10.17.2011 Lowers, then Cottons, Sunrise Sesh w/ Moondoggie

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10.14.2011 Mo' Shorebreak, Mo' Problems!

I took my in-laws to the airport this morning and after I was done, I was able to get some waves still untouched by the sun! I checked the waves and it looked promising, so I went for it. On the way down, I saw a dependable left, but on the other side, I saw very little. I was about to solidify the left as my spot for the day but I saw a guy get a SICK barrel way down the beach. This led me to literally sprint down towards him to see if I could steal some of his magic.

I paddled out and my arm was feeling good. As soon as I sat on my board, the guy whom I'd seen pitted out of his mind gives me his report, unprompted, "It's pretty inconsistent, set waves are where it's at".

Well, none came. The waves were being huge teases in that we'd see a bump and get in position, only to have the waves not break until close-out detonation on the inside.

I took a left late and took it all the way to the bottom, starting with the nose of my board. I had pearled.

I regrouped. I caught a right and tried to get in the barrel. My decision to take a high line on this small, barely barreling wave and the stiff offshore created disaster. I went over the falls and I BOUNCED OFF THE WATER at the bottom, like a skipping stone. The wave then lovingly pounce upon me. I felt like a mouse that the wave was toying with as I gently bounced off the bottom, chest first.

My arm started sending pain signals to my brain, but nothing too bad. It wasn't an impact pain, just a muscle stress pain.

I caught what seemed to be a nice left but got hung up on the lip for too long. I made it down and just in time (read: WAY late) to line up for the barrel as it pitched over me. The heaving lip was so far ahead of me that I instinctively shot my board out ahead and away from me. I did those so quickly that my knees painfully knocked together. OUCH.

Things turned a bit when I caught a right in a good spot, found my rhythm on the wave and pumped up and down. I had a lot of speed on a diminishing wave. I tested a little cut down but the now mini-wave was so steep I felt only a different angle of attack would save me from face-planting into the foot of water. I did a flying kickout (an air over the back of the wave; not nearly as cool as it seems) and paddled back out.

I paddled out and saw an amazing set wave left roll through, perfect for off-the-tops. I was left lusting, as no others came.

I was getting sick of these waves and my arm was beginning to scream for relief from paddling and duckdiving. I took what seemed like a left but turned into a closeout. I got hung up on the lip yet again, this time on takeoff. I popped up despite the wave not being worth the risk and air-dropped tail-first. I think it's the only air drop I've had all year. I landed and rode away clean, became prone and bailed.

*Happy Birthday to my goddaughter, Emma, who turned twelve today!*

10.13.2011 Shorebreak, Shuffle, Lame Arm Continues...

This morning I was up and at 'em early. The "forecast" said it would be 3-4'+. I checked Del Mar, but it was closing out and topping out at 2'. I checked the secret spot (not breaking), checked N. Torrey Pines and that wasn't going either. I was over Black's after yesterday's session so I doubled back around.

Seaside looked good, but I kept driving. Something about Seaside has never left me satisfied. I checked 85-60's, which wasn't breaking BUT a peak north looked awesome (I happened to catch the last of a set). There were at least fifteen heads out there, so I was over it. I made a pact with myself that if my shorebreak spot wasn't working, I would not surf today.

Well, it was working! The waves were fast and shifty, but they were there. And so was I. I had my 3/2 on me because of how hot it'd been. I was expecting to surf Del Mar, and figured the sun wouldn't be obstructed for long upon first light.

I had to wade through the peanut gallery, but bounded down the steps while keeping my eye on the waves. I had Nicki Minaj's "Right Thru Me" (don't laugh) in my head.

First light had happened, but the sun hadn't cleared the bluff yet. As you can imagine it was pretty cold in my 3/2. Upon paddling out, I felt my right forearm start snarling at me as it hadn't yet properly healed. I sat for about ten minutes before a rideable wave came by.

A left came and, since I was in the shorebreak, I had to act fast. I dropped in late as the section detonated just behind me and just to my left. I hooked a bottom turn around it and did a snap-stall a split second before the lip enveloped me. Being true to my latest bad habit, I set my line too high and all I got for my efforts was a nice view of a very makeable barrel... *Sigh*

A right came not too long after I made it back. I caught it late and did my kneeboard barrel stance and went pretty far through the unmakeable tube.

The guy nearest to me was tearing it up out there, so that got me motivated to do some turns.

About twenty minutes passed of me paddling around to latest peak, only to miss it. Picture a three-year-old playing Whack-A-Mole and getting there too late on each thwack of the hammer. My forearm was killing me so I made a mental note to make this a short session.

A left came by and I caught it a little late, pumped upon takeoff and around the first section. I was going a little slow for how vertical the section was, but I smacked it and splayed out on to my back. My front foot slid back towards my back foot and I tried my damnedest to recover by putting all of my stress on my abs. Just as I'm about to stand up, the wave crashes onto my board and I lose it. Bummer!

Another right came and it was almost exactly like the first right I caught, just a tad shorter in the barrel.

A third right came and I pumped like crazy and without thinking, tried my beast Archy-lean-forward-facing-up-backside-tube. I got in there, but my hand whiffed my rail and I was done.

Yet another right (NW swells tend to favor rights) came and I tried to pigdog it. Because I'm so used to having one knee on the deck and the back leg splayed out, my orientation was funky. I ended up sliding the fins out just as the wave barreled over me and my board flipped and smacked into the back of my left knee.

I bailed after that wave, hoping my forearm would recover in time for a meatier part of the swell tomorrow...

10.12.2011 Black's Redux, Bigger and Sunny

This morning I woke up just after five to take my wife to the airport. I packed my board and gear along with her suitcase with the plan to swing by Black's on the way back. Just after I dropped her off, first light happened, so I was going to be a bit later than usual.

Given that the fog had lifted, I walked down to the mouth of the goat trail and snapped the above shot. The waves looked bigger than a couple of days ago so I was out THAR!

I was doing my usual, run-just-a-little-faster-than-I-should, routine when at one of the lookout points I saw two guys sleeping in sleeping bags. I thought they were creative campers so I slowed down so as not to wake them.

About fifteen minutes after completing the descent, I saw a guy get the throatiest backside barrel I think I've ever seen anyone make in California. It wasn't a big wave, but the lip was thick and throwing. He was in there a good three, possibly four seconds. My pace quickened, along with my pulse, and I decided to paddle out inside of him to see if I could snag one of those beauts.

The longshore current from the NW swell was pushing pretty hard, and I had to do some corrective paddling to counteract its effects. I sat/paddled north for about fifteen minutes until I got my first look at one.

A right came through and I dropped in on it just a little late. I grabbed my rail a little prematurely and waited for the wave to throw. By the time it did, it overdid it, the section in front of me was too long for me to navigate successfully. I got a little bit of tube time and, even better, some tube vision.

About fifteen minutes later I caught another right. I blew all of my takeoff speed by taking off too straight on it and tried to get some speed going, but the wave left me behind. Too bad, because there was an amazing oh-so-hittable section coming towards me on the left...

Five minutes passed before I had my shot at another one. This one was a "big" (maybe 6') screamer of a right that started breaking on the outside and lined up for quite a ways that I caught late. I pumped up and down, thought about going for a big floater, but I was too far below the wave to make it manageable, especially as it started to throw. I did my Fosbury Flop and cleared the watery high bar, letting my leash rubber band my board back to me.

