Saw a window of light winds mid-week, mid-afternoon. Raced out and caught some 3-4' waves. The rides were a bit longer than the other go out, but they were a bit softer too. Some observations:
1) Stalling on turns. It felt to me that turns would rob me of speed. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes not. I remember a similar sensation when I put the plastic, super flex fin on the GeeBee. It worked out one session when the waves were slower. Cutbacks stalled me right to the pocket and I would drop in again, cool! Then stalling felt awful the next session when I needed to go fast down the line and hard bottom turns stalled at the bottom. I think the spoon's fin might be too flexible for what I'm comfortable with, so I'll keep an eye on that.
2) Down the line speed is not as fast as a surfboard. At least this is true for softer waves. I couldn't pump or drive to make it through a crumbing section. The wave behind a shortboard thruster pumped and flew past me and rode on for 20 more yards.
3) I need to avoid sideways take offs. This is something I do often on smaller days at OB when I need to get down the line faster. The spoon will not go, instead it stalls sideways and I go over the falls. I need to go down the face at first to get some speed up before trying to head down the line.
4) More kneepad is needed, and further back. I often landed just right on the kneepad, but after a session I got the sense that that is too far forward. I can add a few inches worth just behind what's there, but I also need some for my ankle area. My feet slid off the board on more than one wave, leaving my knees in place but my body sideways to the board.
4b) I need to surf it from further back.
5) The paint job is temporary. It had little sharp spots that I picked off with my finger nail. It came off anywhere it was bumped hard. The tip of the fin hit sand and the paint pealed right off. It is more slippery than the sanded glass surface.
6) I need to surf it more.
I shouldn't worry too much about running out of deck pad. There's plenty out there on the internets.
http://www.seadek.com/p-25-small-sheet-18-x-38.aspx
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Flex Spoon
I got advice from someone who knows to go slow on tuning the flex spoon. As a clarification, "tuning" the spoon is the process of sanding away material (resin and fiberglass) in a smooth feathering with the goal of allowing the spoon to flex under load. How much flex? How much load? These questions are more by feel than by rule. At the moment my spoon has little flex to it in the basic rocker plane, which I can test by putting the tail on something soft and pulling the nose. Torsional flex is as important, but I can't figure out how to load the board when dry, so it remains unknown. Bob McTavish recently made some spoons and tuned them with much more flex than where I'm at.
The classic image of a flex spoon is with a translucent deck highlighting the opaque foam rails. My spoon doesn't have any translucence because it has a layer of carbon fiber in it. According to George Greenough, a spoon should flex and rebound sharply, like a bow firing an arrow. Carbon fiber has more rebound than fiberglass, and that is the reason Stretch put the layer in.
I was in the yard admiring the spoon and wishing I could pretty it up a little.
The yellow and red color is pigment we added to the resin while layering additional fiberglass. The black background is the core layer of carbon. I thought that I am happy with the fin, so I could paint it if I wanted, which I do. As I was inspecting my work, I realized that the carbon layer was much closer to the deck than the bottom. I decided any further tuning/sanding would be on the bottom. This allowed my to also paint the deck and add the kneepad. I didn't take any process photos, and the work I did is clearly not sharp, but I think the spoon looks much better overall. (The bottom looks the same as above, except the fin is painted.)
I should add more knee pad, but I wanted to see if it even sticks. It's pretty old, like 15 years sitting in the garage old, and some of the adhesive stuck better to the paper than to the foam. I added some where I think my knees sit most often, but in the photo it looks too far forward to me.
One thing I really appreciate about the bright red color on the nose and fin is that it will stand out better in the ocean. Last week when I lost the board it took longer than I like to find it, partially because the colors didn't stand out. The flex spoon ended upside down most times, so only the fin stuck out of the water. It was soft blue, now it's Apple Red!
This was fun. I should photograph more of my boards and put them up. I found my GoPho, but can't find the charging cable. It's out there somewhere, and when I run across it I'll charge up the camera and get some more shots. Last time I had hours of footage but no good way to deal with it. This little netbook I use can barely handle blogging, and my desktop isn't much faster. Once I get a job I'll upgrade my computer? Does anyone have any suggestions on cheap and easier video editing software?
