August 2018 Surf Sessions
8-31-18 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 38
Miles Driven: 64
FINALLY SOME WAVES!!! On my day off too. How could I ask for anything more. I met up with Angers at the Harbor. It was a little wind to wind swelly, mushy and weak looking. Emma Wood looked fun on the way down and with the rising tide it made the most sense. We cruised and there were clean chest high bowls coming in on the toll booth peak. Stoked we paddled. Maybe it was not surfing for a nine days or the fact that I was both physically and mentally exhausted from working hard manual labor for the past ten days as well, but I for the life of me couldn’t get into a rhythm out there. Meanwhile Angers and this random dude riding a retro fish were all over it. How this dude on this archaic fish managed to pull into and make a host of sick little tubes I will never understand. Whatever, dude was killing it. I was lucky to string together two solid turns. In my defense it was definitely a regular foot advantage out there cause all the goofies were struggling as well. Despite all that I did manage a few fun ones and was totally stoked to get to surf again. The rest of my day was running around Ventura getting everything ready for Gabe’s arrival to the shaping bay.
8-30-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
Well the report said 2-3 ft, but I am calling bull shit on that one cause the cams and buoys all begged to differ. Actually I got finished by noon today too. Everything was pretty dismal on every cam from Lowers up to Jalama. I have to go down south to handle some surfboard business tomorrow and am definitely going to grovel something.
8-29-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
What is it like day nine of this absurd flat spell? Holy shit I need to surf. I am about to drive to Leemore and beg Slater to let me catch a few. Whatever, I got chefing to do anyhow. Looks like I am off all next week though. Here is hoping for a break in the flatness.
8-28-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
And the great flat spell continues here. My neck tan is starting to fade, something has to give. Work was another long day of prep. At the very least I am making money that I can sink back into Clarks Surfboards.
8-27-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
I’d like to say I came home and scored some fun waves. That would be lie. Fuck August, it has to be the worst month for waves in California year for year. Its a bit too early for any real NW swell action and for whatever reason it seems all the souths take a break also before gearing up for the fall combo action. Not that it really mattered since I had a nine and half hour day in the kitchen worth of prep to do. Thanks Jordanos for coming at 4:30 and forcing me to work an extra hour putting shit away.
8-26-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
Ah, the last and final day of car week aboard the Lamborghini slave ship. Initially we had thought that We would have had Sunday pretty much wrapped up with morning prep and maybe a somewhat easy clean and load out. Once again the numbers jumped up and they were expecting around 200 people in and out of the house from 8 am-4 pm. We started at seven in order to make up for the deficit in the prep. At 9 am I went over to the house to help the Italians keep the buffet stocked through breakfast and lunch. Basically we were making what ever we could out of whatever ingredients were left over. We didn’t do the expected 200. On the contrary, I would say it was more like 100 at best. At the end the President of Lamborghini came by the kitchen to personally thank us for a job well done. Before leaving Chef Andrea did a 40 person large champagne toast for all of our efforts. Then as fast as the cars and people showed up they disappeared. We were given a full leg of prosciutto corto and 3/4’s of a wheel of imported 15 year aged Parmesan cheese as well as other goodies to go home with. I wanted to grab a surf and head home, but Chef Andrea wanted to take all of us cooks out to a celebration dinner and I was not about to be rude and not accept. Unfortunately for me I had agreed to take a job starting first thing on Monday at 8 am for the week, another easy eight hour of prep a day grind not allowing me to fully enjoy dinner. As a result I didn’t hit the road till 10:30 and didn’t get back to SB till nearly three. What a gnarly drive, half asleep with no other cars on the road really. Come winter when the season slows down I will have some well deserved rest.
8-25-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
I feel like I have been up here in Carmel for weeks now and its only been five days. I guess that is what working day and night will do to you. Tonight was not as bad as far as numbers went. We were cooking for all of the company executives and big wigs. The count was only 22 people. For me it was the most high end dinner I have ever worked. What an effort. Every plate, cut, cook had to be perfect. I learned a lot about super high end fine dining. After all that hard work I am thankful to have had the opportunity to cook at such a level. What an honor.
