Closing in fast

I want this:

Plus this:

 

With some of these:

 

tapered pinlines and deck patch.

 

The shaper is Andreini. The board is his somewhat-mellower-but-still-very-much-a hull. The dimensions are to be decided, but will be around 7'. The goal is a good paddler that still can duck dive if needs be. It's been tough for me deciding between a knife railed hull and a down railed gunnier type board. I've ridden both, had good waves on both. I think a hull would get used more, and I have a slightly too small downrailer that I can use if I am really needing that feel.

 

The artist is a friend of mine, Katie Owens. You can find her work on Society6.com and other similar places. The art will be printed on rice paper by a company like boardlams.com. I'm think either smaller on the deck near the nose or very small mirror images in the same location. Larger on the bottom a bit forward of center, maybe lined up with the wide point.

 

I believe the glassing is out of the Haut shop, although I'm not sure what the glassing company calls themselves. There is always a high quality of work coming out of that shop, so I'm confident they can do the pinlines I want.

 

I'm not sure of the final cost but I'm afraid it'll be near $1K. Andreini suggests his boards finish with a sand coat for the water shedding properties. I think that would wash out the artwork, so I will ask first and go with gloss if the glasser agrees with my idea. I just want the pinlines along the rail covering the glass wrap line, and maybe on the deck patch line. The deck patch wont look like what's shown above because I want it to carry to the tail. I'd love to have the fin glassed in for "style points" but I don't know if I'd be able to fit it into my Sentra. If I can't, I wont surf it as much so I'm going with the box. Glassed leash loop, or none and I'll get one of those glue on ones.

 

 

 

Where am I going?

The job interview was crap, or at least that's the way it made me feel. The upside is that I've decided to take a 1/2 day off and go surf this Friday. Forecast is small and clean, the kind of waves that a mid-length egg would go well in. Why do I say that if I don't even have a board that matches that description? Well...
A few weeks back JZ took me to go look at a mid-length single fin pintail. I thought the $700 price tag was too high, even for a new board, but the visit stirred an interest in a style of board I hadn't given much thought to before. A long time ago I got washed around trying to ride an 8' egg at various surf spots. I couldn't duck dive it, I couldn't outrun the waves to the channel, and so I was a sitting duck getting repeatedly beat down by waves. I decided that mid-length boards were for suckers.
Since then I've ridden smaller mid-length egg like boards in more appropriate conditions. Down around 7'6" I can start duck diving a board but still can glide into waves early. At 6' most of that glide is gone but a certain maneuverability is available. A wide, hulled bottom gives more glide, flow, rail hold and smoother or easier turns. Hulls are better in non-barreling waves. Downturned rails and narrow tails allow control in steep sections and more abrupt direction changes but at the cost of difficulty controlling the board. Still, down rails and narrow tails are better in hollow waves. Single-finned boards don't handle late drops as easily as multi-finned boards, and so early entry is key.
All these facts/impressions I've recently gathered in my head and tried to figure out what board I would want next. Part of the problem is that I have so many boards that there isn't a gap to be filled, more like a nook or cranny. So do I want a hull that's a longer version of the GeeBee or do I want a beefier version of the Buttons? Looking at pictures of surfboards I'm drawn to the pointed spears that work well in perfect large hollow surf. The kind of conditions that are so rare that it would be unlikely that I'd find those conditions AND have the board close by. But I'm still going to surf OB, so I need to be able to handle difficult conditions if I ever expect to bring it to the beach. Where does that leave me?
Something in the 7'2" range, +/- 4". Something like a double-ender but less egg shaped and more drawn. Some examples:
7'2" Liddle Death

 

 





7'8" Christianson Flat Tracker

7'0" Andreini Vaquero

And I could go on for hours just based on the Mollusk website. Many shapers have some version of a basic beginner's egg and most also have some "tuned up" version as well. I know I want a tuned up version, but is that a knife railed hull or a narrow tailed hard railed? There's many examples on shapers websites, but there are very few on craigslist at the moment. And that's what I should be doing, looking for a cheap way to explore this range of shapes.
The fact is that even though I have some money in my surfboard account, I don't yet know how to spend it.

Yard Work

Three days drafting, three days slingin' Joe. Mornings and evenings spent working on the shed and yard. Sunday revolves around watching the 49ers. It leaves no time to surf and surprisingly not enough money to pay the bills. Next Tuesday I have a job interview. County job, great pay, further inland. At least I'd be able to pay the bills, and pay someone else to make home repairs and improvements and do it right. And I would be able to pay for a vacation and a new surfboard. It's a difficult life trade, but it represents a major improvement in my situation. I wont be moving towards the coast any time soon, might as well bank some $$

Fun in the cove

Even though the cove is visible from my friends porch, I don't feel welcome there. He can get his share when the "boys" are on it by virtue of his recognizable face and aggressive wave catching. Even though I've never been talked to out there, I still sit off to the side letting the best waves go to the best surfers, or their friends. So, this Sunday was a treat. The cove wasn't awesome, but it was one of the better spots along the beach. JZ and I walked down the hill and paddled out to a crowd of about 8 people. As we paddled toward the peak the crowd paddled away from us. Eventually it was us and a few others getting all the waves we wanted. They weren't great waves but they were some of the better waves I got in the last three (dismal) months. I even got a small barrel which I exited too early and could have ridden twice as far if I had kept my balance forward and into the face of the wave.
I was on the Pacheco and I'm in just enough shape to catch many small waves for about 90 minutes. I'm not ready for winter, but I'm not as out of shape as I've been this time in years past.
Next week my wife will be gone for two weeks. I'm only working part time, so I might spend a few week days in Santa Cruz or beach camping somewhere. No swell is forecast, but maybe the week after will have waves. Also, this time of year we can get decent surf out of local wind swell, if the weather at the beach cooperates.

