A Little Afternoon Surfing

Noe and I had worked all morning on Saturday to glaze up over 35 pots. Hopefully those turn out well, but that's for another post on another blog (checkout The Succulent and Pottery Compulsion). We got back and I took Marlon surfing. Noe wanted to come also (because I told her if she earned 10 surfing points, she could get $5 added to her allowance - I have to bribe this one to go surfing, but it is working). Noe is fearless when she is with Marlon - We got there and the tide was swollen and the waves were muted out because of that. But we still had fun. Or maybe I still had fun - Marlon wanted to try out the shortboard we got him last Christmas - but the waves weren't cooperating and I could tell he was a bit frustrated. I had the aircraft carrier out so I was able to catch a couple of waves. Here's a shaka for you - It would have been better if there were more sizable waves, but the time spent together in the water was all I could ask for!

Hooked SUP Arrived, Part 4

Despite it's dimensions - 11'8" x 36" x 5" (I need to double check the thickness dim), the volume is carried very well across the board. As I am getting older and further away from the physical ocean (3.5 hours is the farthest inland I've lived - except for my year in Baghdad but I'm not going to dredge that up), I am rapidly losing my board snobbery. In my 20's all I wanted to surf were high performance shortboards. My attitude was "shoot me and put me out of my misery if you ever see me on a boogie board". I got into windsurfing in my late 20s and more into kiting in my 30's - again high performance. But now that Marlon and Noe are getting comfortable with being in the surf and the ocean (long drives to the salt are treasured times despite the monkey butt from sitting too long), I am cemented in the idea of going unconventional to extract the maximum stoke out of any situation. My Fourth Gear Flyer surfmat, ULI Fat Ass Quad and now this Hooked SUP are the primary examples of looking beyond mainstream and into the enlightened. It is a big board - huge in fact, but it also looks very well proportioned (again despite the XL numbers). We're going to have tons of fun with this thing!!! Stay tuned!!!