Bay Street - Friday, 11/20/2009
I surfed El Guapo (an 8' 7S Superfish) and got a good number of rides. Certainly my best day on it. I popped up pretty easily and was staying up as well. Maybe my time on the Speed Shape last weekend helped me appreciate the extra float.
Pretty good day. A little walled, but corners were available. Really tired by the end of the session, don't know why.
Shawn in particular had some good rides. Fess probably had similar rides, but we are usually on the same 'surf frequency', we paddle for the same waves. If he catches it, I turn around and look for the next wave and miss his ride. If I catch it, I'm not in a good position to see his ride when I paddle back out.
At least, that's the theory.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Peanut's First Session
Bay Street, Sunday, 11/15/2009.
A little gutless. Took out the peanut (used 9' 11" Infinity Cluster V) and enjoyed it quite a bit. Fell off the first few times, but got the hang of it. Paddles pretty much the same as my 9' 6" longboard. The extra length is counteracted by the increased nose rocker. On the Munster Mobile, I'll choke up to catch the gutless tweeners and pearl the board on takeoff. Not so with the peanut. Didn't pearl it once. I'm waiting for Sunset to work so I can try it at a point break.
Towards the end of the session, it really backed off. I loaned the peanut to Fess and Shawn to give them a try and rode Travis' Speed Shape. Not enough float for me.
A little gutless. Took out the peanut (used 9' 11" Infinity Cluster V) and enjoyed it quite a bit. Fell off the first few times, but got the hang of it. Paddles pretty much the same as my 9' 6" longboard. The extra length is counteracted by the increased nose rocker. On the Munster Mobile, I'll choke up to catch the gutless tweeners and pearl the board on takeoff. Not so with the peanut. Didn't pearl it once. I'm waiting for Sunset to work so I can try it at a point break.
Towards the end of the session, it really backed off. I loaned the peanut to Fess and Shawn to give them a try and rode Travis' Speed Shape. Not enough float for me.
Surf Underwear?
One of our band put on his wetsuit today and forgot to remove his underwear. That would've made an interesting session. Well, anyway, another surf blog links to this tidbit, an underwear line, Moskova, designed by french surfers 'that fit's their styles and technical needs.' Coincidence?
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Bay Street Seasickness
Overall, just so-so. Really gutless to start off, then about 1/2 hour of good waves, then it just petered out. Interestingly, the SM buoy shows wave heights peaked at 3.0' at 6:50 am!
My seasickness was back with a vengeance. I was pretty queasy by the end of the session so I limped out of the water, riding some whitewater to the shore.
Note to self: check tide, wind, and buoys before heading out. On the buoy page, don't just look at the wave heights and periods, look at the wind speed and water temps too. It will be a good reference. Station 46025 has a water temp of 63.9 degrees.
My seasickness was back with a vengeance. I was pretty queasy by the end of the session so I limped out of the water, riding some whitewater to the shore.
Note to self: check tide, wind, and buoys before heading out. On the buoy page, don't just look at the wave heights and periods, look at the wind speed and water temps too. It will be a good reference. Station 46025 has a water temp of 63.9 degrees.
Monday, November 9, 2009
My First Bleg
Hey all you readers out there, I'd love to put some pictures up on the site, so maybe you could hit the tip jar and help pony up for a Canon PowerShot D10. It's a waterproof, shockproof 12 megapixel camera. It won a dpreview shootout of waterproof cameras, looking solely at image quality.
Two out of three readers have just lost their jobs, so this is just a not so subtle hint to myone other reader, my wife!
Two out of three readers have just lost their jobs, so this is just a not so subtle hint to my
Blog Origins
The famous interview that started the whole 'pitted' business:
Surfer Inteview Fail
In the guy's defense:
But it's still hilarious.
(h/t to Shawn, aka The Trident, aka Captain Kelp, for the reminder and link)
Surfer Inteview Fail
In the guy's defense:
- he's completely baked
- retelling a ride is like sharing a dream, the feelings that accompanied the experience can't really be communicated, so it falls flat
- surfspeak can be incomprehensible, even to fellow surfers
But it's still hilarious.
(h/t to Shawn, aka The Trident, aka Captain Kelp, for the reminder and link)
Sunday, November 8, 2009
County Line Collisions
Surfed County Line at 7:00 on Sunday. Some of the waves were really good and people wanted in on the action. They surfed like it was Malibu, 4 bunched up on a wave.
Inevitably there were collisions. I witnessed two. One guy dropped in, veered to the left to avoid a guy floating in the water, and slammed into another surfer coming down the line. A similar situation happened to Fess. Two (or more) guys going right on a wave, Fess is paddling back out and can't rally go to the right, because of the guy behind the front surfer. So he bailed, dove down, and the guy smacked into his board. Two symmetrical fins sized cracks in Hawaiian Styles' rail, right to the foam. It's leaking water. The guy should have kicked out, but he claimed he was looking behind him. Whatever.
At that point I traded wave quality for some breathing space. Some decent rides, but nothing too spectacular. County Line has much more aggression and competitiveness than other places I've surfed. I don't really like the vibe there.
It seems the surfline green days, not the orange days, are the best. You always have a chance to get some good waves, without the crowds and aggression. You're never really disappointed if it's mediocre and sometimes it starts firing and you get some really good rides.
