January 2019 Surf Sessions
1-31-19 PM Session: 3-5+, New Jetty
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 78
Last night the rain got intense with thunder and lightning. Come morning it was still pouring. The winds were SE down in Ventura with the potential to turn east by evening. I hung back, which worked out since I had to wait for Fed Ex to come pick up a surf board anyway. Around 1:30 I decided to head south. The wind was still looking SE I had hopes the Harbor would be clean. It was but it was all closed out with none of the sand bars holding the swell. New Jetty has a right in the middle of the beach that looked alright. Considering all the swell coming in I decided to have a look at Strand. It was barely knee high there and maybe waist at Hollywood and Shores. I ended up back a New Jetty. Though it looked fun being in the right spot for the good ones was very difficult as was negotiating the chop and bounce from the south wind. Every so often a bomb set would come in and close the whole place out. I found a few corners but it was more work then fun out there.
1-30-19 No Surfing: 2-3 ft
The buoys and cams all looked even more meager then yesterday. Add a little bit of SW wind and I was over it. I was not about to drive all the way down to Ventura to have no fun like yesterday. Besides there are waves coming over the next few days. I considered Jalama, but conditions looked average on the cam and the days forecast was suspect. Instead I did some long needed ding repair on some of the Clarks Surfboards back stock of battered team boards. Yep all of mine and Gabe’s.
1-29-19 AM Session: 1-3 ft, Surfers Knoll
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 64
I was greeted by a less then stoked Ryan in the parking lot when I pulled up. He said it looked more inconsistent then yesterday and with ten scrappy guys on it. Over it he bailed. I considered going to fish the Point except there was a slight south wind causing a bit of chop that would make that spot really no fun. I paddled the bar despite the crowd. By the time I put my suit on the wind had increased enough to really tear things up and another three guys paddled out. Everyone out there was hungry due to the poor conditions and lack of sets. It became a shit fight for shitty Florida style surf really fast. My bud Kevin bailed after a couple. I hung tight for my twenty. I ended up yelling at some 14 year old grom for back paddling me. Kids today have absolutely no respect. Fuck I have literally been surfing there since before he was born. I guess I was a shit like that at his age too. The only difference is back then when I pulled a stunt like that I would have been stuffed head first into a trash can when I got out of the water. Now you go to jail for grom abuse. I worked hard to get my wave count and left rather frustrated. I hate when it gets like that. Oh well. Rest of my day was spent dealing with ordering and inventory of blanks and setting up the batch of Clarks Surfboards to be built. For dinner I cooked up an awesome spaghetti bake using orange Italian squash for the layering. was pretty dank. One of the nice things about being off a few days is it allows me some breathing room to try out some new stuff in my own kitchen.
1-28-19 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Surfers Knoll
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 64
Another day at the Knoll, so you know it must be flat. Ryan met me at the bar I have been thus enjoying and for the most part we had it to ourselves less a few others. Everyone was very respectful and we all got good waves because of it. Though there were still some decent chest high sets it was way more inconsistent then the day before making wait times in between sets rather long. I was still feeling good on my fish though I couldn’t stick an FS air reverse to save my life. As the tide filled in the bar stopped delivering. It was fun while it lasted. After that I had some Clarks Surfboard errands to run, cooked a nice piece of Sea Bass for dinner and called it a night.
