Surfing Ruined My Life

February 2024 Surf Sessions

2-29-24 No Surfing: 0-1+ ft, Juno Pier FL
Miles Driven: 14
Somehow I wasn’t very affected by jet lag and got up around 8:30 in the morning. It was dark when I got to my parents home and now in the daylight I could take in the view of the 11th green of the West Course of the East Point Country Club. My parents recently moved from a different club community a few miles away due to politics. My father was the board president of the last community and stepped down. He did so because he was tired of constantly criticism, yet those same critics gave him such a hard time for stepping down that him and my mother decided to move. Another instance where my life briefly mirrored a Seinfeld episode. We had breakfast outside as it wasn’t too hot and not raining. The plan for the day was to head to a Sea Turtle rehabilitation center in Juno Beach that my parents support then hit the beach. Apparently it’s been somewhat rainy and cold and today was the first “beach weather” day in a while. The turtle center is fun, my parents always take me there when I’m in town. They have all these sick/injured or infant turtles in tanks awaiting release upon cleared that they can survive in the wild. The beach is just across the street from there and that was where we spent our afternoon. I brought a Clarks Surfboards Pop Fizz Fish with me that I shaped about two years ago and still had yet to ride. Considering the surf was hardly even ankle high it would remain as such. It was cool because it gave me more time to sit and enjoy time with my parents. The last time I saw them was spring of ‘22. We left the beach just before sunset to go back to my parents house and enjoy cocktails in their solarium followed by dinner at the club where I enjoyed a splendid duck.

2-28-24 No Surfing: 2-3+ft
We were up at 5:30am to catch the 10:30 Jet Blue flight out of LAX. First off let me say DO NOT EVER FLY JET BLUE. They are not a surfer friendly airline. In a time where a number of airlines offer waived board bag fees to and from LAX they charge $100 oversized fee plus a $50 dollar checked back fee making it a grand total of $150 each way, $300 all together. Furthermore I lied and said I only had one board in the bag, implying what they would charge extra for multiple boards. I had three which to Florida seems rather excessive but I wanted to have a Pop Fizz, a Bizzle and a Fly Guy model to show potential customers. Also the surf reports and conditions apparently change on an hourly basis so I really had no idea what to expect. We boarded our flight and the second Jet Blue let down came. There was supposed to be an inflight entertainment screen on the back of our seats but it was broken, as a matter of fact I’d say sixty percent of the screens didn’t work. When we asked the flight attendant she was nonchalant about her answer implying that they rarely work. As a consultation she gave us free booze and snacks. It wasn’t a huge deal for me as I had plenty of work to do on the most recently posted Clarks Surfboards YouTube edit which is live on the Clarks Surfboards YouTube channel as we speak. The final insult from Jet Blue was the inflight Wi-Fi which was very slow and constantly kept going in and out. I had to refresh my connection six times and noticed the same for the other passengers around me. Besides that the flight was relatively uneventful. Hertz Renal cars was a bit of a let down as well due to being rather disorganized with our online reservation forcing us to cancel it and make a new reservation on the spot which ate up some time. Finally we got our car drove to my Parents home in Jupiter to begin our visit. screen shot of the Ventura point cam.

2-27-24 AM Session: 1-3 ft, County Line
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 38
I think the Pacific Ocean is trying to get me ready for Florida. I had a look at Hueneme but it looked smaller and more stretched then yesterday. Jeffery said the Harbor was looking pretty terrible. Normally I’d bag it and look again in the afternoon but I had a catering gig in SB at 3pm leaving me only the morning window. Tomorrow I’m on an early flight out to Florida and with the time difference and flatness over there I knew was not going to be able to get a surf in. I drove to County Line where it was meager but surf-able. Before committing I took a quick look at Leo, which actually produced a few alright sets but was way too crowded with long boarders. I went back to county and paddled. Though slow there was an occasional waist plus wave running down the reef that was good for a few turns. It was certainly nothing of any significance but if I was to die in a plane crash tomorrow at least I got a few last waves.

