Surfing Ruined My Life

June 2020 Surf Sessions

6-30-20 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 66
I hate when a good swell is predicted, especially in the summer.  I get too much surfing anxiety over it.  I start fixating on what is going to be the best spot, tide, session.  What is the wind going to do?  How stupid is the crowd going to be with idiots from the Valley cause Surfline tells them that they should surf instead of going mountain biking,  hiking, hang gliding or whatever other things people who only surf once in awhile do instead of surfing.  Guess what?  Surfing is the only thing that I do.  When I am not surfing I am fixing surfboards, building surfboards, selling surfboards or most likely doing something surfing related.  That’s cool you can come to my favorite spots on the best days of the year, paddle around me and blow the wave of the day!!!  Ultimately your kooky ass leads me to such frustration that I end up going and surf a wind blown close out some where just so that I don’t have to deal with witnessing another good wave wasted.  Sorry for the rant.  Some rando I have never seen before paddled out and sat right on me when there was a few hundred yards of decent peaks, back paddled me for the best wave I saw all session this morning and then went straight!!!  Keep in mind the only reason I surf Fruit Stands is so I don’t have to deal with shit like that.  Then again I am writing about it causing people to go there so the biggest kook is me.   When I Angers and I were checking it it looked glassy and fun.  As soon as my toes hit the water the wind came up out of the NW and trashed it.  When I got home I wanted to fix more dings, but there were some painters doing work on the apartment above mine and their ladders were taking up the space I normally use.  Swell is suppose to get bigger tomorrow meaning it will be closed out at all the beach breaks and crowded at whatever points and reefs are semi-surf-able. Don’t let the below photo fool you.  That is what it looked like before I paddled out.  The tide was too high early.

6-29-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, C Street
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 26 
Miles Driven: 60
Well fuck, the wind was on it early.  By the time I got into Ventura it was whipping.  I wasn’t even going to waste my gas on the beachies.  Instead I went to the Point.  The lots are all still closed, meanwhile they have the Fair Grounds lot set up for “Concerts in Cars”. That sounds like a lot of fun to sit in my car four hours listening to a concert.  File that under 2020’s new mantra “just like the real thing only different…?).  I saw a few from the twenty four minute parking, drove into town,  found a spot and walked up with my Clarks Surfboards Pop Fizz fish.  Its the only board that allows me to semi enjoy myself at that spot.  The crowd was light at Pipes, probaly because it was terrible out there.   I did mange four really decent ones.  Sets were few and far between and the wind was cutting it up pretty good.  Couple that with the low tide and it was not the time I was hoping for.  I mistakenly wore my 3/2 and was absolutely freezing.  Good times.  The rest of my day was spent doing ding work for pennies so I could make rent this month.

6-28-20 AM Session: 1-3 ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 66
The south swell was suppose to hold, while the north west swell drop out.  With the loss of the the NW it was looking very inconsistent out there.  I had a look at Fruit Stands first and I should have paddled out there.  Angers was jazzed on Harbor thus I met him and paddled.  It was stretched, dumpy, mushy, sectiony, inconsistent and then it got windy.  Oh, and don’t forget crowded for how bad it was.  Got to love a weekend.  I walked down to the Mouth and found a peak to myself.  My first wave was a chest high south peak that came right to me.  I busted a sizable air in relation to the height of the wave and stuck it.  Stoked I thought this was going to set the pace for the rest of the surf.  Everyone saw me get that one and immediately paddled over to my peak.  Then a south drift came up making it impossible to stay in position with the easily fifteen minute lulls.  I got really frustrated and beat a dead horse trying to recreate that first wave for over an hour.  I should have just came in on my first wave.  As George Costanza would have said to Kroger “All right thats it for me!”  Looks like a solid south for this coming week and weekend just in time for massive holiday crowds.  Damn, I love surfing, especially in Southern California.