1-27-19 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Surfers Knoll
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 64
Last night we got a little gnarly at the Wild Cat for my lady’s birthday. Heck we have been celebrating her Birthday since Wednesday. On the way home we thought it would be fun to pay our cabby extra money if we would drift all of the turns and then burn out right in front of our building. He complied making for quite the drunken adventure. I don’t have to say that it was a slower morning start then usual. Unlike yesterday I was not about to eat up all of my time driving around to avoid the crowd. I saw a sand bar I have been enjoying the past few days and despite the pack on it paddled. After yesterday’s terrible performance something must have clicked and I snapped into high gear on my fish and just frothed the shit of this chest high mushy but kill-able left. After the surf we headed out to Moore Park where there was suppose to be this park with decent hiking trails. All the hills are so green right now thanks to the rain and we wanted to experience it first hand. The info on this park was bullshit cause all it was really was a golf course with a trail around that. Cant win them all. Finally we ended the day with what has become a Birthday tradition for my girl, at Red Lobster. Yes, I know I am a high end gourmet chef eating at Red Lobster…
1-26-19 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 84
I pretty much checked and rechecked everywhere this morning. The crowds were out in full force being that there was a minor NW in the water and it was the first fair weather weekend in two weeks. This all boiled down to kooks galore and heavy frustration on my end. The problem was all my usual spots that I surf to get away from the masses were not really working all that well leaving me stuck settling for Emma Wood. When I checked I must have just caught the tail end of one of Emma’s power hours cause as soon as I got there nothing came in at all. I found myself jockeying from the left at the reef back to the life guard tower to the toll booth peak. Basically I spent my entire session paddling in circles and getting no where. The rest of my day was spent cooking for a private cooperate retreat up in the Goleta hills. As per usual it went off with little effort or problems.
1-25-19 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Surfers Knoll
Time in Water: 30 mins
Waves Surfed: 4
Miles Driven: 64
It was small and terrible everywhere and in hindsight for the amount of time I had I should have just fished Rincon. The “what if” complex kept taking me south. Finally I paddled a weak ass crowded mushy sand bar with Ryan just because I drove. My time was very limited with work. I was on the verge of a 12 hour day. I got four set waves off the crowd and bailed. Its a good thing too cause I didn’t get home till 10:30pm from work that night so I needed all the strength I could get.
1-24-19 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Little Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 41
I had yet another flexible schedule today and with the promise of new swell for the afternoon I went into work early. Sure enough when I got out the buoys had some small but fresh swell. I went to Rincon first. It was packed and nothing special. Considering the tide and swell angle I had good reason to believe that Little ‘Con was worth a look. There was one guy out, my boy Bob, who seriously may put in more time at Little Rincon then anyone else I know. I saw him chase a few runners and grabbed my fish and paddled. Soon I realized that I was under gunned on the sets. It didn’t really matter too much though cause most of the larger ones closed out anyway. My boy Robbie paddled with a few other Little ‘Con regulars I know and we had a fun little rip fest. I had a few barrels, some airs and lots of stoke.
1-23-19 PM Session: 1-2+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 30
I had the option of going into work either before or after I surfed. Considering the high tide I decided to just go in early. It was a bad call. The swell had dropped a tad from the day before and I found myself looking a very meager offings at Rincon with double the crowd from the day before. With the NW wind up and waning day light I decided to just paddled my fish up at Indicator rather then look around. There were about six guys who all came together on an assortment of fishes, long boards and soft tops making kooks of themselves and overall just pissing me off. I still got my share. It was pretty gutless and to be honest since last years mud slides I still don’t think that section of Rincon is breaking right. It was just exercise for me. Later that night we threw a dinner party for Adela and Alfie’s joint birthday party.
1-22-19 PM Session: Rincon, 2-3+ ft
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 10
Miles Driven: 78
There was lots of fresh steep wind swell on the buoy and with off shore winds down in Oxnard all signs pointed to Strand. Unfortunately there was also a 6.5 foot high tide at ten am flooding all of the good beach breaks. Once again I hung back waiting out the tide. Around noon I set out for the Strand. Ryan got there first and said it was still tidy but had definitely potential to be epic with over head barrels. I bolted down there only watch as the wind turned NW right as I was coming up the causeway to Strand. Still sometimes it comes up and then slackens off and can still be fun. I watched it for about twenty minutes at the Ship, as the wind only got harder with no real chance of a reprieve. On the way I noticed that Rincon still had some west swell coming in and I decided to just back there on my fish. It was waist to chest and super clean and fun in the Cove. My fish was destroying it. I got ten waves from high cove to call box and by the end of my tenth wave my legs were so tired I could barely get my last hit in. When that happens its time to call it a day. Besides that would be like catching fifty waves some place else. What a good time and did I mention there were only like ten of us out there. I guess every now and then you can still catch a fun uncrowded day at the ‘Con. I was stoked.
