Summary
Life rocks and never stops. Legit robot costume...beautiful offshore winds... decent (little) waves. What more could one ask for? Perhaps for an absolutely stunning day in every way imaginable? Put simply the spirit is in the air---the sunset certainly an inspiration of/for/by Halloween. The contrast of the sun's chaotic orange hues streaking across the sky's ominous deep, curvy, shadowy clouds. Consensus with Mia was that surfing tonight >>> free candy.
Waves
Early on before the tides swooped in the waves had some decent size and power to them. A little bit mushy, but hollow, clean, and beautiful. Not ridiculous, but certainly fun. 2-3 ft generally, 4ft sets to start off. Once high tide came Surfrider walled up like no other. County Line was consistent 3-4ft with 5ft+sets (fun!)
Crowds
People? There were three people at 2nd/3rd at 7:00, the most at any time in the session was 5. Crowds what? More people surfing County at night (which isn't many) than that...
Weather
Talk about a beautiful sunrise. Pretty chilly, but the offshore winds were certainly pleasant. The storm is floating around, not raining but certainly close. The sky looking pretty gloomy, but offshores holding up throughout the day.
Forecast
Looking forward to the storm that's supposedly hitting this weekend. Solid West swell hitting Sunday, Monday, into Tuesday for County Line / north. We'll see, but Shoulder + for sure. My expectations have dimmed after surfing this morning. I think there's going to be a lot of storm chop, but you never know!
Eventful Stuff
I saw a fin in the water. That's never fun. Halloween in West Hollywood at Santa Monica Blvd...enough said.
Summary:
Surfrider 2/3, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
7:00-10:00
1-3ft, 4+ft sets 17sec
Offshore wind & glassy
3/5 overall
County Line, Ventura
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
5:00PM-6:30AM
3-4ft faces with bigger sets, ~17sec
Light offshore
3/5 overall
Friday, October 31, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
I feel like not working...
Summary
So I decided to take a break and go surfing. I held no true expectations other than escaping a day otherwise filled with eight plus hours of intense thought and reflection.
Waves
Small, weak, poor shaped 1-3 ft waves, with VERY occasional 4ft sets. Tides were 1'-2', so pretty low for Surfrider which contributed significantly to the generally walled up closeout shape. I was on the Blue Beast, so I had some good little rides, but they sure were little.
Crowds
Malibu is full of cooks and crowds what? Today would honestly be a good day for someone to learn to surf here---not enough swell to bring out the big dogs, but absolutely beautiful. The hour I was at Second/Third saw no more than ten surfers at those breaks in the whole of the time.
Weather
Malibu has had some off-and-on patchy fog here for most of the day. During the session though, the fog was pushed a few miles off the coast, the sun slowly sinking in the sky, and the beautiful warm sun beating down on the ocean and the few of us in it. Low-mid 70's.
Forecast
Good waves follow big crowds. This week LA will see few surfers, much less crowds. Basically I'm looking at tomorrow as a laundry day, and the rest of the week as catch-up-on-sleep/school days. 1-3ft faces, crappy swell period, shouldn't see much of anything until this coming weekend. The internet models show a nice sized W/WNW swell hitting Sunday the 2nd, peaking early Saturday, dying Tuesday. Shoulder+ waves at decently exposed W beaches. That pretty much means Ventura will be firing, and depending on how the actual angle, maybe north North LA county will see it...hopefully.
Eventful Stuff
I was surfing with one bootie. G'damn Malibu rocks slashing my left foot open yesterday. Curse you.
Surfrider 2/3, Malibu
7'6" Al Merrick White Dove
4:00PM-5:00PM
1-3ft, 16sec
Negligible wind
1/5 overall
So I decided to take a break and go surfing. I held no true expectations other than escaping a day otherwise filled with eight plus hours of intense thought and reflection.
Waves
Small, weak, poor shaped 1-3 ft waves, with VERY occasional 4ft sets. Tides were 1'-2', so pretty low for Surfrider which contributed significantly to the generally walled up closeout shape. I was on the Blue Beast, so I had some good little rides, but they sure were little.
Crowds
Malibu is full of cooks and crowds what? Today would honestly be a good day for someone to learn to surf here---not enough swell to bring out the big dogs, but absolutely beautiful. The hour I was at Second/Third saw no more than ten surfers at those breaks in the whole of the time.
Weather
Malibu has had some off-and-on patchy fog here for most of the day. During the session though, the fog was pushed a few miles off the coast, the sun slowly sinking in the sky, and the beautiful warm sun beating down on the ocean and the few of us in it. Low-mid 70's.
Forecast
Good waves follow big crowds. This week LA will see few surfers, much less crowds. Basically I'm looking at tomorrow as a laundry day, and the rest of the week as catch-up-on-sleep/school days. 1-3ft faces, crappy swell period, shouldn't see much of anything until this coming weekend. The internet models show a nice sized W/WNW swell hitting Sunday the 2nd, peaking early Saturday, dying Tuesday. Shoulder+ waves at decently exposed W beaches. That pretty much means Ventura will be firing, and depending on how the actual angle, maybe north North LA county will see it...hopefully.
Eventful Stuff
I was surfing with one bootie. G'damn Malibu rocks slashing my left foot open yesterday. Curse you.
Surfrider 2/3, Malibu
7'6" Al Merrick White Dove
4:00PM-5:00PM
1-3ft, 16sec
Negligible wind
1/5 overall
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Short and simple
Fun, hollow, quick barrels. I'm not sure what else must be said, since that pretty much defines the surf at County Line here today. No real opportunity for a bunch of fancy carving, simply searching for the hollow-as pockets. There were some (but very very few) slower breaking faces, with the opportunity for some cutbacks (e.g. 6ft face, barreled for about two seconds, two cutbacks, then pop off the wave.)
Overall, once again, the high tide didn't kill the waves, and the waves that were surfable were pretty decent shape and size. Conditions left a bit to be desired---nice little offshore wind cleaning up the faces, but a pretty thick layer of fog off and on for the whole session.
Only "incident" was the fool who constantly let his board get washed around, pretty near smacking me in the face. I'm sympathetic to people learning to surf---but if you're going to learn on the weekend, don't do it when there's decent sized waves that WILL school you AND put everyone around you in danger. AKA, if you're paddling out and there's a big wave, and someone 10 feet behind you, don't let go of your board intentionally---accidentally once or twice is OK, but NOT every time. C'est ca!
Surfrider was OK. Wave shape was pretty lacking, not sure if it was the tides or what. Oh well, evening surfing is always relaxing, the sunset a welcomed break from life in/near LA. No amazing waves, some fun little shoulders every now and then, waves not big enough for intense bottom turns, but after a few pumps the waves loosened up and gave you the opportunity for some little cutbacks. Nothing fancy, but crappy waves (not too crappy...) with no crowds is alwalys fine by me.
Summary:
County Line, Ventura
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
7:00AM-10:00AM
3-5ft faces with bigger sets, 17-18sec
Light offshore -> warbly onshore
3/5 overall
Surfrider, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
4:30PM-6:40PM
2-4ft faces, 5ft sets 17-18sec
Pretty still air---glassy
2/5 overall
Overall, once again, the high tide didn't kill the waves, and the waves that were surfable were pretty decent shape and size. Conditions left a bit to be desired---nice little offshore wind cleaning up the faces, but a pretty thick layer of fog off and on for the whole session.
