February 2016 Surf Sessions
2-29-16 No Surfing: 3-5+ ft
Bizarro and I ended up attending an industry after party that pretty much ran until 7 am. I slept till around 4pm and it was foggy out leaving me completely unmotivated to paddle out. Ironically the day went exactly opposite how I had planned it to have gone back in September when I actually thought I would do a romantic leap year proposal to my girl friend at the time. The joke is on her I got loaded all night till the sun came up and spent the day in bed. Oh Yeah!!!
2-28-16 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 29
Gabe and I had a look around the Montecito spots this morning. Sharks was small and fat. Hammonds was all messed up with some strange chop making it look more like a bad beach break then one of the best reef breaks in the area. The Coral Casino had a wave, but I hate surfing that spot. We decided to wait for the other side of the tide and give Naples ago. Gordo and Ryan met us and we paddled out at Seals cause we saw a bunch of macker sets when we pulled up. As soon as we got out there the wind came up out of the south and the swell got lully as heck. I could not get a good one to save my life. Over it Gabe and I went up to the Crack Peak, which was more consistent though still not all that good. Ultimately we just surfed our way back down to Seals where I managed to get my best wave of the session and quit on it. All and all though not the best of Naples surfs it was still decent enough and how can anyone complain when it has been such an incredible season.
2-27-16 PM Session: 4-6+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Gabe, Bizarro and I decided to roll to Naples for some more wnw action. Ryan was already there and was claiming it solid thus I brought my bigger board. Unfortunately the wind had turned south and tore up the entire line up. There were some solid sets and the crowd was nonexistent. I had a feeling the wind would go offshore and cleans things up right before dark. We paddled with high spirits and low expectation and we had a ball. Gabe was ripping. I managed to make some of the gnarliest late drops on my big board. Then just as I thought the last 45 minutes glassed off and it became a super session with just Gabe and I out there.
2-26-16 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 31
When I woke up everything was all fogged in. Not feeling all that motivated I decided to sleep in and wait for the afternoon. Around 3 the fog lifted and I headed up to Gaviota planning on surfing either Naples or El Cap. There were a few cars in the Naples lot leading me to believe it was still fun. As it turns out there plenty of fun chest to head high plus sets coming through. I started at The Crack Peak and found a few runners there. As the tide dropped The Green Awning went off so I floated down there and was trading off really good rights with my friend Adrienne. I was on fire too. I can’t remember the last time I surfed that good. It was a good reminder of why I’m still fighting the good fight.
2-25-16 PM Session: 6-8+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 3 hrs
Waves Surfed: 17
Due to the stiff current out at Refugio I worked my back a little too hard and when I woke up I was in severe pain. I found myself on the floor desperately trying to straighten myself out. Normally I would have just said fuck it and rested up, but the swell that has been running has been near epic and I didn’t want to miss a minute of it. I still had to forfeit my morning surf. Ryan called me and said he was going to Naples and would pick me up. I thought it may be a tad too big for the place, but a free ride and good surf with a friend is invaluable these days. We got there and it was solid to say the least. I took my big board and needed every inch of it. Dead Man’s looked sick and was the call. It was way bigger and faster out there then we had expected. My first wave was a double over head screamer I barely made it to the end of. After that it became a pick and chose session of Ryan and I trading bombs. It was a pretty decent day of surfing to say the least.
2-24-16 PM Session: 4-6+ ft, Refugio
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 10
Trevor and I decided to head north to Naples with the new WNW that was steadily filling in as it turned out the swell moved in faster then we had anticipated making Naples way too big and fast. Then we went to El Capitan, which was as big as I have ever seen it maybe too big, as some of the sets were racing away. Not to mention there was easily 75 guys on it. We saw some solid sets at Refugio from the freeway and decided to walk in. Turns out it wasn’t nearly as good as we had hoped. I did manage to find a really fun inside reform that was completely worth the price of admission.
2-23-16 No Surfing: 3-4+ ft
The waves were still rather average and I had a bunch of shit to do especially when the reports are calling for some real swell. I went into crazy get shit done mode and actually got a ton of important shit done. Also as terrible as a weekend as this past one was I think I needed the wake up call to stop fucking around, give up on lost causes and get my ass in gear on the potential my future may hold. Don’t worry as cryptic as some of this I have already began a short series of blogs to help enlighten us all, including myself. Stay tuned for the first one to post in the next day or so.
