Click here for link to original blog article from Surfing Magazine.
Click the above for a full viewing of the blog essay.
The surf here is flat. Tomorrow Josh & I are doing either a Kihei or a Maliko run. Stoked.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Is Paddleboarding Stupid, or Just You?
Tip of the hat to Joel for pointing this one out to me.
Click here for link to original blog article from Surfing Magazine.
Click the above for a full viewing of the blog essay.
The surf here is flat. Tomorrow Josh & I are doing either a Kihei or a Maliko run. Stoked.
Click here for link to original blog article from Surfing Magazine.
Click the above for a full viewing of the blog essay.
The surf here is flat. Tomorrow Josh & I are doing either a Kihei or a Maliko run. Stoked.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Haole: A Crappy Cell Phone Picture Day.
Couple more days at that place on the north side of Maui. Yesterday was huge and on my 6'4" it was "a world of frustration" according to another guy in the line-up. Still, got a lot of fun waves just sticking myself under the lip. Today was an enormous drop in size and went out on the 5'11" Malolo. It was super fun having a shadow in the line-up. Chunky, windy, smaller (like 2-4'), and crowded -- all the makings of an all time session. Ugh.
On the drive home, the jeep in front of me had the best license plate I've ever seen. (Warning: Another crappy cell phone picture.)
Made me smile again.
On the drive home, the jeep in front of me had the best license plate I've ever seen. (Warning: Another crappy cell phone picture.)
Made me smile again.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Merry Christmas!
1. Happy Holidays!
2. Santa getting all gnarly!
-Photos by Stuart Gibson (of Marty Paradisis at Shipstern's Bluff).
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Ho, Ok and Ipa
Met up with Josh in Kihei today and went to a pretty popular spot. Just read the "title" of this entry and you'll be able to figure it out. No great mystery here. We surfed off the point and the green tree and I used the 5'11" Malolo while Josh played around on my 6'4". This was the maiden voyage of the Malolo and she didn't disappoint. [Click here for link to Ian's blog discussion.] Here she is glassed:
Deck:
Bottom:
Channels:
Put in Marlin 101 fins and had a BLAST in head high to a bit overhead juice. So much fun. The board flies and carves insane. Still learning her limits. Last wave was by far the best with two solid carves & bash into an oncoming inside-out section. Dropped down against the line of the incoming lip to below sea level. I want to claim glory here, but upon landing I got obliterated by the water refraction. It still felt solid and I didn't buckle the board. All told, a GREAT board & a super fun sesh with Josh.
Can't wait to use the Malolo some more! I can tell she's going to be my 'go to' Rincon board.
-ShShSh
Deck:
Bottom:
Channels:
Put in Marlin 101 fins and had a BLAST in head high to a bit overhead juice. So much fun. The board flies and carves insane. Still learning her limits. Last wave was by far the best with two solid carves & bash into an oncoming inside-out section. Dropped down against the line of the incoming lip to below sea level. I want to claim glory here, but upon landing I got obliterated by the water refraction. It still felt solid and I didn't buckle the board. All told, a GREAT board & a super fun sesh with Josh.
Can't wait to use the Malolo some more! I can tell she's going to be my 'go to' Rincon board.
-ShShSh
Monday, December 20, 2010
Crappy Cell Phone Pics (Probably the 1st in a series)
On Maui. Surfed H Bay yesterday understanding the report was 6-8, occasional 10' surf. I assumed it was Hawaiian scale. Drove an hour to find... 2-3' surf, occasional 4'... HI scale (which is 6-8' California scale). Had a blast, but didn't bring the fish because of the surf report. Doh! It would have been perfect. Saw Ian (who now teaches on Oahu), helped keep a kid from getting dragged and trashed in the cave (he was right in front of it!), and had fun surfing the top with just a few other guys. Lots of smiles. Relaxing and a great start.
So today, hearing the same report, I went to the other side of the island knowing the surf there is bigger. Holy crap. It WAS 6-8, occasional 10' HI surf. Brought the 6'4" step-up and the fish. Had to use the 6'4". SHOULD have been on a 7' plus gun. Saw my old friend Alan which was nice (His first question to me wasn't "Steve, when did you get here?" Instead it was, "Steve, what size board are you on?"), got dropped in on by a heavy which was also nice, and took some serious gas paddling in the high tide conditions which wasn't nice at all. As I was coming in, I saw a pro kid get worked, snap his board, and dragged into the rocks. Lifeguards had to rescue him. (Pretty sure he was stoked to have that caught on film by his videographer.)
Being on a smaller board, I had to stick myself right under the lip and commit. It was fun, but for the bombs I wish I'd had a gun.
Hoping to grab a surf with Josh tomorrow.
Now for the crappy cell phone pics that do NOTHING to show what it was like. If you click on them they get bigger. So you can see more blurred stuff. And sand.
