Surf When You Can

Paddle Boarders

2009-10-12T22:38:00.000-07:00

I still hate them. Why they feel they are above the normal etiquette rules observed by surfers is beyond me. There's one guy at my home break who doesn't feel there's any need to give up any waves. He just takes everything in his sight.

I haven't been posting as much because I've been busy with work and I don't surf quite as much as I used to. Surf hasn't been great this year, too.

Some funny stuff

2008-10-26T14:26:00.000-07:00

It was sunny yesterday, water temp and air temp were both hovering in the low 60's. There was quite a bit of size out there and a lot of drift. I spent a lot of my morning staying ahead of one of the lifeguard towers, while trying to catch waves every now and then.

The funny part was seeing this girl paddle out. The fact that she's a girl isn't the funny part. It would have been funny if it was a guy who did what she did. I start my paddle southward to fight the drift, she's sitting 5 yards farther out than I am, another local is about 10 yards inside of me to the left. She sees a wave (not really rideable), turns around and starts scratching for it. I can't really say "paddle" because she really looked like she was just scraping the water. I guess it works because she's on a longboard. I have to stop and start paddling backwards to get out of her way. She was on a trajectory to go between us. I barely get out of her way as I see she's not going to go around me at all. The other guy on the inside just kicks back and she goes barreling into him, narrowly missing.

"Come on!" she yells at the local, who's pretty darn good and very cool about waves in general.

"If you can't surf around me, then you shouldn't be out here!" That's what his reply was. I totally agree. He wasn't moving anywhere and she wasn't on the wave at all. The fact that he was in the way wasn't what really stopped her from catching that wave.

She leaves in a huff. I thought they were joking at first, but I caught up with the guy later and he said she was dead serious. I side with the guy in this case because the girl could have changed her angle just a little bit, even though that wave was going to pass her by regardless. I found the whole interaction funny. There's rarely a clear path on a Saturday. Just have to deal with the conditions and learn to paddle around every so often.

Blown out

2008-10-12T23:27:00.001-07:00

I was amped to go out this weekend after experiencing Sunset, but the winds were howling early on. Few people even bothered to get in the water on Saturday. More people were out there today, but the winds were still howling and it was high tide in the morning. I was so unmotivated to go after seeing the conditions. It would have been tough to catch some of those waves.

The one good thing about the wind was that I was able to see Catalina for the first time in ages.

Sunset (more details)

2008-10-09T23:14:00.000-07:00

Walking out of the path from the small cul de sac, leads to a tree at the end of the path. It sits right on the fringe of the sand of the beach and the small dirt trail that leads to it. The roots of the tree have created steps that help with the changing grades. Two houses stand as sentries for the small thoroughfare. Someone at some point, placed a park bench under the shade of the tree, perhaps to enjoy a family picnic before going out to enjoy the warmth of the sun. No "Ez-Up" tents needed with that tree standing there for decades.

Looking out of the water towards the water, you can see the shallow reef off to the right. The whitewater continues to churn there, long after the waves pass through. The water is crystal clear, submerged rocks coloring the azure waters darker in some places.

The crowds were light as we paddle out, no more than seven people out in the water and it was considered a crowded day. With a reef or point break, crowds are never good. Any more people and it would have been downright ugly.

I am on a friend's 8' funboard that has seen quite a bit of action. It's a bit narrow, but easy to paddle with. That easy paddling is a bit deceptive as I had a hard time getting into waves. I turned and paddled for the first decent looking wave coming my way, but never quite generated enough speed to catch up to the wave. It just rolled right by me.

Being a reef break, it took a little while to paddle out to the outside, with no duck diving needed. Just had to go around to the side, the side away from the shallow reef. As windy as the day was, the water was still relatively calm.

I went out to the lineup on the outside while some friends stayed towards the inside. The waves broke in the same spot over and over again. The lulls weren't too bad, the longest being 10 minutes.

I finally caught a wave, just charged it. It was a bit close to the shallow reef, but I caught the wave and popped up, with this gigantic shoulder in front of me. Riding to the top and sliding back down made the wait well worth it.

I didn't catch much anything else after that as more people paddled out to catch a little bit more magic. They probably don't know how special it is because they were locals, accustomed to the waves out there, but it was different for me. I normally surf a beach break that shifts after each swell. There are no channels to ease the trek to the outside.

I paddled in after awhile, never catching another wave. I did try for a couple more, but wasn't able to duplicate my previous effort. My friends were already waiting on the beach, having had their fill of waves since they spent a majority of their time in Hawaii surfing numerous breaks. The small moment has inspired me to come back to try out some other hallowed waters and hope I can once again slide across the blue ocean.

Sunset

2008-10-08T20:26:00.000-07:00

Just got back from Hawaii. Have to say, it was awesome! I only surfed one wave and it was a great one. I really want to go back to Sunset and surfed hallowed grounds. Not many people can say they've surfed there, but it's truly paradise.

The waves were waist to chest with an occasional head high set coming through. There were only 7 or 8 people out, with one stand up paddler. The picture is the break at sunset.

It's a little freaky when you consider that if you go too far to the left, you'll end up on reef. Even the bottom of where you surf, there's a bunch of rocks. Not a good place to wipe out too much. The wave seemed like it would crash heavier than it did. It was mostly mushy, but one guy did get covered.

Lefts!

2008-09-28T20:25:00.000-07:00

That's all that was on tap today. I drove out to the beach yesterday, but crashed out in my car. By the time I got back up, it was high tide and shut down. How do you like that? Get up early enough only to be too tired and crash out at the finish line and did not even get to enjoy the prize for waking up that early.

It was foggy both days and high tide was early in the morning, around 9am on Saturday and 10 something today. The water temp has dropped 5 degrees and most everyone is in full suits again. I donned my sub $100 suit wondering what a $300 would feel like. Sometimes I'm tempted to get one, but then just bag that idea.

Since the waves were mostly lefts, I had to practice backside. I used to like going backside more, but now it's the opposite. I still like pig dogging going left.

Good thing about wetsuit season is the thinning of the crowds. Only the regulars show up at that point.

Continuing the teaching

2008-09-13T17:38:00.001-07:00

The waves looked about waist high when we got there, but got bigger as the tide filled in. It was a bit too big for him today and there was a heavy northerly drift.

He couldn't catch much and definitely didn't have as much fun this week as he did last week.

When it was my turn to go out, I didn't have much stamina left after my daily workouts. Oh well. There's always tomorrow.

The best thing about today was that it was calm and glassy. The overcast skies sucked though. Water is still warm, but it felt colder because of the gray stuff in the sky.

Helping out newbies

2008-09-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

My cousin wanted to learn how to surf or at least experience it. He chose a good day for it, since the Surfline report said it was only going to be 1 - 3 ft. and it was pretty much just that.

I brought out my big board for him and his girlfriend to try out. A 9'2 board helps to catch waves for people not used to paddling for waves.

Have to say, my cousin did pretty well for his first time out. He didn't try to stand up on any waves, but was able to paddle into the waves by himself. All I did was turn him around once he got onto the board.

When he was done, I paddled out on my little board and sure enough, the waves died down. I still caught some fun waves, a really fun right (which I almost screwed up) and a zippy left. On that left, I tried to get covered up, but it didn't quite work out that way. I just stayed very, very close to the curl, in a pig dog position without getting the bonus payoff I wanted, but I still got a great ride out of it.

I've been working out these days and it's been helping out with the paddling and catching waves. Am totally enjoying the benefits of the hard work in the water.

Blind Leading the Blind

2008-07-20T16:12:00.000-07:00

My friend calls me up and wants me to teach him how to surf. He's going on a trip to Hawaii in August with his girlfriend. When I hear that, I tell him he should just wait and go learn out there on the South Shore.

From what I understand, learning in Waikiki Beach is supposed to be super easy. There was once a friend of a friend who wanted to come out to surf. My friend said, "Yeah, he knows how to surf, he took lessons at Waikiki. He stood up, too." All he needed was for me to supply him a board.

I said, "Sure, tell him to come out. But I won't push him into waves." I pushed my friend because she was 5 feet nothing, weighed nothing, and was cutie. I don't mind pushing cute girls into waves. Pushing guys, well, that's another story. Unless that person is a good friend, it's not something I do.

This guy comes out, I loan him my magic board, and he doesn't get passed the break water. After 15 minutes, he's done. What do I do? I end up pushing this fool into whitewater so he can catch some belly rides. He can't even get up on a wave.

My friend, well, he had some pride and did his best to get to the outside. He didn't get too far before the waves pushed him back. I caught a wave in and then helped him out. He didn't stand at all, but got some belly rides. All in all, he got the feel of the wave pushing the board, nothing more than that. When he gets out to Waikiki, he'll have some fun and that's the most important part.

The Color of Jade

2008-07-01T20:00:00.001-07:00

It wasn't quite as hot this week as it was last week, but the weather was still nice. Anyone still wearing a wetsuit was probably burning up inside. The water was nice and toasty. Too bad there were no waves to go along with the warm waters.

The crowds weren't as bad, probably due to the lack of a swell of any size. The parking lots had more than a few RVs outside of the RV area. Oh well.

I brought out my 7 footer, which I'm a bit out of shape for as well as unsuited to my laziness. Whatever waves I did catch, the rides were short. The high tide wasn't that high and I paddled out an hour after the peak of 3 feet something.

The water was a deep, deep green. Very enchanting color, but it won't ever be the blue that I associate with the Pacific. I hope that one day, someone is able to create a giant filter for the ocean so that maybe it turns the shade I envision.

Even though it appeared clean and the dolphins swimming around seems to reaffirm that notion, there was still some bacteria (obviously) in the water. My nose didn't completely drain. There's very little fluid left in the sinuses, but I still have the sexy voice, like I have a cold. Can't win them all.

Summer Solstice

2008-06-26T21:35:00.000-07:00

Warm weather, warm water, small waves. They were fun, but small. The best thing about the day besides being in the water for the first time in awhile? The clean and clear waters. Visibility was phenomenal. I can't remember when the water was so green and clear like it was last Saturday.

It was so warm that I think it's time to just keep trunking it. The most I saw were springsuits. Most everyone else were in trunks.

I can't over how green the water was.

Even the dolphins came out to play.

The worst thing was the crowds on the inside section. It became a slalom course after 10am. I didn't even bother to wait for them to black ball the beach. There weren't any waves anyway.

Green is good. Think green. Now if there were only a small surge of waves.

The Nose, Knows

2008-05-18T12:20:00.000-07:00

It's not a Fruit Loops commercial, but my nose basically reacted to the super poor water quality. Not only was there a brown filmy substance in different patches, but there were also some weird stringy, floating things. Quite honestly, it was like surfing after someone puked. Got to love pollution.

I'm taking Sudafed nasal decongestant hoping it'll clear things up. If I don't see improvement by the evening, going to have to get some stuff that knocks me out.

The waves were small on Saturday, but were picking up as the morning wore on. High tide sort of slowed things down for a short while, but it wasn't very high.

The crowds were in full force because we're going through a heat wave in Southern California. Temps are topping the upper 90s and 80s at the beaches. Next week is going to be a zoo.

Haven't really blogged in awhile because there wasn't anything to blog about since there hasn't been many swells.

Infrequent posts

2008-04-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

What can I say? It's part laziness and part Mother Nature not sending nice swells our way without teasing us by having high tide in the morning. If there is a swell these days, it coincides with lots of water in the morning.

Last Saturday was an uneventful day. There were some waves, but lots of texture on the water. A brewing storm that never manifested sort of added to the whole doom and gloom morning session.

I didn't even bother with Sunday. Overslept. Late night. No waves on the surfline.com cam so, I went back to bed without getting wet.

If today is any indication, tomorrow will be another morning I sleep in rather than make the long (and expensive) drive to the break only to debate whether I should at least get wet after the drive. These days I just hang out on the shore, looking forlorn like Sam Gamgee seeing Frodo off on his voyage before heading home and wasting my time in front of the computer watching content online.

Pray for surf?

Swamp surfing

2008-03-12T19:01:00.000-07:00

First time back in more than a few weeks and I get the luck of getting to surf in the swamp. Way too much water to make it fun. The lines were pouring in, but the vast majority of them didn't break until they were right on shore.

I did get called off of one wave by someone hooting or whatever you want to call it. He's goofy so he wanted to go left, even though I think he had more of a shoulder if he were to have gone right. Oh well. He had priority since he was up first.

It was overcast and the water is still chilly, somewhere in the mid 50s is my guess.

Sunday wasn't any better even though the tide was not as high and came on later in the day, due to Daylight's Saving time and the natural way of things. I didn't even bother getting wet. I know, travel all that way and not get wet? At what point is it not worth it? I didn't want to get wet just to get wet and get teased by all those waves that don't break.

There's rain in the forecast for this weekend, so I may have to wait.

Been Sick and High Surf

2008-02-26T14:34:00.000-08:00

Yep. Sick. Again. It's just a theory, but I think I've gotten sick a lot after surfing in red tide in 2003. After that, sinus infection and ear infection that lasted a month. Ever since, I've gotten sick at least 2 times a year. Oh well. It's the price I pay for something I like to do. So far, Mother Nature 10, me 0. That's not to mention my tooth-breaking board incident.

Anyway, southern California was hit hard over the last two days with big surf. Someone was even swept away while standing on the shore. Not a good thing at all. Surfers and bodyboarders were out in full force at all the breaks, trying to catch the action. Some surfer interviewed for the news said it was the most epic it has been in 20 years. This include Big Wednesday from the winter storm of 2005.

Back to the whole surf thing. I think my sinuses are still filled with red tide stuff which makes me quite susceptible to colds and such. Has anyone tried this nasal spray? I'm thinking it might be worth the small investment if it does what it says it does. My nose used to drain soon after a surf session. After red tide, it drained an hour after. Once I got the sinus infection, I'd be lucky if my nose drained at all. If anyone has tried, please let me know.

Ice Cream Headaches

2008-02-11T15:05:00.000-08:00

I think I'm going to invest in a hood to keep my head warm in these icy times. My feet were number even with booties. My hands were the only exposed part that didn't suffer too much from the low temps.

Water was icy, at least for me. Sunny outside, without a cloud in the sky. In fact, the San Gabriel Mountains could be clearly seen if not for a bit of brownish haze that is part of So. Cal weather. There was a slight offshore breeze, but nothing too bad. The tide came up fast so things shut down after a couple of hours after getting wet.

No real great ride on Sunday.

I didn't go out on Saturday after waking up and checking Surfline.com over and over again along with wavewatch.com. The cameras showed 1 - 2, but a friend who went out anyway said it was closer to chest with some over head sets. Oh well.

Icy Cold

2008-02-04T14:59:00.000-08:00

Waters are still chilly. High tide was around 5' at 7am over the weekend. Not great conditions for epic surf. The skies were overcast, which made it all the colder when in the water.

There weren't too many people out, probably because the read the swell report saying that there wasn't one. The high tide in the morning had something to do with the thin crowds and I am not complaining there. We surfed on the south side of the normal spot because it was breaking a bit better.

I brought out the longboard because of the knee to waist high swell report. The sets had some decent waves, about shoulder high or so. I kooked a few trying too hard to turn the board. Just had to be a little more patient and make the bottom turn a little later. The adjustment paid off with a beautiful right that even reformed on the inside. Great ride that made me realize why I was out in chilly waters instead of a warm bed. What a rush!

