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I mostly use my sups now for flat water paddling. For surfing on the upper Texas coast, I have been "seduced by the Dark Side of the Force" by using my 9'3" Parallax single fin prone longboard instead of my sups. The fin I use for the longboard is a Flying Diamonds 10.5 Parallax fin placed right at the front of the fin box.

Thought I would do an update.

On February 14 (Valentine's Day), I had a little mishap at my home. Long story short, I have a 2 millimeter tear in my rotator cuff in my left shouder. Bummer!

The tear is small enough where it won't need surgery so it should heal itself through physical therapy. This tear really affects my left shoulder when doing a Haley Otto style pop-up on my 9'3" prone surfing longboard.

Anyhow, I got a phone call from my 7 year old niece. Through my wife and her mother talking via the phone, my niece found out about my shoulder problem.

She asked me, since I was going to be in "dry dock" so to speak until my shoulder heals so I could again go surfing, she wanted to learn how to surf using my longboard. I told her it would be easy to learn how to surf by doing a Haley Otto pop-up since my niece is 44" in height and weighs around 42 pounds.

Since her mother and her will be visiting our home, we have decided to let my niece learn how to surf using my longboard down at Quintana Beach when she visits. I will pick the weekend date by looking for the best weather conditions along with the best wave height conditions.

My niece told me she has been watching all of Haley's video's on surfing since I sent her all of my videos which I have on all of my four computers (2 desktop towers, 2 laptops).

She then asked me if I had seen the newest Haley video. I told my niece I didn't even know Haley had a new video. Anyhow, my niece sent me the newest video link in an email.

Me niece told me this is the one she likes best because it is all in s-l-o-w motion. It is a short minute and a half video, but it is a good one showing Haley's modified pop-up. And her doing her "cheater five" and true "hang ten" nose riding moves on her board along with her very good foot work.

Best seen in full screen mode a d 1080p HD.

@ Robert

Very nice video. Wished I lived in Hawaii.

My stretch goal is to get back into enough form this fall/winter so I can make a tropical surf trip at some point in 2024. Maybe El Salvador? I love me some right point breaks.

If you want to go to a place to surf a longboard or a sup; Pavones, Costa Rica is a good place in Central America if you like real l-o-n-g rides. Check out the video below. Watch it in 1080p HD in full screen mode.

When I registered back in the year 2016, with my user name not being water related, I had no trouble registering. I must have been lucky back then.

Where I live in southeast Texas, we would call your acquisition, "a barn find". Meaning it's a great find since the company is no longer in business and they built a lot of very goods sups. 

As for the $450 price you paid, you stole it. 

You'll going to love surfing that sup. 

@ Cookie

One last thing which I think will be helpful to you.

When it comes to physical therapy for shoulders, some therapists like to do therapy on the shoulder every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Therapy on a five day schedule like in the previous sentence, makes the shoulder stay weak and it takes much longer to heal.

My therapists disagree with this schedule. What my therapists told me is when they work their patients shoulders on Monday in a one hour session, they work the shoulder hard.

The shoulder needs a day of rest to recuperate from the Monday's session. This makes the shoulder joint get stronger along with the subsequent ligaments and tendons.

Work the shoulder on Wednesday, rest the shoulder on Thursday, work the shoulder on Friday and rest the shoulder on Saturday and give a bonus rest day for the shoulder on Sunday.

All I know is my therapists patients heal fast, properly (in my opinion) where their shoulders are pain free with the "day of rest" between therapy sessions.

A little background on me.

I had my shoulder surgeries done at the Sports Medicine Complex, which is affiliated with Memorial Herman Hospital, at The Woodlands, Texas. At this place, the surgeons offices are on the second and third floors. The physical therapy rooms are on the second floor and the operating rooms are on the first floor.