6-27-20 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 42
Miles Driven: 126
There was a fresh south swell that was suppose to fill in by the afternoon according to Surfline.  The morning was beyond tiny and drained with the low tide.  This had worked out to my advantage.  Last night my wife and I went out to celebrate her finishing a major reorganization project at her job and my recent offer of employment from the Goleta Post Office.  We wanted to go to Roys but they were a day off of reopening.  This left us with quite a dilemma on where to go.  Ultimately we settle on the Chase for no other reason then the dining atmosphere.  It certainly isn’t for their poor excuse for Italian food or less then stellar service.  After I eat there I always wonder why I went in the first place.  For so many restaurants in Santa Barbara there are so few that are worth eating at.  Its pretty damn sad.  Then again I may judge on a harsh scale considering that before Covid19 put me out of business I was one of the better event/catering chefs in this town.  Hey, now I am a postman so awesome thanks Covid19 and poor government policy for putting me out of business.  At least I have a job now (providing I pass the background check).  After dinner we went to the Wild Cat.  I have a strong feeling that the bars are going to be shut down again soon with all the new emerging cases of Covid19.  We figured it was only fitting to go out since we went out the last weekend the bars were open back in February and were out for the first night they reopened two weeks ago.  It was fun, though bitter sweet.  Around four my wife and I headed for Jalama.  The wind still looked clean on the cam.  Even though I didn’t see any real swell on the buoys or cams I decided to just make the gamble.  Worst case scenario I would just enjoy a nice evening and sunset on the beach with my wife.  Lucky for me there was some fresh south lines coming through at Cracks and really showing at T’s, where it was solid but a burger and not a Jalama Burger.  There were actually about a dozen or so guys out, a bit more then I usually see in the afternoon.  There were plenty of waves.  I got on froth, being it was the best surf I had seen in three days.  There nothing better then a fun day at the “J”.

6-26-20 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves surfed: 32
Miles Driven: 64
Today was looking pretty grim on the buoys and cams.  The negative low tide wasn’t helping either.  Besides the poor surf I woke up to an email from the Goleta Post Office that they are offering me a job as a processing clerk.  It kind of feels like a bit of a step down for a chef of my caliber, but considering that the food service industry is going to be fucked for years thanks to this Covid19 crap I better grab what I can get.  With the economy tanking a job is a job, especially a government job.  Robbie hit me up from Harbor claiming a small wave.  I wanted to surf and was already on my way.  There was a rumor that Strand had a little wave, though that was a confirmed fallacy as soon as I got to the Harbor.  It was definitely meager looking.  I noticed a fair amount of south lines coming in down by the Mouth with no on out.  I suited and ran down the beach.  Robbie was surfing toward the Knoll and followed me down.  For about an hour or so we had a decent peak to ourselves that was very rip-able.  Then Stephan came out and brought the wind with him.  At first there were still some fun ones.  It wasn’t long before the wind took it’s toll.  The surf was far from exciting.  I was stoked to catch up with both Robbie and Stephan.  Every wave surfed is more fun then not surfing in my book.  The rest of my day was spent filling out background check information for my hopefully new job.  Later tonight my wife and I are going to go out and celebrate before Governor Newsom shuts down everything again with expedient growth of Covid cases.

6-25-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 29
Miles Driven: 64
I was about to head up to Jalama this morning when I finally got notice that a batch of Clarks Surfboards blanks that were at the cutter were finally ready.  This altered my plans and I headed south.  I figured I was in for a serious grovel.  The buoys were smaller then yesterday with the exception of a new steep NW wind swell that may or may not have been getting into any place.  I got to the Harbor around 10:30 or so and the wind was already on it.  It was out of the SW, which comes in a bit more side shore then NW.  Not expecting much I was very pleasantly surprised when I saw peaks up and down the beach waist to chest plus that looked totally rip-able.  There were about eight guys at the Knoll.  No one was at the Mouth and it looked fun enough to me.  I got on a froth and a tear and just had a blast.  I got out because I was absolutely exhausted from my personal little rip fest.  Pat showed up and paddled after I left and claimed it got a little fat and more windy.  I guess for once I lucked into the perfect window of surf.  It still amazes me how no matter how much I think I know about surf forecasting that I can be pleasantly surprised from time to time.  It just goes to prove “you don’t know unless you go”.  Then it was off to Lowes to get a new electric burner for the range on my oven.  As it turned out when I got home I must have blown a fuse when the burner exploded a few weeks ago.  If anyone out there happens to know a thing or two about fixing cheap whirlpool electric ranges please reach out.  Maybe we can trade ding repair or custom board discounts or something.

