December 2018 Surf Sessions
12-31-18 PM Session: 1-3+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 44
I had two events in one day starting at 7:30 am. I didn’t even think I was going to get waves today. The idea that I was not going to end the year with a surf was killing me. Luckily for me I ended up working super fast at my first gig that I finished early enough to sneak a quick session in down south. Rincon was looking fun, but I didn’t have the time. I went to Little ‘Con, but didn’t see anything worth my time leaving me with a make it a or break it a Pitas, which also looked like shit. I jumped in up top and worked my down the point to Faria. Overall it was weak and terrible, but I was glad to end the year on a surf. My gig went well and ended with just enough time for me to get down to the Wild Cat in time to ring the New Year in style. I wore a shiny purple dinner jacket and my girl wore a sexy red gown. Best of all I didn’t get too drunk.
12-30-18 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 45 mins
Wave Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 78
The plan was to just go to the Strand and get a few waves, then take advantage of some end of the year bargains at the Camarillo Outlets. There was a horrendous accident on the 101 near Sea Cliffs that shut down the south bound side for over an hour and half. It made me very upset that I just didn’t surf Rincon on my fish. By the time we got to Strand the wind had went south completely trashing it. Rather then deal with that crap I decided to shop first and surf later. Actually I scored a really nice Pea Coat. I had been looking for one for that past year. On the way back the wind was still crap and I was running out of light. Strand was my first stop, but it was terrible. My plan was to head north in the hopes that I could find something at Emma. Sure enough there was a side shore/offshore wave at the Toll Booth peak with about ten guys on it. I wasn’t going to surf, but this guy who looked like me like five years from now talked me into it. I’m glad he did cause there were a few decent ones to be had.
12-29-18 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 78
After missing out two days in a row I was not about to let another off shore day at the Oxnard beaches allude me. Ryan was paddling Hollywood and said it had “potential” so I went there first. It looked fat and all over the place and not a lot of fun to me. Angers was no the North Bowl at Strand, which also looked crowded and average at best to me. I had a look at the ship. It was about chest plus and fun, but super crowded with pro-groms and cameras. Considering it was bigger on the North End and I anticipated the wind switching to the NW that was where I wound up. It was shit house crowded with every kook from the surrounding areas. There had to be 300 surfers spread from jetty to jetty. I got burned, had people get in my way and even witnessed a fight. Isn’t surfing awesome? That being said I got some pretty fun lefts I’ll take to the bank. I had an event to work in the evening shucking oysters for rich people at the Sea Center. Money, money money.
12-28-18 No Surfing: 3-4+ ft
Strand was on with off shores and solid swell. I had to work a double shift totaling to twelve hours starting at ten. All I had time for was something in town, but it wasn’t west enough or big enough to waste my time. Got to get paid after all.
12-27-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 56
Back to work it was for me after only a short two day holiday break. I had prep and dish detail leaving me just a short window in the morning. The wind off shore and I new Strand would be solid. Of course I over slept and had to keep it close to home. I checked Rincon, but the extremely fat tide and lack of swell had it fish-able there at best. I had heard that Emma had been decent the past few high tide days and headed there. That was lie as the current sand situation is horrible. Out of time I jumped in on the Life Guard Tower peak where I saw an ok left. It was way worse then it looked, all wonky, weak and weird. With in about fifteen minutes another twenty guys paddled, not that it matter cause there was more then enough bad waves to go around and the bulk of the crowd were sitting the right off the Toll Booth anyway. Rincon on my fish was probably the best bet, though I did manage a few and even a few little tubes. Later that evening attending a birthday dinner at Harry’s for a friend of mine as per usual that night ending at the Wild Cat. Tis’ the season to be drunk after all.
12-26-18 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 64
My girl and I enjoyed a lazy morning around the apartment. Then we got some lunch and headed south. I was on the way to Strand when Ryan and Gabe both said it wasn’t worth. Since I was already at Seaward I figured I may as well check the Harbor, which was all closed out. I headed to the points, though the tide was still rather high. C-street was windy and dumb, Emma still sucked with the sand. Pitas had potential. At this point I was burning daylight and just decided to paddle the top. Though plenty of size it was a bit fast and closed out or just a drop and a flat section. Not to mention that there were only five guys when I paddled and then another fifteen showed up and everyone constantly was jockeying for position. I got a few fun ones, but overall I should have went and surfed Rincon.
