Ask Carroll

[Nick Carroll]

There's a channel, but if you want to catch a wave you will have to leave the channel and venture into the broken wave zone.

All sorts of tricks to duckdiving and negotiating that spot, they wouldn't make much sense unless we were out there.

It's heavy but it's cool! Once I lost a new 8'6" Rawson on the second reef, the surf was 12-15' from the west. Swam in only to realise the board had gone out in the Kammieland rip and was heading toward Kaena Point. Somehow talked a guy into lending me his gun to go and chase it. I finally caught the board about two miles offshore from Pipeline. Dodging outer reef bombs in weird places. I hopped on the 8'6" and let the lender board drag on its leash behind me back to Sunset. Then faced with the puzzle, how the fcuk to get in. I ended up paddling right down the line of the west peak reef. Set waves were drawing up around me, looking down them was more radical than looking down Waimea. I sorta skirted the edge of the peak thinking what an epic tow wave massive Sunset is, paddled all the way inside the point and caught a few foamies to shore. Incredible hour or so in the ocean.

That's Sunset, it's not just riding waves.

[Beanpole]

Always liked footage of Kong surfing it. Nat winning the schmirnoff showed how good he was at the time.

[Natho]

Nick, I'm sure you have answered it before but what is your pick of land based things to do to improve paddle fitness when one can not access the water.
Also got a good Pipe story?
I was going to ask for a W Bay story but your lil bro has told plenty of those, from the bloke on drugs who he watched nearly drown out there to the snapped foot story.

[petulance]

Thanks for the info Nick. Time to look at some Sunset vids on YouTube.

[Davros]

There is footage floating around on You Tube somewhere of Tom Curren battling big Sunset and he is doing it tougher than usual, which you rarely see.

[Nick Carroll]

Nick, I'm sure you have answered it before but what is your pick of land based things to do to improve paddle fitness when one can not access the water.
Also got a good Pipe story?
I was going to ask for a W Bay story but your lil bro has told plenty of those, from the bloke on drugs who he watched nearly drown out there to the snapped foot story.

I don't really think you can improve paddle fitness without accessing the water.

People will tell you to do all these free weights blah blah blah, maybe even pushups, god knows what. That's great, it will train you to be able to lift free weights and do pushups, not to paddle.

Surprisingly enough a bit of running helps, you want to lift your heart rate pretty high, push it up and down. It's a good way to maintain the aerobic thing if you're away from the surf for a week or so.

Always look for a pool when travelling, swimming's easily the best non-paddling form of paddle fitness training. Plus it's crazy who you meet around a pool.

Pipe, fcuken hell, got a few dozen of them, most of the best ones are from the early to mid 80s when it was amazingly uncrowded and the guys who surfed out there were crazy yet gentlemen.

But think I'll hold fire on 'em, I have another book idea.

[Grooter]

I gotta admit, smashing out the kms running has made my paddle fitness a lot better.

[purple pyramids]

the year of the basha bulka i got stuck out the back with noodle arms. each day since then i've been doing 120 push-ups and 60 arms curls (i think that's what they're called). it's made a big difference to my paddling. but maybe that is just getting me to some very basic level of fitness by NC's standards. (i run and cycle all the time).

....People will tell you to do all these free weights blah blah blah, maybe even pushups, god knows what. That's great, it will train you to be able to lift free weights and do pushups, not to paddle.

[Nick Carroll]

^^yeah but you're still going surfing aren't ya.

What you're doing is supporting your paddling, it won't engender or replace it.

[bombora]

Nick, I'm sure you have answered it before but what is your pick of land based things to do to improve paddle fitness when one can not access the water.
Also got a good Pipe story?
I was going to ask for a W Bay story but your lil bro has told plenty of those, from the bloke on drugs who he watched nearly drown out there to the snapped foot story.

I don't really think you can improve paddle fitness without accessing the water.

People will tell you to do all these free weights blah blah blah, maybe even pushups, god knows what. That's great, it will train you to be able to lift free weights and do pushups, not to paddle.

Surprisingly enough a bit of running helps, you want to lift your heart rate pretty high, push it up and down. It's a good way to maintain the aerobic thing if you're away from the surf for a week or so.

Always look for a pool when travelling, swimming's easily the best non-paddling form of paddle fitness training. Plus it's crazy who you meet around a pool.

Pipe, fcuken hell, got a few dozen of them, most of the best ones are from the early to mid 80s when it was amazingly uncrowded and the guys who surfed out there were crazy yet gentlemen.

But think I'll hold fire on 'em, I have another book idea.

Maybe not a Victorian poo(l):
VIC:Vic gastro outbreak linked to pools Gastro MELBOURNE, March 7 AAP - Overheated Victorians could be in the poo, literally, if they sought relief at the local pool.

Victoria's chief health officer Dr Rosemary Lester said there has been a three-fold increase in gastro cases after hot weather sparked people seeking to cool off at public swimming pools.

She urged those who have had diarrhoea not to go into a swimming pool for at least 14 days after symptoms had stopped for fear of passing on the bug.

Dr Lester said the cryptosporidium gastro parasite could not be killed by normal levels of chlorination.

``Cryptosporidiosis is typically caused by swallowing contaminated water, household contact with a case and contact with farm animals,'' she said.

Authorities are working with swimming pool owners to implement extra measures to kill the parasite.

Symptoms included watery diarrhoea, stomach cramps and vomiting, Dr Lester said.

