Surfing Ruined My Life

March 2019 Surf Sessions

3-31-19 PM Session: 2-3 ft, County Line
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 118
I had hoped to get up early and take advantage of the Santa Anna’s. That all went out the window when my girl and I took advantage of the gin bucket at my boss’ house ending up in a drunken night at the Wild Cat. By the time I got down south the wind had literally just switched. My lady and I spent the afternoon looking at houses. After, there was plenty of south on the buoy thus we headed down to Malibu. Leo had some decent rights, but was also longboardered out. I looked at zeros but between the wind and tide it was less then applicable. I was about to give up when I passed by County Line and saw some cleanish looking sets. Stoked I paddled the reef and for the first thirty minutes I frothed. There was a sick air section on the close out. Then the wind got a bit harder WNW and two kids came and sat right on me. At that point I struggled to even find a section. I managed to bang out two hits on my last wave and called it at day. For dinner we went to the Yard House at the Collection. First off I hate the Collection for creating the guise of a town center while selling consumerism at its best. All the Yard House is a sorry excuse for a TGI Friday’s only doing sophisticated food badly. That’s my rant for the month.

3-30-19 AM Session: 1-2+ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 56
Rincon was a bad call. Pat had claimed all the beaches were shit and I had seen a few good sets up at Indicator making that the decision. I must have seen the last pulse before the tide got too low. It then just was a fish grovel fest and very slow, inconsistent and few too many guys for such a lack of surf. To add injury to insult I blew out one of my fins on the inside rocks.

3-29-19 AM Session: 2-3ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 45 min
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 56
I was hoping for more Rincon action but it was looking rather wind swelly and crowded for what was on offer. I headed south. Pitas was the best option after a brief run down to Emma. There was one guy out and plenty of quick one or two hitters. I grabbed my fish and frothed on it. I only had a short amount of time and decided to get and rip as many waves as I possibly could. Later on I had a 150 person charity event to cook for at the Maritime Museum that went off very well.

3-28-19 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 30
I pulled up to some nice chest high clean Cove surf with a rather light crowd. I got out there and my first five waves were solid. Then the south wind became to come up adding a bit of bump and crumble. To make matters worse some kid paddled out on a longboard and just kept paddling around everyone. I got one all the way to the freeway then walked up to Indicator to surf my way down the point. By this point the wind had really begun to howl and made the line up very difficult to surf. Still my fish cut through it and I made my way back through to the Cove. I had too really good looking runners ruined on me by some kook Russian guy. He almost ruined a third and my last wave but I decided to Ollie him. Good times.

3-27-19 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 44
As soon as I got to Rincon the wind went south basically making everything trash. I headed to check some of the lesser points. Pitas had the most size getting some of the sw combo. There was still a fair amount of wind chop on the faces and the sets were a bit stretched. I paddled around the point a little bit in an attempt to get a few but overall it was far from fun.

3-26-19 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hr
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 44
Considering that my surf was cut short this morning and that Ryan had called and said Rincon was still fun I decided to leave work early and go try to surf again. I grabbed Bizarro and we headed to Rincon. The tide had gotten high though only 3 feet. We decided to check Little ‘Con and Pitas since they film better. It was quickly decided that Rincon was the best of the worst. Between the wind, tide and drop in the swell and consistency it was like a completely different line up then the morning. If I had not surfed earlier I wouldn’t have believed how good it was. I drove and had my filmer so I surfed. I hung around the River Mouth finding corners before surfing my way down the point and home.

3-26-19 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 7
Miles Driven: 30
I rarely claim much, but I must say that this mornings session may have been the best Rincon has been all season.  It was definitely the best I have seen it.  Fast rising west swell filled in overnight and by the time I got down to the point at 8:30 it was absolutely peaking as all I saw was nonstop overhead lines coming through and running as far as the eye could see with not a drop of water out of place.  The crowd was maybe twenty guys on the whole point!!! I suppose no one expected it to be that good since there swell was not predicted to be as grand.  Heck I hadn’t expected it.  I ran back to my car and paddled out.  I have been sitting on a brand Clarks Surfboards Hacksaw model for a few weeks waiting for the swell to be worthy.  Today was definitely that day.  I got out there and upon catching my first wave realized it was way faster then I had though and got left behind after my third turn.  I made the correct adjustments and my next six were from high Cove to the Freeway.  I wish I could have surfed all day, but I had work.   Unfortunately It continued to get crowded till it became a bit hard to get a wave.  On my last one I had to burn a guy though he was bummed we shared the wave in.  I told him I had to go to work.  It happens to me all the time I hated to be that guy.  Such is life.

