Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Weirdo
This weekend, I started becoming quite fond of this board. (Pictures below were taken from Ebay where I bought the board two years ago.) I am growing a little concerned, however, that a 30-year-old board is more fragile than I think and I should not be surfing this thing. I'm starting to have dings open up. The glass underneath is kind of the consistency of the center of a Butterfinger bar. I might have to do some fixing before it goes out again. Any insight from the shapers and glassers out there?
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Surfing as character development
Pet peeve warning:
I hate it when a television show has characters who are supposed to be surfers. I don't mind if they throw it in as dialogue or whatever, but when they actually set a scene in the water and the actors look like they've been air-lifted onto the board and balanced there, it's really distracting.
Last night, I was watching Veronica Mars (which is a really great show, don't laugh!) and the brooding bad-ass rich kid Logan seemed a lot less brooding and whole lot less bad-ass when he was chatting with his friend while floating in the water in a shiny new wetsuit on a cheap-looking longboard. They were both sitting in the middle of the board so it was flat on the water. They looked like they would tip over if they had to try to raise the nose of the board out of the water to turn around should it occur to them to paddle for a wave.
It's like when you watch people who don't know how to play guitar, play guitar in the movies... takes you right out of the scene.
Good surfing scene on TV? Simon Baker in the premiere of "Smith" (which is cancelled, but that setting was GREAT). Baker, tanned, in boardshorts, cutting up a wave on a shortboard. (It helps that he can actually surf.) He trots to shore smiling and full of aloha spirit. He greets a couple hard-edge locals who give him a hard time. He backs off, but then kills them with single shots to the head from his sniper rifle. Every surfer's fantasy for dealing with aggro meat-heads.
I hate it when a television show has characters who are supposed to be surfers. I don't mind if they throw it in as dialogue or whatever, but when they actually set a scene in the water and the actors look like they've been air-lifted onto the board and balanced there, it's really distracting.
Last night, I was watching Veronica Mars (which is a really great show, don't laugh!) and the brooding bad-ass rich kid Logan seemed a lot less brooding and whole lot less bad-ass when he was chatting with his friend while floating in the water in a shiny new wetsuit on a cheap-looking longboard. They were both sitting in the middle of the board so it was flat on the water. They looked like they would tip over if they had to try to raise the nose of the board out of the water to turn around should it occur to them to paddle for a wave.
It's like when you watch people who don't know how to play guitar, play guitar in the movies... takes you right out of the scene.
Good surfing scene on TV? Simon Baker in the premiere of "Smith" (which is cancelled, but that setting was GREAT). Baker, tanned, in boardshorts, cutting up a wave on a shortboard. (It helps that he can actually surf.) He trots to shore smiling and full of aloha spirit. He greets a couple hard-edge locals who give him a hard time. He backs off, but then kills them with single shots to the head from his sniper rifle. Every surfer's fantasy for dealing with aggro meat-heads.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
What's that on the plate you're handing to me?
Oh! My ass! Why thank you!
Surf Sis and I met in the dark this morning to drive north for some shape. The first spot we checked was an unfamiliar break for both of us and between the fog, the unknown paddle-out, and the lack of surfers on the head-high waves breaking onto rocks, we quite rightly chickened out.
So we drove further north and checked out every goofy-foot's favorite point break. At first glance from above, all you could see was fog. You could kind of make out the white water as the wave broke, and sometimes you could see a little dark spidery thing cutting up and down the wave. It was easier to see when we paddled out, but there was still insufficient warning time for me when I was sitting inside hoping to pick off one of the more manageable and shapely waves. When I heard someone yell "outside," I looked out to see this wave looming toward me. I ducked one and I turtled another on the Weirdo board, but both times, I found myself doing cartwheels with my board as the push of water decided not to let me through. (I try not to let go of the board if I can help it. I always feel safer when I know my board is in my hands and not whipping around somewhere.)
By the time I came up for air, I was almost at shore, so I decided instead of trying to duck the next one, I would catch my breath on the beach then paddle out when the lull came. Bad choice. Resting on shore, I sufficiently psyched myself out enough not to go back out. It wasn't fear exactly. It was more a sense that I wouldn't catch anything with Weirdo (which I'm not quite used to yet) and an almost certain knowledge that to take the punishment of the paddle out wasn't going to be worth it. Instead, I decided to watch the show from shore.
