The week stint in Waikiki with a long board was great. They were definitely a great confidence building and also a bit of ego boosting. The confidence building came in two parts. First, because of the gentle waves and waves not so big, they were easy to catch and so I felt like I was so much better. Another confidence building was that these sessions were done mainly at a distant break from the shore. This was the first time I had to commute to a break just by paddling by so much distance. May be 1/2 a mile one way! I actually do paddle that much or more from the stairs at the Hook to the Pleasure Point peaks, but I catch waves inside on the way, and usually I gradually migrate there rather than in one shot. At any rate, still, these Waikiki breaks were quite far away from the shore, whereas in SC breaks still are not happening that far out from the shore.
So after coming back to Half Moon Bay though, I felt that I am much more comfortable being "further out" in the ocean than before, and can gauge the feel of being how far more confidently.
A bit of ego boost part is the following. My board rack at the hotel was a bit further behind the beach and when I take the board out, I had to go by one of these beach front restaurant areas. Needless to say, I attracted a lot of attention carrying a 9'2 ft hunk of plastic through drinking crowd each time causing a bit of sensation and making a scene.
So I do highly recommend this Waikiki experience for those who just hit kind of an intermediate stage, you have a good command of your board under most situations. I think these long-board waves can really help you out tuning riding skills, especially the rides are usually much longer than the ones you get around here.
In terms of my recent progress, I have actually feeling much more confident working with a bit more hollowed waves. One thing might be that due to the highway closure, there are less people surfing here and so I tend to be able to "own" waves better.
Much earlier on, on this WavLOG, I have talked about this issue of taking-off when the waves are faster, and I talked several experienced people about this, and the general
answer from them was that you do need to take off diagonally and not straight down. It is not that straight-down approach does not work, but basically you do need to have both options available. I feel that mastering the diagonal take-off is really important on these nearly-closing out beach breaks that are abound around here (and this goes along with a requirement to master clean duck-diving technique too).
Now, this diagonal take-off thing is not that very easy to do, and the success rate is not that great yet, but I feel that the consistency is improving quite a bit lately, and that is with my 6'4 board. Several of key elements in getting here were
? Becoming a much more stronger paddler than ever before. You basically need to grab a lot of water fast. Diagonal take-off means there is much less assistance from the waves to take off compared to going straight down.
? Become better at assessing the wave break spot and direction.
? As with all take-off technique, be really agile on getting up on the board. Diagonal take-off adds a bit of balancing challenge to get up on the board.
? Overall comfort being challenged by more hollow breaks
For me, attaining the stronger paddling was probably one of the key mastery that took me (and taking me) a long time to get to.
Getting up on the board quickly, to me, is very important because once I am standing on top of the board; I can be in much better control of the board. I can easily correct the line for speed, and position in the wave.
It is really a lot of fun when this take off works into a nice smooth pocket and I can extract all the power from the wave, yet it is almost hard to explain how quiet, smooth and fast some of these rides are, when they start out right!
Friday, June 23, 2006
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Back in Nor Cal
Today was the second day at my home break at the Jetty, after nearly a week in the Waikiki break. First thing, I hear so many people complaining about our water being so cold and won't surf. As for me, I actually see not much difference in terms of the comfort. I put on the XCEL 4/3 with a 2 mm hood and a pair of XCEL booties. The first dip in the water is, admittedly, a wake-up call, but after that I paddle out hard and I am just as being comfortable as in Waikiki waters, and I also admit that after surfing without wet suits, it really felt strange, like wearing one of these medieval armor and go to a battle with the waves. But once I was in the water, it became a business as usual, and with my arms spring loaded with rubber, I felt like I was getting more arm exercise.
In terms of the waves, it also was a welcome change from these Waikiki waves. Today, waves were on a "mellower" side, but yet, there were some hollow sections that I could enjoy (not saying that Waikiki won't have it, and of course O'ahu is the place for really great waves, but then I am just a regular surfer.)
Paddle out here means less than two minutes, and ride also means just 5-10 seconds today, but I just get the same stoked excitement about catching waves, and I can be back on a short board, and when I catch some of the breaks successfully, there just more speed to and power to the ride that I missed -- (at least trying to) cranking the bottom and snapping off the top is something that is really exciting and that's something I want work a lot more on!
Perhaps, next time I would be back in O'ahu, I would get enough courage to try out these North Shore waves, but somehow, I think that is still a long long way.
In terms of the waves, it also was a welcome change from these Waikiki waves. Today, waves were on a "mellower" side, but yet, there were some hollow sections that I could enjoy (not saying that Waikiki won't have it, and of course O'ahu is the place for really great waves, but then I am just a regular surfer.)
Paddle out here means less than two minutes, and ride also means just 5-10 seconds today, but I just get the same stoked excitement about catching waves, and I can be back on a short board, and when I catch some of the breaks successfully, there just more speed to and power to the ride that I missed -- (at least trying to) cranking the bottom and snapping off the top is something that is really exciting and that's something I want work a lot more on!
Perhaps, next time I would be back in O'ahu, I would get enough courage to try out these North Shore waves, but somehow, I think that is still a long long way.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Last Day at Waikiki
Final Waikiki Sessions
Some of you might be wondering why I seem to just have been surfing Waikiki. Well, before we took off to Japan, I misplaced my drivers license and so I am actually asking my wife to drive at the moment. As soon as I get back I plan to visit our friendly and efficient DMV office to get the replacement. But until then, it is best that my wife drives. You know, however, I also find some challenge in certain limitations. For example, right now, I just paddle out from the hotel. If you are following my story, I have rented an NSP 9'2 for this week, and also rented a locker space so I am now able to go out to surf any time I wanted to.
This morning, I went back to the "Royal Hawaiian" spot. At my paddling speed, it took me a good 15-minute paddle out go get to the spot. But as well as the crowd and the waves, it is really mellow paddle out. I just stroke each hand slowly and all the way through and I can see the bottom of sea passing by, sometimes with smaller fishes and big sea turtles passing by. Speaking of this, through surfing, I have really seen so many things in the ocean from a direct encounter with whales, dolphins surfing right next to me, sea otters, sea lions, harbor seals, and huge sea jellies even.
As for paddling out, tt is amazing that I have been this far out in to the ocean! When I turn back toward the shore, I cannot literally identify each person standing at the beach! Should this have been in California, I would be really freaked out for having paddled out so far, and worried about how in the heck I am going to get back!
But back to surfing? There was a bit more swells this morning, and I was already identifying some familiar faces. And I got another one of those extremely long rides. It is really different type of surfing, and really what I have learned so far have been really helpful. If you are reading this as a new reader, please do know that my purpose here is to share what I am experiencing as they happen and not really to boost how I feel how good I am. Really, I am not that great of a surfer at all technically. There still are, no matter what break I am in, a lot of surfers whom I aspire to be. Having said that though, what really helping me to get these long rides is that I now know how to read waves ahead and how to extract power from the waves. I now know when to cut back a little and go straight down to get more speed and when to climb back up on the wave using the speed I gained to get more speed. So even the wave "puters" out a bit I can connect these sections and go on. And it is really something that paddling back out in of itself takes another 5-6 minutes to get back in to the spot I started with. It is so different from surfing at the Jetty or Linda Mar where paddling back out means just a few minutes!
I really had fun this morning. So as usual, I went back to the room, changed and spent the rest of the day driving around and checking out other areas of the island (we will write StokeMaster's Guide to O'ahu soon).
