Surfing Ruined My Life

April 2017 Surf Sessions

4-30-17 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Juno Pier, Juno Beach Florida
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 11
The wind was howling when I went to sleep last night and hadn’t backed down at all when I awoke.  Feeling a tad lethargic I was in no rush to go have another epic wind slop session.  Instead I enjoyed breakfast with the family.  In between breakfast and the rest of the day my parents had to take the cats for their daily walk leaving just enough time for a quick surf.  My lady and I headed straight for the pier where the swell had definitely jumped up a notch, though messy and drifty as all hell.  The current was so strong staying of the sand bar was near impossible.  It was more like strategically drifting onto it as a set came through.  There were actually a few kill-able ones out there and if I had a real surf surf board instead of the old jalopy I was on I think I could have done some real damage.  Still despite all the obstacles I manages a somewhat fun surf.
4-29-17 PM Session: 1-3+ ft, Juno Pier, Juno Beach, Florida
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 11
After nearly 16 hours of traveling, 4 flights and one missed connection forcing my girl and I to go from Santa Barbara, to San Francisco, to Chicago, to Florida we finally had arrived in Jupiter/Palm Beach, Florida.  I don’t what has happened with air travel lately, but it almost makes me glad that I don’t have to fly all that much any more these days.  There was a time when I was on and off planes traveling the world surfing on the regular and I never remember having all the trouble I have on the few flights I take.  Something is off.  Anyhow, we enjoyed a nice afternoon repast with my folks.  Immediately following after all that travel I was jones’in’ to get wet and wash off all the stank of humanity.  Another thing I hate about travel is all the human beings one has to involuntarily come in contact with and at some times in very close proximity to my own personal spacial issues.  I am pretty sure I caught a cold from the ordeal which I am still fighting as of press time.  My girl and I cruised up to the beach.  Surfline had predicted some small wind swell that was on order.  Six Years ago I left an old J7 Mad Max model at my parents’ abode.  Over the years it had spent in their outside shed it had been exposed to a gamut of extreme hot temperatures causing it to completely delaminate.  The rails thin as I ride them were now barely one inch thick  and the deck was completely vacuum smashed causing the stringer to stick up a half inch higher then it should.  For arguments sake the board was borderline not surf-able.  I paddled it on the horrid knee to waist high weak ass short period wind slop on offer.  I don’t know if it was the stoke of my pasty white ass in board shorts, the shake off of the travel or just my freakish ability to ride terrible waves, though most likely a combination of all three, but some how I was able to make the board ride and look half decent.  All I can say is riding that thing in those shit conditions really put my surfing life in California in perspective and that I probably shouldn’t bitch about half the shit I do.
4-28-17 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 27
Miles Driven: 56
The south wind rose again thwarting any hopes I had of getting some fun point surf.  Not making the same mistake as yesterday I went to Emma and paddled.  It was a bit larger then yesterday though the same shape and conditions.  There was a pack on it, but plenty of peaks to be had.  As I had expected the surf was jumbled and all over the place. Sick ones were coming in, but finding your way on one was rather difficult. Lakey got the barrel of he day and Hayes got a few good ones.  I managed one deep left tube and my last right materialized into something.  The rest of my day was spent running errands to get ready for my Florida trip, which I am leaving for tonight.

4-27-17 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon.
Time in Water: 45 Mins
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 60
Another day of shitty mixed up wind swell and south wind had me less then stoked.  As a matter of fact if I didn’t have to move my rental out of resident parking I probably would have bagged it and slept in.  I had a look at Rincon and between the wind and tide I was far from eager.  My schedule had me at work at noon leaving me time to look around.   Considering all the conditions Emma was my best bet. There was a wave there and in actuality it was the best choice. The sand is shitty there right now causing there to be an inner bar and an outer bar. Both of which are crap at best.  I watched a few guys try and make sense of what was on offer but wasn’t sold.  I thought I’d have a look at Solimar. Surprise, surprise it sucked too. I had one more look at Emma before suiting and booting Rincon, which also sucked. After that I went to work and that sucked too.

