Surfing Ruined My Life

January 2024 Surf Sessions

1-31-24 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 20
I definitely blew it today. I had a look at Strand early and wasn’t feeling it. I should have went up to Rincon or just surfed Strand. Instead I banked on fresh swell filling in for the afternoon and decided to shape and get some ding work done. Around 4pm I drove back over to Strand and it absolutely was onshore and terrible. To punish myself for not paddling earlier I forced the paddle. Though completely terrible I managed to have fun and even stuck some crazy looking frontside tail free layback thing.

1-30-24 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 52
There was still an ample amount of left over west swell in the water. Strand had waves but the wind was already onshore. I got word that Rincon still had chest plus waves and made the drive up. The surf was a little soft and inconsistent but there were maybe fifty guys on the whole point. I paddled and picked off a phenomenal head high runner from low Indicator all the way to the top of the Cove. With that wave to set the precedent I figured it was going to be a score. But as the tide dropped and swell dropped it only got more and more underwhelming. The only positive was that the crowd up top dropped to around ten guys including myself. Once again I was in a situation where I wished I had brought out my grovel board. The swell angle was also hitting the point a bit funky making the waves hard to read. At the moment there is also a bunch of kelp growing on all the rocks on the inside making the smaller waves very difficult to surf. I gave it my all for two hours before throwing in the towel. When I left about the only good thing was that the line up was empty. At least my first wave was good. I got home and immediately got down to shaping. I wanted to thank everyone that has been ordering surfboards. Your support means the world to me and fires me up to keep shaping, writing, surfing and adventuring. If you haven’t tried a Clarks Surfboard yet what are you waiting for? Mention you read this blog and I’ll give you 10% off our already low price of $585 for a short board 5’10 and under.

1-29-24 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, County Line
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 46
There was some solid west swell in the water. I was torn on whether to drive north or south. I heard Rincon was good but crowded and the other points were so, so going that way. I’m sure some of the Gaviota waves were working but I wasn’t in the mood to drive all the way up there. CC was heading south and after having a disappointing look at Strand I opted to jump in with him. County Line was absolutely firing on the reef, well overhead on sets. It was a tad bit more crowded then I would have liked but with oil glass conditions and some real bombs coming through we couldn’t in good conscience drive away. Once out there it became rather evident that the majority of the guys out were way below the skill level to adequately surf such waves. CC and I sat out the back and just waited for the bombs. In this practice we spent the entirety of the surf trading off set waves from deep on the reef. It may have been the best I have ever surfed the right reef at County Line in my life. What a surf.

1-28-24 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Trancas
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 50
I got home from County Line only to get word from Kai, Clarks Surfboards team rider and owner of the Rad Can health drink company, whom I’m surfing for, that he wanted to do an afternoon shoot at Trancas for Rad Can. I ate a quick lunch before jumping in the car with Bizarro and heading back south down the PCH. Conditions were still as glassy as glassy gets. We saw a few at Trancas Point and decided to paddle. When checking it there were only three guys on out but in the time from suiting up and walking to the point another dozen heads paddled a line up that was lucky to support five. I was pissed and went off on my own to surf some shitty left close out on the other end of the beach while Biz and Kai got some water stuff done. The left completely sucked forcing me to make my way over to join the crowd on the point. I traded my time between scrapping the inside with the groms and waiting for the odd ball inconsistent sets on the outside. Although nothing special the lighting and conditions were perfect to produce some very decent photos and videos. Somehow Bizarro always finds a way to make me look good.

1-28-24 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, County Line
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 48
My buddy Matt had cruised down from Pismo to pick up a stock PB&J Model I had kicking around the Clarks Surfboards factory. I hadn’t seen him since the summer when he came down to pick up a custom Pop Fizz Model I shaped up on his behalf. We decided to grab a surf. Strand was fat with the tide and Hueneme small and not happening. Our best bet was to hit the PCH and find something along there. County looked fun enough, chest high plus with clean lines on the right hand reef and not too many guys out. Stoked we paddled. Though on the smaller side it was plenty rip-able. The water was as glassy as glassy gets. Unfortunately it was a Saturday and didn’t take long for the line up to get rather busy to the point where I wasn’t having fun anymore. We bailed but both got more then our share of super fun waves.

