Surfing Ruined My Life

April 2026 Surf Sessions

4-30-26 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 min
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 2
Adagio decided to wake up at 6:30 and was ready to play.  There nothing like not getting home till late from a catering job the night before and being woken up by a playful baby.  I suppose it could’ve been worse, he could have been a crying baby.  We played hot wheels on bathroom floor since that is his new favorite thing to do.  The nanny came at 8am and I met up with AJ at the Pier.  There was tiny combo swell with more wind swell than south swell in water.  We decided to paddle Rockside and ran into Rex on the walk.  I talked him into joining us and he ran back and grabbed his body board.  It was peaky wedges breaking basically on the beach but with just enough angle that you could surf them.  I almost broke my neck on a backside hit gone awry which sent me pike driving head first to the sand.  Luckily I was able to get my hands out in front of me in time to break my fall.  Besides that I’d say to was a rather fun surf all things considered.  My afternoon was spent sanding surfboards.

4-29-26 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 min
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 2
There was a bit more south swell in the water. Though a little stretched AJ and I decided to paddle down at the wash where there appeared to be a few lefts.  The bar has unfortunately straightened out a bit causing what was an ok bank to become a classic Hueneme dumpy close out.  There were a few corners and as always I somehow manage to find a three turn wave at least once in a session at Hueneme.  On my last wave I pulled in and came out of a sick barrel.  In the afternoon I had to do a bit of glassing at the shop.  Then from there I had a corporate event to work in Santa Barbara.

4-28-26 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, New Jetty
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 min
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 20
Finally all the wind allowed for some matriculation of NW wind swell to show its face.  Overall it was pretty small everywhere with the exception of Ventura Harbor.  The River mouth was crazy crowded and just fast and dumpy.  I thought I saw a few peaks over at the knoll and paddled.  Once out there I realized it was a dumpy close out.  I paddled over to New Jetty where I hoped to find a few corners.  The crowd was surprisingly light for that spot.  I guess I missed the rippers window. Either that or they all were at the Mouth.  Whichever the cause I was stoked.  Overall it was still pretty closed out there as well.  I found a left that was occasionally coming off the rocks and made the most out of it.  New Jetty used to be my bread and butter wave till it got obnoxiously crowded.  I suppose that is the case at most waves these days.  My afternoon was spent sanding surf boards.

4-27-26 No Surfing: 1-2+ ft
Small windy conditions continued thus I decided to get an early jump on work.  I had six boards to finish sanding by the end of the week.  With that on my plate maybe it was a good thing the surf was so bad.  Talk about a lousy spring.

4-26-26 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
Miles Driven: 2
A hard NW gale was on the coast creating blown out tiny surf everywhere.  I checked Hueneme just to make sure I wasn’t missing out.  Since I wasn’t surfing and there  were a few hours to kill before I had to get to the surfboard factory to set u for day two of our sale I went for walk with family. The final day of the sale was definitely a little bit slower.  Johnny cleaned house and sold another six boards.  I sold a beater fun shape that had been kicking around my garage for years and Bizarro sold a wetsuit.  The sale wasn’t as lucrative as I had hoped but at the very least I got to talk to a lot of people about my brand and what we do.  With any luck it will lead to more business in the future.

4-25-26 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
Miles Driven: 12
I don’t mind clean small waves but I hate windy blown out small waves.  This was exactly what was on tap this morning.  I suppose it worked out considering that today was the first day of our great surfboard sale at our new Ventura workshop location.   We had over fifty new and used boards for sale.  We got an alright turn out and sold some boards. Tomorrow is day two of the sale.

4-24-26 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1 hr 45 min
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 10
After over a month of lack luster surf this morning was the best morning I have seen.  I dragged Bizarro out of bed to film. Of course my best wave a solid double barrel was missed because he was setting up his camera.  That’s the just the way it works no matter who you are or who you film with your filmer will always miss your best wave.  As per usual the wind came up onshore as soon as we started racking up clips.  We definitely got a few keepers.  My afternoon was spent sanding surfboards.  I finished six boards that I have been working for weeks.  That’s the reward of surfboard building, getting to admire your work.

