Surfing Ruined My Life

March 2023 Surf Sessions

3-31-23 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 10
My window was short as I needed to be in Santa Barbara for the reception of my wife’s deceased Grandfather by 1pm. I also had a hand in the catering of side of the event only leaving me time to surf till 10:30am.  There appeared to already be a healthy amount of south swell filling in on the LA cams.  Obviously I didn’t have time for that.  I could have gambled on the Rivermouth but I decided to take the sure bet and paddle Strand.  To its credit the Ship looked super rip-able.  Stoked I ran back to my car and suited up.  Once I got out I realized that it was way more weak than it looked. All the energy was in the drop then the wave died out.  Most sections were flat or ran away.  I did manage two barrels and one solid hit. Besides that I’d say it was slim pickings out there.  I guess it was better the waves weren’t firing since I only had a limited amount of time anyway.  After the surf I headed home where Biz and I packed up all the food and equipment and headed to SB for the funeral reception.  Though a somber occasion everyone was grateful for our food service.  I wanted to head home upon the event’s conclusion but got roped into coming back to the deceased residence with the rest of my wife’s family for one last send off.  A rather sloppy but heartfelt night played out. Life is a funny thing.  We are all going to die as it’s the culmination of living.  When faced with the death of a loved one it’s always a difficult situation.  Being one whom has spent his whole life avoiding family emotions it’s ironic that I married into a large tight knit family. 

3-30-23 AM Session: 5-7+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 2 hrs 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 12
Upon driving to the Strand I was pleasantly surprised with the size of the surf coming through.  What I wasn’t stoked on was the solid pack, easily seventy five guys strong and the fact that only one out of ten waves were any goods.  The best ones were concentrated in the bowl where I find it very hard to find a place line up when the surf gets big.  I decided to drive over to look at Hollywood. Considering the size and dropping tide I was hopeful.  La Brea was my first stop where there were solid head to over head sets with bombs.  The wind was light offshore and though a bit shifty there were definitely enough corners to give it a go. As I was about to pull the trigger the wind began to turn south as predicted.  Gordo was at Little Sunset and said it looked decent.  The south wind is always a better bet out there.  We paddled and I picked off three fun rights.  Then as the tide began to drop the sets just began to come in solid eight foot and throwing.  There were only 5 of us out.  Ryan paddled and made six.  I had some phenomenal rides.  I ended up surfing for nearly three hours.  Had the wind not come up hard out of the south I might still be out there.  Hands down the best waves I have gotten in three weeks.  Sadly later that evening I had to drive to Santa Barbara to attend the funeral of my wife’s grandfather.  He was 91.

3-29-23 No Surfing: 2-3 ft
Miles Driven: 10
There was a bit more surf in the water today along with absolutely shitty wind.  All the beaches were junk with no one surfing with the exception of the kite boarders.  Jeffery paddled Pitas to little avail except for getting wet. I had a stack of paper work to do for both Clarks Surfboards and my chef work before heading up to SB for a passed appetizer gig.  I had a look at Rincon.  It was about waist high with ugly west wind only clean at the very bottom of the Cove.  I could say with complete certainty I didn’t miss out on anything today. Here a photo of pathetic Rincon.

3-28-23 No Surfing: 0-1 ft
Miles Driven: 10
Today was one of those days where one would have been hard pressed to find a decent wave to ride anywhere on the California coast.  Even my flat day go to spots up and down the California were barely waist plus on the cams.  Here in Ventura it was knee high at best and already plagued with onshore winds. I watched two guys trying to surf north Strand barely able to even ride the tiny offerings.  It was cold out with a wind chill and water temperatures are still only hovering around fifty degrees thus I called it a day.  I had a customer coming in the afternoon to shape his own surfboard under my guidance. If anyone wants to shape their own board under my tutelage reach out. Cost is $75 an hour for my time plus materials.  It’s a fun experience. Here is screen shot of the Ventura Harbor cam from Surfline cause I forgot to take a photo of Strand looking as bad as bad gets.

3-27-23 AM Session: 1-2 ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 30 mins
Waves Surfed: 7
Miles Driven: 20
Today was another day of Santa Anna winds wasted on barely ride-able surf.  It seems just about every time we have had decent offshore winds this year the surf has been tiny.  I had a look at Strand but it was barely thigh high and very weak.  Word got to me that Ventura Harbor was waist to chest so I cruised over the there.  It wasn’t really any bigger than Strand and completely closed out.  It appeared that a slightly larger wave was at the River Mouth but was hard to tell if it was worth the effort.  I was offer it, but Jeffery showed up and really wanted to surf.  In my opinion Strand looked more surf-able thus we went back there.  On a second look I was completely over it.  When I got back to my car Jeffery already had his suit on.  The code of a surf buddy is if you take your boy out of his way to surf bad waves and he still wants to paddle you’re going with him.  The water was freezing and air not much warmer.  I got a few micro turns in but it was a grovel.  We caught a few waves each and called it a day.  I headed home where I had to quickly get an EPS ding repair done for Pat. He booked a last minute trip to Panama and of course forgot he needed a board fixed.  I grinded through it and had his stick ready for pick by 1pm.  Then I had to race up to the Santa Ynez Valley for a Monday Wedding.  It was quite the busy day.