1-27-24 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 11
Miles Driven: 10
The Rincon Classic was on. I myself avoid that event like the plague but I did have a team rider in it and for his sake I was stoked there was at the very least a some what ok forecast for the event. The tide was a bit fat in the morning thus I got some shaping out of the way. Around noon I headed over to the Ship for a look since the wind was offshore. Of course as soon as I got there the wind shifted onshore. Ryan was over on the North End with Evan and said they were paddling. I drove over for a look and though nothing spectacular there were some fun looking peaks to be had between the Jetty and Tower 1. I paddled and once out there realized it was way weaker then I had hoped and very inconsistent. Actually I wished I took out my groveler. I fought the good fight for way longer then I should’ve though did manage a few at the very least. After the surf I met up with my wife for some lunch and an afternoon game of golf.

1-26-24 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Hobsons
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 9
Miles Driven: 44
We left the mountains after breakfast and I was back in Oxnard by 1pm. Word was the points weren’t great so I headed up to Strand, but before getting there Ryan called and said that the wind had gone onshore. With that in mind I changed direction to the points. Rincon was packed as was Pitas and neither was all that good. In the end I paddled Hobson’s cause I saw Sage get a decent right and she sold it to me. Actually for the first forty minutes it was pretty fun. The rights were better then the lefts, a rarity for Hobson’s. Then the sets got super inconsistent and of course that happened as soon as the waves glassed off. I waited easily thirty plus minutes before I got a decent left. By that point I was freezing and completely over it.

1-25-24 No Surfing: 3-4+ ft
I woke up in a cabin in the woods up in the mountains of Wrightwood knowing there was absolutely no way I was going surfing today. My wife makes it a point to put me in a non-surfing situation every few years on her birthday to see if I can make the sacrifice. Lucky for me the wind was south and most spots were under performing back home. To be honest it was nice to wake up late and not have to worry about where to surf and conditions or deal with a crowd. Instead I enjoyed a lazy morning in bed with my wife followed by a nice brunch at this quaint little spot in town called the Grizzly Cafe. Then we hiked up the Bud Powell peak trail to find some snow. Our goal was to go as high as we needed to actually see snow. Right at about 4,000 feet we made it to some accumulated packed snow and ice, took a few photos and then headed back down. We thought about going all the way up to the summit but the trail was really slippery with ice and neither one of us were wearing the proper boots. Getting back down from where we were was difficult enough over the ice. We spent the rest of the day lounging about the cabin. I’d say it was a most relaxing day. Even I can take a day away from the beach without losing my mind. The picture is a screen shot from the Ventura Point cam.

1-24-24 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, County Line
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 36
I had a limited window this morning because my wife and I rented a quaint little cabin up in Wrightwood for two days to celebrate my wife’s birthday. She likes the mountains and we had hoped that there might be some snow. I wanted to get a surf in before we left knowing I was already going to miss tomorrow. Considering the high tide and west swell I knew my options were limited. I was hoping Hueneme would have something but aside from there being thousands of lady bugs that were clinging to the pier the waves were tiny and tide borderline too high. I raced down to County Line where there was a chest to head high plus wave breaking on the reef with only two guys out. The wind was a little south but it was still very surf-able. I was out of time and had to paddle. I pulled my 5’7 and was tad under gunned. I did manage a few fun waves and it’s always better to surf before a trip. The ride up to Wrightwood went smooth and the cabin was chill. Unfortunately whatever snow that had fell over the weekend had melted. We decided to jump in the hot tube with a bottle of Prosecco and relax in front of the fire place for the evening.

1-23-24 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Topanga
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 82
I had a look at Strand and it was a bit to be desired. I was considering driving north to Rincon when I got a call from CC that he was cruising to Topanga. Not married to any real decision on where to surf I jumped in with him. We got there and it was chest plus and glassy with about twenty or so guys on it. The waves were a bit on the soft side but if you waited for the double ups there were some sections to be had. My best wave I managed three turns and brought down a tail high air reverse which I landed nose pick. It’s been a while since I put together such a ride. It didn’t take long for the lunch hour crew to get on it and what was a fun surf became a shit fight as this new crew that paddled out decided to throw out all line up courtesy and demeanor. From then on it was nothing but back paddling and burns. I caught a few more before resolving to one last ride. I wanted something decent to quit on thus waited out the back for a good one. After traversing the crowd a set wave came right to me and I took off. Two other ding dongs decided to burn me. I let the first guy in front of me get one turn then another. When he went for his third turn I wasn’t having it and came off the bottom hard and went straight up and hit the guy with the nose of my board knocking him off his board. When the guy in front of him saw what I did he kicked out immediately. I hit it four more times before kicking out.