Only "incident" was the fool who constantly let his board get washed around, pretty near smacking me in the face. I'm sympathetic to people learning to surf---but if you're going to learn on the weekend, don't do it when there's decent sized waves that WILL school you AND put everyone around you in danger. AKA, if you're paddling out and there's a big wave, and someone 10 feet behind you, don't let go of your board intentionally---accidentally once or twice is OK, but NOT every time. C'est ca!
Surfrider was OK. Wave shape was pretty lacking, not sure if it was the tides or what. Oh well, evening surfing is always relaxing, the sunset a welcomed break from life in/near LA. No amazing waves, some fun little shoulders every now and then, waves not big enough for intense bottom turns, but after a few pumps the waves loosened up and gave you the opportunity for some little cutbacks. Nothing fancy, but crappy waves (not too crappy...) with no crowds is alwalys fine by me.
Summary:
County Line, Ventura
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
7:00AM-10:00AM
3-5ft faces with bigger sets, 17-18sec
Light offshore -> warbly onshore
3/5 overall
Surfrider, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
4:30PM-6:40PM
2-4ft faces, 5ft sets 17-18sec
Pretty still air---glassy
2/5 overall
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Eyea, comeon
Today held some fun, hollow waves! The morning's high tide actually helped wave shape at County Line, something that the tide usually kills. Steep steep steep faces, mostly walled up closeouts, but there certainly were some distinguishable shoulders every now and again. Far more consistent sets than the past week has held, not sure why but it's certainly welcomed.
Overall most of what I found was hollow left shoulders, definitely the opportunity for some carving. Occasionally there would be a hotly contested and battle to catch the rare rights, and some of them were pretty darn amazing. One was a six foot clean face, defined shoulder, moderately slow break but amazingly steep and hollow---pretty quick run, straight down the face, bottom turn, sharp steep fins-out cutback at the top, limping down the face for the rest of the wave because I killed my speed just a tad too much. Mad hollow left barrels, and I got my fair share.
After going to Malibu in the late afternoon, I'm positive that any decent break was firing today. Surfrider made me cry with the 100+ that were at 2nd/3rd in the late late afternoon, but the waves were so good I didn't know if the tears were of sadness or happiness. More barrels, I feel they were a little smaller but definitely more defined and workable shoulders. There were some decent carves and some decent faces.
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
WTF is wrong with people? It's Malibu, on the weekend, expect people to drop in on you! People unwittingly (and intentionally) did it to me today, and I unintentionally returned the favor. But seriously: having a vulgarityfest, splashing water someone else, and mashing him in the face and body with your fist, THEN breaking his leash and taking his board? What the hell kind of kooks surf in Malibu? Get over it, committing felony assault over a little 5ft wave? Not only is that not worth going to jail over, it bastardizes the sport. I don't even know what to say or think, other than a sense of absolute disappointment. I feel for the guy who dropped in---people do make mistakes, no one is perfect. This same disrespectful attitude unfortunately flourishes here in Malibu. GTFO I say, if you can't learn to respect those around you, you shouldn't be surfing at all, much less ruining the atmosphere for everyone at one of the best breaks in Southern California.
Summary:
County Line, Ventura
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
7:00AM-10:45AM
3-5ft faces with bigger sets, 17-18sec
Light offshore
3/5 overall
Surfrider 2/3, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
5:00PM-6:45PM
3-5ft faces, bigger sets, 17-18sec
Bumpy onshore initially, glassy later
3/5 overall
Overall most of what I found was hollow left shoulders, definitely the opportunity for some carving. Occasionally there would be a hotly contested and battle to catch the rare rights, and some of them were pretty darn amazing. One was a six foot clean face, defined shoulder, moderately slow break but amazingly steep and hollow---pretty quick run, straight down the face, bottom turn, sharp steep fins-out cutback at the top, limping down the face for the rest of the wave because I killed my speed just a tad too much. Mad hollow left barrels, and I got my fair share.
After going to Malibu in the late afternoon, I'm positive that any decent break was firing today. Surfrider made me cry with the 100+ that were at 2nd/3rd in the late late afternoon, but the waves were so good I didn't know if the tears were of sadness or happiness. More barrels, I feel they were a little smaller but definitely more defined and workable shoulders. There were some decent carves and some decent faces.
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
WTF is wrong with people? It's Malibu, on the weekend, expect people to drop in on you! People unwittingly (and intentionally) did it to me today, and I unintentionally returned the favor. But seriously: having a vulgarityfest, splashing water someone else, and mashing him in the face and body with your fist, THEN breaking his leash and taking his board? What the hell kind of kooks surf in Malibu? Get over it, committing felony assault over a little 5ft wave? Not only is that not worth going to jail over, it bastardizes the sport. I don't even know what to say or think, other than a sense of absolute disappointment. I feel for the guy who dropped in---people do make mistakes, no one is perfect. This same disrespectful attitude unfortunately flourishes here in Malibu. GTFO I say, if you can't learn to respect those around you, you shouldn't be surfing at all, much less ruining the atmosphere for everyone at one of the best breaks in Southern California.
Summary:
County Line, Ventura
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
7:00AM-10:45AM
3-5ft faces with bigger sets, 17-18sec
Light offshore
3/5 overall
Surfrider 2/3, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
5:00PM-6:45PM
3-5ft faces, bigger sets, 17-18sec
Bumpy onshore initially, glassy later
3/5 overall
Friday, October 24, 2008
Not as hot as it thought...
The internet forecasts were not quite spot on. OK, the new SW/SSW swell hit, but it's not anywhere near as consistent or nice as expected. County line was a bit walled up, Zuma defined sectiony, and Surfrider was the safe fallback. Overall conditions left a lot to be desired. Whichever break, sets were few and far inbetween. They had good size (there were some head high sets at County) but they walled up too quick on the beach breaks, and the tides dicked with the point breaks.
Overall I'll say I should have just gone to Surfrider since there are always nice waves there, but I wanted to be fancy. My loss. Hopefully tomorrow is a bit better than today is. Perhaps I'll do a night session as the offshores are supposed to continue. We shal see!
Overall, Jack in the Box meaty breakfast burritos are good, but ain't no competition for Lily's! I met a girl from Pepperdine over at Surfrider. GIVE ME WAVES!
I had a few decent ones, and I had a few amazingly owned waves too. It is inspiring to see people get decent rides, and I only wish I got more. I had the same owned-nose problem (almost) at County again where the backwash launched me in the air. I didn't smack anything but it literally launched me two feet in the air off my board. Some of the guys were talking/laughing about it. There were two guys talking in French there too. I'm a bit rusty so I didn't throw down, but looking back at it I really should have. Seriously though, French guys have hair problems. Genetics suck...good thing I got the maternial genes!
Summary:
County Line, Ventura
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
7:00AM-9:45AM
2-4ft with bigger sets, 18sec
Light offshore
2/5+ overall
Zuma s11-12, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
10:00-10:30
1-3ft (yawn), 18sec
Still air
1/5
Surfrider 3, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
11:00-1:00
2-3ft with occasional 4+ft sets 18 sec
Slight onshore
2/5
Overall I'll say I should have just gone to Surfrider since there are always nice waves there, but I wanted to be fancy. My loss. Hopefully tomorrow is a bit better than today is. Perhaps I'll do a night session as the offshores are supposed to continue. We shal see!
