4.15.18 Swampy on a Flaking Swell at Playa Wyoming

The tide was at its apex at about 2:30.  I left the condo around three thinking with a slow-ish walk I'd get to enjoy it a little bit more hollow with a little less backwash.

My new neighbor offered me a ride in his SUV.  I grabbed on to his roof rack and stepped on to his runner.  I got there the fastest I ever have from my place.  He has never surfed so I offered to teach him if he gets a board in exchange for his kindness.

Unfortunately, battling the wind's effect on my board at high speed was the most excitement I would experience during this session.

Every wave of mine was a closeout except for a couple.

I had another right which closed out right away.  I went for an immediate floater so as to make something of it.  I either put too much weight on my heels or my trajectory was bad from the get-go.  I was riding on top of the back of the wave although I did feel my fins catch and I began turning with them.  Had I been three inches closer to the beach I would have been able to say I successfully botched a backside taildrop 360 floater!

I pumped on a left and unfortunately didn't unweight my front foot when going for a lip tap (in preparation for gathering more speed for the upcoming section).  I bogged hard and ended my ride prematurely.

My last wave was a left and I was able to pump and do a pretty good cutback/slash on it as it fizzled.

There was no magical ride on a wave today.  And there was no magical ride back home.

4.12.18 Ugly Sideshore Playa Wyoming

Oof it looked bad out there.  The wind was whipping it and the surface of the sea reflected that.

I hemmed and hawed as to whether to paddle out at Wyoming.  I once again, like yesterday, started walking towards Panga Drops, having written off the beachbreak.

A few corners came through.  They weren't anything remotely special, but compared to the barrage of constant closeouts their siren song was strong.

I had five or six pump-to-oblivion waves sprinkled throughout the following more noteworthy waves:

I caught a left and it had the slightest of corners.  I pumped once, then rose off the bottom and smacked the lip decisively and stomped it.

 My favorite wave of the day was a right.  I thought it was going to close out because that seemed to be today's wave m.o.  It did, but I rose up right out of my drop and levitated onto the lip.  I was pretty behind the lip itself and I felt my tail dragging turning my nose slightly to the open ocean.  I threw my weight over my frontside rail and stomped that, absolutely shocked I'd pulled it.

I saw a local pro drop in late on a right that just started barreling.  I duckdove out of his way and two seconds later I saw him do an aborted alley-oop.  He was the most amped I'd ever seen anyone down here and for good reason.

I thought I had to try to score one of those.  I paddled to where he'd caught it, hoping for another pulse from the same swell direction.  Twenty minutes later, still nothing.  I eventually caught one half the size of the one he'd caught and tucked into my first pigdog stance in forty-four months.  I got more foam on the head than lip, and I eventually gave up.

I was amped on the way I'd surfed considering the conditions and am enjoying the confidence boost.  I feel as though I'm surfing better than when I stopped in August of 2014.

4.11.18 PM Dropping Tide Playa Idaho

I calculated that at fifteen steps every ten seconds, and at ninety steps a minute, it takes me about twenty minutes to walk 1800 steps to Playa Colorado.  At 2.33' a stride extrapolated out to sixty minutes, I'm walking at about 2.38 miles per hour. 

You see, it's this bitchin content which keeps the hits coming to EddieSurfs.com!

As is tradition, I slightly got my hopes up when seeing and hearing the closeouts past the estuary (and an estuary it will stay until the rains make the rivers break out).  Playa Colorado itself was EMPTY.  This would have been unsurprising if you'd been there looking at it with me.  The best sets were racy to the point of being unmakeable and the average ones were close-outs.  I overcame my temptation to try to find a golden corner where conceivably none existed.

Playa Wyoming looked better, though still very racy.  After watching it for a couple of minutes and seeing dudes getting gobbled up by the whitewater, I resigned myself to having to resort to Panga Drops to get my surf jollies.  I walked slowly, eyes on the ocean.  I saw a guy take off on what looked like a disaster northwest of Playa Wyoming.  I muttered to myself, "Why even bother?".  He hung on, pigdogged and got a slight cover-up. 

That's it, I had to surf here.  It was the first made barrel, albeit slight, I'd seen in months.

The tide was dropping though the backwash was still hitting some of the waves.

A lot of paddling around and jockeying for position later, I was in position for an overhead banger.  I made the drop with no issue, and felt my face contort into panic as I pumped up hard, then down.  I tucked down slightly and I was enveloped in the squarish barrel (likely a product of the tide and the angle of the wave hitting the bottom in a weird way).  I did another pump in the tube, this one less ambitious.  It felt like I'd backdoored the section that initially enveloped me, then I made it through another section before the foamball worked me.  I surfaced energized.

I went on another wave after a guy farther up the line couldn't catch it.  I tucked in and this one didn't benefit from bathymetry/swell angle synergy.  I barely fit inside it and it tunneled off without me.

Little by little, guys started filing in to the beach much to my delight.  Then a panga showed up.  Guys in the panga were wearing t-shirts and there were fishing poles visible so I hoped they were fishermen.  But the fact that they were anchored off one of the premier waves of the area didn't bode well for my optimism. 

Sure enough one, then five boards were thrown overboard followed by their riders.  It got semi-crowded again.  It wasn't bad at all with them in the water, but the further dropping tide meant there would be fewer rideable waves from which to choose.

I caught a right and did a drawn-out bottom turn, smashed it in a tight arc but turned into the whitewash and lost stability with no fin bite in the water.  I also managed to punch myself in the side of the head with my thumb knuckle somehow as I was underwater.

The first wave described was a doozy and one that will get me amping for my next go-out.

4.10.18 SlumpBustin' at Panga Drops

Before this last sabbatical I was averaging a session per day for the month.  Then I got busy, the surf shrank, and I got sick (again).

Today the stars aligned and I paddled out.  I spent ten minutes or so this morning bodysurfing and getting thwomped in unmakeable barrels.

I really thought with the swell filling in there would be some decent ones at Playa Colorado but when I walked over there it was laughably unmakeable.  I solemnly turned right and walked to Panga Drops, thinking of all of the money these poor souls spent on likely their only surf vacation of the year.  They could have waited a few months and gotten better waves at Zuma than today 😔.

I eventually made it over to the sandspit and paddled out.  Surprisingly, there was no one out and it was overhead.  The tide was almost at its abyss, but the sets were rolling in somewhat.

I pretty quickly caught a left and did a styley-feeling cutty after a late drop.  I ended the cutty halfway up the face to give myself some slope and mitigate my chances of getting blown off the back of the wave.  I semi-succeeded, for about five seconds.

I took a beating from about five waves then made it back out.  I decided to try the rights as they seemed a lot better so I paddled towards them.

Within ten minutes, I had a look at a good-sized right.  My body was saying let's go, but my heart was saying no.  It looked unmakeable as there was a big section in front that was threatening to fold over.  I felt the wave lift me up and I hooted myself into jumping up.

Another late drop and sure enough, the section imploded.  There was no way out and I was rapidly losing position and in danger of being caught inside by its younger siblings.  I jumped off and  literally skipped across the surface of the water before the wave entombed me.

I surfaced and yep.  I was screwed.  I was caught inside by a nine-plus wave set and before long I was over it.

4.5.18 Different Story at Panga Drops

I checked this blog and the last time I surfed twice in one day was the first time I surfed Panga Drops, a mere 1346 days ago!

I paddled out with aching muscles given my extended session and wave count this morning and I had the opposite experience.  I paddled around, paddled around and was beaten out by others in better position time and time again.  The peak would shift, and someone else would be in a better spot.  It became maddening.

Eventually, I caught a left and had a nice bottom turn but was beginning to fade off the wave.  I then thought I had a chance at reconnecting but the backwash hit and ended my ride.

I looked back and thought about paddling back out but a set came and I was OVER IT!

4.5.18 Overhead and Busy at Pangas

The paddle-out was less vicious than I expected and I perched about forty yards inside of the guys on big foam.

I caught a bunch of waves and even managed TWO (2) maneuvers on one.  It was a nice though fat left and I did cutback and slash on it before it petered out on me.

The highlight was a late drop I took on a left.  The thing jacked up and sectioned off in front of me and I had to pump gingerly, almost in the flats, as the avalanche bore down on me.  I did a top turn and got hung up unfortunately.

