*** Official 2020 Community Surf Journal ***

[teeroi]

I worked in Hawaii Kai yesterday and drove past Sandys and Waimanalo. The trade swell was pretty good size, the wind has been howling. I was hoping for a wrap at Rockpiles or Bowls. So I dawned town. But it was small, chilly and windy. The little waves had good shape but the strong offshore wind made it tricky. Forced myself to stay out just to stay in surf shape. Paddled over to Rockpiles from Bowls and got a couple of small runners that were fun. My Tokoro Moonfish has been working really well even when it’s small but it’s getting beat up since I haven’t been using a leash. Lot of heel and elbow pressures from jumping after the board if I fall or pull thru. I wonder if I get Wade to make me a copy and have it glassed a tad heavier if the performance will be affected.

When I got in I checked the NS cams. . I didn’t think it would be surfable cause the wind had a lot of north in it. But when I looked it looked a little overhead, windy but surfable. We might work up there next week hope I can get some before the wave machine turns off.

 

[Maz]

First time on a log in 7 years, and it was fcuken epic. Thigh to waist high, light offshores, and warm sunshine. My mate on the left, and me on the right.

Felt like I got 30-40 waves.

 

[Aruka]

Had to take a break from surfing for a few days to let the body recover and catch up on work related nonsense. Yesterday I had a chance to get free in the afternoon and I went to a spot that likes a big minus tide. No one around. Waves looked pretty fun and approachable so I went for it solo. This spot can be pretty intimidating but the tide wasn't completely low yet so it was pretty doable and I was getting a bunch of fun waves. Riding a Chris Gallagher 6'2.5" round pin made for Jordy. The board goes so good in real waves, really digging it. As the tide drained it started getting really hollow, full on spitting mutant tubes in waist deep water. I worked up the nerve to go on a few gnarly ones. Got absolutely flogged a few times but made a few as well. I surfed for like 4 hours and ended on the best barrel of my winter. Overhead and thick, thought I was too deep but held on and came through. Best session I've had in a long long time.

Today rode the Puddle Jumper at my local. Clean, waist-to-chest, kind of walled up but plenty of corners to be had. Board goes good frontside and backside. Really solid board, I dig it. No crowd just a few locals. Pretty tame compared to yesterday but super fun in it's own way.

 

[Maz]

Had to take a break from surfing for a few days to let the body recover and catch up on work related nonsense. Yesterday I had a chance to get free in the afternoon and I went to a spot that likes a big minus tide. No one around. Waves looked pretty fun and approachable so I went for it solo. This spot can be pretty intimidating but the tide wasn't completely low yet so it was pretty doable and I was getting a bunch of fun waves. Riding a Chris Gallagher 6'2.5" round pin made for Jordy. The board goes so good in real waves, really digging it. As the tide drained it started getting really hollow, full on spitting mutant tubes in waist deep water. I worked up the nerve to go on a few gnarly ones. Got absolutely flogged a few times but made a few as well. I surfed for like 4 hours and ended on the best barrel of my winter. Overhead and thick, thought I was too deep but held on and came through. Best session I've had in a long long time.

Today rode the Puddle Jumper at my local. Clean, waist-to-chest, kind of walled up but plenty of corners to be had. Board goes good frontside and backside. Really solid board, I dig it. No crowd just a few locals. Pretty tame compared to yesterday but super fun in it's own way.

Hey Aruka,
could you say a few words about the CG Jordy board? Saw him riding them in the Mentawai, and they looked very very good.

 

[Aruka]

Sure Maz,

It's a GT3 6'2.5" x 19 x 2.69. 33.4L Nose 12", Tail 14.4"

I'm 6'3" x 185lbs.

The rails are probably a little fuller than what I usually ride but they aren't super chunky given the center thickness. The board carries quite a bit of foam along the stringer from nose to tail. It doesn't seem to have quite the forward shifted volume of something like the Ghost and it definitely carries more thickness into the tail along the stringer. Rocker wise I feel like it's always hard to tell just by looking at a board but to me it looks like it has more curve up front and then fairly moderate and smooth through the midsection and out the tail. Definitely no shortage of rocker but neither does it feel excessive so far. Concave is medium/high with a noticeable inset double that starts somewhere between the feet.

