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.