-Steve
So today, hearing the same report, I went to the other side of the island knowing the surf there is bigger. Holy crap. It WAS 6-8, occasional 10' HI surf. Brought the 6'4" step-up and the fish. Had to use the 6'4". SHOULD have been on a 7' plus gun. Saw my old friend Alan which was nice (His first question to me wasn't "Steve, when did you get here?" Instead it was, "Steve, what size board are you on?"), got dropped in on by a heavy which was also nice, and took some serious gas paddling in the high tide conditions which wasn't nice at all. As I was coming in, I saw a pro kid get worked, snap his board, and dragged into the rocks. Lifeguards had to rescue him. (Pretty sure he was stoked to have that caught on film by his videographer.)
Being on a smaller board, I had to stick myself right under the lip and commit. It was fun, but for the bombs I wish I'd had a gun.
Hoping to grab a surf with Josh tomorrow.
Now for the crappy cell phone pics that do NOTHING to show what it was like. If you click on them they get bigger. So you can see more blurred stuff. And sand.
-Steve
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Malolo: Hawaiian Flying Fish
Here's what we start with:
And here's where it goes:
Based on my magic twin keel 4 channel (this one: Link to Deck shot and Link to Bottom shot), Ian and I discussed something more committed to powerful fun. This is where we ended up. A few tweaks to the rail line, straightening out the channels, and adding a thruster set-up, keeping the nose slightly more full than a shortboard, but with rocker directly based off of a shortboard... I can't wait to use this in real waves! Tail design is designed to bite while still maintaining some volume and float.
Ian Zamora is a magician.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Patagonia Wetsuits - A (P)Review
Background: This is a (p)review of the Patagonia wetsuit. I haven't had them very long yet, so I can't give a full ride report. These are just my early opinions. I pride myself on being objective in my reviews. Avoid bias. Yet as you might have seen in my "Kooks Guide to Ten Things," I'm not above the fray.
I recently came into possession of two Patagonia wetsuits: an R2 front zip full suit and an R3 front zip hooded full. Receiving these suits was a blessing, but how would they work?
The R2: On a cold day in Oxtura, I found out about my 2 mm fullsuit. Amazing. (I've since used it about four times.) The suit isn't too tight anywhere, and feels as if it were custom cut for me. The legs are the right length, the torso fits without binding or pulling down on my shoulders, and the arms don't bind at the pits. I'm not the tallest fellow (5'10"), but my torso is long while my legs are a bit shorter so fitting isn't always easy. By way of example, the Isurus was an amazing suit but the legs were a hair short; same went for the Matuse. Not so with the Patagonia.
On top of this, the neck fit perfectly without binding or leaking. Not too loose, not too tight. Patagonia is using an internal neck gusset liner which worked to create that perfect seal. As I mentioned in my other review, the Isurus had a small issue with leakage at the back of the neck. No water seepage here. The key pocket is also just underneath the neck flap, so no need to de-suit & freeze to get out your car key. Life is good.
My first Patagonia suit was purchased when they first came on the market with wetsuits. It was "nice," but the glue in that suit destroyed me. I sold it after just 3 sessions. I couldn't handle that glue. In these suits, Patagonia has clearly gotten past its early issues (•) and have created a great fitting, comfortable, and apparently durable suit. There is no "smooth skin" on these suits, as this is an unfinished neoprene that breaks down faster and doesn't last. The suits are incredibly warm and never felt heavy. The thinness keeps it extremely flexible without sacrificing warmth from the wool.
Picture of the R2 front zip full:
Now for that R3: I was in Santa Cruz and Monterey last weekend. (*) The water was much colder than here, and my hands quickly turned to blocks of ice. 3 mil booties were the call, although I had the 5 mils at the ready. I had concerns when suiting up that my R3 just wasn't enough suit, but... the surf was firing so I had to go! The air temp was in the 40's, the water temp was 48-50 degrees at best, and the wind was absolutely HOWLING at 25-30 mph, with 35 mph offshore gusts. Guys were getting blown out the back of waves. Again, I had serious reservations about paddling out in a 3mm suit. There was no need for concern. I almost overheated in my R3 suit. Amazing. It was incredibly comfortable, easy to paddle in, and kept me as warm or warmer than I needed/wanted to be!
Picture of the R3 front zip hooded full:
So am I biased here? Maybe just a little, but not much. Truly, the suits feel great and work even better. That said, they're still essentially brand new so I need to work on them some more. I'll report back once I've really put them through the paces. With that said... I'm stoked for this winter! Bring on Jalama!
Click here for link to Patagonia's Description of their suits.
-Steve S.
Footnotes:
(•) I discussed that glue issue from the original suits with the guys at the factory. They laughed. Apparently, Patagonia heard this complaint from a few people when they first made their wetsuits. So... new glue used, no glue issues!
