Surfing Ruined My Life

December 2024 Surf Sessions

12-31-24 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, County Line
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 36
With similar swell as yesterday minus a foot or so CC and I decided to go back to County.  Actually though a little smaller it was more consistent with less guys out than the previous day.  Stoked we paddled and Zack came and met us.  The first forty five minutes was a full on rip fest.  Everyone was getting good waves.  CC was somehow managing to get all the best ones.  To my credit I had a few five to seven turn rights.  As the tide dropped it got very lully and another twenty guys paddled clogging the place.  Over it CC and I bailed.  I got home and squeezed in a little bit of ding repair before gearing up for the night’s festivities.  It was New Year’s Eve afterall.  My wife and I decided to go back to the Reagan Library in Simi Valley. They put on a really decadent black tie affair with dinner and dancing.  We had blast last year and figured why not do it again.  I wore a gold velvet tuxedo and my wife donned an elegant maroon velvet gown.  More then a few guest declared us one of the best dressed couples out.  Dinner was surf and turf, Salmon and Filet Mignon followed by an exquisite chocolate mousse for dessert.     Then it was a night of dancing under Air Force One till we rang in 2025.  We actually capped the night off at 12:30 and headed back to our hotel.  Happy New Year everyone.  I hope 2025 finds all of us well.  Check out my Instagram for pictures from the event. 

12-30-24 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, County Line
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 36
There was enough west swell in the water to warrant a quick run down to County Line with CC.  Once down there we were pleasantly surprised with chest plus glassy groomed rights running down the reef with a somewhat light crowd.  I had some decent ones but CC stole the show. My old friend Dave paddled out and though he always surfs County Line I had yet to ever run into him out there.  We ripped the place till the tide got too low.  The rest of my afternoon was spent fixing boards.  My goal is to get everything outstanding finished by the First.

12-29-24 PM Session: 4-6+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 10
My wife and I have another tradition this time of year.  We always buy her New Year’s Eve dress the weekend before the thirty first.  I always procure my tuxedo weeks if not months before.  I suppose it’s that dynamic in differing personalities that makes our relationship work.  My wife loves to shop at the Thousands Oaks Mall.   We decided to head south and maybe sort something to surf out along the PCH.  All the line ups had the Sunday crowds out in full force and nothing look all that enticing to warrant such frustration.  We continued on with our day and success in the form of a lovely maroon velvet dress, though its beauty paled in comparison to its wearer.  The wind had come up super gnarly during the interim.  I decided it best just to head back to Hueneme and maybe play a round of golf.  Once back in Oxnard there wasn’t any wind at all.  It was rather odd cause there was wind down south and wind up north but Oxnard, which is always windy was calm.  I didn’t question it and cruised to Strand.  The North end was solid but I didn’t care for the angle.  There was some very short period wind swell getting into the Ship with almost no one out.  Stoked I jumped in and went to town.  My friend Guy was out and we enjoyed trading off peaks for an hour before the wind finally came up and trashed it just as Bizarro showed up to film. Go figure.

12-28-24 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 40
Considering I missed two days in a row I was pretty much on a mission to find something to surf today.  Hueneme was my first stop but the Pier wasn’t doing it.  Being that it was a Saturday I didn’t waste my time with Strand stopping at Hollywood instead.  The surf there was just big and washy.  I decided since the tide was still high to run up to pitas and try to stay out of the crowd by surfing a less then optimal tide.  To my surprise there were still about two dozen guys out with more showing up by the minute.  Out of options I jumped in and worked my way down the point.  There were some real gems to be had before the tide drained out.  Every twenty minutes or so the crowd seemed to double until there were over 100 guys out.  Meanwhile the wave consistency steadily decreased.   The waves that were coming through began to get more and more broken up along the point as well as shrinking in size. Between the conditions and the crowd that was my cue to bail.  My afternoon was spent fixing dings. 

12-27-24 No Surfing: 3-5+ ft
Miles Driven: 52
I decided to go on a complete idiot mission today driving all the way to Rincon and back without paddling.  Once up at the points there was hard south wind trashing everything. Rincon Cove was surf-able but also had a 100 guys on it despite the junk wind.  I headed back to Ventura, ran a few errands then had a look at Strand. The Ship had a weird wave that was side shore with the south wind on it.  I watched Jeremy Ryan give it his all but his efforts didn’t sell me on a paddle.  I went home and got some shaping done.  Photo from Strand.

