Town Beach, Narragansett RI

I paddled out yesterday at Town Beach in Narragansett. The weather was pretty decent, sunny with highs right around 50. The wind was offshore and pretty strong, probably blowing about 15-25 knots out of the west north-west. I parked in the second parking lot, just north of the main lot by the intersection. Right out front of the beach club there is a sunken barge so I ended up just right of it (to the south). The set waves were rolling through at about waist to chest high, although only a few reached that height. It seems that once the waves get any bigger than this everything starts closing out and narragansett is home of the 2 second right (bottom turn and eat the lip). Luckily (and surprisingly) the shoulders were holding up and I found a little right about 100 feet south of the barge that peeled up and past it so there was no real danger of hitting it or getting entangled in whatever the hell surrounds it. Overall it was fun to just be out there (the last time I was out was in Daytona) and it was hard to complain about the weather or the air temperature.
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Xcel Infiniti 5/4/3 wetsuit

The XCel Infiniti 5/4/3 mm fullsuit is one of the best wetsuits I've ever owned. I remember I first used it the week after Christmas a couple of years ago and just about broke a sweat. I think I've only once been cold when I was in this suit, and that was when the wind was howling offshore at about 20 knots and the temps were in the high 20's. The freedom of motion is impressive as well, paddling is relatively easy when you take into account how much rubber you're wearing. Considering that I paid $300 for it, it really better perform the best out of any wetsuit I've ever used. For the money you can expect one of the best suits out there. Xcel's website is here: www.xcelwetsuits.com.

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Matt Kechele 7'2" Pug Performer

When I graduated high school I got to pick out my graduation present. After going to a local surf shop and looking at nearly every board they had, I decided on the Matt Kechele Pug Performer. The overall shape is a hybrid, with a rounded nose, moderately wide mid-section fading down into a swallow tail. At 7'2", the board is a great compromise between paddling, maneuverability and speed. Out of those three, the most noticeable is the way the board paddles. It can catch just about any wave that a longboard can, provided that when you're paddling you're far enough up on the board. It took a little while to get used to the paddling trim, especially when I was used to riding a 9' Robert August. Once the wave is caught and the rider is up, the board is fairly stable for its size. What's surprising is the speed you can develop by doing a few pumps down the line. Even at high speed, the board is still very responsive and is just a joy to ride. If you're looking for a great board that handles well in nearly any surf conditions you should consider looking at this one. Matt Kechele has a shop down in Cocoa Beach, FL so if you're interested in supporting an east coast shaper he would definitely be a good choice. Mr. Kechele's website is here: www.kechelesurfboards.com/home.html

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Momentum: Under the Influence

Momentum is probably one of the best surf videos I own. It's well put together by well-known producer Taylor Steele and if anything gets you excited about going surfing. It features some of the best and most explosive surfers under 23 years old, like C.J. and Damien Hobgood, Mick Fanning, Andy Irons, Parko, Ben Bourgeois, the Malloys, and David Rastovich. Sequences are shot in Hawaii, Cali, Indo, Hossegor, France, Australia, South Africa and more that I can't even think of. Another cool feature of the movie is that it has three different soundtracks that can be selected. Apparently all the proceeds from the sales of this DVD go to the Jesse Billauer rehabilitation fund. Jesse Billauer is a California surfer who was paralyzed when a wave put him head first into a sandbar. He is now a quadriplegic and his family is forced with the reality of having to pay for the care and rehabilitation of his spinal cord injury. The estimated first year cost of caring for such an injury is $417,000...and the lifetime care is approximated at $1.35 million. When you shell out $29.95 for this DVD, know that the money is headed to a good cause and forget about complaining how expensive it is. Plus, the DVD is in fact worth the money as far as its entertainment value is concerned. The video can be found at www.poorspecimen.com.

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Daytona Beach, Florida

I mentioned in my previous post that I went to Daytona Beach last week for my final college spring break. The weather was in the high 70's and low 80's all week and it only rained twice, both at night. I have to say that I was really disappointed with the surf. I went to the beach for 6 straight days and the surf was blown out for every one. Apparently the wind is almost always on shore from October to about June and as a result the surf is usually sloppy. Such was the case for the entire time I was in Daytona. Every day the surf was disorganized and barely ridable. I went in anyway of course since the water was in the low 60's, about as warm as Cape Cod ocean water gets in August. Any way you cut it it was still really disappointing, but then again you can't complain too much about being in 75 degree weather in mid-march either. Note that the picture is not mine and that we never saw anything like this...a typical day would be choppy with white-capping conditions and people on the beach getting sandblasted.

