I finally found a locking solution that allows me to readily take my big blue longboard, which won't fit inside my MINI Cooper, along with one of my shorter boards, to give me a quiver selection at the beach. It's a hefty red plastic-encased cable with a cinching lock that may only be available from MINI but would work with any roof rack. And I was glad of it today, since it was definitely a longboard day at the Jetty; Nemo the fish ended up just coming along for the car ride.L and I lucked out and had the second and then the first peaks mostly to ourselves. A grom posse nominally under a beach-bound instructor's control occasionally formed up obstacle courses for us, but everyone else stayed happily farther down the beach. The waves were a crossed-up mix of several different small swells, and hard to read at times. But glassy conditions and an uncrowded peak on a weekend - who could ask for anything more?
It's been interesting since I started surfing with L last fall to see him progress from newbie to the point that now I'm asking him for tips. This shows the clear benefit of surfing often in all sort of conditions, versus my once or twice a week forays timed for (hopefully) the best waves on offer. He's also spent more time on longboards, whereas (I used to be a lawyer so have to use such words sometimes) I moved on to shorter boards a while ago. He did give me some good pointers for getting into more of today's waves based on observing me, such as to paddle a few more strokes before popping up, and angle more into the wave. Plus the encouraging note that "sometimes it's not you, it's the wave." The tips paid off, and I got a few nice rides. Aahhhh...
L rides a little long right to the beach, dodging groms
http://ridersofwaves.blogspot.com/2009/03/worried-your-boards-might-get-stolen.html
ReplyDeleteI thought it was summer over there! We have bluer skies in winter. Nice and glassy though.
ReplyDeleteIt's often foggy on the coast when there's no wind but it sometimes burns off later in the day. I'll take it over blown-out/crowded any day.
ReplyDeleteI checked out those locking straps, Ramsnake. They're similar to the Steel Core straps I already have, which are stiff and almost too wide for the MINI roof rack holders, making them just a major pain to use. The new cable lock is a lot more user-friendly.