Surfing Ruined My Life

November 2022 Surf Sessions

11-30-22 AM Session: 2-3+ft, Oxnard Shores
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 14
I woke this morning and was barely able to walk due to my injured foot. I don’t think I broke it but I definitely did some real damage yesterday. Time will tell. The swell was down from yesterday and wind offshore. I wanted to go for a surf to see where things were at with my foot. There have been plenty of injuries where I have had pain and difficulty walking yet no problem surfing on them. I had a look at Strand. The surf was clean with plenty of shape but only around knee high. Jeffery was at the Harbor and not impressed. I cruised over to Shores where it was pushing chest high clean with nice corduroy lines. With the 2.5 foot low tide it was low enough to allow the bars to break but not too low for them to close out. I was stoked to surf it. Jeffery and CC joined me. As soon as I went to stand up on my first wave I could feel that my back foot was unhappy. I was able to surf through the pain and bang out a few turns. Unfortunately the heal to toe pressure motion that is so important to quality surfing was the most painful and I put the majority of my pressure on my back foot when I surf. I surfed the session very conservative for me. It was a bummer cause I was having one of those lucky sessions where every good wave managed to come right to me. The incoming tide coupled with the lack of swell killed it fast, not that it mattered my foot was spent after an hour anyway. I had shaping to do, but considering my foot I decided to stay off it for the day and see how it feels tomorrow. There was nothing really pressing to get done in the bay anyway. Also if you haven’t checked it out the New YouTube edit of myself and other Clarks guys is up on the channel check it out https://youtu.be/TDtTo0b-C_8

11-29-22 AM Session: 3-5+ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2hrs
Waves Surfed: 27
Miles Driven: 10
The swell had arrived in the form of short period steep wind swell. The points were small and beaches all over the place albeit clean. I found myself at the Ship staring at less then ideal conditions with about two dozen guys on it. The only redeeming quality was that the wind was offshore and set waves over head. There were more guys leaving then coming and with few other options I paddled right off the Ship. Shockingly I ate shit on a late drop on my first wave. I almost never fall on a drop. The backwash was rather rough and I’m sure that factored into the fall. On my next wave, a bomb off the Ship I made the necessary adjustments and banged out two decent turns. This would ultimately be my best ride of the day. As the tide continued to rise it only got more backwashy and less consistent. The crowd also dropped to just six of us. Hoping the higher tide might focus on the inside I hung with the session even though my instincts told me to bail. Towards the end of my surf I went up for a tail free end section hit with the backwash. As I came down I landed awkwardly with the backwash and tweaked my foot. It wasn’t bothering me enough to quit thus I surfed another half hour to limited returns mostly due to a serious case of last wave syndrome. I headed home and had some ding repair and shaping to do thinking nothing about my foot injury. Later in the night I was in a bit of pain. It’s always this junky surfs that lead to my demise injury wise.

11-28-22 AM Session: 2-3+ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1hr 15min
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 2
I don’t if anyone else is in the same boat but by this posting I have been eating nothing but Thanksgiving leftovers for days. On Friday it was leftovers for dinner. On Saturday I repurposed some rice and vegetables and did an Asian style stir fry. Sunday it was a return to the turkey and stuffing leftovers and then again for lunch today. Im over it, but at the same time I hate to waste food. As for the waves there isn’t all that much to tell. The swell was down with minimal SW/NW combo and high tide. I saw a few rights off the pier and paddled. It was very slow out there and a group of fishermen had multiple lines on the inside right where I could have scraped the smaller rights and lefts going back at the pier. Since they were there first good surfer/fisherman etiquette gives them the right of way. I got a few decent rights then paddled to the north side of the pier where the right going back towards the pier looked more consistent. It wasn’t and the backwash was annoying. I paddled back to the south side and managed to get my best waves at that time. My afternoon was spent working on the rebuild of the Clarks Surfboard website including building a makeshift photo studio in my garage with Bizarro to shoot some board photos and a Zoom meeting with Gabe about the design. There was some new NW that was supposed to fill in. Biz and I cruised to Strand to try and snag a sunset shoot. There definitely was more swell but the wind was on it and neither one of us were frothy so we bailed to see what tomorrow would bring.

11-27-22 AM Session: 3-4+ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 12
The tide was high and the swell on the way down. I had a look at Hueneme and Strand, while Pat checked Shores and Hollywood. Ultimately the consensus was to surf the south end of Hueneme where there were clean chest to head high peaks up and down the beach with no real focus or direction whatsoever. We saw a few bombs that were enticing. As soon as we walked up to the peak we wanted to surf the wind went SW. At that point we were committed. CC paddled a peak just south of us with his filmer and I had my wife on the beach. It was definitely a frustrating struggle out there. Towards the end of our surf the wind laid down glassing things off a bit, not that it made the waves any better. Actually I think I was having more fun in the wind cause at the very least I could boost airs on the broken up sections. We made the most of it. Overall it was a disappointing end to a very disappointing holiday weekend of surf despite the fact that there were solid waves. The majority of my windows didn’t coincide with the best sessions or the crowd was so gnarly it wasn’t fun. I feel like everyone I know scored at least one decent surf. For me it was Thanksgiving Day, which if you want to read about just scroll down a couple of days. My afternoon was spent shopping for Christmas decorations for the outside of our house cause that’s what you do when you own a home; you decorate it every season. What happened to me? I used to be wild. I guess I just got old.

