Surfing Ruined My Life

June 2025 Surf Sessions

6-30-25 No Surfing: 1-2+ft
My wife and I had a full day of doctor appointments in Santa Barbara.  Our first stop was her obstetrician at 8am to remove the staples from her C Section.  The staples came out well enough, but her blood pressure was a bit higher than normal.  We didn’t pay any real attention to it because we were both a little stressed  because we had to take Adagio to his second pediatrician appointment.  The two were back to back and we were running late.  Once again the doctor was very pleased with Adagio’s growth and health.  There is nothing more reassuring to new parents than the doctor telling you everything is great and that you’re doing a great job.  Most of the time we are just guessing and hoping we are doing the right things for our baby.  It can be quite nerve wracking.  We got back to Hueneme and had some lunch, after which I had to get over to my glassing space to put the bottoms on a batch of four boards.  I was going to see about a surf in the evening but got word it was pretty terrible everywhere thus I went home and spent quality time with my wife and son. Photo from Ventura Point cam.

6-29-25 AM Session: 1-3 ft, No Surfing
Miles Driven: 12
I pulled up to Shores and it was already windy and small.  I couldn’t get into it.  If conditions were glassy I would have paddled but I have no patience for gutless blown out waves at the moment with everything that’s going on in my life these days.  My wife and I ate lunch then took our baby out for a short walk in his stroller.  It was our first walk as a family.  The rest of my afternoon was spent fixing dings. Photo from Shores.

6-28-25 AM Session: 1-3 ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 12
Whatever little bit of south swell was working for me yesterday it wasn’t happening at all today.  I looked at both the Hotel and Hollywood.  Both were meager at best.  There was a little wind swell in the water which behoved me to have a look at Strand.  The Ship had a waist plus clean albeit racy wave to surf with only two guys out.   Too lazy to bother looking anyplace else I decided to paddle.  Though grovely I did manage a few waves.  There was this father who was in his early sixties surfing with his teenage son and it stoked me out to watch them having a blast.  Someday that will be me and my son. In the afternoon I did a bit of glassing work.

6-27-25 AM Session: 2-3+ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 36
Miles Driven: 10
I finally had a morning that I had the time to surf and there were some glassy fun chest high peaks.  I got word that Hollywood was fun and headed straight there.  I found a decent rip-able peak all to myself and went to town destroying whatever waves came my way.  Since I hadn’t got to surf for the past few days I was stoked and surfed for a while.  It helped that the surf stayed glassy for a change.  I got home and made lunch for my wife and I.  The rest of my day was spent just hanging out with my new little family.

6-26-25 No Surfing: 2-3+ft
It was Adagio’s first Pediatrician appointment today and of course it was at 10 am leaving me S.O.L. on my morning surf. The appointment went great and the doctor said and I quote “he is the perfect specimen of a one week old baby boy”.  Now I truly understand the feeling of being a proud parent.  I was planning on getting some waves at the pier in the evening and a bit of work done before but my wife was feeling a little anxious about being home alone with my son thus I had to forgo my plans to hang with her.  The surf was windy anyway.  Photo from Oxnard Shores courtesy of a friend.

6-25-25 No Surfing: 1-2+ft
After four long days in the hospital My wife and baby were cleared to come home.  Now if you have ever been discharged from the hospital you know what an ordeal it is and a process that takes hours.  We didn’t get out of there till around 2pm and it was a tad nerve racking when the reality that we were taking our baby home and he was our responsibility from then on.  As soon as I got him in the car seat and in the car that anxiety passed.  Like anything else in my life I knew I’d figure it out as it goes.  There was something a bit surreal about the whole thing too.  Here we were at the culmination of nine months of preparation only to be just as clueless as when we started.  Then again a new life had begun for us the moment we stepped into our home and put Adagio into his bassinet.  We ceased from being self centered, spoiled individuals and became a family unit, a team.  All of a sudden all those other things we used to stress and fight about didn’t seem to matter anymore.  We were parents now and whether it be instinctual due to nature or an wave of instant maturity, I can’t say, but my wife and I knew that for the rest of our lives Adagio would be our first concern above and beyond our own needs and wants.  I thought that would make me angry but it didn’t.  I tried to remember what my life was like before Adagio and it just presented itself like a book I read and enjoyed but wouldn’t ever read again.  I wanted to maybe go surf in the evening but the wind was up and surf small.  Rather than grovel I spent the time admiring my brave wife, the mother of my child and getting to know my new baby.  For the first time in my life surfing didn’t seem so important.  Now if it were head high and barreling this may have been a different blog entry altogether.  Photo from the Ventura point cam.