1-22-24 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 64
Today was one of those where due to the constant changing variables of conditions I spent the majority of my day driving around in circles like a chicken with out a head. My first stop was Hueneme early but the wind was south and swell small. Then the Ship where it was also small and underwhelming. Jeffery called and said the Harbor looked fun. I cruised over there but it was pretty walled for what was on offer. I had a look at Dredge but it was crowded. Then on a stupid whim I decided to drive all the way up to Rincon where the wind was south and it was small. Did I mention it was pouring the entire time I was cruising? After that failure I decided to get some errands done since my wife and I rented a cabin up in the hills of Wrightwood mid week for her birthday leaving me with a shorter week. Around 4pm I decided to head to Strand for one last look. The Ship was glassy and chest high with no one out. I had to surf considering how much time and miles I consumed looking around today. I jumped in and it was pretty fun. The swell had actually filled in a bit more. I got a few sick ones. Then the wind went crazy hard NW trashing the place. I guess there was no winning in the ocean today. At the very least I was stoked to get wet.

1-21-24 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Malibu
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 70
There was a solid shot of west swell in the water. I got word that Malibu was looking pretty fun and empty. I also heard the Santa Barbara points were good too. Torn between what to do Bizarro and I met up with Kai at the ‘bu and we headed out. On the way up we saw CC helping Corey Pierce back to his car after pulling a groin muscle on a failed floater attempt. Once out on the beach the surf was looking solid chest to head plus with nice lines and a manageable crowd. Stoked we began absolutely destroying it. Unfortunately the sets were a bit inconsistent. That wasn’t a bit deal since at one point towards the end of my session it was just myself and two other guys up at third peak and there were still solid sets coming in. If it weren’t a Sunday and my wife wasn’t waiting at home for me I probably would have surfed another hour. That being said I got plenty of fun waves. I got home just in time to enjoy a late brunch followed by a twilight game of golf with my wife. I’d say it was a full and awesome day.

1-20-24 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 14
Whether I blew it or not today I will leave for you to decide. I had a feeling that Rincon was going to be fun. Jeffery had surfed Hammonds super early and said it was chest high there. The buoys were very west. But the winds were very hard to call. On all of the Santa Barbara cams the wind was looking junky SE. Ventura point looked pretty cut up too. Meanwhile in Oxnard the wind was offshore but the waves were on the smaller side. The ship had a chest high wave with about twenty five guys on it. I drove over to Hollywood just to rule it out. The swell was just too small for the place. I went back to Strand and paddled the south bowl between towers 3 & 4. There were some decent left hand runners and even the odd ball micro tube. I ended up having a blast. When I got out of the water I had multiple 3rd party reports (meaning friends of friends and not trusted sources) that Rincon was fun and uncrowded. I was cold and tired and already had a pretty fun surf myself. Rather then drive myself crazy about it I decided to just spend the afternoon hanging with my wife. Did I blow it, maybe, but heck I had fun and that’s all that matters at the end of the day.

1-19-24 AM Session: 1-3+ ft, Strand
Miles Driven: 18
I just couldn’t get the motivation together to grovel the weak looking waist high waves coming in at the Harbor. The bars weren’t helping the small clean offerings. Sets were only one wave and hitting all over the place and if you didn’t catch that one wave there was really nothing in between. I watched it for easily twenty minutes before throwing in the towel. Jeffery paddled but I couldn’t ride on the coattails of his stoke. I went home and did some shaping. Actually I’m just about though my January load so if you’re interested or thinking about ordering a board now is a great time. Your order would be at the top of pile and finished in under 4 weeks. As always customs start at $585. Picture is from Ventura Harbor.

