WavLOG is Back on the Blogger

Well, the time has changed.

I have given up on maintaining my own web site and technology. I have enough other things to do both at work, at surf and at music.

Google has been doing a great job of maintaining and updating the Blogger with better features, more sharing capabilities ever. So why not let them take care of me, and I'd focus on what matters the most -- the contents.

So there we go. I am back on the Blogger.

See you again soon!

On To My Own Site

On To New Surf.Stokemaster.Com




I will be updating the stuff on all new WaveLog II at my own new web site moving forward. URL is http://surf.stokemaster.com  The web site uses the same software as Huffington Post and The Onion!

Summer 2010 Recap

WavLOG

Summer 2010 Recap

Just about every local in Half Moon Bay I surf with seem to agree that this summer was a bust.

Jogging my memory, there were two factors that mainly contributed to this.

• The lack of strong onshore winds in the afternoon.
• The lack of south swells.

You probably say that the lack of strong onshore wind condition is a good thing in our area. I think that in a very selfish way, it is because, yes the onshore winds tend to ruin the surf locally. However, the general lack of this means that we also did not have much high-pressure induced waves. Around this time of the year, most of the local source of the waves starts off the coast of Mendocino, and a few days of winds, we get decent NW swells, like 8 seconds 5-10 feet which will give some fun waves in Linda Mar and other spots.

The South swells also have been not very active until this week. This summer I have not been surfing at the Jetty in Half Moon Bay (nor Santa Cruz) because there simply was not much south swells. This means that there has not been sever winter swells in the Southern hemisphere.

Hopefully this is not the start of a long time weather pattern.

StokeTIP 55: Go See Local Surf Flicks

Novice StokeTIP 55

Go See Local Surf Flicks

Here in Northern and Central California almost all of us surfers have surfed in Santa Cruz at least once, if not once a month, or every day. The quality of the waves is almost always better than my home breaks in Half Moon Bay and from novice friendly Cowells to highly competetive Hook and the Lane, the place has a lot to offer and further up the coast we got Mavericks break right in my home town of Half Moon Bay.

As you surf more and become familiar with surfing, you will start hearing about "The West Side" and "The East Side." And sooner or later you will become failiar with surfer names like "Flea", "Ratboy" and "Barney." Even if you don't want to hear about them, you will hear about them on local regular news-talk radios and in the front-pages of San Francisco Chronicle or San Jose Mercury news. In many ways, California and surfing are part of our daily life; everyone is influenced by it from the slang we use to what we wear even to work!

As you surf more in Santa Cruz, you will also get to know about the "West side" and "East side" surfing culture you will learn that they often crash, even sometime to the point of physically being violent. So it has always been curious in mind how these different cultures come about.

And of course these things being as culture they invlove people, and every so often our own surfing communities has produced great surfing documentary movies that are prouced often by the very people who grew up within.

Such is the case with the new upcoming documentary film "The Westsiders." The film was produced by Joshua Pomer who grew up with the big 3 names in Santa Cruz West Side surfing scene. Joshua got a hold of portable video camera from his high school and started to shoot videos of his surfing friends and so he knew right from the start to some day tell the story about what it is like to grow up with top surfers and being immersed in the scene. Also very important in the formation of the culture is one dominating character, Vince "The Godfather" Coller who pretty much controlled The Lane and for good or bad, he was the key part of creating the force in the Westside culture to put these surfers and Santa Cruz Stemer Lane on the map. Like a Big Bang, the melting of all forces have created some of the darkest part of the surf culture as well as some of the brightest and innovative breakthoughs in surfing like legitimizing aerials as a surf move and even surfing upside-down inside a barrell and of course the big wave surfing.

The movie is a serious and important documentary about Santa Cruz surfing culture and the history of the West Side. It is a nice and intentional departure from "just surf" type movies where you only see people surfing on the waves for an hour, and it really provides a deeper look inside how it is to grow up in the environment. Interviews include numerous people from the surfing community and partents. Jason has also used his networks of friends to collect interesting home movie clips from the 60's and 70's. Because of this approach the movie can be enjoyed by both surfers and as well as non-surfers.

My words are not going to be adequate to describe all what I have expeirenced at the preview, but one thing for sure, you being a part of the surfing culture today, you must go see this and many other surfing documentary movies produced by our very own local film makers who also surf.

The movie was selected and premiers at the Newport Beach Film Fetival on April 24th, 2010 and shown at the Santa Cruz Film Festival on Saturday 5/8 at 6:30 PM (More information about the Santa Cruz Film Festival)

For more information about the movie, here are additional web sites you can try:

www.nbffaction.com

www.thewestsiders.com

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=63949915605&ref=ts

http://www.twitter.com/TheWestsiders

http://www.youtube.com/user/westsidersmovie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvPReLc90c8

StokeTIP 54: The Importance of a Positive Attitude

Novice StokeTIP 54

The Importance of a Positive Attitude

Posted originally on:

http://wavlog.stokemaster.com

http://twitter.com/stokemaster

Yes, we all know that having a positive attitude is important in just about everything. But I have been reading up more on this stuff from a neuro surgeon.

