Last Saturday I got out to John St. for some big NNW swell. The angle was about 298deg which is marginal for the west side, but the size was around 12' @ 16sec, or maybe bigger. There were surfable waves breaking with about 4' of high water over the reefs. I went out on the higher water to try out the Buttons in some speedy reef surf. I didn't think it would work because the Buttons has a narrow tail and wants to sit in the pocket. John St is a somewhat sectiony wave without a lot of hollow power to it. The way most people surf it is to make a mid-face turn on the drop and pump the wall until it closes. This is a perfect wave for the quad.
My first wave I rushed the bottom turn and fell over when the board turned slower than my body did. A few more wasted waves, mostly making the bottom turn only to find the wave already outran me. The waves were overhead on the sets and I was sitting up in the cove at John, hoping for a bowl I could make on the slower pintail. I finally found one I could make the shoulder on but when I can off the bottom I hit some kelp and the board stopped dead in the water. That was it and I ran up the cliff to switch boards.
I switched to the Haut2 which is a perfect board for John St. I caught a few from the bowl and was making waves but the tide was getting good and the crew was changing from the hesitant to the aggressive. Then the big set came.
I was just deep of the point and in good position for the first waves of the set. I turned on the second but got held up in the lip and muffed the drop. When I came up from under water I saw there was another one just like it, maybe a bit bigger. I tried to duckdive and lost the handle. I tried to just wait in the water and the next one washed me down. Each wave was a little bigger but I couldn't really tell how big because nobody was dropping in. They were at least 8' as I was getting worked across the section and around the corner of Mitchell's. I ended up out by the rip-rap past Mitchell's before the waves stopped. Even then there was so much current I had to paddle hard just to stay in place. Eventually the current abated and I was able to get to the beach at Mitchell's. (Mitchell's has less sand than I've ever see in there!)
I walked back up to the point and hit the water again, but with no reward. The crowd was aggressive and tightly packed. I had a few chances when someone deeper missed the wave, but it was always too close to call in time for me to catch the wave. I ended up paddling in without a wave.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
First go out on the Buttons
The forecast last Thursday was for big getting bigger, and my window of opportunity limited me to Ocean Beach. I hit VFWs before dawn and waited for the light to show me what was there. I took my time and thoroughly applied base coat to the Buttons board, carefully installed the fin in the box with the tip ~1/2" back from one fin base from the tail of the board, and tied the new leash string tight and short.
The paddle out wasn't easy but I made it. Compared to the Haut, this board is narrower, with more float, which gives it an unstable feel when paddling out, kinda like at the top of a round buoy. It duck dives under waves, but the float distribution is different and requires a few shifts in technique. By the time I made it out I had about 100 yards to paddle to get back to the peak I wanted.
There were about 4 others out, and we were all chasing waves and catching few. This board feels different when paddling for a wave. I need to be more in the longboard/single-fin mind-set of sitting a bit further out and paddling for the waves earlier. The board doesn't want to spin and drop, that's for sure.
I got into one and the board felt stiff, as expected, but solid and stable. I softly leaned on the rails and there was little to no response with the board wanting to hold it's line. The waves had some junk on them and were 6-8'. I caught 3 smaller ones before getting stuck inside for a long set. I decided to beach and walk back to a channel.
Once on the beach I walked back to where I had paddled out before and waited, and waited, and watched 2 other guys get washed in, and waited. There was never enough of a break in the ever increasing sets for me to think I could make it back out. I gave up.
By the time I was dressed there was only one guy out and I could hardly see him between waves. Everyone else had ended up the same as me, the waves were solid 8', and the junk in the water was making things look rough.
I look forward to better conditions and a session with more waves to give the board another try.
The paddle out wasn't easy but I made it. Compared to the Haut, this board is narrower, with more float, which gives it an unstable feel when paddling out, kinda like at the top of a round buoy. It duck dives under waves, but the float distribution is different and requires a few shifts in technique. By the time I made it out I had about 100 yards to paddle to get back to the peak I wanted.
There were about 4 others out, and we were all chasing waves and catching few. This board feels different when paddling for a wave. I need to be more in the longboard/single-fin mind-set of sitting a bit further out and paddling for the waves earlier. The board doesn't want to spin and drop, that's for sure.