2-26-24 AM Session: 1-3 ft, Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 2
Another small day actually had Hueneme showing some small peaky south combo swell lines. It was nothing over waist plus but very rip-able. Jeffrey showed up and we paddled Rockside. In classic Hueneme fashion it was only fun for about twenty minutes then it completely turned into weird backwashy close outs. It was nice to surf out front for a change. The rest of the day I had ding work to do followed by packing for my up coming Florida trip to see my folks and Kevin Angers on Wednesday.

2-25-24 No Surfing: 1-2+ ft,
Miles Driven: 2
It was super small today and high tide early. I had a look at Hueneme and it was borderline surf-able high tide grovel waves. I wasn’t that frothy and both the County Line and Ventura point cams looked putrid. I went home did a bit of shaping. My wife got home from San Diego in the early afternoon and we went golfing. Photo from Ventura Point.

2-24-24 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 30 mins
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 54
Sometimes I make stupid calls other times what should have been a good call turns out to be a bad call thanks to the crowd. The latter happens way too frequently as of late and was the case today. After exhausting the VTA beach breaks, the six foot morning tide was not a friend to anyplace that was showing the new swell, I decided to drive up to Rincon forgetting that it was a Saturday. I was hoping the high tide and dirty water would be a deterrent. There was waist to chest high inconsistent waves coming in through out the entire point. The Cove actually looked very rip-able with all the sand that has been pushed in there from the rains. There forty guys on the whole point and I was into it. As I walked back to the lot I was being constantly passed by guys with boards frothing. Then when I got to the lot it was now completely full and easily another forty surfers suiting up, with more on the way. I had missed the crowd window by about an hour. The hour I wasted running around Oxnard and Ventura. My first instinct when I woke up this morning was to head straight to Rincon. I have said it time and time again I need to trust that instinct. I headed back south checking everywhere and I mean everywhere till I eventually paddled the Ship cause I saw a few rip-able bowls. It was fun for like thirty minutes before the tide got too low and it just became a backwashed, rip tide riddled close out that was borderline not surf-able. Oh well, that’s just how surfing works out sometimes.

2-23-24 No Surfing: 2-3 ft
Miles Driven: 28
Today was a bust. I probably should have just surfed either New Jetty or small Strand in the morning. Surfline was calling for a rise in swell in the afternoon/evening. I decided to hedge my bets and finish off a few ding repairs that were on my docket. Around 4:30 I drove over to Strand for a look. The new swell was not yet showing and the tide had drained way too low to surf the small dumpy knee high offerings. Sure if I had to surf it I could, but I didn’t and it looked absolutely terrible. These days I have to remind myself that on days where the waves really aren’t worth the effort I’m doing myself more harm then good. One thing a surfer in his forties has to be constantly concerned about is longevity. Small waves take way more of a toll on my body then large ones. Now of course if it’s small and fun I’m all over it. But when conditions get under waist high and junky that’s when I consider if the risk of injury out weighs the stoke of surfing. I could’ve drove over to New Jetty. Laziness got the best of me and I went home to a quite house since my wife was in San Diego for the weekend.

2-22-24 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 30 mins
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 12
For the meager size today was very fun. The Ship was my first stop. There were waves but it was looking a little small. Since the predominant swell was west I decided to have a look at Hollywood. It was bigger, but breaking all over the place, a bit stretched and looked overall very difficult to line up. Not to mention inconsistent. Basically classic Hollywood. I drove back to the Ship, suited and paddled. For a solid hour before the tide got too low and wind came up it was a waist to chest high rip fest. Of course it also helped that I was on. The last half hour CC and I were just trading off lefts at Tower 5 and ripping my them to absolute shreds. I guess I’m feeling out my new Clarks Surfboards Fly Guy Model. I put more subtle contours in the bottom and a slightly harder rail when I was shaping this board and it really feels great in the air, above the lip and vertically. I think it may be a winner.