11-26-22 AM Session: 3-4+ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 11
Miles Driven: 48
I must have been in a masochistic mood this morning to decide to go surf Rincon. Once again CC was claiming the south side of Hueneme and once again I just didn’t see whatever he was seeing. Instead Biz and I decided to take our chances at Rincon. My thought process being that with the six and a half foot high tide falling smack in the middle of the morning I might be able find a window in between the guys who did the dawn patrol and the guys waiting for the tide to drop. On another note I really like surfing the indicator and River Mouth sections on extreme high tides. Something about surfing directly over the rocks adds this extra X-factor. The crowd was light for such a crowd happy weekend, but extremely heavy for the conditions and lack of sets, easily a hundred strong. Still I saw some holes in the crowd where I knew I could catch a few waves. My first few rides I caught at the top of River Mouth and used the backwash and the high tide flat spot that separate that section from Indicator to pick waves off guys who I knew weren’t going to be able to connect the wave through. As the tide began to get a little lower everyone began connecting where I was once scoring. To compensate I floated down to the lower River Mouth section, the fastest and hardest section at Rincon. This is where I always sit to get waves when it’s crowded. The wave isn’t as long or as perfect, but five to eight turn rides can still be achieved if the surfer is fast and crafty. At the very least it’s good for one to three turns or an air. The wind ended up staying down making the afternoon fun everywhere not that I could surf. Instead I was stuck hosting my sister in law’s one year old son’s birthday party at my house. Don’t ask how that happened. All I can say is sometimes I have to give a little or in this case a lot. That’s married life. I hate children, especially their birthdays and strange people in my home, but I love my wife. One more day to go and we will be back normalcy.

11-25-22 PM Session: 2-3+ft, Little Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 79
I’m already over these damn morning king tides and the winter has just begun. Pat was out scouting early and the consensus was that the tide was just too high everywhere. I met CC over at the south end of Hueneme where he was frothing over a bunch of drifty odd ball peaks up and down the beach. The only redeeming quality it had to me was the fact that it was over head and clean. I bailed and took my wife to breakfast at Mamma Olsens in Hollywood Beach. It’s her favorite part of the day after all. Post breakfast since we were already in Hollywood I decided to just give the place a quick check. The surf was looking solid, head high plus and clean with fun looking peaks up and down the beach and a light crowd. I ran home to get my gear. In that time maybe only about twenty minutes door to door the wind came up out of the NW trashing the beaches. I had a quick look at Strand. There were some really solid sets coming into the North End with a very solid crowd, not that the crowd factor is an issue at that size. I really hate the place, especially when it’s big. My wife was over being a cool surf wife so I cruised home to swap her out with Bizarro. He and I headed up north to check Rincon and those points. Traffic was shit on the 101 causing us to lose at least a half hour. Rincon was chest to head and alright. The crowd was an easy 250 plus and there were no spaces in either lot or on the street. I saw guys walking from way up Bates rd. Over that we had a look at Little Con. It was chest high, very drained with the negative low tide and very fast. Add a twenty person crowd with only one real take off spot and inconsistent sets and I was ready to pass. Pitas was stupid packed with over seventy five guys. The top was completely closed out and the Faria section junky. I would have surfed the left at Hobson’s if I could have found a parking space but on this stupid holiday weekend that wasn’t going to be possible. With only an hour and a half of light left the call was just to go back to Little Rincon and hope the crowd would die as the darkness set in. This plan semi worked. It also helped that the wave was so critical, steep and fast that very few people except myself were able to make it giving me a sound advantage. For below average Little Rincon I had a rather good time and a few decent micro tubes. My best barrel I was so deep in some dude decided to burn me and I came out and nearly ran him off the wave. It was a decent sunset and I was rather stoked despite the annoying holiday crowds. I wouldn’t say it was a score, but at the very least I ended up having way more fun then I thought.

11-24-22 PM Session: 2-4+ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 14
Turkey day graced us with 30 mph Santa Anna winds and a sw/nw swell combo. The morning was plagued with an almost 7’ high tide. Rather then run around like a chicken without a head I decided to relax and focus on the afternoon. With how hard the wind was blowing I believed the forecasted wind to stay offshore all day. I took my wife to breakfast then around noon got on my horse went for a look about. My first stop was Shores. I heard it was the place to be yesterday. The swell just wasn’t focusing on the bars right so I bailed. From what I could tell there was plenty of NW swell in the water thus I cruised to Strand. The Ship was flat but the bowl had some solid chest plus lines coming in with a very light crowd. I paddled and though a little stretched and inconsistent there were some solid pits to be had. After my first thirty minutes everyone got out leaving me out the back packing gnarly left tube after left tube. Minus the thirty mile per hour winds blasting the crap out of my head I’d say it was a rather fun session. I bailed around three and headed home to help Bizarro finish Thanksgiving dinner. We had a party of six including myself, him, my wife and her family. Of course Biz and I made enough food for easily twelve people along with a pumpkin pie and cheesecake for dessert, both of which by the way you can get the recipes for in the recipe section of this blog. I’d say it was perfectly splendid Thanksgiving Day.