No surf on Sunday due to rain. The forecast calls for much of the same this coming weekend.

A New Year

2008-01-13T12:37:00.001-08:00

Still not surfing as much as I could. Saturday (yesterday), was not a good surf day because visibility was only about 30 ft. or so. The water was glassy and not too chilly. There were waves and such, but the question is whether you could see it in time to get into position. By the time you saw the wave, it was breaking on top of you. The sets were head high at least, with some plus sets rolling through every now and then.

I couldn't see the shore for most of the session and rarely saw anyone else in the water. With no landmarks, I kept paddling the wrong way in anticipation of the drift. By the time I got out of the water, I was off by a few lots and so was everyone else.

I didn't even bother suiting up and getting wet today. There was still quite a bit of size, but there weren't too many shoulders to ride. Not too many people bothered to paddle out either. They just stood on the beach by the fire pits watching the few, brave souls paddling into head high plus waves. There were some corners, if you were patient, but it was mostly a giant wall up and down the beach. No fog today, but some offshore winds were blowing early.

Chill Factor

2007-12-17T12:51:00.000-08:00

Winter has come and it was freezing in the water yesterday. I didn't bother with paddling out on Saturday (combination of late night, cold morning, and few waves). I went out yesterday because I brought out the log and there was no one in the water. Within the 100 yards or so of break that I stay between, there were maybe 10 people out. We each had our own spot and only paddled over to talk to one other when the lulls hit.

Things started off promising with a bunch of small rights with workable shoulders. After an hour though, things died. Someone hit the off switch because the lulls became super long and the cold made it worse. The water was only marginally warmer than the air temperature. The sun hid behind clouds every so often, making the lulls feel longer.

I'm debating on buying some gloves and a hoodie. The hoodie looks a bit funky, but I think I may take the plunge and get one. The gloves are still up for debate. Might not be bad to get those webbed ones for extra paddling power.

After the Storm

2007-12-10T12:27:00.000-08:00

There's nothing after the storm in terms of surf. The surf reports are reporting 1-2 which isn't much of anything.

The anticipation of a rainstorm also diminished my desire to go out surfing. The rainstorm never arrived, but it did bring lots of wind, messing things up.

Guess I'll just have to hope that there's another swell coming in the near future. I still want to make a surf trip this winter up the coast to Santa Barbara or down south to San Diego. I just want to make sure there's going to be surf before I make a trip like that, putting more miles on my car.

Big Wednesday... sort of

2007-12-06T16:37:00.000-08:00

It is definitely the biggest swell of the year that I can think of. I went out to Sunset early yesterday, thinking it was the only place that would hold its shape with such a large swell. The news were already reporting on the swell on Tuesday night.

When I got there around 7:00 (combination of traffic and me being lazy), the place was already filled with other wave riders. It was a zoo. I stuck around for a short while, watching the action, then decided to leave. Blasphemous to waste one of the biggest swells of the year, but I don't like to jump on party waves. I don't trust myself, or others for that matter, in maneuvering around the break without spearing someone.

This has been a small year overall. The only good thing about this year is the lack of rain (which is also bad because we're in a bit of a drought because of it). No rain means no bacteria. The rain is going to start tonight (Thursday) and continue on through the rest of the weekend.

Till the following weekend then...

Back from Hiatus

2007-11-22T19:17:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I've written. The month of October was lost to me due to a lingering cold. 3 weeks of the sniffles kept from tempting fate by going back into the water. I've done it in the past and paid a heavy toll for it.

2 more weeks were spent out of the country, but now I'm back. I went out last Sunday for the first time in 5 weeks on my little board and it killed me. I was out of shape from being sick and not working out while out of the country. It was not a pretty sight to behold. I was lucky to make it out into the lineup. It wasn't big that day, maybe chest high at best with some shoulder high waves rolling in from time to time. The current was a bit on the heavy side.

I was tired after 30 minutes. I was done. My arms were numb from the cold, so I couldn't accurately assess, but I didn't think I would be able to go on too much further. Lots of waves came and went with me paddling like mad to get into the wave.

Finally decided to go in a little bit and catch the wave more as it was about to break rather than where the longboarders were picking them off (still instinctive for me to be farther out). A wave came out with no one else going for it, except for me. Without much paddle strength, I was catching the wave as it was just about to break, didn't think I'd make it, but popped up and away I went. Caught one more wave just like that one.

Today was day to be thankful for small things. The tide was high, 6.5 at 7:30am. Not the most ideal of conditions. I waited awhile before going out, choosing to go a little farther south than the normal break. The crowds were thick, but thinned out a little by the time I was out in the lineup. Best wave of the day was a right. It was already starting to break on the left hand side. Was able to roller coaster up and down and after the Sunday before, my arms were starting to regain their strength. Can't wait to make full use of this 4 day weekend.

Chill Factor

2007-10-06T13:28:00.000-07:00

There's a chill in the air. Autumn has come and the crowds have thinned. This month has historically been the best for me and my break. Off to a poor start though. The tide was high around 8am, at 4.56 ft, the waves were breaking right on shore.

I took out the big board because I was lazy and wanted to make sure I would catch waves regardless of the conditions.

Waves were about 2-3 ft. The water was clear and fairly warm, warmer than the air temp. There was an offshore breeze as well, which helped to hold the waves up. Yesterday was howling, so the waves were completely knocked down.

It has been more than several months since I had ridden the big board. First few waves, I went right, the board went straight. I couldn't get it to turn right away. I forgot that I had to do a bottom turn at the bottom rather than getting up and turning right away.

Too many errands forced me to come in early. I can only hope tomorrow will be better.

Rained out

2007-09-23T21:34:00.001-07:00

Not going to risk the sinus infection.... nothing to report. Move along. Move along.

Turtle Feet, Surfer's Beat Review

2007-09-12T21:28:00.000-07:00

The book is about a tenn girl's brief trip to Costa Rica, amidst family issues, and personal strife. Her parents were experiencing some marital problems due to the father being on location for photo shoots much of the year. The trip was viewed as way for the parents to reconcile their marriage and for the kids to experience a glimpse of their father's work life.

The book is easy to read, though it does jump here and there. It is as if some pages were missing in the manuscript. It is because of it's brevity to detail that allows the book to go by quickly. The story is captivating as it gives some informative trivia about leatherback turtles, an inkling to the Costa Rican ex-pat influenced culture, a dash of surfing, all wrapped around the turmoils of a teenage girl wading through the pitfalls and elation of romance.

A few more details here and there would have been great, but I can't say that it detracted from my overall enjoyment of the book. The target audience is clearly for teenage girls out there and not so much boys. There are also some more adult related content, though not in any detail as to warrant any cautionary red flags from parents. It is no more explicit than what is shown in PG-13 movies these days.

If you're a teen guy, I don't know if this book has enough surfing to satisfy you. If you're a teen girl, then this book is more up your alley. Entertaining, but definitely suited for gals, especially if they are surfers.

Small and Racy

2007-09-08T12:49:00.001-07:00

The waves weren't that big last Saturday, but they were bowling for sure. If you were good or lucky, you could get a mini barrel.

The water temps dropped off by more than 5 degrees, so I was out there in a wetsuit again. Felt funny at first, both because it was harder to paddle, but also because a lot of people were trunking it given that we were suffering a heat wave.

After hopping in, I was glad I did wear a wetsuit. The water was chilly and I wanted to be comfortable. I rode a bunch of lefts and the drift was on.

I didn't even bother going out on Sunday. The beach was a zoo with all the people trying to escape the heat and enjoy the last official weekend of summer. There were so many people in the water that it was dangerous. People dropping in on others and then you have to dodge all the bathers on the inside section. Not a good thing at all.

Labor day was okay. The size improved a lot and I heard it kept improving throughout the week. I didn't catch many waves at first, until I started just charging it. The water warmed up again, but there were still some cold spots. The skies were a little overcast, but nothing too bad.

I'm slowly reading a surf related book geared towards teen girls right now and should have a review up soon. Watch for it!

The Art of Going Straight

2007-08-27T19:46:00.001-07:00

The day trip was postponed due to lack fo swell. It would have been a waste of time and gas to drive down to San Diego to find nothing ot surf or very little to surf.

We stayed at the home break, except we went over to where the crowds were, again. I'm not that crazy about it. I'll surf there on weekdays, if I get a chance, but I think that's the last weekend I surf there, ever. It was just crowded. There's also a well-known surf school there, so there will no doubt be some buoys to slalom through on the inside section.

I got wet, caught a few waves, and just went straight. That was all I could do, not because of other people, but because the wave didn't permit me much else. I'm not a great rail-to-rail surfer to begin with, so riding small waves on a 7' is a bit tough for me. I'm used to long, lazy lines you do on a funboard or longboard. I just don't have the twist and snaps like a true shortboarder does. Ah well, just something else to practice. A bigger swell would help in that development.

Water was warmer than the air temperature. The slight breeze and long sets didn't help. Water was at least clear, but the skies were overcast. Swell was broken up, so the waist to chest high forecast earlier in the week were not meant to be.

Does everyone have preferences on their wax? I'm more of a Sticky Bumps person. Like the smell and the way it applies itself onto the board. I know some people like Sex Wax, but it wasn't for me. I need wax with a clear purpose. Sex Wax can be top coat or base coat depending on the temp rating or something like that? It's too confusing. Need something simple like Sticky Bumps. Basecoat is for basecoat. Then you have Warm, Cool, Cold wax with different temperature ranges. Makes it nice and easy. Can't even imagine wax for anything warmer than 73 degrees. Friend said that wax was as hard as chalk.

Next week, day trip, maybe?

Seriously, what's with the crowds?

2007-08-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

It wasn't pipeline this whole weekend, but the crowds made it feel like there was a huge swell in the water. Well, to be honest, I invaded someone else's break on Saturday and even brought along my brother. I was part of the problem, though I did used to surf there a bit more than I do now. This was back when I was still in school and could go there during the week.

The water was warm and toasty and for the first time, the sun was out early. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. There was a slight breeze, but the waves were fun. This break is less than half a mile from my normal stomping grounds. The waves break a bit better and is probably why it is so crowded. I also noticed more girls surfing this break, too.

I caught a few waves, but I just tried not to join in on the party waves.

Sunday was a bit more consistent, but the waves weren't as nice. They were mostly close outs and you could see that the swell was coming from the north or northwest. Sort of unusual for the summer, isn't it?

Back at the home break, water was super clear (it isn't crystal, but clear for So. Cal), but the clouds rolled back in. Crowds were thinner, too, though there were still quite a few people in the water.

Paddling around, I noticed a bunch of cold spots. Weird how that works.

The worst part of today, the bright green stuff that was floating around. I think it's algae or obliterated seaweed, but can't say for sure. It was the color of a green highlighter. Quite luminescent, yet highly disturbing. I stayed away as much as I could.

The waves were mostly rights, but close outs were the order for the day.

Next week, road trip!

Why is there a traffic jam?

2007-08-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

The waves were tiny out there this weekend, but you wouldn't be able to tell that from the crowd in the water. You would think it was pipeline out there.

The skies were overcast both days, the waves were waist high at best, but there were still some waves to be had.

As promised, I took out the 7'0 and paddled around a lot, trying to get my strength up. I didn't have too much trouble catching waves, but still lost out to the guys with the logs (something I was sorely tempted to bring out on Sunday). I caught waves going mostly right, but started to tire out at the end and kooked a bunch of pop ups.

Sunday was smaller than Saturday. Conditions were pretty much the same. The water isn't very clear, but it was still green as opposed to red or brown. I can deal with cloudy green water for the time being.

I just want to know where the sun is in the mornings! I've been trunking it, so a little sun would be nice.

In two weeks, my first day trip in ages. Can't wait!

Haven't been out much

2007-08-11T00:55:00.000-07:00

It's just been a bad year for decent surf. Doesn't look to be much tomorrow either. I'm heading out there with very low expectations. The surf report said 1 - 2 ft. I'll just get some paddling practice in on the 7'0.

There's surf!

2007-07-30T21:09:00.000-07:00

It wasn't giant by any means, but there was something in the water. With the swell came the crowds. I saw some kid shoulder hop someone on the inside, leading to a slight collision. Then there are the bathers on the inside. It makes it challenging to surf around the little buoys. I have no idea why they would even go in the water so early in the day when it wasn't quite that hot out yet. Plus, there are stingrays out. I heard about 2 people getting stung in the first 5 minutes I went out.

The water was warm, warm enough to trunk it. The water clarity wasn't so great, but it was green. There were scattered clouds in the sky, obscuring the sun most of the session. There was even a breeze adding texture to the waves. Still, quite a few shoulder high waves came through if you were patient enough.

Sunday was smaller and the crowds were thinner. Of course, the session ended a lot earlier than on Saturday. Quite a bit of a disappointment in that regard.

Water was still warm and there was a northerly drift all morning long.

I've decided to get back into better paddling shape by going out on my smallest board every day until it becomes second nature. It's a 7'0 Hybrid from Becker. I did catch waves, but I was tired towards the end that I couldn't pop up on the last few waves.

Other than that, nothing much else to report.

Back in the Water...

2007-07-15T18:35:00.000-07:00

For this? It was as small as can be. I knew things were bad when someone with a huge longboard was packing it in.

Skies were cloudy, obscuring the sun, and thus, preventing the warmth from reaching those in the water. The water itself wasn't cold, but I wasn't about to trunk it. The dolphins were out. Water was clear. Wind was consistently blowing onshore. It made for very bad conditions all around with no waves to distract from that.

About the only good thing about Saturday was that it wasn't crowded. No need to fight for the pittance that was given to us by nature. There wasn't even any issues with the parking situation, especially for a summer day. It's not as if the day was cold either. We've been getting a great deal of warm weather the past few weeks. Go figure.

Missing in Action

2007-07-10T22:29:00.001-07:00

Yep, been at wedding receptions and hampered with a bad cough along with some conjunctivitis (pink eye). Got to love the 21st century.

I'll be back in the water this weekend, if only another year older.

Lazy Sunday

2007-06-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

My friend decided that he finally wanted to try surfing. I'm not an expert, but I can push people into waves and at least tell him the etiquette.

It was the perfect day for a beginner since the waves were about 3 feet max with lulls in between sets. I was able to paddle out with my hair nice and dry. I brought out the 9'2 knowing it was going to be small.

My friend was on his used 9 footer. It was mine at some point, but nothing I really surfed on. I bought it to loan out to others since everyone wanted to come out surfing and it gave me a way to still surf my own board and let others to join in the fun. It's a 9 footer, but on the thin side. The few times I've surfed on it, I didn't really like it all that much. It's not really agile, but at the same time, waves can knock it over. So, no maneuverability with no stability.

He was able to paddle out easily. He then spent the next 20 minutes trying to sit on the board. One of those things you take for granted once you get the hang of it. He just kept falling over. I caught a few waves while he was trying to learn how to sit on that board. I traded boards with him so that he could be on something more solid. I caught a few waves on his board and didn't like any rides.

After awhile, I told him to try to catch a wave to the inside and decided to push him into waves. It's not my favorite way of teaching people how to surf, but I guess people have to learn what it feels like when the board starts to glide. Did this for about 20 minutes before telling him to paddle back out again to try on his own.