I am going to quickly summarize this. Based on our current knowledge of our brains, it appears that when our brains process information one of the first things it does it to distingulish "like" or "dislike."

As we all grow up, we tend to accumulate in our brain to process more stuff into the "disklike" category. To make things short, that occurs because our brains tend to work in the manner for preservation. So we always tend to take a safer approach.

You can see that as we get older or observe people who are older than us, they all tend not to like new things, lose curiousity and then witter away.

So what does this got to do with surfing?

Actually what I want to point out is what does this got to do with our "Stoke."

To me the Stoke is driven from our curiousity and constant queests for better experiences on the wave. I refuse to get in the mode where I waer a T-Shirts that says "I rule!" and I refuse to tell people "I only surf at this break only when it is the greatest."

So, maintain your curiousity, always hope for a better wave, better tomorrow, and even when the waves are crappy let's get out and come back and blog or tweet about how much we got out of each of our session, exchange, and share the joy.

Your brains will appreciate it!

See you in the lineup!

http://wavlog.stokemaster.com

http://twitter.com/stokemaster

StokeTIP 53: Find a Limitation To Expand Your Skills

Novice StokeTIP 53: Find a Limitation To Expand Your Skills

Most of us want to be technically better surfers. I certainly dream about being on the wave freely making all sorts of interesting and creating moves very often. You could be lucky in this regards with a cat-like 3D agility that you can fly with your boards. But in most cases that's usually not how we are equipped with.

When it comes to surfing for me, each paddle out is a practice that never ends. In many ways, I almost can't tell if it is the first time I have ever tried surfing or not. Surfing can bring many humbling occasions; just I thought I've learned something, next time out, I cannot repeat what I've learned and many times I feel like I hit a limit of some sort.

To this effect, I know and I do forget one thing, which is understanding my own limitations.

This seems to be obvious to many, but when you are on a wave and ready to catch one or trying to make that cut back ahead of the changing wave, it is difficult know "live" where your limit lies.

That's where I think that analyzing and truly understanding our own limitations can help improve our surfing skills (and anything else I do) and I think we don't give much time for it.

If you understand the boundaries that limit your current abilities to accomplish things clearly, that can help you set up clear goals and then remove these obstacles. For example, for me right now, I need to work on the take-off technique on steeper waves, and I am currently working just on that. To be more exact, I am too timid right now to take on steep waves, but I also know that every once in a while it works and when it does I have really great rides.

So next time, don't just blame things that make your surfing experience less than perfect. But just think and analyze what really are limiting factors in your current ability to surf the way you want.

Don't set too high of a goal, in most things in life we need to chew a little bit at a time.

Keep On Stoking!

See You on the Wave Soon!

http://wavlog.stokemaster.com

Twitter: http://Twitter.com/StokeMaster

StokeTIP 52: Volunteer for a Local Surfing Organization

Novice StokeTIP 52

Volunteer for a Local Surfing Organization

Have you ever volunteered to work in an organization of any kind? If you have, that's wonderful, but if the thought of doing that never came to your mind, then it is time to think about doing it.

Needless to say, you can make great contributions to your community with your volunteering efforts, but on this post I am going to touch more on the benefit to you, most of which are not immediately obvious.

I was involved in Surfrider San Mateo chapter and through this experience I have found that that;

• I had to help solve problems that I was not normally exposed.

In my situation, I was fully unaware of local environmental issues and how peoples interests were conflicted, met and resolved.

• I was able to understand and work with people skill issues that come with any organizations

If you have a party of 2 or more we do agree and disagree. At an organizational level being able to meet the challange is very important skill set to acquire. Also you get to meet people who are from much more diverse backgrounds that think (often) quite differently than you do. This will enrich your knowldge and ability to be a more diversely participating member of the community.

• I had to demonstrate my leadership skills

As a part of organization, you do need to take charge and make things happen, I had both success and failure in this area, but I did learn a lot what works and what does not thoughy my efforts.

• I got chances to meet or network wtih people with whom you would not normally be able to hook up including community people in Half Moon Bay all the way to nationally known surfing figures etc.

This is probably one of the greatest benefits to me. I got to expand my network in a very meaningful way. Many of people are live and real friends I met in local community, we do business or even go surf trip to other countries with! I also got to meet the top notch surfers, surf movie makers, surf publishers and such both locally and nationally, and that's really exciting.

StokeTIP 51: Be Well Hydrated To Prevent Muscle Cramps

Novice StokeTIP 51:

Be Well Hydrated To Prevent Muscle Cramps

Since I took up swimming in collage days, I have been bothered by calf muscle cramps. Now I get this painful muscle spasms when I over-stretch or stress the calf muscle; frequently enough. The most devastating time to get this is when I try to kick the water hard while taking off... imagine if that's the best wave in a surf competition! I also get one when I stretch in the morning in the bed.

While there is no complete cure for this either by drug or doing warm-up/stretch exercises there is one thing that seem to lessen the chance of this happening for me, which is the importance of being hydrated.

With the help of StokeMaster.com friends, I found out this article at this Mayo Clinic web site http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/muscle-cramp/DS00311/DSECTION=prevention

If you are like me, so stoked and busy forgetting to drink water pre-sessions (somehow I don't forget to drink Beer post session but that's actually causes more dehydration) .