I had another big left and when I went for a floater I got a weightless puckering sensation. The wind slammed on and blew me out the back.  I laughed in relief underwater.

4.4.18 Early PM Playa Colorado Close-Outs

Taking a paragraph out of my previous blog entry, I decided to paddle out at a time other than around sunrise or sunset.

There was a bit of a crowd at Wyoming and one approximating that at Colorado.  I paddled out on the Gigante side of Colorado to try my luck there, as most of the pack was sitting at Colorado proper.

My first wave was a quick right.  I managed to get a pump on the face of the wave which I quickly aborted and turned down.  My nose dug in just barely but I was left standing.

I pulled back from many-a-closeout until my next wave.  I swooped around the initial section and set my line, I was about to pump when out of the corner of my eye I saw the lip throwing over.  I ducked down just in time and was shocked to see the spinning cylinder of the barrel. While hooting (inadvertently),  and hearing the echo, I watched as the next section over threw over and then the one in front of it.  If I was in there for over 1.5 seconds I'd be surprised.

Nothing else worth writing about came and I eventually went in after close to two hours in the water.

4.3.18 Traffic Jamming into Steepness

There was a slight uptick in swell and the tide was about right so I took that walk down to Colorado.  I've counted my steps, and at about 2.33' per stride, 1800 steps to wet sand is about three-quarters of a mile.  This amount doesn't include the walk back or walking up the beach once I figure out where I will paddle out.

It was nice seeing bigger waves today.  It was not so nice seeing the headcount multiply as I got closer to the water and obstructions fell away.  We are definitely in surf season.  I'm hoping the rains begin soon even though it means we will have many mosquitoes and gnarly humidity.

While I saw a lot of waves breaking today, I don't think I saw more than one makeable one.  Every wave on which someone went would lead to a meek display of their board tombstoning or their head poking out barely above the surface, slowly being led to slaughter over the falls. 

It's frustrating, but at least there are waves!

I caught my first left about ten minutes after having paddled out.  I made it around the initial section, then saw a slabby section about ten yards long jack up.  I pulled through the wave, but the force of it made me go over the falls.  I kicked my board out in front of me and covered my head with my arms and hands.  No impact came.

A LONG time passed, and I caught another left.  Every wave in the interim looked juicy while paddling for it, but a look in either direction betrayed its intentions with my body.  I popped up and immediately regretted my decision.  I kicked the board out.

About a half hour later, I caught my final wave.  I got hung up on the lip and airdropped.  I pulled it and there was nothing there.

Word on the street is the crowds visiting here love surfing early in the morning as that is what they are used to in the States.  The correct play is to wait until ten and if the waves look decent you paddle out and get a few while they tourists rest up for the afternoon session.

4.1.18 Small Crisscrossed Wyoming

The swell was supposed to be increasing but unfortunately, the tide was as well.  I realized the backwash would be in play and it certainly was.  Waves would come and be almost inevitably be hit by backwash.  The faces were blocky and looked like windwhipped stairs.

The head count at PC proper made it unpalatable to me.  Wyoming was a little more spread out.

My first wave was within ten seconds of perching.  It offered nothing but a drop.

I paid for my quick wave by waiting twenty minutes for my next one.  I dropped down, got a quick pump in, then rose up and smacked an off-the-lip.  I heard a satisfying THWACK and rode away
smoothly.

No other waves of note came and in I went.

3.31.18 Backwash Blitzkrieg at Wyoming

Yesterday evening we met some friends at the beachfront house they manage.  The surf looked abysmal.  I had low hopes for this swell.

This morning while walking to the beach we happened upon a guy I've surfed with and he said it was fun yesterday around noon.

I decided to paddle out at a similar tide to try my luck today.

I slathered on the 50spf sunscreen because I would be out in the dreaded 10-2 baking window and took the walk.

I saw a party of three in the parking lot and asked them their thoughts on the conditions.  They said it was fine, but a little backwashy.

Sure enough, I walk out and there is the backwash along with no one out at Colorado proper.  I paddle out there with the understanding I'd be getting swept out towards Wyoming.

I reminded myself to try a foam climb when waves would inevitably close out on me.

My first wave of note was a fast left.  I got enough of an angle on it that I could pump.  I came down off that and came up for a risky second pump.  I was flying down the line aching to blow any section that had the guts to present itself to me but nothing came and I got batted off my board.

I had a similar wave but this one had a nice steep section for an off-the-lip. I rose up and smacked it well and while completing the turn  the backwash hit and down I went.

I caught a right and smacked it nicely, but got hung up on the lip.  For whatever reason I jumped off after about a second-and-a-half when I probably would've made albeit for not much of a reward.

I then caught my best wave of the day.  It was another right.  I made it down, bottom turned, then averted course for a quick pump.  I bottom turned again then saw a section and I immediately recalled one of my first waves from July of 2012  There was a small section in front of the wave and just at the right time I obliterated it in a really tight arc as its big brother pushed from behind. I had so much speed and the wave closed out.  I went for a foam climb and got really high but with no plan and fins releasing into the drink I went.

This was definitely the best turn I've done since 2014 (but then I took two long breaks between then and 2017)!

I was over getting baked in the sun and when the waves went quiet for twenty minutes I bailed.

3.29.18 Understandably All Alone at PC

Welp, looks like more of the same!  I spotted some corners that at least gave the illusion of opening up.  Once out there, though, it was tough to even get a pump in at the top of the wave.

I caught about five waves.  All of my drops felt critical.  My one mistake was on a right where I thought about going for the barrel and bailed on the idea as I wouldn't have made it.  It would have been nice to get barreled going backside though for the first time in nearly four years.

I'm still having issues shutting down when the wave closes out and/or leaves me behind.  I need to start harnessing these opportunities for foam climbs.

I walked on the beach to Panga Drops but that wasn't worth the paddle

3.23.18 Double Dipping from PC to PD

The waves had dropped and I considered taking my Tomo out for a spin.  A gust of wind convinced me otherwise.  Stringerless boards are in general less flexible and forgiving in chop, and there was a fair chance I'd be dealing with a fair amount of this today.

I walked all the way down to Playa Colorado.  There wasn't much out there, but there was something.  I paddled a little bit away from the crowd and within ten minutes I was rewarded with my best wave there in a while.  It was m a y b e chest high.  I managed to catch up to it with some deft pumping and harnessing all the speed pockets I could.  I did a mini top-turn and then went for a floater but I didn't rotate my shoulders enough and I splayed back.

After a few closeouts I was over the worsening conditions and increasing chop.  I hadn't put sunscreen on much of my body as I had my jacket.  I didn't want to take it off halfway back and get roasted, so I decided to walk up the beach to Panga.   There, I thought I would at least paddle out and re-wet the jacket so I wouldn't roast in that on the shorter walk back.

It was an eventful walk.  The high tide had left some sand-encompassed pools of salt water.  I was nonchalantly walking through them and I sank so fast on one step; it's the closest I've come to cartoon-style quicksand.

Then I spotted a dead fish.  It wasn't small, but it wasn't big enough for a meal either.  I figured there was a chance it would reanimate if placed back in the water but it was definitely dead.  I wanted to give it a proper send-off in the ocean and maybe feed an ocean creature.  This solidified my resolve to paddle out at Panga.  As I waded out, I balanced it on the deck of my board.  Once I was ready to start paddling I grabbed it by the tail and as I wound up and just started my throwing motion it slipped out of my hand.  So fishy if your spirit is reading this, I'm sorry I didn't give you a good send-off into deepwater.  May your purgatory at inside Panga be short  and may you be consumed by a worthy being through which you will continue to live.

There were two dudes out in the now wind-whipped conditions.  I paddled inside of them and stayed there for a few minutes, giving them a chance to snag waves before I got priority in the rotation.  I then spotted a peak to the south.  The paddle was rough, as many times I was paddling through rough troughs (did anyone catch the same word three times in a row?), rendering my efficiency terrible. 