4-26-17 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Rincon 
Time in Water: 30mins
Waves Surfed: 7
Miles Driven: 30
I woke up a little late leaving me little room for a surf.  Of course the current wind pattern has been south devil winds every morning for the past two weeks with little exception.  I saw a few lines not to disturbed by the wind.  The trail down to the Cove was closed ironically due to the removal of the last two remaining eucalyptus trees.  That species of tree has been fucking me all week.  I parked up at the Indicator lot, put on my wetsuit and ran down the stairs for literally a heat.  Since there was only time for one drift I started up at Indy left and surfed all the way down to the Cove.  The wind got even harder south fucking conditions up even worse. All I have to say is that I got seven of the worst waves I have ever caught at Rincon. To add insult to injury the water was freezing.
4-25-17 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
Miles Driven: 4
I had more car bull shit that kept me from getting yet another morning surf in.  The wind was shit south any way trashing whatever would have been out there.  My only hope was to get out of work early enough for an evening session.  The current job I have is a fucking trap and I couldn’t get finished early enough to get a decent surf in.  I had a look at Rincon anyway figuring if it was fun I would have jumped in for a wave or two before dark.  Though ride-able it was far from good enough for me to go through all the effort of a paddle for just a few waves.

4-24-17 PM Session: 1-3 ft, Lead Better
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 0
I had to square away all sorts of car insurance bull shit first thing in the morning taking away my surf time.  The rest of the day I spent hating my life at my shitty job.  I got out around 6ish and headed home.  There was lots of WNW short period wind swell in the water.  The wind was off shore at my house.  I grabbed my fish and ran down to Lead Better for a couple.  Over all it was pretty mushy and terrible.  My last wave actually stood up and ran down the entire point.
4-23-17 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 28
Miles Driven: 55
Last night Biz and I hit the cat in the spirit of a good old fashioned boys night.  Come morning I was pleased to see that conditions were shaping up to be better in the afternoon and slept in.  My girl got back from LA round 11 and we got breakfast followed by a hunt for some waves.  The surf had all sorts of weirdness about them since the wind has not been able to make up its mind about which way to blow this spring.  Rincon looked the best, but as I was making the decision to paddle lots of guys showed up.  I had a gander at little Con and Pitas. One was crowded, closed out and dumpy the other just dumpy respectively.  The latter was my choice though not before I did one more 15 mile loop around to Rincon. What ensued was boost-able close outs with the occasional mush burger.  Over all the session was full of beatings with the occasional sick one.  On the way in I fell in a hole and hurt my foot on a barnacle.  Good times.

4-22-17 AM Session: 1-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 30
Last night my girl, Bizarro and I attended a Prince tribute purple party at the High Sierra in Goleta.  It isn’t like us to leave out comfort zone of downtown and the Wild Cat, but our friend Jeremy was putting it on as a fund raiser for his kids’ school. The even was pretty fun and they had a sick funk band.  What night would be complete without a cameo at the Wild Cat.  I woke up this morning a little tired.  The surf looked all jumbled on the cam and with the am high tide I decided to sleep in a little bit since I didn’t have to be at work till noon.  Ryan called me and said everything looked terrible and/or crowded.  I paddled Rincon, which was deplorable at best.  I took my fish and experimented with the quad set up.  Sometimes with the right tide and small conditions the waves will hug the rocks up at Indicator and it makes a nice steep point wave.  I had a few fun ones before floating my way out through the Cove.  It was terrible for sure on my fish I was able to salvage what would have been a day of not surfing.  I had a wedding to work over at the Cabrillo Arts Pavilion down on East Beach.  Parking sucked cause it was a nice beach day Saturday forcing me to park all the way by the zoo and train tracks.  The gig went fine.  After wards when I got back to my car there was this giant eucalyptus tree branch on the roof of my car.  Turns out it must have fallen from high up and consequently crushed my roof, cracked my windshield and smashed my trunk.  Today was one of those days where going to work actually costed me money.  I knew I should have never got a job.
