Dawn Patrol

No bright sun looking east this morning. Chilly and soggy at 0630 but while the sun didn't make an appearence, the swell was there waiting to greet us. Although a little disorganized early, the offshore wind came on mid morning and clean head high sets were ours for the taking. Getting through the inside was a bit of a chore but once outside it was all gravy. Had a couple "WoW!" waves. Nice big clean walls all laid out for the carving. Good times...



Roach with his new Andreini "Magic Sam"

Aloha

Yin and Yang.....

Missed out on one of those perfect NJ swells today. Watched as I worked to see the wind come around and turn the surf from stormy to near pristine in a matter of a couple of hours. Sometimes its a real bummer to work so close to the ocean. You can hear it, sometimes see it, but you just can't get in it. Hoping I'd be able to get home and grab my gear and get back for a sunset session, I came home to find a sick kid who needed Dad to be at home and not at the beach. Yin!

Get a late afternoon text from my buddy planning a DP for tomorrow morning. Seems the swell may be sticking around for another day. Then he mentions that he's going to be selling off his early 1970s 9'9" Greg Liddle. Took me about one whole second to say, "I'll take it!" Yang!

A little bit of negative turned into a whole lot of positive. Bitch'n! :)

Liquid Salt - Marc Andreini

A fellow Jamboarder at Liquid Salt did up a very cool interview with Mr. Andreini. Excellent reading. Be sure to check it out. 
http://www.liquidsaltmag.com/2013/02/shaper-spotlight-marc-andreini/

Aloha

With just a few friends...

Out early this morning with the largest crowd I've surfed with in quite a while. "Five". :)  Some clean waist to chest lumps rolling in. Not many long walls but some quick steep drops made it a pretty fun session. Seems our sandbars are in need of some organization. A little funky these last few swells. Aloha.

Blue Cheer

My first board was a old Blue Cheer that I bought for $20. It had been broken and re-glassed back together, had more duct tape on the swallow tail than it had fiberglass, but it was my first real surfboard. Surfing CL last night I saw this 6'3" single fin for sale out west.
Fond memories.  :)

Aloha

The Corky

Got some water time in on the 9'6" Corky Carroll loaner from Roach. Big difference from the G&S "SS" that I rode the week prior. While the Hobie is a few inches longer it is by no means an easy paddler like the G&S.  But.... put this board on a clean steep face and its all MONEY!

We had a couple hours of clean glass in the knee to waist range the other day. Perfect conditions for feeling out a classic example of late 1960s surf craft. This was a first for me in several areas. Until this one showed up in the back of Roach's truck, I had never seen one of these with the rounded pin tail. That being said, I of course had never surfed one either. Having seen several Corky minis, I was pretty stoked to see something similar but totally different coming from the same lineage.

As previously stated a few threads back, this board has slightly more pinched rails than the G&S and there is more belly in the Corky as well. Once I got into my first wave on it, everything clicked. Its a big hull! With both feet together right on top of the big "Hobie" lam, the board just took off. A smooth and easy rail to rail slider and when you lay into a turn, she's a carver extraordinaire. Funny how I looked at this thing last week and really didn't see all that coming forth. I noticed the subtle hully aspects but really didn't put it all together until I got it wet. A truly awesome board to ride and a classic beauty as well. Mahalos again Dan. She's a real gem!

Congratulations "YUKON"

Just heard that our resident master surf photographer, Ed "Yukon" Moore took first place in the National Wild Turkey Federation photo contest. Beautiful bird Ed!



Photo by Ed Moore

The ALOHA of "Roach"

   I had posted this little write up the other day but somehow it disappeared. Surely, my infinite wisdom (or lack thereof) of computers and cyberspace played a large part in its loss. So here's another shot at it.....

   I wanted to put out a big Mahalos to my friend, occasional surf partner and Surfing History 101 teacher. Recently he lost a close family member and found his weekday cottage/surfboard storage facility, needed for sleeping quarters for out of town family. I had no problem what-so-ever being his temporary board storage site. What surfer wouldn't want to invite more surfboards into his/home...(Note: These are no beat up pieces of foam and fiberglass, we're talking museum worthy 1960s vintage or state of the art modern works of prime quality, Grade "A" surf craft.) But Roach didn't simply drop off the boards and leave, he made sure to say, "Surf em, don't just let them sit here."
Roach, also known as "Dan" is one of the most surf stoked people that I know, and his passion of surfing history is pretty amazing. Whether it be vintage or modern design, Dan has a keen eye for surfboards.  The truly special part about the man is how stoked he is to put his boards in the hands and under the feet of his friends or even those of total strangers. Its a gesture of kindness that we rarely see this day and age. Pure ALOHA!

Roach, taking the high line @ Church.

Summertime @ the Rocks

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mine!  :)

 

"Smear it"

As previously mentioned, I was having an issue in regard to turns on the SS feeling, for lack of a better term, "sticky". I described the feeling to a friend who told me to think "smear" rather than carve when turning. Like smearing peanut butter on a piece of bread. So yesterday we finally had a few moments of small clean lines and I had a chance to apply the "smear"  method. Big difference from my previous surf on the board. Focused on foot placement and trying to think smear vice carve when turning. Ended up having a fun, chilly, educational late afternoon session.


Aloha!

Sunday morning board comparison...

While I am fortunate enough to have these two in my possession, it seemed like a good idea to take a few measurements for future reference.

Gordon & Smith "SS"  -  9'4"
nose - mid - tail - thick
19" x 23" x 15" x 3"

Hobie "Corky Carroll Model"  - 9'6"
17 1/4" x 22 1/4" x 16" x 2 7/8"

Both have pinched rails with the Corky's being a slight bit more bladed.

I've ridden the "SS" once and plan to do so again in a few hours. It gets you into waves with ease, is fast and smooth in trim and rides great from up on the nose. A little sticky in turns but I am leaning toward that being more me than the board.  I hope to feel that aspect of it out a little more as I log a few more sessions on it.

Yet to slide the Corky. If the current forecast holds true, that may change this week. I dig the rails on it and I'm eager to see how it goes.



SS rocker



Corky rocker

More howling offshores!

In the water at 8:00, smoking offshores and frigid. Only 3 of us crazy enough to paddle out in the madness this morning. Fun surf even with the wind. Some head high sets and if you could time a lull in the wind gusts right, some long perfect walls. Not many sessions this winter where the wind wasn't a factor. Just another SNJ surf in a cool winter breeze.






The road in. Big difference from last Friday.

 

Early bird Dean, out solo!

Offshore breeze!

A Sam for Dan by Marc

ROACH does it again. SCORE!

"Nemo"... Who comes up with these names???

Winter storm "Nemo" is in the neighborhood and we have some high hopes for our first decent swell event of 2013. Heavy rain, stiff NE wind, and a steady building swell all throughout today. Checked CM on the way home from work but did not have my gear with me. Looked OK but not much size as yet. Decided to keep my suit dry for the morning instead of running back for a short session. Here's hoping for the predicted 7' @ 11 seconds tomorrow....

Queen St. today

 



More SS

Photos by Barb

A few shots from my Jersey Girl

Aloha!

Happy Birthday Joe

26 years! Oh, how the time flys.....
Love Ya Boy!

 

Aloha

SNOW DAY : )

Forecast called for a light dusting. So much for light! Headed over on the incoming tide in hopes of finding some leftovers from yesterday. Clean waist lines with light offshores when we paddled out, winds cranked up about 45 minutes in and it was a near white-out. Surfing in the snow, you gotta love it!

 





ALOHA!