Monday, December 15, 2014

Good exercise

I got a message Sunday morning that the beach looked good. JZ had family things to do and was possibly wishing to live vicariously. I rallied my mojo and grabbed my 7'5" Noriega. I know that any waves that need that much board are too much for me right now. The last few times I was in bigger waves I got winded quickly and my arms weren't strong enough to catch waves or battle the current.
I got to the beach and was pleased to see it was a reasonable size at the north end (4-8'), where it was also well shaped. I paddled out and the worst I faced was the middle bar which was shallow and hitting hard. I got lucky and found a pass through and made it out without much trouble. By the time I made it out I was winded, and far from where I wanted to be. I spent the entire time paddling south against the current. The good news is that I am in good enough shape that I could comfortably paddle against the current for awhile before having to take a rest. The bad news is that I only made it to the peak a few times, and didn't get any good waves any of those times.
I found myself hesitant. I was thinking I needed to be patient and chose the best waves to save my energy. By the end of the 3 hours of surfing I realized that waves I had let pass were the best waves, nothing better ever came to me. Hindsight, but also notable that in the past I have been more aggressive by chasing down any wave that came to me, good or not so good. (I do let obvious bad waves pass by.)
I also admired the beautiful sky, full of cirrus clouds flying high between storms. So many shades of grey and stark contrast from the sunny side of a billowy cloud to the shaded side. I also enjoyed watching others get good waves and smiling at others out there. I tried to be friendly and reassuring without being condescending. I have no right to be condescending given my present state of physical fitness and after not getting any good rides from three hours of being in the ocean. All this left me in a good mood and feeling like I can get into better shape and hopefully enjoy more rides next time.

Saturday, December 6, 2014

A new twist

I got out earlier this week. I hadn't been watching conditions at the beach because it's been raining. I got a message from JZ that it was looking good and so I headed over. I knew it was small and I brought the Pacheco, spoon, and surfmats. There was some offshore wind holding the waves open and everything looked exciting. I grabbed the spoon because I wanted more time on it. As soon as I got into the waves I realized that even though it was 2-4', the waves were short period and soft. Mid-tide wasn't helping it either. I thought I should return to the beach and swap for a mat, and I still think that would have been a good idea, but I stayed on the spoon. I caught some waves but struggled to get into anything early enough to take advantage of the hollow peak before the waves mushed out. I went the wrong way a few times when I should have at least tried to backdoor the peak. This hesitancy comes from previous hits I've taken on other days. Riding the spoon I've had to adjust my approach. On a standup board like the Pacheco I can get to my feet and pump a turn to quickly generate speed. On the spoon that isn't an option and all the speed has to come from the wave. I think this has more to do with it being a single fin, and a kneeboard, than being something unique to the flex spoon shape. I did manage something between a head dip and a barrel ride on one wave.
I think the mat would have been better not because I could have back-doored more waves, but because I could have better enjoyed the softer part of the wave after the peak/bowl was finished. The best board I could have had would have been my log. The extra floatation and paddle power would have helped me get into waves very early, which would allow me to set-up the run across the peak and possibly inside a small barrel. Of course I think an even better board would have been the board I want to buy next, but that's typical of the way I think. The perfect thing is what I've been eyeing but haven't purchased yet.
So now for the twist! I left my gear in the box in the back of the truck for several days. Wetsuit and all was jammed in and when I extracted everything, I realized the spoon was jammed in such a way that it was twisted. The fin was pressing against something and the UDTs were weighing down one rail. When I pulled the spoon out it had noticeable amount of twist set into it. I've done this kind of thing once before when I left an "L-Flex" fin in the trunk of my car. It had gotten jammed between things and came out with a twist in it too. I was able to flex it in the opposite direction to undo the twist. I can't do that on the spoon and so I hope that a few rides will be enough to relax the misshapen board back to "normal." Normal in quotes because when we glassed it, it developed some concave in the back half, which shouldn't be there.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Maui

