So I have had about ten surfs on the longboard. I reckon on only three waves have I felt like I was doing okay - right back on the tail and throwing it up and whipping it around in roundhouse cutties on head and half/double head high waves. Geez, I sound like I am ripping. But....

For the most part I am hanging mid-ships, the board is charging nicely down the line and I walk up and down the board when I hit a fat bit or need a little more speed. Sure there are some fade/grin adjustments but the board doesn't really turn its nose around the other way.

Not that there is anything wrong with that kind you. I surfed a bank yesterday to myself that was a bit over head high and ran for a hundred metre or so and had a ball trimming left, then trimming right as it hit the inside. But...

Today I was way way way out on the shoulder of a reasonably hollow beachie that was a little over head high and just lost on the board.

I gotta get quicker at moving and further back more often.

Presently undergoing a pleasant learning curve. And I still have the new 8' singly to fit in somewhere.

And yeah it's an quality problem when my longboard waves are head and a half high. We just have absolutely nothing like those tiny little peelers on the east coast.

Keep the longboard for those day when you normally would not go out - small days . When it's head n half you have so many better boards from ur rather small collection to play on that are more suited to conditions

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Ted the Kiwi said..
Keep the longboard for those day when you normally would not go out - small days . When it's head n half you have so many better boards from ur rather small collection to play on

exactly,on the waves your talking about i would be on my shorty or on my mid....my longboard is purely for days i cant surf the others.....me think you are nuts in saying that,trying to ride a longboard properly is incredibly hard....but so much fun

Yeah like Ted says, keep it for the smaller days. LB's are great to have in the quiver for those small days...although head 1/2, double overhead at Yal's is prety much a typical day & LB's are great there. They pretty much suck in places like Smith's. Winds turning Southerly tomorrow, next couple of days would have some fun ones round your side of the coast, perfect for a LB.

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MickPC said...
Yeah like Ted says, keep it for the smaller days. LB's are great to have in the quiver for those small days...although head 1/2, double overhead at Yal's is prety much a typical day & LB's are great there. They pretty much suck in places like Smith's. Winds turning Southerly tomorrow, next couple of days would have some fun ones round your side of the coast, perfect for a LB.

Since you know the joints, yesterday was Eagle Bay boat ramp so that left hander in the middle of the bay then becoming a right back into the boat ramp. Today was the Farm on the outside peak to get in earlier than everyone on a shortboard. Eagle Bay is only a longboard wave if you ask me.

But if I don't surf the longboard in a bit of size it would very rarely get pulled. Similar to Golf Course in Ulladulla, some of our reefies handle size but are perfectly suited to longboard that is set up for a bit of size and power. And one of the reasons I got a longboard was to get more waves off the other long boarders at double head high Yallingup. I wouldn't ever take it to Smiths. Actually I never go to Smiths anyway. I tend to surf the waves between Gracetown and Gas if Smiths is on. But inji too can be longboard fun.

And those weird banks out the back of Dunsborough in Winter. I will give those a go on it later on.

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thedrip said..

MickPC said...
Yeah like Ted says, keep it for the smaller days. LB's are great to have in the quiver for those small days...although head 1/2, double overhead at Yal's is prety much a typical day & LB's are great there. They pretty much suck in places like Smith's. Winds turning Southerly tomorrow, next couple of days would have some fun ones round your side of the coast, perfect for a LB.

Since you know the joints, yesterday was Eagle Bay boat ramp so that left hander in the middle of the bay then becoming a right back into the boat ramp. Today was the Farm on the outside peak to get in earlier than everyone on a shortboard. Eagle Bay is only a longboard wave if you ask me.

But if I don't surf the longboard in a bit of size it would very rarely get pulled. Similar to Golf Course in Ulladulla, some of our reefies handle size but are perfectly suited to longboard that is set up for a bit of size and power. And one of the reasons I got a longboard was to get more waves off the other long boarders at double head high Yallingup. I wouldn't ever take it to Smiths. Actually I never go to Smiths anyway. I tend to surf the waves between Gracetown and Gas if Smiths is on. But inji too can be longboard fun.

And those weird banks out the back of Dunsborough in Winter. I will give those a go on it later on.

Maybe its your longboard? Something with more vee in the tail is going to be easier to throw around....if you have a loggy type board its going to be a total pain but if you have something more HP you will be laughing

Stick with it Drip. If you've only had a handful of surfs on a longboard its going to take a while. Especially the footwork and pick your days

Tux, it's sort of a hybrid. Glassed in single fin, but quite a bit of rocker front and rear with a reasonable vee. The shaper all but refused to sell me one of the logs he had in the rack because he knows what I surf and where I surf and said I would have much more fun on this because I could turn it.

