Update: Illness and Travel Plans

On Saturday March 30th, I went to the beach sans wetsuit and con skimboard to open skim season.  The warm weather and mid-day high tide ensured I wouldn't be too cold.  A friend of mine swears that wearing a wetsuit while skimboarding is akin to laying down with a man so I waited long enough to avoid the hurtful whispers and accusatory stares she would likely bestow upon me the next time I meet her acquaintance.

There was very little swell and the shorebreak didn't really have much going on.  I skimmed maybe a dozen times before zoning out a good half-hour, not finding a single decent hit section or launch pad.  I felt sluggish and I packed it in.  The next morning, I woke up with a sore throat and as Easter Sunday progressed, the telltale signs of a sinus infection gingerly crept in.

I was feeling well enough to continue my gym routine as usual, but on Wednesday night I went a little too hard on the guitar jamming and blew my throat out.  My voice was useless on Thursday and not much better Friday.  It still suffers from an octave or so drop to the extent that passers-by may mistake me for someone who did in fact complete puberty.

This setback pushed me back into full-borne cough/cold/fever/congestion mode and I've been functional but pretty miserable.

I'm still feeling the symptoms and have kept myself out of the water as a result.  Today I managed to complete a full routine at the gym so I am very close to being at full strength and will likely go for a surf drive tomorrow morning.

My wife and I found out we're expecting our first and likely only child at the end of February.  It's due at the end of October.  Thanks to the discovery of the fetus, my plans to go to India for a wedding were scuttled and will be parlayed into a boat trip to the Mentawai islands of Indonesia.


This is exciting for me for several reasons:

1. I've never left the northwest hemisphere of the planet.  The Mentawai are in the southeast. Padang (my last air connection, in Indonesia) is JUST south of the Equator.
2. I'll be surfing a whole new ocean, so far having only amassed the Pacific and Caribbean.
3. The trip would normally cost $4500, but airfare has already been paid due to the India plans.  Interestingly enough, I will be only about two hours by air from India.
4. Ten days of only surfing.  No internet. No phone calls. It is very likely I will not see a single woman during the entire trip which will be trippy.  Luckily my system is set to hermaphrodize AFTER fifteen days of not seeing a woman so I should return a heterosexual male.
5. The Mentawais are the most wave-rich zone on the planet.  Swell comes roaring from storms near Antarctica and funnel east and north.  The multiple island setup allows for there to be surfable waves as long as there's swell.  Problematic winds can be sidestepped by going to the opposite side of an island, where the winds will be offshore.
6. I can surf waves about which I've dreamt for years: Macaronis, E-Bay, HT's and Greenbush in particular.



So far I've had trouble finding someone to go with.  My last hope appears to be Missed-It-Mike, who has a big work project ending in August.  My goal is to go in early September, approximately six weeks shy of the due date.  I'm getting a little push-back from the Mrs. as she's afraid I'll miss the birth, but the chances of that are somewhat slim.

I will be taking my day-to-day 6'1" DHD, a step-up 6'3" for the head to slightly overhead days and a balls-to-the-wall 6'6" or 6'7" if it gets double overhead.  All will have GoPro mounts and I'll move the camera from board to board as needed.

Stay tuned...

3.25.13 A No-Go Averted at SouPa

I'd spent the entirety of the dry part of my Sunday frothing over what could have been.  The waves in Oside that day showed some real promise, especially as the tide continued to drop.  Because of my appointment, the session was cut short just as it was beginning to really turn on.

Monday morning resulted in my waking up and jetting up to Oside.  Unfortunately, the surf had dropped to the point where it was being smothered by the tide.  I didn't bother checking Jetty/Harbor and looped back down onto the 101.  North north Carlsbad weakened my optimism with its usual lack of luster.  I was about to cement this day in history as a dry day when I made the fateful decision to keep on keeping on the 101.  

I spotted an oh-so-surfable set and I pulled into the just-off-the-street spot, next to an older couple solving their respective Sudoku puzzles.  I suited up and bounded down the cliff.  

I was especially excited at the prospect of surfing by myself.  I paddled out and was surprised at the froth surging through my frontal cortex.

The inside was very abrupt shorebreak on which you could maybe get a turn in if you were in the right spot and extremely efficient in your drop-turn-smack progression.  I opted for the rarer, meatier outsiders.

After paddling and missing a couple due to lack of steeps, I caught a left which had some slope to it, but fizzled quickly.  The lip slid down the face more than it crashed.  I jumped over it.

It took sixteen minutes of a lot of frustrating paddling and pulling back from lame mushburgers before I stood up again.  This time I was on a right.  I thought I'd caught it, then thought better.  I set my chest down on the deck and windmilled with both arms.  I did finally drop down the face, to be greeted by a closeout as the entire section felt bottom at the same time.

I caught a quick left not five minutes later, more towards the inside.  I pumped up and down a couple of times, then did a mid-face slash.  I felt the falling lip hit my board and it threw me off and down into the water.

During the ride, I heard a guy hoot from the cliff.  I looked up and he was wearing a road crew vest (fluorescent yellow) and gave me either thumps up or shaka.

I was so excited to see a decent left that on my next wave, I leaned too far forward and on my front foot.  The fins gave out, not in a good way, and I awkwardly shoulder-checked the wave.

My next wave was an umph-lacking left.  I pumped up, then slowly back down.  I then did a really weak fade cutty so as to stay closer to the source.  There was no pleasant surprise at the end of this one and I kicked out.

I caught a right and gingerly set my feet.  I knew any mistake would crush my chances with this relative gem. I pumped up very slightly, then rushed up to the lip.  The lip came at me sooner than I'd expected.  I elevated and leaned back and was either elevated by the lip or levitated up to it.  I hung up on the lip then managed to bring it around.  It looked like a longboard floater.  It felt a lot cooler than it looked on the GoPro.

I'd had enough letdowns for one day, so I packed it in.

3.24.13 Rush Solo Sesh at North Wisconsin

Brutal.

There was still combo swell in the water.  Not only was it a Sunday, but the extreme high tide would hamper the surf so only the set waves would be rideable.  In order to maximize my chances, I'd held off on making the trek north until the high tide was on its way back down. I had only a sliver of a window, as I'd scheduled an appointment at ten and would have to beat feet out of Oside only an hour after suiting up.

I saw something decent on my way to the pier, but it wasn't so great that it got me to park and suit up.  I knew deep down that checking Jetty/Harbor would only lighten the ride of its gasoline, but I pushed on with the logic that the tide will have fallen that much more when I do paddle out.

Jetty and Harbor were worse than I expected.  These are both pretty much low tide-only spots unless it's really pumping.

My first wave was an ok left.  I pumped once, then had to deal with the lip hitting me in the knees.  I kept my speed and found a section to hit but by the time I did so, the wave had no push with which to send me on my way for another hit.

My second wave was a better left.  I pumped pretty well, though I didn't do it super quickly with the fear of passing the wave by.  Once the section I was hoping for appeared to be on its way, I cut down then back up and was immediately disappointed by its lack of push.

I caught a pretty sweet right on which I got hung up on the lift, but dropped diagonally down the face and got a bunch of speed.  It was the first time I can remember air-dropping and having my fins engage immediately.  I think what happened is I landed with the board at the exact right angle.  It reminded me of going over a hip in snowboarding.  Unfortunately, that's all the wave had in store for me.

Long lulls in between sets kept me from upping my wave count.  Until tomorrow...

3.23.13 Dodging the Weekend Warriors at Wisconsin Street

The previous session's devil wind had subsided for the day, and I was foaming at the mouth to get back up to Oceanside.

I convinced myself to wait until the high tide was on its way down to avoid the dreaded mushburgers

Buc Beach was lying dormant yet again, though I did see a couple of heads sitting low in the water.  Evidence there were some steep set waves that were breaking somewhat deep.

I parked and walked down to Wisconsin Street, as the massive, just-shy-of-the-peak high tide was smashing into the boulders. I strapped the leash on then ventured down in between the violent water-on-rock assaults. I got halfway past the boulders when a big one slammed in.  I managed to securely tripod myself (a skill honed in El Salvador) and endure the rush of water.  The water rushed back out and I took the opportunity to gain some steps before the next rush arrived.

Once it did, I jumped on my board and sprint-paddled, waiting for the backwash to blast me towards the outside.  A couple of backwashes aided me in my quest, but then I got stuck in the middle of a long set.  About five minutes of non-stop paddle-paddle-duckdive I made it under the last wave of the set.

I checked back towards shore and I'd suffered a two-block migration towards the north.  I'd anticipated more than that, so I was in good shape.

My first wave came about five minutes after perching.  It was a steep head-high left on which I was extremely late on.  It had a line, so I went for it.  Upon stomping my feet on the deck, I was treated to a blind air drop.  My board fell with my lower extremities following closely behind.  My knees extended, but I somehow buckled and ate it.

My second wave involved a left that was about shoulder-high.  It was a bit fat, so I descended at less of an angle than I normally do.  I caught up to the foaming lip with one pump, then had to hustle to keep up with it.  Exerting all of this effort rewarded me with a trip to the top of the fat lip and the sensation of choking up on the board, hoping to descend again and maybe fade back towards the energy "center" of the wave.  It was not to be.

I was in position for a meaty right.  I caught it and was taken aback by the speed.  I was even more surprised at the intensity with which the approaching section arrived.  It got there very quickly and oh so steeply.  My trajectory was more drawn-out than the section called for and I blasted out the back.

I caught another right, but the result was drastically different.  It appeared I had a bit of a beast on my hands but it chubbed out on me.

My last wave of the day was a frustrating combination of chub and raciness.  I couldn't get much speed from the wave and the thing foamed out on me.  I must have been riding over a deep spot.

The highlight of the day was when a four-pod strong of dolphins come RIGHT towards me.  I sat and watched as one of them breached and all four dove under me, re-surfacing five or six yards past me.

