Topics

16

Technique / Taking off into heavy off-shore W (dont' say the word)

« on: April 30, 2014, 02:35:21 PM »

Had a beautiful session this morning at Westhaven State Park here in WA. Waist to head, groomed faces, everyone smiling.  We have a rare April heat wave going on now. The offshore wind was really strong this morning (high pressure building today). I have always liked offshore breeze, it makes the waves feather nice and gives them a cool shape, but today there was too much and I hated it.

To get outside I just needed to stand there with my paddle up like a sail and I could be to the outside in no time, I could have made it to Japan in about 3 hours. That was nice but, that extra strong offshore caused me a lot of problems getting waves. In normal good take off position I would stall out as soon as my board canted out over the wave face. Over and over, it was really pissing me off. Actually it was making me wish I had a pointy nosed fish-shape surfboard, not an All-Wave. That big round nose just caused me nothing but trouble. As a matter of fact I fell off the back when I lost a wave and the board blew over my head behind me.

Any tips? Is there something I could have done to mitigate?

The only waves I got was if I took off way inside, which came with it's own set of problems. Like missing a wave and then taking 5 on the head before I could get back out. I was exhausted by the end of a 2 hour session. I caught a set wave and was riding it all the way in to go to work and the reform foam-ball blew the paddle out of my hands. I spent 20 mins to find it.

Great fun. I am going to work until Midnight if I have to, so I can be back in the morning.

17

Sessions / PAC-NW Damon Point State park

« on: March 24, 2014, 10:26:54 AM »

Went yesterday. 5 to 7 feet W swell, low tide at 10:15. I was there from 0730 to 0930.

Day started out rocky, had several tumbles and a cramp in my right shoulder, but I got my wetsuit zipped.

I chose this location, because I had to drop a tractor off at my folk's farm and I needed an easy paddle out. This is shore break, so the paddle out was easy.

I got there about mid tide, which is no good below 8 feet, it breaks on shore. Once it begins to get to the lower 1/3 of the cycle the sandbars begin to take shape. About midway down the point I started to get some zippers with a decent shoulder to get out of. The waves had some snort, they were top to bottom vertical pitching out. The waves were short, average ride was drop in, turn down the line, and get out. A few had time for some wiggles. A little too fast for my SUP I had to take off near the shoulder to make it out of any waves. Most rides were bail outs before I hit sand but I did find some good take-off spots and had a blast going both left and right. Lots of speed at times. Lots of embarrassing at times. 

Ride of the day was on a right hander headed towards an a-frame with another wave that was doubled up. Instead of bottom turn and out the back I went bottom to top right onto the double. Had that weightless feeling for a good long second.

The point itself looked great, straight up walls peeling to the left, but that spot has a lot of current and is just to advanced for me on my first session in months.

A seal stuck his head up next to my board, like 12" away. That was not cool. I was looking out and he chuffed at me. Pretty startling.

18

SouthEast / Help Me Plan - Florida Vacation

« on: March 17, 2014, 01:07:49 PM »

Hi there,

Part 1

My family and I are going to be in Florida (Miami/FLiquordale) area for a week in June on our way to the Carribean. I would like to spend a day or two at a beach where I could possibly SUP surf. Is there somewhere within an hour that I could do this? I understand I won't get great conditions but catching any wave in warm weather is always welcome for me coming from fullsuit-in-the-summer country. 

Obviously I would need to find a rental shop near the beach and the beach would have to be somewhere the kids could muck around on the shore. Any help would be great.

Part 2

We are going to be in Marathon (in the keys) for a week after the Carribean. This is going to be the fishing part of the vacation. Would like some suggestions on both Guides, charters and DIY trips in the area. We have a house on a canal, and could easily rent kayaks to fish with. We prefer hands on (inshore, fly or gear) to trolling. I wouldn't mind SUP fishing, but my dad is along for this portion of the trip and he doesn't SUP. We are semi-experienced Kayak fishers here in the PacNW.

Thanks for the help. Cheers!

 

19

Random / Sunk My Boat this Weekend

« on: February 24, 2014, 10:46:31 AM »

 





We have a 17' jon boat with a 45 horse jet motor on it. We use it to chase salmon and steelhead in rivers. The rivers I fish are small and fast with a lot of woody debris in them.

This weekend I was fishing with a client and my Dad, the day had started out great we had released a beautiful native steelhead at the boat and then it went south very quickly.

