John Ballinger
Surf Logs
lumpy, dumpy, pumpy
pretty lumpy and quite dumpy. but still some size left - so lumpy. hard to make turns without the rail bogging.
surfed with jt and jk.
big lefts
Big lefts off the point, lots of power. Tricky to find where they were breaking today. Either that, I was just unlucky or exhausted from yesterday.
last of TAM 🌊
soo much fun. big lefts.
big sweeping cut backs - went so well bombing waves off the point. a little busy but no so bad. Zac nearly caught the wave of the year with a massive wave off the point but couldn’t make it through, no matter how much he was pumping to make it.
pumping
decent sized lefts and rights rolling through. def needed a little paddle power to get in but was lots of fun
EPIC - about 22 people out. Heaps of waves on offer
Caught one massive bomb, and rode it to the beach, did a big beautiful wide arc cut back, back into the section, twice! So happy. Board went really well on that .
Caught another big wave, peeled perfectly and started pumping, and ripping along wave, then front foot came off – big face plant at speed. Actually hurt my face.
Lots of water moving rip working well, but then it was a river and a few times I didnt make it out. Hard work at the end of the day. Exhausted.
Then had a 6pm sauna!
Soo painful - hard to catch waves, wind
Quite crowded, hard to get on a good wave, lots of good surfers out. I really struggled to get into anything good. Lots of duck diving
onshore average
out with kaden and josh.
onshore made it a pain to paddle out.
the day after the storm
still lots of wind and messy waves. caught a sweet wave with the worlds worst belly flop pop up. but got there in the end.
super hard paddle to get out. shoulders are shagged.
Pumping Mess
Some interesting sets coming through, pretty short period, but got a few nice lefts and rights. Did better pumping on my backhand today.
Shark was hanging out
Had to wait for the shark to leave. Did a drone check and couldn't find it anymore. Whole of Waihi came out to see if they could pick up a few bombs. Caught one super epic wave that Duncan nearly dropped in on me. Luckily I'm the second loudest at WB.
Fished off the session with the 6pm sauna with Mon... Not a bad night.
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/