12-26-24 No Surfing: 3-5+ ft
Today was yet another day of hard onshore winds and unruly surf.  Still I was about to leave to go surf when my called to me that she felt faint and needed assistance.  I helped her back to bed, got her some water and food.  Her vitals seemed alright and she didn’t want to go to the ER.  Once she was comfortable.  I headed out to my shop to get some ding work done.  With Bizarro in San Diego for the holiday I didn’t want to leave the proximity of my home just in case my wife’s health got more serious.  That was fine cause I got plenty of work to get finished.  From what I gathered it wasn’t that great anyplace anyway and Rincon was extremely crowded. Photo from Ventura Point Surfline cam.

12-25-24 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 52
First off Merry Christmas everyone. I wanted to surf this morning.  It’s been a long time since I missed a surf on Christmas.  I had a look at Hueneme but it wasn’t really happening.  My wife was excited to open presents so rather than continue driving around aimlessly on the search I cruised home to hang with her.  We had a lovely Christmas morning together.  After presents we went to IHOP for breakfast which has sort of become a pseudo Christmas tradition for us as it is one of the few places open on the holiday.   Around 2:30 I set out north to find some waves.  Ryan was paddling CStreet and I was going to meet him but couldn’t find parking.  At the moment with the environmental project happening up at Ventura Point there are very few places to park.  I continued north.  Rincon was junky and had easily 200 guys out.  At Little Rincon there were absolutely no spots to park any place.  Finally I just settled for junky windy down the point Pitas cause I found a place to park.  You know overcrowding has gotten out of hand when you pick a surf spot because you got a space.  I got a few but it was hardly worth the effort. I went home and prepared hand made butternut squash ravioli in a brown butter with pancetta for Christmas dinner with my wife. NOEL…

12-24-24 No Surfing: 6-8+ ft
There was plenty of swell in the water with plenty of hard onshore wind to go with it.  I was feeling very tired and emotionally spent from last night’s altercation with my wife.  Anyone in a serious relationship knows there are times when your relationship is really tested to its maximum.  The argument was necessary and we came to a very healthy agreement.  I decided to sleep in rather than run around like a chicken without a head hunting for bad surf.  I also had to cook dinner for my in-laws and bring it up to Santa Barbara to serve it.  Since they are Mexican we always do the traditional tamales, Mexican Rice and this year my wife requested refried beans.  I keep with my Italian tradition and cook a small lasagna.  Inter racial marriages can be difficult.  The blending of two very strong cultures is always interesting.  We had a lovely Christmas Eve dinner.  My wife and I went home and kept with our personal Christmas Eve tradition of watching White Christmas with Bing Crosby.  We always try and time the end of the movie to end at midnight.  It’s the little things in life that really matter. Below is a photo from blow out overhead Rincon.

12-23-24 AM Session: 6-8+ ft, Leo Carrillo
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 38
After yesterday’s debacle I was feeling pretty withdrawn and completely fed up with surfing in general.  As a matter of fact I was so depressed I climbed back into bed after I fed my cats, turned off my phone and didn’t emerge until almost 1pm.  When I got up I didn’t even look at Surfline or try and get a report from anyone.  I went to lunch with my wife.  Around 2:30 I mustered up the strength to head out for a look.  Once again I went south.  County Line was packed and solid.  I pulled up to Leo and there were some really big sets coming in, some closing out both rocks.   There were also some really decent runners too.  The crowd was light, maybe a half dozen guys.  I was angry and on a mission.  I paddled straight out past the rock and sat way outside.  Further outside than I have ever surfed at Leo.  All I wanted was the biggest gnarliest waves the place could throw at me.  I can’t remember the last time I was in such a head space.  I was rewarded for my charge with some excellent waves.  I had one in particular that was nearly double overhead that I took off fifty yards north of the rock and about a hundred and fifty yards outside of the rock.  That wave ran all the way across to the other side of the south rock.  Maybe the biggest longest wave I have ever caught at Leo.  I should have brought my filmer.  Clout got a sick clip of me but then deleted it from his Instagram because I reposted it on my story.  It’s not the first time he’s done this.  I don’t know what the dude has against me.  We have never had an interaction either positive or negative.  I’ve never met the dude.  People are strange.  I went home feeling pretty good.  Later that night my wife and I got into a gnarly fight that basically went into the wee hours of the morning.  It was mostly my fault cause like every man I can be a real insensitive ass at times.