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Stoked Up
The box works. I loaded it up with three boards and headed to the beach. I also put the mats and the paipo up in the cab, and the flex spoon in the bed, knowing it fits in the cab if I want to lock it up. When I got to the beach I opted for the flex spoon. Update time:
I bought the spoon years back. The first session on it I got an in-out barrel, but also broke the rail when I grabbed and pulled it doing an Island pull out. I over reacted on the repair by adding several layers of glass to the whole board, wanting it to never break like that again. By the time I was done there was no flex left in the board. It was time to start sanding it, but I was scared of ruining a rare piece of surf equipment. It didn't ride well stiff, and I didn't want to sand it, so it didn't get ridden. Recently I've been surfing the HPD a bit and there are parallels to the spoon. They are both near neutral buoyancy so they duck dive well, and have no way to sit on them to get out of the water. The result is an intimacy with the water that comes from being up to your chin the whole time. It's like bodysurfing and feeling connected to the waves, but the planning surface of the paipo and spoon allow for more speed. I feel like the paipo would work better if it had ANY flex, and I considered sanding it down to get some flex, just like I should for the spoon... This renewed my interest in the spoon and I convinced myself to got for it and start sanding the spoon.
I went at it with 36-grit paper on the angle sander. After an hour of sanding the board had a tiny bit of flex. I was hot, tired, and out of paper. (Paper sanding disks fall apart if wet or too much force is applied while sanding.) I decided that was a good start and would continue after surfing it.
Back to me at the beach, a box full of three surfboards, paipo and surf mats in the cab, and me flippering out to 4-6' OB on a flex spoon. The spoon duck dives like a dream once I figure out the angles. The large UDeeTs fins modified for flex, a new 5/4/3 hooded wetsuit, and 60deg water all combined to make surfing the spoon downright pleasant. The waves weren't right to feel the board flex because they were either very soft shoulders, or the occasional hollow but short bowl. The flex is most obvious on cutbacks and other hard turns, which I wasn't doing that day. I got behind the bowl a few times and one time made it through for an in-out barrel. This is rare for me, so the stoke of it revitalized me to keep working on sanding the spoon. I got more sanding disks on the way home (cloth backed disks, last much longer) and sanded for another 90 min this morning.
But back to the box. That first day it was nice to have the box, but I didn't take a board out of it to surf. The next day I went to a job interview, and had left the boards in the box overnight. From the job interview I went strait to the beach and DID pull a board out of the box to surf. I was watching the waves and was happy I had the option of a few boards because the waves were not too big for the Pacheco, but not too small for the Moraga. I ended up having a shite session but the air was hot, the sun was out, and the water is still warm.
I wrote similar emails to two other spoon guys just before I wrote this up. It's difficult riding these unusual surf craft because I don't have anyone else to learn from or talk about things with. I hope one of them responds, but I also know that the kind of people who like to ride spoons might be off on a new surf tangent developing the next surf craft that I'll be wanting to try!
I bought the spoon years back. The first session on it I got an in-out barrel, but also broke the rail when I grabbed and pulled it doing an Island pull out. I over reacted on the repair by adding several layers of glass to the whole board, wanting it to never break like that again. By the time I was done there was no flex left in the board. It was time to start sanding it, but I was scared of ruining a rare piece of surf equipment. It didn't ride well stiff, and I didn't want to sand it, so it didn't get ridden. Recently I've been surfing the HPD a bit and there are parallels to the spoon. They are both near neutral buoyancy so they duck dive well, and have no way to sit on them to get out of the water. The result is an intimacy with the water that comes from being up to your chin the whole time. It's like bodysurfing and feeling connected to the waves, but the planning surface of the paipo and spoon allow for more speed. I feel like the paipo would work better if it had ANY flex, and I considered sanding it down to get some flex, just like I should for the spoon... This renewed my interest in the spoon and I convinced myself to got for it and start sanding the spoon.
I went at it with 36-grit paper on the angle sander. After an hour of sanding the board had a tiny bit of flex. I was hot, tired, and out of paper. (Paper sanding disks fall apart if wet or too much force is applied while sanding.) I decided that was a good start and would continue after surfing it.