6-24-20 AM Session: 1-3 ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 66
Summer has finally arrived and with it the grovel has become the standard.  At the very least we had a solid spring.  It may have been the best spring I can remember in ten years.  Lets  just hope the ocean is taking a breather and the summer souths are just going to start pouring in.  I started at Fruits, but it was way too small for the bars.  For laughs I looked at New Jetty as per usual it was packed with groms, pros, rippers, trainers, filmers galore.  I saw a few tiny south peaks peeling down the beach down at River Mouth and paddled.  If it were about four feet bigger it would have been really fun cause the lines were actually pretty clean and not too stretched.  It was micro and therefore just a grovel. Then the wind and tide came up nearly together making it way more weak then it initially had been.  I was stoked to get what I got and that it was fairly uncrowded out there.  Looks like similar conditions for the rest of the week.  After the surf I had to pick up and deliver some fresh new Clarks Surfboards to customers in Goleta just in time to stoke them out for the summer.  We are smoking a rack of ribs for dinner…YUM!!!

6-23-20 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, County Line
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 35
Miles Driven: 112
I had to go to south LA to take a candidate test for the Postal Service.  Half of me wanted to head to Lowers or HB after the test.  Laziness got the best of me and I just decided to take the PCH up in search of something to surf.  It was packed everywhere.  I probably should have surfed 2nd and 3rd Peak at Surfrider, but I didn’t want to bother trying to find a parking space.  Ultimately county looked the best with the combo that was in the water.  It was a little small and fat for the reef.  In the middle of the beach there was a decent left peak with a great bank vault air section on it.  It was calling to me.  Right off the bat I stuck a no grab straight frontside air and backside air reverse, first two waves.  Then this ripper Clay, whom I have know since he was a grom paddled out and it turned into a full on rip fest out there.  I am sure it must have been entertaining for those around, maybe not for the kooks on the inside who had to run for their lives every time one of us hit a section.   Then after about a solid hour it slowly began to deteriorate. I am thinking it was as a result of the dropping tide.  I literally was scrapping for a last wave to quit on.  around wave twenty nine I had a three turn right that I should have bailed on.  Instead I got greedy and was stuck out there for another half hour of utter frustration.

6-22-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 66
There was a bit more NW in the water this morning, though not quite enough to get Strand happening.  Pat, Angers and I saw a bunch of mixed peaks at Fruits with no one out and paddled.  After the last two surfs I had I definitely needed a break from Ventura Harbor.   The surf was with out a doubt average at best.  It was fun to just get some waves with my buds and the tide push really turned it on for about an hour or so.  For once I would say we all equally performed out there making the most out of what was on offer.  Then the tide filled in a turned it off.  I spent the rest of my day preparing for the custodial postal exam.

6-21-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Surfer’s Knoll
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 64
I hate when the surf looks really fun when you check it, but then you paddle out and it turns out to be a complete lie.  Today fell into this category.  All I saw was bowly combo peaks with some barrels.  When I got out there it was all wonky, either stretched, mushy or the wave just shrunk on the sand bar.  Once again Angers got on a froth and absolutely destroyed whatever came his way.  I managed a few corners here and there.  I blew every barrel I pulled into.  It just wasn’t my day.  Then the tide got high and it just about stopped breaking altogether.  Talk about another hate sess.  Later my wife and I cruised to her grandfather’s home for a fun family Father’s Day BBQ.

6-20-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 64
I had a rough night last night not getting to sleep until past two.  Come morning when I should have been early to beat the wind and take advantage of a holding south swell with an incoming tide push I needed to sleep a bit longer.  This left me getting to the Harbor around 11.  The wind had actually held down rather well.  There were kill-able chest plus peaks up and down the beach with a lightening crowd thanks to the onshore wind.  I suited up and by the time I walked down to the Mouth the wind had doubled intensity adding more chop.  I was already suited and paddled.  Between the wind increasing and the fatter tide it just got terrible out there.  By the time Angers showed up it was completely trashed.  He had not surfed in a few days thanks to work and stoked.  Between that and channeling his Florida roots he was on fire.  Meanwhile I was struggling just to stand up.  I did hit a couple of airs against the wind that stoked me out a little bit.  I thought I blew it by not waiting and going to LA in the afternoon.  Ryan went and said it was small and crowded at the good spots.  He ended up at County Line so I suppose I didn’t miss anything.  I can’t win everyday.