At this point, the waves started being teases. The tide was rising and what looked like a sick peak, turned out to be nothing. At the beginning of this phenomenon, I would actually paddle out, thinking, "Aww, yeah!". After two of these, I let the pack paddle for them while I just sat there and let them pass by. The inside was shutting down, so that wasn't a viable option.

Around this time is when my right forearm started aching, to the point where hard paddling was excruciating. I began looking for my last wave.

It was definitely a beautiful morning. Santa Ana conditions make for blue skies. With the high cliffs directly to the east, the sun hits the water at interesting angles. I had stopped fighting the current when the peak I was on got flooded by semi-pros and I was officially at South Peak.

The sun finally came over the edge of the cliff and it made the waves change to a nice green hue. I spent my time admiring the way the light played with the bluff and ocean. I didn't spend my time catching waves.

Finally, I caught a small left and pumped. I floated over a section, which gave me more speed. I was about to bottom turn when I BOGGED and dug my rail. I had just enough speed for a weak snap.

I kicked out south of the south access to Black's (the one off LJ Farms) and spent a good twenty minutes walking back.

I saw a beer can on the sand and picked it up. I walked up the way I came down and was bummed to see the "creative campers" had packed up their valuables but left a plastic bag full of empty Bud cans. I picked it up and added my sand can to the loot. A-holes...!

10.10.2011 Black's Beach Fog, Record Breaker!

This morning I woke up earlier than usual and I had a decision to make. I knew the waves were not going to be great, but I wanted to get out there. I could shoot up to Lowers and get in the water after sunrise OR I could surf Black's for the first time in at least two years. I opted for the latter and turned south out of my driveway.

Why? The bathymetry at Black's is unique in that it has a deep submarine canyon which tends to funnel in swell. As the continental shelf is felt out by the waves, they slow down. At Black's they are fast-tracked (picture the horizontal people movers you tend to see at airports) and thus dump that much harder when they meet their fate.

With the swell giving its last gasp, I knew it was my only chance to have a decent session.

It'd been a while since I'd surfed there and there was a lot of fog as I pulled off onto the street where all the UCSD students park. I made it to the end and racked my brain as to where the parking lot was. Remember, it was EXTREMELY foggy and I couldn't see more than ten feet in front of me. I turned slightly left and dead-ended at a parallel-parked RV. I parked, got out and looked around. This didn't look familiar, did they move the lot? I got back in the car and headed toward the dead lot entrance/exit and turned hard left. I was driving for about a minute when I thought that the lot to Black's wasn't this far away from the street.

That's when I realized that I was headed towards THE GAY LOT! My buddy Forrest once took me there (no, not in that way) after checking the surf at Black's and didn't tell me what it was. When we got to the end of that road, there were a bunch of cars backed in (no pun intended) with guys sitting in driver's seat looking straight ahead while wearing sunglasses. I asked him what the significance of this was and he told me it was the gay lot.

Just as I turned around, I noticed a car following me which slowed way down as it passed me. I didn't get a look at the driver but I can't blame him for thinking I was a prospect in my cherry red RAV4. I kept driving and parked out on the street, waiting for the sun to come up so I could see where I'd gone wrong.

Finally, I tried it again from the top. This time I pulled hard left from the get-go and was there in twenty seconds. The lot looked like the Black's lot, so I got my stuff on and started down the cliff. There was no sense in checking it with the fog this thick.

I knew it was going to be small, but I was not prepared for what I was about to see as I made my way through the sand to the canyons. I could barely see through the fog as it was slowly lifting and what I could see was not promising. Little dribblers with no push...

I trudged on, consoling myself that this was La Jolla beachbreak, not classic Black's. Once you make it down the sheer cliff, the walk to the peaks is about fifteen minutes. North Peak looked bad. Since I couldn't see South Peak and North Peak looked bad, then South Peak had to be better, right? Well, with that logic, I paddled out and hoped to make the long walk up and down the cliff worth it.

I noticed there were TWO kneeboarders out. I'd never seen a 'pack' of them. Record One broken!

I caught a quick wave that was a little affected by the slight onshore wind. I caught it and pumped, but couldn't make it around the always-just-in-front-of-me section.

The next wave I caught was a doozy. It was about shoulder-high, steep and looked pitchy, so as soon as I took off I angled hard to the north and watched as it barreled over me. I drove through it, the lip hit me, and I drove a little farther. The lip hit me again but this time I couldn't hold my line and I fell.

After that wave I noticed how mellow the crowd was. Black's is a high performance wave and is known to have some aggros, but today I think I was the most aggressive guy out there. People just seemed to pick a spot, stick to it, and catch the crappy waves without looking around or burning calories to get some nugs.

I paddled a bit south of where I caught my wave and was rewarded within fifteen minutes with the wave of the day. I was a little late for it, so as soon as I'd picked my paddling line, I quit paddling and let the wave catch up to me, not wanting to take off too critically on it. As I popped up, I looked at the wave and realized it was a screamer.

As soon as I got to my feet, I immediately pumped up, then down HARD. I took another few pumps, more vertical and efficient than I ever remember doing. I was moving faster on a wave that size than I ever have. The oncoming section neared. I knew I was too fast for a reo (since I can't seem to consistently make those) but I pumped halfway down the face, then up towards the lip, stomped on my tail and sucked my front knee up towards my chest, followed soon thereafter by my back knee. I was airborne, but my board became detached from my feet and started fluttering, as if I was doing a double kickflip. Had I had the foresight, the power of slow motion and was a little less horizontal, I could've grabbed the board stuck it under my feet and pulled surfing's first-ever double kickflip.

I didn't have any of these so I lamely stuck my arms out to keep the board from hitting me in the face. One of the rails hit me in the arm brusquely, but it didn't hurt for long.

On my way back out to my take-off spot, I got not one, but TWO compliments on the wave from strangers. This probably matches my stranger compliment count for my career, therby doubling it. The first guy said, "Nice wave, man!" and the second guy said "Wow, that one really lined up!". Yes, the second is more of a testament to the wave than the rider, but I'll take it as compliment on the wave nonetheless...! Record Two broken.

I caught a small right and I tried pumping to gain speed but couldn't get anything going.

I caught a small left where I really had to crouch down. I got covered up, but when the lip hit me I wrenched my bad knee (right) a bit.

I paddled back out and nothing came. I decided to bail.

On my way back up, I took the goat trail. If you've never walked down to Black's there are three access points. Two are by the gliderport on the south side, while another lets off just south of South Peak. There is an easy but time-consuming one which is the one I normally take down.

The goat trail is a pretty hairy walk, with sheer drops that will at least maim you if you slip. Because this part of the trail is not sanctioned by the State Park system, there is absolutely no upkeep done, so the trail changes constantly.

There is one point in the trail where there the trail is missing a couple of feet, and the cliff outcropping is slippery sandy rock that juts over the gap at about shoulder level. Combine this scenario with my barefootedness, carrying my surfboard and you have one gnarled-out EddieP.

I looked at it and thought, "No way, I'm turning back." This feeling lasted about five seconds and I looked down and thought if I fell, I may break a limb, but I wouldn't die. I put my hand on the slippery cliff that impeded easy progress. This was strictly for peace of mind, it turned out. I stepped forward with my left foot as a mini-leap of faith. My foot slipped just enough to make it excruciatingly exciting, but I had made it. Way gnarly. I will not be going that way again.

