No Surf Weekend

It's terrible for my physical fitness to skip a weekend of surfing. The forecast was questionable and JB was just as hesitant as I was. I've been falling behind on "Life duties" and took the weekend to take care of the family. I did sneak in some surf related work by doing some of the repairs to the Downing-Hennessey (DH), and some water time with an hour in the canoe.

The delams on the DH are extensive. Because the board is an experiment, I didn't want to strip wax and rebuild the void spaces, so I went with a more basic approach. I drilled a feed hole in one end of each delam, and a vent hole in the other end. Fill a large syringe with resin and push resin into the feed hole until it starts to come out the vent hole. Then wrap and strap to squeeze everything together while it cures.

I mixed up 8oz of resin so that I would have plenty to work through the delams and spillage, etc. Well, I used it all and didn't manage to fill all the gaps. After everything cured the deck is wavy where the straps squeezed down, or didn't squeeze down. I have more filling to do, but probably only need to mix 4oz this time because I got most of the delam gaps "good enough" to go surf. There's work to be done fixing a 10-in crack  along one rail that is not water tight, and the tail (taped off in the photo) that is also leaking. When I got it the tail had a layer of dried salt that wiped off.

On Sunday the weather was forecast to be nice early, so I grabbed my son and went for a short paddle in the estuary. We went just a bit further away to a spot not surrounded by buildings, but still urban.

He doesn't last long in the boat, so we were probably only out for an hour of gentle paddling in a big circle. Afterward we did our usual beach combing and I'm glad he's old enough to avoid trash because there was as much broken glass as shells to find. I tried to google around for a way to decontaminate clams because I'm sure there's some to be found in this rocky muddy shoreline. But this is surrounded by the OAK airport, Oakland Colosseum, etc. so certainly not safe to eat any filter feeders.

 

Downing-Hennessey

 Who?

Thickness is where? Behind the mid-point?

Not a gun, but tapered template.

Fin box allows for experimentation.

Some delam on the deck where hands go when making the drop will be filled with resin. A few other open dings will get proper treatment before getting it wet again. I picked up a glue-down leash loop so I don't have to glass one on before surfing the board at least once. 

Tangent. On the East Side of Santa Cruz I went to 4 of the 5 surf shops and only found one single glue-down leash loop. One! Are people not buying old boards anymore and trying to ride them? I know "too cool" surfers are still getting longboards without leash loops. When us normal people buy a cool guy's board, we need leashes!

I'm interested in this board because of how different it is from the Lightning Bolt style boards of this era. It has a relatively wide tail, and thickness behind the mid-point. It's similar to Bolt boards with the wide point forward and the domed deck to flat bottom making for hard, down rails. If it's fun to ride I'd love to put a pigment layer of resin over the whole board. Something white-grey similar to the modern Velzy pig I did repairs on a little more than a year ago.

Spanked

The conditions were great for "at the limit" Tres mile. I opted for the Channin 8-ft something pipeliner. My last surf at this spot on this board was great with smooth slides into big long walls. The next session on the board was at Scott's, and wasn't so good. I had trouble getting waves that day, and surfing that reef with low tide and some chop made it even harder. So, with those two data points in mind, I really thought I was going to have another great session back at the spot that went so well before.

I didn't.

This time the waves were breaking harder. This time I tried to surf a different part of the reef. This time there were more people to contend with. And finally, this time I had bad luck.

The waves were breaking harder and I thought I could handle it. I paddled up to the top of the reef where the drop can be more sudden, but the section to surf was hollow. I swear I saw a make-able barrel, and its rare for any barrel to appear at this break. I worked my way up to the top and tried for a few smaller waves to get my first wave of the day. After missing one, a set broke out the back. JB had been sitting further out and over to the shoulder than where I was trying to catch a small one. He barely made it under the first wave and I took the broken wave on the head. I knew there was no way to fight through the mess so I let them hit me and tried not to drift to far in. The waves kept coming, maybe 6 in the set, and I just washed in to the calmer inside waters. When the set finally passed I paddled sideways to the channel and worked my way back out.