3-25-19 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Leo Carrillo
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 min hr
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 116
The plan was to get up and surf one of the south points. They were all sort of funky and crowded. I had to pick up some blanks in Ventura and decided to do that and look to surf later. Even though Surfline said the wind was supposed to stay down it ended up howling from the wnw. At that point I took my girl to breakfast. Considering the wind and high tide plus a healthy shot of west and sw swell we decided to take the gamble and head to Leo. It was about chest high plus with decent lines and only a few guys out. I grabbed my fish since it seemed a tad bit on the weak side. I gave it a solid hour of my time. It wasn’t good enough to leave my chick getting sand blasted on the beach for any longer then that. Still I was glad I surfed.

3-24-19 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 2 hr
Waves Surfed: 28
Miles Driven: 42
I woke up a tad hungover. The buoys were really west and I heard It was head high at Naples and chest high and fun at El Cap. My plan was to wait for incoming and then walk into Naples. Unfortunately as soon as I parked I could feel a slight gust of south wind. By the time I got to the cliffs The devil winds had become prevalent. Seals was trashed. Up top seemed to be much cleaner and had some solid size. AJ showed up and we paddled the Crack Peak. Though cleaner there was still enough surface chop to make planning difficult and burger out the lips. As the tide got higher it also got weaker. Then the wind died and it glassed off. The swell decided to die down with it. I surfed my way all the down to Seals. In the process I got a handful of fun ones. Later that evening I had a private high end dinner out at Sandyland that went down with out a hitch.

3-23-19 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 56
Ah there is nothing like a Saturday with swell and the Rincon Classic to frustrate the hell out of one. Add to that a gnarly hit and run that closed the 101 south causing me to miss my points window and you have a very disappointed Lisanti. Anyhow having to work at 1:30 I settled on Emma where there were a few corners in the chest plus range and only five guys out. It was far from good by any means, but the best option for my surf window. I jumped in and worked the Lifeguard tower peak and the Reef lefts. Actually I got into a nice groove. Then the pro division of the Classic must have concluded and all the pros decided to mob Emma for a shoot. The pack went for five to thirty, the majority pros and rippers in minutes. Still no one really crowded my peak and I only had about fifteen minutes left at that point anyway. Work went well. I came home hoping for a mellow evening in. My girl had other plans and I was whisked away to the Wild Cat.

3-22-19 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 30
There was still enough west swell in  the water to warrant a look at Rincon before work. I may have gotten a little to excited when I saw a solid set and decided to grab my short board when it was clearly a small wave board kind of day.  The last two days it has been really fun to ride my short board again and I guess I just wanted to keep that momentum alive.  Between the high tide, receding swell and light onshore WSW wind it was way more weak then I had bargained for.  Ultimately I found myself sitting just under Indicator at high River Mouth waiting for double ups.  As per usual I capitalized on what ever I could.  I was hoping to grab a surf after work, but the new swell came in very steep and long period, a dire combination for Santa Barbara.  Looks like the Rincon Classic is finally going to run this weekend.  They were setting up the tents and scaffolding as I was surfing earlier.  Good luck to all the competitors I hope the swell pans out.

3-21-19 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 30
Of course on the first day of Spring we would be greeted by solid point surf, better then anything we saw the last two months of winter.  When I woke up the buoys were still solid west.  Considering the high tide and funky west wind I decided to head to Rincon.  It was pouring rain when I got there.  The rain also made it really glassy.  Stoked I grabbed my short board and headed up the point.  The Cove was pretty long boarded out so I played the indicator River Mouth game.  For the first hour I was frothy as heck.  It felt good to do some real turns on some solid sections.  Then the wind picked up out of the SE tattering the faces.  Still the lines were so perfect that despite the all the chatter on the face I was able to find my way down the point.  Then the wind went more SW and I knew it was trying to switch WNW.   By this point I was cold, and exhausted.  I had to work a dinner event at 2:30 so betting completely burnt out was not an option.  I worked my way from Indy thru the Cove and home.  It almost feels like California again.