10.9.2011 Del Mar 24-26th Street, Dying Swell

I was hoping for more of the same from the previous session so I shot up to Oceanside. I knew the swell was dying, but I thought there would still be a couple of waves.

I was mistaken. It was so flat. The offshore was still going which was a waste. When the wind is offshore on small waves, it can make the waves difficult to catch as you have to generate enough speed upon takeoff with reduced wave speed. You can't make mistakes as each one costs you momentum and a chance for the wind to catch on you and stop your progress.

I went down to Del Mar and checked 20th street. I saw a lot of gutlessness and so many people getting up on waves and being left behind. This guy walked past me, surfboard in hand, with a frustrated look on his face. I asked him how it was and he said he wished he'd brought his fish. A couple of more waves came and even the loggers were having trouble staying on the wave. I did see a couple of small screamers to the north and made a mental note that if nothing else worked, I could grovel there.

I went south and 15th was PACKED. This isn't shocking for a Sunday. I checked the reefs south of Del Mar (not working because of the tide), then checked N. Torrey (or as I call it, Baby Black's, which looked similar to the Del Mar reefs.

I drove back to 20th and almost decided to bail. I thought about yesterday's no-go and I was hesitant to make it two days of wasted gas in a row. I grudgingly put on my 4/3 and walked down to the spot.

My first wave seemed to be a nice 2' left. I pumped once, not gaining too much speed because of the wave's fatness. I leaned into a cutback but didn't have much to lean against and fell.

I waited for some time and saw a guy with long hair and his girlfriend split a peak. I decided to crash their party as the peak looked amazing compared to what else was out there. While I paddled to their peak, the guy caught a right, then the girl caught one and just as I pulled up, the waves stopped. They paddled south of me and kept catching waves.

Then, a sick right came and I got a little bit excited. I paddled hard and as I analyzed the wave, I knew it was going to be a fast one. I popped up and pumped up and down twice as the wave shut down. Although it wasn't a wave that I got anything going on, the speed I was able to generate that quickly felt good and I was pretty amped.

The lovebirds bailed after they each caught another wave and I was all alone.

A kid with striking red hair paddled out on an orange board and he sat by me. No waves were coming, I paddled inside and waited. Nothing was coming, so I paddled inside some more. Nothing came and I was out.

10.7.2011 FIRING Oceanside Tyier, Offshore Combo Swell Goodness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

September Wrap-Up

August 2011: 13 sessions
September 2011: 10 sessions

Quite an assortment of spots this month. Wisconsin Street in Oceanside prevailed only because of my memories from last month. The rest are all tied for second...!

Wisconsin: 3
15th, Del Mar
D St, Encinitas
Secret Spot
South Palomar
Cardiff Campgrounds
Oceanside S. Jetty
Tamarack

Wave of the month award goes to the first wave I caught at Tamarack 9.1.2011
Beating of the month: Nothing memorable

October and November are great months to be a surfer in San Diego. The combo swells funnel in and usually create a more consistent environment. When they both go off, the waves get extremely fun. The water is colder, which means fewer crowds. Once daylight savings is repealed for the year, it will be first light earlier, which means it will pay to get up super early in terms of emptier waves.

9.29.2011 Del Mar Reef, then Beach with Moondoggie and 'Missed It' Mike! (4/3 Season is Here)

This morning I got up early and met the bros at D Street after my glowing review of yesterday's session. Unfortunately, the tide was extremely low and all we could see were glowing (literally, from the bioluminescence) closeouts.

I figured with the combo swell, Del Mar would be better. I led the three-car caravan down PCH. Dog Beach/29th St (from what we could see) was tiny. Since the tide was low we hoofed it to 15th Street and man was it ever crowded! I was on my DHD, Moondoggie on his log, and "Missed It" Mike was on his favorite board.

The reason Mike is monikered "Missed It" is because of his penchant for flaking out either with a warning or none at all. During one particularly nasty week, I was left stranded, sitting on the curb with my gear waiting for Mike, THREE days in a row.

We paddled out and I caught a right within about ten minutes. I did a solid backside turn on it, but was too aggressive on my second turn (the section was too flat) and ate it.

I always joke with Moondoggie about having him block for us. I first heard of this in the epic "Blue Crush" in which local Hawaiians block for the female protagonist so that she can get waves.

After paddling for so many waves and either missing them or having to pull back because of someone else being in position, I finally got my chance. Moondoggie paddled for a wave, which he missed, and I paddled for it inside of him. I knew it was going to be a closeout but I had to get a wave as I'd been sitting too long and I was getting cold. Also, Eric had in essence blocked for me so I was committed. I dropped in and it just. closed. out... GRRR!

I spent the next fifteen minutes paddling for waves and either being too deep or inside of someone and thus, not in the position to catch them. Then, my time came! I beautiful gem of a left came. I paddled for it inside of a guy, put as much of my weight as possible and gave a quick look over my right shoulder. I saw the guy outside of me doing his desperation paddle as though he'd missed the wave and he was too high up in the wave.

I took off and had a nice steep section to start off with. I pumped hard and saw a nice thick shoulder and visions of a roundhouse cutback danced through my head. I rotated my upper body back to the foam, leaned my weight back, transferred my weight from my back foot to my front foot and what do I see (and almost hit)? The dude who I thought had missed the wave! I swerved, he swerved. I kicked out, he kept going. I apologized to him profusely, telling him I didn't know he was on the wave. He said nothing, but kind of smiled (although I was not trusting my vision at this point...)

The waves were pretty good but the crowd was massive. The beach break to the north was beginning to look more and more tantalizing. On the walk up I started shivering and mentally declared the end of 2011's 3/2 season. We all paddled out, but the current was a beast and we were getting swept back south. I inadvertently snaked Mike on a right that had a sick barrel which I inexplicably dodged (The only thing I can really blame it on is being cold).

It's pretty crazy that I NEVER knowingly snake anyone unless they've done it to me and within a span of a half-hour, I do it twice!

As we were riding the current express, I saw waves break where we had just been two minutes prior. Of course, I also saw waves break where we were scheduled to be floating by in two minutes... MADDENING!

We got swept down to Jake's and no set waves came in our direction. Mike had to go to work and I bailed back home.

9.28.2011 Peaky D Street, Red Tide RIPPING!

Today marks two weeks since my last session. I had cruised for surf at least a half-dozen times in the interim, coming away disappointed each time. I drove to my shorebreak spot today and it wasn't doing much of anything. I checked Grandview and it was too fat. I stopped at C/D Street and the first thing I saw looked pathetic. I saw some heads out there so I parked the car to watch it.

Within a minute, I saw a guy drop in and get a small cover-up. I was out thar!

The water was accented by red tide. It reminded me of surfing El Salvador during the rainy season after a big rain. I paddled out and within a couple of minutes, I spotted a right heading my way. It looked really steep, so when a guy was paddling for the same wave five yards inside of me, I didn't yell him off. I got barreled, got hit by some water, and kept driving. I was in there a long time considering it was a closeout.

My next wave was a somewhat steep left. As soon as it popped up, it lined up. I got one super-pump in on the steepest part of the wave. The wave closed out, so I put all of my weight on my backside rail to get under it. While underwater, I kicked myself for not trying a foam climb...!