I opted to surf early in the morning and later in the afternoon when other "tourist" activities, such as outrigger canoe and catamaran rides stop. It is kind of amazing that outrigger rides and surfers coexist on the same waves, but then I have found out how people ride waves in Waikiki is different from others. In Waikiki, people tend to go straight down, and only when people find a room to trim they do the trimming on the wave face. This includes seasoned local experts who usually do not wear rash guards. Unlike, say Santa Cruz breaks, here people do ot seem to have problems sharing waves. Good people are willing to go straight down and really no issues sharing waves. There has not been any yelling by other surfers. Waves are really "given" to everyone who are willing to catch waves.
I think that I've learned a lot in the past few days of surfing here. I can just be happy and very stoked in Waikiki as well as at the Jetty in HMB. Each locale is so different from others and it is so much fun to try and see so many different surfers around the world, and that's makes surfing really fun!
Some of you might be wondering why I seem to just have been surfing Waikiki. Well, before we took off to Japan, I misplaced my drivers license and so I am actually asking my wife to drive at the moment. As soon as I get back I plan to visit our friendly and efficient DMV office to get the replacement. But until then, it is best that my wife drives. You know, however, I also find some challenge in certain limitations. For example, right now, I just paddle out from the hotel. If you are following my story, I have rented an NSP 9'2 for this week, and also rented a locker space so I am now able to go out to surf any time I wanted to.
This morning, I went back to the "Royal Hawaiian" spot. At my paddling speed, it took me a good 15-minute paddle out go get to the spot. But as well as the crowd and the waves, it is really mellow paddle out. I just stroke each hand slowly and all the way through and I can see the bottom of sea passing by, sometimes with smaller fishes and big sea turtles passing by. Speaking of this, through surfing, I have really seen so many things in the ocean from a direct encounter with whales, dolphins surfing right next to me, sea otters, sea lions, harbor seals, and huge sea jellies even.
As for paddling out, tt is amazing that I have been this far out in to the ocean! When I turn back toward the shore, I cannot literally identify each person standing at the beach! Should this have been in California, I would be really freaked out for having paddled out so far, and worried about how in the heck I am going to get back!
But back to surfing? There was a bit more swells this morning, and I was already identifying some familiar faces. And I got another one of those extremely long rides. It is really different type of surfing, and really what I have learned so far have been really helpful. If you are reading this as a new reader, please do know that my purpose here is to share what I am experiencing as they happen and not really to boost how I feel how good I am. Really, I am not that great of a surfer at all technically. There still are, no matter what break I am in, a lot of surfers whom I aspire to be. Having said that though, what really helping me to get these long rides is that I now know how to read waves ahead and how to extract power from the waves. I now know when to cut back a little and go straight down to get more speed and when to climb back up on the wave using the speed I gained to get more speed. So even the wave "puters" out a bit I can connect these sections and go on. And it is really something that paddling back out in of itself takes another 5-6 minutes to get back in to the spot I started with. It is so different from surfing at the Jetty or Linda Mar where paddling back out means just a few minutes!
I really had fun this morning. So as usual, I went back to the room, changed and spent the rest of the day driving around and checking out other areas of the island (we will write StokeMaster's Guide to O'ahu soon).
I opted to surf early in the morning and later in the afternoon when other "tourist" activities, such as outrigger canoe and catamaran rides stop. It is kind of amazing that outrigger rides and surfers coexist on the same waves, but then I have found out how people ride waves in Waikiki is different from others. In Waikiki, people tend to go straight down, and only when people find a room to trim they do the trimming on the wave face. This includes seasoned local experts who usually do not wear rash guards. Unlike, say Santa Cruz breaks, here people do ot seem to have problems sharing waves. Good people are willing to go straight down and really no issues sharing waves. There has not been any yelling by other surfers. Waves are really "given" to everyone who are willing to catch waves.
I think that I've learned a lot in the past few days of surfing here. I can just be happy and very stoked in Waikiki as well as at the Jetty in HMB. Each locale is so different from others and it is so much fun to try and see so many different surfers around the world, and that's makes surfing really fun!
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Another Royal Hwaiian Treatment
Day 3 at Waikiki:
Now that I have gotten my "own" NSP 9'2 board in the locker that I can take out any time, I am doing two sessions a day; one in the early morning and another in the late afternoon when the sun is no so darn strong. This morning was a So-so session, but this afternoon I paddled out again to "Royal Hawaiian" spot again. And lone behold, I had another one of those 2-minute ride again. It is a long and long paddle out there but once I am out there, the breaks a bit more powerful than the inside Waikiki, and also it is much less congested with no lessons, no outrigger canoes and catamarans. So I caught another one of long rides, in fact two of them. I would imagine if there is real good S swells in place this place can really rock!
For those who are just starting to learn how to surf Waikiki is probably one of the best spots in the world to learn how to surf. First of all, the water is warm, and you don't need to wear wetsuit (but do need to put on good sun block). Secondly the breaks are really gentle and nice and non-threatening. The only other place that I know this kind of break happen is the inside Cowells in Santa Cruz. Another thing is that the vive here is really great. I have not seen anyone yelling or even colliding upon each other. Even seasoned surfers that hang around the inside Waikiki stake off just straight down, and will give you a plenty of room to surf. Experts will only turn and trim on the face if nobody else is on the surf.
So contrary to what I have heard, I did not experience the real "crowded" scene here, and if that is a concern go out before all of the rentals and activities start, say before 8 a.m. and you will be just fine.
So, in terms of surfing, especially at our levels, there is no problem at all.
Waikiki would be a perfect choice for you, if you have older parents and relatives whose purpose in life have mainly shifted over to shop and shop and shop, and eat and eat and eat, while your goal is to surf, surf and surf. You can leave them alone shopping to their hearts content while you do exactly the same, just go out and surf all the time. Just set up a time in the evening when and where to meet to eat, get drunk, come back to the room, crash, get up early and surf, and eat lunch with them. It is really amazing that these two almost completely opposite mode of life can co-exist in this almost Las Vegas time forest of high-rise hotels and shops!
I must say though, I am starting to miss the cold refreshing water, fighting with currents and trying to time and position for much stronger waves. This is "too easy" for many of us, and it is fun for a while, but if you have been working on how to make the best out of these crappy waves we got in Pacifica and HMB, then you might feel like going back out there and try to see if you'd catch the waves just as well as you have been here in Waikiki. No wet suit is great, paddling hands are really light, but then I do miss duck diving through overhead waves in Montara and the Jetty. I can get outside paddling nearly 1/2 mile out, that gives me a confidence, but my arms are just as relaxed as before surfing. When I am in the waves of Nor Cal, I get really tired, and feel like I got some substantial excercise.
Now that I have gotten my "own" NSP 9'2 board in the locker that I can take out any time, I am doing two sessions a day; one in the early morning and another in the late afternoon when the sun is no so darn strong. This morning was a So-so session, but this afternoon I paddled out again to "Royal Hawaiian" spot again. And lone behold, I had another one of those 2-minute ride again. It is a long and long paddle out there but once I am out there, the breaks a bit more powerful than the inside Waikiki, and also it is much less congested with no lessons, no outrigger canoes and catamarans. So I caught another one of long rides, in fact two of them. I would imagine if there is real good S swells in place this place can really rock!
