Session 24 -OB

Rode the 7'5" again today. Surf was messy, but bigger, so actually got a bit of a workout paddling and after a few waves got stuck inside. Caught a few and used the speed of the gun to make it past some closeout sections and flats, but overall it was pretty worthless. Looking at a 6'7" JC tonight, for Bali and bigger Cali surf. Figure it would fill a big gap in my current quiver.

Session 23 - semi-gun slop

Waves sucked today, totally blown out and small, but I got home at 6 and decided to take my practically unused 7'5" semigun out for a paddle. I am impressed how easy it is to turn on the board, despite the length and weight. it actually feels faster and more intuitive than my 6'3". maybe my 6'3" is just a piece of crap...i think i'm going to try going back to my 6'1" rusty. still shopping for a fish though.

Session 22- Linda Mar dawn patrol

Foggy and crappy out, strong winds, and tiny warbly surf. Man, I miss SoCal! Today was one of those days where I tried to stand up on tiny weak waves, wishing I had a fish. I'll be perusing CL for a fish later on today I think...

Session 21 -Huntington Dog beach 2

Paddled out with joanie's friend Ryan. Waves were a bit smaller and closing out, but it was nice in the water and fun to pull into closeouts. Some good pigdog practice for Indo...

Session 20- Huntington Dog Beach

Went with the whole fam and all the dogs. Caught some nice beefy beachbreak waves, though it was a bit lumpy and warbly. Drifted far north, caught a fun left before getting out. A photog on the beach came up and said she caught a nice shot of me, posted it on eppicsurf.com

Session 19 - Upper Trestles

Today we drove to SoCal for Eric and Denae's wedding. We left the house at 1am and went straight to Trestles to meet with Eric and his buddies Nick and Matt. Waves were fair-good and waist to head high, and so much less paddling work than OB! It felt great to not wear a wetsuit, although it was overcast and everyone else had at least a shorty on. Oh well, I was chilly but still managed an almost 2 hour session, and caught my fair share. Joanie snapped some pictures, I'll upload them later. I'm looking forward to paddling out tomorrow at Huntington Beach. And going to the wedding too yah. But now I need a nap.

Session 18 - OB dolphin patrol

This morning I rolled over in bed and checked the surfline report on my ipod touch. 3-5 poor-fair. Nice. Snoozed a few times, and finally got out of bed and wrestled my way into my still-damp wetsuit. Ran down to Kirkham, and it looked decent, if a bit soft, definitely more organized and an easier paddle than yesterday. There was a team of high school kids running and training on the beach, and a seal playing around in the water, but other than that nobody else out. Getting out took a bit of duck diving and strategizing, as the sets were actually a little overhead and the waves were pretty relentless. All in all it only took me 5 minutes to make the paddle, much easier than yesterday. Since I had to get to work for a meeting, I didn;t have much time to surf, so I made a point of paddling for anything rideable that came my way. Unfortunately most of the larger waves were closing out. I pulled into a few, kicked out before the closeout, and on a few occasions just pulled into the barrel and punched my way through the back of the wave.

I saw 3 dolphins playing in the surf, diving into waves and gliding down the faces. It's hard not to just sit and watch them, but I made a point of still riding waves, despite the dolphins playing in the vicinity. A nice shoulder high right hander lined up, and I took off. I was pumping down the face of the wave when out on the shoulder a dolphin was doing his/her thing. I rode a wave with a dolphin! We're like a tandem team. Awesome. After that the dolphins seemed to continue south down the beach with the current. I caught a few more closeouts, and my last wave was a decent walled up one where I actually made it past one of the sections before it closed on me. Rode it to the beach and still made it to work by 9:25.

