April 2011
April 2011 Surf Sessions in Review
4/30/11 No Surfing: 3-4ft
There are times in a man’s life when he has more important things to handle then riding waves. I know that sounds crazy coming from me, but it is true. Adrienne was getting back late in the night from her Ireland trip and I had plenty of things to handle before her arrival. As far as Im concerned she and us are more important to me then any surf session.
4/29/11 PM Session: 2-4+ft, Mesa Lane
Waves Surfed: 35
Time In Water: 1hr 15mins
What a windy spring it has been here in Santa Barbara more then usual. I was planning on an evening session at Mesa Lane. After class it was still super windy and I had tons of things to get done around the house. I was about to bag the surf when Lindsay called me and said Mesa was firing and I was blowing it. I got down there and sure enough it was solid chest to head and clean. I had one super sick backside barrel, stuck a great BS air reverse on like my second wave, brought down an ally oop. Not to mention I was surfing with three friends of mine just trading off fun waves. There were a couple of sour old guys out being all rude, but I was not about to let it kill my surf buzz.
4/28/11 No Surfing: 2-3ft
I had work all day, a job interview, that went stellar by the way and then class leaving me absolutely no water time.
4/27/11 PM Session: 1-3ft, Hammonds
Waves Surfed: 54
Time In Water: 2.5hrs
It was the Sous Chef, Steve’s, at the kitchen I work in birthday today. As of lately I have also come to know him as a close friend. He wanted to get a surf in and who better to call in such a situation then me? We ended up going to Hammonds where we scored some fun little wind swell. It was far from epic, but a very therapeutic surf for me. I know Steve was stoked snagging like the only chest high wave of the day and just amped to get back in the water after a long break. I was surfing phenomenal for the conditions, sticking a plethora of minor airs, one text book backside air reverse and a gnarly tweaked out nearly full rotation ally oop.
4/26/11 PM Session: 2-3+ft, Mesa Lane
Waves Surfed: 24
Time In the Water: 1hr
More wind chop here in town and a hankering to get wet led me down the hundreds of steps it takes to get to the shitty little beach/reef mix that is Mesa Lane. Unlike yesterday there were a handful of guys out. I had a few good lefts off the bat and stuck a bunch of both front side and Back side airs.
4/25/11 PM Session: 2-4+ft, Mesa Lane
Waves Surfed: 16
Time In Water: 1hr
Talk about a New Jersey session. Mesa lane was solid chest to head and complete blown to shreds wind chop. It reminded me of those north east wind slop days NJ is famous for. That being said I had an alright session. I stuck a front side air reverse some how in all the confusion. After an hour though I was over all the wind, duck diving and walking back up the beach.
4/24/11 No Surfing: 2-3ft
It was Easter Sunday and I was suppose to go to my professor’s house to have easter with him and 18 or so other people. After work my Sous Chef Steve asked me if I would should a round of pool with him at the Cliff Room. I did not have to be at dinner till 5pm so I met him there after work. Turns out he had no place to go for the Holiday and was all by himself. I altered my plans and the two of us went back to his place and made dinner instead. Its pretty funny when two professional cooks make nothing more then spaghetti and sauce out of a can. Sometimes one must mind their friends in their moment of need.
4/23/11 AM Session: 2-3ft, New Jetty
Waves Surfed: 47
Time In Water: 3hrs 15min
I have not been at Ventura harbor for a surf in quite some time. I got up this morning optimistic to score some fun waves, but was disappointed with some weak ass chest high mush. After an hour and half I was over it and walking out of the water when my friend Devin decided to paddle. He forced me to extend my session with him. Turns out it was a good move. The tide push brought tons of good waves in and I started surfing incredible sticking all sorts of shit. It was the first time since my turmoil that I was able to leave my problems on the beach.
4/22/11 PM Session: 1-3ft, Mesa Lane
Waves Surfed: 44
Time In Water: 1hr 25 min
Usually surfing clears my mind and helps me to think, but not as of lately. As of lately Im just as sad and upset as I am on land. Ok, maybe a little bit less. It was more of the same knee to stomach high wind slop that town is famous for this time of year. I actually stuck a huge front-side air and overall surfed well.
