rick stoehrer Posted July 28, 2004 Share Posted July 28, 2004 in a developing tuesday night pattern, i surfed at long beach again last night. i was joined by an unnamed compatriot after he left work early for a "doctors appointment". so that would be a dr. long? we launched at 5 or so from pebble on the rising tide and putzed along shore (very along shore - great practice and fun when you are dang near on a rock) heading east and then out to circumnav milk where we played chicken along the shoreline with the dumping surf (the difference between excitement and destruction can be a very fine line and it's quite fun to see/feel and ride that razor wire) and then back along to the lee where we sat in about 6 inches of water and waited for the clapotis to meet and form those fun "zippers" when they converge! we did this for a bit and eventually felt silly that we were getting our jolly's in only 6 inches of water and so headed direclty over to long beach to see what surf we could find. and we did find it. the swells started to feel bottom at cape hedge there and then curl around a bit and into shore. most were chest high with a few larger. nice long, low swells that weren't moving particularly fast and were easy to catch and ride. and we did ride them....forward, backward, bongo and such. they were stellar conditions for gentle surf practice. nothing dumping with a great sandy bottom to run into if you did happen to run into it. i switched paddles with my chum and tried his powermaster blade last night...was very similar to having a shovel in the water! that blade face moves A LOT of water and while i don't think i'd like it for a long haul, it's pretty wonderful for surfing where you need lots of power very quickly but aren't really going very far (under your own propulsion anyways!) offered lots in way of moving your boat around. also, tried to surf sans paddle...tom mentioned how once he caught a wave, jp would more or less toss his paddle away...figured okay, lets try that and see what happens and while i didn't toss the paddle away (for gods sake, i'm not that crazy or that good and jp has a healthy dose of both!) i did take it out of the water and tried to control the boat with my hips alone....with mixed success. well, mostly the mix was all that sand in my ears, hair and nose but mixed none the less. occassionally i had the boat going where i intended and the rest of the time had to dip the paddle back into the wave face for control. it was great practice and really makes you realize what your hips/legs should be doing and i came to realize how much i "bully" the boat around with a paddle versus what i should be doing with the rest of my body. really, this should all be working in synch and i think that sometimes, i rely to heavily on the blade. i will contnue this practice as best i can until that % of time control is acheived is bumped up a bit. this seems very wortwhile practice. we left once the tide came up and the waves left, happy again with the performance of the avocets and how long beach has joyfully surprised me two tuesdays in a row. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markstephens Posted July 28, 2004 Share Posted July 28, 2004 Rick: it was great practice and really makes you realize what your hips/legs should be doing and i came to realize how much i "bully" the boat around with a paddle versus what i should be doing with the rest of my body. I'm trying to think of what aspect of the sport this statement would NOT apply to. It struck me as an important lesson to have in mind almost anytime I am in the boat. OK, maybe not so much with forward stroke... but I get bored pretty quickly with just paddling in a straight line. ;-) Mark Stephens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick stoehrer Posted July 28, 2004 Author Share Posted July 28, 2004 it was definitely an eye opening experience - it's one thing to understand and "know" and feel how your hips affect a boat but it really brings it home with rather dramatic and time sensitive results when you take the blade out while surfing! oh well, yet another in a long list of things to work at... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
o0dano0o Posted July 29, 2004 Share Posted July 29, 2004 Thanks for the report! Sounds like you had a good time. The only time I've ever surfed was a few years ago in my old carolina at a beach in maine. All I really remember is that I flipped, lost my sunglasses, and some kind souls in ww boats helped me back into my boat. Recently I've been feeling the call of kayak surfing and was thinking about trying to rent a boat with a planing hull and taking it to the beach to play. My current boat is a sirocco, and figured it was too long for surfing. But then I googled the avocet, and it seems that it is about same length as the sirocco. So maybe I could get by with my boat? Anyways, if your surfing sessions do become a regular thing, I would like to stop by some time and check it out. Take care, Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sings_evil_twin Posted July 29, 2004 Share Posted July 29, 2004 well, as "regular" as the appearance of waves allow. There are a handful of us in the Boston and north area who surf with short boats whenever waves show. Surf sessions (sho&go) are posted here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NNEsurfsession/ as well as here: http://www.npmb.com/cms2/forum_viewforum.php?28 I have extra short boats as well for those who want to try. sing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
o0dano0o Posted July 29, 2004 Share Posted July 29, 2004 very cool, i may have to take you up on that "let people try" thing.. : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick stoehrer Posted July 29, 2004 Author Share Posted July 29, 2004 morning! the sirocco is essentially a plastic gulf stream which is pretty much a clone of an orion...same designer, just tweaked a bit from co. to co. while the boat length is always a consideration, i think that a bigger factor with this boat will be the shape of the bows/stern. i owned an orion and it was a very fun surf boat but there were some things she didn't so as well as some and while my "newbie-ness" was/and maybe still is, probably a bigger factor than anything else, these were my experiences. she pitchpoled which was raucous, if wet, fun and bongo'd quite well. with the bows/stern as fine as they were, she pierced into the surf a bit much and it was sometimes quite difficult to go straight, but what the hell, that's half the fun and you get to work on your bongo! with all the width amidship, if you commit to a leaned turn, most of the boat was outta the water and you could turn her quite easilly. those are my experiences anyway and maybe others have something different to add. sing likes the short boats for their unbelievable responsiveness on a wave face and how you can make those little puppies, turn, dance and pretty much do whatever the heck you want (with an apt paddler mind you) and while the skills certainly have cross over advantages, i prefer the long boats. if a sea boat is what you paddle, being comfortable in surf in one can be an important aspect of your sea kayaking. besides, there's nothing like seeing the whole dang 17 feet or so spit into the air from a wave....pretty cool. of course if it's you being spit, you don't enjoy the view as your eyes are clamped shut but your friends get to enjoy it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sings_evil_twin Posted July 29, 2004 Share Posted July 29, 2004 of boats at this point. Got my SOF when I want to pitchpole or bongo surf (hey, it is a needed skill for long yakkers). Got me rippin' Boogie with those fins and rails that stick and thrust me down the waves. Got the Ultrafuge and the Chronic to play in the fun, forthy stuff on a river. I like 'em all. I especially like the optimal performance of the boats in their respective venues. Now, I just got to get a big river/runner or creeker for those higher CFS, steeper runs. sing PS. Someone recently called me a "kayak slut." Huh..? What can I say... I just want to have some fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick stoehrer Posted July 29, 2004 Author Share Posted July 29, 2004 paddle around huh? heard that about you...dang tramp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
o0dano0o Posted August 14, 2004 Share Posted August 14, 2004 I went to long beach with a friend this past wednesday and thursday, and we had a great time in the surf! At first we really had no idea what we were doing, but after a while, we got the hang of it. The bongo slide is one of those great mysteries of life that you never think will work until you try it for yourself. On weds the waves were modestly sized, giving us a good intro to surfing (I think.) Also, it was a crappy day weather wise, so we got to park for free. On Thursday, the waves were getting a bit bigger towards the end of the day, with some real monster ones every once in a while... It was kind of hairy paddling out into giant walls of water just hoping you make it through. All in all, it was a great time. I'm sore from turning the sirocco around every few minutes. heh. I really want to try a short boat now. Anyways, more observations later.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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