Overall, Jack in the Box meaty breakfast burritos are good, but ain't no competition for Lily's! I met a girl from Pepperdine over at Surfrider. GIVE ME WAVES!
I had a few decent ones, and I had a few amazingly owned waves too. It is inspiring to see people get decent rides, and I only wish I got more. I had the same owned-nose problem (almost) at County again where the backwash launched me in the air. I didn't smack anything but it literally launched me two feet in the air off my board. Some of the guys were talking/laughing about it. There were two guys talking in French there too. I'm a bit rusty so I didn't throw down, but looking back at it I really should have. Seriously though, French guys have hair problems. Genetics suck...good thing I got the maternial genes!
Summary:
County Line, Ventura
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
7:00AM-9:45AM
2-4ft with bigger sets, 18sec
Light offshore
2/5+ overall
Zuma s11-12, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
10:00-10:30
1-3ft (yawn), 18sec
Still air
1/5
Surfrider 3, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
11:00-1:00
2-3ft with occasional 4+ft sets 18 sec
Slight onshore
2/5
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Another beautiful afternoon...
An unabashedly gorgeous day. I couldn't ask for a better break from class than a clear day at Surfrider with a little offshore Santa Ana and the warm sun beating down. If the waves were as amazing as the atmosphere...I don't even know what to think.
All I know is that the waves were small...sectiony waist highish. There were some very inconsistent bigger sets, but sets were more sectiony, walled up closeouts than anything else. Relaxing for sure, but surely not the best surf day in the world. Surfing essentially consisted of a ridiculous amount of pumping and some more pumping, just to stay on the wave. I saw some hilarious waves, a thirty second ride where the guy literally pumped the whole time, and the wave closed out before he could use that speed (he was racing!) to get some air or anything.
I got a decent little chestish high slow developing shoulder, and I feel a little guilty because I dropped in on some guy and kind of jacked it, but he wouldn't have made it to the pocket so I deguilt myself like that. Pocket the whole time, probably a 20 sec plus wave, just pumping and relaxing with a little whack-it close.
Again I have reaffirmed that good waves bring better attitudes than crappy little waves. Some shortboarders were trashing longboarders saying effectively that they have 1st point so why are they stealing the waves at 2nd/3rd. Then he reflected to his buddy there that the "attitude towards surfing is totally different for shortboarders." I thought to myself, "No shit? Longboarders aren't complete asshole posers like you?" I certainly didn't say it, but no question I was about to. Seriously though, I thought surfing was a relaxing BREAK from tools like this? Guess not, but it should be!
Summary:
Surfrider 2/3, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
6:45AM-10:15AM
2-3ft with occasional 4+ft sets~16sec
Offshore
2/5
All I know is that the waves were small...sectiony waist highish. There were some very inconsistent bigger sets, but sets were more sectiony, walled up closeouts than anything else. Relaxing for sure, but surely not the best surf day in the world. Surfing essentially consisted of a ridiculous amount of pumping and some more pumping, just to stay on the wave. I saw some hilarious waves, a thirty second ride where the guy literally pumped the whole time, and the wave closed out before he could use that speed (he was racing!) to get some air or anything.
I got a decent little chestish high slow developing shoulder, and I feel a little guilty because I dropped in on some guy and kind of jacked it, but he wouldn't have made it to the pocket so I deguilt myself like that. Pocket the whole time, probably a 20 sec plus wave, just pumping and relaxing with a little whack-it close.
Again I have reaffirmed that good waves bring better attitudes than crappy little waves. Some shortboarders were trashing longboarders saying effectively that they have 1st point so why are they stealing the waves at 2nd/3rd. Then he reflected to his buddy there that the "attitude towards surfing is totally different for shortboarders." I thought to myself, "No shit? Longboarders aren't complete asshole posers like you?" I certainly didn't say it, but no question I was about to. Seriously though, I thought surfing was a relaxing BREAK from tools like this? Guess not, but it should be!
Summary:
Surfrider 2/3, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
6:45AM-10:15AM
2-3ft with occasional 4+ft sets~16sec
Offshore
2/5
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
"It feels like the first time..."
...like it never did before."
That's a decently accurate summary of this morning. Fun, fun, fun, and more fun. Decent size, not too big but certainly some big set waves. Overall the smaller waves had much better definition and shoulders. There were some pretty bad ass surfers here today again, some folks getting filmed and such.
Quite a few inspiring fun waves. Early on there had been some perfect slow developing shoulders, steep drop and straight shot with maneuvering room for plenty of cutbacks, wrap-arounds, and a few people were teasing the ocean with some little airs. I don't know what to call the wave of the day because there were tons of fun ones. Not too crowded so there was plenty of opportunity to catch them.
I went out with Eric and Ed came later on for a while.
This little board finally feels me as much as I feel it. There is nothing I'm not comfortable doing on it now, cutbacks feel completely natural---the board is little more than an extension of my feet. For other people though...like the funkyass kneeboard some guy was surfing on, or the flat-nosed shortboard...I think they get a little different feeling. Malibu is crazy, truly some hilarious characters here. Having decent waves certainly brings out the more courteous side of folks, I actually had some guy tell me to go for it when he had position. Balla! I'm shooting for tomorrow afternoon surfing after a midterm (for an hour and a half or so probably) but we'll see. Waves inspire me, please stay here for the rest of the year!
Summary:
Surfrider 2/3, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
6:45AM-10:15AM
3-4ft with occasional 5ft set~16sec
Offshore -> slight onshore
4/5!
That's a decently accurate summary of this morning. Fun, fun, fun, and more fun. Decent size, not too big but certainly some big set waves. Overall the smaller waves had much better definition and shoulders. There were some pretty bad ass surfers here today again, some folks getting filmed and such.
Quite a few inspiring fun waves. Early on there had been some perfect slow developing shoulders, steep drop and straight shot with maneuvering room for plenty of cutbacks, wrap-arounds, and a few people were teasing the ocean with some little airs. I don't know what to call the wave of the day because there were tons of fun ones. Not too crowded so there was plenty of opportunity to catch them.
I went out with Eric and Ed came later on for a while.
This little board finally feels me as much as I feel it. There is nothing I'm not comfortable doing on it now, cutbacks feel completely natural---the board is little more than an extension of my feet. For other people though...like the funkyass kneeboard some guy was surfing on, or the flat-nosed shortboard...I think they get a little different feeling. Malibu is crazy, truly some hilarious characters here. Having decent waves certainly brings out the more courteous side of folks, I actually had some guy tell me to go for it when he had position. Balla! I'm shooting for tomorrow afternoon surfing after a midterm (for an hour and a half or so probably) but we'll see. Waves inspire me, please stay here for the rest of the year!
Summary:
Surfrider 2/3, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
6:45AM-10:15AM
3-4ft with occasional 5ft set~16sec
Offshore -> slight onshore
4/5!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Go waves! Wooo!
