Surfing Ruined My Life

March 2016 Surf Session

3-31-16 No Surfing: 3-5+ ft
The first solid south swell of the season filled in and I would have loved to surf it.  My dad had just gotten into town from Florida and was only staying three days.  I only see him a few times a year at best and he came out to help get the ball rolling on a recent business venture I have been working on with Bizarro.  Taking all that into consideration I decided to spend the time with my father rather then get a few more waves.  I get plenty of waves all the time.

3-30-16 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Surfer’s Knoll
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Fuck, I hate spring time especially after such a gang busting winter.  Knowing there was going to be south and morning off shores I went straight for Ventura Harbor.  Of course my ass procrastinated around the apartment so that by the time I got there the wind had shifted south making it rather mushy, disorganized on top of the fact it was very shifty peaks to begin with.  I decided to go to Emma Wood knowing it would be cleaner though smaller.  It was pathetic and too low there.  Hoping Emma might get better with the incoming push I hung around the parking lot for a bit.  Though things got slightly better I was still less then jazzed on it.  I went back to the Harbor and paddled despite the less then inspiring surf there.  As soon as I jumped in the army corp of engeneers decided to turn the sand pump on turning the already brown water black and it stunk like raw swerage.  So yeah I most likely contracted hepititus for two foot blown out trash.  And I stunk like a septic tank for the rest of the day.  Good times.

3-29-16 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
After the previous night I really thought Rincon would have some solid wind swell and with the morning low tide it seemed eminent.  Surfline was even calling it to be 3-4+ feet on the report.  It was all a lie.  When I got down there it was barely knee to waist and weak as hell.  There was bit more swell in Ventura, but the wind was already wailing out of the NW.  Instead I went on a sea glass walk that rather fruitful.  I even found an arrow head.

3-28-16 No Surfing: 2-4+ ft
Apparently last night the after party I threw was out of hand.  Little of it did I know since I pretty much blacked out before even leaving the club.  All I know is I woke up still in my suit on top of my bed sleeping in the middle of two Aussie travelers whom I met on the street and invited to the party.  They were chill dudes and they stayed another night.  Bizarro and I had a moving gig down in LA at one that both of us were completely a mess for, though managed to pull it off.  I was nearly crushed to death by a washing machine coming down the ramp of the van.  Luckily the feet of the dolly were high enough that the weight of the appliance just grazed my chest leaving just my knee and back bruised.  On the way back I noticed some wind swell at Rincon.  It was already almost dark and I was exhausted anyway.

3-27-16 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 34
I took it easy and kept things mellow this Easter morning with a somewhat new friend who is steadily becoming important in my life.  After which I decided to cruise south for some waves.  I knew the swell was down, but still I was hoping Rincon might have a few up top.  Though there were a few it was hardly enough to temp me. I did manage to find a few cool pieces of sea glass.  I still wanted to surf and considering all the conditions I figured Emma was my best bet.  It was definitely small, but I saw a few and since I had already spent the gas I might as well paddle.  It was nothing special, but I did manage a few and I suppose it beat not surfing.

3-26-16 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 24
There was some steep NW in the water, though big enough to catch a little at Rincon.  I didn’t feel like dealing with the crowds so I waiting for the afternoon and plus I knew it would be low tide.  I got down to the ‘Con and although nothing special there were a few chest high racers coming through the Rivermouth with no one really on it.  I could have looked around a bit for something better, but I decided to take the bird in the hand and paddled.  Sure enough I made the most of the fast short peaks coming in at lower Rivermouth.  Then I managed a long into the Cove and noticed no one was really in there.  I lucked into a set wave than ran all the way through.  With the lack of crowd I decided to hang around and get a few more.  It was far from epic Rincon.  The crowd was right and that in itself made for a grand old time.

3-25-16 AM Session: 2-4 + ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 37
Slow and inconsistent was the deal this morning.  Actually I had gotten up early in the hopes of scoring fun Ventura Harbor.  The wind was onshore by the time I got down there.  Emma had a few waves coming in off the toll booth peak and that is where I did my  damage.  For as bad as the sand is there right now and as high as the tide was I did managed a few sweet ones.  It beat not surfing.