1-21-19 PM Session: Pitas, 2-3+ ft
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 44
The tide was rather high in the morning and with the swell being down I thought I might as well enjoy a leisurely morning and shoot for one of the points on the low tide. This lead me to pitas which was rather fun and somewhat empty. I started up top and worked my down to the Faria section. I got my share of runners and leg burners. It was a tad on the mushy side thanks to an on shore wind that was crumbling some of the sections that may have barreled. Waves for days.
1-20-19 AM Session: Hammonds, 3-4+ ft
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 11
I had work in the afternoon, a paella party on the beach in Carp. This left me a limited amount of the time to surf. Considering the high tide and the fact that there was still ample amount of west in the water I decided to go to Hammonds and score a quick smash and grab session. It was solid chest to head plus and clean enough though a bit of annoying south texture on the face just bumpy enough to be a pain, but not enough to trash it. There were only a handful of guys out and lots of waves. I paddled and found myself perfectly poised for the majority of the set waves. My good surf mojo was still strong allowing for the ultimate amount of fun. I did sort of tweak my knee landing a backside air reverse poorly in the rough, but it was nothing major. The gig went well and the client was happy. All in all I would say it was a fine day.
1-19-19 AM Session: Naples, 3-5+ ft
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 32
There aren’t many spots that I have left where I can find some freedom and space from the crowds on the weekends. Thanks to the difficulties of logistics, fickle swell window and a certain amount of local knowledge Naples is still a place I can enjoy apart from the masses. That being said it was crowded for the spot and a bit smaller and inconsistent then I had hoped. I got there in what I thought was going to be the perfect tide window. The tide change was so drastic with the full moon and eclipse that It pretty much dropped two feet an hour. By the time I got there for what should have been mid tide it was pretty drained already. There was still the occasional overhead bomber up at the Crack Peak and though not perfect if you chose the right line you could get some serious distance down the reef. There were even a few barrels to be had. For whatever reason I had the magic going on for me and was just slaying it out there. It was nice cause it had been a while since I felt that good in a session. I would say it was a froth for sure. Later that afternoon my girl and I headed down to the Silver Strand to look at a couple houses for purchase. I have been toying with the idea of moving down to that area for a few years now. Its about time I test the waters a bit.
1-18-19 PM Session: Naples, 7-10+ ft
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 12
Miles Driven: 32
These days its rare when I decided to do a double session. I am getting older and need to be more conscience of my body and not to over work it. If I do myself an injury from surfing too much it would be a shame to have to miss out. When the waves are exceptional I’m on it and today was that day. Bizarro and I cruised past the Montecito spots. With the low tide they were a bit on the small side. I figured Naples would be a little over head and fun. When I got to the cliff it was more like double overhead plus and angry. Good thing I brought my step up or I would have not even been able to surf. I paddled sharks where I thought it was fast but do-able. Turns out it was a freight train steam roller. I needed every inch of my 6’6 and then some. There were some bombs, but it was more survival out there then fun. I did manage to pull into a barrel that was so big I didn’t even know I was in the tube till I saw the photos later. Mid way through my charge my tail pad began to flop around causing me much distress considering how technical and dangerous the conditions were. I got a few more bombs then headed in. On the beach it felt like the waves were cleaning up a bit temping me to grab my 5’10 and give it another go. That was a mistake and I found that I was way way way under gunned, though I did manage two fun inbetweeners. Some guy brought his seven year old son out, whom I promptly watched get cleaned up by a twelve foot set, yet still came out the back a scored a solid one. Kudos to that kid. All I can say is that it was quite the day of surfing for all.