Waves got a little bigger later on. The water was warming up and it was nice and clean. The skies were overcast with a slight breeze.

Can't wait till next week.

No surfing on Saturday because a.) there was no surf to be had and b.) I went to Bodies the Exhibition to see a bunch of Chinese cadavers.

Murky Waters

2007-06-03T10:33:00.000-07:00

The dolphins were out in full force, but the water had a distinct brownish/reddish tinge to it. I'm not a big fan of brownish/reddish water. Reminds me too much of red tide and my sinus infections.

The skies were overcast the whole time and I expect it to be this way for the next month with June gloom. The winds were calm and the water was warm, despite the funky color to it. Most of the waves were lefts, though, if you're patient, a few rights would peek through. The drift was pretty strong and deceiving. You didn't know you were drifting until you took the time to look back towards shore and you're one tower farther north. I'm sure some people were swept towards Long Beach.

I caught more waves today than yesterday. My arms are still recovering from their first session in months. Unlike yesterday, my pop ups were smoother. I only took one left and just waited around for the rights. It was better to go right anyway (besides being regular footed) because then I wouldn't have to paddle as much to keep up with the drift.

Crowds were moderate even though there were more cars in the lot. It's the onset of summer.

One Paddle Short

2007-06-02T17:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a good two months since I've surfed. Biggest fear was not having the stamina or the strength to catch waves. Well, I didn't catch a few, but that's about it. One great right, the other two were just blah. I have to go out again tomorrow to get the strength back.

The water is getting warmer, the skies are overcast, and the wind was mellow. Water has been clear all year because we haven't had that many rainy days. The crowd is still fairly light considering Memorial Day has already come and gone. People are probably still waiting for sunny days before they go to the beach, which is completely fine by me.

Anyway, is anyone else annoyed by "Surf's Up?" Every time I see that movie, I just see the crowds getting thicker. Why oh why did they make a cute surf movie with penguins? I remember that after Blue Crush came out, the beaches and breaks got thicker. You'd think there would be more girls out in the line up, but you'd be wrong. Ah well, everywhere is getting crowded. Is there such a thing as a suburban beach break to escape the dense crowds?

Still sidelined

2007-05-12T13:56:00.000-07:00

Yep, still no surfing for me. If anything, the leg feels worse. I went to get some acupuncture done and that was torture. Sitting there with a bunch of needles stuck all over and the worst part is that you can't move at all or there will be some pain associated. The needles are touching some meridians or something. Anyway, this means I'm still sidelined for the time being. I may give it a go in a few weeks to test it out.

Till then, I have to get my surfing kicks from watching my library of surf DVDs. I'm sure everyone has a library of them by now.

The top of the list for me is the first Endless Summer. Just about every surfer has watched this movie at some time or other. It's timeless. Even the poster is a classic piece of art. The soundtrack went well with the overall good vibes of the film.

Other films adorning my very small library, Endless Summer II, Step Into Liquid, Blue Horizon, Riding Giants, Singlefin Yellow, Thicker Than Water, September Sessions, and a few Japanese surf DVDs.

The ones that I can watch over and over again are: Endless Summer, Singlefin Yellow, Step Into Liquid, and Riding Giants. I'm more of a fan of Singlefin Yellow and Endless Summer since I don't rip up waves like a shortboarder. The past few sessions have been on my fun board, something that doesn't shred waves like a shortboard, due to size and ability of rider (more this than any other point).

Anyway, I hope everyone is having fun out there.

Sharkbait, I'll get around to getting an epoxy at some point or borrowing (stealing) someone else's. I'll give you my impressions when that day arrives.

still sidelined

2007-04-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

Good thing there are no waves for me to miss.

One of my friends is going to be buying an epoxy board and I've been seeing them a lot lately. You can tell because the colors look a little dull. I wonder if the boards will ever come out looking like the old polyurethane boards. More importantly, is there a performance difference?

When they first came out, people were saying it didn't have quite the same feel, in a negative way, compared to the old foam boards. The sensitivity or flex was gone. They are cheaper and more resilient than the old boards, but they don't look quite as nice. I hear they are super light as well. Lots of pros and cons.

Anyone care to comment?

I'm waiting for my surfing mentor to pick up one up. He totally surfs the hell out of his foam boards that they fall apart (delamination) after a couple of seasons. He treats his boards really well, too, except for the abuse they go through from the turns and the kick outs.

I'm not going to be buying a board anytime soon, but will be rehabbing an old board. It has some delamination rework done to it, but I think I'll try to find someone to strip it and reglass the whole board. This is after I get my tax refund back and then I'll have to go find someone to do the glass work. If anyone knows someone in Orange County or LA County, please forward me their contact info.

Fun Saturday

2007-04-11T17:43:00.000-07:00

Waves were big, water was glassy, crowd was only moderate. No sun though. The waves were pouring in non stop for awhile and there were some head highs poking through every now and then. I caught a bunch of waves, going right of course. A few lefts here and there, but nothing to write home about.

The next day, I got to the break a little late because of my late night the night before. I didn't even bother paddling out. The waves were big and even though there was a lull every so often, I decided I'd only get pounded and didn't have the energy to paddle out.

Instead, I hung out with some of the older locals, listening to their stories. The stories weren't necessarily about waves or surf, but they mostly centered around the other characters who surfed that spot. It would appear that a lot of the locals used to be ex military. They had stories about that as well as the other people who were. Some people were less liked than others. This was all while they were watching the surf and cheering for some of the more energetic people catching waves.

The waves are pumping right now, unfortunately for me, I won't be surfing for the next few weeks with a slight tear in my calf muscle. Not a fun thing at all, but there isn't an injury that can be characterized as "fun" is there?

On a Log

2007-03-26T19:37:00.000-07:00

The waves were good! They weren't spectacular, but fun, which is the most important part for me and for anyone, right?

I took out the 9'2, which seemed to be the perfect board for the day. There were a lot of gawkers from the shore, trying to wrestle with whether or not to suit up and get wet. I asked someone who just got back from taking a peek at conditions how the waves were. "Pretty flat. Lots of buoys out there."

Makes me feel better for taking out my big board.

I paddled out, dry hair and all.

The waves turned out to be knee to waist for most of the first hour or so. Wouldn't you know it? Some sneaker sets came rolling through and I was caught on the inside. Fun! Just kidding.

After the set was done, I got back out, caught some more waves then called it a day. I had one crash where I rolled over my board or the board rolled underneath my feet and I have a subsequent bruise on my shin from one of the fins.

Can't wait till next week.

Left? What's a Left?

2007-03-25T00:06:00.000-07:00

It was nothing but lefts today and since I've been going predominantly right, I completely kooked my first 3 waves.

Wave coming. Turn. Paddle. Get up. Face goes into water. Repeat 2 more times.

I finally caught a right that completely closed out, but not before I went flying down the face on a really steep drop. After that, I attempted a left and was all good... mostly. Ate it on another left later on, but did manage a few lefts before catching my ride of the day. Chest high wave, going right, zipping up and down the face of the wave.

Ever wonder about your foot position on a board? I put a traction pad on my 7'11 on the recommendation of a friend. He places his back foot right over where his center fin is located so that he can do really tight turns. Every time I've tried doing that on the 7'11, I drag so much that I completely stall out. Instead, my back foot is about 6 inches in front of the traction pad (I should just move it) and that's my comfort zone. I can roller coaster up and down waves, but not to the point where I'm able to do any cutbacks any time soon. On the 7'0, I'm way on the tail. Just a function of the board, I think.

Here's hoping tomorrow will yield some half decent waves. In fact, I'm going to go check the reports to see whether I should bring the big board out.

Water was chilly with tons of texture due to the south wind. It did become glassy for all of 20 minutes before becoming choppy again. Sky was cloudy, with small inklings of blue. Water was also murky and tide was low in the morning. Crowd was moderate at the home break, but I fear the crowds come Memorial Day in 2 months.

Lagged

2007-03-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

Jet-lag sucks. I couldn't get up in time to beat the high tide yesterday. I did drive out to the break to see that the high tide was really high, higher than the 5 ft that was reported. I saw a bunch of people risking their necks with the shorepound.

Just have to wait till next week and hope that there's some surf to surf and no tide to screw things up with.

Can't wait.

Fantastic Crashes

2007-03-10T14:10:00.000-08:00

Last week was flat. Nothing to really report about last week other than I stayed home and ran errands. The tide was also a factor.

Today, well, today was good and bad. It didn't look like much when I got there, maybe knee with an occasional waist. The long boarders were having a bit of trouble for the most part, except for one guy on a baby blue board. He was catching waves even though they didn't end up breaking.

I was a bit reluctant to go out because it's cold! I did end up paddling out with my magic board (which I've resorted to again) and wasn't sure that it was going to fit the bill. Not because the board in incapable of producing good rides on small days, just that I was unsure whether I had the paddle strength to get into the waves.

Things picked up soon after paddling out (dry hair/wet face day). I caught a few chest high rights after sitting out there struggling with the tiny stuff. It picked up as the session went on. There wasn't much of a crowd either.

As for the crashes, I had a few very late takeoffs which led to me being sucked over the falls while I was standing. The biggest fear is where the board is in relation to where my body is tumbling underneath the surface. Since the falls sucked me over, I was in the wash with the board. I banged a shin, but that was no big deal.

I got sucked over a few more times before learning my lesson. Honestly, getting tumbled around is fun. I enjoy it. It's the board that freaks me out because that piece of fiberglass covered foam hurts when it comes right at you, especially the edges. Good thing nothing happened and I got my nice little tumble.

Towards the end of 2 hours, the waves really started slowing down, but there were still fun ones coming through every now and then if you were patient. The water was glassy and the only thing that would have made the whole day even better was a sunny sky. Overcast the whole time with no glimpses of blue.

No surf tomorrow. Got to take a trip!

Back in the Saddle Again

2007-02-26T23:31:00.000-08:00

The waves didn't look that great from the beach. However, it's a good thing for me since I had been out of the water for so long. It sucks being sick. I thought it was perhaps due to riding in a closed cylinder for 5 hours with a bunch of other people who were carrying unknown diseases. Or it might have been that I didn't wait 72 hours before surfing after a rain storm. Or it could just be that everyone has been getting sick this year. Whatever the reason, it kept me out of the water for a long while. I didn't want to go back in the water until I was 95% healthy. I still have a nagging cough, but that's about it.

The sky was partially cloudy, with the sun playing peek-a-boo all session. The water had some texture and it was chilly out there. The waves didn't look promising as the tide dropped out fast this morning (Sunday). I paddled out at the home break with my hair still defying gravity from having bed head. It took my first wave and dunking before the hair went back down. The waves didn't have much push at first, so that first wave was taken after the wave broke. Nonetheless, I was able to get over to the shoulder in a timely fashion to make due with what I had.

The next wave, a right as it's become my preferred direction these days, had a great shoulder and reformed a little on the inside before closing out completely.

I grabbed a few more waves before the onshore wind picked up. It turned choppy out there and the waves stopped coming through for a good 20 minutes. Another regular on his 9' plus board wasn't even able to catch anything, so I didn't feel bad when I wasn't catching much of anything either. He went in soon after that, frustrated with his wave count. It just seemed like he was having an off day that day.

I think it might have been that there was a dark cloud following that guy because the waves started coming through again after he left. I caught a few more waves before my arms got too tired. First thing that always goes is the paddle strength.

P.S. If I don't respond to comments right away or they're not posted right away it's because I'm lazy and I forget that I have to review comments before they're published. I've gotten a few spam comments. Man, spammers are everywhere!!!

No swell

2007-02-17T01:49:00.000-08:00

Yep, that's the forecast. Knee to waist with some chest at standouts. The high tide will kill things in the morning and the wind will probably kill anything after that morning window. Looks like I'll be waiting for a bigger swell to hit. Still have a nagging cough. Guess it's good there's nothing out in the water tempting me to see if my body has truly recovered.

Sick as a dog

2007-02-03T11:30:00.000-08:00

Well, not quite that sick, but was that sick earlier in the week, thus my absence from the surf this weekend. Yeah, 72 hours after rain is a pretty good rule, if you abide by it. I'm too dumb to do that. This is probably the 3rd time I've gotten sick from surfing the home break, not all related to stormy waters. The first two times were due to red tide, which isn't much better, if not worse.

I went out last weekend and had great rides, but I paid for it this week. Good thing for strong antibiotics, codeine, and sleep (however artificially induced it may be).

Looks like there were some fun waves out there, too. I ought to be ready next week or at the very least the weekend after.

Catch some fun ones for me.

Where are the icebergs?

2007-01-28T21:26:00.000-08:00

Good morning campers, better bundle up because it's freezing out there! The first time I've been surfing in weeks and winter has set upon us. The water is chilly, but so is the air temp.

I didn't think the waves were going to be that great after checking out the surf forecast. What do you know, the waves were just right for me, at least, just right after such a long break. I caught a bunch of rights. They were fun. It was a dry hair paddle out, but after that first dunking of the head, you get used to it. Hoodies are sort of tempting now. A friend just bought one and it looked like it was going to do the trick to cut down on the brain freezes.

Today (Sunday) looked really bad. High tide was early on, but it was fairly high. Got to the beach at 8 and just hung out till the tide dropped a bit. In fact, the tide was pretty low, but it just wasn't breaking. There were 3 people out where we normally paddle out and they were catching nothing. Even broken waves fizzled. The sandy bottom must be really screwed up.

By the time we paddled out, the three people who were initially in there had had enough of the cold and paddled in.

They missed out on some fun waves, both left and right. They weren't that big, but there were a few that had some zip to them. The waves just kept getting better as the time passed. I caught a bunch going left and right. I've been working on bending my knees more and was crouched down. It was a fun! The size dropped down from Saturday, but still fun waves out there. It was a shame that I had to go run errands or I would have stayed out there a lot longer.

There are supposed to be some nice surf spots in Cancun, but don't go around January because it's all blown out. I just body surfed some 4-5 ft waves that were all choppy. I wonder how big they'd be if there wasn't such a strong onshore wind blowing. The water is crystal clear. However, the water tasted saltier and it definitely burned my eyes and sinuses. It wasn't pleasant. Every time I ducked under, things just burned. That part sucked, but warmth was nice.

Back into the groove.

No waves in Sin City

2007-01-09T22:24:00.000-08:00

That's where I was for the weekend and I'm glad I'm back. No waves, lots of smoke, no good for me. Did I miss anything while I was gone? Did I? Maybe I got lucky and this was the right weekend to be away.

Last Day of 2006

2007-01-01T21:46:00.000-08:00

Swell flowing in on Sunday to make up for a dismal Friday and Saturday. I went out to the beach on Friday, but became just a spectator, watching all the nice buoys bobbing in the water out there. Wasn't a pretty sight to behold as the waves crashed right on shore if they broke at all.

I came out Sunday hoping to catch some of the new swell that was forecasted. Wasn't bad. I had some fun waves on my giant board as the tide was going out. Then a 10 wave set rolled in while I was on the inside and that screwed up my day. It's alright since I caught more than my fair share of waves that day on my giant log of a board.

Today was supposed to be fun, but I had to scrub the inside of my car because a friend decided that all the alcohol in her stomach should be shared with my car. That was fun, let me tell you.

Happy New Year!