3-26-23 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 10
Talk about a repeat of yesterday.  The only difference was that the crowd was significantly lighter and waves a hair smaller.  I was able to convince my wife to come film and was determined to get a few clips.  The surf has been either been absolutely junk or raining or both making filming damn near impossible.  I paddled and once again the waves were all over the place.  The majority of the pack was in the bowl.  Most waves there looked pretty walled and not worth dealing with the crowd.  Instead I sat off Tower Five and the Shit Pipe.  The majority of waves once again either died out or closed out. I did luck into a left that I got tubed on, came out and bashed three times to the beach and on right I got two decent turns on. Other than those the rest were rubbish.  I kept the surf short then enjoyed a nice breakfast with my wife.  The rest of our afternoon she committed to painting and I finished the new Clarks Surfboards YouTube edit, click to watch.

3-25-23 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1hr 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 10
It was Saturday and a complete zoo out at Strand. I was quite beside myself as to why since the waves were absolutely trash. The only thing going for the surf was the offshore wind and the fact that there was some size. Besides these factors the waves were all over the place and line’s completely broken up. Most of the waves either died out or closed out. The crowd was easily 75 guys strong. From the looks of it the malibu contingent had decided to come out in mass along with the usual weekend warriors. I drove over to Hollywood just to a have a look. Just as I figured it was too small and wind swelly for any of the bars to really work. Jeffery was at the Harbor where it was mostly closed out. I resolved to just paddling Strand. Actually by the time I suited up the crowd had dropped in half. I can only assume it was because guys realized how bad it was. As for myself I didn’t get one decent ride out there. I caught some well over head bombs which either closed out or died out. There was maybe one frontside turn I was almost jazzed on. Then the wind came up and everyone left. I really wanted to quit on a good wave. Even though the wind had completely trashed the already terrible waves more I decided to beat a dead horse for another forty five minutes before conceding to my defeat. Just another sub par surf in the books. I should have just went to the Hueneme day parade with my wife and watched the Ventura County Corky club walk their dogs down the street. From the video I saw it definitely looked more fun then the surf.

3-24-23 PM Session: 2-3 ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 11
Miles Driven: 44
Talk about another day of chasing around sub par surf. I had to work a pit BBQ for a pre-wedding party at Lead Better Beach in Santa Barbara from 1pm – 5pm leaving me ample windows to find surf. I checked Hueneme first but it wasn’t really happening. Then I headed to Strand where it was already pretty disorganized with some light onshore wind on it about head to overhead and low quality. Fearing the same wind issue from yesterday I decided to head home, grab all my work gear and hope to find waves at one of the points. All that wind yesterday steepened the swell too much to make it worth while anywhere besides the VTA. Bummed I kicked it around Rincon for a awhile wandering the beach picking up sea glass and other beach oddities before heading to the gig. The wedding was a vegan bride and a meat eating groom. Good luck with that marriage. I was hired to grill up some tri tip and the client stressed it had to be medium rare. As usual I didn’t disappoint. I bailed at 5 and normally I don’t like taking gigs that force me to head home in the heart of rush hour traffic especially on a Friday, but this season has been rather slow forcing me to not have the luxury of being picky. Traffic was gnarly backed up and reports were claiming two and half hours back to Ventura. I meandered my way through the back hills to Rincon. When I crossed under the 101, northbound was a parking lot. I was pretty much stuck surfing Rincon which after bumbling around the beach for a bit was barely thigh high and junky. As I was about to pull my suit on and just grovel ‘Con back up at the lot I noticed traffic had began to move. Considering how tiny it was I decided to roll the dice and see if I could get to Sea Cliffs. This took me another twenty five minutes. I was stuck paddling broken up waist to chest high wind swelly Pitas a bit too fat with the incoming tide. I did manage one runner but it was definitely hardly worth the effort. Walking back over the rocks in the dark sucked. Good times.

3-23-23 AM Session: 6-8+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 5
Miles Driven: 12
My time was completely limited due to the high profile Santa Barbara gig I had mentioned in Tuesday’s post. Like I always say if I have anything planned in advance that I can’t move around or cancel you can bet your stars on that day having the absolute best waves of the week. That wasn’t completely the case today but there were definitely some moments I wasn’t able to capitalize on due to the aforementioned obligation. Ideally I only had time to paddle either Hueneme or Strand. Hueneme had chest plus waves but with no real shape. I drove over to Strand and it was absolutely macking over head to double overhead and borderline out of control. Conditions were clean and I did see a few corners to be had more towards the ship, plus I was out of time and options. I jumped in and found a few ok ones. Then I lucked into a left runner that afforded me three turns and an end section bash. I should have called it quits right there especially since the wind was just beginning to rear it’s ugly head. By the time I got back out to the line up the wind was wailing out of the WNW completely trashing the already tough to read line up. I spent the next twenty minutes just trying to catch a wave in that wasn’t going to kill me. I did eventually make it in on a messy left bowl that closed out when I got to the bottom of it. The wave took me in and that was all that mattered at that point. I rushed home to pack up, gather my crew, C.C. being one of my servers. The gig was at the old Huget Clark Estate in Santa Barbara. It was the first time they had opened the house to the public in nearly fifty years. My wife’s Museum was in charge of the entire shin dig and were nice enough to throw me a bone. As usual the event went off with out a hitch, the food spectacular and guests happy.

