Man, I can’t believe we are in August. Loving life and spending almost every day in the water for whatever length of time I can has been serving me quite well. I am so fortunate for the long days with extended hours of daylight so I can get in a surf session almost every day. I surfed the same spot again today, but I keep thinking about how I need to go elsewhere. It’s just always fun and clean there, so I go with what I know I will have fun with. But, some of this summer surf at my favorite spot is a little bit slow, crumbly and weak. I need to get some waves that are a bit faster, lined up, more challenging. Since I have been shortboarding mostly, I need to hone in those skills and get ready for my winter surf trips up north. I am going to have to hit up SB county, get some good Rincon days in again and be ready to have a blast. I am going to start selling off as much of my stuff as possible, get rid of the old, move forward and buy a new board that suits me well now that I am fine tuning myself and the connection with different types of waves and different boards. I am much more confident in being able to ascertain which shapes, sizes, fins, etc. are going to work well for me. I can’t wait!

As Pete has mentioned, the beauty of being in the water, cleansing, refreshing, beating the crap out of you, being one with you, together with like-minded individuals, humbling you, building you up, mystifying you, exciting you, scaring you, there is nothing else that can do ALL of it for me. Surfing does it all, it gives me love, creativity, happiness, joy, frustration, laughter, and it’s a great surf session when 5 hours later you bend over to pick something up and a waterfall of saltwater comes rushing out of your nostrils…hopefully all over something and not someone, hahaha! There’s nothing like it for me in this world and I cannot ever imagine living without it. I almost can’t fall asleep just thinking about getting to the beach tomorrow after work. I went to the east coast last weekend, spent a day at the beach on Long Island near Hampton Bays. The spot we went to didn’t have any good surf, but I could see how other spots could get insanely fun. Next time I am out there, hopefully I will be able to get in the water. I wasn’t able to get up to Montauk, but have heard nothing but great things about some of the surf up there. This weekend is going to be a beach weekend for me for sure, have an old friend coming into town on Sunday and will hopefully get in the water with him.

All I can say to anyone is to just BE. Be. I am. You are. Live it, love it, and bring it to everyone else. Life is beyond good, it is a gift.

This evening was one of those surf sessions that define the terms shock and awe. To stand above on the cliff, looking down on something that looks a little bit unappealing, knowing that no matter how it is, we drove out here, so there is no way we are not getting in the water. The type of surf that you stand there for 15-20 minutes just waiting for that set you are desperately hoping to see come through. And, after what…10 minutes, a set came through, a few encouraging words from people coming in, and we were sold. Suit it up for me, trunkin’ it for Pete. We lightly floated down the stairwell already beginning to feel more grounded, more connected to ourselves, the feeling of the earth beneath our feet and the atmosphere surrounding us.

I must admit publicly, that yes, I was wearing my Hotline 4/3 full suit and the water was probably 68? I know, I know. But if you saw me, hefty toothpicks for arms and legs, a slight breeze out there and my little Bahia hot-pant spring suit wouldn’t last me 45 minutes submersed on my 5’10”. So, I was hot, but I stayed out as long as my arms would last and that still wasn’t long enough for how much fun I was having. I caught one freakish set wave that was over my head when I did my wanna-be bottom turn. It was so fun, I would have loved another dozen of those suckers, but instead I got some super long, fun rights and lefts. The next goal for me is to spend an entire surf session attempting to get vertical and pull it. I will get it for sure, like Pete says, I just need to get the feeling of it once and I will fly like an eagle from that point forward. I need to give up the desire to make the wave last as long as possible and just enjoy the attempts and potentially many failures until I get it. I have been taking such a back seat approach to going for it, where is the freedom in that. I need to let all of the groms totally inspire me because that is all that they do, just catch every wave they can and do their best to hit the lip as often as possible. I still want a new board that will suit me better in surf. I hate to say it, but I am actually falling asleep at the computer while typing, that’s hilarious! Happy Tuesday and we are all so blessed to have these opportunities here for us to enjoy. I just have to say a prayer that all of those who were not with us today had an amazing day and those who are less fortunate and/or going through difficult times, please give them some comfort and compassion, it’s all about love. And I LOVE THE OCEAN!!!