11-23-22 PM Session: 3-4+ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 12
Bizarro really wanted to do a sunset surf shoot. Since the wind was still down and there was plenty of swell we headed to the Ship where there was a chest plus wave with two guys on it. We jumped in and got to work. There were lots of close outs and the good ones few and far between. The waves were also really dumpy. I put in a valiant effort though mostly took a lot of shitty beatings in ankle deep water. Hopefully we got something. Look for the results on my Instagram soon.

11-23-22 AM Session: 3-4+ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 20
Another morning that sent me on a goose chase for waves. There was still a fair amount of south swell in the water coupled with a new longer period WNW swell and a fresh hit of steeper NW wind swell. I started in Hueneme but felt it was a bit walled though plenty of size. From there I had a look at Strand which had potential but was too high. Ryan was at the Hotel and was going to paddle. I drove over to give it a look. There was definitely lots of potential there, but the waves were still pretty buried in the tide. Scared the wind might trash it like yesterday I headed back to Hueneme. CC was claiming the south end of the beach past the last life guard tower. It was macking but all over the place and a tad fast in my opinion. Pat was checking it from the pier and we decided to just go give the Rockside a paddle. It was surprisingly more fun then it looked with some wedgy little right handers coming off the bar. After the surf I had a bunch of random junk to handle.

11-22-22 AM Session: 3-5+ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 28
There was mostly just south in the water. Initially I wanted to go surf somewhere in LA, but after perusing the cams I decided the holiday crowds were a just a little bit too intense for me. Ryan was at Fruits and gave it a favorable report. I headed there and sure enough there were decent south peaks up and down the beach. The jet ski morons were back at it again but this time they had the decency to take it way down the beach towards the power plant where no one surfs anyway. There was a bit of onshore wind similar to yesterday. I heard the wind never really got too bad yesterday and Surfline was calling for just light onshores all day. With that in mind I paddled. Bizarro showed up as well. Of course the wind just kept getting harder by the minute till the line up was absolute trash. I fought the good fight till there was nothing left in me. Despite the shit conditions I think we got a few clips. The rest of my day was spent getting some chores done around the house. Biz and I went back on the hunt for a sunset session but the surf was still pretty torn up thus we decided to bag it.

11-21-22 AM Session: 2-3+ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 2 hrs 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 30
Miles Driven: 20
There was a late season south swell filling in along with some WNW swell and a minor NW wind swell. Basically there was something for everyone. I had a look out front first and was not impressed with the sand situation. I drove over to Shores where there was a wave but the tide was a bit too high and swell on the smaller side. Ryan wanted to surf and was heading to Fruit Stands and I decided to meet him. The lot was pretty full leading us to believe it must be fun. We walked up and the place was packed. First off there was some idiot with a jet ski whipping a group of about ten kids or so into waves. Then there was about another dozen guys spread out on a few of the peaks to the north. I got pissed about the whole thing. We go to Fruits to get away from bull shit like these morons on their ski. There were definitely some solid waves coming in. Ryan suited up and was out there. Still upset about the crowd I decided to wait for CC to give me a report from Strand, which ended up being less then enthusiastic. I started turning my suit right side in when all of a sudden I felt a bit of onshore wind on my face. That was enough to send me packing. I headed to Strand where I knew at the very least I could surf the North End if the wind got terrible. No matter what the conditions I always check the Ship first. It is in my top favorite places to surf. Luckily conditions were still glassy and the lineup was empty. I saw a three wave chest high wave come in and peel perfectly both left and right at the shit pipe. That stoked me out enough to paddle. Unlike yesterday today I was in the zone and had a magical session. Somehow I was on every good wave, scored some tubes and even landed a few sick airs. I was having so much fun I ended up surfing over two hours. After the surf Bizarro and I went out to do our Thanksgiving shopping to beat the last minute hysteria that ensues the closer one gets to the actual Turkey Day.

11-20-22 AM Session: 2-4+ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 10
The Santa Anna winds were still blowing this morning except at much more palatable rate. Biz and I decided to head over to Strand and see about getting some footage. The tide was still a bit high but there were some chest plus clean sets coming in up and down the beach on the south end. The crowd was light but I knew it wouldn’t be long before the place packed out. Some days your just completely out of sync and for me today was that day. I kept missing the set waves, catching close outs, was out of position or there was someone deeper than me or in my way. As predicted with in thirty minutes of being out there the line up packed out with easily fifty guys making it a shit fight to get waves. I was very frustrated to say to least. I did manage to get a few clips but it was a struggle. My wife and I headed up to Goleta Beach in the afternoon to attend the Catering Connection employee party. They did a luau style theme party down to even hiring traditional Polynesian dancers for entertainment. There was a raffle where I won an Advent Calendar made up of wine bottles. My wife and I will be having a very Merry Christmas count down this year. Really, I was super impressed that they put on such a party for their employees. I have worked for just about every caterer in the area and no one has ever done something like this. It warms my heart to know the owner cares that much for her staff.