Since then I drink a glass of water at home before leaving and packing a eco-friendly water bottle full of tap water and remember to take a drink before a session and also immediate after it too, since an elevated heart rate does cause my kidney to work hard too... I am sure you can relate.

Also for me a sudden stress in the calf causes the issue so I should try to move the leg often while in the lineup. It is also a good way to stabilize your position yourself while in the lineup after all.

This site http://www.health911.com/remedies/rem_cramp.htm has more information and also many Folk Remedy techniques. I am not entirely sure if any of them work other than I try to eat a Banana in breakfast for potassium, but instead of over-drugging myself I will stick with the Hydration and stretch methods as my main means.

Keep on Stoked and See You in the Lineup!

Manabu Tokunaga

Blog: http://wavlog.stokemaster.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/stokemaster

Novice StokeTIP #50: Go Take a Rest

Novice StokeTIP #50

Go Take a Rest

More often than not, after a so-so session, and while changing, I see some great weave coming through at the spots that I was not realizing while I was in the water, but the time is already out for me to move on to other stuff in my daily life.

So, especially when you are not having so good of a time, get out of a water in the middle of a session and observe from the shore what is happening and re-assess your lineup.

I think I will try to do that myself.

Surf Tip 49: Go See a Pro Surfing Competition Live!

Novice Surfer Tip 49

Go See a Pro Surfing Competition Live!

I find that going to see a live professional competition is a part of the essentials all new surfers should experience. As a budding surfer, you owe it to yourself. Whether you agree with the principal of competing or not, you can get a lot out of it from just one day of attending.

You might say, you can see all that on a Fuel TV or DVD, but here are some of the things you may be missing out of:

• On the TV (especially DVDs), you are only seeing what they want you to see. Mostly pictures of the top people just surfing on the waves. As a person learning how to surf, you get a whole lot more out by watching how the real professional surfers take off, from the wave spot selection to the direction to which they take off. Then how they set up for the initial turn. Most videos won't be able to capture that phase of surfing; they want to cut directly to them catching some air or getting tubed. But to me the initial 5 seconds of surfing is the most critical part of succesful surfing.
• By being there, you will also get to see everyone, from the top notch competitor to the ones that do not have the right day. Again, videos tend to capture only the top people. You should watch and compare among all competitors.
• Also, you can see all different sorts of styles how people surf and compete.
• The excitement of being among the live audience is also just something you cannot experience even if you have a 500w surround and 1080p HD television system.

For the people in Bay Area we got many top international level professional competitions that hapen at Steamer Lane or Pleasure Point, among few others, so it is worthwhile checking the calendar and plan on spending a day.

One of the most amazing things about going to Santa Cruz is that due to the configuration of the cliffs, you can see the surfers often from all the anges of the wave, from the front, side or even from the back. This is something that would be difficult to do at beach break compeitions unless you can get on the pier.

Still Love My Stretch F4 Quad

WavLOG

Technical Update

Still Love My Stretch F4 Quad

DISCLAIMER: Just before I blurb on with surfboards or technique, I am not one of those hot surfers. I am still trying to figure out how to get there and the progress is at the snail's pace.

So what prompted me to write this note is that I put away the Stretch F4 Quad board for a while mainly because the tail-pad started to peel off and I did not get a chance to fix it until this weekend. In the meantime, I was using the JC Ugly Stick 6'4 for several weeks and not having much fun. Until the repair I have been riding the F4 exclusively for short-board sessions, for at least a year at all sorts of conditions.

When first I got this F4 board, I did not know what to say about it, I was much more used to the JC board, but one important thing I've learned is the importance of sticking with one board for a long time. I have realized after being back on the F4 board that this morning I felt like the "magic" has come back. It is probably true that if I stayed on the JC for a long time, I would probably like that too.

Having said that though I have really noticed the following things that I can do better with the F4 board.

• Taking off on an angle at the top of the wave is more controlled. You know when the edge of the wave starts to fold, and I am trying hard to get into the wave at an angle so I take off and at the same time, I won't get crushed. This is where I feel my surfing is the weakest and every little bit of help is needed still. And since that means I am giving up the wave to the next surfer a lot, I get less time on the wave. Most other buddies I know bring out longboards, take off much further out and sooner, while I sit a bit inside and wait for the sweet spot (yes, I should be paddling for it.)
• I feel like stalling less often after a take off. This is where I usually (OK, I admit, almost all the time) lose a momentum and can't surf well. I can pump a bit and gain a bit more of speed, and when that works, I can head the board to where the power is on the wave. This is where I feel much more confident and once I am really on the wave like this; getting power from the wave, I can begin to be a bit more creative... perhaps a bit more aggressive in all movements. I am getting there slowly, but there is still a lot of room to work, and more consistent taking-off is most important agenda for me right now. But now it does happen once or twice in a good session, finally I am getting some pay-off.
• Turns especially going from the bottom going up then cutting back works great... nothing is more satisfying to me than than a clean and long "S" cutbacks! And from the shore it looks like I am drawing an 8. Yeah! That's fun!