4-23-26 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Zeros
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 41
I decided to head south to hang up our surfboard sale posters at some of the popular surf spots along the PCH.  I surfed zeros where there was a clean chest plus wave coming through with a very light crowd.   Zach joined me and as it turned out the actual waves were extremely weak and in classic south swell fashion very inconsistent as well.  I found a couple of keepers but for the most part it was less than enthralling.  My afternoon was spent sanding surfboards.

4-22-26 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 min
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 10
The waves looked worse than yesterday over at Hollywood.  AJ was already out there and laziness got the better of me thus I paddled.  Don’t judge a book by its cover cause as it turned out the surf was way more fun then I had originally preconceived.  Though the ocean had channel chop on it there was more south showing than NW which transformed the lineup into a skate park.  AJ rode his new Clarks Surfboard I shaped him, a round tail Bizzle and was stoked.  I dinged my board landing an air in flats.  As usual the wind came up fast ruining it in under an hour.  I frothed and got plenty of fun rides.  My afternoon was spent sanding surfboards. 

4-21-26 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 10
The session started off super fun, with chest to head high peaks and light offshore winds.  It was raining.  AJ and I paddled out and right off the bat both got a few fun waves.  Then as the tide filled in the waves became super walled and it felt like with each set the energy was decreasing.  Talk about a hit and run wind swell.  I ended up getting very frustrated.  You know what they say “a bad day surfing is better than any day not surfing”.  My afternoon was spent in the glass shop.

4-20-26 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1 hr 15
Waves Surfed: 12
Miles Driven: 20
The wind swell had completely dropped out leaving just the small SW swell that’s been lingering for days.  Hueneme was looking closed out and too low tide.   I had a lot of work to do at the surfboard factory so I really didn’t want to drive to LA again. Jeffrey was at the Harbor and said he was going to paddle the Santa Clara River Mouth.  I haven’t been surfing there that much as of late and considering the proximity to my workshop it made sense to just show up and surf.  I got there and conditions were a littler cross shore out of the SW.  Jeffery was out at the Mouth where the waves looked pretty dumpy and fast with strong current. I jumped in and the water gross from the river run off.  It was a lot of paddling for very little reward. I found a few but I probably should have just went to work. My afternoon was spent glassing and sanding.

4-19-26 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Zeros
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 9
Miles Driven: 41
Bad wind and an extreme low tide encouraged me to pack up the family and south down the PCH to Zeros, where the minor south/ NW swell wind swell combo would be more fun.  The weather would be a lot warmer too.  It was Adagio’s first beach day at Zeros a spot I’m sure he will make many more trips to through out his life.  When we rolled up I saw a solid heat high set with seven waves in roll through the point.  Half of the waves went unridden.  The crowd was rather light for a Sunday.  Stoked I set up the family on the beach and paddled.  Once out there I realized sets were very inconsistent.  Even though the Sunday crowd was light the lack of waves caused my wave count to go way down.  Zach showed up with his dog who decided to wreak havoc on all the beach goers.  Adagio had a blast playing with the little guy.  The high tide pretty much shut it down.  I had one really decent ride.  We did lunch at sea food place in the defunct Strand side of Channel Islands Harbor which is soon to be Karl’s in 2028. Time will tell if that project ever gets off the ground.  My afternoon was spent doing yard work while the baby napped.

4-18-26 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 2
I had a wedding to work up in Santa Ynez with a report time at 12:30.  This did not leave me a very big surf window. I met AJ up at the Pier at 8am.  There was plenty of south swell albeit a bit stretched.  We ran down to the wash and went to town on anything that came our way.   As far as the catering gig went it was a grueling twelve hour day for me.  Somehow I managed to trip and fall into a hole in the ground and hurt my arm. Please people order surfboards so I can quit this job and just build boards.