11-19-22 AM Session: 3-4+ft, Fruit Strands
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 16
It’s definitely been a few years since the Santa Anna winds have been in full force and I think this year is going to be one of them. The wind was back with a vengeance this morning blowing so hard it was rattling my house when I woke up. Unfortunately the swell was on the way down with only some WNW leftovers and some minor south. My wife and I decided to have a look around. Strand was too high and small, as was Shores. Out of time I headed to Fruit Stands and walked in. No one was out but it definitely had the most swell out of any where I had seen. The lines were pretty stretched out of NW. Every so often I saw a corner. I had a charity event to work in Goleta thus it was either paddle or not surf. I gave it the old college try. There were lots and lots and lots of close outs. I did manage one phenomenal right runner that I got a tube and a hit on. I had one ok left had tube as well. Besides that there were plenty of beatings. I ended up surfing right up to the wire of my time window leaving me no time except to grab my stuff and hightail it up to Santa Barbara. All event I was dropping sand out of every orifice of my body. Good times in high winds.

11-18-22 PM Session: 3-5+ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 10
Once again I had an early work day having to work a lunch in Carpinteria. I knew there were waves and it was torturous watching small lines coming into Rincon on my way up. It was even harder knowing that the VTA beaches stayed glassy as well. The gig went off perfectly and had me on the hunt by 2:30. My first stop was Rincon where CC had paddled Indicator. Both lots were full and there were a fair amount of cars parked on the street. Considering the meager swell, that was way more people then I was interested in surfing with. When I passed by it didn’t look like anything special. I checked everything along Sea Cliffs to no avail. The wind was light enough for me to gamble on the beaches. Shores was my first stop. There were peaks up and down the beach albeit all over the place. It was definitely surf able and no one was out. I was hoping Ship might have a wave and headed to Strand. The Ship was tiny but I noticed some action in the bowl and drove over to get a better look. Sure enough there were peaky head high plus lefts with minimal crowd. I paddled and found a peak to myself. As the afternoon wore on it just kept getting more glassy. Of course the tide kept rising too. Ultimately the backwash was getting gnarly and good ones few and far between. My last wave I pulled off a decent hit to tail slide combo and called it a day. It was a cool winter sunset. I’ll take it.

11-17-22 No Surfing: 2-3 ft
Small was the call today, which was fine since I had to work an early gig up in Goleta and wasn’t able to surf till the afternoon. The job was a prep day working for a friend of mine who recently started his own catering company. Ironically he is currently cooking out of the large shared kitchen I used to cater from before the pandemic put me out of service for a while. I hate prep days they are exhausting. I had to cut sixty pounds of chicken breast, three industrial cases of bell peppers and clean and marinate ten pounds of shrimp. It has been years since I’ve have prepped that much food. I suppose it’s only fitting to do it back in that kitchen. On the way home I checked everything from Rincon to Hueneme. The wind was hard out of the NW. All the protected spots were tiny. Ventura Harbor was the only place with any size to speak of. I watched a handful of groms fight the wind blown junk on offer and decided to pass. Tomorrow is supposed to have better conditions anyway.

11-16-22 AM Session: 2-3+ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 1hr
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 18
My first 24 hour Santa Anna wind event since I moved to Hueneme began last night and blew all day into the next night. All I have to say is that these winds are no joke. I woke up to down trees and debris everywhere plus we lost power at some point in the night. All day I had to constantly scoop leaves out of my fish pond. Unfortunately it would have been nice had the hard offshore winds blew yesterday while the swell was on the rise. Instead we were left with very inconsistent waist to chest high waves that were being blasted by 30-40 mph gusts of offshore wind. With an early high tide and promise of the wind slowing down by late morning I took my time leaving the house. The first stop was Strand. It was barely breaking. On that note I cruised to the Harbor figuring it would have the most swell. It was packed and rather small and inconsistent. New Jetty actually had the most size but was completely walled. Jeffery had mentioned that the bars at Fruit Stands had been decent lately. Not feeling the Harbor Ryan and I hiked into Fruits with our gear and low expectations. Right when we walked up we were greeted with a chest plus set with like eight waves in it. Though a bit stretched there were some corners. It was inconsistent as well. We had hopes that the incoming tide might help. There were some really solid lines to be had. The hard part was positioning. The sets were rather far apart and there were no waves in between. I was having quite the difficulties staying on the bar and missed the majority of the sets. Ryan must have had a leprechaun up his ass cause he was getting into all the good ones. I began lining up with a bar towards the back half of the surf, caught a handful of good ones and called it day. While I was changing on the beach I saw a four wave set of lefts just unload on the bar and barrel all the way to the beach with no one out. I think I had more fun mind surfing that set than anything I actually surfed. The rest of my afternoon was spent shaping some boards.

11-14-22 AM Session: 3-4+ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1hr 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 10
Talk about a frustrating hate session. Nothing went my way the entire surf. Pat hit me up that there were some decent waves at North Strand. I cruised over and met him. There were definitely some long period west lines that looked like they were refracting off the jetty. That was the first lie. I got stuck in a rip and got stuck paddling against it for almost twenty minutes. Then I ate shit on three in a row. Had a couple of weird wonky ones. Almost stuck a backside air reverse and finally quit on junky two turn combo that had more backwash on it then wave face. It was definitely one of those surfs that I may have been better off with out. The rest of my day was spent running errands to get my life back in order post trip.

