Author Archive
Friday, January 13th, 2012
Flat Friday
Photo by Aaron and his spanking new GoAmateur
Surf: Flat! And when not flat: closed out! Also, chilly.
Today was one of those “take out the 7’0 and try to keep a good attitude about it” days. It’s one thing to tell myself “that was good paddling practice” or “well I did X better this time,” but it’s another to huck myself into shorebreak just to have something to do. Oh man.
The longest of long lulls with only closeout out waves. I got so much sand and water in my sinuses trying to will something into working. Aaron got a few and was able to test out his cam. I mistly splashed around trying to keep warm. Sheesh!
No Comments » - Posted in surfing by Tracey
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012
Isurus I-Evade: Durability Review
I get questions about my Isurus all the time. “Those guys are local, right?” “Yup, they’re local” “Is it warm?” “Very warm.” “Is it light?” “Very light.” “Yeah, but how well is it gonna hold up?” “I’ll let you know in a year.”
Now, almost a year later, I can tell you with some confidence how well it holds up.
The suit:
I-Evade 4-3-4, Hooded. Small-Tall.
Purchased:
Feb 2011
Worn:
About 110-120 sessions over the last year
Me:
5’10, 150lbs-ish, Female, Longboarder.
I surf:
2-4 times a week, mostly dawn patrols, mostly Linda Mar, occasionally Ocean Beach on small days. I typically surf knee to head high waves.
Care:
I rinse the suit off quickly at the showers or with a jug of fresh water. I roll into work and toss the suit over my surfboard on the roof rack to dry. It doesn’t get much sun. I rarely wash it properly with soap. It only spends a little bit of quality time in a ball in my backpack, the rest of the time it’s hanging up inside out.
Performance:
This suit is toasty. I rarely wear the hood. I am hardly ever cold. I went barefoot all summer and only switched back to boots in November. I’ve occasionally gotten chilly if I’m doing more waiting than surfing. It’s light, it’s flexible, it dries fast. It was tricky to get in and out of in the beginning, now it’s old hat. (The exception being putting it on while it’s sopping wet. More than one double session has begun with me swearing furiously in the parking lot.)
Note: For women thinking about buying an Isurus suit: even though it’s currently only available in men’s sizes, this suit fit me perfectly. They are coming out with a women’s line next fall if you’re willing to wait (or are smaller than their XS: 5’4, 125lbs.)
Durability:
The Good: Amazingly, my wrist and ankle cuffs look brand new. No tearing, no stretching. All of my chest and shoulder seams are watertight. My old RipCurl on its retirement had a half dozen holes along these seams, especially in the back. The plastic fasteners to tighten the hood and the chest are in great shape. I’ve heard other folks say theirs fell off right away. Mine are still attached. The hood itself is also in nearly new shape. Zipper works just fine. The overall quality of the neoprene is still good. Looks good, still stretchy, still warm.
The Busted: The very first thing to break was the little pocket for the key. The loop to attach the key is still there and working fine, but the pocket was ripped open by session 3. Not a big deal, but busted. After carefully checking all the seams for this review, (I’m a little embarrassed to say) I noticed 3 small holes along the seam in the butt/upper leg. These holes look like they might need a little patching. It’s minor, but definitely goes through (and explains why the last few mornings have been a little more brisk than usual.)
The Only Kinda Busted: Kneepads. As a longboarder, I don’t think a wetsuit company can make kneepads strong enough to handle the abuse of kneepaddling on a thickly glassed board. The wear is not terrible, but the pads are getting a little thin and at some point my knees will start to hurt. I replaced my RipCurl partially because it was in tatters at this level of use and partially because it was downright painful to surf in it. Shortboarders probably won’t have this problem.
The Cosmetic: The chevrons on my left arm have started to peel. Right arm is fine. I’ve heard this from more than one person. It seems the first arm you take off shows more wear and tear. I don’t think it effects performance. Some of the 3m neoprene has started getting little threads. I haven’t noticed any other change in the material. There’s a little bit of cracking in the tape around the zipper on the inside from pulling the suit on and off. The seam is still water tight.
The Reported: I didn’t experience this problem, but futuresparky had a few gouges in his neoprene: http://stokereport.com/rant/isurus-wetsuits?feature=_comment#comment-301…
Summary:
This suit is in solid shape after a year of less-than-delicate care. It’s still warm. It’s still flexible. With a little love, I’d say the suit has another 6-8 months worth of sessions before it’ll be time to retire it. When that time comes, I would be happy to replace this suit with another Isurus.
No Comments » - Posted in thinking about surfing by Tracey
Monday, January 9th, 2012
New Fin
Surf: Waist-Chest high. Little bit of texture. No winds.
Big moonrise and a big new fin for my 7’0. I had it set up as a quad, but was oversteering most of my waves. I thought I’d give a singlefin a go.
I didn’t notice too much of a difference. I’m still have trouble catching waves on this board. Thinking about fins might be getting ahead of myself for now.
No Comments » - Posted in surfing by Tracey
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
New Year – Santa Cruz
Photo by Chris
Surf: 4-6ft with some 7+ standouts. Soft. Little bit of texture. Little wind.
Oh MAN was that fun!
