Longboarding

I think I may be about to rejoin the longboard owning fraternity....I feel that I have been wooed by resin tints and  a cruisey image or enjoying smaller, fatter, summer waves.

 I once owned a progressive longboard that I actually couldn't catch waves on it was so thin, added to that it had  a fabric inlay of a spine with what appeared to be a tumour coming out of it....It didn't last long. The best thing about that board was, you could put it in the sand on a busy summers day and your friends would know where you were from miles around due to the orange glowing tumour...the worst thing was none of them came over as they didn't wanna be seen near the thing.

 Anyway for the last 3 weeks I have been out of the water with cracked ribs and spasmed muscles and bronchitus, its been a bit miserable and there's been a fair bit of swell missed. I have to be on my game to ride my fish physically on the slacker waves of England and that certainly hasn't been the case. My two thrusters have both been gathering dust as they simply don't budge in the mush burgers...and so I guess it's a natural selection thing.

 Over the weekend the guys at Gwithian Sunset Cafe the guys there kindly offered me free SUP lessons and rides on their various longboard demo boards which I didn't take up due to sore ribs and howling winds, but I did come to a few conclusions.

 SUPing may look fun but if it isn't calm then your at the hands of Neptune and its a hell of a lot of board to be swanning around line ups with. I still like the idea, just not yet.

 Every house should have a longboard in it regardless of personal tastes and since the mini mal was taken by those smack head bastards down the way, we have not got one any more.

I am not getting any younger and can  probably get more surfs in when my back isn't perfect, just as long as I stay clear of the G - spot steps.

 And so the interested in second hand and new surfboard bells chimed, the offers have been coming in thick and fast.
E bay had an interesting specimen mini mal bonzer by Mandala surfboards:

Although not really a longboard I constantly drool over the Mandala boards especially their rounded pin quads. I spoke to Tim Stafford in north Cornwall even though his boards didn't even nearly fit the desired profile I d'oth covert them so!


I'm even supposed to be meeting a guy in Plymouth to Paddle around on a 12ft plus SUP called the Big Easy, the name alone made me feel like a fiddler so I balk at that idea.

However a Science teacher from work drew out of his camper at 9ft 4 object of beauty called "The Don" by Nine Plus, I did have a sense of ...this could be the one.

The Official blurb reads:

'The Don' is the boss of all our surfboard models due to its overall size and beauty. However, its heavy persona is complemented by the soulful ease of the riding experience. It has a flat rocker, with plenty of volume throughout the centre of the board and a really soft, pinched rail right the way through to a 60/40 upturned tail rail.


 What a load of bollocks that isn't useful information it sounds like marketing on an air freshner, exactly why I have shunned longboarders.





And so the desired asking price for it is 300 pounds instead of the face value of a new one at a cool 600 quid......surely in this modern day and age its socially acceptable to own such a good looking thing!