I'm skipping some OB sessions both bodysurf and flex spoon. Not on purpose, I just didn't update before leaving for Maui. Now Maui memories have overshadowed anything previous.
We got to Maui early Monday the 10th. We grabbed lunch and headed to the beach. There was a big NW swell hitting and Baldwin had some good heavy beachbreak. I did some bodysurfing off to the side of where it was hitting the hardest. I managed some longer rides for the conditions, and managed to not hurt myself, save for the ankle bitters of coral pieces rolling around in the shorebreak. Hookipa was breaking way outside, but with offshore winds. Having only the mat to ride, I headed along the NW shore looking for waves. I found some all the way out at Waiehu Beach that were easy enough to be a warm-up session. This far over the waves were small, around 3', and the spot was inside of an outer reef, making them soft. The location is between the ass end of a golf course and a cool little beach ghetto. (Ghetto in the sense that they weren't million dollar houses, but still more than I can afford.) I got a handful of soft waves while sitting inside of the peak. Not exciting, but very pleasant to be in warm water and easy waves.
The next morning (Wed?) we got up before dawn and headed to Jaws. I opted to park at the top of the trail and hike in. It's a longer hike than expected and we welcomed the ride in the back of a truck for the second half of the hike. When we got to the lookout a beautiful set came in. It looked inviting with the nice bowl and offshore wind. It was early enough that nobody was out yet but several were gearing up on the top of the cliff. We watched another set and took note of how long it took the lip to hit the trough. This is the best way to guestimate size, and it was big. When a few finally got to the outside we saw it was about 20' or more. We watch one clean left ride, and one guy miss a wave and get caught by a wave later in the set. Held down for awhile, not popping up until the far inside. He was fine and swam to get his board, but it was scary to watch. We left soon after that knowing we had a long hike back and the sun was heating up. We scored another ride back and continued our day.
A few days later, after more Baldwin bodysurfing, JH gave me a heads up that the Kahului Harbor had good waves. We headed over there and saw he was right! It was only 4' on the sets and most waves were smothered after hitting the deep spot after the shelf, but the wind was offshore and the crowd was minimal. JH was out on a bodyboard, there were a few longboards, a sit-on-top, and some small boards. I surfed for an hour getting many waves and having a blast getting pocket rides and near barrels. About the time the wife was getting bored the crowd picked up so I came in. I could have stayed out for hours if the "conditions" had remained constant. As it was I was grateful for what I got.
A few more uneventful days (surfwise) and we rounded the island to the Lahaina side. I got out early Monday morning to Honolua Bay between swells. It was very small and the handful of people were just watching from the cliff waiting for the new swell to show. I didn't waste time and headed down to surf whatever there was. I ended up with about 45min to myself catching 2-3' waves next to the cave. It was dang fun and I must have made it look good because about 8 people showed up all at once. Still small, and I still got some waves, but I packed it in promising myself to return at dawn the next morning. Later that day we bodysurfed at Napili Bay. It is an odd spot with 3' waves surging, not breaking, up the beach. I bodysurfed it by riding the surge just behind where the lip would be. This kept me from getting pushed along dry sand up the steep beach. Surge up the sand, then try to surge back down the sand never standing up. It worked, and was a fun new way to approach to ocean.
The next morning I was up before dawn headed back to Honolua. This time there were many, many cars already filling the parking spots and most people were gearing up in the darkness. The swell had peaked the previous afternoon but was still big enough to give rides through the Cave section. I headed down the cliff in the dark, slowly picking my way along the foreign footpath feeling my way with my toes. I got to the small pocket of sand to gear up and could see several people already in the water. By the time I hit the water there were more than 10 guys just at the Cave. I returned to where I surfed Monday, now a"down the line" spot. The bigger waves were hitting a different part of the reef so I tried for smaller ones with better shape similar to the day before. I did score some larger ones when someone couldn't connect from the Cave. It was still tons of fun, but different, which is good. I know I could have made some of the waves from the Cave peak, but there were too many people and not enough waves, so I took what was available. The wave reminded me of WS Santa Cruz when it's good. I think the difference is that Honolua Bay is that good much more often, but I've gotten really good waves along the WS with fewer people to contend with.
I brought my GoPro to Maui but didn't once bring it out. I almost did at Baldwin one morning, but as I was walking back to the car I saw a few guys heading into the water with at least one GoPro. I had wanted some scenery picks from inside the tube and 5 other guys all trying for the same thing discouraged me off the idea. I took a few iphone cliff shots of Jaws and Honolua, but will not post them because they don't capture my matting experience.
I returned to CA to rain and storm surf. DH is on a surf trip, I have a cold, and the Oakland BS crew didn't contact me for Saturday surf anyway. The weather is supposed to stabilize mid-week before going stormy next weekend. I'll aim for something between storms, but wont enjoy putting on a wetsuit.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Three sessions later

Mid-week mid-day rush to surf before the wind turns. Waves were big enough to push me to the north end of OB, on the north side of Lincoln. The wind was calm and the swell was short period-ish and mixed up. Crossing waves and surfing a part of the beach that likes to double up anyway. I took out the spoon and got less waves than I wanted but enough to satisfy. Several drops were sudden when the wave hit the bar. I've learned that on late drops I need to find a sweet spot between dropping strait down (which results in a flop which throws off speed) and too much angle down the line (which results in hanging up on the lip.) There is a sweet spot angle that puts me right in the curl, but it's a line that I wouldn't take on a stand-up so I need to get accustom to it.
The spoon needs more grip towards the tail. A few times I got hit by some chop and my legs slipped out of position on the board. In those waves the moment of lost control was the end of the ride. Later I slowed down my approach and stayed put on the board better. I think I'll wax the tail of the board first, because I don't want to put the glued foam on top of the paint for fear it will just pull up paint and not stick to the board. If wax does the trick, great! If not, I'll strip off paint and glue down foam.
Walking back to the truck with the spoon I talked briefly with a guy who said he has a flex spoon too. He said he doesn't ride it much because he doesn't like wearing swimfins. Seriously? I love wearing swimfins! I didn't get his name, number or anything, and in the brief conversation I learned his spoon was made in Florida and he likes it as decoration enough that he wouldn't sell it.
The next session was a return to Baker to meet up with the Oakland bodysurfers. Saturday morning and the start of crab season and there were crab pole set-ups every 20' or so all along the beach. Waves were 2-3' with light onshore wind and not very hollow. I was going to skip it, but the Oakland crew wasn't. I followed them down the beach and had fun for an hour using my "cubit" hand board. I held on to it through a crush and folded back a fingernail. I also noticed it changed my approach to swimming through waves and made me feel less "in" the water. On the flip side, there were some longer rides that I might not have gotten if I was without the extra planing surface.
The plan for the day was to next meet the SF handplane (et. al) crew at Eagles. I headed down there with my wetsuit still on and found the parking lot full. Crabbers, beach-goers, and surfers filled the spaces to capacity+. I saw Kasey watching the waves and chatted with him while waiting for Dave to show up with the others. There were 4+ surfers riding the weak 2' waves rolling in at Eagles. Kasey and I talked about his mid-week session where he was hassled out there. He didn't even realize he was being hassled until later, and I told him I'm pretty sensitive to bad vibes in the water. Dave showed, but the rest were missing. We agreed to take our chances down at OB proper.
Even the far north end of OB was big and messy. I took out Dave's latest creation and was tired even before clearing the outside. The waves were a jumbled mess but surprisingly it didn't seem to matter much when riding the bodyboards. My third wave I rode all the way in and it reformed on the inside for a fun steep section. When that section slammed shut the whitewater rag-dolled me around and sapped the last of my strength. I limped to shore and rested awhile before I could walk back to my truck.
I cleaned up and laid down in the bed of the truck waiting for Dave to finish his surf and claim his board back. It was what I needed and by the time he returned I was in better spirits. We talked a bit more about design and such until Kasey cleared the water. Afterwards I grabbed a Safeway lunch and headed home.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Bodysurfing and such