4-21-17 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 34
Miles Driven: 48
There was a rumor that the Santa Anna’s might come up in Oxnard this morning.  The idea of clean beach break combo barrels danced in my head like sugar plum dreams on Easter.  I woke up and there were no sign of the winds.  Sometimes it takes a couple of hours for the Valley to heat up and produce this amazing phenomenon.   I drove to Rincon, which looking similar to yesterday was a fine option.  Waiting for some intel from my friends down south I chilled at the middle of the point so I could watch both the Cove and the River Mouth.  By 9:30 and a noticeable increase in the NW wind I gave up hope of my beachie barrel dreams and began to consider my options.  Rincon was definitely one of them.  The crowd was coming on it fast.  I just wasn’t in the mood to take a number on my day off and after surfing ‘Con nearly everyday this month I just wasn’t interested.  I saw enough to lead me to believe Pitas wasn’t bad.  Sure enough it was solid with a light crowd.  I met Ryan and we paddled.  As soon as we hit the water another six guys jumped in with us and crowded the top.  There were plenty of waves, though there are only two take off zones up there and both are tight and annoying when too many guys are scrapping. Pitas is one of those spots where the crowd is constently pushing each other too deep.  I got a few up there before getting over it and floating down to the Faria section.  Truthfully that is always my end goal.  I was just waiting for the tide to drop a bit more.  The swell was a little too wind swelly and weak for that section.  There was enough crowd to be annoying as well.  I did get a couple of runners and pulled into one barrel that had I came out of would have made my entire week.  I lost it in the lay back just as I was trying to recenter over my board and come out.  I surfed pretty well over all and it was nice to surf something different.  On the drive home Rincon looked solid.  I was tired and over it.
4-20-17 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 34
There was lots more WNW wind swell in the water then the previous day.  Unfortunately between the short period of the Wind swell and a pesky south eddy blowing conditions were a bit junky.  I was torn between my fish and short board.  There were some solid sets and with all the bump and warble I wanted the stability of my short board.  Plus I saw Killian walk past me with his short boards and didn’t want to take the kooky fish out.  I started up at Indicator and actually got cleaned up by a head high plus bomb set.  There were some to be had up top, but all the bump and crumble with the unpredictability of wind swell sets made it a bit too much wilderness.  Thus after giving it a solid effort I floated to the Cove where it was much better.  It was a little crowded for what was out there.  I got a few sick ones despite the crowd.  At this point I know Rincon so well that getting waves off any reasonable crowd under 100 with some what comparable wave consistency is not a problem.  After work I had another look hoping to get some quick ones right before dark.  That damn south wind was all over it just trashing the meager offerings.  Over it I cruised home in the hopes of a mellow evening.  Instead the block was out of power for the night due to scheduled maintenance.  What do we do in Lisanti Land when all else fails for entertainment?  Go to the Wild Cat of course.
4-19-17 AM Session: 1-3+ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 30
My girl had a new exhibit opening at the museum in the evening. In order to make it there before closing I decided to go into work an hour early.  This left me little surf time.  I had a look at Indicators left since there was more south in the water then west.  The tide was really low and the sand bar up there isn’t really ready for lefts. Out of time I figured I would just park and go for a walk up the point and look for sea glass. While wandering I saw enough waves to paddle my fish.  It was super tiny, but every so often a thigh high or larger runner would come through the Cove.  My fish eats that shit for breakfast so I paddled and had a ball.  It was a warm sunny day, the waves were clean.  I was sharing them with only three others and I got to wear my new Body Glove Vapor X 3/2.  They said it was as warm as my Xcel 4/3 Revolt.  Skeptical I waited till a session came up that if I was too cold to enjoy it I wouldn’t care.  As it turned out they were right the suit was super warm, and flexible.  The only down side is since it was a promo it is the color orange.  Oh well.  Thanks Tom at J7 Surf boards for hooking it up.