Malibu Surfrider---Basically I felt like snoozing on my alarm a bit, so I didn't get out too early. Too bad, the waves today were bad ass. Not huge, but certainly good size. The sets broke with some clean, clear, distinguishable shoulders anywhere from waist high to slightly overhead. Sounds a bit ridiculous, and most of the waves were on the lower end of the spectrum, but there were some NICE fun waves. Pretty tootin crowded considering it's a Tuesday (and so far as I know, the surf wasn't suppose to be more than waist-chest, but I guess everyone lucked out!)
It's hollow, there's offshore winds, there are no fires near by, and there's tons of fun to be had. There were some nice little barrels on the occasional set. Just over shoulder high, beautiful right, in the perfect spot when it started to barrel. It's been a few weeks since I've had that feeling, so I was exhilarated for the two seconds before the wave sectioned and raped me. Pretty much all the good waves were rights (duh...it's Malibu) and I certainly got my fair share.
Sets were few and far between, probably 10-15min between the good size ones, more sometimes. As such, people were a-hole snakers when the sets came. Perfect example is the self-described local (I've seen him there pretty frequently, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt) who had some random guy drop in on him. The random guy looks and sees that he dropped in, keeps dicking around. The hilarious part of the story is the massive shove Mr. Self-described gave the other one. Asshattish, but absolutely hilarious. I gave a few stink eyes and I know some of the guys saw me, but I didn't do anything of that sort---not worth getting messed up over. Plenty of waves for everyone (boo crowds!)
Summary:
Surfrider 2/3, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
7:45AM-12:15AM
3-4ft with 5-6ft destroy-you surprise sets ~18sec
Offshore -> slight onshore
4/5!
It's hollow, there's offshore winds, there are no fires near by, and there's tons of fun to be had. There were some nice little barrels on the occasional set. Just over shoulder high, beautiful right, in the perfect spot when it started to barrel. It's been a few weeks since I've had that feeling, so I was exhilarated for the two seconds before the wave sectioned and raped me. Pretty much all the good waves were rights (duh...it's Malibu) and I certainly got my fair share.
Sets were few and far between, probably 10-15min between the good size ones, more sometimes. As such, people were a-hole snakers when the sets came. Perfect example is the self-described local (I've seen him there pretty frequently, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt) who had some random guy drop in on him. The random guy looks and sees that he dropped in, keeps dicking around. The hilarious part of the story is the massive shove Mr. Self-described gave the other one. Asshattish, but absolutely hilarious. I gave a few stink eyes and I know some of the guys saw me, but I didn't do anything of that sort---not worth getting messed up over. Plenty of waves for everyone (boo crowds!)
Summary:
Surfrider 2/3, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
7:45AM-12:15AM
3-4ft with 5-6ft destroy-you surprise sets ~18sec
Offshore -> slight onshore
4/5!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
L.A. has confused my body
Apparently I think that water up here is cold. Like brain-freezing, hand-numbing cold. It makes me sad when I shiver uncontrollably. I think I'll have to blame it on the wind as much as the water though. Fun little waves, not too big, shoulders not too well defined, but there was time for some nice sharp little cutbacks and whack-a-faces. Not too many but a few. Other than that not too eventful, my dad walked down from home and watched for a bit. I don't remember winters being THAT cold...but they're suppose to be a lot colder, so we'll see at thanksgiving time if I'll get owned. The swell's will pick up a lot by then, so it'll probably be head+ consistently around then. The big guy up there likes to make holidays surfable, and weekends, so I'm genuinely hopeful! If its not too big I'll head out to Point Reyes beach, I haven't gone surfing there before but it looks nice, steep, and raw---just how I like it!
Summary:
Dillon Beach, Marin County
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
8:15AM-10:15AM
2-4ft, ~15sec
Onshore-> still-> heavy cross shore
3/5 overall
Summary:
Dillon Beach, Marin County
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
8:15AM-10:15AM
2-4ft, ~15sec
Onshore-> still-> heavy cross shore
3/5 overall
Friday, October 17, 2008
Just what I needed
What a refreshing break to a seven hour drive from Malibu to Marin. After transforming this trip from simply a trek to a mini California surf safari, I am inspired and excited. I think I had forgotten the reality that Northern California has REAL waves. None of that knee/waist high crap, shoulder/head+ high---that stuff's where the real action's at.
Genuinely, waking up before 5AM is never exciting, no matter how jaw dropping surf may be. This "too early" response led me to turn off my cell phone alarm and "rest" for a few more minutes. I ended up getting looking at the time for the next twenty minutes and reflected that I really better get going if I want to hit up Pismo without a) getting owned by traffic and b) before winds picked up.
Pismo Beach was surprisingly small. I was expected somewhat consistent waist-chest waves with a decent bit of power. It is a nice slow beachbreak, but the reality is that with this little power in the water it was little more than mush. Early on there was a little definition to it, but even little cutbacks killed the little power pushing the board on. Pumping was a failed effort. It was, however, bigger than Malibu had been since two weekends ago, so I give Central California a 2/5, not for lack of trying. There were some people ripping when I first got there. I guess I brought bad luck.
The experience of the day here was listening to some punk surfer kid talk to his buddy. "Man, I am getting so good. Did you see that? Did you see that? Oh my god such a nice left. Seriously though..." blah blah blah. Seriously though, while amazingly annoying, he inspired me to dick around on mushy waves just so he would think to himself that going in a straight line with legs completely locked for three seconds neither constitutes a good wave nor an exemplary surfer. Either that or I'm just a condiscending surfer---I truly hope the Socal surfing attitude has not corrupted me so.
Ocean Beach was absolutely bad ass. As some employee responded to a customer while I was looking around, "The weather's beautiful, but the surf is/has been kind of small." I wish LA's "kind of small" was 4-6 foot. Far from perfect, certainly, but there is no question that these sectiony, often walled up waves occasionally eased in a steep, hollow shoulder. Cutbacks, wrap arounds, whack-a-faces (truly, I really really like calling it that), the power was there, the size was there along with the atypical beautiful, windless, sunny, warm fall afternoon. Waves truly anywhere from waist to head high, depending on what your sandbar looks like at any point on the beach. Quite literally, in two hours of surfing OB's currents pushed me more than half a mile south, so there was unexpected variety in the waves for sure. I didn't even try to paddle against it, after about ten minutes of trying to stay stationary I realized that I should use the arms for adrenaline-pumping drops and quick carves. People here not only shred more than in Socal, but they have real waves that require one to actually paddle out to as opposed to just walk. The fact that it's Northern California means that there are signs which literally say, "People have died on this beach swimming and wading." means that the only people that actually go in the water are there to surf, not to screw around. Southern California be aware---there are real waves here and people who actually know how to surf (and aren't complete asshats, although that really is an overblown stereotype of Socal...
Inspiring waves, there were many. Perhaps the best were the hollow head high "shoulders" with steep drops where I thought to myself, "I can make it through, I can make it through, comeon don't close out on me..." then immediately the wave flops over me, raping me in pretty much every aspect of the word. However, every fifth or so of those waves, I actually made it through.
I like big waves.
Summary:
Pismo Beach (North of pier), San Luis Obispo County
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
8:00AM-10:00AM
2-4ft, ~14sec
Still -> slight onshore
2/5 overall
Ocean Beach, San Francisco
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
2:00PM-4:00PM
4-6ft, ~14sec
Still to light onshore
3/5 overall
Genuinely, waking up before 5AM is never exciting, no matter how jaw dropping surf may be. This "too early" response led me to turn off my cell phone alarm and "rest" for a few more minutes. I ended up getting looking at the time for the next twenty minutes and reflected that I really better get going if I want to hit up Pismo without a) getting owned by traffic and b) before winds picked up.