4/21/11 PM Session: 1-3ft, Mesa Lane
Waves Surfed: 41
Time In Water: 1hr 10min
Winds picked up hardcore in town by about 9am this morning and there was not much on the buoys to begin with. I had pretty much written surfing off for the day doing some homework and gardening instead. Then I had to go to a job interview downtown at some burger joint for a grill cook position at 5pm and decided to check Mesa Lane on the way home. There ended up being a waist to stomach high wave coming in. It was for the most part weak wind swell but I managed to get two pretty decent backside tubes and stuck a backside air reverse nose pick on my last wave. Had to quit after that.
4/20/11 PM Session: 2-3ft, Emma Wood
Waves Surfed: 33
Time In Water: 1hr 35min
Why smoke pot on 420? Because its the cool thing to do? No thank you I would rather go surfing. See “I Went Surfing Today” Blog for more details.
4/19/11: No Surfing 2-3ft
See Blog “House of Lisanti is in Disarray”
4/18/11: No Surfing 1-3ft
See Blog “House of Lisanti is in Disarray”
4/17/11: No Surfing 1-3ft
See blog “House of Lisanti is in Disarray.
4/16/11 PM Session: 1-3+ft, Mesa Lane
Waves Surfed: 37
Time In Water: 1hr 20min
More small scale wind swell in town. There were two other guys out completely ripping thus stoking me to rip to. Stuck a bunch of decent little maneuvers. Surfing is the only thing I understand in my life right now.
4/15/11 PM Session: 1-3+ft, Mesa Lane
Waves Surfed: 34
Time In Water: 1hr 15mins
After finishing all the ding repair for the week over at J7 I ran down to Mesa lane where I enjoyed some glassy waist to chest high bowls. Although a bit weak and inconsistent there were still some rampy ones and I even managed to pick off two left barrels. Crowd was on it with 15 guys packed into the micro line up. It ended up being a beautiful sunset ending in a spectacular full moo. It may not have been the greatest conditions in the world but I will take it.
4/14/11 No Surfing: 2-3ft
See Pipe Calamity Blog.
4/13/11 PM Session: 2-3+ft, Mesa Lane
Time in Water: 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 19
After banging out some work over at J7 I rolled over to Mesa Lane right before dark in hopes of a light crowd and glass off. I got the light crowd but the glass off however was nonexistent as a matter of fact it reminded me of windy Florida. I grew surfing the absolute slot yet for some reason I could not buy a good wave out there. With the exception of my last left and an earlier right the session was kind of a total loss. My leg was still hurting from yesterday hindering me as well.
4/12/11 PM Session: 2-3+ft, Mesa Lane
Time in Water: 2hrs
Waves Surfed: 34
Initially my plan was to go get some waves just before dark after class today. Then my 5pm class was canceled so I made the most of it with a surprisingly fun session courtesy of some new windswell at Mesa Lane. It was solid chest high with maybe even a bigger set. I snagged a legit front side tube and countless other good waves. Unfortunately I had to cut my session short when I got a terrible leg cramp in my left calf. You know the ones when your muscle completely balls up and you have to stretch and massage it out in order to even walk. I have not gotten one in a while and was most likely because I was so pumped I forgot to stretch before paddling. It was a bummer, but besides a little soreness Im alright now.
4/11/11 PM Session: 1-3ft, Mesa Lane
Time in Water: 40 mins
Waves Surfed: 22
Spring time is wind time here in Santa Barbara and for me unfortunately with my afternoon only schedule it means missing out on the beach breaks when the swell is down. After yesterday’s Emma Wood gravel session, definitely not worth the price of admission or gas, especially at $4.09 a gallon, I opted to stay home after work and catch up on all the homework I did not do the last three weeks of ridiculous swell. By 6:45pm my brain was cooked. I needed to get out. I went down to Mesa Lane where there was some meager waist high wind swell. I grew up surfing that stuff and for whatever reason still have not been able to out grow the urge to grovel it. After watching for a few minutes I figured why the fuck not give it a go. I came to California to surf and guess what; Im still surfing as much as possible.
