Right out of the gate the month of March began delivering fun-sized waves to the east central Florida coast. I could've strung together an impressive 10+ day streak if I were younger, but my 51 year old body would not allow it. Instead I did manage a 6-day streak, with a 7th day out of 8 before taking a little break. But all of that action amounted to 132 waves ridden, and all of them in the neighborhood. I started to feel achy in my lower back on the 5th day, and since then pain has persisted and progressed into another sciatic event, this time down the right side.
It was super fun surfing with my old pal and former shaper Gee Rainbow. He's the only other retired dude who I know will surf when the waves are up, no matter what. He's goofy and I'm a regular, so we just split the good peaks as they come. We're currently working on three hybrid board models that we'll have ready for market by summer, fingers crossed. Gee's in his mid 60's so we're going to go slow. But stay tuned for more details from our new board manufacturing adventures in later blogs.
After taking the second week of March off, my back was ready to surf again, as yet another mid-period combo swell with good winds focused its energy on us. It's been a great month to surf around here, with decent wave form, and not as many close-outs as the longer period energy that's typical in winter. I've also really been vibing with my 6'2 Vec Cod Fish twin fin, electing to ride it in most of my sessions this month. It seemed to be the perfect board for the mid-period trade swell, and it gave me a stable platform to get myself back into a surfing groove. My Lost RNF Black Dart also held nicely in some overhead surf, using three fins, proving my one-board-quiver theory... that the Round Nose Fish '96 can go in just about anything.
Then on Saturday I decided to take out my 9'2 VEC Longboard Performance Quad, on what seemed to be a super mellow day with waist high clean waves. I wanted to wrap some turns, and test out my hip. But after a couple 150-yarders, I ran into some dry rock on the inside bar, when the bottom dropped out of the section I was riding. The result? Another broken stick! Oy! And it doesn't seem repairable. But Gee "Spicoli" Rainbow took one look at it and claimed "I can fix it". He does have an "ultimate set of tools", so hopefully he'll have this performance log ready for action before the long period storm surf of late summer starts rolling in. We are shifting into la Nina, so who knows what's in store.
It looks like we might get another window or two of good waves with decent wind conditions before the month is over. I'll add any shots I get to the gallery as it happens. It's so difficult getting the gallery in chronological order, so sorry about that, I did the best I could dragging and dropping... just so many pics this month. Also, I threw a couple of quick clips together from some better rides... the last wave in the third video is where I break the board. Nothing spectacular this time, but an expensive repair bill is sure to follow! OK, I hope the water is warming up, and you're surfing where you are... Cheers!
the MARCH 2024 gallery...