3.22.13 Combo Swell Solo Mish to Oside Pier

The first S swell of the season (El Salvador was PERFECT according to several friends and their Facebook pics) was upon us and with it, a cross-up/current reducer NW windswell.  Unfortunately, the forecasts spieled of a S wind that would make the water's surface less than ideal.  After clearing the cobwebs from my geriatric 4/3, I was out thar!

The tide was very high and I didn't know if anything would be breaking.  The waves at Buc Beach were forgettable.  S. Wisconsin looked ok, but the waves there were nothing to make me froth.  Then I saw a set break at the pier and I pulled into the free lot by the Dairy Queen and made my way to the sand.

The paddle-out wasn't bad, and it felt good having the warmer-than-I-remember-from-nearly-three-weeks-ago water wash over me without penalizing me with pain.

Seeing as to how it was the first booming swell in a LONG time, there was a pack out there.  One guy who was tearing the place apart reminded me of a younger version of Panamanian rap legend and godfather of Reggaeton (before it turned to muck), El General:



I was paddling with, then against the pack trying to secure a nug to call my own.  I caught a left that closed out, then when paddling back out I saw El Generalito catch a bomb on the outside and shred it.  Easily WQS talent, that guy...

I caught a couple of other waves whose rides escape me.  The last wave was a right I caught near the pier.  It sectioned off, then opened up, but its shoulder was slouched by the still-fat tide.

3.4.13 Solo Mish to Disheveled D Street

I'd made plans to surf with someone this morning and received a text saying they weren't feeling well.  Mike was on his way to Mountain View for some work stuff, and Forrest isn't a fan of surfing early, especially when it's cold.

I pulled up to D and checked it.  I immediately saw a set break and realized I needn't check it any longer.  I walked down the stairs and marveled at there being nary a surfer in the water. It would've made for a really boring Twilight Zone episode.

I paddled out with no issue, except for the slightest twinge of an ice cream headache.

Since I was all alone, I would have my pick of the waves.  Where were GMIMITW and Incomplete Neoprene Puzzle Guy?

My first two waves had nice steep drops followed by too racy shoulders.  I pulled through on both.

I caught a nice left on which I pumped. I was racing the curl the whole first two-thirds of the wave when I finally saw my opportunity to smack it.   By the time I got there, the cascading lip grabbed a hold of my fins and it turned from a snap into a floater of sorts.  I had no speed and fell pretty much straight down, thanks to my inertia. Had I had some speed I could have used that to project onto the flats.

A macker of a left came and I had to hustle.  I superpumped a couple of times and spotted what appeared to be a bowly inside section.  I tucked in as much as I could given where I was on the wave and received a lip to the head.  Taylor Knox would have claimed this as a barrel, but I know better.  This was maybe a head dip.  The chandeliering lip drove into my head and I did my best to disperse the energy evenly onto my board.  It finally released me from its grasp.



It was at this point that the aforementioned Gentile Most Interesting Man in the World blessed me with his presence, but he appeared to be alone.  He of course paddled right to me.  This is extremely annoying when the whole beach is available to him and he could find his own peak.  Thankfully, he thought better of it and bailed.

I caught a right on which I got one off-balance smack.  I got hung up on the lip and made it.  It felt pretty good but the footage was bollocks.

GMIMITW hadn't caught squat fifteen minutes into his session, which is rare for him.  He's usually frothing and going on just about everything.  The waves were turning a mean shade of ugly, thanks to the dropping tide and the kicked-up wind.

I was sitting pretty deep when a bomb came through.  There was a slightly smaller wave in front of it.  I seized the opportunity at a chance for glory or a massive tumble.  I paddled for it and just as I popped up felt the thing turn inside out.  I somehow managed to drop in and I got a great view of the mackers combining forces and throwing out behind me.  It was probably a 7'.

I paddled out yet again but the waves got worse and worse.  I rode one in on my belly and called it a session.

3.1.13 M-I-M and I hit up Lower Tide D Street

I arrived at 6:58 and saw Mike standing by the bench, checking it.  The fact that he wasn't scampering back to change into his wetsuit was a bad sign.  He told me it was about as good as yesterday, but less consistent and smaller.

We walked a little south of the stairs towards a really fun-looking peak, then doubled back towards the stairs after seeing a couple of rights reel and with the philosophy that we wouldn't fight a crowd there, unlike the south peak.

We paddled out and sat for about an hour (!) before either of us caught our first wave.  The waves that would come through were closeouts or in rare instances had someone on them.  Both Incomplete Neoprene Puzzle Man (hood, gloves, missing only booties) and his bro Gentile Most Interesting Man in the World were out along with other guys and they were catching some bombs.  I finally convinced Mike to paddle a ways south and eventually we caught some.

The only memorable wave for me was a left I caught that seemed as though it would not let me in at first.  I dueled with the lip and eventually got to do surfing's version of an uppercut on its exposed jaw.  Unfortunately, I hit it with my weight too far back and ended up splayed.



The tide ruined things and we were over it, pleased that we didn't get cold for nothing.  We should have fought the pack and picked off a few...

February Wrap-Up and a Plea

Here are the most-surfed spots of the month:

Grandview 2
MD's
Seascape
S. Pipes
D St

G-View pulls out a razor-thin margin to become the winner of the month.  Congrats to all of the nominees and better luck next month!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Plea:

Please stop and/or stop people from saying the following phrases. Permission to use force, granted...

Sunday Funday aka how to let people know you're a douche in just two words

"It is what it is.":  The most pointless sentence uttered in the history of mankind.  Obviously, it is what it is.  It also isn't what it isn't.  This sentence is most often seen escaping, and flying away as quickly as it can, from the mouths of those who like to hear themselves talk.  And I should know!

"I'm not gonna lie to you.": This would make sense to say before a true statement only if the human race also said the opposite during a farcical statement. I caught myself saying this once and immediately cringed.

"Good human" or "(fill-in-the-blank) human": I first heard this in the jungles of Isla Bastimentos, when a pretty well-known surf photog described some of his subjects as such.

Is my being so easily annoyed a sign of getting older?  Whatever the case, GET OFF MY LAWN!

2.28.13 Religious Epiphany, then Macking D Street w/ M-I-M!

The reports from last night were juicy.  An overnight building swell and perfect offshore, with a medium tide to boot.  The water was still a scrotum-wrinkling (I have pics to prove it) 56 degrees, so the crowds should be lighter than normal.

I called up Missed-It-Mike and he was down to surf.  Given the combo nature of the swell and the medium-rising tide, D Street was the call.

I met him there at seven and goaded him into suiting up without checking it.  On the way down, we saw a sick set break and our pace quickened.  we somehow began talking about God. Mike is Catholic and I chide him for it constantly.  I can't remember what I asked him, but he downplayed his faith in his response.

I told him to say, "I, Missed-It-Mike, hereby banish Jesus Christ from my heart".  He wouldn't do it.  I repeated it with my own name in his' place.  I nervously snapped my neck up and around looking for the fateful bolt of lightning that was sure to be the end of me.

When it didn't arrive, I decided morosely that God had forsaken me.  It was at that point that I exclaimed that I would allow Satan into my heart.  This is how I imagine Mike viewed me, except prone, paddling on my surfboard:



After a lot of duckdiving and head-dipping into the brisk water, we perched.  There was a guy on a log who was sitting deeper and inside of us.  I saw him catch a left from the top and just kind of cruise on it.  Another good-sized left came and the same result.  The logger paddled back out and a juicy one was within his grasp, but he half-heartedly paddled for it and missed it.  I let out a hearty, "WHHAAAAAAAAT!?!?" and received a grin from some guy between us who'd witnessed the 'exchange'.

Since Mike and I were still having no luck, I paddled for about three minutes until I was outside of him.  The logger paddled back out and went way down the line, so much so that he wasn't a factor. Or so I thought...

When my first wave was heaving and close to elevating me, I was salivating.  This was the first good wave I'd caught since early December.  All of those mornings spent convincing to paddle out then sitting and shivering flashed through my mind ad I got lifted.  I pumped once, then laid into a slash.  After jumping though the wave, I realized I'd somehow snaked the longboarder.  Eagle-eyed readers will see him in the background at the 6/7-second marks.



I sincerely apologized to him after realizing my mistake, but I'm sure he thought I was an asshole after this and the WHAAAAAAAAAT incident.

A minute later, according to the GoPro timestamps, I caught another wave on which I got barreled and pinched. BAH!

Mike caught a left and gave it two solid smacks.  As he was paddling back out, I caught a left on which I didn't descend all the way and got barreled within a second-and-a-half of popping up.  I set up a little too far away from the wall, but I don't think it was all that makeable (it IS D St, after all...).

Mike was in position for a left that the logger caught but couldn't make it around the section.  This left developed into the best barrel I've EVER seen break at D St.  Thick, bowly, wide and remarkably makeable -looking!  Of course, it finale'd with a massive closeout, so a doggy-door exit would have been in order.

An older guy who looks like a Gentile version of Dos Equis' "Most Interesting Man in the World" was out and frothing, making catching waves difficult.

The tide rose and the waves suffered.  I was able to catch a pretty sick left on which I pumped once, rose up to the lip, SUPERpumped and got stuck on a heaving ledge of a lip.  I aborted towards the trough and midflight, all two inches of my manhood managed to free themselves from its between-two-thighs nest and flop up towards my stomach.  I ended up landing right on it, not an easy task for such a small target, but luckily all I suffered through were nerves from the incident.

I am happy to report that it still works for the purposes it was designed!

Mike and I went in after about eighty minutes of being out there, cold and having to get on with our days...

2.25.13 Denying a No-Go at South Pipes w/ Forrest PM SESSION

After canvassing the coast for the better part of an hour, we made Pipes our last check.  Forrest really wanted to get in the water, but I wasn't too amped on the tiny waves.  Since Forrest had driven and gas prices were so high, I finally relented and told him we could surf if he really wanted to.  I didn't expect him to accept my challenge.

While suiting up, I silently bemoaned my decision to throw myself on the mercy of Forrest's surf whims.

I had my shortboard with me this time, after longing for it for the majority of the previous day's session.