Pismo Beach was surprisingly small. I was expected somewhat consistent waist-chest waves with a decent bit of power. It is a nice slow beachbreak, but the reality is that with this little power in the water it was little more than mush. Early on there was a little definition to it, but even little cutbacks killed the little power pushing the board on. Pumping was a failed effort. It was, however, bigger than Malibu had been since two weekends ago, so I give Central California a 2/5, not for lack of trying. There were some people ripping when I first got there. I guess I brought bad luck.
The experience of the day here was listening to some punk surfer kid talk to his buddy. "Man, I am getting so good. Did you see that? Did you see that? Oh my god such a nice left. Seriously though..." blah blah blah. Seriously though, while amazingly annoying, he inspired me to dick around on mushy waves just so he would think to himself that going in a straight line with legs completely locked for three seconds neither constitutes a good wave nor an exemplary surfer. Either that or I'm just a condiscending surfer---I truly hope the Socal surfing attitude has not corrupted me so.
Ocean Beach was absolutely bad ass. As some employee responded to a customer while I was looking around, "The weather's beautiful, but the surf is/has been kind of small." I wish LA's "kind of small" was 4-6 foot. Far from perfect, certainly, but there is no question that these sectiony, often walled up waves occasionally eased in a steep, hollow shoulder. Cutbacks, wrap arounds, whack-a-faces (truly, I really really like calling it that), the power was there, the size was there along with the atypical beautiful, windless, sunny, warm fall afternoon. Waves truly anywhere from waist to head high, depending on what your sandbar looks like at any point on the beach. Quite literally, in two hours of surfing OB's currents pushed me more than half a mile south, so there was unexpected variety in the waves for sure. I didn't even try to paddle against it, after about ten minutes of trying to stay stationary I realized that I should use the arms for adrenaline-pumping drops and quick carves. People here not only shred more than in Socal, but they have real waves that require one to actually paddle out to as opposed to just walk. The fact that it's Northern California means that there are signs which literally say, "People have died on this beach swimming and wading." means that the only people that actually go in the water are there to surf, not to screw around. Southern California be aware---there are real waves here and people who actually know how to surf (and aren't complete asshats, although that really is an overblown stereotype of Socal...
Inspiring waves, there were many. Perhaps the best were the hollow head high "shoulders" with steep drops where I thought to myself, "I can make it through, I can make it through, comeon don't close out on me..." then immediately the wave flops over me, raping me in pretty much every aspect of the word. However, every fifth or so of those waves, I actually made it through.
I like big waves.
Summary:
Pismo Beach (North of pier), San Luis Obispo County
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
8:00AM-10:00AM
2-4ft, ~14sec
Still -> slight onshore
2/5 overall
Ocean Beach, San Francisco
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
2:00PM-4:00PM
4-6ft, ~14sec
Still to light onshore
3/5 overall
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
I thought Santa Ana winds are suppose to be hot...
...because this stiff morning breeze gave me chills.
Santa Ana winds are suppose to die off after today (http://www.owsweather.com/sawfc.html) and the swell throughout the week should be pretty comparable to today, which is not saying very much. Expectation is waist-chest high, and that's given my high expectations. The reality is that Malibu/North LA will have a weak surf weekend. Not sure what if any breaks will be good. The super high tides mess with the surf as much as the super low ones do, so we'll see. Next Monday is what really has me hopeful. Looks like we'll be getting a SSW swell mixing with an intense NW swell up in Northern Cali to give us some decent surf down here. I'm not sure about the size yet, but prelim for Fri-Sun the 24th-26th is shoulder-head+ here in north LA County, probably even bigger in Ventura because it might see some of the NW swell.
Surf this morning was weak. Small, gutless, really not too many waves. I was on my big board, and even 7'6" felt like I was struggling for most of the waves. Probably had 2 decent waves in the two hours I was there. There were some other Pepp kids there making the best of it---which is really all one can do. The nearshore buoy says 2-2.6ft waves. Too small for much fun. I should have moved over to Corner but I didn't feel like paddling in and out.
I did get some BioEars "Anti-Microbial" earplugs which seem to work pretty well. $5 for four sets, reusable. So far I like them, but I'm skeptical to see if they can hold up to 10+ sessions, if so then they're definately worth it!
Surfrider/Corner, Malibu
7'6" Al Merrick White Dove
7:30AM-9:30AM
1-3ft, 17sec
Offshore, but it added too much unwanted texture.
1/5 overall
09:27AM 6.3' High Tide (YUCK x2---but at least it means you don't have to walk over two hund
Santa Ana winds are suppose to die off after today (http://www.owsweather.com/sawfc.html) and the swell throughout the week should be pretty comparable to today, which is not saying very much. Expectation is waist-chest high, and that's given my high expectations. The reality is that Malibu/North LA will have a weak surf weekend. Not sure what if any breaks will be good. The super high tides mess with the surf as much as the super low ones do, so we'll see. Next Monday is what really has me hopeful. Looks like we'll be getting a SSW swell mixing with an intense NW swell up in Northern Cali to give us some decent surf down here. I'm not sure about the size yet, but prelim for Fri-Sun the 24th-26th is shoulder-head+ here in north LA County, probably even bigger in Ventura because it might see some of the NW swell.
Surf this morning was weak. Small, gutless, really not too many waves. I was on my big board, and even 7'6" felt like I was struggling for most of the waves. Probably had 2 decent waves in the two hours I was there. There were some other Pepp kids there making the best of it---which is really all one can do. The nearshore buoy says 2-2.6ft waves. Too small for much fun. I should have moved over to Corner but I didn't feel like paddling in and out.
I did get some BioEars "Anti-Microbial" earplugs which seem to work pretty well. $5 for four sets, reusable. So far I like them, but I'm skeptical to see if they can hold up to 10+ sessions, if so then they're definately worth it!
Surfrider/Corner, Malibu
7'6" Al Merrick White Dove
7:30AM-9:30AM
1-3ft, 17sec
Offshore, but it added too much unwanted texture.
1/5 overall
09:27AM 6.3' High Tide (YUCK x2---but at least it means you don't have to walk over two hund
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Honestly not a big fan of rocks...
Today's realization comes from post-surf walking back to car, looking at my feet drip blood. While it is Surfrider, the tides are far more to blame than the spot. Low low tide here means a ten minute trek over rocks and pebbles and shells to get in the ocean. It would be worth it if there was a little bit more power to the waves.
We've got the sky filled with ash, but thankfully there was a little onshore breeze (how often are you thankful for that?) I ended up spending most of the session around the corner of 3rd, which I'll call Corner to simplify my life. Lots of nice little lefts, far more power than Surfrider had today for whatever reason, and far less fear of/pain caused by rocks. I paddled from 2nd to Corner because it looked like the waves had some decent definition to them, and they certainly did. Biggest of the day was probably Chest+, and that was very very rare, almost all were little dinky nothings. Certainly relaxing and amazing, very rarely can one surf in Malibu on a sunny day, morning or afternoon, without a horde of people. I'm in the mood for some 10ft+ faces right now, I feel like getting destroyed, but there'll be enough of those in December. Hopefully October swells in SoCal pick up a bit. It really has been pretty good down here the last month, but I'm a fan of excellent, and that means big waves!
