Did the 800m stroll down the beach for a bit of flat water exercise last night and this morning.
The walk down is effortless. Got to love a light board.
Paddling 9' board into 8-15 knot bay wind slop is doable but not a huge amount of fun. It's a bit like paddling an 11-12 into a 15-20 knot wind. I didn't fall off last night but had a few falls this morning. All good practise for dealing with cross-chop in wind-blown surf.
Paddling in the protected water inside the reef at Ricketts was easy and a bit fun.
Managed to catch a swell as it passed over a sand bar and get a little bay surf action.
Finished with a leisurely stroll back home.
So, I am a happy customer.
- I've got an 8'11" x 30" x 4" board that weighs less than 6kg.
- I have ridden it in 1 to 4' waves and it works fine for that. (It's almost an automatic reaction to step to the nose.)
- It paddles over 3' broken waves as though they were not there.
- It fits easily into my car and I can slide it in and out of the garage overhead board rack with ease.
- I can stroll effortlessly down to the local beach with the board tucked under my arm.
- It paddles ok in smooth flat water for a bit of summer fun and is doable for a bit of exercise in the rough if there's nothing else to do.
- I've bashed it a few times with the paddle and there are some black scuff marks on the board but no damage to the board at all.
- It's plain white pro-finish (no gloss) so it will be dead easy to repair if there are any dings.
- It has no deck pad and grip with booties is more than good enough so there's no need for that.