September

I bit of magic yesterday. I got a call from JB saying he'd like to meet at OB. I jumped on BART (bridge repair weekend) and met him at DC station. We were headed to Jud ah area but upon seeing the huge number of parked cars, settled for Riv era. This turned out to be a solid choice as the high tide light wind inside-outside waves evolved into low tide glassy connecting waves.
I was on the 5GF and was catching plenty of 4ft waves. I got some disrespect but an equal amount of interest in the mat. Wave-riding wise I got a few okay rides but wished for more edge control to make harder bottom turns. Towards the end of the session I increased the inflation and found more edge, but still matty in my turns.
Previously I'd been having trouble with my fins carving a sore into my ankle every surf. I spent some time carving and sanding away at the strap and really noticed the improvement yesterday in the water. I got a smaller sore in a different spot, so it's not perfect, but it's better. I also drilled some drain holes at the toes (top and bottom) and came home with much less sand. Overall it's a marked improvement without any loss of power for the fins. They really felt great. I was getting some folding at the toe and I think it's because I took some material (neoprene) off the straps and now my toes don't go as far into the foot pocket. It was only during extreme situations like going over the falls and trying to get my feet under me. Never while kicking like the old, soft, too big duck feet did.
JB also got some good rides and although he looks awkward, he threw some solid turns that I witnessed. One mid-face snap that released the fins just a bit, and one top turn where he nearly got the fins above the lip. Both times on his backside riding, so that's cool.

Slow

Work has been so slow that the bank account has been on the decline for several months. It's difficult to separate out the expenses that relate directly to new home ownership from the expenses of everyday life. Either way, the trajectory causes me to take pause. I haven't driven to the beach in awhile. I did take a ride to very small Linda Mar with JO one morning. It was worth the dip for the exercise and the friendship, but not much else. I haven't taken the kid out for a surf in awhile, and I don't see it happening anytime soon.
I took a low paying part time job to help fill up the bank account. It's not enough to make up for zero work from the main job. I hope that stops happening. If it does, I'll have to find a new job. The low pay job is reliable though, I can count on those hours every week, which is something the main job doesn't give me. The wife is going to Europe this fall with family, and I'm staying home by choice. I though it would save us enough money that I could go on a surf trip, but with the bank account slipping, I have a grand excuse to not plan anything.
The first few days of this week I didn't have work. I should have done anything of a list I keep in my head, but for the most part I stayed home and did very little. I think it's true that our animal instinct is to lay low whenever we can. To reserve energy for times when it's needed to survive. This instinct is short sighted and doesn't blend well with community living. There are things I want that I need to act to achieve, but I don't take action as often as I easily could. I would like to, but I don't. Its like a silly thing I like to say, "I'd like to know how to play the guitar, but I don't want to learn to play the guitar."
There's been a internet streaming of a contest at Teahapoo. I've been enjoying watching it live because the slow pace of waiting for waves is more familiar that the hard cuts and loud music in surf movies. I also enjoy watching the pro surfers get waves that for me would be my best ever, but they score very low on. A good score for this contest comes when they make waves that look impossible. I'd like to go there to surf some day, but I know I couldn't handle it right now. I would need to take a month or more to get into shape for it. Of course fall in California is right around the corner, I should get in shape for that!

The Lower Limit -- And Dale

Two part-er today.
Last Friday I headed out to Quatro with JZ mid-day. The south swell that hit Wednesday was all but gone, and the one coming Sunday was not quite showing itself. The tide was mid and rising and the crowd was mellow. I took out the 5GF and luckily I was wearing the usual trimmed UDeeTs, because the waves were small and weak. I caught several 1ft waves that hardly broke, and a few 2-3ft waves of somewhat better quality. It was interesting to feel just how small a wave could be ridden on the mat, and how soft was too soft. I wished for the Neumattic, which is still awaiting repair.

And about that repair, I emailed Dale more than a month ago and have gotten no response. I started asking around about him and nobody has heard from him in a few years at least. I did a deeper internet search and created my own story from the bits. In my head his sudden leap from obscurity to mat maker fame caught him off guard. Around 2006 he was in bad health recovering from a heart attack. Combine these two stressors and he didn't fill every order which he collected pre-payment for. There has been some rumblings out there from polite complaints to calling of names. I figure he stepped out of the limelight and (I like to believe) he is only making mats for a close group of mat aficionados.

Also did a quickie at a new spot on Monday. I'm not going to name it since it's somewhere not many people have on their radar. I'll say as a not to self that it's one of the closer spots to the inlaws, and where JZ had his after wedding party. The small south and clean winds threw a few nice waves over the well formed sandbar before the rising tide drowned it. I was told by Brent that normally by this time of year the sand builds a bar over there more, but it didn't this year. It was fun, and it's always fun to hike to surf. I wish I caught more waves though.

Forget all that

Funny how moods change. I was feeling down and kinda blue, didn't know what I was goin' ta do. But then I made plans to surf down SC way and threatened a double session to make up for the gas spent. My carpool buddy JB took my threat to heart and after our pre-dawn hit to Quatros (which was fun but incomplete thanks to not enough set waves) we went again up the coast.
We started the day meeting at his place at 4am. Drive a strait shot to our planned surf spot and park in the darkness with nobody around. We grabbed our gear and walked down slowly in the darkness. By the time we had our suits on the light was just starting in the East and it was too dark to line up right. The light filled in and so did the people, but the crowd didn't get thick and stayed mellow enough. I moved over to 1st point and caught a few and got crushed on a few. Eventually we got bored and saw a handful more people on the beach getting ready to double the crowd size. Time for donuts!
After donuts we headed back up coast checking a few spots. We ended up at Ttocs's beach break watching two guys chase peaks but never get a good one. We talked and watched and watched and talked but didn't make a move. I finally decided f-it, let's go burn some more energy. I picked a peak that JB didn't agree with, but followed me to it anyway. It was gnarly closeouts with the occasional larger peak on the outside that was ride-able before the inside closeout. I rode the 5GF surfmat with limited control and success. JB got one good one and a few okays. Mine were full lay over trying to catch a rail but mostly sliding beach-ward, ending in thundering dump of 4 feet of water onto shallow sand. After each wave it took me awhile to get my bearings and find which way was up!
After an hour JB gave up and I gave him my mat to take back to the car while I bodysurfed a few more. That was fun playing in the pounding waves. (I need to wear a cup in larger waves.)
Then two days later I took out the 9 year old to the Jetty. He was jumping into waves on his bodyboard and I was doing the same on the 5GF. He got cold after 30 min or so and I borrowed his 5'8" foam surfboard to try for waves at the peak. The sideways backwash was hitting the waves right where I needed to bottom turn so most of my waves were a sketchy little drop and an awkward fall as the backwash hit me. Still, got one lined up and the foam board held a line for a bit. Not bad for $60. I wonder how long it will last.
So, the point of this is that I had a good time surfing. I got some stoke back.

