Surfing Ruined My Life

June 2026 Surf Sessions

6-26-26 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Zeros
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 41
This morning AJ and I headed south hoping to find something to surf since it was tiny around Oxnard.  We ended up desperation paddling Zeros.  As soon as we hit the water decent chest plus sets kept rolling in with a very light crowd.  Despite threes being so few guys out there  I still managed to get hit paddling back out by a dude on a mid-length who lost control and sent his leash less board careening directly at me.  Normally this wouldn’t be a problem except that I had just resurfaced from a failed air attempt and had little ability to get out of the way.  My only course of action was to dive under the water leaving my board at the mercy of this dude’s behemoth of a fifty liter surfboard.  When I came back up my right rail was heavily dinged in two places.  Accidents happen but lately I’ve been having a very bad string of bad luck with my boards getting damaged.  At this point I’m literally running out of surfboards.  I got agro on the guy and he offer to pay for the damages.  I told him to email me from the Clarks Surfboards website.  I’ll probably never hear from him again.  He left shortly after that incident as did the majority of the line up leaving AJ and I and one other dude in the water.  Three guys out at summertime chest plus fun Zeros? Thats unheard of this day in age.  I certainly didn’t question it.  We had a blast.  I would have surfed another hour but my parents will be in town for a few days starting tomorrow and I needed to get home and get my affairs in order for their visit.  There was yard work to be done.  House work to also be handled and I had bit a ding repair to do as well.

6-25-26 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Leo Carrillo
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 11
Miles Driven: 40
The south swell was still very inconsistent and small here in Oxnard.  Add to that the high tide and Leo was the call. The crowd was rather light when AJ and I pulled up.  Whenever that is case on a rising tide you can be guaranteed the crowd is about to triple.  Within the time it took us to put on our suits and walk down to the beach the lineup became shit show crowded. I decided to catch a few in the Bone Yard before paddling into the pandemonium off the rock.  Once over there on my first wave mind you I got hit by a kook on a brand new expensive longboard because he got caught inside, ditched his board and it came back over the falls and hit me in the back.  Luckily I saw it coming and bent down so that it just grazed me.  I got mad yelled at and sent him in.  An inexperienced surfer has no business being out in a crowded lineup when the waves are solid if he doesn’t have the basic skills to keep himself and/or others out of harms way. I had a couple of good ones but the annoyance of constantly having to jockey the crowd ruined it for me.  My afternoon was spent sanding surfboards. 

6-24-26 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Oxnard Shores
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 28
There was a slight rise in the south swell so I decided set out to go south.  As I was driving past Thornhill two cop cars speeded past me on the opposite side of the street.  It caused me to look into my rear view mirror and when I did I noticed that I forgot my wetsuit.  Super bummed I had to turn back and head home. I wasn’t going to head back south and burn double the gas.  Instead I was relegated to look around Oxnard. The south end of the Shores appeared to be the best of the worst. It was chest plus and inconsistent stretchy south swell but very clean.  There was a pretty stiff drift north and with the inconsistent sets and the majority just running away finding a good one was tough.  I snuck a few tubes and caught one really good left I kept up with and burned five turns to the beach on.  My afternoon was spent sanding surfboards.  

6-23-26 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Zeros
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 41
This morning we had a combination of small old south swell and fresh small new south with some junky morning wind.  The solution was to head south.  Zeros looked fun and had a light crowd thus AJ and I didn’t hesitate to paddle. By the time we suited and walked down to the beach there were easily forty junior guards out.  Apparently they were having some event that clogged the lineup. This definitely put a damper on what would have been a really fun session.  Though frustrating I just surfed around them.  My afternoon was spent sanding surfboards.

