Wave o' Lanterns

What a morn. Waves no more than rib cage high, about as high as this pic.

Not one car went by either way on the usually semi-busy street as a suited up. Old uptempo Willie Nelson song makin’ me boogie. Interesting to stop and look around at the hills, feel the still air, smell the ocean for once without cars zooming by. Paddle out, first out, super high tide but cleeeean as could be. Wave after wave after wave coming thru the point. Not big but well shaped and consistent. No one paddles out. Sunrise breaks thru the clouds looking like a huge old jack o’latern in the sky. Grab another 10 or so high tide mushy waves. No one out still. Otter pops his head up seemingly to say “Damn, we got it to ourselves today”. Grab another 20 or so long ones before I drag myself back to shore spent and stoked!

Best Halloween session. Very close to best under chest high session.


2.3 @ 14 from 200 degrees
1st out

Santa Anas & Winter

Go hand and hand.

I need some of both.


2.0 @ 17 secs from 195
1st out

Swell Caboose

Well the end of the lastest south just came and went. Not much on offer this morning but some waisties and a rare chest high.

But... I had more fun today than the other two bigger days earlier in the week. No one was out, no one dropping in on me, no one to lazily jockey, justall to myself to pick off anything I wanted.

Beautiful sunrise, as always. Blessed.

2.0 at 14 secs from 190
first and only out

Seeing a Central Shaft post on the section from the movie Litmus on Derek Hynd and me trying to decide what kind of board to shape next...

I came across this great, perfectly written Hynd missive on the FISH.



Twin Keels, preferably marine ply.
Straight railed.
Wide nosed.
Big swallow.
Low rocker.
Touch of roll.
Touch of concave.
Designed for real waves not real slop.
Anything more/anything less than two keels and it is
not a Fish.
Anyone advertising a Fish when it's NOT is false to
the roots and soul of surfing.

The Fish is essentially a kneeboard. It thrives on low
centre of gravity.
The more squat the surfer in a critical turn at speed,
the greater the response.
The more rail in the water, the better the projection.

The more The Fish is built to the surfer's power to
weight ratio, the better to ride any size.
Ride it the right way on the right wave and the
surfing experience explodes.
The 'HyndFish' is designed for real surf...JBay,
Burleigh, solid Bells: down the line set ups where
entry speed, delay and release, high line driving and
fade can be absolutely defined.


The 4oz model is built for a touch more response
though shorter lifespan.
The 6oz model is built for greater momentum and
durability.
For mine, the standard 70kg surfer can ride a 5'5"
Fish at 6 foot point surf no sweat as long as the
basics of low centre of gravity surfing are respected.

With the right gab rail bottom turn, body leaning
forward, the surfer can do just about anything in
setting up the perfect ride on the perfect wave.

The Fish is not to be surfed off the back foot.
Surf it from the front and let the keels do the rest.
And remember its origins...kneeboarding...low to the
rail.
The Fish has its variations but anything too much and
it morphs into twinny or thruster.
The micro wing comes into play as the surfer opts for
more everyday conditions.
It allows a more sudden break in flow, particularly in
the hook.

Jed Done from Bushrat builds the 'HyndFish' from his
country shack on the NSW South Coast.
There isn't a board builder more tuned to the roots
and soul of surfing.
I'm stoked to be associated with such a core
craftsman.

Derek Hynd

ps Buy hand crafted boards. Support true surfing. Say
no to imports.

Shitty

Sunrise pic from yesterday.

Today, out first and alone in the dark. Get some blind fun ones. An hour goes by and the biggest set come in finally, turn and go and see 8 fat ass longboarders all paddling out. Play slalom and by the time I am around them I can't catch up with the wave. The session went downhill from there. Too many heads and not enough waves. Everyone aggro. Sucked. Shitty. Swell dyin'.

Please remember an old rule from somewhere: If you come to a break, come by yourself or with one other buddy. Don't fucking roll up with 4 other people.

2.9 @ 14secs from 195
1st out

Shootin' Stars

Fuckin' cool! Paddled out, as usual, pre-light. Barely beat one guy down the path, first out! Very dark, sitting by myself as the older dude had to stretch forever on the beach. Millions of stars and constellations up in the sky. Saw a flash out of the corner of my eye up in the sky. And then another one. And another one. Shootin' or fallin' stars! About a dozen or so over the next 30 minutes. Just amazing out there. In between I was snaggin' some long dark blind rights. Warm water. Warm air. No one out until the sun came up. By then it mushed out beyond belief but the swell was still pushin' thru the tide....kinda.



3.8 @ 17 secs from 195

1st out

Dark lovin'

As everyone knew today, the huge tide at 8 was gonna kill it. Had to paddle out in the pitch black morning dew. At Point Pants, it don't matta, you know when and where the wave is gonna break. Got some good blind ones in the warm darkness. No one around. Spooky but lovely. Sun came out. Waves left for breakfast. So did I.

Should have paddled out at 3am I guess.

2.1 @ 20 secs from 210

Waterlogged

Pulled up to Point Pants and suited up.

Sat and sat. Enjoyed a couple small ones.

All by myself. Of course. Felt like this log in the picture.

Caught one should high wave that came out of nowhere. So fun. Fun, long, peeling right. Stayed right in the pocket on my single fin.

Got greedy and paddled back out. "Must be coming in now" I thought.

An hour later after nothing, I paddle in. Pissed and discouraged and bummed and late for work.

1.7 @ 12secs from 203
1st and only out

Friday the 13th

First off, you should never sell your old surfboards. Unless you really never liked it. I never liked this board. It came out wrong. The local burnout shaper didn't give me what I wanted. It was fast but built weak. He probably thought I would never know the difference back 10 years ago when I was starting out. Or maybe he didn't care. Been burnt out by the scene. By the new scene.

So last night I did the unthinkable and sold that board to a kid that started up surfing last year. Knew it would be a good board for someone transitioning. 50 bucks is good for any board. The kid showed up and you could see he still has that new surf stoke. He wanted my old thruster as his first foray into shortboarding. As with everyone, you gotta start shortin' it sometime and on something. This would work well for his beach break winter closeouts. 6'6" X 19" X 2 1/2" of fun.

He then saw my homemade fish and his eyes lit up. Very interested in shaping his own board. Wild eyed about it like I am. We talked glassing, design, dimensions, mistakes. I told him he should go for it instead of buying shitty used boards like mine. He took my thruster just because he came all the way over to see it. But you could tell it wouldn't last. He'll make his own soon. It will come out a little odd. A little weird. But, he'll have that feeling, that only you could have, if you are riding on a wave on something you created. Nothing is like that. At least for me. Incredible.

It was cool to get stoked, even if it was out of the ocean, on anything surf lately. Man, it is always shitty when you don't surf for a week.

Swell here it looks like. A least it's something. But isn't it mid October?

2.2 @ 14 secs from 295

Oh my god. I need to get wet. So dry. My skin and wetsuit are cracking. My boards are all fixed and ready.

Will Point Pants ever break again before the season is over?

I am left mind surfing this wave in West Oz. Looks like the last section is gonna throw.