Surfing Ruined My Life

September 2020 Surf Sessions

9-30-20 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, C Street
Time in Water: 1.5 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 99
The decided to get on it nice and early this morning ruining any hopes of getting some serious Ventura beach break. Instead I had to settle for crowded, mushy, sectiony, dumpy and windy. When I say crowded there had to be 100’guys from stables to Pipes. Angers and I ran up to Pipes and fought the good fight. It was tough on the back hand cause the faces were so flat and then would just dump leaving little performance option. I did manage three set wave runners I combo’ed four to five turns on. Besides that it was laughable at best. After the surf I had errands to run around Ventura. On the way home I had a notion that El Capitan might be fun on the low tide and drove up there. It was waist high at best, very inconsistent and had six guys on it. Over it I cruised home and enjoyed an evening at home with my lovely wife for a change.

9-29-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Solimar
Time in Water: 1.5 hr
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 56
Ofcourse with a decent hit of south swell in the water the wind would be onshore at first light. I got word all the VTA beaches were junk. My first stop was Indicator. Though it had a surf-able wave it was small and not really hitting the reef right for it to be any fun. Next I cruised to Emma. It was windy, crowded and terrible. I was resolved to just go back and grovel Indicator in the hope it might get better when just had a chance look at Solimar. It is one of the few places on that side of Sea Cliffs that can handle the wind, high tide and amplify a south swell. The inside reef was forcing the usual mushy yet bowly high tide right I have learn to capitalize on in today’s type of conditions. I had the place to myself, which is a rare occurrence any place these days. From the get go my expectations were far exceeded. I was doing my thing when the group of about eight kooks spanning the ages of 11-50 showed up all soft topped out riding every type of soft top one can imagine. Thanks Ben Gravy and Jamie O for making it even harder to be a devote hardcore short boarder. They mobbed me forcing the last half hour of my surf to be clouded with their annoying kookery. This is the times we live in. Still I was stoked to have gotten a fun surf on a day that most had just written off. Just like that I made the transformation to happy go lucky surfer (ok that doesn’t describe me at all) to pissed off postal custodian.

9-28-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Oxnard Shores
Time in Water: 1 hr 45mins
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 78
I have this cardinal rule I try to live by when it comes to surfing. This rule is very important where I live cause there are so many options with so many unique surf spot and swell windows that it can drive one crazy. The rule is: NEVER DRIVE AWAY FROM FUN SURF. Today I stupidly broke this rule along with another one: Always trust your instincts. I was at Strand and it was solid chest to head plus. It was a bit crowded and stretched, but it looked fun enough. I was going to paddle when I ran into some friends of mine who claimed they just came from Shores where it was better shape, about the same size and empty. I was definitely a little skeptical. On the other hand there was a new long period south on the buoys and a short period minor south as well, paired the the fading NW I thought they may just have a secret super session. I left and drove to Shores full on knowing that if it was bad I’d have to surf there cause there wasn’t not going to be enough time to go back to Strand in my window. Shores was fun and clean but a bit on the small and very inconsistent side. It was with out a doubt no where near as good as Strand was. Ryan and his kids showed up and we all paddled regardless. Between the flat light with the marine layer, the backwash and the dropping tide it was not that easy to get a good one. At least I felt like I was always in the wrong spot. I got a bit frustrated and threw a classic Lisanti tantrum. I did manage a very clean inverted ally oop and one decent left tube that stoked me out. At the very least it was nice to have no one out after a very crowded weekend. The rest of my day was spent in the service of the USPS.

9-27-20 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hr
Waves Surfed: 14
Miles Driven: 78
The period dropped a bit on the NW swell and the angle steepened up a bit more as well. I knew it was a Strand morning. I got there and it was solid over head. The crowd was gnarly too easily 100 guys out from Jetty to Jetty. The early morning crew was bailing when I showed up. The lazy morning shift (me) was steadily filling in the empty spots. There were lots of waves coming through. The majority were pretty stretched and walled. Others were just dumpy. There were also gems too. Between the crowd and the lack of good ones my wave count really suffered for my limited time window. I did manage a deep left tube that is probably the beat barrel I have gotten in a while. I had two rights that were sick too. I wish I had unlimited time but work called. After all I have to work twice as long these days for just about half the amount of money I was making to only work twenty hours a week. Hooray for Covid19. I may just have to start a new blog call Covid19 ruined my life.

