2 board quiver

5'6 grovler for below waist high, 5'10 HPSB for everything else

 

It can be done. 2 boarts are all you need unless you the kind of person that needs fillers. My 6'6 I can ride on 2-3ft. and up. When the waves have some juice(4-8) it does what I need it to do. If it's weak at that size (3 ft) I'll take out the trailing fin and ride it as a twin if the mood moves me. It loosens it up a little. 3ft and down I'm mostly on a 9ftr. It's all about the paddle in and bottom surface area. I also have a 5'10 quad, but it's been played and I'm trying not to be and can't be as aggro these days.
I picked up a 6'8round pin a couple years back for my daughter because it had a lot of volume and its easy to paddle. Great learner boart I never rode it until a few days ago. It's fun in small waves. Glides my 160 well.

 

surfing is surfing imo.i don't hate on longboarders or spongers or suppers,unless they are in the way.

its not a competition,its just a good time and good exercise.doesnt matter what u ride aslong as ur having fun doing it.

 

big surf- 7'0" Ashton pintail - probably ridden this board 5 times in the last 3 years

Good chest - over head surf - Ashton 6'2" bat tail quad or 6'4" tri fin egg.

waist high or under - one of a bunch of 4'11" - 5'7" self shaped very wide quads. I also have a 5'5" Chemistry Quad for small waves. Anymore it seems like I'm riding one if these last category boards about 80% of the time.

I also have 2 longboards, a 9'4" cruiser I shaped and a 9'0" Ashton HP

 

Did someone say longboard?!? Lol

I guess you could do a 1 board quiver, at least in NJ... a longboard! I have surfed pretty much every type of wave in nj on a longboard, just have to choose your spot when it's huge.

Longboarding has something interesting about it, idk what it is. I learned on a longboard and surfed them for a number of years (along with other boards). Then for another number of years I exclusively shortboarded. But for the past few years I have been back longboarding and loving it! Lately I have been loving the old school style longboards, mainly the pig shapes. I have 2 pigs, a 10'4 Jim Phillips and a 9'10 Austin.

I think what really got me back into longboarding was a summer swell either last year or the year prior. I woke up and got out at dawn. All my buddies where planning to be out at a certain spot, I thought is was only going to be about waist hi.... I didn't really check it, just grabbed the 10'4 and ran out. Getting ready to paddle out, it looked a little bigger then I thought.. while paddling out I realized it was easily 8ft!!! Lol was a bit crazy at first, but definitely one of the more memorable sessions from that summer! Super super long rides, nearly Jetty to Jetty

Anyways- I guess you could do just one board...

 

I can see the right LB being a 1 boart quiver. My issue with it is when it's big and gnarly. You really have to be committed to some beatings with that boart in surf of consequence. How do you deal with that? Do you ditch and dive a lot? Do you duck dive that bad boy? Do you turtle roll under 6-10ft waves? I'd say the largest surf I have LB'd in is about 5-6ft, maybe 7ft. Does your approach change at a certain size?

 

Timing. I rode a LB exclusively for probably 3 or 4 years. Iv made it outside on huge days without taking a single wave on the head. Not often but iv done it. Just gotta time it right. Sometimes that means holding your position on the inside until you see day light, then paddle like crazy.

I think i was out on that day Mr. Belmar mentioned. Took the trip to jersey thinking it would only be waist or stomach high, but winds here were crap. So why not. It was solid. Real solid. Surfline did a while write up on it begging the surprise swell of the year. Wasn't on a LB that day, but have been in that surprise swell situation with a LB before. Had a really bad fall on a surprise swell on a LB. It was dark so i didn't check, just went with the LB. Dry hair paddle out. Then i realized it was OH. Took off on a wave, got hung up in the lip, air dropped, landed it, then took the whole wave right on the neck. That was a fun one. After surfing for a few hours i got to the beach and some guy ran up to me asking how i paddled out so smoothly on such a big day. My reply was that i thought it was waist high.... got lucky

 

Lol Nice. I guess it depends how much time between waves.

 

Your approach definitely changes, as far as paddling out. Catching and riding the wave, not so much. You can get in a big wave much earlier so the drop isint as critical.

The paddle out is a different story. The key is being smart and using everything to your advantage. That means, waiting and timing out the waves. Paddling out between sets. Using rips. Waiting on the inside (out of ppls way) to paddle back out. Sometimes having to paddle left or right to dodge waves. Pushing thru waves. And most importantly using the speed of the paddle of the longboard. If done right, you would be surprised how many times you can make it out without getting your hair wet.

I never ditch my board. I never relie on my leash. The only time I would ditch would be if a wave (over 5ft) was coming down a few feet in front of me in shallow water- and making sure no ones behind me. In that instance- push your board to the side so it's parallel to the wave, won't snap. I rarely turtle roll or duck dive. Although You can do a kinda sorta duck dive if the wave is cresting.

Usually it's just the good old push thru the wave. If the wave is too big (and your on an old board as this will cause stress cracks over time) you can stop right before the wave gets to you. Sit up and lift your nose of your board up. Right as the waves hits under your board- quickly jump up and grab the nose and you'll go right over too... works like a charm. Learned that from a friend while surfing 12' wilderness...

