Travel Trevor

Surfboard: What is a bonzer?

For years now, I’ve been trying to wean off my longboard and start riding a shortboard. Not because I don’t love riding my longboard, I do, but the paddles out can be brutal without the luxury of duck diving and in general it’s a bitch to lug around! Shortboards on the other hand are easy to carry and travel with, you can fit them in your car, you’re less likely to ding them on the way up to your apt, etc, etc. And aside from the convenience, they offer some advantages once you’re standing on one. The ability to turn quickly for instance.

I’ve gone through a few shortboards already:

an old school walden CD (the more eggy version)
a Spyder mini gun (7′)
a fish

Neither held the secret key. Yeah, I can get waves on them and they’re fun, but I don’t get nearly as many waves as I do on my longboard, so I keep going back to it and keeping my ear out for more options. I resisted getting a basic thruster because I don’t expect it would paddle into waves as well as say a fish and style wise it’s just not that interesting to me. Don’t get me wrong though, there’s a reason it’s the most popular set up.

Anyway, a friend sparked my interest when he said his favorite board was his bonzer claiming it was super fast and easy to get barreled on. I kept thinking about it and eventually emailed him for some more details. He came back to me with this: “Bonzers are cool because you can apply that fin setup to any shape you want”. Ah ha! I didn’t realize that! I thought they were floaty diamond tail boards only! I did some more research on the intertoobs and found that it’s not even the fin set up but more so the single to double concave that directs water outwards that makes them unique. The inventors of the Bonzer themselves, the Cambell Brothers, give the best description: Bonzer Mechanics. If you take a look at the their board descriptions you’ll get a good idea of what shapes are available: Bonzer Models

So, how does a bonzer ride compared to other boards? Well it depends on the shape of course, but a few key chararistics:

turns off the tail
often “floaty” as w/ the Bumblebee or Octafish
you can trim and even get noserides on some

This article on surfline goes into the success and history of the bonzer: WHY DON’T MORE PEOPLE RIDE BONZERS?

Lastley, the best way to get a feel for it it is to check out a few videos:

Russ Short – 3 Fin Bonzer – Mexico ‘77 from Campbell Brothers Surfboards on Vimeo.

Daniel Jones from Campbell Brothers Surfboards on Vimeo.

Hope that helps! Let me know if you get/got one and comments w/ more insight appreciated! (no login required)

January 26th, 2011 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Good place to stay in Rincon, Puerto Rico

Accommodations aren’t as cheap in Rincon as they are in some other surf destinations like Nicaragua. When I first started going to Rincon I stayed at the Rincon Surf and Board, but from what I heard they got into a dispute w/ their neighbors and lost their hotel license (or something like that) so that’s no longer an option. It was nice cheap, a bit of a youth hostile, but also a fun place. They still run a surf school, that’s about it.

As a “cheap place to stay” alternative a friend recommended Mr. G’s Guesthouse. I stayed there for 3 or 4 nights. The people running it were generally nice and down to earth, but it was definitely a bit of a dive…wasn’t too happy w/ it. If you’re really tight on cash it might be ok, but if you have a group of people I’d recommend renting a house somewhere. I haven’t tried that, but looks like there’s some good deals. …maybe try vrbo.com or tripadvisor.com.

Anyway, from Mr. G’s I moved to Dos Angeles del Mar, which is up past Casa Verde on Vista del Mar road. I chose them because of their high use rating on tripadvisor.com: Hotel Review Dos Angeles del Mar Guesthouse – Rincon Puerto Rico and they completely lived up to my expectations! The place is VERY well kept w/ beautiful foliage everywhere. …orchids in the trees, etc. The owner John is friendly and laid back. We had some good conversations about surfing in PR. He bumped me up to a room w/ a queen size bed w/ a view from one w/ 2 twin size beds and no view for no extra charge, which was nice since I was there w/ my gf.

The place is fairly quiet, so if you’re looking to stay up late tossing beer cans at your friends then I’d probably try Casa Verde which is just down the road. Dos Angeles del Mar is a great place for anyone else though…generally I’d do my partying at a bar or something anyway.

One other option, which I haven’t tried, but I checked out while I was there is Las Palmas Del Mar Surf Camp. It’s just up the hill from Dos Angeles and consists of a number of bungalows tucked away in the woods a bit. I haven’t stayed there but i took a tour. Really neat place. Bungalows were clean and well kept.

December 29th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Surf Pics: Aquadilla, Puerto Rico: December, 2010

…spent a week in Rincon, Puerto Rico, my favorite place to surf, late November till December 5th. We got swell almost every single day ranging from head to double overhead! I got some of the biggest waves I’ve surfed (which isn’t saying too much, but…) and was completely exhausted by the end of the trip. Even on the one flat day we stayed active by renting paddle boards which was a good time.

The photos below are from a session “up north” in Aguadilla. Light current and a lot of ground to cover to get in place, though this was one of the smaller days. I started before the sun had come up very high so some pics are darker than others. Anyway, check it out and more pics to come of bigger waves, etc.