8-24-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
Another day on the grind. Tonight we were prepping for the big party. When I woke up the count was close to 250. By one in the afternoon it jumped up to 350 and we had to be on site by 3:30. Needless to say it was scramble in the kitchen to try and get a 1/3 more of the food with not even an eight of the time. All three of us were running on fumes too. We dug down deep and somehow managed to get all the prep done and over to the house on time. Once at the site it was on. It was pretty much like the previous night only triple the people. This party was for all the Lamborghini A listers. Once again we pulled it off on a wing and a prayer. For me it was another 15 hr marathon of a day.
8-23-18 No Surfing: 2-3 ft
It was game day and the first of the four day run. I think everyone was a bit apprehensive being that there wasn’t real set plan or all around understanding on how it was going to go down. All we knew was the Italians were going to run breakfast and lunch alone, while we finished as much prep as we could get done for that night and the rest of the weekend. We grinded through another arduous day of prep before heading over to the Pebble Beach Lamborghini house to work the opening unveiling event for over 100 press and media. The company was unveiling the Aventador SVJ 63 to the world, a limited edition car with only 63 available starting at 2 million bucks. There were lots of little details between passed apps, the buffet and dessert, plus a pasta station. The food and event came off great with no unexpected hitches. When I got home I was exhausted, the end of a 15 hr day, rewarded myself with a glass of gin and tonic and went to sleep only to wake up and do it again tomorrow.
8-22-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
I got up early to check the surf before work, but the buoys were small and with a possible twelve hour day of prep in the kitchen looming over me I was not about to tire myself groveling. Today the rest of the Italian cooking staff showed up to lend a hand. Boy was it a grueling day. We must have peeled over four hundred shrimp, cooked and peeled 200 lobster, and a host of other odds and ends. Everything had to be as perfect as Michelin standards. After all the prep was done we all headed over to the Lamborghini house to load in and set it up. When all was said and done it was a 15 hour day. As a reward my boss bought us a Filet Mignon dinner as a reward. Tomorrow the event starts. It should interesting. We are hardly ready for battle.
8-21-18 PM Session: 1-2+ ft, Asilomar State Beach
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 14 (from Carmel)
Day one on the Lamborghini grind proved to be exhausting and that we were all in over heads with our planning or lack there of. Luckily my chef is highly organized and I have faith that with his leadership we will get through it. Our day started at 9 am. Chef Andrea came in at around ten and began showing us a few of his recipes. It was interesting to learn some real Italian recipes outside of my grand parents. It ended up being a nine hour day of cooking and chopping. We finished around seven and I bolted out of the restaurant and headed to the beach for a sunset surf. All that was in the water was a trickle of south and NW wind swell making Asilomar my best bet. It was pretty tiny when I pulled up and to be hones I was pretty tired after a 9 hour day. There were three guys out and the only one selling it was on a soft top. I was there and I wasn’t sure if I was going to really have any other opportunities to surf the rest of the time up there considering that we were deep in the weeds on prep. I jumped in on my newly resurrected fish and began making the most of the tiny offerings. Normally I would have been over it, but it was nice to be able to wash off the grim, stress and frustration of the day.
8-20-18 AM Session 2-3+ ft, San Simeon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 135
To my dismay I got stuck taking my coworker with me up to Carmel sort of throwing a monkey wrench in plan to drive and surf up the coast. On the other hand I had a Shark spotter on the beach. That is very nice luxury of piece of mind when above point conception. Pismo looked crowded and shitty thus I kept on driving. There were a few guys out at The Canyon. With long period fading south I was not about to attempt to mix it up with the locals. San Simeon had some fun looking peaks by the Rivermouth on the south end of town. I got out there and it’s was a tad faster and smaller then it looked. That being said there were some fun ones to be had. I even got a barrel or two. It stayed glassy the whole surf. After we headed up through Big Sur where I bet with the clean conditions I could have scored fullers or Willow. Unfortunately my boss needed me up in Carmel by 5 for a meeting with the famous Italian Chef, Andrea Zanin. We also drove over the recent landslide repairs that had closed the PCH for two years. All I can say is that the landscape is completely changed. Hopefully I can have more time to explore next visit. The meeting was a bit nerve racking considering how disorganized everything seemed and how nonchalant the Chef came off about “how easy” it would be to pull off. I think we are all going to bust our asses on this one.