About ten minutes later, I paddled my ass off.  I caught a wave and made it down, then had a quick panic that the wave was going to pass me by.  I was able to squirt enough water through the tail and the wave linked up with the next peak down the line.  It developed a wall and I gained speed.  I nice foam coping formed and I went up and did a floater/rock-and-roll completing half the maneuver before the wind snatched the board away from me.  If I'd kept more of my weight on my heels I would have been golden. 

No other noteworthy waves came and I went in in my refreshingly wet jacket.

3.21.18 Picking off Mid-Morning corners at PC

I didn't see anything in the in the form of wave action as my walk was reaching its ending; a bad sign.  I was eventually comforted by the sight of a closeout 😏.

I put on my jacket and did some light stretching while I drank in the conditions.  The main peak seemed to be closing out, but the corners of these seemed to be holding up every so often.  The idea of veering away from the pack and picking off what was there after the unmakeable section inevitably folded over was titillating.

Well, the first and second waves were close-outs.  The second of these I got hung up on the lip and hit the eject button, breaking the water's surface with my elbow so as to sink more efficiently into it.

My third wave was a little screamer and I caught up with it.  I hadn't been presented with a forehand section in weeks and I while I did look down I didn't rotate my head and shoulders.  Granted, the section was super steep and drainy as it was pretty far on the inside. 

I had some work to do and so I bailed not long thereafter.

3.18.18 First One Out at PC

I woke up just after 4:30 this morning but remembered my plan to paddle out as close to first light as possible.  I geared up and headed down the steps.  Before I even hit the first clearing for the golf course a truck slowed down and my new buddy Hayden gave me a ride.

I got out once at our destination and waited for him to put on his neoprene jacket.  He smiled and said I didn't have to wait for him.  So I went and checked it and lo and behold there were closeouts to be had.  But once in a while a nice A-frame would detonate.  The waves were definitely overhead and there was no one out.  I did some neck and arm stretches to take the strain out from last night's session

I made it out unscathed despite the relative bombs coming through.  The swell was seemingly still building.  It took me forever to catch my first wave and frustration set in.  Eventually, my wave came and the drop was probably the most gorgeous of any wave I've ridden since 2014.  With that good news comes the bad news: There was no wall, nothing, to follow it.  It had shot its wall wad on the initial peak.

My final two waves were similar, though the second was a really critical drop.  I got hung up on the lip as a gust of wind further levitated me.  I thought I was going down but I stuck it but unfortunately there was no reward to be had.

My teeth chattering, my paddling muscles bitching, I decided to go in.  Hopefully the water will warm up before it gets too crowded to surf comfortably...

3.17.18 Big and Sloppy PC

I'd intended on surfing yesterday afternoon, then today around midday/mid-tide but daddy duty kept getting in the way.  I was finally granted a reprieve and so I took the long walk down to PC.

I knew it was going to be big.  I've seen PC around this size once before.  There were a lot of closeouts but every eight waves or so there would be a corner on which you could try to tuck into a no-way-out barrel or attempt a losing battle with a fast lip.

On my first wave, I experienced the latter and I kicked my board up and out.

My next wave was a right, and probably my best wave.  I half-pumped, half-bottom turned a couple of times and really close to the gaping maw of this fierce lip.  After this exchange I kicked my board up, conceding defeat.  While underwater, I wondered if I could've gotten in the barrel.  Yes, but not for long (considering I couldn't keep up with the wave with way more room than I'd have had in the pit.

I was told to go on a big meaty left which I thought was going to close out.  It was nasty looking but go means go and go I went. It opened up ever so slightly and I laid into a bottom turn but aborted and jumped over my frontside rail as the booming foam and I became one.

It seems the hopeless closeout count has remained the same.  This is the first big swell and maybe after it is done the sand will have shifted into a more amenable shape so as to provide us some nuggets.

3.14.18 Low Tide Pangas

After witnessing some relative bombs detonating at Outside Pangas yesterday I made plans to paddle out this morning.

It wasn't a great situation.  You could sit outside and wait for the bigger ones which had too-fat walls or you could get the inside ones which were a little bit better, but you would get cleaned up by the whitewash.

I took a right late and bit it right away, getting bounced off when my fins hit. 

The highlight of the session was a left I caught late.  I put my weight on to my fins and waited until it was safe, then sped towards the lazy wall.  I did a top turn of sorts then kicked out.

The water was noticeably warmer and I look forward to shedding my wetsuit jacket soon.

3.10.18 Aborted No-Go at PD

The previous evening we watched the sunset from in front of Colorado and the waves were opening up, meaning less than eighty percent were hopeless closeouts/section-offs!

I made plans to surf there the next morning but the swell dropped and it wasn't even worth the short wade-out.  I turned my eyes towards El Salvador and walked.  I figured there would be something more enticing at Panga Drops.

While I saw waves break they were lazy and wind-whipped. I'd made the mistake of putting on my vest jacket at Colorado so I was sweating.  I knew if I took off the jacket I wouldn't paddle out so I trudged on and looked forward to being cold.

The water was so damn cold.  I never thought the water in Central America could dip into the 60s.  But it was frigid and those who tuned into my post-sesh cam show know I am telling the truth.

I caught two waves, both drops with nowhere to go.  I got blown off the back on both of them, despite being on my practically rocker-less board.

I'm going to wait until the swell kicks back up, which should be Monday evening, before I attempt another paddle-out.  I will say I felt very refreshed after being reanimated in the shower.

3.8.18 Dropping Swell but Rising Wave Count at Panga Drops

The girls wanted to go to the beach so I decided to surf while they did their thing.

I couldn't decide which board to grab and eventually opted for the 5'10" with more volume and nose rocker.  The swell had peaked but it would be a slow descent into its runts.

I paddled out through the sandspit, again surprised at how quickly I got out and this time with even dryer hair than last time.

The tide was dropping, probably about a third of the way down to its low.  The waves were a little bit steeper as a result.

On my first wave, I faded hard to my backside.  My leash was under my back foot but by the time I turned up the wave there was little there.

I got another wave and I should have gone for a roundhouse cutback but did just a cutback into the whitewater without facing it.

When I caught my first right I was a bit worried that the crosschop (the wind blows directly into the rights) would hamper my bottom turn and sure enough, I bobbled and couldn't recover after railing through it.

I got a second chance at a right and it was foamier due to the first wave of the set breaking before it.  I managed to bottom turn and laid into a nice turn at the top of the wave.  I know I was at the top because I got blown off the back by the wind.

I decided to make my way in as it was almost our little one's nap time.  I managed to get a look at a semi-closeout and had fun doing a pump at the top of the wave and screaming parallel to the closeout section.  I keep forgetting to try foam climbs...

3.7.18 Triple Overhead Panga Drops? (NOPE!)

The previous night, I was told to bring my biggest board for the morning sesh as it would be triple overhead.  I replied, "Guess I'll be bringing the 5'10"!".  And bring it I did!

I was the only one on the beach when I slipped on my jacket and earplugs.  I walked out to the sandspit and, if not for making it late over an inside wave (and the offshore causing the spray to needle me), I would have paddled out with completely dry hair.

There was definitely a lot of water moving around but it certainly wasn't triple overhead, not even double overhead.  I paddled towards PC to make up for my sandspit shortcut and perched.  One other dude was paddling out diagonally from that direction.

It was less than ten minutes before a set came.  The first wave obliterated me.  I gathered my thoughts and my board and pressed on. I made it over the second wave of the set and elected to whirl around and catch the third.

At first I didn't think I was going to catch it, but with a few extra paddles it did.  I semi airdropped down the right, definitely overhead but not scarily so.   I was starting the bottom turn and I hit a chop and went flying. 

I paddled back out and an endless train of waves bore down on me.  The other dude caught the right behind me and was ahead of me towards  the priority buoy.  I eventually passed him and after five minutes of the paddle-paddle-duckdive gauntlet I looked back and was disheartened to see we'd been moving backwards. 

I flailed around for maybe ten minutes total and was over it.  The incoming swell coupled with the apexing high tide combined to kill my amperage.  After not having made eye contact with the one other dude, I sat on my board, looked over at him and caught his eye.  I did a throat slit motion with my finger (in retrospect it might have looked as though I was threatening his life), he smiled, and I caught the next wall of whitewater in.

I briefly considered checking out the beachbreak but figured it would be crappy as the sand is askew.