When I got the board, I thought 4-fins are a bit of a gimmick (and still may be) but in my situation, I feel like sticking with this board patiently has helped me a lot!

Surfing is very interesting and continues to be because I can never get good at it to the extent I am rarely satisfied with the rides... when I think I have done a good ride there always is someone who does it better than me and more consistently!

Enjoy!

Review: RipCurl F-Bomb vs O'Neill Mutant 3/4

WavLOG

RipCurl F-Bomb vs O'Neill Mutant 3/4

I have written smaller piece of information with respect my new RipCurl F-Bomb and O'Neill Mutant suits before. I have two suits because I usually alternate between them and usually buy a new suit 1 to 1.5 season(s) apart, replacing one at a time, but for some odd reasons two of my old suits ripped this year within a few months of each other.

So I had to replace two suits at about the same time. I paid approximately $320 for each Mutant and F-Bom, though I got RipCurl at discount and and O'Neill at more like the full price so this may not be a "fair" comparison since O'Neill Mutant is a bit lower end positioned product. There are higher-end suits costing more than $500, but I am not sure if they last any longer, so I usually opt for a mid-range price stuff, and buy new ones more often. Besides, the two suits I got this time are both warm enough, I see no points in paying more.

Both are front-zip kind and that's basically the only type of suits I will be using. This is because I do not like verclo around the neck. It is almost amazing that people can construct suits without any verclo on them.

Now that I have been out with both of them, I can write a bit more.

Warmth:

I can definitely say that F-Bomb is noticeably warmer. When I am paddling around a lot in the 53-54 degree Half Moon Bay water, I do get quite hot inside. It feels a bit more water tight. There is quite a bit of the "red" stuff inside the suit, whereas on the Mutant the heat shield material seems to be in the chest and back only. So the "red" matter may be making quite a bit of difference.

I do not mean to say that the Mutant is cold, both are nice and warm in Half Moon Bay surfing situations, but if you want a bit more warmth then between the two I'd choose F-Bomb.

Construction

The next day I got F-Bomb I ripped the seams on the neck flap. It took almost a month for them do a warranty fix. It came back with more stitches.

What I did was I pulled the neck flap too hard and the threads in the seam on the flap broke. It is partly my fault to have pulled the flap too hard, but I think there is a bit of design issue there since this never happened with the Mutant or other Xcel suits I have owned. I must say that F-Bomb is still harder to get in and out of. I also like the thicker bigger zipper on Xcels. But after several times of getting in and out of the suits I now can do it with much ease.

In terms of the construction, O'Neill always seem to have mastered the quality in stitching. There is not much dangling threads at the end of seams. Seams are clean. I usually tidy those up by cutting them, and on the RipCurl I had to do some of that.

Also the inside collar part on the O'Neill has stitched re-enforcements. I have been using front-zipped Xcel suits for many years and the inside is just scissors-cut without much re-enforcements (later models put tapes around it), and that's where the suits starts to tear (and that's how I lost two suits this year).

A Major Advantage of the Mutant Constructions

All my suits seems to deteriorate first from the collar. Either the collar rubber splits, deteriorates or tears after a while of use when the rest of the suit look practically new. On the Mutant model, I am supposed to be able to buy replacement flaps both in hooded and plain collar styles. This might help me keep the suit longer. I would like the suits to last two seasons.

Please also note that in my case the suits gets more abuse than typical weekend warriors since I usually do dawn patrol 2 ~ 3 days a week and head to work while the suit stays in the car most part of the day all wet. This is, in addition to, weekend surfing too!

I will be sure to revisit the longevity of both suits in the future WavLog.

Winter Surfing, Staying Warm

Do You Really Need A Heated Wetsuit?

The winter surfing season is upon us, we often think about how we stay warm in the water.

Actually, the coldest water I have experienced here in Half Moon Bay is not in the middle of November or December but in May when strong winds blow across and bring a lot of cold water up in the phenomenon called upwelling. This is the time when the average water temperature dips below 50 degrees F. Getting in and out of the suits in the winter is another story.

I have been surfing here in Half Moon Bay area for many years now with 4 mm suits, but I have not yet switched to a 5 mm suit, and I do not think I ever have to. There is nothing wrong with 5 mm suits, but I also use 3 mm suits in the summer and I can tell how light I feel in and out of the water, so while it is a pure guess I would think I feel significantly heavier with a 5 mm.

In the past couple of years, the suit technology has made a significant evolution. The rubber material feel much lighter, and also many makes started to use welded seams rather than blind stitches. I think that's a great improvement since a break in a string in a seam often cause splits and blind stitch repairs take time. In most warranty repair situation it can take 2 to 4 weeks to get your suits back from the shop.

In addition to the whole suit material they have started to add more heat retaining materials in front of the chest. This firewalling does make quite a bit of difference and when I am paddling hard, I feel the heat reflecting off the chest.

So today's 3/4 mm suits are significantly warmer than the ones just a few years ago. I am not sure what they will come up with next, but I am sure more lighter and warm materials will come in the future.

