December 2011 Surf Sessions
December 2011 Surfing in Review
12/31/11 AM Session: 3-5ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1hr 45mins
Waves Surfed: 12
I woke up and checked the buoys. There was a 7ft and 17 second WNW 288 Degrees showing. Now although small this is an optimal direction for some of my favorite spots right here in town. After relentless car surfing the call was to just surf Rincon which was pretty much firing. Of course there was also a 150 crowd on it. Still I managed to get a few. Sorbo had his initiation session and initially I was hoping to ease him into things. Instead he got thrown to the wolves. Still he managed to have a few good ones and surfed nearly four hours while Kooky and I waited on the rocks. Me I had two really good ones through the cove then managed to pick off a set wave in the cove off the pack and took it to the highway. When something like that happens on a day that crowded I decided to pack it in.
12/30/11 AM Session: 2-4+ft, Hollywood by the Sea
Time in Water: 2.5hrs
Waves Surfed: 37
I had all intentions on surfing Rincon so Kooky and I could get an early jump on painting. Home Improvement takes a lot of work. I should have hired some homeless people to come paint for me instead, but that would break the number three rule of the house: no homeless. Believe me it may sound absurd, yet there was a time when this rule did not exist and I found myself stuck with three nasty street folk and their dirty flea ridden dog. My boy Ryan said Hollywood was good again so we high tailed it down south. It was a bit smaller then the day before. My knee was feeling better and it was fairly clean with a nice spread out crowd. I ended up getting some really fun ones. Unfortunately I also managed to lock the keys in my car. Luckily for us some nice lady, Rose I think her name was called AAA for us and put it on her account. I just love the kindness of strangers. I will have to pay that forward. It was a really fun session and I think my knee is getting close to being back in full swing.
12/29/11 AM Session: 3-5ft, Hollywood by the Sea
Time in Water: 2hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
It felt good mentally to get my ass off the injury list and back into the water this morning. Kooky and I rolled to Rincon but it was a bit windswelly and not all that fun looking for the crowd. I called my boy Ryan and he was claiming Hollywood. I was in the mood for some beach break action so off we went. Turns out it was glassy with peaky lefts and rights all over the beach, chest to head with the occasional bigger set. The rights were a tad soft but the lefts were super killable I was a bit limited with my knee but still managed to pull a fs air reverse and plenty of other goodness. Just being back in the water was amazing.
12/28/11 No Surfing: 3-5ft
Still on the injury list, phsssst! I heard Hammonds was fun and the Oxnard beachies were all time. With my injury I decided to stay in and kill it on my apartment. It was paint, paint and more paint. Kooky and I got the first coat on the bathroom, second coat on the hall way between the bedrooms, all the trim in the living room/dinning room and all the touch up in the latter. Tomorrow I am going to try and surf in the am then knock out the kitchen first coat, trim second coat, bathroom second coat and maybe start on the bedrooms. Then it will be time to install the wood floors. Oh and did I mention Marc Sorbo is coming out for New Years Eve. He will be here on Friday. I love when the Lisanti court grows.
12/27/11 No Surfing: 3-5ft
My knee kept me out of the water today. Better safe then sorry. Things are not as well with it as I would have hoped. I may have to sit out for some time. Too bad cause it was pretty good here. I painted some of my apartment instead. The home improvements have started folks.
12/26/11 PM Session: 2-3ft, Kooks Peak
Time in Water: 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 3
A shitty and hopefully not serious knee injury ended my surf session early. No I did not injure it during this surf. I tweaked at Rincon Christmas night and then proceeded to hurt it more in my drunken endeavors at the Wild Cat and beyond late Christmas night into the wee hours of the next day. I can not really tell you for certain cause I was blacked out. Super smart! Fuck my life. Look for scarcely any answers and way more questions in Part III of my Christmas 2011 recap blog.
12/25/11 PM Session: 2-3+ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1hr
Waves Surfed: 12
See a Christmas of Epic Proportions Part I and Part II for more details.
12/25/11 AM Session: 3-4+ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 3hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
See a Christmas of Epic Proportions Part I and Part II for more details.
12/24/11 AM Session: 2-3ft, Little Rincon
Time in Water: 1hr
Waves surfed: 11
Last night I got shit house drunk at the Wild Cat. I am talking so much booze I do not know how I lived through it all. Between Kooky, West and I we spent at least $200. As a result West and I got a rather late start. We rolled to Rincon it was rather crowded. I was less then in the condition to fight the crowd. We rolled to Little ‘Con and there was a light crowd and a little wave there. As it turned out it was all drained out and not very good. I surfed with my friends Lee and Robby whom I had not seen in a while. Overall it was trash although I did stick a rather nice bs air reverse.