My normal dimensions for a good wave round pin would be longer, wider and thinner. I don't think I've ridden a board narrower than 19.25" in...8 years? This board also has more volume than I usually ride although I've been creeping upwards as my weight increases. I've only had a few sessions on it since it feels like pretty much firmly a good wave board but I have yet to feel it lacking in any meaningful way. Paddles and catches waves pretty well considering the narrowness and amount of rocker. It carries enough foam forward and doesn't have much, if any, nose flip to plow water so it feels pretty good when you're really up over the nose paddling into waves. At the same time it doesn't feel like it wants a heavy front footed approach when up and riding. My first handful of waves on the board I wasn't as backfooted as I should have been but once I adjusted to it I was really digging the sensation of feeling like I had good speed and turning all from a slightly more backfooted position. Despite the narrowish round pin it surfs like a shortboard, not a step up. It's not flicky like a low rockered bump squash tail but it's very ready and willing to turn and slide around when pushed and it doesn't need a full on barrel to come alive it just wants some good push. The closest boards I could compare it to off the top of my head would be an older JS Parko I had or more recently a Simon Anderson DSC. The GT3 feels easier to ride though probably due to the added thickness along the stringer. Sorry for the novel apparently I'm incapable of saying just a few words when it comes to surfboards.

 

[Maz]

Well done, young man!

And thank you.

 

[teeroi]

Dawned my NS regular. Brought the twin fin. It was the thickest waves I rode with that board. Lots of East in the swell. Still kinda bumpy from the strong wind we had for the last few days even though the wind was light. Waves were doubling up, no backs on some with a little overhead on sets. That twin just flies maybe too fast for today. So I kinda picked the smaller ones to start to see how the board handled. After a few waves I knew it was fine so started going for later steeper ones. Got a couple air drops the board handled. Wanted to see if I could surf it vertically in juicy waves, so I got a west one which has a steep drop but usually only one good section. Squared up on the bottom turn and went straight up. Felt good.

Glad I’ve been surfing on smaller days to stay in surf shape. Lots of paddling and lots of waves. Crowd was light just regulars I know and a couple of randoms that cycled thru. Probably bring my thruster tomorrow. Hopefully the water glasses off there will he tubes to be had.

 

[Aruka]

sound dreamy teeroi.

you think less people traveling with the coronavirus threat? tickets to the islands so cheap it's got me tempted.

there were some little waves today and I brought my longboard down but the wind was a little side shore and cold and I was sore from planting trees all morning and I just couldn't motivate to get out there. must be getting spoiled or old or both.

 

[teeroi]

Tourism is noticeably down. Less visitors from Korea and China. But less air travel means the locals aren’t going on trips either. So if the lineups are packed it’s locals or transplants who think 6 months and bad pidgin make them locals too. Lots of Japanese transplants too.

 

[oeste858]

Crummy short session at local reef Monday. Some decent sets came through but big crowd so I just sat way inside and tried to get some low tide runners on 5'6 tkf. Caught just a few, but board was fast and zipped down the line for a reo on the end. it's always better to get in the water than not.

 

[teeroi]

Surfed the same NS spot as yesterday. Wind was dead and ocean was glassy but the waves were smaller. Still super fun. I sat inside on the north bowl and caught a bunch of double ups. The crowd was heavier than yesterday but I knew most of them. Uncle Alan was sitting outside and when I finally paddle out to get the bigger waves he tells me all I can hear is your voice. I laughed I was sh!t talking my dick dragger friends all session.

Rode my 5’10 Tokoro X2 and It felt really fast. Got a few wraps and went vert on off the lips. Wasn’t paying attention coming in and dinged the bottom on the shallow shelf just before shore. Dummy!

We got another day out here. Waves suppose to bump up but when I came in the wind had turned west. Hopefully it goes south during the night and it’ll be fun tomorrow even if the Northwest swell direction isn’t the greatest out there.

 

[oeste858]

Gotta love the speed of a twin keel fish! Had some afternoon fun yesterday racing the walls at a low-tide reef, with sets pushing HH. Manageable crowd, so caught just enough to keep me happy. I'm pretty blown away by how good some of the high school kids out there are nowadays. These 2nd-gen locals are a bit entitled + aggressive as hell paddling for waves, but their surfing looks like WQS-level.
Anyway. glad I got a quick surf in yesterday because its raining and sloppy again this morning, and forecasted rain most of next few days.

 

[teeroi]

Dawned the same NS spot 3 days in a row. It was glassy a little overhead and not too crowded. A lot more west in the swell but still had some north bowls. Suppose to fill in all day.

Put a sticker over my ding from yesterday and rode my X2. That board is giving me that magic feeling. I haven’t rode it that much since I have the twin and the Moonfish but the last two days it’s been put to use. I fell on a couple of late ones yesterday but today got launched with the lip on about 3 or 4 and board did great. My friends were asking if I made that drop. Yep. Surfs vertically well, carries speed thru turns. You know how you make little adjustments feeling out a board without even thinking about it that’s what happened over night. Going to be a great board for good small waves.

Coming out here tomorrow too. Hope conditions hold and it isn’t too big for my preferred spot.

