Return

Someone ran across this blog and found a board he had regretted selling. It was the bumblebee which I had just recently dropped of in Santa Cruz to sit and wait for me to visit. The board filled a space in my quiver that didn't need filling, somewhere between the Haut2 and the Buttons. He wanted it back and I'm happy to see it get used.
I asked him what he liked about the board and from his response the main thing I could identify with was that he said it didn't outrun the pocket like a fishy board is likely to do. That is why I got the Buttons, which takes a different approach to slowing the board down. The Buttons is narrow tailed while the bumble bee has an ass like a quad, just a bit narrower than a full on fish. I'm not sure what helps the bee stay in the pocket. The side fins could cause drag when away from the pocket, or maybe it's something about the rails or rocker that I didnt see. I'm fairly certain that a narrow tail like on the Buttons provides less resistance against the face of the wave. It's this resistance that provides lift and when leveraged by the fins and rider weight, forward movement. Less tail width reduces the forces at the source.
At least that's what I think is happening.

I did it.

Last weekend I took public transportation to surf. JZ was having a party and KT was going to show up later, so I bussed and bussed out there, met JB and borrowed a board. The surf was good, the party was fun, and I rode home with KT at the end of the day. Riding the buses I made beginner mistakes like not having change and not knowing what options I had for buses. I had a $20 and I thought I could make change when I arrived in downtown SF. Turns out on a Sunday morning all the Starbucks (and the few other places around) are closed! So I walked in circles until I got down to the ferry building where I found a place open and a pile of buses parked. I asked a driver if his bus was the best way to the beach and he suggested another would be better. I took his word (since it match what my friend had suggested) and rode the 38. Turns out there's also a 38L and 38X. The L has limited stops and the X has even fewer stops. My bus stopped at almost every block (it felt like) and took an hour to cross the city. Next time I have change and try to land a faster bus.

Crowd wise I think there's enough room on the bus for me to bring a surfboard if I wanted. Next time I do this I'm gonna mat-surf or bodysurf, or borrow from JZ if he's around. I'm not quite ready to carry a board round trip yet.

Surfwise it was fun. I was on a 6'10" board shaped like a high performance noserider longboard. It had good float to catch waves easy and chase down the rangy peaks, but a narrow enough tail to stall and hang in the limited pockets that there were out there.

Looks like I'll be selling the Bee to someone who will enjoy it more than I did and will give it some use. Awesome! I don't think I'll be filling that space anytime soon and will instead concentrate on the surfboards I already have.