Jun 09 2008
Fear Of A “Matt” Planet
Well, despite appearances (and some good shots from Mother Nature), I'm still alive — again.
And despite getting skunked for most of the 3 weeks I was in Rote, I still got some decent surf there (there were a FEW days the surf bumped up to 1-2 overhead). It was a bit more crowded this year than last, and I fear it is the beginning of the end for the place. But I'll write more about that later.
I'm now back in Bali (God help me). I chose to stop here for 1-2 days en route back to Bangkok — I need to stock up on surf supplies, including a new board (or 2, if things go well). As has been well documented here, I had problems moving down to the 6′8″ Tuf-Lite epoxy board I bought before I left the States for good (not only is it kinda short and built wrong for my style of surfing, the epoxy gives it too much flotation, and loss of control, in bigger waves).
So instead, I just bought something almost exactly like this beautiful Gerry Lopez retro, Pipeline, single-fin classic:
Holy shit, I think I'm in love.
It's a 7′0′ single-fin, double glassed, single concave, big wave classic. Fucking "A" man!!!
I can't wait to get to the Philippines in a few weeks to try it out for real. It's gonna take some more effort to guide it on my part, but I think I'm ready for it. It's more suited for my bigger wave, wide sweeping turning style, than is the smaller, lighter board I now have. Truly, I'm getting tired of having to stay on that big ol' mini-malibu of mine whenever I go out just cuz I either can't catch the smaller stuff or get tossed around too much on the smaller board.
I'm hoping that, after the past couple years, my skill level has improved enough so that I can ride well enough, and truly enjoy, this amazing new board. I'm excited.
Okay, I'm gonna go post some new pics from Rote to my Flickr account … and, oh yeah, I should probably give my folks a call to let them know I'm still alive. I'll write more in the next couple days.
Keep an eye or two open for the updates.
I know that’s not exactly what yours looks like, but that really is a beautiful looking board. Glad to see you’re alive and swimming, so to speak.
Niiicce!
Be sure to work the rails on the single fin. Turning can be a bit of a problem if you are anxious about burying the rail.
Be safe. All the best.