Latest Surfs...

[oldmansurfer]

Ok so maybe not gracefully but at least safely

[drowningbitbybit]

Gorgeous autumnal conditions out there this morning - 25ºC water but chilly air, clean waves, and crystal clear water

Took the new fat 5'10 out even though the waves were reasonably steep and pitching, and yes, it was just as skatey and sketchy as I'd imagined
Got a few of the smaller ones, where it worked fine, and one of the bigger ones (3-4ft), where the board just slid sideways down the face

[Jester]

You did remember to put the fins in after all the excitement right?!

Nice to get out on the new stick!! are you gonna do those insane sliding snaps with her that seem to over-rotate so you end up surfing it backwards, it's mad when they do that!

[Jester]

*bitchslap*

Hahah I'm so gonna be thinking that the next wave that hits me!!

[drowningbitbybit]

Nice to get out on the new stick!! are you gonna do those insane sliding snaps with her that seem to over-rotate so you end up surfing it backwards, it's mad when they do that!

Ha, I wish!
Sadly my talent plateau'd well before I ever got to that level of skill... oh well, keep trying, maybe I'll get there





Out tonight just for a 'bored with working and it's 3pm' paddle. Spent some time on the small inside waves playing with the new board, and had some fun. It's good and loose with a bit of speed, but you can feel the width when it slows down (there's a moral in that story...)
Catches pretty much anything during the afternoon gentle onshores so a lot of fun

[oldmansurfer]

I went out today and nothing spectacular but I surfed between two boogie boarders lined up inside of me which I haven't wanted to do because I didn't trust my self to keep from running them over and also one of them dropped in behind me maybe because he thought I was too far off the power pocket to make it back to the wave in the big cutback I did or maybe he thought that old man doesn't know what he is doing whatever I just kept going and let him figure out what to do next. My 8 foot fungun made it back into the power pocket but it took all I could do to get back there. I did have a couple spectacular wipeouts, one where I was taking off and couldn't get down the face of the wave quick enough and I was off balance a little by the time I made it down so I had to push the eject button (well overhead wave) and another where I was taking off and the lip just tossed me forward flipping me over as I went. The conditions were nice though and only a couple guys out there.

[Jester]

Out in ankle-biter waves today, clean as you like and paddled around for hours, beautiful day. Saw gannets diving for fish and it was blissful and sunny. No real waves to speak of but tried to work on pop up. Perfect day in watery paradise, happy as a pig in muck.

[oldmansurfer]

It was smaller today (waist to head high) and the area I usually surf was not breaking too great. It was only breaking on the inside sandbar and just lurching up and dumping over. It looked like the two reef breaks were breaking but it wasn't tubing there and there were some small tubes coming in among the peaks along the sand beach. Many of the peaks were just shallow sand shorebreak dumps and I managed a couple of steep drops quick turn up then covered by wave and stand up to come out the back of the wave but those waves were very difficult to catch. It took me a while but I found a place that allowed me to catch the wave before it was insanely steep. In that area I got a ride where I rode it for a while and got covered by the tube on the end of the wave and turned into the back of the wave to cutout. I also caught a couple waves that were tubing in spots but I wasn't in position and got hit by the lip multiple times on each wave. I am just a little too slow I guess or my board is just a little too fast but still I enjoy interacting with the lip in that manner. It's like a loving caress, teasing me about what I missed. Rained the whole time but not very hard and not very cold.

[IanCaio]

Was watching the news, when climate forecast announced a state of alert on shores from south to central coasts, because the sea is probably going to be on "hangover", with waves from 6ft to 9ft tall (I'm guessing not hawaiian height! ). Probably on the coast I surf in, it might get to the 6ft-7ft. I never seem they forecast this on TV news, and I'm now in a mix of stoked and frightened! I've went once on a 6ft day, and I know it's not a complete massacre, but it's also not playing on the playground. By the way, that day I didn't catch a single wave, just crossed to the line up and stayed a while before 2 bombs washed me back into the breaking zone. So I just went out (it tired me up enough that a new cross to the line up wasn't going to happen ).

I'm going to keep an eye on how it's going to be, in the worst case scenario there's a break that is only on when it's big (and has smaller waves in comparison with the other breaks). So I can go surf there if I feel it's too dangerous to go out.

[oldmansurfer]

Be safe. Some waves are pretty powerful but if you learn to avoid getting hit then they are just beautiful objects that you desire.....still be safe dude and have some fun.