For those who are just starting to learn how to surf Waikiki is probably one of the best spots in the world to learn how to surf. First of all, the water is warm, and you don't need to wear wetsuit (but do need to put on good sun block). Secondly the breaks are really gentle and nice and non-threatening. The only other place that I know this kind of break happen is the inside Cowells in Santa Cruz. Another thing is that the vive here is really great. I have not seen anyone yelling or even colliding upon each other. Even seasoned surfers that hang around the inside Waikiki stake off just straight down, and will give you a plenty of room to surf. Experts will only turn and trim on the face if nobody else is on the surf.
So contrary to what I have heard, I did not experience the real "crowded" scene here, and if that is a concern go out before all of the rentals and activities start, say before 8 a.m. and you will be just fine.
So, in terms of surfing, especially at our levels, there is no problem at all.
Waikiki would be a perfect choice for you, if you have older parents and relatives whose purpose in life have mainly shifted over to shop and shop and shop, and eat and eat and eat, while your goal is to surf, surf and surf. You can leave them alone shopping to their hearts content while you do exactly the same, just go out and surf all the time. Just set up a time in the evening when and where to meet to eat, get drunk, come back to the room, crash, get up early and surf, and eat lunch with them. It is really amazing that these two almost completely opposite mode of life can co-exist in this almost Las Vegas time forest of high-rise hotels and shops!
I must say though, I am starting to miss the cold refreshing water, fighting with currents and trying to time and position for much stronger waves. This is "too easy" for many of us, and it is fun for a while, but if you have been working on how to make the best out of these crappy waves we got in Pacifica and HMB, then you might feel like going back out there and try to see if you'd catch the waves just as well as you have been here in Waikiki. No wet suit is great, paddling hands are really light, but then I do miss duck diving through overhead waves in Montara and the Jetty. I can get outside paddling nearly 1/2 mile out, that gives me a confidence, but my arms are just as relaxed as before surfing. When I am in the waves of Nor Cal, I get really tired, and feel like I got some substantial excercise.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
2-minute Ride at Royal Hawaiian
Stoke 11 at "Royal Hawaiian"
Well, the inside Waikiki is crowded with a bunch of "rental" surfers (that includes me), surf schools, outrigger canoes, catamarans. You name it, you would find it out there. But when I was surfing there I saw this spot way outside, far right from the main Waikiki section. Yesterday, I went to a surf shop and asked them about that, and a response was "You man, Royal Hawaiian. Yeah, do go out there!" So this afternoon, I decided to paddle out. It almost felt like paddling a mile out. It probably took me 10-15 minutes of paddling out to get out there, probably a 1/4 of a mile out, but it was worth it. The breaks were more consistent and vives were not bad either.
Well, as it so happened that there was a set.
The breaks here require quite a bit different timing than I am used to, especially when I have been surfing short boards a lot in beach breaks in Half Moon Bay. The way things happen (at least right now) is much slower than anything I have experienced. I see a set, I start to paddle and continue to paddle inside, look back and check where it is going to build up, I still have time to paddle towards where it is going to break, and then when it is time to take off, I paddle extra long and on to a very smooth and slow take off. But once you are on the wave, the rides are typically long, and sometimes, it can last, yes a 1/4 of a mile that I have paddled out!
And there, I had one of the "ride of a lifetime." I barely caught a wave but it started to build up on the right. I kept my position on the surface of the wave. I looked at the wave. As the wave got steeper, I cut back to the top of the wave and gained more speed. With the speed I have gotten, I was able to get to the next section that was breaking, and I was able to keep doing that, and thus I was able to continue going and going. It was really amazing amount of ride. It was probably equivalent of taking off outside the indicator and be able to make all the way into the sand in Cowells. It was not a speedy ride, but it was really more like a cruising slowly. My rental NSP 9'2 did not perform badly at all. After 4 sessions, I am starting to get used to the board, and I think that there is a lot to be said about getting used to how the board performs.
Another thing I have realized is that stepping moves are really important in long boarding. With a short board, I can easily shift fore-aft weighting but with a long board, I do need to actually walk on the deck back and forth to maintain good speed of the ride.
As the sun started to drop closer to the horizon, all of the hotels started to play one type of Hawaiian music from another and from the outside in the ocean, you can hear just about all the music each of the hotel is playing from this vantage point. I started to wonder how many musicians and dancers are being hired to orchestrate this, and how many of the songs are being played in the entire Hawaiian islands.
Well, the inside Waikiki is crowded with a bunch of "rental" surfers (that includes me), surf schools, outrigger canoes, catamarans. You name it, you would find it out there. But when I was surfing there I saw this spot way outside, far right from the main Waikiki section. Yesterday, I went to a surf shop and asked them about that, and a response was "You man, Royal Hawaiian. Yeah, do go out there!" So this afternoon, I decided to paddle out. It almost felt like paddling a mile out. It probably took me 10-15 minutes of paddling out to get out there, probably a 1/4 of a mile out, but it was worth it. The breaks were more consistent and vives were not bad either.
Well, as it so happened that there was a set.
The breaks here require quite a bit different timing than I am used to, especially when I have been surfing short boards a lot in beach breaks in Half Moon Bay. The way things happen (at least right now) is much slower than anything I have experienced. I see a set, I start to paddle and continue to paddle inside, look back and check where it is going to build up, I still have time to paddle towards where it is going to break, and then when it is time to take off, I paddle extra long and on to a very smooth and slow take off. But once you are on the wave, the rides are typically long, and sometimes, it can last, yes a 1/4 of a mile that I have paddled out!
And there, I had one of the "ride of a lifetime." I barely caught a wave but it started to build up on the right. I kept my position on the surface of the wave. I looked at the wave. As the wave got steeper, I cut back to the top of the wave and gained more speed. With the speed I have gotten, I was able to get to the next section that was breaking, and I was able to keep doing that, and thus I was able to continue going and going. It was really amazing amount of ride. It was probably equivalent of taking off outside the indicator and be able to make all the way into the sand in Cowells. It was not a speedy ride, but it was really more like a cruising slowly. My rental NSP 9'2 did not perform badly at all. After 4 sessions, I am starting to get used to the board, and I think that there is a lot to be said about getting used to how the board performs.
Another thing I have realized is that stepping moves are really important in long boarding. With a short board, I can easily shift fore-aft weighting but with a long board, I do need to actually walk on the deck back and forth to maintain good speed of the ride.
As the sun started to drop closer to the horizon, all of the hotels started to play one type of Hawaiian music from another and from the outside in the ocean, you can hear just about all the music each of the hotel is playing from this vantage point. I started to wonder how many musicians and dancers are being hired to orchestrate this, and how many of the songs are being played in the entire Hawaiian islands.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Waikiki Day 2
Sunday, June 4th
Day 2: Waikiki Surfing
We are staying at a major beach front hotel in Waikiki on this trip. This is the summer and so I have figured that we should stay on South exposed location. Besides, surfing on big waves on the north shore at any time of the year is really not an option for me anyway.
Waikiki = Tourist, and that's quite true. But I must say that it holds true out of the water. Once in the water though there is a lot of fun waves. The condition for today and yesterday was about hip high on standard sets, perhaps chest level on the biggest sets. But Waikiki waves are different from the Jetty or Montara waves. I think this is really a fine beginner section. The only other place that is comparable that I know of to this is Cowells in Santa Cruz.
This morning, I just rented a hotel rental, which was a 9'0 NSP Epoxy board. It was $15 for the first hour and $7 additional hour. I quickly figured that it would not be economical to keep surfing like this. At this hotel (probably others) I have found an outside long board locker, and when I asked the front desk, it was free to the guest, so I immediately signed up for the slot. Now I have to find a weekly rental.
