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Stand Up Paddle => Sessions => Topic started by: OkiWild on June 30, 2019, 06:15:54 AM

Title: Spring Small Wave Blues
Post by: OkiWild on June 30, 2019, 06:15:54 AM
This spring has been a nightmare. The westerly wind band that blows between Hawaii and here is way south, so the swell has been really small. The local wind has been south to southeast, making the coast facing east too beat up to surf, but the swell is too small to wrap into wind-protected areas...

Wind finally dropped a little and switched to SSW, so I was able to surf Friday, Saturday, and today, taking a little video today with POV. Still small at waist to chest, but took probably 35 waves, so I'm set for a few days ;-)

Just under 5 minute video. Really short rides, so actual surfing is slowed to .7 speed.

Riding the Blue Planet NP10 at 10' x 28" x 128L. Awesome board for these conditions.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWZjquUyvJ0

Title: Re: Spring Small Wave Blues
Post by: FRP on June 30, 2019, 07:51:17 AM
Beautiful day! Clear water and nice rides. Looks like heaven. Thanks for posting.

Bob
Title: Re: Spring Small Wave Blues
Post by: Night Wing on June 30, 2019, 09:55:34 AM
That was nice video.

I've got a question. Were you surfing those waves with a 3 fin setup? If it was me, I would experiment and surf those waves with a 4 fin quad setup.

BTW, thanks for sharing your video.
Title: Re: Spring Small Wave Blues
Post by: OkiWild on June 30, 2019, 04:51:51 PM
That was nice video.

I've got a question. Were you surfing those waves with a 3 fin setup? If it was me, I would experiment and surf those waves with a 4 fin quad setup.

BTW, thanks for sharing your video.

Thanks NW. Yes, a thruster with Futures GL2 fins. Center fin leading edge 6.5" behind side fins leading edge. I've tried this board with the GL2 quad and it felt really stiff to turn in the small stuff. Needs a big open face and power for those. Ho-Stevie quad with pretty small second fins turned much better, but feels like a Japanese shopping cart (all four casters swivel) if not on a rail. Single fin pivots just like you'd expect it to. For days like this, the center could stand to be moved up a little, or a smaller center fin, for sure. Thought it was going to be bigger than it was... 
Title: Re: Spring Small Wave Blues
Post by: TallDude on June 30, 2019, 05:17:51 PM
It's good to see the raw footage with all the sounds and surrounding sights. I personally like seeing more than just the waves. Great spot there. The south wind for us pretty much blew our spring out too. Just now cleaning up nicely. Weekend crowds are crazy though.
Title: Re: Spring Small Wave Blues
Post by: supthecreek on July 01, 2019, 03:47:02 AM
I also appreciate the look around.... surf and travelogue is always good to see!

You throw the NP around nicely, and the speed of the video worked well.... thanks for the video  :)
Title: Re: Spring Small Wave Blues
Post by: surfercook on July 11, 2019, 06:34:01 PM
Sweet sesh! Nice and empty w/some fun little waves. The end made me lol. "Oh no"!
Title: Re: Spring Small Wave Blues
Post by: abmatt on July 12, 2019, 08:55:04 AM
Fun waves and nice board. Could you do a little mini-review of the Blue Planet? How's it noseride? Thanks.
Title: Re: Spring Small Wave Blues
Post by: OkiWild on July 17, 2019, 05:31:20 PM
Sweet sesh! Nice and empty w/some fun little waves. The end made me lol. "Oh no"!

LOL. Yea, I was just drying out and going to head in...


Fun waves and nice board. Could you do a little mini-review of the Blue Planet? How's it noseride? Thanks.

To be honest, I'm not qualified to give nose rider reviews...LOL  First time I stood on a SUP was exactly two years ago. It's been short boards since around 1980, and I've only owned one long board in my life before SUP. It was a high performance 9' board, and I only used it to take my daughter out when she was little. Hated everything about that board, and sold it. In hindsight, it was a great board, and the problem was me trying to surf it like a short board.

That said, over the last two years, I've had the chance to ride A LOT of different SUP long boards, and currently own three. I still suck at nose riding, as our waves here are mostly hollow, draining reef break that is only surfable 3 hours prior to three hours past high tide.. I love the long boards for the small or sloppy days. Much easier to stand on, and so easy to get into a wave. If I had to surf one board for the rest of my life, though, I would pick this one. At 28' wide, it's fast, but not super unstable. The pulled in round-pin tail is very thinned out, 1.5" narrower than the Ninja Warrior I also ride, which is more of a larger wave gun, and the side fins are also 1.5" closer grouped. So it turns on a dime without having to stand on the tail and stall the board. Big single concave in the nose, to a slight V in the tail. From the side, the deck looks dead flat, with all the rocker built into the bottom. Thin nose and tail. However, there's that big concave, putting the visible rocker more in the rails, and the bottom is flatter than it looks at first glance. It's a speed demon.

When I get into waves with more power than in this video, the board is very easy for me to stand all the way on the nose with both feet (you can see wax-mat all the way to the nose). Surprisingly easy for a novice nose rider like me. Swapping to a 9" single fin makes it a lot easier to get forward, but the rocker is flat enough that you have to get way back and pivot the board to really turn it hard, and the tail slips more in a hard rail-turn. I prefer to ride it as a true thruster with Futures GL2 fins. A little more challenging to get up on the nose like this, but that's how I like the board overall.

I'm a fan of boards that are going to last a long time, so I got this board in the traditional lay-up. It's a little heavier, but I surf the hell out of it (average three times per week), and it's still in like-new condition, except where I stuck the nose in the reef. I was shocked at how little damage there was compared to what I would have expected to see. Pulled the vent two days ago, and did a vacuum check. Still zero leaks in the board.

To date, I haven't been filming when it starts to get a little heavier, as I'm bot real comfortable with the camera yet... I find myself concentrating on the camera, so 90% of the time I leave it in the van. Coming into typhoon season now, and hoping to change that :-)  Should have some better footage of this board in action shortly!

Hope that answers at least some questions. I like to ramble... 

     
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