Surfing Ruined My Life

May 2023 Surf Sessions

5-31-23 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 17
Miles Driven: 2
I got word that Leo was fun again. Upon consulting the cam the crowd was more hassle than I was interested in dealing with. The wind was up for the twentieth morning in a row here in Ventura. I had a look out front and though pretty closed out and dumpy there were a few corners to be had. The sun was actually out and shining for a change. I called Bizarro told him I was surfing Rockside and that it might be an alright day to try some water. He and C.C. showed up and we made the most of the close out wedges on offer. Sadly it was the worst possible surf for my foot considering all each wave offered was a heavy backwashy end section dumping basically on the beach. My foot injury was taking a beating. I had a decent tail free hit on a right and was going to call it a day when C.C. talked me into paddling back out for one more. Of course I smashed an angry close out on a left and tweak my bad foot on the landing. I guarantee I set myself back easily a week thanks to that stupid last wave. It was a pretty sick hit though. I went home and immediately got the ice out for my bad foot. Unfortunately I had a catering gig in SB in the evening which required me to be on my feet for a number of hours. Maybe I should just amputate my foot now and save myself the trouble. On another note apparently May broke the record for the most reported gloomy days. The record was 12 and this month we had 24!!! No wonder I was so excited to surf in the sun today. It has definitely been a strange weather year.

5-30-23 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Malibu
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 70
Today was my last day off from chef work. The rest of the week I am locked into four events. I wanted to surf something decent and Ventura was already windy. With the high tide I headed south to either County or Leo. County was terrible and Leo stupid crowded for what was coming through. The wind was bad for Zeros. My last option was to drive to Malibu and hope for the best. I had seen a couple of sets on the cam. The wind was already on it out of the WNW when I pulled up, which adds a bit of chop up at 2nd but is manageable. The crowd was very light with only about ten guys spread from 3rd all the way to the Kiddie Bowl. Of course most of the waves coming through were pretty walled out. When you factor in the extra bit of wind chop it was just enough to turn race track rights into dumpy close outs. My foot was in no shape to contend with that. Actually my first three waves I lucked into runners but after that I was hard pressed to put down anything worth while. By the time C.C. showed up the place had just about completely turned off. We floated around for about another hour before I borderline had to paddle in. That’s how it goes sometimes. This south swell was a real let down. The rest of my afternoon was spent shaping. Don’t let this lie of photo fool you that set wave was a close out.

5-29-23 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Zeros
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 11
Miles Driven: 42
I really wanted to surf today, especially after missing two days in a row. The wind was up out of the WNW leaving Hueneme as the only local option and LA was packed on all the cams. Hueneme was still very dumpy with not too much opportunity. C.C. Convinced me to wait till later in the afternoon. The thought being, let all the holiday surfers get it out of their systems early then when they go to their Memorial Day BBQs we swoop in and get some. My wife wanted to go shopping down at the Camarillo outlets and needing to kill time anyway I gladly obliged. After shopping we went to this Italian market called Nona’s Italian Deli and liquor, located on Ventura Blvd in the main town. I had saw an advertisement the establishment ran on Instagram that had peaked my interest. Nona’s did not disappoint. Their menu was great and for $10.25 you get a very large meat stuffed sandwich on premium bread. It was like a taste of being back in New Jersey or NY. If you’re in Camarillo and are looking for excellent sandwiches check out Nona’s. We got back to Hueneme and the sun was actually out. It’s been so gloomy lately that a day of sun really is a thing to be celebrated. Bizarro was smoking some ribs and my wife and I decided to enjoy the weather and hang out in the back yard. By this point I had pretty much shined the idea of surfing today. Right as I was settling into my leisurely afternoon I got a call from C.C. that he was in the ally behind my house and we were going to Leo. I couldn’t argue with that and jumped in. I guess all the kooks we had hoped were going to at their holiday BBQs didn’t get the memo cause the place was packed with easily thirty guys lined up off the rock and another twenty spread out in no man’s land waiting for lord only knows what. Over it we decided to look at Zeros. There was bit of a cross wind and the tide was a little fat but there were some chest to head high plus lefts cruising through with a manageable crowd. We were out there. Zach, a buddy of mine who came and shaped his own board under my tutelage joined us with the board we made. The board in question was a replica 80’s Style twin and man was it a treat to watch him surf that thing. This dude is an average surfer and he was going faster and making more sections then myself and C.C. It always stokes me out to see my boards in action. As for me it was my first day back in the water after hurting my foot on Friday causing me to surf less haphazardly then I’d usually like. The foot hurt every time I had to put recovery pressure on it. Luckily C.C. was over it after an hour and we bailed. It was the perfect amount of surfing for my current state. When I got home Bizzaro had a baller BBQ spread waiting. A perfect way to cap off the holiday weekend. For pictures check out my Instagram. I posted a weekend overview there.

