Probably got a bit misty checking out the footage Dogman posted up a while ago on the big board and probably had a good think about how I got started as per the recent thread. Also think that in the past I have come off as anti longboard. Not so. Anybody who has been doing this for more than three or four years must have started on longboard style SUPs. Don't think I have ever had so much fun, stoked like a grommet, learning how to drop knee and cross step and appreciate the glide that only a big board offers. Anyway four years in and my last big board disappeared over eighteen months ago. Last summer there was no surfing with the kids at the frontos groyne, no family paddles on the Barwon and the Missus was not happy about the eight/two custom that she couldn't paddle.
Dug up some old footage that goes some way to illustrating the stoke of the big board. First section is the first SUP I owned, a ten something beast shaped by Ant Stevens, heavy as all f...k but jeez it could glide. Then the Bonga, much maligned but in retrospect not that bad. The micro waves at the end is all about hanging out with the kids and learning, soaking it all up. Cant replace a shorty in good waves but I wanna do it again, I need a longer board. Hope you enjoy my little blast from the past.
Footage by Wesso and it doesnt even pretend to be HD
Cheers
Sparx