Surfing Ruined My Life

January 2021 Surf Sessions

1-31-21 AM Session: 1-2+ ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 29
Miles Driven: 56
I almost, almost threw a perfect month this morning thus blowing my New Years resolution to surf 365 days this year for my 40th birthday. It was cold, light onshore and a stupid 6 ft high tide at ten AM. I wasn’t into it. Luckily for me my wife who is usually the voice of pro laziness got me out of bed and out the door. Part of me should have been a little skeptical why she wanted me gone considering past relationship experiences, but let’s face it I’m an addict and my fix is more important. Off I went. Just in case you are wondering my wife was spending the day with her father (no funny business). I had a look at Rincon hoping for maybe just a tiny fish wave at Indicator. Had the tide even been a foot lower it may have been surf-able. My window before work was short thus I found myself at Emma Wood staring at barely ride-able backwashy onshore burgers. Luckily with my Pop Fizz Fish from Clarks Surfboards I can surf just about anything. If you don’t believe me check out some of my antics at barely surf-able Rincon on the Clarks Surfboards YouTube channel in the edit “Pop Fizz Noir” use this link https://youtu.be/c3DYYZ6mKHM
Any how it was a high tide grovel for sure but in the end it was more fun then it looked as is usually the case at Emma Wood. The rest of my day was spent at the post office. When I got home my wife had a giant bag of pistachios for me. Yummy.

1-30-21 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 78
Oh king tides how you have been missed…NOT! Thanks to a six foot high tide at ten this morning I was stuck riding shore break at Strand. It also didn’t help that the swell had come down a bit as well. There were some chest high waves breaking just enough off the beach to enable a ride. I sat by the Ship and found a peak to myself. There were a handful of guys in the bowl trying their best as well. I put in a valiant effort for what was on tap. The water was absolutely freezing. I’m going to venture that is was pushing 45 F. I may seriously be shopping for a 5/4/3 if this keeps up. The rest of my day was spent at the Post Office doing nothing.

1-29-21 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 56
At the very least it wasn’t raining when I woke up and the wind was somewhat light. I started at Rincon where it was surf-able but between the high tide and the south ruffle I thought I could do better. I cruised to Emma. It was just way too high and small for it to be fun. Back to ‘Con I went. The one thing about the shitty weather and wave conditions that has been a bit of stoke is that the crowds have been mellow. I paddled up at Indicator and got a few alright ones. As the tide began to get low enough for it to be fun the wind decided to pick up out of the south trashing it. I forced out a session before surfing my way down the point to the freeway. I suppose I was stoked to have gotten a surf in. The rest of my day was spent at the post office. After not being there for the past few days it definitely sucked to be back.

1-28-21 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 30 mins
Waves Surfed: 13
Miles Driven: 78
Today was another wash out of a stormy winters day. Angers was off and down to surf. We decided to wait till the lower tide of the afternoon. He checked all the Oxnard waves and I had a look down to Ventura Harbor. Once again Sea Cliffs definitely had some do-able crossed up wedges. When I got to the Harbor it was macking. Big ten foot plus close outs. There were a few takers but they were getting beat pretty good. We decided to go back and look at Strand. The wind had went more south destroying the Bowl, while the Ship was clean but tiny. Out of time we suited and booted and made a Hail Mary for Little Sunset. From the beach while getting pelted with hard rain and gale force south winds it looked terrible. Once we got out there and started getting some waves it proved to be way more fun then it looked. Unfortunately darkness was creeping fast thus it was a short session. When we got out we had drifted all the way to La Brea from Little Sunset. I guess it was a good thing we got out when we did or we could have wound up all the way at Shores. My drive home through the storm was gnarly. I passed a car that drove into a ditch near Rincon, another that hit the guardrail in Carp. When I got to Montecito the 101 was flooded pretty bad closing the right lanes on both sides. I just made it through cause an hour later I heard they shut it down. If this rain keeps up I’m building an ark.

1-27-21 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Father Johns
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 78
Oh the first rainy day hunt of the winter. If you live in the 805 you know exactly what these hunts entail: searching every nook of the coast line for the cleanest most ride-able wave while the winds keep constantly changing by the hour. I checked everywhere down the Strand before coming back up and settling on Father Johns where I saw some sick looking barreling wedges. The tide was so gnarly low and waves doubling up so hard on the drained out bar that it was very difficult to actually pull under the lip with out catching your head or bottoming out. I did manage two really decent right hand tubes that stoked me out and one interesting left doggy door. The water and air were freezing and the drive home through heavy rain made me wonder if it was really worth the price of admission.