2-21-24 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 10
Today was really frustrating. I was tempted to drive up to Rincon. I have been in a bit of a point break withdrawal so to speak only surfing Strand all week. I got word there were waves at ‘Con but the wind was south on it and swell a bit broken up. I saw a few kill-able lines at the Ship and had a feeling it was going to turn on. I called CC and Bizarro to show up. Of course as soon as I put my suit on and walked up the beach the wind went stiff WSW adding lots of bump and crumble on what ten minutes ago was really fun surf. By the time CC and Bizarro showed up it was completely trashed. If Biz comes to film I’ll at least try and hammer down a handful of clips before leaving. Despite the horrible conditions I managed at least three A clips and a handful of B clips. Keepers are keepers no matter how terrible the waves. I suppose it worked out cause I was back home by noon to get on my ding cue. Don’t let this photo fool you it blew out and got trashed before I even got my toes wet.

2-20-24 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 10
Topanga was the call this morning. Yet for some reason I decided to stay home and surf the Ship. To its credit there were some fun looked peaky chest to head high plus peaks from tower 5 to tower 4. More then anything no one was out. These days an empty line up counts for more then good crowded waves elsewhere. I paddled and found some really rip-able ones and even managed a little tube. As the tide dropped it started to get too drained. Then the wind went more SW putting the kibosh on it for me. It worked out cause I got home earlier then usual and was able to get a jump on my ding load.

2-19-24 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 27
Miles Driven: 10
Another day of rain was upon us and with it came the usual dreaded south winds. Everywhere looked bad. I had ding work to handle, a stack of boards to pick up from the glasser and a stack of blanks to grab from the supplier. There were definitely enough tasks to occupy my time. I had a look at the Ship on my way home. Though on the small side there was a chest plus wave coming in and the wind was side-shore/offshore. I went home, dropped off all the boards and blanks, then loaded up my board and suit and headed back to Strand. I gave it one more quick look just to make sure the wind hadn’t changed. If anything it was even more offshore. I paddled and got a few fun waves. After about forty five minutes the wind turned stiff SW turning conditions to crap. I fought the good fight for another thirty minutes or so before throwing in the towel. I was at the very least stoked I surfed.

2-18-24 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Malibu
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 64
I woke up and was troubled by the decision to go north or south, both having waves. Ventura Point was macking and I heard everything from there to SB was plagued with south wind funk. Topanga was near epic but shit house crowded. The call was to roll south till we found an adequate wave. My wife and I followed CC in a California car pool. Ultimately we just ended up paddling Malibu up at second. The waves were chest to head plus but very inconsistent. The crowd was solid and the south wind came up right as we got to the beach. I was more then a little frustrated. We were there and paddled. The first half was super slow and crowd very annoying. Then everyone left probably due to frustration and then shortly after the wind died. Sets were still very inconsistent but fun when they came through. I managed a handful of three to six turn rides and even stuck a decent frontside air on the odd ball left between second and third. It wasn’t the score I was hoping for but fun enough and we definitely put down a few clips. The rest of my day was spent packing up a batch of Clarks Surfboards to be shipped to Florida.

