June 2019 Surf Sessions
6-30-19 PM Session: 1-3 ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 29
Miles Driven: 78
My girl and I finally had some time to go look at a few more houses down at the Oxnard beaches. Life has been so busy for me that I have not even had a moment to to give to our housing endeavor. We saw a few good prospects. after which Strand had some shitty wind chop at the Ship that I desperation paddled. It was about as bad as it looked. The high light of the day was checking out all the nesting Least Terns at Ventura Harbor.
6-29-19 No Surfing: 1-2+ ft
My plan was to hopefully take advantage of the new wind swell filling in up at Jalama. I was working The Wine Fest at the Museum of Natural History and didn’t get home till 6:30 leaving me not enough time to get up there. I threw a fit as per usual and lost it on a pile of trash that had been outside my building for nearly two weeks.
6-28-19 No Surfing: 1-2+ ft
Today was a grueling fourteen hour day of prep for two separate events. Minus some little waves at the point I heard I didn’t miss much.
6-27-19 No Surfing: 1-3+ ft
More TV work and more terrible conditions kept me out of the water yet again
6-26-19 No Surfing: 1-3+ ft
I had more filming to do for this new cooking show I am working behind the scenes on. i could have squeezed a surf out of the evening, but the buoys and reports were tiny and not worth the gas or effort. Looks like summer is finally showing its ugly self.
6-25-19 No Surfing: 1-2+ ft
Initially today was suppose to be my day off. There was some half promise that a new south was to fill in for the afternoon. I figured I would get some chores done and look to surf later. In the middle of doing some laundry I got a call to see if I could do a short notice party in Montecito for as the contact put it “some Hollywood Types”. As it turned out it was some press junkit thing that Katy Perry showed up to along with a host of other B-list celebrities.
6-24-19 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 28
Miles Driven: 64
With a meager at best forecast in cards I decided to take advantage of what little surf was on offer. River Mouth had some South/NW combo that has been running the past few days. I had a little time before work, grabbed my fish and made the most of it. The surf was pretty terrible, but I was surfing well so it was fun. The rest of my day was spent getting prep work done for a few little lunch drops.
6-23-19 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1 h
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 64
Finally I had a morning off to surf and it was somewhat glassy. Well that is to say for the first few waves then as per usual the wind came up and I made the most out of what scraps decided to come my way. I didn’t surf particularly well. Seems like day after day of mediocrity is all most can hope for anyways. Later I had an upscale dinner part to cook for that minus a few burnt rolls went famously.
6-22-19 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 126
I had a food drop on the Mesa after which I scooped my lady up and we cruised north to Jalama in the hopes of taking advantage of the sw/nw combo swell. Though a little bit of wind texture on it there were plenty of chest to head plus sets. It was a bit mushy as has been the norm as of late up there. Considering it was the largest surf I had been in since Big Sur I was pumped. I did manage one alright barrel. Jalama is always a good idea to escape the hustle and bustle of my everyday life.
6-21-19 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
Of course on a day where I had absolutely no time to surf there was small up tick in the swell. One chef I work for needed prep from 8am-4pm and another needed me for prep from 4:30-9pm leaving no time for surf. From what I heard there was some average combo swell.
6-20-19 No Surfing: 1-2+ ft
More TV work kept me rather busy as did some evening prep work after for some weekend jobs. It was an easy twelve hour day. There was shit for surf anyway. At the very least I’m making some money.
6-19-19 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
One of the Chefs I work for began shooting a new television show and asked if I would assist him in the off camera prep. What I thought was going to be a few hours took all day. All I can say is It takes a lot more work to film a cooking show. From what I heard it was average at best surf wise anyway.
