last weekend & friday dawn patrol

 

Getting behind in posts because I started a new job last week, and have been busy training and getting ramped up, so I'll keep this brief. Last weekend was AWESOME surfing at OB. Saturday was a few feet overhead, and a pretty brutal paddle. I caught a few bombs, one of which I catapulted myself out of, and I got the most hang time I've ever had off of a wave. I basically did a full front flip in slow motion, and landed on my back. it was an awesome feeling flying through the air, despite not even attempting to keep my board under my feet. I was stoked, but then I got completely rag-dolled by an 8' set wave, and it tweaked my shoulder pretty good.

Saturday afternoon was Swim4Life, and it was a great day at a beautiful pool for a good cause. Did mostly kickboard laps though due to the shoulder. Definitely will be participating for years to come, and hopefully raising even more $ next time. Had a good time partying at Taylor's with team Thrashtown for the remainder of the day, then cycling across town with Josh.

Sunday AM I was working the Surfrider beach cleanup at Noriega, so I actually was up and out of the house by 7:15. It was a big cleanup, and really successful, but the waves were pumping so it was really distracting. I ended up bailing around 10 to get in the water with Taylor and Josh, but my shoulder was still sore from the day before so I took out the bodyboard. Pulled into a few nice closeouts and got a lot of fun rides. I had to get back to help break down the beach cleanup and take all the equipment back to the Surfrider locker, so it was a short session. After that Gillian and Vinny came over and we made lunch and hung out for a while. Vinny went to play some tennis, and I convinced Gilbo to paddle out with me. The swell had dropped a bit with the tide, but still super fun and tons of rides to be had. Gilbo hit her head on her board, which ended her sesh, but I stayed out for 2+ hours and got a ton of good rides, lots of fast turns and lips to bash. By 5ish the wind started blowing and I called it a day.

Monday was PUMPING, but the new job means I probably shouldn't come to work at 10...not yet at least, so I missed out on some epic OB.

This AM was crumbly and waist to shoulder high. I was the only one out on the north end of the beach, and although the inside was messy, there were some solid waves breaking on the outside, and I got a handful of really fun rides. It was peaky though, so most waves were a steep drop followed by one or 2 turns. I attempted a few rail grab cutbacks, but they felt ugly. Gotta try them on some faster waves. Hopefully conditions will only improve for this weekend...