Post Rain SUP

Don't fall in, your suit might disintegrate.  Doheny is known to have the dirtiest water in all of southern california.  It does smell bad most of the time, and after a rain WATCH OUT.  Last night it rained (2nd time all year), HARD, for about an hour.  By the time Richard and I met at 6 AM, it was mostly clear skies and dried streets.  Not a soul at the beach, just how we like it, and the cleanest waves in So Cal were breaking in front of us.  Still a windswell bump to it, but some 1.4@15 south swell was sending in the nice double-up little waves. 

While not every wave was good, some lined up and spit some fast walls for the 12 footers.  Only fell in once and I didn't melt, alright!  Just us until about 7:10, then we got out before the hepatitus crew showed up.  Still happy, definitely not summer yet.

March 14: Better than Expected Friday

Got a new suit from Richard, for free.  Zero Gold, 4/3, charcoal grey, rad old guy suit and super warm.  This was the Surf and Turf recruiting day John Seely put on, and I promised I be at the pier to help.  But knowing it would be a zoo and I wouldn't surf there, Richard and I dawn patroled Uppers.  5 guys out.  That's it.  And waves easily chest high with some connecting in the bay for a pretty long ride.  It was so fun, with clear skies, off shores, and no crowd, I didn't want to leave at 7:30 after only an hour 15 of surf. 

But, I promised so i sprinted over to the pier for the event.  It was super busy, but a pretty neat idea.  Made me very grateful for the job I have seeing all these people interested and/or somewhat desparate to get in here.  I love March and I love days like this.

Better than Creek

 

Another nice morning of small waves in the uppers bay.  Buoys were down to 1@15 from the s and no west; waves were maller than yesterday but very similar in feel.  Beautiful morning, perfect offshore conditions and about 50 degrees; thank God for funboards.  Just the two of us out there at 6 and we started a little higher up the point because the bay wasn't working.  After about 20 minutes, we made our way down there and the rides were so much longer and more lined up.  You wouldn't even notice the wave from the beach because of the steep curve at the shack, but this perfect little 1-2 ft wave pops up and grinds for about 20-30 yards.  The face remains steep and our funboards just glide.  So fun, perfect with the 5 ft. high tide and nobody at our spot to bother us.  A little 10 minute flurry at the end of our session tired both of us out.  Totally worth it again, i love the solitude of winter.

Fun Post Bday Grovel

My birthday surf was a bust.  Even though the buoys had 3@8 from the West, Creek was weak and either closed out or shoulderless.  And it was foggy and got crowded with high schoolers.  Sometimes you win at creek, but mostly you lose.  Fast forward two days, and even though the buoys were down to 1.4@12, we still gave trestles a shot.  Got to uppers at 6:10 and it was better than we thought, the tide was getting high but there were some waist high sets breaking deep in the bay, perfect for funboarding.  While Richard had the lucky magnet, I caught a few really fun ones and my best wave was caught by the cam.  Clear skies, off shores, and only 4 people make for a fun morning even if the waves are small.  Maybe we should try again tomorrow...

I heart winter

This is considered the worst fall/winter ever (at least the last 11 years here in SoCal).  While I won't disagree completely, my trusty surf companion Richard and I have made the best of it.  The months of November and December were mostly tiny, miniature south swells barely hitting 1 ft. at 13 on the buoys, but just enough to create perfect knee high waves at Doheny's northern break.  We've had countless solo or near solo sessions with rad sunrises and perfect SUP waves.  Honestly, the solitude has more than made up for the weak waves, and we catch 20-30 waves per session = never boring.
Intermittently, we had a couple all time sessions at Lowers where the off season south swell jumped up to 1.5 at 16.  One day with about 15 guys and 10 waves sets, chest to head high and realling.  Like a great summer day with literally 1/10th the crowd.  Clear skies, cold air, and just a few happy locals trading sets.  December 13, 2013, one of the best days I can remember.

Then we had a couple desparate sessions, while almost solo the waves were so small we could barely longboard.  We still made the effort, clear skies and insanely perfect conditions were too welcoming to pass up.  What else are we going to do in the morning, go for a run?

At the end of the day, I know for sure I am happy as a clam living here in winter.  Even in the worst winter swell wise I'm still 100x happier than summer with foggy mornings and 50 aggro guys on it at every spot.  Then, when an epic west swell hits, like it did last week, I can't think of a better place to be.  Will share in the next post.

