Surfing Ruined My Life

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July 2020 Surf Sessions

7-31-20 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Blind Beach, Sonoma Coast
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 30
Last night my lady and I got heavy into the booze.  Taking into account Covid restrictions we planned ahead and brought entire mixed case of wine/champagne.  Three bottles deep we decided to enjoy a lazy morning in bed.  When we finally got our act together the plan was to head south, check out Fort Ross, this Russian out post from 1800’s, then cruise to Bodega Bay and have a little Hitchcock moment and all the while find some surf on the way.  A gale had begun last night and was still blowing when we awoke.  This was a bit disconcerting for finding some surf, though it did allow for the sun to finally come out.   The surf was pretty disorganized and victory at sea everywhere or flat at the protected spots.  There was a wedgey left hander that was borderline shore break off this rocky out crop over at Blind Beach.  I don’t really even know if the place is a real surf spot.  From up on the cliff over 100 feet up it looked chest high and very manageable so I grabbed my small wave board.  When I got down to beach level it was easily chest to head plus and beefy.  There was no way I was going to walk all the way back to the car for my other board.  I threw in bigger fins and hoped for the best.  The period on the swell was like five seconds with another two second swell mixed in.  This made lining up anything very difficult and the entire line up very unpredictable.  It was the equivalent of surfing in a bucket and someone threw a rock into it.  I had a few, but over all I was just dodging rogue sets and getting beat on by close outs.  The rest of the day was spent exploring Bodega Bay.

7-30-20 PM Session: 1-3+ ft, Black Point Beach, Sonoma Coast
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 38 (from Fort Ross)
This wasn’t a surf trip.  Technically it was my wife and I’s honey moon because we got married in April with the Shelter in Place initiative meaning we were not able to go anyplace.  Since any real travel is currently out of the question we decided to do this little trip up north.  My wife did allow me a surf a day as long as the entire day was not spent in the pursuit of surf.  We had driven up from south and saw that entire coast line yesterday.  The thought was to head north to Point Arena and check out everything in between.  We used the day well taking a few fun short hikes in the Sea Ranch and along the coast, checked out the fishing warf at Point Arena and the Point Arena light house, where we found a cool little secret cove.   Due to Covid19 climbing of the light house was prohibited.  My wife was stoked to spot and shoot a whale just outside of Gualala.I will say this what portions of the Coast I did get to see there was definitely lots of potential for surf had there been more swell in the water.  The best surf I had come across was in this crazy eco-high end housing development called the Sea Ranch at a spot called Black Point Beach.  It wasn’t anything really special besides a beach break that held some shape in a large cove.  It was sort of a smaller version of the set up at Sand Dollar Beach.  It was glassy and there were waist plus peaks up and down the beach.  The water was very brown from a red tide that was affecting the entire coast there.  No one was out.  I saw a few bars on the south end of the beach and paddled.  It was definitely nerve racking out there in full shark territory with a red tide completely by myself. I kept my head the best I could and made the most out of the meager conditions, though still better then anything I had surfed down in Ventura in the past week or so.  There was a seal acting all crazy on the inside that spooked my girl prompting her to call me in.   Had it been better I most likely would have paddled back out for a few more, but considering the size I couldn’t muster up the motivation and called it a day.  Everything closes rather early up this way.  Late dining is considered seven.  Inside dining is currently suspended so you have to eat fast in the cold or take it back to the hotel.

7-29-20 No Surfing: 1-2+ ft
Another full day of traveling ensued all the way up to Bodega Bay. Besides a brief navigational mishap here and there we made it safe. As far as the surf goes I just couldn’t get motivated to surf anything along the way. The pacific must be in really bad shape if it’s even flat this far up north. At the very least it’s cool to see a part of the California coast I have yet to check out. Though so far in my opinion it’s like a want to be Big Sur but not as nice and at times more crowded.