6-22-26 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, County Line
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 41
The swell was waning and with a dropping tide all morning AJ and I headed south.  We checked everything to Zeros and deemed County Line to be the call, which was getting more swell.  When I first pulled up I saw some solid bombs up on the reef and my first wave out there was good for three turns.  Stoked I paddled back up the point super frothy, but shortly after the low tide killed it forcing me to surf the beach break which I hate though I did get a few decent sections to hit.  After the surf Bizarro and I still had more clean up from the party to be done followed by sanding surfboards.

6-21-26 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 10
Today was Adagio’s real birthday and we did a family beach outing.  There was some small south swell getting into Hollywood with stretched, but broken sets coupled with a short period four foot Nw wind swell.  This made conditions very tricky as there was lots of strange chop and side waves.  The bar has gotten very shallow and flat causing the waves to be much more dumpy than usual as well.  I did manage to pull into a few shore break style barrels.  Not only was it the kid’s birthday but it was also Father’s Day.  Since I spent all day celebrating his birthday yesterday I didn’t feel bad leaving him with the nanny while my wife and I played nine holes of golf at the Sea Bee golf course.  Maybe it was karma or exhaustion from yesterday’s party but we played the worst round ever. I shot a 74 and my wife shot and an 80. To add insult to injury my golf trolly broke when I was folding it up.  Karma is a bitch.

6-20-26 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Leo Carrillo
Time in Water: 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 7
Miles Driven: 40
Today was Adagio’s or should I say my wife’s big birthday party.  I don’t know why a one year old needs a party 75 people strong but that’s what we were doing. Bizarro, AJ and I loaded all of my catering gear into AJ’s pick up truck and we headed up to Goleta Beach around 10 am.  My wife had rented one of the party areas there along with a big pit bbq which we were to cook the majority of the food on.  Initially we were only suppose to cook the meat but as the event got closer one by one everybody who was supposed to make a dish backed out thus we had to make everything.  As a result we had been prepping for about three days and I had to pass on two lucrative weddings.  The party went well and the food was amazing.  Only about fifty people showed up so there was plenty left over.  We had a piñata and games and cake.  It was an under the sea theme so my wife dressed Adagio as a sea captain.  I got home from the party with just enough time for me to sneak a quick dusk session in at Leo Carrillo. It was chest high with whipping NW wind on it and a seven person crowd. Sets were very consistent and only having less than an hour before dark I went into beast mode snatching as many waves as I could before dark. I had fun and made sure I got out just with enough light so I wouldn’t twist my ankle on the rocks.  AJ filmed.  What a busy day. 

6-19-26 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Zeros
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 11
Miles Driven: 41
Surprise, surprise, the wind wasn’t great in the VTA.  I cruised to Zeros where it was solid chest to head high plus with good long lines.  The sets were inconsistent but every wave I caught I managed at least four to five turns on.  It was one of those days where Zeros actually worked like a real left hand point.  Towards the end of my session the lineup got gnarly crowded with a ton of randoms.  It was as if a bus pulled up and dropped off forty guys.   I had already gotten mine by then anyway.  My afternoon was spent prepping for Adagio’ birthday parry tomorrow and I ended the day with a little bit of glassing work.

6-18-26 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Zeros
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 41
We didn’t bother wasting any time on Ventura this morning.  Instead AJ and I went straight to LA.  County Line wasn’t happening but Zeros was on.  With solid clean head high plus left hand runners how could a goofy foot surfer go wrong? I got on a real tare and destroyed every and any section that came my way.  Zeros has been better than usual lately.  My afternoon was spent glassing surfboards and starting to prep for Adagio’s first birthday party on Saturday. 

6-17-26 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, New Jetty
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 18
I should have went south this morning.  Instead I killed my time checking everything from Hollywood to Ventura Harbor.  Part of me just wanted to see what all the bars were doing locally.  Once again it was reinforced to me that there wasn’t any decent banks in Oxnard or Ventura.  I forced a paddle at New Jetty which was the best of it and was surprisingly empty.  There were some chest to head high plus lefts coming through.  As soon as I hit the water I realized why no one was out.  The current was a river pulling down the beach.  The drift was so intense it was impossible for me to hold position and I’m a strong paddler.  I did four drifts catching whatever I could before I was just about to the south harbor jetty.  There is a very large surf camp operation on the beach there with easily fifty plus kids.  It was weird to see all these kids and their instructors on the inside while surfing the outside.  How things change.  My afternoon was spent glassing surfboards.

