June 2018 Surf Session
6-30-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 31
Miles Driven: 64
The same small south that has been feeding us waves the past few days though on the decline still had enough energy to allow for some fun looking peaks up and down the beach from River Mouth to Knoll. It was a tad bit weaker and inconsistent then the previous days yet still very palatable. I grabbed my fish and ran down to the mouth where I found a few fun little sand bars I cycled through till the wind came up out of the south. Then I slowly surfed my way to the knoll and back to my car. The rest of my day was spent prepping then working an event for the contemporary art museum.
6-29-18 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 78
The buoys had plenty of NW wind swell on them. On the way down all the points were very small. I had a look at the Harbor. There was a crowded lack luster wave at New Jetty and some scattered corners from Knoll to River Mouth with a fair amount of guys out not catching anything. I was about to paddle just for lack of time when I fielded a call from Ryan that he heard the Ship was chest high, clean and only a few guys out. I decided I would rather have less time on a good wave then more time on a crappy one. The tide had already taken a hefty toll when I got there leaving most waves fat or back washy or both. Every now and then a solid set would show. I frothed on it cause the water was absolutely freezing in my leaky old 3/2. The more waves I caught the warmer I stayed. Ryan said the wind came up at the Harbor right after I left. I suppose it was the best of the worst.
6-28-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 60
More fucking wind. Its one thing to have an entire summer cloaked in the marine layer, but it really sucks when its windy as well. The wind was the hardest it had been all week from as early as six from the WSW. I drove around hunting every possible nook and cranny I knew that was in this area. If it wasn’t for work I would have just gone back to LA. Ultimately I settled on Indicator Left which was the best of the worst. There about six guys on it and lots of little left and right bowls that were not too torn up from the wind. I rode my fish and made the most of the trashy conditions. To make a bad situation worse the line up was crowded with a pack of mostly clueless groms, who ruined at least a dozen rides on me. I hate summer crowds.
6-27-18 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Leo Carrillo
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 12
Miles Driven: 120
I didn’t have work till 3 pm being that I was working a dinner event. Really I was hoping to just surf River Mouth again and then get some chores done. Of course the wind was in full force from seven in the morning. The Harbor was all trash. Emma wood was far from appealing either. I was left with no other option then to head to LA. I checked county first, which looked alright. I hate driving all that way just to surf County Line. I managed to get parking spot right in front of the break at Leo. I had to look. There were only about four guys on it and I saw plenty of waves go by not ridden. A guy getting out said I would have to be crazy not to paddle out. Fuck it looked fun enough. Right off the bat I lucked into two solid set waves that went down the reef. Then as the high tide set in sets began to become rather in frequent and the crowded doubled, then tripled, then quadrupled till there were twenty of us fighting for very few waves on one peak. Needless to say thinks got very frustrating. I ended up just sitting way outside and waited for the occasional bomb. Then if I was lucky would be able to finagle an inside sneaker on the way back out. I surfed well enough and felt good out there. That being said it was way too slow paced a session for my liking. I really hate LA crowds. Later I heard from Ryan that Strand was fun. Must have been a super mysto SE thing with wind swell combo. I didn’t even think to look there. The dinner went off with out a hitch.
6-26-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 64
At first glance my thoughts were that it wasn’t nearly as good as the previous day. The wind was on it, the lines were all broken and mixed up and it was crowded for what was out there. Still it looked fun enough. Thinking it was on the mushy and weak side I grabbed my fish. As the tide began to come in so did the new SE swell and I soon found myself steadily on the under gunned side. That being the case I somehow managed an incredible performance. Then again I always come out on top when the surf isn’t perfect. Its the east coast in me. I had a few sick tubes, stuck a few airs including an alley oop and found myself always in position for the good ones. Angers paddled at the very end of my session and brought the wind with him. That was fine since I had work the rest of the day anyway.
6-25-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 64
As fun as it is to travel it is always good to be back home. There was some new small south on the buoy and the wind was good leading me to believe it was worth a drive down south before work. Up and down the beach from the River Mouth to the Knoll there were fun looking peaks. I would say it had the best shape I have seen down there yet this south season. The crowd was pretty thick toward the Knoll. I paddled my own peak way down in front of the River Mouth and started frothing. Unfortunately the wind steadily rose for the duration of my surf. Still it was totally Rip-able for a solid hour before the wind trashed it. Work was interested. I had to puree ten flats of strawberrys. This task took me like four hours. Awesome.