Dr Lester urged sufferers to shower before swimming to avoid infecting others, with children and the elderly particularly at risk.

There were 155 Victorian cases of gastro caused by the cryptosporidium parasite last month, three times the February average of 53

[Natho]

Thanks Nick. Yeh I've been doing plenty of beach running and interval training but not swimming. Thinking of doing a bit of paddle board work. Might see if Gouldy can kick my arse into gear with that one. The fact that my shoulders are a bit fckd doesn't help but they are better since I cut the heavier weights. I have found circuit/ cross fit type training has helped with overall fitness and power and therefore paddle power.

[rmb]

Nick what is the best book about the sport of surfing you have read (not written).

[Beanpole]

Nick what is the best book about the sport of surfing you have read (not written).

.............and the worst?

[crabmeat thompson]

Nick what is the best book about the sport of surfing you have read (not written).

.............and the worst?

... and the one in the middle of the road?!

[Nick Carroll]

Nick what is the best book about the sport of surfing you have read (not written).

.............and the worst?

Hmmm gnarly

I really like "Hawaiian Surfriders 1935" by Tom Blake, it's a real window into another surfing world that existed a long time ago in surfing terms. Only a small book but a bit magic.

I also like Mike Doyle's book "Morning Glass", Mike was probably the surfing world's greatest ever playboy and his autobiography smells like that. Nat's book Nats Nat was good I thought.

I think "Mr Sunset" was an important book because Hakman was willing to describe his gnarly heroin addiction but it was a bit flawed because you never quite felt you got inside his life, really, it was all a bit opaque.

Still sorta waiting for a great surfing book actually. I don't honestly know how to write one. Really to write a great book you have to do shit that surfers don't do, ie examine your life and rip it open without mercy on yourself. Surfing feels to me like it is largely an escape from that kind of risk. Only now as surfing relaxes its obsessive grip on me am I actually beginning to be able to write about its true effects on me and my lil brother.

So it's all a bit weird.

Middling I reckon Sean Doherty's book on MP. That was a deceptively difficult assignment, he had a lot of people looking over his shoulder, MP being pretty much the least, and he had to kind of finesse his way through the family editing etc, it's extraordinary that he got as much as he did through all those vested interests.

As far as the worst, jeez I would rather not go there, what's the point.

[crabmeat thompson]

I use to think pretty harshly of the MP book. I've read it another two times since, and I can't imagine the minefield Sean must have tip-toed through to finish it.

I made some pretty crass comments in the past about the book and Sean's effort with it. He's a good guy for accepting my apology when I last saw him.

You ever read any Kem Nunn fiction about surfing, NC?

The Dogs of Winter is a goodun.

[oldman]

There's a channel, but if you want to catch a wave you will have to leave the channel and venture into the broken wave zone.

All sorts of tricks to duckdiving and negotiating that spot, they wouldn't make much sense unless we were out there.

It's heavy but it's cool! .....................................

That's Sunset, it's not just riding waves.

While it isn't flavour of the month any more, if it ever was, Sunset is the north shore break that interests me most, and in a way scares me most. I'm not ever likely to paddle out at any of them, but at least Waimea and Pipeline are comparatively predictable.

I like those way out back, hard to read, hard to get in position, swells from all over the place breaks, but they also scare me the most because they are so far out, so hard to read.

There's a few bombies up the coast that I paddle out to on occasions. They are far out, feels like the middle of nowhere, hard to triangulate position and even if you can the waves can jump up far out and hit you, and they hit much harder than other waves in the area. No, I'm not saying it compares to Sunset, just that the 'fark I feel a long way from shore' breaks are interesting the way they play on your mind.

Sunset must be a balls out rip snorter in a sizable swell.

[rmb]

Nick what is the best book about the sport of surfing you have read (not written).

.............and the worst?

Hmmm gnarly

I really like "Hawaiian Surfriders 1935" by Tom Blake, it's a real window into another surfing world that existed a long time ago in surfing terms. Only a small book but a bit magic.

I also like Mike Doyle's book "Morning Glass", Mike was probably the surfing world's greatest ever playboy and his autobiography smells like that. Nat's book Nats Nat was good I thought.

I think "Mr Sunset" was an important book because Hakman was willing to describe his gnarly heroin addiction but it was a bit flawed because you never quite felt you got inside his life, really, it was all a bit opaque.

Still sorta waiting for a great surfing book actually. I don't honestly know how to write one. Really to write a great book you have to do shit that surfers don't do, ie examine your life and rip it open without mercy on yourself. Surfing feels to me like it is largely an escape from that kind of risk. Only now as surfing relaxes its obsessive grip on me am I actually beginning to be able to write about its true effects on me and my lil brother.

So it's all a bit weird.

Middling I reckon Sean Doherty's book on MP. That was a deceptively difficult assignment, he had a lot of people looking over his shoulder, MP being pretty much the least, and he had to kind of finesse his way through the family editing etc, it's extraordinary that he got as much as he did through all those vested interests.

As far as the worst, jeez I would rather not go there, what's the point.

Awesome some new books to find.
I enjoyed MP's book as it gave me an insight into another era and the surfer yet as others have mentioned Sean Doherty probably faced difficulties as mentioned.

I enjoyed Simon Anderson's biography Thrust just for the historical insight. I have been leant other biographies that are good but are edited to make the subject seem flawless or the typical overcome flaws etc. They are still ok but I imagine theres more to the story.