Luckily using the Internet technology I quickly found an outfit called Hawaii Surfboard Rentals (http://hawaiisurfboardrentals.com/rates.htm) and I called them up. They not only dropped off the board at the hotel but also will be picking the board on the day of departure at 6:00 AM. Perfect! I can do a DP before taking off back for SFO for the noon flight! So I got 9'2 NSP board. Now with a locker setup, I can go surf in Waikiki break anytime I want and as often as I want! This is very great.
The waves in Waikiki is really mellow like those of Cowells and even when they size up, they are not really threateningly fast closing like those at the Jetty or even Linda Mar. The NSP board is easy to surf and I am surfing good on it. Trimming and turning are relatively easy, and rides can be really long. I wished that I have had even bigger and wider board to help practice riding on front of the board, but with these long smooth rides I am getting here, I think I can really practice working on these techniques just in time for this summer classic competition. It looks to me really a long-board only break in the past two days, and the break have some thickness to it, that trimming, and cutting back up and down on the wave can be done really at relaxed pace, hence at much slower speed than, say, being on a verge of being closed out and need to work with a lot of speed. These are the qualities that I think really help me learn a lot more.
One of the things I am not used to as much is that the paddle out is really long. The part that break well are way way outside from my standards. Perhaps 300 - 700 yards out from the shore. Typically in Half Moon Bay area, the outside can be reached in 100-300 yards from the shore (I have not really measured it though). It is kind of equivalent of getting in the water at the 38th and then paddling all the way to the Pleasure Point Peaks. Like the 38th, there are inside breaks too.
Vives, so far, has been good and even really good people are giving a lot of chance for others to surf. So far I have found people surfing here are not totally a beginner nor really super experts, except that I have found a few of them very seasoned as well as aged well under the Hawaiian sun.
A few summers ago, I surfed Lahania Breakwater in Maui. I must say that Lahaina Breakwater is significantly more challenging. It was much more similar to catching an overhead break at the Pleasure Point Peak. Much more power concentration in smaller spot (but less crowd).
I will go and check out other south facing spots in the next few days.
Day 2: Waikiki Surfing
We are staying at a major beach front hotel in Waikiki on this trip. This is the summer and so I have figured that we should stay on South exposed location. Besides, surfing on big waves on the north shore at any time of the year is really not an option for me anyway.
Waikiki = Tourist, and that's quite true. But I must say that it holds true out of the water. Once in the water though there is a lot of fun waves. The condition for today and yesterday was about hip high on standard sets, perhaps chest level on the biggest sets. But Waikiki waves are different from the Jetty or Montara waves. I think this is really a fine beginner section. The only other place that is comparable that I know of to this is Cowells in Santa Cruz.
This morning, I just rented a hotel rental, which was a 9'0 NSP Epoxy board. It was $15 for the first hour and $7 additional hour. I quickly figured that it would not be economical to keep surfing like this. At this hotel (probably others) I have found an outside long board locker, and when I asked the front desk, it was free to the guest, so I immediately signed up for the slot. Now I have to find a weekly rental.
Luckily using the Internet technology I quickly found an outfit called Hawaii Surfboard Rentals (http://hawaiisurfboardrentals.com/rates.htm) and I called them up. They not only dropped off the board at the hotel but also will be picking the board on the day of departure at 6:00 AM. Perfect! I can do a DP before taking off back for SFO for the noon flight! So I got 9'2 NSP board. Now with a locker setup, I can go surf in Waikiki break anytime I want and as often as I want! This is very great.
The waves in Waikiki is really mellow like those of Cowells and even when they size up, they are not really threateningly fast closing like those at the Jetty or even Linda Mar. The NSP board is easy to surf and I am surfing good on it. Trimming and turning are relatively easy, and rides can be really long. I wished that I have had even bigger and wider board to help practice riding on front of the board, but with these long smooth rides I am getting here, I think I can really practice working on these techniques just in time for this summer classic competition. It looks to me really a long-board only break in the past two days, and the break have some thickness to it, that trimming, and cutting back up and down on the wave can be done really at relaxed pace, hence at much slower speed than, say, being on a verge of being closed out and need to work with a lot of speed. These are the qualities that I think really help me learn a lot more.
One of the things I am not used to as much is that the paddle out is really long. The part that break well are way way outside from my standards. Perhaps 300 - 700 yards out from the shore. Typically in Half Moon Bay area, the outside can be reached in 100-300 yards from the shore (I have not really measured it though). It is kind of equivalent of getting in the water at the 38th and then paddling all the way to the Pleasure Point Peaks. Like the 38th, there are inside breaks too.
Vives, so far, has been good and even really good people are giving a lot of chance for others to surf. So far I have found people surfing here are not totally a beginner nor really super experts, except that I have found a few of them very seasoned as well as aged well under the Hawaiian sun.
A few summers ago, I surfed Lahania Breakwater in Maui. I must say that Lahaina Breakwater is significantly more challenging. It was much more similar to catching an overhead break at the Pleasure Point Peak. Much more power concentration in smaller spot (but less crowd).
I will go and check out other south facing spots in the next few days.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Do surfers get jaded?
That's the topic I have been thinking about for a while because I have been wondering if I am going down the same path of other surfers that I have met over the years, though I don't event know exactly what this "same path" is. So in this log I would like to explore what that is.
When I started to surf, I have noticed distinctly some characters in surfers that appear to be around for a while. This is especially true around established breaks.
I have noticed that some surfers are continuously cranky and at times they appear to be a bit arrogant towards other surfers. I've noticed that they appear not to be having much fun, when on rare occasions when I caught waves, I enjoyed so much. Of course not all of the surfers are like that, but there always are several. So there always is a chance that I might join one of them. Of course, I know this type of behavior is somewhat reinforced by some exclusivity of surfing breaks and the overall increase in the general surfing population. The question to this though is will I become part of it simply because I participate in the sport for a longer time? I am hoping I would not.
The second issue is that I actually surf with less number of people these days than I used to. When I started, I need to surf with other people because it was not fun just to go out by myself, feeling scared, inadequate etc. So we set up sessions, called around with other people to go out with etc. Going to many different places were actually fun and would take extra energy to get up early or driver much further, set up long weekend trips to So Cal, and go on Surf camps etc.
As time went on, I have found a few people who consistently I surf with and, actually it is more like I go there and other people I know are out there, not specifically setting time or place to surf. Sessions are starting to happen more on "organic" basis. This is really great because I remember when I try to do a session with people it took me quite a bit of energy.
As the part of the second issue is skill related. I am not claiming that I am a really a hot surfer, but on the other hands, but I have started to make differences in where and the type of waves out there. This is where I am actually a bit stuck; I am not good enough with good people to surf with them all the time, and when I take other people out with me to some of the breaks that I think is fun, they would not set their board into the water thinking that it is too challenging to them.
But then I think all of that is coming around, and I have been hopeful of this coming back around.
In the interest of saving time and driving, I have started to go in even when it is kind of small and crappy, a kind of waves that I was happy with when I started out, and try not to always surf outside, but pull inside a bit. Now I take out a board that might be either fun or a bit challenging, and try to get the most out of it. I have realized that that give me a lot of practice too. I still take my Doyle foam board occasionally. It is actually difficult to turn this board, but with that there is an additional challenge of actually making this board turn, and when I do that I actually realize something about turning on performance boards.