Which type of wave?

A year ago this time thinking about waves meant thinking about meaty thundering beasts. I wanted to feel the power of the ocean and slip through the fingers of the beast. Now my mind-surfs are fewer, and have changed tone. I think about the feeling of down the line speed on a round bottomed board. I think about Liddell waves with no wetsuit needed and only friends out surfing. It's a dream, I don't even know where to find that, but that's what I'm dreaming of when I dream.

Downsize?

Is it time to thin out the quiver?
I've been surfing less, thinking about surfing less, and when I do surf I aim for the easy waves, which only half my boards would be suited for.
This leads me to reflect on why I have a "quiver" of surfboards in the first place.
I have a flexspoon kneeboard that is in a stasis of mid-repair. The board is shorter, but has a large glassed on single fin making it awkward in transport and storage. I bought it because I wanted to feel the twist of the board in hollow waves. I have surfed it only a few times in many years, and overglassed it. The "repair" is more of a refinement as I want to thin it to be more flexable, but not as flexable as when I first bought it. Now that I have outdoor space, I can do that work, but I never think to do it. Keeper if I get back into the repair/ride cycle. Sell-off if it spends another month collecting dust.
I have a 6' GeeBee mini-hull that has served me well of late as the "teaching kid to surf" board. I also have some fun waves on it not too long ago. Small, weak waves with good shape that the extra foam of the hull made smooth. It works as the board to grab when I know it's too small for the Pacheco to be any fun, but don't want the longboard. Keeper
I have a 6'2" Quintara. It's a quad but the most like a typical shortboard in template. It's the first Hess I owned and right away I could tell it was much smaller than anything else I owned. Having paid quite a bit for it, I stuck with it and got comfortable riding it. It works well in juicy waves without too much paddle needed. So, not OB, but yes for Ona and Wadle Reefs. In fact this board is the board I'll take if I am headed to Ona because all the others have too much width and don't handle the steep tight Ona waves. But lately I've been to out of shape to ride it anywhere. Sell-off ?
I have a 6' Pacheco that is my most versatile board. It works from 2' to 8' OB and bigger if I get back into shape. This will be the last board I sell and represents my ability to ride a shortboard. Keeper
I have a 6'8" Moraga. It's a more float version of the Pacheco and I've had good sessions on it from 4'-8' OB and it could handle larger out there. I wished for it a few weeks ago when I was getting tossed on the takeoff riding my Pacheco. It was my most ridden board last winter whenever I saw a swell. Keeper
I have a 7'4" Noriega. It's the closest thing I have to a big wave board. I've ridden it up to 12' out at OB during my one winter of "charging." That was the same winter I took a beating for my efforts and got sidelined with injuries. Memories were made that winter, but I'm not sure I have it in me to do it all again. Sell-off ?
I have a 10' true log longboard. It was born of miscommunication and best intentions as a graduation gift from my dad. I never rode it much, but with the new home having space and the new truck being able to haul it, I've brought it out a few times. It's very different than the rest of the boards being heavy and stiff. It would be the board I'd ride if I went back to Cowells, or 38th, or even up around here when it's super flat and I need to get out. If I had my druthers I might opt for a more performance longboard, but this is what I have, and it has symbolic significance to me, so it's my longboard. Keeper
And then there's the two surf mats. The better one, or the one I like better at least, is kinda broken. Kinda because I could still use it, but I should fix it first. The other one I should give another chance and try to get a feel for it. I went through a period where all I wanted to do was ride the surf mats. When that stopped I couldn't find the stoke in surfing and that leaves me where I am today, considering selling off surfboards. I don't need the money, I don't need the space, I don't think they are loosing value at any significant rate. So why am I thinking this way? Not thinking of rotating, not thinking of expanding, I'm thinking of (gasp) shrinking the quiver. What's wrong with me?

Back from nowhere

The first surf after the previous blog post should have been worth posting on. It was a good sized south swell and a pre-dawn negative low tide. I coordinated with two friends to meet at Mitchel's and arrived myself before dawn. In the dark I could see waves, but wasn't getting stoked. As the pre-dawn light showed more detail I could see the waves were good, but wasn't getting stoked. I paddled out among the first few and got a decent wave but wasn't getting stoked. The pattern continued throughout the day. The weather stayed nice with minimal wind but I didn't surf again, even when a third friend came into town to surf. "Where's it good?" he asked as he was on his way down. "Everywhere," I told him, but still I shuffled around the cliffs not taking advantage.
I carried that same mood with me for a few more surf sessions. Some of which have been crappy, no doubt, but a few have been good enough that I should have a better attitude. I haven't been feeling depressed, just flat.
The most stoked I've felt since that day was when I stripped wax and shined up a few of my boards. It felt good, even though I found repairs that need to be made. I went out and bought supplies but haven't done the repairs.
Lately I've been thinking about a board something like a mini-simmons, although I'm not sure how it would be different than the GeeBee I already have. But the thoughts of riding it are ruined when I think of the cold, difficult conditions I have available. I actually dream of the warm, small, crappy surf of Long Island where I could swim in trunks and crash on the sand if any waves happened to get bigger than 1' tall.
Even with this mood I've been keeping in decent shape. I haven't been taking care of upper body as much as I should but I haven't been lazy either. Some bike riding, some hiking, some yard work has kept the blood flowing. I need to get push-ups and other arm stuff back into the mix before Fall comes. I also need to visit some place with warm ocean good-times.

