My go to short board "The Hijinx"

I would say my favorite boards have been Wisdom surfboards and the board I surf the most is called the Hijinx. This board is much shorter than your average surfboard, mine is only a 5'7, but Mark designed it that way so surfers can perform some of the most progressive maneuvers today. This board has allowed me to push my surfing because it is so agile and maneuverable on the wave. My past boards have felt somewhat difficult to really push on waves because they just don't do what I want them to do. With my Hijnx, anything I think of is possible on a wave. When the wave walls up and is ready to close out you can do the biggest layback turn imaginable on this board and it stays right under your feet. The Hijinx also allows me to generate a ton of speed on the wave because it has a rather flat rocker in it. The tail is also a little bit wider on this board in order to let the fins release a little bit more when you really push into the tail. This board is made for big maneuvers and progressive new school surfing and is by far my favorite board so far. (and I have had a lot of boards)

44/100

Little Wind and Sea 2/19/12

This past weekend I was back in northern California where I was able to surf my home spot, Santa Cruz. I love being back there because generally the waves there are always better and bigger! When I went out I knew the tide was going to be dropping to a -.5ft low tide, which most spots can't handle that low of a tide. Little Wind and Sea however only works on a really low tide, so I knew I was going to score some solid waves. I paddled out and sure enough the waves just kept coming and the waves there are really fast. The wave will generally get a little walled up and you just have to go because the wave holds up. The wave is an A frame and when you go right you head straight towards a massive rock sticking out of the water so you have to pull out before the wave closes out right onto that rock. I had a great time surfing there, I just wish it wasn't a weekend because of the crowd factor. Can't wait to head back and surf in Santa Cruz again.

43/100

Salt Creek 2/8/12

There has been quite a bit of swell hitting So Cal the past few days and continues to stick around throughout the weekend. I was debating either surfing in south orange county or south LA, I decided to go to south OC because the wind was going to be a bit lighter down there. I was able to surf for 3 hours straight and score some amazing waves. When I first paddled out it was about 3-4 ft and the swell was supposed to be building. By the next hour the tide had dropped and the waves picked up in size to about 4-6 ft. The waves were either a little mushy or absolutely pitching, so you had to wait a little while to score a good one. I saw so many guys getting insane barrels out there and some guys were even making it out. I was able to pull into a 5ft barrel but was unable to make it out. I hope to get some good waves tomorrow in Ventura. Surfline is claiming 5-7 occasional 8ft.

33/100

Wisdom Surfboards

Last week after surfing seaside my friends and I headed over to Wisdom Surfboards. I know the shaper Mark Wisdom pretty well and he has even shaped my last 2 boards. He gave his a tour of his shop and showed us the boards he has been working on. He also explained in depth all 6 of his board models. They all serve for a different style of wave but all compliment each other. What I found most interesting was how he was glassing all of his boards. Its pretty straight forward how a blank is shaped, but glassing it is another completely different challenge. He is well known in the surfing community for how quick he glasses boards and he was telling us how in a month or so he will be glassing about 150 surfboards for well respected brand names like JS Surfboards. When all of the pros come into town for the Lowers Pro he ends up glassing a lot of their boards. It is cool to know that the same guy who is glassing boards for the elite surfers of the world is shaping boards for me. All of his boards have been tested by big name surfers like Rob Machado. Rob surfs at the same break as Mark, so he is always willing to help him out and give him some solid feedback on his boards.

I also drove for this surf and trip to Wisdom Surfboards.

2 recorded surf sessions 20 pts
3 recorded extra mile assignments 3 pts

23/100

Flow Surf Movie

This movie is about the progression of surfing and how Channel Island Surfboards (Al Merrick) changed the game of surfing. In the 80's all surfboards were at least 10ft and the cool thing to do was ride the nose. Surfing had a very layer back style during that period until some tried to change the game with power surfing where they would ride close to the curl and make sharp turns. This didn't quite catch on at first but as surfboards progressed and they starting cutting down the size of the board this style rapidly caught on. Al Merrick was shaping boards for the best riders in Santa Barbra in which they were the ones inventing the new style of surfing. Those kids were eventually called the "New Schoolers." Kelly slater was a pivotal role in the new school of surfing where he pushed the limits of what people thought was possible. Soon arial maneuvers were the focus of surfing as well as big powerful turns where the fins would blow out of the wave. With modern board design surfing has come a long ways in the past 10 years and I am very excited to see where the progression of surfing is headed.

Trailer for the movie.