STINK EYE AT THE 'CON

After swearing that I would never do standup at Rincon we ended up there today and it turned out to be a good time. I don't recommend that a beginner SUP surfer or a wave hog SUP surfer go there because you wont last long. The pit crew will make sure of that!! We did get some stink eye from one of the pit crew dudes but for the most part he was cool and I think he realized that we knew what we were doing. The purpose of the outing was to try out a few new SUP boards. We had a Starboard 9' footer and a Ron House 11' single fin and 9'6" tri-fin. I took the Ron House 9'6"+28" out and the first thing I found was that the fins were to small. This board was used a few times by one of Ron's team riders and maybe he used these small fins for a reason but it didn't work for me. The board now has the proper fins so it should be fine the next go out. I have surfed this same board with the right size fins before and it kicks ass. I almost think he put those tiny fins on it just to mess with me. I'll have to call and find out. Next was the Starboard 9' footer. I still can't believe how well this thing floats and paddles for such a small board. It surfs good too. It's a board that I would have to get used to because of the width. It is 30" wide. I really prefer a SUP board that is 28" wide no matter what the length is. Overall it's a great small SUP board and it would be a good addition to the quiver. Finally it was almost time to go so I went in and grabbed the 11' foot Ron House. This by far was my favorite board today. There is nothing fancy looking about the board but it surfs like a mo fo!! I like a big SUP board that has a thin tail and is super stiff. I like to power the board into the turns rather than the board doing the turns and me just going along for the ride. In other words, I don't like super loose floaty boards because they drift around to much in the hard turns and don't stick. The Ron House 11' footer makes the surfer do all the work. It's a power surfers board. I will be spending a lot of time on this board in the months to come. FYI, the Ron House boards I am talking about aren't the Surftech pop outs. They are the hand laid production epoxy/eps boards. OUT.

Labor of love

One of my favorite things to do with my new paddle boards is to get the pad and spray grip on and stand back and check it out. This board looks fun. If the wind dies down I might be able to get these boards in the water tomorrow.OUT.

THE SUP QUIVER GROWS

Another EARLY MORNING road trip today landed me in San Clemente and a SUP surf at San Onofre. I picked up three more SUP boards from Ron House. An 11' 12' single fin and 9'6" tri fin. What I like most about Ron's boards are that it doesn't matter what shape or size they are they all surf freaking amazing! I can't wait to go out and surf the 9'6" tri fin tomorrow. The south swell season is upon us and I hope to have some more of the super glassy SUP wave pics to share with you all. OUT.

EAST CAPE ESCAPE

Had a great time in Baja. Got home late last night. We surfed alone every day right in front of the beach house. There were a few guys doing standup out at 9 palms but I didn't even bother to ask them if I could try the boards. We also saw some guys on SUP boards in town. I have to say that surfing everyday on my 6'6" was a freaking workout!! I had a blast and got waves all day but I am ready for my SUP board now. OUT.

MY REDNECK SUP FRIEND

I'm outta here like shit thru a goose! Off to the East Cape of Baja for 10 dayz of surfing and kicking back. No SUP boards on this trip (to big for the plane) just my little 6'6" tri fin. I'm gonna work that little board like a farm animal after only surfing SUP boards the past 3 years. I'm kinda looking forward to it. Maybe someone down there will have some SUP boards that I could take out for a quick fix.

I will leave you with a politically incorrect quote from my redneck SUP friend...."I smoke a lot.I drink far too much.I don't exercise. I torture small animals."

FUNNY HA HA OR FUNNY WEIRD!?

I took the hot pink SUP sponge board out for a spin this morning. Pretty in pink? I don't think so but the board worked surprisingly good. Floats like a cork and turns on a dime. It could be a nice addition to the quiver for friends or a great SUP board for rental. Note the prone surfers with wetsuits. It aint so cold when your out of the water. Word!!

SANTA BARBARA IN THE HOUSE

This pic was taken about a year ago at my friends restaurant on the beach in Santa Barbara. All the boards are Ron House and their proud owners. If you are ever in town come down to the Shoreline Cafe for some good food and watch the SUP guys right out front.

Yes, the pic quality sucks. It's a bad pic of a good pic.

IN THE HOUSE!!

I hooked a friend up with Ron House the other day and he made the drive down south to pick up his new House SUP board yesterday. It's 9' feet long and 27" wide. Now that's what I'm talking about! You want a SUP board that surfs and you have the ability to stand on one of these little boards this is it. I was out with Wayne yesterday when he arrived back in town and he jumped right in the surf and was having a blast. The board he had before was a 12' beast so this is a radical change for him. I was surprised at how well he was doing. The only comment he had was that he will start wearing a wetsuit now due to the extra time in the water.

Hey Wayne, how old is that dog in the pic! My guess would be about 38 years old.

SPONGE BOARD SQUARE PANTS

My buddy Kelly has a new line of soft sponge SUP boards. They are called "Beach Bum SUP". We drove down to Oceanside yesterday and picked up the first batch. The sizes are 10',11' and 12'. We are going to take them to the beach today and give them a test run. I think it's a great idea and the price is of course much less than an epoxy SUP board. Good luck Kelly!!

ROAD TRIP

In a past post I talked about my trips down to San Clemente to hook up with my good friend Ron House and SUP San Onofre (Dogpatch). Well after that post I started thinking that I was due for another trip so I packed my car last night and took off at 3:00am this morning. Yes, that was damn early but my friend was flying to Maui out of LAX so I dropped him at the airport at 4:30am and headed to San Onofre. I meet Ron there at 6:30am and we surfed for about 2 hours. It was great to see Ron and find out the latest news regarding his paddle boards. He is shaping some bad ass SUP boards now!! I surfed a 9' footer and it kicked ass!! It was only 27" wide. If you go short on a SUP board it doesn't do you any good to go super wide. If I ordered one of these 9' footers I would only go 28' wide. I weigh 185. You can see by the pics above that these boards are made to surf.