3-22-23 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 72
Today was in my mind, the day I was going to score. From when I woke up the Ventura Harbor cam was showing overhead spitting barrels. I got my act together and drove over. There were about thirty guys chasing basically closed out corners in some of the dirtiest water I had seen in a long time. The best peak was right in front of the dredge pipe which was spitting out black water. Meanwhile the Rivermouth was spitting out dirty sewage full brown water. There were some spectacular tubes to be had, but mostly it was heroics and not the session I was looking for. I had a look at dredge, which was clean and surf-able though a little high and backwashy. I got word Rincon and the points had size but were all torn up with south wind. I headed back to Harbor for one last look and still couldn’t bring myself to paddle it. There was plenty of prep work to do for my event Thursday. Rather then waste anymore time on the goose chase I went home woke Bizarro up and we got to work. About any hour and half in I got word from Ryan who was on his way up to Santa Barbara for work that Rincon looked cleaner and manageable. Not wanting to miss a potential window I left Biz a prep list to tackle (the privilege of being the chef) and cruised to Rincon. As soon as I got out of Ventura I could see that the wind was hard SW on all of the points. I watched the Cove at Rincon for about fifteen minutes before bailing. There was plenty of size, easily a few feet over head on set but with the wind on it most waves were pretty beat up and broken up. I watched a few regular foot rippers, kids in their early twenties struggle to put together three turns on a wave due to conditions. I decided to cut my losses and head back to the beaches where the wind was just light and variable out of the WSW. I went straight to Hollywood, probably in hindsight where I should have paddled as there were chest to head high clean mixed peaks up and down the beach. My mind wouldn’t allow me to rest until I at least checked the Ship and ruled it out. My realtor/friend Scotty was checking it also and though I thought Hollywood looked better he sold me on the session and we paddled. At the very least the surf was bigger then I had thought, solid head to over head on sets. Finding a decent one was tough cause all the bars at Strand are so fundamentally screwed up. It didn’t help that I was a bit under gunned on my 5’7 also. I managed a few turns and one random tube. I put in a lot of effort on the hunt today only to surf below average waves five miles from my house. Like I always say, if you don’t hunt then you won’t score and for every score there are ten skunks. I heard the wind died and all the points were decent before dark. Timing is everything in this life and today mine was completely off.

3-21-23 No Surfing: 3-4+ ft
Miles Driven: 10
I was exhausted from the Marathon driving in such a short period of time. The wind was howling out of the WSW and waves small junky on all the cams. I had a very important high end catering gig for myself I was running later in the week and decided to do the majority the shopping as opposed to chasing bad surf all day. Besides the surf reports showed better surf and conditions over the next two days and I wanted to try and utilize as much of that as I could. Around five I finished all my shopping and related errands and checked Strand. There was definitely some size but it was pretty messy, cold and rainy. I couldn’t get into it and passed. Here is a photo of junky wind blown Silver Strand for you viewing pleasure. The clouds look cool.

3-20-23 PM Session: 2-3 ft, Lower Trestles
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 65 (from Chula Vista)
I woke up on a tiny little mattress on the floor in San Diego a little out of sorts. You know how it is when you wake up in a strange place, one needs a minute to find is bearings. It was cold windy and rainy out. All the surf reports looked terrible. I ate some breakfast, packed up and headed back north with hopes of finding something surf-able on the way home. The in-law family situation down in SD was definitely a tough one but my part in it was over. There is only so much one can do for another before it becomes detrimental to one’s own life. I was cruising north and decided to pull off at San Onofre and have a look at Lowers. As much as I hate that wave, like every other high performance surfer I am drawn to it. It’s definitely one of surfings hallowed grounds. The waves looked glassy and though a bit wind swelly and disorganized the set I saw was at least chest high, had five waves in it all with left and right options. There were only six guys out. Unsure of what I may have been able to find further north and taking the light crowd into consideration I decided to give it a go. Of course as soon as I got half way down the trail it started to pour and I brought no rain gear or even my wet dry bag. Once down on the rocks overlooking the break it definitely looked under whelming plus the wind had come up onshore since checking it. There were only two guys out. I already made the walk thus suited up. Granted I have only surfed Lowers a hand full of times in my life, but today was definitely the worst I have ever seen the place. That being said with only three of us out I was at liberty to only pick the best waves of the day. The crowd fluctuated from two of us to as many as eight at one point back down to four when I left. Taking into account I had a good deal of road to cover and the meager surf I did my twenty waves and got back on my horse to Oxnard. I decided to take PCH home through LA and Topanga actually looked small but fun with only two guys out. I gave it a serious deliberation to paddle but decided to save it. At my age every paddle takes a lot out of you and can jeopardize your next surf. If it were two feet bigger I definitely would have paddled.

3-19-23 No Surfing: 1-2+ ft
I woke up and there were some slim pickings out in the ocean. Not too many days exist a year when it’s just about not surf-able around here. This morning was one of them. My wife wanted to go watch the air show anyway so I guess it was a good thing it wasn’t firing. We were lounging in bed enjoying rare lazy morning when my wife got a phone call from her sister asking for a ride to San Diego. My wife couldn’t do it because she had busy work day on Monday. As for me I had nothing going on and given the surf forecast I figured I could probably get more surf down that way then I was going to find around here. With that in mind I volunteered and headed south. Between the rain and Sunday traffic, not to mention the task of transporting my sister in law and her baby we got into San Diego just a little too late for me to sort out a surf. Tomorrow there is supposed to a bit more south swell in the water and I hope to maybe get some waves at Lowers on the way home tomorrow.