3.3.18 Mastering the Straight-Off Adolph at PC

The tide seemed somewhat favorable and there was swell so I decided to take the walk down to the beach.  I winced as I saw what awaited me.  Close-outs everywhere with one in every twenty waves having a corner.  This wouldn't be terrible, if the corners stayed put.

I caught two mirror image rights, made the drops and cut the bottom turns short after seeing what awaited me at their resulting trajectories.  I realized as I remembered the waves I could have gone for foam climbs at least... Maybe next session!

I eventually got swept past Wyoming into the rip and caught one in on which I almost pearled.

3.1.18 A Session to Forget at Busy PC

My wife wanted to watch the sun set from the beach and I took my board.  I knew it wasn't going to be big and it appeared that it was going to be more of the same (close-outs).

I was surprised to see a few corners at Wyoming, though they were few and far between.  I paddled out there after hauling my daughter and our newest neighbors from Canada's son in the wagon, which was a great workout.

In all I caught five waves.  The one left I caught was a questionable go and I was immediately blinded by the sun and its glare.  I navigated by feel and got semi-covered but nowhere near being encased in a barrel.

The rights were all borderline pearls with almost enough room on which to go for a hit but natch.

I can't believe how cold the water is this time of year.  My ear plugs were being bitches and being uncomfortable the whole time.

Man, I sound like an old man!

2.25.18 Morning PC Strike at Higher Tide than Yesterday

I'd been rolling around the idea of paddling out since I woke up at 3:30 this morning.  I wasn't feeling great, but could definitely muster up the strength to surf.  I found my Surf Ears and was pleased they wrapped around my neck, allowing me to salvage them from the next depth charge.

I mentioned to my wife I thought it'd be crowded as people at the beachfront party last night were speaking in hushed tones about high tide today being the call.   Surely, they'd tell their surf buddies and there would be a pack.

I grabbed my water jacket, board, and took the walk down to the beach.  My first glance of the ocean revealed a pretty big closeout and I got excited, given what might await me at the section of beach that closes out a little more slowly. 😏

The water was completely devoid of surfers.  I celebrated by stretching really well (for me).  I noticed during last night's go-out that as the session wore on I got slower on my pop-ups and I would drag my legs up.

Just as I finished my routine, another guy rocked up and began his.  I paddled out and perched and waited.  On my first wave I got hung up on the lip and I thought I was going down, given my experience the previous evening.  I pearled slightly but managed to make it.

All in I probably caught six waves.  I initiated one bottom turn on my backhand but aborted when the wave raced on.  I made all of my waves but if you count making unmakeable sections makes, then my success rate drops by an infinite amount.

My teeth were chattering and there wasn't anything worthwhile coming so I went in after about an hour, this time with ear plugs in hand!

2.24.18 Surprise Surge in Swell

We were invited to a kid's party at a beachfront house.  I saw pictures on FB of just how good it had been a couple of hours before and I decided to walk down to PC to see it for myself. 

I didn't see anything at first.  There was no one out at Colorado proper.  I checked Wyoming and a really nice set broke.  The tide was still dropping as I put on my wetsuit jacket and secured my earplugs.

My first wave was an easy enough drop.  I swooped down and snap-stalled.  I got covered up but was on the outer edge and the lip was dousing me.  I kept resisting until eventually I was pushed face down into the water, like a dog getting its rub nosed in its excrement.

The next wave was too quick for me to get around.

My ear plugs popped out and I caught them.  I paddled with the plug string in my mouth and two duckdives later they were gone...

Then came the lull of all lulls.  I saw some nice ones, not too steep but bigger than I've seen all year, breaking back at Colorado so I paddled against the current up that way. 

Long story short, nothing broke over there and I soon found myself drifting back.

The tide was really low at this point.  I took off on two more waves.  On both, I paddled, popped up and felt the wrath of the wind.  I stomped down to compensate and by the time gravity gradually began winning my nose was pointed too far down.  I was catapulted into the water and in I went.

While at the party I watched the waves and saw a couple of spitters. Both were at the end of a big closing section where a corner opened up but one could sneak in if they were lucky and get barreled and spat out. 

I'm hoping to surf the higher tide tomorrow morning though I'm sure it will be more crowded because of the coconut wireless...

2.20.18 Pangas: Possibly the Windiest Sesh in my Surf Career

I went to Rivas and had to abort my mission to get something notarized as I'd neglected to remember to bring my passport.  I dutifully went to the grocery store and came back.  When I dropped off an item our neighbors needed, I was propositioned for a session by the NSR photog.  He said he really needed someone to shoot and there wasn't anyone out.

It was midday, the surf sucked, but I acquiesced.  I lathered on sunscreen and we pedaled down to Colorado, which looked absolutely abysmal.  A bicycling groove of grommets, coming from Panga Drops, gave us the report: "It sucked".

I had still not done a turn on the Tomo since Oceanside.  I forgot how nicely it goes on the flat spots, perfect for a day like today.

My first wave was a pumpathon to oblivion.  My board went really well and did great paddling into the waves despite the 40+mph gusts.

My second wave was a pumpfest, and I got a nice squirt through the tail (heterosexually speaking) and found something to bounce off of.  Unfortunately, I didn't rotate my head and shoulders and I bailed.

My next wave of note was a sick one.  I dropped in late, and as a result, blind.  The breaking wave around me was throwing water that the wind was accelerating into my face.  Once I opened my eyes, I was shocked at the section presented to me.

I went for a hit/floater and was abruptly shoved off the back by the wind.

I sat for what seemed like forever.  I was getting cold and my teeth began to chatter.  I didn't know how many more shots Brian needed and so when a biggish wave came I went.  The section was one I probably couldn't have made if I'd managed to not get hung up on the lip.  It looked like this:

Spoiler alert I got thwomped on to my back and the rest of the wave ate me up!

I know, it looks like I was killing it out there.  It just shows you the power of the still frame in an action setting!

Happy Birthday to my uncle Brad, who is celebrating fifty years of being an adult today, at least chronologically speaking! 😂

2.19.18 F-it PM Session at PC

I'd spent most of the time between today and my last session back in San Diego.  I went up there to take my mortgage loan origination license test.  I thankfully passed and am now here waiting for it to become active so I can pad our income a bit.

During my time in SD, I went to my in-laws' storage unit and got my Tomo Vanguard, my last bosom board.  Up until today, it hadn't seen the water in nearly three-and-a-half years and had been languishing in its windowless cell.  I bought a used travel bag and paid an ass-puckering $200 to get it down here and luckily it did so in one piece.

After nearly three weeks of not surfing, I decided to paddle out no matter how bad it looked.

And bad it looked!  This was most evident by there being nary a head in the water.

I caught six or seven  waves and the only quasi-turn was on my first, I launched off the lip after having zero set-up time and flew into oblivion.

It felt great to be on this board, despite it only being a 5'4" and the volume being around 26.  It paddles well and catches waves well despite the offshore.

2.1.18 Unexpected PM Session at PC

My aforementioned neighbor came to my door while I was studying for my MLO test and said he was going to go check it.  He came back and said his contact at the beach reported chest-plus-high waves.  I grabbed my board and Chucho (Raquel and the girls were at the beach for a girls-only get-together) and we walked down.

The wind was pretty strong offshore, though not gusting and howling like it has been for the past couple of days.  I put in my go-plugs (ear plugs) and waded out.

I violated one of my surfing tenets on this day, for I fraternized with a sponger.  Brian revealed his true self and while I'm proud of him for the courage that took, I couldn't shake the piercing glares from other stand-up surfers.

I'm taking a little bit longer to get up on my board, definitely something I need to work on, though I did nail every drop.  They were all late due to the wind.

I blew one wave by trying to mini-pump upon take off.  The wind snagged my board and I couldn't descend again.

I had a nice, long left but I was off-balance for most of it.  I managed to hit it but was too off-kilter to have a shot.

I got teeth-chattering cold.  I know, I know, it's not cold here but the relative wind chill was nasty as the sun was going down.

1.16.18 Back to Playa Colorado with First Hint of Swell

I had to abort my first attempt at leaving the house with my board.  My eldest decided she does in fact like me and started crying, begging me not to go.  I solemnly put my board back.  I ate my Frosted Flakes and figured that was it.  My wife got up and then she told me to go.