 

[ocean7847]

yesterday was one of those good days where you zig when everyone else zags and you end up scoring with almost no one out. got a solid 2+ hours with a very minimal crowd and peaky, consistent waves keeping everyone busy. nothing truly "epic," but great fun shape, unreal glassy and hot weather conditions. today was a 180 - way more people, and the wind had shifted onshore overnight and then began blowing sideshore out of the south. waves had size but just never got very good, and then a current popped up that had you paddling nonstop just to stay in place, let alone make progress towards the dredging peak, and the lower tide making things generally hard. better than not surfing though!

 

[teeroi]

Tried to surf the same NS spot as yesterday. It was too big. I paddled out anyway. Lots of current pushing toward the channel and a bunch of wash throughs. When I finally got out I waited for a set. Tried to get under it but the bigger waves move faster and I got hung up at the top. I pin dropped to get away from my board. Popped right up. Caught the next one in. I should’ve just proned straight in but I ended up heading toward the shallow shelf where I dinged my board the other day. It was a lot of wok paddling away from that shelf just to find the keyhole in. 3 out of 4 days were great today not so much. Hahaha. Swells fading but the wind turned onshore. Might be good again tomorrow.

 

[racer1]

tickets to the islands so cheap it's got me tempted.

Looking like a pretty solid swell next weekend...

 

[Aruka]

Looking like a pretty solid swell next weekend...

I thought about it for a while but decided I don't want to be one of those selfish millenials (barely) who goes traveling during a global pandemic just because tickets are cheap and helps spread a virus which is legit killing older people. Knowing my luck I would be one of the .03 or whatever percent of 30somethings who gets really sick or dies from this crap and I would have only myself to blame. Maybe in a month or so depending on how things pan out. I'll be sure to show up to Bowls, paddle to the peak and tell everyone don't worry, I know teeroi from the internet, he said I can have any set wave I want.

Wind's been howling for a few days but finally somewhat died off this afternoon. Got a couple freshy Tim Pattersons that arrived today so you know I definitely had to go get one wet. The open beachbreak waves were pretty solid looking and we found a good looking left bar to play around on. There was a bit of leftover wind bump and a raging current kept it from being great but I got a few exciting drops and a handful of backhand slashers that made the drive and paddle worth it. The clouds grew steadily darker and rain started pouring after an hour or so. The wind came up fairly strong from the South which really impaired the already drunken ocean. Myself and my friend took our next waves in. One of our young buddies who's only a couple years into his surfing addiction had gotten stuck in a rip and sucked way the frick out to sea. We had already hiked back up the hill and unsuited next to the trucks and the guy was still way out there and looked like he had given up, just laying there on his board face down like a passed out drunk. This guy is young and fit he just doesn't understand the ocean very well yet and he was trying to paddle strait in against a huge outflow. My buddy honked his truck horn and I pointed towards the sand bar to the North. Young buck finally got the message and started paddling out of the rip and up the beach towards the breaking waves. It still took him a while to make it in and he looked completely exhausted as he approached the inner bar. A big double up landed pretty well square on him and sent him tumbling, a tangle of board and leash and flailing limbs, up onto the beach. On the cliff above we were laughing and leaning into the horn to let him know that we hadn't missed the show.

 

[teeroi]

Don’t forget to bring a costco softtop and reef booties.

 

[Aruka]

Reef booties are already packed along with an XL tub of zinc and a brimmed surf hat.

Debating whether to bring the rasta or the purple and yellow Wavestorm.

Which one do you think will garner more respect among the tribe?

Got to get back to practicing my pidgin and my left handed shakas, which still need work.

 

[teeroi]

Dawned my NS regular. Walked down to the paddle out and saw close outs. So I sat and timed sets to see how long between close outs. Watched it close out for 5 minutes straight. Walked back to the house I parked at and took an hour nap. Woke up and checked it again. This time four guys were out and the interval between wash throughs made it look surfable.

Went out and had a terrible first half of the session. Got mowed a lot. Caught waves with moguls on them. But saw some gems paddling out and while getting mowed. Told myself I was going in on the next one. Got a long one and saw it double up in front of me. Slowed down and got a nice round barrel. Got lipped after coming out but I was Stoke.ed. Paddled back out, waited my turn and Dave told me to go on a nugget. Got in and saw it stand up in front so I did a little pop stall and was getting shack. Travelled then felt my tail lifting up on the foam ball. I thought no no and tried to lean forward. The tube spit but bucked me off. I screamed FUK after I surfaced. Best tube I got in awhile but didn’t make it out. Searched for another chance then went in. Rode the 6’0 Tokoro 4X. Good board. Duck dives wash throughs like a champ. Haha