5-28-23 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
Miles Driven: 20
My plan was to just head to Fruits and hope for the best with the dropping tide. There was some light onshore wind but nothing horrible. C.C. called and talked me into checking Ormond Beach with him. We got there and it was almost a go. The nature of the long period south swell that was in the water left the time between sets way too long to be able to hold position. It looked like one of those surfs where I sit out there for 2 hrs and catch five waves. I had my wife with me and we just were not into it. On a last ditch effort I had a look at the Shores. It was was barely breaking and by the point the wind had come up too hard onshore to be good anywhere in Ventura or Oxnard. Over it my wife and I got some lunch before heading over to the Port Hueneme Naval Base to play a round of 9 holes of golf. We basically had the course to ourselves which was nice since we are horrible golfers. Despite triple bogeys on every hole we still had fun. Below is the wave that almost got me to paddle Ormond and in hindsight maybe I should have.

5-27-23 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
Miles Driven: 20
The wind was already stiff onshore at 7am. I had a look at Hueneme, there were a handful of guys over by the lighthouse. Conditions looked pretty dumpy to have that many guys on it. From there I headed to the harbor. There were some junky waist to maybe chest high waves breaking out at the Rivermouth with no one on it, less one dude sitting half way in between the Knoll and Mouth who wasn’t getting anything. New Jetty was cleaner but tiny and had about nine guys on it. If I hadn’t hurt my foot yesterday and wasn’t just getting over a sinus infection I got from surfing out there last weekend I probably would have paddled the Rivermouth. Instead I went home and took my wife to breakfast. My afternoon was spent working a wedding in Camarillo. Below is a photo of the junk coming in at the Knoll.

5-26-23 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Malibu
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 70
There was supposed to be a peaking south swell in the water. Bizarro, CC and I decided to head south in search of a decent wave. All roads led us to Second Peak Malibu. The crowd was rather manageable considering it was a Friday of a holiday weekend. That being said the waves weren’t very good and a decent set that wasn’t stretched was few and far between. Whatever decent sand there was up at 2nd and 3rd from the River Mouth opening is gone and in my opinion the wave is more racy and closed out than ever. Today was not an exception. If I got three combos it was a lot. Every other ride was just a one hitter. The same went for CC as well. I had a confrontation with two random kooks for sitting right on me and proceeding to get in my on a handful of waves. The kicker was when I accidentally collided with one of them because the idiot decided to drop in under me and I landed on him. At that point I lost it on this guy and really gave him a piece of my mind. To which he replied “relax it’s only a wave”. Let me tell you folks something if you’re ever out in the water and an irate surfer is berating you for doing something dumb this is one of the worst phrases to utter back. It will always throw gasoline on the fire. I really lost it at that point and then went out of my way to burn the asshole on every wave he tried to paddle for, not that it mattered cause he was too much of a kook to even understand. Him and his boy pulled up in a Porsche Boxster with roof racks on it and were talking stock quotes in the water. Shouldn’t guys like that stick to tennis or golf or whatever it is dudes like that take part in and leave surfing alone? The whole incident left me so flustered I surfed the back half of my session angry and I twisted my ankle coming down hard on a close out bash. I didn’t get hurt enough to keep me out of the water but just enough to be annoying. The rest of my day was committed to ding repair while limping around my work shop.

5-25-23 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 28
Miles Driven: 12
This morning was actually too small and windy to be worth anything. I drove over to Strand only to be wholly disappointed. Instead I got in the shaping room early and made some real head way. I quit around 2ish and decided to look at Hueneme. Though small rock side had some peaky shore dump wedges worthy of a surf. Solar came over and we went to town on the strange wedging close outs. It was far from anything to write home about but at the very least we got wet and caught a few waves.

5-24-23 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 38
Miles Driven: 10
Today I ended up having a blast on a morning I had completely written off. Solar had hit me up early on that Strand looked terrible and Jeffery’s report from the Harbor was about the same. I decided to get into the shaping bay early and try and find some surf in the afternoon. As I was prepping the room I got a call from Solar that he went for a run from his house to Ship and thought the ship looked worthy. I drove over and it still looked pretty terrible though a tad bigger then the last two days. The wind was pretty stiff on shore and over all it looked pretty weak. Both of us was looking to the other for stoke and motivation, but neither of us had it. Finally I made the call to just paddle. As I always say, bad waves are bad waves, whether we chase it around all day or just paddle the junk in front. Lately I’ve spent way too much of my free time chasing bad waves all over the 805 and beyond. We took our grovel boards out only to quickly find out that with the incoming tide the weak wind swell we thought was on offer had built intensity. I was the first to run back to my car for a board change following a shitty wipe out on a right. A few waves later Solar followed suit. After that we both got on a froth and surfed our brains out for the next hour and half only leaving because we were exhausted and hungry. I went home enjoyed a quick repast before heading back into the shaping room for the rest of the day.

