Surfing Ruined My Life

January 2016 Surf Sessions

1-31-16 No Surfing: 3-5+ ft
We went big for my boy Pat’s birthday last night.  The party spilled over into the morning.  Grappa shots at 8am to be exact.  Needless to say I spent the latter portion of the day in bed.  Looked like there were some fun little lines at Sand Spit near dark, but I was out doing something else and was not able to surf.

1-30-16 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, El Capitan
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
There was still plenty of west on the buoy and with a perfect afternoon tide window I had my mind on the captain.  I cruised out there and sure enough it was chest to head and pretty consistent for El Cap.  The crowd wasn’t bad for a Saturday either.  I went in the mindset that no matter what I would just wait my turn, take my time and surf till I got my share.  Its not like I had a job to go to or anything else to do.  I jumped in and did the my usual beginning session scrap for whatever I could get my hands on.  After I felt like I had my share of left overs I paddled higher up the point to battle the pack for a set wave.  I managed my share of good ones.   What a winter of west swells.

1-29-16 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Loons
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 9
I had some work over in Simi Valley in the afternoon.  I wanted to get a surf in before.  Trevor said Sharks was fun thus Bizarro and I headed to Montecito.  When we got to Sharks there had to be thirty guys on it and the take off spot there is way too small for that many people.  I decided to head to Loons figuring that really is a pseudo secret spot, its hard to get to and the wave itself is at a very difficult level of competency not to mention dangerous breaking over pretty much dry reef boulders.  Sure enough there was easily a pack of 25 guys on it.  There was some bump on it making the heaving sections hard to make thus there were waves for everyone.  I sat on the second section since the first peak is very hard to make on ones back hand even when Loons is at it’s best let alone with a rising tide and odd bump.  It was definitely the biggest Loons I have ever surfed.  I got a few tubes and hit a few lips.  That wave is always an experience.  It may have been crowded, but the entire crowd was a local crowd.

1-28-16 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
 Bizarro and I decided to cruise to Naples and try and shoot some photos and as has been the new standard this season when we try to shoot everything worked against us.   First the waves were a bit walled then the wind came up making it walled and choppy and dumpy.  The only plus was I had the entire place to myself.  Basically I got my ass handed to me for an hour while making the occasional wave.  Later I heard El Cap was fun and empty.  We choose poorly.

1-28-16 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Hammonds
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 16
The buoys showed a drop in the period and a small spike in the swell.  I decided to give Hammonds a look.  Sure enough it was solid and super fun looking.  There was a pretty stiff crowd but plenty of waves coming through.  I couldn’t help paddling.  It was a rip fest out there.  The place was a skate park.  I can’t remember the last time I stuck so many airs.

1-27-16 PM Session2: 2-3 ft, El Capitan
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 14
When I got out of the water I fielded a call from Lindsay that El Cap was small but fun.  Even at waist high El Cap is so killable.  She said the crowd was light too.  I love it up there.  El Capitan has to be one of the most beautiful waves to surf as far as wave and surroundings.  I figured worse case scenario I would just wander around the point and enjoy the sunset.  It was small, but the sets when they came were about chest high and there was so much long period in the swell that lines were about as clean as they could be.  I suited up, jumped in and began full on dismantling the small killable walls.  I ran into my friend Corbit who actually moved out the same I did from NJ. I thought he had left SB years ago.  It looks him and myself are the last of the original Central New Jersey crew remaining out here.  At one point about eight years ago there was about a dozen of us. One by one everybody started dropping off.  And then there were two. What a great afternoon of surfing today was. Thank you El Nino.