6-24-25 AM Session: 1-2+ft, Father Johns
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 46 (from Cottage Hospital)
This morning was about the smallest it gets around here.  Jeffery was ahead of me and had scouted everything down to Ventura Harbor to no avail.  Coming down from Santa Barbara I noticed some local wind swell and had a look at Father Johns off Sea Cliff.   Back when I lived in SB I used to surf a lot of small summer days there.  Jeffery wanted to paddle so we made the most of the meager one foot wind swell.  It was pretty grovely but I caught a few ok ones.  After the surf I headed back to my container to square away a few more things.  I had a charity fundraiser to cater up at the Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens in the evening.  I had not realized how badly affected I was from sleep deprivation until I tried to cook an entire meal and serve it.  The event went fine but it took all my concentration to get through it.  We ended up having a few tri tips left over so I brought one back to the hospital and gave it to the night nurses.  They were very appreciative and paid that kindness forward to my wife and I by keeping Adagio in the nursery all night allowing us to get a full nights sleep.

6-23-25 AM Session: 2-3+ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 10
Since my wife had a c-section it was a mandatory four day hospital stay.  This morning we had a bit of commotion as my wife wanted to get up and use the bathroom on her own which was cleared by her doctor.  Her charge nurse didn’t took it upon herself to mandate bedrest only.  My wife likes to be able to walk around when she heals so being bed ridden for over twenty four hours already  was really starting to bum her out.  Ultimately I had to go to the head nurse on the floor and complain and sure enough my wife was up and about with in the hour.  Her mom showed up the stay with her so I could go get some waves.  Ryan was at Strand and not too stoked. I showed up and it was definitely poor quality and crowded for what it was.  I wasn’t in the mood for a goose chase and more people were leaving than coming.  With the dropping tide I figured it might get better.  The session ended up being terrible, back wash riddled, hard to surf, mushy yet dumpy.  I was out with two other guys of my level and we were all struggling to make any sense of it.  After the surf I headed over to my container to set it up so I could get glassing in there as soon as my new family get home and settled.  Once again I spent the night up in Santa Barbara with my wife and baby.

6-22-25 AM Session: 3-5+ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 10
I didn’t get much sleep last night.  My bed was the couch in the corner of my wife’s hospital room.  Every hour someone was coming in to do something to her and if not then the baby was crying to be nursed.  If I got two hours of sleep it was a lot.  The reality of having a baby had begun to set in.  The last 30 hours of my life was nuts, maybe one of the most intense of my entire life. My mother in law was dying to see Adagio and showed up at around 8:30 am.  The physician and pediatrician gave both my wife and son the thumbs up.  Considering that and the fact that she had her mother with her I decided to cruise out and go get some waves.  The buoy numbers were primed for a solid Ship session.  I told my wife I was going out for a pack of cigarettes and left.  I had to stop home in Hueneme first because I didn’t have any surf gear on me.  We left in quite a hurry the other night and I thought my wife would get a bit upset if she caught me loading boards in the car while she was in labor.  I got to the Ship around 10:30 or so and it was well overhead on the set and the crowd was somewhat light considering.  Apparently it was packed all morning and I lucked into the window.  Bizarro showed up to film.  There was a lot of backwash and conditions were pretty stretched making it harder to surf than it looked. I had more fails than makes.  I thought maybe it was because of the lack of sleep but everyone was struggling. That being said I still put down a couple of solid clips.  I ended up surfing till 1pm.  I needed to stop by my new glass shop and drop off the racks I built.  I got back to the hospital in time to enjoy a repast with my wife and baby.  It was our first meal together as a family.  I learned that one of us had to hold the baby while the other ate in order to keep him calm.  Having a kid is a real eye opener on why couples with children behave the way they do. 