7-28-20 PM Session: 1-2+ ft, Asilomar
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 242
My wife and I decided to get away for a few days and head north up the coast to Bodega Bay. Considering the distance we decided to spend the first night in Monterey to break up the trip. We got there in the early evening and checked into our hotel. The Butterfly Grove Hotel in Pacific Grove. I must say it’s quite the bang for your buck at 110 on weekdays and just a tad more on weekends. The rooms were clean and well kept and grounds quite nice. I definitely recommend this quaint pink hotel. Right before dark I paddled Asilomar if for no other the reason then to wash off the long drive. It was tiny but my Clarks Surfboards Pop Fizz cut through the meager conditions like butter. The water was surprisingly warm. Warmer then Ventura was the previous day.

7-27-20 PM Session: 1-2+ ft, Santa Clara Rivermouth
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 64
I had lots of Clarks Surfboard pick ups to handle. The surf was absolute shit. I had about an hour to kill between clients. I saw a few grovel waves at the Mouth and paddled. It was about as terrible as it looked and the water was surprisingly freezing. I managed a few but it was a full on grovel for sure.

7-26-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Point Mugu
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 96
My boy Dave had invited me to surf Base with him earlier in the week. There was a slight chance of a little tropical swell and we had hoped that we might get lucky. All we ended up with was the same minor wind swell/south swell combo we have all been dealing with for weeks now. Every now and then an alright set rolled in though more times then not there was way too much wind swell causing the few south sets to shut down. I got one tube worth while. Hey, you don’t know unless you go.

7-25-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Guadeloupe Dunes
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 34
Miles Driven: 150
The effort I make in the pursuit of very average surf is unprecedented.  Today was no exception.  I woke up to a  text from Angers saying he was getting on the road to come this way and get some surf at Jalama.  After checking the buoys and watching the came for a bit I decided there wasn’t enough south left in the water and the NW wind swell was a bit too steep to be worth anything at Jalama.  Sure there would have been some weak scrubby waist high ones, but overall it was going to be crowded and very underwhelming.  If it wasn’t for Angers having already left I would have just let the day go and chilled.  He was en-route and frothy.  I suggested we got to Surf Beach  where at the very least it would take the full pulse of the meager wind swell.  Upon getting there it was evident that although some waves it was breaking way outside and slowly feathering inside and all over the place.  It was nearly impossible to get a semblance of a place to line up.  At that point the only other option was to run to the Dunes, where I always like the bars better.  Of course like every wave north of conception its a drive and half to go from one spot to another.  Thirty minutes later we arrived after having to wait briefly for a parking spot at the main gate.  The banks were definitely better.  Just south of the car park was a decent right hander breaking off a rather large rip about chest high and it was still very clean for how late in the morning it now was.  For whatever reason I got really stoked and bolted out there, followed by Angers.  Once out there I realized how hard it was to hold position with the intensity of the rip and as the tide began to fill in it only got worse.  There were good peaks to be had up and down the beach.  Really if you had a ski you could have gottne tons a sick ones.  Instead I constantly found myself out of position, too far inside or getting swept  out to sea.   So in other words it was a classic day at a beach north Santa Barbara County beachie.  Then high tide came in and completely turned it off.  It was far from epic, but it actually stayed clean the entire surf, we had the place to ourselves and we didn’t get attacked by a shark.  I would say it was a bit of a win.  Post surf we hit up The Lompoc Restaurant off H Street (route 1) for lunch.  They serve the entire menu, which is quite extensive all day and night long.  I promise the place will not disappoint.  Totally worth a stop if you love that old school mom and pop diner feel and are in the area.

7-24-20 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
I just wasn’t in the mood to drive an hour or so north or south to find a marginal at best grovel session. Instead I took the day off to save gas and rest my weary bones.  Tiny surf, especially as you get older takes a way higher toll on your body.  Everything has to be pushed so much harder and its very tough on my back and knees.  I was ready for a lay day. I will be back on the grovel tomorrow for sure.