The problem is just me and having to learn a new skill set. Which, of course, is the fun bit. Ty for the advice though.

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thedrip said..

MickPC said...
Yeah like Ted says, keep it for the smaller days. LB's are great to have in the quiver for those small days...although head 1/2, double overhead at Yal's is prety much a typical day & LB's are great there. They pretty much suck in places like Smith's. Winds turning Southerly tomorrow, next couple of days would have some fun ones round your side of the coast, perfect for a LB.

Since you know the joints, yesterday was Eagle Bay boat ramp so that left hander in the middle of the bay then becoming a right back into the boat ramp. Today was the Farm on the outside peak to get in earlier than everyone on a shortboard. Eagle Bay is only a longboard wave if you ask me.

But if I don't surf the longboard in a bit of size it would very rarely get pulled. Similar to Golf Course in Ulladulla, some of our reefies handle size but are perfectly suited to longboard that is set up for a bit of size and power. And one of the reasons I got a longboard was to get more waves off the other long boarders at double head high Yallingup. I wouldn't ever take it to Smiths. Actually I never go to Smiths anyway. I tend to surf the waves between Gracetown and Gas if Smiths is on. But inji too can be longboard fun.

And those weird banks out the back of Dunsborough in Winter. I will give those a go on it later on.

The left a bit of a hike West of Bunker would be good fun over the next couple of days. I'd probably paddle round there from the little rocky outcrop with the tree on it rather than try & walk the path with a longboard...you'll have heaps of spots to choose from in summer, I like this one for the LB.

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thedrip said..
Tux, it's sort of a hybrid. Glassed in single fin, but quite a bit of rocker front and rear with a reasonable vee. The shaper all but refused to sell me one of the logs he had in the rack because he knows what I surf and where I surf and said I would have much more fun on this because I could turn it.

The problem is just me and having to learn a new skill set. Which, of course, is the fun bit. Ty for the advice though.

Longboarding is heaps harder than people make it look hey...I mean traditional LB'ing cross stepping & nose riding, bloody hard

Cheers. Yeah I have checked that left a couple of times recently. Surfed it a fair bit over the years on a twinny. The walk is horrible even with a 5'10" twinny. SUPs have started hitting it though. Paddling from the beach is okay but coming in sucks. Lots of random chunks just underwater.

Agreed LB is hard....I am am average at best and probably look like an angty rippo trying to give itself an enema most of the time....but boy its fun!!

ok I with ya now drip[ on the waves you described...my way of thinking from the W.A crew I know is that its just a really powerful place to surf. im thing like the slabby reefs I surfed on the south coast .....


and yep longboarding is really farking hard,if your trying to longboard that is

Agree with the above, overhead and I ride my 7'er but charging bigger stuff on the LB is a pretty fun challenge and there's plenty guys/gals who do it well and the old school guys used to manage with much slower/heavier equiptment, its all in the technique (of which i'm totally sh1t btw )

But, it can also be the board, the shape of the lb, I can make some crazy steep/late take offs on the 10' Hot Log because I can get in really early due to its paddling speed and know how to position her but if I try and run the Sweet Love, aka the Caddilac on the same waves i'd get creamed....

There's also a couple of tricks that I picked up from watching JC in Indo, Harly Ingleby and CC
1. Cross step on takeoff so your immediately on the front 3rd of the board. Which is bloody hard because your brains saying "hold on and make the drop" but you need to step so your on the right section of the board or you wont get the right rail/trim/glide to make the section.
2. Nose takeoff, taking off too far forward on the board, this is really tricky as you mostly pearl but if you drive down hard with your toes this counters it, Corey Coolapinto is the master at this one.

Just keep trying and experimenting and enjoy wiping out, I've become really good at that bit

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AndyrooMac said..
Agree with the above, overhead and I ride my 7'er but charging bigger stuff on the LB is a pretty fun challenge and there's plenty guys/gals who do it well and the old school guys used to manage with much slower/heavier equiptment, its all in the technique (of which i'm totally sh1t btw )

But, it can also be the board, the shape of the lb, I can make some crazy steep/late take offs on the 10' Hot Log because I can get in really early due to its paddling speed and know how to position her but if I try and run the Sweet Love, aka the Caddilac on the same waves i'd get creamed....