1-26-21 PM Session: 5-7+ ft, Moonstone Beach
Time in Water: 30 mins
Waves Surfed: 5
Miles Driven: 75
We enjoyed a nice breakfast at the hotel actually served to us for a change because the Governor had just lifted the stay at home order a few days before. One thing I will say out door winter dining is not all it’s cracked up to be. After breakfast we had scheduled an hour horse back ride on the trails of the Madonna Ranch. I hadn’t been horse back riding since I was in eighth grade and my horse ran away down the trail with out me forcing me to walk all the way back to the stables. This time went more favorable and made me think that I might enjoy going for another ride sometime soon. Following the ride my wife was beat thus I was given free reign to search for surf the rest of the day. Pismo pier was junky and walled. I headed to Shell beach for a look. I’m not really a fan of those reefs there and once again was left unimpressed. I decided to run up to Big Sur for a look at Willow Creek. Of course I didn’t take into account that even short period swell in that region is still massive. All my usual haunts were massive 10-15 ft and all closed out. I headed back south with my tail between my legs. Just about out of day light I decided to paddle Moonstone where there was one dude out on the middle reef of the north end of the beach trying to ride a junky looking left running off a rip. It might have been fun had we not have to dodge ten foot plus close out sets that decided to come in and close out the entire beach. I managed a few ok lefts. The water was freezing and after taking the third four wave close out set of bombs on the head I was over it. We got dinner in Cambria then headed home. I’d say it was a decent micro getaway.

1-25-21 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Cayucos Pier
Time in Water: 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 12
Miles Driven: 22 (from San Simeon)
My wife and I decided to head up to SLO county for a few days to celebrate her Birthday. With Covid restrictions one has to think outside the box these days for special life events. We left after I got off from work last night and spent the night in San Simeon. Talk about a miserable drive through heavy rain and at times hail and then extreme gale force winds when we got on the coast. I had never been happier to crawl into bed. The next morning was freezing and the wind still whipping hard out of the NW. Left with my back against the wall in an attempt at a perfect month I reached out to a buddy of mine who said I might be able to get a few waves at the Cayucos Pier. I haven’t surfed the Pier in close to ten years or so. We got there and it was clean enough considering how hard the wind was blowing side shore. It was freezing putting on my 4/3 and 3mm boots for water that as soon as I hit it had to be in the mid forties. I needed a 5/4/3 and 5mm booties. Every duck dive was like getting hit with a ton of bricks. It was instant ice cream head ache every time. There were a few guys out with plenty of waves for everyone. Conditions were mostly closed out with the rate corner or occasionally quick left bowl back towards the pier. I fought the good fight for close to an hour. The wind turned more west while I was out there trashing what was on offer. Somehow I lucked into a screamer of a left barrel that I pulled and even got the attention of the locals. That was enough for me. I thawed out and my wife and I got fried seafood and clam chowder at this little seafood joint adjacent to the pier. After that we went for a stroll through the Morro Bay Botanical Gardens while skirting wind and hail at times. I must say for its diminutive size it’s totally worth a visit and they just acquired 100 ache land grant so it should be a force to be reckoned with soon. We got a room at the famous Madonna Inn in SLO for the night. The theme rooms are great and this visit we stayed in the Cave Man room which is completely made of hard stone. It had a water fall in the bedroom and his and her clubs on the wall. Fun stuff. If you have never stayed at the Madonna I highly recommend it for a couples getaway for a night or two.

1-24-21 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hr
Waves Surfed: 12
Miles Driven: 78
There was more steep swell on the buoys. I got word from Angers early that the shit had some waves and he was on it. By the time I got there so did the crowd. There had to be 75 plus guys spread out from the Ship to tower four. I’m surf there was another seventy five on the other end too. As far as the swell went it was pretty all over the place and mixed up like yesterday except double the size. While I was checking it with all those guys out I didn’t really see anyone get any good waves. I was out of time and options, plus I had to wait for my Glasser to finish a Clarks Surfboards Time Machine Fish at 12:30 that I needed to get up to SLO. I paddled the ship and actually lucked into three really solid set waves right off the bat then snagged a sick double up by the pipe. I did the walk back around and on that next paddle I couldn’t catch anything. The rips had gotten really bad making it very hard to stay in position. In some cases they were so strong that the waves themselves got ripped up the rips. On top of that there was a relentless drift towards the ship. I managed to force a few more quick drops to nothings. I got lucky and caught a decent one in off the Ship and decided at that point to cut my losses and bail. After that it was a race over to the shop to get that aforementioned board. Followed by a race home to SB where I was meeting a guy about doing a custom longboard and another guy was dropping off ding repairs. Finally the rest of my day was spent at the post office where I could finally relax. I never thought going to work would be the easiest part of my day.