I took my time paddling out and the first duckdive was a dooz.  Whatever warmth the Santa Ana day had bestowed upon me was immediately taken from me, to return only after my thaw-out shower later that day.

It was a gorgeous day with not a cloud in the sky.  With any decent swell, we'd have a classic winter day on our hands.  Of course, if the conditions were good, there couldn't be any swell, so we were stuck picking up whatever scraps were coming in.

Every fifteen minutes or so, a two-wave set would come in.  I was lucky enough to be in position for one of these just after perching.  It was a fast right that almost immediately closed out.  I attempted to flop over it, but I got caught in the lip and slammed into the trough harder than I expected.

About ten minutes later, I spotted what appeared to be two young wahines paddling our way.  It turned out one was a dude.  The girl he was with was wearing a wetsuit set-up not often seen outside of Hawai'i.  It was a one-piece wetsuit with a bottom that was shaped like a bikini bottom, leaving the legs and butt exposed.  I felt like such a puss in my (albeit leaky) 4/3.

They paddled out after us and went in before us, and I found out why on the walk up.

I caught a left and pumped a couple of times before attempting to ball myself up small enough so as to get tunnel vision from the microscopic barrel that was about to throw.  It hit me in the base of the skull and I called it a day.

On the way up, we saw the dude who to my estimation had received a blow to the head from his longboard. He had blood streaks over his face.  He was being looked after by the girl and some other guy, so we bailed.

This is shaping up to be the worst winter in my surfing career.  Stay tuned...

2.24.13 Seascape Fish Sesh w/ Sponging Forrest

I had my interns look up the last session I'd enjoyed with Forrest.  All three of them came back with August 3rd, the night surfing session. WOW.

Forrest met his now-girlfriend Angie and has been MIA since, surfing-wise.  The guy's been a ghost.  I hadn't heard from him.  Have you heard from him?  NOBODY's heard from him!

Today he called me to see if I wanted to eat lunch with him and I told him I'd just had lunch.  He told me to come watch him eat and I agreed upon the condition that he buy me an horchata.  He agreed.  I then asked if  he wanted to surf.  He asked how it was and I said, "Terrible".  He left his pad to come get me and I grabbed my fish.

Forrest's knee has been giving him issues, so he decided he would be sponging it today.  He hadn't been in the ocean in quite some time, so a sponge was better than no dip at all.

We decided on Seascape, a wave we used to surf all of the time about thirteen years ago but had since been relegated to our dustbin of surf history. Today, we resuscitated it and HARD.

We didn't bother checking the waves.  When we got within eyeshot of the waves, Forrest let out a telltale groan.  I was thrilled to see waves, and some were sort of lining up! YEEEEEEEEEEEH!

The paddle-out wasn't too bad, but the second dip swept me awash in the agony that is the ice cream headache.  Luckily, I only had one more progressively worse instance to endure before reaching my perch spot.

My first wave was a quick left on which I kicked out almost immediately.

Forrest was bobbing about on the Costco-bought sponge and he said the waves look way bigger prone.  He mentioned being colder than usual, likely because more of his body was in the water.  I asked him if he wanted to switch boards and he replied negatively.

Forrest caught a wave, and I was alone.  A left came, and I was convinced it would close out.  I went anyway, hoping the chop on the face would slow its demise.  I bottom-turned up to the top, pumped hard down, then back up.  I was going pretty fast, but I was on a section that was about vertical on a board with no rocker.  It looked as though I would not be victorious, but I proved triumphant, zooming down the face.  I saw a little section approach and went up hard, slamming my weight onto my front foot so I could do a 360.  The fins washed out oh-so-slightly, but my momentum caused me to fly off.  I came up, amped on making that pump and milking as much speed as I could out of that beast.

A couple more forgettable waves came and went, and one took Forrest's boogie board with it.  Forrest swam all the way in to fetch it, then came back out.

During his absence, I caught a big left.  I was continuing my pumping regime when I caught a glimpse of the sketchy, frothy section coming up to meet me looked like it had some teeth.  By the time I'd spotted it, I had no time to react and it gobbled up the nose of my board,  I freefell all of four feet into the trough, then got picked up and slammed over the falls again.  I took a bit of a beating, but not as bad as it could've been...

A right came, and I was on it.  There was not much to it though, so I Fosbury flopped over it.

I caught one of the biggest waves of the day.  I was reluctant to go because of my board choice, but I pushed on.  By the time it got to me, it was steep and nasty.  I dropped down and the frontside edge of my nose bit in just a tad, altering my trajectory and throwing me off balance.  I ended up doing an abrupt hairpin turn up and over the face without descending all the way.  That one must have looked interesting from the beach!

No other memorable waves came.  Many party waves were attempted, but Forrest was limited by his lack of foam, so we only got one...

SICK Clip

This clip combines three of my favorite things: Hawai'i, surfing, and guitar.  Throw in a couple of half-naked ladies (I say half-naked only because my wife may see this) and you have my idea of heaven; what I've been working so hard toward for the last thirty-three years.



Highlights for me include the very first turn at around the :50 mark. WOW! The barrels are SICK and as only Backdoor can deliver.  The alley-oop 360 at 2:40 is also donuts and that straight ollie about twenty seconds later... oof!

2.14.13 PM SESSION w/ Mark DeGrovel at TINY Grandview

My boy and rap protegé Mark DeGrovel texted me yesterday to see if I wanted to surf.  I had an appointment set for this afternoon, but King Neptune smiled upon me and commanded the client to postpone for the next day.

I met Mark at his in-laws' beach house and we had the good fortune of having the cliff-top backyard as our vantage point.  It looked better than I expected, but still pretty rank.

We suited up, then walked down the stairs.  It was an absolutely glorious afternoon and I was amped on that (and not much more).  I carried Wanda, my fish, thinking its lack of rocker would easy my entry into these little morsels.

About a half-hour in I caught one pretty good wave on which I was able to rise up and smack the lip AND ride down, which is a bit of an accomplishment on that board.

I caught another wave immediately after and went a little too radically, sliding the tail out and sliding my chances of a successful maneuver out the window along with it.

About twenty minutes later, I caught a wave I paddled for for a solid eight seconds before I finally stood up on it.  It took forever for that thing to get steep.  But once it did it was a doozy.  It was steep and I popped up and pumped almost immediately, rejoicing in the quick burst of speed I garnered.  Unfortunately there was no payoff.

Mark and I got cold after about an hour and fifteen minutes and in we went.

2.12.13 Solo Sesh at Deserted MD's

Seeing as to how the air was a testicle-levitating forty degrees and the water not much help at 56 degrees, I opted to suit up in the relative comfort of my living room.

The charts said it would be 3-4' and I couldn't wait to sink my fins into some of that.

I drove down to MD's and parked The Rad at 20th Street.  I didn't bother checking it, I was going out no matter what.

I slipped my all-but-spent 4/3 over my shoulders, then shoe-horned my feet into my geriatric booties.  Upon first glimpse of the ocean, I was immediately worried, but this was a short-lived sensation as I saw a head-high banger crack hard.  The sound of it rifled into my ears, amplified by the cold air.  I walked north a ways, knowing I would be shepherded into the line of fire of that wave in due time, hopefully not before I perched though!

I waited nearly a minute for this seven- or eight-wave set to end its assault on the otherwise calm water.  I ran into the water, jumped on my board, and glided before paddling.  I knew it was a matter of time before I would have to dunk my head and feel the sting of ice cream headaches.  Supposedly, the reason these happen is the temperature differential between the skull and the brutal cold of the water.  The frosty air piling on wasn't going to help.

After a good five or six minutes of constant paddling and duckdiving, a short clearing appeared and I whisked through just in time.  The sets were frequent and hitting hard, reminiscent of a new swell hitting the shore.  Unfortunately, the tide was making the waves slam shut with very few (and short) exceptions.

I caught my first wave within three minutes of perching.  It was a steep right and I made the drop, got a look at the lip throwing, and attempted to straighten out.  The lip undermined my backside rail and literally pushed my board over.  Picture a bully tilting a tray, but forcefully.

About forty minutes passed with a lot of paddling/pulling back.  Also, there was the scenic tour of some of the most expensive real estate in the county thanks to the N angle in the swell and the longshore current byproduct.

I saw an overhead left and I paddled for it.  It had the slightest of openings, but as I paddled, I smiled because I could see this thing was going to shut down on me, but I was GOING!  I went, and it did its pitching-all-at-once thing.  I attempted to pull through head first but my timing was off slightly.  My face slammed into the lip really hard, and while the pain was present, I wondered if I'd get a black eye from it.

Once I got to Three Palms, I got caught in the rip.  I paddled in and just missed another closeout, one that would get me closer to The Rad and its heater.  My hands were so cold that I could not stop fantasizing about a hot shower.

Ten minutes passed, and finally a wave broke outside of me.  I rode the foam in prone and spent the three-block walk back to The Rad alternating which hand carried my board and which hand was blessed by my warm breath blowing into it.

I should have checked it...!

2.7.13 Grandview Slump Buster with Matt

If you've ever gotten really into surfing, you know that after about two weeks of dry time, you start jonesing hard.  I was on four weeks without any interaction with salt water.  I would imagine it's a weaker cousin to what our neighbors in the Pacific Northwest tend to suffer from this time of year, Seasonal Affective Disorder.  I know it seems like hyperbole if you don't surf, but I swear to you, moods dip and tensions rise.

The charts were saying the weather was going to be bad, but a closer look at the hourly breakdown revealed gentle offshores in the morning.  I called Matt the previous night and he wanted to surf Ponto, a wave that is so fickle.  It's usually rank, but when it gets good it's really good.  And its proximity to the 101 ensures it's really crowded when it's good.  The predominant swell direction was WNW and given Ponto's shores aimed WSW and lack of bathymetral (not sure if that's a word) variety, I nixed it.  He proposed Grandview, with a cornucopia of underwater bathymetry scenarios.  I readily agreed and we were out thar.