12-25-18 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 44
Merry Christmas I hope all of you out there were well. As for me I got stuck sanding surf boards as a result of Gabe not understanding for the second time that if you run into rocks you will break your board. I was also prepping for a small dinner party for a group of my friends who like myself had no place to be for Christmas. The menu was Butternut squash soup, followed by Cornish game hens with sides of wild rice pilaf, Haricovert and mushrooms, an Italian anti-pasto salad and finally ending with Brownies and Christmas shaped sugar cooking for dessert. Well actually they were star, heart and cat shaped cookies cause I couldn’t find my Christmas cut outs. While I was fixing surfboards I was also instructing Gabe on the basic prep work I needed done for my meal. The wind was howling out of the NW and there was a fair amount of rising wind swell on the buoys. At three we headed south. I had hoped to just run down to Sand Spit for a fish session since it was waist to chest. Apparently about thirty other guys had the same idea as myself. There were plenty of waves coming down. Pitas had the most size with solid over head sets rolling through and the wind had went more ENE making it straight off shore. We were out there. The wind was so hard it was almost hard to catch and stay on the waves. The first half of my session I seemed to always be in the wrong spot. It got rather frustrating. Then I got one that put me more inside and at that point I picked off a few incredible ones. It was like a machine down there. My last wave went to Mondos with two barrel sections and a few race tracks. If all it takes is one then that wave was all I needed. We got home with just enough time to get everything on the table. Dinner was excellent and after working so many other peoples holiday parties this season it was nice to finally get to enjoy my own. After the meal with a few bottles of wine and champagne in us we all decided to head to the Wild Cat, a former Christmas tradition for me.
12-24-18 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 78
The hope was to set out for another day of fun Strand barrels, but it was not to be. There was some shitty wind tearing it up down that way. Coming down I noticed there were some waves at the points. The tide was still a bit fat though. We had a look at Emma first, but the sand there is trash right now. I met Gabe at Pitas and though nothing special with the limited time I had before work, which was a very important and lucrative dinner party for a Santa Barbara billionaire, it was all I had time in my schedule for if I was still to be able to get a surf in. We started up top, but the swell was very broken up and lines average at best up there. I was at a loss to find anything that wasn’t super racy or closed out. I decided drift down to Faria where the sand at the moment is very good. The tide was still a bit fat and it was a tad slower. Still I got a couple of runners that stoked me out. Gabe unfortunately hit the rocks on an insider and cracked up his nose. He was leaving for Baja the day after Christmas and it was his only short board for trip. This meant I was going to have to spend a portion of my Christmas fixing it for him. Lucky for me, Christmas ding repair. My job went well and I enjoyed a nice late Christmas Eve night with my lady.
12-23-18 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 78
Last night became quite a night of drunkenness at the Wild Cat that lead to a little champagne after party. I had been out in quite sometime since I got on the good foot and party down and hard I went. I was pretty trashed when I woke up in the morning. Gabe showed up at my door at around ten in the morning from Santa Cruz looking to surf. My girl and I slowly got up and all three of us loaded in to my car and headed to Strand. Sure enough the Ship had a solid wave and though the tide was draining fast there were plenty of waves coming through. We paddled the south Bowl and immediately after getting in I realized I was in no condition to surf, still drunk, borderline hung over. In my surfing it showed. I was mistimed on everything. Then my leash rope broke on my fifth wave forcing me to swim in and I probably should have quit right there while I was ahead. Instead I fixed the rope and paddled back out. The tide got more drained sucking the majority of the swell out and I got more hung over as well. I floated around for another hour or so before calling it quits.
12-22-18 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 78
The full moon high tide was at nearly seven feet at nine in the morning allowing for a lethargic Saturday morning. The wind was SE making the points a bit chopped up. The swell had steepened up a tad as well making me think that the Ship could be bigger and better then yesterday. I got down there at around 11 am and it was bombing well over head and throwing. Stoked I ran back to the car and paddled the the Ship side of the bowl. My first few waves were bombs and sickies at that. Then as the tide began to suck out the swell seemed to change and get way too bowly. The bomb sets began to close out and all these gnarly rips formed. What started out as a dream scenario became a nightmare. When the ship gets like this positioning is impossible. You see waves all around you, but getting on one takes a miracle. The crowd showed up in force as well making it even more frustrating. I managed to find a peak to myself by constantly paddling where ever the crowd moved away from. I got a few good ones, but overall I took more beatings then I would have liked. Ryan was out off the Ship and picked off a few decent ones off the crowd.
