hi Chip and everyone,
i have been debating about wether or not i should write anything
because i don’t have much to report in regards to how the Firewire rode.
i finally decided to just write what i could…
i was the one who snapped the board.
i was super excited to try this board that i had heard/read so much about.
i told the Firewire rep, Chuy (spelling?), that my normal board was a 6’2" x 19"
and he hooked me up with a 6’2" x 18 3/4". the board felt really good under my
arm. light but solid. the finish on the board was better than 99% of the boards
that you see on the racks at any given surf shop. super clean.
the surf was epic for ocean beach. it was over head to 2x overhead on the sets,
offshore breeze, warm air and water, and most waves were barreling! WOO HOO!
actually, the first view i got when i came around the south end on Hwy 1 was of
an overhead set wave peaking and then it barreled and spat both ways. driving
up the beach towards Wise, i saw a guy walking with a longboard (mal for you
guys and gals down under) snapped in half.
after i checked the board out i quickly crossed Hwy1 and jogged across the beach to
paddle out. my photographer (fiance’) followed me and was setting up on the beach.
the thing paddled nice! and duck dove great. it seemed to have a lot more glide than
i was used to with my normal shortboard. it felt like i got more for every paddle than
i usually do.
the waves were really clean and you could line one up from way outside. the board
easily caught the first wave that i paddled for. an overhead barrel that was too fast
for me. the board made the drop really smoothly and continued smooth while i straightened
out into the flats and then ducked back under the white water.
5 or 10 minutes later, i was able to line up another one, this one a little bigger than the last.
i felt like i was a little too far from the peak but the Firewire just paddled so good!
as the wave jacked, i realized that it would be a late drop. kinda iffy. not wanting to
risk breaking the board, i pushed it to the side and dove down the face. i got pinned to
the bottom for a second and then was able to push off and come to the top. i pulled
the leash in and could not believe my eyes. i only had about a foot and a half of the
Firewire. i was so bummed. i felt horrible.
i know i didn’t land on the board so all i can figure is that it got stuck in the lip and
snapped at the bottom. walking back to the Firewire demo area, i felt like such a kook.
when i got closer, i realized one of the guys was clapping! i apologized over and over.
they were really cool about it and reasured me that everything was ok. they told me
that that was what demo boards were for. they just wanted to know how it had happened.
Chuy told me that he knew it was bound to happen given the surf and that he had
seen at least 4 other people with snapped boards that day.
so, for what it’s worth, for the maybe 3 seconds that i rode the board, it felt really
smooth. also, it paddled much better than most other standard shortboards that i have
ridden. i don’t think that much can be drawn from the fact that the board snapped.
the surf was pretty heavy. i have a few pix of waves from that day and 2 pix of the
snapped Firewire if anybody is interested. the Firewire rep said that they would be
having more demos coming up. i suggested to him that he put a post on Swaylocks when
they do and that there would be a bunch of people who would be interested in trying
one out.
i would still love to try one out. i’m really interested in the parabolic stringers. i really
want to just pump one down the line and see how it feels.
-Chris
But I’ll probably surf first…today & yesterday were just gorgeous.