There's also a couple of tricks that I picked up from watching JC in Indo, Harly Ingleby and CC
1. Cross step on takeoff so your immediately on the front 3rd of the board. Which is bloody hard because your brains saying "hold on and make the drop" but you need to step so your on the right section of the board or you wont get the right rail/trim/glide to make the section.
2. Nose takeoff, taking off too far forward on the board, this is really tricky as you mostly pearl but if you drive down hard with your toes this counters it, Corey Coolapinto is the master at this one.

Just keep trying and experimenting and enjoy wiping out, I've become really good at that bit

love this post...yes I found my calling. im experimental

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thedrip said..
Cheers. Yeah I have checked that left a couple of times recently. Surfed it a fair bit over the years on a twinny. The walk is horrible even with a 5'10" twinny. SUPs have started hitting it though. Paddling from the beach is okay but coming in sucks. Lots of random chunks just underwater.

Not surprised 666'ers have started heading there. Missus & I went snorkling down along there a few years back. Rocks are just all over the place as you say, basically fallen down from the cliffs. Really beautiful above water, pretty spooky below it. Last few times I've popped in those beach's have been closed due to big bitey's. Last time a 4m white had cruised along the shore 2m off the beach in front of a packed out tea room following a scent trail to a whale carcas washed up on the rocks at rocky point.

That's one of the few places I have caught shark from my boat. And only just off the break and around the corner a little more as well. I don't know if you knew, but there is a little island of rocks and a seal colony just a around the corner. It also drops off to 30m really quick within a kilometre of shore. It doesn't surprise me that all sorts bities cruise along the ledge and occasionally pop up on top of it for a little visit.

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chrispy said...
ok I with ya now drip[ on the waves you described...my way of thinking from the W.A crew I know is that its just a really powerful place to surf. im thing like the slabby reefs I surfed on the south coast .....


and yep longboarding is really farking hard,if your trying to longboard that is

Pretty much. Having grown up here I just take if for granted. I am always amazed at how gutless East Coast waves are for the most part. None of the board's I took over there last year worked particularly well.

And my all rounders are 6'10", 7' or 7'2". That's what I use on our limestone reefs. You should pop over one day.

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thedrip said...

chrispy said...
ok I with ya now drip[ on the waves you described...my way of thinking from the W.A crew I know is that its just a really powerful place to surf. im thing like the slabby reefs I surfed on the south coast .....


and yep longboarding is really farking hard,if your trying to longboard that is

Pretty much. Having grown up here I just take if for granted. I am always amazed at how gutless East Coast waves are for the most part. None of the board's I took over there last year worked particularly well.

And my all rounders are 6'10", 7' or 7'2". That's what I use on our limestone reefs. You should pop over one day.

I have a few things to sort,but if the stars align I will be doing W.A then off to see ted the indo. Sdr and a few other crew have me sorted around your way....I am looking forward to being humbled over there...my preference would be fun over whooping

Oh be warned Chrispy - it can get pretty heavy over there. Maybe come to Indo first for some training Take him to Lefties for me Drip. Love that place. Then when he has his confidence up take him out to North Point for either a) a life changing wave experience or b) a life changing near death experience

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thedrip said..
That's one of the few places I have caught shark from my boat. And only just off the break and around the corner a little more as well. I don't know if you knew, but there is a little island of rocks and a seal colony just a around the corner. It also drops off to 30m really quick within a kilometre of shore. It doesn't surprise me that all sorts bities cruise along the ledge and occasionally pop up on top of it for a little visit.

Yep knew about those...apparently a doco was made in that area & shown on the ABC about a possible megalodon or super shark based on a bite taken out of a very large shark. I've been on the lookout for the doco for a couple of years

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Ted the Kiwi said...
Oh be warned Chrispy - it can get pretty heavy over there. Maybe come to Indo first for some training Take him to Lefties for me Drip. Love that place. Then when he has his confidence up take him out to North Point for either a) a life changing wave experience or b) a life changing near death experience

Nah, just South of lefties to The Bombie on a small day. When it's just a drop and not walling up. Say on a 2m swell. That'll sort him out. Because at 2m it's just playful fun, but I would almost guarantee the whopping of his life if it gets him.

Don't worry, Chrispy. I am not some maniacal charger. Look me up and I will take care if you with some small playful fun. Hopefully your definition of small and playful correlates with mine though.

^ I've snapped 3 leg ropes in my life & they were all snapped just South of lefties