WOO-HOO at San O~!
Today was my best day surfing EVER! Gen, Danny, Marlon, and I piled into Marlon's truck and left LA at 5:30. Made it to San O in just over an hour! (hehe, speed demon Marlon was.) We hit the water at San O by 6:40am. Not bad. Not as early as we wanted to, but still not bad.
I was so stoked today. I had 2 sessions this morning. We went in for a couple of hours, took a break for some snacks, then I went in again after a short nap. And my second session was a lot better than my first. The others decided to keep napping so I went in on my own. Marlon followed about half an hour later. But while I was on my own on the water, I caught 2 waves, popped up on my feet, and rode it in all the way almost to the rocks (woohoo!)! My first wave was the most memorable: I saw the set coming in, and I decided to skip the first one since everyone is usually on the first one that rolls in in a set. I actually waited for the 3rd one since the second one still had a lot of people paddling for it. After everyone else had taken the wave in, I was the only one on this particular wave. It was perfect! Not too big, and I knew that I would catch it. So I turned the board, started paddling slow, then faster and faster (I felt like I had propellers for arms because I was paddling so fast to try to catch the wave). And through it all, I'm thinking, "don't pearl, don't pearl." So when I saw the wave right behind me, I arched my back really far up, hoping that my wave would take me, and it did! I CAUGHT it, stood up, and just rode it all the way in! Marlon saw it and was yelling "Woohoo!" :-D. After that, I repeated it a few more times. What a feeling.... But one thing that puzzles me though. I was watching the other surfers on their long boards and they were laying on their boards flat when they were catching the waves. Does that mean that I should be further back on my board so that I don't have to arch my back so hard? But when I've done that in the past, I ended up missing the wave all together. I'm perplexed... Maybe I just need to get a better feel for my board? Eh, maybe I'll figure it out eventually. My next challenge is to figure out what to do when I want to turn around. Or maybe I need to learn to turn or go down the line. I just need to learn to be better. Period.
I caught a lot of waves and had relatively long rides today. Marlon was proud of me, he said. hehehe... It's nice to have a good surfer push me to be a better surfer. And I think I improved a lot today. Either that, or the waves were very cooperative. I'd like to think it was the former rather than the latter...
We're off to Zuma tomorrow. My kiting crew will be up there so I'm hoping that Zuma will be small and cooperative for surfing in the morning and blowing in the afternoon. I'm sure it won't be nearly as good at San Onofre. But hopefully, what I learned today will stay with me for tomorrow's session.
I was so stoked today. I had 2 sessions this morning. We went in for a couple of hours, took a break for some snacks, then I went in again after a short nap. And my second session was a lot better than my first. The others decided to keep napping so I went in on my own. Marlon followed about half an hour later. But while I was on my own on the water, I caught 2 waves, popped up on my feet, and rode it in all the way almost to the rocks (woohoo!)! My first wave was the most memorable: I saw the set coming in, and I decided to skip the first one since everyone is usually on the first one that rolls in in a set. I actually waited for the 3rd one since the second one still had a lot of people paddling for it. After everyone else had taken the wave in, I was the only one on this particular wave. It was perfect! Not too big, and I knew that I would catch it. So I turned the board, started paddling slow, then faster and faster (I felt like I had propellers for arms because I was paddling so fast to try to catch the wave). And through it all, I'm thinking, "don't pearl, don't pearl." So when I saw the wave right behind me, I arched my back really far up, hoping that my wave would take me, and it did! I CAUGHT it, stood up, and just rode it all the way in! Marlon saw it and was yelling "Woohoo!" :-D. After that, I repeated it a few more times. What a feeling.... But one thing that puzzles me though. I was watching the other surfers on their long boards and they were laying on their boards flat when they were catching the waves. Does that mean that I should be further back on my board so that I don't have to arch my back so hard? But when I've done that in the past, I ended up missing the wave all together. I'm perplexed... Maybe I just need to get a better feel for my board? Eh, maybe I'll figure it out eventually. My next challenge is to figure out what to do when I want to turn around. Or maybe I need to learn to turn or go down the line. I just need to learn to be better. Period.
I caught a lot of waves and had relatively long rides today. Marlon was proud of me, he said. hehehe... It's nice to have a good surfer push me to be a better surfer. And I think I improved a lot today. Either that, or the waves were very cooperative. I'd like to think it was the former rather than the latter...
We're off to Zuma tomorrow. My kiting crew will be up there so I'm hoping that Zuma will be small and cooperative for surfing in the morning and blowing in the afternoon. I'm sure it won't be nearly as good at San Onofre. But hopefully, what I learned today will stay with me for tomorrow's session.
posted by OutdoorChick @ 7:57 PM
4 Comments:
At 10:47 AM,
Whiffleboy said…
It could be that they had longer boards than you and focusing their weight over a particular spot on the board (which the arching will do) was less important or not required at all since their was enough board there to handle the weight distribution.
For shorter boards (less than 9'0"), I think focusing your weight like that becomes more useful - especially if you haven't found the sweet spot on your board for paddling. For me, if the waves are particularly mushy or small, I've got to be further up on the board to get it into the wave. As the board begins to catch up with the wave speed, I would then arch to shift my weight back and avoid pearling.
So [and I'm rambling], perhaps you are too far forward on your board..and before, you were too far back which caused you to miss the waves. Experiment with your position (again, this will change according to the wave conditions). You may find a couple of inches either way may do the trick.
Whiff
At 8:36 PM,
OutdoorChick said…
My board is an 8-6. My board lays flat when I paddle, so I think my paddling position is okay. But when I'm paddling for a wave and it jacks me up, I see the nose go down. So when I inch back a couple of inches and paddle for the wave, it seems to be too far back. I'm just confused. In the meantime, I'll stay where I am, and arch my back when I'm at San O, I guess since it was working for me. Marlon says that I should try out a 9-0 and that it would be MUCH easier for me to catch the waves. I will try out his 9-0 next time to see if it really does make a difference...
At 6:51 PM,
Anonymous said…
Hey Beachgirl,
Here's my $.02 on board position for take off (and keep in mind, I'm a newbie too, just 18 months in)and it relates to where the board is pointed, not just where your body is on it.
Assuming you're in the bowl for catching the wave, you need to be pointed down the line, not toward the beach, so as the board falls away from you, you're headed in the right direction. Because if you take off pointing at the beach and you're too late, you'll get hurled over the falls.
You really need to take off later and deeper (that's what's been true for me, b/c it seemed like I was paddling way to much and the wave just kept rolling under)
FYI, I'm a chick and I'm on an 8'5".
Go sis-tah!
At 7:55 AM,
OutdoorChick said…
Hey Anon,
Thanks for the tip. What do you mean by taking off "deeper"? I get what you mean by taking off down the line. I've been hurled over the falls many times and thought, "WTF! what am I doing wrong!" Sometimes I catch them, sometimes I don't. Man, I suck. I will practice.
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