8-19-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hr
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 64
Today was my last day in the 805 and only day off in a while and for a while. I wanted to make the most of it. I was sure Jalama would have some surf, but I didn’t want to make all that effort, plus I didn’t trust the wind. My girl and I headed south straight to Rivermouth, which was less then to be desired. It was about chest plus with a little texture on it. New Jetty had the better wave, but I wanted to shoot some photos and the wave breaks a little fat from shore for my lens. There were a few kill-able looking peaks just north of the reeds and I paddled. Right off the bat I got a few rampy ones that I thought were going to set the tone for the session. Shortly after the wind picked up, it got Lully and the rips got shitty. It was classic Rivermouth I suppose. After that my girl and I enjoyed our last day together before I have to go up to Carmel to work for Lamborghini during Car Week. It should be exciting.
8-18-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 30
Last night my girl and I decided to enjoy a night out on the town. We had dinner at Palace followed by drinks and dancing at the Wild Cat. As a result I ended up over sleeping. With little time before work I headed to Rincon. Indicator had a fun enough looking wave with an obnoxious crowd. I was out of time and options thus paddled. Despite the crowd I managed a few fun ones and even got a little tube. I had a wedding in the valley the rest of the day which went off famously.
8-17-18 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Hollywood by the Sea
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 76
The buoys had really spiked over night with some fresh long period 185 swell. The tide was low. I started out at the Harbor. The place was packed. I guess Surfer Mag published a photo of Curren getting Shacked there in the 80’s and that is why all of these randoms have been showing up. It was super stretched there. I watched a set come through and multiple takers get shut down up and down the beach. Considering the tide and swell i decided to look over by Hollywood because it was good on the last solid south a few weeks back. Though still a bit walled I saw enough out there to warrant a paddle, plus I was out of time anyhow. Angers met me and as it turned out the waves were way faster then they looked. I saw a guy get a double barrel as I was paddling out. I think he got the one and only epic wave of the session. I did manage a few pits and came out of one or two. Over all I took more beatings then victories out there. On the way to work it appeared Hobsons and Pitas had a wave, though I couldn’t tell if either was any good. Work was another day of light prep for tomorrows Jalama wedding followed by a final afternoon of ding repair.
8-16-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 64
It was more of the same minor south swell out there today. The lines were a bit longer and a bit more consistent. I would say what was on offer was the best quality at the River Mouth all week. If I had all day I would have been stoked. All I had was an hour and half before work, which left me wanting more. I did get my share of fun ones. Still, there were no barrels, a rarity for the Mouth. The crowd was a bit annoying as well. My boys Angers and Robbie were out and everyone was fairly stoked. Work was just prep as usual and after work it was all ding repair trying to get my boards in order for my upcoming Carmel trip.
8-15-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 64
Thanks to my annoying new kitten Charles I was up bright and early on feeding detail. Since there was still plenty of swell and according to surfline more then yesterday with clean conditions I headed south for a few waves before work. The swell was very broken up with the start of some fresh wind swell and there was a light south wind on it as well. It looked fun enough so I paddled. Just like yesterday it was a bit on the weak side and it was harder to find good ones. Also I was a bit exhausted from so much surfing. Still I managed to get in sync and found some really fun ones despite the lack of decent surf. Work was fine. After work I was inundated with ding repair trying to get my boards dialed for my trip up to Carmel next week.
8-14-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 37
Miles Driven: 64
I had to work an event at the Sea Center in the evening and though I had enough time to run up to Jalama again my body was feeling a little be tired from two days in a row. I met Angers at River Mouth where it looked chest plus and super peaky and fun. The reality was that the bars were a lot softer then they looked. It was crowded too. There had to be forty guys spread from River Mouth to the Knoll. Considering nothing looked all that enticing we decided to take a walk down towards Mc Grath to see if there were any better peaks there. There were not, thus we surfed our way back River Mouth proper. As the tide got higher The reform on the inside started to get super fun as did the surf in general. We frothed till the wind came up. I think both of us were pretty stoked. The gig was easy as a cream pie.
