Maui

I'm skipping some OB sessions both bodysurf and flex spoon. Not on purpose, I just didn't update before leaving for Maui. Now Maui memories have overshadowed anything previous.
We got to Maui early Monday the 10th. We grabbed lunch and headed to the beach. There was a big NW swell hitting and Baldwin had some good heavy beachbreak. I did some bodysurfing off to the side of where it was hitting the hardest. I managed some longer rides for the conditions, and managed to not hurt myself, save for the ankle bitters of coral pieces rolling around in the shorebreak. Hookipa was breaking way outside, but with offshore winds. Having only the mat to ride, I headed along the NW shore looking for waves. I found some all the way out at Waiehu Beach that were easy enough to be a warm-up session. This far over the waves were small, around 3', and the spot was inside of an outer reef, making them soft. The location is between the ass end of a golf course and a cool little beach ghetto. (Ghetto in the sense that they weren't million dollar houses, but still more than I can afford.) I got a handful of soft waves while sitting inside of the peak. Not exciting, but very pleasant to be in warm water and easy waves.
The next morning (Wed?) we got up before dawn and headed to Jaws. I opted to park at the top of the trail and hike in. It's a longer hike than expected and we welcomed the ride in the back of a truck for the second half of the hike. When we got to the lookout a beautiful set came in. It looked inviting with the nice bowl and offshore wind. It was early enough that nobody was out yet but several were gearing up on the top of the cliff. We watched another set and took note of how long it took the lip to hit the trough. This is the best way to guestimate size, and it was big. When a few finally got to the outside we saw it was about 20' or more. We watch one clean left ride, and one guy miss a wave and get caught by a wave later in the set. Held down for awhile, not popping up until the far inside. He was fine and swam to get his board, but it was scary to watch. We left soon after that knowing we had a long hike back and the sun was heating up. We scored another ride back and continued our day.
A few days later, after more Baldwin bodysurfing, JH gave me a heads up that the Kahului Harbor had good waves. We headed over there and saw he was right! It was only 4' on the sets and most waves were smothered after hitting the deep spot after the shelf, but the wind was offshore and the crowd was minimal. JH was out on a bodyboard, there were a few longboards, a sit-on-top, and some small boards. I surfed for an hour getting many waves and having a blast getting pocket rides and near barrels. About the time the wife was getting bored the crowd picked up so I came in. I could have stayed out for hours if the "conditions" had remained constant. As it was I was grateful for what I got.
A few more uneventful days (surfwise) and we rounded the island to the Lahaina side. I got out early Monday morning to Honolua Bay between swells. It was very small and the handful of people were just watching from the cliff waiting for the new swell to show. I didn't waste time and headed down to surf whatever there was. I ended up with about 45min to myself catching 2-3' waves next to the cave. It was dang fun and I must have made it look good because about 8 people showed up all at once. Still small, and I still got some waves, but I packed it in promising myself to return at dawn the next morning. Later that day we bodysurfed at Napili Bay. It is an odd spot with 3' waves surging, not breaking, up the beach. I bodysurfed it by riding the surge just behind where the lip would be. This kept me from getting pushed along dry sand up the steep beach. Surge up the sand, then try to surge back down the sand never standing up. It worked, and was a fun new way to approach to ocean.
The next morning I was up before dawn headed back to Honolua. This time there were many, many cars already filling the parking spots and most people were gearing up in the darkness. The swell had peaked the previous afternoon but was still big enough to give rides through the Cave section. I headed down the cliff in the dark, slowly picking my way along the foreign footpath feeling my way with my toes. I got to the small pocket of sand to gear up and could see several people already in the water. By the time I hit the water there were more than 10 guys just at the Cave. I returned to where I surfed Monday, now a"down the line" spot. The bigger waves were hitting a different part of the reef so I tried for smaller ones with better shape similar to the day before. I did score some larger ones when someone couldn't connect from the Cave. It was still tons of fun, but different, which is good. I know I could have made some of the waves from the Cave peak, but there were too many people and not enough waves, so I took what was available. The wave reminded me of WS Santa Cruz when it's good. I think the difference is that Honolua Bay is that good much more often, but I've gotten really good waves along the WS with fewer people to contend with.
I brought my GoPro to Maui but didn't once bring it out. I almost did at Baldwin one morning, but as I was walking back to the car I saw a few guys heading into the water with at least one GoPro. I had wanted some scenery picks from inside the tube and 5 other guys all trying for the same thing discouraged me off the idea. I took a few iphone cliff shots of Jaws and Honolua, but will not post them because they don't capture my matting experience.
I returned to CA to rain and storm surf. DH is on a surf trip, I have a cold, and the Oakland BS crew didn't contact me for Saturday surf anyway. The weather is supposed to stabilize mid-week before going stormy next weekend. I'll aim for something between storms, but wont enjoy putting on a wetsuit.

