GROVELER TRIALS, SUN 16AUG2015

Loc: Manhattan Beach

Time: 0800-1000

Crew: Bri, Klaude

Conditions: 1-3 FT windswell, scattered, consistent, crowded,

Board: Klaude’s 5’9 Neckbeard

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Pre Blog: Everyone has his own preference when it comes to board dimensions. For me, 6’0 x 20 x 2 ½ is as big as I would want to go. In search of a good groveler for my local break, ideally, I’d like to sample something around 5’8 x 19 ¾ x 2 ¾, maybe even a little more meat on the width and thickness and a little shorter. As much as I love the Motorboat Too, I need a solid groveler that does well in 1-2 FT South Bay slop without having to ride a huge fish.

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     The Neckbeard. I’ve heard so many awesome things about this board. Rick swears by it, even though his is a long 6’0. If I’m right, CI recommends riding this board a couple inches shorter than your standard shorty.

     This board has a few minor dings and is in good condition. It has a thruster setup with Futures fin boxes, so I slap on Klaude’s Black Stix that he had let me borrow.

     Compared to Saturday, the lineup isn’t as chaotic. We’re on the late train. Orlando and Jose are out again. Usual locals? Check. Bri’s on the 6’0 Mini Driver with a quad setup.

     First impression is how well this board paddles. It’s just under the width and thickness ceilings that I had listed above, so the volume feels solid underneath me.

     The surf has tapered off a little since yesterday, but there are still occasional three footers. The longboarders are milking the small surf the best, getting the longest rides. Of course, Roy’s killing it on his brand new Don Kadowaki board as well, a 5’10 small-wave catcher, and he’s selling it well.

     My first decent waves are rights. I have to pump on my backhand to get down the line, and I do so with minimum effort. The board is drivey and fast. I set up for a backhand hack but my foot slips off the deck. Next right, the wave just seems too soft to get a deep bottom turn to climb back up the face right.

     Klaude shows up about an hour into the session and makes the surf look easy on his Puddle Jumper. Bri says that the shorter Mini Driver feels much better underneath her.

     The crowd thickens a bit into the second shift. A noob drops in on Bri. It’s a right. Not only does he snake her, but he also goes left, the wrong way. I can only watch him and his soft top collides with Bri.

     Just as I’m paddling towards them, Klaude calls me into a right. I take the wave.

     Afterwards, I check on Bri and the Mini Driver. They’re both okay. Treading water off of my board and flipping the Mini Driver around for inspection, the noob looks back at us in frustration. I can see why. He thought that Bri was in the way and doesn’t realize that he had displayed bad surf IQ and etiquette. This scene can get ugly. I could say something, but main thing is that Bri’s okay. Equipment is fine. The foul is there but no harm done. My next wave is a right. He drops in on me but kicks out when he sees I’m behind him.

     On the lefts, the Neckbeard feels great going down the line, but it feels stiff on the turns. I’m just not used to surfing a board with such a wide tail. The Dumpster Diver I had in Indo was pretty wide, but I was surfing four-turn waves to get it dialed in, so it’s really hard to gauge this Neckbeard on single-hit surf.

     For most of the session, I practice my layback snaps on the end sections, never sticking any of them. Still, I get satisfaction out of this. It’s practice on small waves. I hope that the repetition will lead to the maneuver being a consistent part of my short-list repertoire.

     After two hours, we call the session. Bri and I have breakfast at Mandy’s for the first time in a while. Next door at Havana Sandwiches, some Porto regulars are having breakfast as well.

     The verdict? I’m picky. Straight up picky. I like the drive the Neckbeard has, but it did feel a little stiff. I would love to sample a different one as a quad. Tom Yamamoto had offered me to try out his Dumpster Diver. Maybe I’ll give that a shot, too.