***Official 2021 Community Surf Journal***

[Kento]

What a day. Last weekend was moving hell but settled in more or less. Stocked for today as I needed a surf. Swell about 7'@14. Surfed that new 6'6" and was probably a little undergunned. Looked kinda tame from the dunes but holy hell that paddle out SUCKED. Wore 4 sets on the head, just teased within 50 feet of lineup and stacked and ruined repeatedly. Very tentative on waves at first solely because of that paddle. Lot of waves were jacking closeouts at first. But it did clean up. Started getting antsy and saw one a bomb left that was going to hold up with the little double up down the line. I really should not have gone on that and I knew it right as I flung myself it into it. Whole thing lurched as I dropped and I tried to hold it together pigdogging into the barrel but skittered and thrown over the falls, lifted that rail a touch too soon. I have never hit the bottom before on the outside sandbar and I hit it hard that time, slammed right on my ass, then further beaten and dragged. Bummed because it was a good wave and I saw it reel down the line. That one hurt though.

Well, get that out of the way. Tide dropped and it started to clean up a bit. Still brutal paddles back out after each wave; strong reverse rips just holding you in place. After pulling back on a wave I regretted, was determined to not fuck around. Local nodded me into a gem of a right that held up the whole way across. Racy right wall, slotted for 100 yards before getting swatted as it pinched. And then took one of the bigger waves right on the head paddling out. Saw it coming, knew I was fucked and fucked I was. That hurt but not enough to wipe the smile off my face. Returned the favor on next couple sets but a ton of waves for all. 2nd to last wave should have been my last - thought it would be relatively easy paddle back out but took 20+ minutes and several hundreds of yards down the beach before I could finally break the grasp of that current. One other guy was equally pinned inside. Commiserated later over how ruthless that paddle back out was. There were a few different groups of people out but a lot of attrition from that relentless paddle.

I was done at that point. Cramped up all over the place and was 3 hours of a lot of paddling at that point. Other local kept asking if I wanted the next wave and even though it was good, no man, I'm beat, I need to rest! Take your pick. Pretty funny. Right with a little kink in it down the line allowed a relatively decent vertical reentry into the flats where wave petered out and that was good enough for me at that point.

 

[teeroi]

Non-YOLO custom from Wade Tokoro. Jeannie just texted me this pic after she sprayed it. It’s a 5’10 thumbtail 4X for NS and Eastside up to a few feet overhead.

 

[000]

lil smaller n more closed outs but no assholes til i was ready to leave
new oniell psycho 1 is super warm n stiff 4-3

 

[sdsrfr]

soft but surprisingly fun waves on the plasmic. think I want to mess with fins for a less than punchy wave.

 

[Mr J]

What sort of skateboarding do you do @santacruzin - bowl, street, flatground tricks, something else? Does your buddy who shreds give you some cues, arm positions etc for tricks and do the instruction work?

 

[santacruzin]

What sort of skateboarding do you do @santacruzin - bowl, street, flatground tricks, something else? Does your buddy who shreds give you some cues, arm positions etc for tricks and do the instruction work?

Bowls and street.
yea he breaks everything down. He was a pretty high level skate guy But much better teacher. Found his niche and now he has a solid business teaching kids.
‘I give him sh!t about it but rather they learn to skate than pick up a scooter.

anyways back to the surf reports

 

[Mr J]

@ Mr J. F*ck yeah duu

When you have to think about your technique while surfing it’s uncomfortable. But you build up muscle memory and it’ll come together when turns comes without thinking about it. You got all the building blocks.
...

I am only 2 practice sessions post lesson, so still having to think about it and its still feeling a bit like learning to conduct an orchestra instead of learning to surf. I read your response to Santacruzin and I think my instructor has a similar idea to your last paragraph about rehearsing the movements away from the actual action scene.

This morning my neighbour who I did the joint lesson with turned up while I was practicing the movements on the sand. The heelside rotation movements I could remember, but I showed him my "recovery" motion and I said "is that right?", he said no the instructor said its more like "reaching for an apple" and coming around "its like holding a broomstick with both hands"

Tide conditions not ideal for camera placement this morning, but I got this clip where at least I can see that I am starting to apply it. Oh and I'm on my new boar. From the same file as the last two I broke, no changes to the shape and the same colour

 

[Aruka]

Double sesh at the left reef. Buttery conditions pretty much all day. It almost feels wrong when that happens here. Rode the 6-6 Sharpeye for the morning session. Text a friend and then paddled out alone. First couple waves were nugs and I surfed them well. Saw my buddy on the cliff after I kicked out of my 2nd one. He came out and we had a good time for about another hour before the tide started getting a little low. He was doing well on his long twin. I should have gone in sooner. Felt like I just couldn't find a good one to go in on. The sharpeye has so much rocker. Feels amazing on a steep overhead wave but the moment things start getting funky it does you no favors. Finally got a big one that and squeezed in a snap before it closed out.