Less than a minute after I paddled back out, I caught a very similar wave, but with an open face. It was a little fat at the beginning, but I was able to pump more vertically than normal, sacrificing speed for distance covered. The oncoming section was there and I went pretty close to vertical and did what is probably my first legit layback snap that I pulled. NICE!

I saw a "big" (maybe shoulder-high) wave come and a guy caught it late. I hooted as he popped up to his feet and he pearled hard. He came up smiling at me, appreciative of the hoot!

About five minutes later, I saw one of the older guys charge hard for a chest-high right. He was extremely late, especially for such a big board. He got a well-deserved hoot (I won't say from whom) but didn't make it. I told him, "NICE!" and he said, smiling, "I had to go for it..."

I caught a right, pumped up and down and did the smoothest backside floater I've ever done. This isn't saying much as I rarely do these...

Upon paddling out, I looked south and watched as a guy got slabbed over. The red tide made it look dark in the barrel. I immediately lusted for a similar wave and speed-paddled down there.

After sitting there, alternating between floating and fighting the rip for about a half-hour, the wind came up stronger and I was over it.

The first half of the session was amazing, the second half was the opposite of amazing. A fun one for sure!

SUPER SESSION: Pipeline, North Shore Oahu, September 23, 2010

This is the first installment of some of my memorable sessions. I will try to coincide with the anniversary of the session as much as possible in future editions.

My wife had a conference to attend both in Honolulu and west of Haleiwa. I tagged along. I had surfed a couple of spots on the south shore so far, but nothing great.

I was having dinner with my wife's work friend Shannon and her husband Bill. I told them it was awesome being in Hawaii and surfing but I still had not seen the North Shore as a surfer. They said they had thought about renting a car and going to the North Shore to have cocktails at Turtle Bay and asked if I wanted them to drop me off somewhere. I said, "ABSOLUTELY".

Two days, later, we got into their rented convertible Mustang and put the top down to accommodate my rented board and got on the road. On the H1 (freeway that takes you to, from and through Honolulu), the rain started coming down HARD and being in the backseat, I got drenched.



The rain let up as we merged onto the H2, which takes up through Oahu's gut and releases you at Haleiwa, the gateway to the North Shore.



If you are not familiar with the North Shore, it is like flipping the pages on a storybook of waves. There are about ten world-famous 4-5 star breaks within a seven-mile stretch of land, starting with Haleiwa and ending at Velzyland.
Bill kept asking me where I wanted to be dropped off. We passed Haleiwa (not working right) and Waimea (not enough swell; like I would have surfed it if it'd had the swell!). He asked me again and I still wasn't sure. I saw a sign that said Sunset Beach Elementary School was coming up on the right and remembered from reading surf magazines that Pipeline was directly across the street from that and said, "Ok, Bill, pull over!"

I got out with my posse: Bill, Shannon and Raquel. The water isn't visible from the road or the parking area, so we walked towards the beach. As we approached the water, I didn't see anything. We turned left around the lifeguard tower, looked west and I immediately recognized the famous shape of what is probably the most recognizable wave in the world. I told Bill I was going to stay here and he said they'd be back in a couple of hours.

I walked back to the car and got my board out. Raquel told me to be careful and I told her I wasn't sure if I was going to surf. I walked back and plopped my board down next to the lone photog on the sand. I watched the waves for a couple of minutes. It was two in the afternoon and there was an east wind blowing sideways into the left with only five guys on it. I asked the photog if there were any pros out and he told me he was John John Florence's (look him up on YouTube) personal photographer. I kept talking to him and I told him it was my first time at Pipe. He was very nice and told me where to paddle out.

I sat on the sand and was getting cooked by the sun as I pondered whether to paddle out. I decided to just go for it as I could never forgive myself if I missed this opportunity.

Why was I so nervous?

1. More surfers have died here than at any other spot.
2. It was EARLY fall and the sand generally isn't right. Over late spring and summer it is very common for sand to fill in the cracks and crevasses in the reef. There usually aren't any big swells to clean the sand out. If the reef is clogged with sand, it is less able to felt out by the waves. This typically means more closeouts and less predictable waves.
3. I'd been surfing weak, chest-high (at most) California mush all summer. On the mainland, the open ocean swell is slowed and weakened by the continental shelf. Since Hawaii is made up of volcanic islands, the open ocean swell hits the reef at full power.
4. I was on a new board that I didn't have dialed yet.
5. It was 5'-7' PIPELINE!

I paddled out and sat the second-closest to the channel. I saw John John catch a wave but didn't see the rest of it. He paddled out past me and gave me a look. I can't say I blame him. I was in full farmer-tan mode (went to a Chargers game two weeks earlier where I got roasted) and I was on an epoxy (typically frowned upon in this area) rental board with a MASSIVE This-is-a-rental-board, guy-riding-me-is-most-likely-a-kook sticker on it.

The water was clear and I could see bits of reef menacingly staring back at me.

I paddled with the "crowd" as the sets came and went, trying to get the rhythm down. I spotted a guy who also looked kook-ish (something about his facial bone structure) and decided if he could sit that close to the impact zone, so could I. He paddled for a couple of waves and missed them. Then I saw him catch one and got my first up-close live view of a guy dropping in on Pipeline. I gawked at how quickly the wave, which was a bump twenty yards farther outside, turned inside out into this jacking wedge before tripping over itself on the shallow reef and DUMPING over.

He blew the takeoff but surfaced unscathed. This wasn't helping my confidence! I then had a couple of small scares and paddled a little farther out as some bigger waves came through. I saw John-John catch a wave at Backdoor, which is the almost-as-famous counterpart to Pipeline that breaks in the opposite direction and saw him get pitted almost from takeoff. The barrel went on for a while, unfettered by the wind that was making the left a bit choppy, and I saw him kick out. SICK!

I started paddling for some waves. I was hoping to catch one early and get a taste. I made sure nobody was deeper than me before I did so. I looked so comical out there in my pale skin and tan forearms that I probably would've kicked my ass if I was someone else. I didn't need to give them another reason to want to do so so I was extra careful.

I was getting a little tired of being out there and not catching anything. My fear had mostly subsided and was slowly being replaced by a growing sense of frustration. My inner monologue, which had started with quips like "Easy does it" and "One wave at a time", was now leaning much more heavily towards "Come on, you puss!" and "DO IT".

Finally, about forty minutes after my toes first hit the water, I spun around and paddled hard. I felt the wave pick up and gain slope. I got to my feet without a problem and immediately felt the wind in my face and my board rapidly gaining speed. YES! I bottom-turned and cruised up to the lip. I stomped on my back foot and snapped. The backwash hit the wave and flattened it out. I had barely any speed left, but I rode away clean.

Euphoria swept over me. Eddie 1, Pipeline 0! Sure, I didn't get barreled, but the lefts weren't barreling and I had made the drop on a head-high wave at Pipe! I went through my mental rolodex and couldn't think of anyone else I knew who had done that. Pretty cool!

I was paddling back out when I saw a couple of sets coming and I hoofed it out of there towards the channel. I saw John John catch a left on his backhand, fin out his bottom turn and do a backside 360 air. My subconscious self overpowered my conscious self and I let out a loud, primal "WHOOOOO!" as he landed it. He looked at me again without registering any emotion on his face. It must be nice for moves like that to be no big deal...

