GRATED

It was back out west again yesterday evening , with a fair few people around i was feeling a little tense but once i got out there it was all good. I'm feeling alot more comfortable with the feet together stance now and actually prefer surfing the big woody in that fashion. Just seems so easy to control and it was nice racing out to the shoulder then dropping one foot back to turn back into the pocket, line it back up to the shoulder feet together and cruise again. Also its a lovely feeling turning the board up to the top off the wave so that you almost hang up in the lip and stall, and then "swoop" back down the face (as roy puts it) and is what i imagine he is meaning.

I can really see the potential to be able to dominate a line up on the board if you are fit enough(and ruthless enough) and are prepared to take off deep. And it is easy to get a bit carried away and become a hog, until you find yourself needing to check yourself and hangback and share the stoke a bit. Almost every ride is all the way into your sandwiches on the beach if you want it to be and with good timing id imagine you could have a set wave in and race back out past everyone just as the next set arrives and then head for your sandwiches again.

Well with a fair amount of ppl out things were getting a tiny bit on the competitive side and i found myself paddling further out and taking off deeper which could get a bit hairy if the wave before you reflected off the rocks back into the one you were on jacking the section you were on up and giving you some air time. I made most of my waves until one, on which I went down like a sack of spuds and had a short amount of intimate time with the rocks. I came up ok but I wasn’t so sure about the board, and it reminded me of the time I crashed my mum’s car when I was a young whipper snapper. That feeling of dread, and seemingly in a time warp where the world slows down, then it was the short sharp shift back to reality, when the realisation kicked in that it was time to get the f____ outta dodge….. before ending back up on the rocks for another grating.
After checking the board, some rail damage and a scratch along the bottom were found…..bugger.
I got in touch with Roy and he advised me to fill any cracks with wax to seal things up, polish the scratch, and to carry on surfing if I feel the urge until the board heads south, back to him for some repair work before carrying on.
Unfortunately everyone wanted to surf so we had no one to take pics, but Jessica volunteered to get out a bit early to get a couple of snaps, but in my quest for the better wave and the longer ride
I had paddled around to the next break (as you do), and by the time she found me it was dark and I was heading in, so no pics of the board in action.
Well I guess my time with the board is almost over, as much as I don’t want to let it go…… we all know that no one likes a hog. So me and ali are planning a surf Monday and Tuesday hopefully, and then I guess I need to start thinking of where the board is going, so it would be nice to know who will be wanting the board next so we can start planning what we will be doing.
Anyhow……same bat time, same bat channel. Till next time, hunty out.