Xmas Weekend

2006-12-27T20:52:00.000-08:00

I only went out one day, Saturday. The tide came up fast. It was only good for 30 minutes before the tide killed it. If you got there early (which I didn't), then it was all lined up. Just can't get the right conditions, but that's the good and bad thing with mother nature. Things will never ever be exactly the same.

The pounding last week helped with the paddling this week. I took out the smaller board again and had a bit of trouble getting into waves. I should have just gone into the inside section and chanced those waves and avoid breaking my neck on the shorepound.

At least there's something still in the water for this weekend. Can't wait!

Pounding

2006-12-17T20:38:00.000-08:00

The forecast for the weekend was for PM showers on Saturday at 60% and AM showers on Sunday. So, Saturday morning was the only chance I'd get to surf some waves. The actual weather? Cloudy and windy. It's a 40-45 minute drive out to the regular break, so weather can be totally different by the time you get out there.

Weather at the beach? Gusty onshore winds, lots of chop, sprinkles off and on. Very few people out in the water as the white water was just everywhere. It was messy with lots of size. It's a beach break, so there are few true channels to paddle out through, just have to dive or wait for the lulls (which were frequent, but very short).

My friend was already out in the water and I just stood at the base of one of the lights just watching to see if he caught anything. I was debating whether to go out or not because it was cold!

I started chatting with some guy who just came out and he said it was fun, if you catch one. "Might as well go out, this is the only day you can surf because it's going to rain tomorrow." That was enough. I've been too long out of the water not to at least get some paddling time in. It's the first thing that goes, after all.

I suited up, paddled out a little to the north of where my friend was (have to compensate for the drift). There was only one other guy out there on a longboard.

Guess how long it took to get out to the outside? Honestly, I couldn't tell you. It was over 15 minutes of just paddling and ducking through wave after wave. After awhile, it was just me diving under the waves without the board. There were a few times where it would have been much easier to just turn the board around and belly board one in.

After getting tossed around, held under a couple of times and occasionally dragged backwards by the board, I got out. Triumph! I ended up 100 yards south of where I started out. The arms were dead. They were paddling, but very little travel came of it.

What do you know? A sneak set came in, 20 yards farther out. Started scratching for the horizon, but it was pretty clear that I wasn't going to make it. Took one on the head, then caught one in. Didn't even have the strength to pop up.

Today was the day after the storm. Surfline said that it was weak and sloppy. Nothing to wake up for so I slept in. I hope next week is better.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't

2006-12-10T20:19:00.000-08:00

Last week was flat. I didn't bother going out, there was no point.

This week was supposed to be the big swell. I went out yesterday and wouldn't you know it, it was big and hollow. Only problem is that the whole beach was walled up. The tide was coming up and there were some guys out. All I saw was people catching waves and going straight before the whole thing closed out. I could see a shoulder, but it was closing out way too fast. My friend said that he was almost at RPB, some place that was good during large winter swells. Big mistake. That place turned out to be knee high waves with barely any push. I didn't bother suiting up and getting into that foul water with only my little 7'0 hybrid to battle against longboards.

My friend was in the water and he caught a few tiny waves, but they were short rides and nothing great. I should have just stayed at the home break and waited for the high tide to slow up the waves just enough that the shape would clean up. A few of the locals mentioned that it got great yesterday.

I went out this morning hoping that there would still be some swell in the water, but the conditions totally sucked. It rained the night before and the water reflected the storm.

Ugh. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Good Vibrations

2006-11-24T19:55:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving has yielded some good waves, for those who were willing to wake up to beat the high tide at 9:30am. It was a 6 footer, which is nothing to sneeze at. The water is still warm, around the mid 60's. There was a bit of an overcast and no wind.

I caught a bunch of fun waves before a wave hog came along with his tanker of a board. Even my friend was getting a little upset as the guy shoulder hopped him on a wave. No sense of common courtesy and taking turns. With that giant board, he was able to easily come over from 20 yards out and just catch wave after wave. At least I did get some rides while the guy was paddling out. More lefts than rights on Turkey day.

The good vibrations came today (Black Friday). As soon as I hit the water, I found myself in a pack of about 5 or 6 guys of all ages. The youngest one was about 6 or 7 years old and who knows how old the oldest guy was. The key thing was, they were all very cool. They struck up conversation right away and asking how each wave was. They took turns, even offering some waves to me when it was my turn. Just hootering and hollering for each other and cheering anyone else on. It was just good times all the way around. That's what I love about the home break, lots of really cool people who surf there.

Some dolphins were spotted way on the outside, which is a good thing considering that there was a sea lion kicking it on the beach. Someone said, "maybe he knows something we don't?" That's why I was happy that I saw a pod of dolphins on the outside. Makes me feel safer.

Good times... Perhaps the weekend will continue with the good vibes.

The Clone

2006-11-19T21:15:00.000-08:00

If I never mentioned it before, the board in my quiver that has given me the most good days is my 7'11. I've let one friend borrow it (don't even know why I did it when I think back on it) and she had a blast. She had so much fun, that she went and ordered one just like it except it wasn't. I picked up the board for her and noticed, just from a quick glance, that something was different about it. To me, it looked as if my friend's board was more aesthetically pleasing. The rails looked fuller and just seemed like a very well shaped and well made board.

I tried it out and lo and behold, it felt different. It felt sluggish and slow. Couldn't put my finger on why it felt that way. There was nothing wrong with it, it just didn't feel like my board. She rode a handful of times before retiring it.

Recently, another friend borrowed it, while in the water, for a couple of hours. She also had a blast. She liked it so much that she thought about buying the clone, but after I told her about how it felt different, she reconsidered. She decided to go get one made, only this time, she was going to bring my board to have them copy it exactly.

Well, I saw it today and even though the shaper constantly referred to my magic board for dimensions and such, it came out different. Again, I would have to say, it was more aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

I should clarify things. When I first picked up my board, the stringer looked off center, a bit to the right. The rails felt thin for the size, almost as if there was a bit too much foam was shaved off. It didn't look right, but I just took it anyway. One of my other friends saw it the first day and remarked about the stringer being off center, so it wasn't just me.

However, when you ride it, it rides like a dream. The board catches waves well, but felt loose. I've had very few bad days on that board (though some were definitely less stellar than others). Everyone who's ridden it mention how fun it is. Don't know what it is.

So, the 2nd clone, looks like a nice board. I want to try it out on a slightly larger swell. My friend has said that she has caught a bunch of waves on it already, but has mentioned that it feels more stable than my board. I'm crossing my fingers for a bit more of a swell to test it out, not just to test ride, but to ride for me!!

Anyway, the last few days were fun. It was small both days, but some chest high sets come through. All the waves were clean with lefts and rights. The water is still warm, but then again, so is the weather over all. I am sure it topped the mid 80's today and it's November! The water must be around 64 or so and I was getting a bit hot under the collar once the sun burned through the fog. The tide was high, so that meant a late morning session was in order. I surfed 3 hours both days, paddling for anything. I caught some really fun rights and kooked a bunch of smaller waves. I sort of get up slowly on small waves, usually amazed that I've started planing. Once the shock wears off, I get up slowly and then try to turn as hard as possible only to find me eating it. It's a bit hard to turn when there's very little speed. Still, had fun!

Summary:
Water was warm, about 64.
Wind was calm, though picked up a bit more on Saturday around 11ish.
Waves were small, but clean with plenty of shoulders to be had.
Sky was clear after the fog burned off.
Tide was high.
Crowd was moderate, but it's slowly thinning out due to the small swell or that people might be thinking it's too cold to get in the water in the autumnal months.

Four days of surfing next weekend!

Consistently... small

2006-11-11T17:06:00.000-08:00

Yep, you heard it here folks, it was consistently small. At least the waves were rolling in at a good clip for the first hour or so, before the northerly wind started screwing things up. The waves got smaller in the process. There were still some fun waves out there and I caught my fair share, so I can't complain.

The water is still in the 60's which is surprising considering that it's already November. The crowds were thin today, so I guess I can't really call it a crowd. A lot of people were watching from the beach, intimidated by the sheer size (or lack) of the waves. I don't understand why the longboarders turned around and left. I was out on my 7'0 and catching waves, so I am sure they could catch just as many if not more. Like I said, the wind was blowing pretty hard by the time I got out of the water.

As for my surfing today, some improvement as I roller coastered a bit on a small wave. Granted, it wasn't a big wave, but still had a shoulder to work with. My pop ups were sort of bad towards the end. I got up on one knee before getting on my feet. Not a good way to get up. I caught one left and the rest were rights. I had one great looking left that I blew. Yep, freaked out because I wasn't sure what to do with it. So weird that I used to prefer lefts and now I like going right. Got to practice!

No surf for me tomorrow as I go contribute to the economy by spending some hard earned money and giving it to people who are already wealthy. Can you guess? Still in Orange County, that magical of places, where all the dreams of one man came true, only to be turned into a machine of capitalism.

Check the Ego

2006-11-05T21:55:00.000-08:00

High tide yet again. I didn't surf the previous day because I got another flat on the way there. The 710 is a freeway you ought to avoid if you can. There is a ton of debris all over, not sure what it is.

Anyway, high tide peaked today (Sunday) at around 8am or so. What a string of bad luck with the tides. I wasn't sure if the waves would come through, but was assured they were rolling through with pretty good shape yesterday.

There were some head high waves every now and then. I took out the 7'0 and I have to say that the waves might have been too large for me at first. I was able to paddle out with no problems, but paddling into waves, that was a problem. I spent the first 30 minutes just keeping up with the current (now pushing us south) and trying every now and then for a wave. I didn't start off fast enough or was in the right place that by the time I was coming close to planing, I was looking down a straight wall. Well, not wanting to get pounded for very little benefit, I'd push the nose down and turn around.

After awhile, I started to paddle a bit harder to catch some waves and finally caught one with some decent shape. Other than that wave and the wave in, the wave count for the day was just 2. I have to charge a few more waves next weekend to make up for this. It's definitely the start of the winter swells.

Water is still warm at around the mid 60's.
Sun was shining.
Wind was calm.
Crowds were thin, but got thicker when it was time to leave.
Dolphins sighted.

Microwaves

2006-10-30T19:48:00.000-08:00

Well, another October has come and gone. There wasn't an epic day like the day I had in 2003. That one Sunday still ranks as one of the best surf days of my short life in this sport. That day started off small and I was just getting back into the water after taking a one month break due to a simultaneous ear and sinus infection caused by surfing in red tide. (Yeah, I didn't learn from that first time and went back in only to get the same affliction in time for the Christmas holidays that year.) That Sunday was still the very best though. The crowd thinned out around 9 am, probably thinking that the best of what was out there had already come and gone.

I was thinking of packing it in myself because I was tired (no stamina from one month of recovery) and I had to get to school to finish up a project. I decided to catch one in and wouldn't you know, it was one of the best waves I had. It was a great left (though I could have gone right) that I rode to the shore. The water was crystal clear and I could see the sandy bottom through the shoulder and it was magical. I paddled back out to get another like that and lo and behold, another beautiful left (I had a tendency to go left a lot back then). I decided I should work on my rights and see if I could catch one going that way. Wouldn't you know it, a nice right! I was going up and down the wave, in a slow roller coaster. The waves were chest to shoulder. That particular wave, my friend went left and I went right. Some guy came up to me after I paddled out and told me that it looked like a text book drop in. I stayed for another few hours until I got too hungry to catch any more waves and I had to meet up with a friend to start on the school project. The waves kept breaking like that all day, as my surfing teacher would attest. He surfed until he got too tired to paddle for waves and crashed in his car for a few hours before going out again.

Yep, magical October day. Sunny skies, crystal clear water, no crowds, peaks everywhere, no wind...

This past weekend was nowhere near as magical. I brought out the big board for the small waves. I caught some fun waist high waves on Saturday and cheated once, before plummeting into the watery depths when I tried to dip the toes.

Sunday was even smaller. I caught as many waves as possible with the hog. You know what's weird? There was still a crowd out there. What gives? It's October! Granted the water was still warm, but still!

The other thing I really need to work on is judging people's abilities. I didn't try for some waves others were paddling for when I should have. I didn't drop in on anyone today, but there were far too many waves I passed up on because I couldn't judge whether or not the other person would catch it. Got to learn to judge those guys.

This coming week probably harbingers the changing of the swells as I will start drifting southwards rather than towards Sunset Beach.

Ins and Outs

2006-10-22T10:46:00.000-07:00

The high tide was making the back wash almost as big as some of the waves rolling in. The swell was making its presence felt yesterday with some head high waves coming through every now and then. Of course, when you catch a wave, the drop can be very interesting. As you drop in, the back wash will create a ramp for you to catch some air or, if you're in the wrong spot, the wave and the backwash will meet when the wave is breaking creating a loud explosion. If you're caught when the two meet, you get sandwiched in between.

I took out the 7'11 yesterday and only had a few good rides. The water was warm at least and clear. I think the water's been a lot cleaner than it has been in the last few years.

Today (Sunday) was more of the same high tide back wash. I thought it was cleaner than yesterday, simply because there were shoulders, more shoulders than yesterday. There was a bit of a fog when and some clouds covering the sun. The water was still warm. The biggest change was the bump on the water. There was a slight breeze creating the texture. The rides weren't as smooth.

I took out my little 7'0. I had one really good right. Each time I take out that board these days, I am getting more comfortable with it. Leads me to reaffirm the idea that I bought the board a few years too early for my skill. I made late drops and such all day today (not to say my wave count was super high or anything). This particular right, one of the few the whole day, had a gigantic shoulder. I didn't pump the board to get it higher on the face, which I should of. I was a little nervous about the lip jacking up, but I am sure I would have made it, either way. Got to take out that board more often to get my stamina to paddle that thing around and to experiment with carving up the wave a bit more. It's not a pure shortboard, but it's the closest thing I have to one right now.

10/15/06

2006-10-15T15:41:00.000-07:00

Run off surf, got to love it. I didn't go out yesterday because I figured the rain would put a damper on things. Made a mistake. I heard it was fun and clean yesterday morning. I went out today thinking I could make up for it.

I got to the home break before dawn, with very little light to see the virtually non existent waves. There were just crumblers barely knee high. I didn't think it was even worth going out, with the onshore breeze blowing consistently. The only people out were some newbies (they were struggling with the crumbly white water) and a few others who just seemed they were jonesing for whatever waves they could get.

By the time my friend came out, we looked at the waves and decided to just go out and catch whatever we could. Good thing I brought out the Griffin. 9'2" of pure wave catching power. The waves picked up by the time we got into the water, which was chilly, but not overly so. The morning wind gave the surface some texture and the sun was trying to break through the clouds. It turned out to be a good decision. I caught a bunch of waves, mostly going right at first. I started trying out the backside thing again, with these crumblers. I still ate it a few times, but did get some fun rides.

I traded boards with a friend so that she could try out the beauty of a big board on small days. Her board needs more wax. I wonder if she knows this? I didn't mention it to her, but I think I'll let her know next week by giving her some wax. I slipped off her board while trying to pop up. Didn't make me too happy, but at least I didn't have to ride it the whole time.

Forecast has no swell in the near future. Got to start praying for surf!

Full Moon

2006-10-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

Yep, I looked out the car window Friday night, saw a beautiful, full moon in the sky. Quite romantic, unless... you're a surfer! Yeah, the moon screwed up the tides. We had a 6 ft. plus high tide in the morning on Saturday. Since I had to bring in my car at 12pm to the body shop, that meant an early morning session was in order, only that the tide would be screwing things up. I skipped out on Saturday morning. Ah well.