6-24-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Asilomar State Beach
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 27
Miles driven: 51 (from Hollister)
We woke up bright and early after crashing at my lady’s Uncle’s home in Hollister and headed toward the coast. I had hoped that Moss Landing would be fun again. Upon getting there the wind swell had dropped quite a bit and with the high tide it was looking rather mushy and lack luster. I decided I may as well have a quick look at Carmel and see if there were some punchy close outs there. It was also small. I remembered hearing that Asilomar Beach just on the other side of the peninsula picked up a lot more swell. Last time I was there two weeks ago there was so much surf and wind that it was out of control. Though a tad on the week side there were a few peaks working with the one closest to the road being the best. The crowd was on it in full force as well. There were easily thirty plus guys out. I was out of options and wasn’t about to trust the wind to hold up for more surf checks. It was already ten. I jumped in on my fish and proceeded to make the most of the bowl coming in. It didn’t take long for me to realize that all the keepers were the inside double ups. The water was absolutely freezing. I managed a lots of fun ones and even ran into my friend Sean from the SLO area randomly. Good times. We spent a few hours enjoying the quaint little town of Pacific Grove before heading back to SB, Pacific Grove is a cute little town and totally worth a visit.
6-23-18 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Moss Landing
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 237 (from SB)
Once again I had to make another pilgrimage up north this weekend. Its not a bad thing. I love it up there and will use any excuse to get away from the shitty surf and crowds of summertime southern California. My girl’s cousin was having a college graduation party in Hollister. Normally I wouldn’t go to such lengths of such an event, but I had a board to deliver to Santa Cruz anyway. Why not kill two birds with one stone? The plan was to stay in the Monterey area, surf in the morning, drop off the board and then head east to the party. Finding a reasonable priced hotel became rather difficult and ultimately we ended up staying at some dump in Watsonville that was borderline Bates Motel status. The bed was so uncomfortable at one point I seriously considered sleeping on the floor. If you are ever in the area avoid the Rancho Motel at all costs. Fuck the ice machine didn’t even have any ice in it so that I could chill my champagne I was taking to the party. Our hardship was rewarded with solid head high plus, glass Moss Landing. The local Saturday crowd was in full force causing me to very cautious about where to paddle. There was a fun looking peak closer to the Jetty that no one seemed to want to surf, being that right in front of the assess path there was an insanely fun looking A-frame that I knew I could have nothing to do with for fear of being kicked out. I made the most out of my little bowl and had a great time till the wind came up. After that it was Breakfast and some world cup watching. The board deal went down perfectly leaving everyone stoked. My girl and I decided to check out “The Mystery Spot” while in Santa Cruz. I am not sure how I felt about the whole thing. Is a hoax, is it not? Was it even worth the $8 bucks a person plus $5 for parking I am not sure. Maybe that is the true mystery of the “Mystery Spot”. That being said it is set in a very nice secluded wooded area with some hiking trails. I guess for the enchanting forest vistas it was worth a visit. Maybe skip the tour, look at some pictures of the place on instagram and just enjoy the woods. The graduation party was fun. We attended the event in Hawaiian style attire as per the ivitation. Of course only ten percent of the party actually followed suit not that it matter cause we looked fly in our floral threads anyway.
6-22-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 31
Miles Driven: 64
At least it was glassy this morning. The surf on the other hand was a tad on the small and lack luster side with nothing left but background south and minor NW wind swell. The crowd was out in full force also. I suppose there were not many options with what was on offer. I suited up and walked down to the River Mouth and found my only peak. Most waves were walled with the occasional corner. Ryan paddled and the session was more of a hang out and catch a few shitty waves with my bro then a full on surf. That being said I did stick on solid ally-oop I was happy with. The rest of my day was spent running errands before packing up and heading up north once again for a family thing in Hollister for my girl. While up there I may as well get a board to a customer and surf a bit as well.
