The Old Mastic Trick: Just in Case You Don't Know

Yeah, yeah I know... it screws up your release. Whatever. Here at the paddlesurf command post we have different priorities. I use the stuff because:

a. I'm not a paddle stroke perfectionist. I don't do long runs- I'm surf-centric.

b. The paddling that I do is to catch waves, so it's usually just a couple of quick strokes to get in and going and in the churning, aerated water I'm paddling through- a little lip on the blade's not a big deal and finally,

c. the edge on some paddles is sharp- I'm worried for me and I've seen some pretty substantial rail gashes on guys who don't wrap the edge.

So if it's screwing up my release, so be it- besides once you see how mangled the rest of my stroke is you'll understand it doesn't really matter.

So, in case you haven't seen it (I think the guys at supsurfmag.com wrote about this awhile ago), here's how to wrap your paddle with electrician's mastic:

Top Photo: Get the right stuff. I buy mine at Home Depot. Look for it in the electrical department. It's not electrical tape, this stuff is thick, stretches and stays on in water.

Middle: Cut it about six inches short of what you actually need. You will be stretching it around the edge of the paddle so you'll make up those lost inches when you pull the mastic around the blade. You'll want to either clamp the shaft into a vise or get somebody to hold it steady for you while you wrap the blade.

Last: What you end up with is a nice, clean looking, rubbery edge on the blade. I do this to protect the board more than the paddle. In fact, some blades come with built in blade protection. For example these QuickBlade Laird Hamilton paddles feature an integrated ABS plastic edge. The ABS is tough enough to protect the blade but it is rather sharp and it can ding up a board pretty badly if you're a paddle hack; like me.

Check Back: I'm working on a video of the whole paddle prep process!

Camera Groms Cut: Biscuit Rider and K. Ferris' air... and Claim!

Check it out! If you need to hear this with Jay-Z check out my version.

Video: 8'0 Stand Up Board- with Big Boy on Board!

Short, curvy and fun... we're either talking about Salma Hayek or Stamps' 8'0 a.k.a "the biscuit". Check out this short clip of a short SUB... understand, the waves were horrible on this day- and that little chunk managed to get itself going!



>Amazing that at 235lbs it even floated me at all. I'm going to pester Stamps for the volume number on that board. I've seen other small boards but the owners of the boards have weighed much less than two bills. I've always thought that a 10' for a guy above 210' is proportional to an 8'0 for riders in the 100lb to 160' range. This board has made me think about how small I can go on my next board- I'm thinking I'd like to see something in the 9'4" or 9'6"length. Maybe even a 9'0 like Stamp's performance model but beefed up to 30" wide.

The board is ridiculously fun to surf. I'm dying for a head-high, glassy day where I can really get my back foot into the thing. It's a fast board and it's soooo much easier to throw it up into the lip than my big board. I can only imagine the speed I could generate on a lined up left hander, I'm also curious about how straight up into the lip I could put the thing and how it'll behave coming off the bottom at speed.

In the paddling department, you have to remember that as the board shrinks, the paddling sweet spot shrinks as well. Standing on this board was tough. I fell a lot, probably three times as often as when I'm on my ten footer. Dropping in on such a small board was also much different than on the bigger stand up, you get into the wave much later than you're used to, there's very little "glide in". Additionally, I'm going to have to figure out how to punch whitewater with this one- I was totally unsuccessful on it today. In fact, paddling this board makes you feel like you're learning all over again- which is cool with me because I love the process of figuring things out.

What's the point? This question crossed my mind a few times out there. After all, don't I have a hot 8'0 mini-longboard at home that surfs equally well when prone paddled into a wave? Uh yeah, but... who cares! It's just fun to paddle out on all kinds of crazy things and have fun- and having fun has always been the point to me.

Check 'em Out: Team Industrial and Cali Kites Paddle Team Photos

Here's a few more race photos:

Team Industrial: EJ and Tony Mueller powering into Dana Harbor- these guys did eight shifts of paddling, each run lasting twenty minutes. The team finished in a little over 7 hours.

Last two photos: Crazy Team Cali Kites. First race, first time on this board. Spoke French most of the way, and sported a "Racing Stripe" just for this run. Classic.

Last Photo: Here's the Cali Kites team leading the pack across the channel... for the first few minutes after the starting horn.

Any other racers with photos? Send 'em to me and I'll post 'em up.

A little bit more...

Got a chance to chat with Rich Hidalgo, Sergeant with the Imperial Beach Lifeguards and Avalon to Dana Point racer. Here's what I learned:

1. If you're going to compete, bring the right stuff: fourteen feet is nice, sixteen to eighteen with a rudder system gets you a little bit more competitive. Let's see, my old F250 4x4 came in right close to 2o feet long- looks like you'd need to construct a dedicated board garage for that kind of hardware.

2. Hardcore award goes to the two brothers who first crossed to Catalina the morning of the race on a PWC (Waverunner), then turned around and paddled a rudderless stand up board almost forty miles as a two person team. In trunks. So that's two hours crossing on the PWC and seven plus hours paddling- that's a long hard day. Who are those guys?

3. If it's worth doing once, it's worth doing again. Rich says the whole team is fired up to run it again- there must be something to it, these guys (and gal) are hooked. More races in the works.

If you haven't already done so, go check out KeNalu the online journal of stand up paddle surfing. Bill Babcock, the editor, is holding onto some additional Catalina photos from other racers and will be putting together a photo essay. Check it out!

And... If you're sending me photos to post please send high resolution photos as attachments to my email address. A few have sent links to photobooks etc. which I haven't been able to access- hook me up! Send photos to: paddlesurfbaja@gmail.com

Avalon (Catalina Island) to Dana Point Race

Here's a couple more photos of the Avalon to Dana Point Race. I'm piecing together the whole story- I'll post once I've got a little more information.

Top and Bottom: Imperial Beach paddlers. For being first timers on the big course- the thirty eight mile gap didn't seem to phase them much. I.B. local surfer/firefighter Tyra sticking one of the first legs of the race- she was the only woman to compete in the stand up paddle division. Eight hours hours later she'd be pulling the team into Dana Point- the team's total time on the water was close to 8 hours and 50 minutes- brutal.