So, what the hell do you do when there isn't any surf when you are going through really tough times? I guess I would go skate if my future was-band didn't take my wheels and bearings. Why is it that when you are in the middle of an unwanted divorce, the one leaving ends up with the climbing gear, my wheels and bearings, the good tent and then leaves me with all the other crap that I have to look at and end up crying over? I know this isn't a super good surf blog, but I just have to get this stuff out since the surf today was so crappy. If the salty sea could have just given me some chest high waves to wash all of this sadness off of me, none of you would be reading about my sappy lost-love story.

But, here we are again, I am a chick and this is what chicks do. We blab and blab about all of the emotional downfalls we are going through hoping that if we speak it, it will float out of us into the air and never return again. But, without consistent surf, I speak it and it just floats right back into my heart, settles there overnight, and then creeps into my eye balls and I am raining all over my pillow as soon as the neurons start firing. Sorry, Pete and Jana, you are going to hate me for this article! LOL. At least that makes me laugh. I did surf like 4 or 5 days in a row and that helped a bit. The waves haven't been that good over the past week, a couple fun days here and there, but overall the conditions have been a bit lackluster...some wind bump on the water. I keep switching from my 5'10" to my 8'0", back and forth, back and forth, and am hoping that it will hone my skills. It takes a few waves each time to figure out that I am on a different board, trying to shuffle to the nose of my 5'10" or thinking that I can turn my 8'0" on a dime, HA! I actually had to do the Huntington hop the other day since the surf has been so weak...I couldn't believe I was trying to milk something that wasn't going to go anywhere or do anything.

We are going to be researching opinions on the ever-so-growing-popular foam boards...bodyboards with length, and those carbon fiber boards as well. Not sure what to think about it, but I am interested in hearing from the people who have surfed a bodyboard shaped like a fish or a scientifically engineered hollow wave missile. Yes, it's official; I don't know what I am talking about. Send me some comments on this people... I want some feedback on these boards!

Can someone have a chat with Mother Nature about negotiating for some surf? I am also open to a full sponsorship to go on a surf trip to somewhere that has surf...I suck, but that could be entertaining just the same!

Mahalo?

OK i gotta get this out of my head before i have an aneurysm... or i forget anything, anyway here are some first impressions:

I got an Aviso 5'5" "fish" as a demo board, thankfully i love weird boards so rather than complain I snatched it from the shop owners hands and ran out the door before they could catch me (really felt like i was getting away something... secret carbon fibre missile secrets?)

Anyway, the thing straight up changes the whole game. Really. Its like the difference between a sports car and a race car. I think for most it will respond TOO quickly, will feel "nervous" and in general will make people uncomfortable. However that's simply because its too good at what it does, there is little resistance, everything is effortless and the lower mass of the board makes it feel telepathic- and amplified.

Theres a strange but wonderful sensation of the board being the only constant. Let me try and explain... a traditional board feels like an organic, flexing, variable thing. A lot of how we surf is due to the limitations of the boards, they force us to be fluid and lengthen our turns, its these limitations that many times make us appear more graceful, our turns rounder and transitions smoother.

The Carbon fiber board feels like an otherworldly physics defying things that does not change, does not vary, and is so predictable that creates the perfect platform for us to do amazing things. This may seem like a contradiction but it provides tons of feedback, and has flex but the flex is very directional and predictable. It also laughs at gravity, mass, and all those silly things that smooth out our surfing... and limit us.

Let me put it this way, its like the difference between moving from a longboard to a shortboard multiplied by two. Then remove "normal" physics and there ya go, you're experiencing what its like.

Personally i was fearing the worst of modern board technology... that annoying buoyancy of epoxy that wont let the board "lock in" mixed with the slappy chatter of a kayak thanks to the hollow hull, and the lower melting point that carbon fiber surfboards have that was going to result in a $1200 ruptured black puddle if i left it in the car... Fortunately it was none of those things and gives me new hope for a whole new era of surfboard design that allows us to get even crazier with a lot less effort.