The way we fish is to float down the river backwards using an electric motor to steer as we drift our offerings along the bottom. When we get to a fast area, I fire up the main motor and use it to navigate. With a jet pump I can run through 4" of water on plane, and can back through water about 8" deep.

We were floating through a fast riffle and I was switching back to my big motor. On a Mercury you have to be in neutral to start the motor, and I went to start the motor with plenty of time to navigate. Motor in forward (nothing), move back shifter (nothing), motor in reverse (nothing) move forward shifter, all the time trying to start the motor. Then I think maybe I bumped the kill switch, this has happened before, looks fine. Mess with the motor again, look up and we are 20 feet out from a log in the river. It is mostly underwater, but a bit sticks up.

I run the electric to try and do a bounce and spin, we hit the log at a 45 degree angle not quite far enough off of it to spin. I never panicked at all the entire time, I kept trying different things right up until we went down. Simple fact is I mis-handled the shifter 4 times in a row, then looked for a problem that wasn't there. When we got the motor in the garage, we touched the key and the motor immediately kicked

The starboard gunnel rose up on the log, while the port gunnel went down. We swamped in about 2 seconds. Everyone made it out fine, with the help of another boat. We retrieved the boat in about 3 hours, after securing access to the bank near the boat and getting an excavator down to it. I choked it with a haywire and we got it out.

Let that be a lesson to everyone. Fun times can turn south really quick. Be careful out there.

20

Random / The Booze Thread

« on: August 16, 2013, 09:36:03 AM »

I don't have a lot to add to the SUP threads as a relative beginner, but I feel like I have some expertise in drinking whisky.

What is your favorite booze?

I mostly like Whisky, some gin. I hate all fruity mixed drinks.

I am a fan of some Canadian blends Crown Royal and Pendleton are easy to get.

I like bourbon on the rocks a lot, Makers Mark, and lately this small batch bourbon has been fantastic. It is called Lake Chelan Blue Spirits. Smooth and sweet, like my wife.

I'm okay with scotch, but don't usually buy it. If you offer me some though, I'll drink up.

What is your favorite drink?

I like scotch neat.

Bourbon and blended on the rocks, and wait 5 minutes.

How many of you work at places where people have an afternoon/evening drink?

I don't know why this is, but it seems like over the last couple of years I have seen an increase in work-place drinking. Some of my clients' have really nice bars in their offices, my boss keeps a few bottles behind his desk to celebrate big sales, or other success. It is not like Don Draper stuff, but lately it seems like someone is always wanting to have an afternoon drink meeting. I will admit that if I have to work late, having a drink at the end of the normal shift helps get my mind right to work late.

I just got a call a few minutes ago from my accountant, he is going to introduce me to a prospective client this afternoon, at the bar.

21

Technique / Getting Out of a wave

« on: August 09, 2013, 02:52:38 PM »

Had a fun session this morning. I came out ready to work on my back hand SUSing and got some good work in. Was alone at the break I chose, and the waves were things of beauty. Gorgeous to look at.  Waist high, steep, and fast. Much different from the mush I had been surfing on the last two times out. These little beach break gems were pitching hollow into about 2' or less of water.

Out of the 40 or so waves I rode, I made the shoulder maybe 5 times. The rest of them I just could not outrun. Sometimes it was because it closed out, the other times I just couldn't get there fast enough. The first time I was perched between the end of the pad and the nose (gargoyle style) on a high line (regular foot going right), big dumb smile on my face, and all my focus was on the shoulder. . . Needless to say I faded right up into the lip and was tossed on my hip in about 8" of water (bad spatial awareness), and to make matters worse the board is tossed right on me, I blocked the kill-shot with the paddle and now my right ring finger is like a kielbasa, goes good with my broken left pinky from early July (leash stupidity).

Anyway after that I was a bit gun shy and would just turn out of the waves before they got fast, for fear of going down like that again. Don't get me wrong I tried for any shoulder I thought I could conceivably get to.

So when do you decide to turn out of a wave?

What do you do if you are past the point of no return? Just straighten out? Jump off the back?

When I back out of wave before the drop (thinking it will close out), I fall down a lot because of the quick deceleration and destabilization. Any tips for that?

I had a lot of fun this morning, but I had some of the most awkward and painful wipeouts of my short SUP career. Obviously my main weakness is knowing which waves to take and which not to take.