In the lee of the island the conditions weren't too bad- but I've been told that it got really nasty once you left the island's shadow. A combo swell from the NW and SW brought with it washing machine conditions. I believe the technical term is mixed seas. Nasty stuff. Everybody got tooled.

Travel Quiver and a Catalina Race Report

How hot of a travel quiver would this be? An 8'0" SUP and a 6'2" quad fish. One bag, two boards- a world of opportunities.

As soon as we get through the wind storm that's screwing up our surf I'll have that little Biscuit out and about- might float me, might not... but it'll be fun finding out!

Catalina Island-Dana Point Race: Just got a phone call from Tex and the Cali Kite team fresh out of the water from the Catalina to Dana Point race. Nine hours of heavy water paddling in very rough conditions. Tex told me that from the chase boat, you'd lose sight of your paddler in the trough of waves coming out of the north-west. Congratulations to those guys for even showing up for the thing- definitely ballsy. Check back for pictures and maybe even some video clips coming soon!

Thanks Chris for the correction!

Another correction: Stamps' alaia board is six foot and change and three-quarters of an inch thick- not the four feet and inch and a half I posted- duh. Sorry Stamps.

Kook Patrol: Just to remind us what we really are...

This is what happens if you don't drop a buck into Camera Grom's can: posted so the whole world can see.

Here's another road trip photo... and something else

Another spot from our run up the coast. I call it Nooks and Granny's and it's lot more difficult to figure out than it looks from this shot. Lots of water moving around and a wicked bit of bounce chop off the rock groin.



The alaia board. Tim's made one in carbon fiber. I guess this is about as diametrically opposed to stand up paddle surfing as you can get. The thing's barely four feet long, about an inch and a half thick, no fins, no rocker, lots of belly and a good amount flex. You won't be able to ride it. They're made for super surfers or just freaks. Stamps tells me that Thomas Campbell's new video "The Present" the will feature some alaia board surfing. Tom Wegener in Australia's posted some cool footage of alaia surfing, check it out- but don't even kid yourself.

A good run, but nice to be home.

Had a great trip up the coast. Shacked up at a cool little hotel with a bunch of crazy Canadians- these guys would go to town on the complimentary wine that the place served up each night. They must've gone through eight or nine bottles, just killing it. But it was fun- must be a cold winter back in Calgary.

There were a couple of swells in the water but the direction wasn't just right for the area's window. Still, a little hunting around payed off- we scored some fun, uncrowded surf at some really beautiful spots. A good friend also came up and we managed to get in a couple of cruises up the coast. Funny how twenty minutes of paddling will still buy you waves all by yourself.



Nice to roll back into town and find that those two swells that were missing up north were pretty much lighting up the beach break in town and that the water's warm enough to trunk it. Lifeguard Hans and I surfed the north side this morning after peak high tide- fast lefts but good fun if you've got quick feet. I'm really digging my board more and more- turns well, goes fast and wraps sweet cutbacks, it'll even go up into the lip if you've got the legs to get it up there.

Big Catalina race coming up for those brave enough to go for it. Start carbo loading now!

Heading Home: Fun trip

Paddled up a point this morning, surfed some really small waves under bright, sun filled, Santa Barbara skies and dinged two boards at the same time. Interesting day.

The point's a big one up here, not a high quality spot (so, no, I didn't stink up the 'con) but a nice run. A tip: Watch the tide on runs with breakwalls and rip rap- a high tide backwash can make a mess of what could be a pleasant walk in the park paddle. Now about the dings: Damn bungee cords. This one even had a carbiner type hook on the end (you know like the kind Stallone broke in his corny climbing movie) and it failed me. Snap, smacked the rail of my friend's board and the rail of my own ride above it. One bungee, two dings.

More to come!

Mobile Surf Blog

Greetings from the road. I've got to pull my head out of the sand- there's a lot of cool tech stuff that's evidently happened without me knowing much about it. Some of you are going to laugh at me but check this out: Here I am on the road, sitting at a "hotspot", linked up to the 'net, logged into my blogger account getting myself ready to tell you about my surfing day. And, oh yeah, I'm sipping one of those giant blended coffee drinks that's really just a caffeine milkshake. Now that's progress!

Notes from the road: Had a fun morning of surfing with Tim Stamps. Funny, how I can remember to bring three paddles, two stand up boards, three wetsuits, five leashes and my toothbrush but I can remember to toss in my camera's upload cable. If I had remembered to bring that little piece of wire you'd be looking at what I surfed this morning instead of just forming a picture of it in your mind's eye. (Don't worry I'll post some photos once I'm back home.)

Let's just say it's a relatively new spot. I won't name it out of respect for the small handful of guys who've got it dialed (including the guy on the yellow fish who was ripping it) but I will say that sometimes a man-made bump in an otherwise stretch of straight beachbreak can produce little magic peaks. I'll call it Nooks and Grannies. Heres why: there's a couple of little, hidden, tucked in peaks (the nooks) and there's a couple of SUPerfect outside sandbars (the grannies). The trick at this spot is to link the Grannies into the Nooks.

Imagine taking off going left on an outside wedge, you cutback a couple of times all the while looking over your shoulder at the oncoming right hander. Time it just right and whack! You can bounce off the oncoming right and ride it all the way to the inside. Like surfing a curving bobsled course with a couple of lip whacks and a cutback or two thrown in for kicks. Good fun, but in all honesty, not an easy place to do stand up. There's a lot of refractory wave action, a big rip creating a weird, semi-standing wave and shifting peaks- the good SUP guys (T. Stamps included) make it look easy, effortlessly finding themselves in the right place at the right time.

I had a rougher time. And this is funny because coming from my home beach, which is not an easy place to do stand up, I thought I'd developed some pretty strong stand up skills. Wrong. One hour of paddle surfing at Nooks and Grannies just about did me in; I was beat! It remains a universal truth that in the world of SUP, just when you think you've got it down, you find out how much more you have to learn. A humbling, but fun day.

More paddling tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

Hey, it's almost Easter, spread the...

I'm off on a little central Cal. road trip- photos and more when I get back.

Some fun little surf today- trunked it and surfed some two footers. Keeping my fingers crossed for a little NW action to bring some happiness to this road trip. Stay tuned!