But I do need to continue to watch myself out and make sure that I would not become a jaded surfer. I should go back to the first day out every session out!
~ ~ ~
Talk to us on StokeMaster.COM StokeFORUMS
When I started to surf, I have noticed distinctly some characters in surfers that appear to be around for a while. This is especially true around established breaks.
I have noticed that some surfers are continuously cranky and at times they appear to be a bit arrogant towards other surfers. I've noticed that they appear not to be having much fun, when on rare occasions when I caught waves, I enjoyed so much. Of course not all of the surfers are like that, but there always are several. So there always is a chance that I might join one of them. Of course, I know this type of behavior is somewhat reinforced by some exclusivity of surfing breaks and the overall increase in the general surfing population. The question to this though is will I become part of it simply because I participate in the sport for a longer time? I am hoping I would not.
The second issue is that I actually surf with less number of people these days than I used to. When I started, I need to surf with other people because it was not fun just to go out by myself, feeling scared, inadequate etc. So we set up sessions, called around with other people to go out with etc. Going to many different places were actually fun and would take extra energy to get up early or driver much further, set up long weekend trips to So Cal, and go on Surf camps etc.
As time went on, I have found a few people who consistently I surf with and, actually it is more like I go there and other people I know are out there, not specifically setting time or place to surf. Sessions are starting to happen more on "organic" basis. This is really great because I remember when I try to do a session with people it took me quite a bit of energy.
As the part of the second issue is skill related. I am not claiming that I am a really a hot surfer, but on the other hands, but I have started to make differences in where and the type of waves out there. This is where I am actually a bit stuck; I am not good enough with good people to surf with them all the time, and when I take other people out with me to some of the breaks that I think is fun, they would not set their board into the water thinking that it is too challenging to them.
But then I think all of that is coming around, and I have been hopeful of this coming back around.
In the interest of saving time and driving, I have started to go in even when it is kind of small and crappy, a kind of waves that I was happy with when I started out, and try not to always surf outside, but pull inside a bit. Now I take out a board that might be either fun or a bit challenging, and try to get the most out of it. I have realized that that give me a lot of practice too. I still take my Doyle foam board occasionally. It is actually difficult to turn this board, but with that there is an additional challenge of actually making this board turn, and when I do that I actually realize something about turning on performance boards.
But I do need to continue to watch myself out and make sure that I would not become a jaded surfer. I should go back to the first day out every session out!
~ ~ ~
Talk to us on StokeMaster.COM StokeFORUMS
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Technical Update
I think I am over due for my technical progress update section, so this one is just about the technical update.
At some time or another I have mentioned about how waves looks good when a bunch of semi-pros show up on local breaks. I have seen this happen just going to the HMB surfing classic competitions in the past few years. Normally when I go to our local breaks, most people are so-so, even the ones that I surf regularly with, if we compared to some of these professional surfers. When the competition is on, no matter what the condition is some of these competitors know how to make the best out of the condition, and if you watch them surf, you'd not realize how "good" the condition was. Of course, the next day, basically the same condition, same tide, a bunch of "regular" surfers get out again, the surf look just like every-day.
One of the things that I have been paying a lot of attention to lately is about the speed, and if you have the speed, and hence the momentum, you can do a whole lot to your surfing than just plain trimming across the wave or just going straight down, and then stalling. Most of us, and especially me, just stall too quickly but pros do not seem to; they obviously have other skills like picking the right wave and also reading the waves once they are on the waves, but one thing they have is the speed.
Well, one of the issues might be is in the take off period and just a short period after the flick up. This is when I slow down when the pros continue to gain the speed. And that makes it a bit of challenge to me, but here are some things that I am starting to either understand of experiment more.
1. In order to get up on the board, I tend to jump up on the board. This is actually bad in several reasons. First, I am not continuing to transfer my weight on the board, that means that the board, for a short moment, is just floating on its own and not getting much power from the water, and secondly as a result of this the board is not being controlled during this very critical state in stetting up the initial speed. So, to fix this issue, I am trying to transition the posture change more smoothly, and bit slowly. I know I can get up on the board but I think I do that too much in haste.
2. Once I am up on the board I am still not applying the weight to the right place and not set up to the turn number 1 for the proper weight transfer. Turn #1 is usually the bottom turn. I should be working on more determined weight transfer rather than just simply relying on the rail to do the turn. I am setting up for the turn correctly in most cases but the speed is not increasing significantly more after the first bottom turn finishes. This is also bad to the point that I may not have gained enough speed and power to get back up to the wave, and of course, that means that I cannot extract more power out of the wave on the turn number 2 and subsequent ones.
So if you see me struggling to rip next time, that's what I will be working on for the next 10-20 hours in the water. If you spot me, check me out, and let me know if I am missing something.
Thank you!
At some time or another I have mentioned about how waves looks good when a bunch of semi-pros show up on local breaks. I have seen this happen just going to the HMB surfing classic competitions in the past few years. Normally when I go to our local breaks, most people are so-so, even the ones that I surf regularly with, if we compared to some of these professional surfers. When the competition is on, no matter what the condition is some of these competitors know how to make the best out of the condition, and if you watch them surf, you'd not realize how "good" the condition was. Of course, the next day, basically the same condition, same tide, a bunch of "regular" surfers get out again, the surf look just like every-day.
One of the things that I have been paying a lot of attention to lately is about the speed, and if you have the speed, and hence the momentum, you can do a whole lot to your surfing than just plain trimming across the wave or just going straight down, and then stalling. Most of us, and especially me, just stall too quickly but pros do not seem to; they obviously have other skills like picking the right wave and also reading the waves once they are on the waves, but one thing they have is the speed.
Well, one of the issues might be is in the take off period and just a short period after the flick up. This is when I slow down when the pros continue to gain the speed. And that makes it a bit of challenge to me, but here are some things that I am starting to either understand of experiment more.
1. In order to get up on the board, I tend to jump up on the board. This is actually bad in several reasons. First, I am not continuing to transfer my weight on the board, that means that the board, for a short moment, is just floating on its own and not getting much power from the water, and secondly as a result of this the board is not being controlled during this very critical state in stetting up the initial speed. So, to fix this issue, I am trying to transition the posture change more smoothly, and bit slowly. I know I can get up on the board but I think I do that too much in haste.
2. Once I am up on the board I am still not applying the weight to the right place and not set up to the turn number 1 for the proper weight transfer. Turn #1 is usually the bottom turn. I should be working on more determined weight transfer rather than just simply relying on the rail to do the turn. I am setting up for the turn correctly in most cases but the speed is not increasing significantly more after the first bottom turn finishes. This is also bad to the point that I may not have gained enough speed and power to get back up to the wave, and of course, that means that I cannot extract more power out of the wave on the turn number 2 and subsequent ones.
So if you see me struggling to rip next time, that's what I will be working on for the next 10-20 hours in the water. If you spot me, check me out, and let me know if I am missing something.
Thank you!
Thursday, April 27, 2006
More Diversions: Fresh Ocean Scent/ Surf Scent
The idea of the fishy and kelpy scent, if it is strong may not be appealing. But if we use a very very small amount of my ocean scent mixture and also mix that with some lavender, and some minty fragrances, or even coconut, pineapple type smell it might actually be quite appealing.
There definitely is the scent of surfing, I have realized while I was paddling out today.
