Winterfish Redux

Have you seen this? The Bodega Bay Buoy (Station 46013) calls the direction of this humongous swell "WSW."
I call it "Whatever, I'm Heading to a South-Facing Beach." The problem is, south facing beaches will probably be maxed out, too.
But since our station is to persevere, we have to forge onward. And we have to forge with the right stick.
The right stick for me is the above pictured 6'1" Winterfish.
I'm not quite ready to hang up the 5'8" quad fish (see my "Love Affair With The Quad Fish" post) just yet, but neither am I stoked to paddle her into double overhead, heaving shorepound.
Enter the Winterfish, a board I'm excited to paddle into double overhead, heaving shorepound (see my "Lies I've Told on my Blog" post).
This board is pulled in at the nose and tail. It's a quad, so it sticks to the face of a steep wave like something that's very sticky. It's got a single wing. It's got shortboard volume and rocker, but it's EPS, so it floats like a thicker board. This one is 6'1".
I am not even close to being 6'1", though I sport freakishly long arms.
The Winterfish and the dog enjoy spending time on the Persian rug. The dog seems a bit perturbed by the surfboard. The surfboard, however, rests quietly without judgment--a model of Zen calm.
Take care if you paddle out this week.

The WinterFish Solution

One of our local breaks poses an interesting challenge for both surfers and shapers--it's a beachbreak with an abrupt ledge, so it is often powerful. The paddle out almost always sucks--long and bitchy. The peaks also shift with every nuance of tide, wind, and swell direction, so the one you're surfing solo might disappear, then reappear in a crowd of local shredders. Sometimes, it's mushy and fat.
Contemporary shortboards work well for surfing the wave, but getting out and chasing peaks require something with a bit more paddle power--especially if you're wearing a lot of rubber, have a hard time resisting work donuts, and not getting any younger.
I've come close with a number of designs over the years, but it hasn't stopped me from tinkering...
I'm hoping the latest incarnation of the WinterFish will do the trick.
It's got a pulled in nose, widepoint forward, lots of curve through the midsection due to the narrower tail and single flyer, more entry rocker and exit than standard fishes, and more of a shortboard foil.
Bottom contours are tuned to my favorite quad setups (it's a quad!).
Marko EPS.
It's on the glassing rack right now, awaiting Fatty's magical habits (I'm putting the squeeze on her to finish this one fast. She responds well to Russian River pinot noirs, Tejava tea, and strawberry mochi).

Washington's Birthday

Question: Does it get any better than a windless, swell-filled day with no work obligations and the Little Lass in daycare?
Answer: Yes.
Perhaps our First President would have smiled had he surveyed today's coastal bounties (though perhaps not, as he was known to be a bit 'morose' in his more advanced years). Signs of freedom stretched from the coastline, where a relatively high number of surf enthusiasts enjoyed somewhat clean conditions, to the roadways, where the Amgen Tour of California passed through town preceded by every vehicle in the county with a siren, to the fields bordering the roadways where grapevines were slowly, selflessly preparing the fruits that will make us enjoy our freedoms all the more.
I think Washington would also applaud the voices of criticism on this day who speak out against a legacy of old white guys who have ruled this country from its inception. My dad's an old white guy, and I love him to pieces, but Washington was a famous advocate of change (I believe he was Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary War, for starters).
Onto the surf!
Surf was mainly leftovers from a bigger swell this weekend, but it doesn't clean up too often up here, so these chest-to-head high zippers provided a welcome meal. This girl rips!
I chose to ride the winterfish today, and now I'm smitten. A pulled in, fully-rockered quad, it does what I ask it to do. Having not surfed for some time, I didn't ask much, but I have a lot of questions for it in the future.
By the way, if you think these guys above look like seals from your angle, imagine what they must look like from below.
Actually, don't do that.
It ain't SoCal. The kid in the foreground told me it's the first time he's gone shoeless since the summer. How'd it feel?
"Bad," he said.
And now I'm imagining Washington lighting a fire right there on the beach, sitting down and motioning to this young lad to come over and warm those little piggies right up.