10.28.2011 Lowers Sunrise Sesh with "Sebastián"

I haven't stopped posting, but I have stopped surfing due to the dismal conditions. The morning high tides have been wave-killers as of late and it is frustrating.

My cousin Tom was in town from D.C. and, because he doesn't get to surf much (one session in the the last fourteen months) I decided to give them the most intense surf experience by taking him out before the sun. I grew up in El Salvador with him and we are very close. He was the best man at my wedding after a close vote (HA).

He came in on the late-ish flight on Thursday night and I talked to him about it. He was in. I chose Lowers at this time as it's less crowded and we were somewhat close to the low tide.

I woke him up at four and we left the house at 4:17. We got there at 4:50 and parked. As soon as I opened the car door, I was hit with a stiff offshore breeze. The car said it was a brisk 50 degrees outside. We geared up and started our walk.

I had purchased a waterproof headlamp on Amazon and was itching to try it out...!

While we were the first guys on the trail that morning, we were passed by a two-bike party after the bridge. Once we got to the dirt road portion of the trail, the kneeboarder passed us. If you're an avid reader of this blog (and chances are you're not) you may remember that EVERY time I've surfed Lowers this year that kneeboarder has been out. He was as friendly as he usually is, though he is a wave-catching beast once he hits the water.

The walk to the break was bitterly cold. My hands took the worst of it, but I took solace in the experience/hope that the water would be warmer. While on the walk, I told Tom that I wondered if I would get any beef for having a headlamp.

We leashed up and I turned my headlamp on high. I knew there were at least two guys in the water due to the bikers, but Victor (kneeboarder) was still gearing up and was taking his time doing so.

My headlamp was still on as we hit the water. This was my first time surfing with one and I was enjoying the experience. I could see the sea mist whirling in its beam and it was a cool feeling. While paddling out, a set came and I thought a guy was on it. I instinctively looked to see the wave and quickly realized I was shining my bright 14 lumens beam right in his fully-dilated eyes and face.

I sat there for five minutes, paddled for a couple when I sensed a set on the horizon. There was a boat way out on the horizon which had lights that became obscured when a set came. I heard a "What's with the light, man!?", to which I replied, "I'm trying something out. Is it f'ing with you?". I didn't get an answer, so I switched it off.

A jacking wave materialized at that point and I duckdived. The wave immediately ripped the headlamp from my head, never to be seen again. Had I not turned it off, I'd have had a shot at finding it. I was a little bummed, but I couldn't help but smile... Goodbye $14!

I was forced to adjust to no light and it happened more quickly than I expected. A few more waves came and I paddled like hell and missed. The stiff offshore wasn't helping things.

I finally caught a screamer of a right. I caught it late, as happens often with strong offshore winds, pumped a couple of times and watched in horror as a ten-foot (horizontal, not vertical) section in front of me collapsed. I tried to flop over it and salvage the paddle but I failed and got pounded down into the trough of the wave.

It took a good half-hour before my next wave and it was a left. I thought about doing a snap but I wasn't feeling the more vertical part of the wave as it was rather fat. I did a slash on it, pumped a couple of times and laid into a little cutty. Nothing special, kicked out.

I caught a left less than five minutes later and did a cutty, then a pretty good roundhouse cutty.

The crowd started pouring in as the sun made its existence known this morning with just the edge of its light shining against the backside of the high peak behind the nuclear plant off Camp Pendleton.

It took quite a bit of time before I caught my next wave and I had to ditch the main peak to get it. The high tide was fast approaching at this point, and the fatness of the waves showed it. The outside sets were coming in insconsistently and there were twenty guys I had to beat to get one of these beauts. I stayed on the inside and hoped for some mid-sized ones coming in.

My cousin went in and I knew he must have been freezing his ass off after coming out of the water and being hit with that wind.

I caught two quick lefts. One sectioned off on me quickly and the other fattened up to the point it was unsurfable. I bailed and we faced the stinging cold air together. Within five minutes, parts of my hands were purple. Taking my wetsuit off was an exercise in mental fortitude as my hands stung from the cold. It felt oh so good to get in the car and partake in some Pipes burritos.

10.17.2011 Lowers, then Cottons, Sunrise Sesh w/ Moondoggie

Moondoggie had been hounding me to do a Lowers mission and we decided today would work. The forecast looked grim for the next few days, so I figured I should surf before it turned to slop.