11-14-22 AM Session: 2-3+ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 10
Just like that our trip was over and it was time to head back to Port Hueneme and real life. We did so much on this trip we almost needed a vacation from our vacation. I’m never one to ever take it easier even on Holiday. My wife a 3pm meeting with the Hueneme officials about what to do about the Port Hueneme Historical Society, a pet project she has charitably taken on since we moved to town. This got us home early enough for me to grab a surf. I had to quickly meet with a customer then Bizarro and I headed to Strand to take advantage of the golden hour lighting. The surf was a bit to be desired but there were a few chest high bowls at the ship side of the bowl with only one guy out. Between the somewhat higher tide, the wind chop and the backwash it was a bit of struggle. I did hammer down a few decent ones before dark.

11-13-22 AM Session: 3-4+ft, Moonstone Beach Cambria
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 18
Whatever promise Surfline had made about offshore wind and solid swell was a lie. On the contrary it was junky short period wind swell with onshore wind. Welcome back to surfing reality. I had a look at Pico since we were staying right there. It was on the smaller side and a bit stretched. There were a few guys fighting the good fight but I couldn’t get into it. From there we headed to Moonstone which was significantly larger and had better shape. There were also about thirty guys on the only really decent set of peaks. Over the crowd I decided to cruise back to Pico. I tried to motivate myself to paddle but the surf was just too many combinations of awful. I resolved to just go back and deal with the crowd at Moonstone. It was wind swell and there were plenty of waves for everyone. The water was absolutely freezing. It must have dropped five degrees from when I surfed Willow on Thursday. My first few duck dives were ice cream head ache central. I got into a decent rhythm right off the bat. It felt like I was surfing way faster then I normally do. I don’t know if the Surf Ranch had anything to do with that but I definitely think the place has real merit for personal surfing improvement. Upon paddling back out after my first wave I noticed a familiar face. This dude Bernie who lives at Oxnard Shores was out and we both did a double take with “what are you doing here”. Turns out we were both just enjoying some central coast fun with our wives. It’s rare I go anyplace in the world of surfing with out running into someone I know. The surf was rather uninspiring and once I knew I hammered down a dozen clips I called it a day. Look for the edit of both the trip and Surf Ranch coming soon on the Clarks Surfboards YouTube channel. If you’re not a subscriber please subscribe. It really does help with the algorithms. After the surf we got some breakfast then did a little shopping in Cambria. My wife has a few boutiques that she loves to visit whenever we are in the area. Then we stopped off at Black Hand winery to pick up our club wines and drink some amazing wine while kicking it with our bud Tom Banish the owner and wine maker. I’d say he makes the best Rhône Blends in the area though just about everything he touches is amazing. If your in Cambria visit his tasting room on Main Street. I promise you won’t be disappointed. Mention I sent you for the red carpet treatment. The final leg of our trip was a night at the Historic Madonna Inn off the 101 in SLO. My wife and I absolutely love the place and try and stay one night at least once a year. We stay in a different themed room each visit. This time we opted for the Dez Room, decorated in the pre-revolutionary French Bourgeoisie fashion. As usual we do dinner at their amazing steak house on the grounds where the menu and decor have not changed since the 50’s. It’s a pure fantasy for dreamers like us. I wore a tux and my wife a classy gown to dinner. It was a perfect end to a beyond perfect getaway.

11-12-22 PM Session: 4-6+ft, Kelly Slaters Surf Ranch, Lemoore California
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 0
There was a break for lunch and though all of my heats were over I was allowed to surf the very top section of both the right and the left. There is about forty or fifty yards of wave from where it starts to where optimal take off section is. This area is called the “pro section” cause it is where the pros take off from in the WSL competition. The pool is really shallow up there and the wave hard to catch and ride. Most guests don’t bother with it except to maybe try and warm up for their heats. I started on the left where I did an hour of boosting airs and throwing fins. I even got a little tube. I figured it was a perfect opportunity to film some clippy stuff for the edit. The only downside to riding this section is you get a bit beat up on the bottom since it’s only about ankle to knee deep where the wave is breaking. I hit my board and the bottom a number of times. I decided to stay in the pool and rip the top of the right in the next heat. The right was actually a bit harder to ride then the left as the section moved a bit faster in front of you and many of the actual heat participants were able to start higher up leaving only around twenty or thirty yards of running room. I did manage an air reverse off the ski wake and a few tail free stuff. Then some other dude decided he wanted to get a few so I got one more bailed. I was cold and tired and had accumulated enough black and blues anyway. I hit the hot tub to warm up, scarfed a baller buffalo chicken sandwich then packed up, said my good byes and headed back to Cambria. The forecast was for some solid NW swell with offshore winds in the morning. The entire drive back I had beach break heaving barrels on my mind. I can’t that Geoff enough for inviting us to be apart of his group and for such an amazing time. My wife and I will forever be grateful.