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Inno Boardlocker Review

As I mentioned in my previous post I recently used the Inno Boardlocker to carry my 7'2" funboard on a 2600 mile road trip from Rhode Island to Daytona, Florida and back. I can hardly put into words how happy I am with the system, but I'll try lol. I was in a hurry to put the racks on top of the car the morning we left and was surprised at how easily they went on. I already have racks on top of my car and the Boardlocker system easily bolts on to them with two locking nuts per side. The board strapped in and locked down in about 30 seconds per side, including locking them. I have to say that I've had some trouble with boards blowing off the top of my car on the highway (the racks I had on my previous car broke, a surfer's worst nightmare) and at first I watched my board like a hawk. At times on the trip down we hit nearly 90 mph and the board DIDN'T EVEN BUDGE. I can't stress how great this system is and how much peace of mind it can give you when you know that nobody can steal your board and that you won't see that same board floating down the highway in your rear view. The Inno Boardlocker website is http://www.rv-inno.com/html_pages/surf_boardlocker.html

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Inno Boardlocker

I go the Inno Boardlocker (Inno is the company that makes it) for Christmas last year and just got around to setting it up for a spring break road trip I'm taking down to Daytona Beach, FL. I'm not actually taking my own car so I had to set it up on my friend's...and I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the system. It mounts directly to the rack on top of your car with two nuts and bolts for each side. The actually strap system consists of 2 cables that run through rubber pads and span across the entire length of the bar. When loading, the strap stands up for you so that there's no reaching or throwing the cable over the top of the car. When the board is in place, the cable locks in place and is tensioned tight with the big black knob seen in the left hand side of the picture. The best feature about the Inno Boardlocker is that, like its name suggests, it locks. No more worrying about some punk snagging the board off the top of your car while you're eating lunch. I'll post again when I come back and let everyone know how they held up on the 1300 mile trip (one way).

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FLOW: The True Story of a Surfing Revolution

I also got this movie as a gift (I get lots of surfing-related things for gifts, lol) about 2 years ago. I've watched FLOW: The True Story of a Surfing Revolution at least 5 times. The movie chronicles the creation of the famous Channel Islands surf shop in Santa Barbara, CA by legendary shaper Al Merrick. Starting off in a small space and only selling a couple of boards a month, Al Merrick soon began to expand his empire by sponsoring some of the biggest names in surfing: Tom Curren, Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Bobby Martinez, Ken "Skindog" Collins, Dane Reynolds and more. The movie delves deeper into the relationships fostered between these surf stars and Merrick himself, with special focus on how that relationship motivated them to reach the top. The DVD is really a clever way of marketing for Channel Islands...not only do people pay a lot of money for it ($29.95, more than most DVDs) but more than once a well-known surfer mentions that if you show up to the beach with a Channel Islands board, people automatically wonder who you are and think you're "legit". Despite the advertising aspect of the movie it's still very well done and gives you a good background on the advent of the shortboard (shortboard revolution) and the rocky road to world titles for surfers like Slater and Curren.

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The Bruce Brown Golden Years of Surf Collection 1958-1963

I recently got Bruce Brown's golden years of surf collection for this past Christmas. So far I've only watched Slippery When Wet (doesn't sound like a surf movie, does it? sounds like something more...x rated lol.) and Surfing Hollow Days. Both are great, if you're into old school longboarding videos and the origins of the sport. Bruce Brown himself introduces each video and explains the context of each (Slippery When Wet happens to be the first surf movie he ever made, 6 years before the famous The Endless Summer). Slippery When Wet follows Bruce and a couple of his buddies as they attempt to live and surf in Hawaii for $100 a month. More than one scene shows them eating cheap and delicious canned beans for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner...goes to show you that people will do anything for good surf. Highly recommended.

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XCEL's Titanium 6.5 mm booties

I was able to surf on thursday because my electronic writing class (that I'm making this blog for) got cancelled. I have a pair of XCEL Titanium 6.5 mil booties that I got as a gift, so I have no idea how much they cost or where they were gotten from. I've been happy with them up until this point, but last thursday I sprung a leak in the left boot. My left foot went completely numb after an hour (it's a slow leak) and it's just a big enough leak to be annoying. I looked them over and think I found where the water might be getting in. On the back of the boots theres a loop that, as far as I know, is meant to help you getting the heel over your foot when you're taking them on or off. The rubber sole comes up to meet it, and I think somehow that sole got peeled back, letting water in. I guess I'll try to repair it with some wetsuit repair gunk, we'll see how that goes.

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DaKine's Suburban Glove

I bought these gloves for $18.99 from www.hellyhansenusa.com. The exact page is here. They came within a week and there were no problems with the shipping or delivery. I finally got to use them today (it was 15 degrees this morning with wind gusts to 45 mph, so they were definitely necessary...made for an enjoyable walk to class) and I'm pretty impressed with them. They're not thick enough to stop the wind, but otherwise they're very warm. They're also a good compromise between bulky, warm gloves and skin tight gloves that are like wearing nothing at all. I'd definitely recommend them, especially for the price (MSRP at $18.99). Despite being fairly cheap, they appear to be made pretty well. We'll have to see how they hold up.

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site startup

This site is being created for my college electronic writing class, but I have a feeling I'll be making use of it after I graduate. I felt like making a forum where everyone can bounce surf-related ideas off of each other or just post about new products or discoveries. Let me know if you have any more ideas!

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