No inspiring waves, lots of fun ones at Corner, one beautiful little left followed by my board whacking me upside my head. I guess it wants me to take better care of it and not surf around all these rocks. Too bad.
Surfrider/Corner, Malibu
7'6" Al Merrick White Dove
2:00PM-5:30PM
1-3ft, 17sec
Slight onshore
2/5 overall
03:42PM -0.3' Low Tide
We've got the sky filled with ash, but thankfully there was a little onshore breeze (how often are you thankful for that?) I ended up spending most of the session around the corner of 3rd, which I'll call Corner to simplify my life. Lots of nice little lefts, far more power than Surfrider had today for whatever reason, and far less fear of/pain caused by rocks. I paddled from 2nd to Corner because it looked like the waves had some decent definition to them, and they certainly did. Biggest of the day was probably Chest+, and that was very very rare, almost all were little dinky nothings. Certainly relaxing and amazing, very rarely can one surf in Malibu on a sunny day, morning or afternoon, without a horde of people. I'm in the mood for some 10ft+ faces right now, I feel like getting destroyed, but there'll be enough of those in December. Hopefully October swells in SoCal pick up a bit. It really has been pretty good down here the last month, but I'm a fan of excellent, and that means big waves!
No inspiring waves, lots of fun ones at Corner, one beautiful little left followed by my board whacking me upside my head. I guess it wants me to take better care of it and not surf around all these rocks. Too bad.
Surfrider/Corner, Malibu
7'6" Al Merrick White Dove
2:00PM-5:30PM
1-3ft, 17sec
Slight onshore
2/5 overall
03:42PM -0.3' Low Tide
Sunday, October 12, 2008
And the winds were...
...offshore. Very strong, perhaps describable as "painful" offshore winds. Santa Ana is suppose to start today, and while the winds certainly weren't hot, there is no doubt in my mind. They cleaned up the faces quite a bit, but the waves were lackluster. Darn swell angle, that's what killed the surf for today! It probably would have been OK all the way up in Ventura or Oxnard, but County Line got the very occasional decent size shoulder. No doubt fun, I'm not taking that away from the ocean by any means, but certainly deceptive and clearly tricky.I went out today with Eric, even got a chance to test out his fish. Those are fun boards for sure, paddles easy, catches waves surprisingly quick and balance is no problem. I wouldn't say the best waves of the day, but it was certainly a nice little change. I was actually expecting shoulder+, it was waist+ at best. Oh well. I shoulda brought out the M13, but for whatever reason I decided to short it---bad choice (though it would have been the last week on the stock market---ohhhh!)
Lily's breakfast burritos after County Line as a warm-up-what-do-we-want-to-do-it's-only-9 was absolutely amazing, and inspired us to give Zuma a shot. The offshore winds were far more tame there, the waves had a bit more shape and there were actually occasional shoulders! I could have gone for about 2-3ft more in the ocean, with these winds everyone would be shreding like no other! Jusqu'a mardi, au demain matin peut-etre! A bientot!
Summary:
County Line, Ventura
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
6:30AM-8:45AM
2-3ft, ~13sec
Offshore what wow pam pow!
2/5 overall
Zuma s7-10, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
9:15AM-11:45AM
1-3ft, ~14sec
Offshore light-> pam pam pow boom bam ouch!
2/5 overall
Friday, October 10, 2008
And it was...
...breezy. As most forecasts predicted, the morning air was amovin. I guess I shouldn't have had high expectations, but I usually do. I'll be honest and say that all in all I was a bit disappointed.
Waves left a lot to be desired too. County Line was honestly bigger than I thought it would be, not shorepound, decent (occasional) shoulders, with mostly closeouts. Surfrider epitomized dead. It is the beach that can't get blown out, but the wind sure made the waves mushy and gross. Before the breeze got too strong (15+knots according to forecasts) there were some decent waves. The wind killed em' though.
Truly no inspiration today. The only injury I had was from Ralphs buying food post session, I stub my toe and gush blood all over my shoes.
Forecast: I'm genuinely hopeful for Norbert! Malibu'll get jipped because of the angle, but I think that Ventura/County Line should have some rocking surf for the weekend. I'm going to head up along Hwy 1 early tomorrow to see. 16 sec shoulder-head high is what I'm hoping for. I think it'll happen too, it will just be very strange because of the massive dead spots as a result of the island shadows down here.
Summary:
County Line, Ventura
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
7:30AM-9:00AM
2-4ft, ~16sec
Still -> onshore
2/5 overall
Surfrider 2, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
9:00AM-11:00AM
1-3ft, ~14sec
Onshore-> yuck
1/5 overall
Waves left a lot to be desired too. County Line was honestly bigger than I thought it would be, not shorepound, decent (occasional) shoulders, with mostly closeouts. Surfrider epitomized dead. It is the beach that can't get blown out, but the wind sure made the waves mushy and gross. Before the breeze got too strong (15+knots according to forecasts) there were some decent waves. The wind killed em' though.
Truly no inspiration today. The only injury I had was from Ralphs buying food post session, I stub my toe and gush blood all over my shoes.
Forecast: I'm genuinely hopeful for Norbert! Malibu'll get jipped because of the angle, but I think that Ventura/County Line should have some rocking surf for the weekend. I'm going to head up along Hwy 1 early tomorrow to see. 16 sec shoulder-head high is what I'm hoping for. I think it'll happen too, it will just be very strange because of the massive dead spots as a result of the island shadows down here.
Summary:
County Line, Ventura
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
7:30AM-9:00AM
2-4ft, ~16sec
Still -> onshore
2/5 overall
Surfrider 2, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
9:00AM-11:00AM
1-3ft, ~14sec
Onshore-> yuck
1/5 overall
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Jack in the Box is always an amazing way to end a day of surfing...
No question. Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger large menu. There is no comparison. $7.13 for ten minutes of glory. Worth it every time. I'm pretty sure that's the only thing (other than tacos) that I have eaten there in the past year. Sorry In-n-out, you cannot compete with the soothing strips of bacon.
The surf was OK. Too small for it to be amazing, but there were certainly some fun waves. I started off at Zuma around lifeguard station 10 at 7:30 on the dot. I was suppose to meet some Pepperdine folks there but I certainly didn't see them, so I decided to just plop on in the water and surf. If it was 1-2 feet bigger, the beach break would have been amazing. The truth is not having crowds just makes sufring so much more fun. Certainly aren't crowds with 1.5 miles of peaks.
There were no amazing waves, but there were some decent right shoulders and left shoulders. Beachbreaks are great, but Zuma's so steep that it really needs a bit more size to end the closeout aspect of them. Nothing inspiring except for all the wildlife swimming around---sea lions, dolphins, fish flying everywhere, makes you feel like you're really in nature. Zuma is certainly a beautiful, accomidating beach. The pulls of the currents can basically be ignored---since the whole beach seems to be pretty comparable in the wave department. Next 4-6ft swell down here I'm going to head there again, other than that I feel like it's not accomidating enough.
