SUP,Surf

[roydpm]

5am. Sand heads was 24,Ballenas 18
6:30am at WB all alone Waist high storm waves that cleaned up from 7:30-8. Then tide got too low and me too tired. Wave court was 16 or so.
Good sup action with absolutely no competion...or company.

[gabrielb]

515am looked at sisters/ballenas, it was 15/17 knots, sleep time.
Without HB hard to know for sure. Need 20 knots for surfing, otherwise not enough for good rides, but SUP, it went up at 6am. Next time.

[Slappy]

Had a blast on the green wave at the Bend Whitewater Park, but boy was it harder than I thought it would be. Coming from ocean surfing and wakesurfing I figured it would be very easy to pick up but was I wrong. The water rushing past you super fast is very disorienting and has the double tendency to pull you off the back of the wave and suck your nose under and pearl.

My main problem though was lack of a 5 or 6 foot leash. All mine are 8 foot or longer for ocean surfing. They also discourage using leashes there because if it catches you'll be held under and drown and that's probably a legit concern with an 8 foot leash but with a short one it's pretty safe I think.

So without a leash you have to chase your board down every time you fall and that means going down 1 or 2 extra rapids, swimming like hell and a 5 minute walk back up. With a leash on you can just swim to the side when you fall dragging your board and be back on the wave in 15 seconds.

By the time I finally got the hang of the wave it was 8:00 PM on the last day in Bend so I surfed it until pretty much pitch dark. Lots of fun ripping on my son's Wave Bandit 4-10. Really impressed with this board can't wait to try it behind the boat. We beat the crap out of it on the tuber channel though, gotta get the hot glue gun out.

[gabrielb]

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it does not look easy.
George and I managed to get a few waves at Seaside yesterday, mainly shortsands (4-7ft); maybe some easy local waves at WB Monday morning (6am, tide is 7ft, need 18 knots in strait though).

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[adam2]

Slappy what about kiting the Wave Bandit, have you, or are you going to give it a try? Also what was that Slingy surfboard/wakesurfer you were riding a couple weeks ago at 3rd? It looked a bit like a Space Pickle, but I didn't recognize the graphics, it looked like a fun shape.

[Slappy]

I'm for sure going to give the Wave Bandit a try behind the kite too, I have high hopes for it but it is quite short (4-10) and narrow (19) so I can't imagine it replacing either of my $800 epoxy boards. The thing I really like about it is that it weighs almost nothing and I love strapless air so it has potential. I also like a board I don't have to baby.

It might be a decent option for situations where a surf leash is needed too, as I'm not too worried about getting hit by that board and last time I kited Chesterman every time I lost my board in the on-shore wind I had to go 200m up the beach to get it back (then fight back out to the break directly upwind).

You are correct about that other board, it's a wake construction Slingy SP 5-0. It's a fun shape, especially when you ride it as a twin. It's a bit too wide for kiting in anything but light wind though. It used to be my LW board before I got my skim. Only reason I had it out the other day was I put a hole in my skim and I've still got to repair it.

I do still use it all the time behind the boat though, as a twin. It's the perfect board for taking the kids tandem.

I surfed it in the ocean at Pacific City and it was doable, even though I'm a bad paddler and usually surf an 8-0 board but as a twin it's too squirrelly during the pop up. The reason I took it out at Pacific City was there were 30 knot winds and I had left the kite gear at home to spend more time with the family.

I tried it on the green wave in Bend but with no leash I was too sketched out about it getting munched and about the G-10 fins I run slicing my face open.

[adam2]

Interesting thanks! That Wave Bandit or one of the Jamie O'Brien versions look like they could be fun in uninspired local conditions where I feel most kite-specific surfboards fall pretty flat.

[Slappy]

Oh another area the Wave Bandit has loads of potential is air travel. At 148 cm, light weight and unbreakable how can you go wrong. As long as it rides well.

The JOB board is usually the 5-0 stump, it's a good board but a bit wide to kite I would think. It's very popular on the green wave at Bend though, probably second most popular with Softech 5-0 being #1. I find the Softech board heavy though.

[tweegster]

Slappy, totally right about the Space Pickle squirrely pop ups, I surfed mine at Westport jetty. During pop up, I loaded the rail to head across a perfect face, the fins disengaged and the board spun 180. Could have been amazing, but ended in face plant. Happened more than once.

Agree was much more fun as a twin, but I certainly enjoy the screamer more. Totally different board though, and no way I could paddle it. Narrow tail = tonnes of control.

Wave bandit looks awesome, How is the soft top grip? That would be my reservation, soft tops I have tried are fine for going straight but a little slippery when moving around. Could you wax it?

[Slappy]

Yes all the Catch Surf boards require wax.