3-18-23 AM Session: 1-3 ft, New Jetty
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 20
Spring must be in the air cause it’s definitely in the water. With just a minor south swell and some left over NW the surf was looking as small as small gets. I had a look at Hueneme it was border line surf-able and I gave a paddle there some consideration. Hoping for a little bit more I cruised over to Fruit Stands and made the walk to the River Mouth hoping I might find something comparable to yesterday. When I got there it wasn’t even breaking. The tide was just too high for the bar I had surfed yesterday. There were two guys out attempting to ride the actual River bar, but it look dirty and weak and they were definitely struggling. Over it I decided to bail. On the way out I saw a teddy bear face down in the sand all wet and sad. I picked it up, brushed all the sand off it and sat the little guy on a log on the bluff looking out towards the ocean. At the very least he could go out with some dignity. I was going to go home when my friend Solar called me and wanted to surf. I said I’d drive over to the Harbor and have a look since I was close. The knoll actually had a wave breaking but they were running the dredge and the water was toxic black. On a last ditch effort I drove over to New Jetty. Sure enough there was a knee to waist high wave coming in off the rocks with about a half dozen guys on it. Conditions looked like a do-able grovel. Plus the wind had switched off shore which always stokes me out to surf. Solar met me and we paddled. The surf was deplorable but every now and then a south set would come in with three to four micro waves that were good for two to three turns. I even head dipped a little cover up. After the surf I met my wife, her sister and mother for lunch. My afternoon and evening was spent working a wedding in Santa Barbara.

3-17-23 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1 hrs
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 16
The surf was really down from yesterday with just a very minor SW/NW combo. I got word early that County Line had a little wave. Jeffery was at the Harbor and we decided to do a little bit of reconnaissance on the south side of the River Mouth to see if any bars had formed. We met at the Fruit Stands parking lot and made the walk with all our gear. There wasn’t any sand banks until we were almost to the actually mouth. A bar was in existence way outside directly in front of the opening. The waves coming through were just disorganized burgers. The bar having more of a shoal effect then an actual surf-able wave. On the inside just south of the opening was a bit of a bank that seemed to have no particular shape whatsoever. We saw some mixed peaks and since we made the walk decided to paddle. The water was as brown as brown gets and definitely smelled like run off. The beach was trashed with debris and every kind of junk you could imagine. Shopping carts were littered through out most likely cause all the homeless encampments in the river bed got washed out. We jumped in and immediately regretted our decision as the current moving south was non-stop forcing us to paddle continuously just to stay in place and the water was very cold. The sets were inconsistent and rather weak when they did show up making positioning very difficult. Every now and then a rip-able left would come through. I can guarantee it wasn’t worth the level of toxic water we braved to surf it. At one point Jeffrey came through the back of one and looked like swamp thing with the way the sun reflected on his head coming up out of the water. I went home and jumped right in the shower. Later that afternoon my friend Zach came over to test out a new service I am going to be offering called “built your own surfboard”. Basically I get you a blank or we design a CNC cut and together we will build you a board. This is completely hands on. I help along the way and will fix any errors or stop you before something disastrous occurs but for the most part you will have shaped your own board. If you like we can glass and sand it as well or send it out to be professionally glassed. It’s your choice. It went pretty well and was fun. If this is something you might be interested in please reach out and we can talk about the details.

3-16-23 No Surfing: 2-3 ft
Miles Driven: 10
My knee was still feeling pretty raw from yesterday’s crash at Little ‘Con. The surf was looking pretty meager on all the cams and buoys. I got word the points were tiny as well. Not quite ready to throw in the towel I drove over to Strand for a look. It was about waist to stomach. The Ship could have been fun had the bars been better. Unfortunately they are still trash. It may as well be Florida over there right now. I saw a few guys out over on the North End and drove over. It was definitely more surf-able though not any bigger and maybe even a hair more weak. Jeffery got word to me that Ventura Harbor sucked. Rather than push my knee I made the smart move and took the day off. I feel like over the last eight months all I’m doing is recovering from minor injuries that are constantly affecting my surfing. Maybe that is what surfing in your forties is all about. What do you folks do to help enhance your surfing in your 40’s. I hear that testosterone supplements can help. Any advice is very appreciated. Here’s a picture of North Strand.