9-26-20 AM Session: 4-6+ ft, Hollywood
Time in Water: 2 hr
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 74
The NW swell had steepened up a bit as well as intensified. Angers and I put our heads together to figure out where we could find the best waves with the least crowd. Lately this has been no easy task let alone on a weekend with the first NW of the season. On the way down there were throngs of surfers everywhere. I saw crowds at places that aren’t really even surf spots. Hollywood was the call. It was big, burly, all over the place with a bunch of gnarl rips and current. Throw in the once and awhile macking sweeper close out set and we were sure to not draw a crowd. Even those who did try got frustrated fast. It was lots of work out there. I took some pretty nasty beatings too. Just paddling out was taxing of you missed times the sets. That being said there were a handful of gems out there if you were lucky enough to be in the right spot. I lucked onto about half a dozen good ones, while Angers went ballistic cause he lives for that shit. By the time I got my twentieth wave my arms were done. It felt good to get back into some heavy surf after a long summer of micro waves. After that intensity I was looking forward to an easy Saturday at work. It’s the Post Office after all and not much mail flows through on the weekends. Of course as my luck would have it the other custodian I work with didn’t show up leaving me all alone to handle the cleaning of a building with a 1/4 mile perimeter. Needless to say I had to work hard. Good times thanks to Covid19.

9-25-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hr
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 41
I suppose we will have to call today the official first NW swell of the season. With came throngs of people hoping to score. I checked everything from Rincon to Pitas. Angers had eyes on everything from Shores to a Emma and Ryan was at Strand. Angers ended up at C Street, Ryan went home and I paddled Rincon. Actually I lucked out. I had hesitated on just paddling ‘Con straight out because the bottom lot was full. As it turned out there was an empty pocket of waves from lower Indicator thru Rivermouth. The Cove was packed and for whatever reason upper Indy and Indy left was packed. It appeared that there was more sw swells making their way in them NW sets and it was a bit of a wait between the real sets. I fell into a groove straight away and carried that momentum through my entire session. Some idiot on a SUP had the nerve to paddle out. Rincon is the one place that doesn’t allow SUPs when the waves get good. I hope we don’t loose that too. It was pretty average Rincon overall. For opening day I had fun.

9-24-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 1 hr 45mins
Waves Surfed: 33
Miles Driven: 66
Talk about bad luck this morning. When I checked it the waves were chest plus peaky, clean and fun. As soon as I put my foot in the water the wind came up. With in 15 minutes the conditions turned to shit. Angers and I fought it out in the slop to little avail. Right as I had to leave to go to work the wind started to calm down again. From what I heard the mid day window was pretty darn fun. I just can’t catch a break lately. Rest of my day was spent as per usual hating my life at work. If this the next twenty years of my life I’m not going to make it.

9-23-20 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 1.5 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 66
I had a strange mask revelation today. We have gotten so used to seeing everyone’s faces in masks all the time that is going to seem really crazy to see people’s entire faces. At my new job for instance I really don’t know what anyone looks like aside for their eyes because I started in the wake of Covid19. There was a bit more swell in the water from the south. When I got to the beach it was about chest high and fun clean peaks albeit a bit stretched up and down the beach. Stoked I ran back to my car met Angers in the lot and we paddled. Unfortunately the wind came up as we were walking down the trail and by the time we got in the water it was already very textured and lines broken up. The first half of The session I just couldn’t get in the right position. I was always too deep, too shallow or in between peaks. It got to be rather frustrating. Then I finally snagged a good left and it set me up to be in position for the next eight waves. It was fun though very tricky. When I got home Bizarro was in the kitchen with a new meat slicer. Now we can enjoy fresh cut deli meat all the time. The rest of my day was spent pushing around a broom.

9-22-20 AM Session: 1-3 ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 31
Miles Driven: 66
The same minor south swell that has been hanging around the past few days was still on the buoy. I wanted to surf before work and headed south. Fruits was very small. I was debating even paddling when my friend Julien came up the path board in hand. He posed the question “where else would you go”. On that note knowing it was going to be small everywhere I grabbed my Pop Fizz fish and paddled. That board owns the small stuff. Angers showed up with is Pop Fizz not long after and we had a Fizz battle royale. Despite the micro size I had a blast. After the surf I had lots of errands to run considering it was my only day off for the entire week. I stopped by my Glasser’s to check on how this latest batch of Clarks was going. All I can say is they look sick. If you haven’t got your hands on a Clarks Surfboard now is the time while they are still only $485 for a board 6’2 and under. These boards are hot.