4-18-17 No Surfing: 2-3 ft
Miles Driven: 56
I had to work at ten. At 7 am I woke up and checked the cams and buoys, between them being lack luster and the fact that it was raining I was over it and decided to sleep in and hope to sneak in a quick session after work.  My new job is like a trap.  Once I get in there it’s impossible for me to get out on time.  Every time I get ahead more work gets dumped on me and before I know it time has passed and its dark.  I got out around 7:15 and bolted for Emma Wood hoping that if it was fun I could get a few before dusk.  There was a bit of fog and cloud cover contributing to an early night fall.  The waves were rather small and weak and not worth making the effort for only about a half hour at best heat  I hate working.

4-17-17 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, C Street
Time in Water: 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 58
There was plenty of south swell on the buoys.  Given the drained out tide I headed over to Ventura Harbor in the hopes of getting a few fun tubes before work. There was a little to much WNW combo in the water. That coupled with the extreme low tide made it close out city.  Over it I cruised over to the Point where I took my fish.  I was going to run up to pipe when I saw a sick A-Frame with no one on it down by Stables.  With little time I paddled and actually had a ball.
4-16-17 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 9
Miles Driven: 78
Swell was down and of course it was since today was my day off.  My girl wanted to go shopping down at the Camarillo outlets and I got word from my boy Dave that Strand had a wave thus we went south.  Actually when a set came there were some decent chest high bowls on the North End. It was also super inconsistent and the water was freezing.  I don’t know that side of the Strand that well and as a result never quite know where to sit.  Couple that with a light crowd of locals and the long period swell and I found myself paddling around fruitlessly.  I did manage a few, but over all it was a non-session.  Where the surf Gods hadn’t shined upon me the shopping gods did.  I ended up buying a tuxedo, a suit and a jacket on top of a bunch of other cool shit.
4-15-17 AM Session 2-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed:17
Miles Driven: 30
Rincon was clean, lined up and had a rather light crowd for a Saturday. Stoked I jumped in before work. I started up by the River Mouth cause the concentration of long boarders in the Cove was a bit too many for me to be stoked on. It was firing up top, long powerful, dredging low tide lines. My first good one threw out top to bottom and I found myself pumping standing straight up through the barrel. I thought I was coming out so I opened up my stance only to get nailed by the lip right square on my back. I hit the water so hard I dislocated my shoulder and had to jam it back into place.  My next one was a little bigger and this time I made the proper adjustment and rode it all the way to the Cove. I ended up doing two good drifts though on my second one the swell had really started to pull back.  The session was Totally worth being late to work for.
4-14-17 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 43
Miles Driven: 56
Today was finally a day off for me from work.  I decided to sleep in till 9 before having a look around.  The wind was unfortunately a bit south trashing most of the points.  Rincon looked alright but was crowded and every place else was unappealing.  I promised my friend Rob I would shoot some photos with him at Emma in the afternoon so I was stuck with a few hours to kill.  Since I am working so much I finally had enough money to get new tires put on my car, which was really necessary.  All four were bald and one had a nail in it forcing me to fill it with air every seven days or so.  Working does have a few advantages.  I got back to Emma about 1:30pm and there were some sick ones up and down the beach with only three guys on it.  It was pretty mixed up and all over the place.  The current looked like shit as well.  I knew it was going to be a lot of work.  That was exactly what it was like.  Most waves were just big and dumpy with few corners.  I did manage a couple of good ones, but I took way too many beatings for what was on offer.
