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!