Tag: boards

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Got it!

Surf: 1-3ft and inconsistent. Warm water, warm sun.
Gear: My usual Stewart and a 6’3 twin-keel retro fish.

Work was slow and the sun was out so I headed up to Bolinas to meet a few friends. It was small! Teeny tiny little waves rolling in, but man was that sun wonderful.

I caught lots of mellow rides on my longboard, knee paddled around. We all got ride after ride, me on the stewart and Tom and Bonnie on their fish. After a while Tom and I switched boards. There’s a good 3ft difference between our boards, plus his fish is about a third as thick so we joked how I prob wouldn’t even be able to sit on the little thing. I kept trying to line up with the snarling tiger face on the front. Rar! Rar, I sunk the nose. Rar too far back and stalled.

But I did sit on it, and I paddled on it, and I caught a wave, and I stood up!
It was a squirrelly ride, I was all over the place, but I was up! First shortboard ride standing.

I’m pretty proud.

On the drive back through Mt Tam I crossed paths with this coyote, out enjoying the sun a little too.

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The Jetty Gets Angry

Surf: Shoulder High to Well Overhead waves. Jumbled up, short period surf. Angry.

I’ll admit it, I’m a little out of shape. 20 days between surf session is killer for surfing fitness. I’ve tried to do at least 20 pushups a day (made it to 40! yay!) but there’s no substitute for water time. That said, the Jetty was seriously unruly today. Waves were double and tripple stacked with little time in between sets to paddle out. With most sets being well over head high it was not the day to be on a longboard at the Jetty.

About the third or fourth time I was pushed back I thought to myself “Am I really about to get denied at the JETTY?”
I fought for a while, but I love my board and that pounding break was not looking exciting. I didn’t want to snap my board or fight that hard so I rode some white water like a kook, called it a day. Sigh.

After some pizza, a little surf shop browsing, I headed home. My friend Frankie had a new loaner board waiting for me. Yay! Nothing rounds off a seriously punishing session like having a new board to wax. It’s a 7’4, with a pretty mellow rocker. I’m hoping it will help me get used to riding a shorter board since it does not require the steeper waves my 6’8 requires. It is still plenty thick so I will most likely not be duck diving any time soon, but hopefully will help me get the feel of less float and more turning ability.

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7′ Al Merrick

AlMerrick

SURF: 3-5 ft. waist to head high and poor conditions.

This morning’s dawn patrol: Mostly walled up lines coming through with just a slight texture to the surface. Occasional workable corners through the inside.

This morning was a bit mixed up. The pumphouse was showing some niiiiice waves for people who could catch them. After paddling out, waves turned a bit mushy, lots of closeouts, lots of repositioning myself against the south current and the winds blowing me out to sea.

I tired out Jamie’s 7′ Al Merrick Roundtail. It’s actually much easier to paddle than the 6’8 Rocket. I still struggled and the one wave I did catch I immediately blew, but I seemed a little faster out there. Pretty floaty, I didn’t even try duck diving. I haven’t gotten up enough on a wave to compare the roundtail to squash and squaretail boards I normally ride. I hope to do that eventually!

Highlight of the day: BABY DOLPHINS. Oh man are they cute!

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Almost Got One!

11_11_09_LM

SURF: 3-5 ft. waist to head high and fair conditions.

This morning’s dawn patrol: Just a slight texture to the surface with sectiony/broken up walls coming through. Plenty of scattered inside corners to work with.

Back on the 6’8. I am determined to ride this little board.

My duck dive practice on Monday was pretty uneventful. I don’t feel like I’m getting up the speed I need to complete the dive properly. Instead of spending the morning duck diving the whitewash, I paddled out past the lineup and started doing laps. I did two and a half laps from the south bathrooms to the north, or about 2500 ft total. I’m definitely getting more comfortable on the board. I was floating around just fine and paddling steady. It’s sooooo different than my 9’4. My Stewart paddles fast and easy. I could have done my laps in half the time with that board.

After recovering, I tried for a few waves. Most I was too slow to get on (practicing going for waves is just as important too) and one wave I actually managed to catch. I did a sloppy, wobbly job of trying to popup, I got to my knees and fell off laughing.

Small victories!

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Taking out the Shortboard

thursday

SURF: 3-4 ft. + waist to shoulder high with occasional 6 ft. and poor-fair conditions.

Apartment hunting had put me in a pretty rotten mood and after failing to catch a wave on Tuesday I opted for an early morning with the new shortboard. I was trying to practice duck diving and paddling to get the hang of the board rather than trying for any waves. One puzzled guy asked me why I only paddled out to the white water, flailed around, and then boogie boarded it back. I told him what I was doing and he laughed and paddled on.

I still can’t get a clean duck dive in. I had wave after wave to the face trying to get the board under.
It should look more like this:

And less like a wave smacking you in the face.

