A week ago at this time I was in Myrtle Beach with family. This part of SC is not know for particularly good waves, but then I am accustomed to so -so waves, shore break conditions and knee high mush anyway. In fact, I have come to appreciate the value of not judging a wave unless I am in the water. Sure, when you see your favorite spot looking like pond on a still day you probably won't get any good rides, but otherwise you might be surprised what you would have missed when you just paddle out and see for yourself. I enjoyed half a dozen really fun sessions over three days on imperfect, knee to waist range waves. I did not get the thrill catching a big, fast wave or have the chance for a nice swooping bottom turn, but I did get a chance to practice and push my skills in getting down the line and adjusting my planing to get the best, longest rides. Of course none of this was possible without my trusty steed. The 9'6" Will Allison Classic Longboard, complete with the seahorse (hence the steed reference) logo. This is a beautiful board. Its beauty is now somewhat imperfect with the several repaired dings, scratches and a few discolorations, but its beauty comes in its ride and maybe because it has so much of my soul in it now. On one of those small Myrtle Beach waves I managed to collide my elbow into its thick rounded rails. Both the rail and the elbow lost out on that... The elbow healed, but the board required my help getting fixed. Once I cleaned out its wound of loose or cracked fiberglass and foam I carefully added filler to the void, then 2 layers of cloth and more resin. A quick sanding should smooth out the rough edges and it will be seaworthy again. I may give too much credit to this inanimate object, but its soul, born in its shaper's and fed by mine and its other riders, is something very real to me.

Its been a few weeks. I participated as a volunteer the other day for Surfer's Healing. The organization pairs the surfing world with autistic children. It was an impressive day and I plan to write about this some more. I met some guys from Hawaii who completely embody the whole concept of a surfer. I have seen lots of surfers do amazing tricks and such, but the most impressive surfers I have experienced were these 5 or 6 guys who surfed almost 6 hours , on 12 foot plus tandems with autistic children under their care as they navigated the waves.

Also, this past saturday has firmed up my belief that you should just paddle out even when it doesnt look so hot. I had some of the best rides of my life on what most would deem a "so so" day. Of course I still have a lot of experience to gain, and those rides may pale to future ones, but for now, I have impressed even myself. Lately I have been pushing my skill level, really trying to make better turns and get longer rides down the line. Hurricane Dean, deep in the Gulf of Mexico and unfortunately now proven to be a deadly storm has also sent a gift to surfers here in southeastern North Carolina. I will likely go out this evening, tomorrow morning , or maybe both..

Pacifica, Linda Mar Beach and the Rent-a-log

I arrived in Pacifica, CA on Saturday via the metro and public bus from San Francisco. All my luggage was in storage at the airport and I was able to travel pretty easily. The bus stop was in walking distance to at least 3 surf shops and I chose The Log Shop on Crespi Avenue in case you ever make it there. More pictures are on my Flickr account. I rented a well used 9'6" SurfTech soft top board with a great fin- it was a "Fluid Foil" by FCS I believe. The fellas at the Log Shop were great, letting me use there changing room and then storing the little bag of stuff that I had brought along. I remember feeling the excitement in my chest as I walked over the little hill that had blocked my view from the street where I had landed. The ocean was a little choppy, bigger waves than expected and the crowd in the water was really surprising. I estimated at least 100 surfers, mostly on the south half of the mile long beach. The far northern side is a little rockier, and no one seemed to be surfing there, so I took this as a cue. That being said, I was not interested in trying to surf the same wave as 20 others, so I went to the northern edge of the crowds near the middle of this beach. As the day went on and the tide rose, things seemed to get choppier and the wave size dropped. The pictures are from that part of the day, but I surfed at lower tide and much larger wave sets it seemed. I am quite certain that I surfed my largest waves and longest rides to date at Linda Mar this past Saturday.