11-12-22 AM Session: 4-6+ft, Kelly Slaters Surf Ranch, Lemoore California
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 7
Miles Driven: 0 (from San Simeon)
I was up by 7am pacing around the Air Stream as I patiently waited for my wife’s footage from last night to upload on my computer so I could review it. Rudy, one of the other guys on the trip had got some clips of me from the back of the jet ski and I had already watched all those verbatim. There were plenty of notes to take thanks to the review and by 8am I was up on the deck at the pool watching the first heat. I was feeling a bit colder then I would have liked with air around fifty. I went into the heated locker room and tried to warm up a bit, put on my suit and waxed my boards. I rode my Clarks Surfboards Hacksaw model last night and it felt great. When reviewing the footage I thought maybe I was a tad over gunned. With that in mind I decided to paddle my Clarks Surfboards Fly Guy Model. I was up second on the first right of the day. The Fly Guy being a shorter more lose set up had me throwing more critical turns. So much so that I over threw my fifth turn and ended up losing the wave on my recovery. That’s the thing about the Surf Ranch the wave may be perfect but it’s also fast and unforgiving if you don’t land your turns perfect. Then I had a left in the next rotation as no one had fallen where I was sitting in the pool and therefore wasn’t able to pick off anything. Once again I got a bit too gnarly and blew the fins too far out the back forcing me to recover sideways in the flats as I watched the wave pass me by. Luckily on the very next right the guy riding it feel in front of me allowing for me to be able to snag it. I smashed five solid top to bottom turns before gracefully pulling into the tube and coming out clean. I blew the air reverse on the end section but all the work was already done. Boosting is very difficult as the wave doesn’t really have any sections being a perfect line. Actually as it turned out the guy who got the rest of my left was the guy that I picked the right off of so it was an even trade. That was probably my best wave of the entire trip too. I had another right to myself where I stalled a little too deep in the middle barrel section and got stuffed. I wasn’t supposed to get any more waves to myself but one of the other guys in my heat cut his head on his board and had to get out. I was given one of his waves, a left which I blew trying to snap into the barrel. I had a few more poaches of little consequence before the time ran out. I was a little bummed I didn’t make any of my proper allotted waves, but was stoked I got that one right poach I described. I may have went a little too big for sure. I’d rather have blown all my waves then rode them all the way conservative. The only thing worse then falling is holding back in my book. I came there to test my metal and surf to my full potential. I was left a tad wanting. All that means is the fire is fueled to get back to the Surf Ranch again someday. When I got out of the water the staff had a scrumptious bacon, egg and hash brown breakfast waiting for me. I could get used to this pampered surf lifestyle.

11-11-22 PM Session: 4-6+ft, Kelly Slaters Surf Ranch, Lemoore California
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 8
Miles Driven: 114 (from San Simeon)
There’s lots to talk about on the KS Wave CO. Surf Ranch. There will be an actual blog post and YouTube edit shortly. So don’t feel cheated if I just give a brief account of the actual session. My Heat was at 9pm, the last of the night. The air was freezing just hovering in the mid 40’s and the pool was about 58. With all the adrenaline running through my body I hardly felt a thing. When they announced for us to take our positions in the pool my mind was buzzing. How did get here, I hope I don’t blow it, along with other thoughts that were racing through my mind. I was slotted for the third wave of the heat, a left. My boy Geoff, “Spartacus” as I began referring to him since he was the one that put this whole insane thing together, was up first. I positioned myself kind of mid way through the wave in the pool this way if someone were to fall early I had a decent chance of picking it off. As it happened Geoff got a little greedy in the tube and got stuffed allowing me the opportunity to swing around and catch the remainder of the right hander. My first wave at the Ranch, and I clicked into gear hammering off four top to bottom turns before tucking in for the end section barrel. On the very next left someone else fell and I snatched it up and got busy on the left. Then I was up on the next right. I guess we mixed up the order and I unfortunately had my wife filming on the wrong side of the pool. There are four minutes between waves and as I waited the safety employee in the water reminded me that the middle section barrel was 14 seconds and to make sure I kept track as to not come out too early. I stayed my 14 seconds then smashed it a few times before pulling in again. What a wave. I was beside myself and almost cried. It was a sensory overload of emotion. I got one more left and one right to myself. I blew the tube on the left, while on the right it was hammer time. I hit it too many times to count. I snagged a couple of other waves off guys who fell where I had mixed results. My worst beating was an attempt at making a deep end section left tube. You don’t get beat quite as hard as in the ocean but the wave definitely has a punch. Just like that the hour was over. I popped into the hot tub to warm up with the other guys in my session. Everyone was stoked and my wife and I enjoyed a celebratory bottle of veuve clicquot champagne courtesy of Mr. Kelly Slater (not really, alcohol was included in the deal). We couldn’t celebrate too hard since I was back in the water at 9am. Unfortunately we forgot to turn on the heater in our Air Stream before heading to the pool and it was freezing when we got back at the end of the night making it a bit of a cold sleep as it took a few hours for the tiny metal tin can to heat up. I’d say it was a successful first day. It was rough sleeping after such an overwhelming life event. Just the anticipation alone leading up to the surf session was likened to my days as a competitor on the WQS. Your waves are limited and you don’t want to go home with zero makes. So far so good.