4-17-26 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 2
There was a bit of an uptick in sw/nw combo swell that brought us somewhat peaky chest high waves. AJ and I surfed down by the wash since it’s really the only place in all of Hueneme that isn’t shore break or close outs.  That dredging project really screwed us this year.   Once out we were greeted with really fun corners for about a half hour then the south wind came up and completely trashed it.  Talk about another short Hueneme window.  My afternoon was spent at the glass shop.  I had to cut my day short because it was my wife and my six year anniversary.  She wanted to go eat at The Sunset Restaurant in Malibu right there across the street from the sand at Zuma Beach.  I always thought the place to be a tourist trap, but the food, atmosphere and service was quite impressive as was the wine list.  Once you have a baby you really cherish a date night.  Before Adagio my wife and I used to get dressed up and go out regularly so it was a real treat to get away for the evening.  Having a kid really puts a lot of strain on a marriage so it had definitely been a hard fought year for us.  Here is to six amazing years my dear.  I love you just as much now as ever.

4-16-26 AM Session: 1-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 2
The swell dropped leaving just tiny SW/NW combo crossed up bowls in its wake.  CC, AJ and I paddled down by the wash and made the most of the meager conditions.  The Hueneme window as we affectionately call it was short before the  tide got too low and completely turned the place off. In the afternoon I had a catering gig way up in the Santa Barbara hills.  The view was incredible from the house.  The event was an intimate solo performance by renowned violinist Alexi Kenney.  I felt very fortunate to have been in attendance to hear such incredible playing.  One of the perks of high end catering is sometimes you get to experience things you would never have access to if you weren’t working. 

4-15-26 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 2
It was a tad smaller today with a slowly dropping tide all morning.  I decided to save my gas, being just under six bucks a gallon now one really must chose where to surf wisely.  I ran down to rockside and surfed some dumpy shorebreak by myself.  Though smaller than yesterday I actually had more fun.  My afternoon was spent  glassing surfboards as usual.  I went home and enjoyed day one of the Margaret River WSL comp with my wife and baby.  Apparently Adagio liked it so much that he didn’t want to go to sleep till the contest concluded at 2am.  For him staying up late is no big deal cause he can just nap all day long.  For me unfortunately I don’t have that luxury, which leaves me feeling quit lethargic the entire next day.

4-14-26 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 14
With a minimal amount of NW wind swell left over and a minor south swell there weren’t many options.  My first look was at Hueneme but it was super dumpy and far from inviting.  From there I met up with AJ at Hollywood but it was weak.  The call was to just head back to Hueneme.  I’d rather surf dumpy close outs than weak burgers any day.  We paddled closed out shore breaky Rockside.  Though mostly bone crushing shore dump there was the occasional side swinging right wedge that made for an interesting ride.  I managed a a few keepers but I got way more beatings than victories out there.  Things need to really change with the sand over here in Hueneme or it’s going to be a pretty sad summer.  My afternoon was spent building surfboards. 

4-13-26 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 10
There was a solid rise in NW wind swell this morning.  AJ and I found ourselves a front chest to head high plus waves a little bit on the stretched side at Hollywood.  We decided to give Little Sunset a paddle.  It turned out to be a super rip-able session.  Thanks to the south swell there were even a few fun lefts to be had. We both got our share and I put down a few decent combos.  My afternoon as per usual was spent glassing surfboards. 

4-12-26 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
Miles Driven: 2
I woke up hoping for another fun morning of kill-able south swell.  Instead I was slapped in the face by a super hard NW gale that was blowing down the cost and basically destroying any surf potential except for Leo Carrillo.  On a Sunday I was not about to endure that crowd. Instead of surfing I hung home with my family.  In the afternoon we took Adagio to one of the playgrounds by our house.  He enjoyed the swings and going down the slide.  Then we found a grassy little area where he could crawl about in nature while I got out my trusty bubble wand and blew bubbles all around him creating quite the whimsical setting.  It was just another exciting afternoon with the family.m

4-11-26 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 10
A new Long period semi stretched south swell had filled in overnight.  I drove over to Hollywood since the tide was too low to even bother with Hueneme.  Though on the walled side there were some Left and right corners running up and down the beach.  My boys Rob and Duane were in the water but had gotten out right as I was about to paddle claiming they saw something breech out in the water that spooked them.  Considering their sea monster was unconfirmed I wasn’t about to let it keep me from getting mine and paddled regardless.  They watched me catch and destroy three decent lefts before deciding to paddle back out as well.  It was definitely a fun session.  My afternoon was spent working a small wedding in Santa Barbara.