2-22-16 No Surfing: 3-4+ ft
I cruised down to the Strand hoping to get some Santa Anna action. The winds never came up like I had hoped and the swell was a bit lackluster. I was going to give a mercy paddle when I ended up getting a debilitating migraine as I was turning my suit right side in. It was so bad I didn’t think I was going to even be able to drive home. When I finally got home I crawled into bed for the day.
2-21-16 No Surfing: 3-4+ ft
Well like I said earlier Saturday was a disaster. I almost hate the fact that I am even using that word to describe it. Whatever, like I said I should have known better. I should have know better four months ago and then two and a half years ago before that. Or…Maybe when I was 14. Being romantic in today’s society is a crutch and a cross to bear at times. Last night after the way things played out I went on a self destructive path. Translation: drank everything at the bar, then proceeded to go home and drink most of what was in my liquor cabinet as well. Oh and I decided to let the good times roll all the way into the day as well. I hope I punished myself enough this time to never make such a mistake again.
2-20-16 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 29
Normally I wouldn’t have entertained driving south to go surf. The swell was a bit down and conditions were average at best. I also had quite an evening planned that I was rather looking forward to. I also had some errands in Ventura that I had to run as well. If was going to be south then I might as well get a few waves while I was at it. Not feeling like making the effort of going all the way to Strand I paddled Emma where I found some decent reform bowls coming through. Trevor happened to show up as I was suiting up and I talked him into joining me. On the beach I noticed there was one goofy out there completely destroying it. Turns out it was Timmy Curran. It was a really fun session where I found a few really fun tubes and tore it up as well. Unfortunately my night went very awry very fast. I should have known better in the first place. The definition of insanity being the ability to do the same thing over again and expect different results. Can some one please tell me why I keep doing this?
2-19-16 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
Pat, Biz and I cruised to Naples for an afternoon of solitude and surf. We got the former, the latter on the other hand was a bit to be desired. Still it was glassy and there were a few runners I managed around 6-8 turns on. Overall it was a bit on the gutless side and all of the peaks were very shifty for a place that is usually very predictable. The only up side was that there was a few really good against the grain lefts. It was probably the smallest Naples I have surfed this year. Then again Naples is always a good idea.
2-18-16 No Surfing: 3-4 ft
I could have found something to surf this afternoon. The wind was on it pretty hard and the swell at most of the protected spots was going to be smallish at best. I had a bunch of ding repair to get down, five boards to be exact. I finished that around 3:30 and was pretty high from all the toxins. Over it I decided to take it easy and get a few more chores I had been putting off all season. Besides the forecast for tomorrow and weekend looks good enough to warrant taking yet another day off. The best cam on my phone today was my home town of Manasquan NJ.
2-17-16 No Surfing: 3-5+ ft
I was all ready to go for a surf in the morning when the wind decided to change to a horrible south destroying most spots in the area. It looked as the though the wind may turn back off shore in Ventura for the end of the day. My plan was to wait and go down for the afternoon. Then it started to rain and was cold. Ultimately I lost my motivation and decided to save the gas.
2-16-16 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Surfer’s Knoll
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 27
I had some important errands to run down in Ventura. I had been putting them off the past few days cause of all the swell in Santa Barbara. Things finally came down a bit forcing me to actually surf down south for a change. I cruised, ran my errands then went to the Harbor for a surf check since the wind was still very clean. Sure enough there were peaks every where with minimal guys on it. The water was about as dirty as it gets thanks to another round of harbor dredging. Is it that time of year already? My better judgement told me to walk away, stave off the possible danger of infection and go surf something else. When was the last time I listened to my better judgement? Oh yeah, never! Besides there were some sick lefts, barrels and lefts! I paddled and found tons of fun ones. Shit it was eighty degrees out and sunny in February how could it not be a great day?
2-15-16 PM Session: 2-3 ft, Tajiguas
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 23
Lindsay and I found ourselves staring at average yet fun looking Mesa Lane except for the fact that there were about fifteen guys out. Over it we decided to strike up north with the hopes that El Capitan would still have waves. It had the occasional set, though a bit fat and close to the rocks with the tide. Instead we had a look at Tajiguas, which had some glassy chest high kill-able peaks up and down the beach with no one out. It was a most agreeable alternative to anything else I had seen that day. I got out there and found a couple of little tubes, launched on massive fs air reverse I was super stoked on and overall just enjoyed the beauty of my surroundings.