1-23-21 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 78
I woke up to some winter weather and soke steep short period NW swell on the buoys. All signs pointed to Strand and that was where I found myself, at the Ship watching broken up chest plus peaks up and down the beach. It was all mixed up and all over the place. The crowd was light, my time was running out and I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go. The bulk of the pack was in the bowl. I saw a few sets off the Ship and paddled there. My first few waves were real winners. But as my he tide dropped and the onshore winds slowly creeped on it the conditions steadily began to deteriorate. Then three guys came out and sat on me. My time was up anyway. It was marginal at best, but I had fun. The rain held off and it was sunny for my surf so my wife could enjoy the beach. The rest of the day was spent at the post office where I was sent out to the Ojai main office for a Covid cleaning. Fun times.

1-22-21 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 78
Talk about a shitty morning for surf. There was a slowly building NW swell in the water. The Channel was an absolute mess even though the wind was just light north. Rincon had a small wave for my fish. I wasn’t in the mood to grovel like that. Up top was all broken up leaving the just cove with a lineup full of long boards to contest with. I headed south for a look along Sea Cliffs with nothing all that appealing. I was about to head back to ‘Con when I saw multiple sets break on the Overhead at Emma Wood. That is usually an indicator that Strand should have a wave. Considering the wind I knew it would be North Jetty or nothing. Early on I got negative reports from Strand. I went for it. There was a chest plus wave coming in that looked fun enough with only eight guys on it. I paddled and soon realized it was way weaker and shape junkier then I had originally thought. I forced a few lefts as rights but ultimately I should have saved my gas and cut my losses with my fish at Rincon. The rest of my day was spent at the Post Office.

1-21-21 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 28
Miles Driven: 78
Today marks the first time the waves have dropped under head high in over three weeks. That being said there were still plenty fun chest plus waves to be had. Conditions were as glassy as it gets with perfect lighting. Bizarro met AJ and I over at Emma where we were eyeing a dredging little left coming in off the entrance to the park. This wave usually only breaks on south east tropical swells. Stoked we jumped in and right to business on the heaving chest high double up spitting barrels. For tiny waves they certainly packed a punch. Poor Biz was getting his clocks cleaned on the inside. As for AJ and I we were having a blast trading fun little left wedges. The water was especially cold and there was a bit of a wait between sets. After ninety minutes the three of us were toast. After the surf we cruised over to the Clarks Surfboards work shop to get AJ his new Pop Fizz. Him and Andy are cruising down to Baja for the next six weeks to do nothing but surf and film. Look for an edit on the YouTube channel soon. The rest of my day was spent doing ding repair.

1-20-21 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 36
Miles Driven: 78
The off shores down south though still stiff gusting to thirty miles per hour was far more manageable then yesterday. I had business down south anyway. I got to Strand and it was smaller then I had hoped, but still very surf-able. I saw a few sick ones off the ship that peaked my interest. I was going to have a look at the Harbor when I ran into Pat who had already checked it and ruled it out. Angers showed up and we paddled the Ship. Right off the bat I got two screaming tubes down the beach. This pretty much repeated itself for the duration of the session. We had it to ourselves with two other locals we knew for over an hour. Then out of no where six guys came and sat right on us and proceeded to get aggressive for no reason. I paddled into the bowl, got a few more and called it a day. Besides the sour ending I’d say it was the most fun I have had in a bit.

1-19-21 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Claus Lane
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 43
Strong Santa Anna winds has bee forecasted. Actually when I went to bed last night I noticed there was a stiff east wind coming up the channel. When I woke up and checked the Ventura Point cam the wind was howling at around 50 mph. In all the years I have lived here I had never seen it blow that hard. Angers had looked around and said it was nearly impossible to surf with all that wind. I set out to check a few nooks and crannies that could possibly be surf-able. Once past Rincon the wind was so strong I thought my car was going to get blown off the the freeway. Nothing south panned out. I had seen some spray plumes at Santa Claus and since is faces somewhat west I pulled over for a look. It wasn’t very big maybe chest plus on set. If not for the south east wind swell coming up the coast it would have just been a close out. But the combo was making these crazy little tepee peaks up and down the beach on set. Just long enough to pull in and sneak out. The wind was light enough to make it do-able. Angers showed up and being two east coasters we revealed in the fact that muscle memory from our time on the right coast allowed to us to know what to do. It was definitely a novelty surf. Considering how difficult it is to get waves these days with just your buddy we were stoked. The highlight of the session was when the set of the day rolled through. I took off left and pulled in. Angers was a bit down the beach from me and took off right. We were both coming at each other in the tube then came out and straightened out doggy door right next to each other. We could have slapped high five we were so close. That has never happened to me before. I was in the tube watching him getting tubed coming at me. I think that will go down as one of the best surfing moments of my life on a throw away day. Good times. The rest of my day was spent at the post office.