4-10-26 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 2
The surf was still on windy and disorganized side.  My time on Fridays is always limited.  The wife and I enjoy doing lunch.  It’s about the only time we get to ourselves these days since the baby.  These lunches are integral to help keep us on the same page.  It’s probably one of the highlights of my week. I wanted to stay local.  I ran into Rex while checking the pier and he said he saw some waves over on Rockside.  I suited up and ran down there.   It was mostly just dumpy shore break wedges.  There were a few interesting corners to be had.  The backwash over there at the moment is very gnarly.  I got a few as usual. Lunch was splendid. The afternoon just as it always is as of late me slaving away at the surfboard shop.

4-9-26 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Zeros
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 41
There was a slight rise in the wind swell. The winds by me were still somewhat problematic and once again Zach was claiming Zeros.  It was a touch smaller than yesterday but way more consistent and crossed up thanks to the small NW wind swell mixing in. I got on a froth and caught a bunch of fun lefts and rights till my leash snapped forcing me to surf without one for the last fifteen minutes of my session or so.  It was definitely another really fun surf.  I was back grinding away at the surfboard factory in the afternoon.  Unfortunately Adagio had a miserable night thanks to his current bout with teething, which subsequently kept my wife and I up all night as well.

4-8-26 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Zeros
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 41
The VTA wasn’t worth anything again this morning.  I got word from Zach that Zeros was chest plus and fun.  It was the usual crew out there and a beautiful beach day.  Conditions were perfectly clean but inconsistent especially for the number of guys in the water.  Normally this would frustrated the heck out of me but still feeling under the weather I patiently waited for the good ones rather than spend what little energy I had chasing every ripple coming in.  I had fun.  Zeros may not be the most critical  wave out there but sometimes it’s fun to just rip the crap out of an easy wave.   After the surf the rest of my day was spent glassing surfboards.

4-7-26 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, County Line
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 46
There was still a healthy amount of swell in the water and with the low tide I decided to have a look at Hollywood.  It was small and uninviting.  I picked up CC and we rolled down the PCH in search of a score. As we were passing County Line I saw some lefts filtering into the backside of the point by the houses.  I love it when that spot works.  It’s a really decent steep fast left that due to its shallow rocky nature is left mostly not surfed.  While checking it we ran into Ryan Briggs who said it looked the best from there to Zuma.  The three of us paddled and though a littler tricky there were some nuggets to be had, even the odd ball tube.  The swell was almost borderline too crossed up with the minor NW windswell making the waves very peaky.  I got on a froth even though I was suffering from an intense sinus and possible respiratory infection thanks to my baby.  We all got our share till the rising tide turned it off.  I spent my afternoon at the surfboard factory sanding and glassing.

4-6-26 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, County Line
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 46
After quite a run of clean conditions Ventura finally got back into is normal springtime mantra of jumbled up windy surf.  I checked Hollywood but it was just an absolute mess with very little of anything on offer.   CC called me and said he was going to County Line to film with some new filmer he met. I was feeling a tad bit under the weather but wanted to surf and being the photo slut I am couldn’t say no.  We got there and it was solid chest to head plus on the beach break.  It was somewhat all over the place, but the reef wasn’t breaking so we opted to give it a go.  In general I hate the beach break at County.  The pace of the wave is difficult, and it goes from steep to flat constantly, making it challenging to set up anything.  Then of course there is the large concentration of kooks clogging that entire zone who almost always seem to get in your way when you’re in the most critical of positions.  All three of these were in play today.  Somehow I did manage to put together a dozen decent rides.  I don’t know what our so called filmer was doing but all I got on film was a flat two turn left and I know I threw heat on a few.  CC said all he got on film were two close outs.  That’s why when I really am in need of footage I bring my own guy.  There was this gnarly accident in front of Neptunes Net that literally happened fifty feet from where we were changing.  We missed the actual crash.  There was a car completely smashed underneath a truck and the firemen had the jaws of life out.  If it had taken place on our side of the street we could have been casualties of it.  Lady Luck shined on us.  The rest of my afternoon was spent glassing surfboards.

