Ride Report: 003 (For Real)

Sike! No, just kidding, I actually did get to ride the new board this afternoon. Got in the water about 1 or so down at Wooden Jetty, a number of guys out but not too many. The waves were about waist to chest high. They had cleaned up a lot and the sections were a lot longer than this morning, but there was still some texture in the water and there was a strong drift. The first ride I got I spun out, my rear foot was too far back, probably all my weight was, and it just skidded across the water. I knew at once I had to really make a concerted effort to jump up forward on the board, something I'm not so used to doing. So then I did it, and I got a pretty decent long ride, ending in a little barrel. But what really got me was the smoothness of the ride: it felt like my surfboard had shock absorbers. The board trimmed and just cut through the wave. It was a completely different feeling than what I'm used to. The sensation of glide was something else. Still, it felt like the tail was still pretty loose, I could feel it wanting to slide out sometimes, so I moved it back about an inch. It felt pretty good then, but I'd like to move it forward slowly until it feels like it's starting to slide out again, then move it back from that point just a little.

People have said hulls are terrible paddlers, and while I didn't notice any particular ease of pattern, I didn't feel like I had to try any harder than a shortboard or a fish. And catching waves wasn't too hard either. I still haven't caught any rights yet, so no backside tests.

Who's that lady? I'm talking about the board. Just kidding. So far, I'm really happy with the board, and I feel like I just need to ride it and get used to the different feel. Also, I got a number of compliments on the board, which is always nice, but the one that really made my day was the guy saying he saw me walking with it and knew it was a displacement hull and asked what kind it was. He was surprised when I told him I made it, he expected it to be a Cooper or something, not that I'm comparing my board or anything like that. But when I said I have never been able to ride a real hull, he said, "This is a real one, the lines are perfect." Made my day. Well, actually, the waves made my day. Actually, the seal made my day. Actually...my day was made when I woke up this morning.

 

But now, on to 004, whatever that may be. Actually, maybe first I should take care of the insanely loud noise that comes from the now-severed pipe right before the catalytic converter of my car. Real fun, especially when it breaks on top of the Bridge, and all of a sudden it sounds like the car is going to explode or the bridge is going to collapse or your wheels might fall off. But yeah, that's it for now, I'm going to go out again tomorrow morning, so expect another exciting update. Until then, be cool.