A LAST REFLECTION ON THE KADOWAKI ROCKET: How Changing Fin Setups Can Help

If you live in the South Bay, somehow someway, you will find yourself back to this place. 

     Had I given up on the Rocket too quickly? On Thursday, Oct. 1^st, I decided to take a chance on Porto again, since I had had a decent session at 45^th on Tuesday. I had planned on going back to my Motorboat Too, but I opened my trunk to find that I had a senile moment while packing my car the night before because I had forgotten to bring it, but I did have the Rocket with the FCS JF-1 Thruster setup already screwed in there.

As far as SoCal, the JF-1 fins work well. 

     Even though the surf forecast didn’t call for decent surf, the lineup was much more crowded than Tuesday, and a lot of noobs were present. A Team Costco rider had nearly ran me over. I knew it, just seeing the look in his eye that said, “I have no idea how to turn. Insider beware, I will go straight.”

     Luckily, he ate shit as the wave pitched, and his board was too far in front of me to be a hazard. When he resurfaced, he gave me that kookish smile that indicated he had no idea what kind of threat he actually posed to those around him.

     The surf wasn’t big, but the inside was consistent. I was surprised to see how many local regulars were ditching their boards, but the consistency was a Godsend. Within a half hour, half the lineup left. It was just the 45^th Street usual suspects: Surfing Santa, the longboarder guy who’s a high school teacher, that longhaired longboarder who likes to use those paddle-assist gloves (really, I think this guy’s a decent surfer and doesn’t need them).

     Going back to volume, the Rocket had me paddling into waves with ease, but the difference this time was the extra pivot I had with the thruster setup. I did feel the loss of speed when driving down the line, but going left I actually went rail-to-rail on a wrap. Backhand right, I finally got that solid snap that I had been feening for.

     I surfed for about an hour and a half and called it a morning when the tide slowed things down. I was stoked. Changing out fins setups can really change your surfing experience. That being said, I have more appreciation for this board. Still a bit too much volume for me, but with thrusters it’s definitely more rippable.

     If you’re curious about volume recommendations for your ability and body type, check out this useful link from Channel Islands.

http://vol-app.com/ChannelIslands/

I moved my car into the main lot just to get a shot of this. It's funny how people give you that look like, "You're late," but I had already surfed?! Anyway, another successful go out for local surf. Windswells are just great here in comparison to the wrap-around energy from the south swells. 

Session Tracker:

01OCT, Thursday, El Porto, 45^th St., playful windswell, consistent, wave buffet.

02OCT, Friday, El Porto, 42^nd St., solid windswell, 3-4FT, crowded, got bitched out by Manny A. for “not going” even though he fucking back paddled me. I just didn’t want to snake him.

03OCT, Saturday, Manhattan Beach, 26^th Street, playful windswell, dumpy, uncrowded due to marathon, blew a perfect wave on my MB Too, could have used my standard short.