I got there about ten minutes early and jammed out to the GuyPod.  I got a text from Matt saying "where u at. Gonna get off on la costa and check ponto".  Of course our meeting time comes and goes with no sign of the guy.  So I call him and he tells me he's waiting for me to meet him.  I'm not sure what I was supposed to read into his text that would make him believe he'd unilaterally changed the meeting spot and I was on my way.

I told him I wasn't going to Ponto and he acquiesced and met me at our official, bilaterally agreed-upon meeting spot.  I got out of my ride, ready to give him shit for being late.  He looks me up and down and says, "Really? PJ pants?", and I about lost it.  I told him this is a surf check, not a fashion show (for those interested, mid-thirties Matt was wearing what appeared to be the latest offerings from Tilly's).

Things calmed down after we saw a left peel down the line.  It looked slow, but when it connected to the inside section, we both gushed with anticipation.

We changed into our wetsuit and I quietly admired Matt's new-looking Excel wetsuit.  A real estate client of mine swears by them and I am flirting with the idea of making an Excel my next purchase, once prices go down come Spring.  My journeyman Rip Curl has been squeezing me too hard in uncomfortable areas going on five years now!  It's due for retirement and a fat pension (that's what I tell it anyways, it's really going to be recycled into a new wetsuit).

We paddled out and were predictably shuttled south thanks to the north angle in the swell.  The waves were punchy, but extremely racy.

Matt happened upon an SDSU friend of his, Grady, and we watched as he took off on two set waves, waited out the flat spots, and admirably traversed towards the inside section.

I thought about joining him out there, but I was concerned the rocker on my board wouldn't allow me to ride out the flat spots.  I continued to opt for the middle-inside, hoping to luck into a corner.  I caught several waves that immediately closed out.

The one stand-out wave was a left that I pumped pretty much on the flats two or three times before realizing it too would bar me from some lip-time.

Matt had to go to work so in we went...

January Wrap-Up

January SUCKED as a surf month.  The swell was on when the weather wasn't, and when the weather was perfect, we were cursed with some of the flattest ocean I've ever seen.  This is winter!  Where are the waves?

The swell of the century, at an unheard of 25-second swell period (meaning it's coming in extremely fast and with power) was a dud.  Had this swell or even something half as good materialized, Blacks would have been the go-to spot.  I probably would've paddled out on my 6'3" like an idiot to try to bag one. Bah, enough mental masturbation over a love that wasn't to be...

I surfed three times.  THREE! I surfed alone all three times. Mike is still MIA surf-wise, Forrest was in Thailand for "work" and everyone else was bitching about the cold.  I'm calling it, January 2013 was the worst month in the history of this blog.

I heard a small swell did come in late in the month but of course it was while I was in Mammoth...

Here is the breakdown:
Condors: 1
NoTePads: 1
Seaside: 1

The session of the month goes to NoTePads and it's not close.

Bail of the month honors go to the second left barrel I got at NoTePads, during which the lip hit me in the head with the ferocity of a woman scorned (and her new boyfriend joining in on the wallop).  My doctor thinks it may have permanently parted my hair.

The All-List Post

Below you will find a list of all of the spots I can remember surfing in the last fifteen-plus years  I also added a couple of other lists to reward all of the loyal readers of EddieSurfs.com

Costa Rica

Puntarenas Province:
El Palo
Playa Hermosa de Jacó

Guanacaste Province:
Ollies
Playa Avellanes
Playa Junquillal
Playa Negra
Witches

El Salvador

Departamento de La Libertad:
Balsamar
Conchalío
El Barco
El Matadero
El Pedrero
El Recodo
El Zonte
K-59
La Bocana
La Bocanita
La Izquierda
La Paz
Playa Toluca
Punta Roca
San Blas
Sunzal
Sunzalito

Departamento de San Miguel:
Las Flores

Departamento de Usulután:

El Toro
La Vaca

Mexico

Las Cabañitas
Monuments
Syringes
Tule

Panama

Kusapin
Playa Larga
Red Frog Beach

United States

California

Orange County:
Anderson Street (Seal Beach)
Cottons
Huntington Pier

San Diego County:
85-60's
Avalanches
Avocado's
Baby Blacks
Beacons
Blacks
Buccaneer Beach
Campgrounds
Cardiff Reef
Churches
Corner Bowls
D Street
Del Mar Beachbreaks (17-29th Streets)
Del Mar Reefs (7-15th Streets)
Del Mar Rivermouth
George's
Grandview
Loopholes
Lowers
Marine Street
NoTePads
OB Pier
Oceanside Boulevard
Oceanside Harbor
Oceanside Pier
Pillbox
Pipes
Ponto
Power Plants
Scripps
Sea Point
Seaside
Sea Bluffe
SouPa
Stone Steps
Swami's
TableTops
Tamarack
Trees
Turtles
Trails
Tyson Street
Uppers
Windansea
Wisconsin Street

Hawaii

Hawaii (Big Island):
Honl's

Kauai:
Anahola Bay
Hanalei Bay
Kalihiwai Bay
Pinetrees
Tunnels (thanks Tia!)

Oahu:
Green Lanterns (thanks Tia A!)
Pipeline
Publics
Rest Camps
Velzyland (thanks Kurt!)
Waikiki

Dream Trip:
Six-plus weeks of traveling through South Indian hitting namely these waves:
Lance's Right
Macaroni's
Grajagan

Want to help? Buy through the Amazon link on the left-hand side of the blog.

Haven't-gotten-around-to-them "local" waves in order of lust:

Puerto Escondido/Zicatela, Mexico
Playa Colorados, Nicaragua
Outer Banks, North Carolina, during hurricane season
Pavones, Costa Rica

Surf Notables with whom I've shared waves aka had waves stolen by (all at Lowers unless otherwise indicated):

Shane Beschen (Punta Roca)
Alana Blanchard (Pinetrees)
Gilbert Brown (Punta Roca)
Tom Curren (Punta Roca)
Mick Fanning
John-John Florence (Pipeline)
Laird Hamilton on an SUP (Hanalei Bay)
Bruce Irons
Kyla Langen (Cottons)
Shea Lopez (Punta Roca)
Rob Machado
Dean Morrison (They call him Dingo, but I call him Didgo; because he burned EVERYbody)
Jamie O'Brien
Joel Parkinson
Mike 'Snips' Parsons (Lowers AND Wisconsin Street)
Random Brazilian Pros whose names escape me
Gus Tandberg (Grandview)

Least Favorite Ethnic Race on Land:
I do not see race.

Least Favorite Ethnic Race in the Water:
Brazilians

1.9.13 Seaside Solo Sesh

The forecasts' tales for this week made my loins droop with woe.  I was going to surf today's mediocrity no matter what.  I initiated the suit-up sequence in the relative warmth of my living room.

Because of the massive tide, I had a feeling MD's and NoTePads would be washed out with fat rollers.  I opted to take the 101 and swing south so as to maximize the angle of the swell with the countering angle of the coastline.

I saw a sick left break at Seaside that the lucky rider was able to ride all the way through to the inside connection in the shorebreak.  I pulled over off the 101 JUST as I entered Solana Beach, finished suiting up, and got out thar.

On the walk to the break, I reflected on all of the magical sessions I've had here. The bummer is there aren't any.  I've never had success at Seaside, despite the seemingly rippable walls that, when firing, remind me of Uppers on an ok day.  The strongest memory I have of Seaside is paddling out ten years ago with my buddy Andrés, a busboy at the restaurant formerly known as Jay's Gourmet.  I caught a massive right that freight-trained on without me and got so hammered, my left heel was left hanging out of its warm cocoon of a booty.

Perhaps today my relationship with this fickle tease would change.

When I rounded the corner and had a view of the waves, I accelerated and thought "top to bottom, top to bottom" thinking the hittable lips would encourage me not to ride out so far into the shoulder.

After a pretty long, ten minutes-plus, paddle-out, I perched inside of the pack of five.  Within five minutes, I caught my first wave. It was an overhead (!) right and the drop was a dooz.  I angled up and then slammed my weight forward.  I brought it about halfway around into a roundhouse cutty, but the lip was gone.  Oh well, at least I got my first one out of the way.

There were two groms out, and one was emphatically telling his bro about how he slid his fins out on a layback snap and made it.  SICK, if true!

Fifteen minutes passed, the bulk of which I spent paddling back and forth with the very shifty waves.  The guys outside of me kept missing some, but by the time they got to me, they were closing out or still not steep enough to catch.

I saw a steep left that one of the groms couldn't catch.  I put my head down and stroked hard for it, salivating over its steepness.  I popped up keeping the vast majority of my weight towards the front, so the rocker would make a smooth transition into the possible air drop.  Seaside decided to pull the football away from me, and flattened out so I popped up and immediately pearled.  Damn it!

I paddled back out and sat with the pack, and twenty minutes later I was rewarded with a similar wave, though a little bigger.  I sat back on my tail a little more and immediately faded right to counteract its probable marshmallowing.  I read the wave correctly, but when I swooped into my bottom turn, I just didn't have enough momentum to stay with it.  Too bad, because the inside section looked good from the back.

I decided I'd had enough and bailed shortly thereafter.

1.4.13 Solo Mish to NoTePads, RIP Missed-It-Mike :*-(

It is with a heavy heart that I report the passing of my best surf bro, Missed-It-Mike.  I am thankful to have spent the majority of Sunday with him at the Chargers game.  I have called him three times since to go surfing and I haven't heard back from him.  I will always remember the good times, him bitching about his feet hurting in particular.  Walking barefoot on gravel without drawing a reminiscent tear will be especially difficult.

I of course will be the last one to eulogize him, as the order goes from least to most important.  In my run-throughs thus far, I've gotten most choked up bringing up when he used the Amazon link on this very blog to buy a $700 washing machine, netting me $28 in Amazon money in the process.  I will remember the good times bro.



Mike leaves behind a wife, a son, and perhaps most tragically, a surf bro (for life, brah, never forget).

Obviously, I am dedicating this session to his memory.