1-18-21 PM Session: 6-8+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 36
After breif rest ans repast my wife and I headed over to Naples. On the way I got a call from AJ who said he has surfed it earlier and that though fun was only about chest plus. Taking that into consideration I walked in with my 5’7 groveler and my 5’10 short board. When we got to bluffs it was solid overhead with bomb sets. The big ones was rather inconsistent but with the long period swell the lines were very fast, and in most cases a bit stretched. I wished I had my step up, which I left back in my car. There were a fair number of guys out though with the size it wasn’t an issue. I paddled the Crack Peak and did my best survival surfing way under gunned on some of the bombs I stroked into. I did manage a few, but overall it was just a bit too fast and walled on most.

1-18-21 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Sharks Cove
Time in Water: 1.5 hr
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 12
There was a fresh swell on the rise with an angle favoring town and beyond. The period was gnarly long, 22 seconds. What is this a south swell? I have never in my tenure out here in California seen a WNW swell with such a long period. My wife was driving home from San Diego and said she saw a few guys out at Sharks. I had to investigate. Though on the small and inconsistent side I definitely saw enough waves to entice a paddle. The crowd was about ten strong and a bit heavy for what was coming through. In classic Sharks fashion it is easy to get too deep. That being the case I sat just to the shoulder and did rather well for myself. With the period there were some wide swinging sets too. Right off the bat I had a few fun ones. Then I got into one late, pulled into the barrel and got annihilated. When I came up I was a bit disoriented and couldn’t find my board. My first instinct was that I snapped it. Then I realized that I had just broke my leash. This sucks when it’s high tide and you are surfing in front of a gnarly Boulder walled point. The boards was floating down the point just inside of the impact zone. With all my might I swam as fast as I could to get to the board and actually got a weak grip on the rail. Right behind me another wave exploded and ripped the board out of my hand and I got sucked under and dragged down the point across the inside reef. When I finally got back to my feet I was forty yards down the point and my stick was sitting wax side up onto look of the break wall. Though not dinged thanks to it being EPS it sure had a watermelon sized dent two feet down from the nose. As it turned out the velcro failed. Go figure I had just ordered a new leash earlier in the week after noticing that the cuff was a bit frayed. I paddled back out and got me a bunch more regardless and was weary of not relying on my leash. I didn’t want to surf too long cause my plan was to go get Naples in the afternoon.

1-17-21 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 1 hr 45 min
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 58
I was feeling a bit lethargic this morning this sleeping in till around 8:30. I was torn with whether to go north or south. I couldn’t get a decent report from either. It was on the smaller side in front of my house and the buoys were still a bit steep this I decided to do the south points loop. It was Sunday and a holiday weekend so I was rather prepared for intense crowds. I had hoped the fat tide would at the very least keep the crowds some what manageable. I was wrong. People were everywhere with surfboards and wave riding devices of every type imaginable. Not to mention the annoyance of the droves of weekend bikers constantly in the way. Every time you want to park to check a spot or drive to another there is always some meatball on a bike in the way. I checked everywhere from Rincon to Emma. High tide Pitas was the best option for crowd to wave ratio and that was only because the entire ride you are facing sudden death of you fall and get washed into the break wall. It’s insane it takes a fatality factor to get a few waves. Still there were fifteen guys out. By the time I jumped in the tide and slight wind on it dropped the numbers immensely. As soon as I got out there I stroked into a bomb. I caught a few more up top before drifting my way around to corner to Faria to see if there was a sufficient enough wrap for it work. Though fat and bouncy there were some runners to be had. Some how I managed to line up perfectly with this over head screamer that send me flying two hundred and fifty yards of pure pedal to metal surfing down the point. If I had not blew my tail out on my last turn I think I could have easily gotten it for another hundred yards or so. I got a handful more before surfing my way down to Mondos so I could get out. The tide was too high to walk back up the point and it was at that point too far to paddle to Father Johns, which would have been a pretty gnarly exit with all the swell as well. I was pleasantly stoked considering I was bitching to my on the phone before paddling how much I hated surfing and that my hope was to run into the break wall and die. Guess I’ll live to hate surfing another day. Rest of my day was spent chilling at the post office.

