I ditched work yesterday to catch the offshore winds. I surfed VFWs for a few hours from around 7-10am. Waves were shoulder to head-high with offshore winds and beautiful partly cloudy skies. The air started cold at 7:00 but warmed up to t-shirt and shorts weather by 10am. I started by trying the Bee at Lincoln where the waves were barreling with some make-ables mixed in. After a blown take-off and missing the first section on another I was getting exhausted trying to paddle back out through the heavy waves. I gave up, deciding I felt more like riding more waves for longer rather than burning out in 45 min of pounding.
Moving up a peak was better for me and the board. The waves were breaking softer but still steep with the off-shores holding them up. Mixed in were short peaks and longer, softer walls, and a few hard breaking waves too. For the most part I was able to survive on the Bee without being excited by it. It feels looser than I would expect a single fin of that dims to be, but not much faster. It holds speeds through turns, as I said before, and feels alright once I found the right spot to stand. I picked a high line on one and then dug the rail trying to drop off the high line and down around the section. Pumping the high line felt like the board wasn't really responding with speed like a quad would. The board actually feels similar to what I remember of a thruster. I've heard the term "neutral handling" used to describe a board that only goes where you make it go, but will sit in one place on the wave if you don't tell it to go anywhere. I feel like this board is like that. I did stall a steep wall to see how it might feel in the barrel and it held comfortably. I also pulled into one closeout and it held a line for awhile without pulling too high, or maybe it's just me getting used to which line to pick.
The board has plenty of float but wasn't feeling all that great when trying to catch waves. It may have been the offshore winds, but I felt more struggle to drop in, and less control getting in later.
So I think I'll give this board a few more tries to see if I can find the right wave for it, but I would be willing to sell it if I could avoid a loss on the deal.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Review
A rain day and I was on call for work. Yesterday during the warm frontal part of the storm I had work down the SM coast and on the drive I saw light side/off shore winds on easy waves. They looked better earlier when the tide was lower. Today I was on call for work and figured it was no matter because the storm was in full swing and OB was reported to be destroyed by the wind and huge swell that arrived. As it turned out I didn't get called to work, and JZ reported that the SM coast was still side/off shore. Reviewing the day in weather it seems that the storm stayed north dropping over 1/2" in Oakland and 0.0" in Fremont. The south winds to the south of the front didn't ruin the surf on the SM coast, mental note.
Missing it like that, and not feeling surf satisfied I pulled out my boards to look them over. Not in a repair sense, more in an admire them sense. The new Bonzer BumbleBee has similar dimensions to the Haut2 except that it is more hippy. They have nearly the same tail width and middle width, but the Bonzer gets there quicker. Then I pulled out the HessQQ to compare, and before you know it I had them all laid out. I decided to rephotograph them all to make a side by side comparison, but before I got around to resizing and cropping I found myself rereading every post on this blog. So what do I make of it?
My quads are for making turns and going fast. My singles are for feeling the wave and sitting in the pocket. Well, I'd consider the Bonzer a single, but I'm not sure how it will ride since I've only had one chance on it. I'll have to revisit that statement.
When will I next revisit it? Possibly tomorrow. I had planned to do some post storm work in Fremont, but there was no storm in Fremont so maybe I'll "go into the field" with a quick stop in Fremont and then continue south to SC where the west side will be big. Or, I could wrap up some work that needs to be done this week and take Wednesday or Thursday to surf. I guess I'll be checking the weather thoroughly tonight.
Back to the review, I seem to be riding a higher quality of wave lately. Ona, WR-BB section and some good days at VFWs all combine to make a picture of hollower waves than I used to settle for. That, and riding /not/ the quads which I prefer to ride in softer waves with shoulders to run around on. Anywhoo, let's see where I go next.
Missing it like that, and not feeling surf satisfied I pulled out my boards to look them over. Not in a repair sense, more in an admire them sense. The new Bonzer BumbleBee has similar dimensions to the Haut2 except that it is more hippy. They have nearly the same tail width and middle width, but the Bonzer gets there quicker. Then I pulled out the HessQQ to compare, and before you know it I had them all laid out. I decided to rephotograph them all to make a side by side comparison, but before I got around to resizing and cropping I found myself rereading every post on this blog. So what do I make of it?
My quads are for making turns and going fast. My singles are for feeling the wave and sitting in the pocket. Well, I'd consider the Bonzer a single, but I'm not sure how it will ride since I've only had one chance on it. I'll have to revisit that statement.
When will I next revisit it? Possibly tomorrow. I had planned to do some post storm work in Fremont, but there was no storm in Fremont so maybe I'll "go into the field" with a quick stop in Fremont and then continue south to SC where the west side will be big. Or, I could wrap up some work that needs to be done this week and take Wednesday or Thursday to surf. I guess I'll be checking the weather thoroughly tonight.