6-21-18 AM Session 2-3+ ft, Oxnard Shores
Time in Water: 1 hr 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 38
Miles Driven: 78
There was some NW wind swell on the buoys leading me to believe that Strand would have a wave. All my sources were coming up with nothing. I had a look at Pitas on the way down. Had I not needed to pick up a board from my glasser I would have paddled right there. There was chest high right coming in that looked fun enough. Since I was going south no matter what I decided to have a look at Strand. When I first walked up I saw a pretty fun looking glassy chest high set at the Ship with a handful of guys on it. After that it was pretty inconsistent and weak looking. I heard the Shores had been fun the entire duration of this south swell. It was still very clean and some of the south was also still on the buoys. There were some fun looking glassy chest high peaks between south side of the shores and the Hotel. At this point I was out of time and paddled. The line up consisted of myself and three other guys. We all had our own peak. I frothed and got a few fun tubes, stuck a few airs. It was just a super fun out there. Then Angers paddled out toward the last half hour of my session and brought the wind with him which killed it.
6-20-18 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Surfers Knoll
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 10
Miles Driven: 64
Truthfully the only reason I went all the way down to the Harbor was because I had to stop by my glassers shop to handle some business before work. There were a few corners at the Knoll that looked possibly make-able. I paddled with the notion that if I made one barrel I would be stoked. Some how I sorted through all the garbage and got that tube. It is a shame the sand is so terrible at the Harbor this year. What a waste.
6-19-18 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, County Line
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 59
I promised Angers if we surfed Zeros then I would go surf County with him after. I hate county line. Every now and then the place lights up like no other, but most of the time it’s wonky, shifty, all over the place and crowded. For what ever reason, maybe its the Florida in him Angers loves it there. On this particular afternoon the left off the homes on the south end of the beach looked rather enticing. For about a half hour before the wind came up there were some really solid ones coming through. I managed a few barrels and stuck an array of airs taking the heat. I guess the surf day was a tie. Its always more fun to surf with a bud.
6-19-18 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Zeros
Time in Water: 3.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 32
Miles Driven: 59
I was gifted a day off I had not expected thanks to a last minute cancellation. Since there was plenty of south swell in the water I didn’t hesitate to head down for a surf. All the Ventura spots were trash. I hit up Angers and we cruised to LA in search of better conditions. The tide was crazy low and considering the swell angle and size Zeros was the best option. The crowd was light, but extremely kooky causing more then one frustrating incident. Angers and I decided to have a mock heat for the entire session. I had the lead the entire session. I started on my short board, but as the tide got fatter so did the waves. I brought my fish down as well and switched mid surf. I actually had tons of fun. Angers ended up with the wave of the day and caught one from the point all the way through to the bath house clinching the win. I did stick a rather large ally-oop that almost got me back in the lead. Good fun.
6-18-18 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 27
Miles Driven: 30
I had a breakfast and an evening pack out to prep for. After work there was some solid south swell on the buoy and the wind wasn’t so bad to keep me from heading south. I stopped off at Indicator first if not for any other reason then to rule it out. I saw two solid head high south sets break left with only a handful of guys out. For once in my life I took the bird in the hand and paddled. The wind came up shortly after I got in the water tearing the lefts up pretty good. Luckily there was enough south in the swell that it was still surf-able, though barely. Some how I managed to ding the nose of my brand new board on its second wave ever ridden trying to stick a nose pick air reverse front side. I need to stop doing airs. At may age the risk to reward ration has gotten insanely high to low subsequently.
6-17-18 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
It figures when the only window I have is the morning that it would be windy at 7 am. With that in mind I slept in, while my girl was up bright and early to watch Mexico beat Germany in the World Cup 1-0. I had a super high end dinner in Montecito to work.
6-16-18 PM Session: 1-3 ft, Mesa Lane
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 4
I had a Graduation party up in the hills behind Carp that I was working solo. I didn’t get done till six and was inundated in traffic thanks to it being both Fathers Day weekend and UCSB Graduation all in one. I had a look at the Lane once again on the way home. It was smaller, but there was still a definitely fish-able looking wave. I jumped in and was having a rather good time despite the shit conditions when some German couple decided to paddled out and although they promised not to get in my way both managed to be in the way nearly the rest of the surf. I still got mine.
6-15-18 PM Session: 2-3 ft, Mesa Lane
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 4
I had an early morning followed by a long day in the Kitchen. After I got out I decided to make a desperation check at Mesa Lane. Though the tide was rather low there was a small waist to stomach plus wave out there with just a few soft tops on it. Stoked I grabbed my fish frothed the meager offerings. Sometimes it is just nice to wash off the grim of the day in the ocean.