6-21-25 No Surfing: 2-3+ft
I was awoken by my wife around 3am.  Her contractions had gotten heavier and we decided it was time to go to the hospital.  Our medical insurance is good in Santa Barbara because we both still carry residence there which meant we had to drive up to Cottage Hospital.  At 4am I found myself ringing the bell of the birthing  center.  The nurse on duty asked me to state my purpose.  I replied my wife is having a baby.  They let us in and her water broke while in triage.  We were admitted into our own private delivery room by 5am.  It was pretty intense from there on out.  My wife put up with six hours of hard labor without medication.  The fight was wearing her down and ultimately she had to get an epidural.  After nearly 21 hours of labor the doctor advised that we throw in the towel and have a c-section.  By that point my wife was completely spent and it was in the best safety interest for her and my unborn son to go through with the procedure.  At 9pm the nurse handed me a set of scrubs and said I could be in the operating room with her.  What an experience to watch!  I highly recommend that if your wife has a cesarean to peak over the curtain and take it all in.  They cut her open, move her guts aside and then pull out a baby!  It’s insane! When that kid came out he was gnarly looking, all bloody and waving his arms around like a little demon.  My first thought was throw that thing in the trash.  Then they cleaned him up and let me cut the umbilical cord and he looked more like a human being.  You would think the cord was flimsy looking at it but it’s actually pretty thick and took me two cuts with surgical scissors.  What an experience.  My wife had passed out probably from exhaustion meanwhile the nurse handed me my son and told me to hold him.  I sat there holding him and was in awe that this was my son.  I’ve heard father after father tell me how moving it is when you hold your child for the first time.  I figured it was just a load of bull they had to tell themselves to just get over all annoyance a child is.  It’s true, I have never felt such a barrage of emotions come over me.  At that point the room was pretty chaotic.  Doctors were stitching up my wife, nurses were cleaning up, yet all of it was a drowned out blur as I held this tiny person in my arms.   I can’t give you any more of a description than that but I promise you if you’re in the same situation you will understand exactly how I felt.  At 10:02 PM Saturday June 21st of the year 2025 my son Adagio Cristofano Lisanti entered this world, the heir to Lisanti Land.  The real irony was that he was born on International Surfing Day. From what I heard about the surf was that there was some solid NW wind Swell running. Photo from Ventura point cam.

6-20-25 AM Session: 3-5+ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 22
There was tons of wind swell in the water with absolutely no direction whatsoever.  All the spots that could have been good with such a swell were either too small due to the steep angle or the tide was too low.  The Ship was my first stop, though solid, borderline overhead the waves were all over the place and unruly.  I decided to run back home and see if the Hueneme Pier was doing anything with the swell.  The low tide was just sucking all the size and shape out of the waves.  My friend Mitch and I decided to go to Strand, paddle the Ship and see what we could make of it.  I grabbed my mid range board which was a mistake cause sets were well overhead and bouncy.  Finding a good wave was next to impossible.  I got lucky and stroked into three runners but besides that it was mostly close outs or weird peaky drops to the flats.  I took one of the worst beatings I’ve experienced in an awhile getting steam rolled by a six foot ball of white water after coming down from a hit. The intensity of the white wash dragged me all the way into the beach and easily 100 yards down the beach under water.  I got home and my wife was showing no signs of contractions.  I built down racks for the new glassing space I acquired.  The day ended with my wife and I taking a sunset stroll or waddle in her case, by the beach.  We ate dinner and around 10 pm while watching a movie my wife began having contractions.  Unlike the previous nights these were coming very regular.  We didn’t want to get our hopes up and decided to go to bed around midnight as my wife felt they were not severe enough to make a fuss over.  

