JC Surfers?

etflies said:
When I was learning to stand up I practiced on the shore a lot like a couple other folks suggested. Going through the mechanics slowly and focusing on form and technique. I found it helped translate to the water to have the muscle memory down. The more I did it on land the faster and better I got at popping up on a wave. I also used go to a knee first then stand up, rather than going straight to my feet. It helped me find my balance for a split second before getting on my feet.

Best of luck, keep at it and if you're ever headed to any north county spots, let me know. The first round is on me!
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Man, I just surfed Pipes up in San Elijo not too long ago. I'll let you know if I get up there again!

About the pop-ups... I've been doing the same as you did, practicing on land as much as possible to cement the muscle memory. For the first time yesterday, I got up and rode the wave until it petered out, which I was thrilled about. Hopping down on my own accord (rather than falling off) is something I hadn't done before. ;)

Kinda funny though, the water temp came up quite a bit since I was last at home, so the rest of the session my wax was melting off. I ended up having to call it a day once my board turned into a slip n'slide. Guess it's time to ditch the full suit, too. :D
 
dasleben said:
Man, I just surfed Pipes up in San Elijo not too long ago. I'll let you know if I get up there again!

About the pop-ups... I've been doing the same as you did, practicing on land as much as possible to cement the muscle memory. For the first time yesterday, I got up and rode the wave until it petered out, which I was thrilled about. Hopping down on my own accord (rather than falling off) is something I hadn't done before. ;)

Kinda funny though, the water temp came up quite a bit since I was last at home, so the rest of the session my wax was melting off. I ended up having to call it a day once my board turned into a slip n'slide. Guess it's time to ditch the full suit, too. :D
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Small world, Pipes is one of my most favorite spots! There is something sublime about finding the sweet spot on a wave and just cruising for a while, isn't there?

I just finished a trip but I'm looking forward to getting out again this week. Sunshine and warm water...it's a tough place to live this time of year:)
 
etflies said:
Small world, Pipes is one of my most favorite spots! There is something sublime about finding the sweet spot on a wave and just cruising for a while, isn't there?

I just finished a trip but I'm looking forward to getting out again this week. Sunshine and warm water...it's a tough place to live this time of year:)
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Haha, small world indeed! We'll have to go one of these times for a little JC surf meetup.

Man, I actually had the most amazing session earlier this week over at San Onofre with a couple friends of mine. Completely uncrowded, and the three of us had our own peak. We got out there at about 2:30, and surfed until the sun went down. That's what it's all about, right there.

I'm also happy that I'm getting up consistently now, though I tend to be slow with my pop-ups (to be expected at this point, I'm sure). I end up getting to my feet in the flats in front of the wave, so I lose speed really quickly. I did start to be able to turn a bit to try to ride the face, but that's going to need a lot of work. Oddly enough, I keep wanting to go right, even as a goofy foot. I'm like the Derek Zoolander of surfing. ;)

Small improvements every day!
 
dasleben said:
Haha, small world indeed! We'll have to go one of these times for a little JC surf meetup.

Man, I actually had the most amazing session earlier this week over at San Onofre with a couple friends of mine. Completely uncrowded, and the three of us had our own peak. We got out there at about 2:30, and surfed until the sun went down. That's what it's all about, right there.

I'm also happy that I'm getting up consistently now, though I tend to be slow with my pop-ups (to be expected at this point, I'm sure). I end up getting to my feet in the flats in front of the wave, so I lose speed really quickly. I did start to be able to turn a bit to try to ride the face, but that's going to need a lot of work. Oddly enough, I keep wanting to go right, even as a goofy foot. I'm like the Derek Zoolander of surfing. ;)

Small improvements every day!
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When you turn remember: back foot back! I always said this to myself when dropping into a wave. You back foot should be planted very close to the center point between all three fins on a thruster, at least when you are turning.
 
A Life Aloft said:
The best is during the worst storms, the worst multiple rips, the tallest waves and you will see on all the major beaches us old farts and I mean guys in their 60's 70's and even 80's in groups of 5, 6 or 8 or so, all with very old, very heavy, lovingly cared for wood long boards out in the barrels and in the 5 peaks, all swimmers banned by the Lifeguards, while the kids stand on the beach watching the waves with their, suits rolled down, their this decade boards and saying naw, I'll wait a while. Yeah baby! The best is coming in finally and sometimes finding our coolers overflowing with beer and soda tributes left by others for us. Nothing like laying on your towel, in your soaking wet knee braces, looking out over the churning melee of wind and waves that you just conquered and grinning like a fool. lol
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This sounds like a blast!