Photo: KF, spreading the LOVE.

Check This Out: Down the Line PodCast with Scott Bass

Check out Scott Bass' podcast of his radio show "Down the Line". I'm a newcomer to podcasts and I have to say, these things are great! I'd been wanting to listen to Scott's show but it's live here in San Diego (XtraSports 1360) Sundays during prime surf time: 8:00am! So, needless to say, I was a little bummed- I wanted to hear the show but I was too busy paddle surfing. Along the comes the "podcast"- a great idea for listening to radio programs and other audio productions that you've missed.

Scott's show features all kinds of surf personalities. Right now, I'm listening to Chuck Patterson talk about what it's like to charge the bowl at Makaha. It's a cool show and if you just can't get enough- click here and check it out!

More show info.

More Toys: The Stamps Arrow

I've been disappearing into the flat waters of the bay the last couple of evenings. Here's what I've been on: The Stamps Arrow- if you try one of these downwind/point-to-point boards, you're going to want one.

Paddling flatwater with one of these is a whole new ballgame. Think effortless glide. And ridiculous speed. I'm going to have to get one of these for coastal touring and downwind runs this summer. I could envision whole classes of paddlers touring flatwaters on these, they're such sweet paddlers.

Stamps built this board to be fast but manageable- I've paddled it three times now and haven't fallen in. Granted, I haven't gotten her out into chop and swell yet but I think she's going to be fine, the board actually becomes more stable as it tips to a side. Kind of reminds me of a dory, the lower it sits the more stable it becomes. It's a beautiful board, if you get a chance get on one of these!

Surfed Out: Here's some pics

You just never now what's going to pop up at a beach break. I'd heard rumblings that there was a fun wave draining into the rip at a certain street end. On the hunch I jammed over at noon to find the place just going off.

Dead glass, winding lefthanders, racing into the hole blown out by the rip. One guy way to the south. Three hours later it was still doing it's magic but I just couldn't do it anymore- I was beat.

So here's a few pics of what it looked like- like every surf photographer always says, "These were the 'tweeners, you should have seen the set waves". But, seriously...

Here It is: Camera Grom's Latest

Check it out:

Magic Baja: I'm seriously preoccupied!

Now I've really messed myself up. I'm starting to get "Baja Dreamy", all I can think about are the waves that are peeling off right now somewhere down south. Mike Ashley, my brother, put together this little clip of the Baja Paddle/Surf/Kite trip we completed last summer. If you haven't had the time to go back and read about it, you'll have to click all the way back to the very first entries of this blog. Or maybe you just want to check out the video and imagine yourself fishing, kiting, surfing and paddling your brains out for two weeks all the way down to Cabo San Lucas. Free me!

Camera Grom Thanks You! For everybody who stuffed a little cash in Grom's coffee can this morning (and Gabe who dropped a twenty spot!) the video will be up tomorrow. If you don't know Grom is saving up for a new camera- so it's going to a good cause, how many kids do you know have the ballzack to save on their own? As for the clips, all I can say is Kiwi and Kraig Surplus exceeded their wave count. And, upon further video review, yes, Kraig- if you weren't right in the pit I would have been barreled. Foul!

Daylight Savings Time's Coming: Summer's Knockin'

I can't wait to Spring forward. It means that the warm season is just around the corner. The after work session can be extended and I can start making my summer travel plans. I'm already trying to figure out how I'm going to pull off the paddle surf adventures that are floating around in my mind. Here's a preview:

1. I want to paddle the East Cape of Baja. Talk about wide open. There are so many little spots to poke around down there. I'm fired up to lay some tracks and document some reliable runs around the tip. Trip Probability: 90%

2. I'm all messed up on the idea of paddling mainland Mexico, specifically a giant left point break, described as Malibu in reverse. The place is fat and long enough to be perfect for a stand up board. Trip Probability: 60%

3. I need to paddle up and around the voodoo ridden Northern Baja region- my gut says no but my board says yes. Trip Probability: 50% (if you drive, I'll cover tolls and tacos!).

4. Send me to Costa Rica. Will paddle and write for frequent flier miles. Boca Barranca, Pavones and Pan Dulce all need to be poached. Trip Probability: 0%

5. There's some stretches of coastline right in my backyard that I still haven't explored and I need to score, mid-week, south swell, point surf this summer. Trip Probability: 100%

6. Ian you invited me up to your zone, that big headland needs to be breeched- let me know!
Trip Probablility: 70%

Get out and get some- it's out there!

Paddle In Peace: Respect Your Prone Brother

Brewer, over at the SB paddle blog has a little piece about finally having to tell some local paddlers to mind their manners in the surf. I've been hearing some buzzing about tension in the water around our parts- so I thought I'd take an opportunity to put my feelings out there. Here's a little piece from an upcoming project I'm working on. You'll see it in June in its complete form- but for now, this piece seemed appropriate:

It’s a sad reality that all is not rainbows and unicorns in the surfing family. As stand up paddle surfing becomes more and more popular, the prone surfing population has become increasingly vocal about their disdain for us, their upright brothers. The days of open fascination have begun to give way to open confrontation or at the very least the insidious “stink eye”. And, frequently, they’ve got a point- some of us have been pigs.

The increased mobility and ease of wave catching can transform even the mellowest surfer into a wave-eating beast. I’ve watched two stand up paddlers take over a spot, endlessly looping from peak to channel, plundering every wave that even hinted at breaking and generally pissing off everybody in the lineup. Including me, a fellow stand up surfer! Unfortunately, the victims of this bad behavior transfer their ire onto the entire SUP community and the bad blood spreads from break to break.

There is good news though. There are stand up paddlers who have what I call “special immunity”, these are the guys who through their actions and force of personality are able to stand up surf almost anywhere. These surfers practice, without even knowing it, a code of surfing ethics that is more than a set of rules. It’s a mindset, a way of being.

Here are my suggestions to help build harmony in the line up. Practice these and develop your own special immunity.

1. Paddle through not out: It’s much more difficult to get upset at a moving target. Look at surf spots as targets of opportunity and hit them as you’re moving through. Don’t pull up in the parking lot, eyeball the main event peak and paddle straight out to it. Remember, you’re just playing through, so move along.

