4.6.2012 Freezing Oceanside Harbor, S. Jetty

On this morning, I almost didn't check it, thinking it wouldn't be very good. I finally decided to go for it and shot up to Oceanside. Pier was doing its usual lake impersonation and I decided to check Harbor just because I'd driven all of the way up here. I trudged north.

My first go-around revealed nothing appetizing. I drove to the boat ramps, turned around and as I'm approaching the stop sign at the pay lot, I see a nugget roll through. I figured that was enough to get me out there, considering how far my go-out standards have fallen since winter.

I suited up as quickly as I could to minimize the amount of time I'd spend in the shiver-inducing outdoors. I had my wetsuit on halfway when Missed-It-Mike rang me and gave me ish for going to Oceanside. I cut the call short so I wouldn't already be freezing BEFORE hitting the water and walked towards the sand.

I jumped over the low concrete wall and waded across the river, noting a guy on a blue egg following too closely behind. I slapped the leash on and paddled out. The first wave that washed over me quickly made me recoil in pain as an immediate ice cream headache had its way with me.

Thankfully, I only had one wave to endure. I quickly caught my first wave and managed to pump on it, but the wave fattened up to the point where I couldn't get any speed going.

A second left arrived less than ten minutes later and it looked juicier. I got a quick pump in, but my plans for a successful wave were dashed by the aforementioned guy on the blue egg who was paddling out right in my way. He made absolutely no attempt to get out of my way or duckdive, so I cut down and the wave wasn't the type to allow me to get more speed. I tried to bottom turn from where I was with very little speed and did ok, but there wasn't enough push from the wave to do anything with that section. I faded off the back, bummed.

A right came and I went for a bottom turn, then shot up the face to smack it but leaned too hard into the wave for how flat it was. I threw a lot of spray but it was all for naught.

A right came about five minutes after the last one, and I did a better job of adjusting to the conditions and make the turn less extreme (ha!). This time, the fatness of the wave did me in and I was done for.

The tide was only getting higher and I made mental plans to bail, as it just wasn't worth it out there.

Everyone I was watching catch waves was dealing with the fatness of it. The inside closed out, otherwise that would've been my next choice.

I stayed out another twenty minutes before packing it in.

4.3.2012 Back to Oceanside, Despite her Deception

I had salivated all weekend over the reports of swell. I couldn't surf yesterday due to a work appointment in OB in the morning. The good news is I heard yesterday wasn't great and I really didn't miss out.

I was frothing for today and figured that NW being the predominant swell direction, Del Mar would be the call. I passed under the 1926 bridge heading south into downtown Del Mar and passed the first view point just in time to see a macker lazily fold over. I screamed for joy.

Unfortunately, 20th Street revealed very little to cure my surf fever. It was mostly fat waves thanks to the monster high tide. I swung down to North Torrey and checked it for about ten minutes while debating my next move. There had to be a place where the combo nature (there was also some SSW in the water) of the swell could be enjoyed on this high a tide. I thought of a spot I've surfed only a handful of times and decided to try my luck in Oside.

Sure enough, Buc Beach was the most appetizing set-up for the swell, at least that I had seen. I continued north, with the intention of checking Pier but barely made it to Tyler before turning around. Flatness.

I parked in the Buc lot and paddled out. There was some definite fatness on the sets. I paddled for a few but was not granted access. I made the fateful decision to try my luck on the inside and was eventually rewarded.

My first wave was a quick throwaway that looked fat, but closed out immediately after hitting the shallow spot.

I caught a nice-ish right that allowed me a solid enough section to do a backside roundhouse cutty. It's probably the best one I've caught on film ever. Yes, I know.



I caught a left where I did my patented SuperPump® and went for an air. I think what happened is I tried it on a part of the wave that had less push than I'd anticipated. My board and I did go airborne together, but we quickly realized our union wasn't natural, and went our separate ways. You can hear the heartbreak in my voice towards the end of the video.



I didn't catch anything else of note and went in after the crowd got heavy. Major props to Smiley Bro Dude, Squatty Italian-Looking Dude and Bald Asian Dude who were absolutely ripping out there!

3.15.2012 Oceanside, Tyson to Pier: Waves are UP!

This morning I woke up at 5:10 and couldn't go back to sleep. I decided to start my routine early. I grabbed my gear, but before I went out the door, I chugged down some orange juice. My hope was the Vitamin C would help cut down on my post-session nasal drip I seem to suffer through after surfing.

I grabbed my pick-me-up, a sparkling water bottle (as good as caffeine, at least for me), loaded up, and hit the freeway. The zip loc bag of almonds I keep in The Rad was violated, as I scarfed down a couple of handfuls as I sped up to keep up with the flow of pre-dawn traffic.

I downed my water, the faster I do it, the harder the CO2 hits me and wakes me up. I was there before first light. While driving I felt minor pangs that warned me a bowel movement would need to happen within a few hours. I made a mental note, if only to appease my innards.

I'd told my cousin Tom I'd call him today and so, taking advantage of his being on the east coast, did so. I drove from Pier to Harbor. The swell was too big for the Harbor's tide. I saw a barely-make-outable guy catch a bomb right, but he couldn't really do anything with it and felt I'd be mired in the same situation if I followed him out there. I weaved back south, found a free parking spot where I could check the waves and slowed. I parked once I saw some nice ones at Tyson Street. We kept chatting and I engaged inner-call-waiting, tuning my cousin out to assess the imminence of giving birth to last night's dinner/this morning's snack. I decided I had the equivalent of bowel contractions and hopped out of The Rad.

I made my way to Tyson Street, and hoped that the bathrooms were open (I'd subconsciously noted the Wisconsin Street bathrooms were closed). I got to the top of the stairs when I came across an unmistakeable scent: Bum Piss! Th prime suspect was on the top landing of the stairs and he turned around and said something I couldn't quite make out. I said, "Huh?" and he hit me back with a short phrase, equally unintelligible. I just said "Yeaeaeah!" and kept walking, my cousin Tommy still blaring on speaker phone the whole time.

The bathroom was open, YES! I sashayed around the corner and to my great dismay, I realized these were metal, prison-issue toilets with short walls and NO DOORS! Luckily, I had my cousin on loud speakerphone and he unknowingly ran interference for me while I stood and delivered (with apologies to my main man, Edward James Olmos).

It was only when he heard the universally recognizable, super powerful public toilet flushing sound that he knew what I was up to.

We hung up after I told him I had to go as enough light was up in which to surf.

I changed into my suit and booties. As I was jogging to the stairs I hooted as a set wave with a near-perfect A-frame detonated. A guy who was suiting up out of the back of his Prius saw my enthusiasm and said, "Did you see that?". I replied, "Yeah, I'm out thar!"

I made the mental error of not thinking about the swell direction. It's been so long since we've had a solid south, my mind assumed it was another Aleutian swell and I ran north to compensate for the inevitable longshore current. I paid for this mistake by paddling quite a ways against the current. My traps are still sore as I type this.

On to the surf...

My first wave was a quick right that closed out on me after allowing me space to do a tiny pump. Luckily, it made its intentions known quickly and I didn't have to pay too dear a positioning penalty.

The next wave was nice, and I want for my typical slash/snap. My ass dragged in the water and I recovered, but the wave had pretty much passed me by and I went off the back ever so slightly.

I watched as Prius guy caught a sick left and smacked it twice about as perfectly as possible. Right on the lip and vertically, making the spray fly up and over, aided by the offshores.