4-13-17 PM Session: 1-2+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 30
I had to be into work at 8am this morning cause we had a gnarly 500 person pack out lunch that had to be out of the kitchen and on the road at 10am.  This was also the reason I ended up working till 10:15pm last night.  It was a hectic day to say the least.  I was hoping to get out around 2pm.  My chef had other plans for me and when all was said and done I was stuck there till 6:30 pm logging in another ten hour day and missing the best window for the surf.  I had a look at Rincon and it was super small and windy, knee to waist at best.  Had I surfed in the morning I would have left the session out completely, but there was no one out at the entire point, it was poised to be a very nice sunset and I wanted to get wet so I grabbed my fish and paddled.  It was about as weak and terrible as it looked.  I had Rincon Cove all to myself in the evening.  The paddle was worth it just for that to know that you can still get one of the most crowded waves in the world still to yourself, albeit it was terrible, on occasion.
4-12-17 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 30
There was plenty of West swell still on the buoy making going back to Rincon a no brainer for me.  Sure enough it was still pretty solid up top though a slight south chop on it the lines were way better then last night.  I started at the River Mouth and Indicator sections finding plenty of fun kill-able ones.  Then I made way all the way down through the Cove to the bottom the point.  Still having some time and realizing it was way more fun up top then in the Cove I ran back up the River Mouth for a few more.  The crowd had increased making it harder for me to find the niche I was in earlier.  I did manage a bomb of a set wave up at Indicator to head in on.  It was a really racy one and I was just playing catch up the entire wave.  Then somehow I lucked into a decent one in the Cove to head in.  I was hoping to squeeze an evening session in, but ended up working an eleven hour exhausting day instead.  Have I mentioned how much I hate working yet?
4-11-17 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 19
With the fun morning still on mind I cleaned the kitchen as fast as possible so I could sneak a few more in at the ‘Con before dark.  Unfortunately the swell had with out a doubt peaked in the AM  because it was smaller and a bit on the weak side.  There was a terrible south wind, another common theme this spring ripping up the face and mushing it out. I started up at River mouth though I should have just went for the Cove where I got my best waves.  Ultimately conditions continued to deteriorate as the night wore on and I think I would have been just as happy bagging it.  One thing nice about working in Carpinteria it keeps me at the ‘Con.
4-11-17 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 11
Miles Driven: 19
My eyes were pleasantly surprised by all the swell coming through this morning.  I really was expecting another grovel on my fish.  Instead I was greeted with head to overhead bombers at the top of the point with a very light crowd.  Surfline had forecast the swell to hit tomorrow.  The swell came early and I wasn’t complaining.  I started at the River mouth and picked off a few medium size ones. The swell was definitely pulsing with the high tide push cause the waves had plenty of power.  From there I moved up to indicator where there were solid bombs well over head. The lines were so strong and fast it was almost too stretched for the section.  I took a few beatings trying to make it around the avalanche sections, everyone was.  Then I got a wide one that went all the way into the Cove. Followed by one in the Cove that went to the freeway.  What a fun surf. If only I didn’t have to get out for work I would have surfed all morning.
4-10-17 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 34
Small wind swell has been the theme and this morning was a continuation.  I had work at ten leaving time for little else but Rincon.  It was small and mushy. There was almost no one out. I took my fish and walked all the way up to Indicator and did one full drift all the way down through the Cove to the freeway.  Despite the weak offerings in my fish I made the most of it.  Had a look before dark after work, but the wind was south and surf still pretty weak thus I bagged the second sess.
4-9-17 No Surfing: 3-4+ ft
After making it through the first two weeks of my new job my girl and I decided to go out and celebrate. Two weeks! Time really does fly. It’s funny I’m so immersed in work mode now I have just about forgot what my previous surf bum life was all about.  It’s tiring, but at least I’m making money.  Since we had not partied in two weeks of course we went hard.  All of the day I was way too hung over or motivated to surf. I needed Gabe to be annoying and force me to surf. That fucker was smart enough to avoid the scene for the past few weeks while finishing up his schooling.  From what I heard I didn’t miss anything special anyhow.