Back to me at the beach, a box full of three surfboards, paipo and surf mats in the cab, and me flippering out to 4-6' OB on a flex spoon. The spoon duck dives like a dream once I figure out the angles. The large UDeeTs fins modified for flex, a new 5/4/3 hooded wetsuit, and 60deg water all combined to make surfing the spoon downright pleasant. The waves weren't right to feel the board flex because they were either very soft shoulders, or the occasional hollow but short bowl. The flex is most obvious on cutbacks and other hard turns, which I wasn't doing that day. I got behind the bowl a few times and one time made it through for an in-out barrel. This is rare for me, so the stoke of it revitalized me to keep working on sanding the spoon. I got more sanding disks on the way home (cloth backed disks, last much longer) and sanded for another 90 min this morning.
But back to the box. That first day it was nice to have the box, but I didn't take a board out of it to surf. The next day I went to a job interview, and had left the boards in the box overnight. From the job interview I went strait to the beach and DID pull a board out of the box to surf. I was watching the waves and was happy I had the option of a few boards because the waves were not too big for the Pacheco, but not too small for the Moraga. I ended up having a shite session but the air was hot, the sun was out, and the water is still warm.
I wrote similar emails to two other spoon guys just before I wrote this up. It's difficult riding these unusual surf craft because I don't have anyone else to learn from or talk about things with. I hope one of them responds, but I also know that the kind of people who like to ride spoons might be off on a new surf tangent developing the next surf craft that I'll be wanting to try!
Monday, September 29, 2014
The Box
Last Friday I got a message that the beach was surfable and JZ has a window to surf. I grabbed the 6' Pacheco and the 6'8" Moraga thinking I could decide which one and lock the other I the cab of the truck. Well, after I got to the beach I realized that I couldn't get the Moraga locked I the cab. I turned out to be the better board for the day, but I was frustrated by the lack of choice. The session turned out to be not so good. Waves were 6-8' and jumbled. I caught three and fell on all three takeoffs.
But today I finally finished building the box. It's 8' long and 2'x2'. It will easily hold three boards and I'm happy with the locking setup I used. I painted it with grey garage floor paint which came out of the "oops" paint pile at the orange box store.
Next time I head to the beach I'll be able to choose from three boards and decide which is the best for that day. I expect this will lead to some extra stoke out of each surf session!
I have plans tomorrow, so I will head south before dawn Wednesday. I hope to see some of a new swell before I have to come home Thursday evening for a Friday morning job interview.
A few days back I took out the Dave Hahn custom (first attempt) surf mat. It's smaller than my smallest mat which made it easy to duckdive but hard to stay will sort waves. The waves weren't good enough to judge the mat any more than that one observation. Well, it also has a small leak, but leaky mats are part of the history of mat surfing, kinda like longboards without leashes.
But today I finally finished building the box. It's 8' long and 2'x2'. It will easily hold three boards and I'm happy with the locking setup I used. I painted it with grey garage floor paint which came out of the "oops" paint pile at the orange box store.
Next time I head to the beach I'll be able to choose from three boards and decide which is the best for that day. I expect this will lead to some extra stoke out of each surf session!
I have plans tomorrow, so I will head south before dawn Wednesday. I hope to see some of a new swell before I have to come home Thursday evening for a Friday morning job interview.
A few days back I took out the Dave Hahn custom (first attempt) surf mat. It's smaller than my smallest mat which made it easy to duckdive but hard to stay will sort waves. The waves weren't good enough to judge the mat any more than that one observation. Well, it also has a small leak, but leaky mats are part of the history of mat surfing, kinda like longboards without leashes.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Mixed Bag
As my chosen internet handle implies, I enjoy having a variety of surf craft to choose from. My ideal is to be able to choose which one based on my mood and the conditions. I gathered a respectable collection of surfboards, each with a range of optimum wave conditions and just enough overlap to feel like I've got all conditions covered. The sticking point, however, is that I can't bring them all to the beach with me at the same time.
Lately I've been stuck with the truck. While I though that this would allow me more room to shuttle boards around, I later learned it allowed me less "lockable" space. I can't lock up a board longer than about 6'6", and getting two in the cab an locked is the limit. My little Sentra could comfortably lock three boards, with the biggest my 7'4".