6-19-20 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 32
Miles Driven: 126
The NW wind swell had pretty much dropped out, though I did hear there were some waist plus bowls at the Ship.  A new longer period south swell was supposed to be peaking.  The winds had finally subsided at Jalama, meanwhile it was windy and all the reports I got from Ventura was crowded and crap.  My decision was made for me.  Don’t hate on me. I almost always travel alone, but Pat and Ryan both showed interest in cruising up for day trip to the “J”.  We loaded up into Pat’s truck and hit the road as a dreaded three pack.  To be honest Jalama is so blown up now anyway and almost always crowded I don’t feel that guilty.  We got there and to our credit the winds decided to stay down.  Unfortunately the swell did not quite get to the size or consistency I had hoped.  Basically it was just long period south swell sets every ten or fifteen minutes.  Out of those waves the majority were rather stretched.  Add to that crowd of ten to fifteen guys and only one really decent peak working at Cracks and it was not exactly what I had hoped for.  We paddled and stayed off the main peak, settling for the more racy second peak till half the crowd dissipated.  Even there most either burgered off the drop and closed out or just stretched out and raced down the beach.  There were a few tubes to be had, but it was a steadily shrinking shoulder making exiting very tough.  I only made two tubes the whole surf.  Ryan actually got the tube of the day early on.  I was being rather respectful waiting my turn.  My number came up on an average one and I started paddling for it.  Some other dude came from deep, so deep I though he was actually going to pull the right, and snagged the wave yelling at me for even paddling in the process.  Whatever, I didn’t dump any water on him or ruin the ride.  I thought it was the end of it till he came back out and proceeded to continue barking at me for even paddling.  Not backing down I was ready for it to go to blows on the beach, but he ended up just paddling one way and I the other.  There are plenty of times in the line up where I deserve to get yelled at.  This wasn’t one of them.  I hate stupid altercations in the water.  I really just want to surf.  The whole incident kind of put a dark cloud on my surf and put me in a bad mind set that I couldn’t get out of till almost the end of the session.  The boys had fun and its a long summer with lots of good Jalama days to come.

6-18-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 31
Miles Driven: 78
I wasn’t sure where I was going to end up this morning.  Reports were all kind of sour, though I think most of my contacts were jaded from yesterday.  Ryan had a look at the Ship around 9:30 and said it was terrible.  I had a look at Rincon since there was still a bit of west swell in the water. If not for all the south wind there would have been some fun runners both up top and in the Cove.  I watched it for a bit hoping to see something to inspire me.  I really was in the mood to surf a point.  I just couldn’t get into it.  Emma had some waves, but it was pretty crowded as it has been all week.  I heard that the wind was still light off shore at the Ventura beaches.  By the time I got to Fruit Stands the wind had switched south and though not hard was adding more chop and disorganization to the line up then I would have wanted.  Considering the wind and the fact that there was plenty of NW left in the water I headed to Strand.  Though a little high Ship had potential.  At the very least it was the cleanest wave I had come across.  I ran some errands to kill some time.  When I got back there were with out a doubt a few fun looking peaks up and down the beach though the bulk of the swell was focusing more towards the bowl.  I paddled and actually got into a good rhythm.  There was almost no one out giving me the ability to take whatever waves I wanted and surf them however I chose.  There were even a few barrels out there, though I was unsuccessful of negotiating any.  Between the south wind and the back wash it was a rather challenging and taxing surf.  I took more beatings out there then I did yesterday and it was twice the size.  Once the tide bottomed out it got slow.  I was over it anyway.

6-17-20 AM Session: 5-7+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 3.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 78
I woke up to a fun array of texts all about Strand.  I got everything to crowded and average to 6-8+ feet and going off.  I figured at the very least there must be waves to surf.  I picked up Ryan since he still doesn’t have a car and we headed to Strand.  Though not what I would call firing it was definitely solid overhead with some bombs.  It had power too.  The crowd was intense easily fifty plus guys from the Ship to through the bowl.  Quality waves were few and far between.  Sets were very shifty and out of that only a handful didn’t close out or burger out.  If you picked the wrong one then you be stuck inside for the remainder of the set.   The first half hour of the surf I hung right next to ship.  It wasn’t as good as it was toward the bowl, but no one was really surfing it and there were some fun inside double ups.  I guess I made that look too good cause it didn’t take long for it to get mobbed with the usual old guys who only sit off the Ship.  I love those guys, but I am last in line to get a wave when they are out and for good reason.  They have all been surfing there thirty plus years, while I have just barely earned a spot in the line up out there.  I remember the old rules of respect!!!!  Then I sort of roved around between the ship and tower five.  The crowd was stupid and even when I managed to get a good one sometimes I had to negotiate my way through the crowd to even surf it.  Meanwhile I watched lots of good ones get blown or missed by guys who had no business being out there.  I was getting really frustrated actually.  Then this bomb eight foot plus left came right to me and the line stretched out top to bottom as far as I could see.  Stoked I stroked into and banged out three really solid turns and a nice end section hit.  This recharged me to get back into the fight.  I became catching waves again.  Before the surf was over I had gotten three really solid set waves that made the whole surf worth while.  On the way home Sharks looked solid.  I really wanted to surf it, but it was my two month wedding anniversary and I also wanted to get my wife some really nice flowers.  If I had tried to get them after the surf I would be stuck getting whatever was left over at the super market instead of something really special.  I had already got a bunch of phenomenal rides anyway.  I can almost guarantee Sharks wasn’t that good.