4-8-17 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Sharks Cove
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 34
Miles Driven: 14
I had work at noon and there was plenty of wind swell in the water. I debated going to Sand Bar, but after watching it for about 20 minutes didn’t trust the incoming, inconsistent sets and ever growing weekend crowd.  I figured I’d just head to Rincon.  As I drove by Sharks I noticed a few cars parked and upon doing a look back confirmed it was fun, maybe the best I have actually seen it this year.  Sure there were bigger days, but the lines were so clean and perfect and there were 5 guys out including myself.  Stoked I ran the entire length of Mira Mar Beach to get there.  It became a full on froth fest for a solid hour till the wind came up.  It was like a light switch when it did too completely destroying the top. I floated down to the inside Jetty section and though still a bit high and not taking in too much wrap I found a couple more before packing it in for what turned out to be a long work day. No photos on this one cause unless I take a photographer with me Sharks is just too much effort to shoot.

4-7-17 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 64
I woke up this morning and the palm tree in front of my bedroom window was blowing south.  Bummed I still decided to get up and have a look around before work.  One a wing and prayer I checked Rincon.  Between the high tide and the wind it looked like complete shit.  Emma likes south wind and high tide making it an obvious choice.  Though solid it was was bit mixed up with all the different swells in the water.  Not to mention it was crowded and a bit dumpy.  I was out of time and options so I paddled.  I moved around the entire line up watching sick waves come through, but failing to find my way into any of them.  I had one decent right on the toll booth peak.  Besides that it was a throw away.  I heard C Street was decent for most of the day.  I had a look at Rincon after work since I was right there in Carp in the hopes the wind had died a bit, which it did, but the chop was still all over it.

4-6-17 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 30
After yesterday I was not about to squander my time have  a look about, not to mention that I had to be at work at 11am.  Though the tide was high, the crowd was light and it looked a tad bit more consistent then the previous morning.  I took my fish not wanting to find myself in a similar situation as I did yesterday.  I started up top at Indicator and it was super fun and I actually could have ripped my short board out there.  I wanted to try out my new fish in the three fin configuration we had changed up from the last one.  All I know is it worked like a charm.  The board went super well, the best it actually has ridden yet.  I don’t know if I was in the zone too, but I had some sick ones and even brought down a crazy inverted bs air that I rode out fakie.  On the way in I found a runner through the Cove as well.  I wish I could have had another two hours out there.
 4-5-17 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 11
Miles Driven: 56
I had work at noon so needed to stay sort of local.  I had a look at Rincon.  Although there were some good ones the swell was on the way out, inconsistent and with the steadily dropping tide and the lot filling with cars I was inclined to look elsewhere.  I checked everything down to Emma Wood to no avail thus I found myself in a desperation paddled at Rincon.  I opted for my short board when I should have taken my fish.  Indicator was where I did most of my work and for the most part it was really weak and mushy.  Gordo paddled out and had equal troubles.  I did manage a few and got a good one through the Cove on my last wave.  It was one of those days where if I had all day I am sure I could have gotten my share.  Unfortunately we live in a world where money is a necessity.  Living in California isn’t cheap and no one is going to pay me not to work at the moment.