Session 17 - Wednesday evening floater

Surf was chest high to a few feet overhead on sets, and onshore winds blowing at ~17knots. I got a new shark watch for the bali trip, and paddled out with it for the first time. Paddling against the constant walls of whitewater was a good workout, had me huffing and puffing at points. It took 11 minutes of constant paddling and duck diving before I finally made it all the way outside. I sat out on the outer bar and waited for some set waves. First wave was just a drop and shoulder, so I kicked out right away to avoid getting stuck inside and having to fight to get back out. I caught a few more, and my last wave was an overhead closeout where I pumped down the line and pulled a really long floater over the closeout section, only to get greedy and try to hold it too long, the wave eventually sucking my board from under me and wiping out. Even though I didn't land it, it was a sick floater for my standards. Now I just have to work on getting my timing down and actually riding out!

Session 16 - Tuesday DP OB

Glass! This morning I woke up and checked the surfline report. 2-3 and poor-fair. At OB that means it's pretty good! Suited up, kissed Joan goodbye and ran down to the beach. Was greeted with some really clean but weakish lines. There was one guy already out at Kirkham sitting on a good peak, so I paddled out in his direction. The waves were a bit weak, there was hardly any wind at all, but the shape was good and finding shoulders was easy. Started out with some decent little rides, and chatted a bit with the only other surfer out there. It was nice to have the entire beach to ourselves. Everyone else was missing out. The waves picked up a bit throughout the session, and sets were solid shoulder high peaks with fast drops and gentle walls. I surfed for an hour and a half, rushed home and now I'm chillin on the shuttle. Perfect way to start a Tuesday if you ask me.

Session 15 - Dawn patrol OB

2-4 foot, low tide and soft waves with a gentle onshore. caught a good left and ripped some turns, but all of my other rides were pretty weak. blah.

session 14- Saturday dawn patrol ob

Waist to head high swell but choppy and onshore. Went out with Ryan for first time. Caught some fun drops and a few long ones too. Lots of dolphins jumping and surfacing right next to us it was amazing. Definitely plan on taking Ryan to Santa cruz one weekend

session 13 - Ride to work day dawn patrol

This morning I met up with Clay, a coworker who also lives in the outer sunset, surfs, and rides motorcycles. We checked Sloat, but nothing looked like it would work, so drove back up the beach and ended up paddling out at Noriega. It was small, mixed up, and crappy, but still some rides here and there. We caught more waves than I thought would be possible, and surfed for an hour and a half. Nothing really noteworthy, but it was great to meet someone who shares two of my main passions. After our session we both went home, changed and got ready for work, and then met up at Sloat again to ride out motorcycles to work. Happy ride to work day!

Session 12 - Tuesday dawn patrol

Super small, mushy and weak shoulders. Got lucky a couple times and actually caught some fast sections, but hoping the conditions improve for tomorrow.

Session 11- Monday OB dusk

Small junky windswell, paddled out on Ruben's 8' funboard. The waves were doubling up and actually steep in a mushy weird way, which resulted in a lot of pearl diving and sloppy wipeouts. Definitely will give Rube's board another go on a more longboard friendly day.

Session 10 - Sunday @ Waddell Creek

After some huevos rancheros at Whale City Bakery in Davenport, Jon and I paddled out for the first time ever at Waddell Creek, just north of Davenport. The spot picks up more windswell than most other spots, so the surf was fun and consistent 2-3 with an occasional 4 footer rolling through. The waves were slow and friendly, breaking over a rock reef with sand, a few boulders, and a lot of sea grass. Joan and Ryan took some good pics, once they're uploaded I'll post a couple. Had a lot of fun at Waddell, I'll definitely be back on a bigger day.

Session 9 - Saturday @ the Hook

Fun day, tiny beginner waves with a camping crew. Cory, Jon, Joan, Ryan all out there catching waves. Even Gus got on the board for a second before freaking out. Otters playing, followed by belly busting burritos at Taqueria Vallarta.

Session 8 - Thursday evening

crappy windswell, basically paddled in place for exercise. fun!