5-23-23 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 10
Another day, another grovel. After yesterday and with similar buoy readings I headed right back to the Ship. Right as I walked up I saw chest high set with one guy out, my buddy Solar. I ran back to my car and suited up. Solar is one of my favorite friends to surf with adding to my stoke. We had the Ship to ourselves and were definitely getting into a serious rip fest. But as the tide got higher a stiff NW wind began to trash it. With in a half hour conditions turned barely surf-able thus we called it a day. I was supposed to head up to Santa Barbara for another day of kitchen prep but luckily fielded a text that I wasn’t needed. Still that didn’t mean I had the day off. Instead my day was committed to ding repair and Shaping. Being so busy in the kitchen the past week or so meant I was going to have to really get down to and dirty in the shaping to stay on top of the Clarks Surfboards work load.

5-22-23 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 10
I had to be in Santa Barbara at 1pm for some kitchen prep work, not that timing was an issue since the waves were god awful. The buoys had a little bit of NW wind swell on them, enough to warrant a look at Strand. Sure enough Ship had a tiny waist plus wave that though small was clean and somewhat rip-able. No one was out which provoked me to paddle The Ship. I grabbed my grovel board and went to town. It was surprisingly way more fun then I had thought. Sometimes small kill-able waves with the right mindset can be fun. The rest of my day was spent slaving away in the kitchen to make a quick buck.

5-21-23 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 20
The swell was really down today with only a little bit of south swell leftovers. I probably should have just surfed Hueneme again but the tide was a tad low for it. Instead I headed to Ventura Harbor. Conditions weren’t too promising there but I did see some white water at the River Mouth. Out of time and options I made the walk. Once down there it was only about waist to chest at best and mostly dumpy peaks. I paddled just south of the mouth and kept surfing with the current till I was out the range of the bar. The water was disgusting and as of press time I believe I picked up yet another sinus infection from the poor water quality. By that point I was over it and bailed. The rest of my day was spent working a charity event in Santa Barbara.

5-20-23 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr 30 mins
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 2
The tide was high early and with a dropping south and NW wind swell combo plus the wind already being onshore I was hoping to find something at home in Hueneme. I also had a catering gig in Santa Barbara so my window was limited. I had a look out front and there were close out wedges on rock side that though nothing special was fun enough for the day. There were two guys out and the wind was side shore. I had a couple of close out bashes, nothing to write home about. At the very least I kept streak alive. As far as the gig went it was an appetizer fundraiser to end sexual assault for 300 people. The sheer was a bit hectic but went down with out any issues.

5-19-23 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 20
As much as I scored in my limited time window yesterday was exactly how hard I got skunked this morning. I headed directly back to Dredge hoping for a repeat of my previous day’s surf. There was a waist plus wave but it was too small and inconsistent for me to paddle. Jeffery had said there were some decent ones at Fruits yesterday so I headed there, suited up and walked in. Upon walking up I was greeted by a solid chest to head high set. It was a little fat with the tide but considering it was already full high I figured it would only get better and paddled. No one was out which was nice but made it hard to know where to sit. Sets were very inconsistent and it was too high for the insider waves. Add to that a stiff current pulling north and I had a terrible time catching anything. High tide is still definitely not the tide to be out there at Fruits. In an attempt to salvage my session I ran north up the beach to the McGrath side of the River Mouth where it was much shallower and way more drifty and backwash riddled. I did three drifts with limited success, at least I got wet. The rest of my day was spent grinding away in SB doing kitchen prep then off to an on-site gig at the Carriage Museum in the evening. It was an exhausting day to say the least. The Picture is the set I walked up to thinking I was going to score. Just goes to show how subjective surf photography can be.