In addition to that fishy and kelpy smell out in the ocean, there is a moderate amount of rubbery neoprene and also whatever they put in the board wax of that tropical fruit scents mixes in. The rubbery and waxy smell is kind of exciting. It is the same scent of walking into surf shops, except that in surf shops add the scent of the fibreglass resin compound mixed in. Perhaps, I can market that as "Fresh Surf Shop Scent" for your car deodorizer.
There definitely is the scent of surfing, I have realized while I was paddling out today.
In addition to that fishy and kelpy smell out in the ocean, there is a moderate amount of rubbery neoprene and also whatever they put in the board wax of that tropical fruit scents mixes in. The rubbery and waxy smell is kind of exciting. It is the same scent of walking into surf shops, except that in surf shops add the scent of the fibreglass resin compound mixed in. Perhaps, I can market that as "Fresh Surf Shop Scent" for your car deodorizer.
Fresh Ocean Scent?
I don't know if this is just me or not, but I don't know what the Fresh Ocean Scent is. There are a lot of products from shampoo to soap labeled to have this type of scent. We did buy a few, but none of them smell like the fresh ocean.
In most of the places I hang around the ocean scent changes depending on the time of the year, but in most cases, it does not smell anything like the fresh ocean scent out of a shampoo bottle. If anything the following is the list of things I smell.
- Some types of see weed or kelp.
- Fish market
- Bad Sushi restaurant
- Sea Lion or Penguin section of a zoo (this one is not a very pleasant smell for me).
- Ozone or electrical discharge scent especially when I am inside or near a break
Perhaps, next time I am out, I should grab some floating kelp with can of sardines and put them in the mixer and extract my own version of the real Fresh Ocean Scent.
In most of the places I hang around the ocean scent changes depending on the time of the year, but in most cases, it does not smell anything like the fresh ocean scent out of a shampoo bottle. If anything the following is the list of things I smell.
- Some types of see weed or kelp.
- Fish market
- Bad Sushi restaurant
- Sea Lion or Penguin section of a zoo (this one is not a very pleasant smell for me).
- Ozone or electrical discharge scent especially when I am inside or near a break
Perhaps, next time I am out, I should grab some floating kelp with can of sardines and put them in the mixer and extract my own version of the real Fresh Ocean Scent.
Friday, April 21, 2006
Going Single-Fin
I have been thinking about taking the side fins off of my Takayama long board for quite some time, but I never really got around to do it. You know, when you get to the beach, the waves are looking good, the only thing in my mind is to get in the water as soon as possible. I often neglect supplying additional coat of wax too.
Also, why long boarding now?
First I admit that there still is some part of me thinking "long board = old surfers." But that idea is crumbling quickly. One thing is that I can ride short boards with some degree of satisfaction these days and another is that I have been watching some classic long board movies and also new people too on Longboard TV on satellite, and I thought that I really should master long boarding too. Some people are really elegant on the board stepping back and forth, and some younger surfers are also doing some really cool moves on it too.
Also whenever I ride long boards, it also teaches me about short boarding too or vise versa. Since I am not a professional surfer, I should be able to enjoy both and I am lucky that I can actually starting to enjoy both. Plus some places are naturally great for long boarding like Santa Cruz and Ventura breaks, or in the winter when the breaks get bigger and starting to break big from way-way outside!
So back to the fins finally this Monday, I took the side fins out of the DT4, and based on what I am experiencing so far, I probably don't need them again on this board.
I only have been out twice without the side fins, so this is something I will be reporting more as I take out this board a lot more. But, for example, I really had this really gradual but smooth and sweet setup to get into the first turn after the take off. Turns are seemingly becoming more "sweeping" instead of needing to "whack the tail, and push the rail and jet the board out" type turns that works with thruster short boards. The turns seem to come more by changing the left-right balance. At least that is my initial impression. I can be totally wrong. From this stand-point, this really is totally a different kind of experience.
If you have a tri-fin setup on your long boards, I really encourage you to try without the side-fins. Whatever it is, the quality of ride changes very significantly that I feel like I got totally different kind of a board.
Also, this week, I was able to step to about 10 inches from the nose, stood there and kept going. I think I will gradually close that gap so I will be standing right at the nose. It will be fun.
Also, why long boarding now?
First I admit that there still is some part of me thinking "long board = old surfers." But that idea is crumbling quickly. One thing is that I can ride short boards with some degree of satisfaction these days and another is that I have been watching some classic long board movies and also new people too on Longboard TV on satellite, and I thought that I really should master long boarding too. Some people are really elegant on the board stepping back and forth, and some younger surfers are also doing some really cool moves on it too.
Also whenever I ride long boards, it also teaches me about short boarding too or vise versa. Since I am not a professional surfer, I should be able to enjoy both and I am lucky that I can actually starting to enjoy both. Plus some places are naturally great for long boarding like Santa Cruz and Ventura breaks, or in the winter when the breaks get bigger and starting to break big from way-way outside!
So back to the fins finally this Monday, I took the side fins out of the DT4, and based on what I am experiencing so far, I probably don't need them again on this board.
I only have been out twice without the side fins, so this is something I will be reporting more as I take out this board a lot more. But, for example, I really had this really gradual but smooth and sweet setup to get into the first turn after the take off. Turns are seemingly becoming more "sweeping" instead of needing to "whack the tail, and push the rail and jet the board out" type turns that works with thruster short boards. The turns seem to come more by changing the left-right balance. At least that is my initial impression. I can be totally wrong. From this stand-point, this really is totally a different kind of experience.
If you have a tri-fin setup on your long boards, I really encourage you to try without the side-fins. Whatever it is, the quality of ride changes very significantly that I feel like I got totally different kind of a board.
Also, this week, I was able to step to about 10 inches from the nose, stood there and kept going. I think I will gradually close that gap so I will be standing right at the nose. It will be fun.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
More Life Lessons from Surfing
As a part of my own training, I have been trying not to get angry. I have been consciously trying this for more than a year now, and surfing really has helped me in achieving this. Like surfing, I have not perfected it, but I think I am making a bit more progress than before really starting to make an effort.
Looking back at early days when I started to take up the sport, there were many things that frustrated me, hence I got angry. Many of the situations dealt with when it got really difficult to paddle out or go up on the board. Whenever something bad happened, say, I could not make the outside, or cannot catch the waves, that resulted in frustration, and often blamed the surf board, or the condition, or sometimes the people who happened to be around. But now that I have had a bit of time to reflect on all these situations, I have found out the following stuff that happened in my mind.
First, I thought I was not able to control the situation, but I thought I could. The way I thought I could is to find out the source of the issue; something to blame. Now that I am thinking about this, there clearly were time in point I was thinking that the source of the problem was the surf board, or other people or the condition. Of course, if you are reading this now it might all make sense to you, but if you are in the middle of the situation, it is not that easy to make a head and tail out of it.
Now, several hundred sessions later, it is very clear to me that most of the source of the problem lied within myself, and all of what I was angry at was really not present at that time or even now. I was trying to control the situation where there is nothing I could really control, and hence, the frustration and anger. The fact that I can prove this to myself is that I now have totally different attitude about the situation, because now I am still using similar equipment and going out on similar conditions and with similar crowd as I have been, but I do not get that anger feeling any more. I know how to have fun in crowded situations, they never get me, and I rarely get them, and I know when the board works to let me surf and I know when the board works and when it does not, and when it does not, I know that I can make it work with time and more practices.
