MatMeet North

On August 21st MatMeet North was held in honor of the main MatMeet which happened the following day at Cotton's Point. See 23breaths blog for the glorious details.

MatMeet North had one participant, me, but I shared some interesting waves with one friendly kneeboarder. We were at onA at very low tide with a small south and small NW windswell in the water. The kneeboarder, Darrel "in the Barrel," said the south was causing more close-outs and that the previous 6-weeks had been great at onA. (He enjoyed the small, shapely peaks and I witnessed one tube ride he handled well.) So, onA likes the small NW wind swell better than the south?

Anyway, while I was there the side wave worked a bit, the water was freezing, and I caught some exciting waves on my mat. Coulda maybe been narreled on one or two.

UDeeTs test ride. I used the bench-top belt grinder to remove material from the Large sized UDTs. The idea is to soften up the blade and reduce the resistance while kicking. The fins have proved too powerful for me in the past and caused foot cramps. I didn't feel like I took off very much, and I concentrated on the center spine which I probably reduced by half on both sides of the fin. Anyway, I surfed for an hour or more and never got a foot cramp, even though I was kicking most of the time. I think that is a positive result and I'll leave them like they are and try them out some more.

Well, not exactly as they are. I wore them without fin socks and I rubbed holes in my feel. My right foot on the bottom had a row of open blisters where the fin hits, and my left foot inside ankle was also blistered and open. So, if I want to wear these barefoot (which I do) I need to re/apply the wetsuit material to the fins, and/or redesign the straps.

After a leg cramp that wouldn't go away I switched to the Haut2. I only caught one decent wave and gave it up as the crowd was growing. I took my time and changed out of my wetsuit on the beach. I watched as the side wave was no longer working and the take-off was next to the rock. The tide had filled in to ~3.5ft or maybe a bit more. The waves were much more peaky and the rippers that had showed up were getting good rides, but not quite barrels. Anyway, the point is that low tide south swell is not the only combo for Ona, and maybe not even a good one.

Thinking about returning this weekend, but my feet still haven't heeled.

August

It has been a terrible summer. Long streaches of onshore wind, little to no surf, and I've been working harder than I ever have. (Well, except that few months I worked two jobs.) My last two sessions were two weeks or more apart with a mat surf in crap waves more than a month ago and a fun but minor bodysurf session two weeks ago. Out of town this weekend.
Once I finish all this work I'll be looking to vacation somewhere surf related. Not sure where (or when) but hopefully this fall.
Options:
North up the coast would be interesting, less crowded, colder, camp-able = cheaper, but without any prime surf spots that I can think of.
South down the coast has many, many options that are well advertised. Once I round Point Conception the water is much warmer. Camp-able, but less so, especially without reservations. Crowds, but I could surf the not-longboard spots which I would guess are less crowded. I could also try to meet with other bloggers.
Mexico = warm waters and new territory. I still want to spend some time at Puerto Escondido and make a tube. I think I could do it if I had a week of 6-8ft surf. Puerto could end up giving me a week of 16-18ft surf, or break my boards and end up costing me mucho pesos in repair costs. Pleanty of other options down there, but for someone who speaks little spanish it's intimidating going it alone.
Hmmm....