12-21-18 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 32
Miles Driven: 78
All truth in the matter is that I should have just surfed Hammonds. Angers was down south and had a day off. We hadn’t surfed together in a bit. He said Strand looked fun enough and I joined him. The North End was macking and I hate that wave when its like that. The ship on the other hand had some really fun looking chest to head plus bowls and barrels coming through. The crowd was maybe ten strong. The first half of my surf was terrible. I seemed to just be in the wrong place for every wave. Then I moved more towards the bowl and began finding some really cherry ones. I had a few barrels, battled with Sage a bit for peak position. Angers was swacking it like a champion. I would say it was an all out beach break rip fest and a nice break from all the point and reef action the past few surfs.
12-20-18 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Naples
Time in water: 3.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 43
Miles Driven: 32
After all the fun I had yesterday I had no qualms with heading back to Naples again. Ryan decided to join me. There was a tad bit more swell in the water then yesterday. Once again there were about six guys at Seals and it looked far from inspiring. Up top was looking solid and we didn’t hesitate to get out there. Just like Monday my first couple were bombs that just peeled and peeled into the bay. Then as the tide dropped so did the swell. It lully. I was feeling good and just kept finding some insiders. As the tide began to bottom out we moved to the Bay where there were an array of decent rights and lefts. My boy AJ was out getting his share too. I would like to say it was a froth, but it was a tad on the inconsistent side just as this entire swell has been. That being said I had a blast. Later that night my chick and I went down to Brophy’s for some seafood and drinks.
12-19-18 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 32
I had a Christmas lunch making it an early day. I got up super early to dawn patrol Hammonds, but my body was feeling pretty sore so I passed on it to wait on the afternoon. I got out and met up with Bizarro to get a shoot in. There was still enough swell in the water to lead me to believe that Naples was fun. Sure enough I was right as we watched flawless head high plus waves come through. I wanted to surf the Crack peak, cause it was peeling for an easy 200 yards on the good ones. There were already three guys on it and only enough good ones for them. At Naples there are certain unwritten codes of respect. There were some larger, albeit shorter ones braking on lower Naples Reef that were on occasion throwing out square. No one was on it so I went up there to hunt for the barrel. I never really surf that section well and although I found a few I couldn’t get the Crack Peak out of my head. Then this bomb came through and I was in perfect position. I got in under the lip right before it went square and had a proper barrel. It may have been the best backside tube I have had in quite some time. After that I noticed that there was only one guy sitting on the Crack Peak and drifted down that way. From there it became a super session and the best surf I have had in nearly a week or so. Normally I would have surfed till dark, but I was so exhausted from all the leg burners I went in early. After the surf I had to get all of my Christmas shopping in. I had been so busy with both work and surf there was just no time. Actually I got it all time with success and as painless as can be.
12-18-18 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Hammonds
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 10
I would have loved to be able to surf all day. Ryan was headed to Naples, which he got pretty fun. Instead I had work and a very limited window thanks to another Christmas party. I ran to Hammonds and it was solid over head on set. It wasn’t quite breaking like classic Hammonds, but there were some sick tubes on the inside section. The crowd was in full force, close to forty strong. There were lots of waves and opportunities. I found my share of fun ones on the inside and lucked into the odd ball wide one here and there. Once again I just felt out of sorts out there. Maybe its all of the working, but it has been really hard for me to get back into the surfing groove. As far as my work day went. I ended up cutting the tip of my finger off on a brand new Japanese mandolin while taking it out of the box. Then I got my had closed into a hot oven at the gig cause for whatever reason the doors were spring loaded. Finally, I knocked over a ceramic decorative colander that was on a shelf above the oven. Something has to give soon or I’m going to lose it.
