Is that the Retro Fish from Rider Shack?

So I finally bit the bullet and bought the Cult Retro Fish yesterday. I was so excited to try it out that I went and surfed at 4 pm to try it out. It is definitely not what I thought it would be, because I thought it would be a straight replacement for my old longboard. It's actually a very thick shortboard.

I had a pretty tough time yesterday because it was super blown out and the waves weren't breaking. I was a little disappointed, but got a few rides and the fish is super bouyant. Once you got on it it was easy to move around.

This morning I decided to bring my shortboard and the fish. I checked it out and looked like it would be a good day for the fish.

Here's the lowdown for surfing the fish:

• It's not going to replace a longboard
• It's quick and agile like a shortboard
• It won't get you into the waves as soon as a longboard
• Once you get in, it hauls ass

And the most important thing I learned about surfing the fish is that it takes a lot to get it moving, but once it does get it moving it hauls. So paddling into waves isn't about paddling harder, just paddling earlier and getting yourself in good position. Also, once you're on the wave, it's not about cutbacks or hard moves - it's about flowing on the wave.

The funny thing too was that everyone knew about these boards in Rider Shack. I met some dude in the water and he was like, "Is that the Retro Fish from Rider Shack?" My other friend, Nathan said the same thing. I saw Nick (the dude who rips) and I guess he saw the ad for the board as well.

I'll be surfing the fish, but I think once i get the hang of it it will be a really fun board. I will post updates of my progress.

"You're not going to hit the pier today?"

Today was more of the same - smaller sets that were kind of mushy. The good part about it was that there were peaks up and down the beach, so I didn't have to fight for my position by the pier. Water is about the same temp with a few cold spots.

So I was sitting by myself in front of the first lifeguard tower when I saw Matt paddle over with Guy Okazaki, a local shaper. I said hi, as usual, and Guy asks me, "You're not going to hit the pier today?" I replied, "No it looks too crowded." He responds, "Yesterday you kept hitting the pier. The guys were counting how many times you hit it."

Very demoralizing to say the least.

I took a chance and checked out some retro fish that are on sale at Rider Shack, this new shop close to our office. They have this pretty sick retro fish made by Cult Industries for $349. It's a pretty good deal and I think I am going to score myself a 5'8". The dude that owns the place is pretty cool and I got a good vibe from him. You can check it out here:
http://www.ridershack.com/cult58retrofishsurfboardgreenfreeshipping-p-826.html?cPath=84_157

After today's comment by Guy, I'm really going to get something that gets me into these mushy waves earlier. I'm finding myself having to take off late and not getting much of a ride. I'm also going to learn to shoot the pier instead of jumping off of my board right before.

On a side note, Nick (this dude who used to work at Rip Curl Santa Monica) was out this morning and ripping. He's probably the best shortboarder I have ever seen surfing by the pier. He's just super quick on the wave and just hacks it up, regardless of conditions. There was a guy taking photos today and he quickly moved over there to take some snapshots.

Mush burgers and fries

So today the water was even warmer than yesterday. A little overcast when I woke up, but I got out there at 6 instead of my usual 6:30. There were only 3 other people out aside from me and the surf was pretty fun. I think it was good because the tide was a little lower at 6. By the time I left at 8 it was pretty mushy and tough to get into.

Jaime (a local dude who really rips) was surfing this morning and I floated the idea of getting a retro fish. He looked like he didn't approve. Said I should try it before I buy one. He's been hitting me up for the past few months to get a new board from him. Maybe I should. I'm all for supporting local shapers. I am also pretty interested in getting a Guy Okazaki shaped alien - all the local guys who have bought that board love it.

My body is pretty wrecked from playing volleyball every day. My surrogate vball coach Pete would always say that volleyball wrecks your body because of all that you put it through. Constanly smacking the ball as hard as you can and running around in sand. Still fun as hell though. The weather has been amazing so I definitely am not complaining about running around in the sand with my friends all day.

I think there is a swell coming in this weekend. Based on today and yesterday, it's probably going to be more of a wind swell than anything else.

Surprisingly, there were a few waves

I thought that there would be nothing in the water today based on the surf report, but surprisingly there were a few waves to be had. It would have definitely been a lot better if I had a retro fish or a long board, but there was enough shape and juice for me to drop into a few.