2-17-24 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Leo Carrillo
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 9
Miles Driven: 52
The swell was absolutely pathetic this morning. Surfline was calling for a steadily rising WNW swell by the afternoon. I hedged my bets and went shopping with my wife. She was in desperate need of new work clothes. We went to the Camarillo outlets and the outing was more then successful. Around two I was back in Hueneme. The surf had begun to fill in up and down the coast with bulk focusing at Ventura Point. I don’t care for the Point when it’s big. Sure there are long rides to be had but mostly I find myself racing sections just to get to flat turns before racing more sections. I wasn’t in the mood. Thus I headed towards the north points hoping to get a crack at Pitas or Rincon. Pat beat me up there and said everything was crowded, underwhelming and very inconsistent. I turned around at Ventura Harbor and cruised to Hollywood. The swell wasn’t quite getting in there. At Strand there were only waves from Tower 2 to the NorthJetty and mostly closed out well overhead bombs. Almost ready to give up I got a call from CC that Leo looked fun and had some head high plus sets. I booked it down there with only an hour and a half left of light. The lineup was more crowded then I would have liked with fifteen guys clinging to the rock and sets inconsistent. When they came they were five to seven waves strong and screaming down the reef. Most guys out were just getting mowed down by the solid sets anyway. I paddled and sat out the back waiting for the bombs. CC had picked off a solid overhead runner that stood up all the way to the second rock. In classic CC fashion he bailed on that wave. I had a slow start blowing my first three waves, one I got hung up by the kelp on my bottom turn, another I was too deep and couldn’t get around the first section and the third went into deep water after my first turn and I was unable to get back to the foam ball. Then I got one all the way through and something clicked and it was sick runners for the rest of my surf. I’d say it was a solid score. There was so much power in the long period swell (15ft @22s) that my 5’7 felt a tad squirrelly at times. I left stoked and ready to score more tomorrow.

2-16-24 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 28
Miles Driven: 12
There was a fresh WNW swell in the water. I heard Rincon was good but packed. My first stop was Strand, but it was crowded and the shape a bit to be desired. Considering the angle and period of the swell I had a feeling that Hollywood was going to be fun. Sure enough it was peaky up and down the beach, chest to head plus and a very light crowd. CC, Ryan and Jeffrey all showed up and we traded off fun waves for two hours till the wind came up. My only complaint was that it was a little slow between sets. The again super fun waves with just your buddies out on a Friday; how can anyone really complain about that. The rest of my afternoon was spent fixing dings.

2-15-24 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 min
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 18
The surf was down even tad more then yesterday so it was back to the Harbor once again. The pickings were pretty slim. I saw a few peaks just past the opening of the River Mouth and convinced Jeffery to run down there with me. It was very slow but when a set did come in there was a very hallow left breaking across the mouth opening. The wave was almost below sea level on some. The water was nasty brown, smelly and very cold. I was having a throw away session till about thirty minutes in when I caught and made an absolute drainer of a left barrel. After that I caught three more sick little tube rides before drifting my way down the bar to north side of the mouth where I found a small but absolute rip-able left with only one other surfer on it. The rest of my day was taken up with prepping then working a catering gig in Santa Barbara. As usual the event and food were well received.

2-14-24 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 18
The swell finally got too small for me to reasonably surf Strand. I had to leave my happy little pond and seek out my surfing fix else where. When the surf is tiny there is only one place to go around these parts, Ventura Harbor. It used to be a well kept secret. Like many other once empty wave zones these days the place is packed just about all the time thus I avoid it like the plague. When my back is against the wall with desperation even I cave and find myself on the dunes scoping out whether I want to paddle New Jetty, Surfers Knoll or the River Mouth. I have always been partial to the River Mouth. With all the rain the water had been especially gross out there. Finally after four days a few decent bars had formed. There were a fair amount of guys on it. I saw what looked like a rip-able left just south of the Knoll lot with no one on it and paddled. As it turned out that bar sucked forcing me to walk down to the Mouth bar. The wave out there was way more shifty then it had looked allowing me to easily get my share amongst the crowd. The bar was super kill-able and I found myself getting three to six turns per wave. I left way more stoked then I could have imagined. It was Valentine’s Day and of course I put off shopping till the last minute, but managed to sort out a decent gift for my wife rather painlessly. I had a bit of shaping to do before cleaning up and taking my wife out for requisite romantic dinner. All was well and she was pleased.