Back to the review, I seem to be riding a higher quality of wave lately. Ona, WR-BB section and some good days at VFWs all combine to make a picture of hollower waves than I used to settle for. That, and riding /not/ the quads which I prefer to ride in softer waves with shoulders to run around on. Anywhoo, let's see where I go next.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Another one added
I went ahead and did it, I bought the Bonzer. I took it out immediately into 4-6' funky OB. My first impression of the board is that it feels a bit stiff, but that's coming off several sessions on the narrow tailed Buttons. The stiffness was felt when trying to initiate a railed bottom turn and the Bonzer, being wider in the tail, resists going on rail. However, that same width makes it easier to complete a cutback because the board maintains it's speed for longer through the turn. I managed a full change of direction on one wave which let me hit the foam ball (at which point my "plans" ended and I didn't know what to do the instant after I hit it.)
The most memorable moment from the session was a left that got steep as I was holding the rail. Perhaps my technique was off because I lost the fin and side slipped down the face. Because I was holding the rail the minor slip down the face caused no problem and I made the wave.
Overall I'm not thrilled with the board, but one funky session isn't enough to pass judgment. It paddles just fine and duck-dives well too so I'll be giving it another chance.
The most memorable moment from the session was a left that got steep as I was holding the rail. Perhaps my technique was off because I lost the fin and side slipped down the face. Because I was holding the rail the minor slip down the face caused no problem and I made the wave.
Overall I'm not thrilled with the board, but one funky session isn't enough to pass judgment. It paddles just fine and duck-dives well too so I'll be giving it another chance.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Single Fin Time
After the success at WReefs on the Buttons single fin I was excited to give it a go at VFWs. The first run was a few weeks ago and the weather was great, waves were 4-6' and hollow. The crowd was out but it didn't completely shut me out because the Buttons has plenty of float to get in a bit early if I have to, but able to take later drops too. I was having a good time, but it got better when I walked south to Lincoln where there were fewer people and I could find my waves better. I even got something deeper than a narrel that I came out of. Later that day things fell apart but I went out with JZ to Balboa and the Cove. The quality had diminished, but we had a few fun ones. One the beach I had a guy want to get a better look at the Buttons and said he saw me pig-dog on a few lefts that looked good.
Skip forward to last Tuesday morning (or was it Wednesday?) The conditions were very similar with a bit more size. This time I stayed put right in front of VFWs and got my share of waves. A few memorable ones including a set wave that the guy at the peak decided at the last minute he was too deep. I was over and inside of him and went for it at the last second. Nearly a free fall drop where I landed right where I needed to be and hit a solid bottom turn that gave me the speed to make it down the line. After the session I stopped at Mollusk to look into a bigger fin.
See, the deal is that I am having trouble keeping the fin engaged at all times on the Buttons. I've had it release on a steep angled take-off more than once, and I had it release on me that day when the whitewater hit my feet. With the wide point so far forward, and not much rail in the tail I get my center of gravity too far forward which lets the fin release too easy. I figure the fin I have is 7-7.5" which is what is suggested, and when I put bigger fins in it they just looked wrong. I decided I would try the big flex fin off the GeeBee first to see what too much fin felt like, then I will ask around to see who has a fin in the 8-8.5" range that I could borrow. Maybe it's just a matter of technique.
Meanwhile, I took note of a 5'10" Bonzer Bumblebee (three fin) on the used rack at Mollusk. The price just dropped to $350 which looks like a steal to me. The hold up is that the template is closer to the GeeBee than the Buttons. The thing is short and fat! I'm not sure what it would be used for and I suspect it has a ride somewhere between the GeeBee and Haut2, and those to aren't very far apart. I'm not sure when I would choose it since I'm trying to find a way deeper into the pocket, but still...
Skip forward to last Tuesday morning (or was it Wednesday?) The conditions were very similar with a bit more size. This time I stayed put right in front of VFWs and got my share of waves. A few memorable ones including a set wave that the guy at the peak decided at the last minute he was too deep. I was over and inside of him and went for it at the last second. Nearly a free fall drop where I landed right where I needed to be and hit a solid bottom turn that gave me the speed to make it down the line. After the session I stopped at Mollusk to look into a bigger fin.
See, the deal is that I am having trouble keeping the fin engaged at all times on the Buttons. I've had it release on a steep angled take-off more than once, and I had it release on me that day when the whitewater hit my feet. With the wide point so far forward, and not much rail in the tail I get my center of gravity too far forward which lets the fin release too easy. I figure the fin I have is 7-7.5" which is what is suggested, and when I put bigger fins in it they just looked wrong. I decided I would try the big flex fin off the GeeBee first to see what too much fin felt like, then I will ask around to see who has a fin in the 8-8.5" range that I could borrow. Maybe it's just a matter of technique.
Meanwhile, I took note of a 5'10" Bonzer Bumblebee (three fin) on the used rack at Mollusk. The price just dropped to $350 which looks like a steal to me. The hold up is that the template is closer to the GeeBee than the Buttons. The thing is short and fat! I'm not sure what it would be used for and I suspect it has a ride somewhere between the GeeBee and Haut2, and those to aren't very far apart. I'm not sure when I would choose it since I'm trying to find a way deeper into the pocket, but still...
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