More Beach Break And A Fin Change

I'd actually meant to do this last session, but forgot until I got down on the sand. Anyway, it's easier to change out the fins on the saw horses at home prior to the session.

One of the reasons I'm surfing the 10-2 "Perfect Wave" (as Ed likes to call it) as a thruster, is the kelp. The shallow draft fins don't catch on the kelp stalks and leaves anywhere near as badly as a longer fin, and in smaller, less punchy waves, the thruster tri-fin set up allows more maneuverability. The board is still fast with the thruster set-up, but when the waves gain in size and/or energy and there's not kelp, the game changes a bit. I like the pivoty feel and the little bit of extra drive I get from a longer center fin. And in bigger surf, like what's coming this weekend, extra maneuverability isn't an issue. I'll probably feel a little more comfortable having the deeper center fin while making longer, drawn out lines on the larger wave faces. Covering territory directly will be on my mind if the waves are refracting in such a way as to hook up from reef to reef. Sounds good to me anyway...

Of course one of the first things I noticed about the fin swap was how much harder it was to quick turn the board. I can't "cheat" as much, and don't have to weight the tail at all with the thrusters in order to get a quick turnaround and paddle for the wave. With the deeper center fin it's time to sink the tail and bring it around. On the up side to that though, is I can take a lot more strokes on one side of the board before having to correct for direction by paddling over on the other side. Life's full of trade-offs.

Today's session at ManRay's was fun, and the size was just about right, two to four feet. There wasn't as much of a channel today as there was on Sunday, but the waves were a wee bit bigger. I punched through most of the breaking whitewater except for a couple occasions, and only got caught inside once. Like John said, the trick is to prone paddle out the back while laying on your paddle when things get consistently energetic in the white wash. I don't know how Keith does it up there in OB except for that he's a man in good shape and I'm a wimp, gasping, sputtering and swearing at my bad fortune to be caught inside.

Buzz paddled out after a while on his 10-10, followed by another guy on another Angulo 10-10, but by then I'd gone in. Never did recognize the other sweeper.

Tomorrow things start to get interesting.
Nov 28, 2008 (F)
In: 0845
Out: 1000
AT= 54F to 56F
WT= 55F
Wx: Variable Cloudy to Overcast with periodic breaks in the cloud cover
Tide: 5.24' Rising to 5.35' Falling
Wind: Light offshore to calm
Sea Surface: Light wind chopped to calm
10-2 Angulo SUP with Infinity Ottertail paddle
Fin set-up: 2+1 with Future 9" Cutaway center fin and Future Quad 340 side bites
Bathymetry: Sand bottom
CDIP: Deep Water Swell
0800: 3.7 feet @ 12 WNW (300 degrees-NPAC) and 1.0 @ 12.0 (165 degrees-SPAC)
0900: 4.2 feet @ 12 NW (310 degrees-NPAC) and 1.1 @ 12.0 (165 degrees-SPAC)
1000: 5.0 feet @ 12 NW (310 degrees-NPAC) and .9 @ 12.0 (165 degrees-SPAC)
1100: 5.5 feet @ 17 WNW (295 degrees-NPAC) and 1.0 @ 12.0 (165 degrees-SPAC)
CDIP: Wave Face Heights
0800: 2-4 feet
0900: 2-4 feet
1000: 2-4 feet
1100: 3-5 feet
Buoy: NWS (Nearshore)
0800: 2.6 feet @ 13.3 WNW
0900: 2.6 feet @ 13.3 WNW
1000: 3.3 feet @ 13.3 WNW
1100: 3.6 feet @ 13.3 NW