A ray’s sting is caused by a sharp barb on the tail that transmits a venom into the victim.  The feeling and pain are somewhat similar to a bee sting.  The venom causes a pain, which is most intense 30-90 minutes after the sting, that ebbs and flows for a few hours.  Cuts, swelling and [...]

After Mike did his series of experiments to clean his wetsuit, we got to talking a bit about how better to dry our suits to prevent stink.  The things that we figured factored into a better drying situation was warm air, dry air and air circulation.  Warm and dry air are mostly up to where [...]

Wetsuits, by their very nature, are nearly a perfect creation for growing stinky bacteria. As your mom and biology teacher always told you, bacteria love damp, dark, warm environments. It takes quite a bit of maintenance to habitually rinse and hang your wetsuit to dry, leading most regular surfers to have wetsuits that smell only [...]

Installing a tail pad to your board is actually pretty easy. But the first time I ever did it, I had to ask, so I thought I’d pass on some tips just in case you might be thinking about doing this, but were hesitant to ask. (Click any images to enlarge.) Get Tail Pad – [...]

My quiver grew to a half dozen this summer and storage was becoming scarce. All the nooks, crannies and corners were spoken for and by August I was actually storing a board or two in the car. It was time to finally build a permanent spot for the boards. I searched all over the Internet [...]

Since we were talking about how to duck dive earlier today, seems like we should also cover the turtle roll.  (Turtle roll is also called an Eskimo roll.  Thanks, Mike!) When the board is too big or too buoyant to duck dive, the turtle roll is a decent alternative (and a bit easier to pull [...]

Oh, the duck dive, the ellusive skill to gettting out to the line up.  The goal of a duck dive it to get under the cycle of the wave.  The concept is pretty simple, but it usually take some practice to master.  First off, this technique really only works for shorter boards.  The more buoyant [...]

Ever wanted to try your hand at building your own surfboard?  It actually not too hard.  All you need is the will and a few materials to get going.  (Granted, building a good surfboard is up to you.)  Foam E-Z, owned by Brad Nadell, is a one-stop surfboard supply shop in Westminster, CA.  (You can [...]

Shortly after I got Kruisechev, I had finished a ride, and was getting ready to paddle back out when a rogue wave came through and knocked everyone off their boards.  While I was inside the washing machine my board hit the ocean floor and my fin snapped off.  I was never able to find it.  [...]

A recent trip to Sunset Blvd I had a mishap in a wave and I got tangled up with my bro Josh. Kruise-chev (my long board with a very troubled past)  was left with another huge ding.  I picked up a Ding All Super Kit so I could do the necessary repairs at home.  I [...]