Vacation in a day

Last week was the perfect confluence of good weather, good swell, and time off work. The swell was 3' @ 17sec from 195-200, an odd angle with more west than usual. Thursday I woke at 3am to arrive at dawn at the Wadl Reefs, south end, and although it wasn't lined up right, there were still plenty of 4-6' bowls to be had for the small group that arrived around dawn. I tried to stick to the unused peak and got a few fun waves on the QQ. As the tide dropped things didn't get better and I was wondering what other spots looked like, so I went in before I got exhausted.
On the drive into town the two "Miles" were crowded with cars making it look like a Saturday. I kept driving without even looking and after a coffee+donut stop I checked the west side. I went to the end of Fair and from the backside I didn't like what I saw at Mitchel's, and the Fair section of the reef was just a closeout. Similar up at John, but there were bowls mixed in with the walls and since nobody was out and the day was sunny and warm I went for it on the mat. By the time I made it out there were a few others out, but there were plenty of waves to keep us busy and satisfied. I was mostly getting short rides that closed out after one section, and it was bigger than I had tried it on a mat at this spot at 4' with a few larger sets. I think part of it was the swell angle, but the mat wasn't the right choice for that time. It did let me use my legs more than my tired-from-the-morning-surf arms, so I'm glad for that.
I grabbed lunch with JA and returned to see how John looked with a bit higher tide. Still had only a few people and looked surfable but I needed to sleep instead. By 2pm I was awoke with a call from JA wanting to go for a surf. John had gotten worse with the higher tide so we crossed town to check Rockview. There were too many people for the quality of wave coming through, and the other nearby spots had similar things that kept us out of the water. JA went back to work and I went to my parents house. I watched a tv movie and the Warriors game and then slept on the floor.
I awoke the next morning at 5am with the intention to surf by no plans on where. I thought I might try Wadl again but when I got to 4 mile and saw only one car I stopped. The waves were okay, 4-6' but breaking oddly on the high tide. It was hitting the point and wedging up, then either flattening out of standing up a wobbly wall that closed out. The normal inside reef wasn't doing much more than breaking with no wall, just a short shoulder. My tired arms, the odd breaking waves, and my general mellowed satisfaction from the previous day of surfing lead me to take several trips over the falls. I could have gotten some good rides but I was just as happy taking the hits.
The tide dropped and as the wave got better the crowd got agro, so I left. I took the coast route home and enjoyed the sunny morning.
I am skipping a family vacation to Europe this fall and so I get a surf vacation to keep things fair. I was thinking back to my previous surf vacations and the best of them compared to the Thursday I just had. Surfing decent (but not great) waves, sunny and warm, with nothing to do except surf, eat, and sleep. The worst of the trips were as bad as any other day of bad surfing, except I spent a decent amount of money for the experience. So I figured I just had myself a surf vacation without all the airfare! (But travel to a foreign country always effects me in non-surfing ways. If nothing else it's a reminder of how easy life is in the USA, especially once you learn to tune out all the advertising.)

Office down time

Sitting at my office computer dreaming instead of working. I'm catching up on the latest free videos of people doing what I wish to be doing, riding waves. I tend towards the weirder stuff (alaia, mat, etc,) but will watch a bit of everything I run across. Winter has ended and being in the middle of Blown Out Spring I'm thinking of ways to deal with small waves when the wind finally stops.
Mini-Simmons tearing down mini-walls.
Classic longboard cross stepping.
Full rail engaging on a Liddel.
Belly rides on flat pieces of wood.

The problem is all these things require me to be at the beach, not the office. Really what I need is to not be at the office, instead be at the beach.

I still havn't figured out how to do that for more than one day a week. Time to check what the jackpot is up to in the local lotteries.
Powerball $80mil
Mega $74mil
Super $12mil
geeze, thats alotta mouhlah, even after taxes. If I hit one of those then the next question becomes which remote tropical location do I ex-pat to? Clearly I'd have to travel around for awhile to see what's out there. And there's plenty of Mexico coastline to explore.

Mat review

A few weeks back I picked up a 4GF brand, 5GF model. The 5GF is supposed to be better suited for steep waves and since I've been pushing the limits on the Neumattic and finding myself failing to make barrels, I felt the specialized mat was a justified purchase. In the past I've gotten harsh responses from people when I shared my opinions and observations online, so I've been holding back on talking about this but I think I'll give it a try. To be clear my surf history is 10+ years of log riding, 10+ years of shortboard riding, with scattered experimentation with bodyboards, bodysurfing, plypo, handboards and, recently, a fair bit of surf mat riding. I originally bought a Neumatic mat back in grad school when I lived on Long Island in New York. This puts the date as pre-2005. Since then I've ridden the Neumatic about 5 times plus 6 times in the last 7 surf sessions. With my amateur status in, mind here's my "Mat Review."