5-18-23 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Dredge
Time in Water: 1 hr 30 mins
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 20
Sometimes when your back is against the wall and your completely out of options you can score in the most unlikely of places. Today I had that luck. I woke up and the south swell was going nuclear. All the buoys were ripe with swell. Hueneme was my first stop but it was too closed out. Though I knew the tide was way too high I drove over to the Shores in the hope of a miracle. As I thought It was way too high, which was a shame cause the swell had all the right aspects to make the place all time. I cruised to Ventura Harbor to look at the River Mouth. There were about forty guys spread out from the Mouth to the Knoll. Waves were hitting all over the place with the biggest sets a bit walled. I watched it for fifteen minutes and didn’t see anyone really catch a decent ride. Most guys were getting left behind, eating it on the drop or not getting into the waves at all. Still I didn’t really have any better options and was going to paddle when I ran into this younger dude leaving who rips way harder then I do and is twenty years younger then me. He was not super stoked, said the current was bad and being in position nearly impossible. I figured if that kid was struggling I had no chance. I was about to just go to Ventura Point when I got a call from Ryan that he was over at Dredge and was going to paddle a decent looking left on the north side of the main jetty there. That wave is one of my favorite lefts in Ventura though fickle as hell. Last time I was there I had a pretty nasty run in with a Pier Point local and it almost went to blows on the beach, had it not been for the life guard on duty I’m pretty sure it would have. You can read about that in the September 10 2022 write up. Ryan said no one was on it and considering the swell angle I figured no one was even thinking about that zone. I pulled up and sure enough there were chest to head plus sets with glassy faces and running down the beach. It was a little inconsistent, somewhat walled and had a bit of backwash to contend with but it looked better than anything else I saw. Out of time I paddled. Right off the bat I got a fun two turn left, then followed that up with a three turn combo on my next one. That basically summed up how my entire session went. You had to be patient as sets were ten minutes apart and pick the right ones. Today I was lucky enough to be that guy and no one else paddled as there were barely enough waves for Ryan and myself. I had a blast. The rest of my work day was a breeze cause as anyone who surfs a good morning session knows it doesn’t matter what happens the rest of day when you score.

5-17-23 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Ventura Point
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 26
The first really solid south swell of the season was beginning to really show itself. Down south was definitely the call. I had committed to some kitchen work up in Santa Barbara at 1pm thus was locked into surfing somewhere in Ventura. With the early morning high tide I decided to have a look at Hueneme. The NW wind was already on it and the place was all closed out. My time was waning fast and left with little options I decided to cut my losses and just head to Ventura point. There were definitely waves on the cam and I knew it was a sure bet. Parking was terrible thanks to construction in the free lot and the Ventura swap happing at the Fair Grounds lot. Lucky I was able to find a spot in town by the pizza place. I suited up and hoofed it to Pipes. There was a stiff crowd but with NW left overs still and the fresh south swell there were plenty of waves for everyone. I rarely surf out there because I don’t particularly love the wave or the crowd and today just reinforced my sentiments. In the course of my short session I almost got run over by a dude on a SUP, got hit by a kook on a long board whom consequently burned me and got burned countless times all to get burgery wind blown rights. Ventura Point is a regular foot playground and a goofies night mare. At the be very least I did get wet. Because the waves weren’t epic I managed to get to work early. It was a good thing I did cause I had a huge work load dumped on me when I got to the kitchen. Unfortunately I’m working in Santa Barbara again tomorrow so looks like I’ll have to sort out another surf in Ventura.

5-16-23 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 62
Bizarro and I had to be back in SB for yet another continuation of the never ending moving gig that technically we have been involved in for over seven years and has ended at least a handful of times, or so we thought. We needed to be in SB at 2:30. There was still plenty of NW wind swell in the water so plan was to head up to the points, surf and then continue on up to SB. Rincon was the call out of all three points despite being a tad crowded for the amount of waves on offer. The Cove was a bit too small and too crowded with long boarders for me to give it a go. Instead I sat up at Indicator as my favorite section up that way, the River Mouth wasn’t really producing anything great. Decent size sets were few and far between, but there were plenty of inbetweeners and south sets to keep me busy. Some random chick decided to get in my face about back paddling her. I scoffed. What happened was I watched her miss a decent wave and I got the next one. Once you paddle for a wave and miss your turn is over. This happened three times in a row and I suppose that was what provoked her attack. She hilariously tried to call me out on not being a local, I have been surfing Rincon longer then she had been alive. When I laughed in her face she threatened to get her boyfriend out after me. I told her to go get him and we’ll have a good laugh at her being a kook. I hate the stupidity of surfers. After an hour I reached out an olive branch and she after pleading her case to some of the other regulars out there realized I wasn’t just some random dude out there. Another fun case of line up drama. I got a bunch of fun waves, though I never was able to get set wave due to my own lack of patience. As far as the moving gig went I’m pretty sure we finally put the finishing touches on the project at least until this client gets back from France in a few years. Hopefully by then Clarks Surfboards will have blown up to where I will only have to shape full time and not have to keep doing all these odd jobs and pick up work. Come on people the boards are sick, and at the low price of $585 what are you waiting for? If you get in now I promise I will always take care of you with pricing as things blow up in the future.