1-27-16 PM Session1: 4-6+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr 20 mins
Waves Surfed: 8
I cruised to Hammonds hoping for some of the WNW to be getting in there for the dropping tide window. There was a waist high wave coming through. I was hardly enticed by it.  I decided to go south and see how big of a zoo Rincon was.  ‘Con was solid with head to overhead sets peeling all the way through the Cove.  The crowd was somewhat light considering.  I knew it was only going to last for a shore time so I paddled with that mind set and began frothing whatever I could get my hands on.  I got a few set waves off the pack.  One forgets what a good wave Rincon is despite the crowd.  I must have banged out at least 12 turns a wave.  After about 45 minutes the crowded tripled, ten minutes after that it quadrupled.  Everyone was burning everyone.  I thought I was at Malibu for a moment.  Over it I got one in and decided to call it.  I had already got a few sick ones anyhow and a couple great waves at Rincon are better then dozens of waves at most other spots.

1-26-16 PM Session: 4-6+ ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 18
I was having a bit of a depression day.  I was suppose to go to an important meeting that sort of determines my fate for the next few months or so.  As most things go in my life it got pushed backed due to more incompetence not of my doing.   Then again I suppose I am the only one to determine my fate and if it wasn’t for this recent bull shit turn of events.  In a way it was necessary to allow me to move on to bigger and better things.  I still have been losing sleep over it all.  The surf was down around town and average at best down south.  To be honest for one reason or another it has been a bit difficult for me to really go surf in Ventura.  Nostalgia can be a bitch sometimes.  I had some random shit to handle after which I was free.  Bizarro and I were sitting around and decided to give Jalama a go.  Nothing is more refreshing then a trip up north.  Sure enough it was breath taking.  Everything was as green as I remember from years ago before the drought.  The surf was glassy and nearly empty.  I surfed Tarantulas with only one other guy and it was solid head to over head with the standard Jalama bomb set.  I was a bit under gunned forcing me to miss a few drops and get dragged over the reef more then once.  Over all it was a great day at the “J” and I feel refreshed.

1-25-16 No Surfing: 3-4+ ft
My plan was to grab some waves south either at Rincon or beyond after I finished cleaning up and unpacking after the catering gig. What I thought was only going to take a few hours ended up eating the better part of my day.  I had a look at the town spots, but with the extreme low tide and waning swell I decided to let it go.  I wasn’t in the mood for a grovel.

1-24-16 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Hazards
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 24
The plan was to take advantage of the low tide and west swell go up north and have a surreal surfing experience.  The wind was a bit strange and the extreme low tide plus withdrawing swell made finding a worthwhile spot somewhat difficult.  We did a little reconnaissance at some other less trodden upon Gaviota mysto spots.  There was potential though nothing to get excited about.  Ultimately we made the walk into El Capitan cause the crowd looked light even if the waves were smaller then I would have liked.  Turns out there must have been a crew changing on the rocks or something cause when Gabe and I got down to the point and there had to be easily twenty guys out there fighting over two foot waves that were inconsistent at best.  Instead we turned around, walked out and paddled Hazards since the wind clocked around a bit more offshore.  The tide was a bit too low making it very rocky.  I bounced off the reef more then once.  It was far from the best surf I have ever had out there, but it was a lovely sunset, the crowd was right and with all that is happening right now it was just nice to get out into the water.

1-23-16 No Surfing: 5-7+ ft
I overslept a little bit.  The tide was high and the only available options in town were not all that appealing to me.  I had to work a catering job at noon that pretty much ate up the rest of my time.   Gabe said he got some fun ones at Sharks though on the small side.

1-22-16 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Mesa Lane
Time in Water: 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 11
I overslept this morning as a result of not having a great night due to some severe anxiety about my job and financial well being.  I can’t legally say anything more about it then that at the moment.  With limited time window I had before some catering work I just rolled to the Lane.  When I walked up I saw a few fun looking corners with no one out.  Sure there was a lot of water moving around, but nothing I was worried about.  I jumped in and as I got half way out I got rocked by an eight wave set of close outs 8-10 ft tall.  It became a session of dodging the sets then running inside for a corner.  I managed to find a few sick ones.