I got into one and the board felt stiff, as expected, but solid and stable. I softly leaned on the rails and there was little to no response with the board wanting to hold it's line. The waves had some junk on them and were 6-8'. I caught 3 smaller ones before getting stuck inside for a long set. I decided to beach and walk back to a channel.
Once on the beach I walked back to where I had paddled out before and waited, and waited, and watched 2 other guys get washed in, and waited. There was never enough of a break in the ever increasing sets for me to think I could make it back out. I gave up.
By the time I was dressed there was only one guy out and I could hardly see him between waves. Everyone else had ended up the same as me, the waves were solid 8', and the junk in the water was making things look rough.
I look forward to better conditions and a session with more waves to give the board another try.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Buttons Pipeliner
My new (used) Buttons Hawaii Pipeliner. According to the website: http://www.buttonshawaii.com/surfboards.asp.html
these are shaped by Owl Chapman. Now, I'm a bit jaded at this because ghost shapers are a big part of surfboard manufacturing. If anyone wants to tell me it wasn't shaped by Owl, I'm okay with that, since sometimes the ghost is having a better day than the name.
I haven't ridden it, but the plan is for it to be my bigger wave board. By my rough calculations it has more float than the Haut(s) do, but less than the Junod Daisy does. I hope I can get in early but still duckdive efficiently.
There are no numbers on the board so here is what I measure:
Length 6'7", Nose 13 1/2", Widepoint 20", Tail 12". I can't measure thickness, and the wide point is not the mid-point, as can be seen in the photos.
I hassled Prana over at 23breaths http://23breaths.blogspot.com/ to give me some info on the fin a very similar Brewer that he's got. It sounds like the fin that came with this board is appropriate for the style. This fin is 5 1/2" at the base with 7 1/4" of height.
Haut2
So here is the new Haut, purchased to replace the old, nearly broken one. As is clear from the photos I've ridden it plenty and can safely say it does the job. For me this shape works really well because I tend toward the lower quality waves in an effort to get away from crowds. Dimensions as written on the board: Length 6'0", Thickness 2 3/8", Nose 15 1/2", Middle 20 1/2", Tail 16".
It came with plastic Vector II 438 quads. I'm happy with the plastic fins and may not ever bother putting in the glass ones off the original Haut.
I asked for a bit more glass and a stronger blank be used. I also got a slightly wider stringer, all to avoid this one from breaking. Doug was against it all because he said the performance would suffer. I insisted and I don't notice the performance as any different.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
A trip to SC
I made a trip to SC on Sunday and got down there around mid-day. The point of the trip was to check out a used board I saw on Craigslist, but I also wanted to take the opportunity to surf. I parked at Rockview because the tide was high and the wind was all over the North Coast. There were waves coming in but the tide was around 4.5' or so and Rockview wasn't working. Sewers, surprisingly, was. There was some south in the water and it was clear by the occasional long wall that swung into Sewers.
I had decided before I even saw the board that I wasn't going to pay the $375 asking price. The board is a Buttons Hawaii 6'8" Pipeliner model shaped by Owl Chapman. In my mind this will be a good board for hollow waves when I want to go slower and sit in the pocket, possibly in the tube. The only place I'd seen these boards online was at Icons of Surf, and when I checked to see what they cost new I saw they had dropped the prices on them to $470. The is dirt cheap for Icons, so I got the feeling that there was something wrong with these boards. That in mind I wanted to offer about $280. Once I saw the board and met the guy I could see that wasn't going to happen. This guy apparently grew up in SC and knew several of the guys hanging around the beach that day. He collects boards and was just trying to shuffle his collection a bit. I waffled about the board while everyone talked. Around the time he was ready to leave I told him I wanted to pay $300 for the board. He said "No" and I let him go. Not 10 min later he called and said he would settle for $325, and I told him so would I.
After that I stashed the board in the car and suited up. I needed to pee, there were a few waves at Sewers, and there were only three guys out there. I jumped off the rocks at Rockview, which was sketchy cause I don't do it very often and paddled over to Sewers. I got myself a handful of good waves around 4'. Nice drops with some shoulder to play with, which is something OB doesn't give me very often. The Haut felt great to me and I'm really getting comfortable on it. Or maybe that board is just MADE for SC waves.