I decided not to tempt fate any longer and I went in. The sun was replaced by clouds and a hard driving rain was coming in almost sideways. The drops felt like needles as I sat on the sand for fifteen minutes with about an hour to go in my adventure. I was getting sick of being pelted by rain and decided to paddle out again. If I was going to get pelted, I would do so in the water.

Of course, by this time, I was a grizzled Pipe veteran. The fear was gone, I now overflowed with bravado. I sat in the middle of the pack and paddled for a few, being too inside for them and then I saw a set approaching. It was bigger than anything I'd seen all day.

I felt my stomach turn as I paddled hard towards the outside and slightly east to the channel. The wave pitched and I prepared to duckdive. I took a huge breath, braced my hands on my rails and kicked my foot onto the tail pad. The power was unlike anything I'd ever felt! I broke through to the back of the wave, though it did its best to send me over the falls with the lip. PHEW!

A smaller wave was behind it. I made it under and through then spent about five minutes reminiscing before being lulled to the inside again. "That was a freak wave" echoed through my head, along with "A wave like that won't come again for another hour".

I tried to catch some more and was on one, about to stand up, before being hooted off by a dark Hawaiian guy saying, "Ho, Ho, HO!"

I spun back around to face the ocean and that's when I saw it. I was desperately inside and another set was steamrolling towards me. I knew I was going to get rolled, the question was how hard. I did my best to get away from the inside as it is usually the shallowest part of the reef. I paddled for about ten yards before duckdiving.

The wave hit me so hard underwater. I felt myself going over the falls but I maintained my composure. Then I felt my right butt cheek G R A Z E the reef ever so slightly. The impact was less than what you experience when you sit down, but I arched my back and freaked out. I immediately got washed to where I had paddled out and called it a day. Eddie 1, Pipeline 1.

On my way back to the parking area, I paused and saw a bodyboarder get a sick barrel. I trudged up to the lot with no idea as to the time. I saw something moving in a tree and it was a haole with sun-bleached hair looking at me and laughing, his head cocking back so as to more efficiently inhale more laughter fuel. He looked at me in between puffs of air and I couldn't help but to smile a little. I'm sure what happened to me looked hilarious from his perch but was even funnier with how I looked...

Special thanks to Bill and Shannon for the ride!

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Hurley Pro is ON at Lower Trestles; DryDock Diaries

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

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

9.14.2011 Doing the Shorebreak Shuffle!

Given my bearish attitude on beachbreaks of late, I decided to go for a change of pace. There is a spot in North County that I can surf with few or no other people that can go off with a swell like this one.

Unfortunately, today was not one of these days. The good news is the surf looked better than Oceanside has looked in two weeks!

I only needed to check it for twenty seconds before I knew I would be out there. My standards for rideable surf have dropped to the level where crook surf looks ok and ok surf looks amazing. It's somewhat analogous to what sailors must go through after months out at sea on a boat full of dudes who on their best day are still ugly women. And then they hit port.

I spent about five minutes working on my leash rope. For some reason, I could not remember the knot pattern and used the first knot you use to tie your shoes and repeated it about five times to make the leash stay.

I paddled out just south and a good way outside of the two other heads there and caught my first wave within a minute of picking my perch spot. It was boggy at the beginning, then turned racy. I pumped and pumped, as you're prone to do on shorebreak, and I took one last big pump, the pinnacle of which put me in the vertical part of the wave just as the lip was throwing over. If I'd gotten there a split second faster, I would be experiencing a sick speed floater. Instead, I got pitched over the falls.

I spent the next ten minutes floating south a bit with the current as well as paddling for waves and pulling back. I watched a peak to the south that was working and paddle over there, but it was so shifty I never got a good one. I saw a right that I was out of position for spit from the back (rare in California). I started frothing a bit and the very next wave was mine.

I caught the wave a bit early, stalled on my pop-up to let it develop a bit (you rarely do this in Hawaii) and then launched with all my weight forward traveling sideways down the face of the wave. The wave immediately pitched over me and I got a great view of the barrel as it closed out ten feet in front of me.

I went in, walked farther south to where I originally paddled out and started paddling again. The waves were becoming less consistent as the tide was rising. I caught a left where I had to stomp on my front foot to stay on the wave and then pumped like a madman (while setting the 2011 personal record for most pumps on a wave with 5 or 6). I was outpacing the wave and laid into what sounded like a wicked cutback but I had very little to push again and I neglected to transfer my weight back to my front foot to do a roundhouse cutty.

I paddled back to where I caught the last wave and caught another one about five minutes later. I pumped and the wave began pitching in front of me (five yards of section). I backdoored it and pulled in to the closeout and pulled out the back. If this wave had lined up, I would've been in an amazing spot for a barrel...!

My last wave took fifteen minutes to arrive, but it was worth the wait. I started pumping down the line and began a slash on a part of the wave with some vertical slope and popped a fin out of the water. A little more weight on my front foot and I would've slidden the tail out.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9.12.2011 SouPa Gutlessness

This morning I trekked up to Oceanside once again, arriving at about 6:20. As I was pulling off the freeway, the famous Scuba flag was pointed due SW, OFFSHORE!!!

My froth was tempered only by my fear, soon to become realized: As is becoming habit for my treasured playground, it had morning sickness and the waves seemed bloated with water. It feels as though Oceanside has the flu and can't seem to recover. It's frustrating considering S swell season is starting its last gasp...

I scooted down to Carlsbad, checking Cherry and stopping for about five minutes at North Tamarack. I was tempted to go after watching a set develop, but it broke so blech that I bailed for "points" (get it?) farther south.

I checked the cliff spot just south of Palomar Airport Road and it looked a bit more promising. After about five minutes of trying to talk myself into going, I finally decided to just go as there were some set waves with a bit of steeps to them. The surface was very clean and the sun was out, which pushed me over the edge in terms of paddling out.

I scampered down the cliff, paddled out and caught a wave almost immediately. As I started leaning back to start a cutback, I had very little push from the wave and so aborted it and turned into my famous slash. I recovered and kicked out.

I caught a second wave and had the exact same experience! After kicking out I looked north and I saw a sick right barrel and thought, "Hmm..."

The next wave I caught was a right and steep. I got into my kneeboard stance and bounced down the face on my board. There was no barrel and I detached from my board, diving under the wave.

I caught a left did a sharp bottom turn and tried a snap. I threw some spray, but had no speed and did not recover. The waves got even less tantalizing and I was over it after about an hour.

9.8.2011 Cardiff Fourths, SoCal Blackout Surfing!

The power went out just before four. I turned on my car radio and was hearing reports of horrendous traffic. I debated staying home and playing guitar but it was so hot...! The news outlets were saying to stay home.

Well, they were right. On my way down to Birmingham, I passed a burned out bus that rioters had flipped over. Then, as I started my way down Birmingham's ocean view sector, I had to swerve around a flaming tire. I looked at Seaside Market just in time to see a brick smash through the window advertising its specials and then the other window went (the one touting the benefits of buying local).

Nope! It was very uneventful. The only difference I noticed is one of the two lights I passed wasn't working. I parked north of Cardiff campgrounds and took a quick look. It was tiny but CLEAN! I decided to trunk it, despite how cold it was the morning of my previous session. I had my 5'5"x20"x~3" Balestar fish with me. I call it malestar, which in Spanish means indigestion. It makes sense if you think about it because I only ride it if I have a bad feeling about the surf.

I decided not to wear a leash as I didn't want the drag, I thought I would need all of my speed.