1-21-16 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Hammonds
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 34
I didn’t need to go into work till around 1pm today giving me a bonus hour.  I was on my way to Rincon when I did the look back at the Summerland hill and saw that there was still some lines coming in at Hammonds.  A recon expedition down the trail confirmed that it was though a little textured still very killable with a very light crowd.  I paddled and had a ball.  A good rip fest is always enjoyable and Hammonds is one of my favorite canvases for such.

1-20-16 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Hammonds
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 19
I had a some catering work at 11 leaving me with a smaller then usual window for a surf.  The swell had come down a bit from the previous day though East Santa Barbara was still showing enough in the water to warrant a look at town.  I got to Hammonds and it was firing.  I can’t remember the last time I have seen it that good there.  The kicker was that there was only three guys on it and there were barrels.  BARRELS! After I had just got through arguing with Gabe about the fact that Hammonds isn’t a barreling wave too.  Needless to say I was out there.  I blew my first three waves however trying to be a hero and by sitting too deep.  By the time I got in the swing of things the tide began to get too low and the crowd had quadrupled and it was an aggressive frothy one at that.  I went for a left cause there already three other guys challenging the right and being a goofy I knew I was on the losing end.  I stood up and right on the should there was another guy about to burn me.  I took a low line to avoid getting landed on, but the lip I wanted to hit was taken up by this rude person’s cascading board and body.  After that I drifted to the inside section and picked off left overs and close outs.  I did manage one decent barrel, and two air reverses overall it was one of those tragedy of the commons kind of surfs.

1-19-16 PM Session: 6-8+ ft, Little Rincon
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
I woke up this morning and climbed out of bed.  I think I gave myself enough time for self pity.  Sure I am still hurting, but only over what could have been.  Love is out there for me somewhere.  With every experience I learn more about myself and more about how to be a man worthy of such love. I wasn’t always a gentleman and since those unsavory days of old I have learned that there are consequences for ones actions even if those consequences don’t catch up to one till years later. I guess I am paying my dues.  I decided to give El Capitan a look since there was still plenty of swell on the buoys and the tide was dropping.  There was a wave coming in, though a bit smaller then I had hoped the crowd was light and it had potential with the lower tide.  Then the wind went a bit south with the rain destroying any hopes I had of such things.  I decided to head back south and see what the more exposed points had.  Rincon was solid and packed as usual.  I heard Little ‘Con had been the out performer the yesterday and gave it a look.  After watching a few sets it didn’t take long for me to realize that it may have been the best I have ever seen that wave.  It was solid 6-8 with some 10 foot bombs coming through to the second take off zone about twenty yards off the molar rock and running through mussel shoals for easily another 150 yards and further on the really sick ones.  There was a crowd, but there were also plenty of waves and most were hard to make causing for a very high margin of error allowing for surfing Darwinism to take hold.  I had some of the best rides I have had all winter and some of the worst beatings as well.  A 5’10 was once again a bit of a mistake and I think I would have had an easier time on my 6’1.  None the less I still held my own despite getting dragged across the reef twice and having to pick a barnacle out of my hand when I got home.  Good times. No photo cause it was pouring raining the entire day.

1-18-16 PM Session: 6-8+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 8
I spent the latter part of the day in bed.  Bizarro roused me around 2ish and coaxed me out of the house with the potential of shooting photos.  Of course the fact that it was raining and foggy pretty much left no chance of shooting anything.  We hiked into Naples anyway, ran into Ryan and Gordo in the parking lot.  They said it was still bombing out there.  We got down to the beach and it so foggy we couldn’t even see the line up.  There were a handful of guys hanging out on the rocks who ensured me it was fun so I paddled.  When I got out there it was solid 3-4 feet over head with odd ball bigger set.  Bringing my 5’10 was definitely a literal under sight as I found myself under gunned.  I barely made it to the bottom of my first wave, which completely steam rolled me.  I paddled back out and swung around for a late drop on the next set that came through.  I got to the bottom, but maxed out on speed on my bottom turn resulting in me getting sucked over the falls and then raked over the inside reef.  By my third wave I was tired of being made a fool of and got my head in the game, paddled a little harder and managed to burn out five solid turns.  From there I got in tune with the conditions just in time for it to be super inconsistent.   Still I found a few more fun ones before the darkness set in.  No photo cause it was foggy.  I will say this a friend like Bizarro is hard to come by in this day and age of weak at best human connections.