12-22-24 AM Session: 6-8+ ft, Big Dume
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 9
Miles Driven: 56
Today was the day of the BIG SWELL.  For about a week all I have seen on Instagram or heard about was this giant purple blob in the NPAC that was about to wreck havoc on the west coast in the form of gigantic waves.  When I went to sleep last night the buoys were reading 19ft at 20 seconds from 285.  It was an unprecedented number to say the least.  I hate these swells.  For me it’s just lots of anxiety figuring out where to find the best waves with the least amount of crowd.  Throw in the fact that the swell fell on the Sunday of the busiest holiday weekend of the year and I wasn’t very excited.  My life already has enough anxiety in it as it is at the moment so I really hate when surfing, my escape becomes just as toxic to my mental well being.  Bizarro and I headed down south hoping to find something worthy.  The crowds were intense.  Malibu and Topanga were packed beyond capacity. Both were very good.  Ultimately I settled on paddled Big Dume where the crowd seemed manageable as did the waves.  Paddling my 5’9 out into overhead with the occasional double over head bomb may have not been the best decision.  Currently I don’t have a step up because I sold mine to some kid about a month ago when I was hard up for cash to buy blanks with.  Once again back to the surfer/crack head analogy from the other day.  Surfing really has ruined my life among other things.  I did manage a few waves of consequence but it was all survival surfing.  I probably should have sucked it up and went to Malibu.  Bizarro and I drove home all dejected.  I hate when I waste a day that l was suppose to be epic.  Did I waste it or did the overcrowding that has become surfing ruin it?  I’ll leave with that thought.

12-21-24 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 27
Miles Driven: 44
The only thing I hate more then bad surf is wasting my time and gas driving around to try and score bad surf like some sort of crack addict, yet I do it all the time looking for my next surf fix.  This morning was no better.  Hueneme was my first stop and the pier did look fun enough.  I had some stupid idea in my head that County Line might be all time and drove there.  Of course as soon as I got there what could’ve been a good surf was trashed by very hard WSW wind.  Hoping Zeros may still be fun I gave it a look but that wasn’t looking enticing at all.  I headed home with my tail between my legs.  When I got back to Hueneme there was no wind at all.  I decided to just paddle the pier.  The South side looked fun enough and only my friend Mitch was out.  The lighting was perfect to shoot water so I called Bizarro to come out.  We definitely got some gold before the tide got too low.  You can look for some shots from the surf on my Instagram. Talk about a classic day in surfing stupidity.  I drove fifty miles to just surf a mile up the street from my home.  That folks is what we call an idiot mission. 

12-20-24 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 20
Today marked another day of me having a serious lack of surf motivation.  I decided to look at Strand in the morning.  The tide was kind of fat and I couldn’t get into it.  I went home and handled a bunch of ding work.  Around three I wrapped up and decided to head back to Strand since the wind was still pretty light.  Though not spectacular there were some fast stretchy lefts rolling off of Tower 5 and the Shit Pipe with only a few guys out.  The water was as glassy as glassy gets. I paddled and got on a real tear dismantling any wave that came my way.  It was surprisingly way more fun than I had thought. Just goes to show you that you should always paddle whether you are into it or not cause you never know when you’re due for a good surf. 

12-19-24 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 52
I had a morning engagement in Santa Barbara.  Hoping to get some point surf on the way home I brought my stuff.  Rincon was weak and very crowded for what was on offer.  The tide was too high for both Little Rincon or Pitas.  Ryan was paddling Emma.  I had a look, but didn’t paddle cause it was whatever and very crowded.  I decided to do lunch with my wife, get some ding work done then set out for an afternoon session.  Bizarro came along and we headed to Strand to do some abstract sunset water shots.  Of course an annoying fog rolled in making shooting impossible.  I was there and we didn’t have enough time to go anywhere else.  Bizarro suited up just come fuck around.  To our utter surprise and jubilation the fog lifted as we got to the waters edge revealing a beautiful sunset and oil glass conditions.  There was a pack of twenty guys or so sitting on the shit pipe which was the superior wave.  We found some fun waves between the Ship and Tower 5 all to ourselves.  This allowed us to really come together on some good stuff. Look for material from this session in my instagram soon. 