3-20-19 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 42
I think I need to start paying more attention to the surf forecasts.  Once again I was taken completely by surprise that there was some solid west swell in the water.  While at work on a lunch gig I watched the buoys grow and get more west by the hour.  At one I bailed and picked up Bizarro, north bound.  Angers decided he was down for the excursion as well.  I had very reason to believe that Naples was going to be fun and we headed straight there.  Sure enough when we got to the cliff we saw stacked sets in the chest to head high plus range.  There were five guys at Seals.  Rather then crash their party we went up to the Crack Peak.  With ever quickly draining tide we ended up spending the majority of our surf in the Bay.  The first hour Angers and I traded off fun right hand runners.  The wind decided to rear its ugly face out of the WNW and it wasn’t long before the entire line up was tattered.  That coupled with the negative low tide it just about became un-surf-able out there.  By that point my arms were just about spent as were my legs.  Angers was on his second surf of the day.  We were satisfied with what we got.  Even Biz thought the footage was good as well.

3-19-19 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Surfers Knoll
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 64
The first fogged in morning must mean that it is spring.  Once again the tide was really high.  I texted my boss that I was going to work early then surf.  As it turned out there wasn’t much to do so he told me not even to bother.  Ah, the unpredictability of catering.   I waited till mid day when the tide dropped and headed south.  Angers was off today and checked all the Oxnard spots.  Ultimately we met at The Harbor where though far from perfect it was definitely the best of the worst.  To it’s credit there were some side shore chest plus lefts and rights coming in.  The Knoll bars were the best.  Many of the faces were riddled with back wash due to the uneven bars, add a little side shore south chop to the face and throw in a draining tide and it was more then a little bit tricky out there.  Angers and I have not surfed together in the longest time so we made the most of it.  Somehow I managed to stick a big full rotation fs ally-oop that really stoked me out and even got one little in and out tube.  Then the tide bottomed out and it became just about shut down so we bailed.  Looks like more swell for the rest of the week.  Stoked to keep the surf roll alive.

3-18-19 PM Session: 4-6+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 3 hrs
Waves Surfed: 33
Miles Driven: 78
There was some new solid WNW swell on the buoys.  As with every swell this winter it showed up with the king tides.  At 8 am it was a six foot high tide swamping everything out.  I figured I would wait to mid day and then just go surf Rincon.  This time of year you never want to squander point surf.  When I got to ‘Con it was very crowded, inconsistent and only about chest plus.  From there I checked Pitas, where it was really small and he lines were rubbish.  At that point I had gotten word that North Strand was head high plus and glassy.  I looked at the Ship first and it was tiny.  Over towards the bowl there were some solid looking lefts coming through.  I got in front of it and although fast it seemed very do-able.  From that point on it was three hours of race track lefts and even a tube or two.  Ryan came out and we basically had a peak all to ourselves.  The way the angle was coming in the swell was almost turning the bowl into a left point break.  I only quit cause my arms were burnt out.  What a fun surf.

3-17-19 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 126
My girl wanted to go visit her family’s ranch in the valley.   Since the reports showed some minor west south west swell and minor WNW swell with favorable winds I figured why not go up to the “J” score some waves and hit the ranch after.  I guess the new WNW that was suppose to fill in Sunday night into Monday hit early cause when we pulled up it was macking.  The sand bars down the beach are kind of lacking at the moment causing the waves to have very little shape.  I think the Camp ground bars were better.  Tarantellas was all mixed up with the two different swells making it less then fun.  I paddled Cracks where I saw a few lefts and rights.  There were a lot of close outs and the ones that had some open face were rather fast and then either dumped on the inside bar or mushed out before they got there.  It was nice to be out in some actual size.  I just wish the shape was better.  I did manage to find a couple of close out tube views and got one solid over head right that allowed me to bang out two nice turns.  After that we cruised to her ranch.  As soon as I got out of the car I stepped in a fresh steaming hot cow patty.  That just about ruined he afternoon for me.  There is no feeling more violating like stepping in a pile of shit.  At the very least it was green and beautiful up there.