1-17-16 No Surfing: 6-8+ ft
Depression set in really hard core for me just getting myself out of bed and into work.  I had a tough realization to wrap my head and heart around.   The hardest part about falling in love is that you put your heart and trust into another person and until you do you don’t actually know what the outcome will be.  To be truly of the romantic kind one must always but himself out there every time said emotion is felt and hope for the best. In the end I met an amazing person in this latest endeavor and for a short period of time I found an escape from the hardships of this world.  I forgot what it was like to be blissfully happy with another person.  “Happiness isn’t grand” so thus I find myself “cast out into the forest of Arden in search of my dear sweet Rosalind”.  If anything the whole experience just showed me that I am not quite ready to date again yet.  Anyhow from what I heard the wind was on it in the morning and then there was lump and wash all over most breaks with stupid crowds.  Work was crazy forcing me to work a longer day then usual thanks to poor scheduling.

1-16-16 No Surfing: 3-5+ ft
Last night Bizarro and I had a bit too much fun at the Wild Cat thus resulting in me being in no condition to surf this morning.

1-15-16 No Surfing: 3-5+ ft
I over slept and was glad I did considering the wind had went south pretty early ruining everything anyhow.

1-14-16 No Surfing: 3-5+ ft
 I ended up spending my morning with someone rather important to me these days.  Rincon looked fun on my drive to work and I heard Cstreet wasn’t bad either.  I have been getting tons of waves anyway.

1-13-16 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, El Capitan
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 23
After an enjoyable repast Lindsay  called and said Rincon looked fun and uncrowded.  We hopped on the 101 and cruised to ‘Con looking for another go around.  Both lots were full.  Over it we ran back up north on a retard mission to El Cap.  As it turned out there were still some fun ones coming in with a light crowd.  Stoked we made the trek down to the point.  Though it was a little on the  small side there were still some chest plus sets running down the point.  El Capitan is a good wave no matter what size it is.  I frothed super hard and had a ball.  The session ended in a beautiful sunset and the faintest crescent moon.  It put my entire life in perspective.  Its the amazing moments of surreal symmetry that really define us.  The rest is just filler really.

1-13-16 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Hammonds
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Bizarro and I cruised around looking for something to surf and shoot.  Everything was either crowded, bad or too high or a combination of the three.  We ended up back at Hammonds for lack of a better option.  With the higher tide the crowd had dropped a bit and there were still some fun ones coming through.  I paddled and immediately began dismantling whatever was on offer.  For whatever reason I was in the zone and frothing hard.  Of course my grand old time was brought down by hard onshore wind that just kept howling.  I grabbed a few more and called it a day.

1-12-16 PM Session: 4-6+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
I was banking on a low tide Naples session since I saw the models a few days out.  My boy Ryan was already there and said it looked fun.  I got there and sure enough it was solid with waves all over the reef.  Unfortunately it was a little inconsistent and racy.  Definately not what I would call a classic Naples surf.  I started at Seals which was sick on set, but the wait for a wave was easily 15 to 25 mins.  Finally I paddled up to the Crack Peak where I managed some really quality ones. Overall I must say it was a worth while journey.

1-12-16 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Sharks Cove
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Trevor hit me up bright and early (ok, more like  it was just before 8am, but that is rather early for me after all) that he was looking to surf Hammonds.  Since he was coming up from Ventura anyhow I had him check Sharks.  He said it looked decent with a light crowd and he as paddling.  I have not had a session with my friend in a while and went for it.  The tide was a bit high, but the crowd was right and there were still a few good ones though a bit back washy coming down the point.  A Shark’s session is always a worthy endeavor.

