Spent a day on Ocracoke and could stay for a lifetime. After a decade plus in Southern California it’s beyond comprehension to be on a beach alone. I mean really alone. There might be a dozen people spread put over as many miles. Unreal. Hurricane swells must be unbelievable on this South facing beach. Note to self: be there for some.
Still victory at sea around Avon. The wind came up overnight and turned a couple points east, so now even around the cape has a serious drift and a lot more texture (bigger too). Ask any surf shop owner what it’s looking like in the near future and they don’t look at swell models. They look at NOAA wind models.
Tomorrow is looking promising with the wind turning West, maybe NW, maybe SW. Full moon tonight and already cleaning up out front.
Frisco Pier. People were out in full winter suits. Air temp 60*, water 73*. I thought it was gonna be cold! People were talking about how it’s gotten cold It felt practically tropical. San Diego was like 67 when I left last and people were stoked it was still so warm. Maybe six guys in the water, decent vibe. Shoulder to head high lefts and occasional rights. I’ve never scored so early and easily while travelling before.
Avon’s pretty big and blown out. Headed past the lighthouse to Frisco pier and saw a small slice of heaven. Offshore and waist to chest high! I am so on it.
Made the 770 miles in a day and a half. Settled into our sweet little cottage in Avon and took a quick look around before dark. Stormy today but looks promising.
Finished up with this young lady’s tattoos on my last trip to Avalon. Three and a half hours on your ribs is no joke. Just ask anybody who has a tattoo there.
Thanks Joe.
hulls
I’ve been on a quest for the perfect hull for San Diego for several years. As a result I’ve reached some conclusions about various combinations of belly and concaves. Now I know a lot of people are going to holler about real hulls having no concave. Maybe they’re right and once you start putting concaves in it’s no longer a hull. I happen to call my variant the “hillbilly hull”. Under that general designation I have shaped a variety of planshapes and bottoms. Always staring with a nice roll in the nose. Malibu style dictates a somewhat flattish middle and tail and results in a very fun hull that you can read all about on Greg Liddle’s websight.
Now it gets interesting. When I’ve introduced a bit of concave to double concave towards the back, I’ve noticed more accelleration off the bottom and while kind of pumping down the line (not thruster style wiggling but more like weighting and unweighting a transition while pool skating). The more extreme the concaves the more bonzerish squirt there is. The boards still turn and drive from your front foot but are capable of surfing off the tail as well.
Now when the concave is started further forward again, you start losing the front foot driven goodness that is the hallmark of a good hull. You can still move forward and pump down the line but real cutbacks need a tail weighted bias. The plus side is a fast, glidey board that’s more in tune with the San Diego spots I frequent (Tourmaline, Cliffs, Pipes).
I used to call these boards little eggs, fried eggs, or little fried eggs depending on the combination of belly and concaves and I may go back to doing so. I have one of each and love them all equally depending on the day. If you spot me in the lot at Swami’s or Tourmaline, holler at me and you are welcome to test drive anything I have in the van.
Peace
New boards at Surfindian in Pacific Beach. Stop in and check out all of the great art, clothes, DVDs, fins and all kinds of other cool stuff.
6’8″ arctail downrailer, color by Cody
7’6″ miho hillbilly hull, beautiful resin tint, fuller nose, round pin
7’11” hillbilly hull/glider, pond scum resin tint, fins 101 bamboo flex fin, SPEED!
mast surfboards 