I picked up my wonderful *cough* Ford Fusion 4 door from the rental car place. (Off topic, but some lady was complaining that the only Mercedes they had available for rent was a C Class. The cost per day was $150, which she didn't balk at, just that it was a C Class when her regular car was an S Class. Then she was considering the Nissan Murano for $110. No clue why. Clearly she didn't need the big car.) The thing had fold down seats in the back, but didn't fold enough that I could fit even my 7 footer inside. I had to put the board through the passenger side from door, angled into the back seat.

Got to the break by 7, hoping that there'd be something rideable on the smallest board in my quiver. Guess what? It was fun! I caught a bunch of rights that were fun. There was some zip to the wave, even though there wasn't supposed to be a swell. I stayed high as I could on each wave, so that I can get the speed to make the sections. I still don't roller coaster enough, but I'm getting there. It's only a matter of time. I have concluded that I bought that hybrid about 2 years too soon. I feel comfortable on it these days, not like before. It still freaks me out when i eat it. I get flashbacks of 2003 when that thing came boomeranging back to my mug. Not a pleasant memory.

I tried to catch a few lefts, but ate it each time. One I just slipped and then got caught by the lip. Another, I pig dogged it left and pulled a little too hard on the outside rail and ended up into the wave. I was covered for my third left, but didn't bobbled the pop up, which sent me into the wash. After that, it was all rights till the last wave of the day. I caught a left, even got up and rode it all the wave to the showers. Yes, the tide was a 7 footer or something close to it on Sunday. Funny thing was that there were still some fun waves coming through, if you were willing to wait the 15 or 20 minutes or so before one of them showed up.

The crowd has definitely thinned out, more to my liking. The water has started its plunge towards the 50s, but still keeping in the 60s. Can't wait to get my own car back this week, but I'll still be bringing the smaller board out. I wish I had a bit more cash to buy a super nice wetsuit. I'm starting to feel the chill a bit more.

The Great Wall of Torrey Pines

2006-10-01T21:25:00.000-07:00

Went down to Torrey Pines yesterday and the waves looked kind of small from the beach, but when we got in, it was bigger. The waves have always been a bit more powerful than the home break. The little bumps in Bolsa that just frustrate you are completely different at Torrey Pines. They usually have enough push to give you a semi-decent ride.

I had a dry hair paddle out. Didn't think it would be too bad, but when I tried to catch one, it started bowling. It was a straight wall going down. Few people were catching much out there. I only had a wave count of 2 for the day. The rest of the time was me paddling northward. The last wave was my wave in. It was a right. I got one other wave going left. We did get to surf with some dolphins, though. They came up real close, about 5 feet away. The water was freaking chilly, too.

Today (Sunday) was much better. Went back to the home break for some nice peaks going left mostly. It was crowded, then not crowded, and ended up being crowded again. It wouldn't be as bad except some people were hanging out on the inside. What gives? If you're going to crowd up the break, you may as well come to the outside so that people can catch waves without fear of avoiding buoys on the inside. Even the people on the outside were running into each other. I saw two collisions within a matter of minutes (2 minutes to be exact).

My friend sent me this trailer for Surf's Up, an animated film coming out next year. The scary thing is that many new surfers are going to crowd up the beach after this film comes out. It was bad after Blue Crush. This is going to appeal to both girls and kids. Yes, I don't think it's ever going to go back to the crowds of 2003. It's been downhill since that year.

P.S. Waves suck in October, may as well wait for the true winter swells that start coming through in November.

Still warm!

2006-09-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

I didn't get to surf last week because traffic prevented me from getting my car back from the dealership in time and was too tired from a nice wedding on Saturday night for a Sunday morning run. Another nice wedding last night prevented me from going out this morning. Well, it didn't really stop me, but coming back in time for a one hour nap before heading out again, is clearly not enough for me.

I did go out yesterday and the water was still very warm! When I got out of the water, there was that bit of chill in the air with a slight offshore breeze going on. The breeze made me think that it would be a good idea to wear a full suit, what a mistake! I was burning up in that suit.

The waves were bowling early, a combination of the swell and the low tide. The waves were zippy early on and the crowds were sort of thinning out from 2 weeks ago. Most of the waves were lefts and that's the way I went. There was a slight drift going north, but wasn't bad at all.

The funnest wave was a right. I dropped in a little late, turned right as soon as I stood up, and away I went. I should have tried to crouch and get closer to the wave face to see if I could have got covered. That's not instinctive for me going front side. Going backside, I just pig dog it and tuck in. Not to say I get covered a lot and the few times I have been covered, ended with me in the wash. No spectacular wipeouts either yesterday.

Next week, a trip down south to either Torrey Pines or Carlsbad. Can't wait!

Zoo is still in session

2006-09-11T21:21:00.000-07:00

Yep, still crowded. You would think that things would thin out a bit after Labor Day weekend, but the crowd was as thick as ever. I only caught a few waves on Saturday because I wanted to avoid any hard feelings by dropping on people. Little did I realize that there isn't much of a priority list on waves. I may have passed up on waves for others, but they didn't do the same for me. Guess I just have to charge and see who gets up first. If it's not me, then I had better come up with an exit strategy.

First wave, went left, grabbed the rail, got covered and then went into the wash. That was a ton of fun. I have to figure out how to get out of it now.

Sunday was much the same, caught more waves, while fighting the perennial drift northward. Nothing really of note, except that the air temp was colder than the water temp, making me consider breaking out the wetsuit for the coming weekends.

Ding! Ding!

2006-09-04T20:42:00.000-07:00

Almost ran someone over yesterday. The guy caught a wave and went right. Two waves later, I caught a wave and went left. I was cruising along, when his head suddenly popped up in front of me, after the wave in front of me crashed. I didn't see him because of the wave in front of me. I kept the trim tight and went left as much as I could. I said, "Holy Smokes!" The guy looked a bit annoyed with me, but I didn't run him over and he was still 5 ft. away, which isn't much, but I steered clear of him. After that, he went a bit farther north from me. Is someone going to invent a bell or a horn to let people know they are coming through or something? Much like a bell on a bike?

The best waves of this 3 day weekend was by far Sunday. There were some chest high waves that rolled in every so often. The water was nice and warm, with little smelt like fish jumping all over the place. The seal swimming around sort of freaked me out. I don't like to be around shark food.

I took out the big board again and just kept catching wave after wave. Was loads of fun and I went both left and right.

Today, the waves sort of died off. The wind started up really early. I was at the lot early, but sat there for 45 minutes waiting for a friend and her friend to show up. The friend's friend wanted to learn how to surf and I don't know where people get the idea that I like to teach people? It's not as if I'm all that great, I'm still a kook at times. Not only was I suppose to "teach" this person, but I had to bring an extra board, too? [I cut out the rest of the rant. Got way too negative.]

Since I brought two boards, I could only bring two fun boards, 7'3 and 7'11. The waves were smaller than Sunday, so I struggled a little on the 7'3. I did catch a few waves before going in to check up on the new guy. I told him I'd help him catch some of the waves on the inside, broken waves.

I did catch enough fun ones that I can't really complain. I was exhausted after my first 3 day weekend of surf in ages. There's supposed to be a swell later this week, can't wait!

Reverse Switch

2006-09-02T22:31:00.000-07:00

Last week, waves were bowling, current pushed us North. This week, waves are small and mushy, current pushes us South. The current wasn't super strong, not as strong as last week, that's for sure, but there was definitely a drift.

I brought out the 9'2 in anticipation of the small waves. It was definitely the right board for the day. I caught a bunch of waves. It's simply amazing how many waves that thing can catch. I was just catching so many waves.

I had 3 problems surfing this board today though.
1) I tried for a wave and sort of dropped in on a local, who I know. I felt I had priority since I was sitting out there when the local just got out again after riding a wave to the sand. He turned around and went after the same wave I was going for. I pig dogged it going left saw he caught the wave as well, so I pulled as hard as I could to go over the wave. Didn't work too well. I yelled "sorry" to him and we chit chatted for a bit after he got back to the outside. No hard feelings. Helps to surf the same place enough that he knows I normally don't drop on someone (though I still maintain I should have had priority on that wave; what happened to taking turns?)

2.) I pearled a few waves. Being a longer board, I need to angle drop it more. I didn't do it enough and did more than a few somersaults over the front of my board. There were some spectacular wipe outs. I wish I could have seen them.

3.) Turning on the big board on smaller days is a bit tough. I ate it a few times when I tried to turn the board and the board just didn't want to turn. I was too far ahead on my board and should have shifted back to the tail to use the back foot as a pivot. I started to get it right after a few waves, but towards the end of the day, I wiped out on a small wave trying to turn it again too hard with my feet too far up on the board.

The water was warm and the sun was shining early. There was very little wind in the morning, but that didn't last too long.

There was a huge line to get into the lots, but a lot of these people turned around and left after seeing that the waves were tiny.

The most unexpected visitor to the home break was a sea lion. I don't like surfing anywhere sea lions because they happen to be the favorite dish of sharks, the ones big enough to dine on sea lions. I know why he was there though, there was an abundance of fish today. I know that after seeing a school of smelt jumping out of the water and that I think I stepped on one. Whatever it was, it was squishy and squirmy. It took off as soon as my foot touched it. Creeps me out. I worry that it's a stingray and always lift my feet off right away. Stingrays suck ass!

2 more days of surfing to go before the work week starts up again!

Pig Dogging 2, Frontside 1

2006-09-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

Current was pretty fierce last Saturday. The waves weren't as big as the reports said it would be, but, the waves were hollow. First wave, pig dog going left, got covered before I pulled too hard and went out the back. Still can't change directions too well. Trying, but it's on my list of things I need to work on. Have to learn to cut back.

The majority of the waves were going left and you could see the swell from the beach hitting a funky angle. Most everyone was going left, but I was seriously waiting for rights. Two reasons for this. 1) I need to learn to take steep waves going front side (Pig dogging helps on those fast drops.) 2) The current was sending everyone North.

You want to know how bad the current was? I'll give you two examples. I try for two waves. The key word is *try.* I end up 2 lifeguard towers north and I didn't even catch the wave. When I decided enough was enough, I took one in and walked out, thinking I was probably only 1 more tower down since I went right. Nope! I was 4 lots down!!! A lot of people were doing the long walk back to their cars far to the South. Any farther North and I would have been itching to get a Breakfast Jack on Warner.

Sunday saw a huge drop in size. The current was bad, but not as bad. It was good in some ways because packs of people would just drift on by. I just had to keep paddling south while catching as many rights as possible. My friends were 4 lots down before they hiked back to where I was. By that time, I was too tired to stay out much longer and just rode one in. Only one tower south this time, if that.

Sunday was probably one of the first times I saw a girl in a bikini who was both good at surfing and was deserving of wearing a bikini. Not too often you see that combo.

Small, but still fun

2006-08-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

Size got smaller than yesterday and since it wasn't big to begin with yesterday, any reduction in size is a bad thing. There were still waves to be had and I got my share of them. The water was a bit warmer, not by lots again, it didn't make my teeth chatter like it did yesterday. The breeze also started a bit earlier, too.

I surfed the 7'4 slug and it was fun, though a bit tougher. There's been so much repairs done on that board, that it feels a bit sluggish, too. It's not as fast as it should be. The lack of any rocker helps in catching waves, but the weight from all the repairs sort of bogs this board down when I'm paddling. I went right again the majority of the time. Went left a handful of times, but didn't feel right.

The thing I improved on today was flipping the board around at the end of the wave to bail out. Now, I just to complete the kick out and start paddling right away. I still just sort of pop off the board.

Who's writing these surf reports?

2006-08-19T18:15:00.000-07:00

The surf report said, 1-3 weak and small. Really? I took a look, it looked small, but there was shape. Every now and then a chest high wave would come peaking through. I caught a bunch of waves that had some push. It was a blast! I went right, I went left (seldomly even though that was the majority of the waves these days).

Water temp was a bit chilly and being in trunks started my teeth clattering during some of the lulls. It was a good day for beginners, but even for people who were looking for some stoke, there was plenty to be had.

I caught a bunch of waves, then on the paddle out, I got in the way of one of the locals ladies. Three times to be exact. She was cool about it after I apologized. She said it happens to her all the time. I might have been chilly in board shorts and a vest, but she was just in her bathing suit. She was keeping it real.

If tomorrow is anything like today, I'll have just as much fun.

Fun and Not As Fun

2006-08-06T12:51:00.000-07:00

Saturday was pretty good. My biggest regret was not waking up earlier and getting out to catch more waves when it was this good. Then again, I am dead tired from commuting to the new job. It's over an hour one way.

The water has gotten cold... brrr... but still doable in a vest and board shorts. The waves were coming in long lulls, but when they came, there were corners to be had. I caught a bunch of waves on my 7'11, all going right. I've been so focused on going right that I don't do lefts too well any more. Lefts used to be all I did and it came naturally. Probably cause I used to bail on waves a lot more and falling backward is sort of what going lefts felt like to me. So, I got used to going left and did pretty well. I figured going front side is the way most people go, so I worked on going rights.

Most everyone was going left this weekend, with me being the rebel, waiting for a good right to come along. I was catching them pretty consistently and staying high on the wave so I can practice roller coasting as well. The next thing I have to work on are harder cut backs. I don't change direction too well. If I go right, I go right. I might twitch a little to the left to start the roller coaster effect, but then go right again. A couple of times, it would have been nice to cut back a little harder to pick up a little more speed to get past a section, but what can you do? It's just part of the learning and development process.

At one point, I was literally surrounded by people that I couldn't catch anything without either running someone over in the inside section or bump boards with someone to the right or left of me. They trapped me! Good thing a set came in to get rid of them. The usual drift was turned on going north. And since most waves were lefts, the people who caught waves and were too lazy to fight the current usually ended up 50 yards to the north of me, leaving me to pick off the rights that came in every now and then.

Sunday was pretty walled up. Same board, but I started taking lefts. Felt weird. I think I caught one right the whole day and it was a short ride before the whole wave closed shop. Still had fun and the crowd wasn't as thick as on Saturday. Then again, if I have to deal with a few more people, but have better waves, I think I'm willing to run some people over, good vibes be damned!

Can't surf next weekend. Making a road trip with some friends for a bachelor party. Little surprise where that road trip is going to be. At least there won't be much of a swell in the water later on this week, so I probably won't be missing much.

Bath Water

2006-08-01T19:39:00.000-07:00

The water was so warm on Saturday. It was unbelievable! The only bad part was that there was a bit too much wind to really enjoy the warm waters. I don't ever remember a day in the water that was warmer than it was on Saturday. The reports say that the temps have since dropped.

I did catch a few fun waves, but the crowds are getting crazy. I see the regulars out there, but who are all these strangers. Surfing is one of those weird sports where you want to share the stoke when you're out of the water, but get selfish once you're in the water. That's how I am. I try to get as many people interested and then give them dirty looks when they encroach upon my 100-200 yards of beach break. Yeah, I'm filled with contradictions.

