Ho hum ☹️

Following my previous account suspension on Facebook, they have now, in their infinite wisdom (or because of an arbitrary and capricious "AI" system, more like), decided that my account was somehow (but they won't tell me how) "in violation of their Community Standards" and disabled it completely with no way to appeal 😡

I'm trying to find a way back on there again, but, until that happens, I won't be able to Admin the Surf Hacks FB Group.

This is a total pain in the proverbials, but I'll get it sorted as soon as I can 🤞

Has anyone ever tried wetsuit dressing aids such as Octacle or Slippy?

My new 5/4/3 winter wetsuit from Dakine is great, but although I can use the plastic bag trick to help get my lower arms and legs in, the thighs, torso and shoulders tend to bind and it's difficult to paddle.

I end up wasting energy fighting the resistance of the suit, no matter how I try to pull it about and get it to sit right.

I've tried messaging Dakine, but got no help there, I just don't want to use anything that could mess it up.

Any suggestions or advice would be welcome.

Today at Bracklesham it was a lovely clear winter's day, glassy smooth, running 3 feet at 18 seconds which is incredibly rare, so, despite having done a couple of hours practise at Aldershot dry ski slope yesterday, which left me feeling pretty tired, I had to get out for a surf!

There were a couple of other drawbacks, firstly, because I was working on my skiing fitness, I hadn't been swimming for ages, and, secondly, I was wearing a brand new 5/4/3 wetsuit which was nice and warm, but a real struggle to get into and these made paddling very difficult 😕

Still, I had some nice rides and, after about 90 minutes, instead of quitting, I had some sandwiches and chocolate and went back out for another 30 minutes.

In the second session, I probably did some of my best surfing ever, but my Gopro had run out of battery and the surf cam wasn't working, so unfortunately I've not got any videos ☹️

Oh well, I had a good time anyway 🤙

Here's hoping the same conditions will happen some time soon...

Good news for Surfers on the Gold Coast 🤙

https://wavepoolmag.com/the-gold-coast-wave-pool-project-with-luke-altschwager/q

Yesterday a local beach surf school which is right next to a cafe/ restaurant organised a social meeting for Surfers and paddle boarders at my nearby break.

Unfortunately conditions were virtually flat, but I got to meet a bunch of people, some of whom I'd seen whilst surfing, but not really talked to.

We started with a group warm up, then people did whatever they wanted, so a few of us got in some paddling practice up and down the beach.

Then I had a go at working on my duck diving technique, although not with much success as the board kept twisting when I couldn't get my rear foot central ☹️

Maybe next time I'll try with my knee and see if that works better.

Anyway, it was a nice get together and they hope to be doing it every couple of weeks 🤙

Is the old OMBE app still working?

When I go into it I get a message telling me to update it, but according to Google play store, I am up to date... 🤔