TS Franklin is projected to pass between Bermuda and the east coast this coming week. When it nears New England, Franklin is expected be class 1 or 2 hurricane. Swells will reach into Mass Bay Tuesday to Thursday. RI will see swells sooner.
A storm front pass through yesterday and offshore early this AM. Got in a good dawn patrol practice session on 2.5-3’ waves in the 10-11 second range. Light diagonal off-shore breeze cleanen up the waves beautifully.
Mahalo!
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This morning’s smallish waves were perfect for the longer surf crafts, like my Cobra ReVision and several of the SUPs out there. Tomorrow have to get in some seat time and rolling practice in with the waveski. Franklin is coming.
Mahalo!
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Franklin Update
Enjoy, carefully.
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Just another beach day, with pulses of 2-2.5’ medium period waves continuing to roll in.
Pretty much laid back riding with the Revision. Going nicely until going for a roll and my thigh strap just let go. What the heck!?! Yup a busted plastic padeye. I dont trust those things for good reason.
Gurss better today than a bigger wave day…
Mahalo!
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Initial Franklin swells are showing. Registering 6’ @13 seconds at the Buzzards Bay/RI buoys. Only 2’ @ 13 seconds on the Boston buoy. I think Cape might end up blocking the bigger swells from reaching too far into MassBay. Still should get some decent swells into the local Boston area breaks in the next couple of days. Will go out after astronomical high tide at 1140 AM to see what’s out there in person.
Stay/play safe, NE surfers/paddlers!
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Had fun waves yesterday. Small range at 2’ plus but true groundswell stuff with a intervals of 13 seconds and some zippy energy. Boston buoy is registering waves with 14-15 second intervals this AM. Unfortunately, also some side shore wind, unlike yesterday’s offshore, clean up wind.
Astronomical low tide now. Heading out in another couple of hours for the fourth surf session of this week.
Mahalo!
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The padeyes were the bad part of Cobra strike. You can easily fix them with pop rivets but it leaves part of the old pop rivet inside the hull, not a problem if you have a hatch. Hatches are not great for surf SOTS because of leaking when you really get beat down. So I have about two dozen pop rivets inside my sons’s Cobra strike; I used to take them out with forceps through the drain plug but I don’t bother anymore.
I have say that I have a bit of unease now that I experienced the plastic padeye breaking on me in the middle of a roll. I like the ReVision quite a bit and am especially looking forward to using it to surf the local offshore reef (where I have the waves to me myself, or sharing with just another local surfer at most) even on the most crowded day on the shore break. But, now that I have cause for unease, it’s not a good idea to take that with me to the offshore break.
I agree with you, but for me it’s a question of the unease with the reliability of a plastic padeye to hold for my thighstraps, or just accepting some leakage with Beckson (or similar) deck plate hatches. So, I went ahead with ordering two 6" hatches. These will allow me to get in the bow and stern to install metal D loop that will be held by stainless bolts/nuts rather than aluminum rivets.
I want to play hard and be relatively assured that my thighstraps and fittings won’t fail me at a crucial moment.
PS. The Franklin groundswells are getting blown out by a strong sideshore (north wind) today in the 12-15 knot range. Hoping for better quality waves and conditions for a dawn patrol tomorrow.
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I suspect you can put some flotation ( pool noodles, whitewater airbag?) in the revision to give some extra safety if one of the hatches blow. Several years ago Jenn Kleck’s store had stainless steel padeyes, they worked well but tend to pull the rivets through the plastic. I found that I usually only break the paddeyes closest to my hips, so you may not need to replace all of them with loops and screws.
Our hurricane surf was a bust for me, I had to spend all of my time when the pre-storm surf was arriving fastening everything down at my house. We got about 4" of rain, which the design of streets and drainage systems here were not made to handle. All of that run-off made a real nasty brew at the beaches for several days. Just when it was time to go back in the water I caught somekind of very nasty virus, maybe the new stealth Covid I don’t know. I spent a few days with 102 fever and sleeping most of the time. Hoping to get back on the water this evening for an SUP paddle.
Hope you are fully recovered and able to get out on the water!
We’ve been getting a lot of rain in the northeast. My usual rocky homebreak is just south of a beach that has been closed a lot this summer. But, because of shut down and renovation of the Sumner (Harbor) tunnel to get to the north shore, I have been skipping the homebreak and the attendent traffic jams in favor of a south shore break. The south shore break faces the open ocean and has not shut down at all this summer. It takes about 10 minutes longer to get to. It’s a beach break and not a point/reef break. Still it’s been enjoyable, except one has to get there really early or the street and parking lots get fulled by 9-10 AM, and sooner on the weekends.
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Spent several hours last night and this morning installing the hatch plates and D loops, using stainless steel bolts, nuts and washers. Going out to test this AM.
I am so BUMMED!!! My favorite blue composite Seda helmet is missing. Might have left it at the break a couple days again. Hopefully it is still be lying around. Had that for 15 years, since I retired my previous favorite pink helmet… 
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Glad I made the changes. My roll with the ReVision was 50/50 previously because the thighstraps didn’t hold me in well. With the D loops installed 1" farther down on the sidewall than the original padeyes, the thighstrips are now holding across my legs farther below the knees. So, with the proper tension, my legs are locked in against the cockpit walls. Bottom line - no blown rolls yesterday! 
Had an 1.5 hour session in some steep, crazy waves in the 3.5-4’ range. These were a combination of underlying 13 second groundswells from Franklin, overlaid with shorter period swells, ~ 8 seconds, from a local front that passed offshore. When the groundswells and the wind waves came together, the resulting combination was these steeper and higher pitch breaking waves. Had my Go Pro with me but no video beyond the paddle out. Evidently, a breaking wave flatten my Gro Pro down on the deck. Oh well. More important, the hatches didn’t seem to have leakage, or much of it. I had a cup worth of water inside the hull after the session. This was slightly less than what I have experienced previously. Even without the hatches, I got some leakage. It had to be water seeping in through the stressed/failing padeyes.
Mahalo!
PS - Measure (check) twice (or more) before cutting a hole into your hull. I initially drew a larger diameter hole that needed for the hatch. That would have sucked if I didn’t catch it.
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Back to waveski fun this AM…
After surfing several weeks straight (to “learn”) the 50 lb Cobra ReVision, can really appreciate the difference surfing with a shorter 20 lb waveski. First off, it was astronomical low tide (-1.4’) this AM. Appreciated not having to lug 50 lbs the 150 yard plus to the water’s edge. And, once on the wave, I felt the rush of being able to cut back and forth in front of the wave pocket like the short boarders.
Speaking of “boardies”, I was appreciative of the the double amputee surfer I ended sharing a sand bar peak with. I had seen him in the distance catching a long ride. Thought it was kayaker at first because i didn’t see anyone standing up on the board. When I got closer i noticed it was a prone surfer (a “body boarder” as he were) on a paddle board. I noted the things sticking up in front of him were to water bottles in bike bottle cages attached to the deck. I then noticed he had no legs below his knees. We share some of the waves. I noticed that he used his arms to paddle and steer his board whereas a body boarder would be using legs and swim fins. He was doing fine. In a lull, i asked how he handles a capsize. He said, I just swim and climb back. And, so he did as saw him capsize at one point. Props and respect to that fellow surfer!
Mahalo!
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It’s been a lot of fun surf on the east coast this summer. Lemons and lemonade:
https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/franklin-idalia-love-story/186443
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