who here has been surfing this week?

called out sick yesterday, feeling drained and raspy throat. went out to washout during hi tide. had to sit n wait for the passin sideway rain before paddlin out. real choppy, thi to waist. took out a 6'9 fish that handled pretty well with the sht i was getting. pretty fast down the line. salty waters good for the body either way. drifted all the way n took the long walk back to the car

 

Don't be a hater!

 

Some waves this morning. Kinda choppy and a lot of current... nothing great but some size here and there and a couple of fun rides.
No matter the waves, always a good time out in the water; sunrise, Warm summer breeze , warm water and hanging with the regulars including the man Kanman. Great times.

Reflecting back on July- it's been a while that I can remember where we had a July as good as that... seemed like every week there was a sizeable waves.. then a few days of left overs... then a day or two of rest... then back at it! Good memories

 

Yesterday I went and got scrap knee high junk and it was cold water and overcast but still got some reps and saw a cool sunset.
Tonight was impromptu session that turned into a great time and plenty of smallish but fun rides and shared an extra boart with a buddy who showed up and then shared it with a guy who turned out to be a really cool OG of the area. He loved the boart and we had a blast just snagging slow little knee high thigh high rights and lefts doing step offs and talking surf. He splits his summers here and down in the Carolinas and it was cool to get a different perspective. Surfed until dark. Just what I needed
And the sunset underneath some really crazy dark nasty clouds had me thinking how beautiful God can be.

 

I checked a few spots this morning, it’s looking knee - waist and semi-choppy with light - moderate SE winds. It was rideable but not very appetizing so I pulled a Barry and went home.

 

Yesterday was fun. Totally on the wrong board, but I got a few turns and cutbacks in. I’ve been in more of a shortboard mode lately. My simmons would have been ideal.

All good though. Sunrise again was a beauty and I got to watch Mr. Mar do a couple walks up the front half of his long borte. You don’t see a lot of guys command them like that, so it’s suite to watch. There’s also two other guys at the break we’ve been surfing who have really tight board control. It’s always good to take a step back and watch a thing or to.

 

yesterday paddled out 8 am; there were 20+ people at my local. Paddle-battling each other over inconsistent waist high sets. By 9:30 there were 3 of us left. Around 10 am the wind laid down, and the tide really picked up, and the sets got considerably bigger - chest to shoulder-head. I had an hour or so of sunny skies, warm water and sharing near-perfect waves with just 2 friends. Felt like I was on a surf trip almost. Around 11:30 or so the wind picked up again from the South and the tide filled in...and that was that.

 

After pulling a Barry this morning I noticed the buoy came up to like 4.5ft @ 7 ESE in the late afternoon and wind wasn’t terrible either, like 8-10mph onshore.

I went to a spot that I haven’t surfed in a while but is one of my home breaks that I surfed a ton in the past. The sand bars got funky for a while but it seems they are back and working.

I rode a boart that I haven’t ridden in almost a year, my 8’1” McTavish 8 Ball, single fin. I forgot how much fun this boart is. I caught wave after wave and got a ton of quality rides.

The conditions were bumpy / semi-choppy, waist - chest with a few peaks in the shoulder / head high range. Despite the onshore wind the sets would line up pretty well and were somewhat organized.

Some waves were bumpy rides, others had clean faces and a good shoulder to carve up. I mostly remember the larger waves and late takeoffs that had steep drops. The boart just takes off when put on rail!

 

"Barry Would Go"

 

Barry would nap.

 

Like yesterday, catching a few waves before work always starts the day out right.
When things aren't going right, I know I at least have that.

 

More waist - chest ESE windswell this morning. I rode two boarts today. First I rode the 6’4” Flashback Fish for an hour and a half, and then I rode the 6’ M-80 for an hour and a half. The waves were kinda soft and crumbly but I was able to catch lots of waves on both boarts.

It was better earlier with the outgoing tide, it was still fun when the tide started coming in but it lost a little bit of its punch. With a wait there was a good set here and there. I made sure to wait for a good one to end it on.

 

Fun waist to chest out front.
Warm water and my buddy met me half way through a 4 hour session.

Rashes everywhere and noodle arms. Good morning in San Diego!

 

Shorter borts and mushy waves - how do you make speed to get through closeout sections? Truly a question... I’m riding my mini mal a ton so I just do the heel/toe rocking and turning up and down the face and going up on the nose. Short bort the same?

 

Delmarva this morning came through with some fun a-framey waves. This summer is really something. This is like the 5th day in a row with fun waves, and we were just coming off another long swell in mid-july.

 

Some shorter boards are THE fastest boards in small-medium sized mushy waves. Faster than a mid length or longboard. It depends a lot on the width of the board and rocker. Wide flat rockered short boards naturally make tons of speed because they plane so efficiently and have less drag than a longer board. You just paddle in, set a line, and they fly - even in mush. More traditional small wave shortboards will still go fast in mushy waist to chest high waves, but they have to be worked a bit to generate speed (i.e. pumped off the rear foot to climb up the wave face a bit, bank back down, repeat two or three times and you're cruising.

 

I get it now. It’s how I see the younger kids making enough speed to carve around even on whitewash And it explains how my red bort catches waves so well but needs some wave energy to get moving or me messing around pumping and walking to get speed and then keep it. It’s got a ton of entry rocker to the first 2’ and some slight kick in the tail but the width is in the 23” range and it’s flat to concave underneath. I also ride it front foot heavy. I may try riding it alittle bit neutral or rearward and see what she does. Awesome info Mitch and really stokes me on my “shortie” coming not soon enough lol

 

Combine that with a single concave and you basically have a dead flat planing surface between your feet. Built for speed!

 

Met up with some gulfsters this a.m at a local spot.. kinda private with an excellent sandbar .
Id say maybe waste high and really fun, lots of lefts and rights . We traded waves from 730 Dead low tide to about 1030 mid incoming high tide. Just a little north drift but easy to stay on the spot. Im always great full to everyone I surf with , were gonna try another spot closer to sebastian inlet in the morning .