It took some time for my next wave to arrive and it wasn't much of anything. I thought I might find a corner of it but it turned into a closeout. I kicked my board up to avoid losing unnecessary ground.

I then caught a right that looked like it would be a good one. I pumped into a nice drawn-out bottom turn but the frame grabs reveal me compressing my body and my Joe Cool facial expression swiftly evolving into a grimace. I tried to jump through the wave, but I was too late. The lip smacked me HARD in the back of the head. It felt as though I'd been punched. I came up and paddled back out, not too stoked on life at the moment.

A guy in a Quiksilver wetsuit who'd been complaining about how cold he was to his buddy tried to intimidate me by back-paddling me, but I ignored him and kept paddling. He pulled back and I went...over the falls. He shot me a disgusted look and I smiled at him until he looked away.

I gave up and let the current have its way with me. Within ten minutes I was within spitting distance of the pier and I was getting over it.

I caught another right, this one an almost immediate closeout with no associated trauma.

My last wave was a right that I happened to snag due to the end of a steep corner. I did a nice turn and felt a little weightless, then went into my too-much-pressure-on-the-rail-for-the-speed cutty attempt, which failed.



I went in on my belly and managed to eat ish when the wave I was on doubled up. I didn't want to risk the board buckling or hitting bottom so I took the hit.

3.14.2012 Oceanside Harbor: One Good Sesh Deserves Another?

Given the best session I've had since January the previous day, I decided to not gamble on any other spots and shoot straight up to Harbor. I did do a cursory check of Pier, only to get a feel for the swell. It looked a little bigger than yesterday. PUMPED!

I parked in the free lot, suited up to the sweet sweet sounds of David Lee Roth courtesy of my GuyPod.

I ran down to the sand, then north towards my spot from yesterday. I saw a sick A-Frame during my three minute or so run, but other than that, nothing amazing. Hmm...

I caught a right and did really fast "shimmy" pumps, but it was for naught, as there was nothing for me around the corner.


I then caught a right that seemed to be hollow. I set up in an actual pigdog, no crab grab, but gave up after about a second. The too-quick act of righting myself made me plop over on my back.

Then, I caught an ok left which allowed me to do my wayback snap. In other words, a layback snap in which I splayed onto my back but didn't recover.

The wind came up, not in a good way, and the water surface started texturing. Word must've gotten out from yesterday's quality, as there were at least twice as many people.

I caught a left and pumped my brains out ( I was going to write 'ass off' there, but it just didn't seem right). There was no payoff, as the lip shut down. I managed to get most of my body underneath it, avoiding the penalty for my misplaced loyalty in sticking with this wave for this long.

My next wave was a nice one. Steep drop, followed by a long line. I pumped, then pumped. I pumped again. Finally, the section I'd salivated over approached and I smacked it hard. But I wasn't even close to making it.



My last wave was a left that was racier, and ended with me smashing through the wave to get away from the lip.

3.13.2012 FUN Solo Mission to Oceanside Harbor

After several no-go's last week, I was jonesing HARD. I made the decision the night before to get up early and suit up at home. I also took a water with me. Combining the two pretty much commits me to surf as I will have my suit on AND I'll have to pee.

I did so, and shot up the 5. I figured Wisconsin, Tyson and Pier wouldn't be all that great due to the low and still dropping tide. I was right, but there were some signs of life. I hit the gas with a smile on my face and the knowledge that Harbor loves a low tide.

I scanned S. Jetty and saw a little bit of a crowd, but more importantly, some swell. I drove down to the boat ramp and spotted some bangers. YES!

I parked, finished suiting up and walked to the beach. There was a bit of a crowd north of the jetty too, including a couple of rippers. Rather than compete with them and getting vibed (Harbor is notorious for localism, probably the most localized spot in N. County), I opted for an empty peak in the middle of the beach, parallel to the big condo complex building.

I didn't put on my booties as I didn't think I'd be out for very long.

I wasn't finished paddling out all the way when I caught my first wave. It was a very racy left whose lip hit me in the shoulder. I made it around a section only to be rewarded with closeout.

Three minutes later, I caught my second left of the day. I pumped hard a few times found a section and managed to turn a standard snap into an unplanned layback. I didn't make it.

My next wave was a right. I was having a hard time catching it and once I did it closed. I got half-covered up and pulled out the back.

Another right came and I got up slowly. I pumped quickly around the first section but there wasn't anything there.

Yet another right came. I had to lean hard on the front of my board to combat the offshores. I caught it and bottom-turned on a fat-ish face. I did a nice cutback, made it, but the wave was done.

C-C-COMBO BREAKER! A left came. I caught it, but was off-balance. I recovered and pumped like a madman, dueling with the lip the whole time until, at last, I was defeated...



I caught a decent left and I did my usual smack to bog to on-my-back, though I did get hung up on the lip. I like my bottom turn trajectory and the spot I picked, I think I'm just leaning too hard on my back foot for too long. If anyone has some tips for me I would appreciate it...!



I was getting really cold and my toes were going numb. It was time to wrap things up.

I caught a right and did an ok smack on it, the wave surprised me by quickly steepening upon my descent from the smack. I rushed another smack into it but was overcome by the crashing lip while up high on it.

I caught a left, pumped, then went into my typical smack, which turned into a layback. My ass dragged in the water, but thanks to my overtime glute work in the gym, I managed to muscle it out and stand back up. FINALLY! I think this counts as a layback snap!



After I came up after ditching my board, I got hooted by a random dude. YESS!

I rode in on my belly after this wave, and admired the various shades of purple in my toes.

2.24.2012 Solo Mission, Wisconsin Street, Oceanside

After three no-go's, I was getting antsy. The forecasts were saying there would be a combo swell in the water starting Thursday afternoon and I was salivating over a Friday mish up to Oside.

I couldn't convince anyone to go with me, unfortunately.

My first glimpse of the waves muted my expectations. You could say I went from having a semi- to a blue-ball tinge in my loins.

I checked S. Oside all the way to pier and Wisconsin looked ever-so-slightly better than anywhere else. I parked the car and watched, trying to convince myself to paddle out. I had my GuyPod cranked and eventually, I made myself suit up and paddle out.

I decided to paddle out just south of Wisconsin Street. Everywhere else looked junky. I couldn't understand it, we had swell, the tide was about right, the conditions were excellent but the waves SUCKED.

It took me a good ten minutes before I caught my first wave. It was a right that I caught late. While setting my feet, I panicked. I had almost lifted my back hip up to allow me to plant my foot down, but I went for the knee instead. The lip went over me and I was deep, but I was almost out when I did my usual hug-the-wave-so-close-you-become-one-with-it. I barrel-rolled into oblivion and that was that. No footy of this one, as I didn't have enough time to depress the button.

Well, ok, not a bad start, it's better than it looks!

About five minutes after that, a nice, lined-up left came. I didn't realize it at the time, but it would have a barrel for me. Once I dropped in, my mission became clear...

I set my line and ducked down hard, being careful not to be too far out on the flats. If you watch the video below, you can see me put all of my weight on my back foot (watch my front foot), then back on the front foot hoping to get out.

Alas, it was not to be, as I got clipped, slammed, taken over-the-falls and ended up shoulder-checking the sand. *WIPE-OUT OF THE MONTH FRONTRUNNER*



I also caught a nice right that I was able to hit well and retain my speed.

I caught two waves that were eerily similar. Lefts that started off well, but they devolved into mush without enough push to get me to connect with the juicy but fleeting shorebreak section.