This year I got two new suits, one is Rip Curl F-Bomb and other is O'Neil Mutant. It just so happened that I have ruined two of the Excels that I have been using for a couple of years. On the average I buy one suit a year alternate them each session as I go in the water 3-4 times a week, often the first thing in the morning and also they stay salty and wet in the car all day until I come home in the evening.

I have used both brands of suits recently and I must say that these are significantly warmer than the others I had in the past. Especially when I am paddling I can actually get hot inside the suits, but that's one of the points of staying warm which is to keep on moving. So I do that a lot by adjusting my lineup positions or going to other peaks throughout the session, I usually am not just in one spot. Trying to get to the next peak before others find out is part of fun in surfing.

In terms of the styles of the suit, I tend to like the front-zip ones. Especially during duck diving, the front-zip ones tend to leak less water. The integrated hood also does help to this effect. The part I do not like about the rear-zip ones are two folds. Most rear-zip ones require a verclo closure. This material tends to lose the grip before the rest of the suit goes. When that happens you have one heck of a leaky suit. And anyone who have forgotten to tighten the neck closure or forgotten to zip up fully know this.

Another irritations with verclo are if any part of it is exposed to your skin, it makes a rash, and also it sticks just about any place and damages the jersey material inside the suit when washing or handling it after a session.

Most front-zip ones do not use verclo. In fact it is so much so that Excel front zip Infinity suits I had did not have any verclo on the suit. I was amazed with the clever design of that too.

The next key to retaining the warmth is to wearing a hood. If your suit does not come with a hood, I recommend you either get a Squid head type or a vest with an integrated hood. The vest kind is a bit warmer as it helps seal the water around the neck too. Often I actually get hot so I take it on and off in a session.

Another important thing may be is preventing the surfer's ear condition, which is an unwanted bone growth in the ear canal. It is said to be triggered even from the outside of the skull. So keeping the whole head warm may be important especially if you go out a lot.

If your suit is a bit older and you want to hang on to it (I'd rotate that into a spare stock myself), get a thicker under-garment called Mysterioso which is available in surf shops or outdoorzy places like REI. Pull the collar as high as possible after you put the suit on. This helps seal (i.e., slow down the speed and volumes of water coming in) and so makes a significant difference over plain rash guards.

So in summary, I would;

• Invest in a newer mid to high range front-zip wetsuits with welded seams. Invest $60 to $100 more than the lowest end ones (almost always a rear-zip type) will get you a significantly better deal, I paid < $400 with tax for mine. No need to get into a high-end costing $600 or above with fancier materials. You are reaching for an incremental improvement there. I'd rather get new suites more often.
• Get a hood.
• Keep on moving in a session.
• Ask or Share Your Experience On This Blog.

It's The Shape That Matters

WavLOG

It's The Shape That Matters

Don't Laugh at Small Waves

Our friends Miguel from El Porto provided me with this link to a local blog site out there on the other day.

As long as we know, the "size" is usually what people talk about. Just eaves drop on a surfer on a cell phone, the chances are you'd hear "It's small", "It's big..."

My findings have been though it isn't really the size of the waves that really matters to me. It really is the shape that I am going for. If the shape of the wave is nice, clean and forming somewhat slow and not walled up or closed out, I'd go out practically any size from knee high to double the size of my height and I am a bit at an advantage with my 5'6 height, there are more overhead days than my my much taller buddies. I can also fit inside more tubes than them too (provided that I know how.)

Small waves are just as difficult to surf than bigger (and especially faster) ones and surprisingly require similar technique. I mean the following sort of things;

• I need to paddle harder to catch.
• I need to get up on the board quickly
• I need to turn the board to the wave sooner

OK, so what do I need to do in a bigger more demanding situation?

• I need to paddle harder to catch.
• I need to get up on the board quickly
• I need to turn the board to the wave sooner

In essence I believe that if I master small waves, the same technique provides the building block necessary to master the wave riding in just about any conditions. The only difference in the small wave condition is that I need to be a bit more gentle and precise in all moves once I am up on the board. These requirements also help make me a more precise surfer in bigger condition.

So if you have been hesitating or even ashamed of getting into the smaller stuff. I'd encourage you to try it out. I recommend it highly.

Beside it is always surprising more often than not, it is always more fun than what it looks like from the shore. I am thanking to those surfer who turn away. I get to catch a lot more waves!

The Fear Topic: Fear of Getting Better

WavLOG

The Fear Topic

The Fear of Getting Better

It has been quite a whil since I wrote a post on my blog. I had a bit of cold last week that put me down for about a week. Then at the same time our area was blanketed with a massive Red Tide phenomenon. As I wrote here before I am very sensitive to the Red Tide situation, and when I go in the water, I am sure to get some nasty sinus problem that can last for a few months. So these days I have been very cautious and I have not had an incident for over a year now.

Another reason why I do not write often is that I should write something when I can really write about something so it would be both worthwhile for me to write and for you to read.

I was surfing at Montara yesterday in late morning and there was one other good surfer out there. He was catching waves significantly more than I did. I was thinking about what the difference between him and me, and I came to the conclusion that another "Fear" is part of the issue.

Let me explain why.

