John Ballinger
Surf Logs
fat sat sesh
big fat waves with Troy and Duncan. drove down for the day and back again.
got a new ph dhd sweet spot.
surf comp #4
another 4th but caught a huge left that i was real happy with.
then a free surf afterwards. but nearly got taken out by Duncan and then fished a wave with the board somewhere near the face but hit hand. time to call it a day!
3-4 foot
not bad. the waves died off on high tide with not enough push to get the short board going. a few long boards out.
Fun mellows - tested the Hot Potato
Surfed with @BongBongFurgo for a few hours and tried his hot potato FW. 41.44L, 5'8", that was a lot of fun, worked well.
Lots of paddling as the water moved out to the points, saw @rich in the waves within the first 2 minutes!
OH! Best thing ever, Feargus - bought a 10L water bottle but it was filled with boiling water when we left. Once we got back we washed off with still hot water for his container! That was just magic.
Waihi Beach Boardriders surf comp #3
Another fantastic day at WBB. About 2-4º overnight – so the air temps were very chilly. Water was still 17º and the conditions were pretty good at 1.4m and nice sets rolling through.
I joined the final and come in 5th place to the best surfers at WB, but managed to catch a couple. But struggled to link a turn or two in the softer waves. But I will get there one day!
Chuffed with my wave count and managed to work pretty hard to get around, that's one of the harder things I find in comp is going hard for 20mins
It magically just glassed up
It was so magic once it glassed up. Lots of waves for all the locals out. Was so much fun with several big lefts
Lots of big fat waves
Black diamond was so good on all waves, easy to get into and great down the line, super happy with it.
strong offshore
Strong offshore, but waves were sitting up nicely for some neat rides.
Easy to get out and duck dive, lots of peaks. so much fun.
Anderson and DHD
Some big waves rolling through, mucked one up when my front foot just slipped off the board completely. darn.
Still some size out there, needed to take the rip a few times. How a go of the electric feel, but it was hard to keep it smooth and I was a bit too twitch on it. Need to practice drawing out my turns.
pretty inconsistent
Still hoping for better waves, offshore picked up again, best surf was before 9. Lots of rain later on.
Favorite Boards
Quiver
Reviews
DHD Surfboards Black Diamond EPS
Riding this as a thruster, board rides great, super fast, catches waves without effort, I do find I need to keep on the nose to keep the speed. I've moved down from a 7', twin pin and my surfing ability has massively improved on this board.
Firewire surfboards Seaside
I'm riding this with the Rob Machado's quad fin set with smaller rear fins. Can't say I love this board, I find there is just too much volume up the nose. I struggle to get it settled, and locked in. Plenty of drive when I have got the board going. It would be cool to drop down a few litres to see what a lower volume board would ride like?
Anderson Surfboards ELECTRIC FEEL
This is the first board I went to after my 9'6" Keyo longboard. I still love this board, I ride it as a twin fin (I prefer larger more upright fins vs longer keel fins). So forgiving on the popup and foot placement. Has AMAZING straight-line speed and pumps so well. At 7' you don't get shortboard turns, but this board is amazing is 1-2' small Waihi Beach waves, to 2m massive swells. I'm 100kg and can duck dive it well enough in bigger swells. For bigger days, I'm riding a 44l DHD black Diamond. That board goes really well. Great progression for me.
Pyzel Surfboards The White Tiger
Surfed this once for a short session, just loved it. It was the board of the local surf instructor (we're both big boys). Super easy to catch waves, good drive and just got up and went. I just clicked with this shape and thruster. I bought a DHD Black Diamond 6'6 – 44L after riding this. I felt this board was a little too floaty, but you could ride this size and catch lots of waves!
Keyo International J Ride
LOVE LOVE LOVE this board. It's the first real surfboard I bought, and I dropped about $2.7k all up for fins and bag. But since then I've leant to surf on it, paddle out in massive waves when everyone else was on short boards and caught some monster waves. Rode it just a few days ago in little knee high waves and it was just so much fun. Lots of hang 5s and fun waves. Loaned it to a friend and they both loved it. I owned another longboard but I just didn't gel with it, compared to the Keyo. Jack Tyro rides Keyo - https://www.instagram.com/jack.tyro/
Firewire surfboards Sweet Potato
had several test waves on this board and it is a great groveller with lots of drive. got up and going from the very first wave. great board.