11-10-22 AM Session: 2-4+ft, Willow Creek
Time in Water: 1 hr 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 76
Even though the swell was macking when I went to sleep last night in my hotel room up on the bluffs of San Simeon upon waking up the surf had dropped considerably. Pico Creek was surf-able and clean but only about chest high and inconsistent. The wind reports looked decent enough for Big Sur and having the day free my wife and I decided to strike up north. Worse case scenario it wouldn’t be any smaller there and a nice drive. My first stop was Willow Creek. There was a wave coming in off the creek mouth with three guys on it. The tide was pretty high and I wasn’t too frothy. The frigid morning temperatures of the central coast weren’t helping my motivation. We cruised and checked a few other spots in the area. Willow was still the best wave I had seen all morning and two of the three guys had bailed leaving plenty of room for me to paddle. The slowly dropping tide worked in my favor for the first half of the surf and I snagged a few fun lefts. Then the tide dropped super fast and the swell just wasn’t big enough to break further out leaving most of the waves on dry reef. I spent another hour bouncing off the rocks till I landed an air hard in the flats, cut my had and put a tear in my suit over some gnarly barnacles. That was definitely the indicator that it was time to call it day. I snagged one more left of minimal consequence then quit. It wasn’t the best Willow I have ever surfed but surfing up in Big Sur is such a pleasant and serine experience that even if one doesn’t score it’s still a wonderful day. After surf we got lunch at one of our favorite eateries in that area, The Whale Watchers Cafe in Gorda. As usual the food, service and atmosphere (your eating with an amazing view up on a cliff of the ocean) didn’t disappoint. Proceeding lunch we headed back south. There was still some light left thus my wife and I decided to find an empty beach and go for a stroll where we found some jade, which I lost stupidly rolling down a sand dune. We watched the sunset and closed out a very pleasing day. Dinner for the evening was furnished by Madeleines in Cambria. I know last time I ate there I was down on them. I sent the owner an email about my discontent and assured me it wouldn’t happen again. We gave the place a second chance. There aren’t many traditional haute cuisine fine dining establishments left in California and I’d had to scratch Madeleines off the list. Besides a snag in the kitchen that caused our meal to come out late (it was no big deal, I like to take my time when enjoying fine dining and they comped my dessert to make up for it) everything was up to par. Tomorrow we will be at Kelly Slaters Surf Ranch and I’m besides myself with excitement as is my wife.

11-9-22 AM Session: 2-3+ft, El Capitan
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 10
Miles Driven: 61
There was some solid WNW swell in the water coupled with some WSW wind swell. Unfortunately there was an abominable six foot high tide at 10am. The beaches were a bit to be desired therefore my wife and I decided to just start making our way up north and surf whatever looked good. My first stop was Rincon. There were some solid sets. Between the high tide and funky channel chop the lines were messier then I had hoped. There were also like fifty guys from Indicator to the Cove. The Cove was fat but looked the best. Below average crowded Rincon was not on my docket for the day. Instead my wife and I got breakfast at Hugos in Carpinteria to wait the tide out a little bit. We used to live at that luncheonette till we moved to Hueneme. It was nice to stop in, eat a good meal and say hi. After Breakfast we cruised up to El Capitan. It was smaller then I had hoped only about waist to chest. The lines were clean and running with only about a dozen guys on it spread out along the point. I’m a sucker for El Cap and paddled. When I first got out I was picking off some decent runners. The crowd continued growing exponentially by the minute until it was thirty strong with hardly enough waves for half that number. I caught a few more then bailed. We cruised up to SLO and then decided to stop off at Montana de Oro State Park to watch the sunset. We dined at the warf by Morro Rock. Finally we arrived to our resting place the Cavalier Hotel in San Simeon. I’d say it was a full day. Only two more days till the surf ranch.

11-8-22 AM Session: 3-4+ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 32
The wind was offshore at first light. The reports said it wasn’t supposed to go south till around 11am but when I left my house at 8:30 it was already blowing pretty hard. I cruised to the Harbor where it was clean and solid overhead. Unfortunately it was rather closed out. There were some corners but good luck chasing those down with out a ski. I drove over to Dredge. There was a fat mushy wave off the rocks with fifteen guys in it. Jeffery said Emma looked fun so in desperation I drove over there. It was a bit stretched and fast. I saw a couple of chest high plus sets that looked do-able. For the time being the wind was offshore. There was a solid pack of about twenty guys on it. Not wanting to repeat yesterdays mistake I paddled. Right off the bat I got three good lefts and one really good tube. Then the wind went hard south west, right about the time Dane and his Chapter 11 crew paddled out. It got completely trashed shortly after that thus I bailed. Later that afternoon I had to drive up to work an event in SB fighting my way through gale force wind and torrential rain squalls. Good times.

11-7-22 No Surfing: 3-4+ft,
Miles Driven: 32
I blew it today. The bird in the had is always better then two in the bush. These are words I live by. Not today. I got up and the wind was out of the south in Hueneme and it was pouring. All the reports I was getting were of mixed results though from what I gathered Ventura Harbor had the most size. I looked out front, where it was a mess. I headed to Strand but it was fat and small. Jeffery sent me a video from FruitStands that was enticing. It was raining which discouraged me from making the walk to fruits. Instead I drove over to the Harbor. Rivermouth to Knoll was completely stretched. New Jetty had some decent corners but it also had a solid crowd of twenty guys with another half dozen considering to paddle. Ryan and I were standing on the bluff talking ourselves out of a paddle while watching perfectly good lefts and rights albeit a little fast. Instead I decided to go home and wait to see what the afternoon would bring. I got some chores done around my house. At around 3 I headed back out for a look and of course the wind was blowing hard WSW completely trashing what was out there. I should have surfed earlier. That is a perfect example of blowing it! It’s all good I’m heading up north to central coast for a few days and am going to get to surf a few waves at The Surf Ranch in Lemoore. Should be an epic time to say the least.

