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.

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.