By the time I got down there it was well past first light.  There was one guy checking it but no one in the water.  It looked pretty bleak out there with some almost-skimmable waves breaking a little too fast.  I headed towards Wyoming, the break north of Colorado.

A couple of guys in wetsuit tops paddled out into the nothingness at Colorado, in what I assume is a faith play.  A rideable set finally broke at Wyoming and I went out to my very own peak!

It was not to last, as one, then another, logger paddled out.  Sets were inconsistent, but chest-high and they had more than a drop!  I caught a racy left on which I bottom-turned and was too late to do much, but watched a foot from the barrel to see if I could have made it.  The answer is yes, for about two seconds before the section in front collapsed.

I caught another left and tried to get in the barrel but couldn't fit.

I tried my luck on my backhand.  I was really late on my first, made even later by the  gusting winds.  I descended and swung around, I poked my board up at it and was able to come around but I for whatever reason aborted even though it felt as though I'd made it with my noise pointed in the right direction.

A second right and I tried really hard to pump, I got one in and on my second I was hung up on the blazing lip.  I was catapulted face first into the trough and was really lucky not to have hit bottom considering once I stood up I was in hip-deep water.

My final right: redemption!  I pumped once and hit it as the wave sped off.

I caught a final closeout in.

1.14.18 Forgettable Pangas Slumpbuster

For modeling inquiries, please contact Discreet Models at 976.GAY.4.PAY

I had to really convince myself to surf this afternoon.  I walked the long way to Panga Drops and walked out to the sand, then back towards the break.  A place I'd never seen break before looked really good considering the lack of swell in the water.  I checked that for fifteen minutes and no other waves like that one magic set came.  The absolutely howling offshore winds were hammering me and coating my lower body in sand.

One of my neighbors is a photographer for NSR, a company that has a surf shop/vacation rentals/real estate business, among other things.  I talked to him for a while as he shot pics for the surf report.  He said it looked pretty good all things considered.  We watched the set of the day not quite detonate and I figured that was as amped as I would get, so I should harness it and get out there.

The vast majority of waves were strictly drops.  There was a sweeper out there who was having trouble catching waves, although there was a logger who was snagging quite a few.

While talking to the photog, I compared this spot to monogamy.  You're sitting on your peak and you will see other, pretty waves break and you will be tempted.  But you know as soon as you paddle over to your new crush you will regret it as you will miss your old one.

As a result of this reinforcing conversation,  I sat in the same spot.  The stakes were a little higher today, for if you missed a wave you paddled for, you were punished by myriad needles in the form of salt water projectile launched by the offshores.

I will describe all the waves worth the effort in the below area.

1.4.18 WAY Bigger than I Expected at Inside Pangas

It was pretty warm this afternoon and the swell was tiny and only going to get smaller.  I figured I should go paddle around if only to cool off.

I walked to the spot and was surprised to see it sporting a semblance of rideability.  The tide was coming up, almost to its apex, so it was the shorebreak show.

I paddled out and was shocked when I caught my first wave, as it was nearly head-high.  I caught another, then the pack enveloped me.  I paddled south to emptier pastures, to a peak which had looked rideable from shore and no one on it.

I sat there for ten minutes and then was shuttled back to my original spot by the current.  I caught one more wave, another too-quick virtual closeout and was again surprised at the power.  Another thing that struck me was the rushing foamy water made it feel as though I was moving in slow motion; it was really freaky.

I paddled, then perched once more and while looking towards shore I saw something I hadn't seen at the beach since 2002...

A woman's top third had the same color as her middle third.  Could it be? Could it be I had snapped my tittyless-at-the-beach streak?  I strained to confirm my hypothesis but couldn't make out nipples, let alone areoli.

The shortest ten seconds of my life and then that's when it happened, she put a black bikini top over them. YES! It HAD happened after all.

I spent the rest of my time in the water changing the lyrics of popular songs to strictly 'titties'.  My favorite was the synth part of the Ghostbusters theme song.

I caught another wave and went in.  As if to put the cherry on top of the titty sundae, a local in a golf cart offered me a ride back to my condo building!

12.30.17 Beat-The-Heat Panga Sesh

I wasn't expecting much today.  Playa Colorado is on life support and it was evident this morning when I counted about two dozen heads picking apart the scraps, like buzzards picking at nearly-bare bones.

I managed to paddle out through a secret (to me) rock patch.  On my wade out I got one close call when I semi-jumped and was surprised by a shallow rock.  The ball of my foot barely cleared out and I precariously balanced on it on one foot as a wave came.  I was transported  to my struggles of years-past at Punta Roca, but turning my sights seaward snapped me immediately out of that whimsy.

My first wave was my best wave.  A too-fat right started breaking at the top, I let it hit me and by the time I stood up I was hanging on the ledge.  The offshore picked up and I got blasted in the face, free-falling maybe two feet into oblivion.  I came up amped at the difficulty level despite the small size.

A couple of forgettable, borderline unsurfable waves later and I went in.  If I was out for fifteen minutes I'd be surprised.

12.28.17 Quick Strike on Onshore Colorado

I lost another argument to walk to the beach instead of drive so we loaded up Opie and had a little bit of beach time.  I'd applied sunscreen and had brought my board so I was committed to surf.

It looked TERRIBLE. At first flat, then onshore and closed out.  There was one other guy out.

I paddled out and caught three or four closeouts.  I couldn't even get a pump in.

I decided to wade up to the north and try my luck there.  I got a left swooped under and did a late turn and PULLED IT!!!!!!

I went in after about twenty minutes out thar.

12.26.17 Racy Playa Colorado

There's a good kind of racy and a bad kind of racy when it comes to waves.  The good kind is when the waves force you to stomp down and surf as efficiently as possible, swing it around the section with tons of speed and THWACK! over and over again.

The bad kind is when you can't ever hope to catch up to the wave.  This is when only Mick Fanning on a WaveJet might be able to make it around some sections.

Today was the latter.

I sat on the sand in front of the beach club for about a half-hour because it looked bad when I first walked out.  It was onshore/sideshore but I saw there were storm clouds approaching.  In El Salvador, this almost always means offshore winds and seeing as to how that's the prevailing wind pattern here, I figured it was almost a certainty.

Sure enough, the wind swung around and I was soon being rained on.  The tide was still rising and a bit too low. I waited a bit longer and had decided to paddle out right in front, where there was no one.  Then three Brazilians paddled out and I figured I'd get snaked so I averted course for northern peaks.

The water is cold, but still not San Diego in the summer cold.  The first duckdive felt especially refreshing.

A squall came down on us.  It was hitting pretty hard, making one have to squint to see well.  A rainbow appeared, ending on the pristine beach south of where I sat.  The rain went away and I got my wave count up pretty fast.

I made no sections.  I saw one of the Brazilians luck into a corner where he was able to get two turns in on his slower wave.  I saw a logger get a nice ride, but every other ride was an impossible race against the ocean.

After I caught an ill-advised "right", I got caught in a cleanup set, but made it out again.  Even on close to head-high and low-ish tide on these I haven't gotten a really good clobbering yet.

I went in after the crowd count continued to rise and the waves were still doing their thing.  The scenery was excellent and it felt good to be out there but these waves are too damn fast!

12.24.17 One and Done at PD

I walked all the way to Playa Colorado today and unfortunately it was relatively crowded.  The waves were walled or very racy.  When I first walked up I got excited by seeing an emerald green wave jack up and over but there was never a hint that we weren't dealing with mostly unmakeable-around-the-section waves.

I saw a skinny bald guy burn two people on two straight waves and that cemented my decision to move along down the beach.

As I approached Panga Drops I didn't see anything particularly tantalizing and then it started raining.  I took that as a sign to paddle out and so I did.  I almost immediately caught a left with a nice drop and nothing more.  I continued paddling out, basking in the beauty of the black skies and solid rainfall.

As is seemingly always the case at this place, the peaks shift and instead of being too far out I was too far in.  I paddled for ten or fifteen minutes and duckdove multiple sets.  One glance back to the beach and I was over it, I hadn't moved much.  The dudes I watched take off got maybe one turn in and then mush.  I did see one guy get a sick right and do two turns on it.

