iSUP in a box.

This is a picture of the ship box for the C4 9'3" inflatable. I guess they do travel well.

Traveling with a SUP board: ULI Lopez

I travel several times a year to surf/vacation. Surfboard fees are outrageous and stand up paddle boards are restricted for size. When I go to San Diego I usually rent from Bob's Mission Surf. He has a good selection of boards, paddles and a great price. It does take time to get acquainted with a different board. When I'm there the biggest issue is storing the board while not surfing. Many of the hotels have a hard time accommodating my large board and cruising around during the day with the board on top of the car I run the risk of theft while out.

Solution #1: Inflatable Stand Up Board

The track record seems to be good for the Uli but is it compromising surfing ability? I'm sure grabbing waves and cruising it would be fine, but power bottom turns with speed, critical hollow sections and lifting the board spontaneously for a maneuver is questionable. Especially for $1400.

When I go to S.D. for the holidays I plan on a demo.

Solution #2: Buy or rent a SubV for the west coast and leave it there for future trips.

I still would have storage issues but ride my ride. It wouldn't help me going to Costa Rica or if I'm lucky Peru.

Weekend Ends with a Bang!

Tons of good waves on Sunday. I surfed Surf City pier for 3 hours, first light and first one out, but not for long. It was waist to head with side/offshore winds and LOW tide. It was shutting down at first and got more makeable the last hour.

The sand bar was relentless with waves walling up one after another making the paddle out interesting. Th bar short dropping off to chest deep water quickly. There's nothing more frustrating than getting pounded by 2-3 ft. waves.

Lots of great shots by DW on http://www.ncpaddlesurfer.blogspot.com

Thanks, DW.

Feeling a Surf Buzz

Another Surf House cake. This is the "Here you see it, now you don't" flavor.







CB1 (2nite)






Z- Man

CB1 stroking into one.

Wind swell/swell in the water. Yesterday it was fun SUP surfing with knee to thigh waves. The water is perfect around here to me. It's 1/2 mil to a short suit water. Great for paddling on a sunny day.

Today, Saturday, was pretty good. Lots of bounce/chop with decent faces in the morning. 4-6 ft. faces. An interesting paddle out with a lot current on the inside. Tonight was fun with waist to chest surf with side shore winds and farely good lines. Surfed with CB1, DW, J-Mac and Z in the AM. Z and CB1 in the evening. Topsail tomorrow maybe.

This Week's Surf report

Sunday, thigh to waist high sets.


Tuesday. Glassy knee high and a beautiful day. #16 Northend

So tempting. Tide was still dropping though.

Forecast looks promising for surf possibly late Saturday and Sunday morning. South at 7ft with winds going north on Sunday. You never know about the winds, if their N @ 10 mph then Topsail will be the call with more swell and offshore winds. And the tide will be rising at 7am.

Butch Scores in S.D.

I talked to the Golden Bear and he caught some nice waves in San Diego. Yeh, we had waves here. It aint the same! He SUPed Tourmaline's and had a blast.

1 Month = Me there.

PS. The Surfhouse has good cake for after surfing and SD doesn't have that!

I Appreciate the Differences

One day we have surf, the next it's gone. What a great day Thursday. If you missed it, put this way, if you have a pulse you got barreled. Not Escondido or Pipeline, but fun.

I brought the paddle board and my shortboard. There's no in between with me. I have to stay active when surfing. No longboard gliding, I need to push and pump.The waves only looked thigh-waist high but the tide was low and the waves were hollow with a WNW wind at 5-7. On the way to the water I stop and got the down low from a fellow surfer who said it was bigger than it looked. Sure enough, after half way through the paddle out I could see that. Why do the waves look and feel totally different when your feet hit the water? You can stand five feet from the water's edge and walk to the water, jump in and you receive a completely different perspective about the ocean.

I appreciate the differences between shortboard and the paddle board. The following is a short breakdown of both wave riding vehicles.

Shortboard
1) Good for surfing closed out surf.
2) I can get quasi barreled on about any day.
3) Good for fast maneuvers on quick waves.
4) I can duck dive whitewater or fall and get right back to paddling immediately.
5) I can sit in a pack and feel some Aloha.