I met him at his place in Carlsbad just before 5:00. The walk in the dark was cold and our feet were feeling every little pebble and imperfection in the asphalt. We both were reminded of "Missed It" Mike who if he was with us would be howling in pain and reminding us with every step that his feet hurt.

After we crossed the bridge, we saw someone speed past us on his bike, effeminately yelling out, "Good MORning!". I jokingly said it was the kneeboarder who has been out EVERY time I've surfed Lowers this year. We were in the water by 6:10, the fourth and fifth guys out.

A nice set came through and Moondoggie and I were frothing for some goodness. We paddled out and sat inside of the three guys. Two of them were telling (you're not going to believe this) the KNEEBOARDER (!) that they'd been out for a couple of hours.

About ten minutes in, I caught my first wave. I thought it would be a left, but it turned into a better right. I got one hit off the top but buried my outside rail. This happens sometimes and I've never had this problem before surfing this board. I attribute it to its width being 18.125" instead of the usual 18.25"-18.375". An eighth of an inch doesn't make much sense in an of itself, but if you multiply that difference by the non-tapered length of the board and it makes a huge difference...

My second wave was better. I caught this right in a good spot and did my best turn of the morning. I was so late on the turn that I got hung up on the lip, catching the offshore as the hang time counter progressed. I made it down, recovered, then pumped. I laid into a roundhouse cutback, hit the wash then kicked out. I was a long way from the peak...

Moondoggie caught a wave, and then I caught one. I did a solid backhand smack, then Fosbury Flopped over the section as it dumped under me.

My right forearm was back to aching. Every paddle and duckdive taxed my pain receptors and the pain signals made my enthusiasm waver ever so slightly with each pulse.

About twenty minutes after this, I caught a left that I really had to paddle for. HARD. A guy paddled on it inside of me, on the shoulder. He looked right at me, and he took off. He pumped, did a small hit, and kicked out. I kicked out right behind him, super pissed. The wave wasn't worth squabbling over but I stinkeyed that guy a couple of times until he looked away.

I have zero respect for people who do this and will act if it's done more than once (so long as it's not an accident). Knowing me though, it's all talk...!

Moondoggie was getting vibed by one of those cliché guys who think they're the ish. He told me on the way to Uppers (which we skipped due to crowd/inconsistency issues) that the guy told him, "This isn't a longboard spot". What an a-hole!

We paddled out at Cottons even though the tide was too high for it. We saw one guy get a sick one and our hopes went up, but they were soon dashed. We went in within about a half-hour or so.

Hurley Pro is ON at Lower Trestles; DryDock Diaries

Here is a link to the action going on at Lowers this week. Hurley is running this comp and their website is similar to Billabong's was for Teahupoo. You can click on the scores to see the highlights from each heat (Click On Demand to make this happen). You can visit the official site by clicking HERE

Loyal readers of my blog (all two of you) may have noticed I haven't been posting and it's simply because I haven't been surfing since a week ago tomorrow. The surf has been beyond bad with very minor pulses and I haven't taken the fish out. Moondoggie called and wanted to surf Lowers tomorrow morning before the contest but I am pussing out as I think the crowd will be higher than normal on a contest day. There are some pros who are surfing their first ever WT contests as they just got on the tour. I'm sure they will on it early and frothing. I will get up early to check Oceanside but we will see if it's surfable...

8.29.2011 Lowers (then Uppers) Sunrise Sesh, Bioluminescence!

Another week, another Lowers sunrise session.  Had I had my druthers, I wouldn't have gone to Lowers as the swell was fresh in and everyone would be frothing... I told my buddy Eric about surfing Lowers before the sun was up while on the way to a Friday poker game and he wanted in and PRONTO!

The night before, Eric asked me what would happen if he was attacked by a shark (there was a great white sighting off Mission Beach over the weekend).  I told him that I would marry his wife and raise his two girls as my own.

I told him I'd meet him at his house in Carlsbad at 3:45 and was making great time when I pulled off the freeway and realized I'd forgotten my leash.  This is probably only the second time this has happened to me.  I called him and circled back, got it and arrived at his place at 4:05.  His fifteen-year-old stepbrother was joining us and we were up there.

We were the second car there and on the way down the dark path I spotted what appeared to be the kneeboarder from last week speeding by on his bike (bastard!).  We made it to the railroad tracks and I counted my steps back from last time so I could more easily find the path through the brush, as it was pitch black with very minimal artificial lighting helping us.  The kneeboarder was out already and the two guys I was with were lagging putting their stuff on so I paddled out into the great dark abyss without them.

