Surfing Ruined My Life

January 2022 Surf Sessions

1-31-22 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft,
I woke up, it was freezing out and the waves on the small side. Bizarro and I had lots of work to do at our Santa Barbara apartment in order to get it ready for the next renter. It’s a good thing I didn’t surf cause it was another eleven hour day of hard labor. The place is really shaping up. One more day and we will be done with it. With that an end of an era. I lived there for fifteen years. Moving was the next logical step though definitely bitter sweet.

1-30-22 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 2
Well it certainly was refreshing to wake up and only drive two miles to round trip to surf the Pier rather then eighty two. I figured first day in my new neighborhood might as well surf out front. Considering how fun it was looking with chest plus peaks and light offshore winds I had to paddle. I jumped in off the north side of the pier and started working a bunch of punchy close out sections. For the first time since before Covid I actually felt like I was getting in a rhythm out there. About forty minutes in I stuck a large backside air reverse all tweaked into the flats. Immediately after I took off on a right I combo’d three turns. When I came down from the last turn I was so close to the pier I was forced to go through it. As I straightened out to get through I lost my back foot. Turned out creased my tail. Then as I tried to paddled out of there my leash got stuck on one of the pilings leaving me unable to get out from under the pier right as a three wave chest high set was baring down on me in impact zone in the middle of the pier wrapped around a piling. It was definitely not a stoke filled situation to find oneself in. I ditched my board and ran into the piling feet first while scratching at my ankle cuff to pull off my leash unsuccessfully. The next wave hit me and once again I was able to take the brunt of the hit feet first to the piling but still not able to get my leash off. The third wave got me good and I got smashed into the barnacle covered piling on my side. This actually allowed me to get off my leash and free myself. I paddled out of there, took a wave in and switched boards since the tail on mine was wrecked. I just wanted to catch a few more to shake off such a gnarly situation. The wind went south and tide got too low completely turning the place off. It was quite the ordeal. If you check out my Instagram I posted a reel of the carnage. After that I got some breakfast with my wife before her, Bizarro and I headed back to SB to finish cleaning the old apartment.

1-29-22 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft,
Today was finally our actual moving day anyone who has ever moved out of a space that they have lived in for nearly twenty years can attest to the amount of crap one can accumulate in that time span. Bizarro and I used to moonlight with a moving company on and off for years so technique was not an issue. We rented a 26’ truck from Uhual and went to work. It was a 6 hour load up followed by an hour drive to Hueneme. Then a four hour load out followed by an hour drive back to SB to return the truck. After that we stopped back at the SB apartment to load up all our clothes. By the time I got back to Hueneme it was mid night and I was exhausted.

1-28-22 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 74
With offshore winds and dropping swell I headed to the beaches with barrels on my mind. Jeffery had the same mindset. We met at Hollywood where there were some fun looking corners. Unfortunately the tide dropped really faster killing the swell. I found a few head dips, but overall it was not the super session I was hoping for. It was also freezing out there with the wind and my lips got all chapped. The rest of my day was spent packing and getting ready for tomorrow’s big move to Port Hueneme.

1-27-22 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 44
The swell was on its way down. The wind was looking off shore at the Oxnard beaches. Unfortunately I couldn’t get down as early I would have wanted cause I needed to handle that flat tire I mentioned yesterday. Luckily for the first time ever Big Brand was able to fix it for free. Still I didn’t get out of SB till noon. Bizarro came along hoping to film some beach break tubes. By the time we got there the wind switched an ugly onshore leaving all the beaches dumpy. We cruised back to the points. Pitas was far from good but the crowd was light. I was going to walk away when I saw a solid six wave overhead set come through. Once I got out there I realized how few and far between those were. There was also a funky side chop on it, as well as being rather section even for Pitas. I put in an hour, which was time wasted in the midst of my busy schedule. I suppose it was good to surf.