(*) I surfed my Zamora Resin-X, EPS thruster shortboard while in Santa Cruz/Monterey. Me gusta!
I recently came into possession of two Patagonia wetsuits: an R2 front zip full suit and an R3 front zip hooded full. Receiving these suits was a blessing, but how would they work?
The R2: On a cold day in Oxtura, I found out about my 2 mm fullsuit. Amazing. (I've since used it about four times.) The suit isn't too tight anywhere, and feels as if it were custom cut for me. The legs are the right length, the torso fits without binding or pulling down on my shoulders, and the arms don't bind at the pits. I'm not the tallest fellow (5'10"), but my torso is long while my legs are a bit shorter so fitting isn't always easy. By way of example, the Isurus was an amazing suit but the legs were a hair short; same went for the Matuse. Not so with the Patagonia.
On top of this, the neck fit perfectly without binding or leaking. Not too loose, not too tight. Patagonia is using an internal neck gusset liner which worked to create that perfect seal. As I mentioned in my other review, the Isurus had a small issue with leakage at the back of the neck. No water seepage here. The key pocket is also just underneath the neck flap, so no need to de-suit & freeze to get out your car key. Life is good.
My first Patagonia suit was purchased when they first came on the market with wetsuits. It was "nice," but the glue in that suit destroyed me. I sold it after just 3 sessions. I couldn't handle that glue. In these suits, Patagonia has clearly gotten past its early issues (•) and have created a great fitting, comfortable, and apparently durable suit. There is no "smooth skin" on these suits, as this is an unfinished neoprene that breaks down faster and doesn't last. The suits are incredibly warm and never felt heavy. The thinness keeps it extremely flexible without sacrificing warmth from the wool.
Picture of the R2 front zip full:
Now for that R3: I was in Santa Cruz and Monterey last weekend. (*) The water was much colder than here, and my hands quickly turned to blocks of ice. 3 mil booties were the call, although I had the 5 mils at the ready. I had concerns when suiting up that my R3 just wasn't enough suit, but... the surf was firing so I had to go! The air temp was in the 40's, the water temp was 48-50 degrees at best, and the wind was absolutely HOWLING at 25-30 mph, with 35 mph offshore gusts. Guys were getting blown out the back of waves. Again, I had serious reservations about paddling out in a 3mm suit. There was no need for concern. I almost overheated in my R3 suit. Amazing. It was incredibly comfortable, easy to paddle in, and kept me as warm or warmer than I needed/wanted to be!
Picture of the R3 front zip hooded full:
So am I biased here? Maybe just a little, but not much. Truly, the suits feel great and work even better. That said, they're still essentially brand new so I need to work on them some more. I'll report back once I've really put them through the paces. With that said... I'm stoked for this winter! Bring on Jalama!
-Steve S.
Footnotes:
(•) I discussed that glue issue from the original suits with the guys at the factory. They laughed. Apparently, Patagonia heard this complaint from a few people when they first made their wetsuits. So... new glue used, no glue issues!
(*) I surfed my Zamora Resin-X, EPS thruster shortboard while in Santa Cruz/Monterey. Me gusta!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Earning It.
Perhaps one of the most thrilling parts of paddleboarding, besides the people you meet & the sites you see, is downwinding. If you time it right, you can surf from wave to wave, keeping your speed and spirits up throughout. My friends & I crave those times when the downwind conditions come together just so. A strong wind blowing through the night from a steady direction; a well defined windswell; some sunshine, although this isn't necessary.
When those conditions come together, having at least one friend available is key. The group meets at the ending point, changes into their paddling gear, loads one vehicle with the boards while putting the warm change of clothes into a second vehicle, then drives the loaded vehicle to the starting point. You can then be spoiled by a pure downwind experience. No paddling into the wind necessary. When you finish, you've got a warm change of clothes waiting. Good times.
Last night I briefly woke at 2 am hearing the wind howling from the north. North is good. Rising at 6 a.m., the wind remained strong with gusts up to 40 knots. It was colder than normal, about 35 degrees out. By 10 a.m., the wind had dropped to 25 knots with some gusts to 35 knots, and the air had warmed to about 55 degrees.
I contacted the usual suspects and some not-so-usual suspects in the hope of arranging a "downwinder." Nico was in Mammoth, Shane was in Monterey, John P. was in northern California, Scott S. was in Ventura, and Robert was in Utah. More calls, emails and texts were made, but no one else could make it. I knew it was me, myself, & I today. I'd have to earn this one.