12-17-18 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 3 hrs
Waves Surfed: 30
Miles Driven: 32
Day one of the big swell and the most anticipated. My boss had tipped me off that Naples was solid over head and bombing. Stoked I headed out there in the hopes of a score. I decided to have a look at El Capitan. The size was solid, but the shape average with the fat tide not to mention that there were already thirty plus guys on it. Instead I walked in to Naples. It was pouring so I put my suit on at my car and made the walk, which I hate cause it sucks walking all that distance in a wet suit. There were about ten guys at Seals and it looked a bit mushy then I looked up top and saw some real bombs. The wind was also offshore up there as well. It was just bomb after bomb while I was suiting up. My first three waves were screamers down the point at the Crack Peak. Then as the tide began to drop the swell started sucking out of Naples and the wind began to come up more out of the south. It wasn’t long before the line up was all torn up with shitty south chop. Instead of cutting my losses and trying to find something else I just sat out there beating a dead horse hoping the wind would switch. I found a few sections here or there, but ultimately I left as frustrated as it gets. I was so pissed I just decided to bag the rest of the day and went home and just sat and stewed. I really need find my surfing chi or something like that. No photo, because it was raining out.
12-16-18 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Hobsons
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 12
Miles Driven: 41
Crowds, Crowds, Crowds, such is the plight of a southern California Surfer on the weekend of an over hyped swell. Pat and I searched around to no avail. Finally we settled for Hobsons cause it looked fun enough and there were only eight guys out. As soon as we got out there we realized it was much weaker then it looked. The first half of my surf was spent on mushy lefts just bogging rails everywhere. The second half I got smarter on what I picked and managed a few fun ones. My last left was a sick one that allowed for three solid hits. After that the wind came up, which was fine cause I promised my girl we would go get a Christmas tree before work. $90 later I have a piece of deforestation that I will be putting in the trash in about two weeks. Jingle bells, jingle bells…Holiday party I lost count how many went down as good as any.
12-15-18 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 10
Miles Driven: 78
Fuck Saturdays and all of the crowds that go with it. I had to go down south to pick up some boards for customers otherwise I most likely would have just went to Naples. On the way down everything was packed. I decided to look at Strand. The Ship was flat and North End macking, but not great shape. I got the boards and then headed back to Pitas to meet my boy AJ. When I had checked it earlier the place was packed. Thanks to the wind everyone had bailed leaving just a handful of guys up top and another twenty or so at Faria. I got a few solid ones up top then got one that was so long I was just about down to the next section. I sat there for a bit and found a couple of gems as well. The only down side is that the good ones were few and far between leaving lots of waiting. At work I was booked for a last minute holiday party at Wine Therapy. It was an easy money Italian dinner, chicken piccata, meat lasagna, penne putanesca. Tomorrow night is yet another holiday event, a Mexican posada party.
12-14-18 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 7
Miles Driven: 30
The mother of all Montecito Christmas parties was tonight and I was the number two chef on the gig. My time was very limited and if I was a more responsible person and not a surfer I most likely would have skipped the surf. The wind was a bit south, though a tad torn up the Cove was handling the chop enough to be surf-able. The crowd was barely in the teens. I paddled, to get the good ones I had to be very picky, yet found reward in the ones I chose. It was far from epic Rincon, but I got five waves through to the freeway that were good for about nine turns. The party was gnarly. We had four flights of appetizers each one becoming more complex and expensive. Towards the last one we were doing mini beef wellingtons and cheese souffle, seared abalone and an eggplant pine nut tart. Before that there was NY strip steak bites, cucumber shrimp cups and all sorts of other culinary delights. I worked my ass off and was exhausted by the time I got home. It didn’t help I was on my six ten hour day, plus surfing in a row. Got to make that Christmas $$$.
12-13-18 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 30
There was a bit more time in my schedule despite having yet another holiday party to work. I decided to go to Rincon and get some fun waves. Though on the smaller side there were plenty of long ones coming through. The crowd was super light too. I grabbed my fish and went up to the Indicator. I figured I would just surf around the whole point and get my waves. Instead I hung around Lower Indicator, Upper Rivermouth and just had blast. It was a bit on the weaker side, but fun with the equipment I was on. My last to waves were my best ones and reminded me why Rincon is so good. For the first time in a while I had one of those surfs where I just happened to be in the right spot for all the best waves.
12-12-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Hammonds
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 10
Chalk up another let down of a surf session on the board today. Once again my time was very limited due to yet another holiday party. There was still plenty of west on the buoy so I ran back to Hammonds. When I checked it though smaller then the previous morning there were still some fun lines with only a few guys out. There was a twang of south wind, but my hopes were if it stayed light I could sneak in a fun hour. As soon as I hit the water the wind just kept getting harder till the entire line up was trash. I forced out an hour, but I probably should have just bailed as soon as it became trash and went to work earlier. At least I would have made some money.
