Monday, March 26, 2007

On a Log

The waves were good! They weren't spectacular, but fun, which is the most important part for me and for anyone, right?

I took out the 9'2, which seemed to be the perfect board for the day. There were a lot of gawkers from the shore, trying to wrestle with whether or not to suit up and get wet. I asked someone who just got back from taking a peek at conditions how the waves were. "Pretty flat. Lots of buoys out there."

Makes me feel better for taking out my big board.

I paddled out, dry hair and all.

The waves turned out to be knee to waist for most of the first hour or so. Wouldn't you know it? Some sneaker sets came rolling through and I was caught on the inside. Fun! Just kidding.

After the set was done, I got back out, caught some more waves then called it a day. I had one crash where I rolled over my board or the board rolled underneath my feet and I have a subsequent bruise on my shin from one of the fins.

Can't wait till next week.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Left? What's a Left?

It was nothing but lefts today and since I've been going predominantly right, I completely kooked my first 3 waves.

Wave coming. Turn. Paddle. Get up. Face goes into water. Repeat 2 more times.

I finally caught a right that completely closed out, but not before I went flying down the face on a really steep drop. After that, I attempted a left and was all good... mostly. Ate it on another left later on, but did manage a few lefts before catching my ride of the day. Chest high wave, going right, zipping up and down the face of the wave.

Ever wonder about your foot position on a board? I put a traction pad on my 7'11 on the recommendation of a friend. He places his back foot right over where his center fin is located so that he can do really tight turns. Every time I've tried doing that on the 7'11, I drag so much that I completely stall out. Instead, my back foot is about 6 inches in front of the traction pad (I should just move it) and that's my comfort zone. I can roller coaster up and down waves, but not to the point where I'm able to do any cutbacks any time soon. On the 7'0, I'm way on the tail. Just a function of the board, I think.

Here's hoping tomorrow will yield some half decent waves. In fact, I'm going to go check the reports to see whether I should bring the big board out.

Water was chilly with tons of texture due to the south wind. It did become glassy for all of 20 minutes before becoming choppy again. Sky was cloudy, with small inklings of blue. Water was also murky and tide was low in the morning. Crowd was moderate at the home break, but I fear the crowds come Memorial Day in 2 months.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Lagged

Jet-lag sucks. I couldn't get up in time to beat the high tide yesterday. I did drive out to the break to see that the high tide was really high, higher than the 5 ft that was reported. I saw a bunch of people risking their necks with the shorepound.

Just have to wait till next week and hope that there's some surf to surf and no tide to screw things up with.

Can't wait.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Fantastic Crashes

Last week was flat. Nothing to really report about last week other than I stayed home and ran errands. The tide was also a factor.

Today, well, today was good and bad. It didn't look like much when I got there, maybe knee with an occasional waist. The long boarders were having a bit of trouble for the most part, except for one guy on a baby blue board. He was catching waves even though they didn't end up breaking.

I was a bit reluctant to go out because it's cold! I did end up paddling out with my magic board (which I've resorted to again) and wasn't sure that it was going to fit the bill. Not because the board in incapable of producing good rides on small days, just that I was unsure whether I had the paddle strength to get into the waves.

Things picked up soon after paddling out (dry hair/wet face day). I caught a few chest high rights after sitting out there struggling with the tiny stuff. It picked up as the session went on. There wasn't much of a crowd either.

As for the crashes, I had a few very late takeoffs which led to me being sucked over the falls while I was standing. The biggest fear is where the board is in relation to where my body is tumbling underneath the surface. Since the falls sucked me over, I was in the wash with the board. I banged a shin, but that was no big deal.

I got sucked over a few more times before learning my lesson. Honestly, getting tumbled around is fun. I enjoy it. It's the board that freaks me out because that piece of fiberglass covered foam hurts when it comes right at you, especially the edges. Good thing nothing happened and I got my nice little tumble.

Towards the end of 2 hours, the waves really started slowing down, but there were still fun ones coming through every now and then if you were patient. The water was glassy and the only thing that would have made the whole day even better was a sunny sky. Overcast the whole time with no glimpses of blue.

No surf tomorrow. Got to take a trip!
Clerks II - July 21, 2006