Surfing Ruined My Life

February 2026 Surf Sessions

2-19-26 No Surfing: 2-5+ ft
Miles Driven: 10
At the very least the power was restored to full capacity some time in the night.  I woke up and the ocean was somewhat clean less a bit of residual bump left over from yesterday’s winds.  There was also about nine guys out on the point and the tide looked a bit high.  Hard south wind and rain were eminent in the coming hours.  My wife and I had a quick bit of breakfast then headed south to La Salinas to see if the Harbor Jetty there could offer some protection from the devil winds.  Though cleaner the shape was poor and there was a rather large construction project happening near the jetty which hindered my ability to surf it anyway.  We he headed home denied yet another attempt at surfing.  I had one last hope that the front would pass quickly and I might luck out with semi-clean conditions before dark.  In the mean time we went into town and got some lunch.  During which we witnessed a gnarly military sting go down on the beach.  Then the rain began to down pour the rest of the afternoon into the night and I never got the clean up I was hoping for.

2-18-26 No Surfing: 5-7+ ft
As I feared I woke up to gale force WNW winds.  There was plenty of surf in the water but the ocean was a complete mess.  Taking that into consideration there was no rush to get into Mexico.   We ate some breakfast, played with Adagio one last time, stopped at the grocery store to get some provisions then around noon made our way to the border.  On the way in I stupidly smiled and waved at one of the Federales and as a result we were stopped and our car was searched.  Once in Tiajauna my wife and I were stoked to find out that the new skyway by pass from the city to coast was finished.  This saves us easily thirty minutes.  When the coast came into view the waves, though bombing were all torn up with onshore wind howling.  Unfortunately there wasn’t adequate wind protection to allow for any place to be reasonably surf-able.  With that reality we decided to stop at Puerto Nuevo to gouge ourselves with lobsters for lunch.  After which we got to our vacation rental and there was no power. Supposedly the heavy rains from the night before had taken it out.  Being it was Mexico there was no estimate to when service might be restored.  With no surf and no power we decided to pop open a bottle of Champagne and watch the sunset from our balcony.  No electricity once it got dark just meant we got to enjoy a romantic candle light dinner.  Normally I would be completely frustrated not getting to surf but l was just happy to have some alone time with my wife. Photo taken from our vacation rental in Baja.

2-17-26 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 2
There was brief window of semi-clean conditions this morning at Hueneme off the south side of the pier with chest to head plus disorganized storm surf. I rode a new Clarks Surfboards Fly Guy Model I made myself.  The surf was borderline a little big for the board, but I wanted to see how it felt under my feet to decide whether  I was going to take with me on my Mexico trip I was to embark on this very evening.  Considering how tricky it was out there my stick surfed well enough for me to pack it.  I had one really sick backside tube.  After the surf I packed up what I needed for the trip. My wife, baby and I were hitting the road tonight.  In the afternoon I squared away some glassing that needed to get taken care of before I left.  Our plan was to hit the road after dinner to beat traffic and allow Adagio to sleep for the entire car ride.   This method was been successful in the past.  I was hoping we would beat the weather down to San Diego.  A big rainstorm was supposed to hit at some point in the night.  The best laid plans of mice and men shall always go astray.  Half way through LA we got hit with heavy, heavy rain forcing me to drive very slow and it was still pretty dangerous.  At that point we were too far to head back.  For two hours I steered us through torrential downpours.  We got to my sister in law’s house in Chula Vista around 11ish and crashed out.  I was exhausted from the intensity of the drive.  Tomorrow we are heading into Mexico, just my wife and I to enjoy some well needed R&R time alone, while Adagio gets some time with his grandma. Unfortunately surf wise it looks like I’m going to get skunked with bad winds.   I guess we will see what tomorrow brings.

2-16-26 No Surfing: 4-6+ ft
Today was literally a wash.  We had plenty of surf but also plenty of wind and rain.  In the morning the wind was south and tide high leaving no viable surfing options.  Bizarro and I decided to head into the surfboard shop and get working early.  There was a brief window mid day that was glassy but I heard the waves still weren’t very good.  Then the wind went atomic hard WNW on the back end of the front.  I suppose it was good not being able to surf in respect that a full day at the shop was necessary for staying ahead of our work load.

2-15-26 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 min
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 10
There were still some chest plus lines with light offshore winds at Hollywood.  The tide was a little bit fat but I saw enough to know that it would get better as the tide dropped.  The surf ended up being super fun with not another person out.  You have to take sessions like this to the bank. My afternoon was spent shaping a step up for myself.  We can be guaranteed that there will not be bombing surf anytime soon.  Every time I build myself a step up the surf is always bad for years.  The reason we had so many bombing days this winter is because I sold my old step up because I needed some extra cash.

2-14-26 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 min
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 10
A solid hit of fresh NW swell was showing with clean light offshore shore winds and peaky conditions.  Stoked I jumped in and went to town on the rip-able overhead walls, while my wife and baby basked on the shore.  Half way through the wind turned hard SW causing conditions to become more walled and dumpy.  It was at this time that I got my deepest left barrel of the  surf. I saw an opening drove towards it and came screaming out.  If the gods were smiling on me just maybe my wife got the clip.  After the surf my wife and I and baby went up to the Ventura Botanical Gardens for a Valentines Day picnic.  Once you have a baby in tow finding romance becomes very difficult and one has to be extra diligent to keep some semblance of such or the marriage suffers.  It was a very lovely afternoon.