One more piece of bad luck. Fess' VW van's battery had died. Fess called AAA and eventually we got a jump. Another surfer had shoved his key into the hillside to hide it and lost it. AAA got him into his car and his surfing buddies drove him home for a spare key. Not the brightest bulb on the tree.
Oh, and Andrew's wetsuit zipper broke. (Fess broke it, not me) I guess it really does come in threes.
Inevitably there were collisions. I witnessed two. One guy dropped in, veered to the left to avoid a guy floating in the water, and slammed into another surfer coming down the line. A similar situation happened to Fess. Two (or more) guys going right on a wave, Fess is paddling back out and can't rally go to the right, because of the guy behind the front surfer. So he bailed, dove down, and the guy smacked into his board. Two symmetrical fins sized cracks in Hawaiian Styles' rail, right to the foam. It's leaking water. The guy should have kicked out, but he claimed he was looking behind him. Whatever.
At that point I traded wave quality for some breathing space. Some decent rides, but nothing too spectacular. County Line has much more aggression and competitiveness than other places I've surfed. I don't really like the vibe there.
It seems the surfline green days, not the orange days, are the best. You always have a chance to get some good waves, without the crowds and aggression. You're never really disappointed if it's mediocre and sometimes it starts firing and you get some really good rides.
One more piece of bad luck. Fess' VW van's battery had died. Fess called AAA and eventually we got a jump. Another surfer had shoved his key into the hillside to hide it and lost it. AAA got him into his car and his surfing buddies drove him home for a spare key. Not the brightest bulb on the tree.
Oh, and Andrew's wetsuit zipper broke. (Fess broke it, not me) I guess it really does come in threes.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Saturday, Bay St.
Tried El Porto as homage to Andrew's birthday. No parking, as expected. Winded our way up to Bay St. I took surface streets and beat Andrew by a bathroom break and surf check. Not a bad day but it got more crowded and competitive as the morning wore on.
Andrew had two collisions. On one wave, we took off next to each other. He angled left, I angled right and bailed. Our boards collided in the froth. A similar thing happened to Andrew and a surfer lady on a later wave, with direr results, a ding on the rail. Maybe Andrew's surflexic. He sure did have some long rides though.
Urth Cafe after surfing. They were all out of cheese danishes, so the cashier offered an apple tart. It was delicious, sliced apples on top of a bed of custard in a flaky tart crust. No more danishes for me. We stopped by ZJ boarding house. Saw a Firewire Dominator I liked: 6' 10" x 22" x 3 1/4" with a bamboo deck. I think that's the "Rapidfire" technology.
Andrew had two collisions. On one wave, we took off next to each other. He angled left, I angled right and bailed. Our boards collided in the froth. A similar thing happened to Andrew and a surfer lady on a later wave, with direr results, a ding on the rail. Maybe Andrew's surflexic. He sure did have some long rides though.
Urth Cafe after surfing. They were all out of cheese danishes, so the cashier offered an apple tart. It was delicious, sliced apples on top of a bed of custard in a flaky tart crust. No more danishes for me. We stopped by ZJ boarding house. Saw a Firewire Dominator I liked: 6' 10" x 22" x 3 1/4" with a bamboo deck. I think that's the "Rapidfire" technology.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Tuesday, Foggy El Porto
No stingrays, a lot of fog and small, slow rollers. Munster Mobile was a worthy vehicle. Shawn rode El Guapo as his Supperfish was severely damaged yesterday. No one knows how. Picked up as the tide drained out, got more crowded too.
All in all an OK day.
All in all an OK day.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Santa Monica, Sting Ray Saturday
Arrived by 7:30, Bill was there. Waited for Andrew who had overslept. Then bobbed around waiting for the occasional 2 footer. Had two decent rides. At the end of one, fell off my board and sat down on a sting ray!
Really clear water, an indicator of how mellow the swell was.
Really clear water, an indicator of how mellow the swell was.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
El Porto: windy but big, broken leashes
El Porto was windy, yes, but pretty big. Shape suffered, but it was
not so blown out that we didn't catch a few. We hiked down near the
jetty. All of us dropped in on some decent sized waves. Shawn's leash
snapped and Fess and I had left our spares home to unkink. Shawn
wisely wasn't going to risk the Supperfish, so Fess bravely traded,
tied the leash in a knot, and paddled out. I think he was hoping for
some more dings to repair on Scarface. :) Unfortunately for his
budding repair skills, the leash knot held. Or more correctly, Fess
held onto it as needed.
The water was frigid! Fess' watch read 62. Doesn't sound too cold, but
it's all relative. Hopefully that was just upwelling, otherwise, time
to unpack the booties. My feet are still feeling it.
not so blown out that we didn't catch a few. We hiked down near the
jetty. All of us dropped in on some decent sized waves. Shawn's leash
snapped and Fess and I had left our spares home to unkink. Shawn
wisely wasn't going to risk the Supperfish, so Fess bravely traded,
tied the leash in a knot, and paddled out. I think he was hoping for
some more dings to repair on Scarface. :) Unfortunately for his
budding repair skills, the leash knot held. Or more correctly, Fess
held onto it as needed.
The water was frigid! Fess' watch read 62. Doesn't sound too cold, but
it's all relative. Hopefully that was just upwelling, otherwise, time
to unpack the booties. My feet are still feeling it.
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