12-18-24 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, County Line
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 11
Miles Driven: 34
There was some mid period WNW swell in the water with offshore winds.  CC sent me a video of County Line going off.  I woke up Biz and we headed south.  Right when we showed up a chest high set rifled down the reef.  Stoked, we were out there.  As soon as we paddled both of us scored a set wave.  Then the place went into a slumber and we sat there for fifteen minutes with nothing to surf.  When the waves slowly filled in most were smaller and weaker than what we initially had paddled in anticipation of.  Of course we were absolutely putting on a clinic in backside surfing which stoked about ten more guys to paddle.  One dude in particular was annoying as could be constantly back paddling us till we got so fed up we started just burning him.  The air and water were freezing and ultimately after an hour I threw in the towel.  The rest of my afternoon was spent fixing dings.

12-17-24 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 22
Nothing brings down what could have been a good surf like a seven foot morning high tide.  I had a look at both Hueneme and Strand but neither were really doing it.  Rather than beat my head against the wall I came home and got some work done.  Around 2pm I headed back to Strand for a look.  It appeared that there was a small yet do-able wave near the Ship though it was difficult to tell from my Tower 4 vantage point.  The Army Corp of Engineers have been burring the dredge pipes limiting the access to the beach at Strand.  Normally they just leave the pipes on the sand when they run them to Hueneme but this year they finally figured out it would be cheaper to bury the pipes and leave them in for the next dredge few cycles. It only took them twenty years to come up with that ingenious plan.  Ryan and his boys met me and we walked down to the Ship and once in front of it we were pleasantly surprised with fun looking chest high bowls with no one out. Stoked I got on a solid froth and went to town on the skate park like lefts.  I must have made it look too much fun cause with in thirty minutes the place got packed.  That first half hour was really the best of it cause as the tide continued to drop the surf got less consistent and harder to rip.  I still had a lot of work to do plus a few errands to run thus I kept it a short one and bailed.

12-16-24 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 52
I used to surf Rincon almost every time the place broke.  The crowds have gotten so intense there that I only surf it on the sneaker off days on the week days on high tide or if the wind is howling out of the  WNW and I have no other choice.  Today was the former.  Luckily for me I had chest plus Rincon fairly empty.  I actually surfed pretty much by myself.  It was one of those days where you could catch a good one from any place on the point.  Everyone was surfing either up at Indicator or the Cove.  I saw a peeling right running through the Lower River Mouth section and decided to just sit there.  I got a bunch of waves that ran from there all the way to mid Cove.  I’m talking easily seven to ten decent turns a wave.  As the tide began to drop it got more sectiony and I started going for stupid big airs on the close out.  On one giant air reverse that I slipped while landing I basically face planted onto the nose of my board leaving a giant dent where my face connected with the board and a line where my forearm also hit the board.  You can’t go big without the occasional slam.  I was fortunate to not have gotten hurt.  The rest of my afternoon was actually spent Christmas shopping since I finally got paid for that big gig I had on Friday.  To my pleasant surprise I got all my shopping done without any hiccups or lines.  Now I’m feeling in the Christmas Spirit. 

12-15-24 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 2
Once again the south side of the pier turned on with super fun head high plus runners and a light crowd.  Thanks to last nights catering gig I almost missed it.  I woke up at 7:30 and fed my cats.  The air was freezing out and because of some very late night drama at home I only got a few hours of sleep.  I decided to climb back into bed for another hour.  Around 8:30 CC called me claiming the pier was firing.  I had a feeling this might be the case and jumped out bed, grabbed my gear and drove up the street.  It all happened so fast that I was still in a haze of sleep fog in my head.  I did make sure to call Bizarro to come film.  Sure enough as I walked up the beach I was greeted with very nice right hand lines. It wasn’t quite as good as the previous score on Friday but it was still super fun.  CC and I were putting on a backside surfing clinic.  Eventually the tide began to kill it and we bailed.  My evening was spent working my last Christmas party of the year at another grand estate in Carpinteria.  Thank goodness for wealthy people or I wouldn’t have had as Merry a Christmas.  Actually some celebrity who won’t be named offered me and exuberant amount of money to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day but I turned it down.  There are more important things in life than money.