I realized that I wasn't going to see the other Pepperdine kids there so I decided to head over to Surfrider and see how that was holding up to the dropping swell. Certainly a lot better, that's for sure. Again, no inspiring "omg I can't believe it" waves, but there was a fun mix of rights and lefts. Crowds not too big, but again surprising for a weekday with weak swell. Overall definately worth it! I wish I could have stayed longer but I was mad hungry and tired for no particularly good reason. I have to be productive today too (school what?) so...shower & nap time it is, after Jack in the Box!
Summary:
Zuma s10, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
7:30AM-9:00AM
2-4ft, ~16sec (mostly on the low end)
Slight offshore
Surfrider 2/3, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
9:00AM-11:00AM
2-3.5ft, ~16sec
Slight onshore
The surf was OK. Too small for it to be amazing, but there were certainly some fun waves. I started off at Zuma around lifeguard station 10 at 7:30 on the dot. I was suppose to meet some Pepperdine folks there but I certainly didn't see them, so I decided to just plop on in the water and surf. If it was 1-2 feet bigger, the beach break would have been amazing. The truth is not having crowds just makes sufring so much more fun. Certainly aren't crowds with 1.5 miles of peaks.
There were no amazing waves, but there were some decent right shoulders and left shoulders. Beachbreaks are great, but Zuma's so steep that it really needs a bit more size to end the closeout aspect of them. Nothing inspiring except for all the wildlife swimming around---sea lions, dolphins, fish flying everywhere, makes you feel like you're really in nature. Zuma is certainly a beautiful, accomidating beach. The pulls of the currents can basically be ignored---since the whole beach seems to be pretty comparable in the wave department. Next 4-6ft swell down here I'm going to head there again, other than that I feel like it's not accomidating enough.
I realized that I wasn't going to see the other Pepperdine kids there so I decided to head over to Surfrider and see how that was holding up to the dropping swell. Certainly a lot better, that's for sure. Again, no inspiring "omg I can't believe it" waves, but there was a fun mix of rights and lefts. Crowds not too big, but again surprising for a weekday with weak swell. Overall definately worth it! I wish I could have stayed longer but I was mad hungry and tired for no particularly good reason. I have to be productive today too (school what?) so...shower & nap time it is, after Jack in the Box!
Summary:
Zuma s10, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
7:30AM-9:00AM
2-4ft, ~16sec (mostly on the low end)
Slight offshore
Surfrider 2/3, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
9:00AM-11:00AM
2-3.5ft, ~16sec
Slight onshore
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Clearning the sinuses & Malibu plane crash what?
Nothing remarkable this morning other than a ridiculous amount of surfers for a mediocre/small swell. I guess it's because it's the tail end of a pretty good one. Beautiful morning, beautiful sunrise, so-so waves. I'll be honest: Malibu is best when it's so-so waves mid week not pre or post good swell, because then there's no one there---or when it's too big and the SoCal fairweather surfers (which is 90% of them) get scared off. There were people this morning so it was unremarkable.
I had some fun waves, most of them were lefts because, once again, people down here are intimidated by them and would rather go crazy on 3 ft rights. I'm happy, although I feel like this weekend off/depressing nose smack has slightly dampened my surfing spirits. Time to whet that appetite: surf ce soir! Mabye there'll be a little glass off window---I'm going to hit up Surfrider in a few hours and see if it's worth my time. Lazymode big board lets go!
Summary:
Surfrider 2/3, LA County
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
6:15AM-9:30AM
3-4ish 16/17sec
And so the evening session is the kind of stuff that makes me love surfing. I could not have asked for anything more. Relaxing, fun, easy. I was a bit fatigued from the past few days, but in every aspect it was a refreshing session. The fact that the fading light scares people away makes me happy too. The offshore breeze cleaned the waves up a lot. Clean clear distinguishable faces. Mmm yummy.
Quite a few timely, beautiful waves that are memorable. I'd say the most so was the head high shoulder that popped up out of nowhere. Apparently I was in a decent position for it, mad steep drop, quick little shoulder, with a whack-it at the end. Nothing fancy just powerful and clean. I wish it didn't section so quick, it would have been amazing if it didn't. There were also a surprising amount of beautiful lefts. I genuinely like lefts more than rights on my big board, so maybe that's why they stick out in my mind.
Apparently an Ultralight homebuilt plane crashed just 150 feet from the Malibu pier http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-planedown8-2008oct08,0,3191774.story
while I was surfing. There were sirens and helicopters all that fancy stuff, and no one really knew what was going on. Eventually once the new blood came into the lineup they told everyone that a plane crashed by the pier. I was skeptical but apparently the internet doesn't lie. There must have been some damn good sets rolling through for no one to notice a plane crash...if only they were that memorable!
Surfrider 2/3, LA County
7'6" Al Merrick M13
5:00PM-7:30PM
2-4 16/17sec
Light onshore--> moderate offshore
I had some fun waves, most of them were lefts because, once again, people down here are intimidated by them and would rather go crazy on 3 ft rights. I'm happy, although I feel like this weekend off/depressing nose smack has slightly dampened my surfing spirits. Time to whet that appetite: surf ce soir! Mabye there'll be a little glass off window---I'm going to hit up Surfrider in a few hours and see if it's worth my time. Lazymode big board lets go!
Summary:
Surfrider 2/3, LA County
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
6:15AM-9:30AM
3-4ish 16/17sec
And so the evening session is the kind of stuff that makes me love surfing. I could not have asked for anything more. Relaxing, fun, easy. I was a bit fatigued from the past few days, but in every aspect it was a refreshing session. The fact that the fading light scares people away makes me happy too. The offshore breeze cleaned the waves up a lot. Clean clear distinguishable faces. Mmm yummy.
Quite a few timely, beautiful waves that are memorable. I'd say the most so was the head high shoulder that popped up out of nowhere. Apparently I was in a decent position for it, mad steep drop, quick little shoulder, with a whack-it at the end. Nothing fancy just powerful and clean. I wish it didn't section so quick, it would have been amazing if it didn't. There were also a surprising amount of beautiful lefts. I genuinely like lefts more than rights on my big board, so maybe that's why they stick out in my mind.
Apparently an Ultralight homebuilt plane crashed just 150 feet from the Malibu pier http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-planedown8-2008oct08,0,3191774.story
while I was surfing. There were sirens and helicopters all that fancy stuff, and no one really knew what was going on. Eventually once the new blood came into the lineup they told everyone that a plane crashed by the pier. I was skeptical but apparently the internet doesn't lie. There must have been some damn good sets rolling through for no one to notice a plane crash...if only they were that memorable!
Surfrider 2/3, LA County
7'6" Al Merrick M13
5:00PM-7:30PM
2-4 16/17sec
Light onshore--> moderate offshore
Saturday, October 4, 2008
And there was blood!
Today's afternoon attempt at surfing defined disappointing. I check the surf on the way back from Thousand Oaks, it looks good, so I quickly drive to my apartment, get my stuff, then head back out to County Line. It's a little windy and imperfect conditions, but the swell's big enough that that doesn't really matter: there are surfable decent sized waves.