2. Charity: Give away a lot of waves. Sit down on your board and purposefully take yourself out of the action. You don’t need to make a big show of it, in fact the quieter you are, the more “in the know” you seem, the more of an impact this action will have.

3. Competence: Know your limits. If you are a beginner you should surf the worse, most abandoned, empty waves in your county. If you can’t control yourself or your board, you’ve got no reason to be near others. Surfers respect competence, ride the wave cleanly, pull out and finish the wave correctly. These little things, in the eyes of the knowledgeable, tell them all they need to know about you and how you look at surfing.

4. Never call anybody off of a wave: Vocalizing never helps, it only labels you as the loudmouth. And a stand up loud mouth is the worst kind of loudmouth. Instead, encourage prone surfers to take off in front of you. Trust me, you’ll get plenty more.

5. Fill the holes: As you paddle through, look for surfer-voids. Now fill them. Easy as that, bounce from hole to hole and you’ll never have a problem.

These are the guidelines I’ve tried to live by in my paddling life; they’ve served me well. Like all guidelines they are flexible, use good judgment, keep your cool and if all else fails…. paddle away. Good luck and happy surfing!

Road Warrior playing the sick card...

Sometimes you gotta bend some rules to get things done. I'm not going into it here but the deed is done. You'll be hearing about the new ride I grabbed a hold of soon... If you were there, enjoy.

Downwind Boards Look FUN!

Oh man, I got a peek at something that looks really fun. Kelly Kraus at Emerald City surf shop in Coronado had a 14' C4 Vortice down at the beach this morning. That thing looks so sweet! Talk about purpose built, it's more hull than paddle board. Kelly says it's ridiculously fast- I'm going to jump on it sometime this week and I'll post a full report. You're going to be seeing a lot more of these downwind boards in the water this summer. I know I want one and I haven't even tried the thing yet! Check Back.

The surf in our parts has really been fun lately. I've hit the last two days at different spots and had really great days. It's been about head high on the set waves but clean and lined up. We're seeing a building south swell so it's time to start putting the thinking caps on and figuring out where it's going to work best. Stoked.

Photos Top and Bottom: A couple of snapshots of a couple of spots a couple of days ago.

Wise Words from the ultimate Style Master

If you've been surfing for awhile you know who Larry Bertlemann is.

If you drag your paddle to the inside of a front side cutback, across your body to the heelside on the round-o you're executing a Bertlemann style hand drag. The only difference is he dragged a hand, you're dragging your paddle.

The guy was a 70's style master, he even influence the nascent sport of street skating. Go rent Dogtown and Z-boys and you'll see Jay Adams ripping "Bert' reverts" in pools and banks all over Venice and Santa Monica.

So I don't know why but I was perusing YouTube and I found a trade show interview with him.

The guy is well spoken and he's got something to say. Good stuff. Check it out:




Wise words, they apply to more than just surfing. For me they justify one other important item: I push a shopping cart... so what? It's my own circle.

Here's what it looked like... and here's what I got.

Strike three. Everytime I set up these great expectations for surf, I get shut down. If you've been following the blog, this is the third time! Not to say that I didn't get in a great paddle out to the point and back, and there was some excitement (I'll get to that in a bit), it's just that I was hoping for so much more.

Photo Left: Here's what I had to think about all the way to the point, visions of sugar plums dancing in my head. The point in the back ground was my target.

Here's how the day played out: Up early and out the door to get to the kick off spot while it was still low tide. The plan was to paddle against the new rising tide so that I could surf and return while the tide was still filling in. I learned my lesson last time, fighting an ebbing tide tide through the narrow mouth of a big bay is not fun at all, in fact, it's brutal. I much prefer fighting it on the way out and then paddling downhill home.

The surf looked big and grunty on the way up the Strand and to the launch point. I thought it'd be perfect for the point I was headed to surf. I knew the point I was aiming for was really a summertime south swell spot but I figured it might pull in some of the big surf we were getting hit with and bend it into something manageable. Wrong. Either there was way too much angle on this particular swell or the place can't pull it in on a low-ish tide, whatever it was, it wasn't really working.

There were some raggy sets coming through but nothing close to the wave I know the place is capable of producing. I was passed by two sets of jet skis with boards and sleds each heading for the outer break that pulls in even more swell, those guys checked it and turned around too, the point just wasn't working today.


Photo Middle Left: The point not quite doing it this morning; a little morning sickness screwing up the works.

I will log data points in my black book though, I'll record tide and swell direction and use this to help pinpoint the right conditions for the spot for future trips. If you look at it from that point of view the trip was worthwhile. I'd also like to let you know that early morning paddles through the bay and out to the point are pretty interesting. You can really get jamming in the glassy water and there's a lot to see.

The highlight of my trip happened on the way back home. I was jamming with the filling tide back into the bay. Since the tide was pushing in I was hugging the channel markers to take as much advantage of the moving water as possible; I was head down and powering.

I now believe that Navy Destroyers are powered by silent engines! I didn't even see this huge Navy ship until it seemed like it was right on top of me! In reality, it was a long way off but those things are amazing, especially when viewed from a 10' chip of foam floating on the water.



Photo Bottom Left: Silent engines?

The ship was coming around a bend in the channel so at one point its bow was pointing directly at me, I was jamming to get out of it's way and it seemed like it kept turning for me. Once it finished it's turn all the excitement was over and it passed by a couple of hundred yards to starboard, man that thing was big! I can only imagine what one of the big carriers would look like from my Stamps 10'0- I'm going to have to check that out one of these days!

Surf on the way!

I'm still sore from Saturday's brutal coastal journey. And I'm already going back; it's going to be cranking tomorrow! The giant storm right off the coast did as predicted and sent us some hefty surf, the call is for waves with possible twenty foot faces by tomorrow morning.

No, I'm not going to charge any twenty footers. I'm leaving that to the Hawaiians (did you see the SUP Big Wave footage at SUPMag.com?). I'm a big believer in staying within my limits and since I haven't made any hundred yard open water swims I'm not going to put myself at risk by surfing waves that are out of my league. I'm going to get back to a spot that I know will wrap it and tame it a bit, at least that's the plan. I'll snap a bunch of photos and post as soon as possible.


Photo: This is the spot I'm betting on. Here it's knee to waist high on a three foot swell, imagine what it might look like tomorrow?