Since this place is a sports medicine complex, the surgeons do a lot of operating on professional athletes such as pro players for the NBA Houston Rockets, NFL Houston Texans, etc, etc. If these surgeons do a poor job on a professional athlete, the player's sports pro career is ruined. The surgeons at this complex are adamant about the therapists doing the Monday, Wednesday and Friday therapy sessions. Not the five day therapy sessions.

If you go back to a therapist and he/she wants to do the five day therapy sessions, if you do and if the shoulder isn't responding like you think it should, then do the three day therapy sessions like I did and see if the result is different to your shoulder.

The above is just "food for thought" for you. And...................."I won't charge you a dime for this consultation". 

@ Cookie

Don't shoot the messenger (me) on this post.

When I had to do physical therapy on my left shoulder in 2002 and again on my right shoulder in 2017, both of my therapists told me the same thing.

Both of my therapists told me shoulder surgery usually takes about 12 months to properly heal. When people don't do the required time for therapy on their own at their homes, the surgery doesn't heal properly and there will always be pain in their joints. This is why I was told to do my therapy on my own at my home every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in one hour sessions for the entire 12 month period.

I did what I was told even when I wasn't in the mood or I had "other things to do". If I didn't have the time, I made the time because I didn't want to have sore shoulders for the rest of my life. And my left and right shoulders are pain free.

Most people, like you, don't like doing physical therapy. Most people complain therapy "hurt" in those sessions. And when released from therapy, per their insurance, when told to continue doing therapy at their home for the time needed, these people didn't.

These types of people think the area involved in their surgery whether it be shoulder, hips, knees, etc........will heal on their own without doing the necessary therapy at their homes. It won't heal properly because the ligaments and tendons will take the "wrong set" which gives them pain.

It seems to me you didn't do the required therapy and the time required on your own at your home and the ligaments and tendons in your right shoulder "took the wrong set" which is causing your pain.

If your right shoulder is really giving you pain; go back to your physical therapist, tell him/her you were complacent about doing the necessary physical therapy at your home for the time required and tell your therapist or whoever gets assigned to you, you need their help to get rid of the pain in your right shoulder.

Your therapist will do a "reset" for those ligaments and tendons. And that reset, it will........HURT. But stay at it and your shoulder pain should go away.

They will tell you after you leave their care, to do the required therapy (shoulder exercises) in the time allotted for sessions and for the time they say (months) at your home on your own and "do them".

As for thumbnail video, I saw it. Speaking just for myself, nothing beats a live action streaming video because I look for details in the live action.

But I must say, the fin placement on my 10.5 Parallax fin is right at the front of the center fin box where the 10.5 Halo fin is 1 1/12" down from the front of the center fin box.

I hate it when I make typos.   I didn't catch the typo yesterday when I made the post.

The 10.5 Halo fin placement in the sentence above is wrong. It is not 1/12". It is 1 1/2" down from the front of the center fin box. It was correct the first time I mentioned how far down from the front of the center fin box further above in that post.

I also forgot to mention I can steer/turn my 9'3" longboard from the center of my board with the 10.5 Halo fin. Unconventional design in longboard center fins, but it works.

Thought I would give an update on my Donald Takayama 10.5 Halo fin.

When I got my Halo fin, I searched all over the internet looking for a video where someone is actually surfing a Halo fin. I wanted to see if the video would show where to place the fin in the long center fin box. Finding a video was not easy.

But luck was with me. I found a video of a Japanese woman in Hawaii surfing her longboard with her Halo fin. She basically surfs in a straight line towards the beach where she keeps the tail end of her longboard in touch with the face of the wave.

My 9'3' Parallax single fin longboard is a very fast board and can easily out run a wave. So instead of stepping back on the tail end to lift the nose of my Parallax up thereby slowing my board down, then moving toward the middle of the board to pick up speed again, I do small "S" shape turns in a straight line to slow my board down so my board stays in touch with the face of the wave while still generating speed.

In the video where she enters the water to lay on her Walden "Magic" model longboard to paddle out to catch a wave, you can see the black colored Halo fin. But you cannot see where she placed the fin in her center fin box.