I walked back and the rain let up.  We're out of the wet season so any rain that comes in helps prolong the green into the dry season.  It has rained twice since then and this should really make a dent in delaying the jungle's transformation into brown and bare.

12.23.17 Not too Crowded PM Sesh at PC

I managed to get a mosquito bite right past where my toes meet and decided to go sans sandals to not have the strap rub on the bite. 

I walked about a half-hour down and paddled out after a brief check.  The offshore was there but not too strong, which is always nice.  The waves were still very fast and not one barrel was made in my time out there.

I got another sick carve in which decimated my chances of continuing on with the wave.  I'm still doing the going-for-a-roundhouse-but-end-up-carving thing.  Hopefully I'll be able to snap out of that soon.

The absolute highlight of the session was a left which WAY down the line had a guy going for it.  He pigdogged into the barrel and was in there for a fair amount as I eyed him while paddling for the wave.  He was about thirty yards away when the foam ball swept away his board and his dreams and I pounced, elated.

I got on, snapstalled and was in the barrel.  It immediately started passing me by and so I tried to stand out of it since it wasn't more than shoulder-high and got slapped onto my ass.

It got a little inconsistent and I went in after about an hour.

12.22.17 Bloated Pangas Slumpbuster

A swell that was supposed to fill in after the last swell mysteriously evaporated from all swell models and I got to see this stretch of beach at flatness.  Granted, it wasn't completely flat, but I took the last ten or  so days to get my amperage up.

I saw the first of the new albeit modest swell would be hitting overnight and I made plans to walk out in the dark.  There was basically nothing at PC and I walked the twelve or so minutes to Pangas and watched one logger paddle out.  A set wave came every ten minutes or so. Out thar.

The session was about what I expected.  I caught a long left on which I did very conservative 'turns' and got almost all of the way to the beach before I kicked out.

I caught a wave really late, and air-dropped then ate it.

The most memorable thing that happened was as I was paddling out the last time I felt a jolt on my right wrist.  It felt at about a quarter-strength of getting an electric shock.  As soon as I felt it, I felt it wrap around to my forearm.  It was pretty nasty and I assumed it was a jellyfish sting but I think it's chicicaste, as it felt as thought it was a thread wrapping around me.

I caught a wave all the way in.  It closed out and I just kept going on it until just before hitting the sand.

12.11.17 Too Low a Tide at Playa Close-Outs-Rad-Though

In a shift of strategy, I decided I was tired of fat waves and wanted some slope.  I knew paddling out at dead low tide in small surf especially was a recipe for broken dreams and possibly a broken board, so I aimed for about ninety minutes into the bounce off bottom.

The wind was howling offshore and coupled with the low tide, I knew it was going to be hairy albeit small drops.

The most greenwater I saw was on a left, which allowed me one pump around a section before its big brother section shut down any and all action.

I made every drop except one but alas there was no reward.  I pigdogged on one wave and realized it was passing me by as I subtly bottom-turned while grabbing rail.  I smashed through the lip, then it was eerily quiet, then I went through the back. The eerie quiet time was me in the barrel.  Though I had my eyes closed it was my first time in a pigdog barrel in more than three years.

12.9.17 Onshore Mid-Morning PC

I was ready to do another pre-dawn session but unfortunately the tide was at its apex right at first light.

I paddled out and was slightly surprised at the sparse-ish crowd.  The waves didn't look great, but every so often a nice set would come.  Magicseaweed was claiming today to be a three-star day but it certainly didn't seem that way.

I paddled out one peak north and was by myself.  I almost immediately caught my best wave, a fat left.  I rose up, then when I felt the wave about to cavitate, STOMPED down and got a ton of speed.  That got me around the section.  It crossed my mind to to a cutback because of the relative fatness of the waves but I was too amped and tried to smash a weak section and ate it.

I caught a couple of rights and had to pump the brakes off my bottom turn when I realized how fat they were.  Every right I got did that, so I eschewed them for lefts.

Nothing else of note happened and I went in after about forty-five minutes.  The sun was getting a bit nasty and not worth the conditions.

12.5.17 Pre-Sunrise Sesh at PC

I'd spotted a neighbor at the previous evening's festivities at the beach club.  He said he wanted to surf early in the morning.  I told him I would be out at first light (I'd warned Raquel last week I'd be paddling out super early on Tuesday).  He said he would join me and he fist-bumped me so as to solidify our bro date.

I set the alarm for 4:30 (I've been waking up anywhere from 3:30-4:40 all week, but I didn't want to be late and bum out my new friend).  I woke before the alarm, saw it was light-ish out and marveled at my body's internal clock and how it just knows when I need to get up.  I checked my phone and it was 2:02.

I went back to bed, beat the alarm by ten minutes, and got ready to go.  Lucia got up too and I made her breakfast while my coffee was still going.

Eventually, I got going and I marveled at my walk through the woods and my silhouette by moonshadow.

I got there and Buzz was there taking pics to cajole people to come on down and stay at his place (I'd do the same thing if in his shoes, by the way).  I asked him about where it was good and I paddled out at the left. There was no one out!  No sign of my fist-bump friend...

I caught five or six waves, all lefts.  I pulled back on a couple on which I could've gotten immediately barreled, though there would be nasty aftermath.  Here a couple of pics Buzz took, nothing exciting...

My first wave was a little fat.  I got a couple of long pumps on it and I could hear the spray flying off my rail and on to the area behind the wave.  Nothing came of it as I faded.

I did a pretty sick, or so it felt, carve on which I'd channeled my inner Pancho Sullivan.

I caught shoulder-high wave, made it around the initial section, snap-stalled ever so slightly, and got covered up for the first time in more than three years.  I caught a quarter-second view of the barrel before something went wrong and I was in the drink.

I got around another section, bottom-turned hard and fell on my top turn.  I was surprised by the mushy shoulder and the wave had spent itself on the section it put in my way.

The whole time I was out up until my last two minutes, I was completely by myself in the water.  As a result I have informed Raquel I will be doing the first light session more often.

Never did see that dude, though I saw his kid at the entrance to our condo building!

12.4.17 Quick Strike at swarmed PC

This was a quick session.

I caught one wave of note, a right, and I got a good hit on it.  I thought I was too late and while I got hung up in the lip I was able to descend smoothly.

I heard screams from the sand and sure enough, it was from my family.  I didn't know what was going on so I rushed in.  It turned out our youngest dropped our oldest's doll in the water and there was bedlam.  Raquel ran to place Lucia on the sand while she carried Solani.  We all looked for the doll together and Raquel spotted her floating in the river.

I paddled back out caught a couple of closeouts and went in.  I was getting killed by sea lice and the waves seemed to not want to open up, even on the sets.

12.3.17 Bigger PC with strengthening offshores

It was as flat as I'd ever seen it when the fam and I descended upon its sands earlier today.  The tide was extremely low thanks to the supermoon and the surf responded in kind.

I was shocked to see it shoulder-high  on the sets.  I paddled out where there was no one as the main peak was swarming with dudes.  I caught a forgettable wave, but then I had one with a little corner to it and I bottom-turned, compressed then slashed off the top while sliding out my fins and landed cleanly.  I think I've solved the mystery!

I caught a right and was drawing out a bottom turn to obliterate the lip when I stopped short because I was afraid the wave would pass me by.  I did a half-turn half-pump and then the wave officially did pass me by.

I kept looking towards shore and saw Raquel with the girls (the ever loyal Chucho right by them as well) and decided to go in because it looked like she needed help.

12.1.17 Short but Sweet Seshie at Onshore PC

I hadn't surfed in a few days as I was having a hard time finding a window in which I wasn't needed with the girls and a time outside of ten and two when the tide wasn't at either a peak or valley.  I spent five hours yesterday traveling to and from Rivas, while doing some Christmas and grocery shopping as well as some odds and ends for our condo.

I thought today would be bigger than it was.  When we pulled up it looked bad, California bad.  I realized it was onshore, which is the norm almost everywhere else on the planet but the exception here.

The water was cold, as warm as San Diego gets in late summer, but still easily trunkable.  This is likely a result of the onshore flow and the upwelling it generates.