6-19-25 AM Session: 2-3+ft, The Hotel
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 12
My wife and I were up till about 3am waiting to see if her contractions were regular enough to go to the hospital.  Instead of getting worse they subsided and we were once again left wanting.  I woke up around 7:00 am fed my cats and drove around looking for some surf.  The Hotel was small but rip-able.  Ryan met me and we actually were pleasantly surprised with how fun it be waves were despite the meager conditions.  I didn’t want to surf too long just in case my wife was going into labor.  Upon my arrival she was still chilling. My afternoon was spent shaping.  We ended another night without a baby.  I think this is by far the hardest phase of the pregnancy, the anticipation that the baby can come any day and all the anxiety that goes with it. 

6-18-25 PM Session: 2-3+ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 16
One day past my son’s due date and still no signs of labor.  I had a look around but the wind had come up pretty hard early trashing just about everywhere in the VTA but Emma and the tide was too low for it.  Instead I did some shaping and a bit of glassing. Around 6pm Bizarro and I headed to the pier and did some water photography off the south side.  It was chest high and a bit drifty making it very hard to line up anything.  We did the best we could.  Later on that night my wife began to have contractions but with no set pattern thus we decided to go to sleep and see what might happen.

6-17-25 AM Session: 2-4+ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 10
Today was the actually due date for my son.  He had no intention of coming out.  We were required to go to SB for my wife’s doctor appointments but not till the afternoon.  The Ship was showing some weird but very surf-able chest high wind swell with a little bit of onshore wind, enough to add a bit of annoying chop but not so much as to blow it out.  I paddled with Ryan and Mitch.  Considering the mushy factor I decide to take out my grovel short board.  That ended up being a bit of a mistake as the sets had more power than I had thought and with the added chop on the face I had less control than I like.  I managed a few runners nonetheless.  Ultimately the wind put the kibosh on it which was fine since I had to be in SB anyway.  My wife and I got lunch at Hugos in Carpinteria, another one of my favorite Luncheonettes.  Neither of us was sure if it would be our last meal before she went into Labor.  Depending on how the doctor appointments went we could have been sent straight to the hospital.  That didn’t happen as everything with mother and fetus were fine. After, we met up with her dad at his job site a few blocks away to pick up some scrap wood, buckets and concrete he was dumping that I could turn into down racks for my new glassing space.  When I got back home to Hueneme the rest of my day was spent shaping.  

6-16-25 AM Session: 2-3+ft, The Hotel & Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 12
The wind was already up from first light and the wind swell was up a notch also.  I cruised over to the Hotel and saw a few clean lefts.  The window was going to be short and I didn’t want to waste anytime.  As soon as I jumped in I realized there was just too much windswell in the water for the Hotel to be any good.  I caught one wave a bailed.  I ran into Ryan in the parking lot and we decided to run over to Ship to salvage the surf.  It was smaller but there still was the occasional chest high set.  The lines were running pretty good from the Ship to Tower 5.  Bizzaro showed up and I got on a roll stacked at least a half dozen worthy clips.  Then the wind came up and completely trashed it.  I spent the afternoon shaping.  The fact is my wife can give birth any day and I’m trying to get as much work done as I can so I don’t get too far behind. 

6-15-25 AM Session: 2-3+ft, The Hotel
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 12
Today was the first sunny morning we have had around here in days.  Since there was a bit of south and hoping for a repeat of yesterday I grabbed Bizarro and we headed back to the Hotel.  It was still pretty solid but there was bit more wind swell mixing up the south swell with a bit of onshore wind.  Sets were chest plus and not trusting the wind I raced out.  Jeffery and Ryan showed up shortly after.  I got on a real froth and just began absolutely dismantling any thing I could sink my board into. The wind came up fast and after about an hour the place was trashed.  I tried to force a few more waves and came up completely short.  We definitely got a few decent clips none the less.  My afternoon was committed to ding repair.