1-16-21 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 min
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 78
There was some new long period NW on the buoys. With another morning of high tide my options were somewhat limited. Go to Rincon and fight a Saturday crowd. Maybe find a less then fun funky wave at Hobson’s, fight the crowd at Emma or Ventura Point or make a gamble for most likely crowded high tide Strand and hope the wind stays down and the tide doesn’t kill it. Nothing was all that enticing on the drive down thus Strand it was. When I was checking it there was a pretty stiff pack easily fifty strong from tower five to four. The wind began to come up and it became a mass exodus of surfers. By the time I suited up and paddled it was just myself and three other guys in the south bowl. Soon they left leaving it all to me. The waves were far from good, all wonky with backwash and a bit textured from the wind. There were some nuggets to be had and I was just stoked to get a few all to myself for a change. It was far from an epic surf but it was the first time I had fun and not frustration in over a week. As I was leaving I ran into my sister in law and her fiancé chilling on the beach. The rest of my day was spent doing what I do or lack there of at the post office.

1-15-21 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hr
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 78
I got word in the evening yesterday that Strand was pretty decent and offshore. Hoping for an encore I got up early and headed that way. There was some heavy duty work that started at 7am in the apartment above mine that had me out of bed earlier then usual. I got to the Ship and though crazy high tide there were some screamer tubes to be had and some mental shore break barrels. It was crowded, easily seventy five guys between the Ship and Tower Four. I saw some big hallow ones near Tower Four and started there. Between the wind and the backwash it was very difficult to negotiate a successful tube ride. I worked my way back towards the Ship where I had more luck. I never get good ones in the bowl that deep. I managed three really decent left tubes before the wind switched and blew it out. The crowd was pretty kooky and as a result I had more then one potentially decent wave ruined by someone in the impact zone right where I needed to be to pull in or there were plenty where some dude pulled back last minute on a wave that would have been sick. I hate the fucking kooks everywhere these days. On the way home I saw some fun looking runners at Rincon with a not too bad crowd and wondered it I should have just surfed there. The rest of my day was spent at the post office.

1-14-21 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hr
Waves Surfed: 27
Miles Driven: 30
There was a 6.9 ft high tide at ten AM. I had to go down to Ventura on Clarks Surfboard business. Considering the tide I thought I might be able to sneak a few runners before the crowd showed up at Rincon. There were only about fifty guys on the whole point. I paddled up top and found a few decent ones in and around the Rivermouth. Then I paddled up to Indicator and got a couple there. It didn’t take long before the crowd started piling up. Next thing I knew there were easily a hundred guys all around me and I was getting burned multiple times on my long rides. Over it I surfed out through the Cove. I lucked into a runner that I rode all the way to the freeway. I hate to fight off four burns and a dozen attempted paddle ins but it was nice to get one long one through. Rest of my day was spent dealing with the many moving parts it takes to build a quality surfboard.

1-13-21 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 2 hr
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 36
It was my day off and I wanted a nice relaxing surf with some breathing room from the insane crowds. I knew Naples was a bit of gamble with the swell angle and period, but hopeful I made the trek in. Ryan and his son joined me. Though there were waves up and down the reef the swell was a bit broken up and very inconsistent. Still when a set came it was solid. With only two to three waves in a set every fifteen minutes we decided to split up. Ryan and his kid paddled lower Crack Peak, while I went up to Naples Reef proper where it was though a tad shorter ride larger and more consistent. There were two guys out. One of them happened to be this dude Chris I met when I was living in New Zealand twelve years ago. It was stoke to catch up especially since it was so inconsistent. It’s funny when you run into someone who’s lively hood and life wasn’t drastically made worse by Covid. They just don’t get it. Reminiscing about my time in NZ kind of made me a bit depressed. That may have been the best time in my life and though I vowed to end up there someday, now twelve years later I seem to be stuck in the California trap. The tide dropped out pretty fast thanks to these damned king tides. It pretty much drained out the reef I was on making it borderline not surf-able. Every now and then an alright one did come through by they were few and far between. Sitting so long I got frigid cold and eventually had to call it quits. I suppose I should have for there an hour or so earlier. Hey, Naples is always a nice experience even if the waves suck. When I got home I served up some purple potato/ricotta gnocchi in a lavender brown butter with pancetta and cherry tomatoes. It would have been a great evening if I didn’t ruin it with the sour mood my depression put me in. Some days I wonder why I even get out of bed.

