Surfer Freaks,
It was a busy week at work. Got overtime hours, little sleep, ankles sore from running, and a pulled back from moving boxes. The only solution was to drop everything, resolve to come in on the weekend, grab a board and a wetsuit and head for the waves. Surfline reported 4-6 ft waves in Narragansett on Friday with a few remaining for Saturday. If you're used to New England surfing, this is about as good as it gets without a hurricane or Nor'easter offshore.
With a nap and traffic it took a whopping 3 hours to get to Narragansett from Natick. I stopped at Narragansett Surf and Skate, got the usual Bic 8 foot 4 incher. And eeeeeYUP, that's the same company that makes the ballpoint pen you use at work. The one you have to shake to get the ink to the ball every time it's been sitting upside down in your briefcase or pocket. The Bic long board does three things well.
1) Saves you some green. At $20 for a full day rental you get your money's worth and don't have to feel bad about denting or breaking it.
2) Makes it easy for beginners to stand up. It's practically the size of a canoe. Easy to balance on, easy to stay afloat even on slow breakers.
3) Hoists a red flag to other surfers. Don't get between a Bic boarder and the shore. Chances are he will be falling off it, accidentally flinging it 20 feet in front of him and killing everything in his clumsy path. On the danger scale: Sharktopus > Noob on Bic board > Jaws > Piranhas.
And it does 2 things poorly:
1) Goes through breakers. Bigger board, more surface, area more push against you. A surfer dude on Yahoo Answers said to either push up and over for smaller waves or turtle roll. Duck diving, the technique used for short boards, won't work because of the buoyancy of the board.
2) Steers. So I hear. Longer board, longer diameter/radius, more weight, more drag on the water. I'm not at the skill level where I need to make sharp turns. So no biggie for me. If you're good enough to need to make tight turns, this is very old news for you.
Tip du jour:
When paddling past the breakers, wait for a lull in the waves. Mind-blowing, I know. They generally come in sets of 4-8. When the mini swell is over, paddle your way out. This lull was extremely brief on Friday afternoon and getting out was a major issue for me. If you lack the skill to turtle roll or the cardio and muscular endurance to keep paddling, you'll be stuck in the breakers. I call this Water Boarding because you've exhausting yourself, getting nowhere, and taking a 3 foot breaker to the grill every 20 seconds.
Keep training,
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