7-23-20 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 28
Miles Driven: 126
I really thought it was going to be fun up at the “J” today. The wind was right. There was an incoming tide all morning and there was enough south on the buoys. First off it was obnoxiously crowded for how small the waves were. There had to about ten guys at the rivermouth and another twenty at Cracks. I walked to second Crack and hung a on the beach a little while the crowd began to dissipate. It was small and rather inconsistent and a bit dumpy for the size. I found myself struggling to get any good rides. Then I lucked into this wide swinging left that was one of the few and far between chest high ones. It started off mushy so I sung a round house rebound and then as I was setting my inside rail the wave hit the inside, jacked up and went square allowing me to get shacked off my ass. That one wave pretty much made my entire session. Was it worth the drive probably not, but with no end in sight for this current flat spell I figured I better surf what I can while I can.

7-22-20 AM Session: 1-2+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 64
It would have been another Jalama day except for the fact that I had to meet a Clarks Surfboards customer down in Ventura about an order.  After the meeting I had a look at The Harbor mid morning.  Though it was very tiny there was the occasional waist high south wave.  Not in the mood to drive to L.A. for just marginally better conditions I decided to just grab my Pop Fizz model and paddle out.  You know its pathetic when I take that board out.  It was with out a doubt a grovel out there.  I did manage a few alright ones and at the very least was surfing better then I was yesterday.  This flat spell is very tough and there is no reprieve in the near forecast.  YUCK!!!!

7-21-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 3 hrs
Waves Surfed: 44
Miles Driven: 126
You do really understand the true surf commitment till have driven 130 miles round trip and then walked about a mile and half just to surf average waist to occasionally chest high surf.  I have done that three times in the last four days.  I got word early that Ventura was blown out and small.  There was some fresh minor SW on the buoys along with a little bit of weak wind swell.  I was left with the choice of driving to County Line or north to Jalama. The latter will always win out in my heart.  There was a bit of wind on it when I got up there.  Luckily it was a bit more NNW, which comes in side shore.  It actually looked somewhat fun right out at the Campground.  I walked to Cracks anyway.  One guy was out and there were definitely some  ok south sets considering how little swell was out there.  I jumped in and got a handful of fun lefts.  Then it glassed off for almost an hour, before coming back up and eventually howling onshore.  As far as my surfing was concerned I was have a really off day.  I was struggling to put anything together.  I got so frustrated I shed my new Toledo fins and went back to my Julian Wilsons, not that it made a very big difference.  When you are off you are off.  At the very least it was a nice day and felt good to be in the water.  So much that I surfed for an unprecedented three hours.

7-20-20 AM Session: 1-3 ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 66
I had Clarks Surfboard business down south, plus Jalama was all blown out this morning.  Robbie had surfed the Harbor early and thought it might be worth my while to check Emma.  It was really tiny and gutless out there.  I headed over the Harbor.  New Jetty looked weak but do-able except for that fact that there were easily 25 guys out.  There were some mixed peaks up and down the beach from the River Mouth to the Knoll.  Nothing was really speaking to me so I cruised to Fruit Stands.  My friend Julien was just getting out.  I saw a few small mushy peaks to be had and he said he got a few.  I grabbed my Clarks Surfboards Pop Fizz to give me a bit of an edge in the extremely gutless conditions.  I was glad I did.  Even though there were what looked like kill-able bowls there was just absolutely no energy behind them.  Luckily for me that board grovels like a champ and I was able to make the most out of the pathetic waves.   Sadly as pathetic as it was out there it was the best surf Ventura has seen since Tuesday last week.  The forecast looks bleak my friends.  California summer has come back with a serious vengeance.

7-19-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 30
Miles Driven: 126
The Angers had been itching to get a Jalama day in with us.  After giving him the report last night he was down.  They had a head start on us by about thirty minutes getting there just in time to see it glassy before the wind came up.  By the time my wife and I got there it had a bit of wind on it.  There was a tad more size and consistency then yesterday.  With the kelp it was still torn up, but manageable.  The crowd was a bit more stiff as well.  Talk about a toss up, less crowd, clean with smaller conditions albeit weak, or slightly larger and more consistent with wind a pack.  I would say it was a push.  There was a group on the main peak  and they were doing the best to box Angers and I out on every set.  I floated down to the next peak and made the most of it.  The wind kept getting stronger and I just never really got into a groove out there.  The whole surf I just sort of felt like I was going through the motions.  I did land an ally-oop that was alight.  When I finally decided I had beat the dead horse enough I cruised in and chilled with my wife and Kevin’s wife while he kept at it.   Angers hadn’t surfed since last week making him way more frothy then me.  On the way home My wife and I checked out Elubia’s Kitchen at the Santa Barbara Cider Company in Goleta.  They are the only place doing authentic Guatemalan cuisine in Santa Barbara.  My wife is half Guatemalan and thought we would give it a go.  Dinning any place with all the Covid regulations is no easy feat.  It is even more difficult when you want to try a new place.  I’ll start with the good.  We did a flight of cider, all of which was very tasty.  I would highly recommend it.  The food on the other hand was ok at best.  I found it all to be lacking of flavor and the pupusas to a bit under stuffed making it just a deep fried masa disc.  Its all edible and if you want some food to go with your cider its convenient,  but I wouldn’t go out of your way for it.