1-12-21 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hr
Waves Surfed: 11
Miles Driven: 56
The swell was on the decline and tide super high for my surf window. Bizarro decided to come along since building maintenance was making a good deal of noise working on the apartment above us. We started off at Hammonds. There were a few waves, but it looked like a long wait for a weak wave with about ten guys on it. The hung continued down to Emma where I saw a few lefts that I thought worthy with only three guys on it. There were a bunch of guys in the bottom lot looking. Biz made a good point that as soon as I went out there and made it look fun ten more guys were going to mob it. Out of options and time Rincon was the call. The crowd wasn’t bad at first and there were some decent runners coming through up and down to point. I surfed the top. Soon I found that getting waves was a bit more frustrating then it looked. The crowd was a pretty local crowd for a change. This is cool cause it’s nice to see everyone. It’s also annoying cause everyone knows where to sit and how to get waves. It didn’t help that most waves were lining up perfectly with little room for error. No one fell. I’m scrapper. Most of my sessions are based on snagging waves due to the margin of error of others. I found myself basically paddling around in circles from Rivermouth to Indicator hating my life. I did manage three really decent runners, but eleven waves in an hour and a half is never something that stokes me out. By the time I left the crowd was a solid two hundred and fifty strong. I’m telling you guys if something doesn’t give soon I’m going to lose it. Rest of my day was spent at the Post Office. I was sent out to the Main Ventura station for a Covid clean up. Fun stuff.

1-11-21 AM Session: 5-7+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 2.5 hr
Waves Surfed: 31
Miles Driven: 48
Surfline called for a SUPER SWELL today, which also brought out a stupid super crowd. Hoping that Sharks might be on I did the Montecito loop. There were five guys out and judging by where they were sitting and the fact that I didn’t see any waves at all on my loop I decided not to bother. Hammonds looked on the small side too. I ran home, packed up all my work stuff and headed to Naples. The car park was full. With no better option I proceeded. When I got to the bluffs it was solid overhead with real bombers coming through. Though there were easily fifty guys on it everyone was spread out and the waves were hitting all over the place. None of the usual take off zones were spot on. I started at the Crack Peak where I picked off a few bombs. It was very fast and if you didn’t tow the line keeping up was futile. Big turns were out. I did manage a couple of screamers through the Green Awning section. Somehow I got tubed at Seals, which was the worst section of the day. It was my day out there today. I had few bombs, but just wasn’t feeling the magic.

1-10-21 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 1.5 hr
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 43
The swell was down a notch but still a poor angle for the beach breaks. I did the usual dance of checking Rincon, little Rincon, Hobson’s and Pitas. The crowds were definitely out in full force. Rincon looked the best with four hundred guys on it. Out of time and options I paddled Pitas starting out up top. It was a bit stretched on most waves. The crowd was easily thirty strong up top making it a shit fight for waves. I burned some poor guy on my best ride. Over that mess I got a few down the point where it was a bit more inconsistent, but a tad less busy. That was until the crew twelve strong of soft tops, long boards and fun shapes showed up, followed by another crew of short boarders four deep and a six pack on mid lengths being complete dicks. Yes in the end it was one of those surfs where I scratched my head thinking would I have been better off not surfing at all? I had more fun picking up sea glass and shells on my walk back to my car.

1-9-21 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 2 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 36
It is a sad day when even Naples is crowded. Not crowded with regulars, crowded with a bunch of randoms. I don’t even know where all these people come from. Showing up in 3,4 and even six packs!!! Dogs were running up and down the beach unleashed. NAPLES IS A VERY FRAGILE ECOSYSTEM FOR SHORE BIRDS. THEY SEE YOUR DOG AS A PREDATOR AND HAVE TO FLEE. Please everyone let’s try and enjoy Naples more responsibly. Isn’t it enough that Rincon and the rest of the points south are trashed let’s keep Naples for nature. And also please pack your trash . I picked up a bunch food and drink packaging on my walk back to my car. To think I went there today to get a stress free surf before work. That being said though very inconsistent and a bit on the weak side there were some fun waves to be had. I stupidly paddled my good wave board out after seeing a barrage of sets from the beach. As it turned out those sets were few and far between and became even more scarce when low tide set in. The ones that did come in were right in the kelp making it very difficult to get down the face and even harder to pull any big turns off. Add a little bit of south wind and it was not the best out there. Maybe I should have hung myself with my leash from one of the trees along the trail in. Oh well, tomorrow is another day, another swell and another stupid crowd.