1-11-16 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Hammonds
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 18
To be honest I only checked Hammonds cause it is down the hill from my job.  I figured it would be to small and I would end up at Rincon.  Sure enough there were solid sets rolling through with two guys on it.  Paddling was a no brainer for Gabe and I.  Though a bit high tide the waves were super fun, oil glass and the water was finally not as brown as the past few days.  I found some really sick ones, so did Gabe.  There were even a few tubes to be had.  The only down side was that it was a tad on the inconsistent side.

1-10-16 No Surfing: 3-5+ ft
I took the morning off for some well needed rest.  My body was really achy from all the paddling I have been doing.  Not to mention with Gabe here we went a bit harder downtown on the scene then normal and I started work again in the kitchen.  With many surfs under my belt I spoiled myself with a morning of rest.

1-9-16 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Mesa Lane
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
It was Saturday, the wind was shit and I woke up later then I would have wanted to squeeze in a surf before work.  At the moment the only way I have been able to keep my composure and morale up is by continually surfing.  I guess I hope that by going back what I have always done is tough times is the best method for healing.  As it turns out as bad as the surf was I ended up frothing and surfing the shit out the meager junk on offer.  I opened the session up with back to back backside and front side air reverses respectively.   Somewhere during the surf I had a rock collision blowing out my left nose rail.  Oh well, surf boards were made to be broken after all.

1-8-16 PM Session: 4-6+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 11
We decided to hand around for a second surf.  The tide was super low and wind came up making getting a good one near to impossible.  I found myself just picking off let down close outs and one trickers.  Over it I paddled up to Seals and picked off a bomb that ran down the entire reef. I banged out 8 turns and called it a day.  At least I got one.

1-8-16 AM Session: 5-7+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
The swell had come down a bit and after yesterday’s skunking I thought Gabe and I would through caution to the wind and give Naples another go.  The swell was still solid and a bit on the disorganized side.  Still there were plenty of waves coming through with just a handful of guys spread among the different sections.  We paddled at Dead mans since there was only two heads on it and plenty of waves.  I love the pace and depth of that section of the reef.  Turns out it was way bigger and racier then I had initially conceived.  For two hours The four of us traded off some really fun waves and good vibes.  I even found a few tubes.  I love Naples.

1-7-16 PM Session: 4-6+ ft, Goleta Beach Pier
Time in Water: 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 18
After the Sharks session the buoys really began to spike.  I was hoping to get away from all the madness of Sand Bar, El Cap and the other blown up spots.  Gabe and I rolled to Naples with high hopes and few reservations.  There were two cars in the lot and we really thought we were going to score.  When we got to the cliff above Seals all we saw were giant wash through lines as far as we could see.  I still thought about paddling till Gabe wisely talked me out of it.  We looked at El Cap and it was packed, then fished around some of the other secret Gaviota secret spots to no avail.  Finally on a last ditch effort we headed to Campus Point, which was firing.  There was no parking in the lot forcing us to go park down at Goleta Beach.  We were going to just run up the point when Gabe pointed out by the time we got up there it would be just about dark.  Instead we saw a few  perfectly good  closed out barrels coming off the pier.  I had never surfed there or even considered it before with no time left we paddled.  It was way more fast, closed out, doubled up, dumpy and more shallow then it looked.  It was pretty much one of the surfs where one hucks himself over the lip for a view of a life time followed by a mouthful of sand.  As bad as it was we had fun and pleased the crowd on the pier who were thirsty for carnage.  Why surf a perfect point when you can go charge close outs down the beach…

1-7-16 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Sharks Cove
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
There was plenty of west in the water.  I knew Sand Bar was going to be good, which it was but also stupid crowded.  Instead Gabe and I met up with Pat and made an assault on Sharks.  Though a bit windy there was some solid waves coming through and no one out.  We enjoyed taking turns on the peak for about an hour till some salty old guy came out and got all pissed at us for getting too many good waves.  Whatever I still got two all the way down the point and got barreled.  Mad stoke.  No picture cause as I have stated before Sharks is pretty much impossible to check and even harder to take a picture of.

