GRAYMAN Sun Dec 18, 2011 4:27 am
Yeah that was brilliant!
I love that stretch of coast. You have Whitsand which isn't really anything special but you can always find a wave to yourself. When the swell is a bit bigger it opens up a few other spots with good quality reef waves. Some proper diversity with open-minded locals riding a variety of craft. There's a guy who rides paipos around there who seemed stoked on the mats during our chat on the roadside at Seaton. I've seen him out at the spot we surfers today before and he is well in tune with his board.
As Surfmatt says, other locals are friendly. Always out there. We bumped in to an Irish guy with a Mini Sim who was really interested and keen to get a mat.
The final character was a fella I've seen out around that area and at Salthouse before, who rides the most beaten up cheapo bodyboard you've ever seen. It's way too small for him too. He's only seen me kneeboarding and was confused by the mats. He churned out a seemingly endless stream of "jokes" about the bloke on ad with his inflatable croc, etc. All good natured... kinda...
The funny thing is, he rides his sponge with both hands on the front corners, rolls onto his rails and keeps a flat profile. He also kicks into waves and is more into gliding speed runs than tricks. Essentially, he uses mat surfing techniques on a bodyboard and does pretty well. A mat surfer who doesn't know he is and actually sneers at the idea of riding one. Such a shame. You want to say "you're missing out on a massive opportunity" but he was utterly blind to the idea that prone riding could be done seriously on anything other than a mass-produced lump of styrofoam.
A real shame...
Anyway, his loss cause Surfmatt and I had a BLAST! Utter stoke session in 3-4 foot surf, lighter than expected offshores with the sun glistening off the beautiful brown water... Nice shade of brown though.
Cheers
G