I walked down the wood staircase and walked south to the next staircase. There was one guy actively paddling for waves and a douche on a SUP. Let me clarify, one is not automatically a douche for being on a SUP, but one has a much higher percentage chance.

He was paddling for everything regardless of his position in "line". I caught a wave and he was sweeping furiously to burn me on it inside of me so I let him have it. Obviously I wasn't going to say anything as it's a stupid thing to do ESPECIALLY when you consider how unworthy the waves are of testosterone-fueled possessiveness.

He eventually paddled away and I was surfing with a family surfing together. Two little girls took turns with who I hope was their older brother or cousin while dad and I duked it out for the "sets". When the sets did come they were about waist-high and closing out, but they seemed bigger because the average wave was upper-shin- to knee-high.

A typical wave went like this. I'd pop up, do a couple of pumps as it closed out in front of me and I'd attempt to kick the board out over the foam. There was a pregnant woman (I give her a 6, not out of ten, but six months into a nine-month pregnancy) bopping around with who I hope is her baby daddy in the shorebreak. I was forced to always watch for her on takeoff as I didn't want my board to cause a late-term miscarriage.

The highlight of the session was the set wave I caught and pulled into the barrel. I got covered up but it was hopeless in there and I kicked my board out in front of me.

I had a near miss with the pregnant lady. She held the board for me and I expected a talking-to but she was pretty cool and handed me the board. I decided I'd had enough and walked back the stairs to chaotic, power-less SoCal.

Bobby Martinez Suspended from ASP World Tour

The only World Tour surfer of Latin descent (Brazilians don't count!) is off the tour for the comments made in the video above.  If you are unfamiliar with the One World Ranking system, the algorithm allows for a surfer like Bobby to be ranked higher in the World Tour than he is in the One World Ranking.  The system is new and very confusing and I predict it will be gone next season.  It will be interesting to see if Bobby will be reinstated.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9.3.2011 Deceivingly Big Wisconsin Street to North Tyson Street

Last night I got a text from a poker buddy, Jonkey, about dawn patrolling the next day.  We made arrangements for Tamarack at 6 a.m.  While waiting for him, I sat in the car watching the waves.  Again, a peanut gallery had formed on the stairs and there were three times as many people there as in the water (only two heads in the water though).  The swell looked like it'd dropped off some and I knew it was going to get crowded, so I thought Oceanside might be working again. 

We headed north and while driving on the littoral, the waves looked workable.  I started getting really pumped up because I was looking forward to surfing waves with shape, but with power).  Wisconsin showed a couple of big set lefts with nice shape so I parked and took out my normal 6'1" leaving my "step-up" in the ride.

We walked down to the sand and turned south, due to the more than likely current from the south.  We saw another set that looked doable, but big.  I started paddling and got caught in a rip that took me out there in less than five minutes. 

The repartee went like this:  A wave comes which looks barely makeable, I would paddle for it while watching both shoulders hunch up towards the peak in a Neptunian shrug before collapsing.  The onshore and rip made it a bit bumpy out there.

On my fourth or fifth repetition of the above, I saw Jonkey lined up exactly outside of me paddling hard for a big frothy one (the froth on the surface cleaned it up a lot).  I yelled for him to go and I paddled south to avoid his apparent line of travel.  The wave threw out a nice foamy lip which I tried to duckdive but got somewhat caught up and tossed back.  I looked back and Jonkey was a ways back but we were able to dodge the next ones that came in. 

A couple of bodysurfers came out and they were the only other heads in the water as far as we could see.  I think Jonkey caught one and couldn't paddle back out, so it was just me and the bodysurfers.  Not too long after I lost track of Jonk, a wave came and it seemed to not shut down right away.  I paddled, caught it late, made the drop and watched this decent 6-7' freight train close out.  I kicked my board out in front of me and as I dropped to the water, I noticed one of the bodysurfers right in the way of my board, about ten feet away.

Here we are in this long rectangular surf zone with three of us out, and two of us manage to be a danger to one another!

I didn't hit him, tried to paddle out again but the waves, they kept a-comin', so I turned tail and skedaddled.

As we were desuiting these teaser sets came by, like ondulating sirens, beckoning us to spend some time with them.  We didn't fall for it a second time...!

9.1.2011 North Tamarack, BIG swell!

This morning I woke up and shot down to my stuff, grabbed and put it in the car.  While doing this, I thought about putting my seldom used "step-up" board in the car.  It's not much of a step-up board, as it's only an inch longer than my normal board, though it makes up for that a bit in width and thickness.  I decided against doing this as I wanted to try my "new" board in bigger waves.  I had a feeling that Oceanside would be closing out and I was right.  I thought that Harbor might be able to hold it a bit better. Nope!






There was no one out from Tyson to Harbor.  A rare occurrence!  There were some bombs coming through, but it wasn't worth the paddle-out.  As soon as you made it out there, you could whirl around for a wave, catch it, kick out because of the close-out (nowhere to go) and get hammered by the next one, all while getting yanked down the beach by the current.  No takers...!

I drove south to Carlsbad thinking the waves would be more shapely there.  With such a steep swell in the water, the less direct the coastline is to its angle, the more the wave has to refract and decay in order to break.  Since Carlsbad is almost all beach break, I was hoping that it would make the waves less powerful so as to make them more than just a drop followed by a beating.

I almost paddled out at Cherry Street.  There was no one out and I was jonesing to try some roundhouse cutties on what appeared to be six foot faces with juice.  I talked myself out of going there and kept driving.  Tamarack looked makeable, but there were a good thirty people out.  I went down and checked the cliff spot just south of Palomar Airport.  The coast bends more west there and the surf reflected that.  It looked about shoulder-high and decent, but I wasn't about to waste a double-overhead day on a shoulder-high spot!

I circled back north and finally settled on North North Tamarack or South South Cherry Street depending on your political inclination.  There were only a couple of dudes out and the waves that sectioned off were a whole new peak in that spot.  I was on it.  The waves didn't look that big from the cliff (altitude tends to make waves look bigger than they are) so I was glad I didn't stray from my normal board.  On the way down the stairs, I had to wade through a peanut gallery of about ten guys.  I said, "Excuse me" to one as I was having trouble getting through and I couldn't understand what he was saying but his tone made it sound like he was talking ish.  I bounded down the stairs and paddled out.

I didn't take any real beatings on the paddle out.  I saw one of the two guys I'd been spying from the cliff take off pretty late.  Judging by his posture and composure and the radical drop, I thought he was toast.  I have to hand it to him because he made the drop backside.

I wasn't gnarled out by the waves.  When there's this many people out, it can't be all that heavy.  I set up a little deeper than the two guys and heard one say, "Yeah, this is my big wave board. It duckdives really well but still catches waves blah blah blah".  I was thinking these are not big waves.

I caught a left a little late and rode it for a ways.  A roundhouse cutty crossed my mind but seeing so many closeouts I decided against it.  I kicked out and caught air with all the speed I had.

I paddled back out and I had two waves that were almost exactly the same: Quick drops and quick kick-outs.  After paddling back out from these, I noticed that the main peak which had been plagued with dudes had thinned out, so I went for it.

Unfortunately, there was a lull that lasted about a half-hour.  During this time this kid who'd had a mad-dog look on his face before, paddled past me and said what I thought was, "Let's get a fresh one out here."  Not understanding why he would say that to a stranger I asked him to repeat himself and he said, "I'm the only Freshman out here."  I gave him a smile and a "Niiiiiiice!"