When the package arrived I fairly tore into it needing to know how it was different than the Neumatic. The first thing I noticed was that while the bottom material was similar to my first mat, the top material on the 5GF was thicker. The bottom material is windbreaker thin and the top material is canvas like. Thin and pliable on the bottom seems like the right way to go so I decided I agreed with the makers choice that the top material didn't need to be ultralight. Second was the deck coating. The Neumatic has stripes of deep texture which are apparently something called Vulkem while the 5GF has wax melted into the deck material. (Link to article from 4GF website giving a list of things he's tried, a great read.) It had taken me awhile to get used to the ultra grippy Neumatic deck so I wondered if I would prefer the smoother 5GF deck. I also wonder if the 5GF would be smooth enough to ride without a wetsuit, since the Vulkem on the Neumatic gave me a belly rash when in the tropics.
The valves were different too. The Neumatic has a "micro-adjustable" valve plug with a small hole which allows air to escape when the plug is pushed into the hole in once direction, twist 180 deg. and it seals tight. The 5GF is a simple stopper. I've never used the micro-adjustment on the Neumatic and usually have to twist the plug and check to make sure it isn't leaking. The extra care required for the Neumatic plug is offset by the knowledge that someday I'll appreciate being able to slowly bleed air, when I reach that skill level. At my skill level the 5GF simple stopper is all I need.
And finally the Neumatic comes with a custom bag and your initials stenciled on the side. This is a nice touch for sure, like getting a fitted board bag with a surfboard purchase.
The next thing I did was unroll both mats and lay them on top of each other. (This is a terrible way to compare anything about mats except what size they are when deflated and flat.) The Neumatic was slightly longer and narrower, no more than an inch total in any dimension. My first thought was how a surfboard for hollow waves tends towards a longer and narrower template, which worried me that the 5GF was not going to be better than the Neumattic in hollow waves. But once I inflated both mats the dimensions changed and the Neumatic ended up being wider (but still longer.) The Neumatic has a natural rocker and the 5GF is flat.

Surf test was next. The waves were really good at OB with light offshores and 6'+ swell creating hollow walls. I took out the 5GF and right away noticed that the deck wasn't as sticky as the Neumatic. Sometimes this is a good thing like when trying to get back on top of the mat, sometimes you want to stick to the mat like when the whitewater hits you. It's a noticeable difference but not one which I have yet developed a preference one way or the other. The 5GF duckdives noticeably better. I don't know why, and my initial guess was it had to do with the different pontoon arraignment, but folding the mat lengthwise (lead by hands at the front corners, elbows helping) I was able to punch under waves better than I expected. Still, matting in 6' beachbreak, or any beachbreak, is more work than at a break with a channel. The minor advantage in duckdiving was welcomed. The smoother deck also allowed me to sit ON the mat, like sitting on a surfboard. It took some struggling to do, but on the sticky Neumatic deck I never could pull it off.
So how does it RIDE? Well, to be honest I can't point to anything different that I noticed that first day. The thicker deck on the 5GF feels stiffer, but that thought never crossed my mind while riding waves, only while paddling around. The next surf was on the Neumatic (previous post) and I still can't name anything different in the way they two mats ride. Maybe someday I'll get someone else to mat surf with me and we can trade mid-session and the differences will be more obvious, but for now it's beyond my powers of observation.

Check out this guys history of postings for another mat comparison.
http://magictowelride.blogspot.com/

Much more important to how the two mat's ride is technique and inflation. Body english, fin drag (or not draging,) hand draging and recently body dragging are all more important to the ride. I've also gone in reverse to what many surf mat riders describe and found I prefer riding the mat with more air in it rather than less. Perhaps I'm just coming around to where I should have started and now that I'm on the right track I can work towards less air.

Those waves look good enough to surf.

Medium sized wind swell was the only thing in the water yesterday, and the wind generating it was blowing over it. That narrows the focus to a few NW wind protected spots that still produce with NW windswell. I wasn't even going to bother driving to the beach but a friend offered to drive the longer leg of the trip so, hey, why not. I brought the Pacheco expecting softy high tide windswell waves, and the mat in case it was worse than that, and off we went to 4.
The wind was on it and the tide was rising but there were ridable waves breaking across the inside and not too many people on it. When I pulled the mat out of my bag Z offered the observation, "Those waves look good enough to surf." suggesting that I should ride the hard board. To me they looked like I wouldn't enjoy myself if I took things too seriously, which is why I opted for the mat. This made me realize that riding the mat means I lower my standards of what having fun is, which means I have more fun as the result. For awhile there I was on a wave catching rotation barely having time to rest before picking up another wall and sliding through the inside.
The far inside section gets steep but with a very short shoulder that I was outrunning and struggling to stay in the pocket. I started playing with dragging my body off the mat as a way to slow down yet stay high on the face. It's a fun feeling and has the advantage that if you stay high on the face you can easily pull yourself back on the mat and VOOM! you're off and running at full speed.
For the most part the other surfers in the water respected me with only two borderline drop-ins. I was far enough back on the take-off that it was arguable that I was going to clear the peak. I made most of my waves and of the ones I didn't, half had someone dropping in down the line. I feel like the mat is more sensitive to the "snowball" effect where someone down the line causes the wave to break early as they paddle for it. For me this snowball coming down the face kills my speed, or makes coming around the whitewater that much harder as it adds length to the distance I must overcome.
Z isn't one for complimenting my varied wave riding choices, but he did say that many times it looked like I wasn't going to make a section but I routinely did. In my book barely making a section is doing it right. It means I'm staying in the pocket.
I had fun.

Back up to speed

Spent the weekend in SC. There was a good swell over the weekend and I went out Saturday on the falling tide before the low tide crowd. I got some good waves using my new approach at John, and riding the Hess Pacheco. I doubt I could have made the waves I did if I was riding a mat, and I struggled to understand why. I think the reason is that having fins on a board allow me to abruptly convert speed in one direction to a different direction. This allows a quick pump half way down the face on the drop to project me into the first section with enough speed to make it. I think the mat can go that fast, but I can't get it up to speed fast enough.
Later that day I checked out the new shop Sawyer Land and Sea on the westside. I dug the casual, quality vibe of the place with polished wood and technical outdoor brands clothing. It's the kind of place you might buy an understated hoody that just happens to be windproof and "technical." I also realized I had met the owner before, back when I was working retail at Bugaboo. I like what she's doing with the shop, and my wife said she wanted the shop to be her living room, and wanted to buy everything in the store. She settled for one shirt and I left empty handed, but I hope to direct some of my limited disposable income to this shop in the future.
I didn't surf Saturday evening and instead had a nice dinner at Laili.
The next morning I checked the westside but decided to let JA and JB decide where to surf. They brought me down the the beaches and although we saw some good waves, only one good wave was ridden. It was 6-8' with a few bigger waves and mostly walled up. This made it difficult to ride and difficult to paddle through. I guess they like going there for the lack of crowds, but I can stomach a bit more crowd if it means much better waves. Also, I don't need to drive to SC to surf beachbreak.
Mid-day was spent at the UCSC arboretum looking at protea and other flowers. The wind was blowing hard already so I didn't need to check the surf at low tide, I knew it was ragged. I did recheck around 4pm and the wind was sideshore making it surfable, but it was smaller with a decent number of people surfing, so I didn't bother. Even if I didn't get waves at the beaches that morning, I did get plenty of exercise.
So that was the weekend. Had I been alone I would have spent more time sitting at the beach and would have gotten more waves. But relationships (friends and marriage) is about compromise now and then. Now I feel like I've given some, next time I'll surf more, and surf my waves.