I was definitely weirded out as it was SO dark out there.  The shark crossed my mind a couple of times, but I didn't have any panicky what-is-that-touching-my-leg moments.  This is where the best part of the morning comes in...

While looking out at the waves at night, all you will typically see is the whitewash where a wave has already broken.  There was a glow to these waves that I noticed, but I wrote it off as its whiteness being the only thing for any ambient light to bounce off.

As I made it to a safe paddling depth, I jumped on my board and started scratching.  It was SCARY how dark it was.  I kept paddling and I noticed that my hands were lit up!  The bottom of my white board was also lit up and it made me feel a little like this guy:




Another cool aspect is when I took my hand out of the water and looked at it, it looked like tiny lightning bugs appearing and disappearing sporadically in a scattershot manner.
 
It doesn't sound nearly as cool as it looks, but hopefully you get the idea a little bit.

I got out there and it wasn't difficult to see unbroken waves but it was damn near impossible to judge them.  I managed to catch a garbage left and kicked out.  I paddled back out and got a nice left on which I did my patented slide/slash and it looked pretty sick with the glow!  I recovered and rode it a little longer.  It was difficult to see where on the wave I was, but the intermittent beacon atop Cottons Point helped a bit.

More and more guys paddled out and before I knew it there were seven of us and still no light.  I then caught a short right and did a couple of turns, nothing too special, but solid.  Within two minutes, I caught what was the best wave of the morning and did a great snap followed by a decent backside roundhouse cutty to kick out.

It got more and more crowded and we bailed to Uppers.  I hadn't surfed Uppers in about ten years and was looking forward to reacquainting myself with it.  The waves there weren't as juicy, but I caught a right and did a good snap on it with another backside roundy.  I also caught a sick one that I raced but got caught up in the white wash.  I can't remember the last time I pumped and was going so fast on a right and it was a great feeling!

8.23.2011 Lower Trestles Sunrise Sesh

Last night I was debating making the early-morning trek to Lowers.  SurfLie (yes I left the N out on purpose) said it was going to be 1-2' w/ occasional 3' sets in S. Orange County.  The next couple of days in the forecast looked grimmer.

Lowers is the kind of wave that is so sought after, you have to get it when the conditions are less than optimal and/or SUPER early, I'm talking about before the sun comes up and you have nothing to light the waves except a sliver of moon and the lights from the nuclear power plant.  It is without question the best wave in California and is considered to be the most rippable wave on the planet, with long predictable walls and bathymetry that seems to pull in and magnify the swell.  The secret's been out for the last fifty years and the head count reflects that.

I expected the forecast to make people decide not to take the forty-minute walk, but I was sleepy last night and heavily leaning towards not going.  I figured it wasn't going to be worth paddling out anywhere else but I just didn't want to get up that early.  Then I considered Hurricane Greg and how I would love to ride some of those steep SSE waves, which should lead to better lefts.  My internal conflict was settled when I said, if I wake up in time to hit it early (before 4:15) I will go.

Sure enough, I wake up at 3:56 and I'm on it.  I got there at 4:50 and open the car door, the N wind hits me instantly and I long for my 4/3.  I reach in my tub and there are TWO wetsuits in there, one must have dropped into the bucket!  My 4/3 slips on me and I barefoot skate it down the path.  It was extremely nerve-wracking as it was very dark, but I made it without falling and only one high speed run-out.  I paddled out around 5:15 in the dark and I was the third guy out.

I paddled right out and caught a three-footer that was pretty weak.  I tried a backside cutty and didn't have enough juice to allow me to smack the whitewash. Within twenty minutes, there were seven of us out there.  By the time the sun came out, there were almost twenty.

I lost a couple of set waves to this frothing kneeboarder (he was the first guy out) and then I caught my best wave.  A right came through and I had slipped inside of another surfer, paddled like hell and caught it in a sweet spot. I went down the face, did a bottom turn mini-pump and hit it nicely. I tried a backside cutty and didn't have enough speed to hit the section.

I caught a left and did a pump and a half (I should've skipped the last half-pump) and attempted a roundhouse cutty.  The section I was on wasn't steep enough to stop me from bleeding off my speed on the first half of the cutty.  I sank down and paddled back out.

The waves became inconsistent and when they did come, few tended to have shoulders.  I was over it and went in at around 7:15.

The water was cold and you could actually feel the upwelling with the cold fingers of water reaching up to caress me in my nice warm wetsuit.