EPIC week of surf

One of the hardest things about being surfer is adjusting to variable conditions, its challenging to develop a routine because it isn't always good at 6 AM on Thursday, its also part of the reason its so addicting.  When you get it good with a light crowd and you can still complete life's responsibilities (work/family) it feels like you won the lottery.  The past week has been the million dollar jackpot.
Sunday: top 10 all time best day I've ever had.  1 ft @22 means POWERFUL waves without being too big.  Middles, light offshores, warmer weather (55 degrees) and after surfing for 2 hours I still counted only 5 of us out, including my permanantly amped surf pals Richard and Matt.  Where was everybody, where are the crowds from summer that make me want to quit and sell all my surf stuff?  150 yard long, ultra powerful and fast head high rights, flawless.  Surfed my old Lost Fish and I realized how much I miss it. 

 Monday, more of the same.  A little less consistent and not as powerful, but still an A day.  150 yard head high rights with a 10-12 person crowd, and it was a holiday for a lot of people.  Surfed the beard and got some turns in I could never do on the fish. 

Also picked up a CI 9'1 caddy paddle board for those epic doheny days.  Surfed it at Church in the evening and it is so much better than the monster 12'1 i have.  Lina bought it for my birthday and I forsee us having some good times out on the water together now we have two boards. 

Wednesday, forecasted to be smaller.  Richard and I surfed BY OURSELVES at middles with chest to head high rights.  Inconsistent, but an A+ day considering we were surfing an epic right point break in southern california all by ourselves on a head high day.  That doesn't ever happen.

And still got some good work done and spent quality time with the kids and wife.  Its been a benchmark week!



Funboard Friday at Lowers

1@15 from the SW, we knew there had to be something down at trestles.  Richard and i packed our logs and rode down to middles to check it.  Arrived to a nice 2 ft. set that looked beautiful in the low light of morning.  Rode to lowers and saw some more consistent 2 ft a frames, lefts looked better and rights were short, but there was no one in sight and it was very inviting.  Weather was great, probably in the 50's at dawn which is a lot better than 32 like it was last week.  Waves would come in flurries, 2 footer after 2 footer for a few minutes.  Then nothing for 5 minutes.  We surfed without another soul from 6:20 until 8:20, and it was a day to remember.  Waves weren't epic but it was probably the best spot in the region and we had it to ourselves.  I love winter!

SUP Church

This is from Wednesday.  It was cold but easily 15 degrees warmer than the day before.  Probably 48 outside, I borrowed Bobby's San O pass and parked near old mans.  Paddled the 12'1 laird to Church, which took about 10 minutes.  The swell was .8@13 from the NW, so I wasn't expecting much.  But the tide was perfect and I knew there would be something.  And that's all i need on the SUP.  Got there, waves were knee high, but I got a couple thigh highers that were really fun.  The Laird is so fast, if there is a shoulder I am going 90 mph down it.  Solo sesh, no one around except the sound of the 5 freeway behind me.  Thank god for booties, gloves, and hoods.  It was really cold until the sun came up, then it was just cold.

Epic Doheny

I got 2 sessions in this weekend, one on Saturday with my Crosslinks on.  Try to get some footage for my promo video i'm making.  Waves were pretty good, definitely got 2 or 3 really good ones but most waves died out fast.  This morning was all time, the rain cleared and it was sunny and beautiful.  I got to Doheny at about 8:15 and there were 2 longboarders out a little north of my spot.  The waves were perfect 2-3 foot and REAALLLLING!  I got that board moving so fast I had to hunch down low just to keep my balance.  Its like riding a really fast sailboat on a wave, so fun.  Stoked I got to use my 2013 beach parking pass.

I heart Middles

Woke up at 5 to a text from Richard that he couldn't make it. Then my eye started killing me so I had to get up and put some drops in. I decided to stay in bed with Lina and help get the kids out of bed, but I knew that next week would suck with the tide and weather and this week is insanely slow at work, so I decided to call in sick for the morning. Good call. Left the house at 7:40 and headed south. Got down to middles just after 8 for some perfect lower tide rights with very few guys out. The top of the point near lowers was packed (for some reason I don't understand) while the southern point is empty and is a much better wave. Just me and an older local guy I talked to for a while. A few people paddled out here and there but I caught almost every wave I wanted. It was awesome, and another great funboard day. I caught the most insane head high wave deep on the inside of the south point that swung wide and broke for 150 yard to the sand again. I am in heaven. My boss Warren was so cool about it too, he gets it and knows this was a good week to do this.

 

Epic Nose Ride

Another prestine morning at middles.  Richard and I were the first two out today but by 6:30 it got kind of busy.  Good thing everyone paddle up to the point near lowers so the middle and south section of middles were almost empty.  Caught a ton of waves on the funboard today, chest high for the most part and racey, but most waves were sectioning off at the end rather than continuously connecting to the sand.  Until my last wave, an insider on the south section.  Chest high, got a couple turns in, then a stall and a couple smooth steps up to the nose.  Both feet on the edge, right hand dragging on the lip, just cruising through this nice fast little section.  Then stepped back and rode all the way to the sand.  Easily over 100 yards.  Man this wave can be so fun, another great day.  Forgot the cam. but it looked just like yesterday.

Unreal Middles

We got down to Middles at about 6 and it was just getting light.  Looked really small, about 2 ft but the waves looked really long because of the 15 second period.  We thought church would be better but it wasn't, so we went back to middles.  There were already a few guys at the top of the point so we stayed in the middle of middles.  Waves were fun but the wind was a really bad side off shore for the first 45 minutes so it was hard to surf.  BUT, by about 7 the wind chilled out the waves started really lining up, nice chest to head high sets, and I caught some great long waves until 7:30.  We got out and it looked so clean and good, and the crowd dwindled down to just a few people scattered around.  We figured this doesn't happen very often, it was a little inconsistent but really clean and long waves.  So we went back out until 8:30 and it was great.  The crowd filled in pretty good around 8-8:15, but I scored 2 of my longest waves towards the end. My last wave was the best, the inside guy got sectioned and I took of and got easily a 150 yard ride, 5 turns and a nose ride.  So fun.  I forgot i also got a rad one where i ran to the nose on take off and flew through a 50 yard section, man what a great day to be a surfer.  Finally got to work at 9:40 but no one was here, should have stayed out longer!

Middles Funboard day

Stoked on Middles, the spot has the longest waves and the crowd gets pretty spread out.  Richard and I got there at 6:00 and the temp said 42, but the offshore winds were at least 10 mph so it felt like 32, especially when your wet.  So I wore the new billabong 4/3, booties, hood, and gloves and was stoked.  Can't barely feel the cold.  Another awesome morning with the sky still a little dark and just enough light to see perfect waist to chest high lines making there way through.  I surfed the funboard, which was ideal for the day, and caught a couple insanely long waves, at least 100 yards.  You can tell when they will line up and have a fast face, some of them are too slow and weak even for the funboard, so you have to be selective.  The tide absolutely killed it by 8, and it was tough to get a wave in.  Really fun though, I'm really liking this spot.  Check out Coco's awesome funny faces she learned from Yo Gabba Gabba, and Billy is almost starting to walk now.  They're playing together in the play room right now with all their new Xmas toys, and don't need us to be with them all the time.  Happy about that.