6-18-19 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hr
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 64
What at first look seemed like another morning of subpar surf turned out to be a really fun session. The south had jumped up a notch and there was still a fair amount of NW combo to make it rampy. There were a fair amount of people out but spread along lots of peaks. I walked till I found one of my own down by where the mouth had opened a few weeks back. My girl decided to take the day off so we could hang out and came along to see what birds that may be nesting about. In the end she got plenty of great birds and I scored some rather fun waves relatively to myself. Rest of the afternoon we went to El Capitan to hang out.
6-17-19 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hr
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 64
After a week away it is always nice to get home. I was greeted with some small but fun River Mouth. Though a bit walled thanks to a mixing minor steep NW wind swell there were a few corners to be had. I found a barrel or two in the mix. Over all it was not what I had hoped when driving back last night, but I always get my share. Looks like a bit more swell tomorrow in this summer of terribleness.
6-16-19 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Willow Creek
Time in Water: 1.5 hr
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 63 (from Carmel)
Originally I was supposed to stay up north through Monday morning. As it turned out I was not needed for the early Monday morning engagement thus by two I was finished and on the road. I wanted to go hang out in Santa Cruz with Gabe for the day, but he unfortunately was indisposed due to a prior obligation. Rather then hang around I hit the road and headed through Big Sur on the hunt for something to surf. My first stop was Fullers. There was one guy out, but it looked a bit too close to the rocks and had some ugly wind chop on it. My next stop was Mill Creek, and there was a fun looking left coming through. No one was out and it wasn’t good enough to be Shark bait all alone. Pacific Valley looked unreal, but once again I just couldn’t get into making the hike down there and surfing it all by my lonesome. In the end I settled on alright Willow Creek with some wind on it. There were a few guys out and I joined them. If it wasn’t for the wind it could have been the best wave shape I have ever surfed out there. Unfortunately there was enough chop on the face to make it a bit tricky. I found that if I just waited for the later waves of a set the faces were a bit smoother. At the very least it was nice to get into some head high beefy waves for a change.
6-15-19 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Asilomar
Time in Water: 1.5 hr
Waves Surfed: 38
Miles Driven: 12
Today was finally game day after two days of prep it was time to work the party we were conscripted up here for. The event was a very upscale luncheon for a couple who lived right on the 10th green of the US Open. It was for 60 people and the players were just about in the back yard. As per usual everything went off with out a hitch and the client was very pleased. Lucky for me I wasn’t needed at the restaurant in the evening allowing to me to get a surf in. Back to Asilomar I went and paddled what looked like a cold water version of what I would have surfed in front of my parents house in Jupiter Florida. At least I got wet and did manage a shore dump barrel. Only two more days up here and then I am headed home to the 805
6-14-19 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
Miles Driven: 14
Despite Surfline claiming that there was supposed to be a significant rise in wind swell there was still very little surf on offer. I was graced with a few hours break in the afternoon and went on the hunt. The tide was way too low at Asilomar making it feather way outside then dump on the beach. I had a look at Carmel where there was better shape but was barley thigh high and somewhat gutless. Knowing I had another five hour shift at the restaurant I decided to bag it.
6-13-19 PM Session: 1-2+ ft, Asilomar, Monterey
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 12
Asilomar has to be one of the most schizophranic beach breaks I have ever surfed. It can be one of the gnarliest scary waves ever, super playful and down right small and shitty. So far on this trip it’s been the latter. I had work preparing for the gig on Saturday till around 5:30 then headed to surf. All that was pretty much trickling in was some very minor south swell left overs. I grabbed my fish and made the most of the borderline shore breaky conditions and managed a few.
6-12-19 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Moonstone Beach, Cambria
Time in Water: 2 hr
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 129
I had to be up in Carmel by 8pm. Rather then drive down south to surf and then head up north I decided to just cruise up HWY 1 and sort out something to surf along the way. I had my sites on Big Sur. I stopped at Cambria to use the restroom and saw some solid lefts peeling into Moonstone Beach. This is an average beach break at best most of the time. I guess at the time I was longing at it the tide and swell were perfect. There were a handful of guys out, but plenty of waves and room for me. The water was surprisingly warm and I didn’t hesitate to dismantle whatever lefts and rights came my way. Then the tide got only about two feet higher and it just about turned off. I almost thought I would have to paddle in. I managed a few turns on my last left and got back on the road. It’s a good thing I didn’t hold out for Big Sur cause the fog was so thick I could barley see, which made for a very interesting drive. I got to Carmel and was situated by my host and all seems well.