4-4-17 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 3 hrs
Waves Surfed: 29
Miles Driven: 48
I actually had plans to surf Pitas today.  After Loons yesterday I was in the mood for a racy wave that is a little more make-able.  In a way I am kind of easing into having to surf Rincon tomorrow.  Its fun sometimes to surf the racy points and get used to that kind of speed then when you get on an open face like Rincon you can just explode.  It sort of a point break cross training exercise so to speak.  On the way down I saw a sick set at Sharks Cove, good enough to get me to loop back for a second look.  Upon further investigation I continued on south.  Pitas looked unreal when I pulled up.  It was glassy, head to overhead peeling lines pushing through up top and only three guys on it.  Pumped I tore my suit on, not trusting the wind or the crowd and paddled.  Right off the bat I picked off four sick ones.  Then the crowd and wind slowly got on it.  Still I was snagging some really decent three to five turners, which at the top is really solid.  Finally there was just enough wind to piss me off up there and I worked my way down to the Faria section.  It was a bit softer and sectiony then I like it down there.  Still there were some runners down the point.  It wasn’t one of those days where every wave goes to Mondos, but I definitely got my share of long rides.  I tweaked my lower back weird on a fifty yard section floater I came down a little to free fall to the flats on that sort of put a kabash on my session.  I was tired by then anyhow.  Having a fucked up back sucks.
4-3-17 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Loons
Time in Water: 3 hrs
Waves Surfed: 28
Miles Driven: 39
I had to drive to upper State St.  to fix a mix up with my rent check.  At that point I was already close El Capitan and had no excuse not to check it.  El Cap was very inconsistent and smaller then I was hoping.  If that wasn’t enough another ten guys showed up while I was checking it.  I thought about Naples, but there was ten cars in the lot.  With all that in mind south was the call.  While on the way to Rincon I had a feeling Loons might be fun.  A look through my binoculars was all it took to reiterate my feelings and I made the walk and paddle.  For about an hour I traded close out barrels at the top of the point with one other guy.  Then a few others came out and I drifted down the point where I found a few longer ones.  It was fun and I always like to get a surf out there once in a while.  Overall it was a bit too fast on most waves, very inconsistent and average loons at best.  The crowd was right and its always fun to surf a new spot.  I was skeptical when I read about a second coming of El Nino this spring, but all this recent west swell is beginning to make a believer out of me.  No photo cause Loons is one of those bitch of a spot to get to and check.

4-2-17 PM Session: 4-6+ ft, New Jetty
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 78
After a week worth of point surf I really wanted to surf a beach break.  Pat hit me up that he was heading to Jalama and that I should join him.   I gave it a 40/60 chance of being good and I wasn’t really in the mood for that kind of mission. Instead I headed south with high hopes of scoring Strand which had a wave though very mushy and weak.  I was still thinking of paddling, but not with out doing a little more car surfing.  Ventura Harbor was the call.  I have not had a look at the place in over two weeks and since then the army corp of engineers have been dumping hundreds of yards of sand on the beach a day.  The wind was light and I saw barreling lefts up and down the beach with only a handful of guys out.  Stoked I was on it.  As usual the water was gross from the dredging.  I got out there and realized that there was way too much current, rip tides, and close outs not to mention the still frigid water to make it surf-able.  I saw sick ones everywhere.  I just couldn’t find one.   Over it I came in and walked over to New Jetty which was equally closed out and shitty though there were a few more corners and lots of back wash.  The tide started to fill in and with it came the new swell.  It wasn’t long before I was under gunned and dodging massive jetty to jetty close outs. Good times.
4-1-17 AM Session: 2-3+ ft
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 44
It was my day off and there was still plenty of NW in the water.  I didn’t really know where I wanted to surf so I cruised to Rincon and thought I would figure it out from there.  I know Rincon well enough that I can use it as a good indicator for most if not all the spots I surf.  The crowd was light and there were some fun looking fish waves.   I was really in the mood to short board thus I had a look at both Little Rincon and Pitas.  There was a bit more wind then I would have liked on both of them.  That wind and a lack of intel on the beach breaks had me settle for Rincon.  Though a bit soft the Cove was perfect for my fish.  I got in a good groove and found a bunch of really fun rides.  Later I met up with my girl and her mom in Carp for lunch.  My lady and I ended the day with a nice stroll and sunset at Franceschi Park up on the Riveria.  That’s how you have a fulfilling Saturday.  Oh and I cooked up some sage prosciutto bone in chicken thigh over spinach tortellini in a sage brown butter for dinner.