[IanCaio]

As I suspected, the swell didn't hit as hard on my main break. But come on, I had reasons to be stoked, it was the first time I heard of waves on TV!
It didn't hit hard but was still a pretty good surf. 3ft hawaiian, shoulder to head high waves, non-storm conditions, the wind wasn't making the water messy. A little crowded since it's a holiday and water was a little bit colder (still surfable with trunks for who is used to it, but I shaked a little ), which makes me think my short john is becoming high priority since winter is coming.
I became tired quite faster, but understandable since I woke up 5am, traveled 3 hours on a motorcycle and haven't swimmed at all this week. Still it was a great session, got one of my best waves: Dropped in and as I hitted the flats I unbalanced a bit, but could regain control and pull the board back to the line, ride it for a while, and once it was losing power (maybe I was getting too far to the shoulder) I did what was probably the closed I got to a snap and faced towards the shore again. I'm not in a hurry to learn tricks, but making a wave last long is an important task for me right now, and it was one of my longest rides .
I'm getting better at poping up at the same time I'm turning the board with my hands, which is probably helping me get in line easier. I even did a rail grab drop on a critical section (not too hollow) by instinct but it didn't became a good ride .

[IanCaio]

Less people on the break today, but also less waves. Sets were taking a little longer to come, and waves were a little smaller than yesterday. They were making some large close outs sections many times, so it was hard to ride a good line today. Got close to a impact with another surfer. Not only he dropped in me, but he had the terrific idea of making a cut back. I turned torwards shore and bailed the board, but it was a close call. I think I rided a few lines, but none like yesterday. I can still see yesterday's wave in my head .
I'm trying to check if my pop up has good technique, but it's quite hard to check it yourself when your mind is at fast pace, thinking of other surfers, positioning, wave reading. Got to ask a friend to check it for me someday.
I realized how I can screw up on small things when I'm really tired. I was paddling back to the line up and started a duckdive like almost 2 seconds before the time, and right after that I duckdived too late!

Gotta start swimming when I'm not surfing to keep in shape and last longer on water.

[oldmansurfer]

2 days of crumbly surf. Yesterday I had a wave with few minor maneuvers (you know turn back and forth and up and down but nothing really great ) on a wave and tried to finish off with a floater but misjudged the wave and fell. Today I spent chasing peaks that were in frequent and probably my best chance for a good ride was the first peak I paddled for but my hand slipped when I popped up and I ended up wiping out. At least it was overhead.

[oldmansurfer]

I forgot to mention that I was injured slightly surfing yesterday. I rarely get injured but jabbed my ankle with my fin. I was readjusting my positon and kind of got off balance and pushed my board right into my ankle. It is severely bruised where the fin poked but not quite cut. I also had a scary closeout shoredump tube ride. I got up on the wall of the tube a little and the board didn't react normally however I still made it out the back of the wave just that my board definitely did not.

[dtc]

I forgot to mention that I was injured slightly surfing yesterday. I rarely get injured but jabbed my ankle with my fin. I was readjusting my positon and kind of got off balance and pushed my board right into my ankle. It is severely bruised where the fin poked but not quite cut. .

On one of my boards, when I go from sitting to laying down, the tip of the fin is right at the spot my feet come through and if I don't remember to 'spread' my feet out far enough, I smack my ankle on the fin. It is so painful! I played years of soccer being hacked at ankle height and that was nothing like being hit by a tiny little bit of hard plastic. So I feel your pain. Fortunately that area seems to heal pretty quick

[drowningbitbybit]

Due to work and sore shoulders, I've had almost two weeks out the water. And during that time I've been intentionally exercising the "wrong" paddling muscles due to some rotator cuff issues.
So this morning when I went out - in moderately large and a bit bumpy conditions - oh good lord, I was dying
And when I did catch a wave, my balance and positioning was all over the place.

I got one half-decent left, which is a bit of consolation

[oldmansurfer]

The best day surfing in a while. It was pretty stormy looking but in among the stormy surf were shredable overhead waves. I often fall on the first wave but today I took off and did a steep drop then a short (20 yards) wall just going straight down the line because it was so fast and got caught by some whitewater on the end of it but made it out. I love fast breaking waves. I was flying all over the place. If someone was watching they might mistakenly think I can surf because I didn't fall down LOL. All my practice on mushy waves was good for today. I took off on one wave that had about a 20 foot area crumbling and I was lined up on the left side of it wanting to go right. I got a lot of speed on the drop so I just did a huge foam climb in the middle of it and made it to the inside steep and fast part of the wave. Awesome day. I still have a bruise on my ankle where I jabbed it with my fin last week.

[oldmansurfer]

The waves were so fast I was able to do a cutback with no effort but it had to be fast because the wave didn't slow down that much. I find that fast waves are what I need to do powerful cutbacks and I do them in an area with a steep wall so that while I am cutting back I have gravity to help me down the wave but often I have to quickly turn the board back down the line. I didn't try to add power to any of the turns today just letting the speed and power of the wave determine how hard I hit it. I probably could have made some power moves but it's been so long since I had waves like this I just wanted to ride them. Many of my off the lip turns the lip was throwing out as I turned there and I got a small not quite airdrop off the lip. It was so exciting. I am still stoked

[Jester]

That's brilliant man!

[oldmansurfer]

not brilliant just stoked