1-6-16 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Sand Spit
Time in Water: 1 hr 30 mins
Waves Surfed: 14
More wind and rain was coupled with a serious increase in the WNW swell.  I had a look at Sand Spit and the wind was all over the place clocking in from onshore to offshore every five minutes.  Still it was in the chest to head range with two guys out and a receding tide to not surf it would have been absurd.  My boy Gabe and I ran down the break wall and began making the most of the fun though messy conditions.  There was a little two much WSW mixing in with the swell making it more backwashy then usual.  The take off in front of the break wall was near to impossible to make and even more difficult to make it down the line.  I drifted a little to the inside where I managed to get a sick double barrel and a super deep tube all the way down to the end of the wall. It wasn’t the best Sand Bar ever, but the crowd was right and even below average Sand Bar is still a pretty amazing time.

1-5-16 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Coral Casino
Time in Water: 45 minutes 
Waves Surfed: 12
I woke up and it was pouring out for another day in a row.  The wind was all over the place and my motivation scarce.  I really wanted to pass on it.  I know surfing is my only solace at the moment and that being case the only way to regain my heart and soul is in the ocean.  I got up and had a look around.  I was hoping for Hammonds, but the swell was all broken up and not really doing much of anything.  I saw some heavy white water at the Coral Casino thus drove around over there.  It was solid though a bit torn up from the morning squall.  No one was out.  I saw a few decent looking lefts and with limited time before work I paddled.  Turns out with out other surfers for scale it way bigger then it looked on the sets which were solid 6-8 +ft stacked 8 deep.  I did manage to find one really good right and one sick left.  Over all though there was way too much water moving around and too much chop to make it really fun.

1-4-16 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Hammonds
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 17
I had to start back up at Westmont today.  I wasn’t cooking, just doing more organizational stuff for the semester ahead.  I ran down to Hammonds for a look before and it looked chunky but fun.  There were only about seven guys out, three left by the time I paddled.  I was super pumped up and needed to work some things out emotionally to clear my head.  I went on a tear and basically surfed a flawless session.  My last wave I stroked super late into a bomb, somehow made the free fall to the bottom then cracked it top to bottom three times followed by backdooring a gnarly dry reef barrel through the end section after, which I boosted and stuck an air reverse on the foam ball.  I needed a surf like this.

1-3-16 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 21
Today I declared to be the first day of my new life.  I am making a serious assault on life in 2016.   I believe things happen for a reason and you know what I have spent the past five years completely in upward mobile atrophy. Its time to step and do something.  Look for a blog on this in the next few days.  As my first order of business I despite the less then stellar conditions I took the drive down to Ventura for a few waves.  Emma has always been there for me the past ten years through thick and thin.  The wind was super side shore/offshore.  Sets were few and far between.  No one was out and after watching it for a bit forced a paddle.  It wasn’t worth much of anything.  My last wave I lucked into an outside left that started off all mushy.  Then it doubled up on the inside where I pulled into a quick little tube, came out and stuck an air.  Sometimes it really does only take one. Hello new life…

1-2-16 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
I am not going to lie I had a very hard bout with extreme depression today.  So far I have been taking my current situation pretty decently for me.  When I woke up this morning I just felt so alone.  Why is it whenever I fall in love I do so very hard. I decided to spend the day feeling sorry for myself in bed.  It was the first time I had a day like this in nearly a year.  Better to have loved and lost then not to have loved at all as the saying goes.  I promised myself it would be my last full day like this.

1-1-16 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
Bizarro and I went big last night as is expected for New Years Eve.  We got a table and three bottles, filled the house with spirits and I blacked out at shortly after midnight.   From what I hear we had a really good time.  I had all of my close friends at my table.  In my opinion it was one of the better NYE’s I have ever experienced.