5-15-23 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 52
Jeffery sent me a video of Hammonds showing easily chest high waves. That was enough to send me up to the points. My wife confirmed that Rincon had some solid lines coming through. There was a bit of traffic on the 101 and it took me thirty minutes just to get to the Sea Cliff exit. I got off and had a look at Pitas where there was a wave but the shape was lacking and the crowd a bit more heavy than I would have liked for the quality. I jumped back on the 101 just past what I would later find out was a four car pile up and a fatality that shit down the freeway for hours. I got to Rincon and it was going off. I’m talking borderline as good as Rincon gets. Head high plus, clean with perfect lines through the Cove and a very light crowd. There may have been sixty guys along the entire point. I jumped in and my first wave went from just below the River Mouth all the way through to the Freeway. I got seven of those. My last wave was a screamer from the Rivermouth all the way to Freeway, after eighteen turns I lost count and my legs were shot. I finished the wave on the sand. I looked back up the point and all I could see was perfect lines as far as I could see. My legs were done. I was tired and hungry and decided to quite while I was ahead. Sure I could have forced out another hour but I had surfed well the entire session and decided to end on a high note. I definitely caught some of the best I have surfed for all of 2023 thus far. What a day. I got home cranked out a little ding repair, made dinner for my wife all in the euphoria of the epic surf session I had just scored. What an amazing day. The picture doesn’t do the session justice as I was so stoked I didn’t wait for a good set to come through.

5-14-23 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Oxnard Shores
Time in Water: 1 hrs
Waves Surfed: 10
Miles Driven: 20
I keep having this conversation about trusting my instincts and today was another case in point. There was fresh NW swell creeping up on the buoys all day. Unfortunately the wind had also trended south adding a bit of unwanted bump and crumble on all the points. I had a inkling to check Rincon. My wife was with me and didn’t want to go all the way up there. Instead I saw a few decent peaks at the Shores on the south end of the beach and paddled. If not for all the wind chop, annoying rips and hard north drift it would have been a blast. Instead it was a constant paddle to attempt to be in position. Sets were very inconsistent too making holding position that much more difficult. I did catch a couple of decent ones but overall the amount of work out weighed my level of enjoyment and after an hour I gave up the fight. At around 4pm later that evening I was hanging around my house getting some yard work done and I had this feeling that some place was decent and empty. I would later find out that both Rincon and Malibu turned on for the late afternoon/evening sessions. The only thing that kept me from being there was my own personal laziness.

5-13-23 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 16
Fruits was the last place I saw myself surfing this morning. There was a bit of left over south swell in the water with a dropping tide and somewhat clean conditions. I got a call from Pat just as I was loading my car that Fruits looked fun. He had already checked everything else as well. I showed up and it definitely looked fun, chest to head high clean peaks up and down the beach. Stoked we suited up and were on it. Once out there the waves were not as good as they looked. Positioning was difficult and the angle at which the waves were traveling made them hard to catch. That being said it was still rip-able as fuck. I even managed a few little cover ups. I surfed till the wind came up and tide got too low and even then the waves were still very surf-able. My afternoon was spent working charity event in Santa Barbara.

5-12-23 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Point Dume
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 10
Miles Driven: 62
Some days bad surf decisions are made because I don’t trust my instincts. Today was definitely one of those days. Also the extreme crowds of today’s surfing society makes picking the right spot all the more difficult because when the right spot has more people then possible waves to be caught the fun factor really drops exponentially thus deterring my will to paddle. After yesterday I wasn’t super pumped on going back to Malibu for the aforementioned reason. The wind was already up in Ventura leaving LA as my only viable option. I got word from C.C. that he was paddling Zeros though not pumped on it. I got there and the waves were solid but the angle they were coming in was a bit weird and the waves appeared to be very mushy. Still it looked fun enough. I was just about to suit up when a handful of surfers I hate surfing with at Strand showed up and were frothing. That was enough to send me on my way. Leo had a do-able drained out right coming through in the middle of the point that although wasn’t great was empty. I parked and began turning my suit right side out. In that time another ten guys showed up and also decided to paddle. The only reason I was planning on paddling at all was because no one was out. On a whim I drove over to Point Dume. I saw a few surfers walking back and was told it was pretty fun. Now the word fun in surfing is very relative. I decided to just park and make the walk. As soon as I got down to the beach level my first instinct was to walk on it. The tide was too low for the Bay to be any good and the swell was not quite consistent or large enough for the point to be really good. Still, I did see a few waves go through at the point not ridden and suited up. I jumped in and as soon as I did another fifteen guys showed up out of no where and paddled too, completely clogging the extremely tight lineup. Over it, I paddled to the bay and decided to try and make the most of what was on offer there. For the most part it was a head high close out dumping on shallow to dry reef and very inconsistent. The water was freezing and I wasn’t having fun. After an hour of not having fun I finally threw in the towel. What a waste of a surf. I had a look at both Zeros and Leo on the way home but couldn’t get motivated for another paddle. I went home and at the very least was productive and got some ding repair work done. Biz and I had a look around before dark in attempt to do a sunset shoot, but nothing in ventura was really happening. Some surf days just weren’t meant to be I guess. Or maybe I just should have went to Malibu.