3-24-16 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 30
West wanted to head back to San Diego by mid day thus we decided to head out early.  With waning swell, a midday day high tide and possible onshore winds it made sense.  Once again I was hoping to get my boy some Rincon action, but the queen had a different agenda.  She was fat in the cove and still rather shitty and disorganized up top.  We cruised south.  Emma had a wave I was pumped on, though West wasn’t really feeling it.  On a last ditch effort we checked Ventura Harbor which actually had some fun banks.  As we were on the bluff the wind began to pick up and being that it was already ten I was afraid by 11 or sooner it would be complete trash.  We cruised back to Emma.  There was a solid barreling left double up in front of the life guard tower that I was pumped on.  Though inconsistent, cold water, and a very shifty peak I managed two super deep barrels that made the whole thing worth it.  I love Emma Wood.  I need to take a real life lesson from the place.  Emma is the girl next door.  She is never all that flashy and most of the time far from the eye of envy, but she is consistently fun and surf for surf on a yearly basis I probabaly have more fun with her then spots like Rincon, Sand Spit or El Capitan.  None the less I just can’t stop obsessing over the glamour of the trophy spots.  Luckily Emma never gets jealous.
3-23-16 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves surfed: 18
West and I struck out early after we had hoped that there might be some sick incoming lines at Hammonds.  Unfortunately the waves were a bit too wind swelly and the sand at the moment is far from good as well.  If I had to surf I would have paddled, but since I had the luxury of the entire day the plan was to wait till low tide.  Late Bizarro joined us and the hope was to score some fun Rincon.  Although the Cove looked near perfect the crowd looked annoying as hell, fifty strong and 80% long boarders.  I hate trying to pick off waves from those guys when it’s not macking.  The top of the point was all churned up.  From there we cruised to Little Rincon, but not before we almost ran over some idiot van guy from Orange County who decided to take a nap underneath out back tire in the few minutes that it took us to walk down and have a look.  These fucking van and camper guys are getting ridiculous at Rincon this year.  More then half the lot is filled with these transients just clogging the line up.  Fuck! I liver here.  I pay rent.  I don’t want to fight for waves with some clueless loafer from out of town.  I suppose that is the price one pays for living on a world class spot.  Little ‘Con was also packed.  I had forgotten that Surfline.com decided to give a green, good forecast for today meaning everyone and their brother comes out of the wood work cause the internet told them too.  Trevor was out getting a few, but for what was coming in it just wasn’t worth dealing with the 15 guys that were on it.  South we went on a wing and a prayer.  Pitas looked solid and it only had about two guys on the top and no one down at Faria.  Stoked we suited up.  Of course in the ten minutes that took us another five guys had paddled.  Still it was pretty sectiony and there were plenty of waves for everyone.  I snagged a few up top though the wind was a little hard and the swell a bit closed out for that section before moving my way down the point to Faria.  It was a tad smaller, but much cleaner and though fast still worthy of 100 yard or so ride on a good one.  I even found one or two tube rides.  And it was just West and I on a peak all to ourselves.  Who says you have to sit in crowd.  The intrepid will always strike out on their own and at times be rewarded.
3-22-16 PM Session: 4-6+ ft, Little Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
The wind was up all day. Intially it was out of the wnw leading me to believe it may be good at El Capitan.  Then when we were about to leave the wind went south forcing my hand to head toward Rincon.  By the time we got to Rincon the wind was offshore. It was packed as well.  Considering the wind West and I had a look at Little ‘Con which was a bit disorganized though there were some solid ones and the crowd was near empty.  Rather then drive around we paddled.  The first half hour was a super session.  Then wind began cycling around clocking in everything from onshore to off shore ever fifteen minutes couple that with the steadily dropping tide and conditions began to deteriorate.  We both managed to get out fill.  After we ran up north to see if El Capitan was any good.  It had a few, but was far from good and very crowded.  Over it we cruised back to the house where Bizarro and I cooked up some fresh spaghetti vongole.