9-21-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 64
I had to take my Postal 955 maintenance mechanic test at 9am. Luckily the testing center was in Ventura not far from the Harbor. It was quite the technical test abs and barely passed with a 71 percent. Passing is passing and now I’m on the bid list and when a position opens up I will have the opportunity to move into a higher pay grade. After the test I had just enough time to run to River mouth and grab a few waves. Actually I think it could have been a pretty fun morning. There were fun waist to occasional chest high peaky south sets coming in up and down the beach with light offshore winds. The only problem was by the time I got there it was already pretty bogged down with the high tide. Still I ran down the beach and made the most of whatever the ocean put in my path. The rest of my day was spent cleaning toilets since it was my turn on restroom detail. Hopefully I won’t have to do this much longer.

9-20-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Father Johns
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 56
The NW wind swell was still very prevalent and there was some fresh south west as well. I was all set to cruise to the Ventura beaches when Ryan called and said they were all jumbled again. The fog was back with a vengeance on my drive down not allowing me to get a good check on anything I passed. I decided to cruise Sea Cliffs. My first stop was Father Johns. It was a bit more stretched then yesterday and had a half dozen randoms out. Looking for more I had a look at Emma. It was looking pretty similar to Johns but with triple the crowd. I paddled Johns and there were definitely a corner or two to be had. The only downside was it got a bit wonky on the incoming tide. Just another session making lemonade out of lemons. Hey it was better then last weekend out there. Rest of my day was spent doing my custodial thing and studying for my postal electronics technician test that I am taking tomorrow. With a little luck I’ll pass and have a chance at a bit of a promotion.

9-19-20 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Father Johns
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 41
There was a slight up tick in the NW wind swell. Ryan has looked around at all the VTA beaches and said it was all mixed up with ugly south wind on it. We met up at Father Johns. It was far from epic but there were tons of scrubby east coast style wind swell to be had. It was pretty clean too. Stoked I jumped in and got on a tear. Don’t get me wrong it was some terrible weak ass surf. When you’re on a froth you’re on a froth. For a little while it was just Ryan, myself and his kids. I guess we made it look too much fun cause by the time I got out there had to be at least a dozen guys on it. It was definitely the most fun I had surfing all week. Post surf my lady and I enjoyed brunch at the restaurant in the hotel at Mussel Shoals. The food was average, but the view is always worth it every time. Rest of my day was spent on the postal grind.

9-18-20 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 66
Today was the first time I have surfed with the sun out in quite a while. That was the only redeeming quality to the surf. The tide was high, the swell was still all mixed up and it was completely gutless. The crowd was light for whatever that was worth. Angers was already on it when I got there. I had a few, but it was a real grovel. I think watching the pelicans doing their thing was more exciting. Take about a bad month so far. I think I have had one good surf the entire month.

9-17-20 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 28
Miles Driven: 66
The new swell was here and I was over joyed to get some surf over thigh high. Between the morning high tide and four short period swells in the water comboing hard it was rather disorganized. Then the fire fog rolled back in so heavy I could hardly see the wave I was riding. To top it off there was a stiff drift too. Angers and I fought the good fight but getting on a good one proved near to impossible. Neither one of us managed to get a wave we were happy with. It beat not surfing, though definitely not what I had hoped for. Rest of my day was spent at work. I heard it didn’t get any better.

9-16-20 No Surfing: 1-2+ ft
There was a fresh hit of tropical swell that was supposed to be on the rise. The morning was plagued with very small surf and a fat tide. All reports I got was not to bother. Instead I got lots of chores done that were very last due. My hope was that more swell would fill in for the afternoon/evening. As of 3pm all reports were still small. I decided to bag it for the day and focus on the morning. It looked like some fresh swell had shown up right before dark

9-15-20 AM Session: 1-2 ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 66
Just when you thought the waves couldn’t get much worse they did!!! I knew it was going to be bad. I only came down cause I had more Clarks Surfboards business to handle not to mention it was my day off and wanted to get wet. Once again knowing it was going to be terrible I just suited and went for it. It was foggy thanks to the fires and I couldn’t see more then a foot or so in front of me. I paddled hoping for the best. It was tiny, knee to thigh at best. The wind was on it too out of the NW really adding a bit of bump. This coupled with a five foot plus high tide and it was some of the worst waves I have surfed in quite some time. I literally just started doing little cheater fives to entertain myself. I think I got a piece of there waves that I could almost call a hit. The water was freezing too. I am talking like 58 F. I would have to say it is quite apparent that we are entering a La Nina year. No photo cause although I got my phone I wasn’t able to activate it. Just imagine the smallest yet still surf-able waves with wind on it.

