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.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Thursday, July 18, 2013
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?
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?
Monday, July 8, 2013
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)