3-21-16 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Little Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 32
After a fun night at the Wild Cat last night, West and I decided to take it easy and enjoy a relaxing morning.  The plan was to take advantage of the low tide and slowly rising new swell at Rincon in the afternoon.  Unfortunately there must have been some really bad channel wind somewhere causing a really ugly chop and overall short period wind swell and subsequent mess.  Little Rincon was the best of the worst and still very disorganized.  The current was intense making it a treadmill session.  There were some gems to be had and I definitely found a few.  Turns out it was a super fun surf and we had the place pretty much to ourselves.

3-20-16 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Cobbles
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 12
West decided to cruise on up from San Diego for a few days thus Gabe and I waited for him before going for a surf.  I was hoping to get a few at Rincon or one of the points but the crowd was out in full force everywhere.  We settled for Cobbles which was average at best but only had two guys out and looked fun enough.  As soon as I put  on my suit the wind came up making things go from average to worse.  I was over it before I paddled and carried that attitude through out the session. I still managed a few good ones.

Photo: Christopher Dunlea

3-19-16 No Surfing: 2-3 ft
The morning was all foggy and I was still on the mend.  I’m sure the beach breaks could have been alright, but the forecast called for increasing swell all day.  I hung tight hoping for the best.  Nothing really picked up fast enough.  One more day of rest isn’t a bad thing anyhow.  I am pretty sure tomorrow is going to be on.

3-18-16 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
There was still some left overs on the beach breaks this morning.  I was still feeling a bit under the weather and rather then push the envelope for average waves especially with a new NW to fill in by mid weekend I choose to bag it and heal up.

3-17-16 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
I had hoped on waking up early and taking advantage of the mid tide, light winds and combo swell at the beach breaks down south.  My body had other plans for me as I found myself near deathly ill and praying to the porcelain god from 3am till 8am.  I had not even been drinking or anything.  At first I panicked and thought maybe I caused some food born illness at one of my dinner parties.  All of my guests besides myself were fine.  I guess I must have picked something up. Whether it was from the dirty water or what your guess is as good as mine.  As a result I was sick with  fever and very weak the entire day leaving surfing completely out of the question. I even had to bow out of the St.Patrick’s Day festivities for the night as well.  It was a real bummer since I bought a green suit for the occasion. At least Bizarro got to wear the jacket.

3-16-16 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
I had a bullshit meeting at the unemployment office this morning.  Something they titled a “reassessment for employment orientation”. It was a load of garbage and a waste of my time.  Whatever one day out of my schedule to keep my benefits wasn’t so bad, plus it gave me an excuse to wear this sick new suit I bought on Monday.  After which I had some other errands to run leaving me at Rincon around 1.  I wasn’t expecting waves at all there. Sure enough it was as good as yesterday only cleaner thanks to the light nw wind.  Stoked I pretty much did all my damage at lower River Mouth, which was about as good as that section gets.  I was easily nailing 6-8 turns a wave and it was solid and lippy the whole way down the line.  I even got one good one through the Cove.  I had the section basically to myself the entire surf.  Then 15 guys showed up and clogged my little spot.  That fine cause I had already had my fill anyway. Tonight we are doing a test dinner for Lasagna and Napoleon for desert.

3-15-16 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
I actually got out of the house just before ten, the first time in a while for me.  The wind was light and there was still plenty of west in the water.  The tide was steadily dropping making Rincon the  call. There was a little bit of south wind on it causing some strange bump and crumble, but overall the shape held fast.  I started up at Indicator cause I was hoping for the estranged left with the south swell that was also in the water.  That was a lie leaving me stuck with the right.  I don’t know why I even bother with Indy right.  Nine times out of ten I either pick the wrong ones or just can’t get a good one off the pack.  Out of all the different sections at Rincon it is the one I surf the worst.  I worked my way down to River Mouth, which is usually where I do my most damage.  There were a few though pretty broken up.  I ended up with lots of three and four turners.  I saw a few barrels, but I wasn’t able to get one.  I found a few runners all the way to the cove, where I managed to get one all the way to freeway.  Pumped on it I decided to call it quits.  Later that night I enjoyed a really nice sunset beach picnic.  It really feels good to be in command of my life again.

3-14-16 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 14
My day started out with the hopes of getting incoming tide Rincon.  By the time I got there the wind was shitty south and the crowd all over it.  Gabe and I pretty much checked every surf spot south to Sliver Strand to no avail.  Deciding to make lemonade out of lemons we went on a little thrift where we both scored way better then anything we could have found in the ocean.  On the way back we scored some fun end of the day Rincon where I managed a few great little runners.

