Wednesday, September 19, 2007

I hate surf shops

I tried putting on Yakima hard racks yesterday, anticipating a trip north this weekend with plenty of time to surf before going to a wedding.

In the boxes (and the running score):
- four Q-towers (+-0)
- five base pads, one is attached to a tower (+1)
- four stickers, two are already stuck to two towers (+1)
- three end caps, I guess I don't really need all of them (+-0)
- four clips (+-0)
- zero allen wrench, but I scavenged one that kinda fit (-1)
- zero locking houses (-5)

Obviously someone had bought this package, opened it, thought it was too hard to put together, and sent it back to Val Surf who re-sold it without checking the contents.

Feh.

I could also complain that my boyfriend didn't demand that the sales person check the contents, but he also bought it for me as a birthday present months ago, so I can't complain too much there.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Boogie, Bob, and Weave

Boogie board - sheeee-it am I sore today. Paddled out into the line-up and breathed heavily while Surf Sister and Riab laughed and laughed and laughed. Thanks for your support, girls.

Cooperfish. Okay. I didn't need it, but I couldn't resist. I bought Sensei J's V-bottom board this weekend. After catching close-out after close-out on the boogie board, I didn't have the energy to paddle out AGAIN, so I traded the sponge for something easier... a surfboard.

Of course, paddling and taking off are fine on the V-bottom. Turning is a different story. On not so shapely waves, making a balanced turn on that board is more than challenging, it's downright comical. I saw D laughing at me as I paddled back out into the line-up and he said all he saw was my head bobbing and weaving uncontrollably. Thanks for your support, guy.

I see there's some kind of energy in the water. I'm taking my bobbing and weaving new board to somewhere with fewer close-outs tomorrow.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Kick-out!

Needing to surf, no matter how unappealing the waves were, I trundled out with Doc III. The waves were better than they looked.

Short rides with a bottom, a top turn, and then a good launch off the bottom again to KICK OUT. (Frontside, of course.) It was all about the kick-out today.

My last wave had me a little befuddled. Frontside turn and I found wave that was going to jack up and pitch. I ended up high on the wave caught between thinking I should kick-out and thinking I could actually make a top turn and see where the wave went.

In the end, I did neither and chickened out of what probably would have been a cover-up. Instead, the wave took the board on a heavy rotation and I leaned back deciding I'd rather swim than get clobbered by the rail of the board. Curious. I actually realized that if I'd had more courage and derring-do, I'd have stepped forward and leaned into the rail that was wave-side so my board might not start pitching, and I might actually have gotten barreled. I wouldn't have made it out and I probably would have gotten a black eye, but I might actually have gotten barreled if I had just known what to do.

It's one of those a-ha! moments I treasure about surfing even if I sucked and didn't go with the epiphany.

Monday, September 03, 2007

Surfing, waiting

Last weekend was super fun. No more to report than that.

This weekend I was landlocked in my Illinois hometown for a wedding. I grew up with cornfields in my backyard which eventually got turned into a Wal-Mart when I was in high school. I drove by and found the Wal-Mart had closed, but only because there's a bigger swankier location just off the highway.

Right now I'm waiting for my poker-playing surgeon of a brother to get here so we can go to the beach. I'm not sure what to bring for him because the beach break might be closed out. Should I put him on Cooperfish to catch the whitewater because at least it's stable? Should I put him on Doc III because at least it's only 9'0" and less mass for a newbie to negotiate? Should I just screw it and toss him my boogie board?

Yes, I bought a boogie board and fins a couple of weeks ago. I've only been out on it once, but geez is it harder than it looks! What was an easy paddle-out on a longboard becomes a session of getting tossed around in the impact zone. I felt like such a kook. And then catching a wave was an exercise in sheer panic-denial. I looked down the line as this thing was jacking up, my longboarding self wondered who in their right minds takes off on this?!

Still, it was fun... and much easier to carry out to the beach.

Poker-playing Dr. Brother just called and bailed. He ground out $6 in winnings and got home at 5am.