2-14-16 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
Bizarro and I cruised to Naples looking for sanctuary from the weekend crowds and a break from happy hand holding couples. Nothing makes Valentine’s Day alone worse then seeing gaggles of couples rubbing their love in your face. Shit I couldn’t even open any social media cause that was the only pictures on there. Turns out we were able to escape the crowd down at Naples but not the happy couples as there were a few on the beach and others on the cliff to watch their romantic sunset. I almost wanted to vomit. As for the surfing I started at Seals which looked on the small side. Once I got out there I realized it was still over head on the sets. I guess it only looked small cause no one was out. I had a few bombers there till the wind picked up hard off shore making it sort of weak and mushy. Not wanted to end my surf quite yet I ran up to The Crack Peak which was a bit larger and heavier. I got a few sick ones and cleaned up by a solid 3 wave ten foot face set that pretty much swept me down the beach. I will give the nauseating couples one thing the sunset was one of the better ones I have witnessed this season.
2-13-16 No Surfing: 7-10 + ft
Biz and I had a late night back at our friend Jeremy’s pretty much leaving us in shit shape for the rest of the day. I was thinking about grabbing an afternoon session over at Sharks. Ultimately I found myself largely unmotivated. I have just surfed such a large amount of high quality waves lately I guess Its hard to get as excited as I used to. Is there such a thing of surfing too many world class waves? Saturday crowds suck.
2-12-16 PM Session: 4-6+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 16
I met up with Ryan and Gordo for an afternoon Naples surf since the swell had filled in gang busters. It looked perfect at Seals with only a few guys out. Ryan and Gordo decided to go up to the Crack Peak. Unfortunately despite the flawless conditions it was a little fast and big for my 5’10 causing my waves to mostly be survival rather then surfing. Still I found a few and it was great to be surfing Naples with just my buds as cliche as that may sound.
2-11-16 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
I had a catering thing all day and in the morning the surf was far from inspiring.
2-10-16 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 15
I had some ding work to do in the morning and the tide was a bit on the high side anyhow. Unfortunately after I did all the prep work I realized that my resign which was about a year old had hardened in the bottle. Sorry Pat your board is going to take a day or two longer. Lindsay called me and wanted to surf. Her, Bizarro and I rolled to the ‘Con with high hopes for a good time. It was smaller then I would have liked and bit more crowded. Lets face the facts Rincon is always crowded these days no matter how shitty it is. Fuck I drove by there the other day and it was barely knee high in the Cove and there were still 30 guys out. We ended up paddling Lower River Mouth at the impossible section that I can sometimes make. The crowd was light down there thanks to most of the waves closing out, but I was in the mood for a good close out. I managed a few fun ones till a bunch of others decided to crowd my little spot and ruined it. I burned some guy on a soft top for my last wave. Rincon brings out the best in people…Bizarro and I had the first of what we hope to be a new season of Wednesday dinners.
2-9-16 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 14
Talk about a very spotty swell at best today. I think the only three decent places to surf were Strand, CStreet and Rincon. I choose Rincon after a short look about at everything south of Montecito and North of Ventura Point. Although crowded and a bit on the inconsistent side Rincon seemed the best of all options. The Cove was rather long boarded out thus I surfed up top between low Indicator and upper to middle River Mouth. I found a few fun ones, but with the crowd, meager size and inconsistency of the sets it was far from what I would call a great surf. The weather and conditions were all set for a splendid day at the beach. I suppose there were a lot worse places I could have been.
2-8-16 PM Session: 2-3 + ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Gabe and I had some errands to run down in Ventura. The wind was offshore and even though the swell was not going to be all that big I figured River Mouth would have something. Sure enough it did have a few little ones coming in a about six different distinct sand bars. The wind was a bit harder then I would have liked considering what was coming in and positioning was even more difficult with all the bullshit current out there. I managed a few left barrels and a couple of runners. Good times.