Went back to the local and chilled out with the lady. Threw the ball for the dog and watched the crowd of longboarders battle over waist high closeouts. I really wanted to ride the new Plasmic but watching the scene I couldn't imagine myself having fun out there. Ended up going back to the reef in the evening. Swell had dropped a little and I was seeing some mid sized ones that looked pretty doable for a fishy board so I went for it. Solo sesh. Took me a few waves to get one that didn't just run the whole way but first impressions were good. Volume felt right. Nice glide into waves. Finally got a couple that shouldered and allowed for some turns. Weeeee. Super fun. Stocked on how much hold I was getting off the bottom really pushing on my rear heel and zipping up the face into a tight carve. Didn't get much more than an hour before it started to get dark but by the end of the session I was definitely feeling it. This was not the wave or conditions I got this board for I'm happy that it handled as well as it did.

 

[bluengreen]

Best waves I've had all fall. Surprised by the thin crowd when I got to the beach around 9:00. Tide was just the other side of high, but there were still some bars dealing 1.5x overhead barrels, or so it seemed on the cams and from the dunes. Surfline definitely under-called the swell, which may have been why people slept on it.

My paddle experience was not as brutal as Kentos, but I definitely had to dig deep to get back out after a few. Riding the 6'8 Blackbird with Arakawa quad set. Usually ride those fins in my 8'3. Made the 6'8 feel squirrely, and like I couldn't push as hard as I needed off the bottom. Back to my AM2 Techflex quads in that board. Much more positive and drivey.

Got some bombs but no legit barrels. Biggest was a rogue right that came right to me. After I go back out, buddy on the shoulder said he wanted to burn me so bad .Steep drop-in, deep bottom turn, hooked it in the pocket hoping to get slotted, but it had flattened out too much. Overall, nice to take some critical drops and do some barrel hunting. As often happens at OB, end result wasn't anything special.

 

[Aruka]

Best waves I've had all fall. Surprised by the thin crowd when I got to the beach around 9:00. Tide was just the other side of high, but there were still some bars dealing some 1.5x overhead barrels. Surfline definitely under-called the swell, which may have been why people slept on it. My paddle experience was not as brutal as Kentos, but I definitely had to dig deep to get back out after a few. Riding the 6'8 Blackbird with Arakawa quad set. Usually ride those fins in my 8'3. Made the 6'8 feel squirrely, and like I couldn't push as hard as I needed off the bottom. Back to my AM2 Techflex quads in that board. Much more positive and drivey.

Got some bombs but no legit barrels. Biggest was a rogue right that came right to me. After I go back out, buddy on the shoulder said he wanted to burn me so bad .Steep drop-in, deep bottom turn, hooked it in the pocket hoping to get slotted, but it had flattened out too much. Overall, nice to take some critical drops and do some barrel hunting. As often happens at OB, end result wasn't anything special.

I've had my 6-10 Blackbird for a couple/few years and have yet to run it as a quad. Dunno why, I guess when the waves are solid I don't want any surprises and thrusters are the most familiar to me. Do you always go quad in yours?

 

[bluengreen]

My 7'6 and 8'3 always set up as a quad. I go back and forth on the 6'8, but it was looking fast out there today, so I set it up as a quad. Haven't ridden a thruster in almost a year, so quad seemed like a comfortable choice too. I find I like a really raked fin in performance boards. Settles them down, which I need since I'm riding fishy boards in anything head high and under.

 

[Tarab_ish]

surfed the beach yesterday PM and today at sunset. so fun, the first legitimately good days this season imo. I was convinced it was going to be packed today but it was bizarrely empty.

Lots of missed opportunities. Got a chip-in to a left (backside for me) that was doubling up, the section in front of me really bowling, obvious/easy tube section that I'm late to, do one big pump for speed and to take a higher line, but overdo it slightly and slowwwly lose balance with my weight over my toes in the barrel, end up diving off right at the exit of the barrel. Also backed off of what would probably have been my best wave but was a little late to. Also as I was getting out of the water a pretty cute woman who was walking at the beach was looking at me very intently where it was obvious that I should go talk o her, but was too fried from battling the current to think to do so.

Still fun!