Session 7 - Wednesday evening

Swell fading a bit, and tide going out. Sean came over and we all paddled out around 7pm. The waves were waist high, with an occasional chest high set rolling through. Joanie caught a bunch of waves within the first 15 minutes, but then decided to paddle in. Sean and I continued to drift south down the beach with the outgoing tide, and caught some decent rides. The tide shifted and wind calmed, and eventually the waves were breaking more steeply over a sandbar by Noriega. My best wave was a right that walled up nicely and I was in the perfect spot. Unfortunately someone was in the way, and I had to turn to avoid hitting him, missing my best opportunity of the day to pull into a clean little barrel. Oh well, I probably would've botched it somehow anyway. Sean caught a few clean ones, and we eventually had to paddle to the outer sandbar to catch waves. We surfed until sunset, and by the time we got out we had drifted all the way to Pacheco. It was a good long session, and it was fun to surf with Sean again. Next time I'll make sure Joanie stays out longer too...

OB surfing (not me, some dudes way more talented)

Session 6 - Tuesday AM

I was hoping to score some surf on my visit home to NY, but it was all ankle to knee high slop, so I never made it to the beach. Fortunately, I came home to a building swell, a few feet overhead at OB. Wind conditions looked promising for the dawn patrol on Tuesday, so I tore myself out of bed. Hit the water a little before 7, and we rewarded with 5-7ft glassy surf, with a few shoulders here and there for the taking. Lots of closeouts, and not barreling clean, but nice fast drops and walls before the usual closeout. There were a handful of guys on it, but not so many that you actually have to wait your turn for a wave. I surfed for about an hour, and towards the end of my session got caught inside of a big set and was punished for it. I was already getting a bit noodle armed, but tried to power through the set, duck diving wall after wall of white water. I was actually making good progress, but just as I was almost to the outside, a wave doubled up and I was too late for a clean duck dive. I made a last second attempt to shove my board through this 6 ft wave, only to have the lip come smashing down on the back of my head, slamming my chin into my board and taking me over the falls. It was a humbling experience, and as good a time as any to head back in and get ready for work.

Sessions 4 & 5

Already neglecting this blog....but still trying to keep on track with my sessions. Sessions 4 and 5 were at OB again. Third session was after work, foggy and drippy, 7:30 pm. Joan was a trooper and came out with her bodyboard and fins. The waves were 3-4 and sloppy, with a strong onshore wind. Caught a few decent little rides though, and the highlight of the evening was definitely the ride that Joanie and I caught together and rode to the beach. Joan turned and started kicking for a wave, and I paddled alongside her. She didn't even realize that I was on the same wave, but I turned and started riding towards her with my hand outstretched. Squinting from the spray, she saw me coming towards her and reached out for my hand. We held on to one another and had a pretty long proned out ride all the way to the sand. Definitely a memorable session, if only for that one husband and wife ride ;)

Session 5 was the next morning. The swell picked up a bit, and was consistently pushing chest to shoulder high waves through. Only 2 other guys were out, and the weather was actually really nice. Suddenly I didn't feel well and had to call in sick. I surfed for a solid 2 hours, and caught a lot of fun rides. The waves were deceivingly good, and I was able to connect sections together for some pretty long rides, especially for OB standards. Lots of opportunities to practice my cutbacks, floaters, and snaps. Maybe I'll actually have improved by the time I get to Bali? We'll see...

Session 3- OB

It was a bit harder to drag myself out of bed this morning, it was foggy and misty and cool out. I got a late start, paddling out around 7:45. The wind is blowing onshore stronger than yesterday, and the surf is small and crumbly. 2-4 and mushy.

Worth a paddle anyways, and I actually caught ~8 waves. Totally kooked on one of them, slipped trying to pop up, tried again and totally ate it on my second attempt. The rest of my rides were cleaner, though most of the waves weren't really walling up so it was usually just a little drop, a few pumps, and a mushy lip bash, if you can even call it that.

In any case, it was worth the exercise and the weather actually got really nice out by the time I was done surfing. At the end of my sesh I took a long boogie to the beach and then just floated around and played in the water for a while. As relentless and punishing Ocean Beach can be, I still feel really lucky to live so close to the beach...