1-26-22 No Surfing: 4-6+ ft,
The surf came down a bit today, but the crowds sure didn’t. I had a look around. Pat was at Pitas. By the time I got there it was crowded and had a bit of south east wind on it. C-Street look alright though I wasn’t in the mood for that kind of effort today. As I was cruising to my house the wind at shores to Strand was hard offshore. I had a look at at Hollywood. It was solid. With the low tide it was a bit dumpy and somewhat stretched, solid 8-12 ft on sets. I didn’t feel confident to go charge being that I am still feeling a little under the weather and a bit out of surf shape. I looked at Strand it was clean but tiny. I decided to head over to my house and get some work done the. Try to surf on the incoming tide. The wind changed light onshore. I still was going to have a look at Strand when I got a call from my wife that she got a flat tire on Civic Si and need me to pick her up back in SB at 5pm. They Civic gets more flats then any car I have ever owned. I seriously get around 5-8 flats a year. With that my opportunity for an incoming tide session went out the window. also if anyone is interested I am subletting my Santa Barbara Mesa apartment with availability on February 1st for $2,800 a month. It’s a 2 bedroom one bathroom with a parking space and a small yard plus an ocean view. Contact me if interested

1-25-22 PM Session: 5-7+ ft, C-Street
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 8
Miles Driven: 60
The long period swell, instead of getting shorted met up with an even longer period and slightly steeper swell. Once again the options were few and crowded. Pat said he thought C-Street was manageable and was paddling. I met up with him and we gave it a go. It was three times as crowded as yesterday and a bit more inconsistent. The inside was a bit better with waves standing up making it way more rip-able. My longest ride was a mere 425 yards today. I had a rather busy afternoon with my move and all thus only surfed for an hour and called it a day.

1-24-22 PM Session: 6-8+ ft, C-Street
Time in Water: 1 hr 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 6
Miles Driven: 60
A solid long period WNW made is presence know in a serious way at the south points with Ventura Point and C Street taking the cake. The crowds were also out in full force, more crowded then I had ever seen it around here and that’s saying a lot. In my current weakened state I can barely catch waves let along fight a crowd a Rincon. Gabe was in town and we wanted to get a surf in for old time sake. We saw a some solid ones at C Street and the crowd wasn’t bad. We paddled and got pummeled by a ten foot set just as we were getting to the outside. Both of us managed to pick off a wave on the back end of the set. That was the last we saw of each other for a while. My best wave was a way overhead screamer that ran from deep Cove all the way to the pier, a whopping 865 yards on my watch. Of course there was so much turbulence and the wave so fast all I could really do is race down the line and when I finally got some good open face my legs were jello. Six of those waves and I was spent. It was a good thing too. It turns out Gabe got hit by some dude who ditched his board on a set and hurt his leg pretty bad. If you can’t duck dive you shouldn’t be out on days like that. It felt good to get a few bombs out there.

1-23-22 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Surfers Knoll
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 64
I went surfing today!!! The first time in two weeks and the longest stint I have spent out of the water in a very long time. I cruised down the harbor being that there was only a bit of trace swell in the water. I actually love small days cause it seems it’s the only time the crowd is manageable. There was a small left coming off a sand bar on the south end of the Knoll. I paddled and definitely felt rusty and winded. I managed a few lefts and rights. After an hour I was spent, but it felt good to try and begin to build a surfing momentum again.

1-19-22 – 1-22-22 No Surfing:
Once again I sincerely apologize for my lack of participation here on the blog or at my social media level for that matter. I am in the middle of the largest move of my adult life plus still getting over a tremulous bout with Covid19, which I fear I had a little relapse with and may be turning into walking pneumonia. I suppose time will tell on that one. As far as fixing up my disaster of a house goes it’s coming along, would have been a lot easier had I been healthy. Unfortunately my wife, Bizarro and myself all got Covid at the same time and are all recuperating. Many people have reached out if I needed any help or if I was still alive. I appreciate the kind words and sentiments. I promise come February when I’m all moved in it will be alright.

1-13-22 – 1-18-22 No Surfing: 3-5+ ft
I have been on a very slow mend from Covid19. Though the bulk of the illness has passed I have been left with a bit of a nagging cough and still some what weak. On top of that the amount of work that my house needs in order to move in has had myself, my wife and Bizarro working eight to ten hour days of hard labor cleaning, painting, etc. I miss surfing but at the moment getting this place set up to move in has taken precedent. I hope everyone has been scoring. It’s tough driving past the points firing every day only to have to labor with a paint brush instead. Short term pain for long term pleasure.

1-12-22 No Surfing: 5-7+ ft
Not surfing today was hard on my psyche. It really was the first decent west swell I have seen all season. I woke up very weak. I must have over did it by going down to my new house yesterday. I was forced to spend yet another day in bed. All I can say is that Covid is no joke.