On Friday night, Quiksilver had a screening for Dane Reynolds' new surf film at their HQ. It was an outdoor screening and pretty much anyone who knew about it was invited. They offered In N Out burgers and water for free. There was some alcohol and I suspect the beer was free, too. They had a concert right after that by Sparta. It was pretty cool that they had something like that. Dane Reynolds rips, by the way. It was the first I had heard of him. I don't know much about the surfers who dominate the sport other than Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Andy Irons and a few others.

My wish, warm waters, nice peaks peeling, and no one around. It's more of a fantasy.

Better than yesterday

2006-07-23T12:28:00.000-07:00

Yep, better than yesterday. I caught more waves than yesterday and it was less crowded. The parking lot was a lot emptier, but there was still an RV camped out in two or three spots. I can't tell anymore.

The first few waves, I kept popping up too far in front and kept pearling or I'd get up towards the nose and tried to turn too hard. The board kept going straight, I went sideways off the board.

The water was warm, the air temperature was not due to cloud cover. By the time I was done changing after 2 hours of rideable surf, the lightning show started and I heard the distant sound of thunder. The rain started soon afterwards. It was really cool to see from the water. You could see the thunderclouds looming over land with some bits of really, deep blue sky peeking through. Pretty cool view. Too bad I didn't have my camera to capture it. Next time.

Black Balled

2006-07-22T15:49:00.000-07:00

I am a firm believer in this system now. The inside section was littered with so many bathers that I was really hesitant on riding out a bunch of waves, what little waves there were today. The lifeguards didn't black ball the beach until about 1pm and I'm surprised they didn't do it much sooner.

Since the waves were so small today, I brought out the Peter and just caught some ankle slappers to the shore. I tried to turn on the first half-dozen waves, but fell flat on my face cause there wasn't enough speed for much maneuvering.

I love the warm, sunny weather, but hate the crowds screwing up the beach with their litter.

Parking became an issue for people who came late. I don't understand the people with the RVs. They take two spots at a minimum, one RV party parked their bikes in an adjacent parking spot, which I think was a social faux pas. There clearly aren't enough spaces that you can just park your freaking bikes there. The most puzzling part of this crew? They never leave the asphalt! What gives? Might as well lounge on your front porch or yard. They are sitting their in their beach chairs, chit chatting, but they don't move the 30 yards to at least lounge on the sand, in view of the water. I want them reprimanded for taking more than the 2 spots they need to park their damn RVs. Frustrated with people's inconsideration towards others.

Three of a Kind

2006-07-16T13:37:00.000-07:00

Number of waves pouring in today? Infinite. They just kept coming in. How many did I catch, just 3. There were some clean up sets rolling through and the place was drained out in the morning. I didn't get to the beach till a little before 10 because of the tide, but my friend said that it was good earlier even with the low tide. The swell was big enough to work through the lunar issues and was completely clean with no wind.

By the time I got out there, the wind had picked up and got worse as the session wore on. There was one wave where as I was about to pop up, when the back wash jacked up the whole wave and I had to bail out. Would have been interesting if I were to have pulled that off. Alas, we won't know what that ride would have amounted to.

I kooked out of the best wave that was all mine. It had a great right shoulder and as my board was getting into the wave, it became super steep and instead of just crouching down and going for it, I jumped off. What a wuss!

The first wave was a broken right. I got up, turned immediately at a sharp angle right into the broken part of the wave and was leaning into the wave so much that I wasn't able to straighten out to get more speed to make the section.

I finally caught a decent wave going right, but it lost its sizzle. The ride was a right and I just cruised for a long time and my board couldn't get the speed to get past the whitewater and get to the shoulder. It was bit frustrating seeing the shoulder only a few yards from me, but constantly eluding me.

Last wave of the day was the swan song. By this time, the inside section was filled with families searching for respite from the hot weather we've been having. The whole beach was crowded, something I'm not accustomed to. I usually get there early and leave by 11am or so, before the crowds get out of hand. I caught the wave, was going right, nice and comfortable like. I couldn't see much past the wave in front of me, but as it rolled to shore, I saw two bobbing heads. I straightened out as much as possible and bailed out, hoping that my board doesn't go flying toward the swimmers, which it didn't since I'm here writing this blog and not filling out a police report. Good thing, too. Although, one of them was pretty big and my board might have suffered worse from such a collision. I kid! I kid! I wouldn't run over anyone and I'm sure my board would have put a nasty bump on that person's head without suffering any ill effects... maybe.

Causing Trouble

2006-07-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's me, troublemaker. The waves were about 2-3 ft on Sunday and I knew it so I brought out the Peter, aka 9'2 noserider. Perfect board for those conditions, caught a ton of rights on Sunday. The sun was shining, the water was green, the bathrooms were tagged with graffiti (not even the artistic type), and the sand was peppered with litter from all the people who show up in the summer. (I loathe you people by the way because you trash the beaches. There are trashcans everywhere and the state even went so far as to replace the old metal ones with plastic ones. Use them!)

There wasn't much of a drift earlier in the morning, but sure enough, the home break did not disappoint and started sending people farther north. Good for me cause if I just kept catching rights (regular footed), then the people clustered around me on the outside would be farther down the break when I got back out again. I did this a few times just to get out of the crowd. There were quite a few people, but not unmanageable.

However, I did get a few dirty looks. The first one was from some shortboarder who wasn't even in the water that long. I caught a wave, rode it in to the inside and was starting to go back out when this guy was paddling for a wave. He's on a shortboard, on a 2 footer, and trying to catch a wave his buddy was already kicking out of. He could only go straight cause by the time he got up, there was no shoulder, left or right and the wave barely had enough power to push him straight. He saw me in his path, so he bailed out within 2 seconds of getting up. I shrugged, paddled out and saw him look my way and say something to his buddy. Thems the breaks son! There were more waves to be caught, but I don't think that guy was good enough to catch them on his shortboard at a beach break in waist high waves.

The other dirty look was totally my fault. A wave came my way, I turned and started to paddle for it, there was another guy who was to my left, but he didn't call out or anything. I should have stopped, but figured there was enough space between us. I got up, turned right immediately, started going down the line before the wave closed out. I kicked out, looked back, and the guy was still roughly 10 yards behind me and he just kicked out. I apologized to him and paddled farther south to get out of his way. He seemed nice enough, but I'm sure he was cursing my name. Ah well. Live and learn. There isn't much of a swell this week at all, so it'll be the Peter that will be making its way out to the home break over Toothbreak (7'0), the Creamsicle (7'3), or the Twinkie (7'11). If you see the boards, you'd understand, except for Toothbreak. That board was named for what it did :P

4th Eve

2006-07-05T12:53:00.000-07:00

Had a great day back in the water after a few weeks out of it. Caught some fun waves that I can't believe I caught, but lost power right away. Not that I was tired, just didn't have the power to get into the waves after the first hour. Paddling strength goes away so fast. I don't know what goes faster, paddling strength or girls I ask for their number?

The week and a half out of the country brought about some perspectives. I should be thankful for the waist high days cause I saw some people paddling for knee high waves as if it was the best thing out there. These people were on shortboards on these tiny waves. They paddle, get up, bottom turn, top turn if they are lucky, and then sink as the wave dies. The above pic is one of the bigger waves. Imagine when this is a good day and then be thankful for the waves we have.

Can't wait for the next swell.

Land of the Rising Sun

2006-06-22T00:59:00.000-07:00

Going overseas, so come back around the 2nd of July.

Parts Unknown and Known

2006-06-11T21:24:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, I headed up the coast to some place south of Zuma. Zuma was blown out and I got there a little later than I normally hit the water. The beach is pretty secluded and I'd post the name if I actually knew what it was. There's just a small number of parking spots on the street devoted to the break and from there, you walk down a bunch of steps to hit the beach. It's a point break with lots of rocks. On the inside section, it's really hairy cause there are huge boulders submerged that you can't see, but can feel once you step on them.

I didn't catch too many waves cause the tide was going out and the rocks were freaking me out too much for me to enjoy it. I bailed as soon as possible on the few waves I did catch. The sets were rolling in pretty consistently at first and were about head high. They seemed mellow till they hit the inside and just start bowling over. There was only two other guys in the water and only one guy near where we were surfing by the point. He was nice enough to give me the low down on where it breaks and during what periods of the day. He said that he caught about 40 waves that day and I don't doubt it. The other guy was farther south at another peak, though I hardly saw him catch anything.

I took out the same 7'3 board the next day to my blown out home break where I met up with a friend who was driving from far, far away. We paddled out to some waist high waves, that were still pretty fun. I got dialed into that board rather fast and find it pretty fun. It's pretty easy to catch waves on that board, but it doesn't have a rocker at all. It might as well be a skim board by how flat it is on the bottom.

The weekend was a non-factor. I didn't paddle out either day, Saturday cause of a graduation I attended and today cause my lip is jacked from surfing 5 1/2 hours at San O last week without enough sun protection. Don't be dumb like me, get some sunblock on the lips and the rest of your exposed body. It's not a fun thing and I plan on seeing a doctor about it tomorrow. At least I had a really good day last week at San O. Guess it's my price for catching some of the best waves of the year.

To all those commenting, thank you very much. I don't always check my own site so I reply really late. I'll answer any questions you might have and at some point, I guess I'll start posting up pics.

San Onofre Wonders

2006-06-05T22:50:00.000-07:00

Pull off on Basilone Rd, head west, stay in the right lane. and you'll come up to a sign that says "Surf Beach." It's right next to the Nuclear power plants on the border of Orange County and San Diego County. If you have never gone and you long board, then you're seriously doing yourself a huge disservice.

Make sure of three things before going there during these upcoming summer months:
1. Check to see that there's a swell when you plan on going there.
2. Get there early cause there's only a limited number of parking spaces (more on this later).
3. Invest in some booties cause walking out and walking in over rocks hurts!

I got there at 6:30, which is just under the gun in terms of finding a decent spot on the south side. The sky was a bit over cast, so I suited up and paddled out. The water was warm! Walking out, I was reminded how painful that part was. It's a great place to learn to surf, if the person learning has booties and can deal with the shiatsu massage your feet get. The paddle out to the outside took awhile. It's a long, long paddle, but the waves don't punish you as they break on you.

The waves were perfect. 3 - 5 foot waves rolling through, pretty consistently, too. I caught my fair share of waves during the morning session. Stayed out there over 3 hours and just kept catching waves. The big ones were loads of fun and you can take off late. It's as if they want you to take your time and figure out how best to enjoy them. Even when you pop up, there's a ton of time for you to make your bottom turn and cut back to the curl of the wave. I couldn't imagine a better day than that day.

The afternoon session was good, but not as good. The winds picked up, giving the surface a bit of a texture. It wasn't long before my arms gave out on me that I just couldn't paddle anymore. I caught one more wave then called it a day.

Sunday was back to the home break and it was just crowded. I can't believe the absolute zoo I found out there. What gives? These people were in wetsuits and yet weren't around during the winter months. They come out during the summer months and start dropping in on people. I only caught a handful of waves and then just left after an hour. That was cause my shoulders were toast from the day before.

I wish everyday could be like Saturday.

Getting Lazy

2006-05-31T07:32:00.000-07:00

Even though the wind was howling on Saturday morning, I was able to pick off quite a few waves. In fact, I was out there for 3 hours before coming in. Nothing really to note, but the break was a lot emptier than the week before and it was a 3 day weekend. The wave of the day was a right that I was a little late in cacthing and thought I was going to pearl. As soon as the board became vertical, I popped up and was off. The board wasn't even moving at all when I did pop up, as if it was stalled. I rode that wave to shore before taking the long paddle back out again.

Sunday, the sun was shining and the wind was on the calm side. Was out there again for 3 hours with little drift to contend with. I was out there again for 3 hours, just catching everything I could. It helps to be riding a 9'2 and can just catch just about anything I wanted. I'm getting lazy out there.

Summer is Here

2006-05-15T14:51:00.000-07:00

Well, maybe not the warm waters or the sunny skies, but the home break is getting crowded. The bathrooms are thrashed, too. What's the deal with that? It's not that there aren't enough waves to share, like at a point break, but at the same time, how about a little courtesy? There are snakes all over the home break. One large group of girls were not snakes at all. They showed up in a group of 10 or so towards peak high tide when all the best waves have already been ridden or have dissipated onto the shore and paddle out in a troupe. It was a posse of women. I thought, "Why bother showing up when the tide is going to kill everything?" After 10 minutes of paddling around them cause they were drifting off to the next beach, I notice that they paddle for some waves, but they are mostly there to chit chat. Not that socializing is a bad thing, but I would think it would be far more comfortable doing that at the local Starbuck's rather than bobbing in 60 degree water that is somewhat questionable. They weren't snakes, just more of a sewing circle. I wasn't peeved, just intrigued.

Water quality on Saturday was mostly green. Still a bit cloudy, but the water is warming up. The gloom has set in, so the sun is not breaking out for any dawn patrol people. The waves were kind of small, but they were still fun. I caught a bunch of waves. My nose was still plugged up from the week before. I tried not to let my nose drip after my surf session after the debacle previously. The sinus was just about to clear up before I subjected it to the questionable waters again on Saturday. This led to me sounding like I have a cold and to my middle of the night, interrupt in sleep due to the fact I could no longer breathe through either nostril. I tried blowing it out, to no avail. (Too much information?) I resorted to Sudafed at 3am and thus, making me a bit drowsy for the Sunday morning session.

I wake up only cause my friend called wondering where I was. Good thing, too cause even though I set the alarm clock, I never actually turned it on. I roll out of bed, grab a towel, load up the car, drive off in a haze to the home break.

When I get there, I see the Jetty isn't breaking much. I didn't think it was going to be as big as it was. It wasn't humongous by any means, but the waves were a good shoulder high and just rolling in consistently. There's a crowd, but not as thick as it was on Saturday. The water was clear and green. I could see my own feet when just waiting out there in the water.

I surfed for a few hours the day before and my shoulders were sore. I don't have the endurance like I did a few years ago when I was surfing 4 days out of the week, but not now, when I'm a surf bum with little money to spend on the rising price of gas. Fate was not kind enough to bless me with the means to live right next to a good break so that I can surf all day long. But, I digress.

It took me 10-15 minutes to get to the outside. Just getting pounded over and over again in the crash zone. I finally get out there and the sets keep rolling in only I'm too tired to paddle for anything. I do my impression of a buoy for a good 10 minutes before trying anything. A set starts up, the people around me catch the first few waves and clear out the line up for me. I turn, start paddling for a wave, the board catches, I'm about to pop up, but I didn't get enough speed to really get into the wave cause of my dead arms, and instead of popping up smoothly at the right time, I'm at the top of the lip starting to plummet downwards. I start to get up, right hand slips and I kook it and slide off the side. Not my most manly of memories. I go in the wash, tumbling around.

Next wave, my arms are still tired, I try again for a shoulder high wave, get up this time, but i'm still at the very top of the lip with just enough speed to have caught the wave, but not enough to get into the wave effectively, pop up and since my 7'11 doesn't have a lot of rocker to it, I went pearl diving. Once again, into the wash, cause I got sucked back up to the top. Shoulder high waves with just enough juice to make a wipe out feel bigger than it was.

That's when the waves stop rolling in every minute and the lulls start to get longer. The waves drop in size as well. I start picking off waves, but i'm dead tired from the Sudafed and the paddling. If you have ever taken Sudafed, it's something you take at night that makes you drowsy with its main purpose of clearing up the sinuses. Sinuses: cleared. Drowsiness: in full effect! I catch a few more waves on the smaller sets and get hammered by a few more cliean-ups that were a good head high and twenty yards outside of where everyone was. I did catch one in.