3-13-16 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Hazards
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 18
Gabe wanted to get some waves despite the wind and the rain.  The buoys looked like they might be right to strike up north.  The wind was super swirly with all the rain squalls making it hard to pick the right spot.  After exhausting just about every possibility and getting soaked in the process, we settled for less then stellar Hazards. As usual it was a shifty frustrating wave with the occasional payoff.  Overall it was cold miserable and annoying out there, but on a day when the majority of surfers stayed in their homes in the 805 it felt good to think that at least I got a few.

3-12-16 PM Session: 6-8+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 30 mins
Waves Surfed: 3
A friend of mine gave me a rare opportunity to get a behind the scenes tour of the Santa Barbara Historical Society Museum downtown.  Before which I had some business appointments to keep in the morning.  I soon found myself in the late afternoon.  Initially my plan was to go hit up El Capitan till intelligence from Lindsay told not to bother.  Instead I headed to Rincon with high hopes for some fun evening Cove.  Traffic sucked getting out of town leaving me very little surf time.  It looked super fun and well overhead in the River Mouth section.  The Cove was a bit mushy.  I paddled and immediately I had under estimated the current and the size of the swell.  I ended up taking like ten bombs on the head before I got out to the line and by then I was already half way down the point and out to sea.  The few I got in that drift were all weak and terrible.  I contemplated going back out for a few, but instead let my frustration get the best of me and gave up.  Sometimes you need to know when to cut your loses.
 3-11-16 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 17
I woke up this morning and noticed the wind was offshore in Ventura.  I cruised down that way hoping for some fun high tide Emma Wood or even Cstreet.  By the time I got down there it was so fat that everything though clean was way too flooded to be any fun.  I decided to hunker down in the Emma Wood parking lot and wait out the tide.  After about an hour the wind switched really hard south west.  Over it I began the trip home figuring I would hope for the best at dark.  Then I scoped out Rincon from the 101 and noticed the wind had shifted NW. The Cove was clean and solid with on guy out.  Although still a tad high I was on it.  Sure enough I got rather fun Rincon Cove with four guys out for around 2 hours.  My legs were so tired by my last wave I could barely walk up the trail to my car.  I forgot how much fun Rincon and surfing can be when its not crowded.

3-10-16 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Little Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 17
Daniel and I cruised to Rincon, but it was a bit too small, weak, inconsistent and crowded for my liking.  Next stop was Little Rincon, where there were some kill-able little peaks and a manageable crowd.  Stoked we were all over it.  I managed one crazy double up wedge barrel off the pier that pretty much stoked me out for the entire surf.  I had a couple runner too.  Then this crowd of like six guys came out all back paddling, burning and overall being complete dicks.  Over it we bailed.  We already got ours anyway.

3-9-16 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Coral Casino
Time in Water: 1hr 40 mins
Waves surfed: 37
I initially was going to head to Rincon despite the light south wind.  I had the feeling it was going to be super weak there.  I had Bizarro with me and I felt like we had plenty of shitty soft limp dick Rincon sessions.  We decided to have a look at the Coral.  No one was out and it was super boostable.  The left was actually better then the right for a change.  I frothed and blew it up.  I was hitting tons big airs.  Then the waves began to get funky with the dead low tide and five guys decided to crowd me and proceed to be in  my way for every good one I wanted.  In attempt to get one more fun one I just managed to frustrate myself.  Still It was a good first half of the session.

3-8-16 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, El Capitan
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 17
Once again another windy day.  I guess spring has finally arrived.  That’s fine with me.  I love these windy days.  They keep the crowds down and offer up some really fun surf if you know where to look.  El Cap was a bit smaller then the previous few days, but it was super hallow.  It was a barrel fest out there.  I must have found at least five that were super deep and down the point.  The only down side was that it was a bit inconsistent and the water was chilly from all the wind.  I had a blast though.

3-7-16 No Surfing: 4-6+ ft
Lots of wind, cold weather and really dirty water from the rain, not to mention a terrible sinus infection coupled with a hangover left me over it for the day.

