Topics

331

SUP General / Does anyone ever use a nose clip?

« on: January 01, 2014, 02:44:21 PM »

I'm 56, been surfing for 41 years.  I've had the surfer's ear, exostosis surgery on both ears.  They were almost closed completely up and were driving me crazy.  The surgery was no fun, but my ears are much better these days and now I wear ear plugs religiously.  

Unfortunately, my sinuses are also messed up from so many years of dirty salt water.  I am constantly getting sinusitis or sinus infections every time I get water in my sinuses.  (They are not in such good shape even when there is not water in them)  I abhor the thought of wearing a nose clip, tried it a few times and absolutely hate it.  Uncomfortable and silly looking, but I think it's something I am going to have to do if I want to keep going in the surf.

Does anyone wear a nose clip?  Are there any other options?  I saw one product where there are plugs that clip into the inside of your nose.  Doesn't sound like much fun there either, but I ordered a pair anyway.  Should arrive this week. Any other thoughts or suggestions?

332

SUP General / Shark swimming in a wave: Is this photoshopped?

« on: December 30, 2013, 07:39:04 AM »

Here is a link to a Yahoo article showing children playing in the water with a moderate sized shark swimming in the wave.  I'm no shark expert, far from it, but I thought that they avoided the surf.  What do you think?

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/family-photo-captures-shark-lurking-just-feet-from-family-200736440.html

333

Gear Talk / Booties that a stingray can't penatrate?

« on: December 29, 2013, 12:45:50 PM »

I know that stingray barbs can go right through a conventional bootie or water shoe.  Does anyone know of something you could wear to protect yourself. 

334

SUP General / Nailed by a Stingray. Chapter Two: Serious Infection

« on: December 29, 2013, 10:14:36 AM »

Like I stated on my first thread about this, I got nailed on the top of the foot by a stingray 3 days ago.  Last night, a weird chain of events happened.  I was cleaning wax out of my ear and noticed a brief, sharp pain in my eardrum.  I suspected, correctly, that I had a tear in my eardrum.  Went to an urgent care doctor at about 6PM.  She confirmed that I did have a very small tear.  Nothing to worry about except that I'll have to stay out of the ocean for a long time.

Then, as an afterthought, I asked the doctor to look at my stingray sting.  Having been stung in the past, other than putting some antiseptic and a band aid on it, I didn't worry about it and hadn't paid any subsequent attention to my foot.   When she saw my foot I can swear I heard her gasp a little bit.  She said "Sir, you have a serious infection in this foot."  I said that was impossible because it had only been a day since the sting.  She said that it can easily happen in 24 hours because the ocean is now so dirty that you have to be concerned anytime something punctures your skin while underwater.  It's like an injection of germs.  

On really taking a look at it, I noticed that there was considerable swelling, which I had ignored, and the bottom part of my ankle had turned blue.  She gave me an antibiotic shot, and two kinds of gnarly oral antibiotics, saying that if there was not significant improvement within 48 hours, I would have to be admitted to the hospital.

Fortunately, it is looking much better and I feel stupid for ignoring it.  With the ear and the foot issues, I suppose that I will not be SUSing for a number of weeks.   ARGGGGG!!!

335

SUP General / Dolphins were messing with me this morning! Awesome!

« on: December 27, 2013, 11:08:05 AM »

Nobody around me for 200 yards either way and I was very slowly paddling, waiting for set waves, disturbing the water almost not at all.  Two adult dolphins and a pup crossed directly underneath my board.  Didn't think that much of it until the two adults surfaced on either side of me and rolled slightly to have a look at me.  They submerged and came back up again.  Then began crossing back and forth under my board, surfacing, diving, and followed me along my slow path for about 3 or 4 minutes.  I don't know if they can hear when they are on the surface or not, but when one was on the surface close enough to me to touch with my paddle (I didn't), I said "Hello, Beautiful!"  Probably silly of me, but I was enthralled by the remarkable experience.  After 3 or 4 minutes of fun, they probably got board of me, because the moved on.  They stayed in the general area for a half-hour or so before they finally left.  There were also hundreds of pelicans floating on the water just outside of the break too.  I noticed lots of bait fish everywhere just below the surface too.  I expect that's all related.  

I have surfed all of my life and seen dolphins more times than I can count, but I have never had a close encounter with them like this.  I swear these guys were messing with me. It was absolutely fabulous.  Made my day and sort of payed me back for the stringray zap yesterday!

336

SUP General / Nailed by a stingray today.

« on: December 26, 2013, 03:09:52 PM »

Weirdest thing today.  I was SUSing off of the power plant in Huntington Beach.  Was punching through some minor whitewater prone, with feet dangling off of the board and a ray got me...mid-water not on the bottom.  Right in the top of my foot and I did not step on it.  Was lying on my board getting situated to stand up.  I have been nailed before but I stepped right on it that time.  Hurts like crazy!

Has anyone heard of anyone getting stung without stepping on a ray before?  Also, I thought that the stingrays were only around in the summer.  Could it be a scorpion fish, which we have here, or something else?  

337

Gear Talk / Bathtub non-slip tape to protect rails?

« on: December 25, 2013, 10:42:59 AM »

I was in an SUP shop looking at the tape you stick to your rails to protect them from your paddle.  It looks very similar to me to the adhesive back non-slip tape you stick to bathtubs to keep you from slipping.  Both kind of spongy, adhesive back tape.  The rail saver stuff was $39 at the shop and the bathtub stuff is $9 at the hardware store.  Is there any reason why one could not use bathtub stuff to protect their rails?  