12-14-24 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 2
There was significantly less surf in the water this morning.  Still, Hueneme had a few fun peaks to track down.  CC, AJ and I paddled the north side of the Pier and were getting some fun ones till the tide got too low and turned the place off.  It was a nice morning and it’s always fun to surf with just your boys.  After the surf I went home to help decorate our Christmas tree with my wife.  Later that evening I had a Christmas party to work at a Santa Barbara hope ranch mega mansion where they had Christmas tree in their living room that was taller than my house.  The gig itself was actually pretty difficult as Bizarro and I were forced to work in the backyard with limited lighting and just a deep fryer and a small convection oven.  We pulled it off, but were frozen to our core by the end of it.

12-13-24 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 12
Miles Driven: 2
I’ve lived in Hueneme for almost five years now and I can probably count on two hands the number of truly epic surf sessions that I have had here.  When I make a claim that it was epic believe me it was epic.  My time was very limited this morning.  I had my biggest, most lucrative catering event of the year in the evening for 300 people.  The gig is my wife’s Museums donor appreciation party.  There was a lot riding on getting it right making sitting definitely not my first priority today.  Of course whenever I have an abbreviated surf window that’s always when we are guaranteed to get decent surf.  In reality all I had time for was a quickie at either Hueneme or Strand.  I had a look at Hueneme first and as soon as I walked up I saw and over head set of freight train rights roll from the south side of the pier all the way to the second lifeguard tower.  I went running back to my car, called CC and paddled.  Walking up the beach I saw two consecutive guys get screaming tubes down the beach.  There were ably a dozen guys out but lots of waves to be had width three distinct take off zones.  I got busy fast getting a handful of runners.  One thing about Hueneme you never know how long the window is going to last so you need to get as many waves as you can for as long as you can.  Then I grabbed a solid overhead left I pulled into going back into the pier came out and smashed it.  In the process I tangled up in a fisherman’s line casting off the pier.  There were too many solid waves to allow me to untangle myself in the impact zone thus I paddled back out the line up fighting the pull of this guys line the entire way. Eventually it broke but not before the hook got lodged into my leash.  Luckily I was able to safely remove it from the outside.  After that bit of drama I focused on rights and got two that ran from the pier all the way to the second life guard tower and managed seven turns on each.  As the tide dropped the waves began to get dumpy and shrinky.  That was fine cause I had to get home to prep and pack for tonight’s big job.  As far as the event went though it was an arduous task to feed 300 people in two hours but as usual we nailed.  I only have two more parties for the rest of the year. 

12-12-24 No Surfing: 3-4+ ft
Miles Driven: 52
I guess I just wasn’t in the mood to surf today.  My morning started with my usual Hueneme and Strand check, both less than desirable.  I got word that Rincon had a surf-able wave and decided to go have a look.  Whatever was happening must have completely turned off when I got there cause all I saw was crowded junky inconsistent burgers rolling through.  I headed back south.  Little Rincon looked terrible and Pitas was barely breaking.  Emma was too low and New Jetty crowded and shitty.  I got frustrated and went home.  I spent the rest of my afternoon prepping with Bizarro for this 300 person Christmas Party I’m catering in Santa Barbara.  I don’t know why I couldn’t force a paddle somewhere.  Lately my motivation to surf has been seriously lacking.  That being said I still surf everyday.  Something needs to give in my life besides me. Hers a photo from Strand where I should have just paddled.

12-11-24 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Zeros
Time in Water: 2 hrs 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 41

There was some NW and SW combo swell in the water leaving lots of options on the table.  My reports from the beaches and up north were less then favorable thus I decided to head south.  With the draining tide County looked fun but I mixed feelings paddling the reef on a negative tide.  The place always feels like it’s just too shrinky out there on slack tides.  I ended up going to Zeros cause as the name hints Zeros does it’s beat on zero to negative tides.  Sure enough it was fun looking to borderline firing for Zeros.  Zack showed up and we went to town dismantling the perfectly lined up lefts.  For an hour or so it was some of the most fun I think I’ve ever had at Zeros.  We must have made it look too much fun cause the lineup got busy and when the tide completely bottomed out the sets for very inconsistent.  I caught a few more and left.  I had an afternoon of shaping to do. 

