June 2023 Surf Sessions
6-30-23 AM Session: 1-3 ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 28
Miles Driven: 18
The surf was tiny yet again. At the very least conditions were clean and I saw a few lefts that looked rip-able at the River Mouth. I suited up and ran down there. Though nothing spectacular there were some weak but kill-able waist to stomach high lefts. I took my groveler out and went to town on the tiny little peaks. I guess I must have got on a froth since I caught a ton of waves. After the surf I headed home to finish Dave’s board so I could get it to my glasser in time. All this had to be done by 4pm. Dave decided he wanted all his friends to cruise to downtown Ventura with him for a final good bye pub crawl. I’ll get into the details on that in tomorrow’s write up.
6-29-23 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 2
After yesterday and upon consulting all the cams I decided to make my life easy and just go surf Hueneme. Truth be told I had a rather busy day. I had to hand shape a rush order Clarks Surfboards SPF Fish for my buddy Dave, who is moving to Spain in about two weeks. Sure he had months to put an order in, but why not wait till the last minute? That’s what friends are for. C.C. met me and we paddled. Whatever waves that were coming through all but disappeared with the dropping tide. Sets were inconsistent and dumpy when they did come in. Finding a corner was rather impossible and thanks to the low tide it was doing that shrinking shoulder thing that only Hueneme knows how to do. What I mean by this is the wave starts off like head high on the drop but by the time you bottom turn and get to the shoulder it’s not even a wave anymore. C.C. caught a few and bailed. I should have followed suit but instead I decided to stay out for over an hour beating a dead horse hoping for a wave that never materialized. I got home and had a full load of both ding repair and shaping all with Friday afternoon deadlines. I’d rather have work then not. Thank you again anyone who has ordered a custom or brought ding work to me. I really appreciate the support.
6-28-23 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Leo Carrillo
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 7
Miles Driven: 50
With still a bit of NW wind swell on the buoys I decided to have a look Strand first. The waves coming in were small and useless. There were two guys taking waist high shore break kamikaze close outs in the bowl that I wanted nothing to do with. C.C. called and said he was going to check Hueneme. I met him there. Though a wave did exist on Rockside it didn’t look that great. We decided to head to LA. County Line was our first stop. There were some peaky crossed up combo lines coming into the beach break. It looked all over the place and crowded for what it was. I was hoping we might find a wave at Heavens, but that was completely useless. We found ourselves at Leo which was packed but had a do-able wave. Though crowded the lineup looked manageable so we paddled. Once out there we found the waves to be very inconsistent and weak when they came through. It was more suited to a fish then a my shortboard but I had left my fishes at home. We gave it an hour before calling it. I had catering gig in Santa Barbara in the afternoon and didn’t want to push my time window for such meager conditions. Hopefully more south will fill in tomorrow.
6-27-23 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 min
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 10
The buoys were showing a bit of NW wind swell, enough to warrant a look at Strand. I met C.C. and Solar at the Ship. The period was only about seven seconds making the conditions look like a flushing toilet. The brown water helped add to that analogy. It looked far from good, but C.C. was into it and there really wasn’t any place better to go so we paddled. For me the only redeeming quality was the fact that no one was out. Even before I got my suit on two more random guys decided to paddle. This left five of us out there with junky, choppy, dumpy shore break peaks. Every so often a decent left would come through but they were few and far between. C.C. definitely caught the wave of the day. I found a tube and stuck a solid straight air. Besides that the session was nominal. My afternoon was spent fixing dings.
6-26-23 No Surfing: 1-2+ ft
Miles Driven: 2
The surf was still futility down yet again this morning. That was fine by me since Bizarro and I had to move my wife’s sister into her new place up in Goleta. It was a load and unload gig that went rather smoothly. We got back to Hueneme around two. There was a small wave on Rockside that may have been surf-able. The tide was still a bit low so I headed home and got some ding work out of the way. I considered another look around five but was over it. The day had already been physically exhausting enough with out a shitty grovel. There was promise of some minor south swell/wind swell combo tomorrow.
