Al Merrick / Channel Islands Demo at El Porto

Today Channel Islands had their demo day at El Porto, so B & I sauntered down to check it out. One thing I love about living at El Porto: not having to plan a surf. As I was saying, we went down to check it out. Here is the CI van that they were working out of:

I tried the Biscuit, measurements: 5'4" x 19 7/8' x 2 3/4" (orange).

CI's description:

" A short and stubby try-fin: the biscuit design was developed with Rob Machado. Like Rob, the Biscuit rides free and easy in the smallest surf and catches waves like boards a foot longer... Everyone should ride this board at least twice."

B tried the Pod, measurements 5'10" x 20 1/4" x 2 1/2" (maroon).

" A requirement in Dane's and Kelly's board bags, the Pod is built to fly, it will position itself into the smallest ramp and allow for a technical launch. Deep concaves with a foiled nose and a swallow tail keep the Pod lively and maintains its high performance. The "snub" nose puts volume forward, allowing for maximum planing and wave catching."

Frankly, I was a way bigger fan of the Pod. It's not like I am doing any of the cool things CI suggests you do with the Pod, but a girl can dream, right? They were both fun boards, but the Biscuit is just so far off from what I normally ride that I'm not sure I can hang. And honestly, I had a really hard time throwing turns on it without losing all my momentum and sinking. The Pod is super fast and really easy to whip around all quickly. They weren't kidding when they said it would fly. If I were to get one (again, a girl can dream) I would go for something way smaller than a 5'10" but it was still really fun to ride.

Also on the plus side: it was a really nice day. Didn't even start out cloudy like it usually does. Look: the rando with the funboard can attest to that.

Ran into a homie from my Santa Cruz days in the lineup. He happens to live down the street.

Finally, I am shamelessly going to post one of my crappy surf pics. My subject will remain anonymous as they will be chapped if they find this. To his/her defense, it is really hard to motivate to take pictures at the beginning of a session. Everyone is too pumped to willingly give up waves and sit on the beach. And on Saturday in LA County, trying to take pics from the water is just ridiculous. Nevertheless, I present to you crappy surf photo # 2000.