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.
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