|
|||||
| (Click
on pics for larger view -
pics by Mike "Punchy" Phillips)
|
The
Kirk Mantay Report
I would do one of my typical long-winded reports but since everyone else is surfing this weekend too, I'm sure all our tales will be similar. Flips and I met at Parole at 4:30am. We loaded up and hit the road, stopping at the Snakes Pit (or whatever) at 6am for eats. I went the Neal-zen-surfing meal route: coffee, fresh strawberries, and bananas for breakfast. We hit NJs about 6:45--the gate open and the parking lot full of cars! D'oh!!!! Only a few cars belonged to surfers, but still! The Rehobeth/Lewes Hui was in full effect, picking off every single wave, dropping in right on top of the jetty, pretty much making all the other surfers de facto shoulder-hoppers. The peak was shifty and battling 4 locals was tough...but in the water we went. The second peak wasn't breaking at all, which was unusual given the tide and the swell height. And then a group of UDel students showed up...So it was one 6' wide takeoff zone period, for all 9? of us. Mike rode my 41.5" toobs bboard and scored ride after ride after ride of the non-set waves on the inside. I am only now realizing how great a wave NJ's is for practicing turns, since it breaks soooo slow sometimes. Mike was so casual, in slow motion from lip to trough, over and over. On the way to the beach I had complained about my "spastic turns" I have been pulling on my new board. After about 20 minutes in the water I caught maybe my 3rd wave--stomach high clean, peaky line. Drop in. Bottom turn. Off the lip. Bottom turn. Off the lip....repeated until I was way down the end of the cove. One of the first calm NICE rides I've had on the new board. I saw two guys get shacked during takeoff against the jetty. That was cool. Mike had several rides when he at least appeared to be covered. I only got a "voluntary" tube---- I decided to squat down, grab the rail, and pull into the peaking section instead of racing it out or pulling out of the wave. It closed out real fast, don't even know if it qualified as a tube ride, it happened so fast. I had several rides where I carved a 180 (see Mike's picture) and popped back into the whitewater, but the waves barely had enough power to keep you moving once you snapped it back around to resume your ride down the wave. And for my first time ever on a funboard/longboard, I beat a decent size closeout/whitewater section and made it back onto the line. Packed it in about 10:45, after FINALLY having a run on bigger fun waves--3 in about 20 minutes (half of the crowd left). Went down the road and checked out boards at East of Maui. $850 for a stock longboard. Yeeeeeaaah. Checked out IRI and saw the usual: no break on the northside, dumpy sandy barrels on the southside. Headed back west to good old Bawlmer...to surf another day. - Weekday Mantay |
||||
|
|
|
||||
| The
Mike Phillips Report
Don't have much else to add to Kirk's report (no time to write either). It was a better day than expected for me - Kirk let me use his bodyboard to lessen the stress on my bum shoulder. Thanks again, Kirk. My enthusiasm to be back in the water caused me to tweak it a bit, but all in all I did OK. Bodyboarding is a really fun substitute, but (sorry Rod, Foon, etc) I am looking forward to standing up again! We had awesome weather yesterday, water temps are very pleasant - saw some dudes trunkin' it with rash guards! Later,
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