One other thing about the home break, there's a pretty strong current most days. You're always paddling, whether to go out, to catch a wave or to not get washed into the next city north or south of the break. You'll feel like salmon at some point. It's good to get your endurance up, but on days when you just want to save your energy for catching the waves, it's not so good.

Drip or Clog?

2006-05-11T08:32:00.000-07:00

Water has been warming up, but I now wonder if it will ever clear up to what it was like in 2002 or 2003? I can't even imagine surfing the home break and having it green enough that I can see the bottom while I'm bobbing on the outside like a buoy. I hope someone can make a gigantic filter, like the ones they have for an aquarium, and just filter out all the crap out there.

Friday saw the swell start to fill in and I went out with a friend who was visiiting from out of town. I only caught one decent wave. I've got 2 excuses prepared for that horrible performance already:

1) Riding the 7'0 for the first time in ages, thus no paddle strength.
2) Slept funny so I had a stiff neck.

Doesn't matter much cause the one wave was pretty good, even though I still bailed out a little earlier than I should have. The wall started to form up on the inside and rather than crouching down and trying to catch the right angle to get more speed to see if I can get a tiny barrel, I jump off. Wuss move.

The waves were coming in pretty consistently till aroud 9:30 when it just went flat. The wind had picked up and there was texture on the surface, but no more waves were rolling in. The tide was going out and it sucked out all the energy in the water as well.

I didn't go out on Saturday cause I had other things I had to do, but I did go out on Sunday. I was worried that the swell was going to fade so I brought out the 7'11. There wasn't much to worry about cause there was still quite a few waves to be had. They were rolling in consistently at chest to shoulder high.

During the first half of the session, I was getting hung up on the lip. Just not paddling hard enough or too far out. There were a couple that could have been made, but I pulled out cause I was worried I'd be flying over the front of the nose cause of the steep drop. It's much easier for me to go backside on steep drops than front side. After I caught a few, that's when things started clicking to the point I caught a decent amount of waves for the day. Nothing really stood out.

For whatever reason, the whole break became packed with people around 10 ish. One group of people came out and started bunching up on the peak that I was sitting on with my friend. It was annoying because they didn't bother looking left or right before paddling for a wave. I saw one lady start paddling for a wave that some guy who was trying for 10 yards to the outside of her. She went anyway and just about hit the guy with her board. Another guy clearly snaked my friend's wave and yelled out, "Party Wave!" People who roll in large groups must think that common courtesy is not important. Geez people! You're surfing on a huge piece of fiberglass, some with sharp noses, that can seriously impale someone!

By the way, cause of polluted water or what have you, my sinuses are clogged. I sound like I have a cold, but my sinuses are plugged up from sea water. It's one of the reasons why I haven't gone back in the water until it clears up. I'm more susceptible to colds when my sinuses are screwed. So, is it better to have my nose drip out in public or have it clogged?

Crumbs on Saturday, Mush on Sunday

2006-05-01T11:16:00.000-07:00

Water on Saturday was cleaner than last week. It was a dirty green rather than a brownish red. The winds kicked up early and the water had quite a bit of texture to it all. The only waves to catch were ones that already broke and you just caught it in order to get enough speed to perhaps make the shoulder. I had fun, but am sure it would have been a better day for my 9'2. I only brought out a shorter board cause there was supposed to be a swell.

Sunday saw a bright sunny day when I got there only to see the sun disappear behind the clouds soon after getting into the water. There was no wind, so the conditions were glassy, but at the same time, size backed down quite a bit. I brought the same board cause I stayed out in OC for the night. I caught one really nice wave that I rode all the way to shore. It was a right and I worked it enough to get into the inside section. Once I saw a wall forming up, instead of trying to pump the board into a higher position on the wave, I bailed out cause I was in 3 ft. of water. Should have just tried to get back up to the top. Oh well. Still get freaked out about the idea of getting slammed into the sand.

One thing that I've been trying to work on was popping up on my board more towards the tail end rather than right in the middle. In order to help me work on that, I recently put a traction pad on my 7'11. Most of the times I popped up, my rear foot was towards the front end of the traction pad. Not too bad, cause after making the first turn, I'd move forward a bit in order to catch some speed. That will change once I get to test it out on bigger waves. I have another traction pad for the 7'0, a board I really have to get used to surfing from the back of the board.

I started surfing with my feet towards the front from that one good day in October so many years back. I had to surf up front to make sure the board would slide down the wave consistently. It's been a bad habit ever since. Every now and then, I'd pop up on the tail of a board and be shocked I'm still going. I've even done a really bad pop up on the 7'0 where both of my feet were on the tail and I'd be so shocked, I'd fall after I'm standing up.

On the big log, I doubt I'll ever get to the tail end cause by the time I get there, the ride will be over. Have to move my feet faster or something.

This coming week boasts another swell. I can only hope that it will be something more significant than what we've been seeing the last few months.

Pray 4 Surf!

What Quiver?

2006-04-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

I currently have 4 boards in my garage. Is it a quiver, I guess so. The latest acquisition is my friend's old board that I have yet to surf on. It's a 7'3 slug, which fits quite nicely amongst the other boards I have.

Here's an intro to these boards that give me great rides in no particular order:

First up, the board that was purchased for the small days of summer and those days when I just feel like a slug, a 9'2 noserider. I bought it from a small shaper in Oceanside last summer, but didn't even get it till the very end of the summer season. The colors came out different than my imagination and description, although the color scheme is pretty damn nice, it hearkens back to the days of first polyurethane noseriders. The two-toned board looks like I'm a huge SC fan cause of the cardinal red and gold tints that were supposed to be rust orange and mustard yellow. Memorable rides include one last month that led to my embarassing nose drip in front of a girl. Even though it's a nose rider, and there's wax on the nose to further enforce that perception, I have yet to ride the nose on that board unless you count one step on the nose before diving for pearls shortly thereafter. There's a slight semblance of a dish under the nose, but nothing dramatic. Like many longboards these days, it's a squash tail with a 2+1 set up. There are some dings already on the bottom deck, mostly the result of wind trying to pry it off my little car while the straps strain to keep my board from flying off and leading to a sig alert. One of these days, I'll learn to cross step, nose ride, and do cutbacks with this log. Till then, it's great for just cruising the waves on small and semi-small days.

Next up, the 7'0 hybrid board with red trim on the edges. It has a sharp nose, but a very lean outline. It's super buoyant with a square tail. No problems catching waves on smaller days, but more of an effort on days that are well overhead for some reason. This board has the most amount of rocker out of the quiver, so I drop in later, thinking that the nose won't pearl. The board feels twitchy on turns, almost like I'm Automan in my car that makes 90 degree turns. This board is the one I don't have much experience on and it shows. I bought it with plans as a transition to the world of shorties. It hasn't happened and may never happen cause I like riding on waves rather than struggle to catch waves. I am a lazy bastard, what do you expect? (See first board.) I have gotten tubed on this board, short as it was. I've also been locked really tight in the curl that I crouched down through the whole ride. Can't say it was a tube cause it was more wrapping around my shoulders than a complete cover up. One last thing about this board, it scares me cause I've had the worst crashes. I should have known that it would be a challenge when it popped me in the chin on my very first ride. I am sure that once I finally feel completely comfortable on it, that the wild soul within will give me a shot in the head just to let me know that I always have to be on my toes.

We come up to the very last board that I ride consistently. It's a 7'11 funboard. It's a shortened version of a longboard. My very first board ever was an 8'2. 3 inches and a slight change in shape make a huge difference on the feel and performance of the board. The 7'11 doesn't feel like a huge log like the 8'2 did. This is the board I've had some of my best days. My most memorable day? October of 2003, Sunday. Sunny skies, waves from 2-4 ft, glassy, peaks all over, empty beaches. By 10 am, things completely clean up that you can take rides left or right. Most of the morning crew has left, so it's like surfing on a weekday at a normally crowded break. Every ride is smooth, I go left and make a few turns. I go right and make some more turns. The water is crystal clear that I could see the sand underneath as I'm zooming by. Only bad thing, I have to leave cause of a marketing class project This is the board I've caught my biggest waves and the board I bring out when I'm not sure if it's going to be big or small. It is the complete utilitarian board and has its battlescars. On the top deck, there's a patch where it started to delaminate and I had that repaired and you can tell when the wax is scraped off that the repair left it scarred. There are more pressure dings these days. There are other little imperfections like the stringer seems a little off center at the nose. I've been popped in the mouth with this board, too. I think it's me more than the boards. Has to be cause no one else I know has been hit as much as I have by my own boards. This board inspired a friend to buy the same exact board with the same specs. That board came out looking cleaner and more refined, but it also was more sluggish and felt heavy. Guess those little quirks are what makes this board special.

The latest acquisition is my friend's old board that I have yet to surf on. It's a 7'3 slug, which fits quite nicely amongst the other boards I have. One day, it will be transported to a friend's place so that I can just crash there without ever having to pack a board.

Those are it. My small arsenal of boards. Would I like to get something else? Sure, I'd like to try a retro single fin shortie, like the one Beau Young rides in Singlefin: Yellow. Will I? Probably not for a long while cause I don't even ride all the boards I have now on a regular basis.

Humans are turning things red

2006-04-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

That's the only explanation for the foul water. There wasn't much to surf, yesterday, but what made it worse was seeing all the foul water.

I just sat there, looking at the waves for awhile at different points and saw a lot of people bobbing in the water. There were waves to be caught, if you wanted a 1 second ride. The waves would crumble and people would just jump on the broken wave to catch what they could. Wasn't worth the drive or the thought of suiting up to potentially get sick from alll that red tide.

Even my friend didn't go out and he usually goes out in just about anything. I didn't even bother to wake up early on Sunday to save the disappointment.

I got the microwave!

2006-04-21T10:14:00.000-07:00

Talk about some pretty small stuff out there. It's always a bad sign when you pull into the parking lot and most of the crowd is standing on the beach, looking forlornly at the water while their boards, even the ones that span the length of some of the cars they are riding on, are getting sun damaged. The sun was out, which is a good thing, about the only good thing yesterday.

I met up with my friend who was just here for a few days. I should have brought out the log, but I took out the fun board, all 7 feet and 11 inches. Surprisingly, I was able to catch a few short rides. Paddle, paddle, paddle, get up, jump off into knee high water. The saddest part of this brief sesh? My hair got went after I jumped off a wave, standing in knee high water, when a wave breaks on top of me. Not because I was duck diving some head high wave, not because I wiped out of a steep wave that was too big for me to handle, but because of a wave breaking on the inside section after my 2 second ride.

I'm hoping that Saturday will be much better, even though they are projecting cloudy skies.

At least the water was a dirty shade of green rather than red or brown.

Catch One In

2006-04-17T10:43:00.000-07:00

After a few hours of being in the water or just getting a bunch of fun waves, "I'm going to catch the next one in," is a phrase that everyone will use. I may use it, but whether I actually "catch one in" is another matter altogether. Case in point, yesterday was sort of small, 1-3 feet, nothing bigger than that. I brought out the 9'2 knowing it was going to be small. I catch a bunch of waves before things started to slow down. My friend yells out, "I'm catching the next one in!" To which, I reply, "Me too!"

He goes on to catch a bunch more waves before riding one in. I sit out there trying to catch anything in. Anything at all! I'm just bobbing like a buoy more than anything else. after each attempt, I drift ever closer to shore. It just got to the point where I paddled a little bit and walked the rest of the way in.

The water was nasty yesterday, too. The sun finally broke through the remaining clouds, but I could tell, right as I walked in, that the water was not pretty. When the waves were crashing in front of me it looked reddish brown. The water right on shore was clear! It just started to darken as you walked out. The dolphins were out in force, which means the water is semi-decent, right? Right? Good thing I didn't wipe out much, just a quick dunk in the water a few times after a few waves and sometimes when I was paddling out.

Here's to cleaner water!

Too Much Water

2006-04-09T10:34:00.000-07:00

I went out on Friday morning and the high tide just killed everything. Sure, I could have attempted to catch the waves on the inside and risk breaking my neck, but I decided to pass on most of those. If I stayed in the water long enough, I'm sure the tide would eventually back off, but I had other things I needed to get done.

It's a damn shame that some lousy pizza ruined me for the whole weekend. I wanted to go out today, but haven't the energy for it. Food poisoning sucks ass.

I sure picked a lousy time to become a surf bum, too much crappy weather and not enough good surf days.

Nose drip

2006-04-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

Surfer's nose. I know of other people who have it, but I don't know if anyone else has had as embarassing a situation happen to them like I had yesterday. I was getting a girl's email address when I bent down and my nose decided to drain right then and there. The girl ignored it and I tucked my tail between my legs and left asap. Does this happen to anyone else or is it just me and my friends? It doesn't just drip out... it gushes. Don't get me wrong, when it does happen, it feels great, but that's either A.) while still in the parking lot of the beach or B.) in the privacy of my own home.

What caused the surfer's nose? A great session yesterday. I brought out the 9'2 cause the waves haven't been all that big these days. Friday was pretty small and I heard Saturday was smaller. It didn't matter to me cause I've lost a little bit of nerve on the overhead waves these days.

When I got out, the waves were coming in pretty consistently in the waist high range. Every now and then, a chest high wave would sneak through. There weren't too many people out at the home break, probably cause of the recent rainfalls.

First wave, I popped up and had my front foot slip. I'm not used to surfing without booties and it completely threw me off. In fact, I caught a few waves, but didn't do much with them. I was kooking out most of the time. It wasn't until I switched boards with my friend that I get in tune with things. He has a shorter board, a 7'0 egg shaped board. It's a drastic difference, but I was able to catch a wave, pop up, do one turn before the wave fizzled. Couldn't really catch any other waves cause I'm not used to surfing a 7'0 board anymore and the waves were really small.

After I got back on my own board, that's when the fun started. I popped up with very few issues. Right placement of the feet, balanced weight, knees slightly bent, etc. I started catching more and more waves. The wave of the day was a right, which started off small. I paddled, caught the wave, went straight, looked back and felt the board slow down. I made a slight bottom turn and that's when the fun started. The wave caught up to me and I was back towards the top. I could see the wave wall just rising up and normally I'd start to bail out on the wave, fearing I'd get crushed by the lip. I just kept it there and started to catch a lot of speed. I started zooming down the line before it petered out on the inside. I turned back to the curl, but it was clearly dead. I paddled out and one of the locals said with a smile, "I guess you can go home now." I wish I could have caught a few more like that one. I caught another wave which started off the same way, but hit a chop and went tumbling. It's okay, cause I got the wave of the day.

Thus, the surfer's nose event, though embarassing, was well deserved and a small price to pay for that great ride.

Crappy March

2006-03-27T09:58:00.000-08:00

It's been forever since I surfed, mostly due to weather than anything else. The one mid month weekend good for surf, found me out of town on business. Sort of sucks. I did finally go out this weekend and the water has warmed up considerably. Friday was cold, but the water was a lot warmer on Sunday. I didn't have much hope for either session cause there's no swell and the high tide in the morning screwed things up a bit.