6-16-26 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Leo Carrillo
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 11
Miles Driven: 41
Another windy junk day in Ventura forced AJ and I to head south yet again.  I never realized how much I took Hueneme for granted in the summer till this summer when I had to go without due to the terrible sand.  We paddled Leo after passing on both County Line and Zeros.  Sets were solid over head with a rather light crowd for Leo.  The waves were mostly closed out on sets even as tide filled in.  I did catch a few runners but was under gunned on my 5’7.  I had my bigger board in the truck but was too lazy to walk back and get it.  My afternoon was spent cleaning and prepping all my catering equipment for Adagio’s 1st birthday party this coming Saturday at Goleta Beach.  At the moment the guest count is 75 heads.  I also got a bit of ding repair repair finished as well

6-15-26 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Zeros
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 41
After having to endure three days of surfing funky beach break in Oxnard AJ and I headed south. Zeros was solid chest to head high plus with nice lines and a manageable crowd.  Zach showed up and paddled.  A rip fest ensued with my average waves good for three to four hits.  The tide was getting higher throughout the session.  I was finally feeling out my new Clarks Surfboards Fly Guy Model, when I did a big tail flare with nothing left in the lip except my inside tail rail.  I came down completely perpendicular to the wave face and on my recovery cracked the tail of my new board on a rock in the shallows.  The damage was pretty extensive and structural.  I’m going to fix it but I’m definitely worried about the boards overall integrity afterwards.  The rest of my day was spent glassing surfboards

6-14-26 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 min
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 10
I was forced to get an early start this morning due to a mid day catering job.  The wind decided to get an early start too.  By 9am it was blown out from the WSW.  AJ and I fought the good fight in the choppy, wonky, stretchy, backwash riddled waves.  With that description you can guess how the surf session went.  It was imperative that I was to be in Goleta by noon for a three hundred person charity event with multiple food stations.  Whenever I have an event with stations it’s always hectic.  The more moving parts the more I have to keep an eye on.  We nailed it as usual. Don’t let this photo fool you as soon as we hit the water it got all blown out.

6-13-26 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 min
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 10
My time was limited having to work a wedding in Camarillo at noon.  There was still plenty of  south swell to be had, but there was also a bit of wind to contend with.  At Hollywood there were some surf-able corners among the weird, wonky stretchy south lines.  AJ and I made the most of what was on offer. Though nothing to write home about a day surfing is always better than a day not surfing.  As far as the wedding went it was at this gigantic Mac Mansion in the hills of Camarillo for 175 people.  The rental company showed up very late which threw off the flow of the entire event.  We had to deal with a bridezilla who took an extra half hour to get ready ultimately pushing back the timeline about forty five minutes.  All this makes a real hectic time for me. As usual we pulled it off without the guests realizing anything went awry.

6-12-26 AM Session: 4-5+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 10
Some days I scratch my head why I even bother entertaining paddling out anywhere in Oxnard this time of year especially when there is some wind on it.  This morning I found myself looking at stretched, wonky, weird Hollywood with a little bit of west wind on it.  Instead of bailing and heading south where this time of year you are almost always going to be guaranteed to find better cleaner waves I listened to the voice in my head that said “there’s a few corners and you probably have an hour before the wind trashes it”.  So I paddled and as soon as I hit the water the wind came up hard out of the NW.  I fought the good fight and surfed a complete session.  My afternoon was devoted to shaping surfboards.