2-7-16 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Little Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 17
Last night was Bizarro’s and my official joint birthday party, the fourth annual actually and the largest one we have ever thrown. As usual there were a few hitches, everyone including yours truly got way too drunk and a night of complete insanity ensued that one would only believe the story if I told if that person has ever came to Lisanti Land and had night at the Wild Cat with myself and crew. It took quite a while before any of us were able to come back to life. Around late afternoon Biz, Gabe and I decided to forgo the Super Bowl party invites and cruise to the beach. I don’t care much for playing sports in general let alone watch it or go to a party celebrating such activity. Instead we found solace at Little Rincon, which was a chest to head plus, glassy, very kill-able and contained a very light crowd of novices. Despite my hangover and lack of sleep somehow I frothed like a champ, found a bank vault section in the middle of the line and just went to town on the airs. Shit if Bizarro wasn’t drinking and shooting we may have gotten better results. Hey at least we found a fun dog on the beach to play with and a few pieces of sea glass.
2-6-16 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 19
Gabe and I headed to the Strand with the hopes of off shore winds and some barrels. What we got was weak mushy, windy south end. We saw a few in the middle of the beach and with few other options decided to give it a go. As it turned out there was a lot more swell getting into the North End plus the wind was more side shore/ offshore. The crowd was a bit annoying, but the current was pretty bad and peaks were all over the place. I got a screamer of a right on my third wave and took it all the way into the beach. When I tried to paddle back out I got worked by a 20 wave set. Rather then wait for it to pass I wrongly decided to fight through getting worked and frustrated in the process. After most of my waves the paddle out sucked. Somehow I kept getting winners including a sick fifty yard left barrel down the beach. Good times at the Strand.
2-5-16 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 9
I had moving gig that took a bit out of me in the morning especially after a sleepless night from a Birthday that only went half the way I wanted. I was looking for closure and that I did get even if it wasn’t the outcome I had hoped, though the one I figured. I guess now all I can do is move on with my life. I cruised to Pitas since Ryan was claiming it. By the time I got there both the wind and the crowd had got on it. I started at the top then worked my way to the Faria section hoping it would be fun there. The lines were all broken up with the wind and a bit walled. The few good ones were very inconsistent and the whole line up was packed. The water was freezing, I was tired and wasn’t having a great time. I paddled back up top, caught a couple of close out bombers and went home.
2-4-16 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Little Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
Last night Bizarro and I went out for the turn of my Birthday. What started out as a very slow night became rather fun for the last 45 minutes with end of the film festival opening gala. Initially I had tickets to the event, but when I lost my job I had to sell them. Self preservation over party after all. Some how I found myself making pizzas from scratch in my kitchen at 2 am. I had a moving gig in the morning. I had been getting messages all day that the waves had come up. I love when there is swell on my birthday. Bizarro and I headed south since I thought the swell was a little to small for town and the north points. Rincon was unreal but as usual it was also a shit show. Since we wanted to film I decided to surf Little ‘Con considering how close it breaks to shore and the minimal crowd. When we pulled up there was only about a handful of guys out and lots of waves. I found myself a bit under gunned on the sets, but definitely got my share. It wasn’t the best Little Rincon ever and towards the end of the session the wind came up, the tide began to turn it off and the after work crowd clogged the line up. Oh the California dream…
2-3-16 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
I had a catering job in the morning keeping me from going south. By the time I had finished the wind had come up. I could have found some really bad waves to grovel. There is more swell coming and I decided to save the gas.
2-2-16 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 19
The swell finally came down enough for the beach breaks to not be all walled and gnarly. I was originally just going to go grovel Rincon till my boy Daniel hit me up and said it looked weak. Ryan was claiming Strand thus we met up and rolled south. There was plenty of swell in the water though it was a bit wind swelly and mushy for my tastes. Still for whatever reason I frothed out there and for a period of 45 minutes I could do no wrong. I was getting all the good ones, making crazy late drops on my little 5’10 and sticking some decent airs. Then the wind got kind of strange and the tide bottomed out. I grabbed a few more before calling it a day.
2-1-16 AM Session: 2-3 ft, El Capitan
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 17
It was another windy day with still some west swell on tap. Low tide was mid day and El Capitan was offshore with the wind. Bizarro had to drop his car off to get some work done and decided to come along. It was definitely clean though a tad smaller then I would have hoped and a bit more crowded. It was a Monday with marginal swell. I used to surf small El Cap on days like this with only a few guys out all the time. Eveyone out was for the most part a local meaning there were no waves left not caught. The sets were a bit inconsistent as well. The Bay had some killer double up barrels and that was where I focused my energy especially since the mid section was a bit soft and not really connecting on most waves. I had a few fun ones. Maybe I am just getting spoiled with the amount of quality waves I have been surfing lately.
Surfing Ruined My Life 