More waves like these kept coming and I quickly got over it. I went in and hoped the weekend would have something nice in store...

1.28.2012 Smaller Oside South Jetty with Forrest

Missed-It Mike told us he had to stay and watch his young son. He told me his wife had to go to a hair appointment. I was suspicious as to the time of the appointment (before eight) but I let it slide because I didn't want to deal with the fallout (Mike can be touchy).

Forrest and I met at Tyson Street. Since I'd gotten there a little early, I surveyed the waves and proclaimed S. Jetty to be the best use of our time. We parked and Forrest patiently waited for me to change into my suit. I forewent the gloves and we were out there! We walked quite a ways south, hoping to avoid the crowd of rippers that tends to clog Harbor and Harbor-adjacent spots on the weekends.

The offshore winds made the air very cold. My first wave was sabotaged by these winds as I didn't get to drop down the face. Still, a good one to get started on as it wasn't a waste of the wave (the wave wasn't that good).

I caught a right, right into the risen sun and had a tough time seeing. I went by periphery and feel. I did an ok hit on it but I extended it too far and faded off the back.

My next wave was nice, but a little fast. Luckily, I was able to get around the section and hit it in a critical spot, sending a good amount of spray out the back. I recovered nicely, but the wave started threatening to close out, so I let it and went into it.



I caught a slow right, did a quick cutback, but lost the wave before able to bring it around to the wash.

I caught a right and set up in my barrel stance. I got in there quickly and could have made it, but I didn't angle toward the beach enough and got swept up in the wall. Major bummer as it would've been a sick one! Another bummer was that the camera didn't register my turning it on, so I have no footage. I would've been heartbroken to make a barrel like that and not have it on film, so there is some bittersweetness.

Then, tragedy struck. I paddled my ass off for and caught a nice right, but Forrest decided to snake me. Words can't describe the feeling of betrayal that kept stabbing me in the heart.

The waves then changed. All of the lefts had been pretty much closing out, but now they ALL seemed to be. The rights were not pouring through and we were getting a bit frustrated.

I tried my luck on a left, only to have the lip hit me in the chest almost immediately.

I gave the lefts one last chance to keep me out there, but they blew it by closing out on me.

I wish we'd paddled out earlier as it was a lot of fun at the beginning of the session...!

After much thinking, Forrest and I have decided to take ten days off from our surfing relationship. I think he freaked when I met his new daddy yesterday and acted out on those feelings today by burning me on a wave. On the eleventh day, I will call him to re-assess his commitment and friendship.

1.23.2012 Burly Oceanside Pier/Tyson Street with Forrest

On this morning, I woke up early to take my wife to the airport. The plan was to surf Del Mar, where the swell should be hitting well. Unfortunately, the plan didn't come to fruition so I was left to drive north and hope to score surf at a random spot that looked good from the road.

Time was tight because of the weather conditions. A dark storm was coming in from the NW and though we were enjoying offshore winds at the moment, once the storm moved in, they would most likely turn onshore.

Dog Beach Del Mar presented a view of a spinning right which made me want to park and surf. However, I thought about all of the runoff from the recent rain and it made me reconsider.

I called Forrest and he was into surfing. I suited up at his place and off we went.

We checked Cherry Street which was ok, then Tamarack which was not working. Terramar looked ok, but we wanted to get some juice out of this swell! We decided we didn't have much time before the winds would kill the conditions.

Cassidy and Buc Beach weren't getting much of this swell. Wisconsin looked rideable but the Pier showed a guy on a big left do a slash at the top of the wave. From our vantage point looking north, it looked like he was within a couple of feet of it. We were out THAR!

It took us a good fifteen minutes before we caught our first waves. Forrest was first. He caught a medium wave and exaggerated his Forrest flop out the back (I'd been talking to him that his best maneuver is his flop off the board when he kicks out). I felt a pang of jealousy, but it didn't last long. A nice-sized right came. I pumped down the face, but it closed out on me so I Fosbury flopped over it very smoothly. Not my favorite way to break my waveless cherry, but at least I had a wave under my belt.

The previous wave began my best run of waves in a short spurt of time in quite some time.

A left came, I caught it and popped up quickly. I did my patented pop-up/immediate pump. The section threatened to outrun me, but I made it around the corner. I was slowed down a bit by the wave's foam slapping my lower body; the result of the wave breaking a little faster than is ideal. I spotted the incoming right and set my line. I hit the wave, probably too late, and did my usual bail off the back rail. I think what I'm failing to do is keep my weight over the board. I was happy with my read on the wave and being able to make it around the section, though.



Three minutes later, my next wave arrived! It was a nice right. I turned hard off the bottom and managed to make what I am dubbing my best turn of the year. I went more vertical than I've gone backside in some time and I hit it late enough so that I got hung up on the lip. Unfortunately, I put too much weight on my next turn and my rail didn't have enough volume to accommodate the torque. If you pause the video at the right time, you will see I overburied the rail...



Two minutes later, I caught a left an did some pumps. The wave went flat as I was about to hit it, and my trajectory and result reflected that.



Six minutes after my last wave, I caught a right. I wanted to get vertical on it and I did so. I dropped all the way to the bottom, climbed to the top and as I was pivoting to snap, the wave flattened out. The high tide was making it difficult for the wave to feel the sand bottom's contour. There was just too much water and it was only going to get fatter as we neared the height of the high tide. I kicked out and waited for the next one.

Just two minutes after that disappointment, a left came. It was steep, but sectioned off so much it was unmakeable. I put all my weight on my back foot's toes and made the board squirrel out on the fins, but they didn't slide out all the way. I got under the lip and avoided the explosion.

And thus ended my four-wave run in an eleven minute span.

I caught a right that looked steeper than it was. I did a turn and the section flattened out. Looking for greener pastures, I decided to cut all the way back around to try to surf the wave as a left. I got all the way around, but the wave had shut down by the time I got there.

Another right came within five minutes and I was on it. I wanted to do pull out through the wave from the get-go, but I took my time in doing so and was punished by the wave's lip. The thing DETONATED on my board and smashed me off my board. I came up hurting and my back was sore for a few minutes thereafter.

After this wave, still stinging from the lip smash, I paddled for a wave. The stiff offshore blinded me and I got disoriented. I didn't realize how late it was until I was going over the falls with the lip. I managed to slow myself down a bit while getting the board out from in between my legs to avoid another, probably more painful, episode. I hadn't done THAT in a while! The good news is my face was now sore and it made me forget about my back.

Yet another right came and I did some flat turns. The waves were getting fatter and fatter, so when I saw Forrest walking up the beach, I waved him in from paddling back out.



We walked down to the pier to try our luck there. While walking, the rain started coming down. The wind was still mostly offshore, but now swirling a bit more. Conditions were slowly deteriorating and our time was running out.

I told Forrest I couldn't remember the last time I surfed in the rain in California and he couldn't remember the last time he did either.

I caught a left and did a nice smack/foam climb on it. I think it may be only the second frontside top turn I've pulled since I started filming with the Go Pro... Yikes.



I caught one last right and did my standard turn. I pumped around the section hoping for some goodness but there was none to be had.

I paddled back out and was having a hard time turning the camera off with my increasingly cold stiff fingers. This worked out as I was able to capture a bit of a beating my board and I took during a close-out clean-up set, the biggest wave I saw break out there in the 2+ hours we were out. The camera, which I'd worked so hard to tighten with a screwdriver at home, got readjusted in the tumult. The footage isn't too interesting, so I'll spare you, dear readers.