It was either because the tide was starting to drop, or we were making it look too fun, but in the next 20min the crowd increased to 15 people. The waves were not that good, but I guess they were worse everywhere else. I paddled in.
So now I've got a new board, which deserves it's own post and description. I still haven't gotten photos of the new Haut up, so that is also on my list of to dos.
I had decided before I even saw the board that I wasn't going to pay the $375 asking price. The board is a Buttons Hawaii 6'8" Pipeliner model shaped by Owl Chapman. In my mind this will be a good board for hollow waves when I want to go slower and sit in the pocket, possibly in the tube. The only place I'd seen these boards online was at Icons of Surf, and when I checked to see what they cost new I saw they had dropped the prices on them to $470. The is dirt cheap for Icons, so I got the feeling that there was something wrong with these boards. That in mind I wanted to offer about $280. Once I saw the board and met the guy I could see that wasn't going to happen. This guy apparently grew up in SC and knew several of the guys hanging around the beach that day. He collects boards and was just trying to shuffle his collection a bit. I waffled about the board while everyone talked. Around the time he was ready to leave I told him I wanted to pay $300 for the board. He said "No" and I let him go. Not 10 min later he called and said he would settle for $325, and I told him so would I.
After that I stashed the board in the car and suited up. I needed to pee, there were a few waves at Sewers, and there were only three guys out there. I jumped off the rocks at Rockview, which was sketchy cause I don't do it very often and paddled over to Sewers. I got myself a handful of good waves around 4'. Nice drops with some shoulder to play with, which is something OB doesn't give me very often. The Haut felt great to me and I'm really getting comfortable on it. Or maybe that board is just MADE for SC waves.
It was either because the tide was starting to drop, or we were making it look too fun, but in the next 20min the crowd increased to 15 people. The waves were not that good, but I guess they were worse everywhere else. I paddled in.
So now I've got a new board, which deserves it's own post and description. I still haven't gotten photos of the new Haut up, so that is also on my list of to dos.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Sunday double
After the punishment of Saturday I slept in and didn't get to the beach until 9am on Sunday. I caught up with JZ and convinced him to stick to the north end of the beach where the waves were smaller. It was head high or less and pitchy on some of them. Good waves, weather still holding, all pieces in place. I caught a peak with a lump of section on the shoulder and pulled in. I had an exit but the lip caught the edge of my board and I got pulled off balance and whaboom, down to the sand I went. Still, almost. Many other waves but that's the one I remember.
I came in and watched the 9ers loose a really close one to the vikings. Favre, I hate that Joe Montana wannabe. After the game JZ started working on me for a second session. The weather was still good, my body had no specific injury and the candy I ate gave me some confidence/sugar rush. I agreed to go mid-beach with him.
I made it out with only two powerful waves hitting me. Of course the first one impacted about 2' in front of me and I bailed the board to avoid injury (both to me and the board.) The second was setting up just the same so I just stayed in water until it passed. After, I made it out to see the waves were a bit better than Saturday morning when I was in nearly the same spot.
There were some big barrels coming through but I stayed away from that peak for the most part. I got caught inside and washed down to where the waves were just pounding on the bar. I turned around and rode whitewater to the beach, screaming obscenities at the ocean. I walked back up to the beach feeling sorry for myself and realized that JZ had the car keys. I could either wait on the beach or try to make it back out and wait in the lineup. I found the rip and a break in the waves and made it back out. I'm glad I did because I caught a few that were the best waves of my weekend. One vertical drop where I released then landed and ended up on a good spot on the board to make the bottom and run the wall. I would have like to have stalled a bit and maybe get in the barrel but that just doesn't happen in those late drop situations. I also got into a left early and hung at the bottom to lose speed and try to get into the pocket. The barrel didn't really open up and I caught the lip on my hip, but I still felt good about putting myself into the right place on the wave.
So that was three real sessions in two days and I'm not dead, I don't have any injuries and my arms didn't fall off. I don't think I've done that in years.
I came in and watched the 9ers loose a really close one to the vikings. Favre, I hate that Joe Montana wannabe. After the game JZ started working on me for a second session. The weather was still good, my body had no specific injury and the candy I ate gave me some confidence/sugar rush. I agreed to go mid-beach with him.