1-18-19 AM Session: Sand Spit, 3-5+ ft
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 9
Miles Driven: 2
I got up bright and early rearing to go. I knew the swell was going to maxing out. All the outer buoys were hitting 20 ft and all the channel buoys 10-14 ft. It was going to be insane. Sand Bar was solid overhead and breaking rather good on the high tide. This year it seems to be the best time to get it. I ran down the break wall as massive walls of water were cascading over it. I had not seen it like that in almost four years. I got the jump spot and saw someone get shacked off his ass on an overhead screamer. I jumped in and the current was savage. I had to paddled as hard as I could just to keep position. my first few were throw aways. Then at about the half way mark this macker double up came through and broke outside the break wall. I rolled into and grabbed my rail as I set up for a deep barrel down half the point. Then I came out, hit it a few times before pulling into a second tube that took me all the way to the end of the break wall. Stoked I got back out there and got two more sick ones. As the tide got lower the current got worse as did the crowd. My arms were pretty burnt out as well. I got a few more waves of little significance and then left. I was in the 90 minute parking anyway and needed to move my car. That double barrel was all I needed. Yes thats me in the photo on one of my better rides.
1-17-19 No Surfing: 5-7+ ft
I am luckier then most. There are very few days a year that I absolutely can’t surf. It also just so happens that these are some of the best days of the year. Today was no exception to the rule. I had a solid sixteen hour day starting at 7 am. I had a glimmer of hope to get maybe a quick surf break in the early afternoon, but that never materialized. As I was working my evening job the texts and photos came flooding in of flawless Sharks, Sand Bar and El Cap. Oh well, can’t win them all.
1-16-19 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1hr
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 56
I hate when work runs later then you had hoped. The winds looked like they were poised to make another epic off shore appearance before dark. I ran down to the Gold Coast. It was about chest high plus, but still very side shore. Emma was the same, but taking the SSE winds much better. There was a bowly double up barrel working on the toll booth peak. The crowd was twenty strong and there were lots of waves considering how wind swelly it was. Short on time I paddled. Turns out the tube was super hard to make on your back hand. Though it was throwing out wide it had no bottom and was on most a tad too small to ass drag through. I spent nearly forty five minutes flopping and flailing through every possible pit thrown at me. Though small it was really shallow thus I took the lion share of beatings. I did make one deep one that sort of stoked me out. Overall I just felt like I was out of position for everything thanks to a very bad rip and southerly current.
1-15-19 PM Session: 5-8+ ft, Surfers Knoll
Time in Water: 30 mins
Waves Surfed: 3
Miles Driven: 64
I had work in the morning and from what I heard the winds were all shitty south and it was raining. I got out at around 3 pm and the reports I was getting from Ventura was that it was still pretty shitty conditions. Then my boy AJ called me and stoked me out to have a look. His reasoning was that maybe the winds would turn off shore before dark just as they did the previous day. With the idea of missing that possibility I headed south. I went back to the Sea Cliff beaches again since they were such the score yesterday. Father John’s had side shore wind and was significantly smaller. The Gold Coast was perfectly off shore, but like waist high. At this point it was almost 4 pm. I watched it for a little bit. The majority of the guys out were small groms and they were having trouble with the size and wind. On a last ditch effort I went over to the Harbor figuring it couldn’t be any worse. It was raining torrential down pour when I got there and with the wind my umbrella was basically useless. I ran up the dune to have a look. There were about forty guys spread from Knoll to River Mouth, the wind was off shore and I saw two guys split a peak and both get spit out of an overhead barrel. Stoked I ran back to my car and suited up as fast as I could. I ran over the dunes and jumped in. About the time I was just getting to the sand bar a ten wave eight to ten foot set unloaded on me. I got my fucking clocks cleaned and learned it was way bigger then I had initially thought. I finally got out there and was fairly under gunned on my 5’10. My first wave was way overhead, but thanks to the back wash