The boards do have more buoyancy than a traditional surfboard but its not that weird "on-the-surface-not-in-the-water" that I hate about epoxy boards. It bites the water but feels a little like the water's been lubricated so you get these bursts of speed BUT in between turns it feels like it loses momentum if your not driving it to the next steep pocket of the wave. You do however have to watch your big turns and sweeping carves because the board will want to turn a lot tighter than you are used to and big smooth graceful turns require a conscious effort.

My demo board looked like it had been through a few wars, thrown down the stars at the Empire State, and chewed on by bears... there was a paint job on the deck, very chipped around the edges, with scratches here and there but amazingly the board itself felt solid as a rock and light as a feather. In short it looked like ass but felt new and I think it will for many years to come. The scratches looked like they would buff out but were so shallow I cant imagine you'd ever need to.

Personally I love custom boards and I see an ideal future where you work with your shaper and get fiberglass board after fiberglass & foam board until that magic board surfaces then BAM send it off to be made in carbon fiber and if anything happens to it (not likely since its so damn durable) you can just order another one exactly like it.

A few other surprises:
Normally when you paddle it goes like this "stroke - glide - stroke - glide" on a carbon fibre board its more like "strokestop - strokestop". Its more like climbing a damn rope than paddling... your arms are going to get huge if you heart doesn't explode first.

It gets hot fast, probably due to the dark color, even just walking down to the beach in the afternoon it got noticeably warmer than usually - but the surprise was it also cooled off much faster than a normal board,; turn away from the sun and the board gets cold in a minute flat. No problems with the wax melting or anything like that.

Another strange experience was that when we put normal C5s stock fins in the board it felt like we doubled its weight! Dont forget to get some nice super light fins to go with these beauties!

One other thing... I think that its a mistake to make an EXACT duplicate of a traditional board in carbon fiber because the two boards wont sit in the water the same way, they have different buoyancy, different flex, and they drive in different places and gain and lose momentum differently. While these things don't ruin any of the boards currently available I get the feeling a lot of them are duplicates of existing boards. I'd like to see a new range of boards designed from the GROUND UP to be carbon fiber and carbon fiber only. Perhaps some of the shapers have done this but none have stated it explicitly, so guys if you read this let us know! I think it would help a lot of people make buying decisions.

I've noticed a certain calmness about myself after a good long session, and I've seen it in other surfers. Its almost a defining characteristic. Sometimes its caused by a haze of smoke but today as I looked around in lineup at, myself, my friend and those around me... I realized that in a single surf session you experience incredible highs and lows to extremes your not likely to encounter on land without winning the lottery then almost getting eaten by a bear. Perhaps even more amazing is this all usually happens in jsut a couple hours.

I'm talking crazy earth shattering highs as you pull off something you never have before, something you've been working on, pouring you heart and blood into for weeks if not months (YEARS sometimes ;-)). How about making it out of a slippery crystalline barrel, or send thick sheets of spray into the air and watch the golden sun refract through the thousands of droplets in the air. Surrounded by nature and it boundless beauty - no - literally IN nature as it swims all around you! Ever been sitting there and had the wave of the day, perfect and peeling head right to you, everyone else out of position or on the inside and you pull every single turn, trick, and barrel? Surreal connectedness, awareness, and peaking abilities all at once...

Then theres the agony of blowing that perfect wave of the day with a stupid mistake, or failing to catch it like some kind of human soggy cheerio. Things that we all do no matter how good we get or how long we've been surfing teeth grinding frustration is just around the corner, sometimes its the jackass that drop in on you, then falls in front of you and dings your board as his razor sharp fins nearly slice off your ankle off - or even better when your paddling out and someone gets sucked over right in front of you and the nose of their board rockets at your face... The blown out, mushy, small conditions, the agro flailing freaks, the bird crap, the pollution, the sunburn...

Anyway, I have a feeling everyone's had similar experiences both good and bad that they can add to this but point is after an emotional roller coaster like that I think the state of peaceful joyous emptiness that's simultaneously fulfilling and filling is a well earned side effect of one of the most wonderful things I've had the privilege of discovering, and rediscovering.
[p]