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Messages - JBMaine

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General Discussion / Re: 4/3 Wetsuit - 2023?
« on: January 08, 2023, 09:27:07 AM »
My 4/3 died last spring. I replaced it with a 4/3 from Vissla, a brand I had never tried. I got it at REI. I really like the fit, the lightness, and the suppleness. It was a big upgrade from the Bodyglove 4/3 that died after 3 years. I can’t report on durability as I have only used it late spring and then fall. As of now I would buy a Vissla again. My winter suit is Patagonia. My early summer 3/2 is a Bodyglove that somehow is still good after 7 years.

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General Discussion / Re: wetsuit seam repair
« on: February 04, 2022, 05:44:14 AM »
In the fall I repaired a 4/3 using patches I cut from an old dry bag glued down with e6000 adhesive. It seems to have worked well.

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Gear Talk / Re: placid? Yes and no
« on: October 10, 2021, 08:15:18 AM »
Thanks Rick. I have bend doing something very similar. I have been standing with the board parallel to the beach, paddling only on one side, timing my arc to drop in. Perhaps I will try your 180 turn instead of my 90 turn to see if it generates more speed.
John

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Gear Talk / Re: placid? Yes and no
« on: October 09, 2021, 09:17:24 AM »
An update - My first time out in head high + swell was the most frustrated I have ever been on a sup. In an hour and a half I was able to get on only 2 waves. I missed about 30. The small quads had the board pivoting after 2 strokes such that the third stroke had to be a corrective. This slowed the board so that I could not catch these bigger speedier waves, even when starting waaay inside.  (Insert comment about my poor stroke skills here!) As soon as I got home I put on the biggest quad set thinking that it would retard the turn tendency allowing for more initial speed. The next day’s session  I found that was correct so I have left the big quads on. It is still fun but it no longer spins within its own length. Are there any other over 6 foot SUPers who ride an 8’7” Placid?

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Gear Talk / Re: placid? Yes and no
« on: September 21, 2021, 02:27:49 PM »
Nice write up JB!
I am glad you are experimenting with fin setups and feeling the magic!

Hi Rick, For everyday use I am shooting for something between the “plank on marbles”  feeling of the small thruster and the butter smooth rail carves of the quad that I tried. (I will be back on the small thruster spinning 180’s the next time it gets glassy!) I imagine that my experience is due to my weight and height as you have said that your quad set up was very loose but mine was not. My next outing will be this weekend, in the forecasted rain, when I will try the Sunova big sides with the small center.

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Gear Talk / placid? Yes and no
« on: September 19, 2021, 02:25:16 PM »
I am a 65 year old sup surfer. With no background in surfing, I started 3 years ago on a Sunova Steeze (9’6”, 144 liters).  Last Feb, amidst the dark cold of a snowy Maine USA, forced to sequester from humanity in my bedroom to work through the computer,  I tossed  my family’s financial prudence aside and put a down payment on a new ride. I ordered a 8’7” Sunova Placid (125 liters).

It arrived on Monday, (more than 7 months of anticipation). Tropical storm Odette is now sliding through the North Atlantic pushing swell at my beach so it was a good time to try the board. I am used to a thruster so I set it up as that.  The Placid thruster set up has a center fin that is smaller than the sides. I choose the smallest sides with the even smaller center.

Sat morning was foggy and waist high glass. I paddle out thinking that it is a lot more tippy than what I am used to and that it  really does not want to go in a straight line. It needs to turn. I paddle around outside getting used to the board. I discover that the tipping is predictable and the board is much more stable if my stance is more narrow.

Time for a wave. I see a long grey lump moving at me out of the fog. Only 2 paddle strokes swings the board 90 degrees,  from parallel to the beach to pointing at it. There is no need for a step back turn. This board just pivots around where I am standing easily. Another stroke and I am on the wave. I do my compress and crank bottom turn that I learned on the bigger Steeze and. . .  WOAH I find myself doing a 180, going vertically back up the face into a floater off the lip. I have never gone vertical before. I have never done a floater before. I feel like some one has handed me the keys to their Porsche.

I spend the next 3 hours learning (and crashing a lot ). I am carving bottom to top on wave faces. It is not a speedy race down the line board but I am having fun turning. It feels like it is a plank on marbles. Just look and it turns. First ever floater - check. First ever vertical - check. First ever backside cutback - check. Yeehaa! Definitely not Placid.

It becomes clear that I can’t power in from outside. I must start farther inside where the wave is steeper. I am 6’2” and whenever I lean forward to do a power stroke, the shift in weight makes the nose dive. (Rick W suggested that I consider the 8’10” due to my height. - smart man, but I am learning to adapt.)

Day 2 - Lots of chop. The wind blows strongly from the side down the beach. I know that most on the zone run the Placid as a quad so I try it. I put on the smallest provided Sunova sides as the front pair and on the rear I place a pair of RFC 3.75 fins that I had. It is a completely different board! It is rock solid. There is no edgy tippy feeling. The chop is rolling over the rails and my feet. The  Placid is, well it is placid. Turns are no longer feeling like a plank on marbles. They are longer, but buttery smooth. I have fun but there is not a “yeehaa” moment.

 I am happy. I have never aspired to be a short board shredder but I have discovered that the feel of turning this thing can be really fun. I have only had a brief taste of what is possible.  This is an aspirational board for me. It can push the edge of my skill zone.  I expect to be playing with fins and learning from it for quite a while. It is good for oldsters to learn new stuff.

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I ended up getting a 9’6 Sunova Steeze @145L and this board really helped my surfing especially going down the line. You can ride it as a single fin and practice your longboard style
I have had my Steeze for a year and a half. It has been a great board to learn on for the sloping waves that are usually hitting my beach. After a bit I took Rick W’s advice and replaced the center fin with a smaller one. This has greatly aided its ease of turning. The longboardish shape forces you to (allows you to?) learn to run around on it.  The wide nose on a steep wave will force you to learn to be on the tail to do the bottom turn. Now as soon as I win the lottery I can get a shorter more curvy board. Until then I am “steezing”.

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Technique / Re: Funny thing with paddle length...
« on: July 16, 2020, 05:12:14 AM »
I second the reduction of blade size. This year I went from 90 square inches to 79. This resulted in a change of constant shoulder pain to none.

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