2-13-26 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 min
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 10
The ocean finally smoothed out a bit from all the wind the past couple of days.  It’s really beginning to feel like we are moving into spring time like conditions.  It’s only February.   This used to be one of our best months for conditions.  Usually we are still receiving a healthy amount of WNW swells and mostly windless days.  This morning there were light offshore winds so I headed straight to Hollywood hoping to get a quick smash and grab session in.  There were fun looking lefts and rights to be had.  I was stoked and found plenty of tubes and ramps with only a handful of guys spread out up and down the beach.  Unfortunately the wind came up on-shore after about thirty minutes into the session.   It stayed fairly surf-able for another forty five minutes.  My afternoon was spent glassing surfboards.

2-12-26 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, County Line
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 34
Once again there was lots of combo swell in the water. The winds were junky for both Ventura and Oxnard.  Hueneme was stretched and lumpy. I opted to drive south to County Line since the cam looked glassy.  My diligence paid off and there were chest plus rip-able lines coming through on the reef with only a handful of guys on it. Stoked I went to town putting down three to six rights and even the odd ball left.  I’ll take it.  In the afternoon I had a catering gig to work up in Santa Barbara.

2-11-26 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Trancas Point
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 12
Miles Driven: 54
All that was on offer this morning was mixed up storm surf from last night’s rain.  I got word that Rincon was fun and empty but I couldn’t get up there.  My car is still in the shop going on three weeks now.  Hueneme and the Oxnard beaches were pretty torn up.  Ultimately I made the call to head south down the PCH.  On these weird swells there are lots of nooks and crannies that can sometimes surprise one with fun waves.  After driving around a bit I   settled on Trancas point since it appeared to be the cleanest wave with the best shape.  Once out there it was weird, wonky and very difficult to surf.  Currently there is too much sand out there making the wave a bit more closed out and sectiony than it usually is.  I had a few runners though after an hour of fighting the good fight I decided to throw in the towel.  There was plenty of work to be done at the surfboard shop and me forcing the issue in bad surf wasn’t going to help get it done. The remainder of my day was spent glassing surfboards.

2-10-26 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 min
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 10
There was only a short window this morning to beat the coming SW storm winds.  Considering the impending doom wind I headed straight for Hollywood where conditions were over head with side-shore/offshore winds.  I jumped in and it was definitely a bit stretched but do-able if you were fast.  I got my share of screamers and a few tubes before the wind completely trashed it.  My afternoon was spent back at the glass shop laminating surf boards.

2-9-26 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, County Line
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 46
The wind blew all day and night in Oxnard leaving the morning conditions a bit wonky and all over the place.  There was already a hint of onshore wind while I was checking Hollywood.  I decided to roll the dice and head south to County Line.  Though far from epic with SW/NW combo in the water there were rip-able chest to head high lines rolling through on the reef with a very light crowd and glassy conditions.  I got on a froth and had a very fun go of it.   In the afternoon Bizarro and I started glassing in our new shop.  At the moment I am training him to learn the craft and our goal is to be up and running a full fledged glass shop by April. 

2-8-26 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 10
 There was plenty of size on offer this morning with light offshore winds.  I decided to paddle Hollywood as my time window was short.  I had a Super Bowl party to work at one of the homes on the beach at Hobson’s.  The swell was a bit disorganized with mostly walled corners all over the place. I paddled and of course the wind turned onshore as soon as I got out there.  It started out light NW allowing the surf to be manageable although the current dragging south was stiff forcing me to paddle the entire session to keep position as I watched surfer after surfer get swept past me down the beach.  I managed one deep left barrel and a few decent turns on the running right handers.  The surf wasn’t ideal but I made the most of it.  My wife and baby were on the beach to document a few colors in between diaper changes and fussiness.  The baby definitely adds an X factor to attempting to put down solid clips.  To my wife’s credit she is amazing to even be able to get what she does among all the chaos.  After the surf I headed to work this Super Bowl party.  I have worked it three years running and have become a staple.  It’s cool getting paid to cook food and watch the Super Bowl.  This year the party was 90 strong.  I like many others was initially a hater leading up to the game of Bad Bunny doing the half time performance.  I can’t stand reggaeton and thought how sad that popular music has degraded to such a level.  Despite my musical prejudice I have to give credit where credit is due.  The man put on one of the better half time shows that I’ve seen.  I’m not running out and buying a Bad Bunny album but kudos on the theatrics.  The party was a success as per usual.