7-18-20 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 34
Miles Driven: 126
I really wanted to surf today.  The buoys were showing a tad more south swell.  Up to the “J” my wife and I went.  I never mind cruising up there with her.  Worst case scenario it sucks we just enjoy a fun day at the beach.  Luckily for us there were some waist to stomach plus waves coming through and it was rather glassy for how late in the morning we had got there.  There were a handful of guys out but plenty of peaks to go around.  Unfortunately it was way weaker then it looked.  Though the waves had some pretty looking lines it was rather gutless and took plenty of effort to make something out of them.  I had just purchased a pair of the FCS 2 Fillipe Toledo fins in the air core, size Medium.  They are super light and have plenty of drive.  The only thing I found that I need to get used to is how grippy they felt on the face of the wave.  The fins work for sure, but I still have to surf them a bit more before I give them my official thumbs up.  After the surf the to get a day use spot was all the way backed up to the top of the hill and I heard it was a solid hour wait to get a space.  My wife and I decided to get burgers.  It was an hour and a half wait to get our food.  The burgers were awesome as always and we had nothing to do anyhow, but with lines like that it will be some time before we go for a Jalama Burger again.

7-17-20 No Surfing: 1-2+ ft
There was a very slight rise in the swell thanks to a tinnie tinny south pulse.  Ventura was still gutless with some wind.  Jalama appeared to have a few more ripples rolling in then the previous day.  I had planned to head up there in the afternoon for the incoming tide push, but then got bogged down with a project in my apartment and never made it out.  I heard it was some what surf-able.

7-16-20 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
I finally got called for a job interview over at the Goleta Post Office for a custodial position I had applied for.  The interview went well and they ended up offering me the job.  The starting pay is pretty pathetic and about half as much as I was used to making as a chef.  That career is a bit of a dead end at the moment.  In this life one must adapt or perish.  At the very least I have a job on the cusp of what may become the worst economic depression in US history.  Besides the pay, after 90 days I automatically become a career employee with full union benefits.  Ultimately this boils down to it being rather difficult to get fired.  I am rather crafty and ambitious.  With any luck I can work my way up the ladder.   After the interview the surf looked rather dismal on all of the cams and all the first hand reports I had gotten from friends down south.  I had enough chores to do around the house plus some ding work to keep me busy.  If you have some dinged up boards you need repaired hit me up and get it done while it is still flat.  I would be very happy for the work.

7-15-20 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
Just like that a potential perfect month goes down the crapper thanks to a flat spell, on of which I hate to say is going to hang around for at least the next ten days maybe the rest of the summer.  With that in mind we offer plenty of summer grovelers at Clarks Surfboards, Fishes, Small wave short boards, Fun shapes, Retros and Long boards.  If you need something to help enhance your small wave game reach out to me asap.  If you order by Monday I can still have it ready for you by the first week August or so.  Reach out to me.  Robbie surfed terrible River Mouth that totally wasn’t worth my gas money.  Neither was making the trek to Jalama for waist high waves at best.  Instead I caught up on a few things that I got behind on because of the unprecedented run of surf we have had.  I had some ding work to do.  Actually I received the first negative comment here in quite a while.  Apparently I “have ruined surfing” among other fun jargon this anonymous kook used.  New flash: surfing has been ruined since The Duke exposed the world to it.  Good times.  If you can’t beat them then Join them is what I always say.  What are your thoughts?  Do you hate me, love me, don’t care but just read to find out where it has been good or bad?  What are thoughts on me “ruining surfing”?  Its flat, I’m bored and interested. Use the comments here, or DM me or email, homing pigeon, throw a brick through my window with a message taped to it, whatever floats your boat, though maybe not the latter please.