5-11-23 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Malibu
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 70
The south swell was solid and Malibu was the call. After days of sub par waves I just really wanted to rip a good down the line point. The sun was shining, a rarity these days. Not wanting to squander good light I woke up Biz and we headed to the ‘bu. On the way there we passed plenty of waves but I had Second Peak on my mind. The crowd was definitely out in full force and the sets were a tad bit on the inconsistent side. I found a little pocket in between Third and Second. It may not have been the longest section on the point though I managed three decent turns per wave. C.C. was out and Ryan showed up later. Unfortunately the real bombs were super walled and as the day progressed the crowd got heavier and more gnarly. My rule out there is if I am burned on more waves then I’m catching it’s time to leave. At around noon that is exactly what began to happen. I literally got burned on four straight waves, blatantly. After that I got a decent four turn wave and called it a day. Welcome to summertime. It wasn’t a score but I’ll take it.

5-10-23 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 2
I had to work a lunch in Santa Barbara for Direct Relief encompassing my morning surf. I was hoping to find something worthy to surf after but with just a little NW in the water, a predominant south west coupled with high tide and onshore winds my prospects were slim. Everything from Santa Barbara to Hueneme looked terrible. Over it I came home and got some work done. I considered the drive to Leo but couldn’t get motivated. Ultimately I decided to have a look at Hueneme the last hour of light. There was plenty of south swell and some NW wind swell getting in. I made the call to run down to the Light House and see what I could get. There was a clean chunky shore breaky bowl to be had with lefts and rights. The waves were far from anything worthy but I made the most of them. In classic Hueneme fashion the water was freezing and current strong. I did manage a handful of fun ones that beat not surfing. Like I said in an earlier post I need to start forcing myself to surf junky waves or I’m just going to end up being another fat lazy surfer who only surfs when it’s decent. I need to keep up my core score.

5-9-23 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 52
I had an early afternoon catering gig in Santa Barbara. Like yesterday nothing special was really happening anywhere in my sphere of surfing influence. The Ship was probably the best wave around and it was still windy, weak and barely stomach high. Jeffery paddled but I couldn’t get sold on it and went home to get some house chores done. I knew my gig was to end with enough time for me to maybe sneak a sunset surf in thus I decided to bring my surf stuff, though I wasn’t expecting anything. On the way home as I was passing Rincon I did the look back and saw someone on what appeared to be a head high runner in the Cove. Stoked I looked at Little Rincon where there was definitely a chest high messy wave but the tide was already too fat. I turned around at Sea Cliff and headed back up to ‘Con. Unfortunately on a second look it was smaller then I had thought. Turned out I saw a tiny grom on the wave that sent me back. That being said I did see some chest high waves from the River Mouth down. It was disorganized wind swell but with only five guys out on the entire point I couldn’t pass it up. I grabbed my Clarks Surfboards Bizzle Model, which I set up as my step down grovel shortboard and started up at the River Mouth. On these stormy NW wind swell days the best Strategy is to paddle out at the Mouth and catch as many waves as you can before hitting the freeway. If you attempt to fight the drift out there you’ll just burn your arms out. I got smoked on my first two which both happened to be head high bombs. After that I made the necessary adjustments and got a few decent runners all the way to the freeway. On the walk back up top I ran into my wife who decided to come down and check me out on her way home from work. It was a pleasant surprise to say the least. My Second drift I got a solid one up top but then had a difficult time finding any waves that I was able to connect for more then two or three turns. I was going to quit after that drift when I noticed there was no one left out surfing anywhere on the point. Surfing Rincon all by ones self is basically unheard of, especially these days. I have actually had the pleasure a number of times over the years. The water was warm and the wind has actually went more north glassing things off. With that in mind I ran back up top for one last drift. I was noticeably more tired and the incoming tide was definitely mushing out the waves more and finding long ones was nearly impossible. I got a fun string of waves all the way in to the freeway and by that time it was just about too dark to see. The surf wasn’t all time but I’d say it was a micro score of sorts. I’ll take it.

5-8-23 No Sirfing: 2-3+ ft
Miles Driven: 16
Biz and I had more moving work to do in Santa Barbara at 11am. I got up early and had a look at Hueneme, Strand and Shores none of them were worth a paddle. I got word that the Harbor was alright but packed. I was out of time anyway. Today was supposed to be our last day on this job, which was supposed to be finished two weeks ago. I can bet good money that I’ll get a text next week if I’ve can work again for the same client. Money is money. We finished around 3pm and headed back down south. On the way we had a look at Rincon and little Rincon, both were too high and too small and it was too windy for anything from Pitas south. We even looked at New Jetty where it was just wind blown and junky. I considered driving south to Leo for a grovel session, but the crowd out weighed the tiny morsels on offer. I decided to take the day off from surfing. It’s always hard for me to not surf when there are surf-able waves, but in my older age I have learned that some days it’s not worth effort if the fun to effort ratio don’t add up. Here’s a photo of weak Strand