9-14-20 AM Session: 1-2+ ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 66
I wanted to surf today. I had not surfed since my car got broken in to at Zeros on Thursday. I felt like between that and the lack of decent surf I had lost all my motivation for surfing and humanity. Shitty people really piss me off. I also had to go check up on the wheels that keep Clarks Surfboards moving. I cruised to Fruit Stands where I figured I could find the most swell out of the very meager NW wind swell/south swell combo. No one was in the lot. I really didn’t care what the surf looked like I was paddling. I suited up, grabbed my Clarks Surfboards Pop Fizz and cruised to the water. It was definitely tiny, though the wind was hardly onshore the waves were all cut up and choppy. Every so often a waist high south set would roll through to give a reprieve from the knee high scrubby wind swell. I went through the motions and caught my twenty. Not much else I could say about that. At work the ET’s are coaching me for when I take the post office mechanical engineering test on Monday next week. If I pass it will give me the opportunity to become an ET, maintenance mechanic and other hire up positions in the maintenance department, plus it will jump me up to stage 6 pay. With any luck (well not really, a bit of smarts and effort) I won’t have to scrub toilets too much longer. No photo cause my new phone hasn’t arrived yet. Close your eyes and imagine shitty waves with wind on them, high tide and you will have a picture of what I was dealing with.

9-13-20 No Surfing: 1-2+ ft
I thought there was suppose to be a slight rise in the south swell according so surfline. When I checked the cams and buoys there wasn’t much happening. Considering how little money I make at work these days I decided I better save my gas. Looks some fresh minor south swell for the next few days.

9-12-20 No Surfing: 1-2+ ft
Talk about a shitty September so far. So much for fall giving us a reprieve from the meager clutches of summer. Between a rather high morning tide, smoke fog and very small conditions I decided to sleep in and save my gas. Rest of my day was spent cleaning toilets since I had bathroom duty at work.

9-11-20 No Surfing: 1-2+ ft
The surf was looking rather poor on the cams and buoys. I had a host of things I had to take care of before work because of my car getting violated and decided that was more important then trying to grovel waist high surf.

9-10-20 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Zeros
Time in Water: 3 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 120
I had a lot errands to run down south. My thought was to just grab a surf in Ventura and then handle all my shit. The wind was on it and I just couldn’t get into what was on offer at any of the local spots. I had the day off and the forecast looked rather grim for the next few days. Wanting to surf something fun I headed to LA where the wind was better and south swell showing stronger. Best wave I came across was Leo. It was completely maxed out on the crowd. County had a strange funk bump on it. Zeros looked the best and with the incoming tide the crowd would be sure to drop off. I got in there and it was pretty soft and inconsistent. As per usual the kook factor was strong with drop ins a plenty. I accidentally hit some dude and dinged his board cause he decided to burn me and then straighten out while I was in full drive to hit the lip. Instead I connected hard with him. Luckily for me my board was intact. Soon after that incident the crowd really tapered off and I began getting some kill-able ones. Around 2 pm the wind began to come up. I had my fill and figured I needed to get back. When I got back to my car my magnetic hide-a-key was missing. Someone had gotten into my car, took my wallet and cell phone, locked up my car and bailed with the key. I was fucked, completely stranded in Malibu with no way of contacting anyone. Luckily for me this kid Hugo I surf with a Strand happened to be in the lot checking the surf and called AAA for me. They were able to get me into my car so I could change. Then I still had to have it towed back to Santa Barbara where my spare FOB was. I didn’t get home to after five. Then I had to cancel all my cards and get a new phone sent out. All in all it was quite the hassle to surf below average waves. This is why my friends Surfing has ruined my life. Oh and After all was said and done the whole ordeal cost me close to $500. No photo cause it was on my stolen phone.

9-9-20 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 3 hrs
Waves Surfed: 29
Miles Driven: 126
My buddy Matt wanted to get a Jalama surf in this week and try out his new drone. It was my day off and I was down to take advantage of this long period south swell at a place that actually likes long period. My thoughts were that it would be a little less crowded being it was a week day and after Labor Day. That was misconception. The place was packed with easily forty guys at Cracks. The sets were few and far between too. I forgot that thanks to Covid no one works or goes to school making it basically an endless summer at the moment, no pun intended. We chilled on the beach a while in an attempt to wait out the morning crew. A good portion did leave and another crew arrived. It was going to be just one of those days. T’s had some solid waves wrapping in with only two guys on it. Though it is a bit of a burger on south swells there are decent moments to be had. We paddled and it turned out we both knew the two dudes out there. The four of us traded off fun ones for about an hour. Then the other two dudes left a Matt and I had it to ourselves. The tide was getting higher making only the sets worth while. They were very hard to line up cause of how inconsistent they were. I was constantly getting stuck too far inside. After a little while this grew old and we paddled over to Cracks to have it out with the crowd. A flurry of sets followed us and it got pretty fun for about a half hour. Then it got very lully, about ten more guys showed up and I was over it. The fog was on it all day not allowing us to do any real filming. It wasn’t a what I would call an absolute Jalama score, but it was definitely fun none the less. No photo yet, waiting on pictures from Matt.

