This is the morning after last vid with the swell down to fun size. Keeping to the crowd avoidance theme I went past the already filling nice left, past the last beach access and found an empty bank.
Then, with a life of water experience I took the kook path to the wave. Or put another way, lazily ignore the current and go a bit to deep on the first set that comes. And after the wave runs away from me, start a stubborn fight in the foamy interior of the break on my 120l board. An hour long ugly struggle.
Finally I came all the way around the back to snag a few. Hope you like it.
Ah ah, yes, the lefts are often a gamble on these sandbanks:
- the current flowing into the wave face make them hollow and powerful
- but it is easy to be dragged too inside, and once in, there is no way out, you have to paddle well around the peak. I either sprint prone parallel to the beach towards the right (facing the ocean), or cruise around by the left trying to stay in the deep channel running along the beach, just outside the shorebreak.
I tend to give the lefts a wide berth and paddle out well 50m out on the shoulder.
On the other hand, the rights are easy, but very sensitive to the tide height.
Couple of tough sessions SJ! You still got a few nice ones in the end though
I can relate to the 'surf crowd good spot vs. take a punt on harder spot' and always found that the less crowded option was the better way to go, something really hard to accept watching good waves roll past and not being able to get onto them as a result of a crowd.
Sizey beach breaks on a SUP gets the adrenaline going that's for sure!
Slightly larger SUP's make it a ton easier getting around when there is lots of current and waves are shifty, smaller SUP's for nice conditions for sure. Last winter I settled into a larger SUP that still surfs well and found it a lot easier to get around the less crowded peaks and score some fun sessions with no one around.
Keep the vids coming, they are keeping the flame going for me atm
Wise words Colas. It is funny how a stubborn mindset can shut down rational thought. Thanks Souwester. Those couple of waves I finally caught fully paid for the effort before. And again, I so much prefer the natural vs human hassles. No bad feelings or negative residue after the session, just nice and tired.
Yes it is a custom. He is a very easy shaper to work with. Back in the day I once had 3 shortboards shaped by him and it went great. The sup is just as good as his prone boards. And he does some international shipping.
Great vid. Love the choice of music. (I am trying to understand the change in clothing through the video). But I do like to see a rolling wave in milky conditions.
So cantSUPenough,that jersey change is actually the result of it getting pulled over my head during the struggles. It remained tied around the waist until I pulled it back on for sun reflection at the end. A strange combo of a 4/3 suit for the water an air temp heading to 27c. This is a surf shirt I wear over my impact vest( other days) that obviously doesn't function well without the vest in the spin cycle.
Glad you enjoyed the vid. As you are very observant, did you see the almost wipeout on the first wave I got? You can see it in the camera wobble as I almost eat it on the bottom turn.