11-6-22 AM Session: 2-4+ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 10
There was a bit of mid period NW still in the water. Hueneme was a bit to be desirable. On a whim I decided to have a look at Strand. It was about chest high plus and peaky though a tad fat with the tide. We were already on the dropping side of the tide. Considering how fast it dropped yesterday I decided to paddle near Tower 5. When I first paddled it was a light crowd spread out from the ship to the bowl. Shortly after paddling people just kept showing up in packs till there had to be easily seventy five guys from the ship to Tower 4. I have been out there on days it was firing with less people. Apparently it was decent yesterday couple that with the time change and I suppose that was why. Everyone gets up an hour early with nothing to do and decide “why not go surfing”. Instead of getting better with the lower tide the waves got more mushy. I managed a few good ones and scored a crazy little backdoor tube to end the day. The rest of my day was spent doing a bit of gardening in my yard with my wife.

11-5-22 AM Session: 2-3+ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 2
The buoys had very little swell to speak of. Couple that with a six foot high tide at nine and I was far from frothy. Not to mention that it was freezing out. I don’t know is Hueneme is colder then Santa Barbara or I just forgot how cold the mornings are in winter. Either that or I’m going soft in my old age. I had a look out front where I was pleasantly surprised with light off shore waist to chest high inconsistent peaks. I paddled Rockside and found a few tubes and turns. There were handful of guys out but everyone was getting waves. As I was leaving Pat, Brady, CC and Corey showed up unprompted by me. Lazy guys sleeping in. The rest of my day was spent working a wedding up in the Santa Ynez Valley. The last wedding on the books for the season. It’s a bummer but we turn the clocks back tomorrow which means it gets dark an hour earlier. Hopefully the House of Representatives will vote in favor of canceling changing the times this year and we will never have to deal with the sun setting before five again.

11-4-22 PM Session: 2-3+ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 10
Finally the wind stopped, unfortunately so did the swell. I had to work a lunch in Santa Barbara only leaving me the afternoon to surf. Luckily the wind held somewhat down. I checked the Harbor first. New Jetty had a do-able chest plus wave with a light crowd. I was going to paddle when an eight pack of super groms decided to pull up and suit up. I was not about to deal with that. On a wing and a prayer I headed to Strand. The surf was decidedly smaller though surf-able. I paddled the North Bowl solo. There were some decent peaks. Unfortunately the incoming tide killed it slowly. The water was freezing too. It was a nice sunset and I was stoked that I surfed.

11-3-22 No Surfing: 3-5+ft
Miles Driven: 2
I woke up and the wind was still howling out of the WNW. I had shaping to do. The buoys were looking smaller and more steep then yesterday prompting me to deem it a work day and possibly look to the afternoon. The forecast was claiming the wind to go more north towards dark. I got into shaping. Ryan was heading to SB for work mid day and his report on Rincon was less then desirable thus I kept working. I quit around two ate some lunch and looked at Hueneme. The wind was hard WNW not allowing for any wind protection. Over it I decided to take the day off.

11-2-22 PM Session: 3-4+ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 54
The first onshore NW gale of the winter showed up destroying conditions just about everywhere in Ventura. Unfortunately the protected points and Santa Barbara we not getting any wind swell. I spent my morning running errands before heading up to Rincon in the early afternoon. Though all the reports I got from the morning were meager the buoys seemed to had jumped up enough to warrant the drive. I got there around two and the ‘Con was definitely smaller then I would have hoped. It was also pretty torn up cause the wind was blowing more WNW then NW making only the very bottom of the Cove clean. The waves there were barely knee high. The top of the Cove was sloppy but do-able where the odd ball weak stomach high set would come through. All the way up top at Indicator and Rivermouth it was chest plus but completely victory at sea. I wasn’t all that enthralled. Since I made the drive I decided to paddle. The steadily rising tide was not in my favor either. I jumped in at Rivermouth figuring I could maybe pick up a few messy runners into the Cove. I got lucky on my first drift and was able to pick off an alright wave after wave till I was at the Freeway. Stoked I decided to go for another. On the walk back up I ran into Sal Labrizzi, an old friend and my old Landlord of my surfboard factory back in Manasquan NJ. I had not seen him in nearly 15 years, not since I bailed to California, gutted my shop and skipped out on my lease. It wasn’t one of my more proud moments. Keep in mind, my marriage had just failed, I was broke and over it. Luckily it was all water under the bridge and we caught up for a few minutes before I paddled back out. My next drift didn’t quite go as well. I got stuck in the rinse cycle up top, where I ran into my friend Joss paddling out. He must have been my good luck charm cause as soon as he said hi to me I stroked into a head high double up that ran into the Cove . I caught a few more there till I was too far to fight the current back and called it a day. Not the Rincon I was hoping for though still nice to surf the Queen.

11-1-22 AM Session: 2-3+ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 12
The surf was minor though still a bit of NW/SW combo. CC wanted to surf but had a quick errand to run. I decided to just cruise over to Strand for quick look to kill some time. There was a wave in the bowl albeit weak looking with way more guys on it then the conditions warranted Over that I called CC and we met over at Rockside and paddled. There was a stiff pack on the best peak when we got there. We sat just a peak down till they bailed, which happened very shortly after, leaving us out the back all by ourselves. Stoked we made the most out of the waist to chest high peaks. It wasn’t epic, but we had fun. I spent the rest of the afternoon finishing up my ding repair cue.