6-11-26 AM Session: 5-7+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 10
There was still solid south swell on tap garnishing Hollywood with bombing overhead sets .  Though a little stretched, fat with the high tide and some wind on it,  AJ, Jeffrey and I paddled.  Conditions were definitely tricky but when you got a good one it was a really good wave.  There were some barrels too.  Talk about days of bombing surf.  It’s seriously been a three week run of surf.  Bizarro filmed and we for sure put down a handful of clips.  In the afternoon I helped out at a fairly new restaurant in Santa Barbara on State Street next to the Granada called “The Grand”. A friend of mine is the chef there and called me to help on the line.  The place features live jazz performances Thursday through Sunday and the food is spectacular.  I may have to make it a regular gig. 

6-10-26 AM Session: 6-8+ ft, zeros
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 42
The south swell was still macking this morning.  Somewhat wild conditions at home had Bizarro and I heading south down the PCH in search of some structure.  We checked everything to Dume ultimately deciding to paddle Zeros which was border line maxed out.  I mad a decent enough showing.  We definitely put down some clips.  I ended up cutting my ankle on my fin coming down from Avery inverted backside hit.  The board got me good.  It had been a while since I surfed Zeros that big.  After the surf I did a bit of shaping chase there is nothing like building a board after a good surf.  I believe that good energy from a fun surf channels directly into the board I’m shaping.  

6-9-26 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Dredge
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 20
The largest south swell of the season so far had filled in leaving most spots stretchy and gnarly.  Both Shores and Hollywood were easily pushing double overhead but with almost no corners.   Thinking outside of the box AJ and I headed to the Dredge in the hope that the left on north side of the Jetty “indicator” as it is called would be working.  Sure enough there were head high plus heavy double up lefts coming through with spitting barrels.  Overall it was pretty hectic out there.  You had to be really smart about what waves to go on or you could get serious injured. I had a some real drainers but also took a few treacherous beatings.  Conditions were super glassy and we had the lineup to ourselves.  Personally that is one of my favorite waves in Ventura when it is working, though very fickle.  I think I have only surfed it a handful of times in all the years I’ve been here.   My afternoon was spent packing up a batch of boards to be sent out to Florida.

6-8-26 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, County Line
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 36
It was almost a clean morning today. Once it got close to 9am the wind began to rear its ugly head making the decision to walk on an already mixed up and disorganized Hollywood.  I’ll do clean bad waves, I’ll do good waves with some wind on them, but I hate surfing windy bad waves.  I jumped in AJ’s truck and we cruised down to County Line where we were greeted with no solid head high plus peaky waves from the beach to the reef.  I paddled the reef while AJ opted for the beachie. At first I was having a really frustrating surf.  Nothing was going my way.  I was either picking the wrong waves or getting tangled in the kelp thanks to the extreme low tide.  Then the second half I could do no wrong and went to town on the powerful chunky right handers.  I ended up having a blast.  On the way home we saw an injured pelican on the side of the road and immediately alerted the Wildlife Care Network.  Hopefully they got to it in time.  My afternoon was spent putting the finish sand on three boards including one for yours truly.

6-7-26 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Leo Carrillo
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 42
Another windy day was upon us as early as the sun rise here in Oxnard.  AJ and I headed south down the PCH since there was plenty of south swell in the water.  Since it was a Sunday weekend crowds were out in full force.  The only way to get around that was to paddle low tide Leo Carrillo and as bonus get wind protection.   It was its usual weird, walled, rocky, kelp riddled low tide Leo. There were some runner to be had if you picked the right ones.  There were some sick close out sections that were bash-able as well.  I had fun.  Since my mother in law was in town my wife and I were able to leave Adagio with her and sneak in a quick nine holes of golf. I shot a 68 and she shot a 75.

