Surf Bored

After yesterday at the point, I knew it would be hard to find the stoke to paddle out today, especially when I heard that the buoys had dropped a foot. Andy and I decided to check Matanzas, even though the wind was flip-flopping onshore, side shore, and off shore. At least the wind was light, and maybe, just maybe, it would be worth it ... WRONG!

Once we started walking down the beach at the inlet, Andy looked at it and sighed. "I don't think I'm paddling out there," he said, looking out on the barely rideable surf, with two guys out, one of them Bob. I wasn't going to risk hearing Bob say I had missed it, so I said I would paddle out and see. Andy left, but hard-headed me had to see for myself.

Andy was right. After one wave, I was over it. Pat Hamilton and Bob were the only ones out, and it was barely waist high, and dribbling in, weak, nothing like yesterday. I talked to them for a few minutes, and then just went in, tried to ride the inside, but it, too, was boring.

As an experiment, I decided to check 8th St. to compare. Wow. I looked at it, and it seemed twice the size as Matanzas. I had to paddle out to make sure, and indeed, it was remarkably bigger and the shape was much better despite the wind being more onshore. I had one wave that was worth the whole paddle out, despite it being so much smaller and weaker than the point yesterday.

Tom was out on his hand-shaped plank board, and my jaw dropped when he showed it to me. Whaaaa? was all I could think.

It looked like a sheet of plywood, flat, thin, no shape, no fins. "Can you ride it?" I asked, not believing. I could not imagine ever wanting to ride that thing, why would you? He said it was like snowboarding, and was raving about how he had a connection to someone putting on a contest that Tom Curren and Donovan were surfing in at Virginia Beach, and if he got them to try it...

I don't know. It seemed to me that riding that thing was throwing years of research and development of the surfboard right out the window. Revert back to the Hawaiian planks from decades ago? Ugh, I waited and watched, but never saw him catch a wave so I could see. He said it worked. It had some funky little channels carved into the bottom, but man, I don't see that ever happening. Sorry, Tom. Good for you, for experimenting, but that thing reminded me of that piece of wood I found in the attic of an old house we moved into when I first started surfing. I never want to revert to that. I will reserve my judgement until a day when there are real waves, and I can see what he can do with it. Until then, I am in love with my Ricky Carroll fish, circa 2009.