6-14-25 AM Session: 2-3+ft, The Hotel
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 30
Miles Driven: 12
There was some fresh long period south in the water, coupled with a leftover short period south and a local windswell.  This is the sort of combo Oxnard beaches thrive on.  Strand was my first stop as I thought there was enough wind swell to get the Ship going.  It was tiny.  My boy Mike called me from Shores and said it looked fun but was crowded.  I had a look at Hollywood but the drained out tide was sucking all the swell away.  We looked at the Hotel and it was chest plus and pretty peaky.  There were even some inside double up tubes and it was glassy. I haven’t seen glassy surf in days.  We found a peak to ourselves and I got on a real froth destroying just about anything that came my way.  I even had a handful of fun little tubes.  I had a wedding to work in Santa Barbara in the evening.

6-13-25 AM Session: 2-3+ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 10
My wife woke me up around 3am frantic that she was going into labor.  We waited but ultimately the contractions subsided and she fell back to sleep.  It was another false alarm.  I tried to get some sleep but my adrenaline was going a thousand miles an hour.  I ended up going to Strand for an early surf.  There was some minor wind swell coming in maybe waist to chest high but very glassy.  I must have lucked into the tide push cause the first forty minutes of my surf was super fun with really good lined up walls off the Ship. Then I think the tide must have gotten too high and the wind began to come up turning the place completely off.  I got home and had a little bit of ding work to finish up.  My evening was spent working a charity event in Santa Barbara.

6-12-25 AM Session: 2-3+ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 10
I got word there was some small clean wind swell coming in at the Ship.  By the time I got there I could tell the incoming tide was steadily closing the window.  I ran into my friend Mitch and we decided to cruise over to Hueneme and give the pier a go.  There were some peaky chest high fun looking lefts and rights off the north side.  After about thirty minutes it began to get more closed out provoking me to paddle to the south side.  I was pleasantly surprised with a  fun right wedge off the pier bowl.  After the surf Bizzaro and I went over to my new glassing container to clean it out and set up the space.  Now all I have to do is build some down racks and I hope to be glassing by the end of next week.  When I got home I had some ding repair to handle.

6-11-25 PM Session: 2-3+ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 2
Today was my wife and unborn fetus weekly doctor’s appointments I have come so accustomed to at this point. Usually we try and schedule them for the afternoon so I can still get a morning surf in.  Since we are at 39 weeks we needed to see her actual OB and couldn’t get an appointment besides 10am.  This left me stuck having to surf Ventura in the afternoon in the wind.  I’m a slopper so whatever.  Everything went well and we actually got lunch at Garrett’s on Mission and State street.  This was and still is one of my all time favorite luncheonettes.  If you are a regular reader then you know the affinity I have for luncheonettes.  I used to live across the street from the place and frequented it nearly everyday.  It was a real treat to have a nostalgic repast there. They are still aces in my book.  The place makes the best Monte Cristo Sandwich I have ever eaten and I’ve had them all over the world.  If you’re in Santa Barbara I highly recommend them.  I got back to Hueneme around 4pm.  It was still pretty windy so I decided to get some ding repair done.  Around six I met up with Tony at the Pier. There was some waist to chest high side shore peaks coming in off the south side that we were more than happy to have our way with.  I’ve been in a bit of a surfing slump this week and this surf was no exception. Even with that I still had fun. When I got home I heard that Brian Wilson from The Beach Boys had died.  I actually was somewhat friendly with him when I first moved to Santa Barbara.  We met by accident in the parking lot of Cajun Kitchen on Chapala street downtown. We got to talking and he offered to buy me lunch, which of course, not one to ever turn down a free meal conceded.  At that point I still had no idea who he was.  We had lunch and surfing came up.  He said he had a home on Hammonds and to come say hi when I surfed there.  For a few years after I would stop by and periodically shoot the shit with him.  Over the years we lost touch as he seemed never to be around when I stopped by and then I just stopped making the effort.  He was a cool guy and I’m stoked we had that time together.  That’s my Brian Wilson story.

