South-Central Double Session and Moda Surfboard Demo

A quick trip down to SoCal gave me the chance to try a radical new surfboard design by Moda Surfboards. In a nutshell, it's a long bodyboard with a snowboard core.

Just before I left San Diego, I met with the designer and founder, Brenton Woo, at a Pacific Beach coffee shop. He showed me one of the early prototypes, a 4'10". This time, he brought a newer 6'0" too, sized for bigger surfers and also better for a small-wave day.

My best ride

In the early morning, I picked my way across the exposed cobblestones at Tourmaline and hopped on the surfboard as soon as the water was deep enough. It had nice glide and paddled fast, so I reached the lineup well ahead of Mike and Jessica.

Just before a wipeout

Alas, Brenton had not thought to bring a leash, so it there was more swimming and bodysurfing and less board surfing than I would've preferred in the short time I had available. I'd never surfed without a leash before and it requires a different mindset – taking fewer risks, grabbing for the board immediately – that didn't gel in a hour. Still, I caught one nice left with a lot of face to play on, and got in a few swishy turns on the twin-fin Moda board. Having experienced a little taste of what the surfboard could do, I'd definitely say it's worth a look if you're in the market for a new board and not afraid to step outside the box.

Swam almost all the way in chasing the board

After many hours on the road, Brad and I were back on the Central Coast in time to paddle out for my second session of the day in water that was ten degrees colder.

Back home on the Central Coast