The Long and the Short of it!

I started surfing at the age of thirteen in 1970 at the Brighton swimming club based on the beach. From this spot there was an amazing collection of surfboards, paddleboards and surf life saving ski's.

My brother Adrian and I would have to carry the 10" plus logs down the beach to the surf with one at each end as they were too heavy for one grom to handle! Over the years we rode many boards and paddled all sorts of rescue ski's as well as developing our open water swimming skills. For some reason I always loved the longer boards and would always try to emulate the styles of the likes of Dora, Phil Edwards and Nat Young.

Some ten years ago now I started to SUP on my 12" Big Blue and shortly after a 10'4 Jimmy Lewis.

The groundwork, just like my surfing was starting on a longboard, learning to paddle through the surf, back step, paddle to turn and take off on the wave, riding, kicking out the end and repeating. For my short board I am currently riding a Starboard 8"5 full carbon Pocket Rocket which is amazing, I also have a 12" Big Easy for the smaller days.

I still love the glide of a bigger board, the slow motion effect, and the different ways you have to turn and cross step to the nose to keep the board in trim, simply put, I like to ride and paddle as many different size and shape boards as possible as this keeps me more of a well rounded surfer in the water.

My advise is don't shut yourself down to what can be ridden in the surf, just go out and enjoy "The Long and Short Of It!"

Embrace the Chop

"Embrace The Chop"

I remember when I first started to paddle a SUP and how difficult it was to deal with any sort of boat wake or choppy conditions. Admittedly I had already made my life more difficult by purchasing a 12 foot board that was 26' wide with loads of rocker and a vee all the way through the hull. In effect it is a 12' surfboard!!

This unknowingly would become the best training tool to really strengthen my core and whole body every time I took it out. Days and weeks passed and as I progressed my ability to cope with the chop became better and better. Around this period I was fortunate enough to spend some time with Laird Hamilton, he reinforced to me how important it was to spend as much time out on the ocean in as many different conditions as possible, obviously with safety always in mind.

I still have my old faithful "Big Blue" and on the choppiest and windiest days I will punch out through the surf to a marker 800 meters offshore, turn,  glide back to the shore and repeat as an interval workout.

My advice to all beginners is, "Embrace the Chop" and you will become stronger than you could ever imagine.

Me with Big Blue!

Hello from Ruby and Jock

Hello from us