6-14-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 64
I needed to have gotten off my lazy ass and woke up early enough to make it down to Strand for a quickie before work. I slept in leaving me not enough time. I was really banking on Emma being fun. It was terrible, which had me run down to Harbor hoping for something at New Jetty. The wind was shit there as was the Sand. I headed back up the coast toward Santa Barbara checking everything and anything till I just settled for Indicator where I saw a three wave set of lefts break with only three guys on it and two left after that set. I didn’t even think there was enough south warrant a wave at Indy. As soon as I came down the stairs the wind came up out of the NW trashing what little south was coming through and increasing the close outs from the NW wind swell. I found myself drifting around the corner to try and sneak a few Indicator rights under the hook. This was weak and mushy as shit. I did manage one or two. I suppose it was better then not surfing. Work was hectic with three events on the docket over the next two days.
6-13-18 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 3.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 37
Miles Driven: 78
Another day of some solid late season NW wind swell at the Strand. In my opinion there is nothing better. It was a little bigger at the Ship today and cleaner then the previous morning. I paddled along with both Ryan and Gordo and a light crowd of regulars. Right off the bat I lucked into a few well overhead bombs off the Pipe. By the time I did my third walk around conditions began to get a bit torn up despite the lack of wind. It seems that everyday as the tide got low the waves got messy and line up became riddled with ugly rip tides. Ryan and Gordo bailed not being able to find good waves, as did the majority of the guys out. I dropped my standards and began looking for some fun insiders off the Jetty that were connecting. Then after an hour it glassed off again and I managed a sick back door barrel through the shorey. Three solid Strand days in a row in June no less. It wasn’t a bad few days off that is for sure. At least I got something to get me through the next long run of work I have this week.
6-12-18 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 3.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 44
Miles Driven: 78
I had to take my car down south to get it serviced. My boy Angers lives right near there I had him pick me up and we went for a surf together. This guy and I can bank marathon sessions like no one else. Pat and Ryan paddled too. Unfortunately it was not nearly as much fun as yesterday and way more bumpy. There were still some sick ones, but you had to work harder for them. Still Strand in June? One really cannot shake a stick at that. A little bit ago some dude gave me a bar of wax to try out at Rincon. I found it too be too sticky. Today I found out it also ate through the chest panel of my fucking wet suit. Let this be a lesson folks never take strange wax from strangers. That was a $300 blunder to save $2. Awesome.
6-11-18 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Little Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 49
I was determined to get some point surf on the way home no matter how tired I was. I looked a Pitas, which was solid. Unfortunately with a steadily rising tide I felt the window was going to be super short. I paddled Little Rincon since it holds the fat tide a little bit better. When I first got out there I lucked into some solid ones that ran from the rock to the hotel. The tide kept getting higher and the subsequently the back wash got worse and the waves got more closed out. Still there were a few. I was super pumped to get some fun point surf after so many days of beach break.
6-11-18 AM Session; 5-7+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 3 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 39
My morning started with a Rincon check, which wasn’t bad for the time of year, but still a bit too small and weak for my liking. Angers claimed Strand was good, yet I had other intel that it wasn’t. I checked just about everything down to Strand, where I should have paddled in the first place. The Ship was fun with chest to head high somewhat clean wind swell peaks from Jetty to the Bowl. I jumped in and nabbed some pretty fun ones. As the tide dropped it kept getting bigger till there were some solid ten foot sets breaking out well past the Jetty. I got multiple waves from the Ship past the life guard tower. You had to be choosy cause many closed out or just mushed out. Then as the tide hit dead low there were all sorts of rips causing too much turbulence on the face to make anything fun and finally it blew out. It was sick while it lasted.
6-10-18 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Carmel Beach
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 11
Miles Driven: 2
It was out last day up north and the wind was non-existent early. Stoked we headed down to the beach in hopes of getting some good photos. It was oil glass, but lack of a good sand bar had most waves just dumping and closing out. There were a few corners to be had it you got lucky. I really didn’t know where else to go and paddled the north end of the beach, where there was a bit of an A-Frame peak. As I was walking down I saw the only other guy out there get and make a sick right tube. I got out there and it was super hard to even paddled into them, let alone set a rail. The swell would be like waist to chest rolling in, then hit the shallow flat inside, double up and throw out. It was basically a body board wave, reminding me of Sandy’s Beach in Oahu with out the help of the trade winds. I had a few good tubes, but overall I just got my ass handed to me. Then the wind came up and took away whatever little ride-ability it had. Meanwhile I heard it was solid back home. Go figure.
