Where did you surf today ?

[crabmeat thompson]

Pretty much pumping this morning on the beachies. High tide barrels just about every wave.

Was like autumn out there too.

[crabmeat thompson]

Poor guy drowned at Smiths. looks like his board mighta got him?

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western ... 7626452971

[Hatchnam]

Yesterday. Dragged my sad flu addled bag of bones outta bed to head 2hrs south of Sydney to surf a totally isolated 4ft plus bowling fast walling righthand beach break . Some great runs, considering being dosed up on mercyndols and antibiotics and on an almost empty stomach. Took the 6'6 bonzer out. Great stability and drive off the base of the wave, clean projected lines with consistent speed . Suit the conditions hand in glove. And just as I became to sick and wasted to surf the onshores hit. Overall, chalk it up as a win. Wish I wasn't sick. Would've been a better day for waves of consequence, 6 ft long period swell and all.

Today. Waist to shoulder high clean walling bowly runners. Surfed my Contemporary twin fin diamond tail with a vee bottom and single channel out thru the tail. And swapped over for a bit with my mates 6'0 Hypto Krypto. It paddled well, surfed well, and was pretty zippy and fun. Overall, well suited to the conditions it's best for. It served its purpose. Overall, I preferred the twinny, given the size of the surf and the loose free flowing lines it draws.

[ctd]

@ctd This place is no secret, documented on surf websites. South of Shanghai. You have to really know the formula though as is hard to get good.

Thanks, interesting info. I spent several years in HK and many trips over to China, although not for surfing. At the time (early 2000s) the HK 'crew' was most expats on HK Island itself but there were some locals over in the New Territories, areas that the expats tended not to go to (because we all lived on the island). But, sort of strangely for a city that made its living from the ocean (at least in the past), hardly anyone swam. Admittedly there were about 3 public pools when I was there, so it wasnt really surprising. Getting boards was pretty difficult, the online stuff wasnt all that big back then and, in any case, transporting a board to another country is $$$. A lot of people just picked up a board when they visited home (Australia usually) or maybe Bali; but I'm not sure what the locals did as there wasnt much choice. Probably a bit different now with all the factories in China and so forth.

And, naturally, on the mainland there is hardly a surfing culture - wonder who had the first surfboard there at least post WW2/1949 - probably very few if any until maybe the mid 1980s if not later. And also not a swimming / water sports culture, particularly with the anti tan / dark skin stuff (HK was awash with skin whitening cream when I was there, but it was mostly regulated. Hate to think what people do in China)

Well done on the rescuing

[swvic]

Once a year I get to spend a few days with some mates over at Lorne. 4 of us scored down south on Friday night, but on Saturday the swell had died. 6 of us walked into a place I'd never been. West of the Cape, 4-6 ft, fun as fcuk. Nobody else to be seen. I'll be going again

[Rustt]

Can't work that one out sw, west of which cape? doesn't matter wont be there next time. Nice little kick in the swell friday night. Water temp dropped viciously.

[mattsphat]

Some absolute smokers on the Northern GC beachies. Swell is dropping pretty quick tho.

[smallhouse]

deadmans at mooloolaba .
offshore winds, overhead sets, uncrowded
rode my 5'10" NPJ sweet pea.
Had fun.
I think the shredders were all 300m down the beach at drainpipes which was dredging hollow in a way that doesn't interest me .

[Beanpole]

Managed to snare a couple of late ones. Good to get in the water.

[Nick Carroll]

Fcuken pumping this morning

[Natho]

surfed some super fun waves at my local yesterday. Waited around for about 1 hour and watched conditions start to get better and better from pretty average. By about lunch things started turning on and at first it was just 2 others and myself out. Surfed for 3 hours and by the end it got really crowded.
Took and Maurice Cole Metro out. Pretty fishy sort of board for me. Had all sorts of problems at first with the board just not wanting to turn. Went in to change boards and ran into a mate who suggested I try a set of his grommet sized future fins (for 45kg and under) in the board rather than the larger ones that were in it (only futures I had). Well fkkuk me. It was like a different board and went great. turned on a dime. Had a fkkinkc ball out there on it. Would love to try one a fraction narrower.

[swvic]

Not trying to be a smart arse, Natho, but wasn't that NC's advice?

How big was the surf? You posted the board was a 5'9" X 19.5. What tail shape?