5-7-23 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Point Mugu
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 14
There was enough south swell on the buoys coupled with a slow rising morning tide to lead Dave and I to believe that the base might be fun. Anyone who knows anything about the base understands that though it’s a swell magnet that doesn’t mean it’s actually good every swell. There are lots of factors that need to come into play for the place to really be fun. Due to the early morning low tide we opted for an 8am meet, much earlier then my usual 9 am slow roll I do most mornings. We pulled up to the break wall and there weren’t too many cars parked, never a good sign on a Sunday. There were waves, chest to head but they were mostly stretched and there was a bit south wind on it, a bad combination. Only two guys were out and we really didn’t think anyplace else was going to be any better and paddled. We started out on the way north end of the beach where it was a bit larger. I always see peaks there, paddle it and then never get a good one and paddle back to the main peak. This morning was no exception although I did manage one alright barrel there. Once on the main peak I got lucky and found a handful of good ones before the tide and south wind completely killed it. Though it wasn’t anywhere near decent base we had the place to ourselves and everyone got fun waves. Later that afternoon I had to work a charity event up in Santa Barbara that was a bit more hectic then I’m used to. I think the contractor I usually work for has been cutting costs by under staffing events causing my job to be much more difficult than I would like. This type of corner cutting due to inflation is a common issue these days. As usual we got through it and the client no worse for the wiser.

5-6-23 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 20
I actually had high hopes for today which led to my ultimate letdown with how poor conditions were. I drove around everywhere in Ventura, while C.C. checked everything up to Rincon. I had a wedding in Santa Barbara to work at 2pm and by this point I was completely out of time. I got a call from Dave that he was at Hueneme and contemplating a paddle. We ended up finding a bar on the south side of the pier just before the river mouth. The first fifteen minutes the place was cooking with decent left and right corners. There was a little backwash, which is always indicative of Hueneme but it was manageable. Then I don’t know if the tide got too high for the bar or the slight switch in wind played a factor but it completely turned off. Another classic Hueneme attribute, short windows. Dave went in and decided to walk to the pier to see if it was any better. I decided to paddle there, why not get some exercise considering the surf was now junk. Once over at the pier it wasn’t any better. If anything it was more closed out and there were two annoying hipster guys on soft tops who were pissing me off for no other reason then the fact that surfers like them exist. I caught a few more and bailed. Upon returning home in an even more limited time window I was unpleasantly surprised with a fraction of my wife’s inexplicably large family hanging out in my backyard. Normally I don’t really care but I only had thirty minutes to wash my suit, eat something, change and get out the door. I did the standard courtesy of small talk and pleasantries which took away the time I had for eating thus I got to the job hungry and not in the mindset I would have liked. The gig was a wedding for 180 heads in a space that barely holds 150 comfortably. When I got there nothing was set up and everyone working the venue were noticeably flustered. There is nothing worse then starting a job in the weeds. That set the tone for my entire night. I was neck deep in the weeds till I walked out the door at 10pm. That is how it goes for an event chef you never know what you’re walking into. I like that level of constant chaos, keeps things interesting.

5-5-23 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, County Line
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 36
I was faced with the option of heading up north to chase the remnants of the NW swell or chase the SW swell to LA. CC hit me up that there were head high sets at Leo and it looked decent. I pulled the trigger and headed south. Leo was packed and inconsistent by the time I got there and completely unappealing to me. I had a look at Zeros and though there was swell getting in the tide was just too high for it to be even surf-able. County Line looked alright and empty when I passed it thus I headed back there. When I pulled up I saw a solid head high plus three wave set stand up and unload on the point. There were only three guys out and all of them missed it. Stoked I suited up. I wasn’t the only one that got motivated by that set as four other guys decided to paddle as well. My first wave was off a solid set that I banged out five good turns on. That basically set the tone for the first thirty minutes of the surf. Then it got more crowded and very lully. There were still some really good sets but they were few and far between and hitting all over the place making tracking down a decent one difficult. I sat on the inside and began scrapping for whatever I could get. I wouldn’t say it was a score, County rarely is but it was definitely a fun surf. I headed home to grab a quick lunch with my wife who was working at home for the day. After that I was off to Santa Barbara to work a Cinco de Mayo party.

5-4-23 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 22
I got word early that the points were marginal and the Harbor was junky with the exception of New Jetty which was packed. I had a look at Hueneme. It was surf-able but nothing spectacular. I drove over to Strand. It was chest high and glassy. There were some peaks off the ship albeit a little fat with the tide. I decided to go home and get some office work done and have a look on the back end of the tide. Around Noon I gave the place another look. There was some south wind on it and the waves appeared a bit softer then I had hoped. Actually I think it was better when I looked earlier. Out of time I decided to paddle. I had to attend the Hope Awards up in Santa Barbara in the evening. Just what I wanted to do, drive up to Santa Barbara unnecessarily to attend a bull shit charity event with my wife. I actually had a better surf then I had expected That being said the waves still sucked. As far as the Hope Awards went it was exactly the bad time I had expected.