Dave Hahn from California Surfcraft was the core of a small gathering at Baker Beach yesterday. OB was a big mess, but around the corner and in view of the Golden Gate, Baker was giving 6' hollows with light offshore. Baker breaks close to shore and there isn't much ride beyond the drop and pull into the barrel, so it's a place for bodysurfing, hand planes, and bodyboards. We had a group of 6 of us and more "shrapnel" than we could have possibly ridden in a day.
I started by bodysurfing a bunch to get a feel for the conditions. I got inside several large closeout barrels and got comfortable with things. I even found some corners and relatively long rides for what should just be closeouts. I headed back to the pile of devices on the beach and picked out Dave's latest bodyboard creation. It's a 5 layer sandwich of two kinds of cork and fiberglass. From the bottom is goes: double 8oz glass, cork, double 8oz, ultralight cork, then cork on the deck. It flexes a bit under load, duckdives easily, and fits in the larger barrels. I was trying to adjust my approach to the different vehicle and I think it's something I could really get to like. It's not as fast as the surf mat, but it's much easier to ride than the HPD.
I didn't use the arm leash and was able to hold onto it in all but one wave. That one wave was pretty heavy for the day and after the board got pulled from my hands I popped up in a rush to swim after it. As is true with the spoon, HPD, and other low float items, it surfaced right next to me. Two good kicks and it was back in my grip before the next wave exploded.
The group of guys included Dave and I, another guy from SF, and three guys from Oakland. They live close to me, and carpool seems an obvious choice. The leader of the Oakland contingent got everyone's email and will contact me soon I hope.
There were some cameras out yesterday, so if I get any photos sent to me, I'll post them.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Spoon Ride Report

Saw a window of light winds mid-week, mid-afternoon. Raced out and caught some 3-4' waves. The rides were a bit longer than the other go out, but they were a bit softer too. Some observations:
1) Stalling on turns. It felt to me that turns would rob me of speed. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes not. I remember a similar sensation when I put the plastic, super flex fin on the GeeBee. It worked out one session when the waves were slower. Cutbacks stalled me right to the pocket and I would drop in again, cool! Then stalling felt awful the next session when I needed to go fast down the line and hard bottom turns stalled at the bottom. I think the spoon's fin might be too flexible for what I'm comfortable with, so I'll keep an eye on that.
2) Down the line speed is not as fast as a surfboard. At least this is true for softer waves. I couldn't pump or drive to make it through a crumbing section. The wave behind a shortboard thruster pumped and flew past me and rode on for 20 more yards.
3) I need to avoid sideways take offs. This is something I do often on smaller days at OB when I need to get down the line faster. The spoon will not go, instead it stalls sideways and I go over the falls. I need to go down the face at first to get some speed up before trying to head down the line.
4) More kneepad is needed, and further back. I often landed just right on the kneepad, but after a session I got the sense that that is too far forward. I can add a few inches worth just behind what's there, but I also need some for my ankle area. My feet slid off the board on more than one wave, leaving my knees in place but my body sideways to the board.
4b) I need to surf it from further back.
5) The paint job is temporary. It had little sharp spots that I picked off with my finger nail. It came off anywhere it was bumped hard. The tip of the fin hit sand and the paint pealed right off. It is more slippery than the sanded glass surface.
6) I need to surf it more.
I shouldn't worry too much about running out of deck pad. There's plenty out there on the internets.
http://www.seadek.com/p-25-small-sheet-18-x-38.aspx