El Porto Fridays has a great description on their site:

  1. Prepare: Approach the wave with some speed. I’m not saying you want to go for a full sprint, but being idle when the wave approaches won’t help your cause either. Whatever rhythm and momentum you have, keep it up.
  2. Nose down: As the wave approaches, push the nose down into the water like you are submarine and the captain just called out, “DIVE! DIVE! DIVE!” Timing this correctly will take some practice. Dive too early and you may pop up right in the curl; too late and you may get blasted by the wave. Just experiment a bit and you’ll figure it out.
  3. Tail down: As the wave starts to pass over you, take your foot and push down on the tail of the board. If timed right, the curl of the wave will pass over you and you’ll roll under and get shot out the back. Some surfers like to use their knee instead of their foot to push the tail down. The choice is up to you, but I recommend using the foot for two reasons. First, using your foot will allow you to push to the tail farther down and achieve a better arc. Second, the knee is a much more focused pressure point and can cause more damage to the tail of your board in the form of a significant pressure ding or full de-lamination over time.
  4. Exit: Finally, straighten out, sail to the surface of the water and paddle on.

I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it eventually, but I’m expecting to take a lot of waves to the face trying!

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Small Days at Kelly’s Cove

kellys

SURF: 2-3 ft knee to waist high and fair conditions.

This morning’s dawn patrol: Clean, scattered lines getting up around waist high. It’s fairly small-scale, but definitely rideable this morning.

Waves this weekend were looking pretty small up and down the coast. I met up with Cryptomail to spend a little time on my Stewart at Ocean Beach.

Waves were indeed small. I got in a handful of really nice long mellow rides. I saw a dolphin and some sea lions. I pearled quite a bit and was having trouble going left but it was nice to be out on my board again and great to surf at a new spot (especially when it’s small and manageable.)

There was a group out at Kelly’s having a reunion. They had a best/worst surfboard competition, a bbq, and a memorial to surfers who have passed on. We checked out the boards. Very cool to see such a tight knit surfing family enjoying the day together.

Oh, I picked up a shortboard recently. It’s on perma-loan from a friend. I have no idea if I can even ride it.

rocket

It’s a little thick so I’m hoping I can duckdive it. I’m also tempted to pick up a great sounding little fish but I’m worried I’m collecting boards without any idea how or what I want to ride. A fish sounds like a fun small wave alternative to a longboard. Part of me wants to challenge myself with a board that can take bigger waves but I’m also afraid of taking on bigger waves. It would be more practical to have a shortboard that can work well in steeper or larger waves that my longboard can’t, but it would be fun to have a fish and goof off in the little waves!

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Finally got a board

My board!

After 8 months of searching, a board came up on craigslist the same time I had money to buy it.

This is a 9’4″ Stewart Hydro Hull. Never been ridden, never even been waxed. A father bought it for his daughter and she’s never taken it out. He’s been surfing for 53 years and spent about an hour talking up all the finer points of this board and the 10 others he has including the one he’s making himself based loosely on this board’s design. He and his daughter were really nice. I had my reservations about buying a board while my income is unsteady, but all and all I got a pretty top quality board for not much money so I keep telling myself buying this board right now was the right thing to do. 😉

I got a great deal on the board (bag included). Now all I need to take it out is a leash and some wax!

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Looking for a Used Board

I have a little bit of money left over from my security deposit on my apartment.
I’d like to use it as a reward for dealing with my apartment headaches.

Anyone out there in the SF area got a 8’6 or 9ft Stewart Hydro Hull they’d like to sell?
My budget is $600 for a board in good shape, $650 if it comes with a bag.

🙂

Thanks!

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More agonziging over boards…

Went back to Wise. Stared at boards.

Kept staring at boards.

I found one that has the same feel to it as that Arrow I liked, but in a styling I really like. It’s a Stewart Hydro Hull. Squashtail, little bit of v on the bottom. Medium rocker. Like this one:

Here’s Sherm’s board chilling in his yard:

But in this style:

It’s a blue green all the way through, no fade, with a slight white pinline around the rails and a wood stringer.

This board is versatile (I could learn to nose-ride or I could learn to turn, the board won’t dictate my style like more specialized boards would), good in a variety of conditions, with beveled rails and a thinner tail it should be good for my height/weight. It feels good to hold. I like the color and the styling. Dave at Wise says his wife has one and loves it. All her boards are Stewart and they are smooth, easy rides.

The cons: It’s fiberglass. I’m nervous about dinging and mangling a nice board because I’m clumsy and new. It’s also $850. I was hoping if I spent that much, it would be on an epoxy since they are stronger. The epoxys just haven’t felt as good in my hands as the fiberglass. They’ve felt bulky. But then I’m afraid I’ll be so nervous about hurting a fiberglass board that I’ll whack it on something. That adds up to $$ on ding repairs and time out in the shop instead of in the water.

My other, rather silly fear, is getting a top of the line board while being a beginner surfer. I feel like I haven’t earned it. That it will seem ostentatious to be out on a high end board and falling left and right.

