Small surf fun

Post by **Jamoe** » Sun Jan 11, 2004 5:30 pm

sick of the gutless small surf i decided to take the good ol' longboard out the other day and I havent had a surf that fun in ages, take the leash off and just trying old Endless Suymmer moves,

soooo much fun

Post by **the kalakau kid** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 10:52 am

j,

indeed - free your ankle and your mind will follow.......

next thing you'll be riding a balsa d-fin. Small waves on a longboard are a wonderful ( and misunderstood) thing!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 4:47 pm

I love my short board, but the majesty of the glide is awesome!

There should be love peace and mong beans between short & long.

Yet to try the free ankle

Coastie · Post by **Coastie** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 11:45 pm

Loose the leash - there IS NOTHING BETTER than walking the board, pivot turns and hang 5 and 10's without the leash. You surf better cause you don't rely on the leash. You should try surfing serious old skool and get an old mal or a modern copy ... heavy glassing and thickness = glide and fun! Feel the glide

Post by **the kalakau kid** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 12:18 pm

speaking of the glide,

how different are the riding styles of modern & old-style longboards!?!?
I have been the recent owner of two boards that are from completely different ends of the spectrum - one is modern like the ones the guys ride in hawaii with hard rails, slimline nose and three fins, the other has soft eggy rails and a convex bottom curve with a huge, wide tail. While the nodern board is so versatile its ridiculous, in small waves its hard to go past the old school glide factor.
Lose the leggy, switchfeet.....makes small,average waves a whole new world!! Make you wonder why you ever bothered struggling through gutless waves on a shortboard. A bit like taking a Porsche to a learner driving school.

tune in and turn on!

Post by **streetdaddy** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 12:56 pm

i just bought a big log mal recently and was stuffing around in 2 foot waves that weren't really worth the effort on a shortboard. Had an absolute ball! I never knew switchfoot could be so easy...

Post by **Longboarder** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 10:18 pm

I ride a mal full time, yet even when it gets small i find something in a longboard that you would never find in a shortboard its what i call a sweet spot, its where the glide comes from. The mathematics behind trimming is unbelieveable and i wouldnt even want to to think of the indepth details. But basically its a suction and tension theory that holds the board until the waves energy runs out. Its this theory that i live for... to find out if your in perfect trim, place your hand into the wave face as you ride if you can do this without being put off balance your in perfect trim. Anywhoo my point is that i concur with the above 'fun in small waves' comments

PattoBOG · Post by **PattoBOG** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 8:15 am

I own two mals, (ones a 8.8 foam HB thingy, the other a 9.6 Vudu) but they only get ridden as an absolute last reort. I think too many peopl eget lazy too quickly.
Yestreday I had great waves at no-mans land on my waterskate which looks like a minimal but is only 6'5". It would have been perfect for a mal but with a little bit of effort and a hybrid board yoyu can still have a ball.
In my opinion you should ride short boards for as long as you can until you get fat and lazy like the rest of the protaganists.
Longboarding is a novelty and an anachronism like neck to knee bathing suits, get with the times.

dicko · Post by **dicko** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 9:49 am

the kalakau kid wrote:speaking of the glide,

how different are the riding styles of modern & old-style longboards!?!?

I've had a couple of different mals over the years.

Generally I reckon you want something you can handle out there. A log that doesn't respond is not good in a crowd. Once rode a mates old school 10 footer and boy did it glide. who needs turns?!

It amazing how different the boards can be. I had a 9'1" Rusty mal that only worked in head high+ waves. Also had a 9'2" McTav 'original' with channels and all that stuff - really responsive.

Currently when it small or full I ride an 8'1" Bob Brown with a really thin deck. perfer that over the foamed up narrow boards. but have been getting back into the 9ft category when it's real small.

I reckon you just need a board that suits the conditions.

Post by **the kalakau kid** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 10:17 am

Patobog,

glad to hear you enjoy things in general when the waves are small and the waterskate is a pretty groovy little design for small/fat waves in its own right ( see also joel tudors quiver in The Seedling)...
as for the ridiculous comments regarding anacronisms etc..... good point about not getting fat & lazy (enemies of good surfing generally) but there are plenty of fit longboarders, fat shortboarders, confused kneelos......deluded bodyboarders......

don't believe the hype and surf what works best in the waves available. One of the nice developments of the last ten years or so is that the growing availability and popularity of a wider range of surfcraft. Hands up who remembers when the only designs around were 9 footers or 6'2's ?

still happily riding a shortboard as often as I can but in no way suffering from some kind of deranged psychological mortgage to it either.

aloha pb

Post by **the kalakau kid** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 10:22 am

Dicko,

love the photo & the thoughts. How often does the desire for boards outweigh the financial reality?!!

horses for courses

Morgan the Moon · Post by **Morgan the Moon** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 10:51 am

You can have so much fun on a small day with the right equipment.

I ride a 10' log (soft railer) with a big skeg on the back, which pivot turns like you wouldn't believe.

Today, I nearly didn't get wet. Looked at 3 beaches before deciding to head out into the glassy peelers breaking only 20 m out.

But I'm glad I did - dropped into the first wave with barely a paddle, pulled the board across the face and cross stepped upto to the front third of the board before the whole thing collapsed on the sandbank.

The rest of the session was pretty much the same, glassy waves, great start to the day.

But don't think that the big boards don't turn - they don't turn like a shortboard, but once you know how to throw them around they turn really well.

Post by **theboat** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 2:22 pm

I have to agree, when you to that subtle little bottom turn on your big old mal up into the pocket of the wave, find your sweet spot and lock yourself into trim.... there is no better feeling.

Just looking down the line and seeing the curve of the wave as your nose glides through the smooth face and your hand trails along the wall, the feeling is not far from that of when you are in a barrell.

So keep the trim, keep the glide and enjoy your surfing.

ROD · Post by **ROD** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 2:58 pm

I reckon every type of board has its time - the "mal only" guy is just as big a biggot as the "short board" only rider.

Nothing sadder to see a tiny gutless wave and a cranky short boarder frustrated by the lack of power and lack of waves, well maybe there is it would be a solid day with the mal only riders sitting in the car park watching.

Every board has its time - the right board on the right day!

I ride a shorty, a mini mal (7'4") and 2 mals. My only regret is having the wrong board(s) in the car for the day.

Post by **streetdaddy** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 3:11 pm

ok, maybe 2 foot was an exaggeration, probably more like 1 foot, and even on a hybrid you'd be struggling. But the wave had a really nice shape and with the log I was having fun just trimming, walking up and down the board and bitta switchfoot, its all good fun!

Post by **the kalakau kid** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 3:39 pm

Speaking of longboards,

anyone experienced riding the surftech Billy Hamilton or Micky Munoz models? Saw them in the local shop last week and was actually interested in an epoxy board for the first time. The timber veneer models look amazing. Big $$ tho,

ps - anyone who wants to start up an epoxy vs handshaped debate please start a new topic as its guaranteed to be a huge one and I'm kind of enjoying this one just as discussion of the glide factor....

muchos gracias

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jan 14, 2004 4:14 pm

I'll go with the flow of the forum on this one....

The right equipment for the day. I have 2 boards, both pretty big - a 10' and a 7'6. I love riding the 10' in anything up to head high surf with good clean conditions.

If the surf looks a bit bigger (or more barreling top to bottome surf), or it looks as though I'll have a hard time getting the log out then I'll take out the shorter board and have fun without having to worry about a 10' board running loose in the line up (hey, if the other board riders are worried about a LB in the line up then so am I, especially if the leg rope is attached to my foot and it's gonna come flying back at me!!).

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