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Flex Spoon

I got advice from someone who knows to go slow on tuning the flex spoon. As a clarification, "tuning" the spoon is the process of sanding away material (resin and fiberglass) in a smooth feathering with the goal of allowing the spoon to flex under load. How much flex? How much load? These questions are more by feel than by rule. At the moment my spoon has little flex to it in the basic rocker plane, which I can test by putting the tail on something soft and pulling the nose. Torsional flex is as important, but I can't figure out how to load the board when dry, so it remains unknown. Bob McTavish recently made some spoons and tuned them with much more flex than where I'm at.
The classic image of a flex spoon is with a translucent deck highlighting the opaque foam rails. My spoon doesn't have any translucence because it has a layer of carbon fiber in it. According to George Greenough, a spoon should flex and rebound sharply, like a bow firing an arrow. Carbon fiber has more rebound than fiberglass, and that is the reason Stretch put the layer in.
I was in the yard admiring the spoon and wishing I could pretty it up a little.
 
The yellow and red color is pigment we added to the resin while layering additional fiberglass. The black background is the core layer of carbon. I thought that I am happy with the fin, so I could paint it if I wanted, which I do. As I was inspecting my work, I realized that the carbon layer was much closer to the deck than the bottom. I decided any further tuning/sanding would be on the bottom. This allowed my to also paint the deck and add the kneepad. I didn't take any process photos, and the work I did is clearly not sharp, but I think the spoon looks much better overall. (The bottom looks the same as above, except the fin is painted.)
 
 
I should add more knee pad, but I wanted to see if it even sticks. It's pretty old, like 15 years sitting in the garage old, and some of the adhesive stuck better to the paper than to the foam. I added some where I think my knees sit most often, but in the photo it looks too far forward to me.
One thing I really appreciate about the bright red color on the nose and fin is that it will stand out better in the ocean. Last week when I lost the board it took longer than I like to find it, partially because the colors didn't stand out. The flex spoon ended upside down most times, so only the fin stuck out of the water. It was soft blue, now it's Apple Red!
 
This was fun. I should photograph more of my boards and put them up. I found my GoPho, but can't find the charging cable. It's out there somewhere, and when I run across it I'll charge up the camera and get some more shots. Last time I had hours of footage but no good way to deal with it. This little netbook I use can barely handle blogging, and my desktop isn't much faster. Once I get a job I'll upgrade my computer? Does anyone have any suggestions on cheap and easier video editing software?
 
 

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Stoked Up

The box works. I loaded it up with three boards and headed to the beach. I also put the mats and the paipo up in the cab, and the flex spoon in the bed, knowing it fits in the cab if I want to lock it up. When I got to the beach I opted for the flex spoon. Update time:
I bought the spoon years back. The first session on it I got an in-out barrel, but also broke the rail when I grabbed and pulled it doing an Island pull out. I over reacted on the repair by adding several layers of glass to the whole board, wanting it to never break like that again. By the time I was done there was no flex left in the board. It was time to start sanding it, but I was scared of ruining a rare piece of surf equipment. It didn't ride well stiff, and I didn't want to sand it, so it didn't get ridden. Recently I've been surfing the HPD a bit and there are parallels to the spoon. They are both near neutral buoyancy so they duck dive well, and have no way to sit on them to get out of the water. The result is an intimacy with the water that comes from being up to your chin the whole time. It's like bodysurfing and feeling connected to the waves, but the planning surface of the paipo and spoon allow for more speed. I feel like the paipo would work better if it had ANY flex, and I considered sanding it down to get some flex, just like I should for the spoon... This renewed my interest in the spoon and I convinced myself to got for it and start sanding the spoon.
I went at it with 36-grit paper on the angle sander. After an hour of sanding the board had a tiny bit of flex. I was hot, tired, and out of paper. (Paper sanding disks fall apart if wet or too much force is applied while sanding.) I decided that was a good start and would continue after surfing it.
Back to me at the beach, a box full of three surfboards, paipo and surf mats in the cab, and me flippering out to 4-6' OB on a flex spoon. The spoon duck dives like a dream once I figure out the angles. The large UDeeTs fins modified for flex, a new 5/4/3 hooded wetsuit, and 60deg water all combined to make surfing the spoon downright pleasant. The waves weren't right to feel the board flex because they were either very soft shoulders, or the occasional hollow but short bowl. The flex is most obvious on cutbacks and other hard turns, which I wasn't doing that day. I got behind the bowl a few times and one time made it through for an in-out barrel. This is rare for me, so the stoke of it revitalized me to keep working on sanding the spoon. I got more sanding disks on the way home (cloth backed disks, last much longer) and sanded for another 90 min this morning.
But back to the box. That first day it was nice to have the box, but I didn't take a board out of it to surf. The next day I went to a job interview, and had left the boards in the box overnight. From the job interview I went strait to the beach and DID pull a board out of the box to surf. I was watching the waves and was happy I had the option of a few boards because the waves were not too big for the Pacheco, but not too small for the Moraga. I ended up having a shite session but the air was hot, the sun was out, and the water is still warm.
I wrote similar emails to two other spoon guys just before I wrote this up. It's difficult riding these unusual surf craft because I don't have anyone else to learn from or talk about things with. I hope one of them responds, but I also know that the kind of people who like to ride spoons might be off on a new surf tangent developing the next surf craft that I'll be wanting to try!