3-15-23 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Little Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 52
I thought the rain was supposed to be over by this morning. Yet it was still coming down and did so till around 11am or so. I got word early that Rincon had a decent wave. That intel was seconded by my wife thus I headed north towards the points. The water was the most brown I had ever seen it and all the rivers were crazy wide and running super fast. All this was to be expected considering we got close to eight inches of rain over the last twenty four hours. My first stop was Pitas. There was a chest high wave up top and some smaller wrap through Faria but the swell was very short period causing most waves to be worth nothing more then a drop. Not into it I continued north. On the way to Rincon I saw a solid set break at little Rincon with only one guy out. I did the loop around and although Rincon was fun looking and rather empty, maybe thirty guys or so on it I didn’t stop. I got to Little Rincon and it was solid chest plus with some steep looking walls running to the hotel. It was still a bit stretched but no one was out which was enough to provoke Jeffery and I decided to give it a go. There was a lot of channel chop in the water making it difficult to decipher the runners from the close outs from the ones that just died out. The dark brown water color didn’t help to track a line either. I had a bit of a shocker initially, falling on my first three waves. After that I took a deep breath, reset and got into a rhythm. I have been messing around with the FCS2 Carver fins in Medium. They feel a bit loose but they do have a fair amount of drive. I think I’m going to stick with them a little bit longer. I picked off about five fun runners in a row when I took off on a smaller double up and went for an air reverse. I landed backwards and my board flipped over forcing me to go knees first into my fins. My left knee took the brunt of the hit and it really hurt. I hung around in the shore break to take stock in both my body and my board. My fins were all in tact, while the bottom of my board took some hefty dents, though nothing that needed repair. I checked the knee of my wetsuit for fin slices since my knee was killing me and there were none. Thank goodness cause the suit I had on was literally brand new Rip Curl Flash Bomb that I paid a pretty penny for. Anyone out there that has a wetsuit company and wants to hook me up for a deal I would be happy to entertain your offer. I always seem to tear new suits on my first session and it’s usually at Little Rincon no less. My momentum for the rest of the surf was completely shot. Considering how tricky the waves already were I didn’t need another strike against me. As a result I caught a few more and went in. My last wave was a solid double up drainer I hit four times then hobbled in over the rocks. After the surf I stopped by my Glasser’s shop to pick up some recently finished boards. Have you tried one of my boards yet? They are coming out pretty hot. Out the door price is just $585 for a board 5’10 and under in Poly. Check me out: ClarksSurfboards.com if you mention you read about the boards in the blog I’ll throw in a free leash and tail pad. Hit me up cause I’d be stoked to build you a board.

3-14-23 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 56
Rain, rain go away please come back next winter. Shoots, all the reservoirs are full. Since we don’t really need anymore I’d love to get back to our sunny Southern California weather please. According to the experts it’s supposed to be another rainy month. My wife decided to work from home as Santa Barbara was expecting close to eight inches of rain. They closed schools there and evacuated many people from their homes. Jeffery wasn’t surfing in order to keep any eye on his home also in an evacuation zone. All my north points intel was nil this morning. I started at Strand where it was clean but tiny. My next stop was the harbor. There were chest to head high waves with offshore winds and the brownest water ever. Actually it was double trouble over there. Army Corp was dredging the harbor dumping black water over by New Jetty and the River Mouth to south was spitting out chocolate brown poo water. I wanted nothing to do with that if I could help it. Despite the wind being south and my instincts telling me no, I struck out for Rincon and the points. All were small and terribly trashed from the devil south winds. The only spot that looked somewhat do-able was Hobson’s and I really only try to surf that wave if it’s head to over head, which it was not. I headed back to the only place that has a decent wave, Ventura Harbor. There were a handful of guys at the Knoll. It was pretty closed out. Over it I was about to call it a day when I saw some dude catch at three turn left a bar north of the River Bar. It was head high at least and decent. I had to paddle. Once out there I realized the sets were very inconsistent, hitting all over the place and mostly walled. I shot the one dude out a look of disdain and told me thanks a lot for motivating me to paddle. He replied that was the only good wave he had caught in a half hour. I scrapped around finding a few close out hits. Fell on an end section bash and hit my board. The other dude bailed and I was out there alone. This made spotting where to sit even more difficult, not mention the bar had a current pushing south on one side of the bar and north on the other, plus a shitty rip. Positioning was just about impossible. Somehow this three wave set came through and I managed a tube off the drop followed by two turns after. I should have quit on that one. Owing to classic surfer logic I thought maybe it was going to get better with the tide change and paddled back out. Ironically about ten minutes later a friend of mine paddled out and said the only reason he did was because of the left he saw me catch. I never got another like that one. I did make one more tube on a close out I had to doggy door and caught a few rip-able ones. After the surf I came home and scrubbed myself as hard as I could in the shower. I should have taken a peroxide bath. Time will tell if I contract Hepatitis, grow a third arm or both.

3-13-23 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Little Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr 30 mins
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 72
I had a very frustrating morning of car surfing. I got word that Rincon got pretty fun Sunday afternoon/evening. The buoys were still looking pretty west. My wife had given a pretty favorable report on her way to work as well. The only negative was that the crowd was rather heavy. Bizarro and I headed up with Pitas being our first stop. I don’t know if the tide was too low or what but the swell just wasn’t hitting it the way I would have liked. C.C. called and said he was going to paddle Little Rincon and it was empty. We cruised checking Rincon on the loop. Rincon did look good but the crowd was stupid, easily 100 guys strong. Frustrated we went to Little ‘Con. I guess C.C. Wasn’t the only one looking at the place cause there were about a dozen guys on it. Sets were inconsistent and a bit walled. There is more sand out there then there has been all winter but it’s still not where it needs to be. We watched it for about twenty minutes. Good ones were few and far between with the majority just racing off. I decided to go back to Rincon and just fight the crowd. Of course the Sea Cliff exit was closed so we had to go all the way back to the first exit in Ventura in order to turn around. This only added to my frustration. When we got back to Rincon the crowd had gotten worse. I got the dumb idea to head up to SB for a look. When we got to Santa Claus Lane the wind was more south. We turned around, looked at Rincon for the third time ultimately ending up at Little Rincon. By this time half the crowd had left. I was very frustrated and just paddled. As I initially thought the the waves were very fast. Normally even on the more walled days I could bang out three turns. The best I could muster on any were two big turns or a solid turn to a close out hit. I did manage one draining tube that I have no idea how I came out of. As the tide filled in the swell got more powerful and for a period of about twenty minutes I had the place all to myself. I took some heavy beatings out there as well. When all was said and done I probably stacked a dozen “A”clips making the session worth something. I heard C.C. scored Rincon less crowded in the early afternoon before the after work and school crowd got on it. Once again I was flabbergasted how crowded the surf was for a shitty Monday, late season on an average at best swell. Such are the times.