There were many people in the surf as indicated, but to add to the mix is that most of these were beginners or at best novices. In fact, I was feeling pretty competent and skilled in comparison to many of the others I saw, but mostly I recall that most of the big crowds didn't seem to be surfing at all, just taking up valuable space in the lineup. Before I paddled out, I realized that my leash swivel had worn out and kept coming apart. Not wanting to walk back for another, I tied it up in knots and paddled out. This will become more relavent later. I caught a few smallish, shorebreak kind of waves and found that the soft top responded well and was very floaty. The whitewash was thick, fast and powerful too. Each time was a bear to get back out, so I decided to move outside a little farther. Soon I realized that the relatively light lineup around me was mostly better surfers that actually were catching some waves. Partially as a matter of respect for the "locals", and mostly my own lack of confidence in being able to route myself around human obstacles, I gave the others a lot of room and found myself on the outside, soaking in the reality that I was surfing in California. That, and I was trying to get my strength and wind back after a hard paddle through the impact zone on my rent-a-log.

My time came. I found myself surprised by some impressive sets that rolled past me. They were much larger than I am used to, but they were deep and had a thick A-frame shape that was not intimidating. I paddled hard and felt myself starting to slip quickly down the face of the wave. I popped up had the luxury of what was to be a nice long ride. On my local breaks, I don't always have the wave or time to make a nice bottom turn and get positioned for a long breaking wave. The rent-a-log was thick and floated me so well I felt like I was riding above the waves a few times. I will not soon forget those rides and maybe never.

I experienced several rides like this, each time the adreniline from the previous ride was enough to push me back through the shorebreak. So when my leash broke, or rather my knot worked loose, I found myself in large breaking waves, in a 4/3 wetsuit and relying on the same muscles and stamina that I had been abusing for the last hour or so. I am a good swimmer, but I realized right then I really need to be a great swimmer, something I will work on for sure. Moving waves on a shoreline make forward movement difficult, and the added weight and constraint of a wetsuit only adds to the problem. I struggled a little, but I saw a few surfers around me and - I think anyway- had I called out for help if I needed it, they would have. A small group of tourists on the beach found my board and moved it on to the shore, they seemed concerned or maybe curious, or perhaps just waiting to be on the front row of some morbidly curious lost surfer show. Not sure if I disappointed them by pulling myself to solid ground, but they were happy enough to take credit for catching my board.

I rested for some time, then walked back to the surf shop. Somewhere along the way I went from turning in my gear and calling it a day to trading in the broken leash for a new one. After a gatorade and a few more minutes on the beach, I was ready to resume. Upon making my way out again, now with a very stout Dakine leash the clerk took of the retail wall, I was securely tethered to my board. The heavy crowds had pushed closer to my spot, and I took the opportunity to scan the others. There was the 50 something, tall , thin Ralph Lauren look-alike on an epoxy Stewart (who knows maybe he surfs Linda Mar?) that helped me get my wetsuit zipper unstuck earlier . There was a stocky guy with a shave head and a bent nose that was on a shortboard, from whom I did my best to stay clear. There were two younger women out together on some performance longboards. They seemed pretty agile and I was impressed that they charged as hard as anyone, though they seeme to come and go pretty quickly. Another shortboarder with a long curly hair and beard. We passed each other pretty close and I took the liberty of saying hello, which was not returned and he seemed to keep a healthy distance from me afterward. There was an asian guy about my age maybe, on a really nice looking board- certainly not a rental. I don't think he ever really made it past the impact zone. There were loads of rental boards and little groups of those who were at a point that I was maybe 2 years ago. Time flies when you are having fun.....

More pics from this trip at http://www.flickr.com/photos/surflongboards/sets/72157601254786940/

See what Surfline has to say at...http://www.surfline.com/reports/report.cfm?id=5013

Heading to San Francisco

I am attending and speaking at a conference in San Francisco this week and I am in the airport now waiting to depart. Almost immediately once I confirmed the conference details, I started thinking about how I might manage to go surfing while there. There is a myriad of online resources of course, and I am impressed by how the so called "flat days" at west coast spots are likely bigger than our average days here at our local breaks. My plan is to check conditions first at Ocean Beach on the pacific facing coast of the San Francisco peninsula. Its supposed to be sort of big and difficult most times, but if its a smallish day there, I will rent from Aqua Surf Shop and can get there on street cars and walking. The other more likely options is to make my way about 20 minutes south to Pacifica and Linda Mar beach. Several shops rent there and its a more beginner break and longboard suited. We will see.