Surfing Ruined My Life

July 2018 Surf Sessions

7-31-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
Another day of minuscule waves.  There was a tad bit more wind swell on the buoy, though still not nearly enough for me to make the effort with all I have going on with work and Fiesta this week.

7-30-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
It was basically flat out there today.  I could have maybe long boarded somewhere, but was not motivated to waste the gas.  I had plenty of work to do at the kitchen anyway. 

7-29-18 PM Session: 1-3+ ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 126
The wedding brunch went down fine and was actually a little lighter then we had expected.  I got out late in the afternoon.  I knew the waves were going to be small up north, but I also knew that the impending flat spell for the next seven to ten days was looking grim.  I stopped home and picked up my girl and we headed for Jalama.   It really was one of those gorgeous Jalama evenings with fire red sunset to go along with it.  All that was missing was the waves.  What little south that was still trickling in was just that, little.  Every so often a stomach high set would come through.  I wore my 2mm full suit.  That is a record for me.  I don’t think I have ever wore such a thin wettie that far north.  The water is crazy warm right now.  Its a bit disturbing cause all that warm water is going to kill the kelp.

7-28-18 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
Apparently on the one day that I absolutely couldn’t surf I get a text that River Mouth was clean, head high and fun.  Jalama was the same.  Fuck it, I made a shit load of money today.  I had prep all day for a 104 person wedding brunch then in the evening I provided the staff meal for Lotus Land, another 125 people.

7-27-18 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 64
I headed straight to the River Mouth this morning.  The swell was steadily on the decline and the wind was relatively light.  As I was checking it I saw to guys get barreled.  I knew the wind wasn’t going to hold up for long and raced back to my car to suit up and paddle.  Of course as I was walking up the beach the wind went stiff NW and the once tube riddled walls had now turned to mush.  I got out there, but with out the tube it was really just long drawn out fast steep walls with lack of a kill-able session.  I found a few alright ones, but I never really got that magic ride I was hoping for.  I suppose that could be the theme of this entire swell for me though.  For whatever reason I ended up stepping into another obnoxiously long hard day of prep in the kitchen.  Tomorrow I have a twelve hour day of prep and events.  The life of a freelance chef.

7-26-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 28
Miles Driven: 30
Once again another morning where I had woke up early hoping to score River Mouth was foiled by shitty wind and poor wave quality.  Luckily I got this information before I even left my house.  I headed to Indicator, after all if I was going to surf bad waves I  may as well surf bad waves at close to home.  There was about a waist to chest high wave coming through with a some what light crowd.  While I was checking it I saw a solid head high set clean up the line up.  I paddled as it turned out it was super peaky and fun, though a bit inconsistent.  The crowd was all Rincon regulars and folks I have good standing with.   I rode my fish, which was totally the right choice for the weak waves on offer.  Once again it just wasn’t what Backside should be.  The sets were really shifty, most waves either closed out or went back out to sea.  At least I was surfing all right.  Then towards the end of my surf the crowd tripled and everyone was jockeying everyone for shitty waves, a common problem that plagues the spot.  By then I had already had my share and was on my way to work anyhow.  Work was a grueling ten hour day.  I had prep and a luau birthday party on the Riviera for 70 people.  What an amazing view they had.  You could literally run a zip line from  their patio to Sand Spit.  Ah to be rich in this life.

7-25-18 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, The Hotel
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 76
The south swell was at it’s peak and I was at a loss on where to go.  Once again Indicator looked average at best.  Still considering I had to go to work I was about to paddled when I got a text from Ryan that Hollywood was head plus, peaky, clean, uncrowded and fun.  I bolted down that way.  The rising tide had begun to take a toll on it.  The hotel seemed to have a few decent peaks.  I ate up the majority of my time checking it and was only able to get a few waves before having to leave.  I did manage a few really fun ones and every wave I got was fun enough.  It would have been the perfect day to surf all day, but work called and I was stuck. In the evening I had a look around Gaviota.  El Cap was probably pretty fun mid day, but was swamped by the time I got to it.  I hiked into Refugio with my fish.  Had the crowd not been thirty strong and stupid I would have paddled, but instead just chilled on the beach and watched the chaos with my girl.

7-24-18 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 30
Today was another foiled day of what should have been good swell except for more shitty early wind coupled with a shitty short period NW wind swell. My intel said it wasn’t even worth a look south.  Indicator though pretty average at best looking seemed the best choice and the crowd was light.  I couldn’t really get into a rhythm out there and was always on the worst waves.  I did land a decent air reverse I was pumped on.  At least I got wet.  I heard Malibu was on and that El Capitan was decent as well. A fat lot of good that did me since I had to work the rest of the day.