Over the years I have been able to handle pretty fearful conditions (I am still talking about relative to myself.) But going to Montara was one of the biggest fears that I had to work on. The waves does pack more energy. It is a beach that we usually lose a few people every year. It did happen this late spring too. I had a surfing accident there that resulted in 5-stitches and where nearly missed the siatic vein. I overcame the fear when I got more used to handle the waves... getting in and out of massive shore breaks, duck diving through to get to the outside etc.

You've probably read about my fear of ocean currents. The current is usually very strong around here even at the Jetty. I paddle out and I usually end up at a totally the different spot from where I intended and during the session I often notice drifting fast. The most fearful time is though when I get caught in the rip and I start to move further away from the shore. That have been very terrifying. I ended up overcoming this fear through one of the most fearful incidents. My leash snapped quite far out in one of the bigger spots near the "radar" As it turned out I was able to swim back to the shore. You've read about that also.

Catching faster waves, pearling, held over etc. I am managing those too. When the condition is right I can catch shapes and sizes of the waves the other good people are catching.

So these days I have gotten sufficient technical skills and body strengths that I can handle the situations where most "regular local" surfers handle. The level of the fear in these areas are now significantly less in my mind.

But still I am not surfing as well as those locals.

And that's this post is all about.

From Friday's session I now came to the conclusion that I am now afraid of surfing as good as others. I am afraid of being "successful" at something even though I have all the confidence and skills to do that. If I am forced, I will go further out, go to the peak and catch the waves more aggressively. As this Friday, there was nobody else really out so I don't even have to be so aggro about getting waves. I just have to make myself do it.

I am not quite sure that why I am stuck with this type of fear, but then I was thinking more about it, a lot of people have this type of fear in many other aspects of daily life.

Things like "slump" or "writers block" got a lot to do with this. May be this is something about "Self Esteem" issue. And that's probably true. Deep inside I have been keep telling myself, "I am not a good athlete. These good surfers have been in sport team when they are in high school..."

So I my next project to join the rank of "Local Good Surfers."

Whatever you are working on, perhaps, you may be stuck in similar kind of fear.

I am going to work on it now, and you should and you can too!

Surf’s Up at the SFMOMA Artists Gallery

Surf's Up at SFMOMA Gallery

Exhibition Explores Ocean Environment and Surf Culture

via Press Release

June 4, 2009

Contact: Maria Medua, 415/614-3201, mmedua@sfmoma.org

Surf’s Up at the SFMOMA Artists Gallery

Exhibition Explores Ocean Environment and Surf Culture

From July 16 to August 28, 2009, the SFMOMA Artists Gallery will present the exhibition Pipeline: Art, Surfing, and the Ocean Environment. The exhibition examines the influence of surf culture on Bay Area artists and will feature paintings, sculptures, photographs, installations, film, and mixed media works alongside custom surfboards by Jeff Clark, one of the most noteworthy big wave surfers. Artists in the exhibition include Doug Acton, Anthony Bacigalupo, Jo Ann Biagini, Leo Bersamina, Charlie Callahan, George Corzine, Peter Shepard Cole, Keone Downing, Jessica Dunne, Jack Y. Ford Collection, Colin Gift, Dale Hope/Kahala, Terry Hoff, Max Lawrence, Ian MacLean, Reuben Margolin, Serena Mitnik-Miller, Linny Morris, Adrienne Keahi Pao, Frank Quirarte, Don Ross, and Charles Valoroso.

The title of the exhibition takes its name from the Pipeline, a wave that breaks at Ehukai beach on the North Shore of Oahu in Hawaii, the birth place of surfing. The sport was popularized by Olympic swimmer and Hawaiian waterman Duke Kahanamoku in the early part of the 20^th century. It spread to the United States, catching on first in California, and reached new heights in the 1960s, when surfing as a phenomenon became a nexus between youth culture and expressions of personal freedom. In recent years, California surfers have become an important arm of the environmental movement, raising awareness about the condition of the shoreline and ocean.

Exhibition Highlights

In the exhibition are paintings by Charlie Callahan that reverse the typical roles in which nature and humans are cast. His vivid, large-scale works painted on beach debris, imagine humans as victims consumed by sea predators.

Reuben Margolin looks closely at water, observes its dynamics, and translates it into handcrafted forms using salvaged materials. The resulting kinetic sculptures are moving tributes to the unseen forces that move water.

Adrienne Pao’s series of color photographs evoke travel posters that have attracted tourists to the Hawaiian Islands since the advent of jet travel.Beachfront Property at Diamond Head/Lei’ahi Kapa depicts the Waikiki shoreline of today, overrun with tourists and encroached upon by concrete high rises. The Hawaiian title, Lei’ahi Kapa, refers to the origins of the site and calls to mind a past that cannot be retrieved. Pao re-frames the visitor experience and calls into question the practice of exoticizing other cultures, the natural environment, and women.

Charles Valoroso grew up surfing Kalapaki on the island of Kauai. He is noted as the first artist to pay homage to the Aloha shirt in a series of large-scale oil paintings. His work has been translated into textiles for the Kahala shirt line. For the exhibition he will present an installation piece that includes paintings of the ocean that verge on the abstract and as well as works from his Bikini Atoll series.