3-12-23 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 10
Another day of small grade surf was on offer. It was arguably one of the nicer days of the week as there was no rain and the sun shone for at least half the day. Considering the terribly inclimate winter we have had this winter I’d say the day was a keeper. The Ship had the same wave I had been surfing all week with a tad more power behind it. There were a handful of guys out with plenty of space for me to join in on the fun. When I first got out there it was super rip-able. I was sitting just south of Tower 5 on a peak to myself going to town on the chest high lefts coming through. As the tide got higher the waves steadily slowed down. Everyone bailed and I should have followed suit. Instead I beat the dead horse for another twenty five minutes getting limited returns. Finally I got a two turn combo and split. After the surf my wife and I tried that new Mediterranean Place located in the shopping center across from the navy base off Channel Islands harbor blvd called Paradise Grill. It’s where the Boars Breath used to be next to Dollar Tree and West Marine. I’m a fan of such cuisine and this place hit the spot. They have quite the extensive menu at a reasonable price. Definitely worth checking them out if your in the area. After lunch my wife and I cruised over to Ormond beach to do a bit of birding and sea glass hunting both of which were a success.

3-11-23 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 22
Saturday morning may just be the utmost worst time to surf these days. Even with cold, rainy and small conditions, there were easily thirty guys at the Ship. I was dumbfounded cause I have surfed the place on days better with more pleasant weather and there were only a handful of guys out. Surfline was still hyping up a west swell that just wasn’t showing. Wind and wave conditions appeared to look like they were going to cooperate all day. Rather then fight the pack for junk offerings I decided to go home and take my wife out to breakfast and bank on the afternoon. I wanted to give the points a look but due to a small mudslide the 101 south bound between Little Rincon and Solimar and the exit to Sea Cliff were closed. I heard it was taking guys two hours to get back to Ventura from Rincon. Over that I just went back to Strand. Sure enough there was the same exact wave at Ship there was this morning but with not a soul on it. I jumped in and got a few decent ones relevant to the day. The tide was draining out causing an annoying feather on the outside bar into a dumping close out on the inner bar. Every now and then a decent runner would come off the ship. I had the place to myself for about thirty minutes till these six dudes all paddled in straight pack mentality. I recognized them as one of the groups who were out this morning. There is nothing more stoke then when an insta-crowd shows up. I guess they had so much fun groveling this morning that they just had to get back on it this afternoon. At the very least they left me alone and surfed the next peak over. No one even tried to creep or back paddle where I was. Good etiquette is always appreciated in my book. As low tide set in it got super lully. I forced out an hour and called it a day.

3-10-23 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 22
Surfline was calling for a decent fast rising west swell. Meanwhile outside it was raining cats and dogs. I had a look around at both Hueneme and Strand. Both were tiny and after perusing the cams and getting reports back from others I resolved that the swell just wasn’t showing yet. I had a little bit more shaping to do for the week and got that out of the way. Around 3pm I cruised back out for another look. Word was the points were still small. The Ship had some consistent waist to stomach high WSW wind swell coming in. It looked like something I would have been stoked to surf on the east coast. Old habits die hard so I paddled. Plus there were only three guys out. I paddled my Clarks Surfboards Bizzle model, which I shaped as a fuller volume groveler for myself. There were some left hand runners going down the beach. Overall the waves were super weak making it a lot of work. The sun peaked out for a moment and with only three other guys out, all dudes I know it was at the very least a nice time in the water.

3-9-23 AM Session: 1-3+ ft, Leo Carrillo
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 52
Today may have been the smallest day I had seen all season. There was some very minor south swell in the water. CC had seen a few waves at Leo. I was at Strand contemplating paddling waist high shore break when he called. He picked me up and we cruised south. Though tiny there was a waist plus line running down the point at Leo. I opted for my Clark’s Surfboards twin fin SPF Fish to allow myself to best utilize the meager conditions. There was just one other dude out when we paddled and despite the size it was fun. The SPF Fish eats up these types of conditions. The three of us were happily trading off the tiny waves on offer. Our friend Zach paddled on his log and all was well. About thirty minutes in these four dudes paddled out on long boards and soft tops and threw all etiquette out the window by back paddling everyone and sitting right on the rock. What was a fun mellow session became a full on grudge match. I hate when rude surfers come out and completely ruin the good vibes of a surf. That is exactly what happen on my next wave I had to fight one of these guys off and C.C. had to do the same. Over the battle I paddled to the inside for a few waves before working my way back out the back so I could quit on a set wave. At this point the surf went very slow and C.C. and I had been waiting about fifteen minutes for a set in priority position when one of those idiots on a soft top decides to paddle around us and sit behind the rock. Keep in mind it wasn’t large enough to even catch a wave from there. Him padding to that position was completely a bullshit back paddle tactic. Of course a set happen to pop up right when he got out and he immediately paddled for it. I yelled to him to not even think about it, paddled in front of him and went. The wave ended up burgering out forcing me to hop around to the inside where I forced an ugly end section hit. I can’t stand surfers sometimes. We bailed and the rest of my afternoon was spent shaping.

