The Angst Of The Order

Yeah but ours are created by melting ice

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laceys lane said..
I never realised Austria and wa have the same wave types.


drip your talking about waves we just don't have in queensland.

nor do I really want

well not all the time. its seems like every surf you have is semi life threatening

We do have bays that reduce swells like yesterday, but they are small and crowded, or smaller but super heavy barrels. On the same swell, there are also places that would have been markedly bigger. You just get used to a bit of grunt. There were 8-10 guys out and I reckon we varied in age from 35-55. So experienced guys who didn't want it too big or too hollow or too crowded. The young bucks and the big wave boys were elsewhere.

The other thing is our swells are different. Unlike the Queensland points where every swell line breaks to some degree on the bank (some a little wider, some a little further in) we get big lulls and if it's not hitting the shelf then it's passing harmlessly under you. So the pack can sit there and not have a surf able wave for five minutes. Also, being reefies, we have big channels to hide in and paddle out in (for the most part). We also don't have any sweep to contend with so you can conserve your energy for if it goes horribly wrong and you have to take some on the head (I copped about six before the set let up yesterday).

So its different but you get used to it and surf different equipment.

I see a lot of tourists come from over East (Brazzos are a classic for it)and paddle out at a local bombie and just fail. 6'2" square tail beachie boards don't get you in and can't hold in off the bottom. Conversely, when I have gone over East my boards haven't worked real well. Slow and stiff and barely planing.

Having the right equipment gives you a lot more confidence. You'd be right. If you ever come over I have lots of boards to choose from.

And its not always that big. Head to double head would be our bread and butter.

hey Cuttlefish we missed the Wednesday markets but dropped in on the way home Friday and they only had the square open,were you around on Friday?

Since The Angst of The Order has drifted to big waves and guns a little - thanks for the heads up on that link Cuttlefish - I thought I would post a few local samples of the angst I went through/am going through/some of us go through.

After the success of my 8' board from earlier this year in making 6-8' waves easier, and me regularly taking my longboard out in solid waves, I decided I wanted a step up. Big waves hadn't passed me by. I just had gotten 15 years older, a family, was surfing less, and still riding similar equipment.

So, the first ones are from a local shaper who I have had several short boards off. Loved them both. One with reverse vee and one with six channels. Al Bean does a very good high performance board. The two picks are both for blokes who charge bigger waves than I intend and show quite different design approaches. First one is 9'4" with a pulled in nose. Second one is a 10'6" I think with an outline I find more attractive - fuller nose pretty profile and more parallel rails while still having some curve.







Why didn't I go with Al? Well, he hadn't shaped the 8' board. Al has a reputation for doing very good guns, but I was concerned about his proclivity towards significant nose rocker. I wanted it low and long rather than sharp and pronounced. I wanted it to paddle well and get me in early, possibly to the detriment of a late drop.

Another Al. Notice the old guy. It's the way we roll in the southwest if you want to keep surfing post-40.




This next one is for one of the local chargers. He would laugh at the waves I surf.





So all these magnificent guns and I went with a man who is more know for funboards and fish? What was I thinking?

Well, Mark does also have a reputation for doing excellent singles and the board in my mind was a modern single. Besides Mark Renneker likes them. They must work in solid waves.






So having made these decisions...is my nose too wide, rocker too little, too wide, too thin, should I have gone with Al or even one of the Margies shapers? Aaaaarrgh! All this despite me knowing to trust my shaper who has delivered three bursters in the last three boards I have had off him (none of them funboards or fish).

Somebody switch my head off. It's good to hear others have angst too.

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Cuttlefish said..
Is it too late to have him put an Npj jr dual single (duo) fin set up in it?

Those guns look positively inspiring!

i have seen quite a few of those boards getting arouns...have not sen them being surfed though

Stretch's boards are certainly pretty different in the flesh to waht alot of others are making....they seem to work though!!