The conditions continued to deteriorate, so we went in.

1.20.2012 Small and Slow Oceanside

After not having surfed for some time, I was getting jonesy. I decided the night before to practically guarantee I would paddle out the next morning by suiting up before I left the house.

My knee and shoulder were all healed up thanks to some rest and chiropractor session so I had no excuses. I suited up at home and got in my car.

There was a S in the water, so Oceanside was the obvious call. Cassidy revealed small and slow waves which then would QUICKLY turn into shorebreak screamers. Not too amped on my first impression of the day's talent...

The pier was slightly better, and I did see one solid (~2.5') right come in. That got my attention. The tide was at a 6' high an hour preceding my arrival. I didn't think Harbor would be much better, but deep down I wanted to buy more time for the tide to drop so the waves would show more.

I circled back just south of the pier, grabbed my gear and locked up the ride. I RAN down the stairs and sprinted as quickly as I could towards the pier for comical effect. I was probably the only surfer running towards the water that quickly that morning.

I paddled out and caught my first wave within ten minutes. It was a slow one. I did a good job of staying with it and pumping in the very narrow "speed" pocket, but by the time I had achieved a decent amount of speed, the wave was over.

My second wave was another slow one. In fact, for the rest of this entry, assume every wave is slow. I pumped a few times, keeping pace with the wave and hoping to link up to the steeper inside section. Once I got close, I saw the right coming towards me, but it was in front of the main wave. I changed my plan of attack on it. I hit it and something happened that I still can't pinpoint. Either my different arc on the top of the wave caused me to snap late and break the fins out (unlikely) or I hit an aerated lip which caused my fins to disengage. I landed awkwardly and fell off the back.



I caught a similar wave and stuck with it, hoping to make that inside connection. The wave took its time doing so, but it quickly bared its teeth. I did two quick micro-pumps and smacked it well. I threw a good amount of spray but failed to put enough weight on my toes. As a result, I didn't stay over my board and splayed off the back, as I am known to do.



I went in and walked south, after seeing some relatively sweet ones. Unfortunately, the logger I walked a ways to get around paddled towards me. I guess the good news is it didn't matter, as no waves came for twenty minutes.

Overall, I was out for an hour and caught four waves. No one kept me from catching a wave, it was just that slow and inconsistent out there. I'm hoping to get out there tomorrow morn.

1.4.2012 Maxing Oceanside with Forrest AND Missed-It Mike!

I had a beast of a time convincing Mike to surf with us this morning. He was under the impression it was going to be massive and didn't want to be undergunned. I convinced him it wouldn't be that big and I picked him up at 5:50.

We met Forrest at Tyson Street and, though most waves were closing out, we spied some with potential by the pier. Here is a short lifestyle shot of Mike, then Forrest:



We did our best to time the sets so we could paddle out without too much resistance and were relatively successful. Seeing as to how the swell was coming almost directly from the west (with a dusting of north to it), I didn’t think the longshore current would be an issue. It took only a couple of minutes to realize I was mistaken.

I tried to hold my position near the lined-up waves reeling off the pier, but I was also tempted by the potential entertainment to be had with the conversation Mike and Forrest were having. After close to ten minutes and a couple of pull-backs due to closeouts, the conversation won out. Forrest caught one first, but was stuck inside for some time due to the frequency and fervency of the closeouts.

I wandered inside for a bit, hoping to get lucky on a middler. Mike hung on outside. I told him he was in too deep (one of Mike’s favorite songs) and almost as quickly as I’d finished singing him the beginning of the chorus, a macker came and Mike caught it late. It was a solid seven-footer and his first wave of the year. I duckdived it and missed his wave, but he said it was a little fat and was able to fit one turn on it before deciding the juice from a second turn would not be worth the squeeze (getting crushed by the next wave).

After some goading by Forrest for having yet to have popped my cherry for the day, I took off on an obvious closeout. I kicked my board up and bailed, coming up just in time to take in Forrest’s second ride of the day, a double-grab smoker!



About ten minutes later, I caught a right REALLY late. It felt as though I’d airdropped into it and was rewarded with a great view of a big open barrel that not even Kelly could’ve made (though he would’ve made it look much better)



I caught another right which was an obvious closeout. I had a small corner in which to set up for the barrel, and dropped into it from a pretty good altitude on the wave. I was rewarded with a great view of the barrel and stayed in there for about two seconds before detonation. The footage only showed roiling water and so I will not bore you with just a set-up shot.

I caught a left which had potential, but by the time I dropped in and set up, it had passed me by. I lamely tried to get into the barrel but wasn’t even close. It felt a lot worse than the video looks, but regardless, it’s not worth showing…

My last wave had a great drop, but it closed out quickly. I proned out and rode into the beach, disappointed by both my wave count and lack of amazing rides, given the size of the waves.

I rode in to the beach and was amazed at how far south we'd drifted. We had to walk north quite a bit just to get to Wisconsin Street. Over a half-mile from where we'd paddled out!

1.1.2012 First Ones in the Water in Oceanside in 2012. Best Waves since Panama

The original plan was to go to Black's and be one of the first ones out in California. Doing that daunting walk in the dark proved to be too much for Forrest and me and so we decided to hit Oside.

I met him at his place at 5:30 and we suited up. We drove up PCH to Oside and skipped checking the beachbreaks, as we wouldn't be able to see. Using the pier's amber lighting we were able to make out underwhelming two-footers and our stoke subsided substantially. I thought the tide would be low, but it was actually quite high. We flirted with checking Harbor, but I had to be at my dad's for breakfast by 9:30, so we took our chances and paddled out north of Wisconsin. I transformed into Neoprene Man.

The slowly-leaking light of the sun was beginning to cut through the darkness. The first couple of vids captured by the GoPro are grainy from the lack of light, but luckily, there was enough light so as to not further ruin the footage from my first wave.

A nice left came through. I caught it, pumped once and made a snap decision to pull in due to the timing. If I'd had more time, I might have been able to get closer to the wave and have a shot at making it. I'm pretty sure it closed out as the VAST majority of waves were closing out today. Here's some goodness from that wave:



Be sure to pause/unpause the video to simulate slow motion. This is especially good for capturing my strained facial expressions on some waves!

A right came within three minutes and I was on it. It too closed out on me. Try to pause around 3-second mark:



Another left came right after I'd paddled out from the right. I didn't have a chance to pump for speed and I set up too far away from the wall. This is one of the cool things about having footage of you surfing. You usually think you are ripping harder than you really are and filming will set you straight. Also, you get to see what mistakes you are making and try to correct them in future sessions.

Case in point:



A final barreling wave came to me in the form of a solid right, giving the most tube time of the morning and eliciting an unplanned hoot from my subconscious:



All four of these barrels came through in a fifteen minute span. AWESOME! Too bad I didn't make ANY of them. Though in my defense, all of them closed out.

A lined-up left popped up and I was on it. It turned racy quickly and I did one of my super-pumps to get to the lip. I hit the wave and the wave hit the camera. I could've pulled what is considered the best turn ever performed or I could have brusquely fallen out the back. I guess the world will never know...



A solid right came through, and it had a line to it, so I went for some turns. The wave was closing on me, so I cut the radius on my second turn short. Here is the proof:



The waves slowed down and we saw some spiraling ones up by the pier, so we decided to walk to the pier from Wisconsin Street. This is close to a half-mile walk according to my rudimentary hold-your-fingers-to-the-scale-on-Google-Maps measuring method. Once we finally got up there, the feasting continued.