8-13-18 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 3 hrs
Waves Surfed: 43
Miles Driven: 126
The cams and conditions all pointed to another super fun looking day at Jalama. I tried to get Angers to come, but he had a tennis match. I got there and it was better then yesterday. The lines were longer and the sets bigger. There were about twenty guys spread between both Cracks and plenty of waves for everyone. I paddled my usual spot at second Crack. Right off the bat I got a few good ones. Then the rest of the session I was just in the groove with some of the best sets. Even the right was really fun. I’m talking an easy three turns on the right and four to five with a sick close out section on the left. I frothed. Then my old friend Trevor paddled and so did my boss. I guess I over sold it. All I can say was that everyone had an exemplary day of surfing out there. On my last wave I creased my board and broke my leash. I took that as a sign to call it day. On another note don’t buy Prolite leashes they are pieces of junk. I started the season out with three 6′ comp lite leashes and I broke all three in the same spot at the ankle cuff and it was with out a doubt due to poor construction.
8-12-18 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 34
Miles Driven: 126
Finally a full day off after quite a run of work, shaping and surf board hustling. The conditions looked excellent for a fun day at the “J”, thus I packed up my lady and we headed north for a fun day at the beach. It was well deserved. Lately the both of us have been so busy we have barely had any time for each other. Upon coming up the last turn where the ocean becomes visible I found myself very pleasantly surprised. There were fun looking crossed up semi-clean south peaks from T’s to the River Mouth. A pesky south with wind and the rising high tide was making the waves a tad mushy. Still it was the best wave I had seen in a bit. I surfed the Second Crack though there was a peak and the majority of the crowd was on firsts. For a Sunday the crow wasn’t bad, maybe twenty guys all spread out. Half way through it glassed off and got super fun even though the tide was high. I frothed and had a ball. I think it may have been the most fun I have had at Jalama all summer. After the surf we went looking for my boss in the camp ground to chill a bit. He was out taking full advantage to the River Mouth bar. Rather then hang he decided to cruise into the valley for lunch, ending up in Solvang. To our dismay we found out that the majority of the restaurants close there between 3-5 pm, making finding a meal rather frustrating. We settled on some very average Danish dinner that we both have eaten at before for lack of a better option. Besides the food I would say it was a fun Sunday.
8-11-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Gold Coast
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 64
Today was just about a carbon copy of yesterday except that the waves were smaller and more inconsistent. I started at the River Mouth, but once again it looked weak as fuck and had easily 75 guys on it. I thought I saw a wave or two off the South Jetty Wedge peak, but upon driving over there it looked small and mushy, plus there was a three pack with camera about to paddle it. The south end of the Gold Coast looked good from the freeway and I headed back there. I had to park on the Emma Wood side cause there were too many kooks with RV’s posted up for the day already, at 8am!!! What the fuck is wrong with people. Can summer end already, it get cold, everyone goes back to the regular non-beach life and the waves get fun; PLEASE!!!! I paddled into a solid pack of twenty spread along three peaks. It had a similar look to yesterday minus the size. I had a bit more time today and was in a crowd mindset and that being the case frothed. I found my share. It wasn’t the surf I was hoping for, but then it rarely ever is. Maybe tomorrow I will score.
8-10-18 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Gold Coast
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 64
Today was the day that Surfline told everyone to surf and holy fuck were they all on it. At 6:30 Sand Bar had almost thirty guys on it and it looked terrible. I knew I was fucked from that. I cruised south hoping that I could find some space somewhere. I had no intel as all my lazy ass friends were still sleeping I noticed that the south end of the Gold Coast looked decent from the 101 and swung around. The south end is always decent on a SE swell if there is sand and tis the season for such to happen. It looked alright though far from what I would call epic. there were a few too many close outs for my taste and a solid pack of like fifteen on it. Hopin to find some better luck I headed for the Harbor. I could have walked from the Jetty all the way to Mc Grath on the heads of surfers it was so crowded. There had to be easily 150 guys out there. Where do all these people come from? The quality was pretty shitty too. Most waves were mushy and I decided to go back to the Gold Coast. By now the crowd had doubled and there had to be thirty plus and it was scrappy out there. Dog eat dog was the tone of the session. I managed a few set waves right off the bat to the chagrin of the crowd. Then I got completely out of sync and struggled to get anything more then close outs or got burned or both. Towards the end of my surf I got two set waves that put me way down the beach and at that point decided just to surf back to my car. I heard Hueneme was all time, so were some of the PCH nooks as well. I had work so fat lot of good it did me. I get plenty of waves on a regular basis and this week was a bit light on work so I was not about to call out. I think the most stoke of the surf was that I ran into this kid who I sold a Clarks Surfboard to a day ago and he was stoked on it.