And speaking of the truck, it gets about 1/2 the mpg that the Sentra gets. So, doing the math, I figure I can only drive it to surf if I'm going to surf twice as much. This is pretty cool though, because I've been driving down south and sleeping in Santa Cruz, getting at least one surf in before and after. While I only bring one surfboard at a time, I also bring my mats and lately my new paipo. This last Mon-Tues is a good example of the "mixed bag" of surfing I've been enjoying lately.
I started around 7am Monday (Labor Day) meeting JB and JA at Waddell Lot. I stopped to use the toilet and they were checking the waves. We decided to surf where we were and I rode the QQ in chest high closeouts. It became fun once I accepted the fact that makeable waves were few and far between and instead searched for waves I could pull into the barrel cleanly on. I worked on riding the closeout for as long as possible.
The tide was rising after that and I did some recon hiking around at 3 and mi4le. 3 was just rolly polly high tide and 4 was doing it's higher tide point thing with 20 guys out. I headed into town for a shower and a nap.
As the tide topped and turned I noticed sewer had waves and only a few guys. As I sat and watched a few turned into a few more, and more. So I turned my attention to the Rocks. It looked like it would be fun enough in a few hours, which added up to 6pm. It did get good enough and I took the paipo out for a dusk session. Rocks gets all ledgey and steppy which takes some technique to deal with. On the mat I can just slip down the face, on a surfboard I can steer my way through things, on the paipo, I had to learn something new. Because the paipo has more edge hold than a mat, but less maneuverability than a surfboard, I had to find a way to deal with sudden steps in the wave face. I found that if I pushed down on the beachside rail then the inside rail would slip and I could quickly drop off the lip into the flats, then pull up the beachside rail, re-engaging the inside rail and keep my speed going down the line. I also used the body drag technique to stall into the narrell that occasionally cruised along the inside. This all worked great until the sun went down and it was too dark to read the face of the wave. After getting caught off-guard and smashed by the steps and lip, I decided it was no longer safe, time to give it up.
The next morning the swell had dropped so I headed to mi4le to find some mellow crowd. The tide was mid- at dawn and the crowd was mellow having surfed the past few days of swell. Mid-tide means the point is better and the inside is weaker, so I tried to make it work on the QQ. I got a few but mostly got caught behind on waves and in general wasn't enjoying things. I went to the beach and swapped for the 5thGF. Right away I was having more fun and was glad I switched. I got a good one from the point but noticed the inside was starting to work with only Stacey trying to catch them. I moved into my usual mat spot and got a few. The tide or swell angle wasn't right for longer barrel runs, but I got some short fun sections on the mat. I surfed until I was satisfied and left just as a new group of guys were coming down the beach.
So, I had three fun sessions on three different surf vehicles. I expected different conditions from what I got (grabbed the QQ hoping for hollow Waddell Reefs) but was able to have fun by swapping out for different equipment. While my belly ridding is considered less cool by some, I'm having more fun and feeling less frustration, which I think is the whole point! I know that winter is coming and that's the time that the surfboards work best. I know that I need to keep my strength and skills up so that I can take advantage of those epic days. But for summer type conditions, I'll be keeping my options open and trying my best to have fun.
Lately I've been stuck with the truck. While I though that this would allow me more room to shuttle boards around, I later learned it allowed me less "lockable" space. I can't lock up a board longer than about 6'6", and getting two in the cab an locked is the limit. My little Sentra could comfortably lock three boards, with the biggest my 7'4".
And speaking of the truck, it gets about 1/2 the mpg that the Sentra gets. So, doing the math, I figure I can only drive it to surf if I'm going to surf twice as much. This is pretty cool though, because I've been driving down south and sleeping in Santa Cruz, getting at least one surf in before and after. While I only bring one surfboard at a time, I also bring my mats and lately my new paipo. This last Mon-Tues is a good example of the "mixed bag" of surfing I've been enjoying lately.
I started around 7am Monday (Labor Day) meeting JB and JA at Waddell Lot. I stopped to use the toilet and they were checking the waves. We decided to surf where we were and I rode the QQ in chest high closeouts. It became fun once I accepted the fact that makeable waves were few and far between and instead searched for waves I could pull into the barrel cleanly on. I worked on riding the closeout for as long as possible.