6-9-18 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Carmel Beach
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 23 (from Moss Landing)
I think that 5th bottle of champagne we bought from the bar last night may have been a mistake. When your drunk and partying with some good friends it never sounds like a bad idea. My girl and I were pretty hungover to say the least. We fought through it and spent the day exploring all the sights of Monterey with the spoiler being the Salvatore Dali 17 Museum. In the afternoon we took the scenic route around the Peninsula south to Carmel, though I made sure not to pay the $10.50 for 17 mile drive. Before dark I had a look at the beach break right out front and despite the gusty N winds the waves were somewhat clean with some serious draining right peelers that were side shore off shore. It appeared that there were some lefts too, but those turned out to be super hard to surf with the hard cross wind. It wasn’t anything amazing but I did manage one sick right hand tube and a handful other fun ones. The sunset was brilliant and that really is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, for sure California. Later that night we had an incident at the eatery Affina where the crooked owner took serious advantage of my girl and I. lately I have been very good about controlling my hot headed Italian instincts, but shit almost got real. Look for a blog about this very soon. I will say this his actions and terrible food just about ruined the end of my trip. DONT EVER EAT AT AFFINA IN CARMEL, TERRIBLE FOOD, EVEN WORSE SERVICE!!!!!!
6-8-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Moss Landing
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 237 (From SB)
The plan was to go get a few waves at Moss Landing, take advantage of the clean morning conditions and then drop Gabe’s boards off at his school. Sure enough we got there, the otters were playing in the slough, the seals barking and the waves glassy and fun. There were about six guys standing on the dunes in their wet suits looking a bit bewildered. As it turned out someone claimed to have seen a large shark fin that from estimations was at least a fifteen foot great white. Everyone forewarned me not to go out. Only one guy actually saw the beast and he happened to have been attacked by a shark once before. In my opinion this made him most likely more sensitive to the issue and more likely to cry wolf. There were also plenty of seals swimming about the line up leading me to believe that if there really was a large predator lurking about they would have gotten the fuck out of there. Now don’t get me wrong paddling out a highly marine life populated river mouth where plenty of Sharks have been spotted after the locals tell you a shark was spotted minutes before is a tad bit on the crazy side. Always use your own personal judgement when dealing with the ocean and that includes swell conditions as well. One must consider and understand all the risks involved and then make an educated decision based on the risk to reward ratio. In this case I went with my gut that I was most likely alright. Also I had my girl on the beach as well as a spotter and filming. If I did get attacked at least we would get some good footage of the incident. There was a group of whales doing their thing out the back as well and the water was rather clear making visibility good. I went for it. Turns it was a bit weaker then it looked only being wind swell and somewhat walled with few decent corners. If I had gotten attacked it would not have been worth dying for. None the less I had a good time. After I got out a few locals paddled figuring it was fine since I was still alive. Lunch was furnished by the Light House Grill in Moss Landing, which happens to be one of my favorite Luncheonettes in California and if you are in the area I definitely implore you stop for a bite. The rest of our day was spent exploring the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
6-7-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, New Jetty
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 12
Miles Driven: 64
After kind of blowing it by being lazy yesterday the only way to effectively punish myself was to paddle today. There was some minor NW/SW combo in the water and I figured considering the lower tide Harbor was my best bet. Though nothing spectacular New Jetty did have a mush left off it with only five guys out. I made six and the two other guys suiting up in the lot made a total of eight, way to many for what was coming in. I was out of time and went out anyway. It was completely take a number out there, but there were some scrappy inside ones allowing me to get a wave or two under priority. I actually managed a few decent ones that went down the beach that stoked me out. I had work the rest of the day then packed up and headed up north to the Montery Peninsula for the weekend. I had to bring Gabe his Indo quiver and since my girl has been working super hard getting her new exhibit at the museum up she wanted a little break from SB and came along. Of course later we would find out that we missed Julia Marie Dryfus, Elliane from Seinfeld. That was a bit of a bummer for both of us.