Monday, September 29, 2014

The Box

Last Friday I got a message that the beach was surfable and JZ has a window to surf. I grabbed the 6' Pacheco and the 6'8" Moraga thinking I could decide which one and lock the other I the cab of the truck. Well, after I got to the beach I realized that I couldn't get the Moraga locked I the cab. I turned out to be the better board for the day, but I was frustrated by the lack of choice. The session turned out to be not so good. Waves were 6-8' and jumbled. I caught three and fell on all three takeoffs.
But today I finally finished building the box. It's 8' long and 2'x2'. It will easily hold three boards and I'm happy with the locking setup I used. I painted it with grey garage floor paint which came out of the "oops" paint pile at the orange box store.
Next time I head to the beach I'll be able to choose from three boards and decide which is the best for that day. I expect this will lead to some extra stoke out of each surf session!
I have plans tomorrow, so I will head south before dawn Wednesday. I hope to see some of a new swell before I have to come home Thursday evening for a Friday morning job interview.
A few days back I took out the Dave Hahn custom (first attempt) surf mat. It's smaller than my smallest mat which made it easy to duckdive but hard to stay will sort waves. The waves weren't good enough to judge the mat any more than that one observation. Well, it also has a small leak, but leaky mats are part of the history of mat surfing, kinda like longboards without leashes.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Mixed Bag

As my chosen internet handle implies, I enjoy having a variety of surf craft to choose from. My ideal is to be able to choose which one based on my mood and the conditions. I gathered a respectable collection of surfboards, each with a range of optimum wave conditions and just enough overlap to feel like I've got all conditions covered. The sticking point, however, is that I can't bring them all to the beach with me at the same time.
Lately I've been stuck with the truck. While I though that this would allow me more room to shuttle boards around, I later learned it allowed me less "lockable" space. I can't lock up a board longer than about 6'6", and getting two in the cab an locked is the limit. My little Sentra could comfortably lock three boards, with the biggest my 7'4".
And speaking of the truck, it gets about 1/2 the mpg that the Sentra gets. So, doing the math, I figure I can only drive it to surf if I'm going to surf twice as much. This is pretty cool though, because I've been driving down south and sleeping in Santa Cruz, getting at least one surf in before and after. While I only bring one surfboard at a time, I also bring my mats and lately my new paipo. This last Mon-Tues is a good example of the "mixed bag" of surfing I've been enjoying lately.
I started around 7am Monday (Labor Day) meeting JB and JA at Waddell Lot. I stopped to use the toilet and they were checking the waves. We decided to surf where we were and I rode the QQ in chest high closeouts. It became fun once I accepted the fact that makeable waves were few and far between and instead searched for waves I could pull into the barrel cleanly on. I worked on riding the closeout for as long as possible.
The tide was rising after that and I did some recon hiking around at 3 and mi4le. 3 was just rolly polly high tide and 4 was doing it's higher tide point thing with 20 guys out. I headed into town for a shower and a nap.
As the tide topped and turned I noticed sewer had waves and only a few guys. As I sat and watched a few turned into a few more, and more. So I turned my attention to the Rocks. It looked like it would be fun enough in a few hours, which added up to 6pm. It did get good enough and I took the paipo out for a dusk session. Rocks gets all ledgey and steppy which takes some technique to deal with. On the mat I can just slip down the face, on a surfboard I can steer my way through things, on the paipo, I had to learn something new. Because the paipo has more edge hold than a mat, but less maneuverability than a surfboard, I had to find a way to deal with sudden steps in the wave face. I found that if I pushed down on the beachside rail then the inside rail would slip and I could quickly drop off the lip into the flats, then pull up the beachside rail, re-engaging the inside rail and keep my speed going down the line. I also used the body drag technique to stall into the narrell that occasionally cruised along the inside. This all worked great until the sun went down and it was too dark to read the face of the wave. After getting caught off-guard and smashed by the steps and lip, I decided it was no longer safe, time to give it up.
The next morning the swell had dropped so I headed to mi4le to find some mellow crowd. The tide was mid- at dawn and the crowd was mellow having surfed the past few days of swell. Mid-tide means the point is better and the inside is weaker, so I tried to make it work on the QQ. I got a few but mostly got caught behind on waves and in general wasn't enjoying things. I went to the beach and swapped for the 5thGF. Right away I was having more fun and was glad I switched. I got a good one from the point but noticed the inside was starting to work with only Stacey trying to catch them. I moved into my usual mat spot and got a few. The tide or swell angle wasn't right for longer barrel runs, but I got some short fun sections on the mat. I surfed until I was satisfied and left just as a new group of guys were coming down the beach.
So, I had three fun sessions on three different surf vehicles. I expected different conditions from what I got (grabbed the QQ hoping for hollow Waddell Reefs) but was able to have fun by swapping out for different equipment. While my belly ridding is considered less cool by some, I'm having more fun and feeling less frustration, which I think is the whole point! I know that winter is coming and that's the time that the surfboards work best. I know that I need to keep my strength and skills up so that I can take advantage of those epic days. But for summer type conditions, I'll be keeping my options open and trying my best to have fun.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Deafening Silence