12-11-18 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Hammonds
Time in Water: 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 11
Miles Driven: 10
It was one of those morning where everything that could possibly go wrong did. First I over slept knowing I had to be at work early cause I had a full schedule of both prep and event. Then, apparently my manual door lock didn’t work ever since I got my car fixed last week. I had yet to realize it cause every surf since I got my car back I have had someone with me to hold the key or it was a hike in, where I have the key on my person. I was able to rig something up, but it ate up another ten plus minutes of my time. Finally when I got down the trail to surf the crowd had doubled since I had checked and was about to triple. All the while it was average at best Hammonds. I stuck to the most inside peak and just scraped away at a session. I did actually bring down two solid air reverses plus my last wave was a wide swinger that was super solid. The rest of my day was spent on the labor of food. Holiday party number two went down decent enough. It was a bit hectic cause everyone insisted on milling around the kitchen and constantly asking us questions about cooking and what not. There were also little kids and a dog to contend with. All of my “favorite things”. I realized the sad truth that the net worth of one of those eight year-olds is more then I will ever make in my life time. What a grind my life has become.
12-10-18 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 1 hr 15mins
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 32
I was faced with the decision to either work early and surf later or visa versa. I choose the former and may have chose poorly for I heard Rincon was actually pretty solid and somewhat empty on the higher tide. Being it was the afternoon and a rising evening tide I headed back to Naples. It was pretty solid on set though a bit inconsistent. There were about six guys at Seals and another ten or so spread out along the spots up top. I didn’t have a lot of time before dark and just paddled seals. There was a bit of channel chop on the wells despite there being little to no wind. It was just enough to make some of what should have been long runners sectiony. I managed a few alright ones, but what could have been a super session ended up just being average at best. I did bang out a few turns that stoked me out.
12-9-18 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
There was still plenty of left over NW swell in the water. I was highly unmotivated to have a look around on the early fat tide. Also it was freezing out and I was a tad hungover from the previous night. I had the first in a very busy string of holiday parties to work in the evening leaving out the possibility of an afternoon surf. I heard Naples was pretty fun as was Strand.
12-8-18 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 27
Miles Driven: 32
Saturday’s on a swell are always a catch 22. My strategy is to find the best waves with the least amount of crowd. Pat was going up to Jalama, but I felt like that was going to be packed and as I found out later it was. I tried all my boat connections to get out to the islands to no avail. Finally I settled for making the gamble for Naples. Ryan decided he was up for the mission and joined me. It was slightly smaller then last night, but still very shifty and very inconsistent. Sets were about fifteen minutes apart or more and sometimes only contained on decent wave in them. We surfed the Crack peak and had it pretty mush to ourselves for a bit. AJ came out and the three of us were making the most of what was on offer. Somehow AJ had all the luck and scored the best waves of the session. I found a few and even snagged the odd ball left. My last wave was the best one I got all day as was Ryan’s. We definitely didn’t score by any means though it was still a nice enough day.
12-7-18 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 12
Miles Driven: 32
I was faced with a choice this morning. Surf early before work and do my best to find a few waves on a six foot high tide at 8:30 am. The other option was to work early and try my had with the afternoon negative low tides. All intel pointed to waiting it out for the points in the afternoon. As luck would have it I think my best bet would have been to have went to Rincon and surfed up at Indicator early. Hindsight is always 20/20. I found myself making the call to go to Naples after all my reports from the south points came up wanting. I had Bizzaro with me and Angers on the way up. There was a lot riding on speculation. We got there and it was way drained out. There were five guys at Seals and it was pretty stretched. Rather then add to the pack we walked up to the Crack peak, which had a few wide ones coming off the reef that no one was on and looked fast, but fun. My first wave was a deep one that ran down the reef and opened up eight turn sections. It was by far my best one. After that I was always out of position or it was just lully. As we were on the beach changing we watched decent set after decent set roll through with the tide push. Damn daylight savings time.