3-16-19 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 78
It was another day of early Santa Anna’s and with still a bit of steep swell on the buoy I decided to head to Strand once again.  As I drove in there were thousands of butterflies all over the place.  I guess there were on their yearly migration north to Oregon from Mexico.  It was very impressive and rather enchanting as I was checking the surf completely engulfed by the winged insects.  They were dumping dredge sand in the middle of the bowl and I saw a few decent looking sides on the Ship side of the bowl.  I paddled and the wind got way harder off shore and with the dropping tide the swell got weaker and more inconsistent.  Thanks to the dredge the water was about as gross as one can imagine.  Think about all the oils and pollutants that get sucked up off the bottom of a busy harbor.  I took out my small wave short board and made the most out of what was given to me.  Once I had my wave count I was out of there.  The rest of my day was spent out in Goleta working an 80th birthday party.  As per usual all of my guests were stoked.

3-15-19 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 30
The morning was all I had time for today and I over slept.  Any thoughts I had of running down to Ventura Harbor for some pre-work barrels was thwarted with a flick of the snooze button on my alarm.  Instead I found myself standing at Rincon looking as, though small, very nice long clean lines.  I grabbed my fish and ran up top, only cause the Cove had way too many greedy long boarders on it making my odds of catching waves slim.  Turns out I had a ball.  My fish loves the small long lines of the points that allow for maximum generation of down the line speed.  Still I was a bit off my game, something I have been feeling the past few surfs.  None the less it was a very pretty morning with a nice strong sun, light-ish crowd of the right locals and I was stoked to have gotten a surf in. Later that evening I worked a private party where Jack Johnson was in attendance.  Fun times being a celebrity chef.

3-14-19 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 38
Miles Driven: 78
To add insult to yesterday the Santa Anna’s also decided to blow after remaining dormant for the past two months on the one week I absolutely can not surf in the morning.  As Everyone scored barrels from Ventura south I was prepping a corporate lunch for 200.  The conditions looked good that winds would stay that way or at least go still for the afternoon, which I was able to take part in.  Just as I was getting off I got word that Strand was chest to head and still off shore.  I called Bizarro and had him film.  Lately every time I deliberately line up a camera man I get skunked.  Sure enough when I got to Ventura the wind had just went hard onshore.  Already invested I decided to push on to Strand.  At the very least I was hoping there might be a high tide wedge up against the North Jetty that I could boost.   When I got there the wind was still off shore, though swirling from off shore to side shore.  The ship side of the bowl looked the best though only about chest high and a bit fat.  The inside was dumping into a nice looking ramp and the lighting was about as good as we could ask for so I paddled.  My friend Stephen met me and the two off use traded really fun lefts till dark.  Between the air and water I was just about frozen to my core by the time I got changed.  It has been a long time since I have had to have the heat blasting all the way home.

3-13-19 No Surfing: 2-3+, No Surfing
Of course the one day I absolutely can’t surf thanks to a twelve hour day is the one day that the waves got to be from what I heard somewhat decent.  From what I heard some new WNW swell filled in just before dark and the shitty south wind that had plagued line ups all day came down making for a super session for the last hour of light.  Where was I?  My evening was spent plating appetizers at a private event.

3-12-19 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 30
The wind on the backside of the front got gnarly, easily 30 knots out of the NW.  This coupled with the steep swell left very few options.  I took all my boards down to Rincon with the hopes of being able to surf something after work.  Though a bit fat and somewhat victory at sea conditions there were some clean lines in and around the Cove.  There was more size then I had seen in a while.  I grabbed  my small wave short board and started at the River Mouth.  My strategy on days like this are always to just paddled up top and let the current take me and try and grab as many waves as I can till I am at the Freeway.  As per usual besides a few moments in the Cove where I let my arms burn out  fighting the drift it worked famously.  It was a crap shoot out there, but after four drifts I managed a few really fun ones and even found a cool suck up barrel through the lower River Mouth section.  By my fourth drift my arms and legs had it thus I called it a day.  With all that wind it was very cold changing out of my suit.  Stoked to get some consistent albeit strange conditions.  