I was getting a bit bored so I paddled in a ways.  I had noticed that there were some juicy waves breaking a bit inside of me.  I start paddling and about fifteen seconds later, I happen to look back mid-paddle and I see a massive black line on the horizon.  I turn and scratch furiously.  As it and I came closer together, I thought, while paddling ferociously, "I'm toast."  I keep paddling and as I'm submerging for the duckdive, I see the lip crashing down.  I make it under and through but I can definitely feel the power of the wave through the slight turbulence I feel and how the wave's energy pushes me down and then past me.

I surface and let out a hoot, all while seeing the next wave of the set start to jack up.  I start paddling at about 75% of max speed, knowing that it isn't as big as the one that just narrowly missed me.  A third wave came through and closed out, all three of them went unridden.  The first wave of the set is the biggest wave I've seen break since that massive winter swell that hit its peak on 12/21/2005 and the most gnarled out I've been in the water since my sole Pipe session almost one year ago..

About two minutes later I caught a right, did a couple of pumps, went way down the wave face and had a decision to make.  I can either try for an off-the-lip which most likely will end up in disaster or I can kick out and try to salvage my place in the lineup.  I opt for the latter, but my fins disengaged on the bottom turn and I fall.  Somehow I manage to avoid going over the falls, but my board and my body are pulled inside quite a ways.  The same result would've probably happened with an off-the-lip, though my trajectory would've been more towards the trough, meaning I probably would've gone over the falls!

I jump on top of my board and see lines of whitewater.  I duckdive the first couple, and then decide to bail.

What a way to start the month!

August Wrap-Up

Wave of the month: 8.13.2011 The Barrel
Beating of the month: 8.31.2011 The Missed Barrel
Spot of the month: Wisconsin Street, Oceanside (Four Surfs)
Session Count on others:

Tyson: 3
Lowers: 2
Oside Blvd: 1
Uppers: 1
secret spot: 1
Ponto: 1

Completion of Goals: No 360's, almost there on the roundhouse, did a speed reo!

8.31.2011 Good 'ol Wisconsin Street, Early Arrival of Big Swell!

This morning I got up there at 6:45, as I was still recovering from the Lowers sesh a couple of days earlier and there was a S wind up.  I checked Buc Beach (closed out) Oceanside Blvd (closed out), Wisconsin (flat while I was checking it aka inconsistent) Pier (North side was working, but the current there is crazy) and Harbor (inconsistent, but south of the jetties was working ok though a bit shifty).  I couldn't make up my mind as to where to surf and decided to fight the current on N. Pier and maybe get shifted down to the jetty and surf my way north.

On my way down the stairs, I for no particular reason decided to walk south towards Wisconsin.  I didn't see anything promising, but I kept walking.  I was getting more and more bummed as I didn't have a destination and thus no pep in my step.

A set proceeded to break just south of Wisconsin street with one guy on the peak.  I paddled out and asked him if it's any good.  He said he's been out for thirty minutes and caught three waves that lined up (later in the session I realized he has a HIGH standard for what lining up means as he didn't paddle for many waves).

My first wave was old-school side-to-side Eddie though I did try to stall for the barrel a bit.  I was going too fast and kicked out next to the guy.  Another wave came quickly and I snagged it.  It was steep, but the wave had that weird cross-up where the rip splits it in two with the oncoming wave being behind a smaller wave, which makes you lose speed.  I managed to do a couple of pumps when I got to the back wave but I grossly overestimated the power of the wash as I hit it and wound up bouncing myself into the trough.

Another left came and I was on it, it sectioned off a bit, I made it around the section and did a snap-stall.  The wave covered me up but I closed my eyes (I thought I'd gotten over that mistake).  I got clipped and slammed hard.

A left came through and I pumped and did my wanna-be-goofy-Kelly-Slater gouge.  Recovered, kicked out.

Another wave came and I had a similar thing happen, though it did shut down on me.  I ate it and the wave picked me up and suplexed me over the falls. BOOM!

A smaller wave came and as I was paddling for it I almost didn't go as I wanted more big 'uns.  The wave seemed to be less racy, so I dropped straight down and did my first reo at considerable speed! SUCCESS! I snapped up at the top of the wave hard and got thrown down with only a slight bobble by the lip, continued down the line, kicked out and let out a hoot!

A good-sized wave came and I was in a prime spot to backdoor the peak for a barrel section.  I kept eye contact with the section in front of me as I popped up, felt my nose catch, made a quick decision that I should still keep all my weight on my inside front foot to hold the line for the barrel (based on experience, as I'd done this before). Whoops! I pearled and skipped down the wave on my back yelling, "NOOOO!" as I see the wave barrel over me.  I grab a quick breath in the pocket, get picked up by the wave and SLAMMED.

The waves then turned.  A clean-up set came and I saw a big one coming and I was thinking, "Would I go on that thing if it was lined up right?" then "Yeah, if I can get to the right spot".  I whirled around after having scratched furiously, was a bit late and as I popped up, there was about an eight foot drop from the nose of my board to the bottom (or as they say in Hawaii, a 1-foot wave).  I made the drop, did a couple of pumps and hooted as I climbed the wave and did an abortion of a sailor dive over the shoulder.  This is the biggest wave I've caught in two years, easily, made even more exciting by my not expecting to be the waves this big.

I caught another couple of waves but they were nothing as special as the one above.  The rip was giving the waves a bit of texture and making it hard to maneuver.  I had an appointment at ten, so I bailed and made the long walk to my car on Mission Street.

You know you've gotten throttled when you have sand in every ear orifice and crevasse.  I haven't checked my other orifices and crevasses but will be sure to report back when I do!

8.30.2011 North Wisconsin, EVENING SESH

After the morning's session, I was wired and ready for more. My wetsuit was still wet, and I checked the reports to make sure the water hadn't cooled down.  I shot up to Oceanside and trunked it at Wisconsin after looking at it and noticing Wisconsin was the most viable for steep enough waves that would allow for dealing with chops.

I caught a small left and pumped down the line as much as I could, keeping most of my weight on my front foot.  I kicked out and paddled back out, having to paddle south to retain my takeoff spot.  I caught a right and hit it, then tried again and fell on a chop.

I caught a nice steep left and went up to smash it and did so, but I didn't transfer my weight back-to-front-to back (electing to skip over the last back weighting) and fell.  It was a good clean snap and I was thrilled by my progress.

All told, I was out there for forty-five minutes or so.  The sun never came out and my teeth were chattering so I went in.

8.30.2011 South Wisconsin, Bringing it Together...!

This morning I was flipping and flopping more than John Kerry, but it was about whether to go surf.  Around 6:45, I made up my mind to shoot up there and boy am I glad I did.  I didn't expect much as I knew the onshore was in effect.  I was hoping that this wouldn't be the case in Oceanside, but when I saw the Scuba flag just south of Ocean's 11 pointing towards Escondido, I knew that I would be surfing choppy stuff.

I checked Oside Blvd and it wasn't great, but there was rideable surf.  The pier looked ok as well, but Wisconsin definitely had some steeps showing.  For some reason, I started frothing as I was changing and couldn't wait to hit the water.  I put on my leash and ran and jumped over the shorebreak.  I caught a wave and couldn't get much speed on it, it seemed a bit fat from the increasing tide.  I set up a little farther south and some decent ones started coming through.