6-25-23 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
Miles Driven: 18
I wasn’t even planning on checking the surf this morning. The buoys were about as small as they ever get around these parts. The cams looked pathetic too. C.C. wanted to have a look and I jumped in with him. The only real option was the Harbor. It looked smaller than yesterday and the wind was already on it. New Jetty had a solid crowd and also looked terrible. I told C.C. I’d paddle if he wanted to. He was over it as well. Instead my wife and I went to a pond store to pick up some snails for our quaint little fish pond in the yard. We concluded the day with a round of twilight golf on the base. Hopefully the surf will pick up soon. The photo is furnished from Ventura Point in the morning.
6-24-23 No Surfing: 1-2+ ft
Miles Driven: 18
The surf was super tiny with just a small amount of NW wind swell in the water. Conditions looked clean on the cam thus I drove over to Ventura Harbor for a look. It was tiny, barely waist high. There were a handful of groms at New Jetty trying to surf the middle of the beach. I saw a few down by River Mouth that had me almost consider a paddle. As I was checking it the wind came up stiff out of the NW. The only thing I hate more then small waves are messy small waves. That pulled the curtain on the surf for me. I needed a new watering can for my garden. On the way back I decided to stop at the 99 cents store to pick one up. They had the same one I bought last year, only then I paid $6.99 and now it was $8.99! Inflation is a bitch. How come the price of everything goes up around me except my wages. I needed it since my old one rusted out thus conceded and bought it. Later that afternoon my wife and I went shoe shopping. Aren’t non surfing days exciting? The photo is of Ventura Point from the morning.
6-23-23 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 min
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 20
My first stop was Strand but it was too small to surf. From there I cruised to the Harbor. New Jetty was crowded and terrible. I saw a few corners at the Knoll and paddled. Whatever I though I saw turned out to be complete lie cause I couldn’t find an open face to save my life and the current sucked. I got out and ran down to the River Mouth passing a collection of dead seals and dolphins thanks to the recent toxic algae bloom. I managed to find a racy but surf-able shore break style left that salvaged my surf. I surfed my twenty and went home to shape.
6-22-23 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 min
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 22
There was still a bit of wind swell left in the water. Unfortunately the period on said swell was six seconds making whatever was coming through look like a scene from the Great Lakes. I had a look at Strand and though surf-able it was pretty junky. Hoping for better shape and a bit more size I headed to the Harbor. The surf was just as torn up there with even less shape. The waves were so bad that there wasn’t anyone out at New Jetty. Jeffery checked everything north and deemed it not worthy. Both of us wanted to surf so we resolved to just head back to Strand and paddle the ship. It was pretty terrible but the two of us managed to get a few turns in. I was stoked to surf with Jeffrey since he was about to embark on a month worth of travel included a surf trip to Mexico. After the surf I headed home for a full afternoon of shaping.
6-21-23 AM Session: 2-4 ft, Malibu
Time in Water: 1 hr 45 min
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 70
Once again I found myself standing on the beach at Silver Strand far from stoked at what was on offer,though just like yesterday it was more the crowd factor then the waves that didn’t leave me stoked. I was going to paddle when I got call from C.C. that he was heading to Malibu late morning and would drive. Over Strand I went home and did a little shaping. Just before 11 am we cruised to the ‘Bu. We saw a smoking head high set on cam that stoked us out. The place was gnarly crowded with easily a hundred guys from 1st to 3rd. It’s really funny how I wouldn’t go near Rincon with such a crowd but don’t think twice at Malibu. The majority of guys were kooks and didn’t count anyway. I picked off a medium size wave on the first set as soon as we paddled out. It was fast but I made it around the first section and was bottom turning to hit the lip when I had to pull out cause this dude wearing a blue wetsuit was right in my path. I found it odd for him to be directly in my way but thought maybe he had just come up from the previous wave. Not giving the incident another thought I paddled back out and immediately lucked into a smaller inside wave that I had squared up an air section on. Right as I was about to boost that same guy in the blue wetsuit was in my path yet again forcing me to go off the back. I looked at him and in my utter frustration and barker “twice man, really?” And paddled back out. The twenty something year old kid had the nerve to paddle right up to me and got in my face about it. He explained to me that it was the surfer riding the wave responsibility to look out for the paddler. At that point I blew up on him. Dude was too chicken shit to take it to the beach so C.C. and I told him to paddle down to first with the rest is the kooks. I guess our agro response caused the majority of the lineup to paddle away leaving us a little peak to ourselves in between second and third. The waves were far from decent but we both managed at least one decent ride. The rest of my afternoon was spent shaping.