I woke up and practically lunged for my phone, but Mike had once again failed to return my call.  He was gone.  I had a hard time getting out of bed with the grave thought of his entering his next phase.

I debated staying in bed, but pushed myself out the door at 7:40.

I half-heartedly checked the surf.  MD's was not great, but the tears in my eyes made things a little blurry.  I packed back into The Rad and considered going home to have a good cry session, but I knew Mike would have wanted me to soldier on, south, towards one of his favorite waves, NoTePads.

It was beautiful.  It was as though Mike had flapped his angel wings and kicked up some swell, and somehow also stoked the offshores in the opposite direction, into their cherubic faces.

I knew the water/wind combo would lead to ice cream headaches, and for once I welcomed them, hoping their presence would dull my inner pain.

I watched two guys on too much foam, take turns going over the falls, as the winds seemed to catch their boards and delay their descent until the wave pounced on them.

The lefts to their south looked most appetizing.  I figured with the N angle on this swell (WNW), I would be pushed right into their line of fire, so I paddled out straight out and got swept down slowly.  I watched as two grinders spun about fifty yards south of me and hurried things along by paddling towards them.

Within five minutes, I caught my first wave.  I am getting way better on my frontside barrels,  I dropped down, set my line well, kept my weight on my front foot but got slightly pinched and a little too far behind the lip.  I had a fleeting feeling of reaching daylight.  My head and the wave ceiling said their hellos, but I pushed through for another half-second before being slammed into the trough.



Two minutes later, I had a look at a shoulder-high or so right and was able to tuck in to a pigdog barrel.  On the descent, I thought briefly that my shoulder was going to run into the wave and either stall or pull me into its vortex.  I narrowly avoided disaster and got my longest pigdog barrel in over a year.  It isn't so long, however, that you can see what happens without constantly toggling the pause/play button in the footy...



The next wave I caught was a left and I smelled a barrel.  I unfortunately set up a little too far away from the wall and received a lip to the head for my efforts.  The lefts kept pinching and pinching hard; my guess being the swell direction wasn't working in their favor, benefiting mostly the rights.

The next wave was a twin to its immediate predecessor, just a bit bigger.  The same result happened, except I got SLAMMED by it so hard it made my knees buckle.  This sudden acceleration of force upon my body also caused my lower legs to somehow slam into one another, leaving me with an agonizing few seconds.

I caught a small right and tucked into it crab-grab, for old-time's sake.  It closed out much more quickly than expected and I pulled through the back pretty violently in an attempt to get out of its grasp.  I managed to go through just barely, then immediately detouring straight up into its spinning maw.  This resulted in a tense but thankfully painless tumble over the falls.

I called it a day and realized it was the first surf session in a while in which I'd made every turn I'd attempted.  I looked up to the sky and smiled.

1.2.13 FREEZING Just-Get-Wet Solo Mish to Condors

After yet another wetsuit half-on abortion of a paddle-out attempt the previous day, I was salivating over the reports.  They claimed 5-7' surf from the NW.  Well, with this in mind, I made MD's my first check.  It revealed surf so bad it made me want to drive up to Huntington and take it up with Surfline personally.

By the way, did you know Surfline claims 95% accuracy in forecasting the surf conditions "within one foot" of actual surf heights?  I'm guessing they're not including when they "update" the forecasts.  Also, I'm guessing they further pad their figure by saying it will be 5-7' when the surf is actually 2-4' is within one foot. Unconscionable...

Since MD's was terrible, I didn't bother checking NoTePads due to my experience making those rounds yesterday.

I headed for points further north.  Dog Beach was slightly bigger but slow.  Seaside looked ok but had a pack.  George's was way too racy and Cardiff was Cardiff.  Pipes was packed as usual so I hung a right towards the freeway and pretty much committed myself to surf by taking the time and using the gas to get The Rad up to Oceanside.  Buc Beach was laughably small and the Wisconsin-Pier corridor had not much more. NSide Pier had maybe a half-foot or so on its southern contingent, but still not worth paddling out.

I crossed the waterway to officially enter Oside Harbor and I saw S. Jetty's small and in direct line of fire of the topographical offshore funnel surf.  Good luck catching those waves, pack of eight!  I drove further north, past the boat ramp and N. Avalanche looked ok.  I also a semi-decent wave break at Condors.  Fug the cold, I'm out thar!

All I had to do was slip my wetsuit on over my shoulders, I kept telling myself.  That was a struggle in itself, the gusting offshore wind lapping away at my will to surf.

I powered through, grabbed my board and headed to the sand.  I didn't bother taking a second glance at S. Jetty as the memories of frustrating blown-out-the-back (not quite as good as it sounds) waves from sessions past kept flashbacking through my mind.  I thought about paddling out just north of the jetty, but there were two dudes already there.  N. Avalanche seemed a mile away and I wasn't looking forward to trudging back with purple hands upon going in.

I settled on the compromise that is Condors, though I didn't notice the dude already out there until just before going prone.  I gave him his space and settled on inside and north of him, but not before experiencing is the empirical overload that is duckdiving in  ~60 degree water with ~40 degree air to greet you upon you surfacing.  I immediately felt the overpowering sting of ice cream headache.  Two more dips further enhanced the sensation.  I tried out a trick that I use to see as very informal thermometer.  I use my lips to make a horse lip fart sound and felt the numbness in my cheeks.  Oof.

My first wave was a racy left on which I got a solid pump before the wave collapsed upon itself.  It was good to see there was some juice out there.

My second wave was better, if you exclusively use raciness as your sole barometer.  I got hung up towards the top and tumbled.

I'd made one of my New Year's Resolutions to not crab-grab anymore, and I must give myself credit.  I made it to my third wave of the year before breaking it.  It was a small barrel and I was too high on it.  I'm not sure it was makeable, but I didn't do myself any favors by picking such a high line.

The only other guy out there wasn't doing a good job functioning as my buoy.  He would paddle whenever he saw the slightest bump on the horizon.  I made a mental note to not trust his gut and got paid off for my instinct when the wave of the session came through.  He had over-paddled for it and was way too deep.

I somewhat made up for my self-treason by doing a proper pig dog pivot on it.  I got in it very well and even took my hand out of the wall and leaned forward to give myself a shot at making it.  This low percentile wave didn't care  for my trying to up my chances of blowing through it and punished me by shutting down, but not before allowing me to be dazzled by the risen sun's light dance on the ceiling.

After this wave, there was nothing special.  I was tempted to go in about twenty minutes later but convinced myself to stay out another ten.  When I finally got back to The Rad I came to the grave realization that I'd forgotten pants for my journey.  I'd also neglected to bring a towel or changing robe, so I rode home tucked tightly into my 4/3, heater blasting.

The shower was awesome.  I uploaded footage of it, but YouTube disallowed it because it "violated YouTube terms of service"?