and wind I got into it super late and couldn’t bottom turn hard enough to escape the angry guillotine of the lip from eating me alive. As a result I got thrashed yet again and nearly ran out of air from the constant battering from the five other waves in the set. My next wave was bigger and this time I paddled harder and made it down the face. While coming off the bottom to set up for the barrel I got hit by a wall of backwash that took away all my speed and I watched as the opening in the tube sped off with out me and subsequently beat the shit out me yet again. At this point it was getting very dark very fast thanks to the heavy rain and dark cloud cover. Visibility was tough and these were not the conditions one wanted to be out in when it got too dark. Another set rolled in. I passed on the first two. The third was the biggest one I had seen yet. It came right to me and I was in as perfect a position as any. It was as if the ocean was saying to me “I taxed you hard today now here is your chance to redeem yourself”. I stroked with all my might and pushed my tiny board over the the lip and threw myself straight into the tube. It was big and dark in there. I couldn’t see out, but I knew if I held a high fast line I had a shot. With that in mind I kept my nerve and got spit out of a monster tube, hit the oncoming close out section went in. I was not about to push the envelope with only about ten minutes of good light left. It only takes one and I got my one. What a fucking swell.
1-14-19 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Father Johns
Time in Water: 1 hr 15m
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 44
Every so often a day comes along that is so special thats worth remembering. This afternoon was one of those sessions that reminds me why its great to be a surfer. I had work all day which was fine since it was all rainy and stormy anyway. Rumor had it the wind was offshore in Ventura and that was where I was headed. Unfortunately I got out of work later then I had hoped. Angers was looking around though very unmotivated with the cold shitty weather. On the way down all the west facing beaches were as clean as could be. I was on the drive to the Gold Coast when I saw some guy get shacked off his ass on the backside of Pitas at Father Johns. I didn’t hesitate to paddle but not before I placed a frantic call to Ryan to drop everything and get to Pitas. He did and we traded heaving left and right barrels on a peak all to ourselves. It was so perfectly crossed up, hallow and with the brown water, clouds and cold weather it reminded me of an east coast day from my childhood. What a surf.
1-13-19 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2 hr
Waves Surfed: 27
Miles Driven: 118
My day was left pretty open ended because I had to get my chick at the airport at Noon. I had a look around Gaviota early to no avail thanks to the devil south winds. I checked everything before just hanging tight for my lady to get home and hope to find something down south later. Luckily for me my chick was super tired and just wanted to sleep thus allowing me the ability to prowl down south for some surf. Everything down to The Harbor was pretty small. The harbor was just massive and closed out. I cruised to Strand in the hope that the ship had a high tide wave. Actually it was side shore/offshore out there and looked super fun towards the south bowl with only three guys out. I soon found that it was a bit too backwashy to really be fun. My bud Kevin paddled and confirmed the difficulty out there. Still I managed a few barrels that stoked me out.
1-12-19 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Hobsons
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 56
My morning started out with some emergency ding repair for Pat. He needed a board fixed fast for his upcoming Spain trip, on Monday of course. After I set a cast over the whole it needed a few hours to set so I figured I may as well hit the surf. The winds were Off shore down in Ventura so I headed south. Between both Pat and Ryan no one could make up their mind where to surf. I ended up checking everything down to Emma before finally settling for Hobsons where the were some really clean ones coming through on the reef. Yeah the waves kind of a burger, but I had a fish ready to take on the cause. I got out there and found a few fun lefts. Then the new swell began to fill in and it kept getting bigger and bigger with every set soon leaving me a tad under gunned. If it was anyplace but Hobsons I would have been nervous. Even at overhead Hobsons is totally manageable. It didn’t take long for the wind to go south tearing up what was almost a fun surf. I got a few more and headed home to more ding repair.