6-20-23 AM Session: 3-4 ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 45 min
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 10
The NW swell had filled in enough for Strand to have a chest plus wave. For whatever reason the crowd for such a weak swell and late season was out in full force. There had to be around twenty five guys out from the Ship to the Shit Pipe with not many decent waves. Most of the pack were regulars who knew how to surf and I didn’t see too many of them getting great rides. If they were struggling what made me think I could get a good one. Both C.C. and Jeffrey were looking around down south along the PCH so I hung tight and waited. As intel came back it didn’t seem like driving south made sense. I had shaping to do and didn’t want to waste my time chasing below average wind swell, plus as I watched it the crowd had dropped to a manageable number. The first half of my surf I actually got really lucky and scored five decent lefts off the ship and Tower 5. As the tide filled in and wind picked up out of the NW it became very difficult to find a decent one. I spend almost forty minutes trying to find a fun wave in, which never really matriculated. The rest of my day was spent shaping boards and helping C.C. come up with a plan for starting a surf coaching business. Looks like more wind swell/ south swell combo tomorrow.
6-19-23 PM Session: 2-3 ft, Zeros
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 min
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 52
The waves were definitely down this morning. There was a promise of some fresh south swell and NW wind swell to show in the afternoon. The tide was low and wind light. I decided to drive to Silver Strand for a look. When I got there the wind was already on the meager waist plus offerings. Over it I went home and decided to bank on the afternoon. My wife and I have a wedding for one of her friends to attend in early July and she had yet to buy a dress so we used the first half of the day in that pursuit. Our mission proved successful as we found a fabulous dress in Thousand Oaks. Around 3ish we headed across the Santa Monica Mountains to Malibu. The wind was light and with the wind-swell/south swell combo Zeros was my first stop. I ran into Zach while checking it and he talked me into paddling the weak inconsistent waist to chest high waves. The crowd was light and I wanted to surf. My wife was with me meaning I couldn’t spend all afternoon chasing waves. The surf was definitely weak, good thing I had my Clarks Surfboards Bizzle Model under my feet. That board cuts throw the mush like it was a knife through butter. Sets were inconsistent and with the incoming tide the crowd slowly dropped off one by one till I was the only one out. I got on a small wave froth and had a blast considering how tiny it was. If I were alone I definitely would have surfed longer but considering my wife I called it a day having already gotten my fill.