While I want to scrape around craigslist looking for a $400 board I can whack into rocks and things, I’m worried a board that’s not right for my build and the things I want to do will just frustrate me in the end and I’ll wind up having spent $400-$600 on a board while pining away for something I like more, or worse, not getting any better at catching waves.

I know whatever board I get, I’ll keep forever. I’ll try to be as good to it as I can. I’ll ride it as much as I can. It’s still hard as anything to commit.

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Still looking at Boards.

I have a lull between projects this week so I’ve been board shopping. It’s a lot of work.
I’ve visited five surf shops and a few dozen web sites comparing boards.

In addition to the three I was considering in this post, I’ve added two more models I’m considering plus I’m trying to decide between epoxy and fiberglass.

As far as the models:
Tony over at Cowell’s Surf Shop recommended an epoxy Santa Cruz Squashtail longboard shaped by Doug Haut. She gets bonus points for agreeing that flowery pink surfboards = yuck. She said if she were shooting for a first board, she’d pick this. Supposedly it’s fun, durable, and decent for the beach break I surf. $600.

Jeff at Arrow was willing to bet I’d be happier with the Arrow Formula 1 (teardrop) than with any other board out there. He said this board would be flexible enough for me to ride in a variety of conditions and it’s thinner around the rails which would be better for someone my weight. I could use this board for learning turns or for learning to noseride. $720 for fiberglass, $840 for tuflite.

One of the guys over at NorCal (who graciously spent about 2 hours pulling boards and talking with me) also recommended this board in the tuflite. I think it runs about $900 there. He pulled a few other boards more in the $700 range for me, but I can’t remember their names now. I looked at a LOT of boards that day. He was mixed on the Magic model. He and I are the same height and weight and he said he felt like it was a tougher board for a lighter, taller person and preferred the Arrow.

Here’s the write up on the Arrow from surftech: 9’0″ FORMULA 1 PEARSON ARROW – The Formula One model has it all. Great maneuverability, noseriding and wave entry. It’s for the surfer that wants to do everything on a wave.

The write up on Arrow’s site: This board is one of our most popular longboards. It is a great all around surfboard. A perfect compromise between a noserider and a performance board. A slight concave helps trim the board when you are on the nose, while the slightly pulled in tail, tri-fin set up harder rails allow the board to perform from the tail.

The board I still LOVE looking at, but haven’t seen in stores is this one, the Robert August What I Ride, tuflite in a wood veneer and also in the blue/yellow/white:

Write up: 9’0″ RA WIR – It makes sense to ride a board that maximizes your fun regardless of the conditions. “What I Ride” utilizes a 60/40 rail configuration which, in combination with a nifty tear drop concave conveniently placed under the 18″ wide nose, greatly enhances your style of nose riding.

These boards are supposed to be all around good boards and pretty solidly high end. Flexible as far as conditions it can handle, durable, can do both turns and noseriding well. It’s also durable with the tuflite epoxy. So far everyone showing me boards has said “yeah, that’s a nice board”. I haven’t seen this one in stores, so I don’t know how much it runs. It’s sister boards (there’s a red/yellow/white too) run about $800-840, over $900 for the length I want in the surf shops around here. That’s compared to over a grand online. Downside is it is a little thicker than I’d like, 3 inches. I was hoping for less.

So looking at price, if I could get that kind of board for the same price as one I’m a little hesitant about, maybe that’s the one I should pick? Crap this is hard.

The fiberglass vs epoxy/tuflite decision is throwing me too. According to Jeff, fiberglass absorbs more shock and is a smoother ride especially on choppy days when a stiffer epoxy board would tend to clang around. They are more flexible and have more give in the runs which translates to more momentum. BUT fiberglass is delicate. Bump into a wall even gently and you’ll be out $30-50 on ding repair plus 5-10+ days with your board in the shop getting fixed. The tuflite on the other hand, will chip after banging it or dropping it pretty hard, but not ding. It will stay watertight after chipping.

I’m clumsy. I dropped my watch while trying to get my wetsuit on and scraped the finish pretty good. I’m expecting to mangle a fiberglass board. I guess that’s fine if it’s cheap and I don’t care about reselling it. If I buy a board hoping to only use it for a year and shelve it or sell it then I don’t have to worry, however…

…I tend to keep things FOREVER, until they are absolutely unusable. I just sold the skiis I’ve had for 12 years! They are the only pair I’ve ever owned. I’m hoping to find a board I love and ride it for as long as I can in whatever conditions I can. I’m not worried about resale value so much as love. I want to love how it looks and how it rides. I want something that will help me learn and stick with me once I’ve got the hang of things.

I’m still looking at used boards. I haven’t ruled that out and would, in fact, prefer a used board. It’s hard to find them in the exact size I want and often I don’t know anything about the boards which makes me nervous. As you can tell, I like research.

Gotta think on it some more!