1-18-24 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 30 mins
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 38
With the swell still very west I headed up to Pitas where I heard it was chest high and fun. When I got there the wind had turned south absolutely destroying it. I turned around back south and looked at Dredge. It was crowded for what it was. Harbor had plenty of size and the wind was offshore but was very walled. Ryan was at Hollywood debating on whether to paddle out or not. I met him there and it was almost do-able, but just not quite big enough to connect the outer bars to the inner bars and neither were working on their own. On a complete salvage I padded the south bowl where I found a surprisingly fun bar in front of Tower 4. I actually had a pretty good time. My boy Guy paddled and we had it all to ourselves till the wind came up onshore and the tide killed it.

1-17-24 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr 30 mins
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 42
I got word that Rincon was chest high and fun with not too many guys on it. Considering the beaches were underwhelming I decided a day at Rincon would be quite the treat. I drove up and sure enough there were fun waist to chest high lines coming in up and down the point. There was a little bit of south wind on it, but not enough to ruin the shape. I paddled up at River Mouth. Jeffery was already up there getting some runners. For whatever reason I happened to be in the zone and went ballistic out there. It figures when I’m not filming I have a really good day. I had a blast, towards the end of my session the crowd got a bit feisty so I floated down to the Cove grabbed a few more and was on my way. I got home and carried that good stoke into my shaping. I’d say it was a solid day.

1-16-24 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 10
The surf was on the smaller side but there were some kill-able bowls between Towers 4 & 5. Jeffrey showed up and we paddled. I knew the tide window was going to be short but figured we could get an hour in at the very least. The crowd was very light. For the first forty five minutes it was pretty darn fun. As the tide creeped up the surf got very backwashy and eventually the tide turned it off to where I thought I was going to have to paddle in. The rest of my day was spent shaping. Looking for a new board let me shape you whatever your heart desires. Customs start at $585. I have my own models but can copy anything.

1-15-24 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 50
You know what the definition of insanity is? Doing the same thing over again and expecting different results. Once again I drove over to Ventura Harbor only to be horrified by how obnoxiously crowded it was out there for the junky shaped waves on offer. Unlike yesterday there were 90 guys out from the south side of New Jetty to the Rivermouth. I drove over to Dredge but it wasn’t breaking at all. Finally on a last ditch effort I had a look at Emma Wood. Why not add another ten miles to my car surf. It was flat. I came home, shaped a surfboard, had lunch with my wife, before heading back out for another look. Harbor was absolutely terrible, all closed out with some WNW wind on it. I came back home and surfed North Strand. It was chest high and on the weak side and crowded for what it was. I got a few alright lefts off the Wood House peak. Thus concludes another frustratingly crowded holiday weekend.

1-14-24 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Dredge
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 min
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 40
Today was really disheartening for me. I cruised over to Ventura Harbor hoping to get a few waves. Strand was small and too fat. I got to the Knoll and there had to be 75 guys from the south side of New Jetty to the River Mouth and the waves were terrible. There was some size but the shape was way less desirable then I like. If it wasn’t crowded I probably still would have thought twice about paddling but add 75 frothers, kooks and everything in between and I was over it. Instead I went home all pissed off and got some shaping done. Around 3pm I headed back out for another look. Once again Strand was flat on the Ship side but a tad larger on the north end. There were easily fifty guys out on weak looking chest high burgers with more coming. Stupidly I cruised back to the Harbor but at this point the tide was to low causing most waves to be pretty stretched and quality rather poor. I was considering paddling out at New Jetty which was basically just a glorified close out when I got a call from Ryan that Dredge looked alright and wasn’t too crowded. The Dredge is a decent wave that I’ve always been a fan of. Unfortunately it’s also a neighborhood wave located in the heart of the Ventura Pierpont community. The surf scene there is pretty tight knit and they definitely hold it down in the water. Since Strand and Hueneme are my neighborhood waves I respect where those dudes are coming from and do my best to stay in my zone since they mostly stay in theirs. You rarely see dredge guys at Strand or visa versa. I was running out of time and options, plus The crowd at New Jetty was growing exponentially by the minute. I drove over and to be honest it was way below average Dredge. The wave was breaking in the middle of the beach and was a bit stretched. The crowd had gotten a bit intense as well with all the regular guys on it. Since It was past 4pm and I was out of time I had to paddle. There was actually a kill-able left breaking back towards the jetty that I had going for me. Most guys seemed to be focusing on the right leaving the left to me. Overall I was surfing terrible but did manage a few ok ones. I still can’t believe the intense over crowding everywhere lately. At the very least if all these extra guys were buying my surfboards and bringing me their dings I wouldn’t mind it so much but all I see under everyone’s arms are Pyzel, Lost and Channel Islands (at least CI is local). If you don’t buy a Clarks get a Roberts or a Proctor or anything shaped locally. Don’t hand your money over to some large company where your just a number on an order form. There are plenty of great local shapers in the VTA who will be stoked to build you a great surfboard.