6-18-23 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Malibu
Time in Water: 1 hr 30 min
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 70
There was still a small amount of south swell in the water. Dave was back in town and we had a look at Mugu in hopes there might be something to surf. We missed the tide window by about an hour. Still contemplating a paddle as there were some peaky waist to chest high waves those hopes were dashed by a solid increase in south wind. Dave really wanted to surf so we decided to continue south. County was packed and junky, Leo was too low, Zeros was the best in that zone but packed for what was on offer. With few options left I pulled up the Malibu cam just as a solid five wave head high set rolled through. Despite the south wind being on it the faces were rather clean. The pack up at second looked light. Upon getting there the place was packed. I guess Dave and I weren’t the only ones that saw a few sets and an empty line up on the cam. Waves were breaking up and down the point and pretty stretched making the crowd not a real issue. The water was surprisingly cold considering it’s almost July. Between the south wind and the long lines putting together a decent ride was very difficult, borderline impossible. I got burned by the same random dude on my first two waves. The guy got me so blatantly on the second wave that I had to straighten off to not hit him and in the process of doing so hit a chop and fell in knee deep water, consequently banging my chin hard on the rocks. I really thought I was bleeding upon surfacing, luckily besides a hefty bruise and swollen chin I was ok. I wanted to yell at the dude but by that point he had drifted all the way down pasted the Kiddie Bowl. Considering how clueless he was I doubt he would’ve understood why I was so mad anyhow. As the tide got higher in between second and third began to have a short but do-able corner. Dave and I fought the good fight for another hour before calling it a day. The waves were terrible but definitely the best option in our window for the day. Later that afternoon my wife and I hit up the driving range to work on out golf game or lack there of.
6-17-23 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 20
With the wind light and still a healthy amount of wind swell in the water I was excited to head to Rivermouth to surf some lefts on my new Clarks Surfboards Fly Guy Model. Since I got it back from the glasser I have surfed predominantly rights and really wanted to see how it would go frontside. The wind was already coming up as I was checking it. There were easily forty guys out with mostly stretched poor quality chest and below inconsistent sets dribbling in. Pat was headed to Hueneme thus I went home and we paddled Rockside. It was pretty inconsistent and gutless there as well and was also rather crowded considering how few waves there were on offer. The bulk of the crowded was sitting on the same peak. I saw a little right wedge a little south of them with no one on it and paddled that. I was having an ok time all alone when this three pack showed up and crowded me. There were hardly enough waves for me let alone three other guys. I made a vain attempt to control dominance but that’s always near to impossible when the group in question are a tight knit unit. Ultimately I floated off down the beach dejected caught a few more less then mentionable rides and bailed. Somehow I was graced with a weekend off from catering. I guess the economy is catching up with the luxury market. My summer calendar is looking rather sparse on the work front. If this keeps up I’m going to have to suck dick for crack and sell the crack.
6-16-23 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr 30 mins
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 2
This morning I had another early gig, this time a graduation brunch at UCSB that forced me to wake up at 5:30am. The job was as easy as it got so no complaints there. Around 1 pm I headed back south. The wind was already up pretty stiff making Hueneme or Leo the only viable options. I wasn’t about to drive all the way to Leo after had already driven to Santa Barbara. Allowing Laziness to get the best of me I just paddled out on Rockside at Hueneme. The swell was definitely larger than yesterday with some solid sets. Unfortunately those were completely closed out. I did find some inside corners on the smaller ones that were worthy of a turn or two. Since I was up at 5:30 am I pretty much passed out on the couch by ten.
6-15-23 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 2
I had to work a lunch BBQ catering gig in Hope Ranch. Working a pit BBQ is great except for the head ache I always incur due to all smoke after. The job went off with out any issues, food was amazing and client happy. On the way home I call from C.C. that Hueneme was the place to be. I paddled around four in the afternoon on rockside. The wind was side shore and most sets closed out but every so often there would be an open corner. I had one left tube that I was particularly stoked on. I didn’t surf super long exhausted from both my San Diego trip and work. It was definitely nice to be home.