6-16-20 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 78
Last night I accidentally sliced the tip of my thumb off while dicing pancetta for carbonara.  My damn cat was begging for some.  I gave him a piece to shut him up.  He proceeded to continue yelping to which I ignored.  In retaliation he dug his claws into my calf.  In shock I slipped and caught my thumb.  Thanks to some crazy glue and band aids I was able to stop the bleeding, but it was pretty banged up.  I had that to contend with this morning.  I got word that the ship was over head from one source, 5-7 ft from another.  When I got there it was more like head high plus and sloppy with light WNW wind on it.  There were some solid runners off the Ship and Ryan and Angers were already out.  I paddled and let me tell you that not having a thumb or an injured thumb for that matter makes everything very difficult.  Duck diving was tough cause I couldn’t get a good grip on my left rail.  Getting up was tough for the same reason and even paddling was tough cause I couldn’t properly cup my hand.  I probably should have just worn a glove.  That being said I still managed a few really fun ones.  The wind kept the crowd down.  There was some surf on the points and it even appeared Sharks had a wave.  Normally I would have ran down to Sharks and went for it, but decided that my thumb had enough for the day.  The rest of my day was spent filling applications and taking tests for the post office.  With very little work on the table I have to do whatever it takes.

6-15-20 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 78
I started out checking the River Mouth.  It was rather walled there and the south wind was on it.  There was way more NW coming in then SW so I decided to have a look at the Ship just to rule it out.   Though nothing spectacular the shape was better then yesterday and the sets were a bit larger too.  It was still rather weak looking causing me to opt for my Clarks Surfboards Fly Guy model.  Angers showed up and met me for a quickie before work.  It definitely became a rip fest for the two of us.  I was on a role till I boosted an air off a head high end section and landed in the flats.  Upon landing the lip hit me square on the shoulders and I got flushed through my suit and sent down to the bottom.  It wasn’t the hardest hit I ever took, but I was left very disoriented.  When I came up I felt like a cat who had his whiskers pulled out.  I paddled out and got a few more.  For whatever reason I never really was able to recover from that hit.  From there I had to deliver some boards to very stoked customers.  Then it was home to sand some dings out.   I heard the swell really filled in with the incoming tide.

6-14-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 78
There was a shred of hope that some new wind swell would be in the water.  Of course the wind was south at all of the spots that would have benefited from the swell.  I ended up at the Ship for lack of a better option.  It was chest high at best and very weak.  There was about ten guys on it, a bit too many for what was on offer.  As soon as I paddled the majority of the crowd left leaving just three of us out the back and the wind died cleaning things up a bit.  Still it was rather inconsistent, weak as all hell and very difficult to catch the good ones.  I groveled as hard as I could and made the most of it.  Overall it was just a really nice summers day at the beach.

6-13-20 No Surfing: 2-3+
Last night was the long awaited triumphant re-opening of the Wild Cat since the dreaded Covid19 bar ban.  After some deliberations on whether or not we should show up or not the ultimate consensus was we should.  As usual we went out expecting to keep it mellow, but in the end got shit house wasted.  At the very least it was fun to see everyone.  The drunken shenanigans that took place till nearly  4 am till the cops showed up back at my place was just plain retarded.  It goes with out saying that I wasn’t up bright and early for a surf.  Surfline claimed that the winds were supposed to stay down all day.  Around one the NW winds picked up crazy blowing out everything and they didn’t create enough wind swell for any of the protected spots.  For the first time in many many days I took a day off from surfing, mostly as a result of alcohol abuse.  Whoot!!!!