1-8-21 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 2 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 43
Talk about the crowds beinf out in full force today. I know it’s Friday, but still. Every spot from Rincon south was completely maxed out. I saw a couple of bombs at Pitas and with the critical nature of that wave thought it would be the beat bang for my buck. Rincon was solid with four hundred guys on it. The top of Pitas was pretty walled and not worth the effort. I drifted down to Faria where there were some runners. Still even down there it was pretty broken up. The swell itself was coming in rather jumbled. I got a few good ones though it wasn’t the Pitas session I was hoping for. My last was pretty epic though. I got a medium sized grower mid point that ran nearly to Mondos. It was pretty racy with the occasional section and I managed to get barreled twice before it bucked me at the very end. It felt good getting ride like that off the pack. The rest of my day was spent at the Post Office where I had to work till 1am to cover for a fellow custodian out sick. One can only hope it’s not Covid.

1-7-21 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Hobsons
Time in Water: 2.5 hr
Waves Surfed: 32
Miles Driven: 58
The tide was a bit fat early. I had some Clarks Surfboards business to attend to in Ventura as well as some errands. I decided to get it out of the way first. On the way down there was plenty of swell to be had everywhere. Unfortunately my day took a foul turn early on when I got into a very minor fender bender in the alley way behind my work shop. Then I left a fifteen back of Croix in the parking at the grocery store most likely cause I was all fluster from the accident. Then I ended up car surfing for over an hour before running into my bud CC in at Little Rincon (which was absolutely terrible), whom talked me into giving a serious look a Hobsons. I’m glad he did because it was about as good as Hobsons gets. Both the left and the right were rip-able with a slight steeper face on the lefts. The crowd was rather mellow to. Stoked I began picking apart whatever came my way. The only downside was it was a bit inconsistent and I began to get cold from all the sitting. By the time Angers showed up it was over an hour into my surf and I was an Italian Ice from the cold. It was so much fun I forced out another hour. The only reason I left was cause I was freezing. It was still fun as I walked back to my car. I came home to a wonderful smoked ham dinner courtesy of Bizarro. All in all I’d say the latter half of my day made up for my horrid morning.

1-6-21 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 3 hr
Waves Surfed: 34
Miles Driven: 36
After days of battling the intense crowds of the south points I really needed some room to breath. I had the day off and decided to make the hike into Naples. Ryan and Angers were into the idea as well. I wasn’t expecting much, but knew it would be at the very least surf-able. The surf was definitely underwhelming when I showed up. There were waves at all of the spots but very weak and inconsistent. My wife and I hiked up to lower Naples Reef where there was a chest to head high A-frame breaking with the left ending on dry reef. One dude was on it and there were plenty of waves for both of us. I jumped in and picked off a few good lefts and rights. Angers showed up and got into it too. By the Ryan showed up the tide began to slowly turn the place off. Still it was a fun three hours trading waves with just the boys. It was just what the doctor ordered. After the surf I enjoyed a very relaxing afternoon and evening with my wife. I rarely ever get to rest these days.

1-5-21 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hr
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 43
I was torn on whether to drive north or south this morning. The latter won out due my uncertainty of what I might find north. I did my usual freeway check of Hammonds, Sharks and Rincon before pulling off at Little ‘Con. Both Sharks and Hammonds were very underwhelming as was Rincon. It was way worse then yesterday there with easily twenty guys out. I didn’t even bother to wait around for a set. I cruised to Pitas and though a little better the swell was just all broken up and had a serious south channel funk on it. Every place did for that matter. Out of options I headed to ‘Con and paddled. It looked terrible by Rincon standards and it was a bit more crowded then yesterday. I started at the Rivermouth. Unlike yesterday where I was greeted with bombers today I was hard pressed to even find a two turn ride. The pack was growing in size by minutes. It didn’t take long before the entire point looked like it had been raided by a swarm of surfing locusts. I got Burner six times before I got an alright ride. At that point I was out of time and just surfed my way down the point. Some how I managed to get a runner all the way through the Cove to the Freeway fighting off kooks trying to drop in the whole ride. Talk about a paradise lost. At work we had a Covid clean up at home base here in the plant. I guess the disease isn’t going to quit till we all get it.