2-13-24 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 10
I got word that Rincon was similar to yesterday but maybe a tad more crowded. The lure to go up there again was very prevalent. I did have to start getting prep done for this weeks up coming catering job and had a few ding repairs that needed tightened up as well. Rather then burn another half or even full day at Rincon I decided to just paddle Strand. Spots like Rincon are complete time sucks. First off it takes a little under an hour to get there from my house each way. Then I have to walk down and check it, walk back and suit up, walk back down and finally paddle out. A surf at Rincon is a minimum of an hour and a half but usually two plus. When all is said and done I don’t get home till after 2pm no matter how I cut it. The tide was a bit fat but there were some wonky chest plus waves out there to had and only three guys and myself were out. I managed two decent lefts and one three turn right. My mission was accomplished. I got my surf in and finished a grip of ding work.

2-12-24 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 10
Miles Driven: 52
There was a tad more swell in the water. Strand was looking small on the Ship side and weak on the north end. Jeffery was paddling the harbor where there were some corners to chase according to him. I was on the drive over when I got word that Rincon had an inconsistent chest high wave. Sounded like a sneaker day to me thus I made the drive. Sure enough there were some really decent lines coming through with a light crowd. I had Bizarro with me and was stoked to get some Rincon on film. Once out there I realized that it was really, really slow between sets. I sat for periods of 15-20 minutes. I hate surfs like that, cause when I finally get a wave I’m all stiff and disoriented on it. I like sessions where I’m consistently getting waves. That being said the waves I did get were easily 6-9 turn rides. The rest of my afternoon was spent shopping for an upcoming Spanish Tapas menu I’m doing for a sixty person catering event on Thursday.

2-11-24 No Surfing: 1-3+ ft,
Miles Driven: 10
The surf was really down today with most spots barely pushing waist high coupled with a fat morning tide. I had a look at Strand mid day and it was surf-able but far from anything more then a grovel. If it were a week day and my wife not around I would have paddled it for an hour, but it seemed selfish to force her to sit there while I flailed around in the junky surf. Instead we decided to get a round of golf in. This winter has been so wet and cold we haven’t had as many opportunities to play as we hoped. I thought I might be able sneak a session in before dark but ran out of time. The photo is from Strand mid-day and yeah I should’ve paddled I suppose.

2-10-24 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 12
Saturdays are usually my least favorite and most frustrating day of the week to surf, weekends in general. It was sunny so my wife decided to tag along. My first stop was Hueneme where it was surf-able but smaller then I would have liked. We cruised to Strand and there was a very rip-able left coming off the ship with just a few of my friends on it. Stoked I paddled and had an extraordinary surf. The waves were average at best with a bit of wind on it. I was in the zone sticking all sorts of combos and airs. It had been a long time since I felt so in command of a surf session. I’d say 80% were keeper clips. The tide got a bit too low after an hour but I had more then got mine.

2-9-24 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 18
The surf had come down a bit. My initial plan was to wait for the tide to drop and roll over to Stand mid-day. Jeffery called and said he heard the Harbor was overhead and sick. I drove over to have a look. The Rivermouth did open up and the wind was offshore. I figured I may as well give it a look. The thought of missing out on the potential of an all time surf was too much for me to bare. I got there and the water as all chocolate brown and gross. The wind was offshore but the majority of the waves were close outs. The River had opened nearly 200 yards wide. I’ve never seen it breach to such an extent. This resulted in there not really being a bar out there to speak of. A handful of surfers were trying to make some sense of the shifty line up including a few pros. I watched it for about thirty minutes before deciding it was way too closed out for my tastes. On the walk back from the mouth I managed to step in dog shit further pissing my off. I cleaned up my shoes and opted to pick up some boards from my glasser that were finished then headed over to Strand. The Ship actually looked borderline fun, so much so that I called Bizarro to come film. The tide was dropping very fast due to the king tides. In the few minutes it took me to put on my suit the line up had already changed and by the time Bizarro got there it had just about completely drained out. The wind came up out of the WSW to add injury to insult. What can you do, I suppose that’s just the way of things sometimes. The rest of my afternoon was committed to ding repair.

