Month: January 2012

Posted on

Big Eastside Waves

Surf: 4-8ft+ Fairly clean. A few lulls but solid 5+ waves sets. Big big. 14ft @ 15s, WNW 283

Wow.

Those were by far the biggest, longest waves I’ve ever caught. I’m floored.

Every wave was big, fast, and racing from Jack’s house to the Hook. Holy cow. So many swooping turns, steep drops, and cutbacks. Lots of waves and LOTS of paddling. Each return trip was nearly a half mile. Chris would catch a wave then be gone for ages while he paddled back.

These waves were big. Usually mellow 38th was seeing 5-8ft waves. Most certainly the largest I’ve ever ridden. I couldn’t even see Chris for most of his waves. There was a good amount of power out there two. A few waves I got the tumble around, but my last wave was something else.

I got a big one, hoping to take it all the way in to the stairs. As I’m zipping down the line, I see it start to fold. I tried to get around it and got NAILED. Ouch.

The first washing machine tumble was expected. I mean, that wave clobbered me pretty good. The second wave on the head, I kinda figured that would happen. The THIRD wave, however, was freaking HUGE.

I swam and I swam as far down as I could go, but the thing still tossed me good. It seemed like I was down there for ages. My ears were burning and I was quickly running out of breath. I opened my eyes but all I saw was green, no white foamy bits. I either got caught back in the froth or got hit by a fourth wave, I’m not sure. More tumbling and flailing, still hadn’t made it to the surface.

Finally I made it up, just in time so see a fifth(?) wave. It wasn’t very big, but at that point all I could was get a good breath before diving again.

Once I was up, I foolishly(?) bolted for the outside to catch my breath. I realized the wash and current had put me right at the peak of the Hook.

After a breather, I tried for a small wave hoping to ride it in and back to land. Nope. Blew the wave, got nailed by the next, and flailed my way into shore trying to ride the whitewater.

I think that’s the longest continuous beatdown I’ve experienced. I was draining water out of my sinuses the whole rest of the day. My board’s dinged with some kelp wedged under the glass.

All and all, it was a pretty fun day. I wound up exhausted, but very stoked with a good story for my ding repair guy.

Posted on

Return of the 7’4

Surf: Long lulls and closed out Knee-Shoulder high inconsistent waves. Not as junky as it’s been, but not clean. Froggies singing.

My 7’4 appeared in my quiver about a year or two after I’d started surfing. A friend had it in is garage and thought it might be a good board for me to learn to shortboard on. I took it out. I flailed and failed. I pearled every which way. It was a disaster. I laughed it off, put the board in a corner and forgot about it.

I’ll admit, I blamed the board. Oh it’s narrow, it’s too thick to duckdive, etc etc. I’d only been surfing two years at the time, and hardly regularly. I’d only had a few months on my 9’4. I decided to focus on longboarding to learn the basics rather than pushing myself to shortboard.

Fast forward two years and I’ve had a lot of practice on my longboard and a little bit on my 7’0 stub. I’d been shuffling this 7’4 around in the corner to get at my preferred boards. It was dusty. I decided to get it wet and see if I could do a little better than last time.

I’d expected to burn a day being tossed around. The paddle out was fine. I splashed around for a while. I had a little lumpy peak all to myself and I decided to paddle for a wave…and got it! Yesssss.

Paddling back out, I decided to give duckdiving a go. Sure enough, did that too! I started to realize this was a pretty fun board now that I had half a clue how to use it.

I got two waves. Neither of which were pretty. The longest wave I wobbled along the face like a newborn deer. Still, I’m a little closer to competence on this board.

I’m really stoked.

Posted on

First Storm of 2012

Surf: Chest-Shoulder high. Offshore winds. Clean.

I gush about pre-storm surf. Every time the south winds are up and the leading edge of a stormy swell is about to show, I’m swooning over the surf.

Today was the first storm of the year. Light rain and winds in the lineup. Big open waves rolling through. And spray! So much spray.

Got some nice long rides with Chris and Josh. Lots of fun swooping rides battling the wind.

The water was a little junked up from the runoff. Funky bits, sticks, garbage. Not pretty. Skipped the post-surf pasty for a post-surf shot of rum to ward off the cooties.

Posted on

Late Shift at Ocean Beach

Surf: Mellow. Waist-Chest high with long lulls, no wind.

Got a late start on a mellow morning. It was so mellow I took my 9’4 out, which I rarely do since it’s so thick I worry about it in waves that break as heavy as Ocean Beach (even when small!)

Lots of fun waves this morning. I like a good long wave where I have some time to think. I worked on my cutbacks to keep from outrunning the wave. I worked on some exits. Nice day with some nice mellow surf.

Posted on

Bo Vanagon

Surf: Knee-Waist high. Little bit textured. BE-UUU-Tiful weather.

Yay for van trips up to Bo!

Sure the surf was a little inconsistent, crowded, and less than epic, but you can’t beat the weather or the views along the trip. Wow.

We took some backroads instead of the usual route and were treated to a ridgeline surfcheck that was just amazing.

I had plenty of fun mellow waves on the 9’4 and did a little paddle practice on Beamer’s 5’6. I got a few belly rides and plenty of duckdiving practice. I would have been soooo stoked if I’d gotten a wave on it, but I’m not quite up to a board that small yet.

Still a beautiful day, CA adventure van style. 😀

Posted on

Flat Friday


Photo by Aaron and his spanking new GoAmateur

Surf: Flat! And when not flat: closed out! Also, chilly.