December AND 2012 Wrap-Up

NoTePads 2
MD's
George's
Cardiff

December is a cruel mistress of a surf month.  This month she bestowed five sessions upon me.  The Santa Ana days are a waste without swell, and conversely, the swell days are pretty much rotten without the Santa Anas.

~~~2012 Wrap-Up~~~

I counted 128 sessions.  That's one session every 2.8 days.

Of these sessions, 102 happened in California, with 99 happening in metropolitan SD County (Oside and points south).

25 (19.53%) of these happened in El Salvador.

1 went down during my early trip to Hawaii.

I spent $0 on new gear this year, but untold hundreds on gas.  Airfare I won't count thanks to Raquel's frequent-flyer miles.

12.21.12 A Second No-Go Denied at NoTePads

The previous day, we were blessed with offshores.  MD's was too bloated, so I headed south to NoTePads.  As I descended toward the foot of the valley, I saw a scrumptious section fold over, albeit racily, into an unmakeable barrel.  I hadn't gone in the water for close to two weeks, so I was down for getting some tube time with very little chance of making it.

Upon exiting The Rad, I was greeted by a frosty offshore wind that was blasting through the 56 corridor and out into the ocean.  I was determined to go for it.  I took my shirt off and put on my changing robe.  My toes were numb from the wind and their exposure to it.  I continued to look into the ocean as I suited up.  I pulled the wetsuit up around my waist and realized this was the warmest I would be all morning.  Having spotted nary a tube section since parking, I made a call to cancel the wetsuit sequence and retreat to the relative warmth of The Rad.  I rode home with the wetsuit half on, wetsuit sleeves and tail firmly planted between legs (nothing sexual though).

I vowed to exact my revenge at my next opportunity, and it arrived less than a day later...

Missed-It-Mike met me at MD's and we weren't impressed by what it showed us.  We trekked south, to the scene of the emasculation, to NoTePads.  This time I came prepared.  People who saw me driving thought I was a pussy, a neoprene fetishist gimp or perhaps both.  Mike felt the cold caress of the wind and lost his mojo.  There really wasn't much out there, but I was determined to paddle out.  It, without question, would've been a repeat of the previous day's embarrassment.

Mike decided he was going to film me from his car, using his phone.  The footage, much like the waves, was forgettable.  I looked like a speck of black against white splashing on the wave's surface.

There was no one out, though I did see sweeper about a hundred yards south.  The water temperature was a welcome warmth and made the temperature much more manageable.

I got a little bit of a cover-up on a right crab-grab attempt.  Other than this wave, there were no stand-outs.  I spent my time on the rest of the waves Huntington-hopping my way to frustration.  I haven't looked at the GoPro footy yet, but I know there is no need to, because the waves were so lacking.

When I finally decided to call it a sesh, I found myself in an upwelling spot where the cold water felt like death.  It felt as though my fingers were closing up on themselves in an attempt to keep warm.  I found a wave and belly-boarded it, then walked past a guy who was pacing back and forth about fifteen steps in each direction before changing directions.  He asked me if I was cold and I replied affirmatively.

Luckily, I didn't have to wait for my hands to thaw.  I had enough torque to turn the key in the ignition.

The post-surf shower was AMAZING!  It's what I'm calling the shower of the year.

12.7.12 FUN, Peaky 20th Street Solo Mish

I woke up at my usual just-shy-of-five time and decided to make good on the promise to myself from the night before:  I would make a good faith effort to check the waves despite the reports' tales of woe from the swell charts.

Because of the NW direction of the swell, I made MD's my first check.  As I came within eye shot of the surf at 15th, my eyes bulged out of my head.  What is THIS? There's SWELL!  As I hung down and then right onto Coast Blvd, I came to the realization that it wasn't a maritime mirage, but honest-to-goodness, consistent grinders up and down the beach.

I parked at 20th and was about to ask a guy coming in how it was.  Unprompted, he said, "It's soooo good!". Yowza.

On my first wave, I was a bit inside, but made it onto the wave and around the initial crashing section.  I did a quick pump, then had to take my foot off the gas as the wave hit a deep spot and slowed down.  I put more weight on my front foot to stay on it and the wave felt sand again, turning steeper.  The wave was shutting down, though it was more of a foam-over than a classic slamming closeout.  I kept weight on my front foot as I slashed and managed to stay over my board, but I faded off the back.

My next wave was a second left, but this one was slow the whole way.  I pumped and did my best to not fade.  I was successful, but there was no reward.  The wave somehow shut down without having any sort of decent slope from which to harvest speed.

 The next left had some slope to it, though it did start off a little slow.  I milked the most speed I could off of it and made it to the inside section where I slashed it well, but there was little pushback from the wave and I plopped off my board, devoid of speed.

A weird thing about the waves today is that the prevailing swell direction was NW, but the vast majority of rights were shutting down almost immediately.

Case in point: My next wave was a scrumptious-looking steep right.  I dropped down at an angle and tried to avert destiny by giving myself the best chance to make it around the section.  I choked up with a quick pump, but the thing shut down behind me and in front of me, hitting me in the back in the process.

Then, one of the weirdest, most startling things that has ever happened to me occurred.  I paddled back out from the right and perched.  About three minutes later, I spotted this massive sea lion, quite possibly the biggest I'd ever seen in the wild, motoring RIGHT towards me from about two o'clock.  I noticed how much of its body was out of the water, meaning the guy was MOVING!

Its mouth was open and it looked angry.  It was staring right at me.  I looked at it mostly bemused, but somewhat bewildered.  It had two huge protrusions in its mouth, not sure if they were tusks, but they were so gnarly.  I stood my ground, getting a little more alarmed.  Then, when it was about fifteen feet away, it let out a heavy-sounding grunt/cough; the presence of which slammed my chest against my board and sent me scurrying.  The first four or so strokes were sprint-paddles, but I cooled it down because I was concerned the splash chaos would attract it to me.  I was so scared!  Within ten seconds, I looked to the south and it had semi-surfaced from the dive it took when my head was turned. PHEW!

My next wave was a sick left, though it didn't look so at first.  It appeared to be slow, and I pumped up to try to generate some speed.  The wave then hit a shallow spot and started spinning quickly.  I was in a really critical spot; the opening part of the lip tapping me ever so slightly twice.  Then the wave slowed way down, and I slammed on my backside rail hoping to throw a ton of spray.  I did, but it was at the expense of making it.  I made the mistake of too critical a turn for too flat a wave.  Bummer.

My next wave was a right, which today meant a quick exit.  Luckily, I was able to make something of it this time and swung up into it for an aerated rock 'n roll.  In surfing, this is called a foam climb.  Here is the footy, but we warned, it gets salacious at the end!



The curse of the lazy lefts continued.  I caught a wave I wasn't sure would develop and descended it straight down, I cut back up then stomped on the deck of my board with my front foot and leaned way down, hoping this would allow me to continue down the face.  It didn't, and I plopped over.

Another left, but this one had more steepness to it.  I saw after descending it was going to close out on me, so I took the opportunity to soul arch my way out of it.  I jumped over the foam and that was it.

After two more lazy lefts, I'd decided I couldn't bear the sting of my wetsuit rashes any longer.  I succumbed and beached myself, hoping tomorrow would have bear more of the same.

12.4.12 M-I-M and I hit up NoTePads

We met at the usual time and at the usual place.  MD's was absolutely dreadful.  We saw a guy fade off a couple of waves.  We were still mad at the place for denying us a ride on its sweet curves a few days prior, so we shined it in favor of good old NoTePads.  A tip from Trevor ("Best NoTePads EVER") from the day before got us a little excited, but my expectations were tempered considering how crappy MD's looked.

We parked at our destination and Mike loaded up into The Rad.  He was instantly blessed by the sweet jams of the GuyPod.  Some would say it was these tunes which motivated him to suit up despite the conditions.  The waves would spill over, but they were so fat and had so much water on them that staying on them would be a challenge.  We saw a couple of possibly rideable waves out there, so we talked ourselves into paddling out.

Our pre-paddle pow-wow didn't betray us.  It was as shitty as it had looked from the comfort of The Rad.  Many waves were caught, but not many waves were ridden.  It was a challenge just to descend into the troughs of these marshmallows.  The bright side of course, is that we were by ourselves, in nature, with not one player hater in sight.

The wave of the day, and the only one I can really describe due to the others running together, was one I caught that turned into a double-up on take-off. I was the beneficiary of a quick burst of speed, which ran out, less than ten yards through the wave.  I managed to somehow stay on this slowpoke, and made the inside connection.  I got one quick burst of speed and came up nicely off the bottom, meeting the lip to slash it, then popping back down.

The water's getting really cold and it may be time to break out the gloves and booties soon.

12.1.12 Cardiff Reef PM SESSION with Forrest

Forrest called and asked if I wanted to surf.  I asked where and he said, "Somewhere you don't want to".  I quickly realized he meant Cardiff Reef and said I'd pass.  He said he'd be willing to surf Turtles or Pipes.  I told him Pipes was out because of the massive crowd I'd spied while driving south on the 101 earlier that day.

He asked if I'd rather go mountain-biking and I thought about that, but realized it's rare we get swells like this, so let's SURF!  I packed my board and tub into his car, this time loaded with my 3/2 with the philosophy that this wetsuit, with its different points of friction, may not rub me the same way.

I didn't want to be a bum-out, so I told him we could go to Cardiff if he wanted.  We lucked into one of the first spots south of the restaurants, suited up, slapped on some sunscreen and walked to the sand.  George's looked downright nasty, but the left in front of the newly-christened Pacific Coast Grill looked tasty.  I paddled out and immediately got bashed in the head over and over again.  I couldn't find any open faces and didn't even get a chance to paddle for waves because of the constant paddling and dunking.  I looked back and saw I was north of where we'd parked and I decided I was over it.  I went in and walked north.

I was not going to let Cardiff defeat me.  I walked all the way down to where the lagoon meets the ocean and paddled out.  I duckdived. Constantly. For fifteen minutes.  Then, I had the sad realization that all my paddling had been futile when I duckdived and the nose of my board hit sand. DAMN IT!  I stood up, waded, then waited as each roll of foam assailed me.  I marveled at how hard the water pushed me back, now having a point of reference in the sand.

Eventually, I was able to power through and ended up JUST north of Suckouts, perhaps the closest thing North County has to a mutant wave.  There was a pack of about eight heads sitting there.  I drifted south after not much was coming through and I saw a bearded guy get positioned perfectly, dropping in with his arm shoulder-deep in the wall, but get nothing for his efforts as the wave just stopped barreling before it went over him.  It still looked sick though!

I was in the main takeoff zone of Cardiff Reef now, and the head count reflected that.  It's very possible that I was on the least amount of foam out there.  It wasn't huge, but it was still overhead on the sets.  I paddled half-heartedly for waves, knowing that my chances of a logger falling off on the outside and it being me who was in position to pick up his sloppy seconds were miniscule.

I looked for Forrest but could not spot him.

I floated to the inside a bit, hoping for some 'tweeners.  I saw a wave that missed everyone on the outside and was absolutely shocked I was in position for it.  I was a bit deep, and the waves were a bit fat, so I had to paddle my ass off.  I descended and smacked it, then went for a roundhouse cutty but I faded.  I'd wandered too far onto the shoulder.