Paddle Board
1) Good for surfing closed out surf because I can get to the corners!
2) Yep, I can get quasi barreled most days. Lay down mid ride!
3) Since I'm down the wave before it breaks I can always get a maneuver.
4) I don't need to duck dive because I can paddle around the whitewater or wait for a lull.
5) Finally, It's hard to get that same Aloha spirit from fellow surfers. BUT SO WHAT, I'm sitting 20 yards outside the pack and too dang busy catching all the waves to notice anyways. Plus, my back hurts from all that sitting.

PS. I do love and and appreciate all ocean sports and generally respect all those involved. Yep wave skis and boogie boards also. Now come in and get some Aloha.

Paddle Surfing in Costa Rica

This is from the Witch's Rock Surf Camp surf report blog. There are so many great stand up paddle opportunities around Tamirindo, CR. The offshore island, Langosta point and outer reefs. I've surfed Ollie's point four times and on two occasions my SubV would have torn it up. Overhead flawless rights with dry paddle outs that you could pick off missed waves.

New Paddle Guard and Tail Pad

What a difference the tail pad makes. I shredded the original and have been surfing without for a couple months. There is no way I could surf without a pad.

$5 paddle guard from Advance auto parts. Actually you can get 2-3 from the roll. All they had was silver. The idea came from the CB crew.

The second shot is from the public docks at WB. I drove around for 20 minutes to find a meterless spot to go for a paddle. No luck, so I dropped here. It's a great access in the middle town. $3 / 2 hours This was from last week. Slick glass and about 70 degrees. Anyone know of a good drop point?

Honeymoon Wave in Maui

This was shot by Krista on our honeymoon at the breakwall in Lahaina, Maui. I'm riding a 9' rental board. When its head high and glassy I'd ride anything! I'm guessing, every wave I caught cost me 30 minutes of shopping.



You know we were newlyweds because she was impressed by my wave.

Some Day I'm going to...

...surf La Jolla Cove with a big north swell. This looks like a good chance to stand up surf BIG Southern California. We visit San Diego several times a year and the cove is big and deep. Mostly snorkeling, swimming going on daily. North swell make the reefs (that seem to be a stone throw from the cliffs) light up! BIG swell that come around once every several years break across the deep inside. Inside is relatively speaking. Stand up surfing a big swell is on my bucket list. Anyone with me?

BIG Time Stand Up Surfing!

It amazes me to hear surfers still talk about stand up surfing when referring to only small surf and core fitness. Their image of the sport is distorted. Does this look like a cute game that only "dweebs" play? Forget the jet skis, go with the paddle for big waves.

Is Being a Prone Surfer a Pre-Requisite to Stand Up Surfing?

http://www.supsurfmag.com/technique-stand-up-paddle/surfing-technique/is-prone-paddle-surfing-a-pre%11requisite-for-stand-up-paddle-surfing?-20091002832/



In my experience, on our East Coast , it's dangerous and annoying in crowded lineups to SUP. Our boards take more room to maneuver around. As far as knowing the lineup rules and etiquette, do half the surfers at your local breaks really understand and show consideration for others?



I don't want an inexperienced anything in a lineup. SUP, longboarders, bodysurfer or some tourist that swims right out to the most populated surf spots. And lets not forget about the leashless guys!



So before we debate the one or two inexperienced SUP surfers in the lineup, let's get the lineup straightened out for the proners.



1) It's not OK to paddle straight out to a crowded peak, unless you're best friends with everyone there. You should paddle to the side and work your way into the rotation. Be patient. An example: The guy who jumps in the water in front of the piling or pier and paddles right to the inside. HELLO a**hole!



2) If you catch a wave from the main peak, you should paddle out and sit to the side for the surfers still waiting to have their turn.



3) We all know the surfer to the inside has the right of way, that doesn't mean you can paddle to the inside or turn around while paddling out after someone is already showing commitment to a wave.



4) When paddling back out, always paddle to the inside and not to the shoulder if you're going to be in a riders way.



5) Sh*t happens. If you drop in on someone, pull out ASAP and apologize.

Etiquete comes with experience, logic and upbringing.

Stand Up Surfin's Wave Count

Using the TruckCam this afternoon I shot me riding 22 waves in the video frame in 47 minutes. I know I had anothe 5-7 waves outside the cameria angle. A wave every couple minutes. And I didn't have to snake anyone in the process!

Great Surf, Perfect Weather and Forecasters Suck Again

Cut back sequence from TruckCam.

Glassy knee to waist high surf mid day. 80 degrees and sunny. Beautiful!

Chest high plus surf in the early morning. Offshores.

Video to come, lots of waves for meeeeeeeeeee......