1.25.2012 Weird Carlsbad Session in front of the Power Plant

I got to Forrest's pad at 6:10 and I suited up. We took off in his ride, briefly checking Tamarack. Forrest kept talking about surfing SoPa (South Palomar) but came to his senses and pulled a U-ie to check Oceanside.

Unfortunately, Oceanside didn't have anything for us. The pier looked surfable, but we weren't excited by the prospects on display. We checked N. Pier, but that looked worse. We decided to check Harbor, but I didn't think it would be working due to the rising tide.

We continued south and spotted a macker breaking in front of the power plant, a place neither of us had previously surfed.

We kept going south to soothe Forrest's need for SoPa so we shot down there. It didn't have anything for us.

We circled back and finally parked. While retrieving our boards, we noticed there was a circle of guys standing just west of the lifeguard tower with their heads bowed. At first, I thought it was memorial, but they were out there for about twenty minutes, so I switched theories from memorial to prayer circle.

We paddled out without issue.

My first wave arrived within five minutes. It was a solid-looking right which had more steepness than I'd anticipated. I popped up off-balance and ended up rolling up one car window. I recovered and did a quick pump, into a cutback. By the time I pulled it around, the wave had passed me by.

I dodged three mackers to the dome. Two of them I barely made, the lips hitting me in the legs and threatening to set me back enough to take the next one in the set on the head. I couldn't remember the last time I surfed waves that hit this hard.

The next wave was a sick one. Forrest and I split the peak! I went left and the wave immediately started bowling over. I did a quick lip analysis and came to the conclusion it was unmakeable. I pulled way into the wave so as to escape out the back unscathed. I was successful. Here is the footy.



The next wave I caught was another left. It was mushier than the last one. I went for a floater but noticed in the footage that I keep doing the same thing at the top of the wave. I start with my arms and chest opened to the direction I want to go, but at the top, my shoulder swings back to my chest. I would imagine this makes my weight swing backwards, thereby explaining why I keep falling off the back. I will have to actively mind my arm position on future waves.



The prayer circle guys started paddling out and made it downright crowded.

Another wave came and I caught it. It was a left which was slow to develop but quick to close out. I kicked my board up and hit the water ass-first, letting the wave wash over me while not giving up too much position in the water.

The last real wave of the day was a right. I managed one turn on it, one I had to cut short due to the cascading lip. The wave then closed out and I finished the wave with a backside version of the last wave's ending.



Forrest had to meet his accountant at 9:30, so we bailed prematurely. While leaving the water, I made note of our crowd of two turning into ten heads.

While putting our gear in the ride, we saw a guy catch a sick right on his frontside, pump several times and EVISCERATE the lip. We hooted him the whole way.

1.23.2012 Burly Oceanside Pier/Tyson Street with Forrest

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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



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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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



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

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

The conditions continued to deteriorate, so we went in.

1.20.2012 Small and Slow Oceanside

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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



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

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

12.27.2011 Crappy 15th Street with Forrest EVENING SESH | First Sesh with the Go Pro Surf Hero Camera

Forrest and I headed down I-5 hoping to catch what Surfline said was 3-4' w/ occasional 6' (LOL) at Del Mar. I should know better than to trust SurfLIE but the stoke gets the better of me sometimes.

I was very excited to try out my Xmas present, the Go Pro HD Surf Hero 2. I'd stuck it on last night and tried to go out this morning, only to be turned away by closeouts or crowds everywhere I checked.

Forrest and I parked south of 15th Street and took the shortcut down.

A couple of notes about seeing yourself surf on film:

I'm not as hot as I thought I was. I figured myself for a 9.8 out of ten but now I've revised my number to a 9.65, possibly a 9.7 with excellent lighting.

I get deeper in my duckdives than I thought I did. Having a thin board, of course, helps that quite a bit.

I caught the first wave of the session relatively quickly. I was able to get four pumps out of it, hoping to connect with the oncoming section but it faded relatively quickly. Here is some footy from that wave, followed by a quick duckdive shot:




Not too long after that, I caught a meaty left. I wasn't able to get around the section and it detonated on my board. I feared the worst, thinking that the camera was dead, but no, it survived. It's kind of interesting thinking that this little camera is worth twice as much as the board! Here's some footy:



About ten minutes after paddling back out from the thick left, I caught a quick little nug and I was able to hit it. It's hard to tell from the video, but it was a decent bash. Here's the footy:



On my way back out from the lip bash, I saw a nice (relatively speaking) right forming to the north. I paddled over there, just missed some tweeners and sat. I caught this wave and had a good look at it. Unfortunately, my back foot was too far back and I blew it. It would've been a sick bash, maybe bash to floater. Footy is:



The waves slowed WAY down. I sat there watching the beautiful orange sunset's side effects on the cloud, about to decode the meaning of life when another right eventually came and snapped me back to something more important. I did a little mini-cutty and faded off the back. Here's video evidence:



Then we sat until after the sun was long-gone and we were the last two in the water.