Latest Surfs...

[oldmansurfer]

The surf has been more junky than the usual due to a storm paused in the wrong place for my beach or so I hear. It is making southeast winds and a southeast wind swell which is the wrong direction for all the various breaks where I surf. Last weekend I went out one day and didn't catch a wave unless you count the wave where I got bounced on takeoff and landed on my knees rode it for a while but decided to cutout because there was nothing to do on the wave it was just a flat crumbler or a wave where I popped up but only ride it for less than 5 seconds because it died out completely. The surf looked pretty much the same the next day so I chose to spend some time doing online continuing education which I needed to do before May. This weekend I only went out one day because I was tired and took a nap after lunch and didn't wake up till it was too late and the water was muddy and similar conditions to last weekend. Today the conditions were similar but smaller and less current and I caught a few waves half of which I did two paddles then popped up. It was easier because less current and the waves were literally breaking all over the place so you didn't need to lineup so much as paddle over and let the current pull you through the lineup and catch a wave when it came to you. Anyway good exercise both days and fun trying to surf.

[oldmansurfer]

Yesterday I surfed at middle Horners (lefts) again I caught a few waves but it was bumpy and I never felt like I could let it rip on any of the waves. I was on the edge of falling numerous times on the waves that I made it. Two surfers paddled out at the end of my 30 minutes. I probably would have stayed out a while longer if not for them but my best wave was the last one where they both tried to catch it on either side of me but I was in the right place and pulled up into the pocket and stayed their for most of the wave. I could see the lip pitching over in front of me but it wasn't coming into my peripheral vision. It's possible the tail of my board was in the tube. I decided to ride it in to the beach because of the two surfers competing with me. Today I was out at my usual break in the middle of the bay. It was ankle to waist high waves but i caught a lot of waves. I was pretty much longboarding them turning at the bottom and trimming along and nose riding. But the good part was that I rode more rights than I have in the last month. Not that I mind backside but I am starting to feel like my backside is getting better than my frontside again.

[oldmansurfer]

Only surfed yesterday this weekend work got in my way. I surfed a sandbar by the rivermouth. It didn't look very good from the shore but once I got out there I found a little bowl section about waist to shoulder high at the peak that was fun. I managed to do a couple of cutbacks on different waves. I think I have at least 2 different styles of cutbacks. One is maybe a longboard style where my back arm goes up over my head and I lean very hard which I do in small and weak waves. The other is where I rotate my body more which I do is bigger or more powerful waves. These were the first variety but I did it nearly perfectly on one of the waves. I managed to get the board back into the whitewater then back on to the open wave rapidly. It felt really good because I maintained speed through out it. I think I put so much pressure in my rear foot I dented my board (more).

[dtc]

I think I put so much pressure in my rear foot I dented my board (more).

thats an impressive move!

[oldmansurfer]

I felt something crush but then my heel was tingling after the turn so maybe it was my heel crushing? Looking at my board there is a new dent further back than the one I made from bottom turns over the years so I guess I did crush my board and my heel only temporarily. Also I guess this confirms I am standing with my back foot over the fins now.

[dtc]

Old Iron Heel

[oldmansurfer]

I have 210 pounds that I can apply without assistance from changing directions however this turn just felt really good as far as the board handling went. I wish someone had videoed it. I rarely do a maneuver that I think is perfect or nearly so. When I surfed before I always had huge pressure dings where my rear foot went. I was surprised to get a pressure ding on this tiny wave. Long ago I had my shaper put in a third layer of glass over the back 2/3 of the deck. Even now all my boards are made similarly but I think it is that exercise I am doing now that helps me to apply more torque and pressure into my turns and unfortunately resulting in more pressure dings. I probably would have crushed that area over the fins by now if there had been some bigger waves that allowed me to make make full bottom turns

[oldmansurfer]

I went surfing 2 days this weekend, both at middle Horners and it was maybe double overhead on some waves. Yesterday outside Horners looked fun a little inconsistent but some fun double overhead waves and probably I would have went there but there but there were some huge sets coming in infrequently that were probably at least triple overhead. That place can really pound you so I chose not to go out there. One of my neighbors went out there and I saw is first wave and he took off and the wave was around double overhead and breaking on both sides of him and as he reached the bottom the lip came down on him. Credit to him he paddled back out for some more. I didn't catch any waves as noteworthy as that one. I kind of ended up chasing different peaks around but I did catch a few waves of little consequence. Today I went back to the same place and outside Horners looked better cleaner and more organized but there was a bunch of guys out and I didn't see them catch anything exciting. All of the good looking waves I saw went in unridden so I went to the middle Horners break. There was a female surfer out there who I see there from time to time. I got a nice wave with a really steep drop and almost go tubed but I was laying back trying to fit into the shape of the wave and the lip kind of came down right on the outside edge of my board but still that was fun. That female surfer has seen a lot of my late drops but commented about how nice it was. Just happened to be exactly at the right spot as it was still difficult to line up. I had some more late drops on smaller waves and a lot of almost too late but pulled back just in time to not eat it aborted takeoffs. Good exercise

[oldmansurfer]