Only tried surfing once/ it didn't last very long as there was not much to the waves that day, really just me and a buddy sitting out in smaller rollers with a beach break with no idea what we were doing. I've been wanting to try again, with some hired help, so I can actually learn.

Have fun!
 
Never surfed before, but I did just start carving some EPS blocks in the garage that I will be glassing next weekend... anyone have advice for building a good board? (It is really practice before doing so on an experimental airplane project...)
 
Matt13C said:
This sounds like a blast!

Only tried surfing once/ it didn't last very long as there was not much to the waves that day, really just me and a buddy sitting out in smaller rollers with a beach break with no idea what we were doing. I've been wanting to try again, with some hired help, so I can actually learn.

Have fun!
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My first day of surfing lasted about 15 minutes before I called it a day due to some tendonitis. Fun fun.

But, since then, my longest session so far has been 5 hours up at San Onofre on a good southwest swell with a couple good friends. That was a great day!

I just keep telling myself to keep showing up, even if the last session was tough. Actually, funny story, I nearly faceplanted yesterday while surfing the inside at a local break. I got to my feet during the drop (something I've been working hard on), riiiiiight before the entire thing closed out on me. Board nosedived and hurled me off like a trebuchet. I surfaced to the cheers of a big college party on the beach (later found out they were from Iowa), no doubt impressed by my fantastic impression of a ragdoll in a washing machine. I gave a smile and a nod, and paddled back out. Good times, good times. :)
 
dasleben said:
Haha, small world indeed! We'll have to go one of these times for a little JC surf meetup.

Man, I actually had the most amazing session earlier this week over at San Onofre with a couple friends of mine. Completely uncrowded, and the three of us had our own peak. We got out there at about 2:30, and surfed until the sun went down. That's what it's all about, right there.

I'm also happy that I'm getting up consistently now, though I tend to be slow with my pop-ups (to be expected at this point, I'm sure). I end up getting to my feet in the flats in front of the wave, so I lose speed really quickly. I did start to be able to turn a bit to try to ride the face, but that's going to need a lot of work. Oddly enough, I keep wanting to go right, even as a goofy foot. I'm like the Derek Zoolander of surfing. ;)

Small improvements every day!
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Please tell me you've got the "Blue Steel" look down too! Or are you going to unleash Magnum? I found I have a tendency to go left for whatever reason so surfing right has to be an active choice for me. I wish I had a reason for it. I'm nursing a soon to be sunburn from today, went out in PB. Plenty of close outs but good size and a few clean ones came through.

It'll be a bit before I get out again, recurrent ground and sim are coming up so I as glad to have a beautiful day to get out. It sounds like you're making a ton of progress, how's it all going so far? Don't sweat biting it in front of a crowd, if I had a nickel for every fantastic failure I've had with folks looking on I wouldn't need to fly for a living....not that it would take many nickels to cover what a regional FO makes, but still :)
 
etflies said:
Please tell me you've got the "Blue Steel" look down too! Or are you going to unleash Magnum? I found I have a tendency to go left for whatever reason so surfing right has to be an active choice for me. I wish I had a reason for it. I'm nursing a soon to be sunburn from today, went out in PB. Plenty of close outs but good size and a few clean ones came through.

It'll be a bit before I get out again, recurrent ground and sim are coming up so I as glad to have a beautiful day to get out. It sounds like you're making a ton of progress, how's it all going so far? Don't sweat biting it in front of a crowd, if I had a nickel for every fantastic failure I've had with folks looking on I wouldn't need to fly for a living....not that it would take many nickels to cover what a regional FO makes, but still :)
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Awesome, where in PB did you go? I went to Tourmaline a few days back, but the swell was pretty light, and I ended up getting there at high tide. The north reef I like in front of the glass house wasn't working (nobody cares to paddle out that far, but I like it for a warmup), so we were all congregated on a couple peaks. Crowded, and the after-work crowd was a bit surly.

Progress is good! I'm feeling more stable on my feet, and learn more each time I go out. I'm really concentrating on learning proper form rather than shortcutting the process (no grabbing the rails, and really trying to keep from using a knee to get up). I know from learning to play the drums, concentrating on form is what's allowed me to progress well. I would think it's the same for surfing. Eventually I'd like to size down to a smaller board, so I want to learn it right the first time.