6-10-25 AM Session: 2-3+ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 10
A new south swell was supposed to peak today and after yesterday’s surf I was pretty pumped that it was going to be a score.  I had my filmer on standby, loaded nothing but my good wave boards and headed to Hollywood, which I got word looked fun. Unfortunately the marine layer was so thick it was drizzling so filming was out. Then Hollywood was super inconsistent and very weak looking.  I watched Ryan sit out there for ten minutes and not even catch a wave.  Considering the tide was coming up I drove back home to Hueneme.  The Pier had some mixed closed out corners on both the north and south side.  I started on the north side and was joined by my friend Mitch.  For the first thirty minutes or so there were some fun lefts and rights to be had.  I even packed a few in and out tubes.  Then it super slow and a bit walled. I paddled to the south side but couldn’t make anything happen over there thus I paddled back to the north side and caught a few more rather uneventful rides and bailed.  My afternoon was consumed with ding repair.

6-9-25 AM Session: 2-3+ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 10
I got word Hollywood was fun and drove straight there.  With waist to chest high peaky south bowls and glassy conditions I didn’t hesitate to paddle. If anything it was almost too peaky.  Duane was out a little north of me and Ryan showed up. Though a tad soft it was very rip-able on my grovel board.  After the session I had a full day of errands and then in the afternoon I needed to sand and finish two boards for Gabe to take on his Mexico trip.  The crazy guy is driving down to Oaxaca to spend the next two months down at Barra De La Cruz.  I must admit I’m a tad bit jealous.  I have been longing to surf that area of Mexico for years.  Considering I’m on lock down with a baby coming any day a part of me wanted to stow away in the back of his truck.  But, if I did that how would I fill all of your surfboard orders.  I guess I have to be the responsible guy these days. He was really stoked on his boards.  I made a new possible groveler design for him and the resin tint I did came out great. I’m really stoked on how my glassing is coming along. The 36s I made him was fire.  I don’t think I could have packed anymore performance into it.   I can’t wait for him to get back and get his feedback. 

6-8-25 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 18
I’m always exhausted on Sundays lately because I usual have some type of gnarly catering event on Saturday night.  This morning was no different.  I left my house around 9am and looked at Hueneme first. It was too dumpy yet again.  If it’s too dumpy for me then you can believe it was completely not surf-able.  Considering the swell was minuscule I cruised to Ventura Harbor, which was very underwhelming.  This is another zone that has some of the worst summer sand I have ever experienced. While I was checking it a dog ran up and bit my ankle.  Infuriated I bent down and saw the dog was my friend Forrest’s dog Inca.   We started talking and I mentioned my glassing predicament.  Right away he told me about this container he had off Ventura Ave that he wasn’t really using.  I jumped into his van with him to go check it out.  Forrest is one of those guys that will take you done a rabbit hole if you’re not careful and as soon as I got in that van I wondered if I had made a mistake.  The last time I trusted him it was on an island mission and we almost died on the crossing back with eight foot seas crashing over the boat.  Today’s excursion was feeling similar as we turned off the avenue into a huge industrial lot storing everything from old boats, to construction equipment, to trash and even part of an old Apache  helicopter.  I wasn’t in Kansas anymore.  We finally got to his container and despite the gnar it was perfect. There was no way anyone was going to have a problem with what I was doing out there.  The rent fit my budget plus I was helping out a friend.  Now I just have to build it out.  Bizarro and I are going out there on Thursday to get started.  My goal is to start pouring resin by the end of next week. Keep those orders coming we are still in full production.   After that it was about 11am and the wind was still light.  I got a text from Duane that he was paddling Hollywood.  It looked small but fun.  I grabbed my groveler and gave it an hour of my time.  My wife and I did our usual Sunday brunch followed by some glassing despite my neighbor in the evening.  I need to stay on schedule and hopefully these should be the last batch of boards getting glassed in the garage.