Today was one of those “take out the 7’0 and try to keep a good attitude about it” days. It’s one thing to tell myself “that was good paddling practice” or “well I did X better this time,” but it’s another to huck myself into shorebreak just to have something to do. Oh man.

The longest of long lulls with only closeout out waves. I got so much sand and water in my sinuses trying to will something into working. Aaron got a few and was able to test out his cam. I mistly splashed around trying to keep warm. Sheesh!

Posted on

Isurus I-Evade: Durability Review

I get questions about my Isurus all the time. “Those guys are local, right?” “Yup, they’re local” “Is it warm?” “Very warm.” “Is it light?” “Very light.” “Yeah, but how well is it gonna hold up?” “I’ll let you know in a year.”

Now, almost a year later, I can tell you with some confidence how well it holds up.

The suit:
I-Evade 4-3-4, Hooded. Small-Tall.

Purchased:
Feb 2011

Worn:
About 110-120 sessions over the last year

Me:
5’10, 150lbs-ish, Female, Longboarder.

I surf:
2-4 times a week, mostly dawn patrols, mostly Linda Mar, occasionally Ocean Beach on small days. I typically surf knee to head high waves.

Care:
I rinse the suit off quickly at the showers or with a jug of fresh water. I roll into work and toss the suit over my surfboard on the roof rack to dry. It doesn’t get much sun. I rarely wash it properly with soap. It only spends a little bit of quality time in a ball in my backpack, the rest of the time it’s hanging up inside out.

Performance:
This suit is toasty. I rarely wear the hood. I am hardly ever cold. I went barefoot all summer and only switched back to boots in November. I’ve occasionally gotten chilly if I’m doing more waiting than surfing. It’s light, it’s flexible, it dries fast. It was tricky to get in and out of in the beginning, now it’s old hat. (The exception being putting it on while it’s sopping wet. More than one double session has begun with me swearing furiously in the parking lot.)

Note: For women thinking about buying an Isurus suit: even though it’s currently only available in men’s sizes, this suit fit me perfectly. They are coming out with a women’s line next fall if you’re willing to wait (or are smaller than their XS: 5’4, 125lbs.)

Durability:

The Good: Amazingly, my wrist and ankle cuffs look brand new. No tearing, no stretching. All of my chest and shoulder seams are watertight. My old RipCurl on its retirement had a half dozen holes along these seams, especially in the back. The plastic fasteners to tighten the hood and the chest are in great shape. I’ve heard other folks say theirs fell off right away. Mine are still attached. The hood itself is also in nearly new shape. Zipper works just fine. The overall quality of the neoprene is still good. Looks good, still stretchy, still warm.

The Busted: The very first thing to break was the little pocket for the key. The loop to attach the key is still there and working fine, but the pocket was ripped open by session 3. Not a big deal, but busted. After carefully checking all the seams for this review, (I’m a little embarrassed to say) I noticed 3 small holes along the seam in the butt/upper leg. These holes look like they might need a little patching. It’s minor, but definitely goes through (and explains why the last few mornings have been a little more brisk than usual.)

The Only Kinda Busted: Kneepads. As a longboarder, I don’t think a wetsuit company can make kneepads strong enough to handle the abuse of kneepaddling on a thickly glassed board. The wear is not terrible, but the pads are getting a little thin and at some point my knees will start to hurt. I replaced my RipCurl partially because it was in tatters at this level of use and partially because it was downright painful to surf in it. Shortboarders probably won’t have this problem.

The Cosmetic: The chevrons on my left arm have started to peel. Right arm is fine. I’ve heard this from more than one person. It seems the first arm you take off shows more wear and tear. I don’t think it effects performance. Some of the 3m neoprene has started getting little threads. I haven’t noticed any other change in the material. There’s a little bit of cracking in the tape around the zipper on the inside from pulling the suit on and off. The seam is still water tight.

The Reported: I didn’t experience this problem, but futuresparky had a few gouges in his neoprene: http://stokereport.com/rant/isurus-wetsuits?feature=_comment#comment-301…

Summary:
This suit is in solid shape after a year of less-than-delicate care. It’s still warm. It’s still flexible. With a little love, I’d say the suit has another 6-8 months worth of sessions before it’ll be time to retire it. When that time comes, I would be happy to replace this suit with another Isurus.

Posted on

New Fin

Surf: Waist-Chest high. Little bit of texture. No winds.

Big moonrise and a big new fin for my 7’0. I had it set up as a quad, but was oversteering most of my waves. I thought I’d give a singlefin a go.

I didn’t notice too much of a difference. I’m still have trouble catching waves on this board. Thinking about fins might be getting ahead of myself for now.

Posted on

New Year – Santa Cruz

Photo by Chris

 

Surf: 4-6ft with some 7+ standouts. Soft. Little bit of texture. Little wind.

Oh MAN was that fun!

I caught a handful of big long waves and watched the sun come up from the water. The tide was high so we were sitting way outside to get into the big softies early instead of the steeper shorter inside waves. With the long lulls and the softness, it seemed like ages before I got my first wave.

That first one was a beeeeeaut tho. Dropping in all I could see was a wall of deep purple. Swooping up for my top turn, the orange gold peeked over the lip. It was quiet. Just me, the wind, and swooping turn after swooping turn. Amazing. The wave was well over my head. Maybe 7? 8?

I got a handful more waves like that, each one a little less purple and a little more gold as the sun came up.

I learned a group of cormorants is called a flight. Fun and educational surf. Superstoked!