Them boards look fcuken great. I've only ever had one of his ATMs. Loved it, but for the life of me, I can't figure what my next boards will be. My shoulder is fcuked. Much more foam means most of my local beachies are out. That equates to 80% of my surfs

[ctd]

Much more foam means most of my local beachies are out. That equates to 80% of my surfs

How come? Plenty of people surf a lot of foam at the beach. In turn not trying to be a smartass - just wondering.

[swvic]

Duck-diving. Most of the beachies I surf don't have a distinct rip/channel out between banks. Sometimes you're lucky, but mostly when there's any size, you duck-dive heaps on the way out. Also, duck-diving is a cnut on the shoulder as well so it's a double whammy. More foam = better paddle, but harder diving = minimal or no net benefit. Fcuking depressing

My future does require more foam, but it also means more selective surfing

[Natho]

Swvic, I think NCs advise was more about using less fin area to start with so I can figure out the natural aspects of the board first and then work fins needed around that as a base?
I never get too caught up in changing fins however in this case it made a huge difference given the only fins I had for it were larger and plastic crap. I also never thought fins that small would work so well in a wider, super concave board. These were little grommy fins.

Board is 5'9 x 19 1/2 x 2 3/16 SWAT tail.

Much wider than I would normally go and never been a huge fan of swallow type tails. Also the plan shape is a little more 'old school' than I am used to. But that is about where the old school with this board ends. Rode it a solid 3-4 foot clean waves with plenty of power in them.
The board likes to draw out turns rather than surf snappy so it suited my approach. As you would expect the board flies. It feels a bit like surfing on air with a turbo engine under you. But here is where I think MCs skill as a designer come in: never once did the board feel like it wanted to slip, slide or skip out, even when pushed into the steepest part of the wave with those little fins in her. Those MC rails seem to allow the board to bite and hold even at super speed.

ok some of the negatives so far:

- little more width through the front than I would like (however the fact that it is so foiled out makes this less of an issue than it would otherwise be).
- I would like to try a little less tail area. I reckon a rounded pin or round tail would go insane and complement the boards natural tendency to want to carve and give even more control at sonic speed.
- a couple of times the board actually out ran some quick sections I would have liked to attack.

I'm thinking something a bit narrower with a round tail could be simply insane. A Pro Tow?
Want to surf it in a really long walled up wave now to really test out how fast this thing to go. I don't think I have got it near max speed yet.

I'm thinking that in the wrong hands these boards could be rather deadly. They go that fast that they are not suited to someone who does not have the ability to control one at speed IMO. I would not say they are suited to the average hacker (unless there is no one else in the line up).

[ctd]

Duck-diving. Most of the beachies I surf don't have a distinct rip/channel out between banks. Sometimes you're lucky, but mostly when there's any size, you duck-dive heaps on the way out. Also, duck-diving is a cnut on the shoulder as well so it's a double whammy. More foam = better paddle, but harder diving = minimal or no net benefit. Fcuking depressing

My future does require more foam, but it also means more selective surfing

But you dont have to duck dive - turtle rolls are fine for most beachies (until the surf gets a bit big, then its not so good). And you can do things one handed if turtle rolls are too much for the shoulder - just grab the nose of the board and sink yourself (and the nose) down under the white water (although again doesnt work on anything powerful).

Longboarders do it all the time. Sure you are somewhat limited with surf size - overhead is probably about the most you can do without a channel - and its harder work than duckdiving, but its better than nothing.

[swvic]

Cheers, Natho. I'm more than a little interested because of the posts in and around this, ie. my shoulder. The ATM was insanely fast and it too was very foiled up front. Difference was it was also very narrow in the nose. It would do anything asked of it. You could let it run at speed, but could overpower it to change direction wherever you wanted. Very responsive and never felt like letting go off the bottom up to 6 ft. Good release off the top, but only when expected. I'm considering a widish SWAT, but there is no hurry. Not yet, anyway

ctd, you've sort of given my answer already. If I didn't have to tax the shoulder so much getting out, I wouldn't need or want a boat once out there. Rolling or jumping off and grabbing the nose means a lot of time wasted getting back on between waves. But, truthfully, even just easy paddling is beginning to take its toll. Last week I surfed solid waves 3 days in a row. Getting out was easy, but by day 3 I was fcuked. I'm only talking one surf (3 hrs) a day too. Mate asked me about a Banyaks boat trip and I instantly dismissed it. Just no value for money

[steve shearer]

you've got to surf shorter sessions with more rest between Vic.

concentrate on quality and recovery between sessions, building capacity in the shoulder supporting muscles and avoiding over-use.

you've got shit-tons of surfing left in you.

get away from those beachies onto some quality points and reefs and think seriously about a shift to warmer water.