7-23-18 AM Session: 2-3 ft, New Jetty
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 64
The supposed new swell was supposed to already have filled into to Ventura.  The wind was already on it when I got to the Harbor.  It was a shame too because it looked like River Mouth could have been fun.  Instead I settled for windy, weak shitty New Jetty for lack of a better option.  It was a forced paddle.  Once I got out there it was way worse then it looked.  There was terrible current, bad rips and finding a good one was near to impossible.  I made the most of it on my fish.  Ultimately I got out after an hour, opting to get my car washed and run a few errands then surf the crap any longer.  Later that evening I had to work an event that went well.  Between waves and work this week is going to be intense.

7-22-18 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 30
Miles Driven: 126
Jalama had been the call the last two days and I had a feeling it was going to be fun today.  Despite a somewhat risky wind forecast and a bit of a wicked hangover from last night my girl and I headed north.  Angers and his wife decided to join us and actually if it had not been for them already leaving Oxnard my lady and I would probably have just slept in and went down to LA in the early afternoon.  The place was a zoo.  Day use was full as well as camping.  You literally had to wait outside the gate, club style and as cars exited they let cars in.  Luckily we got there on a shift change from the early morning surfers and the wind had also come up a bit, further helping thin out the massive crowds.  Still from T’s to Cracks the crowd was easily fifty strong and the camp ground had another twenty or so.  Like I said it was a zoo.  I always try to get to Jalama mid morning as to get in the water as all the early birds are getting out to eat, or rest.  Then I paddle and surf with way less people.  With the kelp the wind gets filtered pretty well enough and I will always choose slightly lower quality waves with less crowd any day.  We got lucky and the winds slowly rose till around one when it got super hard.  Despite the wind it was very surf-able and the crowd completely bailed.  I was a bit out of sorts and behind the eight ball thanks to last nights festivities.  I did manage a few fun ones.  The swel was a bit stretched with the long period and lack of wind swell cross up.  Couple that with average sand and you have very few exceptional ones.  Most either closed out or were running back out to sea cutting the intensity in half.  I think it was the best waves with the least amount of crowd we were going to find on a Sunday of a very hyped swell after a week long wave starved stretch.

7-21-18 AM Session: 1-3 ft, New Jetty
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 64
After not surfing four days in a row, by no fault of my own I really wanted to get a surf in.  The buoys showed a bit more south energy, enough for me to believe that Ventura Harbor would have something.  River Mouth had an occasional chest high wave, but with wind was already on it pretty good at 8 am.  There was a terrible mushy, weak and windy wave at New Jetty and not wanting to go home empty handed I paddled.  It was about as terrible as it looked.  The waves were even a struggle on my fish.  It did feel good to be back in the water and I wanted to get my feet in the wax before the real surf showed.  I must have made it look pretty fun cause after about the half way point of my session eight other guys paddled and more were suiting as I was leaving.  The wedding went down with out a hitch.  The night was capped off at the Wild Cat for a little drunken debauchery.  The majority of the guests from the wedding I worked actually came out to the Wild Cat and all were stoked on the food we served.

7-20-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
There were some tiny little front runners of the massive south headed out way on the buoy.  I am sure if I went up north to Jalama I could have found a waist to chest high wave to surf.  Unfortunately, I had a super important day at work with the wedding tomorrow.  I could have went after work except I was playing a show on my Sax with rapper Kevin Eleven at 8 pm and needed to some last minute wood shedding to feel good about what I was doing.  The show went alright enough.  My head wasn’t super in the game and my performance was less then what I would have hoped it to be.  Still everyone in attendance thought it was great and most were blown away.  I am always the biggest critic of my own playing.  I have decided to make a conscience effort to play more music going forward.

7-19-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
The flat spell continued. We have a 155 person wedding on Saturday so work has been a bit intense.  Since there is no swell I have been grabbing as many hours as I possible can. Might as well make some money if I can’t surf.  After work I fixed three of my 5’10’s in preparation of the swell to come next week.  Really it was putting a band aid on a gun shot wound, never the less I will be able to get a few surfs out of each of them.

7-18-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
More flatness and more work.  I had a lunch followed by a dinner leaving me little time to surf even if it was fun.

7-17-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
That flat spell finally came.  It was fine cause I had plenty of work to do and money to make.  After work I fixed three of my favorite boards that have been out of commission for some time.  Looks like there is a solid south coming late weekend into early next week.  Got to be ready.