4/10/11 PM Session: 2-3ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 2o
My rule of thumb is always if I drive I surf and that went into effect today at mushy scalloped out wind blown Emma Wood. It reminded me of something I would have surfed in Virginia Beach during ECSC and been stoked about. Of course in California not so much. Whatever, I had a couple of nuggets none the less and its always better to surf then not surf. On the drive down I guess this tiny plane had to make an emergency landing on the beach just south of Little Rincon and there were all sorts of emergency personnel on the scene. I should have went and checked that out instead of surfing.
4/9/11 PM Session: 2-3ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1hr
Waves Surfed: 18
Spring time is wind time and that means rather then searching for the biggest waves you look for protection. This afternoon there was plenty of swell with NW groundswell, SW groundswell, and NW windswell unfortunately there was plenty of wind as well. I had a look around but still ended up at Rincon. It was about waist to chest, a bit soft with the none existent tide and chopped up with the wind. Still there was a nugget or two to be had if you could get through all the crap. The current sucked. When I paddled out there were two heads out and they left after my first drift leaving me the entire Rincon point totally to myself. I had a few good ones despite the crap conditions.
4/8/11 PM Session: 2-3ft, Rincon
Time In Water: 1.5hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Late season really spoils you out here. Rincon was waist to chest high in the cove, with just a pinch of bump and crumble on it, still very fun conditions. There were only five guys on it in the cove and not a sole up top. I jumped in and frothed the crap out of the meager waves on offer. I forgot my booties at home so I was slipping all over the place. Ironically Kevin and I were just talking about how he took his boots off at county line the other day just to add a little handicap. I was ribbing him about the retarded philosophy and then I go and accidentally handicap myself. Luckily for me the water was not unbearable even with all the NW flow we have had. After about five waves I got my footing back. As far as the walk back to the parking lot with numb freezing feet on ice cold ground that is another story.
4/7/11 PM Session: 1-3+ft, El Capitan
Time In Water: 3 hrs 15mins
Waves Surfed: 49
On my walk to class this morning I noticed that Lead Better had some solid chest high waves hitting the beach break and even larger sets on the point. I got home and checked the buoys and East Santa Barbara was reading 7ft and the wind was hard WNW, off shore for El Cap. Still I was thinking about Rincon when my boy from work Kevin called me and was all physicked on surfing in the avro. With a partner in crime I said lets go to El Capitan and it was on. We got there around 4ish and it was pretty small looking. There were only about four guys on it and occasionally a chest high wave would roll in. Anyway there were plenty of fun looking waist high ones coming through. Thing about El Capitan is that it is a perfect wave no matter the size so even small it was still rather inviting. We ended up having a blast. I dont think I have ever gotten that many waves there ever. Renowned surf board shaper Wayne Rich paddled out with these two mini-groms and two friends of his and he paddled right up to me, introduced himself and said “Hi my name is Wayne you are too good of a surfer to grovel this hard with all the hopping around, but just so you know I am really impressed by your surfing ability”. I was like are you serious, Wayne Rich a man who has seen so many greats surf was stoked on my surfing. He ended up getting a bunch of good ones and everyone out there was just hooting a hollering; a completely different vibe then the last time I surfed out there with Kooky. The waves were twice as good that time but the crowd was super heavy and people were all aggro. See March ’11 of the surf log 3/17/11 entry for more details on that session. All I can say was that it was a most splendid day of surfing.
4/6/11 PM Session: 2-3ft, Rincon
Time In Water: 2 hrs 45mins
Waves surfed: 44
Talk about a sneaker NW. I was not even planning on going to Rincon after work today. I only checked it because Santa Claus had some waves. Top of the point was solid chest high with the occasional plus set and wedgy. I spent the majority of my session poking around river mouth were I picked off a number of short, only about four turns, but fun waves. I even snagged two barrels. I ran down two people who dropped in on me while I was attempting two separate giant section floaters, which I made only to land on the fucken donkeys. All and all I would say it was a worth while surf.