7-14-20 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 30
Miles Driven: 126
After yesterday’s pathetic grovel I had a good mind to take today off.  These days life is so uncertain and there is also so much time not having a job or prospects, though I am getting closer to a start date at the Post Office.  I feel like to not surf if I can would be a real shame.  Robbie confirmed that Ventura was already windy, small and terrible, a trifecta of bad surfing combinations.  All you have to do is add crowded to that one.  The Jalama cam looked clean enough and though small one can almost always count on finding something palatable up there.  I cruised and though a bit more windy then I would have liked there were waist with the occasional chest high wave rolling through at Cracks.  Despite the wind the kelp did a decent enough job of keeping things organized.  The sand bar is a little bit on the straight side at the moment.  I had to actually complain about too much sand, but there is causing most of the waves to be closed out and dumpy.  Luckily that .5 ft short period south swell was enough to cross a few waves up enough to give a section or two.  I found a few decent air sections and even got a fun little head dip.  It was hardly worth the effort.  I had the whole place to myself and one other dude on a body board who turned out to be a super cool guy.  Jalama is always a good idea.

7-13-20 AM Session: 1-2 ft, C Street
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 78
Taking in to consideration how small the waves were I stupidly took my sweet time leaving Santa Barbara.  Robbie had called to let me know that Harbor was small but fun looking.  By the time I got there the wind had come up rather stiff onshore.  It appeared that there was a fair amount of NW wind swell in the water, which provoked me to check Strand.  If it were clean there I might have considered paddling the bowl.  There were small waist high short period wind swell waves up and down the beach.  With the wind it just looked absolutely terrible.  It was small and windy.  I didn’t feel like driving to Malibu for more small and potentially windy waves.  The Point was where I found myself with my Clarks Surfboards Pop Fizz fish staring at barely knee to thigh high surf.  No one was up at Pipes and there were a few minuscule runners peeling through.  It was a full on grovel.  Long boarders were struggling.  Luckily my Pop Fizz never fails me no matter how shitty the surf is.  That board single handed keeps me in the water on days years ago I would have not even considered paddling out.  Rest of my day was spent fixing digs.

7-12-20 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Point Mugu
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 96
I woke up with the intention to either go up to Jalama or just go grovel Fruit Stands again.  While brushing my teeth I fielded a text from Dave if I wanted to go to Base.  My first reaction was that it might be just a bit too small, a bit more NW wind swell then optimal and a chance of wave ruining south winds.  Then I though fuck, it is not everyday I get the opportunity to surf base.  If it sucked I could always just cruise to county or something.  We cruised and were pleasantly surprised with chest to head plus clean lines coming through.  It was a bit walled and not as hallow as I would have liked, but every now and then a solid set of fire would come through.  It was enough to get me out there.  My wife was stoked.  She had never been there and only has heard stories of the place over the years from my friends and I.  The crowd was a bit heavy for what was on offer.  The majority were actually a little bit on the kooky side and definitely had no business being out there what so ever.   Luckily there was a stiff enough current to send them down the beach and out of the way of the main peaks.  That being said there was still a solid pack of ten very capable surfers on the two best peaks and a few guys including Mason Ho and Tristan giving the left at Point Side a go.  I found my niche with a crew of body boarders just off the north edge of the Lab.  I had a handful of fun ones and three decent barrels.  I never really got that phenomenal one  that I go for, but I will take it.  After the surf my wife and I tried this Mexican Seafood place in downtown Ventura, called Limon y Sal.  We had to wait a bit to get a table, but it was definately worth it.  Some of the best Haute Mexican cuisine I have had to date.  The pricing though a bit on the higher end is a decent overall value for what you get.   I will though their specialty drinks were a bit to be desired.  Besides that I would totally recommend it.

