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Surf skating saved my life – 9 fantastic reasons revealed.
Surf skating didn’t actually save my life. That would suggest I was about to get ended. Which wasn’t (and isn’t) the case. Metaphorically speaking, however, it’s true. With board riding in mind, surf skating has increased the amount of scored sessions I can nab. As well as keeping me moving. I’m Tez Plavenieks and this is my surf skating story to date…
Surfskates & skateboards
Table of contents
It’s all about the session.
I love to ride (cheesy I know – sounds like a line out of a corny 80s teen surf movie). First surfing, dabbling with street skating back in the day, followed by windsurfing and SUP and now foil sports; it’s always been about getting time in the water under my belt. All these activities are 100% addictive and totally consuming. As any other surfer, windsurfer or watersports nut will also tell you.
But there’s a catch. Especially when you live in the UK. Unfortunately, as (again) any salt-licked individual will attest Mother Nature doesn’t always play ball. Mother Nature is fickle with the UK’s weather being anything but consistent. Even the weather bods – with all their meteorological tech – have a hard time getting forecasts right.
Enter surf skating.
As mentioned above I dabbled with skateboarding back in the day. But chucking myself down stairways didn’t really (and still doesn’t) appeal. It also hurts when you stack it. So I canned that.
That said I’ve continued to skate in some form or other throughout my life. Longboard cruising and SUP skating (kooky!) remained in the mix, on and off, depending on my mood. But then surf skating entered the mix. And I was hooked!
Catalyst situation.
Having a regenerated, revamped and accessible skate park built in my ‘backyard’ helped the cause. As did a friendly nudge from NCW’s head honcho Mark Graham. The stars aligned I guess. This resulted in my surf skate setup landing and enjoying a few tentative first runs.
As with many newbie surf skater riders I wasn’t sure what I was looking at equipment-wise. Turns out the ChargerX surf skate was a bang-on investment. Personally, I love it. The deck shape suited my stance and even the stock surf skate trucks worked well.
Charger X Pro surf skateboard – lightning bolt / rainbow.
Colour: Rainbow
£89.99
Aboard the ChargerX I picked up pumping on the flat relatively quickly. Then it was time to move to transitions. Dialling in lines at my local took a while longer. Skateboarding – whichever type you subscribe to – ain’t easy.
Electric surf skating arrives – via Waterborne Skateboards surf adapters.
After a period of riding the ChargerX I felt it was time for a change. As is usual with me I’d started reading up on kit. Mr Graham suggested a Waterborne surf adapter to really open up the hyper manoeuvrability of what a surf skate can do. So I duly obliged and got hold of a standard Waterborne front surf skate adapter which I retrofitted to my ChargerX. More on this in a mo.
Waterborne Skateboards surf skate rail adapter (for front & rear trucks)
Original price was: £88.00.£69.00Current price is: £69.00.
Waterborne Skateboards Dream surf truck (front & rear).
£139.00
I also owned (own) an electric skateboard. Which, during a lightbulb moment, I realised could also be fitted with a Waterborne surf skate adapter. At first, it was an experiment. But I quickly had another epiphany when using the additional boost I found getting to the top of the transition and hitting the coping could be achieved with my e-skate. The additional carving capability meant I could then lean into a turn and ride out of it.
Calls of kook may be heard at this point. But not being a skater, with limited pumping ability (pumping the transition that is) I needed all the help I could get!
Personal surf skating evolution.
A few solid weeks of riding my e-surf skate, whilst reverting back to manual riding when time allowed, I found I was developing better skills in the skate park. Instead of running out of top turns I was now more confident and more often than not riding out of coping hits. Keeping speed and momentum was also easier and I was starting to find my lines.
Waterborne Skateboards Taurus surf skate deck.
£88.00
Back on a manual, rider-propelled setup, it was a steady transition. I’d often mix sessions between e-skating and my ChargerX. Before I knew it I was riding my Waterborne-enabled ChargerX more than my electric setup. And then I moved to a Waterborne Taurus / Orangatang Caguama 85mm combo which opened up even more surf skating opportunities.
I love monster truck surf skates.
Being the tinkerer I am – faffing and testing is in my nature – I’d been dabbling with surf skate tuning and seeing what worked and what didn’t (for me). When I first saw the Orangatang Dad Bod 105mm wheels I knew I needed these big rigs in my life. So I got hold of a set.
Whacking them on my old faithful, as well as the Waterborne rear surf rail for even more lean, I tentatively took the monster truck for a first run. Happily, I can report it worked a treat and still does to this day! It makes me laugh when others tell me I shouldn’t be riding a monster truck surf skate in a park. At which point I laugh inwardly. There are no rules for these types of activities. And whilst something mightn’t work for you it may do for others.
Big wheels on shorter concave decks give me lots of roll stability, top-end speed and confidence. Perhaps it’s because of how my local skate park is designed. But I don’t have issues carving steep top turns, carve grinding and generally having a lovely old time ripping around the bowl. Try it – you might like it!
Orangatang Dad Bod 105mm Surf Skateboard Wheels 80a / 77a
£140.00
Orangatang Caguama 85mm Surf Skateboard Wheels 77a/80a/83a
£75.00
Testing, testing, testing.
Throughout my career in watersports and action sports testing kit has been a thing. I’ve already mentioned above that I like to tinker. And it’s been no different with surf skating. Following my induction into the world of surf skating I started playing with different setups. I’ve already talked about the ChargerX big rig. But it doesn’t end there.
I’ve been fortunate enough to get my mitts on a whole range of Waterborne Skateboards kit to try. One reason is that we decided to start importing and selling Waterborne gear in the UK. Rather than having to order it from across the pond. In tandem, however, we also added a number of other brands to the portfolio, including Carver. For a few months, I played with a number of different Carver setups and now have a pretty good handle on what they can do. Similarly, I’ve tried YOW, Smoothstar, Slide and Curfboard.
Hybrid surf skating.
Today I have a number of surf skates in my quiver. The Waterborne Dream surf truck-enabled Taurus is great for deep lean and hyper carving runs around the bowl. With surf skating billed as a way to mimic surfing this sled is the closest thing you can get to wave riding on Terra Firma. I also have two Carver CX trucks enabled Heroin decks. We don’t sell Heroin Skateboards (yet) but I find the brand’s heavily concaved egg shape designs are perfect for surf skating and my style of riding.
These days I favour a more hybrid type of riding. Whilst I’ve never been a skater per se I do appreciate the technical aspects of skateboarding and subscribe to some of the tricks I see. In particular, the sort of slappy boneless no comply tricks some riders pull off resonate. In tandem with bowl rolls and the deep carving, I enjoy these manoeuvres which are a lot more doable and less life-threatening than some of what skateboarding encompasses.
Carver CX + C2 6.5″ surf skate trucks (pair)
Original price was: £120.00.£110.00Current price is: £110.00.
OJ Wheels Thunder Juice 75mm skateboard wheels
£44.95
When it’s not happening on the water.
What surf skating has given me is a bona fide way to enjoy time outdoors, riding boards and getting that surfing feeling when it’s not happening on the water. Sure enough, we get runs of decent waves and/or decent bouts of wind. I can certainly make use of this either foiling, windsurfing, SUP or surfing. Equally, we can get bouts of wind and/or wave drought.
Surf skating opens up those kinds of periods way more than anything else. Skating is also something I can enjoy with my kids, who also love a rip around the park. Sharing these moments is special and I appreciate it very much. More than anything, however, surf skating is a fun activity that gets you moving and keeps those limbs loose. Something not to be taken for granted as we get older!