7-16-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, County Line
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles driven: 112
Yet another day of onshore winds up before the sun.  What an annoying weather patter Ventura has been in this summer.  I found myself staring at shitty drained, windy, dumpy River Mouth and weak ass New Jetty.  I had the day off, the last I would see probably till the end of the month.   There was also quite the impending flat spell as well.  Rather then bag it I headed to LA.  County though far from epic had a waist to chest high plus set coming in with a fairly light crowd.  Thanks to all the kelp outside it was rather clean despite the wind.  I paddled the reef and found a few fun lefts.  With the size and swell angle most waves were breaking very close in on the shallow reef and I found myself losing a little bit of skin every other wave.  Then a strange half hour lull set in even though it was still a bit of tide push.  At least I found a few.  As I was leaving I saw a few wedgy lefts on the beach break.  I probably should have surfed there.  Oh well.  The rest of my day was spent running countless errands in preparation for the long work haul ahead of me.

7-15-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Zeros
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 120
Conscientiously breaking my own rule of never surfing LA on a weekend I headed south after staring at a pathetic junky River Mouth and an equally shitty and crowded New Jetty.  Lately my work schedule has been pretty intense leaving me short windows to surf meaning more often then not I have to settle for sub par conditions.  When I have a day off I want to get the most out of my surf.  In today’s case I should have cruised to Jalama, but opted to go south instead.  LA was of course a zoo.  Since I rarely go that way on a Sunday I had no idea the amount of expensive luxury, vintage and super sports cars that people cruise back and forth in all day.  I think in a matter of five miles of the PCH I passed over 5 million dollars worth of automobiles.  I counted at least four Lotus, three Ferraris, dozens of Porshe 911 and a handful of vintage Porshes to name a few.  Cars aside County Line looked peaky and fun except for the fact that there had to be easily 300 people spread out on the barely half mile of surf area there.  The tide was low so I didn’t even bother with Leo.  Then there is always Zero’s.  All my friends get on my case for my obsession with such a mushy shitty wave.  Its a left point/reef, a terrible one at that, still its a left.  Not to mention that it always looks sick from the cliff.  There was easily thirty guys out.  Everyone was sitting way outside and I saw plenty of fun inside double up, which has always been my bread and butter out there.  I jumped in and let the drop in’s, near collisions, angry surfer reactions to the crowd begin.  As per usual in the land of the kook, that the LA breaks are, there are more of them then there are of good surfers, therefore they rule.  I stopped getting angry about it years ago and no just work around their ridiculous antics.  I actually had a blast.  After the surf we headed back to Ventura for a little brunch.  There was this cat rescue place across the street from where we ate and of course we went in and came home with a Siamese/calico mix.  We named him Charles and he has a fun little mustache.  Too cute,

7-14-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, New Jetty
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 64
I had to work a private party in Sandy Lane on the beach in Carp leaving me a short window to get a few early waves.  Of course the wind was already on it when I got down there and tide a bit drained.  New Jetty had a few lefts coming in, though riddled with chop and current.  My girl needed to be at some fabric store on Main St. at ten so I paddled.  between the current and rip it was a lot of work out there.  I made the most of the conditions and managed a few fun ones on my fish.  At least the crowded was lighter then usual thanks to the Surf Rodeo.  The party went off famously as per usual.

7-13-18 No Surfing: 2-3 ft
I had to work early to prep for a gig on Saturday.  I was hoping to either get done early enough to go to Jalama or the wind either stay calm or glass off before dark and try to surf Emma or Indicator. None of those things happened so I bagged it.

7-12-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 64
I actually had to meet up with a friend and board customer for a quick exchange at the Harbor.  The wind was already on it and over all it looked pretty weak and terrible.  While hanging out for a bit handling business I noticed a few more waves and that the wind was actually backing off.  Rather then waste more time before work wandering around on the search I decided to just paddle and hope for the best.  There was a fair amount of clean fun south east swell lapping in and on my small wave board I just went to town.  I was surfing well too.  Sometimes that’s all it takes to make a session fun is to be surfing well regardless of the surf.  Work went smoothly enough.  One could say it was a pretty good day.