7-11-20 AM Session: 1-2+ ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 31
Miles Driven 66
Whatever happened to make some fun little waves yesterday certainly wasn’t today.  Tiny was the call, as was foggy.  I would have went up north to chase some of the wind swell, but I had to meet a customer for a board pick up.  Ryan was taking his boys to Fruits and Pat and I decided to join him.  There was some very minor combo, waist high at best.  We all went into full on grovel mode.  Ironically I told my girl if she wanted to sleep on the beach instead of film it was cool.  At the moment considering how decent the spring and early summer have been I actually have plenty of footage and even a few sessions I have not even gone through yet. I managed to hit a handful of decent airs and air reverses that although in small waves would have been decent clips.  Then the wind came up making it even worse then it already was and I was over it.

7-10-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 34
Miles Driven: 66
I was torn on what to do this morning.  It was between chasing the NW wind swell up north or groveling combo in Ventura again.  I had a look at George Clout’s daily instagram report from L.A. and he was showing some decent little waves at County Line.  I figured I would go south and worse case scenario end up at County.  Friday at the Harbor is no picnic thus I had a look at Fruits.  No one was out.  There were fun looking waist to chest high peaks coming through up and down the beach.  It was totally on the small side, though with out a doubt better then yesterday.   At the very least it was really nice day out.  Why not paddled.  I jumped in and immediately got a handful of fun lefts and rights.  Ryan showed up and he was also surprised at how much fun it was for the small size.  I think we just lucked into the tide push cause as it got higher the surf began to turn off.  That was fine cause I had already had my fill.  I kind of tweaked my should and back weird on a solid backside reo on my last few waves.  As of press time I am still feeling a bit tweaked out.  The perils of aging.

7-9-20 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 28
Miles Driven: 64
It was tiny out there this morning.  The buoys showed just enough trace south swell to lead me to believe I could find something at the River Mouth.  I am not going to lie it looked rather pathetic while I was checking it.  I saw a few sets way down past the Mouth and with the tide push I decided to paddle.  I walked way the heck down there and found a few alright peaks.  There were a handful of guys spread out with lots of waves for everyone.  I basically just surfed my way back to my car in as many waves as it took me to do that.  Actually I was glad I surfed.  It was way more fun then I had initially anticipated.  Just goes to show you that you should always paddle if you are already there.  I had an appointment at the Post Office to get my finger prints done so that I can move into the federal background check portion of the hiring process. After that I finally finished up my garden.  After four afternoons of effort it finally looks awesome again.  Look for small waves through tomorrow and the weekend.

7-8-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 78
I didn’t really know what to expect this morning.  I got word that Strand was about waist high with ok shape.  Hoping for a bit of combo action I had a look at Fruit Stands, since I got word that Harbor was pretty bad.  Upon getting to the beach I could understand why.  There was still way too much NW wind swell in the water to allow for the south swell to cross it up decent.  Angers, fresh off his sick Cabo trip was at The Ship and said it looked small but rip-able.  He is my right hand man in the surf so I will always go by his word.  With the tide push it was waist to chest and very kill-able.  My body was feeling pretty worked from all the surfing and gardening the past few days.  I was very stiff causing my enjoyment of the grovel to be less then stellar.  To my credit I had a few decent airs.  Angers was ripping with that “I just got back from a surf trip” gusto.  Then the tide got high and it just turned completely off.  That was fine cause I still had plenty of gardening work to do anyhow.  Don’t procrastinate in your garden it only causes twice the amount of work.  The constant gardener is the happy gardener.

7-7-20 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 30
Miles Driven: 78
When I walked up the beach I witnessed a solid chest to head plus set roll through with eight waves in it.  Some guy even got barreled.  That was all it took to get me to run back to my car.  The wind was on it making the waves a bit more sloppy though the sets were clean enough.  While I was changing into my suit three cars parked and a totally of twelve randoms got out all with boards and paddled.  It was a bit of a shocker.  These kooks ended up clocking the entire inside.  I had to surf around their stupidity on more then a few waves.  That being said for about forty five minutes I lucked into every decent set wave that rolled through.  It was not like I was paddling everyone for them either.  The waves just kept coming right to me.  Unlike yesterday where it kept getting better, as the tide filled in it just got worse.  I nearly thought I was going to have to paddle in towards the end it got so inconsistent.  Looks like the waves are forecast to be pretty grovely the next few days and weekend.  Rest of my day was spent once again in my garden.