6-12-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Oxnard Shores
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 72
I got word early that it was another lack luster morning despite the Surfline promise that the south was supposed to peak.  I went back to sleep for an hour.  I went back to River Mouth where there were some solid waves coming through albeit a little closed out and fast.  The wind was on it out of the WSW pretty good turning the place into soup.  Sometimes when the wind is like this you can actually find cleaner conditions at the Shores.  I had a look and sure enough it textured on the outside yet the faces were clean coming in leaving a kill-able canvas.   It was also a good deal softer then the Mouth.  I grabbed my Clarks Surfboards Fly Guy and found a few rip-able peaks all easily to paddle between in order to chase the shifty inconsistent conditions.  I got all frothy on it for absolutely no reason and got on a real tear for about an hour.  As the tide started fill in instead of getting better it got even softer.  I had a shred of hope that just maybe with more tide it would focus more on the inside bars.   Then the wind came up out of the NW adding the nail in the coffin for me to call it day.

6-11-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Surfer’s Knoll
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 78
Thanks to another morning of less then exciting conditions I went for a solid car surf all the way down to Strand.  I should have just bit the bullet and went back to LA cause as it turned out that new south swell ended up showing down there earlier then it did in Ventura.  After getting aggravated staring at perfect yet tiny Ship I headed back to the River Mouth to just paddle.  I ran into Kevin as I was walking up to check.  He was not into, but it was also the first spot he looked.  I saw Maxi get a really good left in front of the Life Guard Tower that provoked me to paddle the Knoll.  The to its credit it did look better then the mouth.  Actually for the first half hour I got fun left after fun left and even a little tube or two.  Then as the tide slowly began to rise a few rips formed and the sets started to get stretched.  It became a struggle to even get a ride.  To put things into perspective I quit on a right.  I heard more swell filled in for the evening.  The rest of my day was spent fixing dings.

6-10-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Zeros
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 118
I should have trusted my instincts and went to Jalama this morning.  I still felt like the south beaches were going to be fun too.  Angers can’t surf till Monday so it would be the last morning I could surf with him for a bit.  I headed to Fruit Stands and it was very under whelming there.  Between the low tide and lack of swell it just looked bad.  I had gotten word early that Shores was chest high and alright.  Angers was there already and suiting up.  When I came over the dunes I was unimpressed with what was coming  in, not to mention the easily fifty plus crowd spread out from the Beach park to Nautilus square.  The waves were also hitting all over the place and the wind was already onshore too.  I couldn’t get into it and decided to head to LA in the hope that it would focus the south a little stronger there, especially with incoming tide.  Unfortunately it didn’t and I didn’t feel like driving all the way to Surfrider.  Zero’s looked the best of the west spots and we all know my partiality for it.  About ten other guys decided it was the place to go adding to the already twenty head crowd out there.   The crowd plus the inconsistency of sets turned it into a shit fight out there.   I paddled all the way to the deep reef and made due with whatever close out scraps came my way till three other guys decided that was their steeze too and sat on me.  There was barely enough for one guy let alone three.  I went and sat inside and picked off what ever when by not caught or I would sneak in behind the soft tops and long boards and just rip behind their trail.  Every now and then I would luck into a fun one, though plenty of times the same idiot kept paddling in on me.  I just don’t fucking get people.  I can see it happening once, but after that it becomes rather obvious I am going to catch whatever I paddle for, make it, and clear all the sections SO DON’T PADDLE IN ON ME YOU STUPID MOTHER FUCKER!!!!!  Towards the end of my session I found my usual mid to high tide niche just under the rock, where I attack every double up that missed the outer reef.  My last one was actually a grower that I managed to get barreled on in the shore pound and made it.  I didn’t see any reason to paddle back out after that one.   I wanted to fix dings this afternoon, but it was so fucking hot with no wind at my place that I let it burn.

6-9-20 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 78
I got up earlier this morning on a mission to get some decent waves.  Word had it that Strand, though smaller was still fun.  I was on my way straight there when Angers called and said he though Strand was pretty lack luster and very crowded for it was.  I met him at Fruit Stands against my better judgement and we walked in.  To our utter dismay it was all mixed up with the multiple swells in the water and small. There were some good ones, but it was all over the place.  It looked like one of those surfs where you would be constantly out of position with how shifty it was.  We raced back to Strand, suited and paddled.  I guess some of the early bird crowd had dissipated.  There were chest plus peaks breaking from the Ship all the way through the bowl. The water was absolutely freezing.  It had to be around fifty five degrees.  If it wasn’t for how hot the air was (over eighty) it would have been unbearable. Even still every time I got caught inside it was ice cream headache central.  It was very inconsistent and a tad on the weaker side.  The water was crazy clear too.  I am talking Caribbean clear, so much so that it was even hard to line up the lip.  I had many errors as a result and tweaked my back attempting to pull in, but got axed by the cascading lip instead cause I couldn’t really make out where it was throwing to.  I was going to bail when all of a sudden there was this 45 minute flurry of tide push waves that I frothed the shit out of.  Then my friend Phil came out and it stopped completely, which was fine cause I was an ice cube anyway.  The rest of my day was spent fixing digs.