6-6-18 No Surfing: 2-3 ft
I woke up and the wind was already on it. No surprise there as has been the precedent this spring. Hoping for some Emma Wood high tide evening surf I went to work early. I had to go down to Ventura to pick up some new boards anyway. Of course when I got down there the wind had really started to howl and I couldn’t get into surfing some absolute crap.
6-5-18 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Sliver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 78
I was woke up at 6:30 to a text from Angers that Strand had waves. At that point I figured whatever I will just go surf the harbor a in a bit. Then I got another text from Ryan that he heard Strand was fun. At that point I was on the road and cruising south en route to Strand. When I got there there were some fun albeit somewhat weak looking chest plus wind swell. It was bit crowded with thirty guys spread from the Ship to the bowl. I was out of time and forced to paddled. It looked fun enough anyway. Once out there it was a bit more tricky then it looked. The outside was terribly mushy and the inside super shallow and dumpy. I almost scalped myself on a failed air attempt to the flats in the shallow inside. Angers and Ryan paddled and we found a few fun ones. I was definately stoked I paddled and forsure wished I didn’t have to bail early for work cause it seemed to have been getting better as the incoming tide filled in.
6-4-18 No Surfing: 1-2+ ft
I had work early and it was super small out there. I heard some wind swell filled in for the evening, but the wind was on it anyway. Maybe there will be something tomorrow.
6-3-18 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 31
Miles Driven: 63
After our Jalama burger the wind had actually resided quite a bit. Knowing I had a somewhat busy week of work ahead and a rather grim surf forecast we decided to make the trek back to Cracks for a second surf. This time the place was empty. One thing about Jalama afternoons if you manage to get lucky and the wind stays down you will get the place to yourself especially on a Sunday evening. While the rest of the world runs home with the Sunday Scaries I am proud to forge on with adventure. The surf was still solid and focusing on the most south Crack peak. It appeared a few were even throwing out and barreling. Stoked I hit it. It was way more powerful then the morning as proved by how hard I got jacked on my first wave air dropping a bit late. Mid way through my session my boy James and his friend joined my and we had a blast trading off super fun lefts. As the tide began to drop the peak got super shifty and very hard to surf. That was fine cause after a double session my girl was about over sitting on the beach anyway. We bailed and all I can say is it was a fine day at the beach.
6-3-18 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 63
I had not been up to Jalama for at least a month and last time it was freezing. It looked pretty damn inviting on the cam yesterday and once again this morning. My decision was easy and north my lady and I went. The tide was super drained early so I waited till mid morning in hopes to take advantage of the incoming tide push. The wind was supposed to be light and the Kelp is currently pretty strong strong leaving me hopeful that it would be pretty clean for the entire day. Sure enough the surf was solid and though a bit of wind the kelp was keeping things rather clean. It was the best waves I had seen in at least a week. I headed down to Cracks. Being that it was Sunday and flat every place else the crowd was easily thirty guys deep spread from First Crack to Second Crack. I paddled in the middle of the pack and caught a few bombs right off the bat. I took a few good beatings too. The peaks were shifty as all hell and finding a good became increasingly tough as the tide came in. I found myself always between peaks or if I was in position some one was constantly deeper. Frustration quickly set in and I began paddling for all kinds of crap. Still I managed a few good ones and stuck a decent enough straight air to go in on. We decided to reward our efforts with a Jalama Burger. While eating our burgers over by the river mouth at the Camp we were sadly disturbed by a little black bird whose feet were hog tied by a piece of trash. We tried to help but it kept flying away. Campers and daily beach goers need to be more responsible with their trash, especially at a remote unspoiled paradise like Jalama. It is for reasons like that I hate humans. The burger on the other hand did no disappoint.
6-2-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
More small surf and a double work shift kept me out of the water. From what I heard it was pretty weak down south and the only place I could have scored was up north for which I had no time for. Tomorrow I have the entire day so one can only guess where I am headed.
6-1-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
I had work early for a memorial service in Goleta. Ryan had a look around and said it was barely ride-able. I left my decision to surf based on traffic. If there was no traffic at the Montecito jug handle I would go have a look around if there was then I was going to head home. There was traffic and I bailed.