12-6-18 PM Session: 2-3 ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 78
Once again the day started off super small and buoys were still showing nothing. There was some super long period swell on the far north buoys, which led me to hope that maybe something would show before dark. My girl took off and we had a leisurely brunch with her sister. It was decided over the meal that all three of us would head south for the surf excursion. I was actually happy for the motivation cause if not for them I most likely would have bailed on it for the third straight day in a row. We drove all the way to Strand not able to find much. I was about to bag it at the Ship, when I saw a few small clean sets break in the south bowl that looked fish-able. Since I drove, I decided to give it a paddle. As usual it ended up being way more fun then I thought. Basically I had waist to chest high off shore groomed little tubes all to myself. It was totally worthy of a fun hour. The sun set was pretty nice too. Everyone had a fun afternoon at the beach.
12-5-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
Another day that I was hoping as the day wore on that some swell would materialize especially with the off shores in Ventura. The buoys never really showed anything more then super short period wind swell. Finally I got report around three that the south beaches were pathetic and bagged it. Later I heard that Zuma was fun, but I wasn’t all that motivated to make that drive anyhow. Instead Biz and I did some very important Clarks Surfboards graphic design work.
12-4-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
With the outer buoys barely over three feet and the channel buoys just above a foot I was not about to race down to the beach to have a look. It didn’t help that the wind was howling off shore in Ventura and Oxnard a whopping thirty knots. Instead I did a bit of ding repair, a past time I thought by this stage in my life I would no longer be at. When one has the ability to fix dings I guess it becomes more of an art. Ryan had a look at Ventura Harbor at around noon and said it was barely knee to thigh, cold, windy and weak with four long boarders on it. That was all I needed to put the final kabosh on any attempt at surfing today. Whatever, looks like there are more waves on the way by the end of the week if not sooner.
12-3-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1hr 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 78
The wind was off shore early, but the tide high. Not rushing I got on the road around 9:30 just in time to get stuck in about forty minutes worth of traffic thanks to some three car collision on the Summerland hill just passed Sharks. Ryan was at Ventura Harbor with less then a stoked report. The buoys showed enough short period steep swell for me to believe that Strand would be fun thus I continued on my original trajectory. I got to the Ship and it was with out a doubt on the smaller side, bout chest plus. The wind was light WSW and the lines though long were clean. It appeared the south bowl had some slightly bigger ones. I grabbed my fish and paddled the south bowl. There were some really god albeit racy lefts to be had. The hard part was positioning, a common problem in the bowl and one of the reasons I rarely surf in there. I paddled over to the ship three times and came up empty handed. I did manage a few really fun lefts that ran down the beach. I even got barreled off the take off on one of them. The water was freezing. We have been lucky for as long as we have that the water stayed unseasonably warm. That’s over. Looks like its 4/3 and boots and brain freeze from here on out.
12-2-18 No Surfing: 3-4+ ft
I could have surfed early before work if the waves seemed worth and I was motivated. Neither of that came to pass. It didn’t help that it was freezing out when I woke up around 7 am and that I am still surfing from this shitty chest cold. The rest of my day was spent hocking food at the Natural History Museum for their Tribal Art Fair. Good times. From what I heard I didn’t miss much but jumbled up beach break and small point surf.
12-1-18 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 6
Miles Driven: 78
Give me my car surfing medal for today once again. In hindsight I should have just went to El Capitan on my fish mid morning. Instead I decided to chase the dragon all the way down to Oxnard to no avail. The entire channel was jumbled early because the wind was south in Ventura and NW in Santa Barbara causing what I like to refer to as the flushing toilet effect. Considering the color of the water that analogy wasn’t far off. I had my girl with me and after not finding any stoke to paddle South Strand we decided to have breakfast and then do a bit of shopping. She wanted to get a pair of jeans and I wanted to kill time for the afternoon and Rincon in hopes that the NW wind would straighten the Cove and the crowds would be over it. I didn’t realize the wind was going to pick up thirty knots and gusty. I found myself looked at pretty fat Rincon Cove. There were only about fifteen people out and still a few sets were running through despite the tide. I decided to grab my fish and get a few before dark. The good ones that ran the whole length of the Cove were few and far between and very hard to line up with the tide and disorganization from the wind. It also didn’t help that all the surfers out there were visitors and had no idea where to shit either. I basically had no line up marker and took a plenty of good ones on the head or was just completely too deep or wide. I managed three that went all the way to the freeway that had me stoked. That fish is great board as I have mentioned making it a good time. When I got out it was freezing from all the wind. I guess it’s finally winter.