Anyways, hope that helps!! And yea... you do take some beatings... but just be smart about it...

 

Another main way that I use to get through waves when it's bigger is to jump off the board right before the wave hits- then kinda bear hug the nose of the board, but really mainly using one arm and keep the board flat and off to your side. Works pretty good- use this 90% of the time when it's too big to just push thru

 

+1. I would have to pick my 2 LBs (9'4" Takayama nose rider, 9'0" Eric Christenson pintail). I have a bunch of other boards but I never ride them anymore - they are pretty much for family when they visit. The 9'0" is thin thus actually easy to duck dive. After a while you learn how to surf them in most conditions. There are a couple days a year where I regret not surfing my other boards. also, jumping to a thruster after long boarding pretty much doesn't work for me - I end up surfing like doodoo. I guess you could say if I can't ride an LB then I ain't surfing.

 

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like I do most of the things you do at one time or another depending on the situation and instincts.

I try to think of ways to get out easier on those well overhead days so was curious if you had a magic move or something. Most of the time I sprint paddle toward the wave and at the last second I slide up to the nose and drive it down at a slight angle and "duck dive" if I can get under the lip.

If that doesn't look possible then that's when I'm trying different things but none seem to work 100% of the time, so sometimes it works out, other times I get annihated and lose a lot of ground, then have to make up that ground only to catch another one on the head lol and rinse and repeat until the set clears and then sprint for the outside.

 

Speaking of surfing an LB on big days, which to those who haven't tried it, you are missin out big time. I ride SB's when it's good usually but sometimes I go with the LB just to switch it up. I'm telling you, it's awesome. Only accident I had was when I got barreled and didn't make it out, it closed out on me and the LB went through the spin cycle at which point the center fin smacked me on the inside of the heel on my foot and sliced it clean open. Perfect slit where you could wedge a 9" fin into it lol

I got out, went to my vehicle, inspected it, blood everywhere, I had a first aid kit with just enough stuff in it to make it stop bleeding. I patched it up and paddled back out, it was too good to call it, and after I just got barreled on a LB? Wasn't happening. So I kept my foot out of the water between waves and surfed for another 2-3 hrs. It is up there as one of my favorite sessions ever. The foot slice scar helps me remember it. As weird as that is.

That was the last time I got barreled on a LB, so I'm due.

 

When I was 17 & 18 years old, living then in PR, we would go out at Tres Palmas with our long boards, and no leash. Why?? Because that is all we had. And yes, I did a lot of swimming back in those days--a lot of swimming. Now, we were careful to pick or days and our wave sizes, but we did it.
I remember trying to race through sections and.....kaboom....sorry, charlie....no go. Swimming....again.....
I must have been smoking weed then. Oh, wait....I WAS smoking weed then!!

 

Good stuff from Senor Bells aka Mister Belmar. Haven't tried that grab-the-nose thang you mentioned, thanks, will try it next opportunity.

Same as you, I don't turtle roll, mainly cause I tried it a couple times, probably did it wrong, thought my shoulder was coming out of the socket. So, on the bigger stuff I just slide off, hold the boart far up the nose with my right arm & sorta sit heavy in the water, let the wave roll over me/boart. I don't get pushed back as far as those turtle rollers & smaller sized humans, but it takes me a coupla seconds bit longer to get back up on the deck to resume paddling.

I literally nvr ditch my boart. That being said, it was interesting what you posted in re sliding the boart sideways, to keep it from getting busted, if you're about to take a growler on the head.

Gracias, Senator Belmar.

 

Tres on a LB with no leash sounds amazing lol You must of been in great shape being forced to swim in all the time. The herb helps but damn that would get old!

 

Amazing?? Well, not really. Think about it--the guys (Phil Edwards, Corky Carroll, etc) that first went out at Pipeline went out on longboards; the guns came shortly thereafter. Same with guys like Greg Noll etc at Waimea. None of them had leashes. But they became good swimmers; so did I. The swimming coach at my high school was always after me to join the team (my school had its own pool); I did for a couple of years but the meets got in the way of surfing...always on Saturday morning...year round in PR. So I quit after 2 years. Also, chasing girls became important as well. And I LIKED that!!

 

I only surfed a longboard on a truly big day once... about 20 years ago. It was one of the biggest days I've seen in Monmouth County. I only took out the longboard because I had broken my shortboard, and at the time I only had those two boards. I woke up early and did a DP and when I got to the beach it was DOH. It took me a couple of tries, but I finally got out... and when I did I thought to myself... "I should NOT be out here right now." In my gut I had a bad feeling... that board was not meant to be ridden in waves like these... at least not by me.

I usually listen to my gut, so I got one wave and went in... but what a wave it was. A huge drop... bottom turn... then straight down the line... all the way into an inside section that was solid 8'... on the INSIDE.

One of very few waves I'll remember vividly for the rest of my life.

 

I was being sarcastic with the "amazing" lol I know it had to suck, but if that's the only option, then you do the best you can with what ya got I guess.

 

If that's not a reason to do it againe, I don't know what is!