1-13-24 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
Miles Driven: 10
The tide was at an obnoxious 6.5 ft this morning and the waves a putrid knee high. I slept in and made some breakfast for my wife and I. After eating I finished the last of my ding repair cue, this 9’6 long board I have been restoring for a friend of mine. Around 3:30 I cruised over to Strand for a look. It was tiny, maybe thigh high at best. I might have been able to get something better at the Harbor but was lazy and over it. Instead I went home and hung out with my wife whom was feeling a tad bit under the weather. Photo is a screen shot from the Surfline Ventura Point Cam.

1-12-24 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 10
Whatever swell winter was beginning to show us it certainly has taken it back the past few days. This morning was yet another down day. Luckily there were some waist to chest high peaks on the Ship side of the bowl. Meager as they were I made the most of them. The fast dropping tide quickly killed what little was on offer to be surfed. I had shaping to do anyway and with the surf small it was a perfect opportunity to get work done.

1-11-24 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 54
It’s been a bit of wild week of weather and today didn’t disappoint. There were hard NW winds up at the points with a serious lack of swell. Meanwhile the beaches were all pretty torn up. I noticed that the wind was offshore on the Zuma cam. August decided to jump in with me and we cruised that way. CC was paddling by Tower 12 and we joined him. There were clean peaks up and down the beach. As my Zuma luck seems to always have it I was about an hour late to the window and after my first three waves the wind began to swirl constantly from onshore to offshore before ultimately settling onshore. That plus the low tide completely trashed it. At the very least I had one right I got three turns and an air reverse on. Just like the previous afternoon when I got home I was on the ding grind.

1-10-24 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 15m
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 10
There was some steep wind swell in the water and the Ship was almost working. August and I paddled and the first thirty minutes I got a handful of keepers as did August. As the tide got lower the waves began to mush on the outside then offer little if anything on the inside. I couldn’t get a decent wave to save my life. It didn’t help that the crowd doubled making thirty of us lumped into the small area from the Ship to Tower 5. I did manage a fun last wave in at the very least. The rest of my day was spent fixing dings.

1-9-24 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 15m
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 10
Today was the smallest day of surf I had seen in a month. There were some chest high broken up peaks on the Ship side of bowl that looked rip-able enough. At the very least the crowd was light thanks mostly impart to the south parking lot being closed. That damn lot constitutes for at least sixty percent of the crowd most days. If you give people a place to congregate they will. Luckily all the gales have buried it for the moment. Jeffery and I paddled and though a bit wonky I was in the zone and found my share of kill-able peaks and even a few little tubes. The king tides were in full effect and the steadily dropping tide basically killed whatever we were surfing as the waves got mushier on the outer bar and dumpier on the inner bar. At the very least I had fun. The rest of my day was committed to ding work.

1-8-24 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 15m
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 10
This morning was another down day of surf. The ship had some mixed peaks coming in with light offshore winds. There were a handful of guys sitting from tower five to the bowl but no one actually at the Ship. I saw a few fun looking bowls to be had. Pat and August decided to paddle and Biz came to film. Though small I had a blast picking off fun micro runners off the Ship. The wind stayed offshore/side shore all morning making it fun enough. I still had a full day of ding work to finish thus I did my hour and got on with my day. It wasn’t anything to write home about but I had fun.