A MACKER came, could have been head-high and I was on it. I was frothing so hard for it that I let out a guttural noise once my conquest was complete. I mini-pumped to get around the section and I tried to do a backside off-the-lip but it was not to be. Forrest was on the very next one which was the same size so I gave him some support to supplement his stoke.



About ten minutes later, a left came and it was a racy one. I got into it fine and I got close to the wall this time, right in the sweet spot of the barrel. Unfortunately, it closed out HARD and adjusted my camera.



I then caught a left that started off quickly, but opened up and allowed me to do a frontslide slash. I pulled it all the way around, but got stuck on the wash and splayed out. In the video, you hear an interesting sound. Is that the wind howling or are the gods hooting? Too close to call...



I caught yet another left and had a similar sound in the video. I performed one of the moves I've pioneered in the sport: The wayback snap. A layback snap is one where you commit so hard to the turn your body skims/splays behind the board in the water and you use your abs and the power of the wave to lift you back up. A wayback snap is a one where you commit even harder!

If I showed this footage to my doctor, he would prescribe less extension on my legs and more weight on my front foot. Here is what I will send his way:



To finish off the session and complete the "one more!" requirement necessary to get to my dad's on time, I took this right and hit it ok. I then Fosburied over the lip and went in.

12.30.2011 Forrest in Oceanside: STy to SPier, Last Session of the Year NOW WITH GO PRO!

After trying over and over to get Windows Movie Maker to work (on two different computers with three different versions), I am unable to edit without the program crashing. I also tried it on a Mac, but it doesn't jive.

So, back to text only blogging until I figure out a way around it...

Forrest and I got to Oceanside and didn't see much. North of Tyson revealed a relative nug, but because of the low tide, we pressed on to check Harbor.

Harbor was more textured and more crowded. There were no nugs to be found, so we circled back around, suited up and paddled out.

We paddled out just north of the Tyson stairs and I immediately caught a right. It hollowed out quickly, but too quickly. I performed the first part of a standing-island pullout but wasn't able to hold through to the other side, though I don't know if it's possible to do a no-grab backside standing-island pullout...



I had a few close ones, waves that I thought were going to break, but I couldn't catch or they hit a deep spot and didn't break.

Then, I caught a nice lined-up left which I pumped like crazy on. I saw the oncoming section and hit it, but didn't keep my weight over the board and slowly collapsed on to my back, missing a solid finish that would've looked great with the speed I'd amassed.



The waves just stopped. We liked where we were sitting (alone) but the longshore current was sweeping us south.

We stayed there a good thirty minutes before we decided to go in and try our luck more towards the pier.

Because of the current, we were going to paddle as close to the pier as possible to give us the maximum amount of play as we drifted back south towards the Tyson stairs and the car.

I caught a small, quick right and crab-grabbed so as to get in there a bit earlier. I was excited to check the footage the GoPro had captured, but there wasn't much. The water hit the board and created so much turbulence that it blocked the view. Not a big deal, as I was in there for maybe a second.



I caught a mirror image of the above wave and crab-grabbed switch. I didn't get much of a view, but did see a nice frame grab of the lip curling over me.



I then caught a left which was similar to my second wave, but not quite as racy. I lined up for a whack but approached it too laterally and fell. Bummer.

Forrest was catching a few waves and was a little deep on one. For some reason, I decided to burn him on a right. He's burned me a lot over the years so I think I was trying to even the score. I took off about a second after him, twelve feet or so inside of him. I looked back and saw him doing a double-grab and going straight. My attention turned back to the wave which let me do one quick pump before unceremoniously closing out.

While paddling back out with a huge smile on my face, I could hear Forrest protesting. I hit him with the arsenal of SNAKE excuses I've heard over the years:

1. Oh, were you on that wave? I didn't see you.
2. I thought it was a party wave!
3. I thought you were going left?
4. I wasn't in your way, I looked back and you were going straight! (This one I made up on the spot)

The last one provided me with the most amusement.

I got into another quick crab-grab, no switch this time, but was in there for about a second and a half before detonation.

I got a whackable right and did so, but the section ended up having a lot less steepness and power to it than I was hoping for and I just faded off the back...



I had to get on with my day so that was the end of that session.

12.11.2011 Oceanside: Deceiving Tysconsin with Forrest AFTERNOON SESH | BROKEN BOARD

During my previous session, I managed to aggravate a newly-acquired shoulder injury.
Thankfully, the swell sabbatical allowed me to take some time off to recuperate.

My shoulder was feeling 95%. Forrest wanted to hit it in the morning, but I had an appointment at my second job: Airport Bitch. He cruised over during the second round of football games and was raring to get out THAR. He wanted to go to Carlsbad as he thought it looked good. I wanted to go to Oceanside because of the steep S swell direction. I made my case and he was convinced.

We shot up there and made our usual rounds. The seas were smooth, but the waves were smaller than SurfLIE had claimed they would be. We saw some set wave nugs come through, especially just south of the pier. We debated checking Harbor but were so smitten by what we saw that we passed.

We got our stuff on and headed towards the pier. We walked quite a ways, then decided we weren't in the mood to sit in a pack and fight for waves when there were empty ones just a couple of hundred paces south.

I jumped on my DHD and started paddling after a chest-high set rolled through. Forrest was close behind on his ancient Stewart longboard.

A left came through and I paddled hard. I popped up and did a quick pump to floater and blew it.

A similar left rolled through within five minutes and I did the exact same thing, EXCEPT I ollied off the lip and on to the flats. I landed flat with considerable speed and tried to do an extreme backside fade bottom turn so that I lay down just in time and with enough speed to propel my head and upper body underneath the rolling foam. I was somewhat successful.

A waist-high right came and I paddled for it. It was slow, so instead of doing the Huntington Hop, I choked up on it, putting most of my weight on the front half of my board by shuffling my feet towards the nose. The wave seemed to like that, as it let me in to its surprisingly speedy pocket. I shuffled back, but was disoriented by my newfound velocity. I meekly attempted to hit the section, but it turned into a weird wash bonk/floater rather than a solid lip bash.

A nice steep left rolled in and I sprint-paddled to meet it. I slammed my weight on the back of my board to make the half-turn more quickly. I paddled hard towards shore. As the wave lifted my board up, I popped up and pumped from the get-go. While I was immediately disappointed in my decision to not bash the first section, I salivated as the oncoming lip approached.

I didn't have enough speed for an air, so I turned up hard from the bottom to the point that I rose up the wave face at about a 60-degree angle. I rotated my head and shoulders, then my hips and legs and SMASHED the lip. I have a tendency to fall backwards after this move. This time, I managed to drag my hand in the water and recapture equilibrium. NICE!

Forrest caught a wave and about halfway through his subsequent paddle-out, a clean-up set came. I was in a good spot, but Forrest was not. When this happens, I have an annoying habit of yelling, "Bye BYE!" followed by a quick wave just before initiating my duckdive.

After three waves, the thrill of escaping a slight beating withered. I couldn't see Forrest until the last wave washed over him. I noticed he was paddling weird and when I got a liquid "culata" from the wave, it allowed me to see why. I could see a nice white cross-section of foam surrounded by the long-ago yellowed glass.