3-6-16 PM Session: 4-6+ ft, El Capitan
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Daniel, Gabe and I headed back to El Cap since the wind was not blowing crazy hard out of the WNW.  That wind is side shore offshore at the point and with plenty of swell and dropping tide we were sure of a score.  As it turned out the surf was solid and the crowd rather light considering it was Sunday and decent.  I think there around thirty five guys spread around the entire point and non stop waves.  Stoked we paddled only to find that it was a little soft.  There were some meaty ones up top, but that section is really hard to surf backside.  I sat in the middle and managed a few alright ones.  Then I spent about a half hour at the bottom of the Cove just pulling into all these quick little thirty yard double ups.  After that I wanted a few more long ones and made my way back to the middle of the point.  It wasn’t the best shape I have seen the place, but I still got mine.

3-5-16 PM Session: 4-6+ ft, El Capitan
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 16
Daniel and I cruised to have a look at some of the Montecito points considering the swell angle and the wind.  We must have just missed the wind change to south, the worst possible wind for anything in this area.  There was sort of a side shore offshore thing happening at the coral, which we probably should have just paddled and called it a day.  In the hopes that the wind would be better or even change as it got dark.  Neither of that happened.  El Cap was blown to smithereens all torn up and scalloped out with the wind.  There were only three guys out, I was still hopeful of a mystical wind change with with rain squalls, and my friend Mariah convinced me to paddle.  I dragged Daniel and Gabe along for the suffering.  It was about as bad as it looked, though if you managed to hook into the right one it would run all the way into the cove.  It beat not surfing. No photo cause it was raining too hard for me to snap one.

3-4-16 PM Session: 4-6+ ft, Hazards
Time in Water: 1 hr 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 27
I started off at very solid Naples very under gunned.  I could inside for like a thirty wave set of close outs got pissed off and left.  Gabe made it through and said it got pretty fun.  Meanwhile Trevor, Daniel and I ran up to Refugio hoping it would be like the previous week.  Instead it was small and far from inspiring.  With the steadily rising tide Hazards was the call.  It was a little shifty for the reef, though if you were in the right spot you would be stoked out with a fun one.  There were a few kooky old guys on big boards out ruining the best waves of the day and about three groms who always seemed to be in the way.  All this added to my already frustrated mind set.  I did find a barrel or two and for a half an hour the tide and wind were just right for me to froth on this inside air section allowing me to spread my winds and try a few different spins.

3-3-16 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
I was hoping to surf El Cap for the incoming push.   The buoys let me down as did the potential incoming swell. Ultimately there wasn’t enough swell for me to even think about the drive north.  Instead I decided to just go to Rincon, where I knew I could get some bang for my buck.  The lot was more empty then I have seen it in quite a while and upon checking it there was enough to provoke me to a paddle.  It was about as I had expected inconsistent and weak at best, but there were a few runners.  I even managed two decent ones through the cove.  Beat not surfing.

3-2-16 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Coral Casino
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
I had a bunch of random errands to run this morning the most important was to get my car smog checked.  It passed.  I was also fighting off a rather bad sinus infection I must have picked up from El Capitan yesterday.  Sometimes a surf can actually help make me feel better.  I didn’t really want to drive out of town.  I checked Hammonds, but it was a little too low tide.  The sand has been decent at the Coral so I drove over there.  Sure enough there was a very boost-able close out right and left.  I was in the mood for an air session and that is exactly what I had, a full on rip fest.  I think out of 23 waves I boosted 20 airs.  It was good times.  I am sure my old ass body will pay for pretending I was in my early twenties, but fuck it I had fun.

3-1-16 AM Session: 2-3 ft, El Capitan
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 11
I really wanted to surf El Cap.  The past few times I went there it had been way too crowded to surf.  It was a Tuesday mid morning with mild, but just enough swell and just the right tide.  It was tad smaller then I had hoped, though there were still some kill-able sets pushing through.  It was rather inconsistent and most of the inbetweeners were on the rocks.  I managed two I got from mid point all the way to the bottom and on each ran the barrel in the cove for an easy 75 yards.  El Cap is a great wave no matter how small.