7-11-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Jalama Beach
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 46
Miles Driven: 126
The cams in Ventura looked pathetic.  I was not in the mood to do another day at County Line.  If I am going to drive 100 miles then I may as well just go to Jalama and beat some of the crowd.  I got there for the late morning dropping tide.  There was a bit of wind on it, but the kelp was doing its job of keeping things relatively clean.  There was a chest plus south swell/ NW wind swell mix in the water.  I sat just under the second Crack and began frothing on whatever I could get my hands on.  It was a bit too peaky and on the smaller side.  I really wish I had brought my fish down with me.  Fuck, I was way too lazy to carry two boards.  I did manage a cool little barrel.  Then it got super drained on the low and I decided to get out and chill for a bit and see if the tide push would be worth anything.  Unfortunately it wasn’t.   There were still some fun ones getting in, though the wind had picked up a bit.  I just couldn’t get motivated to surf more of the same and bailed.

7-10-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, County Line
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 29
Miles Driven: 112
This may go down in my books as the summer of the most 2-3+ ft days in years.  That being said how can anyone be bummed about consistent chest high plus surf?  I got down to River Mouth just before nine and it already had some SW wind on it.  Between the smaller swell, the high tide and the crumble from the wind it looked absolutely horrible.  I thought I saw a few at Emma from the freeway and went back there for a look.  The tide had already dropped a bit too much for the meager offerings.  I called Angers to see if he wanted to cruise to County with me.  After twisting his arm I talked him into it.   We got down there and it was definitely on the lack luster side, though there was the occasional solid south set and left over NW wind swell.  The both of us are east coasters and rarely put our nose up to surf-able waves.  As per usual when we surf together we turn the session into an honor system mock heat.  We started on the point, but I soon found it a bit too inconsistent for me and paddled to the beach break, which was super peaky and consistent.  I found a few fun nuggets with lots of air sections, though with the exception of a small back side air reverse couldn’t manage to stick a thing.  In the end Angers won the heat with a mysto barrel off the point then came out and nailed a two turn combo.  That’s two wins in a row for him, counting Strand on Sunday.  I will get him soon.

7-9-18 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 34
Miles Driven: 78
Why can’t I just be content with the bird in the hand sometimes.  I was on the dunes watching fun looking head high, glassy, peaky, uncrowded River Mouth.  The shape wasn’t perfect since the sand bars are still all shit there and since I had the time being off I decided to have a look at Strand.  The Ship had a weak looking chest high wave that send me back to the Mouth.  As soon as I got in the water the wind came up.  Not enough to turn it off, but enough to make getting through the racy ones most difficult if not impossible.  I got two barrels and stuck one decent ally oop.  Ultimately it was a tad too fast to be a super session, though I made the most of it.

7-8-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 30
Miles Driven: 56
I had a gig up at Lotus land for 300 some odd people making tacos.  At $100 a ticket I felt like we could have done something more fancy then Tacos, but it is California and Santa Barbara at that, after all.  I didn’t need to be there till noon and decided to take advantage of the still flowing combo swell.  I knew that Strand would be fun again, but was short on time.  With Clean chest plus peaks through out the line up from the entrance to the reef Emma would have to do.  It looked a little slow and mushy so I took out my fish, though on the good ones I could have totally rode my short board.  When I first paddled it was myself and three other guys all trading off fun lefts and rights.  Every wave looked like it wanted to barrel though few ever actually did.  It was just full on rip-able and I went to town.  Then a van pulled up with six groms and unleashed them on the line-up, then another with four more.  Soon after a five pack of bros showed up and that pattern continued till it was obnoxiously crowded.  I was still getting my waves, but there was always someone in the way.  I fucking hate summer over crowded.  What can you do?  At least it was light for the first hour.  The Lotus Land thing went well except for the fact that it was super hot and with the grill going temp felt like 100F.  It was rather exhausting.  Money in the bank I suppose.   I did run into a random lady who was a fan of this blog and absolutely not part of my demographic.  She asked why I don’t write articles very often anymore.  The truth is between, work, surfing and life it is hard enough just to keep up with the surf log.  Maybe someday I will find more time to write again.

7-7-18 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 78
Last night Santa Barbara was literally caught up in the raptures of Hell.  I have always said that this town is a bit of Sodom and Gomorrah, but fuck nearly 100F at 9:30 pm with winds that were blow dryer hot and a Wild Fire that broke out in Goleta that nearly put my girl in harms way.  At press time the heat wave as subsided with a very nice sea breeze.  My morning plan was to just head down to Ventura Harbor and see what there was to surf.  Then I noticed some solid NW wind swell on the buoy.  The best option in my mind was to head straight to Strand.  Sure as the day is long it was solid at the ship, clean with some bomber lefts and only a handful of guys out.  I tipped off both Ryan and Angers, not that I should have since they both live ten minutes away and I live 45, yet both wait for me to clue them in.  As the tide dropped the monster sets became a little inconsistent and very shifty.  I spent the majority of my time either chasing down set waves or getting cleaned up.  I must have gotten washed back into the beach on four separate occasions.  That being said when a good one did line up it went all the way to the beach.  Heck if I didn’t have to work at one back in SB for a 300 person event at Lotus Land tomorrow I would have surfed all day.