I immediately started laughing, which is an a-hole move. I wasn't laughing at his misfortune so much as I was laughing at the conditions in which his log snapped. A longboard isn't easy to break, but it's difficult to break a log in these small waves ESPECIALLY considering he wasn't even riding the wave who did this to his board.

I told him we could go in if he wanted and we went in shortly thereafter.

12.5.2011 Oceanside Harbor with Forrest: A No-Go Denied!

I met Forrest at his place at 6:10 and we suited up. The air was numbingly cold.

On the way north from Forrest's Tamarack-area pad, we checked assorted Carlsbad beach breaks and we saw NOTHING. I've seen Lake Tahoe this big (and with more juice). The brunt of the swell was coming from the SSW so we figured Oceanside would be better.

It was, but not by much. We paused at Wisconsin Street and thought about doing the ultimate in no-go's: taking off a dry wetsuit. We decided to check Harbor and call it a day if we weren't convinced. I silently made mental plans as to what to do with the extra time I'd have from not surfing.

While going over the new-ish bridge southeast of Oceanside Harbor, we saw something that excited us. This is all relative, mind you. If we'd just had a week of mind-blowing surf, we wouldn't have slept in based on the forecast. Since we were groveling, any ripple became titillating.

We pulled in to the parking lot and decided to go for it based on just the two-wave set we saw from the road. After much ribbing from both Forrest and Missed-It Mike, I elected to leave my gloves in the car. This was in an effort to see if I really was being a pansy.

Big mistake.

We got to the water and waded in. I made my best effort to not get my hands wet as the stiff offshore would make them shrink with frigidity. I succeeded until I made the difficult to decision to mount the board and begin paddling. Normally this time of year, the water will be comforting as it's warmer than the air. But with the strength and direction of the wind, today would be different.

We both made it out with dry hair and I caught two right away. I made sure I'd caught both before standing up, putting in an extra couple of strokes each time. All I accomplished is going straight for maybe ten yards before each one petered out (Man, it must suck to have the name Peter. First the phallic interpretation and then the verb).

I caught a right into the risen sun and was able to pump to keep pace with the wave, but not much else. Both times I faded off the wave in such a way so as to no get my face wet as it was still a virgin from the evaporative freezing effect of the offshores.

A nice set came, but I was out of position for it.

I sat for about twenty minutes and I started shivering a little. My hands were really cold and I consciously kept them underwater to shelter them from the wind.

A left came and I caught it late. I pumped twice, aware of its speed-killing fatness and attempted to lay into a cutback. I opened my shoulders back to the wash while twisting my gaze to meet it and aborted halfway through. What was meant to be a roundhouse cutty turned into a classic EddieP hack. Not bad, considering.

Within five minutes, another left came and I was in a great spot. I took off, pumped and met the oncoming section with a hit. Unfortunately, I blew it. I'm still not sure which bad habit of mine made me go underwater.

I hinted to Forrest that we should think about going in. He agreed and we walked into the gaping maw of the warmth-robbing offshores. As each second passed, my hands became number and more pained. When we got to Forrest's car, Forrest said he couldn't tie his board down as his hands were too cold. We huddled in the car (without touching, you pervs) to escape the wind for a few minutes. Forrest got out and we went back to his place with the faith-restoring space heater and hot shower.

12.2.2011 Oceanside: Mostly Gutless Tyson Street with Forrest

This morning was a cold one and I arrived at Forrest's pad to suit up in his apartment. I hurriedly put my stuff in his Sub and, along the way up PCH, admired the smoothness of the ocean. The offshore breeze and good tide were both excellent indications that we would have a good session.

About three-fourths of the way there, we realized I'd left my board in my car. We doubled back and checked Tamarack on the way there and it was TINY. No one was out. We stopped back at my car, I grabbed my board and back up to Oside we went.

I transformed into Neoprene Man (only my head was unprotected) and paddled out a bit north of Tyson Street. Being the festive guy that he is, Forrest brought along his Santa hat to add some flair to the session.

We saw a couple of (relative) bombs. Clean, though a bit slow, three-footers. It took a solid fifteen minutes for me to catch my first wave. It was a left that I struggled to stay on. I silently wished for my fish.

Forrest caught a right and on his paddle back out, he told me he had to pump to stay on it. A couple more weak ones rolled through, one that couldn't carry me on its face even just belly-boarding it. I started to get frustrated. The water was really cold and I was freezing for this?!?

On top of that, the wind was offshore and the tide seemed right. If only some swell would come in and it would turn into a sick session!

More gutlessness whimpered in. Frustration levels grew.

It was at this point I suggested we become our alter egos: The OAG's (Overly Amped Guys).

From this point on, every ripple became a macker; every morsel became the wave of the day. This made the session a lot more fun as it created some competition as to could be the more amped between us. If you asked the other people surfing around us, though, they would've sworn it was a contest to see who could be more annoying.

About an hour into the session, some sets started rolling through. I caught a right and smacked it gently so as not to overdo it on fat sections, as I tend to do.

I kicked out and saw the rest of the set come in. It was starting to get close to decent!

A left came through about ten minutes later and I pumped a couple of times and did an off-the-lip with speed. Had I put more weight on my front foot, I would have had a nice finish (if you can call the only maneuver you complete on a wave a finish) to it. My back foot hogged my body weight and so I landed wrong and splayed out onto my back.

The wave of the day came through, a nice right that was maybe four feet high. Forrest decided it would be a good time to call "Party Wave!" and so I ended up eating his spray and bailing. Oh well.

We were both over it, so in we went.

11.30.2011 Oceanside: Back to Beautiful Tyson Street with Forrest, Strong Offshore

This morning I woke up just after three thanks to my decision to hit the sack just shy of 8:30 last night. I am a pansy when it comes to jet-lag and I'm still on Eastern time. It's not too bad, though, because it makes it so easy to wake up for dawn patrols.

I met Forrest at his pad in C-bad, transferred my gear into his Subaru and we shot up to Oside on the 101. We turned left on Cassidy, then right on the frontage road. Buc Beach looked surfable and my stoke-level rose quickly. Even lowly Oside Blvd showed signs of life!

We passed the lookout at the stop sign at Wisconsin Street and I was ready to suit up. We briefly debated checking Harbor but I was frothing too hard already. I transformed into Neoprene Man (4/3 suit, booties and 4mm gloves) and we got out there.

In our fervor, we realized we'd paddled out TOO far and right into the rip. Forrest was on his new log and wasn't amped on his board choice. The wind was strong from the northeast, blowing directly into the waves: a classic offshore day. Forrest's board had so much foam on it that it made it difficult to paddle into waves that steepened so quickly on a board with little rocker. The reminders about the board would continue throughout the session so keep that in mind...

After paddling in for some time and fighting the current, a nugget left came through. I caught it late (offshore) and dropped in cleanly. While setting my line after the initial take-off pump, I miscalculated where the lip would land and it decked me in the ribs just below my arm pit. I went flying down headfirst into the water and the ride was over.

Keep in mind that on south-facing beaches, the daybreak sun will wash out all rights as it hits its riders with full sun-to-the-face.

About ten minutes after my first wave I caught quite the right. The sun disoriented me and I leaned into a reflexive backside cutback to get it out of my eyes. I succeeded and, extending my body by unweighting my board, was able to smack it around to complete a solid backside roundhouse cutback. This is probably my best execution of that maneuver. YEOUH! (Onomatopoeic hoot transcription)

About a half-hour later, I caught another right and did some quick backside turns on it, though I blew my second one by going too far out on the shoulder and trying a turn too fast for the slope of the section.