While walking to my chosen peak I reminded myself to keep my right arm pinned back after exiting the bottom turn.  I caught a left and did just that, came off the top and down so smoothly.  It felt too easy after doing that one little thing differently.

I caught a right did a two-part bottom turn, then foam-climbed and back down with no issues.

I saw my wife with the dog and the girls and went in as I thought she needed help.  She denied having needed help and I paddled out, caught two closeouts before getting lit up by sea lice.  I decided sitting in the salt water,  encouraging the spread/sting of the sea lice, wasn't worth it and went in.

11.28.17 Sunset Sesh at Colorado

In my quest to get the best conditions dialed, I've been paddling out, or at least looking at it, during different tides to see how it reacts.  This can take a long time, as there are so many variables involved.  The most efficient way to do it would be to take a little reporter's notebook and make a notation of the wind direction/speed, swell direction/size, and tide then rate it qualitatively on a 1-5 scale.  After enough reps, you can get a rough idea as to the ideal set-up.

Unfortunately, this doesn't take into account the most important aspect of wave quality, bathymetry.  What's on the bottom dictates, more than anything, how a wave breaks.  However, if you look at it enough times during a short window, you can take this variable out of the equation so long as nothing drastic happens to change it (a big storm and/or swell can change sandbars drastically). 

Just as on land, there is an erosion issue with sandbars though...

I've been watching some videos to diagnose my issues and I think I've narrowed it down to two things. 

The first is wanting to 'keep my eye on the ball' and watch board contact the wave on snaps' which is a no-no; one is to look (first with the head/neck, then shoulders, then upper torso/arms) to the destination and the body is to follow.

The second is to keep one's arm over each rail the vast majority of the time.  This one I'd never heard before though I'd noticed back in my GoPro days I was swinging both arms back on frontside top turns.  I'd noticed you don't see rippers doing that on video and chances are it wasn't because I'd blazed a new style trail (I did that with the crab grab).

After paddling out into close-out central in an attempt to get lucky on a random corner, I paddled into the thin-ish and mostly mellow crowd.  I caught a left and a right with a similar result, which was getting to the bottom and then jumping over the folding section.

I finally got a look at a left and was really excited to try out what I thought was the answer to my cancer.  Though I did a strong bottom turn and looked down to the trough (and slightly behind me), I fell back on swinging arms back.

I saw a wave breaking north of me with no one on it and paddled to greet it.  The highlight was a right I caught late and was able to squeeze one mini-pump.  This bought me some time and the wave and I was racing with me slightly losing.  Not sure what I was thinking, I tried to turn into the barrelling wave in order to get on the slightly slopier trough section. I immediately got slammed and while underwater wondered how long I could've been in the barrel before the inevitable drubbing.

I'm still dealing with the arch of my foot cramping up but hopefully if I keep surfing it will work itself out.

I walked back and saw some of our neighbors on the sand, said hi then undertook the long walk back to our condo.  Towards the end of the walk, it was moonlight which lit my way back through the trees.

11.25.17 Bloated PC with light crowd; PC Pros/Cons

Yep, it was high tide again but this time a farther walk to go for a session.

Here's my opinion pros and cons after having surfed it about a dozen times total:

PROS

• Several peaks, which helps split crowd up
• Can work at both tides if swell cooperates, which helps split crowd up
• Can handle big swells
• Rivermouth helps shape sandbars
• Private-ish wave: only those staying at HI and RS can surf it unless they boat in (could be considered a con, if you're staying elsewhere).  People in Gigante can walk but it's a long one.
• Offshore winds allow one the option to wait for perfect tide/swell bump if working
• Near another wave within walking distance, which helps diffuse da dudes 
• About as good as waves get when stars align

 CONS

• Very fast and very hard to make on shortboard without great positioning/luck and flawless set-up pump/turn
• I would estimate that ninety percent of barrels close out and the remaining eight or so percent fold over into unmakeable oblivion.  On most days, my experience so far has been there are no makeable barrels; covers-up yes, but no substantial makeable barrels.
• Rivers bank up during dry season and don't break through until rainy season is well underway.  S swells start in March/April and rain doesn't start until mid-May generally.  Conversely, one can reap the rewards of late-season swell (this time of year is considered late- to off-season)
• It photographs really well and causes many faraway loins to purr, which leads to it being...
• Crowded

 I think I made it around one section today and though I did complete the top turn I had that toe-curling numbing of the arch issue.  The most fun I had was curling into my first pigdog in more than three years and being comically too far on the flats.  I was eighty percent laughing, twenty percent wary of a beating despite the shoulder-high wave.  I did crabgrab as well but given the high tide I couldn't squeeze in.

11.24.17 Quick Outside Pangas Shorebreak Strike

On a lark, I decided to see what Pangas had to offer.  The swell was about 1-3' so imagine my delight when the sets were head-high.  I paddled out and within four minutes I'd perched with dry hair.  The water was a touch colder than El Salvador water but still very pleasant.

I spotted one of my neighbors and I asked him why he chose this break over Colorado.  He said he paddled out here if it looked good and he rarely walked all the way down to Colorado.

The waves were very shifty which can be handy if there's a crowd as you tend to get spread out.  There were less than five of us out and the waves were tricky.  Because we were coming off the peak of the high tide it was almost always a late drop to get into waves.

I caught a left which looked really juicy off the drop but there was no shoulder; something I found out and was dismayed by after a strong bottom turn but nothing to push off once at the top.

I caught a right and I did a quick pump, then as I went for a hit the shoulder had passed me by.

All in all it was mostly drops at Panga Drops, but solid considering the swell with which it was working.

11.21.17 Still AM, now at Lance's Left

Though Playgrounds did get better as the tide dropped, we realized its potential would  be capped as we kept waiting and the improvement stopped.  Another panga and its payload paddling towards us didn't do much to soothe our pain so we bailed back towards Astillero, to Lance's Left.  I took the traverse time and reapplied sunscreen as it was getting close to the roast time of 10-2.

This was a picturesque spot with an imposing cliff littered with wayward cacti. We followed Tyler out and as the tide was getting low it did get ok.  On my first wave I did something weird and ended up digging a rail somehow on a fade turn.

I started getting pretty frustrated with myself and eventually things changed.

I caught arguably the wave of the morning and did a set-up turn, then stomped down and circled back with a strong bottom turn.  I demolished the section presented and came pretty close to pulling it.

After a little more than an hour, our party started streaming back to the panga (one guy didn't paddle out for the second sesh for one reason).  I got one last wave, pretty good, but did nothing noteworthy and we skedaddled.

We paid the portly guy $100 and tipped the captain $20 and headed back to our respective condos.

11.21.17 Boat Trip Session ONE: Early AM Playgrounds

One of my neighbors invited me on a boat trip a few days prior.  We spent the twentieth in Managua, where the streets do have names but the government chooses not to post them anywhere.  We went there to speak to an attorney and file paperwork for a corporation; a must since we are too young to apply for residency through pensioner status.

It was easily the worst day of our time here so far and I knew I'd be getting up early the next day, as I'd already committed to the boat trip.

I knocked on Tyler's door and he said to be out in the car park by 4:20.  Oof!  I was bumming but I'd committed and that was that.

The next morning, I got some coffee and went down.  I marveled at the too-many-to-count stars, many of which I hadn't seen in ages due to light pollution issues in the States.

I got in the car with three Canadian guys and we drove off to Astillero in the pitch blackness.  There was some worry as to whether there'd be a boat for us to hire since we'd be arriving just after first light.  Luckily when we pulled up there was a portly older man wearing a towel around his waist.  He said it'd be $120 and we talked him down to $100.

The panga was on the beach and they stuck nice smooth logs under it, taking the logs off the stern side and back under bow as they rolled.  Once we got to the water, a canopy and engine were added and off we went.

After about twenty minutes, we pulled up to Playgrounds.  I had read a few months ago that this place was similar to a warm-water Lowers and was salivating that the lefts were longer than the rights (unlike its cold-water cousin).

I caught one of the first waves and it immediately sectioned off.  I arced off the top and in the resulting gathering of my board I sliced my foot and big toe.  It wasn't a bad injury and at no point did I feel I should go back to the boat.