9-8-20 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 66
The winds were clean and there was still a healthy amount of south swell in the water. I headed to Fruits for a quick session before work. Ryan and Gordo were already suited up and ready in the lot. There were a number of cars. When I got to the beach the crowd was rather light and there were small yet spitting barrels up and down the beach. The problem was that the waves were hitting the sand bar, doubling up and throwing out more wide then tall making traveling through them very tricky. It took about half my session and lots of fails before I figured out where to be and how to position myself on the drop to make it out of a tube. Then the session was mine. The back half was a pure barrel fest. I can’t remember the last time I had a fun session of tubes like that. A few feet bigger and it would have been all time.

9-7-20 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Port Hueneme
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 96
There was actually a number of long period and short period south swells on the buoys. Holiday crowds were our in full force everywhere. To beat the crowds Angers and I decided to cruise to Hueneme and walk south until we didn’t see anymore people. When we first got there we were greeted by a sick chest to head high set of lefts. It was a bit stretched. I thought if you were fast it was make-able. Right as we were about to suit up this huge fog bank rolled in making visibility terrible making filming impossible. I hung back on the beach for a little hoping for a clearing, while Angers in his usual froth paddled. Onshore wind also came with the fog further deteriorated conditions. The fog lifted a bit and I paddled. Though pretty bad it was still the largest waves I had seen in a week and every so often a kill-able corner would come in. Angers got over it. I was having an ok time and at least got my twenty wave quota in.

9-6-20 AM Session: 1-3+ ft, Fruit Stands
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 66
I was surfing no matter what this morning. Once you get out of sync with surfing everyday it is hard to get motivated again, especially when the waves are bad. Angers was paddling Fruits and I met him there. It was small and terrible, with high tide and wind on it. The two of us struggled hard to even make a few waves work. Some how at the end of the session I literally fell into a barrel cause I slipped on the tack off due to back wash and made it. Besides that the surf was a bust. Rest of my day was spent pushing around a dust mop at work.

9-5-20 No Surfing: 1-2+ ft
It was my first day starting my actual shift and duties at work. I had ample to time to surf before. The surf was lacking. All the reports I got from my must reliable sources was not to bother. As far as my first day out of training went I think I did alright. Definitely don’t love the job or the pay but at least the 2:30-11pm shift allows for ample time to surf.

9-4-20 No Surfing: 1-2+ ft
I had really hoped that there would be some fun waves this afternoon. Bad wind, lack of swell and high tide put to kibosh on yet another surf. Once again I heard there were some small but fun ones to be had in the morning. Instead I came home after work and thought up ways to end my pathetic existence. There is no way I am staying at this job. I need to find a better gig.

9-3-20 No Surfing: 1-2+ ft
Bad winds, small waves and a very high tide left my desire to grovel wanting. Robbie one of my more frothy friends even passed on it. I heard the morning was fun. A fat lot of a good it did me cleaning toilets at the post office. I got my pay check today. Its so meager for the amount of time I have to commit to this thing. I miss cooking.

9-2-20 No Surfing: 1-2 + ft
Another windy afternoon with sub par waves left me completely over it. There might be a new bump coming through over the next few days into the weekend though I think it may depend on tropical swell meaning it’s a crap shoot at best.

9-1-20 No Surfing: 1-3 ft
Miles Driven: 66
I had all intentions to go surf some really below average waves after work. The wind was somewhat light for the afternoon and being it was tiny along Sea Cliffs I headed to the Ventura Beaches. Fruit Stands was my first stop. Though surf-able it was a tad smaller and more windy then yesterday. I didn’t really have a great time yesterday so though I might just go ride my Clarks Surfboard’s Pop Fizz Fish. When I got back to my car I had left the inside light on and my battery was dead. I hung around the lot for about half an hour hoping someone would show up to get a jump off. With shitty waves and a very low tide my odds of a fisherman or surfer coming through were small. Finally I called Ryan since he doesn’t live far away and he came and jumped me. By then I was completely frustrated and went home.