Here they come! The foamies (or sponges, if you prefer). Lined up like little soldiers at Costco, now in various sizes and colors.
Summer surfing in Santa Cruz can be a ton of fun albeit with hazards: newbies on their foamies and/or aggro surfers who just can’t stand the newbies in the line up.
However, as of the past year or so, there seems to be more foamies in the line up and guess who’s surfing them? Some of the reallllly good surfers at Pleasure Point. Seriously. A good friend of mine has gone as far to say that she’s going to ask her shaper to make her a board modeled after her 8′ Costco board. I think she’s kidding but she actually has a lot of fun on her Costco board. Here’s why and perhaps the reason we’re starting to see more veterans leave their precious glass boards at home:
- no worries about getting a ding
- relatively no worries about hurting anyone if you run into them (again, those summer crowds can be brutal)
- lightweight so easy to carry (a nice benefit after a marathon session in the hot sun)
- super floaty so easy to paddle and catch waves (helpful when you’re battling it out with the crowds)
- inexpensive so more palatable to just go buy a new one when it gets waterlogged
So, you may want to go to the dark side and check these boards out. I have yet to add one to my quiver but never say never! 2013 may be the year as I’ve been eyeballing the foamie Fish!
Side note: my husband saw a similar photo on http://santacruzboardbuildersguild.blogspot.com and that inspired me to write this post.
Heidi Nilsen 