7-6-20 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves surfed: 32
Miles Driven: 78
A very late season NW wind swell decided to show itself on the buoys and it looked strong enough for The Ship to have a wave.  There was still a fair amount of south in the water too.  All my sources at the standard combo spots were less then enthusiastic.  I’m not sure if it was because it was not that good, everyone’s standards were left high from the weekend or my boys just didn’t want me to paddle and steal all the good ones.  Maybe a little bit of all three.  Two sources said that the Ship had fun-ish waves and as you know I am pretty impartial to that wave.  These days I kind of only get excited about two places, Rincon and the Ship.  Rincon was tiny thus I started at ship.  It was definitely average at best, but fun enough for summer.  I jumped in.  The crowd was somewhat light and mostly regulars.  At first I made the mistake of sitting outside for the sets, which were few and far between.  Then I moved inside where there were lots of fun double ups with decent little air sections.  Usually as the tide comes up it gets worse out there.  Today it just kept getting better.  I surfed till I was just about burned out, yet still didn’t want to leave.  Ryan and Scottie surfed all afternoon and said it just kept getting better out there.  Strand in July?  I am not complaining.  The rest of my day was spent working in my very overgrown garden.

7-5-20 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 2.5 hr
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 73
All reports that were afforded me said it was better then yesterday but still stretched. I decided to have a look at the Hotel. The bars looked good there yesterday and it does seem to handle these long period swells better there. The tide had already gotten too high for it and though the shape was decent it was only about chest plus and very soft. At this point I headed Fruit Stands with a make it or break it mentality. Once again everyone was leaving as I was coming up the beach. There was some wind on it. The lines looked clean enough. It was solid head plus. Stoked to finally get some clips in decent waves I jumped in. As soon as I hit the water a thick fog bank rolled in trashing any chance of getting any footage. Still there were plenty of fun peaks to be had in the seclusion of the fog. After a hour or so I was over it and got out. The fog was so thick I couldn’t find my wife. I think she walked the opposite direction looking for me. In this hunt the fog completely lifted and unveiled perfect glassy head to overhead screamers. I guess the tide started pulsing the swell hard. Stoked I jumped back in and caught a solid stand up tube, backed up with a huge top to bottom hit and a straight air on the close out. For the next hour besides getting denied on a paddle back out cause the current was so strong and set a fifteen wave macker, a rip fest ensued. I surfed till I was completely exhausted. Not a moment too soon either. When I started walking to the car the fog rolled back in and wind came up. Talk about scoring a magic little window.

7-4-20 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Oxnard Shores
Time in Water: 1.5 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 72
Normally with a steadily building south swell I would have been up early and super pumped to surf. This was a holiday weekend and probably the busiest one for beaches everywhere. I got word it was pretty stretched and packed everywhere. Why wouldn’t it be? All the L.A. beaches were closed and so was just about everything else that one would want to do except go surfing. I took my time leaving Santa Barbara. Thank my lucky stars I didn’t go up to Jalama cause apparently they shut down the day use up there for the weekend. I would have been so pissed if I had driven all the way up there to get turned away. Guess the campers scored a rare empty 4th up there. I had a look at Fruit stands first. Though plenty of size it was just large walls running down the beach with little scoring potential. The tide was getting higher so I checked Shores where the combo of the tide and large swell made it a bit more peaky. The sets were still walls as far and as fast as one could surf. Everyone out there was leaving and I saw a few peaks to get me excited. The current was very tough as was being in position. The good sets were easily fifteen minutes apart and with the drift I was almost never in the right spot. I did manage to link up with two really good ones in an hour and a half session. To make matters worse I hit my hand on the nose of my board on a failed air attempt on my first wave and had that to deal with all surf too. It was definitely a hate surf. Then I was at my car changing out of my suit and got yelled at by a cop for surfing. There were tons of guys surfing Shores all morning, but he singles me out. Whatever. Finally my wife and I came home to the most depressing 4th of July ever. Our BBQ consisted of us, Bizarro and our neighbor Mike. Others decided not to come thanks to the rise in Covid19 cases. There was no fireworks except for all the idiots who had their own. I just got drunk by six and passed out on the couch. Fuck this stupid time we live in.