8-9-18 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 64
The surf was a tad bit larger this morning and clean. I was stoked I had decided to get up a little earlier. When I am on an early shift it seems the wind is too these days. After about catching my third wave the wind began to blow out of the NW. With the impending high tide it got rather lully too. I was bummed to have to wear boots since the water is so warm. Yesterday’s fin gash was still very fresh and bleeding a little bit. I really didn’t want to risk hitting it and opening the wound even wider. I had a fun little peak to myself until a certain Curren showed up with a crew of groms and crowded my peak. I was not about to paddle battle with five guys and drifted down to the next peak, which was no worse. Then the ocean went dormant for nearly a half hour as the wind continued to fuck it up. Angers Paddled and we found a little peak south of everyone before I had to surf my way back to my car. Somehow on the way I managed to lock into four solid lefts to take me to the knoll and then a five turn surf in place on the sand bar right that I quit on. The rest of the day I was at work. I had a double header. Prep at one kitchen then an event at Casa Del Herrero, a historical home in Montecito for some high end wine and food pairing. We nailed it as always.
8-8-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 64
Gabe and I met up at the Harbor for a surf. New Jetty was stupid crowded and a complete pro show. We wanted to have nothing to do with that. River Mouth had some fun looking mixed peaks coming through and we out there. The wind decided to come up hard out of the south in the first thirty minutes of the session trashing what could have been a super fun surf. We were worked our way back to the parking lot. Gabe bailed first to go and shape meanwhile I had a severe case of last wave syndrome. In the process I finned myself and took a pretty deep wound in my foot. The surf injury gods were smiling in my direction as that although the cut was deep there was enough skin left that I could bond it together with a bandage. This allowed me to go to work instead of urgent care.
8-7-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Surfers Knoll
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 34
Miles Driven: 64
More of the same combo was in the water. Angers wanted to surf and had already paddled Knoll. I think I would have just paddled with the New Jetty crowd again had he not already been out there. My plan was to paddle out say hi then convince him to cruise over to New Jetty with me. As it turns out there was a super fun bar directly in front of the life guard tower. There was a rip and it was causing a some what kill-able A-frame. Stoked, we surfed the shit out of the bank, just to the two of us until a combination of the wind and tide killed it. Still it was fun while it lasted. I even found a close out view or two.
8-6-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, New Jetty
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 64
Gabe was in town to shape and whenever he is here we try and do a little promotional shoot with Bizarro. The NW wind swell was still pretty solid and the minor south was hanging on as well. New Jetty had a chest high wave coming in and although crowded there were two if not three peaks coming in making it very manageable. Even though the wind was on it the faces were still rather clean. I had one of those sessions where I got into the groove and just frothed. I was sticking everything and getting great waves. What a fun surf for such terrible waves. The rest of my day was spend in the shaping shack working with Gabe and repairing boards.
8-5-18 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Mar Meadows, Santa Cruz Island
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 78
After yesterday the boys were super pumped on getting the boat out again. There was a slight rise in the south and the report for Jalama showed the wind coming up. With that in mind I headed to Channel Islands Harbor to meet the guys. Sure enough there were a few solid south sets with half the crowd. Unlike yesterday I was stoked and made sure to be the first guy out there. I started on my short board and got some fun lefts and rights. Then Pat and Brady paddled out and I went back to the boat so that we were not crowding the line up with three guys. I chilled for like thirty till Brady paddled back to the boat then headed out on a Clarks Surfboards Apollo model that used to belong to Gabe. I had been wanted to give it a go for some time. I must say the thing killed it out there. While we were out there all the other boats left and we had to ourselves just the three of us for almost an hour. Unfortunately the wind came up earlier then yesterday causing us to bail early. Later I would hear that Jalama stayed clean till three and that the wind swell was actually solid in both town and Ventura. Whatever the Islands are still always worth it.