I sat on the inside bowl to catch my breath. I missed a wave or two and got ants in my pants, so I paddled back to the top where JB was. This time I didn't make the mistake of trying for smaller waves and instead waited for a set. JB got a good one, and then a big set it. I tried to make it over but once again I took a multi-wave underwater ride to the inside. Again I was patient and waited to get over to the channel. This time JB was sitting on the inside bowl and I had given up on the outside point. I sat with him and even though it had only been an hour, he said he was ready to go in. I told him I wanted to actually ride a few waves before going in. After about 10-min waiting for waves, a sense of unease hit me. It wasn't "shark," but I don't know what it was. The big waves had me being careful, but I wasn't scared. But now I didn't feel right. I told JB I changed my mind and was ready to go in. He caught a good one on the inside bowl, and more were coming. I tried for one but the nose lifted and I got pushed out. The next one was good two and I was in okay position, so I tried for it. The inside bowl often stands up then rolls for a bit before breaking. This one never backed off. I made it to my feet but they landed on the tail and although I made the drop I was completely out of control. I looked at the wonderful big wave breaking off in front of me just before I fell.

I let the white-water wash me into the beach where I caught up with JB. And that was it. One wave that I got to my feet and then nothing else. Another humbling experience served up by the Pacific.

On the other hand, JZ picked up a used board for me, JB got it from JZ, and then brought it to me. It's a 70's era Downing-Hennessey. I don't know anything about the shaper(s). It's interesting to be because it has the early 70's down rails but more of an egg or funboard outline. Single fin, sunburnt, dinged up, and delamed. I'm going to get it water-tight and surf. I'd like to make it look pretty, but I'm not sure I have time. Too many other "to-do" items I also want to do, but just don't.

Continued slight improvements

Same spot, again slightly smaller. This time I wised up and went out on my 6'8", which allowed me a few early take-offs. Those I got in early on were fun, but both times I ran into the back end of an inside section and flopped into the water. Then most of the rest of the session was spent trying to read the crossing chop, boils, and shifty take-off spots out there. Although it was smaller than the smaller last time, I was still dodging the occasional outside set. I think it became more of a problem as the tide dropped, and the take-off zone shifted to be more difficult. I think. I don't really know because although there isn't much current, there is a lot going on out there. Things are shifting around and popping up. A wave looks like it will crush me, but then I can't even catch it. It's a challenge and a fun one.

I think I'll even go back tomorrow for a mid-week surf!

Slight Improvement

I went back to a cove that had handed it to me a few weeks back. I had first gone out expecting it to be kinda soft rolling shoulders, and seeing the best fun could be had racing the short wall at the take-off. I was on my 6'0" thinking I was going to rip the place up. (Or my version of that.) What happened last time was that I experienced first hand that the bowl/wall was more than I was ready for!

This weekend it was smaller, but I went for the same sized waves in the same spot. The biggest difference were fewer outside sets that I had to dodge to hold my spot. I was on the same board (repeated that mistake) but this time I was more ready for what I was facing. I also had JB with me, which makes finding the take-off zone after a ride so much easier. I was able to negotiate some drops and make it across some walls. The key for me was finding a wave that broke in the deeper lead-up to the shelf where the wall is. If I could get in just a moment early, I could get my feet under me for the wall. 

However, I repeatedly landed with my feet so committed on the inside rail that once I cleared the wall I couldn't do anything except fall. The wall is intense but short, and I need to do a big cutback to stay with the wave. I couldn't. Like, maybe twice I had enough control for a soft cutback that wasn't enough to stay with the wave. Many times I flopped one way or another trying to make a turn. One time I even grabbed the rail to make it across the wall and as soon as I let go of the rail I flopped over. Even considering all this, I was improving over my first day because I was at least riding waves!

So my plan is to keep trying. Next time I should really be on my 6'8" which both lets me take off earlier, and has a narrower tail which I expect to help deal with the situation. If not, I have a few more boards to try out.

Meanwhile, JB was doing alright out there. I happily gave him the 2-waves of the day award. He was also having trouble with the take-off because of the cross waves that seem to be persistent out there. There must be plenty of other reefs shallow enough to bend the swell, and it seems to all combine in the bowl we were trying to ride. It certainly requires paying attention when paddling for a wave and trying to be ready for a bump/step/chop from whichever direction it is coming that time. The flip side is that occasionally an A-frame hits the bowl and those are easier to ride if they let me in early.

Afterwards I went to a surf shop where I was planning to meet a guy to sell a board. He hadn't been responding to my emails, so I figured I'd hang around until I got bored. Luckily JZ came by to say Hi. We haven't seen each other in person since lockdown last March, and we've both been going through our personal troubles. We caught up as well as we could in the small amount of free time he had. Luckily, the guy to buy my board finally called and I said goodbye to JZ. I showed this guy the board and although he has appreciation for the all-wood Hess boards, mine didn't seem right for him. I had my 6'0" in the car and he really liked the look of it. I let him check it out but made it clear it was not for sale.

So, decent weekend all things considered!