Linny Morris photographed environmental issues such as the struggle to preserve Midway Atoll and its wildlife. She also made photographs of the world that exists below the surface of the water. Her appreciation of the ocean and her eye for abstraction are showcased in the exhibition.

Peter Shepard Cole’s realist works evoke the early period of Hawaiian contact with the West. His references are haunting; there are native women donned in layers of Victorian garb and hand-to-hand combatants. In the painting, Self-Portrait as Captain Cook, Cole imagines himself in the vulnerable position of the man who opened the door to the transformation of Hawaii and paid a high price for it.

Related Film

In partnership with The Surfer’s Journal, the exhibition will also include an education room featuring the Journal's series 50 Years of Surfing on Filmshowcasing prominent surf filmmakers. The film surveys the history of surf films through interviews of the most influential filmmakers and the surfers in their films, along with clips from those historical features. In the process of covering the evolution of surf films it also depicts the surf culture in transition from 1940s to 2000s.

* * *

Where: SFMOMA Artists Gallery, Building A, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA 94123

When: July 16–August 28, 2009.

Gallery hours: 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., Tues.–Sat.

Opening reception: Thurs., July 16, 5:30–7:30 p.m. featuring the music of The Eldorados, a four-piece surf band that includes Stu Brandt, Mark Scardello, Jeff Moon and Scott Culbertson.

Admission: Free

* * *

Representing Northern California artists, the SFMOMA Artists Gallery offers a diverse selection of original artwork for sale and rent.

The SFMOMA Artists Gallery is located in Building A at Fort Mason Center. Gallery hours are 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Admission to gallery exhibitions is free of charge.

Visit our website at www.sfmoma.org/artistsgallery or call 415/441-4777 for more information.

* * *

Q/A Stinky Wet Stuff?

StokeMaster Network Q/A

Stinky Wet Stuff?

So this one is a response to Peter who is one of my StokeMaster Network member. This is about how I am avoiding getting my stuff from stinking up, especially booties.

In order to tackle this you need to be a bit of micro-biologist.

First off, you need to understand the fermentation process.

Fermentation process is very important for all of us. Without out it, we don't have bread, beer, sake, wine, cheese to just name a few all of which I like to enjoy. On the other end of the spectrum fermentation can occur in and around your body. Yeast infection, for example, is a fermentation go wild.

In my opinion, a good deal of the stinky stuff happens due to fermentation.

In order to fermentation to take place you need to have an environment

• The presence of the seed organisms
• The growing medium for the micro-organisms
• The nutrient that feeds the organisms
• The temperature
• The time
• The lack of infectious or anti-agent for the growth

Given all above factors to work out, the organisms take in the nutrient in the growing medium and covert the nutrients into bi-products. Some of which is CO2 and other are complex protein or gas like hydrogen sulfide etc.

First the ocean and your skin contains lots of different kinds of organisms. Probably in the order of hundreds if not thousands.

The sea water is very nutrient rich and especially these days with pollution, fertilizer leeching into the ocean and as your stuff drys the nutrient get more concentrated making easier for the organisms to find and go in production. You only need a few of these organisms but they multiply very fast especially in your warm house or inside a car.

Also no matter how hard your wash your body, you cannot get rid of the native organisms that are on your skin.... two bit strikes there.

In terms of the nutrients, you have some hope. Flushing and rinsing your wet stuff with clean water can remove quite a bit of the nutritious sea water. I'd do that vigorously and as soon as possible.

The temperature is actually important. If you leave the wet stuff in your hot car, it will simply help the organisms to multiply much faster and they can work even at 90 to 120 degrees. Note that the lack of oxygen does not matter and in fact, I believe that anaerobic fermentation can create a lot more different proteins than just aerobic one in which most of the stuff goes from O2 to CO2.

So I'd rinse and hang the stuff in colder place as soon as possible.

Next is the time. If you can prevent the fermentation process to stop sooner, the less bi-products that get generated. To this effect making sure that the stuff drys faster is important. You can notice a significant difference when you blow the fan on the stuff and have them dry. I personally throw all the stuff in the washer and not wash them but put them in a spin cycle to get most of the water out first. Washing will destroy the rubber stuff so don't machine wash your suits.

Finally it is possible to further reduce the growth by;

- Wash with light amount of dish soap, shampoo, Woolite etc. This will help remove various nutrients and organisms too from the cells of the neoprene.

- Applying a light coat of Lysol type stuff.

- Use Mirazyme from McNett and have it enzymatically break down the bi-products

- Use very weak solution of bleach, but this is not recommended for rubber materials

OK, now you can help by writing comments with what you know. Be sure also to tell me if I said something wrong.

Technical Update: Paddling Topic

WavLOG

Technical Update: Paddling Topic

In addition to trying to look good while I am up on the board, lately, I have been training myself to be a better paddler.

When I started surfing, I was so weak of a paddler that practically everyone passed by me. Older people, kids and women... I was so embarrassingly bad. Not only that paddling only for a few minutes caused so much pain in the muscles that I had to stop. I was just completely out of shape in terms of paddling.