"Earning It" is the moniker my friend Joel placed on the chore of paddling upwind so you can go downwind. Today, I earned it. Alone, I paddled my 14' Bark CT paddleboard upwind through 35 knot gusts & white capped seas for 2 miles. Averaging just over 4 mph, it felt like I went 6 miles or more. I wore a full wetsuit and still felt chilled while pushing, pulling and scraping my way (or more accurately swimming my way) upwind. I turned around, had a swig of the drink I brought with, and downwinded the 2 miles home. Before I knew it, I was there. My average speed: about 6.2 mph.
I earned it today. Bring on July 31, 2011.
My board:
My run:
-Steve
When those conditions come together, having at least one friend available is key. The group meets at the ending point, changes into their paddling gear, loads one vehicle with the boards while putting the warm change of clothes into a second vehicle, then drives the loaded vehicle to the starting point. You can then be spoiled by a pure downwind experience. No paddling into the wind necessary. When you finish, you've got a warm change of clothes waiting. Good times.
Last night I briefly woke at 2 am hearing the wind howling from the north. North is good. Rising at 6 a.m., the wind remained strong with gusts up to 40 knots. It was colder than normal, about 35 degrees out. By 10 a.m., the wind had dropped to 25 knots with some gusts to 35 knots, and the air had warmed to about 55 degrees.
I contacted the usual suspects and some not-so-usual suspects in the hope of arranging a "downwinder." Nico was in Mammoth, Shane was in Monterey, John P. was in northern California, Scott S. was in Ventura, and Robert was in Utah. More calls, emails and texts were made, but no one else could make it. I knew it was me, myself, & I today. I'd have to earn this one.
"Earning It" is the moniker my friend Joel placed on the chore of paddling upwind so you can go downwind. Today, I earned it. Alone, I paddled my 14' Bark CT paddleboard upwind through 35 knot gusts & white capped seas for 2 miles. Averaging just over 4 mph, it felt like I went 6 miles or more. I wore a full wetsuit and still felt chilled while pushing, pulling and scraping my way (or more accurately swimming my way) upwind. I turned around, had a swig of the drink I brought with, and downwinded the 2 miles home. Before I knew it, I was there. My average speed: about 6.2 mph.
I earned it today. Bring on July 31, 2011.
My board:
My run:
-Steve
Gear Reviews
Through the years, I've done some gear reviews over at Surfer Magazine. I was never smart enough to save any of them, so now I'm going back through the so-called archives and pulling them up. There might be more out there, but these were the 10 I found. It all started with a Chili surfboard.*
1. Chili Surfboard Review: Click me for Chilli surfboards review.
2. Channel Bottom Surfboards: Click me for a review of channel bottom surfboards.
3. Lokbox Fins Review: Click me for Lokbox Fin System review.
4. Cole Simler's Firefly Surfboard: Click me for Firefly review.
5. Matuse Wetsuit Review: Click me for Matuse Wetsuit review.
6. My Kook's Guide to 10 things: Click me for the Kook's guide to 10 things I dig.
7. Zamora HP Fish: Click me for Zamora HP Fish review.
8. Griffin 5-Fin Shortboard: Click me for the Griffin 5 Fin Shortboard review.
9. T.Knox Board Review: Click me for T.Knox Board review.
10. April Fools Day Chimay Ale Review: Click me for Chimay "Review."
Thanks for looking,
-Steve
*Disclaimer: I no longer use some of these things. However, at the times posted, they were in my rotation. By way of a prime example, I'm now a huge fan of Patagonia wetsuits. Remember, people evolve and times change.
1. Chili Surfboard Review: Click me for Chilli surfboards review.
2. Channel Bottom Surfboards: Click me for a review of channel bottom surfboards.
3. Lokbox Fins Review: Click me for Lokbox Fin System review.
4. Cole Simler's Firefly Surfboard: Click me for Firefly review.
5. Matuse Wetsuit Review: Click me for Matuse Wetsuit review.
6. My Kook's Guide to 10 things: Click me for the Kook's guide to 10 things I dig.
7. Zamora HP Fish: Click me for Zamora HP Fish review.
8. Griffin 5-Fin Shortboard: Click me for the Griffin 5 Fin Shortboard review.
9. T.Knox Board Review: Click me for T.Knox Board review.
10. April Fools Day Chimay Ale Review: Click me for Chimay "Review."
Thanks for looking,
-Steve
*Disclaimer: I no longer use some of these things. However, at the times posted, they were in my rotation. By way of a prime example, I'm now a huge fan of Patagonia wetsuits. Remember, people evolve and times change.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Post Numero Uno.
Welcome to my blog. Hope I don't make a fool out of myself.
The photo above is at the finish of the 2010 Catalina Classic Paddleboard Race. The Classic, as it's called, is the grand-daddy of paddleboard races around the world. The original long distance paddling endurance race. 2010 was my second year doing the race, and fortunately it all came together well. I had a season marked with injuries and set backs, but managed to pull it all together at the end of August to make the top 10 in this race. I was pleased.
Again, welcome!
-Steve
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