2-8-24 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Topanaga
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 92
Topanga is becoming CC and my winter Malibu. Lately on all these west swell angles it’s been one of the better spots around. The wind was already on it at the VTA beaches and Rincon was small. Topanga looked fun and somewhat empty on the cam thus CC and I made the drive. We got there and it was a bit underwhelming and definitely not worth the drive. We paddled and there were a few runners to be had. About thirty minutes in the wind went hard WNW completely trashing the place. We forced out another 30 minutes before calling it a day. I got home and went straight into ding repair.

2-7-24 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 30 mins
Waves Surfed: 6
Miles Driven: 10
The weather has been so crazy the past few weeks it’s has become difficult to make the correct move. I should have went up to Rincon since I knew hard WNW wind was coming. Forecasts were saying light onshore till mid day. Strand was chest to head plus off the Ship. There was light WNW wind on it making things a tad sloppy. Word was Rincon and north were on the smaller side. Hoping to get an hour I jumped in off the the Ship. There were some powerful windswelly lefts peeling off the rocks. Once again I found myself a little under gunned. It didn’t matter cause within fifteen minutes of being out the wind turned hard WNW like a light switch completely trashing the surf. Immediately I was ensconced in full on victory at sea conditions. The wind was icy and the waves had basically become not surf-able. I cut my losses and took one in. I had plenty of errands to run and ding work to do the rest of the day.

2-6-24 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 43
Miles Driven: 12
Every year since I was twenty five I have made it a point to surf my age in waves either on or within a few days of my actual birthday. The older I get the more difficult this has become. The swell was down and tide high making Hueneme my first check where it was almost do-able. I drove over to Strand and truthfully it wasn’t much larger then Hueneme. If the tide wasn’t dropping rather steadily I would have went back over. I saw a few chest high waves that looked rip-able enough. Despite the dirty water I paddled. The water is always a little bit cleaner at Strand thanks to the deeper water. More then anything the place was empty. These days any time Strand isn’t packed I’m usually inclined to surf it. Once out there though small the waves were really fun. I got on a tear and decided today was the day to surf my age in waves. Towards the end of the surf the wind came up making the last few a bit of grind but I was stoked to keep the tradition alive. I had one more board shape when I got home to finish up the latest batch. Now it’s time to shift into ding repair mode.

2-5-24 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 15m
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 12
I blew it on the account of pure laziness today. Topanga was absolutely firing and with the crazy angle of the SE wind swell I’m sure a number of other spots were too. I had a look at Strand where though not great there were consistent chest to head high runners at the Ship. At the very least there were only a handful of guys out. The first half of the surf I was picking off all these weak mush burgers. Then I drifted more down towards the shit pipe and started snagging some solid lefts good for three to five turns. On the sets I was borderline under gunned on my 5’7 Clarks Surfboards Fly Guy Model. I probably should have taken my 5’9 Clarks Surfboards Hacksaw Model. Surprisingly I had way more fun then I had expected. It felt like it was getting better when I left, but I was feeling a bit winded and when you get to my age you have to listen to your body. I’d rather surf everyday then burn myself out or get injured pushing myself, especially when the waves aren’t firing. The rest of my afternoon was spent shaping. Later that night My wife and I took Bizarro out to an all you can eat Sushi place in Camarillo that was actually very good. I can’t remember the name of it but it’s a small place just across the 101 from the downtown area next some billiards joint.