1-7-24 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 30
Miles Driven: 52
The inadvertent score is one of my favorite things in surfing. I feel like I used get them all the time. These days with the intense crowds, my own personal laziness and the fact that I’m getting older it’s become way harder to get any kind of surf score. Today was one of those hard NW gale days. With the wind up the beaches were useless and from what I gathered Rincon had a waist to chest high wave but was busy for what it was. I was highly unmotivated and decided to get some chores done around my house. At three I met up with August at Ventura Harbor and we cruised to Rincon. The surf was looking like weak scrubby WNW wind blown peaks and about fifty or so guys spread out but mostly concentrated to the Cove. I wasn’t all that pumped on it. We were there so we paddled. From checking it to changing the wind must have went more north cause when we walked out of the trail to the foot of the point the waves were perfectly groomed offshore lines. It was still small, waist to chest and crowded but a definite improvement. I started at the Rivermouth where there were a bunch of kill-able broken up peaks to be had with only a few guys on it. Things were definitely a little weak. I had my Clarks Surfboards Bizzle Model which is a great grovel board. I was burning two to three turns a wave. At one point I found myself in the Cove. Though I was getting waves in there I hate getting stuck in that zone and then not get any waves. I started paddling back up the point towards Rivermouth when this solid head high line came to me. I figured I’d be able to get a few turns out of it before it shut down at the Cove and paddled. The wave opened up and graced me the ability to get all the way through the high Cove and into the main Cove section. Three long-boarders burned me. I was determined to make it and fought two of them off. The last guy continued to surf in front of me. He stayed far enough on the shoulder that it allowed me to keep smashing the lip behind him unabated. I think I got something like twelve or so turns on it. I got out and walked back up and paddled Indicator. There were some decent lines up there with only three guys out. I got a handful of really fun ones there as well. It started to get dark and I began surfing my way down the point to quit. I was catching so many fun ones I ended up staying out way past dark. Poor August was sitting in the car waiting cause he thought I quit after that sick one I got to through the Cove earlier. When I checked my phone my wife had been blowing me up for the past hour afraid I drowned. It’s a rarity I put in a two hour session. Tonight I had a blast and had it not gotten dark I may have surfed three hours.

1-6-24 AM Session: 5-7+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 12
The surf was back on the rise today. Pat was claiming solid Hollywood. To his credit it looked peaky enough and solid overhead and clean. With only a handful of guys out we were on it. Ryan and Gordo also joined the party. My first wave was a sick over head left I got seven turns on to the beach. I should have quit there cause after that I found myself constantly out of position. As the tide dropped waves were hitting all over me the place. It was hard to tell what was a close out or what was going to die out. There were some tubes but the actual riding area inside the barrel was too small to really make them worth a go. We all gave it the college try. Everyone got a few and considering it was just four friends enjoying a handful of peaks on a Saturday I suppose that in itself was a bit of a score. My afternoon was spent taking down the Christmas decorations with my wife.

1-5-24 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 79
The Strand was peaky head high and fun in the morning but it also had 150 guys out with hardly enough waves for fifty. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it so crowded out there and the surf definitely wasn’t good enough to warrant such a crowd. I met Pat and August over at Hollywood but the swell was just a little to small to make anything happen there. We decided to walk into the McGrath side of the River Mouth to see if a right hand bar may have formed on that side of the opening. To our dismay there wasn’t any real bars to speak of. Just stretched out rights with limited corners was a front. Pat bailed, August went back to Strand and I had a look at shores. It was a deep hole there. I guess just like last years big swell this one also destroyed the bars that were just starting to come back. I went home when CC called and said he was cruising to Zuma. I jumped in the car with him. Everything on that side of the PCH was small and uninspiring. Rather then waste anymore of my day in pursuit of waves I got to work. Though I finished the bulk of my ding work more had shown up and I had a fair amount of shaping to get done with as well. Around 3:30pm I quit and drove over to Strand. The wind was onshore but not trashing it. I saw some fun looking skate park-esq peaks with only four guys out and paddled. It may not have been as clean and buttery as the morning but at least it was empty. With crowds as intense as they are lately it seems my new parameter for scoring is more crowd dependent then wave dependent.