And there, I have found much more peace in my mind, and I can really use this to deal with my daily life. I am therefore really glad that surfing is not only helping me stay in shape but also mentally help me grow a bit each day.
Looking back at early days when I started to take up the sport, there were many things that frustrated me, hence I got angry. Many of the situations dealt with when it got really difficult to paddle out or go up on the board. Whenever something bad happened, say, I could not make the outside, or cannot catch the waves, that resulted in frustration, and often blamed the surf board, or the condition, or sometimes the people who happened to be around. But now that I have had a bit of time to reflect on all these situations, I have found out the following stuff that happened in my mind.
First, I thought I was not able to control the situation, but I thought I could. The way I thought I could is to find out the source of the issue; something to blame. Now that I am thinking about this, there clearly were time in point I was thinking that the source of the problem was the surf board, or other people or the condition. Of course, if you are reading this now it might all make sense to you, but if you are in the middle of the situation, it is not that easy to make a head and tail out of it.
Now, several hundred sessions later, it is very clear to me that most of the source of the problem lied within myself, and all of what I was angry at was really not present at that time or even now. I was trying to control the situation where there is nothing I could really control, and hence, the frustration and anger. The fact that I can prove this to myself is that I now have totally different attitude about the situation, because now I am still using similar equipment and going out on similar conditions and with similar crowd as I have been, but I do not get that anger feeling any more. I know how to have fun in crowded situations, they never get me, and I rarely get them, and I know when the board works to let me surf and I know when the board works and when it does not, and when it does not, I know that I can make it work with time and more practices.
And there, I have found much more peace in my mind, and I can really use this to deal with my daily life. I am therefore really glad that surfing is not only helping me stay in shape but also mentally help me grow a bit each day.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Thie Winter of 2005-6, The Fear etc...
I am over due for an update. Oh, what a winter this has been. There has been a lot of things going in my life this winter, not to mention about how difficult it was to find "surfable" surfs and the weather. Then to top this off, the Devil's Slide decides to "slide" at the end of the winter. Things did not stop there, we've also heard about some guy in Oahu who got infected by the "flesh eating disease" because of too much rain and the contaminated water.
Let's see where I left off.
I definitely have been surfing whenever I could. That has not stopped. However, I must say that I have not been getting really satisfactory sessions. Why these sessions were not satisfactory? The main reason is that I feel now need to really become a significantly stronger surfer than ever before. This issue is tangled with dealing with a lot of my own fears about the surfs. Somehow, I have developed this fear of currents this season. The fear is rooted to the fact that I kind of know that I still am not a strong enough surfer to be able to paddle around in situations where I should really want to be; a bit bigger, steeper and faster conditions than I have been accustomed to.
Here is one of the reasons why this fear is not unjustified. I do surf occasionally with people I know are much better than I am. I also try to paddle out in the situations that's a bit beyond I feel is comfortable. For example, when it was like 10 ft at 20 seconds swell hitting the bay. What I have found out in these situation is this.
When I'd paddle out I'd be in one of two situations. Either it is really hard to get out, or I would be swept fast out into the outside. As far as being swept to the outside, I know it is a bonus for most. For me though, if I cannot catch the waves once I am out and want to come back, I know it would be a lot of effort to get back in, and I am not entirely sure yet, if I can come back in. I wish that I knew the answer. So far, there has never been a situation where I could not come back in, because I can always catch some wither water and ride back in. But what happens if the board breaks in half or the leash snaps. I am having a hard time paddling with a board under me, can I really swim back?
The other side of the coin, however, is that I am becoming a bit bored with catching short and small waves on smaller days with easy paddle out. Because I know also that on these occasions when I do get further out on a bit bigger days or places where things tend to be bigger, and when and if I catch some of the waves, the quality of these rides are significantly great. The quality to me means that I can really do a lot on the waves making more types of turns.
So if I really need to cross this "confidence" level threshold so that I know that I can handle more powerful situations. This is a gradual thing, I know, because I also know that I came a long way. I am definitely riding more waves in more powerful situations, and I am out there when most other people are not out there. But I also know that I still have not attained the level to be a true contender in local surf competitions.
~ ~ ~
Coming up on my next few logs, I would like to touch on some angers I had early on.
Let's see where I left off.
I definitely have been surfing whenever I could. That has not stopped. However, I must say that I have not been getting really satisfactory sessions. Why these sessions were not satisfactory? The main reason is that I feel now need to really become a significantly stronger surfer than ever before. This issue is tangled with dealing with a lot of my own fears about the surfs. Somehow, I have developed this fear of currents this season. The fear is rooted to the fact that I kind of know that I still am not a strong enough surfer to be able to paddle around in situations where I should really want to be; a bit bigger, steeper and faster conditions than I have been accustomed to.
Here is one of the reasons why this fear is not unjustified. I do surf occasionally with people I know are much better than I am. I also try to paddle out in the situations that's a bit beyond I feel is comfortable. For example, when it was like 10 ft at 20 seconds swell hitting the bay. What I have found out in these situation is this.
When I'd paddle out I'd be in one of two situations. Either it is really hard to get out, or I would be swept fast out into the outside. As far as being swept to the outside, I know it is a bonus for most. For me though, if I cannot catch the waves once I am out and want to come back, I know it would be a lot of effort to get back in, and I am not entirely sure yet, if I can come back in. I wish that I knew the answer. So far, there has never been a situation where I could not come back in, because I can always catch some wither water and ride back in. But what happens if the board breaks in half or the leash snaps. I am having a hard time paddling with a board under me, can I really swim back?
The other side of the coin, however, is that I am becoming a bit bored with catching short and small waves on smaller days with easy paddle out. Because I know also that on these occasions when I do get further out on a bit bigger days or places where things tend to be bigger, and when and if I catch some of the waves, the quality of these rides are significantly great. The quality to me means that I can really do a lot on the waves making more types of turns.
So if I really need to cross this "confidence" level threshold so that I know that I can handle more powerful situations. This is a gradual thing, I know, because I also know that I came a long way. I am definitely riding more waves in more powerful situations, and I am out there when most other people are not out there. But I also know that I still have not attained the level to be a true contender in local surf competitions.
~ ~ ~
Coming up on my next few logs, I would like to touch on some angers I had early on.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Greed, Punishment and Rewards
It was the final day of our mini vacation, and we planned to stop by at another spot further up surf and head home. But, we also checked a spot close to where we stayed, and it was breaking in the size and the shape that I like; about shoulder high, good shape and soft enough. On top of that there were only 2-3 people and peaks were happening all over the places so I could have had my own waves.
Well, still determined that we should hit another spot, we got back in the car and headed up to the point about 20 minutes up the road. As we drove up the situation looked more and more bleak. The waves gotten looked smaller, the prevailing wind made the surface more disorganized. Finally we arrived at the spot, and there was nobody on the wave. This is one of the best reef spot in California, but today there was nobody and it was that bad.
We got back in the car and headed back to where we were. By then nobody was surfing but the waves were still about the same; sets coming in every 2-3 minutes interval, and basically I got to own the entire beach to myself for the next hour and half. Caught tons of waves, really relaxed and rode easy but really fun waves, not even minding about techniques, and just free surfed? And that's something that I have forgotten doing for a long time. Just free surf and don't worry about techniques or fighting for the next break with another surfer. Catch a wave, paddle right back out on glassy surface, rest for some good breath, and ready to catch another.