12-10-24 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Oxnard Shores
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 34
Miles Driven: 16
It’s rare these days that I spoil myself with an extended surf session beyond an hour or so.  The surf wasn’t big by any means and when I first paddled it was a bit underwhelming.  Ryan, Evan, Jeffrey, Loren and myself all paddled the north end of Oxnard Shores.  There were plenty of peaks and we all spread out.  The wind was offshore but not so hard off shore that it wasn’t fun.  A lot of the time when we get Santa Ana’s in Oxnard they are so strong it makes it very difficult to actually surf.  With winds just five to ten mph off shore it was perfect.  Having such fun conditions with only my friends out was the icing on the cake. Everyone was getting tubed off their heads.  When I left there were still good waves but I was hungry and spent.  After the surf I had to go food shopping for a big catering gig I have in Santa Barbara.  When I got home I fielded a call from my wife that it was her office Christmas Party and her boss wanted me to be there.  I quickly showered, suited up and headed to SB. I love parties so it was no inconvenience for me.

12-9-24 PM Session: 4-6+ ft, Studio, Cayucos
Time in Water: 1 hr 15m
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 38
We checked out of the Madonna around eleven.  The wind was still offshore in the Cayucos area so I decided to head back to where I surfed yesterday.  It appeared that some new swell was filling in making conditions a bit more stretched and bigger than yesterday.  Still, there were a few corners and some very sick looking barrels to be had.  I paddled but once out there  my suspicions about how make-able it really was rang true.  Just about every wave was a close out or too fast.  Actual corners were very scarce.  Big overhead close sets were constantly looming on the horizon which I was forced to dodge or take on the head.  I didn’t make many though I did manage two really good tubes that made the whole effort worth while.  For lunch we went to this cute little cafe near the Morro Bay museum of Natural History both the museum and cafe were worth the visit.  On the way home we stopped in Nipomo to cut down our own Christmas tree at that tree farm that is visible from the northbound side of the 101. My wife and I had always joked about doing so on the way home we figured why not. It was quite the experience, one I highly recommend.  Check out my Instagram for a reel of the Christmas Tree ordeal.  

12-8-24 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Studio, Cayucos
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 16
Whenever I’m up in the SLO area I always reach out to my friend Matt to surf.  He used to live in Santa Barbara and Oxnard before eventually settling down in Pismo.  Most of the time our schedules never seem to coincide.  This morning I woke up to a text that Cayucos was head high plus, offshore and barreling.  Stoked, my wife and I packed up the house as it was our last day and headed south.  Matt was kind  enough to drop me a pin at the beach breaks a few miles south of the Pier.  Just as he claimed there were peaky chest to head high plus clean tubes. There were plenty of guys surfing but everyone was spread out.  I’ll tell you this much if it was Ventura there would have been hundreds of guys out clogging it. Up here everyone had their own peak and the water was a pretty blue reminding me how much I love it up here.  Matt and I got out and my first wave was a screaming left hand tube I came out of then hit the close out section.  Then from there it was straight up barrel fest.  Towards the end the tide began to drain out making it a little shrinky and walled.  That being said there were still plenty of really fun waves to be had. The wind stayed offshore all day.  After the surf my wife and I got lunch in Cayucos.  Our final destination of the night was the Madonna Inn.  For this trip one of the premium look out tower rooms was available and though pricey, in all the years I have booked us at the hotel those rooms are always taken.  Ours was called The Love Nest and was decorated in red and white adornments with hearts ands birds everywhere.  In the center of the octagon shaped room was a spiral stair case up to the highest point of the hotel, a small private look out tower. We had blast with jt.  As usual we dined at their award winning steak house while enjoying all the festive holiday decorations the Madonna is famous for.  Theygoh all out during the holiday season.  We were more than satisfied with our stay. 