6-7-25 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 7
Miles Driven: 12
Some days are just bad in terms of waves and conditions.  I hate these days.  The wind was on it at first light.  Hollywood was my first stop but it was absolutely crap.  I went home and forced a paddle at really bad Rockside.  As a matter of fact the only thing the surf had going for it was  that the wind was side-shore.  Of course when I jumped in the wind went straight onshore destroying what little shape there was.  I did manage a head dip and a three turn left but besides that it was complete rubbish.  I had a 225 person birthday bash to work up in Santa Barbara.  I’d be lucky to get five people to come to my birthday let alone another 220.  If it wasn’t for people who actually have human connections I wouldn’t have any work at all.  The party went off without a hitch as usual. 

6-6-25 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 10
This morning was still showing enough south swell to be fun.  Hueneme was once again stretched, dumpy and terrible.  If the sand doesn’t shift it’s going to be a sad summer out front.  I drove back to Hollywood and it was still peaky and fun looking. I paddled and for the first half hour got a bunch of fun waves.  Then Jeffery showed up and completely jinxed it.  The wind came up like a light switch out of the NW as soon as his toes hit the water.  With in ten minutes the line up was trashed. Considering how bad it had gotten and the busy day I had ahead of me I decided to bail.  From the surf I had errands to run. I got home and needed to start glassing but unfortunately fielded a complaint from my neighbor about the odd “paint like smell” coming from my garage lately.  Thinking fast I told him that a five gallon drum of paint had spilled and I cleaned it with acetone so the smell was intense but would clear up in about a week or so.  This left me a bit screwed considering I had just spent two thousands dollars building out my glassing operation in the garage. I guess I’m now on the hunt for a new glassing space.  There is nothing more challenging than owning a small surfboard company. Not to worry I always find a way to persevere.  I spent the afternoon sanding.

6-5-25 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 22
Communication between you and your spouse is very important.  When it comes to scheduling my wife and I can be quite aloof which at times can cause a bit of friction.  Add the extra stress of being nine months pregnant and you can only imagine the adverse results.  My wife needed to be in Santa Barbara by noon for a doctor appointment. This left me very little time to surf. I had a look at Hueneme but it was all dumpy.  My next stop was Hollywood but the wind was straight onshore.   I made a Hail Mary look at Strand which was clean but tiny.  At this point I had to wave the white flag and concede not to surf. I got home and my wife said we didn’t have to be in Santa Barbara till 1:45.  At the same time I got a call from Jeffrey that the wind had calmed down.  I met him back over at Hollywood and sure enough it looked way more fun than it had just forty minutes ago.  The surf was waist to chest and very rip-able.  Thanks to a small up tick in wind swell there were peaky lefts and rights to be had.  Jeffery and I got on a real froth.  On the way home there was a gnarly accident on Channel Islands Blvd where the train tracks meet the base.  It was a multi car crash and once again the tracks signal was taken out.  They just recently replaced it from the last accident that happened there.  I swear I witness more gnarly accidents in Oxnard and Hueneme than anyplace else I’ve ever lived.  I got my wife to Santa Barbara for another sonogram and heart beat check.  Everything was good and healthy.  From there I had to drop her off at her Dads place in Goleta while I worked a catering gig in Montecito.  We didn’t get home to Hueneme till after 11 pm.