7-3-20 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 66
The sun was out when I woke up this morning, which usual means by the time I get down the beaches it is almost certainly to be blown out.  Not to mention I was even more sore this morning thanks to two days in a row of hard surf sessions and ding repair.  I heard there were still some sets and even though the wind was on it was surf-able.  I had to go down to Ventura anyway to deliver ding repairs that finished to their respective owners.  It was pretty trashed when I had a look.  I met up with all my customers and then contemplated going to Ventura Point.  Laziness got the better of me, not really wanting to walk all the way from town to surf since all the lots are closed.  I grabbed my Clarks Surfboard’s Fly Guy Model and ran down to Fruits.  No one was out because it was blow to all hell.  There were some lefts holding some semblance of shape and the cross wind was good for airs.  I put in a solid effort and definitely made the most out of the trash afforded to me.  I milked my last wave to the beach and when I looked back out into the line up just didn’t see the point of paddling back out.  I had already made my wave count anyway.  The rest of my day was pretty chill since everything fun is closed for the weekend.  This will be the first 4th of July weekend that I have not attended the Wild Cat in fifteen years!!!  DAMN YOU COVID19 WHY DO YOU KEEP FUCKING US??!!???!!!! At least we can still surf.

7-2-20 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 32
Miles Driven: 66
I was pretty sore when I woke up this morning after yesterday’s froth thus leading to a bit of later start.  I got to Fruits first out of my crew.  All the reports I got was that it was smaller then yesterday.  A less then stoked Brady was coming back down the trail, heading back to Shores.  I had a look anyways.  I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder cause I saw a full on skate park out there.  Though smaller than the previous day the shape was better and the air sections solid.  There was a light WSW wind on it that also made it perfect conditions for airs.  Ryan and I Pat showed up ready to rip and Brady came back.  We found a bar to ourselves and pretty much had a four man shred-a-thon with Brady taking the cake thanks impart to an deep chandelier left barrel he miraculously came out of and an overall killer backside performance on the lefts.  To my credit I landed a variety of airs and combo’d up some healthy maneuvers.  Unlike yesterday the wind finally came up from the NW ultimately trashing it.  By that point we had all had our fill.  After the surf I had to run all sorts of Clarks Surfboard errands and then more ding repair had to be done.  It wasn’t an epic south swell, but fun enough.

7-1-20 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 3 hrs
Waves Surfed: 36
Miles Driven: 66
Forecasts called for the an increase in the south swell.  It was just a tad smaller, though still solid.  I think the swell must have peaked the day before.  It certainly did feel like it was pulsing when I was out there yesterday.  That being said there were clean peaky chest to head high plus waves up and down the beach.  Pat and I didn’t hesitate to paddle. Even with a light south wind it stayed very clean and rip-able for the entire session.  There were tubes, air sections, race tracks and even some open lines for combos.  Heck I even got a few fun rights, which is rare on at south swell.  The only reason we quit was because we were flat out exhausted.  There was a stiff drift to the north forcing us to paddle the entire time to stay in position.  On the way out we saw Ryan coming up the trail and he surfed till three and said the wind was fine the entire time he was out there.  Just an FYI for anyone who surfs out at Fruit Stands there has been some juvenile great white sightings and I ran into some guy before I paddled out who said he got chased out the day before by an adult white he estimated to be over twelve feet.  I myself have seen the usual juveniles that have always ran from River Mouth to Fifth St. at the Shores.  Just be weary if you paddle there.  Also there has been plenty of sea birds feeding just outside the line up and fishermen have been catching size-able halibut and rock fish just in the deep trench between the beach and the bars, which will also attract sharks.  Rest of my day was spent fixing dings.