Old.

Feeling it.
Did the SUP yesterday as everything else was tossed or too much work.
The bad thing about stand up paddle surfing is, while its a better workout than surfing, one may not notice just how long one has been out.
I surfed about 19 hours total in the last seven days.
Yesterday was 3 hours of SUP'ing.

And I surf a lot by myself or at my own peak (most here know I am a wave hog).
Surfing by yourself, I tend to grab anything rolling through, that means wave after wave after wave.
I will grovel after any thing rideable on the SUP, it does not care and neither do I.
So today, sore and tired.
And I busted my foot up again on the Stumps of Doom.

Stumps of Doom?
Our SUP spot has a series of old stumps that are under you when the tide gets over 4'.
They are leftovers from back in the day when the beach was bigger and much wider.
The tree's are long gone but those ten or so stumps live on.
They are barnacle encrusted, rooty.
They will snap your leg if you happen to fall in a hole.
Or destroy your instep if you happen to land that way.
Its a good thing they are only present going right because the old concrete BBQ pit/fire ring that you find going left would be jealous.
I have hit the fire ring.
I have landed on every one of those stumps.
But the stumps do have another purpose.

When we get 14' outside swells and a tide above 6'...
Those stumps form a reef that sets off a shorebreak zipper of a righthander that finishes off up the creek.
Over 2' showing and I grab the shortboard, its that fast and hollow.
Of course, its breaking in 1' of water over those stumps for the first 20 yards.
The rest of the wave peels along the sand a mere ten feet off of dry beach.

Keeps it interesting.

So I had trouble driving home yesterday, couldn't push the clutch in because I bashed my left instep on a stump root. The wife helped me get the bootie off and the rest of my suit. I expected the worst, bad bruising, maybe some blood...
But this morning, while the rest of me is feeling old and tired, my foot is alright.
And the forecast is...
14' and high tide in the afternoon.
And its the start of a new week.
So this morning I am finishing up Lorens' Simmons blank (Dude? Colors! Art!)
and then hitting it.
Its what I do.

And for the record, since any one can post anything here on the innertubes...
I can't play make believe here on the ol' Retro blog, I have three local guys who read here, know me and my habits, where I surf, how often I surf, etc.
I can't get it away with making it up...lol.
Trust me, I would catch more shit than a SE Ptown Hipster Alaia Rider at Seaside on a Sunday.

The dungeon of foam is calling me.
See ya.

Oh, any other Simmons type craft surfers out there? Looking for some feedback on your boards.
I seem to run into a length limit for 'fun waves', is there a way to go longer while keeping the looseness of a pool skater?
I have pulled the tail outline curve in as far as possible I think, thoughts?
I am building one for a bigger guy at 200, 7'4" is out of the question as he wants it as loose as mine. The limit on my design for 'fun waves' seems to be 6'10". He needs the float so an inch wider (24) gets me the volume of a 7'2", not good enough, I need a bit more volume but not sure where to find it or put it.
Thanks!

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