1-11-19 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, New Jetty
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 30
Miles Driven: 64
My morning was faced with a hard choice surf first and work later or the other way around. The wind forecast was looking like off shores in Ventura all day. I went into work early cause I knew I would get the most hours that way. Considering it is the slow season now I need all I can get. Unfortunately I chose poorly for the wind turned SSE by the time I got off and the swell dropped a little. I was determined to surf and went south anyway. On the way down everything was torn up and I nearly turned around twice. At the Harbor the wind was side shore/offshore and there was a fat but kill-able A-frame in the middle of the beach that Matt McCabe was ripping. It wasn’t by any means epic and had I not drove from SB I most likely would have passed on it. I paddled my fish and made the most of what was on offer. As the tide got lower it got more punchy. Sage paddled as did two other guys. I managed a super fun right tube that I don’t know how I came out of. It was a definitely a lemonade out of lemons surf, yet I had a blast and was stoked I made the drive. Looks like more rain over the next few days accumulating to something like five inches. After the surf I went and got a new cell phone since the battery is now completely shot on my Iphone5. I went with the Iphone8 despite my current apple frustration.
1-10-19 PM Session: 5-7+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 3.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 35
Miles Driven: 32
I had to take my girl to the SB airport by 11 am throwing a monkey wrench in my morning surf plans. Since I was already in that area already I figured I may as well walk into Naples and hope for the best. The tide was still super high when I got there. Surprisingly the swell was still solid, way overhead on the sets. There were about ten guys up top and one at Seals. Actually Seals appeared to have a rip-able corner on the inside reef with the fat tide, thus I paddled it. My first few waves were rather fun allowing at least four good turns on each. As the tide dropped it was hard to line the reef up. I went nearly forty five minutes with out getting a wave before making the paddled up the point. It was way bigger at the Crack peak, though still a bit all over the place. The swell seemed not groomed at all leaving lots of wonk and strange sections on all the lines. One out of ten was a phenomenal ride and that was what kept me stoked. I got into a groove and it seemed like every good wave was coming right to me. Then I blew it on a serious bomb that wend square on the inside reef as the tide was dropping. I thought it was going to be a roller and then the bottom just dropped out and I was in free fall eight feet. After that I had trouble be in the right spot. The tide had gotten a bit low, which didn’t help things. At that point I began surfing down back to Seals where I left my stuff. Some how lucked into four really sick ones that got me all the way in. It wasn’t a super session by any means, but I had fun.
1-9-19 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Sand Spit
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Miles Driven: 2
Waves Surfed: 15
Thanks to Surfline myself and everyone else in the area knew that there was a very large west swell event to hit and peak this morning. I was up bright and early. With the high tide I figured I would just go to Hammonds for a first session and see what panned out for the rest of the day. Between the construction of the Mira Mar Hotel and the hype I couldn’t find a parking space anywhere. That was enough to turn me away. If there was no parking then god only knows how crowded the line up was. With the tide high and swell solid I figured I could just go paddled Sand Bar with a somewhat light crowd. Though high there were some screamer double ups to be had and some triple ups that I don’t even think could have been surfed. The crowd fluctuated from twenty to ten guys for the 90 minutes I was out there. I managed a few sick ones, but the current was as gnarly as I have ever seen it out there or maybe I have just gotten old and out of shape. Truth be told when I first moved here in 2006 I was always on Sand Bar every time it broke. These days I may surf it only handful of times a season. At 10:30 I had to high tail it out of there as to not risk getting a ticket in the harbor lot. Shoot I guess I should have just parked it on the pay lot so I could have surfed till my arms feel off. After my surf I had meetings with both my bosses about upcoming events. Turns out we lost the Pebble Beach golf thing in Carmel in February. I had mixed feelings about that gig. On one hand it was a good chunk of change, but on the other it was lots of work and I really hate leaving the 805 during peak season. I guess that was a catch 22 on that one. That being said I still have enough work to float through January at the very least and a few though meager bookings in Feb. I wanted to surf again, but all the reports I got was that it was either maxed out, bad winds, crowded or a combination of all three. I decided to just pass and save my energy for tomorrow. That spec is me from the this mornings cam rewind, 9:42 feed at -02:15.