338

SoCal / Give Us Your Session Reports.

« on: December 22, 2013, 10:22:11 AM »

Let's hear about your most recent session.  You don't have to reveal the exact spot, if that's a sensitive subject.  How were the conditions?  If SUSing, how were the waves?  Water conditions?  How did you do?  Who was there?  Crowded, deserted?  How was the weather?  Was it an awesome day, so so, or did it suck?  

When I was doing SCUBA, we had a board where divers could log their dives.  It was cool to read about conditions and reports from up and down the coast, both good and bad.  I don't know if SoCal Zoners would be interested, but I thought it might be fun to do the same thing here.  

339

SUP General / Ever go for a night paddle or night SUS?

« on: December 19, 2013, 07:21:14 PM »

Have you ever strapped on some sort of lighting and gone for a night paddle?  How about a night SUS session in the surf.  I have a couple of extremely bright SCUBA dive lights, each as bright as car headlights maybe a bit brighter, and was thinking about rigging something up and going for a night surf.  The surf is so crowded here that it would be awesome to work out something where you could SUS at night with only a buddy out.  It could be a great idea, it could be a stupid idea.  Don't know.

340

Downwind and Racing / Has anyone downwinded Santa Cruz Island, CA?

« on: December 19, 2013, 11:28:07 AM »

Was just curious.  In August every year, I lead a kayak trip to Santa Cruz Island, CA.   We always take about a 10 mile trip around the island and paddle our kayaks back in a 15 to 25 knot tail wind.  I know nothing of downwinding, but the waves are often shoulder high.  It's a chore on a kayak and I was thinking about doing it this year for the first time on a SUP.  Do you think that would work?

341

Technique / Caught Inside: How do you hang on to your board?

« on: December 18, 2013, 11:17:04 AM »

When caught inside, we all know that it is a very bad thing to ditch your board when someone is paddling out behind you, no question there.  How do you hang on to an SUP?  I have always wrapped my arms and legs around traditional longboards when I must take a beating to protect someone paddling out behind me.  I have found that my AllWave 8'10 a little too wide to do this successfully.  Holding on to the carry cutout seems like a good way to break a finger.  What do you do?

342

SUP General / Who is the oldest person you know of that surfs on an SUP?

« on: December 16, 2013, 08:14:13 PM »

I was wondering what the age limit was for elderly people SUSing.  (not flatwater paddling, surfing)  Of course, there is no real age limit, but I expect that at some point, people are no longer strong enough to SUS as they age.  I know a gentleman who surfs at San Onofre on a waveski who is in his mid 70's.  I think SUSing is a little more strenuous than buttboarding, so I was interested to find out how old the old guys are.  Who do you know or know of?  

343

Training, Diet, and Fitness / Ever pull a muscle in your side?

« on: December 14, 2013, 04:10:31 PM »

I was out SUP surfing this morning, was starting to lose my balance and recovered but pulled a muscle in my side just under my rib cage.  Hurts like @#$%.  I'm trying to stretch it out but cant find a position to stretch that particular muscle.  Anyone have any ideas?  

344

Gear Talk / Newbie's perceptions on going from a 10'6 barge down to a 8'10 AllWave in surf.

« on: December 12, 2013, 08:10:16 PM »

I took the AllWave out in the surf for the first time today and noticed a number of interesting things that happen when you are a beginner who goes from a 10'6 beginner board to an 8'10 Allwave.  

6AM, 46 degree air temp, 57 degree water.  O'Neil Psychofreak wetsuit, hood, booties. (I got too warm) It was high almost tide, so I had the joy (cough) of dealing with backwash off the beach.  Waves were coming from the shore as well as from the ocean, so although it was calm, the ocean was pitching from a few directions at once.  This made balance interesting.  I know all this is probably a revelation to no one but me, but here is what I noticed:

1. A lighter, shorter board reacts more violently to an uneven ocean surface.  I fell over a couple of times until I got the hang of that.
2. The AllWave offers less side-to-side stability than the barge.  I fell over a couple other times until I got the hang of that.
3. Slightly bent knees and a paddle in the water is more important to staying upright on a smaller board.
Cool Stuff:
4. The AllWave paddles almost as fast as the 2 ft longer barge.  I think it accelerates much faster.
5. This one surprised me: I think the AllWave catches waves MORE easily than the bigger board.  I had no trouble catching and riding the mushy, knee-high waves.  
6. The AllWave feels very comfortable on a wave and turns easily when you have a foot on the tail.  
7. The AllWave weighs less than half of the barge; so much easier to carry back to the Jeep.

Conclusion: I love this board.  Thanks Carl for selling it to me.  Thanks to everyone who gave me advice and encouraged me to go all the way down to 8'10.

345

SUP Gear Reviews / Newly Acquired / On Order / My New AllWave 8'10

« on: December 11, 2013, 09:03:28 AM »

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to get together with Carl Cambilargiu, who made a special trip just to let me try his 8'10 AllWave demo board, and then was kind enough to sell it to me.  Holy cow!  What a great board!  

I was concerned that I would just fall off of the 8'10 being that is was almost a 2ft jump down in length from the beginner barge I was used to.  I started off tentatively, but I quickly realized that I could handle it and was instantly stoked.

My thanks to everyone who gave me advice.  Thanks especially to Carl for the help and the great deal.

-Mike