Not a very exciting weekend. Yesterday I went to the river mouth and there were lots of peaks all over the place but there was also a fairly strong current for the wave size which was shoulder high at the most due to the river flowing. I really didn't catch any waves worth mentioning. Today I went to outside Horners which was about head high only caught a couple waves that broke but it was really inconsistent and there were two peaks and they were far enough apart you couldn't sit between them. There was a slight current but due to not much waves you had to paddle against it. I had two waves that I enjoyed both around head high and backside for me. The first wave I made a bottom turn and the wave broke in front of me but I managed to get a bottom turn an get back in front of the wave for a backside carve but that was the end of the wave so I cut out after it. The second wave I was way deep and the wave broke well in front of me but I got a good bottom turn and did a quick little up and down turn before the whitewater hit me, stayed on the board and did a couple backside pumps to get back in front of the wave again but by then the wave was over and I cutout. Good exercise again

[oldmansurfer]

It has not been a good time for surfing lately foe me. Last weekend I didn't surf due to combinaitons of having to work and rain and no waves last Saturday and due to me doing a fundraiser cooking several hundred steaks on Sunday (and rain and no waves). I did get to go out yesterday and it was great to be in the water although during my whole session I felt like I was just catching up from not surfing last weekend. Hoped to gout to day but it has been raining insanely here and the roads are flooded fortunately I don't live on the north shore where they had record amounts of rainfall and flooding as deep as 8 feet in the standing water left over.http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/37959055/dozens-of-homes-damaged-on-kauai-floodwaters-close-roads

[oldmansurfer]

27.13 inches of rain in 24 hours http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/37957515/flash-flood-watch-posted-statewide

[oldmansurfer]

https://youtu.be/FO6J023Q2LY

[oldmansurfer]

so much trees and debris came out with the flooding it's really incredible

You probably can't tell but this is more than six feet wide and likely to remain in place on the reef break in front of the rivermouth my new surfing buddy

This is why I didn't surf yesterday, there was a flotilla of logs and whole trees going out into the bay. This is the remaining logjam that didn't go out and got stuck on the bridge.

[dtc]

man, imagine coming across a log as you are screaming down a wave

[oldmansurfer]

It's one of the hazards that I need to be constantly aware of prior to catching a wave and even more when it is raining and now I guess once I figure out where all the permanent fixtures are they will just be a part of the lineup. The kite surfers thought I was crazy to go out the day that I got tubed out on my longboard. It was double overhead and tubing but there was a huge logjam in the lineup a mass about 10 feet by 20 feet of logs and debris. I figured out that the currents held the logjam out of the way of the waves I wanted to be riding so I went out and got the best tube ride I have had since I restarted surfing. I worry about not seeing the log

[dtc]

Braver than me

but could be worse

https://i.redd.it/gha6rv3uc4s01.gif

[oldmansurfer]

I went out today only this weekend due to being too tired yesterday after work. I think it was because my air bed had a leak so I didn't sleep normally. Anyway today all better I went to Horners middle part and rode shoulder to head high waves. It was fun and I din't feel like I was out of practice so I think once a week is what I need to keep from backsliding a bit. The shoreline was littered with all kinds of debris but mostly logs. The nearshore water for maybe 5 feet out is full of leaf litter but the water outside is pretty decent. I didn't see any logs or sharks in the lineup.

[BoMan]

man, imagine coming across a log as you are screaming down a wave

and there's paddling out.

[oldmansurfer]

man, imagine coming across a log as you are screaming down a wave

and there's paddling out.

I generally chose to paddle out in a spot without logs in the water. So only logs on the beach. This beach is one that you need to be aware of the possibility of big pieces of wood in the water. Part of my pre surf ritual is to look for hazards of that type. Often when there are logs in the water the current will gather them and hold them in an area or out of an area and i make my choice of where to go based on that. At Horners there is a whole tree on the reef on the inside part of the break but it is huge and fairly well stuck there so not going anywhere. The usual currents at Horners sweep logs inside and then over to the beach break side. The currents in that area send them out to sea (actually to the next beach over which is where those photos are from) unless the waves grab them then they kind of cycle around in one area leaving a clean area on both sides of them. This is just usually and I think back when I was trying to get gopro videos (couple years ago) I captured some small logs in the water at Horners that were in the lineup area. What can I say....it keeps me on my toes The photos above of heavy log strewn beach is of Lydgate beach which is on the south side of the rivermouth outside of the bay. The bay itself has far less debris although the huge log shown is stuck right in front of the rivermouth. At this point the waves are breaking far outside of it due to all the sand that got pushed out with the rain but over time it will likely break closer to it as the sand gets pushed back into the rivermouth. I guess if you guys were here I wouldn't have to worry about you coming to take my waves

[oldmansurfer]

I went out today to Black Rock which is outside of the rivermouth 0.5 miles out (or so). The conditions were nice no wind glassy waves breaking about head high but very inconsistent. Didn't go out yesterday due to brown water and lack of waves. There were waves in the morning but not when I checked in the afternoon. I took it as an excuse to play Ultima Online. Water was clean today only saw a couple small chunks of wood in the water but the beach on the south side of the rivermouth is loaded. There were some SUP guys out and they all went in when I went out even though I was at a break over from where they were. No great waves for me but good exercise and great to be out in the water and getting my time catching waves so that the next time I won't feel like I backslid any.