There was new attention paid to the flexspoon concept around 2006. A few people (Bob McTavish, Ryan Lovelace) have posted bits of info in the last few years. However, in the ~10 years since a fresh look was given to these types of boards, I've seen only sparse evidence that they are being ridden. The most well know proof (to me) of actual riding of these boards revolves around a person who made a few of his own and rode them. He goes by Man O' War, lives in Florida, and is no longer pursuing the craft. He visited in California branch of his family years back and I managed a few waves on one of his boards. For me, the board had obvious merits and I decided I wanted one.
They were and are expensive, but through patience I tracked one down for a reasonable price. My first session on it I got my barrel, but also broke a rail. I decided to overbuild the board with many layers of glass so that it wouldn't break again. In retrospect, I feel that was an overreaction. I also think the reason I never rode the board much was because of the lack of flotation. I never gave the board a try in softer waves, and the one time I tried it mid-winter my session was shorter than usual due to full body exhaustion from swimming around the surf pushing a neutrally buoyant spoon, and being cold from setting up to my chin in the water. These feelings were relived recently when I took the HPD out for it's first surf. The flexspoon and the HPD have very similar rocker profiles and, with the exception of foam nose-rails, are very similar for the first 1/2 or so. The HPD continues the rail template line and has a wide point very near the tail, the flexspoon has a more surfboard styled template.
The first two sessions on the HPD have been in summer surf. Warm, easy, but also somewhat soft. If the HPD works in these conditions, maybe the flexspoon would also. It's time to give it another try. I think my best bet is to do what I did with the HPD and bring it down to mi4le.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

A Good Day

Last week I left home before dawn to arrive at mi4le at dawn. There were three small swells, south, west, north, in the forecast and an early morning low tide. I figured it was a good combination for that spot and to try out the HPD paipo on a wave that I am familiar with. It was a beautiful morning and only a few other guys out. There weren't a ton of waves, but there were enough, and of good quality so that everyone stayed stoked. Onto a review of the paipo.
As expected the paipo took a few waves to get used to. The issue remains that I need to orient my body off center, legs more onto the inside rail. Once I got into that groove, I started playing with other riding technique. I rode the board way forward, hanging way off the back, dragging legs off the side. I tried pushing, pulling, and letting the paipo do all the work. The wave I was surfing does a steep bowl take-off that goes into a section that often throws a small barrel, then either fades away, or sometimes lines up for more of the same through the inside as the wave shrinks. I'm going to compare the paipo to the surf mat, which is the other prone riding vehicle I like to ride at this spot. Because the paipo is a hard board (as opposed to a bag of air), pulling on the outside rail results in a major change in velocity. Mostly I used this to stall into the pocket as I have not yet figured out how to move my body across the board for a cut back.

I was writting a thourgh review of the paipo, but I ran out of steam and didn't come back to it until now, a week later. Long story short is that the paipo is slower at this wave, which made me happy to swap it out and ride the mat. I was having so much fun that I started to mess around and do a high line slide. Bottom turn up the steep face and let things slide as my feet are down and my head is up. This is an awkward position to rcover from, but I think if I continue the rotation I can pull through the move functionally. Something to play with.
I surfed the Pacheco a bit the next day at Wadel reef corners. Not as much fun, but good to change things up and get some variety. Mi4le was looking crowded even in the predawn light, and I didn't want to sour the memory of the day before.
On my "to-do" list is:
 keep playing with the paipo to find its sweet spot
Pull out the spoon and give it a go
Keep on matting!

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

New Stoke

I just had a really great day of surf. It started out with me arriving at dawn at the north end. Crappy onshore small mush with to many guys out. I drank a cup of coffee and ate a donut and that motivated me to give it a try anyway. I'm glad I did because over the hour I was out the crowd dwindled and so did the wind. I matted waves on my Neumattic and stayed warm in my new wetsuit (Sierra Trading Post score.) After an hour I headed to the beach to meet a guy. He was already coming down the sand with his mat. He and I and only a few other guys surfed fun 3-4' peaks for another hour as the surf glassed off. I was even considering swapping out for my Pacheco. Things started to deteriorate and we headed to the beach. He showed me his HPD XL that he was selling, which was the reason we were meeting today. It was clean, nearly perfect condition, and came with a padded bag for a great price. I gave him the cash with no haggling and told him to keep in touch if he wants to surf again.
After he left I continued talking with a guy we had been surfing with. He was riding a modern 8' Hansen 50/50, leash-less, and with much skill. We chatted about surf mats, San Diego, and weird boards. I got him stoked on the idea of a longboard Bonzer from Mike Eaton. I hope to see him again sometime because he was friendly, a good surfer, and is into "not thrusters."
While we had been talking the surf got good again and since I still hadn't taken off my wetsuit, I decided to give the HPD a dip. It's a bit odd to ride because the tail is really wide. This makes it so you have to put your whole body on the inside rail to get it to hold a line. I did it right a few times and got the feel, but also got a good feeling of the wrong way to do it.
Before today I've surfed here and there. A Sunday at bad LMar with my kayak buddy, a few weekday mornings with my little buddy at LMar. It's nice to see him getting more comfortable, strong, and skilled at surfing. "In my day" we learned to surf by someone taking us out and we just had to deal with it alone for the most part. Now we pull our young ones out through the waves and push them into the right ones. Follow them to shore to make sure everything is okay and pull them back out again. It gives people a more fun experience for their first time, but is less fun for me! He was getting the hang of things last time and I had more time to catch waves on my own.
I did get a day at the north end a few weeks ago that was similar to today. It started out crummy but got pretty good! I was out with JZ and he got a look at my wave that is the closest I've gotten to a tube ride in years. He couldn't verify it from his angle, but I saw the lip over my head. I'll say I was under the lip but not behind the curtain.
I'm out of shape for the coming winter waves, but I have the free time to fix that before the first swell of fall arrives.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Some surf mat talk