3-8-23 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
Miles Driven: 12
There was a window on the high tide in the morning. I had a look at Hueneme where there was a waist high plus wave. It was cold and miserable sucking all the motivation out of me. I may have been able to find some waves at Strand but considering the high tide I decided to wait and hope for better conditions before dark. Instead I had shaping to do. Around noon the weather cleared up and along with it the onshore winds. I had a look at Strand before dark. There was a waist to chest high junky wave on the north end that I could have surfed. The air was freezing as was the water. The waves on offer just didn’t motivate me to paddle. Sometimes I have to remember that it’s ok to not surf everyday.

3-7-23 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 12
Miles Driven: 10
There was a bit more wind swell in the water then yesterday. I got word that Rincon had a wave and probably should have went there, but Strand had a comparable wave and I wasn’t in the mood to make the drive up north. I paddled the same bar off of Tower 5 I had been surfing over the weekend. Though the tide was a bit high there were some solid kill-able shore break bowls to be had. I took some shitty beatings too. One thing about shore break is you’re always under the knife. I managed some decent three turn rides as the tide was going out. It was nothing phenomenal so I put my hour in and moved on with my life. I had a stack of ding repair to get done anyway.

3-6-23 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 52
I had a breakfast thing to work in Carpinteria keeping me busy till the early afternoon. After the job I reached out to C.C. who had just finished surfing Rincon. I had a look but it was weak and a bit crowded for what was out there. Had there been a handful of guys I would have paddled the Rivermouth but there was quadruple that amount. I headed to Little Con. There was a small wave, but the tide was still too high and I wasn’t in the mood to wait it out, especially with the wind forecasted to come up sooner then later. I gambled on Pitas. Sure enough it had the largest wave of all three points solid head high plus up top with no one out. One guy was surfing the wrap coming into the Faria section, which also looked do-able. I grabbed my Clarks Surfboard’s Hacksaw model and ran out there, not before calling Jeffery who was stuck in a meeting letting him know to sneak out early if he could. I jumped in up top and right away ate shit hard on a big air drop to oblivion. My next two beat me pretty hard on failed attempts to get around the section. Between the higher tide forcing the wave to back off then dump on the sand bar and the stretched nature of the swell it became apparent that what I thought was going to be a score was a bit more tricky. I wasn’t discouraged and quickly made the necessary adjustments mainly moving about twenty five yards down the point. My next couple were alright allotting me three turns each. Then two other guys paddled and decided to sit thirty yards deeper then me. I chuckled to myself thinking how quickly they would realize the wave wasn’t make-able from there. I caught a few more before the wind came up. With the added wind chop on the face the top section became too fast to be worth anything. I floated down to the Faria section and surfed out the remainder of my session there. It was a little smaller and some of the waves were a bit weak, but every so often a solid chest plus runner would come through. As a result of the wind and draining tide what wonderful waves I was hoping for all but ceased to exist. On the walk back I scored some nice pieces of sea glass and a few large sized royal turbines.

3-5-23 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 10
The surf was similar to yesterday only smaller and the tide a bit more fat. I was at a loss on what to do as the wind was most definitely going to come up yet again. Not wanting to get blown out on like yesterday I decided to paddle. No one was out and with the dropping tide I figured it could get better. There was some kill-able shore break over by Tower 5 and that was where I situated myself. I took my groveler out since the waves looked a bit weak, though as it turned out they had more power than I had initially expected. It was still with in the range of my chosen Clark’s Surfboards Bizzle Model. The first forty five minutes I had it basically to myself before the crowd began to populate the break. By then the wind had already began rearing its ugly self. I got one or two more and moved on with my day. At breakfast my wife had expressed interest in taking a ride someplace to experience some snow. Considering how cold and precipitate the last few days had been we figured we didn’t have far to go. The plan was to head northwest using Instagram posts of random people to guide us to the snow. The town of Frazier Park appeared to be our best bet. There were rumors that due to dangerous conditions the road in was closed off to anyone who wasn’t a resident or had business there. We pulled off the I-5 and sure enough there was a line of about a dozen cars being turned away one by one by the local authorities. Thinking quick I had my wife look up a local restaurant in the town. We found a pizza place that was open and when we got to the front of the line I told the officer that I was a chef and had an appointment to check out the spot that afternoon. It was a long shot but it worked. It think it helped that it was just my wife and I and we had no snow gear or related paraphernalia. We cruised about fifteen miles up the road to a spot called Mt. Pinos where there was a bit of parking. We trodding a long in the snow till we were wet and cold. On the way out we stopped at the pizza place “Caveman Caveys” we used as our alias and bought a pie and some beer. After all it wasn’t a total lie if we actually did check the place out. Check my IG for photos from that snow trek.