2-7-26 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Leo Carrillo
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 42
As per usual possibly the largest WNW swell of the season fell on a Saturday.  Translation; gross overcrowding everywhere.  To top it all off the Rincon Classic was happening forcing the crowd to focus on every surrounding spot.  I grabbed Bizarro and we headed south.  I had my sights set on Malibu, but the wind picked up out of the south down there trashing the place.  County was packed and Zeros wasn’t really happening and was crowded regardless.  Leo became the call because of the crowd to wave ratio.  NW swells don’t really catch the reef right making the wave a bit more of a burger, somewhat closed out and sectiony.  There was the occasional overhead bomb set and odd ball double up that would run down the point in its standard fashion.  I focused my energy on catching those.  The crowd fluctuated from busy to manageable the entire session.  As always at Leo there were more than one close call of collision curtesy of kooks who didn’t know what they were doing and probably should not have been out there in the first place. Bizarro and I definitely put down a handful of clips.  Stay tuned to the Clarks Surfboards YouTube channel and my Instagram for the eye candy.  As for the Rincon Classic it was in my opinion the best waves they have ever run the event in.  Ventura just about swept the podium with Dimitri winning, Mikey Clark taking 2nd, Conor Coffin, the only guy from SB in 3rd and Dane in 4th.  In the evening my wife and I took our baby for a stroll along Bubbling Springs here in Port Hueneme.

2-6-26 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 10
Of course today’s solid WNW swell was due to fill in along with devil south winds.  Low tide was early and I managed to catch the tail end of the window at Hollywood before south wind killed it.   I only got about thirty minutes of really clean waves then fought the good fight in the overhead tricky south wind cross shore conditions.  The swell came up substantially in afternoon but with adverse winds, what a waste.  I spent the afternoon shaping.  My wife, Bizarro and I all went out for sushi for our birthdays in the evening while Adagio stayed home with the nanny.

2-5-26 AM Session: 5-7+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 12
Bad winds for Hueneme with too much south in the offshores caused side chop which sent me over to Hollywood to meet up with Ryan and Evan.  It looked a bit more stretched and dumpy than I would have liked but the boys convinced me to paddle.  As it turned out the session was really fun.  The high tide considerably helped create more opportunities to find corners, minus the occasional bomb set that would close out the entire beach.   That is par for the course over at Hollywood.  There were tubes, turns and good times for all.  The best part was we had a peak for just the three of us.  After the surf I got some ding repair work out of the way. We all celebrated Bizarro’s 41st birthday in the evening. 

2-4-26 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 2 hrs 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 45
Miles Driven: 2
Today was my 45th birthday and man has my life changed in that year.  I became a dad to the coolest little guy there ever was.  Now I have my own surfboard factory.  I always surf on my birthday and for the past fifteen years or so I have managed to catch my age in waves either on or a day or two around my birthday.  This feat gets harder every year, especially since I try and get it done all in one surf.  Hueneme had a waist to chest high wave coming in with stiff offshore winds.  I went to town, starting on the north side of the pier then making my way over to the south sid e as the tide dropped.   After two hours and change  I achieved success and Kept my tradition of catching my age in waves on my birthday alive.  It was exhausting.  After the surf Bizarro and I went over to my container and cleaned out my glassing operation and moved it into our new shop.   My evening was spent celebrating my birth with my wife, son and Bizarro.  I don’t think I could have asked for anything more this year.  

2-3-26 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 2
There was a solid push of WNW swell coming through the south side of the pier.  I’ll claim even borderline pumping,  I’m first three waves were runners almost to the second life guard tower.  I pulled into the tube on my fourth wave and somehow got clipped by the lip coming out.  My board go pushed into my gut hard.  Just for precaution I paddled back into the beach and took my suit half way off to check and make sure I wasn’t cut through the suit.  Though I was in a bit of pain it appeared I did no serious damage.  The nose of my board cracked from the pressure of the hit.  Since the waves were still super fun I sucked it up and continued surfing.  About half way into the session funky south wind got on it adding a side chop to the face but it was still very surf-able.  Finally the tide got too drained turning the waves completely off.  In the afternoon Bizarro and I cleaned up our new shop for Clarks Surfboards.  We are ready to move in and get to work. Exciting stuff.

2-2-26 AM Session: 6-8+ ft, Ventura Point
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 9
Miles Driven: 48
Some days I let the hype around a swell get the best of me.  I should have just paddled Hueneme where there were fun semi stretched chest to head plus waves with a light crowd and offshore winds.  Instead I had it in my head that I needed to go surf a point.  CC and I cruised north checking everything to Hobson’s.  The crowd was out in full force and at that moment the waves weren’t really all that enthralling. Ultimately after an hour or so of deliberation we decided to paddle the top of Ventura Point which was absolutely macking, pushing double overhead on sets.  Most waves were just freight train runners more survival than surfing.  I did catch a few amazing bombs that left me pretty stoked.  I spent the afternoon fixing dings.

2-1-26 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 2
I love when Hueneme is fun.  Especially on the north side of the pier which always serves up skate park like conditions.  Today was just that day.  Lucky for me my mother in-law was on the beach with us allowing my wife to completely to be free from the baby to film.   Unfortunately the window only lasted about thirty minutes then it got really slow out there.  I still put down a few clips.  I watched a bit of the Pipe Line Challenger comp mid day while watching Adagio.  My wife and I took the little tike to the park just before dark to play on the swings and feed the ducks.  If that’s not a fine day I don’t know what is.