[Paddlewise] GD for GP

10/11 4:45

It was a great day for surfing with Greenland paddles at San O today. For a
while anyway.
The forecast earlier in the week looked pretty weak, but something stirred
up the pot. Waves were big and plentiful and of a nice spilling nature that
held promise for us sissy surfers.

My last stop at San O was not a big confidence booster, but with my rolling
practice lately, I felt pretty good and surfed with my GP for the first
time. Bracing in the waves seemed a little different, but it didn't take
long to get the hang of it and my first ride was great. Duane was testing
out the brand new surf GP that he made and it seemed to work great.

The outside waves were pretty big, so we mostly avoided them, but their
first reformation gave great rides. Even those waves would reform quick
enough that I could keep in to extend my rides close into shore. I took my
time between waves, but there were enough rolling through that you never had
to wait long. The rides I had today were better than anything I've had
before. Even the smaller waves had good shape to give you a ride.

I had planned to have Duane stand buy and let me try rolling the Delfin with
the GP, but we were having too much fun catching waves. The side current
kept us apart and moving south. I was a little late for a wave heading in so
I poured on the speed to catch up; I heard a crack and found myself the
proud owner of two new Greenland canoe paddles! I paddled to shore a bit
worried of the jagged wood sticking out of my paddle half. The paddle in was
pretty tough with dodging waves and the fact that two strokes on one side of
the boat spins you heading out to sea again. But I made it to shore upright
and was glad for a short breather while I fetched a new paddle from my
sorely dwindling supply.

The last paddle I broke was an aluminum shafted rec boat paddle and I had
just cut off the jagged end and stuck the two pieces back together. As it
was used on my double and must be 13 feet long, chopping off a few inches
didn't seem to make a big difference. I headed out again, but conditions had
become more gnarly. Getting out through the middle sets was tough and I
couldn't see Duane anywhere. I headed out far to get past the crunch zone of
the big waves hoping I see Duane, but I guess I was a little short of my
desired area. A big ol' wave started heading in and my only hope was to head
out before it smushed me. Duane said these outsiders were in the 6 foot
range and this one seemed at least that. I was paddling up the wave face,
but the crest hit me and sent me over backwards into the soup. I was on the
wrong side, but hung out to set up twice for a roll, but no success and
another wave was about to crash--time for adult lap swim! I was smart today
and brought a fin to help me swim in and that along with the wave energies
made this one of my better San O swims.

I was tired but not ready to call it a day, so I saddle up and hit the range
again. I found Duane this time and we both agreed the waves were gitting a
bit uppity! Still I got a couple good rides on the smaller sets and then we
both agreed the next ride would be to the beach. I missed my chance at a
couple nice sized wave and then found myself lined up with a big wave and
decided no guts--no glory! Glory will have to wait for another day, as I
again found myself wrenched from my boat. This time another big ol' wave
grabbed my boat and sent it on its way to shore, relieving me of the need to
help it along. What great timing--when I hit the shore, I was done for the
day!

We spent almost an hour on the beach enjoying the beautiful day talkin'
crazy kayak talk. It was a great day despite the loss of my hand carved
heirloom paddle. I was surprised after all my rolling practice with it that
it would break from the pressure of trying to speed into a wave. Also as it
cracked right at the shoulder where you'd think it would be the strongest.
With no GP, there seems no point for me to go to TAKS next week just to
endure the taunts and sneers of the skin boat crowd. I'm gonna glue my GP
together and lather it with Tung oil to adorn my wall of broken paddles. I
figure Patrick's old paddle gets lonely there by itself.

Mark Sanders
www.sandmarks.net
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