.....meanwhile .....(mat riding photos)

…‘Sandgroper’ , the mat man , cometh !

enjoy !

[see if you can spot in which photos the mat is being ridden ‘upside down’ ?!]

colour co-ordinated rashie and mat …

cheers

ben

[hopefully , Saturday ‘may’ deliver some waves and offshores early , too …according to the forecast , so far , anyway]

oh , by the way …

we saw a pod of at LEAST four dolphins , as we were getting ready to leave

those are the first pics i’ve seen of a redback being ridden. sweet little waves. what kinda fins were those?

this Sandgroper - is he a regular mat rider?

hi mate !

big diving fins [‘TUSA’ , by name]

no , this was his second time ever on his mat

cheers

ben

It’s always overhead when you’re lying down! Nice pics! Gotta love that duck walk wearing flippers.

haha yeah !

‘sandy’ [ian] even got a couple of shots of me …

[ thanks , eno ! ]

ben

Great photos!

biggest YEEEEEEEEEEW ever!

Fun pics! My wife pointed out you guys are using almost full inflation in your mats- why? Also why ride bodyboard style on a mat?

“My wife pointed out you guys are using almost full inflation in your mats- why? Also why ride bodyboard style on a mat?”

… well, thankfully , your wife knows more than we do !

like sergeant shultz ,

we " know nothing … NOTHING " ! [and it’s actually fun , going back to being a 10yo grom again !]

cheers

ben

[I also got a shot of pascal [popeye] with / on his mal , too , this morning . Hopefully next time he can talk natalie [his wife] into videoing while she is on the beach …just got to work out where to put their daughter while she does , I guess ?]

" My wife pointed out you guys are using almost full inflation in your mats- why? Also why ride bodyboard style on a mat?"

well, around here , we say "though a good mat is hard to find , a HARD MAt is even better to find "

“Go hard or go home” Peta

Chipper,

Love your work - on a recent trip up North Coast NSW, I also sucummed to buying one of these mats due to flat conditions. It’s amazing how much fun you can have on a near flat day!

Good value for $30 but the only thing I don’t like with em is the crappy rubber handles - I know why it was being ridden upside down in one of the pics :slight_smile:

-Cam

Hi Chip!

Keep those pictures comin’, i love 'm!! Very inspiring to see how stoked you guys are :slight_smile:

I use the same fins as Sandgroper when paipo-boarding and matsurfing. They’re so big they give lift themselves when you pick up speed!

I know bottom of the pecker order (beneath boogers and less than experienced mat riders)

BTW my wife never complains about it being fully inflated :wink:

Quote:

Fun pics! My wife pointed out you guys are using almost full inflation in your mats- why? Also why ride bodyboard style on a mat?

Very fine stuff Ben- especially the 'groper in his dive fins- maybe I should give mine a try- makes that paddle into the wave a bit easier! At risk of having Mr. Bloke demand gps readings, it looked like you were flying the shot of you riding.

I want one. Where could I get one for cheap in the U.S.

Sir WAL,

I got mine from a place called Quality Trading here in CA- they had 3 sizes and were about $15 each I think- qualitytrading.com and you’re away. I think I found them from an Ambrose post so thanks Ambrose. Of course if you’re flush you can get a Dale mat, worth every penny I’m told. (Maybe this summer…)

hahahah

reminds me of Pascal [‘popeye’]

“hey mate , you want a go on this ?” [he was riding his mal , while i was on this mat…

“no thanks ben”

next day ,

Ian gets a good wave on his mat , right in of him…

“so …WHERE do you buy these from , Ian ?”

lol etc

…thanks , Kirk ! [yeah , nice shot by Ian , eh ? ]

yep, mats ARE FUN …even if , as Ian said , we are on the bottom of the pecker order [in booger’s eyes , at least [?!] hahahah … well, say no more !]

ben

…ride it however you like …

There are all sorts of mass-produced inflatables that are very inexpensive and can be used for riding waves:

http://www.scuba.com/shop/product.asp?category=49&fromsearch=1&hashvalue=030485

http://www.waveblasters.com/surfridermats.html

http://www.landandsea.com.au/Home_page/catalogue.html

http://www.seaeagle.com/accessories/static/Surf_Mat.asp

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:PCcYyel3XSsJ:www.tikisurf.co.uk/tikihardware.asp%3Fsubcategory%3DSurf%2520Mat+surf+mats+&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=7"]http://66.102.7.104/…amp;ct=clnk&cd=7

http://www.scuba.com/shop/display.asp_id_032275

http://www.poolcenter.com/images/POOLTOYS_bi_ali84_alligator.jpg

Old mat surfing threads with info and pics:

http://www.16streets.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1009

http://www.2ndlight.com/forum42ndlight/messageview.cfm?catid=3&threadid=47479&FTVAR_MSGDBTABLE=

http://www.2ndlight.com/forum42ndlight/messageview.cfm?catid=3&threadid=24848&FTVAR_MSGDBTABLE=

http://magicseaweed.com/surftalk/viewtopic.php?t=1699&highlight="]http://magicseaweed.com/…=1699&highlight=

Dale - of all those cheapy starter mats which do you think is the best?

I’d like to know too. Specifically, I want to know if I should spend $7.95 for this one:

http://www.waveblasters.com/surfridermats.html

Or $32.95 for this other one:

http://www.scuba.com/shop/product.asp?category=49&fromsearch=1&hashvalue=030485

Thanks!