Another situation at mi4le when the waves were "good enough to surf" but I opted for the surf mat. I have recently repaired the crushed valve stem on my Neumatic, so I was amped to get it back in the water. I broke it right around the time I got my 4GF mat, so I switched to riding the new mat and therefore have little experience to compare the two. So, back on the Neumatic out in the waves that work best on the mat.
One thing is that the Neumatic is larger and therefore gets into waves easier. The flip side of this is that it's a bit harder to duck under waves. This became an issue when I went to the point and got caught (more than once) by 7' set waves. Going from the right spot to way inside in the course of three set waves is a bummer. I got pushed out of position for any more set waves and had a struggle to get back to the outside. But, when I got one, it felt good. The one thing that was most noticeable was that the Neumatic feels like it's easier to turn. Like it was more rocker and rolls from rail to rail better. Using surfboard language to describe surf mat riding and design doesn't translate well, but that's the best I can do. I also think the Neumatic is faster, but I can't say for sure without more testing. MORE TESTING!
As a fun comparison between surfboards and mats, I'll describe what happens when the lip hits. On a surfboard if you are in the tube and the tube pinches shut and hits the nose of your board you are suddenly launched up and forward. The lever action of the nose going down lifts the tail, and when the nose goes down the forward momentum of the board stops and your body continues. But since you're inside the tube you quickly hit the twisting lip and get sent to the bottom of the ocean.
In contrast, when I am in the tube riding a mat and the lip comes down on me, the process is slower. The lip hits the front of the mat and the mat deforms sending air to other parts of the mat. I can feel the mat bending down and I try to pull it upwards. Inevitably the mat sinks front first and I'm flung into the twisting lip and to the bottom of the ocean. The difference is only a fraction of a second, but that time is spent fighting the inevitable with the hope and belief that maybe this time I can save myself! So far it's just a hope, never proven to be true.
And:
Daniel Thomson is a crazy good mat rider and makes me want to invest in a Krypt mat.
Greame is making cool looking mats for a pretty penny (or pound actually) in the UK.
Dale Solomonson is still missing. (Sad face, no link, ITS GONE!)
Paul Gross is giving a wonderful "History of Surf Mat Design" over on his blog.
Plus many other low end sub $100 mats out there for the curious.
And a new friend, http://californiasurfcraft.com/, who makes handplanes, paipos, and mat(s).
Stacy down at Sawyer carries mats (and other alt surf) and rides them as well.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Circle Back

I have free time lately. I have less disposable income lately. I have wanted to get a 7' hull. I have wanted to try the VeeBee. I am intrigued by the MGB Bonzer. Not having the money to invest in any of these interests I have instead circled back on my existing quiver. I'm lucky enough that I haven't had to sell any boards, and to have put away quite a little stock for myself to play with. A few days ago I brought my 10'2" "JOneill out to OB. The waves were small and clean, just right for getting the feel of the board again. I've ridden two of my fathers longboards recently and my success on them gave me confidence to give the JOneill another try. First, a bit of explanation.
The JOneill is a remake of an early 60's board my dad owns. The original board rode well for me and I wanted a railbanger longboard. My dad had an exact replica made as my M.S. graduation gift. It's 10'2", tri-band stringer. Big round and fairly parallel rails, big ole skeg, lotsa belly and flat rocker. Not quite a D fin, but nearly. Most notable is that it's made with classic Clark foam and a heavy glass job. It weighs in somewhere in the upper 20lbs I guess. The original board was branded Oneill, but Junod did the remake. So, JOneill.
The board worked fairly well for me. It has weight to help it punch through waves at OB when there's no way around them. When I get a wave with some energy I can turn the board and handle it fairly well. When I get a wave with even More energy, I get into trouble. I can handle most situations if they don't require a big change in direction. I made a mistake of fading into the peak too far and not being able to swing the board around quick enough to change direction and not go face first into the pit at the peak. Lesson learned. It also doesn't whip around and drop in when I decide at the last minute that I want the wave right in front of me. Most of the waves that day were short rides going to nothing after passing over the sandbar. I got many waves in an hour and a half, and was more able than most to paddle against the current. The current was ridiculous for how small the waves were.
After surfing that big board I stopped in at Mollusk to check out the Liddle boards. Surprisingly, I was not too impressed with them and credit my sudden lack of interest (ending a 6-month streak) to ridding the JOneill. It doesn't travel as well as a 7' board would because I can only carry the JOneill in my truck while a 7' board could squeeze into my sedan. That right there is enough reason to still invest in a mid-length board for small waves. But, for now, I can ride the JOneill when the waves are small.
Or, OR, or I can use the mat. I continue to put the 4GF (5GF model) to use. I had a small surf at Rockaway on the mat. Nothing special except I wouldn't have enjoyed surfing very much on any other board. I've also been meeting up with a guy in SF who is interested in mats, and also makes handplanes. I let him try the mat and he liked it. He's made one attempt at making a mat and will try again with the gained knowledge of seeing my mat. It got me motivated just enough to try to repair the valve on my Neumatic. I think I messed up the repair, but I'll keep working on it until it's good enough to use.

