OK, we have just about had it with this strong winds. I have decided to go out "anyway" by trying to find any place that I can surf by heading south from my home in Half Moon Bay.
Just as I passed the Jetty, however, I got hoked at. It was a long time local buddy of mine. He was just checking. I got a call right away from him and I told him that I was heading south to get away from this wind, and skipping all the spots in the bay altogether. But I have decided to make one stop before I left town and called him back telling, if he is willing to come I'd paddle out. It was really windy but there were some ridable waves up to about chest level. These waves just local wind chops, they were really mushy. He said he was coming after picking up his gear from home. So I did the same, I went back home and grabbed a Walden Magic 9'0, which is now my favorite long board.
Getting to the beach was already kind of a workout because of the high wind, holding onto the board was difficult. It was a relief almost when you can set the board in the water, but with the oncoming wind there were quite a bit of chops and it was not that easy to get out of the inside. Luckily this time, the shallow sand extended quite far out in to the ocean so we basically walked out until it was about shoulder deep, at that point we paddled really hard before the next choppy stuff came in. Slightly to the outside of this we did see some ridable waves. In fact they ended up to be fun.
It always takes some adjustments to go back and forth between short and long board riding. The typical of which is to bury the front of the board when taking off. So for the first one or two waves, I always tend to perl. Then I start to adjust my take-off weight towards the tail, and I'd be OK for the rest of the session.
I actually had some fun long rides, the kind that I can go on by connecting 2-3 sections. If I do that right that makes me really stoked.
One thing I have realized today that works well for me to get in to the trim quickly is to do this;
While I flick up, I basically let the board slide ahead under me by stepping back towards the back of the board while pushing or weighting towards the wall of the wave. Sometimes I hang onto the outside rail while I lean inside (though as though it looks like I am pulling the rail, it feels more like I am hanging onto the edge.) Doing the combo of these sort of things the board turns more easily and by the time I am up on the board the board is going in a good trim, and I don't have to bury the front. The board is actually slipping ahead of me while I stand up. By the time I get up, I am standing way in the back of the board so it is already set up to correct the direction quickly, and once I set the direction, I step forward, and there the board starts to glide down the line. From there I can utilize the rails of the board to make longer drawn turns, which I prefer.
I will try to see if I can continue to refine this technique.
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