The tide was rising after that and I did some recon hiking around at 3 and mi4le. 3 was just rolly polly high tide and 4 was doing it's higher tide point thing with 20 guys out. I headed into town for a shower and a nap.
As the tide topped and turned I noticed sewer had waves and only a few guys. As I sat and watched a few turned into a few more, and more. So I turned my attention to the Rocks. It looked like it would be fun enough in a few hours, which added up to 6pm. It did get good enough and I took the paipo out for a dusk session. Rocks gets all ledgey and steppy which takes some technique to deal with. On the mat I can just slip down the face, on a surfboard I can steer my way through things, on the paipo, I had to learn something new. Because the paipo has more edge hold than a mat, but less maneuverability than a surfboard, I had to find a way to deal with sudden steps in the wave face. I found that if I pushed down on the beachside rail then the inside rail would slip and I could quickly drop off the lip into the flats, then pull up the beachside rail, re-engaging the inside rail and keep my speed going down the line. I also used the body drag technique to stall into the narrell that occasionally cruised along the inside. This all worked great until the sun went down and it was too dark to read the face of the wave. After getting caught off-guard and smashed by the steps and lip, I decided it was no longer safe, time to give it up.
The next morning the swell had dropped so I headed to mi4le to find some mellow crowd. The tide was mid- at dawn and the crowd was mellow having surfed the past few days of swell. Mid-tide means the point is better and the inside is weaker, so I tried to make it work on the QQ. I got a few but mostly got caught behind on waves and in general wasn't enjoying things. I went to the beach and swapped for the 5thGF. Right away I was having more fun and was glad I switched. I got a good one from the point but noticed the inside was starting to work with only Stacey trying to catch them. I moved into my usual mat spot and got a few. The tide or swell angle wasn't right for longer barrel runs, but I got some short fun sections on the mat. I surfed until I was satisfied and left just as a new group of guys were coming down the beach.
So, I had three fun sessions on three different surf vehicles. I expected different conditions from what I got (grabbed the QQ hoping for hollow Waddell Reefs) but was able to have fun by swapping out for different equipment. While my belly ridding is considered less cool by some, I'm having more fun and feeling less frustration, which I think is the whole point! I know that winter is coming and that's the time that the surfboards work best. I know that I need to keep my strength and skills up so that I can take advantage of those epic days. But for summer type conditions, I'll be keeping my options open and trying my best to have fun.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Deafening Silence
There was new attention paid to the flexspoon concept around 2006. A few people (Bob McTavish, Ryan Lovelace) have posted bits of info in the last few years. However, in the ~10 years since a fresh look was given to these types of boards, I've seen only sparse evidence that they are being ridden. The most well know proof (to me) of actual riding of these boards revolves around a person who made a few of his own and rode them. He goes by Man O' War, lives in Florida, and is no longer pursuing the craft. He visited in California branch of his family years back and I managed a few waves on one of his boards. For me, the board had obvious merits and I decided I wanted one.
They were and are expensive, but through patience I tracked one down for a reasonable price. My first session on it I got my barrel, but also broke a rail. I decided to overbuild the board with many layers of glass so that it wouldn't break again. In retrospect, I feel that was an overreaction. I also think the reason I never rode the board much was because of the lack of flotation. I never gave the board a try in softer waves, and the one time I tried it mid-winter my session was shorter than usual due to full body exhaustion from swimming around the surf pushing a neutrally buoyant spoon, and being cold from setting up to my chin in the water. These feelings were relived recently when I took the HPD out for it's first surf. The flexspoon and the HPD have very similar rocker profiles and, with the exception of foam nose-rails, are very similar for the first 1/2 or so. The HPD continues the rail template line and has a wide point very near the tail, the flexspoon has a more surfboard styled template.
The first two sessions on the HPD have been in summer surf. Warm, easy, but also somewhat soft. If the HPD works in these conditions, maybe the flexspoon would also. It's time to give it another try. I think my best bet is to do what I did with the HPD and bring it down to mi4le.
