Big Update

Wonderful day surfing the CB pier this morning. Surf was not as big as yesterday, but still great fun. I did not have my camera yesterday, sorry.

We surfed with the new C4 rep for this part of the country. He was riding the 9'6 Swallow. He let Jacky surf it for about 30 minutes. Brad (the rep) surfed Jacky's 9'6 PSH. They both enjoyed trying each others boards.

Brad told us board availability is poor again this year. He's hurting for boards. Same old story! When are these factories going to move prone surfboard production capacity over to stand up? They say surf shops are hurting. Well build more standups guys!

Just Kitesurfing

Sorry, no SUP surfing lately. Nice kitesurfing in front of the house tonight.

I'm BACK

I'm back. The computer died last week. All this coming to you to complements of Vista and my new Think Pad. Fingers crossed this one lives a little longer.

All photos taken Saturday and Sunday morning.

Jacky in front of the Marriott

Z and CB1 sharing. Z's not sure what the paddle is for.Jacky solo.
Jacky takes a tumble.
The ship wreck in CB just showing below the surface.
Jacky in front of the Marriott
Trouble looming for CB1

CB1 gets mowed down
Passing the Sea Watch surf crew.
Jacky
Z still puzzled by that paddle.

I Surfed the JL 10'4 Today!

I tried this JL 10'4 today. It belongs to CB1. We surfed this morning at WB. Waves were head high at full high tide. Big surprise for everyone. The prone surfers showed up in mass at mid tide, but by then wave size was half what it was earlier. We scored today!

This board is really sweet. Compared back to back with my 10'0 x 29 PSH, the JL has more glide. This glide makes it pull into waves easier. It had more drive off the bottom turn. It felt a little slower on the wave. Stability was slightly better. The PSH was snappier turning, more like the difference between a quad and a tri fin, except both are tri fins. This is probably the best way to describe the difference.

The JL felt like its rocker was straighter. I had to take an extra step or two back when making the drop. The PSH feels heavily rockered and more sensitive to weight shifts fore and aft, making late drops slightly easier.

Now having said all this about the differences, we have to place an asterisk next to this review. The PSH had a thruster fin setup. The JL had 2+1 with larger center fin. About 9" is my guess. Then I discovered the owner had his side bites installed flat side OUT. Knowing all this now, I suspect the differences are probably slightly less than experienced today.

Later we placed my rocker jig on the PSH and JL to see if my instincts about the rocker difference were correct. The jig is set to the PSH bottom shape. Notice the nose rocker on the JL is about the same as the PSH.
Here you can see the tail rocker. Notice the rocker is much straighter on the JL
Final thoughts:

Both boards are awesome. Just slightly different. I would recommend either to anyone who asks for my opinion.

Definitely the two best boards of all the ones I've ridden in the past year.

If you can get one, go for it. Awesome boards, awesome session today for everyone.

The JL 10'4s are Here!

These sweet boards just arrived. They are the last of the sweet 10'4s being sold at the original price of $1299.

For those that hadn't heard, JL is shipping all future boards with pads installed in Vietnam and jacking the price up by $250! The new retail is $1549. Wow!

This really sucks in my opinion. JLs were the best deal going. Now they are joining the rest of the big brands with outrageous prices. What a shame.

I don't like the JL pad. I enjoy decking my own board and giving it that personal touch. NSI pads are my favorite.

By the way, these boards are already sold.