I don't know how many of you guys check the comments section of the blog entries. If you don't check, you should- there's a lot of good information in there. Jim Brewer up in Santa Barbara sent me some information about carbon fiber that I think is really important for us paddle surfers to know about:

"As for the carbon paddles, they are going to break no matter what the make is and how big or small you are.

I have been racing road bikes(bicycles) for years and have had many carbon frames, handle bars, wheels, seat posts, stems and other carbon items. The thing about carbon is that you are paying the big bucks for the light weight. Carbon is strong but not strong like a much heaver aluminum paddle.

All it takes is a hair line crack and your carbon paddle is toast. If you want a paddle that's not going to break don't get a carbon paddle. I once had a $4,000 dollar carbon bike frame and it fell over and hit a small rock and put a tiny chip in the frame. That was it. The frame was history.

Carbon fiber is like fish, "when in doubt throw it out". All that being said, my QuickBlade carbon paddle lasted 3 years before I put a crack in it and it snapped."

Jim went on to explain that if you ride a bike with a carbon fiber frame that has a known chip in it, it could fail at any moment- hopefully not when you're descending at fifty mile per hour. I don't know about you guys but I know I don't treat my paddle very nicely. I throw, literally, the paddle into the back of my pickup and I leave it in the cab all day long. I'm sure I'm mistreating it and for that reason I should be a little suspect of it- I'll probably go inspect it tonight for hairline cracks. If you're doing big open water paddles, maybe you should check yours too.

Thanks for the information Jim. Be sure to check out Jim's blog and the BlueLine SUP's that he shapes.

Sunset Cliffs Loop: Garbage to Kellogg Beach

This was a bonus day. Supposedly we've got a bit of nasty weather bearing down on us which, of course, was preceded by two days of wind, rain and ugliness. So sandwiched right between all of this cold and gray was our bonus day, a nice, relatively windless day here in beautiful San Diego.

I was determined to take advantage of this little break in the weather and had no problem finding a rabid SUP surfer to join me. Tex is always up for a bit of adventure so we acted on a plan hatched a couple of days ago and decided to paddle around Point Loma from Sunset Cliffs into the harbor. I don't know how many miles we covered but my arms, back, legs, gut and every other piece of flesh thinks it was at least ten, probably more.

It was a really nice run but some lessons were learned:

1. High tide paddling along Sunset Cliffs with even a small swell in the water is tough. It's not the surf that's challenging, it's the backwash off the rocks. The rebounded waves bang into the incoming swell to produce what is technically known as "disorganized seas", it's pretty much a paddling nightmare. If you do this run, leave at low tide.

2. If possible time your return into the harbor to coincide with an incoming tide. Battling even a slight ebb is tough when your paddling right through the constricted mouth of the harbor, it may not seem like much at first but sum your effort over the hour it take to get back to the landing point and it becomes significant. Translation: It sucks fighting the tide.

3. Bring water and a back up paddle isn't a bad idea either. This paddle will take about three hours of continuous work, don't let yourself get dehydrated. I also think that it'd be a good idea to carry a two piece back up paddle. A broken paddle on this trip would result in a serious (five plus mile) laydown paddle to get out of the water. Be prepared.

We had a great time cruising the Cliffs, scoping out the strange military buildings and scoring some fun surf. Tex caught more waves than I did, I was preoccupied with completing the paddle before the wind came up. I did grab a couple of gems, a left at Dolphin Tank and a sweet waist high right at Ralphs.



This would be a great run for an intermediate to advanced paddler on a glassy, low tide day. I'd definitely do it again- you should too!

I told you so...

I'm being bombarded with tons of "Hey, I've been snapping leashes too!" emails and, "Yeah, which paddles do have a reputation for being tough?" The people want to know, there is interest!

The next paddle that I pick up will have as long a warranty period as I can find. I just have this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I'll snap any paddle within a year. It'd be nice to compile some paddle data over the course of one year. I'd like to determine which paddles make it a year and which are failing. Kind of a "Consumer Reports" style investigation. There's a lot of people who read this site, drop me an email about your paddle and how it's performed, send it to paddlesurfbaja@gmail.com.

Want more info? Check out the paddle piece Nate wrote up at SUPsurfmag.com for some solid paddle data.

A couple of ways to extend the life of your leash. Kelly sent me these tips for keeping your leash alive, they sounded good to me so I thought I'd pass them on:

"One important thing though is bailing technique, especially when you are simply caught inside and have some control over the situation. You have to line up your body so that it will drag through the water cleanly. Leaving your self sideways (perpendicular to the wave direction) and thus resisting the flow puts greater strain on the leash. I have also heard suggestions that you should get the slack out the leash before the wave hits so that the pressure won’t be so sudden. Do this by pushing your board away or diving deep. One of the worst possible leash strains is probably that more unique to SU situation where you jump over the back and the board gets caught by the wave. Your body is penetrating into the less active part of the wave and not flowing at all shoreward while the board is getting suddenly yanked by the wave. That was how I broke my not very thick 10’ leash that first big day."

Kelly makes a good point earlier in the note too, he writes, "With boards that are in the 20 - 25lb range and lots of buoyancy, breaks are to be expected". I have to agree, we're asking leashes to do a job they weren't really designed to do. But, from examining where my leashes have failed, I think they can be improved considerably.

So answer this question for me: If you've had a leash break, where exactly has it broken? Did your leash actually snap the cord in half, a clean cut? Or did your leash pop off of the cuff where it's melted/glued into the cuff "plug"? Did a swivel fail? I'm trying to compile some data here so I'm going to continue to ask for feed back. Hook me up. Tell me exactly where it broke!

In the words of the infamous Dennis Dragon, "Cords were useless, they snapped like peanut brittle!"

Stu's New Ride: It's all about the '80s Paint Job

Check out Stu Kenson's latest ride. I can only imagine how totally satisfying it must be to grow an idea in your mind, shape it with your own two hands and then paddle it out. Stu's stoked on this new one, he should be- this is a nice paddling and hot surfing stand up board.