1-8-19 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 29
Miles Driven: 78
With a six foot high tide at ten in the morning I wasn’t sure what to do. The weather forecast showed the offshore winds to switch south by mid day. I did not want to spend yet another day in shitty south wind conditions. There was already been way too much of that as of late. Unfortunately the tide was crazy high making everything a burger. I was considering paddling New Jetty, where there was a somewhat clean yet unruly overhead A-frame just off the jetty. Then Angers showed up and said he thought the ship had potential with the dropping tide. Ryan cruised over to Dredge and though he paddled his report was not exciting enough to get us over there. We got back to the Ship and paddled the south bowl. Despite the perfect clean conditions the tide was way too high making it very hard to surf what was on offer. There was lots of backwash and high tide wonk on the face, on top of the fact that sets were hitting all over the place making positioning next to impossible. Another twenty guys or so paddled out right after we did clogging the few peaks that were surf-able. Finally the wind came up out of the SW with in thirty minutes of us being out there effectively trashing the line up. Angers quit after an hour and I should have left with him. Instead I beat a dead horse for another hour hoping to get that one more good one that never really materialized. The upside was that I went home to cook pizzas from scratch and had a box of anchovies in the cupboard for one pie and some fresh capracola and salami on the other. Oh don’t let the photo fool you that was still when it was offshore and one of the few good ones to break through the high tide.
1-7-19 PM Session 2: 3-5+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 39
I got back to the Ship and just ran up the beach and jumped in off the Jetty. Though messy there were some decent lines peeling from the Jetty to the life guard tower. I got down on that peak for the entire session. It was rather cold with all the rain and wind. The crowd was light and I actually got a few sick ones and even found my way out of a couple of throaty little tubes.
1-7-19 PM Session 1: 4-6+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 25 mins
Waves Surfed: 3
Miles Driven: 41
Today was a storm day, but the winds seemed to be ESE down in Ventura. Once again we had a very high tide in the morning. I decided to take my time getting down there, get some work done on my computer and run some errands. Around one I headed south to Strand. The wind was mor like SSE then ESE and the Ship looked pretty unruly side shore/offshore conditions with broken up peaks all over the place. Think semi-clean storm surf. I headed over to Little Sunset to see if it was any cleaner. There were solid lines coming through both left and right that looked better then what was out at the Ship. No one was out. It looked fun enough to me so I paddled. Once I got in the water I realized it was way bigger and faster then it looked. Still I managed two really long racy lefts right off the bat. The got a macking way overhead bomb right back towards the break water. Then I found it nearly impossible to get back out with all of the constant flux of white water over the shallow inner bar. Over it I decided to bail to the ship. Surfing alone in those types of conditions in the cold and the rain sucks.
1-6-19 PM Session: 4-6+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 32
Talk about waking up to a surprise west swell. Town was solid and the winds were light. I decided to head out to Naples mid-day hoping for that magic mid tide window. When I came out of the trail Seals looked really slow and fat, not to mention a bit smaller then I would have hoped. To be honest after watching it for a couple of sets I was about to walk on out of there and go look elsewhere. As I was about to leave a guy whom I have surfed with out there a number of times was claiming up top was lots better and totally worth it. From my vantage point at Seals it looked a little like a bit of wilderness up there. I took his word for it and made the walk. I paddled the crack peak where I saw a few really solid ones running the length of the reef. It appeared a little jumbled and backwashy, but I knew that should only get better with the tide My first wave was a well overhead bomb that was way faster then it looked. I managed a few decent turns before losing my edge from all the speed I was carrying. On my next wave I made the applicable corrections. After that my boy AJ paddled out and the two of us were trading near perfect head to a few feet over head runners all to ourselves. We looked at each other and said we should be so lucky to score such a surf on a surf trip let alone in our own backyard. I was super pumped and surfed till near exhaustion. It hasn’t been the most epic winter, yet it certainly has been very consistent with a nice mix of both North and West swells to choose from.