6-8-20 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 78
What a heart break this morning was for me and just more proof that I need to move the heck out of Santa Barbara and go down south.  I got word that Strand was solid.  I am talking real deal over head and barreling.  Unfortunately for me I was dealing with some serious stomach issues that started at around five this morning.  I won’t got into any detail, but it kept me home later then I wanted.  I knew I was going to miss the window at Strand so I had a look at Rincon.  Though there were perfect off shore lines coming through it was also only about waist high at best.  On a wing and a prayer I ran down to Strand.  As soon as I got to the beach the wind turned on hard out of the NW trashing it.  On the positive side It was obnoxiously crowded and every pro from LA to Santa Barbara was there trying to get some clips.  Maybe not getting there on time was a blessing in disguise.  I have been in serious need of two new front tires, one of which was basically bald.  Since the tide was still too low for any of the spots that might be still fun I took advantage of the bad winds and got my tires put on.  Around one I headed to Emma figuring it was just about the only place that might be fun with the wind, high tide and south/nw swell combo.  It was pretty average, though I saw enough to get wet.  AJ was already out and I hadn’t seen him in a bit.  At the very least I could catch up with him.  Somehow I lucked out cause as I was walking down to the beach a handful of pros, including the Coffin brothers were leaving.   Actually it was more fun then it looked.  For an hour I got a bunch of kill-able lefts and rights.  Then just as Emma has been known to do it turned completely off and I nearly had to paddle in.  Luckily I managed a decent right to quit on.

6-7-20 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 78
The winds had calmed down and there was a somid rise in the windswell. I got word that the Ship looked the best of the worst. When I got there it was clean and though a bit on the weak side there were some decent lines coming through. Crowd was a bit stiff. I wasn’t completely enthralled. Ever place was either small or all mixed up on my drive down. I figured it was the best of the worst and paddled. My first few were alright. Then the wind came up, coupled with the rising tide it completely turned off. I was having trouble even getting down the face of waves it was so gutless. It was one of the worst surfs I have had in weeks. I managed a few but it was a lot of work. The water was very cold again.

6-6-20 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Zeros
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 118
The wind was on it at first light and there was a slight rise in the nw windswell. This plus the wind just about trashed the conditions that made last night all time. My wife and I enjoyed a lazy morning in bed before having a look around. I was banking on just getting some at Emma Wood. I guess it was already too low tide and I missed the window. The plan was to get some breakfast then head to LA where the south was more focused and spots a bit more wind protected. As usual LA was absolutely packed everywhere. Whenever it’s crowded I end up a Zeros and yeah I know it’s a terrible wave, but there is this air section where the south wave crosses up with nw wind swell that is just really fun to hit. I actually go out to there to hunt close outs and double ups. Aside from the standard annoyance of the look majority crowd I had a good time. I would have surfed longer but I was exhausted from all the surfing I did yesterday. The water was obnoxiously warm as well. All I brought was a 4/3 and boots and was sweating also adding to my exhaustion. I’d say it was a good day and definitely scored a few clips.

6-5-20 PM Session: 5-7+ ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 33
I wasn’t planning on surfing again today. I needed to pick up some boards from my Glasser and they were not to be ready till the end of the day. I ran some errands in Ventura. Ryan hit me up around three that it was still clean and him and Dave were paddling Fruit Stands. I hadn’t surfed with those guys in a bit and considering how much fun it was earlier thought I’d jump in for a quick surf to kill time. Lucky I did too because the swell had picked up and it was bombing over head oil glass peaks up and down the beach. I dug down deep for whatever juice I had left in me. The morning session was intense and already took a lot out of me and now I was paddling out into some serious surf. It was a situation where pure stoked overrode my exhaustion. I had some really solid tubes and sick runners. I knew my body was on the brink of utter collapse and after my fifteenth bomb I called it a day. I got out just in time to see this dude blow up this crazy air couch on the beach using only the wind. I’m buying one. The wind actually came up out of the south while I was changing. For once my Glasser being behind payed off. What a run of waves it’s been lately.