2-4-24 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Surfers Knoll
Time in Water: 1 hr 30m
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 18
Today was my birthday and the weather was terrible. It was cold, rainy,windy, and overall as miserable as weather can get around these parts. At the very least the wind was offshore. Strand was tiny forcing me to go to the Harbor. There was some chest to head high SE wind swell coming in. The water was a nasty chocolate brown and to be honest the waves on tap weren’t all that inviting as the bars are pretty junky out there at the moment. I should have headed up towards the Sea Cliff zone where it’s been known to be rather good during these type of swells and conditions. Later I would find out that zone was the score. I saw a few tubes to be had at the Knoll and my laziness got the better of me thus I paddled. Once out there it was way more difficult to get a good ride then I had expected. I somehow lucked into a draining left tube towards the middle of my session that had I not gotten it would have been a most unsuccessful birthday surf. Besides that the rest of the session was laughable and had it not been my birthday I may not have paddled at all. After the surf I cruised home for brunch with my wife. The weather was not letting up and all forecasts called for rain through Wednesday. The rest of the day was a wash (pun intended). For dinner I cooked up a surf and turf feast including snow crab legs, lobster tails and lamb chops over broccolini with fingerling potatoes fondant. It was quite the feast. For dessert my wife got me a blast from the past, a Carvel Cookie Puss ice cream cake. Getting older is so bad if you know how to live.

2-3-24 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr 15m
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 52
I didn’t know what to do today. I was at Strand and very dissatisfied with the waves and crowd. In hindsight I should have just paddled. Instead I headed up to Rincon. The swell was solid head to overhead and the crowd very manageable for a weekend. The catch was there was a bit of south wind on it, though not so much to turn me away. I paddled the River Mouth and picked off three decent waves. Unfortunately the wind slowly creeped up the entire session till the waves became absolute trash. Then a ten pack of teens decided to sit right on me adding insult to injury. Whenever the wind is south at the points I always end up hurting myself. First I hit my head on the cobble stone bottom after over rotating a straight air at the top of the cove. I’m not going to lie I was definitely a bit disoriented from the hit. Then towards the end of my surf I was paddling back out when this kid went on a close out, got hung up in the lip and came down directly on top of me. His leash wrapped around my face which scratched my forehead and bruised my nose. I yelled at him for being a kook. He cordially apologized. Maybe it was out of anger and frustration but on my next wave I got three hits and brought down a decent air reverse. That was a session ender in my book. Later in the day the giant “atmospheric river” (big rain storm) began.

2-2-24 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 11
Miles Driven: 52
A hard offshore gale had kicked up over night leaving few options available. I decided to head up to Rincon where it was head high plus. The WNW wind had definitely torn up the line up a bit all the way down to high Cove, but once on a wave it quickly cleaned up as it ran further down the point. I probably should have went to El Capitan but was lazy and didn’t feel like driving any further. When I jumped in the crowd was light and I picked off a solid set wave that ran all the way to the bottom of the Cove. Upon paddling back out the crowd had nearly tripled and it had become a shit fight for waves. I moved down to the mid Cove where there were some clean double ups to be had. There I stayed until I got one past the call box. I was a bit under gunned on my 5’7 as the swell was a tad bigger then I had thought when checking it. After that ride I walked back up and paddled out at the Rivermouth. By this point the crowd had dissipated. I caught five more and call boxed all of them. By my last wave my legs were shot and my arms weak. The current down the point is tough on these windy days. Considering I had caught at least eight phenomenal waves all embodying twelve plus turns I decided to call it a day. One more thing I want to mention. There was this goofy foot grom who rode for Billabong out absolutely ripping. His surfing aside the kid had etiquette and respect I thought his generation had forgotten about. There were three times where he was in a back paddling position with me for very good waves and he didn’t go. I don’t know who he was but kudos to him. His demeanor made my session and reminded me there are some polite kids out there in the line up. The rest of my day was spent shaping.

2-1-24 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Topanga
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 92
Some days are special and today was it. The rain had been coming down for days and with it south wind. As for the surf picking a decent spot was tough with all the constantly changing wind directions due to the storm. Topanga looked solid on the cam and there was no one out. CC and I met Kai and the three of us were the first to paddle head to overhead reeling Topanga. The water quality was definitely suspect but the wave quality certainly wasn’t. It was just non-stop head to overhead bombers running down the point. I caught a handful that ran from the top all the way to bottom borderline half way to Chart House! Everyone out was getting sick rides. I don’t claim a score that often but today was hands down a worthy score. I heard Rincon was fun enough as well.