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Surfing California's Central Coast Watersby Charles Loe
As I get older, gain greater wisdom, and lose more hair (not necessarily a great trade off) it seems to me that time passes much too quickly and that I get cold much easier than I used to. I figure that soon I will be sitting around the house, the thermostat set at 85 degrees, wearing a sweater, wool cap, snowboarding pants, and, of course, some Ugg boots. Not a pretty picture. I haven't reached that point yet but I don't seem to have the same tolerance for cold as I used to. So when I paddled out for a surf later that morning, my razor sharp senses and blazing intellect got together and concluded that a new wetsuit would be a really good thing. You see, we like to call it "surfing," but in reality, much of the time it could easily be called "sitting" or else "paddling." We spend most of our time paddling through the surf, paddling to stay in the lineup if there is a lot of current, and sitting, waiting for the waves to arrive - ll in very cold water. So, here on the central coast a good wetsuit can conceivably be more important than your surfboard. You could have the best surfboard in the world, but if it is too cold to paddle out, it will stay in the car. Wetsuits, for anyone not familiar with them, work in several ways to keep your body from becoming chilled and losing core heat. First is the most obvious, in that wetsuits fit very tightly to your body, especially at the neck, wrists, and feet. This snug, tight fit prevents water from entering the suit and contacting your skin. But no wetsuit is entirely waterproof, hence the name "wetsuit." So, of course, some water gets into the suit but the little bit that does get in is then warmed by your own body heat. The thick neoprene rubber insulates by keeping heat in, minimizing skin contact with cold water, and by insulating the skin from the cooling effect of the wind. Wetsuits have improved tremendously since they were first introduced in the 1960's. Originally designed for use by commercial divers and, later, scuba enthusiasts, the early suits were heavy, stiff, and not very comfortable but a big improvement over being cold. Surfers started using some of these suits rather than the old "state of the art," which sometimes consisted of smearing Vaseline all over your body and donning a heavy wool sweater. Sorry, couldn't do it. Fortunately, I started surfing about the time the first wetsuits made for and by surfers started to be available. Jack O'Neill from the Santa Cruz area was one of the first manufacturers of wetsuits for surfing and pioneering many aspects of design which are still with us today. Where I grew up, Body Glove wetsuits for surfing were locally made and in all the surf shops. Wetsuits transformed the sport of surfing and made surfing possible, not only all year round, but opened up whole stretches of coastline that were previously considered too cold to be surfed at all. Before wetsuits, most surfers could stand the cold water only so long and then would have to go to the beach and warm up. Now they could stay out in the water for hours at a time and surf as long as their stamina allowed. Wetsuits these days are a far cry from the stiff, heavy, uncomfortable suits of the past. (Anyone remember the "beaver tail?" This was a heavy strip of rubber attached to the back of the suit which was pulled up between your legs and attached near your belly button. Pretty sure the Marquis de Sade invented that one.) Today's wetsuits are soft, pliable, and flexible and can be purchased with a myriad combination of design features and rubber thicknesses. One can choose thicker suits for colder water and thinner suits for warmer (but still cool) waters. Rubber hoods, gloves, booties, and lycra tops for added warmth are all available and can make even the coldest water comfortable enough to catch some waves in. Unfortunately, wetsuits, like all things, don't last forever and so I will be dropping Santa a little note with my measurements and wetsuit preference. With any luck (I've been good, honest!) I will be warm and toasty, catching waves on Christmas Day.
Until next time. Mele Kalikimaka
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