4/5/11 No Surfing: 2-3ft
That was what the cstreet afternoon report was claiming. The cameand buoys all said otherwise and after yesterday I was not in the mood to grovel. I may have been able to find a few at Emma right before dark, but nothing I felt worth the gas. I went home, did my laundry, went to the grocery store and got some back home work out of the way. There is going to be some NW wind swell by the end of the week so I might as well get my shit out of the way now.
4/4/11 PM Session: 1-2ft, Rincon
Time In Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
I dont really know why I bothered to paddle this afternoon. With the recent run of surf I certainly was not hard up and the little knee to waist high dribblers just barely making it over the rocks at river mouth were less then appealing. I had to move into Jersey motivation to even paddle out: “You know if it was like this in NJ you would be all over it”. It was a beautiful afternoon with the sun shining and water crystal clear blue. I watched it for about a half hour and saw a couple of small ripable ones up top. Turned out I gave it more credit then it deserved but I forced myself to surf twenty waves before I got out. It may have been terrible but I reckon its always better to surf then not to surf.
4/3/11 PM Session: 2-3ft, Rincon
Time In Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 15
You cant have a session like yesterday and then not expect your axiom of personal performance to move up a notch. When this happens it takes an even better surf to upstage the other. For me it takes a few days to forget just how well I actually surfed (or in my case flailed). The surf was still fun in the chest high range but a bit inconsistent, weak and lumpy for my liking. There was this south texture on it the entire time, plus the kooky crowd kept getting in the way. That being said I ended up getting more then half of these waves all the way from high cove to the highway. The real bummer for me though was that I noticed I put my heal through the deck of my freshly repaired rooster J7 right through the repair I just fixed. It could be the first early signs of deck cancer. Im not super stoked about this new occurrence.
4/2/11 PM Session: 2-3+ft, Rincon
Time In Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 15
Sometimes I surf really well. I think everyone has those sessions where they feel like god out there. I dont care what skill level your at, when you have a session where you surf to the highest potential of your personal ability it feels incredible. I had one of these sessions at Rincon tonight. The funny think about it was that going into the surf I was feeling rather lackadaisical. I had just finished repairing my favorite board which got destroyed at some epic Rincon two weeks back (see “Bad Decisions Lead to Great Out Comes” and “Yesterday’s (3/24) Rincon Session Revisited” for the skinny on what happened there). Jason and I pulled the tail in about an 1/8 inch from my regular template and it has really turned my performance up a notch. I love computer design programs. It is so easy to make those minute details come out perfect. I think the combination of a good board, fun chest high plus glassy bowls and a light crowd aided in a fun session. I surfed the entire point spending the first half up at River Mouth were I snagged a nice little backside tube and stuck a solid backside section air. The next half I spent in the cove absolutely owning it. By my 15th wave I was completely exhausted. Besides the wind got on it a bit, the crowd picked up and the tide began to make things a bit swampy. Timing is everything in life.
4/1/11 Am Session: 2-4+ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves surfed: 25
Talk about a double up barrel fiesta out there this morning and I was not even going to go surf when I woke up this am. The weather was so nice and since I had got a lot of work done at J7 yesterday and an alarming potential for south winds in the afternoon led me to Emma Wood. When I pulled up it was solid chest high with overhead suck up sets. I saw a three wave set A-frame and barrel hard both left and right with only about six guys out. I was on it and at least ten of my waves were solid dry barrels. Then after about 45 minutes everyone showed up making it a bit crowded, but there were like six peaks working all going both right and left making for plenty of room. If I did not have to get dings done at J7 today I would have stayed out till the tide drained. Im so glad Emma has finally got her groove back!
for the april 4 entry: A wise man once said “the true measure of the success of a session is if you would have rather spent the time jerking off.”
yeah but I think I almost always have more fun jerking off. Im rather good at it you know
lolz
‘you are too good of a surfer to grovel this hard with all the hopping around, but just so you know I am really impressed by your surfing ability’- how many years did you surf eastcoast shit?
Thats what I told him
California people dont understand that when you are riding a 5’10 18 x 2 the only way to get over the flat sections is to hop or you dont have enough speed to link together big maneuvers.
must be spring 2 days with out a surflog update, or it must be finals.