Near the end of the video, basically at the 6:08 time stamp where she is showering off at the public showers to clean off her board, she turns her board to head on back to her vehicle. At this point you can see the fin placement and it looked to me she placed the Halo fin about 2" down from the front of the center fin box.



She doesn't do a lot of turning, just surfs in a straight line. Since my longboard is very fast and I like to surf in a straight line too, I wanted my board to feel just a little loose with my small "S" shaped turns. I decided to place my Halo fin 1 1/2" down from the front of the center fin box.

This fin placement was the "sweet spot" for my longboard. Since I'm 5'8" in height; tiny waves for me are knee high, small waves are waist high, medium waves are shoulder high and large waves are head high and above.

I've been down to Quintana Beach at different times to surf tiny, small and medium waves and I'm impressed with the 10.5 Halo fin. Since this fin is oversized, I have to surf this fin off the rails instead of placing my right foot to the left or right of the center line stringer which runs the length of the board in the middle of the board.

The Halo fin is faster than my 10.5 Parallax fin. But I must say, the fin placement on my 10.5 Parallax fin is right at the front of the center fin box where the 10.5 Halo fin is 1 1/12" down from the front of the center fin box.

I haven't had the chance to surf any of my three fins; 10.5 Parallax, 10.5 Involvement or 10.5 Halo in head high and above waves yet. Where I live, June 1st is the start of hurricane season for us and the season runs until November 1st.

Usually there will be a good tropical or hurricane which makes it into the Gulf of Mexico and eventually I'll get a chance to surf some head high waves. This usually occurs between Aug 15th and Sept 23rd so I'm looking forward to it.

@Cookie

Sorry to hear your surgically repaired shoulder is "not doing well". Both of my surgically repaired right and left shoulder joints weren't as invasive as your right shoulder replacement surgery.

After my first left shoulder surgery, my surgeon told me I would be in rehab for one month at the Sports Medicine complex at The Woodlands, Texas. Rehab was every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in one hour sessions for four weeks. After that, I was told to rehab my shoulder for the next eleven months at my home every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in one hour sessions. Result was no pain in my left shoulder.

I did the same thing after my right shoulder was operated and no pain in my right shoulder. My surgeon told me to get rid of my Werner 85 paddle and get a "75" paddle. So I ordered a women's small diameter Naish Alana 75, 2 piece paddle and it worked fabulous. So good in fact, I ordered a second Alana 75. Best paddle money I ever spent.

Nice to see you like your Boost fin. But maybe you might want to revisit surfing on a longboard. Should be easy on your right shoulder. The only caveat, your lower back has to be in good shape to do a pop-up.

Again, thanks for sharing your video.

Great to see another video from you on this site. I've missed seeing your videos on here. Maybe it is because I don't visit the Foil Zone forum on this site.

Those sup races looked nice. Glad to see them in your "neck of the woods" because where I surf and sup surf on the upper Texas coast on the Gulf of Mexico, I don't see any sup races.

Noticed your propeller on your efoil board. Came in real handy in those flat water conditions. I'm just curious. How long will your battery last before you need to recharge it?

Again, thanks for sharing your video on this site.

A 10' x 23" x 4.2" prone longboard on my wish list will be of similar volume.

When you eventually get your longboard above, ask your shaper what fin, fin length and where to position the fin in the center fin box if you plan on using your board as a single fin setup.

If a single fin setup, take a look at a Donald Takayama "Halo" center in. They come in different lengths. If your board has multiple fin boxes, Halo fins also come in side bites and they also come in a set of quads.

The video below will explain.

@ Badger

I've seen the wing foilers down at Quintana Beach and at Surfside Beach. They don't wing foil too close to the beach because I'm sure at some point, their wings have hit the unseen sandbars when the wind is up which turns the water in chocolate milk color. Once a foiler hits a sandbar the first time and the consequence of hitting that unseen sandbar, they know exactly where the sandbar is from then on. "Once burned, a lesson learned" moment.