It was definitely a tough day with the fog, the high tide, and the shore break. The same five guys were getting the majority of the waves. Every so often someone wouldn't kick out soon enough and the would completely go over the falls on the shore break. Ouch!
This is the first time I've psyched myself out in a couple of years. It ended up being a good thing really. I haven't sat down on the beach just to watch surfers since I started learning and it was nice to see some different styles out there.
Surf Sis, though, she rocked! She totally zoomed out to the line-up on the paddle-out and I could see her flipping her almost-locked hair when the fog lifted a little. She took off on a couple of waves, and they didn't really turn out like she wanted, but still... she took off!
In the meantime, Weirdo report: My pop-up's getting better on Weirdo, but not enough to make overhead close-outs today. Yesterday at the beach break was wally, but smaller so I had some waves to play on. Weirdo really holds when the wave gets a little hollow. Kinda fun. Me likey.
Surf Sis and I met in the dark this morning to drive north for some shape. The first spot we checked was an unfamiliar break for both of us and between the fog, the unknown paddle-out, and the lack of surfers on the head-high waves breaking onto rocks, we quite rightly chickened out.
So we drove further north and checked out every goofy-foot's favorite point break. At first glance from above, all you could see was fog. You could kind of make out the white water as the wave broke, and sometimes you could see a little dark spidery thing cutting up and down the wave. It was easier to see when we paddled out, but there was still insufficient warning time for me when I was sitting inside hoping to pick off one of the more manageable and shapely waves. When I heard someone yell "outside," I looked out to see this wave looming toward me. I ducked one and I turtled another on the Weirdo board, but both times, I found myself doing cartwheels with my board as the push of water decided not to let me through. (I try not to let go of the board if I can help it. I always feel safer when I know my board is in my hands and not whipping around somewhere.)
By the time I came up for air, I was almost at shore, so I decided instead of trying to duck the next one, I would catch my breath on the beach then paddle out when the lull came. Bad choice. Resting on shore, I sufficiently psyched myself out enough not to go back out. It wasn't fear exactly. It was more a sense that I wouldn't catch anything with Weirdo (which I'm not quite used to yet) and an almost certain knowledge that to take the punishment of the paddle out wasn't going to be worth it. Instead, I decided to watch the show from shore.
It was definitely a tough day with the fog, the high tide, and the shore break. The same five guys were getting the majority of the waves. Every so often someone wouldn't kick out soon enough and the would completely go over the falls on the shore break. Ouch!
This is the first time I've psyched myself out in a couple of years. It ended up being a good thing really. I haven't sat down on the beach just to watch surfers since I started learning and it was nice to see some different styles out there.
Surf Sis, though, she rocked! She totally zoomed out to the line-up on the paddle-out and I could see her flipping her almost-locked hair when the fog lifted a little. She took off on a couple of waves, and they didn't really turn out like she wanted, but still... she took off!
In the meantime, Weirdo report: My pop-up's getting better on Weirdo, but not enough to make overhead close-outs today. Yesterday at the beach break was wally, but smaller so I had some waves to play on. Weirdo really holds when the wave gets a little hollow. Kinda fun. Me likey.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Nurse Surf
I've been out of the water for almost two weeks and I think I'm starting to grow tree trunks for legs. Between my paranoia about rain runoff last week and being on call for the boyfriend after his surgery this week, I've become a landlubber.
This week, though, looks promising. The last two times I went out (lo, those many aeons ago), I surfed my Weirdo board and had a blast. My pop-up is a fraction of a second slow because Weirdo's two-feet shorter than what I'm used to riding, but when I actually get that Weirdo single-fin winged diamond tail to lock in, I'm in heaven! Hopefully, I won't chicken out of some of the hollower surf that's here because of the Santa Anas. I just need to get my pop-up up to speed and I'll be fine.
This week, though, looks promising. The last two times I went out (lo, those many aeons ago), I surfed my Weirdo board and had a blast. My pop-up is a fraction of a second slow because Weirdo's two-feet shorter than what I'm used to riding, but when I actually get that Weirdo single-fin winged diamond tail to lock in, I'm in heaven! Hopefully, I won't chicken out of some of the hollower surf that's here because of the Santa Anas. I just need to get my pop-up up to speed and I'll be fine.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)