6-11-19 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 4 hrs
Waves Surfed: 52
Miles Driven: 64
We didn’t really know what to expect this morning. All Gabe and I agreed on was that we could not go on a wild goose chase and waste the entire day on surfing. At the River Mouth we were far from impressed, but it was surf-able so we paddled. I grabbed my fish and soon found that was a bit under gunned for how fast and angry the waves were breaking. Then the wind died and it glassed off with barrels to be had. River Mouth is a spot that always blows out by noon and these days sometimes you nine if it was ever clean. I was not about to quit till either the wind came up or I couldn’t surf any more. As it turned out the latter came to pass. I can’t remember the last time I surfed that long and hard. It was by far the best River Mouth of the season so far. I spent the next few hours in the shaping bay before getting word that the Mouth was still good. By the time I got back there the wind was getting on it and tide was a bit fat. It still looked fun if I hadn’t surfed it better earlier. I bagged the double session and went home to pack and get ready for my work trip up to Carmel for the PGA US Open.
6-10-19 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Leo Carrillo
Time in Water: 2 hr
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 118
Gabe and I hoping to get a fun surf in headed for the River Mouth. It was foggy, small and had terrible shape to it. Not giving up we checked both Shores and Hueneme before ultimately setting on Leo Carrillo cause Zeroes though it looked for fun was “too crowded” according to Gabe. Low tide Leo is always a bit trickier then it looks. There a lots of rock hazards and more close outs then on a deeper tide. That being said we were in good spirts and made the most of what was on offer to us. We surfed till the crowd got stupid then bailed. It’s one thing to paddle out into a dumb crowd it’s an entirely different thing to have had a nicely manageable line up destroyed by a swarm. I always like to quit while I’m ahead. The rest of the afternoon was spent in the shaping bay.
6-9-19 PM Session: 1-3+ ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 126
I had a food drop at 2pm that I needed to platter by noon leaving me limited time to surf in the morning. The buoys were small and there was the usual morning south wind funk. Rather then rush around I decided to rely on the new south swell to fill in for the afternoon. After my drop winds looked good up north making Jalama the call. Sure enough it was clean as can be, but tiny. There was just a little long period south trickling in and minor NW left overs. My chick and I walked to Cracks. Two guys were groveling the first Crack and there was barely enough coming in for them. We decided to hunger down on the beach and wait to see if things would improve on the tide change. It didn’t and I forced a paddle at the second Crack that was meager at best. The highlight really was that this duck we thought was dying managed to have the strength to get itself back into the water and swam away to most likely get eaten by a shark.
6-8-19 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 78
With the buoys still ripe with wind swell we didn’t hesitate to head back to the Strand. Today the Ship side of the bowl was best. Gabe and I paddled with my lady chilling in the beach. As soon as I hit the water I found it difficult to paddle with my bruised pectoral muscle and even harder to duck dive and stand up. Needless to say this put a bit of a damper on my surf. It didn’t help that the crowd was out in full force and super frothy making getting a wave to yourself a bit of a struggle. When I was finally getting into a groove I had to bail cause my lady and I had to meet her Dad in Goleta for some food and wine festival that turned out to be hardly worth the $45 I paid for admission.