As I surfed more I have been able to get to the average speed but it was still not good enough to be with a group of more experienced surfers. I was always left behind when they all moved from one peak to another.

Now I am at a level that I can keep up with others in most sessions.

But when I am in Santa Cruz or Trestles there always are people who are significantly more stronger than me, and many of these people look smaller and thinner than me and so I wonder where these muscle powers are stored. They take waves and while I am still paddling out they are already at the lineup. Amazing!

Without some power, it is difficult to hit the "outside." My experience with this is that there is some threshold of speed that you need to attain, and here is what I mean.

When paddling in the inside part of the ocean, there are more white water breaks, and the water seems to flow back towards the beach. I've seen some beginner surfers from the side that they are continuously paddling but they are staying basically at the same spot or gradually going backwards. I am sure that they do not realize that they are retreating instead of moving forward. I've seen this happen to me a lot at Montara or Ocean Beach, for example, when I am paddling for a while and when I look back I am basically at the shore! Nevertheless other and better people do make it to the outside. This is not to mention how far up and down to the side of the beach I have drifted.

So I must conclude that when you are a waker surfer, you cannot even overcome this initial part of the game of getting out. This is even without talking about turtling or duck diving. They do help but without some basic power to overcome the speed there is nothing you can do, but get back to the car and go get a cup of coffee or a glass of beer instead.

As far as the paddling technique goes, my experience with it is that it can be used to generate more efficient paddling but still without the muscles to support the power you cannot paddle fast enough. In addition, improved techniques will begin to utilize more and other parts of the muscles that you have not used much so far yet (unless you swim hard already.) Given the muscles though the "better" surfers palms are nearly closer to the center of the board under water, not directly under the rails. Watch some under water videos of pros paddling out. Another things you notice is that when you begin the stroke put the palm in the water from thumb first. This will get your hand and arm faster in the water at the point where your muscle power is the least from the leverage point.

Some additional findings are that smoother, slower and big stroke paddling gives much less fatigue and often I can move faster in the water. Especially I have been working so that the same amount of power is continuously applied while altering hands, this way I am preserving any gained momentum.

Also this is especially true with short boarding. Dragging the feet in the water can generate additional resistance. I try to make sure that my feet are out of the water. I use one of the legs to prop up other slightly. That's get tiring so I alternate the legs.

Watching strong and good surfers, they really look nice, natural and confident paddling and I am trying to get to that stage.

Would I Still Surf in the Rain?

WavLOG

Would I Still Surf in the Rain?

So this is mainly in the comment posted in response to my previous post from Gloria of Santa Cruz California. She does bring a good point, so I am going to put some positive spin on surfing in the rain stuff.

I had a fair share of nice rain surfing. Locally it seems to happen towards the end of the summer in Northern California as the autumn approaches. Some of the best ones goes like this.

A morning starts with mostly sunny with scattered clouds, and as the day goes by the clouds would move in. The sky is full of clouds of all different shapes, some were swept with a stroke of a brush and some look like growing monsters... The horizon starts to get a bit blue grayish, but still sunny here and there. The winds have not kicked up yet, and I have paddled out to some nice clean outside lineup and we could be chatting with our buddies in the lineup.

It then starts to sprinkle and it makes some nice sound and glistening splash pattern on the water with small circular wavelets. The rain is not cold and it is almost warm to the touch. It washes away some of the salt from my head.

Then with the darkened backdrop pop complete double rainbows from both ends touching the ocean, or perhaps, 1/4 of the circle looking like emanating from the horizon.

Then it stops completely and back to sunny again, and we'd catch the last wave of the morning and head our ways to for the "rest of the day" stuff all content and re-energized and somewhat sad that we all know the summer is ending, and somewhat happy to look forward to some bigger stuff coming in a few weeks down.

Now, that's surfing in the rain!

Not surfing in the rain any more?

WavLOG

The Rain Topic. Rain in May?

Gosh, it is already May and it is rather strange to see the rain at this time of the year in Northern California, and also very unusual South wind pattern that goes with it. Typically around this time of the year, we start to get NW winds and fog developing. And I thought that it was going to be a short days of rain but it looks like it will continue for several more days.

It has been an on-going joke among us that if one of us would utter "I am not going surfing because it's rainy out." The usual response is that "why not, you are going to get wet anyway."

True, but I think that I am going to think about that for a moment.

The reasons why I'd not feel like going out in the rain.

• It really still feel so much greater if it is nice, warm and sunny out.
• It is really a hassle to change when it is raining, and when it is raining, it usually also is storming to some extent. It is nice to come back to dry and sunny situation, hang around in the parking for a while after surfing. When it is pouring, it is amazing how the towel soak up the water so fast. It is amazing to the extent to think of amout of the water that come down to a small square footage where I stand. Multiply this by the size under the rain cloud, that's a tremendous amount of water we are talking about.
• We always worry about the run-off. Especially in San Mateo county, I am a bit worried about (but may be not 100% warranted) lots of horse ranches there and all of the stuff on their ground... At any rate, whenever it is rainy and stormy, the water looks murky and stirred up a bit.
• If it is really pouring, we know that sewage plants might overflow....

So these are the reasons sometimes I do avoid water when it is rainy.