Hot enough as a matter of fact to get me back into my wet, sandy, thrown into the back of my pickup, wetsuit after I had just crawled out of it. You should know that I own four different fullsuits that I keep in rotation just so that I never have to crawl into a cold, clammy one. That board called to me though, and I had to answer- so I sucked it up and wiggled my way back into that dank suit.

Stu and I ended up paddling down the beach for a little surf. In this new board, Stu's redistributed the foam, rethought the rails and rocker and added a couple of bumps down the rail to loosen it all up. The final product is a board that's really stable yet infinitely surfable.

This board was a 10'4, I'd like to see it in a 10' version and I'd like to see it in some open face surf. I snagged three waves on our little coastal cruise (I'd already been in the water three hours so I only had a little time) but each one of them told me a little more about the board. The board in a quad version surfs fast- I call it built in speed. It's got squirt. Unfortunately, the tide was sucking out and the waves were mostly closeouts so I wasn't able to wrap any cutties or throw it up into the lip- but I was dying to!

When I get a chance you'll hear about it.

Things Break and that Sucks

Sunday was a bad day for equipment. Things got busted up. Big Chad snapped his one piece C4 paddle right at the bend from shaft to blade. That thing went off like an M-80, pitching Chad onto his face and pissing him off. I snapped another leash, in head high surf. This kind of stuff sucks!

Photo: Broken leashes become toys for Lilly. It ain't funny, and it ain't right!

I think our gear can be radically improved- especially if you're dropping three hundred bucks on a paddle. In the last year, I've witnessed four paddles snap in half. Each paddle was less then six months old and one paddle was brand new! Personally, I wouldn't mind a heavier paddle if I knew it was bombproof. I'm certain it can be done- it's just going to take somebody to get their act together and make the "KONG PADDLE". The KONG might be a one piece titanium paddle that big guys like Chad can't snap. If you have to buy two paddles in a year, you've just dropped close to seven hundred dollars, I'd rather spend six bills on a titanium wonder scoop that I know will last. Bring us the super paddle- or at least send us one to abuse.

I've broken just about every type of leash. And from the reading I've done, so have you. I've broken the curly ones, the long ones, the thick ones, the hand tied, the swiveled- you name it, I've snapped it. The cost of a broken leash is nothing compared to the damage that a loose board could do to those on the inside. And how about the damage that some hungry rocks could do once the board bounced all the way to shore. A $1600 dollar board deserves a better leash.

This is a call for specialized equipment. I've got some of my own ideas regarding leash design (I think a virtually unbreakable leash could be made). I want your equipment feedback. What's endured for you guys? I'd like to know the specific names of paddle surfing products that have lasted at least a year. I'm particularly interested in paddles. I'm even more interested if you're a big guy (200 lbs plus). I don't think that there's a paddle or leash that would last a year of normal paddling in the hands of myself or Big Chad. What's your experience?

Life in the 'Patch: Ain't just for the Dogs

After two days of checking it only to find smelly water and three mile long closeouts, Kiwi and I fired up and got out of town. Destination: Dog Patch.

Left: A surf kayaker going right and an empty wave peeling left, looking fun at the 'Patch.

If you haven't surfed the Dog Patch you've got to get yourself up there. It's such a perfect set up for stand up paddle surfing. The spot is actually the only designated spot that you can surf with a paddle in your hand at San Onofre State Beach. So have no fear of stinkeye, the paddle is king at the Dog Patch.

Bottom Photo: Chris, Magic and the ULI, tidepool cruising.

One question: I'm still a little unclear about the legality of SUPing the Trails. I've done it a few times- am I breaking the law? Patch locals feel free to respond- I'd love to know.

A tip: On the weekend, especially if there's surf, get there early. San-O is one of those "Main Event" spots, if you get there after 8am you may be waiting in an hour long line to get in.

The Set Up: If you're going to be stand up paddle surfing, you'll want to drive as far south as you can and park when you see an open spot. You should be right in front of the 'Patch. There's a nice bit of sandy beach to hang out on or stick an umbrella. Bring everything you need for the day because if you leave, you won't be getting back in without a long wait. You'll need to surf to the south of the "OK" sign, which is actually two signs (one is an "O" and the other is a "K") that spell "OK" if you're surfing in the correct area. If you see "KO", you're too far over to the North. Don't stray over to the tempting peak to the North or the Man will come and bullhorn you out. How embarrassing.

You'll be sharing the break with some true paddle surfers, the surf kayak guys. These guys were super cool and they really surf those things well. I was blown away by the clean, open face 360s they were pulling out there. A guy kayak surfing behind me (no, that's not another way of saying I snaked him) was repeatedly smacking the lip a couple of feet from the tail of my board- I know he was hitting the lip square because I could hear him schwacking it! One thing to remember at San-O is that people pretty much just take off on each other. Everybody seems pretty cool with sharing, so lighten up and give that guy on the shoulder a wave in, it'll be reciprocated.

Kiwi and I had a great day. We got to surf some fun waves and we also met some nice people. Chris Koerner- a stand up race paddler/surfer who recognized my board came over and introduced himself. It was fun listening to Chris' stories about open water SUP racing- there were some classics, I'll let Chris tell 'em to you sometime he'd do a better job. Talking to Chris made me realize how much of a newbie I still am to this sport- guys out there have years of experience stand up paddling while I've just been doing this for a year (well, maybe I'm a couple of months shy of a year). Chris was gracious enough to clue us in on how it's done down there at Dog Patch and introduce us to Magic his surf dog. Thanks for the hospitality Chris- if you're ever down south, ring up the surfline- you know the number.

Once Again: Just when you think it's gonna be good!

I'm getting reports of good surf up and down the coast. It's killing me! We're not getting it here in my town. Two days in a row I've been up early anticipating a morning of good surf only to be let down. Yesterday, I had lower G.I. issues. There was sewage running through me like a freight train in my transverse colon. Evidently, this has been going around. Is it food poisoning or the forerunners of a nasty flu? Sorry if that's too graphic but it's been brutal. I did get a chance to check some spots up the coast from my house, didn't have the courage to strap on a wetsuit, that would have been too much of a commitment. It sucks to be locked in when you really need to go.