We had it to ourselves though we warily eyed a couple of off-road buggies that came by.  The first let some dudes out who paddled to a waiting panga.  The second didn't get there until we'd left (it seemed to want to follow our boat as it reached the limit of the pointed headland; still no clue as to what they were doing).

Our first boner bender (other than the uptick in swell not being enough to let Playgrounds do its thing) was a panga that let out three loggers and their photog.  We scooted down the point a ways, as the initial peak seemed to fold over every time.

I caught zero memorable waves and eventually we paddled to the boat.

11.18.17 PC on New Board!

I couldn't fathom the thought of renting a board for more than a week.

I went to SJdS and visited four or five spots and found one intriguing option: a Mayhem 6'0" shaped for Kolohe Andino.  The price was right at $225 (including fins) but there was a crease on it.  I hemmed but didn't quite haw and let it go, even though I was boardless and getting desparate.

Yesterday, we trekked to Popoyo and I couldn't find anything either.

Our neighbor downstairs has a quiver of boards right at his entrance and I asked him if he had any he'd be interested in selling.  He said yeah and it took us a couple of days to link up.  I saw his boards and they were a little too potato chip-y; I didn't want a board I could snap easily.  He told me about a place that sells boards and I hit them up today.

I got a 5'10" Al Merrick Bunny Chow.  I'd never heard of a Bunny Chow but then I've been way out of the game.  Two neighbors, including the aforementioned Brian, asked me what I paid and both winced.  The old EddieP might have gotten butthurt and likely angry at the face looking back at him in the mirror but I did a lot of research and the $330 was a solid price for the board and fins. NOT ONLY THAT but I talked him into a free bar of wax for having bought the board.  SUCKER!

I walked out of our condo complex at about 340 and walked to a lot we're interested in, then counted the steps to the beach access (489).  I saw a tantalizing wave break at Pangas and I headed in that way after making out about ten bobbing heads towards Colorado.  I spotted just about nothing surfable the whole walk.  I hung out there for a few minutes and the two dudes out weren't catching anything.

I thought about paddling out anyways but I decided I really wanted to try the board out and so a fifteen-minute or so walk I undertook to Colorado.

I caught my first wave, a left, and pumped to oblivion.  I intended on doing a roundhouse cutback but ended up settling for a slash on which the fins slid out just enough to make me dig a rail and bobble.

 

I caught a couple of forgettable ones and while sprint-paddling to set up a duckdive, I felt a twinge in the arch of my left foot.  I flexed it and it went away pretty quickly.  I caught a right late, bobbled, recovered, but I couldn't feel my toes very well.  This feeling dogged me the rest of the session whenever I stood up.  I'm going to try to remedy it by laying the board on the sand and putting all my weight on my back foot on the archbar of the tail pad.

I had a left on which I decided at the last minute to do a floater but my angle was off.

I pumped on another wave and was going to go for a roundhouse cutback but I bogged.  I decided to torque only my lower body and I was surprised at how much rotation I got out of the board as I faded out the back.

I went in, satisfied with the purchase.  I counted the steps to another lot we're considering which is smaller and cheaper (393).

11.14.17 Plenty O' Paddling @ Panga

This was one of the funniest sessions in a while.  I had anticipated a juicy low tide session and took two fins out of my board last night.  I paddled out past Panga which had about ten heads on it.  I made it out with a couple of light duckdives and that's when the game began.  A wave would come and it would appear as though it would absolutely, definitely break.  I'd paddle for it, miss it, then be too inside of the next one.

I would get wise, adjust, then miss a rideable (albeit barely so) wave.

I was getting ravaged by what is colloquially known as chichicaste in El Salvador.  I still don't know what it is; I've been told it's sea lice, microscopic barbed plant material, even baby (somehow invisible) jellyfish.  I got some in my arm pit and later across both of my buttcheeks.  It can sting pretty bad and is one of my top three stoke-killers.

I sat almost all of the way out, just shy of the foam-heavy pack.  My intent was to pick off the scraps.  It was too inconsistent and the pack fanned out in boredom, rendering my strategy moot.

Eventually, I went in little by little, missing wave after wave.  I was either too inside or outside and didn't get any clean looks at anything.

I developed massive foam envy.  The guys on logs and funboards were catching some head-and-a-half sets on the outside.  It was very inconsistent and the waves were fat, but still a better experience than mine.

I couldn't help but laugh at my luck.  Eventually, I stood up on a shorebreak wave and went in.

11.13.17 PC as swell drops

I barely glanced at Pangas today.  I thought about not looking at it at all and die-is-casting myself.  I stole a glance and while I saw nice waves peeling, the sight of a sweeper accelerated my trajectory towards Playa Colorado and away from Panga Drops.

The waves didn't look great with a little turbulence on the water.  In California, I would have been excited to surf waves like this (especially with less than ten people on it), so I tapped into my Cali consciousness and elicited some stoke out of it.

I caught my first wave within five minutes.  It was a right, a bit lazy, but it let me do a snap on a steepish section while sticking my hand in the face.  I made it without issues, then kicked out just as I was to descend again.  I'd gotten the best part of the wave and was angling for the best part of another wave.

I caught a left a bit late, eventually made it around the section with an elongated bottom turn, then had to stop short of a top turn as crest began cascading down (I christened it as a "direction change").  I felt my board loosen up a bit, then stomped down.  As I was about to ascend, the wave let out its death rattle and I was forced to kick out.

I paddled out again and perched as the crowd around me doubled in size.  I saw a bigger dude go for a wave on which he was really late. He two-paddled it right into the barrel and, though he eventually got swallowed and consumed by it, I was left impressed.

I thought to myself how long it had been since I was in a barrel.  I couldn't remember getting one on the trip earlier this year and it didn't happen in my two sessions in El Salvador last year.  So my last barrel could've been on this very stretch of sand thirty-nine months ago.

A left came and I saw a shot.  I took it, and the barrel pinched me immediately.  I couldn't even fit my upper body into it so I'm not counting it.

The crowd continued increasing and the waves got a little bigger, though they were a bit less frequent.  I took a close-out in.

Ribs are feeling better and more accustomed to the pressure and friction of a board.  I feel like my paddling muscles are all the way back (was pretty sore after first session).  I'm still taking it easy on sun exposure and my sessions are shorter as a result.

On the way back, I walked on the beach and was brutalized by sand fleas.  I'll take them over mosquitoes and especially horse flies any day!

11.12.17 High Tide Shellacking at Outside Pangas

I longingly looked down the beach to Colorado, hoping to see a morsel of something, something that would save me from the long paddle out to PDs.  In the haze, I made out over a dozen heads.  I saw one guy on a left struggling to catch up to the high tide line and that's when I boomeranged right, towards Pangas.

I surveyed the waterscape and didn't see anything working where I'd caught a couple yesterday.  It looked like I was going to have to paddle all the way out.

The waves I observed being ridden as I paddled out were on the flat side, surely a product of the peaking high tide.  I cursed my timing; I could have woken Raquel up to be with Lucia and I would have likely had a higher chance at better waves.  Though the thought crossed my mind, I labeled it as non-starter dick move each time it reared its head.

I eventually made it out, though I was still inside of the bombs.  These consisted of a drop and a respectable but messy wall on the rights and not much more than drop on the lefts.  I paddled for a right and was really close to catching it but it wasn't meant to be.

A set came and I paddled out. The top of it had just started breaking and I attempted to punch through it above the water.  It packed more of a punch than I had anticipated and it felt as though I'd been punched in the face.

The highlight of the session was a guy catching a right.  I duckdived so as not to be in his way and I went at too sharp an angle and made a fool of myself.  I came up awkwardly after having barely penetrated the water and my board and I were soon separated.  This likely would have been a finalist on @kook_of_the_day had anyone been filming.

Two clean-up sets came and the slopes were very flat. After getting rolled a few times I looked back and the beach was close.  I called it a session after having caught ZERO waves...

I'm thinking I will only paddle out at low- to mid-tides outside of the 10-2 mid-day bakefest.  Rising and close to high tide leads to too-fat waves and more whitewater to punch through.  If I get a shot, I'll do so this afternoon.