Three sessions later

Mid-week mid-day rush to surf before the wind turns. Waves were big enough to push me to the north end of OB, on the north side of Lincoln. The wind was calm and the swell was short period-ish and mixed up. Crossing waves and surfing a part of the beach that likes to double up anyway. I took out the spoon and got less waves than I wanted but enough to satisfy. Several drops were sudden when the wave hit the bar. I've learned that on late drops I need to find a sweet spot between dropping strait down (which results in a flop which throws off speed) and too much angle down the line (which results in hanging up on the lip.) There is a sweet spot angle that puts me right in the curl, but it's a line that I wouldn't take on a stand-up so I need to get accustom to it.
The spoon needs more grip towards the tail. A few times I got hit by some chop and my legs slipped out of position on the board. In those waves the moment of lost control was the end of the ride. Later I slowed down my approach and stayed put on the board better. I think I'll wax the tail of the board first, because I don't want to put the glued foam on top of the paint for fear it will just pull up paint and not stick to the board. If wax does the trick, great! If not, I'll strip off paint and glue down foam.
Walking back to the truck with the spoon I talked briefly with a guy who said he has a flex spoon too. He said he doesn't ride it much because he doesn't like wearing swimfins. Seriously? I love wearing swimfins! I didn't get his name, number or anything, and in the brief conversation I learned his spoon was made in Florida and he likes it as decoration enough that he wouldn't sell it.
The next session was a return to Baker to meet up with the Oakland bodysurfers. Saturday morning and the start of crab season and there were crab pole set-ups every 20' or so all along the beach. Waves were 2-3' with light onshore wind and not very hollow. I was going to skip it, but the Oakland crew wasn't. I followed them down the beach and had fun for an hour using my "cubit" hand board. I held on to it through a crush and folded back a fingernail. I also noticed it changed my approach to swimming through waves and made me feel less "in" the water. On the flip side, there were some longer rides that I might not have gotten if I was without the extra planing surface.
The plan for the day was to next meet the SF handplane (et. al) crew at Eagles. I headed down there with my wetsuit still on and found the parking lot full. Crabbers, beach-goers, and surfers filled the spaces to capacity+. I saw Kasey watching the waves and chatted with him while waiting for Dave to show up with the others. There were 4+ surfers riding the weak 2' waves rolling in at Eagles. Kasey and I talked about his mid-week session where he was hassled out there. He didn't even realize he was being hassled until later, and I told him I'm pretty sensitive to bad vibes in the water. Dave showed, but the rest were missing. We agreed to take our chances down at OB proper.
Even the far north end of OB was big and messy. I took out Dave's latest creation and was tired even before clearing the outside. The waves were a jumbled mess but surprisingly it didn't seem to matter much when riding the bodyboards. My third wave I rode all the way in and it reformed on the inside for a fun steep section. When that section slammed shut the whitewater rag-dolled me around and sapped the last of my strength. I limped to shore and rested awhile before I could walk back to my truck.
I cleaned up and laid down in the bed of the truck waiting for Dave to finish his surf and claim his board back. It was what I needed and by the time he returned I was in better spirits. We talked a bit more about design and such until Kasey cleared the water. Afterwards I grabbed a Safeway lunch and headed home.

Bodysurfing and such

Dave Hahn from California Surfcraft was the core of a small gathering at Baker Beach yesterday. OB was a big mess, but around the corner and in view of the Golden Gate, Baker was giving 6' hollows with light offshore. Baker breaks close to shore and there isn't much ride beyond the drop and pull into the barrel, so it's a place for bodysurfing, hand planes, and bodyboards. We had a group of 6 of us and more "shrapnel" than we could have possibly ridden in a day.

I started by bodysurfing a bunch to get a feel for the conditions. I got inside several large closeout barrels and got comfortable with things. I even found some corners and relatively long rides for what should just be closeouts. I headed back to the pile of devices on the beach and picked out Dave's latest bodyboard creation. It's a 5 layer sandwich of two kinds of cork and fiberglass. From the bottom is goes: double 8oz glass, cork, double 8oz, ultralight cork, then cork on the deck. It flexes a bit under load, duckdives easily, and fits in the larger barrels. I was trying to adjust my approach to the different vehicle and I think it's something I could really get to like. It's not as fast as the surf mat, but it's much easier to ride than the HPD.

I didn't use the arm leash and was able to hold onto it in all but one wave. That one wave was pretty heavy for the day and after the board got pulled from my hands I popped up in a rush to swim after it. As is true with the spoon, HPD, and other low float items, it surfaced right next to me. Two good kicks and it was back in my grip before the next wave exploded.

The group of guys included Dave and I, another guy from SF, and three guys from Oakland. They live close to me, and carpool seems an obvious choice. The leader of the Oakland contingent got everyone's email and will contact me soon I hope.

There were some cameras out yesterday, so if I get any photos sent to me, I'll post them.

Spoon Ride Report

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

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?

 

 

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!

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.