Author Topic: A "Guest" Sup: 3 Main Choices  (Read 23176 times)

Night Wing

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Re: A "Guest" Sup: 3 Main Choices
« Reply #120 on: May 17, 2019, 06:28:45 PM »
My two friends "A" and "B" have arrived at my home and they're loading up my truck. Since there is a "Jeep Event" down on the Bolivar Peninsula this weekend; if you've seen the links to webcams to the beaches on the Bolivar Peninsula then you've seen all the vehicles parked on the beach and most of them will be camping out on those three beaches, I'm going to switch to a "Plan E" and take my two friends further down on Bolivar to the old Meacom's Fishing Pier which Hurricane Ike destroyed in 2008.

We should have nobody down there with us. Unfortunately, there is no streaming webcam because it is a deserted place now. Just the three of us along with the usual residents of the beach area (coyotes, gators, wild hogs, rabbits, rattlesnakes).

I may post back Saturday night if I'm not too dog tired, but if I am, I'll post back Sunday for sure.

Since we're all getting up at 4:00 am, we're going to "hit the sack" and get 7.5 hours of sleep and be gone by 4:30 am. We should arrived at the beach between 6:30 am-7:00 am.
« Last Edit: May 17, 2019, 06:37:52 PM by Night Wing »
Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

Night Wing

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Re: A "Guest" Sup: 3 Main Choices
« Reply #121 on: May 18, 2019, 06:51:02 PM »
Before me and my two friends left for the upper Texas coast, I checked the wind speed, wind speeds down at the cold Meacom's Fishing Pier and it was way high. Speed was around 19 mph, gusting to 32 mph. Yellow flag warnings were in effect.

https://www.galvestonislandbeachpatrol.com/flag-warning-system/

I knew of another spot on Galveston Island where the water was very shallow. Since the Galveston Fishing Pier is open 24 hours this time of the year, I called the pier.

They guy at GFP said they had green flag warnings at the pier. Wave height was 3.5' about 200 yards out from the beach. I told them I wanted to do so sup surfing with two newbies. He told me to go to 8 Mile Road and the waves at the beach there would be around 2.5' about 100 yards off the beach. So the beach at 8 Mile Road became "Plan F".

When we got to 8 Mile Road, it was 6:45 am and the waves were around 2' in height so it was good sign. Wind was about 17 mph gusting to 28 miles per hour. The waves were breaking into "beach wash" about 75 yards out. I told my two friends to surf the smaller waves closer to the beach.

I sup surfed with my Hammer and then my One World just to get a feel for the waves. I thought the small beach break waves would work for my two friends. While I was sup surfing, both of my friends watched me to see if they could duplicate my moves. I reminded them about what I had taught them on our flat water paddling session.

"A" started with my 8'11" Hammer and "B" started with my 11'1" One World. Both my Hammer and One World were using a 4 fin quad setup (2, 5") (2, 4'). I told both of my friends to paddle out on their knees, then turn around watch for a wave that was forming and then stand up and start paddling fast.

All was going good until they tried to standup. The fell off in the water, lots. When they fell into the water, it was about 4' in depth. Thank heavens for leashes too. But they were persistent and finally after 25 minutes, both of my friends were able to stand up and enjoyed being propelled along with the beach break white water. "A" had no problems with my 8'11 Hammer and my 11'1" One World.

"B" was not doing so good with my Hammer, but my One World was more to his liking. We took quite a few rest breaks so they could pick my mind on what they were doing and how they could do better. After being there 2 hours, they were doing quite well in my opinion. Both of my friends just wanted to "glide to the beach" which they did. They didn't have to change directions since they came straight to the beach.

Around 9:30 am, they felt bolder and wanted to go out to the bigger waves. I told them I didn't think that was a good idea since the waves further out were very choppy and they were all of 3.5" in height. But they wanted to try. So I took my Hammer out and "A" was using my One World. I figured if something went wrong, I would be right there for help. I did the same for "B".

They only thing that did go wrong, they couldn't stand up in the choppy waves since the time between waves further on out was around 4 seconds. Just a little too rough for both of them.

Around 10:00 am, we got out some sub sandwiches my wife made for us the night before that was in the cooler I brought with us. Out came the Gatorade too. At 11:00 am, both of them were back surfing the smaller beach break waves closer to the beach. They were having a blast. They even learned how to turn the boards right and left by leaning their upper bodies right and left. One other item, both are regular footers, "not" goofy footers.

At noon, I asked them if they wanted to return to my home. They said, if it was alright with me, just one more hour of surfing. I said, "its ok with me". At 1:00 pm, I could tell they were tired and they were ready to leave.

On the way back to my home, I asked them which of my two boards did they like sup surfing the best . Both of them told me they liked my 11'1" One World the best.

The one thing they did notice was how "floaty" both of my boards felt. I told them saltwater is more buoyant than fresh water. The other thing they noticed, how nice the glide was with my One World and the speed of it also.

So I asked them would they like to go with me again, both of them said they would. Then I asked them about the length of my One World and they said it surfs "real nice". But I reminded them that a guest board is going to spend more time doing flat water paddling than surfing. They both said they understood that.