After all that work, I had one wave to show for it.  I wasn't about to paddle out and risk a decapitation from a guy on a big board who isn't used to all that speed.  I bailed and Forrest pulled up shortly thereafter.

12.1.12 MD warm-up, then George's

I made a point to dog M-I-M for missing out on the previous day's great sesh.  He responded as I'd hoped, with ardent fervor.  We made plans to surf the same spot.  I showed early and checked it, but there was some texture on it from the NNE wind.  The waves were coming in hard and fast, with nary a sizable break to be seen.

I convinced Mike to paddle out by extolling tales of yesterday's waves.  We suited up and walked onto the sand, and it looked a bit intimidating.  We weren't sure if there would be a payoff to our paddle-out pain, but we pressed onward.  We got close to halfway out when our forward progress plateau'd.  The constant onslaught kept us duckdiving instead of paddling, and once we surfaced, we were roiled in efficiency-killing foaminess.  Our fingers would rake through the aerated water and not have enough water to make progress.

I pride myself on my tenacity when it comes to paddling out.  Twenty minutes of constant paddle-paddle-paddle-duckdive-paddle-paddle-paddle-duckdive later and my steadfast commitment to making it out was crumbling.

Just as it's best not to look down when you're up high, it's a bad idea to look back towards the shore on grueling paddle-outs.  It's rare when doing so that the culprit thinks, "Wow! I'm really far from shore!" .  After my left trapezius was exhausted from it being overtaxed, and my left arm and shoulder were numb, I made the fatal mistake of looking back and realizing how little progress I'd made.  Couple all of this with my stinging wetsuit rashes (now two strong) and you had a real demotivator.

Mike was behind me and a bit south.  He gestured in such a way so as to relay to me that he was over it.  We had a pow-wow:  Were we really going to let this swell humble us and send us scurrying to our cars?  After a three-minute debate of sorts, we decided we would let it.  I suggested we hit up a reef that would provide some break in the swell and perhaps even a channel.

I put on my changing robe over my wetsuit, got in to The Rad and headed up north, with Mike following behind.  If there are any ladies, or even effeminate men, reading this, be glad you didn't see me in it as you would have become pregnant with a baby that looks like this:



After passing through Solana Beach, the 101 opens up.  Seaside looked ok, but crowded.  George's was showing us some welcoming, but fleeting, faces.  Best of all, the peaks were EMPTY. I flipped a bitch and parked.  Mike and I grabbed our stuff, gushed over how easy the paddle-out looked (it's interesting how our priorities changed) and paddled out.

We flew outside with no issues, but of course we were overzealous and paddled out too far while taking the rip.

We vacillated between paddling in, then being surprised by a set and sneaking under them for about ten minutes before this happened.

A wave came, and I was in a great spot for it.  Mike asked which way I was going and I said I was taking the right.  I descended, waited out the spillover foam and hacked into it a couple of times before I made the fatal error of taking too much weight off my front foot for the grand finale.  Still, a sick wave and one that made all that paddling worth it.



Since I'd traveled with the current, I knew Mike would be far.  I looked to the north, where I'd taken off, and couldn't see him.  I saw a guy WAY south of me, a good hundred yards and thought that it couldn't be Mike.  I took some more waves on the head while I thought about which way to go.  Then, I saw two amazing, close to double-overhead lefts roll through to my south.  I decided I would paddle over there to try and snag one.

Once there, I realized it was Mike who was south of me.  How the hell did he beat me down here when I was riding a wave and he was sitting?  Obviously it was a nasty N-S current, but one unlike any I'd ever experienced before.

I caught up to Mike and we alternated paddling for and pulling back some stomach-churning closeouts for about ten minutes.  Then...

Mike and I saw this massive wall of water.  He was about eight feet in front of me and about three feet north of me.  I saw him duckdive then do the subtlest of I'm-ditching-my-board shoulder twitches.  I hadn't ditched my board in a long time and had forgotten it was an option.  I watched the thick lip descend towards me and decided to ditch my board as well. I felt the wave detonate right above my head.  It felt as though I'd ducked under a depth charge!

Mike ended up closer to me than before the bomb went off, which is usually a sign that he got the worse (not necessarily worst!) of it.  We compared notes and wondered if our boards had made contact as they were dangerously close to one another.

We spent another ten, perhaps fifteen minutes trying to get in to some open-faced waves to no avail.  A second beastly wave, about the same size as the one described above reared on to its haunches, then feet.  It began feathering at the top.  I could hear Mike making some noises, the tone of which I interpreted to be, "We're screwed!" to which I replied, "Don't be a pussy!".

Unbeknownst to me, Mike had taken my advice and interpreted as my telling him NOT to ditch his board this time.  I got absolutely throttled by this wave, but I know it probably messed up Mike a little more than me because he was a couple of beats outside of me and closer to ground zero.  Not only that, but I had the luxury of being a couple of feet deeper than he was and away from the burden of the board. I could feel the tug of my leash on my ankle.  After about eight or ten seconds of ragdolling, I came up with a smile and facing the beach.  I made eye contact with Mike less than a second after surfacing and he said, "Look out!".  I whirled while simultaneously taking a breath and saw another wave explode sending me on the second leg of my journey towards the bottom.

There was no third wave of the set.  M-I-M said my board had tombstoned, which means it was standing straight up in the water from how deep I was.

Mike and I laughed at how smashed we got and made plans to go in, as it was getting too brutal out here.  If there were waves to go with the beatings, we would have gladly signed up.  But we can get punishment without pleasure with our wives at home (this is a test to see if my wife really does read this, as she claims she does).  And so we did...

November Wrap-Up

MD's 4

NoTePads 2

D Street 1

This surf month was hobbled bywayward weather and wee swells.

The wave of the month goes to the overhead steep right I got on the last session of the month.

The bail of the month goes to the wave I straightened out on, then claimed.  I jumped off my board and got smacked around.

Had it not been for the big uptick in swell at the tail end, this would've been a very disappointing month, but I will give it a C.

11.30.12 Booming MD's Solo Sesh

Mike and I had made arrangements to surf on this morning.  As I walked up to the lifeguard tower at 20th St, I checked my phone and I had received a message from Mike which said, and I quote "Prob out on surfing tomorrow".  I look up from my phone to look at the waves and I smiled broadly.  Missed-It-Mike was missing it yet again.

I saw two lefts reel through unridden and I went back to my car thinking, "Where is everyone?".

The paddle-out was uneventful with only one hairy duckdive in which I lucked into an air pocket and surfaced unscathed.

There were a lot of waves coming through and this reality was reinforced by both the rising swell and rising tide.  Picture a running back getting hit by one defensive lineman and then having a linebacker immediately add to the momentum.  The good news is the waves didn't seem to be affected by backwash that tends to happen in these conditions.

My first wave was a head-high left.  I hadn't stood up on a wave in ten days and was a bit wobbly on my pop-up, dragging my back foot a bit.  I recovered on the descent, but the wave was closing out by that point.  I kicked my board up and looked forward to my next shot.

I caught a right and did a drawn-out bottom turn, but again, the wave ended up finishing without my approval.

I had another right come my way two minutes later.  It looked steep so I tucked into my barrel stance from the get-go.  I was in deep and high on it, one of the bigger backside barrels I've enjoyed in recent memory.  I angled down but ran into the ever-receding lip and slammed.  The footy was marred by swirling water, unfortunately.

One other guy paddled within twenty yards of me and we compared notes on the waves.  I remarked on how sick it was and he lamented as to how much better it would be sans closeouts.

The waves were beginning to get bigger, and for the first time in a long time, I began to long for a bigger board.

My next wave was a bigger version of my first right with the same result.  I Fosbury flopped over the back, hoping not to lose too much ground.

I caught an overhead left and it closed out about two seconds after I popped up, allowing for only a second of green face time before I pulled through the wave out the back.

Finally, an open face!  I caught a smaller-than-average right and bottom turned hard into it, but not as vertically as I would've liked.  The section of the wave I chose to snap on was too flat; had I gone vertically up the face, I would have had no problem.  I dug my trailing arm into the water but the only thing I was able to use as a pivot point on the wave was a weak spot.  I faded off the back.

The next wave was a little bigger, but with a similar result.  I dug both arms into the wave, but it was more of a cutback than a snap and I faded again.  I have to start descending and use the change in vertical positioning to accelerate into the roundhouse.

Less than a minute later, and on the same film clip, I caught a frothy left.  I did two of my most stylish pumps of all time with the third one projecting me over the nose of my board.  I had overestimated the slope of the wave and paid the price by endoing face first into the water.

It was at this point that I really started to feel my right arm pit getting raw from the constant paddling and friction.

I caught an overhead right that seemed to grow as I descended.  I straightened out and did a one-fist claim as I watched it detonate.  I jumped off my board and got annihilated underwater.  I came up for air and took a second wave on the set.  The third wave of the set was double-overhead, and I saw a fellow goofy-foot take off on it about fifteen yards north of me.  I cheered him on for about three seconds before I took another gulp of air and took one last one on the head.

Upon paddling back out, I spotted what seemed like a familiar face from long ago.  It was my old buddy Tyler Grant.  I hadn't seen him in close to ten years and the last time I'd seen him was out at this very break.  He was my best buddy when I came up to the US when my mom sent me up during La Ofensiva in El Salvador's Civil War and again in sixth grade.

We caught up a bit and I caught my wave of the day.  It caught me by surprise and I didn't have time to press the button, but I can assure you, I smacked it well twice, then bogged on the third hit as the wave closed out.

I got Tyler's email and he said we could go out for beers but as of this writing close to thirty hours later, I haven't received a response... :*-(

I got a lazy left and pumped on it, but it too quit on me and I ended up flamingoing, then endoing.

On the way back out, a monster wave came and I was determined not to let it separate me from my board.  I duckdived and the wave's power exploded between my body and my board.  I felt the board straining in my hands, a feeling I can't remember experiencing before.  I let the board go and wondered if I'd pressure-dinged the board.  After I was safely in deeper water, I checked, and saw an impression of my thumbs on the deck.

My pit rash was getting to be agonizing in my tight suit, so I bailed.

11.20.12 Disappointing MD's w/ M-I-M, but STILL BETTER THAN YESTERDAY!

After the previous day's debacle, Mike and I headed for more southern pastures.

The waves were bigger and less closed out, but their penchant for fattening up after the initial steep section was worrisome.

My first wave was a right that had promise.  While bottom-turning, I cut it short to a more horizontal trajectory due to the lack of steepness to it.  It was all for naught, as I got pushed off the back by the bulge of water.

Mike was paddling out after having caught one of his own (but a quality wave, relative to the conditions) and I saw an opportunity for stoking him out with a close-up view of a switch crab grab, a move no other surfer I've seen in person, in the magazines, or in surf videos has been able to (or, some would say, willing to) do.  I dropped almost straight down, but got into the barrel but didn't get far before I slammed.