100 Yard Grinders at the Hammer

If memory serves me right, January offers the most epic sessions of the year.  Cleanest conditions, longest rides, smallest crowds.  As good as it gets, and the cold mornings and stiff off shores just make it more memorable.
Today is a holiday for all the groms, and when Surfline calls anything above 3 ft the herds follow.  Knowing this whole week should be filled with solid west swell, we chose to SUP this morning and avoid the crowds.  The swell was weird, 2.1@14 from 195 yesterday and 2.6@13 from 226 today, more west.  With tide right at 2.0 Richard and I made our way to the hammer to find some insane chest high sets.  Richard caught one that must have been 100 yards, screaming the whole way.  The sunrise was epic, and the holiday surf seekers stayed to the north while we had our own peak until 7:15.  By then we were both already 10-15 waves deep and stoked.  Awesome start to what looks like a great week.  I love winter!!!!!!!!!!
And Happy Anniversary: 6 Years!

 

EPIC SUP: Some days are better than others

Holy crap.  Still buzzin' off the awesome SUP surf session we had today.  Ironically, Richard paddled out yesterday into smaller conditions with a whole high school team on their way out.  It was so crowded he couldn't surf. 
Today was bigger, the tide was better, and we had 3-4 of us out there most of the time we were out.  1.6@14 with a 4 ft and rising high tide made the boneyard at Doheny a great option, and Thursday is a day off for the local surf teams.  I caught so many waves today i can't even count, didn't even have a chance to just chill and talk with Richard until we got out of the water after 7:30.  Most waves were knee high, perfect for SUPping but a few big waves came through and I tippie toe dropped in to a couple and made them.  Such a great day, I feel way more outgoing and am starting up conversations with people I usually don't bother with.  Crazy.  Here are some great pics:

Thank God it's Fall: Back at it

Now that the fog and crowds from summer are on the way out, we are back to the best and most memorable time of year for surf.  While we have already had a few nice fall days, today is a good one to kick off the season.  Two swells in the water, 1.8@15 dropping and 1@20 rising.  Clear skies, off shore winds, medium size crowd with spread out waves.  Richard and I were on it, in the water by about 6:10 while still dark but light enough to see down the line.  It was 55 when we got there, so I wore my hood and booties.  Didn't need them, the water is 66 so I was pretty hot.
We were both on our baked potatoes, great call for today.  The swell mix offered varying waves, from nice small inside racers (dropping swell) to head high outside sets with long sections that were clearly the 20 second period. We had a ton of fun on the BPs, even though my surfing has sucked the past month.  My timing is off and I'm racing way ahead of the pocket lately, have to remember to slow down and be patient.  I'll be concious of it next time.  Anyway, mostly the regulars out like Jon, Dave, Nick, Henning, Helmet guy, and a few randoms that weren't getting in the way too bad.  Stoked its fall.  Kids are growing up too

Nicest May Morning I can remember

While May 13, 2013 was an unbareable 102 degrees in the middle of the day, at 5:30 AM it was clear, cool, and crisp.  Awesome sunrise, light offshores, and flawless 2 ft surf.  1.4@14 was the main swell source, since it was so small on Sunday with the same buoy reading, I decided the SUP would guarantee wave count.  While Uppers might have been more fun, Doheny was a great call

. 

.27 low tide right at 6 helped form 1-2 ft. 60 yard rights just in front of the main lifeguard tower and south jetty.  I was out at 5:30 AM, solo, with an effortless glassy paddle to the spot from the boneyard.  Wave after frickin' wave, perfect 2 ft, long, fast, and glassy.  I was in heaven, after every wave thinking how am I the only person out here enjoying this. 

10,000 surfers in south orange county (maybe more) and I'm the only one scoring this right now. 

By 6:30, an older chick in a bikini (air 65, water 68) paddled out way north of me and was catching a wave every 30 seconds.  Nice.  By 7:00 when I left no one made their way to the south jetty and I left that perfect wave all by itself.  I'm sure there were 30 guys on it by 9 AM, but only one at day break.  All time best SUP sesh, now I need to convert Matt and Richard to share these days with.  Coco and Billy were stoked too.

Dora and Booooots!

I'm taking this blog in a different direction.  I found that tracking my surf and mtb sessions was terribly redundant and boring with very little progression, which is why there has never been a good movie made with surfing as the main premise.  So I started thinking of where all the progression is taking place in my life, and its all about the kids and family.  Work too, which I may mention here and there.  But Coco and Billy's progression to toddlerism is fun, frustrating, and fascinating and can make for a good story.  So I'm going to do my best to recap all the rad things happening with the fam, and also throw in a few bits of waves and bikes!
Coco and Billy

Without question, Coco somehow finds a way to say the funniest things without trying.  At 2 1/2, you can have mini conversations with her that may not go very far but can usually provide a gem of a statement.  While I'm going to get better at writing down the funny statements, she said the best thing to me yesterday when I left for work.  Usually she waves good bye and blows me a kiss (which is rad in itself), but yesterday she said "no daddy, you stay inside."  As a dad, it bums you out that you have to go to work and leave your kids for the day, but it is so nice to here that she wants to hang with her dad.  She is very into Dora these days, and makes the Swiper no Swiping comment a few times a day.  She'll also say random things like "now its time to dance" and she'll count backwards 5-4-3-2-1 blast off.  All stuff she learns from her favorite shows.