I made it out with only two powerful waves hitting me. Of course the first one impacted about 2' in front of me and I bailed the board to avoid injury (both to me and the board.) The second was setting up just the same so I just stayed in water until it passed. After, I made it out to see the waves were a bit better than Saturday morning when I was in nearly the same spot.
There were some big barrels coming through but I stayed away from that peak for the most part. I got caught inside and washed down to where the waves were just pounding on the bar. I turned around and rode whitewater to the beach, screaming obscenities at the ocean. I walked back up to the beach feeling sorry for myself and realized that JZ had the car keys. I could either wait on the beach or try to make it back out and wait in the lineup. I found the rip and a break in the waves and made it back out. I'm glad I did because I caught a few that were the best waves of my weekend. One vertical drop where I released then landed and ended up on a good spot on the board to make the bottom and run the wall. I would have like to have stalled a bit and maybe get in the barrel but that just doesn't happen in those late drop situations. I also got into a left early and hung at the bottom to lose speed and try to get into the pocket. The barrel didn't really open up and I caught the lip on my hip, but I still felt good about putting myself into the right place on the wave.
So that was three real sessions in two days and I'm not dead, I don't have any injuries and my arms didn't fall off. I don't think I've done that in years.
A Taste of Fall (or, Punished for What?)
It all started Friday night. I was up late gaming because I thought the weekend surf was going to be ruined by all day high tides and wind. Around 11pm I checked the conditions and saw that the W swell was already showing itself, and the wind was mellow. I gave myself about 6 hours of sleep with a plan to get to the beach around dawn.
The next morning had the coast socked in with fog. I drove the beach, something I should do more often, and saw some waves around mid-beach. It looked small but fun with some shape and much cleaner than I could hope for. I parked there.
After suiting up I walked over the dunes and realized that what I had seen at the edge of the fog on the drive-by was just the inside. I paddled out blindly into the thick fog and must have timed it perfect. As soon as I was 10 yards off the beach a set came in and punished me. Why? What had I done? I fought with the ocean for at least 10 waves and wasn't getting anywhere. The waves were head high at least and were top to bottom at the peak, which was wherever I was. This lasted a bit longer and I was loosing steam. I finally gave up and decided to drive up the beach to where it should be a bit smaller. As I was looking for some whitewater to belly in I realized the set was letting up. The little bit of rest from sitting on the inside put strength back into my arms and I took the break in waves as a chance to paddle back out.
Like I said the waves were head high with some 8' sets. Top to bottom on some of them, and only 4 other guys out in the thick fog of an early Saturday morning. I ended up catching some poor quality waves and taking 3 more sets to the head. Each one lasted as long as the first and made me doubt that I would make it back out. The last and 5th set to nail me started out soft but got progressively bigger until I was bailing my board to dodge 2ft of lip landing right on me. I gave it up and rode some whitewater in.
What I needed more than anything was patience. Patience to wait for better waves because they were there and there weren't other people around to take them. I shoulda waited more for better waves to come to me.
The next morning had the coast socked in with fog. I drove the beach, something I should do more often, and saw some waves around mid-beach. It looked small but fun with some shape and much cleaner than I could hope for. I parked there.
After suiting up I walked over the dunes and realized that what I had seen at the edge of the fog on the drive-by was just the inside. I paddled out blindly into the thick fog and must have timed it perfect. As soon as I was 10 yards off the beach a set came in and punished me. Why? What had I done? I fought with the ocean for at least 10 waves and wasn't getting anywhere. The waves were head high at least and were top to bottom at the peak, which was wherever I was. This lasted a bit longer and I was loosing steam. I finally gave up and decided to drive up the beach to where it should be a bit smaller. As I was looking for some whitewater to belly in I realized the set was letting up. The little bit of rest from sitting on the inside put strength back into my arms and I took the break in waves as a chance to paddle back out.
Like I said the waves were head high with some 8' sets. Top to bottom on some of them, and only 4 other guys out in the thick fog of an early Saturday morning. I ended up catching some poor quality waves and taking 3 more sets to the head. Each one lasted as long as the first and made me doubt that I would make it back out. The last and 5th set to nail me started out soft but got progressively bigger until I was bailing my board to dodge 2ft of lip landing right on me. I gave it up and rode some whitewater in.
What I needed more than anything was patience. Patience to wait for better waves because they were there and there weren't other people around to take them. I shoulda waited more for better waves to come to me.
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