No other waves come to mind, but I remember being bummed out about the lack of decent waves.  We are in fall, the absolute best season for waves because of the drop in crowds, frequent Santa Ana winds and crossed-up swells.  So far all we've had is the welcome drop in heads...

11.19.12 M-I-M and I hit up D Street

There was a combo swell in the water, so I made the call to hit up D Street.  Mike had a pep in his step due to his brand-spanking new 4/3 wetsuit.

We walked a bit south to try to avoid a small pack and paddled out around E Street.

My first wave was a middling right that allowed me to make it halfway through a bottom turn and nothing more before closing out.

My second wave allowed me to drop in, see just how hard it was going to close out, and kick my board up in the air before the wave rolled over me.

I got a look at another left and mustered up a drop, trim, and soul arch before jumping over the foam of the closeout.

At this point, the following Adele song crept into my head, but change the title and lyrics from "...Pavements" to "...Closeouts":



I caught a right and tucked into a crab grab.  I was ambitious in my trajectory, and swooped too far out onto the flats.  The lip comically smashed me on the head robbing me of my half-second of glory.  I came up laughing and paddled out to see if Mike was ready to go in.

State of the Blog Address

And now it's time...
for Eddie's mailbag:

"Wow, Eddie! How do you remember your sessions from nearly two weeks ago. You're like a surf Rain Man!  Please don't use my name if you use this comment." -Anonymous EddieSurfs.com fan

"Holy smokes dude, Vegas was SICK!  I still can't believe our wives bought the "business conference" line.  Hey, I got that stripper's info, she'll be in town next week.  I'll give you her number AFTER I'm done with her. Cool? Oh yeah, please omit any personally identifiable information in the off chance this leaves your inbox." -"Anonymous" EddieSurfs.com fan

"Hey stud! Good news, the HIV test came back negative, so be sure to come see me next time you're back in Vegas.  I'll probably need a new test by then, though. Hee hee! Oh hey, please don't reveal who this is.  I'd hate for your wife to find out about us.... MUAH! - Anonymous "Thunder from Down Under" Male Revue dancer who I swear I barely touched

Ok, so I haven't been able to surf because I've been busy with various endeavors.  I've been dreading posting because I was murky on the details after a few days.  Then a few days, turned into several, and here we are ten days later.

I fear I may be losing my mojo for writing up every single session as it can take a half-hour per session if you include video editing.  I'm flirting with doing a short paragraph for forgettable sessions and then really laying into the narrative on the special sessions or when I travel for surf.

I started this blog as a way of remembering my sessions.  The idea came to me when I was paddling out in Oceanside in July 2011.  I was thinking back to all of the sessions I've had over the years and how I wish I could remember them more clearly.  Another reason I went ahead with the blog was I thought it would be a good writing exercise.  I like to think I'm funny and a good writer.  As my biggest fan, I clamored for more, more regular content.

As a minor possible offshoot, I thought I could make some side money if it got big.  I knew it would never be enough money to live on.  First off, the surfing audience is TINY compared to say, celebrity gossip, fashion, or beer/booze blogs.  Also, the surf industry is in a tailspin, most recently evidenced by one of the biggest corporate benefactors, Nike, withdrawing financial support from surfing.

I'm also held back by my non-ripper status.  Surfers like to see two things when they look at surf media: Guys ripping and good waves.  I give them, usually, a guy on waves.

After more than fifteen months of not missing a single session, I've spent $21 on this blog, all on the domain name.  Thanks to my main man Missed-It-Mike, who bought a $700 dishwasher, I got $28 in Amazon money because he clicked through the link towards the top right corner of the blog.  This means I have made $7 after spending what I imagine to be one hundred hours on the blog.

Ok, so my hourly rate would make sweatshop laborers and convicts snicker derisively, but I can still claim "Professional Writer" on my business card, curriculum vitae, and go on speaking tours, right?

11.6.12 M-I-M and I visit NoTePads

Because of our experience days earlier, we decided to just suit up and paddle out.  Mike mentioned after we had suited up that the bridge was working again and we could've parked about as close to the beach as you can in California.  Oh well, it was a beautiful, albeit cold walk out to the breakers. 

We walked a good amount south before paddling out.  The waves were about chest-high on the sets and barreling.  Sounds good right?  Well, the whole story is that they were closing out and HARD. 

About halfway through the session, after getting barreled for the umpteenth time, I duckdived and turned my head sideways and these were, without a doubt, the longest closeouts I'd ever seen.  As M-I-M put it, the swell angle was directly pounding into the shore which, in turn, was angled directly at the swell.  The closeouts broke almost all at once in 100 yards in either direction. 

It was as though the direction of the shoreline and the angle of the swell were making sweet passionate love with no sandbar interference, leading to explosion after explosion.  I know I was turned on! 

Most of the barrels I got run together.  All of them were crab grabs, some switch.  None of them were made.  I recorded a dozen clips of me throwing myself over the ledge into impossible barrels just trying to get some tube time.  There were several I didn't film as some of the wedges came out of nowhere and I didn't have enough time to push the button down.  There were no real standouts, so I will spare you the footy.

There were a few where I noticed my board is angled too much toward the shore, and the lip would crash on the board, wiping me out.  I will have to note this in future crab grab attempts.

There were two waves I caught and was able to pump on a couple of times, but there was nowhere to go.

Mike and I marveled at how far south we were pushed by the longshore current and looked forward to our almost-hike back to our respective rides.

11.5.12 A Prophecy Fulfilled at MD's w/ M-I-M

I showed up about ten minutes early and watched the waves as I waited for my best surf buddy, Missed-It-Mike.  I really enjoy surfing with him and my showing up early really shows it.

Unfortunately, Mike didn't feel the same way, as he showed up twelve minutes late. 

I swallowed my sadness and internalized it, adding it to my ever-growing mountain of suppressed emotions.  My head doctor says one day I will have a nervous breakdown unless I surround myself with people who are positive influences in my life, but until I find them, M-I-M will have to do.

I explained to him that it was closing out A LOT, but we should still find some corners out there.  He uncharacteristically made the call for us to get out there, and did so quickly.

We walked out and hit the water just north of 20th Street.

My first wave was the best of the morning.  I tucked into a sick right barrel and went for a ways before the closeout reduced my chances for glory to chances-of-Gary-Johnson-winning-the-election numbers.  I succumbed to my fate and re-surfaced.

My next three waves were too similar.  Lefts on which I would take off and kick my board up in the air within three seconds of popping up, due to the waves' tendency to close out.

I caught a couple of rights where I had time for a mini-pump, but not much else.

We went in after about an hour, bummed.

11.3.12 M-I-M Right Back in the Swing of Things at NoTePads!

I told M-I-M about my tubular session on the previous day.  We checked it, but the waves were smaller and looked fatter.  The offshore was on it, too, which led to surfers being slower on the waves than usual.  We waffled and waffled and finally decided to check NoTePads, famous for its lack of crowds and nearby topography that funnels offshores right into the waves.

Because Del Mar and San Diego finally came to an agreement on fixing the ancient bridge that joins them on the 101, our way there was closed.  We were forced to set up on Carmel Valley Road and couldn't seem to get a good view of the waves.  We shot the shit and finally, I saw a set feather and was convinced there was something out there.

We walked through the parking area and under the bridge, then streaked south while wading through the estuary's outflow.  Eventually, I made the call as to where to paddle out.

We paddled out without incident.  I got into my first wave relatively quickly.  It was a pretty sweet crab grab on which I had to stall a bit as it took a second or two to throw out.  I got a nice view of the sun streaming through the lip, but not much else.  I can't remember why, but I bit it hard and got spun around underwater.

The GoPro decided to only work for six-second spurts and so I retired it for the session.

I got another right and the offshores got under my board, pushing me back.  Finally, gravity and my front foot's insistence in stepping on the gas won out, but my trophy was a dubious one.  It looked like what someone trying to do a backside floater with absolutely no speed would be doing.

Mike and I split several peaks during the session.  The best of these was one on which I went left and managed to get a couple of turns in before kicking out. 

Then, I got a smaller, barreling right and I tucked in.  I got chandeliered, but made it through, my first made crab grab since my trip to Panama a year ago this month.

Mike and I were out for almost two hours before we bailed.  I tried to convince Mike to stay out all day as we both had time, but he decided he wanted to go home to see his wife and son.

11.2.12 Solo Sesh to 20th St, MD's

I'd checked it here on Thursday and I left underwhelmed, and more noteworthy, with dry hair.

Missed-It-Mike was out of commission due to illness.

The forecasts said there would be a bump in the swell, and for once, they were right.  I was a bit concerned with the incoming tide, as I thought it would slow the waves down.

Once there, I saw bigger waves, but the vast majority appeared to close out

On my way to the water, I saw a guy pull in to a shoulder-high tube and go in there for a bit less than two seconds before getting clipped on the double-up.  I quickened my pace.  As I paddled out, he rode in prone and I tried to congratulate him on the wave.  Judging by the quizzical look on his face, I don't think he was able to make out what I was saying over the roar of the whitewash.

My first wave was ok.  I tucked in late into the tube for a crab grab but I didn't make it out.  I think what happened is I put too much weight on the front of the board and swept the fins out enough to scrub off my speed.  No matter, as I don't think it was makeable (I saw maybe two makeables all session).  As the waves get bigger, I'm hoping the barrels do too and I can do proper pig dogs.

Nearly twenty minutes after many paddle-fors/pullbacks, I caught a second wave.  It was also a tight right barrel.  I got a great view of the spinning cylinder, with the morning sun trying to power through the clouds, reflecting onto the face of the wave.  Suddenly, SLAM! My world turned gray as I churned under the surface of the wave, getting buffeted by the power of the wave.

I got a look at a semi-open left less than five minutes later.  The speed with which the barrel proceeded surprised me and I attempted a late and unsuccessful standing island pull-out.

The next wave was akin (get it?) to the previous wave's female fraternal twin.  A little smaller and it revealed itself to me a few minutes later than its bigger brother.  I made it around the initial crashing section, but the wave closed out soon thereafter.

At this point the offshore winds picked up and got to the point where they were almost too strong.  On waves this size, and with such a small window to catch them, offshore winds over 5 knots can delay your descent and make it so you have no speed with which to catch up to the green water.

It'd been a half-hour or so since my last crab grab barrel and I began itching uncontrollably for my next taste.  I got in on one late and it was my longest barrel of the day.  The lip collapsed on my head and it marked the end of the tunnel for me.

I caught another right with the intent of doing a turn, but it shut down before I'd descended completely.  I bottom turned and bailed.

I was getting the feeling that today was going to be all about closeout barrels, so I stuffed myself into yet another tight right tube.  The wave coquettishly decided to JUST spill over at its peak, decimating my plans to get tucked in.  I let the board go and sank under the spilling wave.

My last wave was a pretty sick one.  I was late on it and barely air-dropped into the pit, re-engaged my fins and drove through a right barrel.  Unfortunately, I got caught up by the foam ball and tossed.

I'd had enough of the closeouts.