6-4-25 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1 hr 15m
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 12
Normally I’d just head to Malibu but since my new territory has been limited from Hueneme to Emma Wood I didn’t even bother to look at the cam.  I had a look at Hueneme but it was too stretched and dumpy.  No surprise there considering the sand is the worst I have ever seen it.  Factoring the tide and swell size I went over to look at The Shores. There was a wave but it was very inconsistent and the bars are so spotty that the chances of catching a decent wave were slim.  While up on the dunes I noticed that there was a healthy amount of white water over at Hollywood.  The sand had been decent all year over there.  Sure enough I saw fun chest to head high peaks up and down the beach.  There was a light south wind on it but over all the faces were pretty clean.  The wind has been coming up so early lately that I didn’t hesitate to paddle out.  Right off the bat I was sleighing left bowls getting up to three turns on some.  There was even the odd ball rip-able right hander.  Jeffery showed up as did my friends Rob and Chris.  As the tide got lower the waves began to get a little bit weak and then the wind went west adding even more crumble basically turning the place off.  My afternoon was consumed by glassing work. 

6-3-25 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 2
There was tons of onshore wind everywhere first thing this morning.  The plan was to get a little bit of glassing done then head to Malibu and just deal with the crowd.  The ‘Bu was firing.  As I was getting ready to leave my wife got on my case about going to surf so far away for hours on end with the possibility of her going into labor at any moment.  She was pretty fired up about it so I decided not to go.  I went back to working on surf boards.  I had a look at Hueneme in the afternoon and the wind had a bit more north in it than earlier allowing Rockside to be a bit sideshore borderline offshore.  Though there were some corners to be had there were also ten wave overhead close out bomb clean up sets that would just dump on my head.  Since the bombs weren’t surf-able I took my 5’7 out and made the most of the in between waves.  I even found a tube.  After about forty minutes the wind went more west completely trashing what few offerings there were.  Meanwhile Malibu was still all time.  Damn kid is already messing with my surf time and he’s not even here yet.  Someday I’ll tell how I missed reeling overhead Malibu cause he was lazy about being born. When I got home my day wasn’t over.  I had to box up a three pack of Clarks Surfboards Time Machine Fishes to get shipped to Florida.   

6-2-25 PM Session: 4-6+ ft, Zeros
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 12
Miles Driven: 42
The south swell really filled in today.  Ventura had junky south wind and most spots were just too walled to surf.  Rather than spend my morning running around like a chicken without a head I decided to get some glassing done and wait for reports to come in.  Around 11:30 I grabbed CC and we headed south down the PCH.  The tide was really low and the wind south.  Malibu was a zoo with south wind on it thus I wasn’t about to go there.  In the end we paddle Zeros which from the cliff looked solid over head with long sweeping lines. It was crowded but by Zeros standards not bad.  We paddled and after our first couple of waves it completely turned off.  All the sets were just closing out and the insiders were wonky and weird.  I couldn’t put together a good ride to save my life.  Ryan showed up and managed the best three waves of the day in his usual fashion. Rather than cut my losses I decided to sit out there for another hour just getting more frustrated.  I got home around 4pm and had more glassing to do.  Around 6pm I got a text that Ventura glassed off and the Harbor had some barrels.  I was in the thick of it and had to pass. Some days you just can’t win. 

6-1-25 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 10
There were still some clean fun looking waist to chest high waves coming through at the Ship.  The usual Sunday crowd was on it but there were plenty of waves to go around.  As soon as I paddled out I got like seven really fun waves off the Ship. Then Bizzaro showed up to film and the place completely turned off.  When a set did come in it was way more weak than what was on offer earlier.  I was still able to put down a few clips but I doubt there was anything “A” quality.  I came home and took my wife to brunch.  I wanted to do some shaping but my neighbor was having a BBQ in his yard and decided to spare him and his guests the nose of my compressor.  Instead I got some office work done that I was very behind on. For dinner I made Lasagna because my wife had been asking me to make it for her and my unborn son for over a week.  Sunday is always a good day for Lasagna in any Italian home.