6-5-20 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 33
Miles Driven: 33
Finally we were graced with a clean morning with some freash south swell and NW combo. Stoked Angers and I headed to Fruit Stands. There was a little bit of south wind texture to it but was clean enough to stoked us out. I grabbed my groveler short board and found that I was a bit under gunned. Even with the high tide there was a fair amount of water moving around. My arms were feeling pretty wiped from yesterday’s Jalama froth. Angers was fresh and absolutely ripping. There were some hallow ones out there, yet making it out of one was no easy feat. I only made two tubes the whole session. It was definitely a rip fest out there and we had a blast. I got greedy and pushed my surf way longer then I should have till I was getting completely fatigued. Good surf none the less.

6-4-20 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 34
Miles Driven: 126
All week I have been hungry for a Jalama session. With winds shitty down south yet again and SE winds at the J it was on. By the time I got up there it was already blowing rather hard out of the SSE. It was side shore/off shore at Cracks and looked fun enough to me. I was reminded of trade winds days on the North Shore of Oahu. Crowd was light and it was solid head plus and very consistent. There were even some barrels though they were very difficult to make as I would soon find out. I ended up frothing the shit out of the surf. The current was very stiff north and I had to get out and walk back up towards T’s every few waves. Besides that I had a blast. Only made like three barrels but I had some solid views. What a fun time.

6-3-20 AM Session: 1-3 ft, C Street
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 60
Another windy morning left me scrambling for options. Jalama was the best bet. I had some ding work to handle and a Jalama mission eats up my whole day. A sane man would just take the day off except I’m on over fifty consecutive days surfing. Considering I have no work and absolutely no real prospects at the moment thanks to how fucked the economy is I figure the least I can do is surf everyday. I had a look at Rincon and it was pathetic as was both Emma and Father Johns. The end result was a grovel session at Ventura Point on my Clarks Surfboards POP Fizz fish. If it wasn’t for this board I don’t know if I would surf half the small days I do. I got some exercise out there, brought down a decent backside straight air for the conditions before heading home to fix dings. If anyone out there needs ding repair hit me up. I’m fast, good and rather inexpensive plus I could really use the work.

6-2-20 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 86
I really didn’t want to go back to LA today, though it was the best option conditions considered.  Instead of just driving to LA after the harbor was shitty and crowded I decided to car surf all over the place.  After checking every wave from Fruit Stands to Father Johns I ended up back at Fruits.  I only made that play because as I was looking at Emma I noticed the wind had laid down.  Not even looking again I suited and paddled.  Though still pretty mixed up from the three differing swells in the water there were some really fun looking south sets.  The bars were defined enough to filter the combo.  There was a terrible south drift.  So bad in fact that I had to paddled the entire time.  Sets were also hitting all over the place.  It was a lot of work to find the gems.  I got a couple of really fun waves.  It was a real work out and my arms burned out faster then usual.  It was fine cause the wind picked up hard enough out of the NW to ruin it.

6-1-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Leo Carrillo
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 118
I was pretty exhausted when I woke up this morning from the marathon trip I was just on.  It didn’t help my motivation that the wind was already onshore down south at seven.  I almost wanted to let the surf session go except I had to go down to Ventura to check on a batch of boards.  I got to the harbor and it was terrible.  Windy, mushy, broken up and crowded.  I decided to head to LA to chase the small south swell that was in the water.  County was windy and shitty.  Leo was clean but drained and was riddled with kelp on the inside.  The wind wasn’t too hard so I decided to look at Zeros, which loves the low tide.  As soon as I got there the NW wind came on like light switch.  Leo was my only option.  I pulled out my Clarks surfboards Pop Fizz and went for it.  Everyone was sitting wide of the rock cause of the low tide exposed inside rocks and kelp.  Actually on the right wide swingers there were some really decent runners.  It was just very hard to catch them over there or get good positioning.  I went out in front of the rock and just did my best to maneuver around the inside rocks and stay high and out of the kelp line.  On the best sets once you got past the half way point of the wave it would open up for a few decent turns.  I hit my head on both my board and the rocks on the inside attempting an air.  Luckily I was unscathed.  It was really shitty Leo by anyone’s standards.  I made the most of it and had a good time.  At the very least I got some excise and after twenty waves paddling back up the point each time I was spent.