Tod,
   Always longboards. Most of the time I'm at Marina, just down the road from you. Up to 10 foot, if I can find a channel, I'll go out. The wave shape will dictate my 9'6 Banana, 9'2 Habanero or 8'10 Habanero. (I'm 53 and 145 lbs soaking wet)

   One of my top 10 waves was scratching way outside on my Banana to keep from getting pummeled by a 2X cleanup set, barely making it through the top of the first wave, padding like crazy and at the last second spinning around to catch the second, bigger wave of the set.  Big drop, big turn, and then had a great ride all the way to the channel, slaloming by the shortboard pack who all got caught inside.  Right place, right time, right board!

    I think the downside of longboards and big waves is that most of my boards have stress cracks across the bottom. My guess is that the single layer of glass and thin stringer over a longboard length has a tough time dealing with our winter waves.

    Smiley