Pushing the limits

The last 5 or so sessions I've had have been on a mat. The waves have been varied and so have the results. Yesterday I was out at head-high Ocean Beach with light offshore winds at low tide. The crowd was thick but manageable. The most notable thing is how much trouble I was having when caught inside. OB isn't the easiest place to paddle out but having the mat in somewhat juicy waves I found that its more of a challenge than a hard board. Still I persevered and succeeded.
The next thing I noticed was that the skilled short boarders were going faster than I was. I could tell because they were making waves that I wasn't. I still got some waves and when I got the right one it was great to get a fast pocket ride. As the tide filled in and the waves softened, so did the crowd. I ended up getting several great waves at that point.
So yesterday I found the 0-60 limit (since I believe I could have made waves if I had the tiniest bit more time to accelerate) and I've found the smallest & softest limit last weekend at Bo' and I pushed the big and bumpy limit at tre mile. I also learned that there are times when the mat works better than anything else in the water, such as small onshore John st. Another point is that yesterday I took the bus(es) to the beach. With the mat it's just one more lump in my bag. A surfboard would have been an ordeal, especially when the bus gets packed with people. So the mat is much more portable than any surfboard.
That leaves me to think its time to try a hard board again, see what that feels like under me feet. I will also bring my mat, and consider it more often now that I've gotten a better feel for it. My goal is to have the right board for the conditions, and sometimes a mat is the right "board."

Distracted

Can't get into work today because I'm distracted by thoughts of surfing. This isn't at all unusual, but what is unusual is that I'm thinking about surfing a mat. I have a 5GF in the mail heading to my house, I've given up getting new fins and decided instead to modify the ones I have. I started last night by simply carving out a bit more room in the fin strap for the inside ankle bone. One struggling utility knife cut on each fin and I stopped. I should smooth out the ragged edge of the cut with some sandpaper before I put them back on. If I can find my old fin socks I think I'll cut the sides off and see how they feel with the fins. Then later I'll take more material off the ribs of the fins to see if I can get the blades to flex more, hopefully taking some stress of my ankles.
The surf forecast isn't good, but there looks to be hope for late Sunday, or some beach break any morning if conditions clean up. I was reviewing the entries for last year's mat tube of the year and I think the waves I've gotten (but not photographed) this year could have been real contenders. It's inspiring me to stop worrying about looking doubly weird (surf mat + head camera) and just have fun with it.
Some of the tubes I missed a few weekends back were because I slipped out and down the face. This can be a real bummer because not only do you loose your line but you also run the risk of taking the lip on the head, which happened at least once that session. There are three things I will do in the future. The first two are technique: drop the outside rail and drag the inside fin. The first puts more mat drag on the face of the wave which keeps things up the face. I've been pushing the outside rail with my hand, but I want to further the effect by putting more body weight on the outside rail thereby engaging more of the mat surface. The second (fin drag) is counter productive if speed is needed, but not all tubes are racers and in some cases the extra drag may be just what I need. I've already played with fins in/out of the wave and can feel the difference. The biggest difference is with fins in the water I'm less likely to start going sideways. Sideways isn't always a problem, but if I need to be going fast, sideways isn't what I want. And the third is the purchase of the 5GF mat, which is advertised as holding well in steep and large waves. From what I can gather the 5GF is smaller (narrower at least) than the other mats, but I'm living up to my blogger handle, even if I'm riding surf mats.
So hopefully by this time next week I'll have some video footage of riding the surf mat and maybe even have edited it and found somewhere to host and post it.

Matting the Bo

Headed north this time. Small south swell and junky north swell and wind so I opted for somewhere that would remove the north swell and face the wind offshore. High tide early in the morning so I took my time leaving the house. I arrived a bit after high tide and watch SUPs riding the far side of the channel. Not much to brag about, but it was the only part of the channel working. Either the bar is blown out or there just wasn't enough swell. I watched for awhile and decided it was good enough for a mat session. I was able to score some of the better waves, but that's not saying much. Just one that was 3' (overhead!) and doubled up. There was enough wave size that I was able to drop down the front wave and rocket down the line with the speed.
As the tide dropped the waves just disappeared. As I was crossing the channel to get back to my side of shore I caught a handful of waves where they were pounding the inner bar. Few were ride-able and it was hard standing in waste deep water with the channel water pushing me hard further out. Every other set would produce a wave with enough angle that I could get in and go for a short while before the thump. A few split seconds inside the tube and it was over. Dang it, I keep deciding against wearing the GoPro. I need to clear that hurdle.
Just put in an order for a 5GF (on special) which I've read is a good tube riding mat. I hope so, and I also look forward to the day when a friend asks if they can ride the mat, and I'll have two, so we can both go to it.
It's been two weeks since I first tried to order DuckFeet from Dr. Deets. After the first responses from him suggesting what size I need, I've gotten nothing back. I wonder what's up?

