New Board

Looking from shore can often feel like you r are locked up.  

For me a new board does not come along all that often.  It was about a decade ago that I returned to the snow and started sinking my toy fund into all types of AT gear and goretex.  And that stuff ain't cheap. But it was fine because I do take real good care of my surf gear and boards can last me for quite some time.  But this past summer my wife decided it was time for a new board and declared it my birthday present.  So I began my search for a shaper to work with.  As luck would have it, in June we moved in to our new home, across the street from local Santa Cruz shaper Buck Noe.  While I had never looked closely at any of his boards, I did notice that a lot of the pictures that I had captured of folks ripping it up in the water were riding a Noe.  Seemed like a good endorsement to me.  Apparently, his boards work just fine.  So I walked across the street and started the conversation.

Small days brings you right in front of the cliff.

Sometimes it feels like freedom just chilling on the cliff.  Guess it depends on your perspective.

Sandstone and Ocean.  What a combo.

I've been trying to get decent shots of folks just as they stand up.  Its nice if the wave is just standing up as well.  The Slot works.

"Wa'SUP?"  Pretty sure this guy was taking a business call right here.  He's got the best office in town.

Even the smaller days of spring can offer up a few fun ones.

I've always been a big fan of working with a local shaper.  As a kid I spent a few years making boards. While none of them were state of the art (like, we used a blue/yellow marine resin instead of clear) it was great fun playing around with different shapes and building up our quiver.  Still, my performance short board was a Kechle, and nothing we shaped even came close.  But they were still plenty of fun to ride.  When I got a few years older, and earned a little cash, I started working with Mike Moran at Syco to get me a few boards.  I still have a Syco big wave gun that was actually designed for out here.  Anyway, when I first moved to Santa Cruz in the 90s I was dirt poor and broke, so I  was purchasing local boards from the used rack.  Once I got my feet under me, I started to search out someone to work with.  Eventually I moved in with a dude who was an apprentice shaper.  We worked out a great deal, where I paid for materials and he shaped me boards.  I did a lot of the design work, fine tuning what I was looking for.  He got to practice planing and glassing.  I got to practice air brushing.  And just to make sure the system worked perfectly well, I bought the beer.  Looking back on it all now, some of the boards came out great, some okay and a few, well, would work well maybe at Puerto.  But I had grown and rounded out my quiver in the period of a few years and I was stoked.

Like I said, some fun ones rolled through from time to time.

Dropping

A good demonstration on how to attack the lip.

Got it.

The Slot doing its thing.

I just like how my camera focused on the wave face on this one.  Everything else is a blur.

Then slowly life changed.  I surfed less, and more importantly, had less flexibility of when I could surf. So often I was is sub perfect conditions.  And I got older.  Let me warn you about that, because it happens to all of us.  I used to be able to literally surf 12 hours a day.  Now a days, after two hours, I'm pretty much done.  Old folks get tired.  And now, twelve years since the board bonanza, I have pretty much the same quiver, with only my daily driver having been replaced, by a near replica of what I was surfing a dozen years ago.  Oh, the other thing that has changed drastically?  Board design.  So, yeah, I was stoked to try something new.  Noe did exactly what I hoped for.  We talked.  About where I surf, how I surf, how I'd like to surf, what I did not like with my current boards and so on.  And he looked at my boards.  After running some numbers, he made some adjustments to his daily driver and presented the idea of a 6'0" x 19 1/4".  Sure.  I trust the shaper, let's give it a try.

Almost all in.

Coming off the top.

Got to love it when the flow just starts to go.

Kneeling in adulation.  

Lining up forever with only a few folks out.  Oh, and the sun is shining too.  Can't beat that.

Morning glass looking into the sunshine.

Even if a new board is not your dream ride, it is a new board.  Seriously, there is nothing, other that a great surf trip, that gets me in the water more.  If nothing else, it is something new to try.  I am rather pleased with my new board.  It was shaped as a daily driver, for waves between say about thigh high up to a foot or so overhead.  A bit wider in the waist, and quite a bit so in the tall, than what I had been riding on but with a good deal more volume and glide it has been way better in the small and weak stuff.  Which is what I tend to get more often than not these days.  I'm talking about the sub chest high, not all that well lined up or hollow of a wave.  Or if it is a zipper, its a short one.  Anyway, the new board is way more fun.  Sure, it took a while for me to get used to.  I had been shimmying forward quite a bit on my old equipment, to get squared up over the foam, in the gutless stuff.  On my Noe, you actually stay with a foot on the tail.  Like you are supposed to.  In the better stuff it is a good deal looser than my old boards.  This is mostly a good thing, but you need to focus a bit more on the steeper, chunkier, more gnarly drops.  Again, though, I was out a day this winter in surf 2-4 feet overhead, and it was actually a day when I and the board were doing it right.  So much fun.  I was joking with my buddy that I am getting 33% more turns in on the wave.  I'm still old and slow, but having a lot more fun and getting way more out of the wave.  Even got my first air in years.

Returning to the source.

A smooth surface truly begs to be carved up.

Small days break close to the cliff.  Real close.

The view from the cliffs.

The view from the water.

I still have a lot of learning to do.  Hope to get out in a few hours.  And it is not a one board quiver by any means.  I still need to grab my egg or longboard for when it is truly small.  I can grovel a little, but it is not a groveler.  Not sure if I want one of those yet, but I have seen some guys getting really fun looking waves on a dedicated small wave board.  And for the most part, with a decent wave, it is super fun up to a foot overhead.  After that something with a bit more grip and drive might be in order.  Scrimping change already and selling off old equipment cheap to fund the next one.  But I know where I will be going to get one made.  And this is why I have always liked the idea of working with a local shaper.  They know the waves, they know their boards.  When you go back for round two, you just need to describe how you thought round one went.  Talk and refine.  Hell, if you have some money to float, you can get a board shaped, surf it 6 months and then sell it.  Yeah, it cost more in the long run than just keeping and taking care of a board, but you get to refine things until they are perfect.  Kind of like renting fins until you find the ones you like.  Kinetic has a pretty good program and that is how I found the ones I have now.  Anyway, new board.

Still ruling the roost even on the more crowded days.  

Indicators working all the way around the corner with a view of the Casino.

Sometimes you just need to pull out the rhino chaser and take it out for a few laps.  

Making the most of the inside shut down.

The 70s are alive and well in Santa Cruz.

Working it all the way through the inside.

So anyway, yeah, new boards are fun.  Bottom line is get one if you can.  Even if it is only new to you.  It will help keep your surfing fresh.  And if you are an intermediate or more experienced, you may want to consider a custom build.  I prefer working with a local guy, but some of the bigger companies have a pretty good program of making you the boards that will be right for you.  Or just go down to the local shop and talk with a shop rat about boards.  Something else that has been fun is the spring surf this year.  All these pics are from March and April at the Lane.  Nothing epic, but fun.  Looks like we are in a little dry spell right now, but if you know where to look, you can ferret out some waves even now.  It helps if you are stoked on a new board.