Today I felt a little more solid (pun intended). I was up before it was light, from my backyard I could hear the surf cracking on the beach, sounded pretty substantial out there. At first light I was rolling down to the check out spot. It's been really cold the last couple of mornings, the kind of cold that makes you wish you put your wetsuit on at home instead of shivering into it while standing barefoot on a concrete ice block. These cold mornings alter the decision making process; if it's not looking really good I won't be surfing, the motivation just isn't there. I've got to be inspired to paddle out on these kind of mornings.

Call me a fair weather surfer but that's just the way it's gone for me these last couple of years. The decision, however, was already made for me: the signs were up. The water was polluted by the last rain two days ago and a word of mouth report had it at legitimately stinky. The surf was definitely up, there were some long period, organized waves rolling in but the direction wasn't working for our beach, most waves were closing out. No surfing at home today. Maybe the DogPatch tomorrow, early!

And: The lifeguards are putting together a co-ed team for the Stand Up Paddle division of the Catalina race. I've loaned them one of my 12' boards for training purposes but they're looking for an open ocean downwind racer to borrow for the race. If you're interested in sponsoring the team, or if you just have a legit downwind board for them to borrow they'd be stoked! Let me know.

Wind Everywhere!

The wind was going nuts today. First out of the south at about 20 mph, then dumping rain, switched to offshore for about an hour then hard out of the north west before it got dark. Now I'm sitting here and it's dead calm, no rain and cold. Turns out the jet stream looped low enough to bring San Diego its very own storm. We had enough snow in the mountains around us for school districts to close school for a snow day.

There's definitely some surf on the way, or it may be here already. I've been getting reports of fun surf up in North SD, maybe our turn is coming. Getting excited for tomorrow! See you there.

Photos above and below: Two spots, same town, ten minutes apart- wind from all points of the compass- crazy day.

They're still out there

We go back to work but the surf just keeps pouring in, all under sunny, warm skies. I got a report from my brother up in Santa Cruz; the surf's been firing! The guy's a nut too, he's been trunking it! The water's freezing but the air's warm with lots of sunshine- he say's it's do-able, I say he's crazy.

Out of the blue a good friend dropped in from Southern Baja. Tim Hatler is the owner/operator of Palapas Ventana down in La Ventana, Baja Sur. I've posted pictures of him surfing a perfect left point break down near his home, if you're a goofy foot this is a spot you'll want to ride before you go for the big dirt nap. We had just enough time to drink a beer, grab some boards and get in a quick surf.

Tim says that stand up paddlers are becoming more common down in the La Ventana area. You may remember back in July of '07 when this blog was born, I reported on a trip I did down to Cabo San Lucas and back. My brother, Big Chad and I paddled La Ventana that summer and found that it's a flat water wonderland for cruising. It turns out that in the winter, when La Ventana becomes an internationally known kitesurfing and windsurfing hotspot, the prevailing Northerly winds create small, fun waves that break in the Sea of Cortez. Even better, the best spot is a left reef/point right in front of Tim's resort. According to Tim, the numbers have increased all winter long- like we all know, this sport is growing. I've still got a dream to bring some fly some paddlers in and show 'em the Baja I know- we'll see. Interested?

At it again: Chasing Ghosts on the Phantom Wave Field

It was just too fun looking to pass up today. Nice 4-6' waves peeling across the outside cobblestone wave field. The home of a what I call the Phantom Peak, it's here, it's there, it everywhere- so beware, or you'll get caught inside. The usual crew was on it today: Kelly, Kiwi, Big Chad, Gabe and Dave Lopez riding it manual. I punched through the shorebreak meat grinder just in time to see Kelly riding a left that was a couple of feet overhead and lined up- that sure got me paddling faster.

I'm giving this session to Kelly and Kiwi. Both of these guys were riding Stu Kenson stand up boards and just flying on those quad fin set ups. Kiwi (on the blue board) continued his wave voodoo streak by snagging a killer set wave right when got outside- you'll see it in the video, well overhead and LONG! It's fun riding surf in this size range, nothing life threatening, just good fun.

Here's Camera Grom's edit of the last two days of surf. We all chipped in and the total came to thirty bucks so the Grom calls it his $30 Video. The first few minutes are from yesterday and the last couple are from today, check it out:

New Swell: Timing is Everything!

Classic California surf days, blue skies, light offshore, solid groundswell, cool crisp water- these days keep you jazzed for months. Today we got a pretty good one. The town just comes alive, everywhere you look somebody's walking to the beach with a board under their arm, or riding an old rusty beater down to get a surf in. I really like seeing all the surf-mobiles cruising the strand with boards sticking out of the back. Our little surf-ghetto just starts crackling!



The surf forecasters timed this swell just right- they said it'd start showing itself this morning and right on time it was here. How convenient. It did end up being kind of an odd one though, a rising tide put a little backwash bump into it and although the swell was a nice long period one there were only a few holes out there that could bend it into something surfable. Big Chad and I ended up making the mile and a half paddle south to try to surf a shifty outside cobble reef. This particular spot looks good but it's a tough nut to crack. The peak shifts all over the place and it's so far out that it's tough to line it all up. I call it Phantoms because once you get all the way out there trying to find the take off spot is like chasing a ghost.

Both of us managed a handful of waves. I got exactly two before I rode one too far in and had to walk a quarter mile south to punch out again. Tough conditions. I also got a little cocky trying to pick off a 'tweener and got caught inside by a set of about ten overhead waves. Spanked. We chalked it up as a weird day out there, fun but weird. I checked the spot an hour before sunset and it was going off, consistently breaking in the same spot, looking much more do-able.

Timing's everything with these sand/cobble spots and waiting a few hours can make all the difference in the world. It's tough to be patient though, especially when you're coming out of a surf famine. Let's hope tomorrow I develop some patience (yeah right, I'm already amping for the dawn patrol right now!). Hope it went down well for you.

The San Diego I know and love!

Great day of surfing down here in San Diego. Storms have blown away, water's fairly clean again and there's still some swell in the water. I jammed out of my little beach town to a spot I knew would handle the little NW breeze that was messing up my home beach. Also, the tide was dropping low until around 3:30pm so I knew I'd have a shot at it before the low water killed it.