5-3-23 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 52
I finally had a day off from scheduled work. That being said I still had a cue full of ding repair that needed my attention. There was still plenty of NW swell in the water and after quick look at Harbor which was all closed out I decided to roll the dice and head up to Rincon. When I gave it a check it was solid chest with decent lines and a light crowd. Stoked I headed back up to the lot to change. As soon as I turned my suit right side out I felt a strong gust of SW wind. Hoping I was wrong I ran back down to have another look. Sure enough the south wind came up completely trashing the place. I must say 2023 has been the year of the insipid south winds. I think I had more potential epic sessions ruined by south wind then ever before. Bummed I jumped back in my car and headed back to the Harbor. New Jetty looked alright but was packed. On a last ditch effort I headed to Strand. The Ship had a chest plus wave that looked completely rip-able. I paddled and did manage a few decent lefts and rights. As the tide dropped the surf got much softer and the south wind picked up harder and tad more westerly. I got a couple more then headed home to get through my ding repair load.

5-2-23 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Little Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 52
Bizarro and I had an early start in Santa Barbara with this moving gig we picked up that we thought was supposed to be over last week yet every day we work something else happens that puts the whole process behind. It looks like we are most likely going to have more of the same job next week as well. I’m definitely over it but I do like and need the money. Today we were moving boxes, tools and all sorts of other random junk from a shed up about 100 steps from where we were able to park the truck below. Then all the stuff had to be organized into donate, dump or save piles after which the good stuff had to be loaded into a storage space across town. We finished around 3pm and headed south to find some surf. The first stop was Rincon. There were waves, maybe chest high in the Cove with bigger waves up top. The long board to short board ration was way too great in favor of the log for me to surf the Cove. Up top the lines weren’t great. We decided to roll the dice and look at Little Rincon. Upon pulling up I was greeted by a solid three wave head high set. The surf was a little stretched. The tide was on the rise which would only help slow the face down a bit. There were only a few guys out and it was fairly clean. Bizarro and I always get our best results at Little ‘Con making the decision to paddle that much easier. Unfortunately a pick up truck full of six young rippers from ages 16-20 also got stoked and paddled. The swell was very consistent and coupled with the tide push there were plenty of waves for everyone. For a change everyone out there followed the proper line up etiquette allowing for all of us to get a turn at the peak. I was in the zone combining turns and airs. I’d say it was the best I have surfed out at Little Rincon all year. Even the youngsters were stoked on my performance. It felt good not to kook it. I have come to realize that my forte is steep, fast right hand point breaks. I surfed till my legs began to seize up from surfing and all the stair climbing. That was fine cause the tide was getting too high anyhow. Talk about two good days in a row.

5-1-23 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 11
Miles Driven: 52
Just when I had just about given up on the NPAC to focus on south swells the ocean went and threw me a complete curve ball. I got word early that all the points had waves. Since the wind was junk in Ventura plus the fact that I had work in Santa Barbara in the afternoon I decided to just take my stuff and head on up. Coming up to Rincon on the 101 all I could see were solid lines rolling down the point. I’m talking winter time good, chest to head plus and not too heavy of a crowd. Stoked I frantically tore on my wetsuit still in utter disbelief of how good the waves actually were. It wasn’t till I caught my first wave that I truly understood how good the surf was. I can’t remember the last time I got so many decent waves in the Cove. Each ride I caught ran all the way to Freeway. It didn’t take long for the crowd to get on it. I watched Britt Merrick continually burn people on the best waves of each set. I guess that is how he thanks his customers for spending $850 bucks for a Channel Islands Surfboard, by smoking them on the wave of the day. To his Credit Dane was out ripping and not burning a soul. Actually, I don’t think I have ever seen Dane burn a single person in all the years we have crossed paths surfing. I know he definitely wanted to burn my kooky ass on more then one occasion but didn’t. My hat is off to Dane as usual. I got burned on three waves in a row, before accidentally burning another guy. I was going to pull out but saw how long the section was in front of me and realized even if I did pull out he wasn’t going to make it anyway and kept on going. Such is the way of things in a crowded line up. I got a few more and called it a day. If I didn’t have to work in the afternoon I think I would have surfed three hours. But, I’ll take what I can get. Serious point surf in May and a complete sneaker swell? Thank you surf gods for shining down on me for a change. After the surf Bizarro and I had a bit of moving work to do in Santa Barbara. We looked at the points again on the way home but there was wind on it, coupled with the high tide and our level of exhaustion we decided to quit while we were ahead. Tomorrow is another day.