Billy has thick block feet that look like little bricks.  Shoes do not fit him, and he has to wear moccasins because that is all we can get on him.  He still grunts and hasn't said a clear word yet, but clearly understands what we say to him.  He is pretty independent and can play by himself pretty well, but also likes whatever toy Coco is playing with and cries a lot when she won't share.
Lina
Lina is so cute.  She just got her new F1.4 50 mm lens and is all about photography.  She is starting to plan out a little side business/hobby where she'll go to bday parties and take pics for real cheap, just needs the right equipment.  Stoked the kids lives will be well documented.  Here are a couple pics she took with her new lens.

Work
Epic week of work.  I was nervous going into GOKOM trying to prepare for the 2 days worth of discussions we were planning.  Warren helped me a ton, and we used the turnpoint questionnaire system that lets users vote with a remote and give us instantaneous feedback.  What a hit, all the brand managers loved the dialogue driven meetings, where one question would develop into an hour discussion between ALL the brand managers.  While I am not getting all the credit (nor do I deserve it), every BM commented on how well executed this event was and all told me I did a great job.  First step to proving I'm the right guy for the job, now its time to tackle all the action items we came up with.
Ride
Couple more cool pics from Marie Calenders and Hawk Drop:

 

I lost my Go Pro?!

This week started off like crap, south winds and windswell chopped up the waves through Wednesday, and I finally made my way out to Uppers on Thursday.  Man was it crowded, the usual Uppers characters + a bunch of randoms, and the waves were broken up with short rides.  I caught a few fun ones, and the morning was awesome so it was still pretty worth it.

 Friday saw longer rides with mostly smaller waves, but it was still pretty solid and fun.  Pretty much the usuals out there, including Matt this time, and some random ripper kid.  Makes sense since the NSSA contest was this weekend. Got out early to fix my chain, which seems to fall off every ride down.  In its defense, it is so rusty I'm surprised it moves at all.


Saturday woke up to another beautiful morning for a paddle surf at Doheny.  Tide was high so the boneyard was the spot, just me and this cool old guy for a while.  I put the Go Pro on the tail which sucked, the pics look like crap and as I was trying to switch from pic to vid, the cam flew of the clip and into the water.  It was only 4 ft deep but it was 6 AM and dark and high tide with plenty of waves.  No way I was going to find it then. 
So I stayed out another hour and some more people came out but it was still manageable.  Except this 12 year old kid who was trying to SUP surf but couldn't and ended up being in the take off zone over and over again. 
Came back at 10 with the fam to search for the cam.  I remembered the spot I lost it but was having a terrible time seeing anything, it was murky and the waves were still breaking.  Then I started searching a touch more inside and there it was, face down in some rocks in about 8 inches of water.  Still worked, no scratches, halleluiah. 
Sunday got my ride on, having trouble finding people to go with so I end up going solo.  Going mid-day kind of sucks cuz its hot and you end up running into locals you don't want to see, but luckily I only saw one.
 Got an hour 15 ride up Pine Crest with its epic views, 3/4 down OE and back up OE, then down TNA where I got a neat shot in the trees at the bottom. 

All and all, a decent week of surfing and riding.

Stiff offshores suck for paddleboarding

Last week's surf was not bad, didn't go until Wednesday thanks to the strong onshores on Sunday and Monday, which kept the surf bumpy on Tuesday.  While Richard was scoring the waves of his life in Kandui, Matt and I met at Uppers for some windswell waves.  Water was warmer than expected and skies were clear for a change, crowd was chill, just one other guy for the most part, and we got an hours worth of short lived 1 turn waves.  A few longer ones connected and Matt caught the best ones, it was nice to catch up and talk about the kids.  He's planning to go for a third anytime now, yikes!  We both agreed, while not great this kind of session is 100x better than head high and 60 guys. 
On to Thursday, decided to paddle surf since I expected it to be 2 foot and we were leaving for Paso at 9.  Got to Doheny at 5:50 and it looked awesome, low tide, 2 ft and offshore.  Turns out offshore is bad, I felt like a kite out there, my hands were freezing, and the wind blew me off of several waves.

  A few sets came through at about chest high, bet those were head high + at uppers with nobody out. The wind backed down with the sunrise and I caught some good ones, as the big sets were very sporatic and 2 ft was the norm.  Put the gopro at a new angle, not sure I like it but it shows a little more of the wave.

Got home from Paso on Sunday to south winds, fog, and mini combo windswell.  Gave strands a shot on the body board to try and get some barrel shots.  Haha, that didn't work!