I faded off the back just as Forrest was paddling out next to me, relishing his first successful ride of the morning on that beast of his. He kept commenting on the board being too big and impossible to ride given the conditions. As I paddled next to him we both looked west and saw a logger take off on a nice steep right, carving up and down it surprisingly well. Without much thought, I said, "See? He seems to be doing ok". I wasn't sure Forrest heard me so I repeated myself and he replied with a stern "F- you, Eddie."

I laughed my ass off for close to a minute.

I then caught a left where I was pumping too aggressively for the slope of the wave and ALMOST lost it. My weight was almost all on my front foot and I felt myself about to fall on my face. My back foot instinctively lifted off my board. I recovered awkwardly, pumped once, and smacked the approaching section. ...And I didn't make it...!

Another left came that was similar, but I fell back on my bad habit of attacking a wave too vertically when it itself is already too steep for that. The foam was rolling over and I cut my snap short. It probably looked pretty cool from the beach but I was nowhere close to making it.

About a half-hour later, I caught my last wave of the session. It didn't have much open-face, and I meekly went up onto the lip for one of my famous fall-down floaters. The lip detonated under me and I dropped down and onto my back.

10.7.2011 FIRING Oceanside Tyier, Offshore Combo Swell Goodness

During the storm that hit SoCal this week, I was checking the reports. I knew there were waves, but the water was so dirty from the first big rain we've had in a long time, I just didn't want to risk it. It's so tempting to surf at this time because of the big powerful waves and the lack of crowds (most of them don't want to get sick either).

I was checking the wind forecast on my phone in between hands at a poker game last night and what it said was amazing. Picture being a kid and it's Christmas Eve (Chanukah Eve if you're so inclined). It's hours away from presents and you just discovered what you are getting! For me, the gift was a gorgeous report of an ENE wind @ approximately 4 mph. Combine this with reports of 5-7' surf, the likely possibility of freshly sculpted sandbars from the storm and I had the equivalent of a surf boner. Ooh baby.

I got home and passed out shortly after midnight. I woke up at 545 and got my stuff. I exited on La Costa to make sure the wind hadn't done a 180 and torn the surface to shreds. Ponto looked smooth but small, same with SouPa, same with Cherry. I finally left PCH with a left turn at Cassidy, then turned right on the littoral. Buc Beach looked promising, but I couldn't shake the visions I'd had the dozen or so times I'd previously driven up to Oside only to be turned away by the weak, reforming waves that smashed as shorebreak. I kept on...

A glimmer of hope and the first amount of real stoke I'd felt in a week (if you don't count last night's mental masturbation about the wind + swell conditions) filled me as I drove past the way-too-narrow lookout at Oside Blvd. I proclaimed, "I will surf today!"

I passed my much-missed August lover, Wisconsin Street, which showed what I'd been used to seeing almost all of last month: rolling, weak reforms that explode too hazardously on the inside to be worth the risk. As I cruised past Tyson and looked towards the lit-up pier, I saw hope and immediately hooked a right towards the parking lot.

I put on my 4/3 quickly, possibly breaking a parking lot record, and literally ran down to the stairs. The air was a chilly 52 degrees, the sky was completely clear, the wind STRAIGHT offshore and I had a good feeling about today. I headed towards Tyson Street but lost hope and turned around as the new sandbar (thanks storm!) in front of the northern Vacation Rental building made a wave rear its head. I sprinted there and jumped on top of my board as two waves combined in the shorebreak.

I sprint-paddled and made it through the pre-shorebreak. The water was a lot warmer than the air and it felt so good to duckdive under the cold wind.

A little side note on offshore wind: It gets a lot of hype and for good reason. The wind will literally hold up the wave and keep it from breaking. When the wave finally does, it tends to throw over that much harder, usually widening the tube. However, it also has a downside, which is you almost always have to drop in late. That's not bad in and of itself, but it limits your options if you try to catch an inside nugget and you're a bit deeper than you'd like.

I continued paddling and sat. I paddled for a wave and a sponger took off so I let him have it. Then I sat some more. I had Smokey Robinson's "Tracks of my Tears" in my head, so I spent my time trying to remember the words to that song and singing what I did know.

About fifteen minutes passed before I got my first real look at one. A 5' or so right reared up and I paddled hard, focusing not only on torque in the last third of my hands' underwater movement (where paddling power comes from, so stop windmilling!) but more so on keeping as much of my weight as possible towards the front of my board.

As I leapt to my feet I immediately was reminded of Punta Roca, the freight train right in El Salvador. I was really late on this one but I came down smooth. I felt the speed and juice as I descended. I was a bit far out on the flats so I was able to really hook my turn up the face vertically. I snapped and on my descent said to no one in particular, "So sick". I did a roundhouse cutback (MUCH easier on the backhand) but lost the wave as it lost its contact with the sandbar.

My next wave was a quick left. I caught it and pumped. I saw a big section that was a bit premature. I SHOULD'VE started my roundhouse cutty there but instead I did a cutdown.

A roundhouse cutback would've led me to the foam/curl and put me in the most powerful and speediest part of the wave (in essence making the same section of the wave one you surf FOUR times if you're fast enough).

The cutdown creates a huge amount of speed, which makes sense, since you're starting at the top of the wave and aiming your nose to the beach. This can set you up for an amazing vertical re-entry (aka reo) with the right section and bottom turn. For some reason I don't remember what happened at the top of this wave; the wave may have fizzled.

I paddled back out and was sitting outside of a guy who was catching more than his share of waves. Within ten minutes, a MACKER came through. We both were paddling for it, but I had position.

The following thoughts took place in a span of about five seconds:

1) I am super late and deep on this one. I should tell him to go.
2) F him, he's been catching everything.
(I feel the villain making eye contact with me, burning for me to tell him to go. Villain pulls back)
3) Man, this drop is going to be heavy, should I pull back?
4) Well, I didn't tell him to go. He pulled back, so if I don't go I am likely to get burned on the next set wave.
5) Here I GOOOOOO!

I got to my feet and stomped on my front foot so as to not get hung up on the lip and decimated. WHOOSH! I went down the face and saw a barrel section coming. I pumped once, set my line and backdoored the wave's second peak. I was rewarded with a precious second or so in a truly green green room (something about the offshores makes the light penetrate more deeply). But alas, I set my line too high and was clipped. I could've and should've made that barrel. Bummer.

I paddled out and saw villain catch the next one. He grabbed his rail in an attempt to pigdog into the barrel. The section didn't throw as much as he anticipated and his fins betrayed him by giving out and he ended up splayed on his back. I paddled past him and told him that was a sick drop. He smiled and asked how my wave was.

I caught another left within five minutes and had something interesting happen to me. My back foot's big toe was hanging over my rail and dipping into the water on my frontside turn, acting as a fourth fin! I quickly reset my back foot, pumped the flatter section and saw the flat-ish right coming towards me.

As it and I got closer to one another, I was telling myself, "Don't smash that section. If you do, you will be caught inside and out of commission for five minutes if there are more behind it." I ignored my own advice, cut down, and sprung from my bottom turn to snap the section. I don't know what I did wrong but I fell and (You're not going to believe this) was caught inside and duckdiving for a good four-five minutes.

I caught a right and was too deep for it. I went any way and was burned my an older man on his egg/thruster hybrid. I couldn't have made the wave so no biggie.

I started thinking about putting in one of my 3+ hour surf sessions I was once famous for (my longest was five hours in the water) but then...

