Balangan today, bigger waves breaking head high when I first got out so not that big for that spot....oddly, not that crowded....managed to figure out today how to make the late takeoff steep drop in so that I'm going down the line from the instant I stand up....which nearly got me barrelled which is a totally new experience for me....fat waves I can get up and turn right away and go down the line, but it isn't critical and it isn't a fast turn at all....I'm working on steeper and bigger waves relative to what I'd been on...learning late takeoffs and getting better at them, but I've been riding straight to the bottom then making a bottom turn....anyway, maybe it's the shape of the wave at balangan, not sure, but my second wave after taking the first straight then turning but the process taking too long and the wave closing out and me in the soup I decided on the second wave to paddle more angled and really get on my toes (I'm goofy and it's a left, riding frontside) when I got up while doing a drop wallet move with my trailing hand....actually worked really well and I was deeper in that wave than I'd ever been and like I said after a few pumps the top started to feather then threw out.........AXED right into my face because I was transfixed watching the whole thing happen, marvelling in how awesome it was and forgot to surf and I didn't squat down....
Waves died down after that set and I got a few more good rides before going back to work, but none that were big enough to barrel like the wave I described....that one ride was enough for the sesh though; really satisfied and hungry now to do it as my daughter says "again and again and again....."
Now the next step is to intentionally drop into a wave and get barrelled....can't wait!!!In the middle of all this I found myself yelling at a newbie who was stuck in the pits and kept throwing her board and diving for each wave that came through....I watched her do this three times before I ripped into her....the third time her loose board almost clattered a guy coming down the line since she was trying to paddle back to the lineup right through the heart of the surf zone....I was inside too having ridden a wave and gotten dumped trying to do something clever so I yelled at her to "Hold your board.....HEY!!!! HOLD YOUR BOARD!!!!" ......sounded like an old man yelling at kids to get out of his yard but to her credit she dutifully held onto her board the next wave that came through which also served to pacify the guy who'd been cruising down the line and had to bail when her board had come flying up in front of him.....hahahahaha.....Big H's safety patrol....
Good times!