6-14-23 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Upper Trestles
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 76 (fromChula Vista)
Today my wife and I headed back to Hueneme. Before leaving I had a look at all the cams on the way home, Trestles looked the best. Not wanting to deal with the intense crowd at Lowers I settled for the glorified close out known as Upper Trestles. Considering how below average conditions were there were way more guys then I had expected to be out. On most average to below average days you’ll find just a handful of guys out. Due to the nature or lack there of swell, sets were very inconsistent with very few decent in between waves. About the only thing going for place was the very shifty peak easily fifty yards in radius. I paddled and sat super deep. As a result some older guy trying assert “local dominance” tried to burn me on my first wave, not expecting me to surf as fast as I do. He cursed at me as I bottom turned around him. Keep in mind I didn’t back paddle to get the wave. I actually waited out the first set then paddled deep. Not that the wave was anything worth fighting over. While out I happened to run into an old buddy from my NJ days, JD and a portion of the Manasquan High School surf team. Apparently they were in town for the NSSA scholastic championships at Salt Creek that weekend and I also found out there was to be a US prime event right behind that one at Lowers. This would explain the exuberant overcrowding at both Uppers and Lowers for the lack of wave quality. That’s good cause I was about to right off ever stopping at Trestles again. I stupidly decided to surf barefoot since the water was warm enough, but I hadn’t surfed bare foot since the summer and definitely was thrown off by the difference. I caught one really decent runner that did stoke me out in an otherwise forgettable session. Towards the end of my surf I got burned three times in a row by random kooks and when that happens it’s usually a sign to call it a day. Minus a bit of rush hour traffic through Irvine it was an uneventful drive home.
6-13-23 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Imperial Beach
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 12
Last night got a little crazy with a bit too much wine and good vibes. The wind was already on it at first light and swell on the smaller side. There was no reason to get out of bed early and hunt around aimlessly for bad waves. My philosophy has always been bad waves are bad waves so don’t waste your time chasing them. Instead my wife and I enjoyed a nice leisurely morning hanging around Imperial Beach, a neighborhood I have actually never taken the time to explore and it sort of reminded me of a San Diego version of Port Hueneme. After an elongated brunch due do poor service at this little cafe we ate at, who’s name isn’t worth mentioning since the food/service/atmosphere was nothing to speak of, we stopped by the IB Pier. I saw a do-able left coming off the north side with no one out. There were signs warning about poor water quality, but it looked and smelled cleaner than the water I surf in at the Santa Clara River Mouth on the regular. I paddled and though windy and junky there was the rip coming off the pier that was forcing the left to bend parallel to the beach before wedging up and running along a decent little sand bar. On the same rip was even an against the grain right. What I thought was going to be a throwaway session was surprisingly fun. I was trying out a new Clarks Surfboards Bizzle Model which I had shaped for myself and it went amazing. By far its is the best Bizzle I have shaped for myself. The surf was decent for a solid forty five minutes then began to slow down with the higher tide. Between the sets becoming inconsistent and the fact that I had to constantly paddle to stay in position I decided to call it a day. After the surf my wife took me on a nostalgic tour of Chicano Park, where she spent a bulk of time in her rebellious college days. An artist friend of hers was painting a large scale mural and we went to say hi. I had never been and I must say the park is quit impressive. It has the most murals in one place in all of North America. The park is definitely a sight to behold and there is even a little skatepark too. You can check out my Instagram for pictures of the park. Then we headed back for a chill evening with my wife’s sister back at her house.