More Matting

Took Friday afternoon to go into town. There was a small swell and some wind so I opted for Its Beach. The side wave was working and I waited for the three friends to finish before I got in. I got a few crazy waves trying to hold a line in the bumpy, ledgy mess. I got one solid tube run that ended with me landing hip first in 0 feet of water. I knew nothing was broken but the pain was enough to cause me to just sit there for awhile, not sure whether I should mope on the beach or go back and try it again. I went back out and got a few more, but when a wipeout cause the fin to pull my leg and twist my knee more than I was comfortable with I decided that was enough. Next time I'll bring smaller fins. I wonder how that tube would have looked in slo-mo?
I hung around the beach as the day ended, grabbed two slices and a pint from Upper Crust, and when the sun was low enough to make the air cold I crossed town to my parents place. Nobody was home and I was pretty tired. I gathered the energy to hang my suit near the heater, but not to take a shower. I tried to watch TV but TV sucks so I turned it off and fell asleep in the chair. At some point I turned in the chair and hit my hip and was startled awake by the shock of pain. I moved myself to the bed and slept through till morning.
I got up before dawn having done the math on when to leave so I hit the beach at first light. I stopped for coffee and donuts and parked by the side of the road in the darkness. My bag was packed with a half dry wetsuit and I headed down the trail with a flashlight in hand. I only needed it once (to get through the fence) but after that I enjoyed a slow walk in the darkness down to the beach. I wasn't the first one there, I saw fresh footprints on the beach, but I couldn't see the form of the waves. I suited up in the dark and watch other people arrive. By the time I got into the water I could see the waves were good enough but not great. I opted to not put on the GoPro, which turned out to be a mistake. The outside was small and jumbled but the second peak was breaking well. The larger overhead waves would just roll the edge of the reef, but there were enough small ones swinging to the inside that it was worth waiting for. I got a few good waves to get the feel of the mat. As I gained confidence in myself and that the other surfers weren't going to drop in on me /every/ time I moved to the best spot to run at the hollow inside section. I got plenty of waves in two hours with a few narrels and a few close-out barrels. I'm sure the morning light would have made the barrels look good, even though there was a thin overcast all morning.
The crowd changed from hesitant adults to aggro youths and I called it a day. I was having so much fun I thought I'd stay out longer, but I'm glad I ended when I did because today my body hurts from all the exercise.
So, on my list is:
Overnight trips to SC more often,
Get "medium" fins between the huge heavy fins and tiny fins I have. I've put in my request, so now I wait.
Put the freakin' camera on!
Research how to hold a line in the barrel on a mat.

Springtime, OBSF

Springtime conditions yesterday morning. This means jumbled med-small waves that make me feel like I never learned how to surf. I turned a blind eye to reality and went out anyway. I guess you could say it was an experiment since I opted for the surf mat. I didn't know how well it would work in the conditions, but now I do!
I started out mid-beach at the only peak that looked remotely interesting. I had my big (modded) fins and hit the water at the "channel" just north of the peak. By the time I made it out I was several blocks north. The waves in that zone were terrible, and I couldn't see another surfer anywhere. I opted to turn around and swim it back in. It was a long walk back to the car, I bet I looked like a wet donkey sulking down the beach.
Afterwards I saw several people (8-ish) around the north end. I didn't see any great rides, but because it was smaller they were able to overcome the jumble and ride waves.
Still, I'm interested in mat surfing after the one good day and one not-bad day recently. I just started the process to get new fins, I hope they do the trick. If not I'll return to cutting and sanding on the fins I have.

Surf Mat

I want to get into writing my impressions from two surf mat sessions. The first was a week back on a Friday. I went down to SC to check John St on a low tide. The swell was too north and not much was making it in, and the wind was knocking the waves down a bit. I was sitting and watching not feeling up to it when I remembered I brought my surf mat. I looked at the waves with that in mind and thought I might be able to make some use of the poor conditions. The best part is there was only one guy out, so after seeing a 4 waves set I decided to give it a go.
By the time I got to the lineup the other guy had just about given up. I saw him ride one wave that was a drop, struggle with the bump, and not make the first section. He never paddled back out and I was on my own. I caught some waves a figured out which ones would work best for me. I ended up getting rides as long as I would have had I been on my Pacheco, and if it was bigger and cleaner. It was quite a surprise and I was enjoying it. I guess others were watching because not long after 3 guys paddled out. They sat a bit further down the line and I felt a twang of guilt as I rode waves past them and paddled back out deeper than them. After a few of those they just started dropping in anyway. I figured if I caught them I would say something, but I never did so no worries.
It got to be a bit uncomfortable with them around so after riding one in I tried a spot down the reef a bit. I got lucky and caught one behind Getchel section and connected it down around and through to the climb up cove. It was a long, fast ride on a small but well formed little wave. I paddled back to where I caught that wave and waited, but soon realized there were very few waves making it down to that part of the reef. After watching a few sets roll through John I paddled back up. Same guys were there and I had the same problems with them catching the waves a section ahead of me.
Eventually they left and, to my surprise, I was now making all the waves I caught! It took me awhile to realize that those guys who were taking off down the line were snowballing me. Now that they were gone I was zipping along past where they were dropping in. I continued until I got tired and went in happy.