3-4-23 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 11
Miles Driven: 10
There was still some NW wind swell kicking around. Considering the high tide my wife and I took our time getting out of the house. My first stop was Strand. The Ship had a bowl coming through in front of Tower 5 with only three guys on it that looked fun enough. I knew the wind was on the way and paddled. The first thirty minutes of the surf were decent despite the fact the water was bone chilling cold. I’m talking ice cream headaches every duck dive. My first couple of waves were decent. The wind crept up steadily and within fifteen minutes the surf was completely blown out. Add the quickly draining tide plus an extra twenty guys that showed up and it became a bad time fast. Over it I caught one more and left. From the surf my wife and I grabbed some breakfast. The rest of my afternoon was consumed working a catering gig in Santa Barbara for 450 sorority girls. Get your minds out of the gutter. I was in a tent out in the parking lot the whole event and didn’t even see one lady.

3-3-23 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 52
The wind was down and there was a fair amount of NW wind swell mix in the water. I had a look at Strand with Biz figuring we were going to score. The bars there are atrocious at the moment turning what should have been super fun surf into a scene from Florida. It was burgers on the outside and dumpers on the inside. Over it I decided to head up to the points. Jeffery and my wife both confirmed there was still swell up that way. We did the Rincon loop. Pitas was the best of it. Jeffery was on the way out when we pulled up. The tide was still a little too fat so Biz and I took our time before paddling. The waves were waist to chest and a bit short period. It was very rip-able. Bizarro didn’t want to swim opting for the mid tide rock dance to a decent location to film from. The crowd was a bit busy for the quality, ten guys strong. The bulk of it was a four pack of randoms who showed up in a mini-van and clogged the take off zone with a random chick and three kooks on mid-lengths. All of them had no etiquette whatsoever. After getting back paddled a number of times Jeffrey instigated some words with the chick. The rest of the line-up backed him up. The evil vibes towards the intruders caused them to move down the point leaving five of us up top. I know there are a lot of new “Covid Surfers” out there who didn’t learn any of the rules and now three years later are good enough to venture into new more challenging line ups. That’s great, I’m stoked for you but understand there is a pecking order at most advanced spots and if you don’t figure it out then be assured you’re going to get put in your place. Everyone remaining in the pack was a regular and we all took turns and scored. I was in the zone and put down one of the better performances I have there in awhile. You will have to check my IG and YouTube for clips soon. As the tide drained out the surf just about completely turned off. Jeffery and I borderline had to paddle in it got so bad. I beat the dead horse for a handful of below average rides before throwing in the towel on a forced three turn combo.

3-2-23 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 52
I had a Catering gig in the morning to work in Carp and as usual whenever I have any morning commitment that is for sure to be the best morning conditions of the week. While on the job I got pictures and reports proving just that. I was finished just after twelve and headed for Rincon since I couldn’t get any intel on if the beaches were still decent. The low tide had definitely pulled the swell out of there. Little Rincon had a tempting waist to stomach high wave with no one out. I had a feeling that Pitas might be the call. Since I didn’t listen to my gut earlier in the week and it cost me I decided to roll the dice. I stoked on that call as I was confronted with chest to head high runners at the top of the point with some wrap towards the Faria section. The sand up top at Pitas was some of the worst I had ever seen earlier in the winter, but after these last run of rains it was like a completely different wave. There was a sand bar going straight out from where the houses begin for fifty yards or so. The wave would run down that bar then work it’s way down the rest of the point. One guy was out up top and one dude at the Faria section. Stoked I didn’t hesitate to paddle. I was so excited that I fell flat on my face traversing the rocks on the way out. Once out there I was snagging three to four turn runners non stop. The place was like a conveyor belt of stoke. Then as I was paddling out this bomb came right to me mid way from the top. I swung around and air dropped to the bottom and went right through my board. The thing folded up like a chair at Wrestle Mania. It was bummer cause it was one of my favorite boards I have shaped for myself. That makes three boards I have lost to Pitas over the years. The surf was too good to call it quits on. I ran back to my car and pulled out my good wave board. It was a tad too much board for the wave but serviceable. I got a few up top, but in the time it took me to swap boards the wind had come up out of the WNW. This didn’t trash conditions instead added just enough chop to make the top section a bit more racy then I would have liked. I floated down to the Faria section where it was smaller but still very surf-able. The overall quality had gone down though. It seems every time I interrupt a session with a board change, especially when it’s a broken board, my momentum seems to dilapidate. I got one that ran the entire Faria section and decided to call it a day. I had more shaping to do anyway.

3-1-23 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 52
Talk about another cold miserable day. This winter has certainly been a hard one to keep motivated as nearly every other day the conditions are adverse. I got some work done early then cruised over to Rincon mid-day. Though on the smaller side the wind was offshore and waves clean. It was mostly weak broken up wind swell with an occasional decent set, only a few guys out. The air was barely 50 degrees with an even colder wind chill and water not much warmer. The water quality after all the rain was chocolate brown and uninviting. I was going to walk on it when some kooky old man bumbling around on the beach talked me into it. I got out there and it was way better then it looked. Turns out the guys in the water weren’t selling it at all. On my first drift I got four decent ones. Then walked back up and got three more. I did this for two more drifts. On my last go around fifteen guys all showed up at the same time and sort of crowded it. At that point I had caught more then my fill. My last wave went from mid-cove all the way to the freeway. Cold and tired I decided to call it a day. On the beach I managed to find a sea glass marble and a rare piece of ribbed glass. I think those finds were more exciting then any of the waves I caught. The rest of my afternoon was spent shaping.