3-11-19 PM Session 2-3+ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 30
My one week of absolute hell at work a month started today. Thanks to the time change I was able to sneak in a surf after work. With limited time and lack of motivation I headed to Rincon. There was a steep 300 swell in the water, luckily it was large enough cause some island refraction meaning Rincon would have a wave. The swell was also super long period making thingd very inconsistent. Apparently everyone else in Santa Barbara decided to surf Rincon as well. I rode my fish though I shouldnl have rode my small wave short board. For whatever reason I found myself out of position or someone deeper for everything I went for. The water was freezing and it was just one of those surfs that felt like I was just banging my head against the wall.

3-10-19 AM Session: 3-4+ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 30 mins
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 78
I had not expected anything much less a small bump in the afternoon. The buoys kept growing exponentially all morning. The wind was south and tide on the rise. I headed straight to the harbor. It was crowded and very brown there. The shape was a bit to be desired as well. With nothing to lose I decided to take a chance on the Strand. Though a bit fat there were some solid chest plus sets with no one in the ship side of the bowl. There was also a whale chilling just 20 yards from the shore line. Stoked I began finding some really fun lefts and rights. Then Robbie came out and some head plus sets began rolling through. Then Phil and Carlos paddled and of course the wind wasn’t far behind. At that point things began to fall apart and since the water was freezing as was my girl chilling on the beach I decided to bail. After some lunch we headed to Ojai for a little bird watching.

3-9-19 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
Miles Driven: 56
Despite the wind wailing all night long when I woke up the buoys were alarmingly small. Still it appeared there maybe enough to be alright down south. It was pretty small all the way down to Emma and then Robbie hit me up that The Harbor was flat as well. I suppose I should have went up north. I was so depressed my girl friend had to take me to the Santa Barbara Zoo to cheer me up.

3-8-19 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
Miles Driven: 41
The wind had been blowing all day from the NW and with an afternoon low tide I was hoping enough wind swell would fill in to have something surf-able on my fish. My girl ended up getting out early and we cruised to Rincon. Though a bit later then usual and a Friday traffic out if town was very manageable. This should have been my first notion that I was going to be left empty handed. Rincon though somewhat clean in the cove was tiny, weak and all broken up. I watched it for a bit but just couldn’t get motivated for that meager of a grovel. Just to rule it out we decided to have a look at Little Rincon. It was a bit bigger, but way more disorganized. The current was moving like a river. I wasn’t up for the challenge and called it day.

3-7-19 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr 30 mins
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 30
I knew after all of that wind that there was going to be some type of WNW in the water. The buoys read perfect, but Sand Spit was tiny. I had work at noon and figured I’d just go to Rincon and get a few on my fish. Upon checking it I saw some solid ones through the Cove. Unfortunately the wind was wsw adding a bunch of texture to it. I was out of time and paddled anyway. Due to the high tide and crumble from the wind I took my fish. Soon I found myself wishing I had my shortboard on some of the sets. Despite the poor conditions I managed two from Indicator to the Cove and three from the Cove to the Freeway. It was sadly the best surf I have had in weeks. The rest of my day was spent doing food prep for a job at the Moxi.

3-6-19 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
More rain more flatness.  I actually had high hopes of getting some waves after work with the promise of a possible rising west swell.  The wind was wrong for all the spots down south and it was still very small at the points.  Maybe tomorrow.

3-5-19 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
Miles Driven: 64
I knew it was going to be small, but I was hoping that there may be a short window where the wind would still be off shore and tide lower enough to surf at the Harbor.  I got there and River Mouth had a wave that was some what palatable.  The water was gnarly dirty.  Because the tide was still pretty high there was a pretty tough rip running up the face from the moving water coming out of the River Mouth.  I watched two guys on fishes struggle before deciding to run some errands and then have another look.  When I got back less then an hour later the tide was right, but the wind had picked up substantially out of the WSW.  I watched a few young rippers struggle at the Knoll before deciding to throw in the towel.

3-4-19 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Pismo Beach Pier
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 164
Not only am I the CEO, CFO, Business manager, etc.  but I am also the Clarks Surfboards delivery guy as well.  Many hats in this business.  I had a board for customer up in Pismo. With the incentive of a little gas money and the fact that the surf would most likely be a little larger up there north I headed.  The deal went smooth and then we decided to go christen the new Interceptor Model with a surf at the Pier.  Of course by this point in the day the wind was already howling out of the NW pretty good tatting things up.  It didn’t seem to bother my host and he was a local so why should it bother me.  I have been surfing crap for the past six weeks almost exclusively.   Why break that precedent.  We paddled the north side where to its credit as bad as it was there was a solid right and left just off the pilings that ended up being pretty fun.  I did my twenty and got back on my horse back to Santa Barbara.  On the way home I had a look at El Capitan to see how the wnw wind swell was doing.  Between the very drained out tide and pure weakness of the swell it was only about waist plus and very gutless.  If I had not surfed already I probably would have paddled.  With my current knee issues I decided to pass.