 

[Sam_K]

Creased my first board, a Hayden Shapes Untitled. This is a board that's advertised as a small wave warrior but I got it in SUP sizing (38) liters and used it as a step up. One of the best surfboards I've ever had, sad to see it get deformed. Tons of good memories though...

Thinking about replacing it with an oversized Mini Ghost. I kind of enjoy riding these smaller, high liter boards in a certain type of big wave.

Also considering buying another Untitled in smaller dims to use a shortboard. This thing seriously rips, I love it.

 

[potato-nator]

Creased my first board, a Hayden Shapes Untitled. This is a board that's advertised as a small wave warrior but I got it in SUP sizing (38) liters and used it as a step up. One of the best surfboards I've ever had, sad to see it get deformed. Tons of good memories though...

Thinking about replacing it with an oversized Mini Ghost. I kind of enjoy riding these smaller, high liter boards in a certain type of big wave.

Also considering buying another Untitled in smaller dims to use a shortboard. This thing seriously rips, I love it.

i just creased a Hypto.
was scraping off old wax...and there it was.
a 2ft crack.
wonder what i did???

 

[surfadelphia]

surfed knee high slop in howling onshores on Lake Erie in PA yesterday. would not recommend

 

[ReForest]

@ Mr J. F*ck yeah duu

When you have to think about your technique while surfing it’s uncomfortable. But you build up muscle memory and it’ll come together when turns comes without thinking about it. You got all the building blocks.

Been watching @ReForest clips on his gram and he’s been surfing better. The solo shot vids looks like they’ve been helping him too. He just gotta put those little boars away for the winter and get shredding on a pintail thruster step up when the north swells roll in. Haha

Thank you my braddah! I have been trying to improve on some stuff. I too have some friends at the harbor and the pier that arent afraid to tell you what you're doing wrong.
"bend that knee in", "get the to the bottom of the wave faster", "twist your upper body", "go more vertical", "your half way between a turn and a cutback"

I welcome the criticism and I take it as a compliment that they are even watching my crappy surfing at all. haha.

I even took 1 coaching lesson from a current pro, and his help on arm positioning and technique is something i think about everytime I'm in the water. As the coach says... "surfing is hard and its a constant learning process". Thanks for the compliment @teeroi

 

[Senor Sopa]

surfed knee high slop in howling onshores on Lake Erie in PA yesterday. would not recommend
View attachment 117847

I check Leak Erie cam all the time. I still haven't seen any waves.

MR J - From what I see, you have to much weight on the front foot. This causes "rail dig", and you don't get the drive you want. More legs, less upper body. If you can get your butt in the wave on your bottom turn, you will feel the speed!


Ahh, been missing bunches of waves lately. Went down to old faithful Crack's midday, waist high. As usual, the best ones were the smaller ones. Best wave started with the sideways paddle, so you already have speed. If you nail the first turn, you will maintain speed and make the wave. Some school team was just finishing up what looked like tryouts. I asked a dad which was the "least bad peak", he looked stunned for a sec, then pointed to the left. LOL, I ignored his advice and paddled straight out.

I've mentioned the beach is all cobbles this year. We had a pretty good storm earlier in the week, PPP now has no sand, none. Anyways, I see what looks like sand now at my spot. Nope, the waves had gobbled up cobbles. It's now a steeper, narrower berm of cobbles up the cliff.

Funny chit - while getting ready in the parking lot, some sketcher comes up and tosses a bag in the trash. I'm looking at him, hooly fark, I know this guy. Kept my trap shut, and thank God, dude didn't look at me. The kid that works for the hotel on the bluff, was at his container in the lot, was frowning at the guy as he walked back to his camper. I walk over and tell him I know the sketcher. Apparently worker kid sees him all the time, at least now he knows the guys name. For those interested, this is the same guy that was causing problems in Swamis lot 5 years ago.

 

[MathDebater]

Good news boys, flying out to portugal for my honeymoon Wednesday. Looks like promising Conditons around town follow immediately after. I’m going to be surfing some and yolo’ing something over there, updates to follow!

 

[potato-nator]

Good news boys, flying out to portugal for my honeymoon Wednesday. Looks like promising Conditons around town follow immediately after. I’m going to be surfing some and yolo’ing something over there, updates to follow!

on this side of the pond - USEC - potent westerlies are ongoing..

 

[000]

still somehow some waves left as the swells ending
plenty of closeouts but enough shoulders for me and my 63 year old bro all alone. a few really fast ones, still a few tubes.
till around 7:45 when a neverending stream of megatards decided the place where nobody surfs is the place to be
once again it was like a gay pride parade marching to my peak
i gtfo b4 they could **** me off any further
u know why i like mormon surfers best on sunday? they dont surf sundays