It was really a treat and kind of surfing that I have not done in a long while. I should remember to do that now that I can actually surf the waves, why worry.
Next time the wave looks good (enough), I am not going to look further, I should go in and enjoy.
Well, still determined that we should hit another spot, we got back in the car and headed up to the point about 20 minutes up the road. As we drove up the situation looked more and more bleak. The waves gotten looked smaller, the prevailing wind made the surface more disorganized. Finally we arrived at the spot, and there was nobody on the wave. This is one of the best reef spot in California, but today there was nobody and it was that bad.
We got back in the car and headed back to where we were. By then nobody was surfing but the waves were still about the same; sets coming in every 2-3 minutes interval, and basically I got to own the entire beach to myself for the next hour and half. Caught tons of waves, really relaxed and rode easy but really fun waves, not even minding about techniques, and just free surfed? And that's something that I have forgotten doing for a long time. Just free surf and don't worry about techniques or fighting for the next break with another surfer. Catch a wave, paddle right back out on glassy surface, rest for some good breath, and ready to catch another.
It was really a treat and kind of surfing that I have not done in a long while. I should remember to do that now that I can actually surf the waves, why worry.
Next time the wave looks good (enough), I am not going to look further, I should go in and enjoy.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Please, and please stand by...
I have been taking a bit of rest on this department. I know, I know. And I even know that a lot of people come back to my Blog to share with me about my progresses and defects. But lately I have been thinking a lot about what it is that I am trying to do. I hope you understand. Yeah, it is really easy to write that I went out and say how many waves I caught etc., but somehow I don't think that you are coming back to this spot to find that out. Are you? I think that you want to know a lot more about in-depth what I go through trying to become a better surfer. Of course, what the heck is a "better surfer". Well, I think that's also up to me to define what that is. So, please hang around and hang on. Don't give up on me. I am really giving a lot of thought about how I can make it a more worthwhile sharing and reading experience to you.
Please stand by...
Please stand by...
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Session 6025-6026
Session 6025: Thursday 2/23: Great day at Montara. Finally get enough courage and encouragement to surf more on the outside breaks.
Session 6026: Friday 2/24: Gentle day at Linda Mar. Still thinking about how to improve this blog, what really to write about.
Session 6026: Friday 2/24: Gentle day at Linda Mar. Still thinking about how to improve this blog, what really to write about.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Feb 22, 2006
Change in WavLOG?
I think that I am now getting to the point that there really is no point for logging each session. It really gets tiresome just to write about each session, and I do think that when I spend time I should write something that adds value, and of course, I have been pondering about that for some time. This is a legacy that hopefully I can leave behind for some time and for that I think that I should at least write something that would be of some value to people.
Also, I would like everyone to know this.
Surfing is a very very high priority in my life. You would not be surprised if I put surfing as higher priority than my family. I do look after people that I am very close to, but surfing comes the top priority, that means, I will write about my surfing experience but I may not respond to your emails or questions. I will try to find time to surf before, after or any time I feel is appropriate. Taking this away from me, you are going to make a very and very unhappy man and I can make you very unhappy person too.
Some people might be mistaken when I say this to you, saying that I am "addicted" to it. That's also far from the truth. I am absolutely not addicted to it. Should I, say, get in a situation where due to a circumstance beyond my control (I repeat beyond MY control, not my friends or even my spouse's or spouse's in law or parents'.) I would be totally in content and peaceful, if I realize that it is no longer possible to surf for a good reason. But presently I am not in that situation, and I choose to go out when and where I feel is appropriate to me. I am no addicted to it because I am in control of the situation. I can stop I and I can do it whenever I can, and I don't even have force it to stop like someone with some addiction therapy. This is why I never ever write my experience associated with an addiction. I would like everyone reading this to stop and think about this for a moment. There really is a clear distinction.
The closest thing (due to a lack of my ability to articulate this) that comes to me is that it is more like a life-time mission, and I cannot even fully explain to you what the mission will accomplish. But in a very shallowest way, I really want to fully understand what it is that I need to do to be good at it, and there is much more for me to understand this as every time I go out, I find out that there is a lot more to find out about this than the last time. Sometimes, or actually more often than not, I feel like I have not mastered anything at all. Then sometimes, I feel like I really have came a long way, but nevertheless, there are more times that I would feel like there is a lot to go to the point that I would feel satisfied.
One of the things that I really like about this sport is that it is a sport that I have to do it by myself. If this was something like Tennis, then I have to have someone else. But this aspect of it, I really like, because all of my life that's the mode I have operated in. Looking back this is really the reflection of how I like to run my life -- independently, and that really resonates with this mission that I have started.
I actually even don't know what I find out from this. But the more I get into it, the more I find out about what I need to find out. From that point of view, may be it is a mission without an actual end, but so be it! I think that's better than, say, one day, I master everything there is to know about that. It is too sad that if that ever happens, I must quit this altogether and go on another mission. Luckily that does not seem to happen yet!
I think that I am now getting to the point that there really is no point for logging each session. It really gets tiresome just to write about each session, and I do think that when I spend time I should write something that adds value, and of course, I have been pondering about that for some time. This is a legacy that hopefully I can leave behind for some time and for that I think that I should at least write something that would be of some value to people.
Also, I would like everyone to know this.
Surfing is a very very high priority in my life. You would not be surprised if I put surfing as higher priority than my family. I do look after people that I am very close to, but surfing comes the top priority, that means, I will write about my surfing experience but I may not respond to your emails or questions. I will try to find time to surf before, after or any time I feel is appropriate. Taking this away from me, you are going to make a very and very unhappy man and I can make you very unhappy person too.
Some people might be mistaken when I say this to you, saying that I am "addicted" to it. That's also far from the truth. I am absolutely not addicted to it. Should I, say, get in a situation where due to a circumstance beyond my control (I repeat beyond MY control, not my friends or even my spouse's or spouse's in law or parents'.) I would be totally in content and peaceful, if I realize that it is no longer possible to surf for a good reason. But presently I am not in that situation, and I choose to go out when and where I feel is appropriate to me. I am no addicted to it because I am in control of the situation. I can stop I and I can do it whenever I can, and I don't even have force it to stop like someone with some addiction therapy. This is why I never ever write my experience associated with an addiction. I would like everyone reading this to stop and think about this for a moment. There really is a clear distinction.
The closest thing (due to a lack of my ability to articulate this) that comes to me is that it is more like a life-time mission, and I cannot even fully explain to you what the mission will accomplish. But in a very shallowest way, I really want to fully understand what it is that I need to do to be good at it, and there is much more for me to understand this as every time I go out, I find out that there is a lot more to find out about this than the last time. Sometimes, or actually more often than not, I feel like I have not mastered anything at all. Then sometimes, I feel like I really have came a long way, but nevertheless, there are more times that I would feel like there is a lot to go to the point that I would feel satisfied.
One of the things that I really like about this sport is that it is a sport that I have to do it by myself. If this was something like Tennis, then I have to have someone else. But this aspect of it, I really like, because all of my life that's the mode I have operated in. Looking back this is really the reflection of how I like to run my life -- independently, and that really resonates with this mission that I have started.
I actually even don't know what I find out from this. But the more I get into it, the more I find out about what I need to find out. From that point of view, may be it is a mission without an actual end, but so be it! I think that's better than, say, one day, I master everything there is to know about that. It is too sad that if that ever happens, I must quit this altogether and go on another mission. Luckily that does not seem to happen yet!
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
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