And no, I don't sweat taking spills in front of people. To quote one of my favorite musicians: "Don't be afraid to suck." :)
 
dasleben said:
Awesome, where in PB did you go? I went to Tourmaline a few days back, but the swell was pretty light, and I ended up getting there at high tide. The north reef I like in front of the glass house wasn't working (nobody cares to paddle out that far, but I like it for a warmup), so we were all congregated on a couple peaks. Crowded, and the after-work crowd was a bit surly.

Progress is good! I'm feeling more stable on my feet, and learn more each time I go out. I'm really concentrating on learning proper form rather than shortcutting the process (no grabbing the rails, and really trying to keep from using a knee to get up). I know from learning to play the drums, concentrating on form is what's allowed me to progress well. I would think it's the same for surfing. Eventually I'd like to size down to a smaller board, so I want to learn it right the first time.

And no, I don't sweat taking spills in front of people. To quote one of my favorite musicians: "Don't be afraid to suck." :)
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Sorry for the delay, it's recurrent week so I've been busy doing a 6 day work/training stretch. I went out just on the north side of the pier, not too far from Tourmaline at all. An old buddy came to town and wanted to hang out in PB. It's sounds similar to your experience, crowded and people were getting a little edgy. But, there were some fun sets that passed through. I need another board, I'm looking for something a little easier to maneuver around than what I've got now. It's so easy to window shop! Then I pay bills and that takes care of that.

I was surprised to hear on the news that there were waves up to 7ft in some spots today? That's nuts for this time of year!
 
drunkenbeagle said:
Never surfed before, but I did just start carving some EPS blocks in the garage that I will be glassing next weekend... anyone have advice for building a good board? (It is really practice before doing so on an experimental airplane project...)
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I've never shaped my own board (I did once have a board that was custom-made, but I wasn't involved in the grunt work). Take a look at this:

http://www.surfline.com/gear/how-to-shape/address-blank.cfm

Are you near a coastline? If so, then see if there are any shapers nearby (hint: surf shops and/or google searches!) who can spare a moment to answer a few of your questions.

Good luck with it!
 
I use to surf almost everyday, before or after going flying. But that was back when I was flying in the South Pacific and I had beaches on the way to work from my house...and yes my work schedule would allow me to have the strength to surf also.

I truly miss it, I live in the Amazon region now and the closest oceanic beach is almost 2 hours drive with waters that don't look inviting at all, I'm thinking of getting a SUP or get back into windsurfing, both can be done on the river here.
 
I finally got back in the water after a 17 day work trip, though (and you guys might hate me) I got a couple hours in on a SUP when I was in Spain. I felt that the SUP really helped me find my balance, especially in the choppy (but flat) water on the south facing beaches near Cádiz. I was able to bring a lot more to the table when I got back on my surfboard yesterday, and much more stable on my feet.

Also, I had my best ride to date yesterday over at Traps (sorry @etflies, we'll make it happen one of these days :)). My friend (who introduced me to surfing) suggested that I try my hand at a steeper takeoff to work on timing. The wave is plenty forgiving for a novice, but it's an A-frame that jacks up pretty steeply and quickly off a reef. I got up quick, turned backside to the right, and rode it to the shoulder. It was the first time I can say I've ridden a smooth, glassy face, and don't think I'll ever forget it. :)

Completely hooked.
 
dasleben said:
I finally got back in the water after a 17 day work trip, though (and you guys might hate me) I got a couple hours in on a SUP when I was in Spain. I felt that the SUP really helped me find my balance, especially in the choppy (but flat) water on the south facing beaches near Cádiz. I was able to bring a lot more to the table when I got back on my surfboard yesterday, and much more stable on my feet.

Also, I had my best ride to date yesterday over at Traps (sorry @etflies, we'll make it happen one of these days :)). My friend (who introduced me to surfing) suggested that I try my hand at a steeper takeoff to work on timing. The wave is plenty forgiving for a novice, but it's an A-frame that jacks up pretty steeply and quickly off a reef. I got up quick, turned backside to the right, and rode it to the shoulder. It was the first time I can say I've ridden a smooth, glassy face, and don't think I'll ever forget it. :)

Completely hooked.
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Niiiice! I'm not sure if I'm more jealous of the SUP in Spain or that ride from the sounds of it. No worries either, I've only been getting two days off between trips and we've been in the middle of moving and remodeling. Finally snuck out for an AM session before work a couple days ago, not much in the way of size but it was clean and a gorgeous morning.

You off for a few days after that 17 day stretch? Let me know dude!
 
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