12-7-24 PM Session: 4-6+ ft, Washburn Beach, San Simeon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 8
Miles Driven: 6
Today was another day of big unruly mixed up surf yet again.  I probably should have went south to Cayucos but instead I decided to be intrepid and paddled this weird rock shelf reef just south of Cambria. From up on the cliff it looked like a very rip-able left that reminded me of the Ship.  My wife scoffed at my delusions but obliged to go along with me down the cliff side goat trail then continuing on to the 900 yard beach walk to get in front of the break.  I got out there and it was way bigger than I had thought it was also way harder to catch a wave.  As it turned out my wife was right about the potential surf-ability or lack there of. The wave sucked up so close to the exposed rock shelf that dropping in was nearly impossible without either being sucked out the back or over the falls.  The only ones I was able to catch were the bombs which were wonky and stretched. The inside section I thought was a perfect air section turned out to just be a crazy doubled up dumper. After an hour of just about complete failure I decided to call it quits.  I came into the beach to a grin and an I told you so from my wife.  After the surf we got lunch back at our house before heading into town to do a little bit of shopping and meet up with our friend Tom the owner and vintner of Black Hand winery.  We are members and big fans of the wine.  We always like to hang out for a while and catch up.  The rest of our evening was spent relaxing at the house as we enjoyed another beautiful sunset over the ocean. 

12-6-24 PM Session: 6-8+ ft, Willow Creek
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 8
Miles Driven: 74
My wife and I were in full on lazy vacation mode making surfing low on my priority list. We happily slept in till 10 before having a look about.  Once again both Moonstone and Pico were a bit more unruly than I was interested in surfing.  I was just going to settle on making the most of a quick hour at Moonstone when my wife suggested we drive up to Big Sur and see if there was anything to surf up there.  We always like making that drive on the one at least once while we’re in the area.  I figured it was still going to be too big and unruly but at the very least it would be a nice drive.  We got to Willow and it was big, and well over head.  One guy was out by himself on the southern end of the cove not getting anything.  There seemed that there was a very albeit big left coming in off the creek sand bar. This bar has been good to me all year.  Out of options I decided to paddle, not wanting to miss another day of surf.  I knew it was going to be sketch out there but was confident in my skills as a water man and soloed it.  Once out in the lineup I realized the peak was way more shifty then it looked and that waves were coming in from every direction making picking off a decent one confusing.  The water wasn’t as cold as it usually is so at the very least I had that going for me.  I managed a few bombs but overall it was pretty hectic and after an hour of dodging double overhead close out sets then racing back to the inside to catch a wave I decided to call it quits.  Post surf we headed back to our lovely vacation rental for a nice relaxing afternoon.  Later that evening my wife and I went to our new favorite high end restaurant in Cambria called the Sows Ear.  The place is haute cuisine with a menu packed with classic favorites like filet mignon, rack of lamb, lobster, pork chop etc and their wine list is top notch and very thorough.  They sat us at this cute little window table nook.  The whole restaurant is decorated with pig chachkies and at our table there was a pig cookie jar.  I decided to look inside just for kicks and lo and behold it was filled with dozens upon dozens of adorable little notes from patrons that had sat at the same table over the years.  Some told the stories of said note writer, others were random.  My wife and I decided to contribute our love story to the jar as well.  

12-5-24 No Surfing: 3-5+ ft
Today was a travel day up the coast with my wife and sometimes having too many options can be very detrimental to ever actually getting to surf.  Once again all the beaches by me were under performing and I was about to drive south down the PCH only to head up north.  Hoping Rincon might be fun again I packed up the car and we began our trek up the 101 to Cambria.  We stopped at ‘Con where there was a very very inconsistent chest high wave up at Indicator.  The air was absolutely freezing and I was not about to have my wife sit and freeze her butt off only to film me surf slow subpar surf, though in hindsight ‘con was the best option that was afforded us.  On ward north we went.  As per usual El Capitan and the Gaviota coast were small.  I wasn’t at all impressed with the weird side shore close outs from Morro Bay to Cayucos.  Ultimately both Moonstone and Pico didn’t entice me either.  Rather than beat a dead horse we decided to check into our rental house.  I got us a place just on the hill above Moonstone with a panoramic 180 degrees view of the ocean.  The place was absolutely splendid.  The furniture and decor of the actual house was out of the 80’s but with a view like we had who cares.  It would be the perfect place to spent a romantic lovers weekend.  For years Cambria does this intense Christmas light show up at the Cambria Pines Lodge.  My wife and I have always avoided it like the plague not really into all the Pop culture family type of stuff.  This year we decided to give it a whirl.  We were told weekday nights were more manageable than weekends thus tonight our first night in town was the most advantageous.  The plan was to eat at the Cambria Pines Lodge’s restaurant then walk over to the light display. When we got up there we were told we couldn’t park at the hotel despite the fact that we were patrons.  Instead we had to find one of four offsite shuttle locations around the town.  This was rather annoying and I couldn’t help but voice my opinion on the whole thing.  Ultimately a half hour later we made it back up to the Lodge and had dinner.  Last time I was up this way my wife and I met an older couple who raved about the food at the Lodge. I must say they were completely wrong.  For the money it was far from what I would even call palatable. Then again maybe we were hangry from the bus ride.  After dinner we walked over to the light display which I have to admit it was pretty impressive.  My wife and I were taking a picture by one of the displays and we were all dressed up for the occasion.  I had on my stylish navy polka dot over coat, a red Christmas tie with matching pocket square, while my wife was in a cute black pleated skirt and an adorable Christmas sweater.  While taking this picture this old man sitting on a bench said out loud in response to us “that must be what a gangster looks like on Christmas”.  Italian haters everywhere. We had a good laugh and enjoyed the rest of the display.  I’m not sure we would do it again but if you’re in Cambria for Christmas time the light show is worth a visit.  Photo from Moonstone Beach Cambria