6-7-19 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 78
For once I had the morning free. At noon my boss and I had to pack up the renainder of our catering operation and move it out to our new kitchen in Goleta a move I still at press time wonder about. Time will tell. There was some serious NW wind swell on the buoys that pointed to solid Strand. Sure enough the Ship was head high plus and rather fun looking. As soon as I pulled on my suit the wind came up out of the WSW causing a fair amount of chop on the face. Still it was solid enough that it stayed rather surf-able and if I didn’t have to work at noon would have made a solid session out of it. The move went well enough until the very end when a 1,000 pound stand mixer fell on me nearly crushing me to death. Only shear luck saved me with nothing more then a some what bruised left pectoral. Later that night Gabe came into town and him, my girl and I decided to make a fun night of it at the Wild Cat.
6-6-19 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
We had a catered gallery opening at the Museum of Natural History making my day a 12 hr run. The event went well enough. After when we got back to the Kitchen there was a security guard outside who was rather reluctant to let us in. Friday is going to be our last day working out of there, but still a security guard? Where’s the trust.
6-5-19 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 30
I had a very short window between the end of work and a graduation party for my girl friend’s cousin. Indicator was my best bet and there was a waist to chest plus wave with only two guys out. I suited and paddled as well as four other guys thus crowding the meager bread crumbs out there. Unlike at C Street there is a tad more etiquette at Rincon, though there was one idiot who constantly kept back paddling and burning everybody. I took out my short board but really should have rode my fish. I made the most out of what I would call well below average Indicator. For how low the tide was I was happy to get what I did. As far as the party went I got there just in time to enjoy a repast and some champagne.
6-4-19 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, C Street
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 77
Rather then write about the spots I checked this afternoon it would be easier to say where I didn’t look. After a failed mission once again to the Harbor I found myself staring at very tiny Solimar contemplating whether to paddle or not. Finally I resolved to just suck it up and head to the Point and deal with the stupid afternoon crowd. I started at Stables cause I saw a really decent set while I was walking up and should have stayed down there since I got three of my best waves right then. I kept seeing guys get good ones up at Pipe and paddled into a really stupid crowd of all sorts of line up jockeying to the point where waves were just wasted. I fought the food fight managed a few alright ones and headed home.
6-3-19 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, New Jetty
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 64
This is my one week a month where I have my corporate lunches through Thursday relegating me to afternoon sessions. Luckily the wind was somewhat light after work. I had a look at Indicator but the tide was already too low. Considering the light wind I ran down to The Harbor in the hopes that The wind would light enough for River Mouth to be clean. I guess it was hard enough to leave some pretty ugly chop on the face making the surf-ability less then ideal. There was a wave coming right off the rocks at New Jetty that though weak and inconsistent only has two guys on it and was better then going to surf The Point. I got into a a pretty decent rotation off the rocks, but when I say that I mean I was dropping in and surfing right along them. I got my share and left.
6-2-19 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 64
I had another morning work engagement thus relegating me to the afternoon. I wasn’t very motivated to go back to Jalama again. Robbie claimed the wind was still pretty light in Ventura thus I went south. When I pulled up there was a light WSW wind and plenty of fun looking bowls up and down the beach with a handful of guys out. As my luck has been this year as soon as I hit the water the wind proceeded to come up. Still there were ok peaks to be had and I was surfing very well. Between the incoming tide and the wind it steadily deteriorated. I got enough to keep me stoked.
6-1-19 PM Session: 2-4+ ft Jalama
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 126
Today was supposed to be my day off yet somehow I was conned into going in for a few hours anytime at my leisure to get a jump on our monthly corporate lunches for Monday. Being that it was all grey and windy down south with somewhat small waves and a new swell was too fill in for the evening I decided to go in early. After banging that out it was time for some lunch then a surf. I heard that down south was nothing special so I picked up my girl and we headed to Jalama. There was plenty of south showing with some nice cross up NW combo. Unfortunately the bars were all fucked up. There were outside cloud breaks, inside dumpers and holes in the bars everywhere. I paddled cracks and had the place to myself. At the very least it was glassy and with some patience and wave selection I managed a few alright ones. I must say that I am beginning to regret buying my pass this year.