AB3

Last Saturday was one of the coolest days ever. Tommy, Steve, Dan and I drove down to Seaside reef in San Diego for the "Anything But 3." AB3 is just a bunch of shapers showing up at the same beach and letting other people try out their new boards that aren't like the standard three fin thruster set up.

There must have been at least 100 boards one the beach of all kinds of shapes and sizes. I saw styrofoam twin fins, battail quads, a half quad half twin fin, bonzers, five fins, single fin eggs and so much more. I spent five hours surfing, switching from boards every few waves and I still didn't try all the boards that I wanted to ride.

I wasn't the only one either. There were little kids with their dads trying out quad fins and girls out trying to get something with a little bit more jump for the summer. The organizers made sure the word got out and they chose one of the best waves to do it on.

Seaside is a rivermouth/reef/beachie that has multiple sections and take off spots so it could handle all the people out there. There were a few times that people were burnt by someone, but the area was big enough that most people got enough waves to keep themselves cool. It didn't hurt that everyone was trying out new boards.

There were some hassles by the park rangers, because they said that the shapers needed a permit because it was an event to promote future sales. In a sense they were right, but not really. This event was more about seeing what other people were doing. I was talking to the shapers and all of them had been walking around checking out other guys boards and giving them a surf. I didn't hear many people talk about buying boards, everyone was talking about what board was the most fun, strangest looking, most surprising or the worst. It was cool to hear the comparisons between boards that I would never, ever have a chance to ride had I not gone to this event.