6-12-23 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Lower Trestles
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 6
Miles Driven: 130
Today I once again had to embark on yet another journey down to San Diego, the fourth time in the past three months. This time I was employed in helping my mother in law move. My day started up in Santa Barbara loading a U-haul with the help of Bizarro. Him and I have done so many moving jobs together that at this point we have it down to a science. We got the truck loaded in just over an hour and I was on the road. My wife was in Riverside for a bachelorette weekend and the plan was to meet at Trestles in the afternoon. Besides the usual LA traffic on the 405 I got there fairly hassle free. The swell was down and wind on it, a perfect off day for Lowers, or so I thought. Expecting a somewhat light crowd we made our way through trail while avoiding being run down by the endless stream of fast moving electric bikes that have literally taken over the place. Gone are the days when one really had to earn his Lowers session with the painstaking walk in and out. Well, not for us. Upon getting out to the beach I was shocked at how packed the line-up was for such shitty conditions. There must have been easily forty groms on it, with the beach full of cameras and trainers. I spent all my time avoiding that scene at home yet decided to walk right into the center of it on a trip. Sets were inconsistent with hardly any in between waves. I made the trek so I was paddling. I threw my hat in the ring and found myself surrounded by kids three times younger and ten times more frothy. Pretty much every wave that came through had about four to six surfers scraping for it. On some days Lowers can be pretty shifty on the reef allowing for more opportunities to catch a wave off the pack. Today the waves were only focused directly on the center of the reef. I floated around for almost thirty minutes before I got my first wave, a left that I had to kick out of cause some grom snuck in behind me. After that I decided to sit the outside and deep on the right. I had noticed that every once in awhile a set would hit further up the reef too deep for anyone in the main take off zone to get a hold of. This strategy worked and I managed a solid head high right hander that I hit three times and closed with a decent air reverse. Charged up I paddled back out hoping to get another one. In the time it took to catch that wave and paddle back out another fifteen guys showed up. At this point I was disgusted by the sheer volume of people on such a junky day. Somehow I finagled a left that went completely flat on me, milked a couple of cutbacks and floater then bailed. I wanted to get a few more waves thus my lady and I walked down to Middles. Between the wind and the high tide plus the lack of consistency there wasn’t much opportunity for anything, not that there ever really is at Middles. I caught two shitty rights and a left and called it a day, I didn’t want to waste time on shitty waves since we still had to drive to Chula Vista and unload the truck. After a quick nostalgic repast at the Carls Jr we continued on. My wife and I and her sister unloaded the truck and enjoyed a celebratory bottle of wine to cap off a very long day that had me thinking maybe I’m getting to old for these types of marathon days.
6-11-23 PM Session: 1-3 ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1hr
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 4
Today was by far the smallest day in about a week. I had a look at Hueneme, but it was tiny and onshore. This older dude Rex was out solo on his body board but and wasn’t selling it. My morning window was short anyway due to a mid day event in Goleta for five hundred guests. The event was only until around four, so there was definitely time to sort out a surf after. I was pleasantly surprised that a job of such magnitude went down smoothly. Last year the same event was way more hectic. I got home around six and didn’t get my act together and to the beach till closer to seven. Biz met me at Rockside and we did a little sunset photo shoot in the tiny waist plus backwash riddled close outs.
6-10-23 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1hr 30 mins
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 2
Once again the morning proved itself to be way too drained and small. Unlike yesterday I didn’t waste my time driving around. Instead I got in the shaping room and made some new surfboard model explanatory videos for the upcoming website rebuild. Around two I decided to head over to Rockside for a paddle. The waves were small, chest high at best and pretty weak and closed out. The wind was light and it was a nice afternoon with no one out. I surfed my requisite twenty waves and went home. Shockingly I had the night off, a rarity in the catering world during the high season. Since my wife was down in Riverside for a bachelorette party I enjoyed a relaxing evening on the couch.
6-9-23 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 20
There was still some south swell left in the water and the wind was light. The cam at Ventura Harbor looked glassy thus I headed straight there. The tide was a negative low draining out everywhere. Both River mouth and New Jetty had a tiny wave. I considered paddling New Jetty till I saw about a dozen guys show up and start changing. Instead I went home and got some work done banking on the incoming tide at Hueneme. My window existed from around noon to two as I had a catering gig in Santa Barbara at 4:30. I ran down to Rockside where there was the occasional chest plus close out to bash. The good ones were few and far between but I managed a couple. The rest of my evening was spent working a charity benefit for the ASAP in Santa Barbara for 300 guests. As usual it went down with out a hitch.
6-8-23 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 18
There was a negative tide at 9:30am and still plenty of swell. I was determined to get some waves at Fruit Stands upon walking in I once again was let down by the less than stellar conditions. Two guys were out in front of the trail but not selling it. This morning was the third time this week I walked in and walked out. My next stop was the River Mouth. There was a little bit of south wind on it but nothing I hadn’t seen the past few mornings. The swell was a little smaller. There were still some chest plus sets. Bizarro showed up and we headed down to the Mouth. Standard for me, as soon as I hit the water the wind turned stiff WNW adding way too much chop on the face to be any good. I forced out an hour surf ultimately conceding to my defeat. The rest of my day was consumed by Kitchen prep work in Santa Barbara. I guess getting two good consecutive days of surfing these days is like lightning striking twice in the same place.