I caught a few short rides on Friday, but had a ball on Sunday. The waves weren't that good till about 10 am or so. That's when the waves cleaned up cause the tide was going out. I had more than a handful of rides that went to the beach. Most of them were rights. It was a good thing that I brought out the 9'2, or I would have struggled a lot more.

I went to Whiff's page and saw a great clip of a 1st person perspective of different barrels. After looking at tha tclip, frontside rides gave me a bit of anxiety, sort of like real life. I feel way more comfortable going backside (which is left for me). Can't say what it is really.

High Tide Board Breaker

2006-02-11T15:58:00.000-08:00

There's another full moon out this week making the tides messed up in the morning. I went out later in the morning to see small waves with very few people in the water. Good thing I brought the 9'2 or I wouldn't have caught any waves. Towards the beginning, I was catching waves, but they were breaking so close to shore that I had to bail out of them early or risk breaking my board or my neck. The bottom is still screwed up so the waves on the outside are mushy and the inside section is still bowling over. I tried to get barreled a few times, but got pounded into the sand.

As the day went along and the tide was going out, things got better. There was some texture on the surface, but the crowds thinned out completely and I was able to catch some great waves. They weren't epic, but still fun rides.

I recently received a book on how to get better at surfing. It has tons of pictures and gives step by step instructions on what to do. I haven't read the whole thing yet, but plan on doing so. They go through the basics to the advanced stuff. Pick up a copy if you can find it. It's in my car and the next chance I get, I'll put up the title and maybe a link, if I find out where it was purchased. It was a gift after all.

Locals

2006-02-01T22:30:00.000-08:00

I didn't get to surf this past weekend cause I flew over to Guam on a last minute basis for work. I figured I'd have the weekends to catch some surf in crystal clear water over there. Shows you what I know. The locals were pretty tight lipped about their surf spots and since I didn't want to cough up the money to ship a board over, I'd have to stick to body surfing. They had surf shops, but I didn't come across any place that loaned out boards. One guy at the local surf shop said that they send all the tourists to some beach break, in the far (1 hour drive) south. The whole time I was there, the trade winds were howling like mad. I could see the surf, but they were breaking over the reef that surrounds the whole island.

So, in the internet age or information age, I use the internet, hit up a site called Wannasurf.com in order to see what's been posted about Guam. Well, lo and behold, there are some world class reef breaks, but you have to bribe the locals with some bud (both the beer and the herbal kind) and beg like a madman. Or, you find these spots, surf as much as you can as fast as you can, then get the hell out of there before some locals come over and either A.) Come over and slug you in the water, B.) Cut your leash and take your board to sell it off, C.) Wait for you outside and thrash you on the street, D.) Flatten your tires, E.) Or all of the above.

I got chummy with one of the locals who worked at the hotel. He said that his cousin surfs most of those breaks and the locals don't mind thrashing people in the water. He actually told me about some marines who got the great welcome treatment for surfing their break without the herbal (medicinal of course; glaucoma is a huge problem on the island probably due to the crystal clear waters and tropical weather) sacrificial offerings. Well, kind of spoiled my weekend. Why go in the water, even if it looks like a natural swimming pool, when you can't catch any waves? In all honesty, I would have probably died after I wiped out on a wave. Never surfed a reef before and it doesn't sound like fun if you wipe out.

Ice cream headache

2006-01-22T20:56:00.000-08:00

I can't remember the water being this cold, ever. I should have expected that when I stepped out of the car and just started freezing. Not just a chill, but freezing. I suited up and went out. It was a nice day out, sun was shining, little wind, but small waves. Low tide was peaking around 8:20 at around 2' +.

The waves were mushy on the outside, completely uncharacteristic of Bolsa. The winter storms did their work in messing up the floor bottom. On the way out, I was alternating between knee high water to chest high because of all the troughs/sandbars. The waves were bowling over in the inside section. Hollow waves, breaking over a shallow bottom was a recipe for disaster. There were people out, but not too many were catching waves on the outside. The guys with longboards were catching waves that didn't break. They couldn't ride it too long before sinking cause the wave would peter out.

I was on my 7'0 and stuck to the inside section. I tried the outside stuff and nothing would break for me. 2 regulars, a father and son duo, were also out on funboards. They were catching everything. I remember seeing the son in 2002 and he was tiny. He's gotten a lot older and catches everything that comes his way. I'm so envious! I decided to catch one of those hollow waves on the inside. First thing I did was get up, grab the outside rail and pig dog it. The lip curled over me and it was just like the movies. I was exhilirated and then the wave jacked up, tossed me forwards and into the water I went. I covered my head cause I actually hit the bottom. It was way shallow.

After that, I was pretty much done. I hit the sandy floor on the next wave as well, but didn't get up at all. It was hairy getting back in cause of the inside section. The water was so called, that I couldn't feel my muscles getting tired. They were tired, just couldn't feel them at all.

Anyway, I hope I can get covered for a longer period of time and come out of it.

Lapse of Judgment

2006-01-16T20:19:00.000-08:00

It rained on Saturday and what did I do on Sunday? I went and got wet. Mostly cause my friend was already in the water, but also to reaffirm my new decision to just charge it. Very few people were in the water cause the conditions weren't great, not just cause of the crap in the water.

People were just gawking from the beach cause high tide was peaking at 9 am that day and it was a 6 foot high tide. I got there around 7:30, which is kind of a late start. Can't really call it DP anymore, more like Morning Patrol.

The board of choice, if you didn't know from previous posts, is the 7'0 hybrid from Becker. Not a bad board, but one that I'm afraid of cause it has popped me in the mouth like a prize fighter back in 2003, the first summer I got it. Been a little wary of that thing ever since. I've had some fun rides on it lately, but that fear still lingers.

There was some size out in the water, but a lot weren't breaking outside cause of the tide. The waves looked big, they'd break really briefly, then reform on the inside to crash right on the sand. When they crashed on the sand, they were hollow and slammed the sand. Looked like it was going to be interesting when I decide to come in.

Went in, got out in a decent amount of time, even with the brutal inside whitewater zone. Definitely have to learn how to get through the waves better, whether through duck diving or turtling, I've got to learn to get through that crap. Just as an aside, I saw a shortboarder pull of a great duck dive. I say "great" cause he popped out of the back of the wave 5 feet from where the whitewater was. I've got to learn to do that.

There was a slight drift and I paddled over to my friend. After catching my breath, I decided to try for some waves. After all, that's the reason I got wet, well that and I wanted to keep up my semi-decent paddling. It's the first thing to go. Nothing was breaking on the outside. I could see the waves wanting to break, get into the right position and then they would die. I mean, I was so deep in these waves that if the tide was lower, I would be shitting bricks to be where I was. I said screw it, started paddling for waves that already broke. Didn't work. It kind of worked on one wave, the whitewater made the whole thing bumpy, and with the 7'0, I couldn't get it under control enough to get up fast. I should have popped up sooner.

After a few more waves like this, I decided it was time to go in. The water looked like pure crap. The color was all wrong and I had flashbacks of my 2003 red tide episodes. Talk about mistakes.

Paddling in was an adventure just like I expected. Each time, I hopped off the board and ducked under. Those waves were breaking right on the sand. 5 feet from the sand and I was still neck deep, barely standing (only when the water was being sucked out by another wave). I had to make a dash and finally got on shore, unscathed.

It wasn't a great session, no waves, but I definitely have to do it again, even in sludge. Have to surf when I can cause who knows if I can keep surfing 3 months from now, let alone the next weekend.

Going to Charge!

2006-01-12T22:37:00.000-08:00

Going to have to charge those waves with vigor. Though, the forecast says that the waves are going to be small this weekend, so it's not much of a statement to make.

It's time again for the 7'0 to get wet. I have yet to try out the 7'3 since I bought it off Barry. Got to try it one of these days. I plan on bringing that board down to SD with me.

Can't wait till the weekend!

Lost the edge

2006-01-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

After getting popped in the mouth a few weeks back, I've definitely started becoming tentative again with waves. I kind of ditch the board when a big wave comes towards me when i used to just try to duck dive through it all. I have to just say, "fuck it" and start diving through again.

On Saturday, I caught two waves. I only rode one. I went screaming down the face and as I was about to make my bottom turn, to the right, it closed out, so I just jumped off the wave. So, on the next wave, I decided I wanted to turn a little sooner, but popped up too close to the nose and just did a face plant. It wasn't a bad crash, but it would have been a better ride.

Yesterday, it was fogged in at the beach. We went out after looking at the water for 15 minutes. B didn't think there was a drift at all, but I was sure there was. We couldn't see the landmarks (the bathrooms) as we sat on the outside. The waves were a little hard to see since it was glassy and the water and clouds matched in color. I still ditched my board a few times. I tried for a few waves and couldn't get the speed to catch anything. The one wave I caught, I pulled a little too hard on the rail going left and pulled myself out of the wave. I just have to charge! Goes back to one of the resolutions, "confidence!"

Singlefin: Yellow

2006-01-06T00:07:00.000-08:00

Probably one of the better films for someone who isn't a rail to rail surfer. It's really laid back and makes me dream about those perfect waves all around the world. I really want to go to Australia to try out those shoulder high rights that Beau Young is riding. Where did David Kinoshita find such nice waves in Japan?? I can do without Malibu cause I've been there and the vibe sucks there. Every wave is a party wave. Two of my friends had their boards run over by the same guy... purposely.

I recently sent an email asking for the soundtrack. It's not really available in stores. You can get it if you buy it online at some internet sites only if you buy a copy of the dvd. It wouldn't make sense for me to get another copy when mine is perfectly fine and I even put it on my new video iPod.

Get it if you haven't. Inspires me to go out every week.

Big Wednesday

2005-12-20T07:14:00.000-08:00

The surf is going to be huge this week. I took off tomorrow Wednesday and Thursday to see if I can find a point break to ride one of these monster waves. I'm sure Sunset will be a zoo early on, along with every other point break that is rideable. The home break is clearly out of the question since it is a beach break and I'm not Kelly Slater or Andy Irons.

Santa Barbara here I come! (at least for one day)

So, I actually went out on Big Wednesday. Woke up at 4 am in order to hit San O right when the gate opened. Nothing but whitewater! There were some people out at Old Man's getting rights that were well overhead. However, in order to get to the promised land, you had to scratch and crawl your way past whitewater. I took a 30 minute nap cause waking up at 4 am isn't really my normal routine. When I awoke, I looked out and it was the same. A handful of people on the outside picking off rights and kicking out before they hit the inside section.

A few of the older guys just sat and watched. There was a bit of a wind, but the whitewater was the worst part. I decided to suit up and paddle out.

What a workout! That's all I got out of it and a ding while I came back in. After an hour of trying to get past the warzone, I was swept right in front of the power plants and still had 100 yards to get to the outside. I wasn't the only who got swept south. There were a bunch of us down that way. I decided enough was enough and went in, at which point, I got a ding on the bottom deck. Couldn't be helped cause as I just started to stand, a wave reformed, picked me up and tossed me onto shore. Just like a kick in the ass by Mother Nature to tell me that I don't belong out there.

I drove up the coast and every beach was just huge. People were all stopped to view Mother Nature's wrath or gift.

For 2nd Session, I went to Sunset with Barry. People were gawking at the south end of the Gladstone's lot. PCH was just one long line of cars. I went out... again. Surprisingly, I got out pretty easily, over by the steps. Barry took off to get closer to the point. I felt a few waves pass underneath me. I could feel the power of that wave and when I looked down the face, it was a sheer wall. There were 15 ft bombs coming through the point. It was more mild in front of the steps.... only 10-12 footers. I am feeling comfortable sitting out there, bobbing with a bunch of folks when a clean up set comes barreling through. People just start scrambling towards the horizon. As I get to the wave, I feel like I can make it, and then it just crashed right on top of me. Sunset has these nice, crumbly waves, great for beginners. I didn't think anything bad would happen, but I was dead wrong. I was pushed under and had the board ripped away from my hands. I keep calm, let the wave push me around a bit before I decide to start looking for air. Only thing was the wave kept me under a lot longer and when I was swimming towards the surface, it was nowhere to be found. I was at the end of my breath and that's when I surfaced. I grabbed my board, inhaling the sweet breath and started toward the horizon. Well, when you get tossed in by a clean up set, you get pushed into the crash zone. Another wave came and knocked me down, not as big, but it was enough. I went in after surfacing. I just watched Barry catch a few waves, as usual. I was done for the day.

I can say that I went out on Big Wednesday, but zero wave count. It was something that I had to do, even if I got my ass pounded by Mother Nature.

Walled

2005-12-19T08:03:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I've posted anything about the surfing. This might be because I have less time than usual to surf. I work on Sunday nights now and Saturday mornings are devoted to finding a business location.

I have been surfing though, with very little progress until recently. Last Sunday, the surf was overhead, or it was to me. I caught a couple of waves before I got too tired to fight the current and started worrying about running people over. The crowd was pretty thick last Sunday because of the big surf. Some guy made a comment about watching both ways before paddling for a wave or I could kill someone. Truth is, I started paddling for that wave first and pulled off when I heard the whistling. I understand the localism that happens at some beaches. Even my friend got flack for catching a wave when the guy back door snaked him. What a load of crap!

This past Saturday, I took out the 7'0", the one that busted my tooth. I caught a beautiful left, rollercoasting up and down the wave and felt good on it. I think I bought that board 2 years too soon. I feel more comfortable on it than ever before. There wasn't much other surf to rave about cause the tide came up fast. Then some longboarders came out and just started taking each wave. Damn them!

Sunday Short(er) Board, with a mix of Sinus Congestion

2005-09-20T18:41:00.000-07:00

My sinuses are once again clogged. I am actually at home early from work cause I might be catchign something. It's not a good thing at all. Sudafed isn't living up to its end of the bargain by draining my sinuses. Then again, the water quality hasn't been all that great, so it has a tough job ahead.

I decided that I should spend more time on my 7'0 hybrid. It's fun in the sense that I can drop in late because of the huge rocker, but paddling is a bitch.

Only one wave comes to mind, a left. I turn, paddle, feel the board catch, grab the outside rail and pig dog for a little while. This is something that's happening more and more to me lately, where I pig dog lefts and am very close to the tail of the board. Each time this happens, I'm super close to the curl and can see the wall of water to my left looming up, ready to bowl over. It's pretty cool being that close to the curl. Like an idiot, I stand up cause I feel like I should, and leaned a little to the right, getting me out of that nice spot. The wave passes by and I can only relish the moment I had, completely connected to the wave.

Now, I just have to be able to do that on purpose!

Overhead Beating

2005-09-20T18:30:00.001-07:00

Well, the biggest swell of the summer was big... but inconsistent. There were some head high bombs that came through, one of which, cleaned my clock, so to speak. It was the typical scene where someone yells, "Outside!" In this case, no one really yelled, "Outside!" but I turned around in time to see I was in the path for a bruising. I paddled as fast as I could to see if I could at the very least duck through the wave on a 7'11 fun board, but the wave didn't feel that was very nice of me to get avoid it like some creepy girl who stalked you after class one day just because you wrote her a note saying how hot she was when it was really directed to the really hot girl sitting next to her. I got pushed to the sand and just sat there for a short while so that everything would be nice and calm afterwards. Luckily, the inconsistency allowed me to paddle back out again without any more beatings.

I didn't have a memorable ride that day, but it was still fun, even with the beating!