Salt Gypsy - The Dusty The South Coast Kook
My aim is to review boards and products for the average knockabout surfer (or ‘kook’ like me), without all the technical terms and manoeuvres.
My wife, Alex was looking for an all rounder longboard. The criteria was that it has to be a board that she could have fun on the smaller wave days, not too heavy and of course it had to look sick too.
Obliviously I wanted a board that I could borrow as well. Having a baby, there are times that we have to take turns in the surf and having two longboards down the beach wouldn’t be very practical. I wanted something that I could borrow to practice some nose riding on.
It was hard to go past a Salt Gypsy surfboard for Alex. I love what Salt Gypsy are doing for the women surfers of the world, empowering women in the water by designing surfboards and swimmers for women.
‘The Dusty’ is a retro style longboard model which is shaped to not be overly wide and fairly light so that they are easier to carry down to the beach. ‘The Dusty’ comes in three colours, Vintage Blue, Olive and Merlot.
Alex picked the Vintage Blue and it looks sick.
Alex is not a serious surfer, it is more of a way to switch off from the busy days of being a mum and running a business. So we weren’t looking to spend a lot of money. ‘The Dusty’ is on the cheaper end of the scale when it comes to logs.
If you are a learner or an experienced logger you will notice it is so easy to paddle. This is because of its super flat rocker. Being a 9 foot board ‘The Dusty’ enters the wave so early and smooth and gives the user plenty of time to pop up and commit to the wave. Which is handy if you are a beginner.
The 9’0 has 69L so it has plenty of float. I found it super stable under my feet and could easily ‘attempt’ to walk up and down the board. The nose of the board has a slight concave. This gives extra stability when trying to get to the nose.
The most fun I had on this board was a small wave at my local beach. I racked up a high wave count and was really trying to get to the nose. One of the last waves I caught instead of trying to nose ride or over complicate things, I just sat back and enjoyed the ride, ‘The Dusty’ trimmed across the wave like a hot knife through butter. So my verdict on ’The Dusty’ is that it performed much better than I expected. I was thinking of purchasing a new high performance expensive log for my self but seeing how well it performed I might just keep borrowing ‘The Dusty’ instead… Sorry Alex!
I asked Alex how she felt on it. She had never rode a single fin consistently before, or a board that big. She was a bit overwhelmed with the 9’0 at the start and it took a couple of waves to work out how to turn the board, but she felt more in control after a couple of surfs. The thing Alex loved most about ‘The Dusty’ was how easy it was to surf and was glad that she got the 9’0 as the extra length gives her earlier entrance to the waves.
‘The Dusty’ also comes in an 8’6 so it could be an option for a lighter, smaller person.
9’0 in the vintage blue retails at $1100 comes with a fin and sock. All you need is a leg rope and you are away.
‘The Dusty’ gets a 7/10 from me, definitely a whole lot of fun for the perfect conditions but it gets a 9/10 from Alex as this board fits her perfectly and she is super stoked to have it in her quiver now.
If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me. To learn more about the amazing company Global Surf Industries , Click here to listen to the podcast episode I recorded with the CEO Mark Kelly.
I appreciate your ongoing support of my small business, by purchasing a surfboard through this Global Surf Industries Link, you are helping the South Coast Kook podcast continue to run. To say thanks I would love to send you a small token of appreciation to help you get your stoke on your new board. Simply contact me directly at southcoastkook@gmail.com after purchase and I will gladly send you a FREE GIFT!
Disclaimer - This Free Gift has no connection with Global Surf Industries. You will only receive the gift if you contact me directly via email.