6-7-23 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 18
Today was a rare special day out at the River Mouth. The waves weren’t necessarily all time and neither were conditions, but for whatever reason I got in the zone managed to score a handful of super fun runners and a couple of racy barrels. I had a slightly later start this morning due to some last minute issues at home. Rather than wasting time checking a bunch of spots I headed straight to the River Mouth and paddled. Sets were chest to head and peeling on all the bars, a little stretched at times, but do-able with some light south wind on it. I grabbed my good wave board hoping to only get the sets. Once out there just like yesterday I realized I was on the wrong board. Luckily after my first wave my tail pad decided to loosen up on me. Of course this would happen on a day where my time was limited. I had to be in Santa Barbara for some kitchen prep by one leaving only a short surf window. It was a long run back to my car to switch equipment. Also I wasn’t going to surf another hour with a floppy tail pad, not only is it annoying but dangerous. I have taken a number of injuries over the years due to a loose pad. I caught as many lefts as I could and surfed them as far as I could till I got to the beach then took off running up to the lot. My other board didn’t have any fins in it burning more time. By the time I got back to River Mouth I was already gassed and left with just forty five minutes to surf. I jumped in and got one off the bat I stuck a straight air on. Then while paddling back out that ride set me up in the perfect position for a set wave that ran easily 150 yards according my to my watch. It was mostly a speed run but I did get a good end section hit. Then I managed two decent tubes coming through the Knoll. I ran back up for one more drift and this time lucked into one of the better lefts I have caught in over a month. It was an over head runner that peeled off the bar perfectly allowing me to get three big hits and an air on the end section. My time was just about out so I started grabbing lefts back to my car. In the process I scored an ally-oop, a straight air, two barrels, ending on an absolute drainer just north of the Knoll lot which may have been the best tube I have caught in a while. The rest of my day was spent working through a massive list of prep work, but it didn’t matter cause in my mind I was caught up in the zen that only a solid surf can give.
6-6-23 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 18
The tide was low and there was a bit of south wind already on the water, too much for Hueneme. I headed towards the Harbor, Pat was there and not stoked and wanted to check Shores. He checked the north end and I checked the south. Both were terrible. He decided to head to Hueneme while I, not wanting to make the same mistake as yesterday decided to just suit up and paddled the River Mouth. It was about chest to head with the odd ball larger set and a bit of south wind on it. I saw a macker set freight train through the Knoll which provoked me to take up my Clarks Surfboards Hacksaw Model, my go to good wave shortboard. Though there were some size-able waves overall it was pretty weak and I would have been better suited on my Clarks Surfboards Fly Guy Model, my go to everyday short board. The current was gnarly, forcing me to surf in drifts. I did three with limited success. I did stick an alright straight air on the end section of one left and an alley oop on another. I also snuck in a small barrel I doggy doored out of surfing my way back to my car at the Knoll. The rest of my afternoon was committed to ding repair.
6-5-23 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Surfers Knoll
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 11
Miles Driven: 20
Indecisiveness and surfing don’t mesh well together. I met Pat at Ventura Harbor where there were head high and better drifty lefts rolling down the beach with some heavy tubes at the Knoll. About thirty guys were out and most were just getting swept away with the current. Still, I kept seeing those heaving left barrels and wanted to get a few. Pat was being negative and talked me into walking into fruits with him. Upon getting there the tide was too high and it looked terrible. We bailed, Pat decided to head home. As for myself I went back to the Harbor and paddled the Knoll. Unfortunately in all the time we spent futzing around the south wind began to come up. I did manage three decent tubes before the wind completely trashed it. Imagine how many more I could have caught if I would have just paddled when I first showed up. A bird in the hand is always better then two in the bush. The rest of my afternoon was spent fixing dings. I heard it glassed off for a brief spell in the early afternoon.