3-3-19 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Little Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 41
Talk about a sneaky little west wind swell that filled in today.  Last night we decided to hit the Wild Cat for a fun night of disco dancing.  I was able to do it in good conscience knowing that the tide was going to high early and swell a bit down.   I woke to some very surprising buoy readings.  Sure enough there was some west in the water.  Then Pat called and confirmed it.  I had an appointment to look at some houses at Silver Strand and Hollywood beach in the afternoon and just figured I could sneak in a few waves before.  On the way down I had a look at Rincon, which in hindsight was the best choice I think.  I wanted to film a little bit considering how dismal the surf has been I have little to no footage from February.  Little Rincon is way easier to shoot then Rincon and since there was what appeared to be a punchy waist to stomach plus wave coming through it got the nod.  I grabbed my Clarks Surfboards Fly Guy fish and jammed out there.  There were about eight or so guys on it.  Being a tad hung over I almost fell off the rocks while jumping off.  As it turned out it was way softer and sectiony then it looked.  Last time I surfed here there was too little sand, while today there was way too much.  At first everyone was sitting inside of the molar rock till I paddled out and got a few off the pier.  Then these annoying groms decided to paddle me for half my surf.  It was really hard to find enough juice on any of the sections to real lay into anything and there was lots of chop from the WNW wind as well.  I got a few, but it was from a stoker surf.

3-2-19 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Surfers Knoll
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 64
At the very least the wind was off shore. Too bad nothing else was in my favor.  The water was brown and smelly from all the rain, and the tide a bit fat for the crap bars at the Knoll.  The River bar looked fun, but the water was so dirty the foam was completely brown.  Though fun it was not nearly good enough to incur whatever bacteria laid in waiting.  Despite all of this there were still thirty guys spread from the Mouth to the south side of New Jetty.  I only paddled cause I drove and in all seriousness I think I would have had more fun if I had just surfed Ventura Point.  Literally I don’t think I caught one wave that was worth anything.  It was backwashy, sectiony, closed out and buried in all of the holes in the bars.  There were a few good air sections to be had, but my knee is in no shape for me to have even considered going after them.  In my frustration I threw up a few fly-aways that if not hurting I would have most likely landed.  Everyone after a while is plagued with one part of their body or another from surfing.  Some have back issues, others shoulder pain, some have foot problems, wrists and ankles.  I have since my early twenties had knee issues.  It cost me my competitive surfing career.  At this point in life I am just happy to still be getting wet and on occasion pull off something sick.  Oh don’t let this lie of a photo fool you waves like this were few and far between.  Being in position when it did come was even more tricky.

3-1-19 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 64
To be honest after yesterday’s terrible session and subsequent knee injury I was not all that frothy to drive down after work for some more lack luster Harbor surf, especially after everyone I spoke to gave very disappointing reports.  I had a Clarks Surfboards customer who wanted to get his new custom board, which was ready in less the four weeks door to door.  Why not stoke him out and get a few shitty waves in the process.  Kill two birds with one stone so to speak.  When I got down to the Harbor it was already looking fat and was definitely a tad smaller then yesterday.  There was a pack at the Knoll and a pack at the River Mouth.  I chose the latter just because I had way more fun there all week then to knoll bars.  I took my short board, though I should have ridden the fish.  I have there new short boards that I have had absolutely no time on cause of this insipid flat spell.  At this point I figure I better take the chest high surf for testing ground regardless of shape and form.  I don’t know if my mind set was in the right place or what but I had a way better time then I had yesterday.  It was really hard to hold back while nursing my injured knee.   Many would say that I should sit out.  I have always found that for me anyway it was better to try and surf a little bit, but not push it while in rehab.  I feel like when I couch it and just try and work the injury I don’t come out of it as fast.  Whatever the case it was nice to have a bit of fun surfing for a change.