Monday, April 21, 2014

A Surf Mat kind of weekend

I surfed Mi4le Friday mid-morning hitting the sweet spot between the dawn crew and the late morning crew. The tide was really low and the dawn crew wasn't having much luck on the inside reef. I was, though, on my 5GF. Late drops with occasional lip launch belly flop then run the inside hollows. I did this on fast rotation for about an hour before the hard board surfers caught on and started competing with me for waves. I took the opportunity to take some waves at the outer second peak. Then the late morning crew came out and pushed me off that peak too. I ended up at 1st peak dumps, which was showing potential for connecting all the way in. I was tired by then so I took one in and called it a successful session.
As I was first heading out a board surfer coming in stopped to ask me about the mat. He had plans for a vacation to Mexico and wasn't sure he could bring a board. I told him the mat is difficult at first, but plenty of fun. It travels well, and I gave him a few fin options with a quick lesson on how to choose. I directed him to the 4GF website, but also offered the option to pick up a Krypt in town at Sawyer if he didn't have patience to wait for what I told him was, in my opinion, a better mat for most people (4GF.)
Friday was fun and fulfilling, so I didn't feel a need to challenge the in-town Saturday masses for marginal waves. I checked at dawn and didn't like what I saw at Suicides. I ate a big breakfast and cleaned up the house a bit. I was ready to leave town but made one last check of the conditions. On my way to the beach I ran into another surf matter suiting up and decided to suit up too, site unseen. We ended up disagreeing on the best choice and he went to Sewers while I went to Suicides. I think I made the better choice, because I got quite a few waves in one hour while he got three in the same time. While I was out surfing I got a few questions from some board surfers in the water.
Things have changed for mat surfing in the last 5-10 years since I first tried a mat. At first the questions were more like, "What the F is that thing?" Now the questions are more like, "Is that one of Paul Gross's mats." and "Where can I get one?" I still get a snide remark just about every time I ride, but it really doesn't bother me because I'm usually having a great time riding tons of waves away from the main peak!

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

A Fuca waves

Took a trip to the Great NW to visit the parents. The weather was great and there was a small swell in the water. It was a bad angle for the side of the Strait I was on, but we set off anyway. The first few stops showed no signs of any swell and we had decided to just look at spots. We got to one of the more obvious spots and there the swell was. The normal wave was too small to ride but showing it's form. I jumped in the water at the other side, where the main wave normally blows out the shoal ruining that other wave. It was just big enough to surf on one of my fathers 10' boards, and the wave was a quick section to a channel, but I surfed by myself for an hour in knee high waves. Only the largest wave of the set was knee high, but I had fun. The tide change was enough to kill it and I came in and sat on the cobbles and ate Spam out of the can with my dad. He took a few photos of me surfing, but I promised to not make them public.
The rest of the trip was more landlocked. I tried fly fishing casting with my father, did gardening with my mother, and we all worked together to split some logs for next winter's firewood. I spent one day walking around Seattle and found it pleasant enough to explore further.
I gave a surf report to the Js and JB has family closer to the surf spot that my parents are. He showed interest in making a surf trip in that area, and it would be easy for me, so I'm down. JZ had a great trip to mainland Mex with consistent (if not epic) surf the whole trip. If I can convince someone to pay me to use my skills (job) then I'd like to mex it up too.

Monday, March 17, 2014

The long wait continues

I was terribly optimistic at the time of last posting. I figured I had a new job "in the bag" and I was counting chickens. Well, that one didn't pan out, nor did the next one of similar description. I have continued to apply for jobs but I have gone through a drought of responses. Who knows, maybe they will all reply at once.
In the meantime, I've been able to surf a bit. I've had some pretty good sessions at OB, and even SC. I spent a few days down in SC mid-week and took advantage of new sand at a normally crowded surf spot. The new sand and the bit of swell combined to make a new wave with far fewer people than normal. I rode the GeeBee to get a feel for the hull style. With a very flexy fin it bogged on turns, which was fun in a way. With the proper fin in the center of the box it ran just fine. With that same fin at the front of the box, WOW! The thing surfed more like it was a round disk than a surfboard. It certainly opened my eyes to what can be done with fin movement. I think it's especially sensitive because the overall board length is so short at around 6'. And then last week I caught the rising of a swell with the dropping of the tide and had some good lefts at OB. The wind was offshore which helped make the waves hollow.
And to continue the drought theme, California is in a serious drought. It's our first year to have a vegetable garden at our home and I feel conflicted about watering the plants. Besides the vegetables we're trying to grow, the rest of our yards are low water needs. Not fully succulents, but mostly tolerant plants. I am still moving forward with planting food, just with a twang of reluctance.