I scored. It ended up just being a great session, waist to head high waves, breaking over a clear water, rock reef. There were about 8 manuals on the right, none of them were even trying for the left so I hopped on it. I should mention there were two other stand up guys on the left before I got there but there were so many waves that we were rarely ever standing around waiting, we just did laps from the inside to the outside. Super fun time, I must've surfed fifteen or twenty fun waves, five of them being real jewels. Think head high, nicely tapered, green racetracks that allowed a couple of cutbacks and some speed carves before dumping in the channel.

It's fun to surf different waves then you're used to. At home, 90% of the riding we do is in real fast beach break. You've got to have quick feet and find a way to make sections or you'll never get an opened face wave. Here on the reefs, the wave is so much more predictable- there's no need to start the wave angling for the shoulder- you can get real casual once you've got the wave figured out. I wasn't able to get enough push to really hook a turn in the lip but I did get to the point where I'd straighten out a bit on the take-off getting out into the flats before I'd put down some tracks for the shoulder, it felt good to fade a little pit back into the pit. That's my session, hope you scored too!

It's coming together!!!

A quick check of my favorite surf forecast site says we may be into something really fun this weekend! Start making plans, CameraGrom- this may be your weekend! Although everything is condition dependent, this may be the weekend for some good coastal cruises- anybody interested? You know how to reach me.

Left: Keep your fingers crossed, because maybe, just maybe we deserve something like this!
Photo: El Tigre

The scale never lies. 235 not 220, first time on it in about 15 years. Interesting. 10' x 29" x 4.4", 235 lbs. Hmmmm.

You know it's been flat when....

Blog review: You know it gets bad when the reporters write stories about the reporters. Well, it's that bad... it's been raining all day long with a stiff south wind two factors that add up to some stinky water for a few weeks. So time to get creative. Here's my review of paddlesurfing blogs and websites (more to follow if it stays flat):

Left: Spare us all, please bring this back. Photo: El Tigre

Pono House Blog: Voted place I'd most like to sit around and drink a Mai Tai, learn how to fabricate a race car axle or paddle straight.

NC Surfer: Voted best place to go to see the largest, widest ranging, privately owned, collection of stand up boards in the continental United States. Best site to begin a conversation about the pros and cons of drinking a large cup of black coffee before crawling into your drysuit for a refreshing 4o degree surf session.

SRFNFF: Voted best place to log factual data regarding wind speed, wave height, patchouli concentration and sand flea migration count. Voted Most Optimistic Life Is Good blog and additionally a great spot to argue the merits of the Greenough foil versus the laminar flow characteristics of the retro hatchet fin.

StandUpZone: Shady, go-to standard for paddlesurfing fanatics featuring topics like: "More 'core: Black or Camo deckpad?", "Is it a breakfast burrito or a breakfast wrap and which one makes me paddle faster?", "Am I barreled if half my board and three quarters of my paddle is still sticking out?" and "So I bailed my board at Malibu, what's the big deal?"

Coastal Ramblin'

Had a lot of fun hitting the road and surfing someplace new. I like to leave early. Get on the road early enough and you're the King of the Coast. Zoom up PCH, pull into any parking lot, snag front row at Swami's- whatever you want, as long as you're on it at dawn.

I get up before it's light, toss the wetsuit in the cab of the truck (I remember as a kid reading how Tom Curren would put his down on the floor by the foot heater to warm it up- been doing it ever since), grab a big cup of coffee and an old fashioned buttermilk bar from the Cambodian guy's Donut Shop, throw on what ever the hell I feel like listening to (Bluegrass, or HeeHaw Hell recorded on my portable satellite radio) and burn some fuel.

Call it gross, fat, American wastefulness but there's something about rambling up the coast in my 380 horsepower, full size 4x4 pickup listening to some guy sing about "drinking brown whiskey and telling white lies" that will appeal to me 'til the day I die. I don't call it exhaust, I call it freedom's perfume. Before you choke on your wheatgrass, no caff., latte- (hold the soymilk) let me say that every other day of the week I'm pushing my beach cruiser down the street to work. So if I get a chance to burn a little 87 proof once a month I'm going to take it.

The surf ended up being chest high and fun. We walked into a spot that some of you will recognize and some of you'll want to know more about- a little homework or a nice email and you'll get your information but I won't name it here out of respect for the spot. It's not the best wave in the area but it does provide something that is tough to find here along this crowded California coast: open space.

We had miles of little reefbreak all to ourselves it was a nice change from dealing with the crowds of San Diego and it was just up the road. I'm already thinking about how we should really do this place. It would involve two vehicles, an insertion and extraction point and about five miles of surf cruising. More and more I'm beginning to think that this strategy is going to be the one we'll need to adopt or emphasize as our numbers grow. Let's face it, we aren't welcome everywhere but if you're just "playing through", it's harder to heckle a moving target. Hope you scored something today as well.

Nice Paddle Today: Get it while you can!

Finally got in a surf today. Jammed down to the beach at noon, mixed swell with an incoming tide; not the best conditions but after being out of the water for five days I wasn't too concerned with what I had in front of me. Big Chad and I ended up cruising the beach first north then down south and back to our launch snagging waves and chatting as we did our surfing. The paddle out was what I'd call technically challenging. Handling these boards ain't for the timid, especially today. There's a new sand bar that's formed about fifty yards off the beach, paddling out to it wasn't a problem, getting across it and through the head high surf at low tide was the tricky part.

Waves were coming out of relatively deep water, sucking up on the suddenly shallow bar and pitching top to bottom. So there you are in knee deep water pushing your board out through chest high walls of white wash and dodging little death bombs. Gave me a whole new level of respect for the guys in the islands who have to do this on living reef. How would it be, teetering between urchin spine and coral spike while the water drains to ankle deep off the reef. Your boards stretched to the end of your leash pulling you into the head high wave that's about to detonate five feet in front of you. Where you going to hide now? That's a totally different ballgame requiring a whole different skill set.

These last big storms with all the runoff and wave action have carved features into the sand bottom of our beach. We've got big holes, longshore gutters and offshore sandbars, the kind of stuff that keeps the lifeguards in business and can bend corners out of closeouts. The buzz around town is that tomorrow might be our best opportunity. We've got a high tide dropping all morning, a small swell in the water and winds are looking pretty calm. I'm not sticking around for it though, I'm hooking up with some friends for a surf up the coast. Pics and report to follow. Hope you're getting some.