I caught a handful of big long waves and watched the sun come up from the water. The tide was high so we were sitting way outside to get into the big softies early instead of the steeper shorter inside waves. With the long lulls and the softness, it seemed like ages before I got my first wave.
That first one was a beeeeeaut tho. Dropping in all I could see was a wall of deep purple. Swooping up for my top turn, the orange gold peeked over the lip. It was quiet. Just me, the wind, and swooping turn after swooping turn. Amazing. The wave was well over my head. Maybe 7? 8?
I got a handful more waves like that, each one a little less purple and a little more gold as the sun came up.
I learned a group of cormorants is called a flight. Fun and educational surf. Superstoked!
No Comments » - Posted in surfing by Tracey
Monday, January 2nd, 2012
New Year – Pacifica
Surf: Small, crisp, and a little closed out.
Low tide desperado session. The water was so shallow you could walk halfway to the Farallons before getting your knees wet.
Nice to get wet. Nice to get a few little waves. Always good to be back in Cali.
Happy New Year!
No Comments » - Posted in surfing by Tracey
Friday, December 16th, 2011
Few waves before Indiana
Surf: Shoulder High, closed out.
Maybe I’ve been working too late, but I miss last winter’s sandbars. This morning was mostly closed out with some occasional waves. Long lulls and two solid rides, but mostly disorganized closeouts.
Found myself later in the day thinking about last year. Those two sandbars lined up SO well damn nearly every single day last winter. There have certainly been some fun days out there this year, but so far it hasn’t lived up to the glassy peeling chest-shoulder high glory I remember.
Maybe my nostalgia hoodie is on a little too tight?
I’m sure after two weeks in Indiana I’ll be happy just to be in the water. 
No Comments » - Posted in surfing by Tracey
Wednesday, December 14th, 2011
Ocean Beach Paddle
Surf: Start – Waist High, Finish – Head high. Clean, lully.
Yay, another mellow Ocean Beach day! Or at least a day that looked like it was going to be mellow…
Paddling out the waves were very mellow. Waist high sets would roll through with some frequency but the paddle was relatively easy. After a few waves, it was pretty evident that the size was increasing.
I’ve been pretty lucky my last few times out at Ocean Beach. I’ve been out on mellow days with low to no current and an easy paddle. Today was a bit harder. I had at least two paddles back to the lineup that must have taken at least 20-30 minutes. It may not seem like very long compared to the 45 minute paddles most folks do on bigger days, but on my longboard unable to duck dive it was a lot of punching, pushback, punching, paddling, pushback, etc etc.
I was really starting to appreciate those lulls. Whew.
I got some pretty dang fun waves today. Lots of big drops, long rides, and swooping turns. I got one big one on the outside that was quite a drop. There was a moment when I was screaming down the line that I realized all the shortboarders on the inside were looking at me with some very wide eyes. I’m sure it was a mix of “that girl on the longboard is going to run me over” and “I am about to take a pretty big wave on the head.” I hope I did everything right to not embarrass myself. I made my drop, I didn’t run anyone over, and I almost made it to the shoulder after a few tentative turns.
After a few more lovely waves, I decided to go for another big one. I was way too deep. I fell out of the air, attempted to still land, bit it, then went over the falls with my longboard. Oww. I managed to whack my forearm and my shin on the rail pretty good while swashing around, but hey, I didn’t “lose” my board I guess.
I paddled back out to shake it off before getting a super fun right all the way to the beach. Fun fun.
No Comments » - Posted in surfing by Tracey
Sunday, December 11th, 2011
Crumbly Sunday
Surf: Thigh-Waist+ and Crumbly. Very textured.
I wasn’t going to surf. I had plans to work, do laundry, and other rather dull things. As usual, a little bit of nudging got me out of the house and down to the beach.
Conditions were pretty much not great. Onshore winds, small crumbly waves, and lots and lots of disappointed shortboarders.
Luckily I have a lot of experience surfing junk. ;D
I got a handful of scrappy shoulders in. After one especially long ride doding section after section, another surfer paddled over to me and said “That last ride you got convinced me it was worth paddling back out for one more.”
Made me feel pretty warm and fuzzy on an otherwise cold and crummy surf day. Hopefully my wave didn’t lead the poor dude astray.
No Comments » - Posted in surfing by Tracey
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011
High Tide Logging at Ocean Beach
Surf: Waist-Chest High, smooth, and super mellow. 4′ @ 10s, NW.
I love mellow days at Ocean Beach. I get to surf with folks I don’t normally get to surf with and the change of scenery is nice.
With the high tide things were pretty soft. I had a few embarrassing moments paddling out and paddling for waves. I’m still huffing and puffing from being sick and I”m always nervous at Ocean Beach since I don’t normally surf there. After a few blown waves, I got into a much better groove.
Stoooooked. I got a few nice drops followed by long swooping rides. Beautiful morning too!
No Comments » - Posted in surfing by Tracey
Friday, December 2nd, 2011
Pink Sunrise
Surf: Low tide, low wind, little bit messy. WH-CH.
Nice sunrise and better than expected conditions given the tide and how lousy conditions had been lately. Still not that great. Lots of closeouts. I got a wave or two that counted 1) as a wave and 2) as fun. CAn’t beat that big pink sky tho. Wow!