6-4-23 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 30
Miles Driven: 2
It’s a rare day when the surf gods decide to grace Hueneme with a fun day of waves. This morning was the rare one out of ten days a year when the place turns on. I was planning on heading over to the Harbor when I got word from Pat that it was junky. I had a look out front and there were chest plus clean peaky waves coming in up and down the beach. I paddled Rockside since I have been having the most luck there. The crowd was about twenty guys but everyone was pretty spread out. I found a wedgey right hander by the rocks that due to a gnarly rip and some heavy backwash no one wanted any part of. To my credit I managed a hand full of really fun waves. C.C. showed up and we were trading fun bowly rights. I ended surfing two and half hours. The rest of my day was spent packing up all my mother in law’s belongings with my wife to get them ready to be moved down to San Diego. On Monday I have to load a U-haul and drive it all down to SD. The obligations of family just keep on giving.
6-3-23 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 2
This morning when I woke up the sun was shining and I was in the mood to get some waves. Too bad the lack of swell in the water had a different idea. The tide was high and wind already onshore. I had a look out front at Hueneme and saw a couple of small waves. C.C. wanted to surf so I met him over at Rockside and we paddled. It was by far the most grovely day I had surfed in some time. I wasn’t in rhythm at all either. My injured foot probably had something to do with it. I did manage a few turns but overall I was just blowing it out there. After the surf I had a wedding to work up in Gaviota. It was a plated three course meal for 146 people and was the smoothest plate up I have led yet.
6-2-23 AM Session: 1-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 2
I had to work a graduation party lunch in Solvang. Normally I don’t take gigs that far away, but it was for a very prominent song writer and was supposed to be a seven hour gig. The job was a piece of cake, lunch and dessert for 35 people. My part in it turned out to only be four hours, way less then I had expected and I wouldn’t have accepted the job had I know. Maybe I was just efficient getting dessert and clean up finished. I almost spent four hours driving to the thing. Around 3pm I got back to Ventura. Solar texted me that he was paddling North Strand. The wind was blowing rather stiff onshore and there was a little bit of wind swell provoking me to give it a look. There was a gutless knee to maybe waist high wave. Solar and some random longboarder were out. It was definitely surf-able but I couldn’t get into it, plus I had told Bizarro I’d do a sunset photo session with him. I went home and did some Clarks Surfboards office work. Around six we headed up to Hueneme. The swell was definitely smaller then we had hoped but there was the occasional chest high wave on Rockside. The tide was a bit too fat causing the waves to be riddled with backwash and flat spots. We did the best we could with the conditions but lining up a good section with Biz in the water was difficult as there weren’t too many and the waves were all over the place. The lighting was perfect. I can’t remember the last time we had such decent lighting. That’s what makes surfing so difficult on every level. When there good light the waves, tide and wind are bad. When it’s foggy with zero visibility of course the waves are firing. This also what makes surfing so special cause when all the elements come together it’s quite the amazing experience.
6-1-23 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 2
I always like to start out the month with a surf session even if the waves are terrible. The buoys were showing some new wind swell coupled with a little bit of left over south. I drove over to Strand hoping for some small but fun wind swell corners. The tide was a bit too fat and waves just a little too small for it to really get me excited. C.C. said he saw a few waist to chest high waves at Hueneme so I drove back home to meet him. The wind was already onshore and it was just another day of wedgy dumpy close outs on Rockside, but at the very least we got wet. I decided to surf smart and conservative due to my injury and kept my session short as well. Hopefully I will be back at my full capacity soon. The rest of my afternoon and evening was spent working a plated dinner for 250 people in Santa Barbara. The event looked hectic on paper but went very smoothly.