I think that because I had to take them so late, I wasn't able to get the appropriate line I needed to get longer rides. It doesn't matter though, I got to surf and had a few rides.

There were only 3-4 people in the water. The water is definitely heating up. I almost wanted to take off my thermal rash guard at the end of the session.

Super mushy and small

It's really tough to surf a 6'0" in mushy surf. There were a few sets that rolled through, but you had to wait 10 minutes between sets. There were only about 6 people out, but everyone ended up fighting for the same waves.

There were 2 women out as well. One thing I like about female surfers is that they always look like they are having fun in the water. Most guys are just so serious and intense (me included). It's nice to be around people that are smiling and just having a good time. I guess dudes just get so caught up with trying to improve their surf game they forget how to have fun.

Can't wait to go to Hawaii next week! Hopefully I don't make too big of an ass of myself.

Late post for Saturday, June 24

As usual, I paddled out a little hung over. Met my friend Rome for what I thought would be a good day to be in the water. By the time I was out at 7:50 am, there must have been 30 people in the water, with half of them clustered by the pier. The surf wasn't that great - a NW wind swell that was really mushy.

I tried just hanging out way north of the pier and was unable to catch anything. I ended up moving closer to the pier and tried to pick off anything that broke on the inside. Unfortunately, my performance was pretty sub par. To make things worse, there were 2 dudes taking pictures. One was in the water with a camera inside waterproof housing and another dude on the pier with a pretty big lens. There goes my sponsorship hopes for the season.

Ah well, there's always next year!

Let me work this hangover into my workload.

(The image is an old image from last year. I'm just trying out the blogger software.)

I find my title hilarious. Found it on an ecard somewhere.

So I woke up this morning - a little hungover - and since I was out of shorts I decided to wear the same shorts from yesterday's volleyball game. I hate those shorts for surfing. It's so weird because they are Andy Iron's signature board shorts, but they have lining. Who the hell likes shorts with lining when they surf? It just slides around and makes it so hard to get a feel for the board.

Anyway.... the surf today was as good as yesterday, but there was a large group of people surfing the peak north of the pier. I thought I would be slick and surf south side because I saw a few waves roll through. That was a bad idea. The peak moved around and all the lefts into the pier just faded. Luckily Matt showed up and told me that it was actually a better right. I think he is the only dude that will punt an air in crappy conditions.

So nearing the end of my session, I sobered up a little and paddled north side. Totally changed my session from a crappy one to a decent one. Unfortunately, by the time I was getting better waves I was already pretty tired. I stayed until I had a few good waves under my belt.

The summer crowd is starting to fill in and it's going to start getting nasty. I've got to work on my crowd surfing. This morning I almost killed a sponger that cut across my path as I was paddling for a wave. Lucky I was hung over, cause I would have been pretty pissed otherwise.

Today was awesome.

(Another old photo from early this year.)

Got in today at about 6:30 and it didn’t look too great as I was walking out. Water’s pretty warm – trunks and a thermal rash guard. Once I got in the water I realized the peak just north of the pier was a machine. It was pumping out solid lefts and rights (into the pier) every few minutes. The waves were nice because the buildup was slow. You had a lot of time to get up and start pumping before it stood up. Medium tide and not much wind.

My new friend Matt was also out this morning. Met the dude one morning when conditions weren’t that great but he was ripping. Dude is very kickass in the water. He used to be sponsored and used to teach a surf clinic for intermediate to advanced surfers. I always get some good advice when we are in the water together. I give him some business advice in exchange.

Today’s lesson was positioning. He started telling me about how he was taking aikido lessons and how his instructor taught him the same thing he taught his students for years. It had something to do with being early and prepared is much better than being strong. So he basically told me that I can paddle my ass of all I want, but the real battle is positioning yourself in the right place. He told me that once I find the wave I want, I shouldn’t take my eyes off of it and start paddling to the right position as early as possible.

He usually gives me pretty good advice. His last two comments when we were in the water helped a lot.

I also learned the difference between a wind swell and a ground swell by reading this article:
http://www.stormsurf.com/page2/tutorials/wavebasics.shtml

Now I don't feel like a dumbass in the water when someone asks me if there is a wind swell or a ground swell. Sheesh.