The waves just stopped. I sat with the ever-growing pack. Everyone started paddling for the inside, even though the waves weren't breaking even there. It was just me and a second older gentleman waiting for a bomb.

Twenty minutes later, still no bomb, still no inside nuggets. The pack looked even farther inside until I realized it was me who seemed to be moving away from them. I paddled for a solid forty-five seconds, whipping my head back every eight or so seconds in case my package from New Zealand was being delivered. Nothing. I kept an eye on the pier and I was making progress, but it was reversed pretty quickly.

I paddled some more and saw a wedge pop up to the north of me with two guys splitting it in opposite directions. There was nothing behind it. Forty-five minutes had passed since the last decent wave had broken. I was officially over it.

As I took my leash off on the sand, a huge two-wave set hit and cleaned everybody up. Then, about three minutes later I was showering off and another big set came. I saw a guy catch a sick left that he had a great line on to hit, but he opted to fly off his board and out the back. Apparently, HE listens to his inner monologue.

I kept checking back as I walked towards civilization and away from the waves. Flatness. Thirty seconds later, flatness. One last check from the top of the stairs revealed more flatness.

It was good to have a solid sesh at Oside again!

9.12.2011 Wisconsin to Tyson Bumpy Bumps with Moondoggie EVENING SESH (plus some thoughts on what's wrong with beachbreaks this month)

The forecast said the swell was strengthening throughout the day. It was calling for 3-4' with 5' sets for most exposed spots to the SW swell (Oside!). My buddy Eric was itching to go, but I was concerned about the wind. The forecast said it would go from 7 knots W to 5 knots W by sundown. We shot up there. The pier looked ok, but it was packed. I told Eric (Moondoggie) Wisconsin would be better and less crowded. We checked it briefly, saw a set and paddled out around 5:30.

Oceanside was still doing its latest fad. A wave would break and literally get chopped up. It looked as though someone had taken a giant steak knife and sheared the faces sideways, leaving speed draining potholes on the waves. This, coupled with the bump the onshore had been laboring at creating all day, made for challenging conditions for a shortboard.

We zipped out there, going approximately 100 paces south of Wisconsin. The current started dragging us immediately, confirming that this was a new swell.

I caught a wave and did the Huntington Hop, doing my best to pop multiple mini-wheelies so as to squirt water through the tail (doing this helps move water underneath the board, thereby creating speed in flat sections). Some sections were so ugly and had such big chops that I bypassed them and shot out the back.

As the session wore on, I caught a left and had a nice look at an oncoming section, I went up to smack it, did so, kept my board under my legs while my body was splayed behind. I came oh so close to pulling what probably would have been the sickest frontside turn of my life. When things like this happens, it makes me think I should paddle out in crappy surf more often instead of turning tail.

A set came through and I was on it. I caught it late and got hung up on the lip. I made the drop with the lip but the wave was over. As I'm hurtling myself over the foam, I realize I missed an opportunity to try foam climbs.

I caught a couple more waves and I was feeling really good about my equipment and the way I was surfing (even though I didn't pull that turn, I felt like I was surfing aggressively and efficiently in the choppy stuff). I started imagining being at different breaks from around the world and envisioning me dropping into some STEEP spinning lefts. I placed myself paddling for a late one, dropping in just under the lip.

Almost as though to give me a reality check, a macker comes through, one of the 5' sets they were talking about. I paddle and am so excited to get a steep one I P E A R L E D!!! Bummer. So much for my fantasy of dropping in to just about anything!

I blame my insistence on harnessing as much speed upon takeoff, even on steep drops. While stomping on the back can save you in a situation like this, it tends to look weak and can leave the rider in the pocket of the wave without speed. Granted, if this was Hawaii or El Salvador, where the waves are MUCH juicier, a different method would be employed (or at least until I got cocky).

I caught one right all session, did an ok turn but was too aggressive for the steepness of the wave and was left behind at the maneuver's conclusion.

A long lull came as the sun flirted with the horizon and we paddled in. The shorebreak was HEAVY. I saw some sick, mini-The Box style ugly ones. I tried to catch a couple but pulled back both times because of the shallowness.

The next morning I made the trek up to Oceanside and the waves were a little different, breaking fast and sectioning off quickly. I was racking my brain as to why the waves kept doing this and then it hit me! It has to do with that big swell we had that started to hit 8/31. It must have screwed up the sandbars. Given enough time, the sandbars will return back to normal but it's a shame.

9.7.2011 Oceanside S. Jetty, First Ice Cream Headache of the Season

All of Oceanside looked flat today.  The high tide was drowning the swell.  There were some shorebreak racers but they were looked so fat they weren't worth it.  I saw a promising set at Buc's but then ...radio silence.  I checked Harbor and just south of the south Jetty, I saw some peelers come through.  Not wanting to make it three times in a row of driving without surfing, I was on it!

I got down there and saw some clean little 1-3' peelers with a couple of heads per peak, not too bad...!  I saw an empty peak south of them and I paddled out.  The water was extremely cold for the time of year, I would guess 62, maybe 63 degrees.  Are we done with summer?  I trunked it twice and froze both times!

I managed to get the rip to take me too far out for the third session in a row.  I turned my head to look at the rest of the crowd and they were way inside of me.  I paddled north and in and was too inside of a decent one.
I paddled out a bit more and dodged another set, three waves this time.  I scampered back and forth until finally I was in position for a wave.  I caught it and as I was popping to my feet, the section closed and raced off without me.  I tried to pull back but the wave had other ideas.  I jumped off my board towards the beach and took one spin in the cold cycle.

I paddled back out and waited about ten minutes for my next chance.  I caught a wave and watched as it closed out in front of me.  I jumped over the foam.  I came up and something felt wrong.  There was no tension on my leg.  My leash rope had given out and I had the pleasure of swimming to get my board.  I got to it and it wasn't dinged up by the rocks.  If that had happened I would have questioned God's unconditional love for me.

I was disgusted with the cold, the gutless waves and my equipment issues.  I packed it in and bailed. No more morning Oside for me until this morning high tide goes away :o(

9.4.2011 Spitting Barrels Titillate, High Tide and Current Frustrate at South Wisconsin

This morning I got up to Oceanside at about 7.  I had checked the buoys and they made it look like the waves had died off a bit, so I thought it would be less walled than yesterday.  As I was parked at Wisconsin Street.  I saw a guy get a clean barrel and make it out.  I was on it!

While suiting up, I saw the same guy get two more.  I started frothing a bit and got down there.  I saw a double-up in the shorebreak and in my haste, I ran to do a skim-paddle takeoff and smashed my heel against a cobblestone. OUCH! While paddling, I noticed a rip developing right in Barrel Alley and my chances for a dry barrel drying up with it. I dry-haired it and caught my first wave within about eight minutes of parking myself up there. 

It was a nice wave and I probably could've gotten barreled on it had I stalled upon takeoff.  I had some speed going and I began to lay into a roundhouse and noticed a chop.  I waited it out and then put all my pressure on my backside rail, pivoted and hit the whitewash smoothly.  Not a reo roundhouse, but a roundhouse nonetheless, SUCCESS!

Unfortunately, this was the only wave I would catch that is worth writing about.  I spent the rest of the session drifting towards the pier and then getting caught in a rip.  By the time I noticed, I was two-thirds of the pier out to sea!  I paddled and paddled and made it back, but the tide was making the waves so fat...!

No question about, tomorrow I will be on it earlier and stalling for those barrels.