7-6-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Sand Spit
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 2
After yesterday I was completely over looking around for waves.  I heard from my boss that the winds were kind of funky early down south anyway.  Sand Spit appeared to have some waist to chest high sets on the cam with a light crowd.  I was out there by 8 am though I should have gotten on it early cause my first three waves were the best I got.  I think the dropping tide and the combination of a slight rise in the south wind steadily took a toll on conditions.  My first wave was sick little chest high tube through mid point.  Considering the SE angle of the swell and the small size it was impossible to get one all the way through.  I got washed over the rocks on one towards the end of my surf, which is always quite exhilarating.  I am sure when I look back on this Fabio swell it will be just another solid SE swell that I barely utilized.

7-5-18 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 13
Miles Driven: 76
I hate when there is a real swell in the water.  One is left with too many options and it can be quite stressful.  I should have just paddled out at Sand Spit and saved my time, gas and effort.  Instead I hauled ass down the Oxnard Shores which was small and wind.  River mouth was stretched and windy.  Pat decided to go into work. I started making my way back to SB in hopes to find something on the way up.  I literally checked every wave to no avail to Rincon.  Indicator was about chest to head plus with some solid lines coming through.  The crowd was stiff, but I saw a few insiders and some wide ones going not surfed.  I paddled if not for any other reason so that I wouldn’t be pissed my entire day at work.  As it turns out I got a few fun ones.   It was good I did because by the evening the Fabio swell had already begun to fade.

7-4-18 No Surfing: 2-3 ft
Last night we had promised Bizarro we would go out with him.  As a result I drank a tad more then I would have like as well as stayed up late.  This combination had me oversleep and miss my window to get some waves with out heavy crowds or traffic.  We were having a BBQ at the house at 4:30 and the rest of my day went to preparing then hosting.  The fire works were decent since there was no marine layer and enough wind to push the smoke out to sea.

7-3-18 No Surfing: 2-3 ft
I was suppose to get to surf this morning, when my boss texted me as I was getting ready to leave that he wanted me to come early.  It ended up being a grueling 9 hour day of prep.  I should have went down south for a surf after since the wind stayed down, but I was tired and didn’t want to.  Ultimately I regretted my laziness.

7-2-18 PM Session: 1-3 ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 39
Miles Driven: 56
I had to work the morning shift this morning.  When I got finished it appeared to be somewhat clean on the point cam.  There was still the same minor south in the water I figured with the medium tide I could certainly find something at either Indicator or Emma.  When I got to Indicator the wind had already begun to blow and everyone was leaving.  I should have just paddled there, but decided to go to Emma to see if the wind was any better.  It only got harder.  I paddled just be cause I drove.  It was knee to waist plus and completely torn up.  I grabbed my fish and made the most of the meager trashy offering that came through.  I hate working mornings.

7-1-18 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Jalama Beach
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 126 
I woke up with a meager report from Ventura.  With still a fair amount of south and NW wind swell on the buoy I decided to make the run up to Jalama with my girl for the incoming tide push.  Being it was a holiday weekend the place was packed.  Of course as my luck would have it the wind came up rather hard out of the south right as I was parking my car.  Once up north there really are not any other options thus we walked down to Cracks for a surf.  There were plenty of fun sized peaks coming in from T’s all the way to the first Crack.  The crowd was easily 40 strong, but decently spread out.  I pretty much found my own peak just north of the second crack.  Sets were easily head high with the occasional plus set.  There was little NW combo getting in therefore the majority of sets were sweeping out to sea minimizing the amount of good sections.  For the first half of the surf I was picking all the wrong ones.  As the session wore on the wind began to lay down and it got super glassy.  At that point I seemed to get into a groove and found some really fun ones.  After the surf I took my girl out for a fun afternoon/evening in the valley.  We went to Ostrich Land in Buelleton which never disappoints.  We ended the day with a nice stroll and then early supper at Petros Cafe in Solvang.  I was a very big fan of the atmosphere and their Octopus was splendid.  Everything else on the menu was edible at best.