They were and are expensive, but through patience I tracked one down for a reasonable price. My first session on it I got my barrel, but also broke a rail. I decided to overbuild the board with many layers of glass so that it wouldn't break again. In retrospect, I feel that was an overreaction. I also think the reason I never rode the board much was because of the lack of flotation. I never gave the board a try in softer waves, and the one time I tried it mid-winter my session was shorter than usual due to full body exhaustion from swimming around the surf pushing a neutrally buoyant spoon, and being cold from setting up to my chin in the water. These feelings were relived recently when I took the HPD out for it's first surf. The flexspoon and the HPD have very similar rocker profiles and, with the exception of foam nose-rails, are very similar for the first 1/2 or so. The HPD continues the rail template line and has a wide point very near the tail, the flexspoon has a more surfboard styled template.
The first two sessions on the HPD have been in summer surf. Warm, easy, but also somewhat soft. If the HPD works in these conditions, maybe the flexspoon would also. It's time to give it another try. I think my best bet is to do what I did with the HPD and bring it down to mi4le.
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
A Good Day
Last week I left home before dawn to arrive at mi4le at dawn. There were three small swells, south, west, north, in the forecast and an early morning low tide. I figured it was a good combination for that spot and to try out the HPD paipo on a wave that I am familiar with. It was a beautiful morning and only a few other guys out. There weren't a ton of waves, but there were enough, and of good quality so that everyone stayed stoked. Onto a review of the paipo.
As expected the paipo took a few waves to get used to. The issue remains that I need to orient my body off center, legs more onto the inside rail. Once I got into that groove, I started playing with other riding technique. I rode the board way forward, hanging way off the back, dragging legs off the side. I tried pushing, pulling, and letting the paipo do all the work. The wave I was surfing does a steep bowl take-off that goes into a section that often throws a small barrel, then either fades away, or sometimes lines up for more of the same through the inside as the wave shrinks. I'm going to compare the paipo to the surf mat, which is the other prone riding vehicle I like to ride at this spot. Because the paipo is a hard board (as opposed to a bag of air), pulling on the outside rail results in a major change in velocity. Mostly I used this to stall into the pocket as I have not yet figured out how to move my body across the board for a cut back.
I was writting a thourgh review of the paipo, but I ran out of steam and didn't come back to it until now, a week later. Long story short is that the paipo is slower at this wave, which made me happy to swap it out and ride the mat. I was having so much fun that I started to mess around and do a high line slide. Bottom turn up the steep face and let things slide as my feet are down and my head is up. This is an awkward position to rcover from, but I think if I continue the rotation I can pull through the move functionally. Something to play with.
I surfed the Pacheco a bit the next day at Wadel reef corners. Not as much fun, but good to change things up and get some variety. Mi4le was looking crowded even in the predawn light, and I didn't want to sour the memory of the day before.
On my "to-do" list is:
keep playing with the paipo to find its sweet spot
Pull out the spoon and give it a go
Keep on matting!
As expected the paipo took a few waves to get used to. The issue remains that I need to orient my body off center, legs more onto the inside rail. Once I got into that groove, I started playing with other riding technique. I rode the board way forward, hanging way off the back, dragging legs off the side. I tried pushing, pulling, and letting the paipo do all the work. The wave I was surfing does a steep bowl take-off that goes into a section that often throws a small barrel, then either fades away, or sometimes lines up for more of the same through the inside as the wave shrinks. I'm going to compare the paipo to the surf mat, which is the other prone riding vehicle I like to ride at this spot. Because the paipo is a hard board (as opposed to a bag of air), pulling on the outside rail results in a major change in velocity. Mostly I used this to stall into the pocket as I have not yet figured out how to move my body across the board for a cut back.
I was writting a thourgh review of the paipo, but I ran out of steam and didn't come back to it until now, a week later. Long story short is that the paipo is slower at this wave, which made me happy to swap it out and ride the mat. I was having so much fun that I started to mess around and do a high line slide. Bottom turn up the steep face and let things slide as my feet are down and my head is up. This is an awkward position to rcover from, but I think if I continue the rotation I can pull through the move functionally. Something to play with.
I surfed the Pacheco a bit the next day at Wadel reef corners. Not as much fun, but good to change things up and get some variety. Mi4le was looking crowded even in the predawn light, and I didn't want to sour the memory of the day before.
On my "to-do" list is:
keep playing with the paipo to find its sweet spot
Pull out the spoon and give it a go
Keep on matting!
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