4-5-26 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 10
Small but rip-able was the call courtesy of a nice minor south swell creating clean chest high waves with good shape.  AJ and I paddled and had a blast trading off rides.  I found my air game which I have been leaving out a little bit as of late.   Adagio and my wife came along to enjoy the beach.  A splendid day it was.  After the surf we cruised back to Hueneme and spent a relaxing Easter Sunday at home.  Yes in case you were wondering we put out a bunch of eggs around the house for him to play with. At the moment he isn’t at the physical competency to actually go on an egg hunt.  He enjoyed rolling them around on the floor and putting them in his mouth.

4-4-26 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 12
We were graced with another day of offshore wind.  The waves were still about chest to head high.  Unfortunately the predominant NW wind swell was quickly dying and the new long period south swell was taking its sweet time to fill in.  That being said there were still some very fun waves to be had.  AJ, CC and I ripped the left overs to shreds till we borderline had to paddle in because the wind swell had dropped so steadily.  I got home to find that Adagio was having a really difficult go of it courtesy of two of his top teeth coming in.  Teething is a real nightmare or maybe just a nightmare within the nightmare that is parenting. 

4-3-26 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 12
We were graced with a solid shot of short period wind swell.  Hueneme was ok but lacking the juice I was looking for.  I drove over to Hollywood for there was promise of offshore wind.  This late in the season any Santa Ana wind event is a gift.  The wind was slow to arrive. As a matter of fact it was light onshore while I was checking Hollywood. I was borderline ready to walk on it.  When I got back to my car I could see a hint of the offshore wind.  Little Sunset was the call as the open beach break was a tad bit too stretched.  AJ met me and we paddled.  I only took out my 5’7 Fly Guy thinking the waves were only about head high.  The tide push really bumped up the swell leaving me grossly under gunned and at this point the 25-30 knot winds weren’t helping.  AJ got caught in a rip and almost got sucked into the harbor.  On that note he decided to throw in the towel.  In his defense the current was really gnarly and it took all my strength constantly paddling the entire surf to hold position.  Add to it a bit of back wash and you had a quite the challenging session.  I did manage a sick four critical turn right and a heart in your mouth backside tube that really rung in my loins. Even harder than the surf was changing out of my suit in the crazy hard offshore winds while getting sand blasted.  Talk about a morning.  As usual my afternoon was spent glassing.

4-2-26 AM Session: 1-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 2
There was gnarly little five second NW wind swell in the water that was causing more damage than help with the small south swell.  Most places just looked like they had too much channel chop to be worth anything.  Hueneme super peaky but super weak. It looked like something you’d see on the gulf in Texas.  AJ and I paddled down by the wash but it was so crossed up finding a decent wave was tough.  Mostly it was one hit wonders.  We had fun.  My afternoon was spent glassing surfboards.

4-1-26 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
Miles Driven: 2
This morning was tiny, windy and junky. I was borderline considering running down to Leo where I thought I could maybe find that tiny high tide inside right wedge working under the rock. As I was walking back to my car I ran into my friend AJ who I currently have a paid in full surfboard order from. He asked about the boards progress which made me feel guilty. Rather than wasting expensive gas to go surf tiny Leo I opted to go home and shape his board. It came out sick. Dude ordered a rad Bizzle Model. The rest of my afternoon was spent glassing surfboards at the shop.