Successful Sea Trials of The Craic Fat Four Finned Fish

You would think that The Dude, mastersurfcraftsman that he is, would have been happy with creating the original Craic, a 6'8" hollow timber three finned fish, but no, now he has created a new Craic.  The new creation, a fat 6' four finned fish made from foam and fibreglass, has been especially created to be Jetstar friendly for his forthcoming trip to Indo in June.  The Dude will be travelling with the Good Woman but they couldn't avoid the dreaded Jetstart who chop boards off at the 6' mark with no argument.

(The Dude prays to Hughey for a good wave before launching the Craic)

Being a mastersurfcraftsman, the obvious solution was to build a board himself with a little assistance from the Other Dude, who is the Old Farts Surf Co. Technical Advisor for Foam and Fibreglass.  The sea trials were carefully planned with The Mexican and the Other Dude on hand for assistance and to hear how it went while the team chewed the fat out the back.

(The Dude does a jig to make Hughey laugh)

The Dude prepared the Craic with wax and laid it on the sand while he prayed to Hughey for a good wave for the sea trials.  Then surprised the crowd gathered on the beach by doing a jig to make Hughey laugh and put him in good humour.

(The Dude gives The Craic a rub to make it feel loved)

As The Craic was placed in the water it was turned over a few times to get it used to salt water, then the Dude gave it a good rub to make it feel good.  "No point riding a board that's not happy" said the Dude.  "Its well known that all boards have personalities and you need to find out what makes them tick before you can have a good surf with them" he said.

(The Dude paddles for the first wave sent by Hughey)

"The first thing I noticed was the buouyancy" said the Dude, "it bobbed around like a cork but it made it easy to paddle".  Of course this was how the Dude intended The Craic to perform.  But the big question was yet to be answered, how would it work when the Dude caught a wave?

(The Dude takes off on the first wave)

No sooner had the Dude got out the back when his prayer was answered and Hughey sent through the wave of the day.  The Dude paddled hard and jumped to his feet, he carved a bottom turn and top turn to position himslef perfectly in the slot.

(The Dude jumps to his feet on the first wave)

"Initially it seemed a bit wobbly but I wasn't used to the fat four finner and I'm really happy with how it handled" said the Dude.

(The Dude takes the first bottom turn on the Craic)

Conditions deteriorated after the first wave and whilst the second wave was ably caught by the Other Dude it just wasn't as big and well shaped as the first one sent to The Dude by Hughey.

(The money shot, The Dude gets the Craic perfectly slotted on its first wave)

The Mexican trialed the Craic and only managed to find a couple of close outs.  "The first take off took me by surprise said the Mex, it was so fast it slipped out from under me" said the Mex.  However, he managed to make the drop and a bottom turn on a couple of waves after that.

(The Dude narrowly avoids getting barrelled on his first wave on the Craic)

(The Dude declares the sea trials a success, "hooray and thanks to Hughey")

(The Other Dude catches the next wave)

(The Other Dude gets some speed off the bottom)

The sea trials were definitely a success and The Craic is likely to be seen as a permanent fixture under the Dude's feet from now on.
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