They both said for flat water paddling, they thought they would be more comfortable with a 32" width because of the 31" width of my Hammer versus the 30" width of my One World.

Then they asked me if a 10'5" Blue Planet "Duke" would surf ok. I told them the Duke is 190 liters and my One World is 173 liters and it would surf very well for each of their weights for the smallish waves we have here on the upper Texas coast. And I also told them I can handle 190 liters.

By the time we reached home, they were both very tired. I wasn't that tired so I cleaned up both boards and everything else that needed to be cleaned equipment wise. So instead of going to their homes, they are both staying with me this Saturday night and will go home to their respective homes Sunday morning.

 





 
Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

1tuberider

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Re: A "Guest" Sup: 3 Main Choices
« Reply #122 on: May 19, 2019, 06:08:26 AM »
You did good NW.  Maybee this thread should be in the share the stoke area.

So when your friends leave, stop by a sup store. I bet they got enough stoke they will buy
their own.  No store near close,   War dog near online.

I have over 14 sup. You could call them guest boards, but all were purchased for my various
uses and upgrades. I have it covered so to say. No problem bringing friends, but mostly used
by the 4 grandkids we are raising and the other dozen we are not raising.  Gotta have a few
paddles for the crew.

Your friends were able to use your two very different boards. They must
have had good balance and strength, especially to handle the hammer the first time.
I would ask if they are ready to make their own commitment.

Round out your quiver. I don't see a 14' or 8', how about a inflatable like ULi
or maybe even the hobie peddle board. That would be interesting for flat water
and probably be popular with your crew.

I started surfing around the same time you did. Only break was serving Uncle Sam.
I give you an invite to head to PNW and try some of our offerings and friendships.
Bring your wetsuit.

You make it interesting NW. Keep sharing the stoke.

Sea ya

Night Wing

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Re: A "Guest" Sup: 3 Main Choices
« Reply #123 on: May 19, 2019, 12:34:06 PM »
@ 1tuberider

When it came to my 8'11' Hammer, for the first hour, both of my friends spent more time "in" the water than riding my Hammer. The wind was blowing on shore from the southeast with a steady 18-20 mph, gusting to 28-30 mph. The wind gusts were the worst for my two friends.

Everytime they would stand up from a kneeling position to catch try a wave on my 31" wide Hammer, the wind and choppy water would make them lose their balance and in the water they would go. I also suspected, their different weights and the Hammer's 140 liters weren't meshing well. I kept telling them once they stood up, immediately go into a small crouch with a surf stance to negate the effects of the high wind.

Both of my friends did much better on my One World with it's 30" in width. The length of my 11'1" One World came into play here along with it's 173 letters. "A" finally got the hang of riding my Hammer, but he had to get into the smallest waves out from the beach, say 100 yards out where the waves were around 2' in height.

I spent more time riding my Hammer since it was just "A" and me riding it. "B" liked my One World. So "A" and "B" shared riding time on my One World. When "B" was riding my One World, "A" was content to ride my Hammer while I cooled my heals on the beach keeping an eye on both of them. When "B" got a little tired, "A" rode my One World.

There were other prone surfers out there, but their low liter and short in length surfboards weren't getting the rides like we were. My 11'1" One World easily got 75 yard rides just about anytime there was a 2' wave. With the choppy waves being driven by the high wind speed, I didn't want my friends going out where the bigger waves of 3.5'-4.5" were. My gut feeling was not to push our luck. When I first saw the choppy waves and felt the high wind speed, "safety" was the primary factor and having "fun" was the secondary factor.

There really isn't any sup places to looks at a sup in my area. Prone surfers rule the roost on the Texas coastline and there are quite a few surf shops carrying lots of surfboards, not sups. I'm not a fan of inflatable sups or pedal boards. These two just don't appeal to me.

I did find out one thing about my two friends. They, like me, love the "glide" of a sup. Especially the glide of my 11'1" One World. As for my friends' balance, they can both roller skate quite well so I knew they had balance. Just getting their balance used to the dynamic lift of a wave underneath a sup was something their balance never encountered before. But they caught on quick in not optimum wind and water conditions.

When both of my friends left for their homes this morning, they both told me they would keep in touch with me when it comes to a guest board because they want to "pick my brain" on what I like and dislike when it comes to purchasing a sup.




« Last Edit: May 19, 2019, 12:36:46 PM by Night Wing »
Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

Night Wing

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Re: A "Guest" Sup: 3 Main Choices
« Reply #124 on: June 12, 2019, 07:03:36 PM »
I put both of my friends on a conference call and we had a nice 20 minute phone conversation for the Guest Board. I took in my physical limitations along with my two friends likes and dislikes and came up with a sup board that all three of us will like for flat water paddling and sup surfing. Might even try tanker bow wave surfing too.

The board we all agreed upon was the Blue Planet "Duke" and it's specs are 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 liters. The link to it is below.

https://www.blueplanetsurf.com/105-x-32-duke-2019.html

I'll give my reasons why I chose the Duke in a new topic, but that will have to wait until tomorrow (Thursday) morning. I'll put the topic in the "Sup Gear Reviews / Newly Acquired / On Order" child board.
Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

 


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