I've also seen the wing foil videos for Quintana Beach and Surfside Beach. I can't wing foil because as you know, I have had both my right and left shoulder joints "surgically repaired".

One has to have "arm strength" to hold on to the bar to control the sail. If I tried to wing foil, on a good windy day where the wind speed is around 20 mph and gusting to near 27 mph, with my surgically repaired shoulders, I'm sure a gust of wind would come along and try to "yank the bar out of my hands on the bar".

I'm guessing the "yanking wind gust" would put lots of pressure on the scar tissue in both of my surgically repaired shoulder joints. The left shoulder joint was surgically repaired in 2002 and then my right shoulder joint was repaired in 2017.

The same surgeon did both of my shoulders. Since he knew I surfed, he told me to stick to longboard surfing which would be "easier on both of my repaired shoulders".

When I last saw my spinal surgeon in January of 2023, at that time I was 72 years old. He told me if I wanted to keep longboard surfing; since he himself surfed when he was younger and he knew my love for the water since I chose a procedure, if things went wrong which could have put me walking with crutches for a partially paralyzed right leg, or worse, being relegated to being in a wheel chair for the rest of my life because my right leg would have been totally paralyzed, to find a surfing pop-up which would be easy to do and put very little stress on my repaired spine.

My style of longboard surfing is what I call, "finesse surfing" or as the younger surfers call it, "boring". I like a long gliding ride of 200 yards where I stay out in front of the wave making slow lazy "S" shaped turns so the tail end of my longboard stays in touch with the wave.

All of my outdoor water activities, I play smart instead of hard. My way of longboard surfing  is best seen in this YouTube video from Flying Robot Movies. And since your now 66 years old, I think you could do this type of longboard surfing.

This video is best seen in 1080p HD (high definition) in full screen mode.

@ Badger

You really cannot prone surf a sup because they are not designed to be prone surfed. They are too wide in width.

As an example, my 9'3" Parallax is 23 1/2" in width. Easy to prone paddle because of it's width. It is also designed to paddle fast when prone paddling back out from the beach to catch a wave. So I get the maximum amount of effort with the least amount of energy expended. This is why, even at my 73 years of age, my surfing sessions are around 3 hours long with rest breaks included.

My 11'1" One World sup is 30" in width and it is not designed to be prone paddled because it is too wide. Longboards and sups are "two different animals".

The reason why I don't foil is two fold.

Where I surf, the water is basically shallow out to 300 yards from the beach. The waves are wind driven. The bottom is sand and the sand is brown in color. When the wind comes up really good, the brown sand gets caught in suspension so from the bottom to the surface of the water, the water looks like "chocolate milk" in color.

Foil boards have the wing underneath the board. If the water is brown in color, since one can't see the sand bars, if the wing hits the sandbar, the foiler is going to go air borne.

Lastly, if the wave forecast is for waist high waves with a 7 second period and the foiler gets down to the beach and the waves are knee high with a 7 second period, the foiler is going to have to constantly "pump their legs" to keep foiling.

If I had to pump my legs to foil, after 15 minutes of time, my legs would be worn out and subsequently, my energy level would be spent for the day. This is my definition of "work and not fun".

Since I now have three new pop-ups which are easy for me to do and take less energy to do, I can keep longboard surfing.

One last item. With Thunderbolt Red construction, this type of construction makes any longboard easy on the body when riding it. In other words, easy on your knees.

To sum up. I'm 5'8" and weigh 144 pounds.

Below is review of the Parallax from a guy named Travis who is 6'4" and weighs 240 pounds. He rides a longer 9'9" Parallax with a Flying Diamonds 10.0 Involvement fin and he gives some great details from riding his Parallax and I agree with him since my 9'3" acts the same when I'm riding it.

The video is best seen in 1080p high definition and in full screen mode.