to the bottom you can't make the thing go square off the bottom or do a ripping cutback. But like bodysurfing it forces you to accept the wave and work with it. Unlike body surfing you can get out of the curl or ride softer waves. I had fun on a 2' day of slow rollers on the mat. Full on longboarding waves that I was able to cruse around on.

Mats also don't have a rail. On a bodyboard or paipo the rail is doing what fins do on a stand-up board. On the surf mat the best chance you have of grabbing an edge is to use your swim fins dragging behind you.

Before you even get to learn about the limits in control on a wave you have to learn the limits of control while trying to paddle the thing out. If you've ever tried to surfpaddle an inflatable pool toy you have an idea of what it's like. If not, imaging trying to climb on top of a giant rubber ball, covered with grease. Well, it's not really that bad, and by now I have the hang of it pretty well.

I haven't met to many other surf mat-ers in person so I don't really know if I'm a good or bad mat-er, but I have the basics down.

The thing is, I don't love it. It's cool that I've learned a different perspective on wave riding and I feel that I have a better understanding of waves and surfing because of it, but I hardly ever ride the thing. It is ULTIMATELY portable and goes on every vacation with me, and I'll never sell it, so that's something.

Pros: Portable, gives a whole new perspective on surfing.

Cons: The relative lack of control and difficulty in paddling through waves is more than I can handle when I only get to surf once a week or less.

If anyone wants to take it out for a spin, let me know and we'll meet up. I even have a decent selection of swim fins to offer.

To learn more http://neumaticsurfcraft.homestead.com/

http://www.vagabondsurf.com/SummingUpSurfmats.html

http://23breaths.blogspot.com/

http://surfmatz.com/

Coulda, but shoulda?

Can't really tell if it would have been worth it. From home at 3:30am this morning the surf didn't look good anywhere. Around 9am when I talked to my south and west surf reporters that was verified, but throughout the day there were moments where I thought it would get better. Never enough to pull the trigger though. Maybe it would have been good enough somewhere.

Looks like we're supposed to get a steady stream of small souths, if the wind ever let's up around here I'll go surfing.

I noticed that in some of the last photos you can see our cat in the frame. I thought I should share another photo. See, she has her own opinions and isn't afraid to express them. I'm not sure if she didn't like the foiling on the side runners, thought she should make it into a 5-fin, or if she's just retro hipster beyond bonzer and only goes single.

Either way, no harm was done to the fins.

"If it didn't work, we just kicked it off." - Dale Velzy

Freeline Kneeboard

The kneeboard. Shapers dimensions 5'8", 16" nose, 21 1/4" wide, 13" tail, 2 7/16" thick. I first got to thinking about a kneeboard while living in New York on Long Island for a few years. My closest beach was a real snappy beach break. Often smaller than 4" with waves that would throw and race away from me on my chippy thruster before I could get to my feet and in control. To make matters worse I wasn't getting to surf very often due to the distance, workload at school, and incosistancy of waves, so I wasn't enjoying surfing very much. I spent a lot of time on the internet and started learning about alternate ways of surfing. Kneeboarding, bodysurfing, mat surfing, paipos, handboards, pieces of driftwood. I found a kneeboarder that had a board to loan me and I gave it a try. We got lucky on a head high day during the week and we were the only ones out at a left hander that was a touch mushy. I had no problem catching and making waves right from the start. When I got back to California I bought one of my own.

For awhile I was riding this kneeboard several times a week. I learned of a hard breaking reef break that barreled. I surfed it first on a kneeboard and had a great time in the very challenging waves. I came back with a stand-up board and couldn't make the drop, or if I did couldn't make the bottom turn to get to the face before the lip came over. Back to the kneeboard and I was just fine, pushing myself into the barrel. I met another kneeboarder and we surfed other spots together, often just the two of us in waves with real kick. For me the kneeboard allows me to make late drops in complete control. It allows me to get into a small crouch and try for the barrel. Also, paddling a kneeboard you can use your arms or your swim fins, or both when the wave is picking you up to catch it. Because of this I can catch waves earlier that most shortboarders, and just as late if not later because I'm so stable on the kneeboard. A win-win.

Pros: Catch more waves, stay out longer cause I can use my arms and legs to paddle, make late drops and pull into barrels, solid and stable when the lip hits me so I can make it through whitewater sections.

Cons: Hassling from other surfers, really needs powerful waves to appreciate, harder to do cut backs, floaters, and other "tricks" that I'm not doing much of anyway.

South Swell Due

There's a south due in over the weekend. Unfortunately there's also 30kt NW winds forecast as well. That leaves me with two options, drive north for 1.5 hours or drive south for 1.5 hours. Driving north means 2-3ft beachbreak with likely offshore winds, a beginner crowd with a smattering of so-so longboarders who think they are the best surfers around, which they are, but that's cause most of the other surfers are raw beginners. Anyway, it's not hard to get away from the crowd and find good waves to yourself, if that's what you want. Plus, offshore wind is a rare treat for me.
The other option is drive south, towards the crowds. The good thing about south is there will be many options. One spot rarely gets good and when it does there's only a few surfers out at a time. Another spot may be 4ft unmakable walls with only a handful trying. Fun to try. Yet another spot could be empty at dawn and a thumping cove beachbreak, as mentioned in an earlier post. South also means I could do some board repair with my dad, and just about every board I own could use some ding fixes. I'll probably head south with a carload of boards.

Lately I've been riding my Junod "Daisy" with a new set of 5.25" side fins and a mini center fin. The extra fin surface area has been great for solid bottom turns and projection. I could ride that board at any of the spots, but it may be a little fat for the bowly cove.

I took photos of all the rest of my boards but haven't yet uploaded them. I'll try to get a description of the boards, with photos, that I don't have up yet.

I've been watching craigslist lately and it may be my imagination but it seems like there are some cool retro type boards for sale at good prices, that don't seem to be selling. Maybe it's the economy, maybe people are realizing that retro isn't for everyone, maybe I'm just board hungry and imagining things. As I said before I can't buy another until I clear out one first, so I shouldn't even be looking.