I paddle out (which means walking to where the waves are plunging and booking it between waves) and in two minutes I have myself a nice shoulder + wave that's setting itself up perfectly for me. A good size, well defined right. I paddle for it, about three seconds after I start paddling before the drop there's a little chop in the water. My board's got some decent speed so this little chop pops my board up about a foot out of the water and gravity gives me mad speed when I smack back in. I was paddling so my hands were at my sides: in short, my nose got smashed hard against my board. The wave itself had a steep face. Pretty simple because of the conditions: straight long drop, bottom turn, and bail instead of anything else since I'd rather not get totally destroyed by 5 feet of water closing out on top of me. Paddling back out I think to myself that my nose was hurting pretty bad. When I'm back out past the breaks I run my hand across my nose to wipe off the snot, but instead of clear liquid there was a brutal red streak across the back of my hand. It's not broken according to the five people I've asked, so I'm safe. I had surgery on my nose less than two months ago, so injuries to it (two in as many weeks) just scare the bejesus out of me.
In truth: I'm really only pissed because I really really wanted to go surfing today. Instead I drove for an hour to surf for 5 minutes. At least I got my feet wet =)
Summary:
County Line, Ventura County
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
1:00PM-1:05PM
3-4.5ft ~? period
Heavy onshore
I paddle out (which means walking to where the waves are plunging and booking it between waves) and in two minutes I have myself a nice shoulder + wave that's setting itself up perfectly for me. A good size, well defined right. I paddle for it, about three seconds after I start paddling before the drop there's a little chop in the water. My board's got some decent speed so this little chop pops my board up about a foot out of the water and gravity gives me mad speed when I smack back in. I was paddling so my hands were at my sides: in short, my nose got smashed hard against my board. The wave itself had a steep face. Pretty simple because of the conditions: straight long drop, bottom turn, and bail instead of anything else since I'd rather not get totally destroyed by 5 feet of water closing out on top of me. Paddling back out I think to myself that my nose was hurting pretty bad. When I'm back out past the breaks I run my hand across my nose to wipe off the snot, but instead of clear liquid there was a brutal red streak across the back of my hand. It's not broken according to the five people I've asked, so I'm safe. I had surgery on my nose less than two months ago, so injuries to it (two in as many weeks) just scare the bejesus out of me.
In truth: I'm really only pissed because I really really wanted to go surfing today. Instead I drove for an hour to surf for 5 minutes. At least I got my feet wet =)
Summary:
County Line, Ventura County
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
1:00PM-1:05PM
3-4.5ft ~? period
Heavy onshore
Friday, October 3, 2008
All surfers in blue wetsuits suck
And they a) drop in b) snake c) make me happy when they f up a wave and get owned by their board.
Other than that this morning was pretty good, not spectacular like yesterday. It probably would have been if there weren't so many darn people there. Grr. Tomorrow I'm not sure where I'm headed but perhaps Zuma or County Line. Waves are suppose to be big enough that both those beachbreaks should be firing.
Heavy offshore wind and 3-4.5ft with occasional shoulder + sets. Not bad by any means, but there are so many a-holes in Malibu on Fridays. Also I saw the guy who grabbed my leash in early September and gave him the stink eye. That made me feel big.
No inspiring waves, some fun ones but I feel like, while the size was there, the drops weren't anywhere near as steep or fast as yesterday, making catching waves certainly more of a task.
Summary:
Surfrider 2/3, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
6:30AM-9:45AM
3-5ft, ~12sec
Offshore wa wa woo strong
Other than that this morning was pretty good, not spectacular like yesterday. It probably would have been if there weren't so many darn people there. Grr. Tomorrow I'm not sure where I'm headed but perhaps Zuma or County Line. Waves are suppose to be big enough that both those beachbreaks should be firing.
Heavy offshore wind and 3-4.5ft with occasional shoulder + sets. Not bad by any means, but there are so many a-holes in Malibu on Fridays. Also I saw the guy who grabbed my leash in early September and gave him the stink eye. That made me feel big.
No inspiring waves, some fun ones but I feel like, while the size was there, the drops weren't anywhere near as steep or fast as yesterday, making catching waves certainly more of a task.
Summary:
Surfrider 2/3, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
6:30AM-9:45AM
3-5ft, ~12sec
Offshore wa wa woo strong
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Put quite simply...
...wow. Wow wow wow. Tides aren't as bad as they were, hefty offshore breeze, and stunning sunrise. Oh...and decent 4-5ft sets. What's the deal? It's wayyyy better than it's suppose to be. I hope the rest of the weekend keeps up with this. Truly inspiring. It was certainly my best surf session since I've been down here in LA. Perfect positioning for every wave. Enough power in the ocean for a lot of sharp turns, wrap around cutbacks, and huge pockets. Did I mention that there was no one else surfing 2nd for the first 30 minutes? In that 30 minutes there were six good size sets, and six amazing 4 1/2ft + rights.
I'm not sure I can say anything else. I'm not sure I want to. I just want to go surfing again. I am VERY glad that I got up early for a little hour and a half session. Too bad I have class til 10:00 tonight. Zuma tomorrow...hopefully this good size swell keeps inspiring the ocean for us!
And...I dinged the rail of my board a bit. I'm pretty sure it was on my head and not on a rock though, since it's a pretty flat little smash, and it's not too shallow since the waves are decent size today. Regardless, it makes me a little bit sad (but makes the day no less worth it!)
Summary:
Surfrider 2/3, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
6:00AM-7:30AM
4-5ft, ~10sec/14sec
Offshore bam bam pow strong
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Once again the sky is stunning...
...but the surf is lacking. This morning the sky has the same dazzling qualities as yesterday, but drastically different shades. It's worth it to get up early JUST to see these morning skies, which is pretty much all you can do at the beach right now.
The surf is small. Very small. Walking up from the beach there was a guy talking on the phone to some of his buddies, "Knee high, if that. Yea, yea...I'm just telling you as it is." The longboard spot is knee high, 2nd/3rd were waist+ on sets, completely flat between.
Out there I saw Ed and two other folks from school (Eric/David) which always makes surfing on small days a bit more fun. At least there wasn't a rush of off-from-school-because-of-Jewish-holiday kids today.
I would say closer to low tide was far better. There was a mad offshore wind so the faces define clean. There were a couple shoulderish high waves, definitely fun. The little board was ripping today. A few beautiful little pockets here and there (almost all rights) but mosty closeouts, like usual. The big sets were the ones that had some real definition with some actual shoulders, and those are obviously pretty rare.
Summary:
Surfrider 2/3, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
6:30AM-9:00AM
2-3ft, ~15sec
Offshore steady
The surf is small. Very small. Walking up from the beach there was a guy talking on the phone to some of his buddies, "Knee high, if that. Yea, yea...I'm just telling you as it is." The longboard spot is knee high, 2nd/3rd were waist+ on sets, completely flat between.
Out there I saw Ed and two other folks from school (Eric/David) which always makes surfing on small days a bit more fun. At least there wasn't a rush of off-from-school-because-of-Jewish-holiday kids today.
I would say closer to low tide was far better. There was a mad offshore wind so the faces define clean. There were a couple shoulderish high waves, definitely fun. The little board was ripping today. A few beautiful little pockets here and there (almost all rights) but mosty closeouts, like usual. The big sets were the ones that had some real definition with some actual shoulders, and those are obviously pretty rare.
Summary:
Surfrider 2/3, Malibu
6'1" Al Merrick White Dove
6:30AM-9:00AM
2-3ft, ~15sec
Offshore steady
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