1-11-22 No Surfing: 3-5+ ft
A rise in the WNW didn’t do me any good and brought crazy crowds out of the wood work. Maybe I’m stoked I’m too sick to surf. Maybe I’m being punished for my arrogance having surfed 365 days straight while laughing in the face of a global pandemic. I guess we all get our just deserves in this life, even me. My wife and I closed on our house today. It should have been a joyous occasion yet I was barely able to muster up the strength to go down and check it out. It was heart breaking when I did. The previous owners left it an absolute mess. Looks like we are in for quite a cleaning job before we can even think to move in.

1-10-22 No Surfing: 3-4+ ft
There has been no problem with swell unfortunately Covid has still left me unable to surf yet. I am slowly getting better, but I am very weak. I think I’m looking at a few more days of rest.

1-9-22 No Surfing: 3-4+ ft
Today I missed some really solid surf with offshore winds. I borderline thought I might be able to sneak a few waves in. There is still a lot of fatigue in my system plus my lung capacity is probably at fifty percent. Thus I decided to heal up there will be plenty of time to surf once I’m better. Everyone out there please get a few waves for me.

1-8-22 No Surfing: 3-4+ ft
There was a slight up tick in the swell thanks to a new long period WNW swell. Not that it did me any good. I managed to feel a little better today though I am still very weak, have a slight fever plus an annoying nagging cough. Truthfully it feels more pneumonia to me. We were supposed to do the walk through of our new house in Hueneme today. My wife and I were too sick to go so my Realitor did for us over FaceTime. Talk about a real in opportune time for all of us to be sick right when we are about to move. First Covid took away my job, then it basically canceled my wedding and now it’s even ruining our first time owning a home. Fuck this damn disease.

1-7-22 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
Thanks to my friend Julian coming through with a rapid test for me it became official today that I indeed have Covid19. I had originally suspected it to be the case but now at the very least I proof for why I have missed work. I’m still feeling quite under the weather. All I can say is that Covid is no joke. I haven’t been this sick since I got dengue back in 2002 in Costa Rica. Of course there has been alright waves the entire time. Maybe I’m paying for my cavalier attitude surfing 365 especially considering that it is seven days into January and I have only surfed twice. If I don’t die I suppose I am stoked to have at the very least gotten to experience Covid for myself.

1-6-22 No Surfing: 3-4+ ft
I felt slightly better today. I’m still dragging and am in no condition to surf. From the way I feel I might be able to get back in the water by the weekend with a little luck

1-5-22 No Surfing: 3-4+ ft
Another day very sick and weak. Today I definitely have a high fever and can’t eat. My throat is killing me as well. For the moment I am surviving.

1-4-22 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
I managed to surf 365 days with any major illness. I took on day off and it’s like the surf gods cursed my laziness. I don’t know if I have Covid or the flu but man am I sick as a dog. Too sick to surf. Getting a Covid test at the moment is near to impossible as well due to high demand and I definitely don’t feel well enough to go wait in line for one for hours.

1-3-22 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 64
Considering the high tide and lack of I had no choice but to go back to the River bar and fight the crowd, which was once again stupid. The swell was a bit more broken up and not really running the length of the bar like yesterday. The water was freezing too from the snow run off coming down from the mountains. I got a few waves but overall wasn’t too jazzed on the surf. On my drive home my body began to feel really achy. By the time I got home I felt very sick and had to call out of work.

1-2-22 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 64
The tide has gotten back to being beyond high in my window and with the lack of swell in the water I wasn’t left with many options. At the very least the wind was off shore. River Mouth had finally shaped a bar from the intel I got over the past few days. Word definitely got out to more then just myself cause there was easily twenty five guys in one small take off zone. The majority of the pack were all those groms that crowded New Jetty the past few years or so. I have made a career out of avoiding such a pack. River Mouth is my zone. I have been surfing that wave for better or worse for almost twenty years now. Finally there is an alright bar. I will fight the crowd for a few out there. The water quality was piss poor and I stress the word PISS. The current was a bit rough, add in the crowd and you definitely had to be savy to get your share of waves. I fought the good fight and managed to sneak in a few lefts and rights off the pack. How frequently I will surf this wave I’m not sure yet for it’s only going to get more crowded out there as people like myself spread the word and it was already too crowded for how average it was anyhow. The rest of my day was spent at the Post Office.

1-1-22 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
After over 390 days of straight surfing I decided to sleep in after a late night celebrating the New Year and not force myself to go paddle some tiny, terrible surf just to get credit for it. Like I said I was stoked to accomplish such a task, but I will be happy to take a day off from surfing here and there, especially it the conditions are junk. There was some windswell and it was clean early at the VTA beaches. I also heard it was very crowded too. Don’t worry I will be back on the hunt tomorrow.