Another great week of Spring surf

This time of year is awesome, somewhat similar to fall as we get combo swells from north and south, we also maintain lighter crowds similar to winter.  Conditions can vary though, as we start getting a lot of fog, and eddy conditions, strong south winds can mess everything up.  But this week had the fog without the wind, and the swell was on from the south.  This thing hit last Friday and even today I caught a few south swell lines on the paddleboard, one week later.  Lets review:

Monday was macking, head high to over head sets at uppers.  Descent size crowd but manageable, Lowers looked like a zoo with 150 monkeys all fighting each other while Uppers had 20-25 guys and was spread out. 

Caught some great waves, a couple bigger sets that the beard had trouble on, and couple chest high insiders that the beard loved.  Richard was on his shred sled lighting it up and burying the rail, getting ready for his epic trip to Kandui. 

Tuesday was BETTER, smaller crowd with cleaner waves and less sections. I felt like i was ripping off the tops and sharp carves, GREAT DAY. The inside peaks were working a little better and it feels like this will be an awesome spring. 

By Wednesday I was good, but Richard and Matt talked me into another day in a row.  While the waves were fun on Wednesday, it wasn't like Tuesday (classic uppers) and I kind of wished i was with the kids and Lina.  I'm not balancing as well as I should.  But it was still a fun day with a light crowd and beats any day in the middle of summer with 30 guys.  Plus when its good its hard not to go.

Finally on Friday I hit up Doheny for a 2 foot paddle sesh.  Was solo most of the time and scored anywhere from 1 footers to over waist high set waves.  SOLO!  And I'm getting some nice control of the 12'1.  This was a good week to remember for surf, and to remember in the heat of summer when there are 50 people out before dark that the rest of the year can be all time with just your friends. Still have a black eye, 10 days after getting hit in the face!

South Swells and Black Eyes

Back in the groove, after an awesome week of fog filled paddle surfing, spring is now in full swing with south swells, south winds, long rides, long lulls, unpredictable crowds, and slightly warmer conditions.  After waiting through Monday's south wind sloppfest, Richard and I were first out at uppers on Tuesday.  Nice long lines and steep faces that were pretty ripable, but the crowd got thick with some summer time faces and with the long lulls it felt like a cold summer day.  Still fun.

Wednesday was awesome, hit uppers myself at 6:30, first one out with clear skies and perfect waist to chest high lines driving through.  Only 6 or 8 of us out with plenty of waves, and I caught several fun ripable ones just up from the bay. 

Caught a rail to the face after a floater gone wrong and am sporting a cool fight club black eye.  Didn't want to get out with only 5 guys in the water and great conditions, but the thing started swelling and impeding my vision.  Here is my eye, a day and a half later.  Today I was exhausted, and not that psyched to go but Richard was amping and a new swell was showing, so I went.  The waves were a little mixed up, so I was kind of wishing i stayed in bed.  But then I caught a few fun ones, and the crowd never got out of hand.  Todays cam even caught one of my better waves on it and although i wasn't surfing my best i still got a couple good turns in.

This week in SUP

I haven't been keeping up on my surf sessions, but I haven't had any memorable sessions lately.  A couple OK days before my trip to Milan, and one this Tuesday.  A couple fun turns were had, but nothing to write home about.
However this week was pretty awesome, the calm before the spring break storm and then the summer where Doheny turns into a swarming ant colony of sponge top long boarders.  I plan to avoid this place like the plague so I need to get my SUP surf on while I can.  This week had 3 days in a row of tiny south swell pitching 1-2 ft. waves at the south end of Doheny, right in front of the jetty and river mouth.  Wednesday was a solo sesh on the Laird, perfect one footers and clear skies.  Got my paddle drag and cross step working, felt great.  Dense fog rolled in at 7:30 so I bailed to get home and spend the day with the kids at Disneyland.  Thursday was foggy from the start, a touch bigger, and empty again.  I brought the 9'1 Caddi and hated it, its tough to keep balance and doesn't work well on micro 1 footers.  Might need to sell it this summer.  Today was the biggest day, and the busiest.  Paddled out at 6:45 to a 7 pack family standing on the beach.  They all stayednorth and I got my waves in front of the jetty.  One other dude paddled out next to me and didn't follow etiquette too well, but we both caught waves and there were plenty for just us two.  Took out the Laird but had some issues with the cross step on bigger waves that were closing out at the end.  Gotta work on it before summer hits!