6-6-26 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 38
We had lots of swell this morning.  Too bad the NW wind came up at 8:30 this morning trashing all the beaches.   I had to work in the Santa Ynez valley thus AJ and I headed north hoping to get a little bit of the WNW swell with cleaner winds.  We checked everything up to Hobson’s which was the cleanest but weak.  Out of time and options I desperation paddled Pitas which was crowded for what it was. Apparently I wasn’t the only with that idea.  The wind was a tad too west for it to be all that clean leaving plenty of bump on the waist to stomach high weak sauce sorry excuse for waves. Ultimately I did find a couple of runners down by the Faria section.  In the evening I had to work a wedding up at Foxen Canyon about as far as you can get from Hueneme.  I took the gig on short notice as a kitchen assistant but when I got there they had me run the entire event.  How do you book someone with one day notice and then give him the run of the event?  I did what I do and we thing went down successfully. 

6-5-26 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 28
Miles Driven: 10
This morning I was pleasantly with solid  head high plus bombing south swell peaks over at Hollywood.  Conditions started off glassy then turned light onshore but still very manageable. It was a session of barrels & bombs with only a handful of guys out.  I had a pretty incredible session to say the least.  We have been absolutely scoring around here lately.  The surf has been borderline surf trip good. My evening was spent working a graduation catering gig at UCSB.

6-4-26 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 10
There was a resurgence in the south swell coupled with some NW wind swell giving a much needed to cross up to the somewhat stretched south sets.  Conditions were glassy and there were some decent tubes to be had.  I got on a froth and caught my share of bombs, barrels and boosts. My afternoon was spent glassing surfboards

6-3-26 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 31
Miles Driven: 10
Beautifully clean conditions was the perfect highlight to the south swell left overs from the past few days.  Though a tad smaller than it had been the  waves had amazing shape.  I have always said that I would much rather have perfect small waves than junky big waves.  The sets were very consistent as well.  My knee was feeling a bit better though still tender and therefore I kept my surfing some what conservative.   The line up consisted of AJ, myself and this dude Brandon whom I made a custom Clarks Surfboards Bizzle model for.  The three of us took turns scoring really fun surf.  Jeffery paddled towards the end of the session.  At some point it got so glassy I could barely see the waves.  What a wonderful day for surfing.  I spent my afternoon sanding surfboards. 

6-2-26 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 10
Gabe AJ and I showed up to Hollywood where we were greeted by chest to head high plus south lines.  Though a little slow and stretchy there were some weird little down the line tubes to pick off.  My knee was really bothering me so I was only really focusing on barrels since anything else hurt when I attempted it. After the surf Gabe left once again to head to Mexico with hopefully more success than a couple of days ago.  As for myself I had to watch adagio in afternoon because my nanny had to leave early for a doctor appointment.  It was cool.  We went to the park, played on the swings and fed the ducks.  Once my wife it home I went into the shaping room and got some work done.

6-1-26 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 10
This morning was Angers’ last session with us.  Him and his family were heading down to San Diego for a few days then back home to Florida.  Bizarro was stoked because without Kevin he did not have to film tomorrow.  All that was left in the water was the south swells and just enough NW to add a bit of cross up. The long period south swell had really ramped up and there were some screamers to be had out there.  My right knee was feeling very tender from going so hard with the boys out there for so many days.  I’m the eldest of the group by at least five years and the only one in his forties.  Not to mention the 18 holes of gold we played walking mind you may have allowed me to over extended myself a little bit.  Nonetheless I still went out there and gave it my all.  Angers got hit with his board and cut his face in the first fifteen minutes of being out there.  Luckily it was just a flesh wound though he was really lucky cause the nose caught him just under his eye.  Between both of us being laid up Gabe took the performance win. We got back to my house with just enough time to say our goodbyes.  It was cool to hang with all the “O.G.” Clarks Surfboards guys but with three little kids among us I was very happy to not have another day hanging around a house full of screaming children.  Gabe is still around for one more day before his truck would be ready.   It’s certainly been a full house the past week.  I’m definitely looking foward to life getting back to normal.  My afternoon was spent sanding surfboards.