Until now I have not had a longboard surfboard that I can use while I am at home. I always use my co-workers longboard at work and my 7’6’’ board when I am home. Thanks to my roommate and his beater longboard that needed repairs those days are over. He told me that if I fix the numerous dings and holes on his old longboard I can use it as often as I like, so I did. I spent all weekend and about $20 worth of Solarez fixing the board and I think it turned out great.
My other roommate and I decided to go surfing today at Tourmaline. So I threw the Frankenstein longboard on top of my Jeep and went down there. Unfortunately, it was choppy again with a strong on shore wind that was closing out all the waves. On top of that the inner break with the white water, what I call the noob section, where I wanted to try the new board out had a very high wave frequency. A high wave frequency means that the waves are crashing one after the other with very little time to rest between. The good thing about a high wave frequency is that you get an awesome workout if you are trying to paddle out in those conditions.
I was not looking for a good workout session today. I was more looking for some nice calm waves with a low frequency so I can get used to the new board. Oh well, I still had fun. Handling that board was like trying to steer an ocean liner man. I kept trying to make sure that the board was never parallel to the shore and if it was parallel to the shore, that I did not let the board get between me and the wave. This was a struggle in itself but all in all it was a good learning experience.
After wrestling around with the 9’0’’ tank board I borrowed my roommates 6’10’’ and took it out for a spin in the white water to get a feel for the difference between a longboard and a shortboard. I really like the smaller boards maneuverability compared to the longer board. I also loved the fact that I was able to duck dive with the shorter board. I really didn’t manage to catch anything with the shorter board but it definitely got me thinking again about spending more time on a short board. I will continue to try both of them out and let you know what I discover.
1 comments:
Not only is it easier to catch the wave on a longboard, but the extra length makes it easier to pop up to your feet i.e. bigger margin for error. When popping up on a shortboard, you have less room for your legs, so you really need to get your feet further up underneath you- very hard if your hip and abdominal muscles are weak or you have a big belly (like me) getting in the way!
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