8-4-18 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Mar Meadows, Santa Cruz Island
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 31
Miles Driven: 78 (channel Islands Harbor)
My buddy pat had hit me up about possibly heading out to the Islands with our girls to enjoy some fishing, kayaking, snorkeling and maybe if we were lucky surfing. There was some minor south and some wind swell combo in the water. It does’t take much to get in out there. We were graced by smooth seas and good conditions, not that it mattered cause we almost didn’t even get out of the dock when the boat didn’t start. As it turned out we were just out of gas and after a quick run down Victoria we were back on track. On the way out we saw a huge whale. We headed straight for Mar Meadow figuring it had something for everyone. Sure enough there was a little wave coming through. The crowd was obnoxious with easily seven boats and twelve heads on it. I think everyone had the same idea we did. There were SUPs, logs, kooks, a few guys who could surf. I decided to hang back while the boys got some waves. After what I felt like was a fair amount of time to pass and when my two from our crew bailed I decided to paddle. For the first forty five minutes I have being boxed out by these two SUP guys and their girl friends on logs, all came in the same boat. I got so furstrated I ended up boosting a nose pick air reverse on the left in the shallows and landed right on a rock dinging my nose and completely grinding down my fins. Luckily my boxes didn’t get damaged so I could continue surfing. Then that annoying crew quit and I was left with two other guys. Pat came back out and we frothed till the wind came up. The way back though a tad bumpy was uneventful. No photo cause I was not going to paddle into the beach with a camera like some sort of kook.
8-3-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
last night was the Santa Barbara Zoo Fiesta kick off party. For years I have wanted to go and my girl was in the same boat. Luckily things have been going really well for me at work and I was able to spring for our two tickets. The event included live entertainment and dancing, food from a number of local vendors doing small plates, local brewers had booths with free beer and local vintners had free wine. It was all you can drink and eat. I am not sure if we ate my money’s worth by I guarantee that we drank it. I wore my pink suit and looked super fly. We ate, we drank, we danced and after we hit the Wild Cat hard core. The night ended with me giving an impromptu concert at my apartment on my I must say I was a little behind the eight ball this morning. Luckily for me I didn’t have to work till 2 pm at a private Fiesta taco party in Hope Ranch. At noon I attended the Parade. I never miss the Parade if I can help it and this year did not disappoint. Work ran way later then I had hoped causing us to get the Kitty past 10:30pm, a Fiesta no, no. The place was packed. I almost got in fights with wanna be Mexican gang bangers and ultimately went home early cause I was over the whole scene. It was integral cause my boy Pat had his boat up and running again and we had plans to take it out to the Islands.
8-2-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
Feast and famine, that has been just about what this summer has turned into. Maybe I am being punished by the Ocean for completely blowing the last swell in pursuit of money instead. In that respect I needed the reprove. Anyhow, if I were off I could have chased waist plus wind swell waves up north for a lack luster session at best. It was better I was working so that I made money rather then blow it on gas for the elusive waist high plus wave.
8-1-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
There is nothing worse then when you knew a few days out that there was going to be a stupid 7 day long flat spell and stuck with out the ability to travel anywhere to get a few waves. That has been my fate at the moment. Normally with this many days of crap in a row I would have ran way up north for at least a few days to help tide me over. Work has been insane for the past three weeks. This is a good thing for sure. Lets face it we all need money to live. Of course I also need surf to live as well. I may be able to get out the Islands this weekend and maybe be lucky enough to find a grovel wave out there and there is a little wind swell that is trying to creep up. In the meantime I got my head down in the kitchen prepping away to ensure my clients the best food and service for their summer events possible. Tonight is the first night of Fiesta. Hopefully it all goes well. I got a kick off party downtown, then may swing by the Mission for the opening performances and finally cap the night off at the Wild Cat (where else). As we all say here in Santa Barbara, VIVA LA…