The next session was this weekend. The swell was due Friday but didn't show until Saturday. After staying home Friday I got out Saturday at dawn to 3 miles with JB. The waves were overhead but not shaped well, even for 3 mile. I opted to take the surf mat out in some size and see if it could connect the soft spot between the outside and 2nd peak. The suddenly steep drop that 3 mile throws at me was a bit hard to handle one the mat because I don't have the benefit of legs to absorb the drop. Instead, if I free fell at all it would result in bouncing which I couldn't always recover from. One wave I free fell, bounced, started to recover when the lip hit me and started me bouncing again.
I did learn something from this bouncing though. Don't try to maintain control by wrapping an arm under the mat. It worked as I was in mid-air but stalled me like hitting a skeg fin in the kelp once I regained the water surface. It caused me to suck back up the face and go for a lip launch ride. I ended up loosing the mat and while still being held under by the wave I had already set the intention that I was going to have to sprint swim in to save my mat from the rocks. I broke the surface and took half a look back at the waves to see if there was danger coming before I committed to swimming in. I'm glad I did cause right there behind me was my mat. In the moment of relief at not having to push my tired body to catch my mat I floated for a moment half reaching for the mat. I don't know why (since we were both in the water) but the mat was moving out or I was moving in and the distance was increasing quickly. I awoke from my false sense of security and kicked myself to the mat just in time to pull everything through a wall of whitewater.
Before the session JB was skeptical as to my choice of wave riding vehicles. He'd never seen one before and politely wondered what the heck I was up to. I told him to watch my rides and be honest if he thought I was going any faster than others on regular boards. After the session he said he couldn't tell if I was going faster but I was making it as far as anyone, and I was catching more waves than anyone else. From my perspective I wasn't doing what I wanted which was connecting those two take-off spots, so it wasn't a complete success. I did get some good enough rides and, considering the conditions, was glad I gave the surf mat a try. Another thing is that this spot, while not shapely, is a longer ride than I normally get at OB and this alone is a good reason to get the mat out there. I need more time on a wave to get used to the controls and get a feel for how to ride the mat. I forgot to bring my GoPro and now wish I had so I could re-examine the rides I got. No "tubes" so there wouldn't have been any entries to the 2013 Mat Tube Ridding comp Link, but still.

Surf More

I skipped surfing this last week and it's causing me to dream of surfing when I should be working. At times  like this I try to think of how I can surf more, and I've decided to jot down a list.

• Always have the right equipment for the conditions.
• Work less (housework included.)
• Go for it! Quit worrying and go surfing.
• Stay at the beach longer. Whether this means a double dip or waiting for conditions to be surfable. Or, staying overnight for multiple days of surfing.
• Purchase a second wetsuit to avoid the dreaded cold wetsuit afternoon scramble. Mostly the problem is marginal waves don't look good enough for a wet wetsuit, so I don't surf again.
• Get in better shape for longer surf sessions.
• Plan surf vacations.

There are likely more that can go on this list, but that's off the top of my head while I should be working at work. Some of these are contrary to my financial situation, some of them should be followed based on my financial situation.
I updated my "following these blogs" list with some blogs that I check often. They're always good for some mind surfing.
With the house comes outdoor space for activities. The flexspoon was uncovered from the back of the closet and I just so happen to have my dad's disk sander on hand as part of the tool dump he made to help me do repairs on the new house. Time to sand sand sand that spoon to get more flex in it. I also found some high density closed cell foam with adhesive backing. This will be the deck pad once I'm satisfied with what I've done on the deck. The flex spoon should fit into my recent move toward "closer to the wave" surfing.
I would like to make myself some  palowina boards. I'd like a wide paipo, narrow paipo, square-ish stand up alaia and longer typical shape alaia. At around $150 per blank, that's a whole lot  of money for experiments. Money I don't have on hand to spend just now. So I'll wait on that.
Last time I surfed I bodysurfed 6-8' SFOB around Moraga. It was a bit crossed up making hollow peaks. I wanted to use the mat but I know at that size it's difficult to pull the mat through whitewater. So, I opted for the body, wondering if I would survive. I was able to catch some waves but was having problems not making it down the face of the wave, and chasing peaks back and forth. I'd get near a peak and get tossed, or watch waves break just out of reach when on a board I could have covered the distance. The few I did make the drop were fast and intense. Bodysurfing bigger waves relies on instinct because you can't see much of what's going on with water spraying everywhere and things happening so fast. My bodysurfing instinct is out of date. But I did have enough fun that I'll be into trying it again.

Bought a house

We bought a house. Being that we don't make awesome money, and we live in the SF Bay area, we got a "fixer." One thing about home improvent is its expensive, so we are doing as much as we can ourselves, saving the money for the jobs that require special skills. Another thing is that as you go along fixing things, you are bound to find more problems just under the surface. What does this have to do with surfing? Well, I havn't been thinking very much about surfing because I'm neck deep in home repair.
I did get a surf 1/16/13. It was a mid-week afternoon that was sunny, warm, and small at OB. I found a sandbar all to myself and had the best surf mat session I've ever had. I was playing with keeping the mat flat on the face instead of trying to "hold an edge," the logic being that the mat doesnt have and edge to hold. Keeping more mat in contact with the face increases the friction, similar to putting an edge on the water. I don't know how well it was working because I didnt get enough waves to try it both ways to compare, but at least I can say it worked. Afterward I came down with the flu, a result of exposure to the bug, home repair in the morning, and surfing the afternoon.
I also got out last week on Thursday. I went down to look at the west side and it was not very big and had some people out. I decided to go 3 Myles up the coast for some size and fewer people. I got that, but more that I could handle. It was big enough that the paddle out was like OB with pleanty of duckdives. I fought my way out pretty far, almost to where the only other surfer was. I tried for one wave, mised it, and turned around to see the other guy who was farther outside get mowed by a 8-10' wave. I went under it and there was another. Too big to hold onto it to duckdive I started swimming deep under each wave. I was still getting washed in and noticed the other guy gave up and turned to go in. I kept ducking waves until I saw I was way inside, and past the safe place to go in. I changed tactics to try to make it in at the next cove, which I did easily, with the help of rows of whitewater.
I left my suit on and went back into town where John is. The waves were just overhead, and there were 20 or so people, 7-10 at the peak. I finagled a few to myself and out a speedy spot a bit forward on the 6'8" moraga. I surfed until I got too tired to make the drop and drove home in the dark.
Today I noticed what a pleasant day it was with warm weather and no wind. I wondered for the first time in a week what the surf was like, but didn't wonder strong enough to even check the report. We move into the house in just over a week and, as of now, we have zero major appliances, one bedroom is unfinished, and the kitchen floor has been striped back to 50-year old linoleum. This is why I haven't had time to think about surfing!