1-4-24 AM Session: 5-7+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 30 mins
Waves Surfed: 5
Miles Driven: 48
I had a very busy day of errands to run and ding work. Biz and I headed to Strand to hopefully score the wind swell. Though plenty of size the shape was either too peaky, closed out or dumpy. I did see a few corners that peaked my interest and decided to paddle. Once out there I realized the waves were all over the place and between the crowd and fast dropping tide lining up a good one was near to impossible. I couldn’t get onto anything fun. After thirty minutes of trying with no sign of it getting better I decided to bail and run up to the points to see if we could find something better. That was a fools errand for everything up north was tiny and weak. Ultimately I threw in the towel, ran my errands and got to shaping. I had another look at Strand before dark to see if it got any better but it still looked terrible only with more wind on it. I guess I should have just made the most of my morning surf.

1-3-24 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 52
There hasn’t been a coastal gale in quite awhile. The wind was doing it’s best job of trashing all the beaches but the swell wasn’t particularly showing at the point. I enlisted my day to finishing up the bulk of my ding load. Around 3pm I set out for Rincon with low expectations and my grovel boards. Between the mid-tide and lack of swell it was pretty soft. There was talk of a push just before dark and with that in mind I grabbed my small wave shortboard and paddled up at the Rivermouth for the cove was just too weak to bother with. The surf was just broken up wind swell not good for more then one or two turns. Every now and then a runner would come through that would offer a little bit more. Overall the session was a real grovel and a bit crowded for what it was. Normally on the windy small days you are hard pressed to see twenty or so guys on the whole point where as today there were fifty. The only thing worse then it being crowded on the good days is when it’s crowded when the waves are beat. Why everyone is still so frothy after the recent run of waves is beyond me.

1-2-24 No Surfing: 3-5+ ft
Miles Driven: 90
Some days you just can’t be in-sync with the correct window. Ultimately I probably should have just paddled the Ship on my first check. Instead I got lured or suckered in by the Malibu Cam. There were some solid lines coming through. Maybe I should have went straight there rather than wasting an hour or so around here. I met up with CC and by the time we got to the ‘bu the wind had went south. Between the wind and the fat tide we couldn’t get into it and decided to head back north and hope to get something else along the PCH. We didn’t find anything and neither of us was all that frothy anyhow. Call it borderline surfed out syndrome. At this point we were back in Hueneme where we got a call that Strand looked fun and should have just drove over and surfed. Instead I decided to get some ding repair done considering I had a stack that had come in thanks to all the swell we have had. My goal was to quit by 3pm and then get some surf. As usual work always runs later then I’d hope and I didn’t wrap up till around 4pm. Malibu looked super fun but there was no way I was going to be able to get there in time. I drove over to Strand. It was surf-able but had junky wind on it and wasn’t worth jumping in for. Instead I went and got more repair work finished. I hate it when a surf day gets away from me. There’s a photo from Malibu before the wind killed it.

1-1-24 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Thornhill
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 26
My wife and I were far more responsible last night then during previous NYE celebrations and were up and on the move by 9am. The winds were offshore in Oxnard and LA. The word I got was Strand was decent but god awful crowded. The tide was still to high for either the Shores or Hollywood. With this information I decided to take the PCH up from Simi Valley so we could check Zuma. My wife wanted to make a Mc Donalds stop that costs us easily forty minutes due to the fact that it seems Mc Donalds in general have forgotten the meaning of “fast” food. Zuma looked a bit walled and besides watching one dude who lucked into a crazy long draining left tube I was at loss to paddle out. I kept heading north. Pat said he was paddling Hollywood and that it looked fun. I decided to race up and join him. When I got around Mugu Rock I got a call from Ryan that it was onshore now everywhere but Strand. On the way I noticed that Thornhill was chest plus, peaky and offshore with only a few heads out. I flipped a u-turn and headed back. Sure enough there were very fun looking peaks up and down the beach. To be honest I had been charging big waves for so many days it was nice to just surf some fun non consequential rip-able surf. I found a peak in the middle of the beach to myself and went to town on it. The session was short lived as the wind switched after about forty five minutes to the south causing more chop and close outs. I hung with it another fifteen minutes hoping it might go back offshore. It didn’t and I was hungry and over it. Still it was a blast out there. Thornhill is a fun little wave that is often overlooked by the majority of surfers in the area.