It was an interesting feeling going from surfing Lowers to surfing empty (one other guy on the peak, not catching anything) Oside.  I was able to catch every wave I wanted, except one where the guy who paddled out went over the falls.  I caught my first wave and did a cutback and hit the foam low and did not recover.  Anyone can do a cutback, really, but to do it in one fluid motion is trickier and to do it at speed is what makes a good surfer great.  I did it in one fluid motion but didn't have the wherewithal to harness the speed pocket of this fat-ish wave and I couldn't recover.

I caught another wave and went straight down to get as much speed as possible while using as much of the wave as possible.  I swooped up off the trough as hard as I could and did a little snap, recovered, pumped and did another roundhouse cutty attempt.  I did a little better this time, with more speed but still couldn't bring it all the way around.

A right came my way and I was paddling for it and having trouble.  I finally got enough speed and grabbed my rail, kneeboard style.  A split second after the lip went over my head, a little bit of it hit me in the head, obscuring my tube vision.  I kept driving and marveling at how square that thing was and it freight trained beyond the point of making it.  I kept going until the wave did its best Roberto Duran and told me, "No mas".

I caught another right and got into a pigdog stance, which is rare for me.  The wave didn't barrel, but I got up and did an accidental pump which put me in an awkward position at the top of the wave, just below doing a floater.  I recovered, did a cutdown, and smashed the lip as hard as I could.  I kicked out and paddled back out.

I caught another left which closed out, but I was able to get a top of the trough pumps in and I could feel the speed.  This isn't a move I've done before but I am picking up a lot from my out-of-the-water research.  I wish I'd thought to do a foam climb, but I just jumped over the wash and that was that.

The wind got stronger and really put a bump on things, so I was out of there.

Goal Update:  I still have not landed a roundhouse cutty, but I am getting close...!  No 360 attempts and no notable speed reo attempts...

8.29.2011 Lowers (then Uppers) Sunrise Sesh, Bioluminescence!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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




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

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

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

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

Flat Day Fun and Progress on This Week's Goals!

My tribute to CJ Hobgood's double stall, from Teahupoo to eastside Cardiff secret spot.  Just look at the lip on that thing!

No goals have been accomplished.  The waves have not been cooperating, but I will try to get out there on Sunday with just one fin on my Flyer, to try some 360's...

8.25.2011 Oceanside Blvd, Fishing for Rank Surf

In my quest to complete this week's goals, I have been racking my mind as to how to best pull a 360.  I thought about buying another set of fins (grom-size, pathetic I know... ).  I also  though about taking out the two side fins on my Flyer and leaving the one trailing fin.  This would lead to a training wheel effect wherein I could add the two fins once I have them down pat.

Then I got the bright idea that I could just take my 5'6"x20"x~3" fish out.  It has four smaller fins and I should be able to pop those out of the water to spin.  I took the fish up to Oceanside along with my regular thruster, just in case there were some steeps out there.

I checked the pier and it was too fat out there.  Wisconsin looked promising, but Oceanside Blvd looked "best".  I'd never surfed here before and was looking forward to popping my Oside Blvd cherry.  It didn't hurt nearly as much as I thought and I only bled a little bit.

I passed a homeless guy sleeping on the sand and saw an elderly woman doing what looked to me like improvisational tai chi in the deck of her oceanfront home.

First wave I catch, I go left, stomp on the front foot as I'm easing up the face and sweep hard with my back foot, with most of my pressure on my toes, all while looking over my back shoulder.  I turned, the board didn't.  I was bummed.  I tried again and the same thing happened.  After that wave the board came out upside down and I looked at the tail.  I forgot how wide that thing was!  I tried one more time, but nothing happened.

After this series, I did a sick foam climb, which I probably could've landed if I'd shifted my weight to my front foot (I was going backwards in the foam for a tiny bit, so my front foot was effectively my back foot at the time).  I did do a nice little floater.

The highlight of the session was a massive three dozen strong volery of pelicans kamikaze-ing into the water (sometimes while twirling) and moving south to north along with what must have been a massive school of fish.  The closest they came to divebombing by me was a good ten yards away, though I did get circled and maddogged.  I also noticed that some seagulls were following them and squawking when they caught something.

When the pelicans had a water takeoff, their feet clap on top of the water making for a very comical sight.

Overall, not my favorite session, but it felt good to get out thar!  Forecast shows no sign of easing, though there is talk of a SW groundswell all over the coconut wireless.  We shall see...

8.23.2011 Lower Trestles Sunrise Sesh

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jonesin' and THIS WEEK'S GOALS!

I haven't surfed since Thursday morning.  The forecast doesn't look good, but I will be up and at 'em tomorrow morning regardless.  Surfing as much as I have been the last week has left me with an empty feeling if I don't get out THAR!

I spent about a half hour giving my board a new wax job, something I've promised myself will become a fortnight ritual.  It does feel good to do and will keep the board from getting yellow for a bit longer.

I've also been boning up on the tech side of surfing doing a little bit of an experiment.  I will let you know how that goes...

Goals:
Full roundhouse cutty (frontside figure eight) smacking the top of the foam reo-style and landing so as to continue riding.
Frontside 360.  I've never done a 360 and I know it's a kid's move but I have to do it.
Land a frontside speed reo.

New Board Pics

My favorite board of all time is sitting in my uncle's (formerly my mom's) house in El Salvador.  With it, I got the best backside barrel of my life (Balsamar, thanks Ed!), did by far the sickest turn of my life at Punta Roca (backside fins-free tail slide with my trailing arm elbow-deep in the water and my leading hand on the deck of my board) which my buddy said from his angle it could've made Surfer Magazine, this turn I DID make.

It's a 6'2" DHD Joel Parkinson thruster I picked up in 2002 off the used rack at Surf Ride Oceanside and has been magic in the water for me.  I've flirted with the idea of bringing it up here but it just seems to work so well down there and I don't want to pay for any board fees.  It's had its nose bent to the point of breaking and it's the only board I've decisively snapped.

About four weeks ago, I started looking for a replacement board for my 6'1" Merrick Flyer from 2005.  I saw a DHD in Surf Ride Solana Beach but the dimensions were off just a tiny bit.  I tend to prefer 6'1"x18.25"x2.25" with slight room for overage and this board had everything right except for the width, which was 18.125", yes just an eighth of an inch off!  I spent ten minutes hemming and hawing before bidding it adieu.

I had another brief emotional relationship with a Xanadu 6'1" at the Oceanside Surf Ride and a minor flirtation with a magic-markered up Merrick but ended up coming back for the DHD.  Darren Handley is an Aussie shaper and I'd not heard much about him here in the States. I knew one of his boards was magical for me and that he'd shaped for the Coolie boys off and on but that was the extent of my knowledge.

Here are some pics of the board:





Yes, it rides well.  I had a little bit of a hard time adjusting to it as I was used to my Merrick.  This thing has more rocker and does not do well in fatter, high tide waves as a result.  I also had a hard time adjusting it to my frontside, but backside I immediately noticed my turns were sharper.  I still haven't gotten it wired on my frontside but that is not all of the boards fault as I am changing up my surfing from a takeoff->pump, pump, pump-> smash it and fall style to a takeoff->top to bottom, top to bottom, link turns-> smash it and fall.

With two variables in play it's hard to draw conclusions.  Stay tuned...