Finless surfing

After our last visit to the beach we decided to get an 'Albacore' finless surfboard - kind of a hybrid between a bodyboard and a surfboard

It was only in the 30's that fins were attached to surfboards. The original Hawaiian surfboards (called Alaias) were shaped from wood into this 'ironing board' shape with a channelled hull and no fins. There's been a bit of a resurgence in Alaia surfing in the last few years and that's trickled down to commercially available boards like the Albacore, which offer the finless experience to people who aren't prepared to shape their own board or who don't have the skill or strength to paddle in to waves on a traditional wooden version.

We took it to the beach yesterday, and although conditions were terrible we had a great time playing around in the surf. There was 25mph+ winds gusting up across 20 miles or so of beach

 

which meant that you were constantly being abraded by sand and made it impossible to get any shelter from the sun      

It also messed up the waves and turned the surf into a choppy unpredictable mess with a huge side rip and no real shape - apart from a few kitesurfers there was nobody out

Both of us have only had limited surfing experience - we have both been able to occasionally get to our feet on green (unbroken) waves but that was many years ago. So I think the Albacore is going to be a challenge to get the hang of - it's pretty buoyant for its size but you still need to time your paddling correctly, and once it catches a wave it's hard to keep it pointing in a straight line. But it's fun. In cleaner surf I think we'd both be able to get up, although turning it will be another matter. Because the board is short (5'6) it fits into both cars, and because it is soft skinned and finless we can muck around in any conditions without fear of being concussed by the board or cut up by the fins after a wipeout - something we've both experienced in the past. So although it may be harder to learn on and it certainly lacks the coolness factor of a custom board, or even a longboard, I think we'll be using it more frequently and that has to be a good thing. If I find myself getting the surfing bug again then I can look at more traditional boards but for now this is a great alternative.  

Most importantly - Happy New Year! Hope you have a great night, and have fun in 2013!