12-4-24 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 52
After yesterday I definitely had Rincon on my radar, especially since nothing was looking all that enticing at home.  It was between ‘Con or County Line.  My fate hung in the balance of both my wife’s and Jeffery’s reports.  Both were claiming Rincon and I headed north yet again.  Conditions were way better than yesterday with nice clean chest high plus lines running perfectly down the point.  The crowd was borderline non existent and it was one of those rare days out there that no matter where you were on the point you could catch a runner.  I caught waves from Indicator all the way down to the Cove and everywhere in between.  The only bummer was thinking it was going to be on the weaker side I only brought my grovel board.  That being said a good surfboard which my Clarks Surfboards Bizzle Model is should still toe the line.  I was very pleased with its performance.  The session was a blast and a real treat.  The rest of my day was spent shaping and my evening spent packing for a romantic pre holiday getaway my wife and I are going on for a long weekend in our home away from home up in Cambria.

12-3-24 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 52
I got word that Rincon still had waves and wasn’t ridiculously crowded.  Since nothing around me looked any good I decided to make the drive.  As soon as I got there the wind went south adding a bit of funky bump and crumble.  I was already there and paddled. The wave faces were pretty fat and it was a bit sectiony and inconsistent from Indicator through Rivermouth. Though it wasn’t packed it was crowded enough for the lack of quality waves on offer.  I was having a pretty whatever surf till my last three waves.  I got one up at Indicator that connected all the way to lower Rivermouth.  Then as I was paddling back up I snatched one from high Rivermouth all the way to mid Cove.  Finally I was paddling back up to the Rivermouth when I lucked into an over head runner just above the Cove that ran all the way to the Freeway.  You know what, when you have a three wave run like that at Rincon you go home cause that’s definitely not going to happen again.  I don’t care who you are.  The rest of my day was spent shaping. 

12-2-24 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, County Line
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 34
The WNW swell showed up with very inconsistent long period lines.  It was also very selective about where it showed.  I heard Rincon and Ventura Point were both packed.  On a whim I decided to cruise to County Line where these lefts can actually be quite fun on the reef and somewhat uncrowded since everyone is chasing the swell up to my neck of the woods.  Zack met me and sure enough there were some really nice chest to head plus lines.  It was very inconsistent and more crowded than I had hoped limiting my wave count.  Zack actually caught the wave of the day.  I to my credit had a couple of good combos.  On the way home I got delayed by a horrific accident on the PCH involving a cyclist and an SUV.  All I know is that the bike was destroyed and the SUV teetering over the guardrail hanging over the cliff.  The whole incident cost me two hours.  When I got home I did manage to get a little shaping done.

12-1-24 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 27
Miles Driven: 2
A new very long period WNW swell was supposed to be filling in.  There was also a bit of late season south in the water.  I had a look at Hueneme and saw fun looking chest high peaks with light offshore winds up and down the beach. Not wanting to bank on the afternoon I decided to paddle.  It had the look that the place might turn on.  I started basically lined up with Ventura Road on the north side of the Pier.  There’s a decent high tide bar there.  By the time I left I was surfing on the south side of the pier because of the day’s tide extremities.  Jeffery showed up towards the end of my session and being a good friend I surfed a bit longer to keep himcompany.  Ultimately it never turned on and was just your classic stretchy weird Hueneme day.