Yeah, first session wasn't as good as last time, but the second was unreal. It started pumping and the wind was howling offshore. The **** was tubing heavy, not that I got a tube but I saw a few tube rides paddling back out. $$$$# break was going off too. All the point dudes brought it in from the point cause it seemed too heavy and they started demolishing $$$$# break. I took some serious beatings in the **** and probably did about 15 laps without waves, but I still caught a few mind benders.
GUY
*Not the report you want to hear when you miss a session because of a last minute work obligation.
We're not talking about my style here, more so, my pain. Friday I could not find a thing to bitch about with the conditions, so I thought I would find something else to complain about.
The waves were just overhead and nearly perfect and they were rights. It seems like I go left far more often than I go right. Judging from pictures and videos I would say Sunset-esque. I could be way off on that, but that's what I imagined. Pretty powerful, but not necessarily hollow. After flying down the line towards the rocks a good dozen times I though I would try an off-the-top, and off the top I went. I fell backwards with a lot of force half way into a back flip I caught my head in the water and torqued my neck back. It felt like my eyes were going to pop and I saw a few stars, but I felt alright soon enough. I paddled back out and got some more.
It wasn't till that night till I felt like my head was going to roll off the back of my neck. I've been doing the robot ever since.
I went surfing the other day and it reminded me that this is winter and this is Oregon surfing. I put on a damp, cold wetsuit and second guessed the idea of a solo paddle out in a large, cold, and powerful swell. Once I was out in the water, the current picked me up and dragged me to where I wanted to be. Then, I was about a hundred yards to the north of where I wanted to be. After twenty minutes of paddling I was back where I should have been, and I caught a nice over head wave and kicked out before I thought I would be too far gone. I was too far gone. I Paddled another twenty minutes meeting "Finger", the easy-going, all-is-good kind of guy you need to run into in this type of outting, we managed to drift past the take-off zone and we each caught another. We pretended to have a nice discussion through our hoods about the last waves we caught, but we couldn't hear anything through our hoods. We nodded and caught a few more.
The image is from some notes I took last November. November can get spooky mate.
As a new installment to Surfloin, we are (I am) adding the Idiot's Guide To Idiot's Surf Repair. This is going to be a non-comprehensive help manual to one way or another get your dry-locked board back in the water. Forewarning, do not ruin your surfboard like I have. First off, we have the embedded fin box. What I do in this situation is bring the board to the nearest surf shop. When I get there they direct me to the village idiot. He tells me he's going to have to cut out the fin box and replace it, while telling me his latest Tijuana story. "Oh yeah, It'll be about 4-6 weeks, bro," he says. I say, "I'll take it home and fix it myself." I go home try to make sure it is straight, although a quarter inch deeper than normal, and spread a little cloth. I mix up some resin, soak the cloth, and BAM, done. A lot of sanding in this post was skipped because it is boring.
P.S. - My shaper at ditybirdsurf.com does not approve of my methods.
How to deal with the stripped out "grub" screws comes in the next edition of The Idiot's Guide To Surf Repair.
I went to see "One Track Mind", the new Woodshed Films movie, the other night. They have also made Shelter, Sprout, and September Sessions, if any of those ring a bell. They tend to be about professional, millionaire surfers who need escape from their everyday turmoil. Exactly. I am not sure what the draw is, but they sure draw a romantic little picture.
Anyway, this new flick is about these pros actually competing and how they keep their competitive edge. What's the drive? Winning, progression, revenge, adultery…whatever. It is an interesting new direction for the otherwise happy, flip-floppin' film makers. They mixed their style well with black-and-white interview sets up against the progressive surfing taking place by Dane Reynolds, A.I., Kelly, and those other guys. So the movie was well done up to one point. Enter Kolohe Andino.
So, this littler terd burglar comes into the movie talking like he is some equal to these other master thrashers of surfing, while being in no way on par. For the record, I don't only hate him because he's half my age and surfs better than I do. I also hate him because he has been trained and raised by pro surfers since he was nil, but has not proven anything except how to be market worthy to a bunch of surf corporations. He also has a prepubescent mustache captured perfectly in the movie by the well-placed lighting, which tells me he is most definitely a dirt bag. The movie seemed short too.
I am writing to you after a 36-hour search for something that could be called a wave. After nearly 200 miles of driving I found something close. Close enough, that is. After all was said and done, it was worth it, and I would do it again. I drove through a lot of rain and wind and spent some money on the way, but the end result made it worth it--this time. It doesn't always work out that way, and that makes one real bitter. How I deal with that bitterness is what this blog is all about.
I am just like most Oregon surfers. I have been at it for about five years. I am not actually dedicated enough to live on the Oregon coast. I probably think I know more and surf better than I actually do. I read about how a quad should ride compared with a bonzer but have never ridden a bonzer. I am more into surf culture than I would be if I could actually surf everyday. I am another dime-a-dozen, quintessential Oregon surfer. Oh yeah, I write a blog about it too!
On the other hand, I like thrusters more than anything else. I don't own a longboard. I am from the Midwest. Lastly, I am actually planning on moving farther away from the coast, and I am alright with that because I can bitch about it more.
*Don't expect regular updates, epic surf reports, or much worthwhile in any context. *Do expect lots of negativity, things other than surfing because there isn't enough of that to go around, and some drunken posts.