1-4-21 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 41
After yesterdays terrible session I had decided that sometimes I just need to bite the bullet and go battle it out with the masses at Rincon. Of course I had a look at Little Rincon. The wind had already come up out of the south and through there were a few runners with a light crowd between the wind and rising tide I didn’t want any part of it. Back to Rincon with my game face on I went. I always have this rule there: if I get a space in the bottom lot on a crowded day I’m paddling for sure. Despite the shitty south wind chip there were some well over head bombing runners to be had. I jumped in at Rivermouth and got rocked by a solid eight wave set paddling out. Then swung around late on the ninth and barely made the job. After that I made the necessary adjustments in my attack and snagged a handful of really solid rides through the mid section of the point. As the tide got more fat the sets got more inconsistent and the the crowd got heavier. I found myself in a cluster fuck of guys up at Indicator. At that point I moved a little to the inside and began picking up the smaller but still very kill-able double ups. Finally I surfed my way all the way out through the Cove. The rest of my day was spent at the Post Office where I was sent out to the East Beach station on a Covid clean up. Fun times we live in. Ironically most people who are exposed to the virus are told to stay home. My job forces me to constantly stare Covid19 right in the face on a day to day basis. Six months on the job and I still haven’t gotten sick.

1-3-21 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Hammonds
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 12
Miles Driven: 10
Did I make a New Years resolution to only surf waves that start wirh the letter “H”? I can really contribute my horrible surf session to absolute pure laziness. I should have woke up at seven and taken advantage of a number of options with the early mid-tide. Instead I poked my head out of the covers, decided it was too cold and slept in till nine. Now with a fat tide and limited surf window before work I made the dumbest decision possible. I went to Hammonds one of the most notoriously crowded waves in SB, especially on a weekend. Some how I thought in my stupid head that it might be manageable. Truthfully I was hoping there would be the occasional bomb sets that tend roll in there and I’d just sit a bit wide and outside and nab those while everyone else was caught inside and too deep. This has been my bread and butter at Hammonds for fifteen years. Of course as soon as I got there the channel had a south east wind funk on it, there were no sets and the few waves that came through were all broken up and very inconsistent. Now at a tight pack of thirty guys mixed from kooks, to old guys, to girls to wannabe rippers like me. Oh and throw in an obnoxious grom or two for good measure. I had a hate session. I almost wanted to cry when I got out of the water. There is no worse feeling in the world then when a surfer feels worse for surfing then if he had not. I went home dejected had to handle some Clarks Surfboard business and put on my fake stoked happy face. Now I’m sitting here at a job I hate counting down the minutes till I can go home only to wake up tomorrow and do it all over again. OUCH!!! Hope everyone got better waves and had more fun then me today. Please share how this holiday weekend of surf worked out for you in the comments. It might cheer me up a bit to read about the surfing trials and tribulations of you folks for a change.

1-2-21 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Hobson’s
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 56
It was pretty much the same deal this morning as yesterday. Another crowded swamped ocean in my surf window. I checked everything from Hammonds to Emma. Hobson’s won out again. Though a little bigger today it was also triple the crowd. Luckily for me no one knew where to sit or what they were doing. I took full advantage and got my share. The long period swell left plenty of down time. To my credit I actually surfed a pretty flawless session. I left rather stoked. Rest of my day was wasted on another fun filled afternoon/evening at the post office. If anyone out there reading this has some better work for me please reach out. I’m miserable here. Throw a dog a bone, I’ll do anything.

1-1-21 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Hobson’s
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 56
Having crowd anxiety is something that has plagued my surfing for years. Nothing bums me out more then having to paddle out in a maxed out crowded lineup. When I saw the fresh run of solid NW swell lining up perfectly with a holiday weekend that has always been annoying to find empty surf during without a predicted swell and was less then enthusiastic. With morning high tides and the angle/period of the swell it left very few options. Obviously Rincon was solid and had easily two hundred plus heads on it. Ventura Point was pretty damn good too. Surfline had it up in gold on the report so every kook and his brother with in a hundred and fifty miles decided to show up and clog a regularly over crowded line up. For lack of a better option in my time window I was stuck desperation paddling Hobson’s. Since the beach park and subsequent parking is closed it makes access and parking both tricky and limited. Actually I saw a pretty decent set driving by. On fat tides with swell there can be some seriously powerful inside double ups. I jumped in with two other random kooks on long boards. A few other sheep followed as I proceeded to pick off some fun rights. Fuck, it was far from anything I ever wanted to surf with such a solid swell running. At the very least I was able to get my pick of any wave I wanted with out some kook, barney, clueless grom, rude ripper or soccer mom in my way. The rest of my day was spent in a prison called the Goleta USPS processing center. The only plus side was I got 2.5x holiday pay. Happy New Year, so far it’s as shitty as the last.