22

Random / Talent on the WA Coast

« on: July 12, 2013, 09:45:51 AM »

One of my buddies just sent me this link today.

http://www.jeffrouitto.com

Check this guy out. Turns driftwood, and other junk wood into amazing art and functional art. I have seen a lot of his stuff around, but I never realized that it all came from the same guy. A young guy who likes to surf.

23

SUP General / Water in my ears- How to get rid of it?

« on: July 08, 2013, 01:08:49 PM »

 

Anybody? This started a couple weeks ago in Cabo, sort of went away and then came back last week after surfing.

Basically anytime I turn my head to the side, I hear water, or sand or something moving around in there.

No pain, and I have cleaned them as much as I can, had my wife try douching them with Hydrogen peroxide, and the over the counter ear cleaning stuff. Nothing seems to work. Am I missing something?

How many of you use ear-plugs when you surf?

24

Gear Talk / 9'-6" All Wave - Kook's Review

« on: July 08, 2013, 10:00:38 AM »

I bought an All-Wave from JimK a couple months ago, sent all the way up here to the cold WA coast. My first surf was about Memorial Day and I have had it out at least 1x a week since then.

The following review is long, but I think it covers a lot of subjects.

I have used this board for SUPsurfing, riverSUP, windSUP, wakeSUP, and a little prone surfing. So you could say I have put it through it's paces. I have not done any SUPyoga, and you can probably rule that out. I haven't fished yet, but that will happen pretty soon.

About Me: Have a terrible addiction to water, been this way my entire life. If I go longer than about 4 days without holding a tiller, paddle, oar, tow rope, fishing rod, etc, I pretty much turn into a dickhead. 6'-2", 215lbs to 225lbs. Semi-athletic meaning I can hold my own on my City League basketball team and can do like 11 pull-ups. As a surfer, I am a newb. I prone surfed for years, but never really got better, I just got pickier as to when I would go and then finally stopped altogether.

Anyway the review:

SUS We have plenty of reviews on the AllWave as a SUSboard, all over the Zone. I have surfed the All-Wave DO Big Toe, to head high (Flag Day weekend, so fun). What can I say it is a wide forgiving board, that is easy to use. Stomp on the tail-pad and turn sharper, or trim it and walk up to the nose. It is not a fast board (I have only used the stock fins so far), but for everyday WA conditions (mush beach break, with lots of current) it is fast enough, and plenty stable. Catching waves is really easy

WakeSUP Wide stable board, but because it is slow you can't maneuver much before you lose the wake. I tried a regular boat wake with no fat-sacks so it was only about shin h igh wake. The coolest thing I was able to do was sit down, catch a Keystone Light tossed by someone in the boat, drink it and throw the empty back without coming off the wake. Maybe some fin experimentation will change the ride.

RiverSUP This board is made of some kind of plastic which seems really tough. I took the fins off and floated down the river with my buds on their kayaks. The river was just a low gradient valley stream, with a few riffles. Not much to say, I only fell off when I tried to go up a side stream which had a log across it. I thought I could scoot the board under a log and roll over the top of it (a la "Dukes of Hazzard" and land back on the board. I did land on it, on my back.

WindSUP I cobbled together a kit with a bunch of leftover parts that I didn't get rid of when I gave up on windsurfing and/or had kids. It was a 5.5m EzzyWave and accompanying parts, the sail was almost rigged correctly. I left the stock fins on it. I took it down to my local pond, which on summer afternoons has a pretty decent fetch, but short reach. (i.e. long and skinny). It also has a key ingredient, a walking path all the way around it, which makes for easy walks of shame should it happen.

Well, it was easy to sail. I am not a great windsurfer. The width makes it so forgiving, you can stand pretty much anywhere on the board. Railing upwind is simple, you just do it. Planing . . . .LOL. I had about 10 seconds where it felt like it was freeing up, but mostly was just chugging around making a tugboat wake. The board is pretty tough, I have given it a few pretty good mast hits now, and can't see any problems.

Prone Surfing Well, any port in a storm. This last weekend we were camping on the rugged Olympic Peninsula. There is so much current along these beach breaks, that even if you get outside standing (even on a 32" wide board) is really hard. I found a fix at a place called Ruby Beach. I could get in really close to these sea stacks where the southerly current could not reach, but as you know around any rocks there is a lot of mixed up swell bouncing off of them and again standing or even kneeling is too much work.