1-5-19 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 78
The wind was south east rain squall weather. Strand was all torn up and crappy and the points all tattered as well. I had a look at Little Sunset which takes anything south some what side shore/offshore. Sure enough it was solid over head and though not the best quality was better then anything I had seen. There were a handful of guys out. Right off the bat I picked off a really good left, though racy. As I was pulling through back after a few good combos and an end section hit I hit my head really hard on the nearly dry sand bar. Hollywood is one of the few places where on low tide the inner bar will completely drain out. Turns out I some how scalped myself on the sand bar. Looks like I am going to have quite the bruise on my head for a while. I had to surf the rest of my session with my head throbbing and when you take an injury like that it totally squashes the self confidence. After the first half of my session everyone left leaving me all by myself to have at some pretty solid overhead bombing rights and lefts. I surfed till the tide drained out way to much. After the surf I met Gabe in the shaping bay to help him finish up the batch.
1-4-19 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 27
Miles Driven: 78
Today was one of those days where every place was pretty average. The points were fat and small, North Strand crowed and a bit walled. The ship seemed like it had potential towards the south bowl with light off shore winds. It was a bit fat, but the tide was supposed to drop fast. Gabe, Ryan and I paddled full of hope. It went from too fat too way too stretched with the west swell. Then the wind went south making a bad situation worse. I got a few alright ones, but overall it was a waste. After that I had to go by the shaping bay to help out Gabe and do some promotional stuff. On the way home the points actually looked really fun. Unfortunately I had to take Alfie to the vet for worms at 4 pm leaving me no time for a second session. Gabe got a few a Rincon before dark and had a good time.
1-3-19 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 78
Gabe survived his Baja trip none the worse for wear and was back to do some shaping and surfing. We grabbed Bizarro to film and headed to Strand, where I knew it was the only place to really channel in the swell. The North End had solid head plus waves with a very light crowd. There was a slight WSW wind on it, but it was still very clean. The tide was a bit drained. Beggars can’t be choosers. I hate the North Strand. I never seem to feel good about my surfs there. I always get a few cherry ones, yet still I just feel like I am under utilizing the waves there. Gabe had blast. I guess it was better then anything he surfed for the week he was in Baja. I spent the majority of my time paddling out of rip currents. Good times.
1-2-19 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
I had a very long day today. I had a corporate lunch that had me into work by 8 am and then an canape heavy party to work in the evening thus not getting home till 9:30 pm. There was absolutely no time to surf. It looks I am going to have all of next week off then followed by another week or work gnar. I heard the North Strand was head high and fun from Ryan.
1-1-19 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 78
How the heck I got a surf in on New Years day is beyond me. All I can say is I must be growing up a little bit. Actually it was a super drama filled but fun night out at the Wild Cat. I wore my purple tuxedo, my girl had on an amazing red gown, and Bizaro wore his white dinner jacket. All in all it was a rather fabulous night out, which I blacked out around 12:30 am. At least I made it to the bells this year. I woke up around noon and was feeling alright as was my lady. We did the obligatory hang over stop at Mc Donalds for sausage egg Mc Muffins, hash browns and coffee. Ryan had hit me up that Strand was off shore and chest plus. We headed straight there and though on the smaller side it was worth the paddle. Had it not been so good the past six weeks I would have been super stoked, but at this point chest high has been the smallest waves I have surfed at the Ship in quite a while. Everyone was sitting the south bowl. I saw a few solid sets right off the ship, with only a few guys on it and paddled. What ensued was a micro barrel riding onslaught that only an east coaster could revel in. For whatever reason I frothed and surfed my ass off. After that it was time for what has become a New Years Day tradition six years running, Chinese food to feed the hangover. All I can say is that I am stoked to have both ended 2018 and began 2019 with a surf.