I found a spot where I could stand waist deep on a rock about the size of a vw beetle and hold my ground. Here I could catch a sideswell as it bounced off a big sea stack, by jumping onto the board on my belly. This was white water, I would have to steer away (right) from the sea stack on my belly and as the wave reformed it would make an A frame (the side wave from the rock meeting the main swell) I would stand up just before it and make a top turn on the A-frame for a great speed boost, and then steer between the rocks for a couple sections. Very fun surfing, and very strange to surf on that big of a board with no paddle for leverage. I started out with the paddle, but it was hard to hold onto the paddle and board while balancing on top of a rock.

All-in-all I think it is a great beginner board. It is tough and has lots of different uses. If the point is to have fun, then yeah I have been having a lot of that.

25

NorthWest / Washington Coast? Anyone?

« on: June 28, 2013, 10:26:02 AM »

Hi, new to the forum and SUP.

Is there anyone on here who SUS the Washington coast?

I have been mostly going to Ocean Shores (Jetty and Damon Point). My folks farm Cranberries on the North Bay which is why I usually head that direction. Get a 2 for one, visit Ma and Pa and get in a session.

I would really like to SUS with someone else. On flag day weekend we had head high surf I surfed Damon Point and there was another SUSer out that day. Great day. Short waist to head high rights 100 feet from the parking lot. The point I usually surf had 15 proners on it, which never happens.

When the surf is smaller I have still been having so much fun out at Damon, you can paddle out to the point in about 15 minutes from the parking lot, which is way better than when we used to walk out there to surf. When the tide is low enough the open ocean swells break over a sandbar about 100 yards offshore. Rights and lefts, sometimes pitching hollow. I have never seen anyone else surf there except me, and it is pretty uncomfortable to be out in the Harbor alone. There is a lot of current, crab pots, seals, and you are a ways offshore. The beach break is okay there, but it shifts so much that hunting peaks is the name of the game. Still it is a great place to learn to SUS, small waves and way easier to get out through the whitewater than at N. Jetty. Bring short fins, it is shorebreak unless you go to the sandbar out in the harbor.

I am going to be camping up on the Olympic Peninsula next weekend, will try some of the beaches up there that I haven't got to SUS yet. I think there is quite a bit of untapped potential up here. Go to this site it is aerial photos of every inch of Washington state beaches https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/coastalatlas/tools/ShorePhotos.aspx  you will see that headlands protect plenty of beaches/breaks that are only accessible via the water. You will have to use your imagination, they take the photos on calm clear days so there is rarely surf.

Anyway, if there are any SUSers heading to the coast PM me, I live on the way. Lets have some fun.

26

Sessions / Cabo - Old Mans 6-21

« on: June 28, 2013, 08:28:06 AM »

Just back from a few days in Cabo. It was a couples getaway not a surf trip. A quick trip report in case any of you are heading that way.

We went up to the Cabo Surf Hotel from our resort in Cabo San Lucas one morning to surf a bit. Cabo Surf Hotel has SUP, short and Longboards for rent. Lots of variety, but if you want a decent SUP you will have to call ahead and reserve something. I think a SUP rental is about $40 a day. It might be cheaper from the surf shop across the street. I rented a 9-6" X 20" Pearson Arrow (not a SUP). The CSH is right in front of Old Mans, or Aquapulquito beach which is about 100 yards west of "The Rock" and 300 yards west of "Zippers".

Waves were awesome for beginner-intermediate surfers. Head high long mushy right. I haven't prone surfed in years, since the SUP deal came along. I forgot how low to the water you sit and how much work it is to get from one place to another. Couple that with a raging hangover (drank 3 liters of water that morning and was still dehydrated) and I didn't have the best session, but I caught some fun ones and enjoyed the difference between a SUP and a surboard. I kept thinking how many more waves I would have caught on my SUP.

Crowd was thick, but the vibe was good, however there were NO sups in the lineup. The level of surfing was all over the place, from beginner that day to some absolute rippers. This is why I didn't SUP. I did see a guy rent a SUP (I think it was a Doyle) and he paddled out around everyone and found a left away from the crowd that broke near some rocks every now and then, he had the right idea. If I go back I wil do that for sure. The break he was surfing did not break often, but I saw him catch enough good rides, to be worth it. Plus the coastline there is pretty cool and I would like spend some time checking it out.

There was 8 of us in the group and only 2 surfed. Everyone else sat on the beach. The hotel rented chairs and umbrellas $8 per day, and served drinks and lunch to our party while I floundered around in the waves. My wife's bill after a few Pina coladas and lunch for both of us, plus a lot of water for me was $39. The cab ride from CSL to Los Cabos is $35 for 4 people.