12/23/11 AM Session: 1-3ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves surfed: 22
Happy Festivus everyone. Surf was a bit down today. I had a friend of Kooky’s this guy from NJ West staying with me via San Diego. After a rambunctious night at the Kitty we decided to roll for a mid morning surf. Rincon was tiny but had perfect shape and a light crowd. I wanted to run to New Jetty or Emma Wood, but considering the crowd and conditions decided to take West out there just in case Rincon ends up being stupid crowded the rest of his time here. We both ended up having a ball. Small but fun is always enjoyable in my book.
12/22/11 AM Session: 2-3+ft, Hollywood By the Sea
Time in Water: 2hrs
Waves Surfed: 26
I hate car surfing and that was pretty much how I spent the bulk of my morning. I procrastinated leaving my house so that I could get some time in at Rincon at low tide. Turns out I blew it cause it was better on the high and I was left with things a bit too small in the cove and way too sectiony up top. I rolled down to Oxnard where the wind was hard offshore to meet my friend Ryan. The shores were a bit walled so we cruised to Hollywood where there was better shape though a little bit smaller. I ended up getting some good ones but overall it was a bit too windy, too cold and inconsistent for my liking. Beat not surfing though.
12/21/11 PM Session: 2-3+ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1hr 15mins
Waves Surfed: 12
Knowing the crowd was going to be light as a result of the wind Kooky and I decided to roll to the ‘Con for an evening session. After fighting stupid construction traffic through Carp we got there just in time to see some fun rights peeling through the cove despite the side shore wind. Fuck we are from New Jersey and used to the chop anyway. Unfortunately this crew of annoying Japanese groms mobbed the lineup as soon as we paddled out. Still I found a couple of decent ones and even stuck some decent backside airs. Kooky found the fast messy conditions and shitty crowd a bit too much to be reckoned with.
12/21/11 AM Session: 2-3+ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2hrs
Waves Surfed: 17
“Is it worth a paddle” said one vet to the other as I was changing out of my suit. In my head I was thinking, hell no. The tide got too low, swell was backing off and there was cross wind all over it. “Its always worth it” the other guy said. Those words rang into my soul. It might as well have been chicken soup. I felt warm inside to hear a dude twice my age who has been surfing Rincon for probably thirty years to still be super stoked on surfing everyday no matter what. It is true cause I always see that guy surfing all sorts of trash out there. If I can still be a grom at sixty I will feel more then accomplished in my life. I am still a grom at thirty so I guess I am half way there. As far as the session is concerned it started off alright with some minor south texture, but a very, very light crowd. These days when Rincon is empty you have to take it for all it is worth. I started up top and found a bunch of strange, wobbly, sectiony waves that were killable. Then I surfed my way into the cove as the tide dropped and found a few really fun nuggets getting three to the highway. It was far from special Rincon, but without a doubt worth a paddle.
12/20/11 PM Session: 2-3+ft, Cstreet
Time in Water: 1hr
Waves Surfed: 1o
Mother fucking Cstreet, are you kidding me. Is that really where I have had the best session in the last five? Apparently. Kooky and I car surfed down to Emma finding nothing. The choice came down to running back to Rincon or going to Cstreet. I had a feeling it could be fun at the latter so it was on. Not even looking at it we suited up. Out of time it was a make it break it kind of session, sometimes the best ones. There were two distinct peaks up at pipe. Straight out of the gates I was nailing good waves. I caught ten waves and eight of those had no less then six turns. My last three were sick and some of the better backside turns I have done on my new board. My last wave was so good I quit on it even though I still had easily another 15 minutes of light left. Unfortunately Kooky not really knowing where to sit had a frustrating session. Cstreet can givith and take it away just as fast.
12/20/11 AM Session: 3-4+ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 3hrs
Waves Surfed: 17
I walked down the trail this morning and upon feasting eyes on the cove found myself running full speed back to my car. I tore my suit on as fast as possible and ran back down the trail. Upon getting out there I snagged a good set wave right off the bat. After three nice turns I got greedy and tried to run the barrel only to get clipped. My next wave I call boxed. As I was walking back up the point I saw a ten wave set roll through. Super stoke. Well after that it got inconsistent as hell and about 200 heads paddled out. It became a shit show and I got burned on every good wave I went for. At one point up at the River Mouth some dude burned me after I traversed a gnarly barrel section, beat another fast section, then as I was about to destroy the lip this fat oath came down on my head. I flipped him off. He turned around, mid face mind you and flipped me off right back. Everyone was japping everyone. Such bull shit. I floated around for three hours when I should have quite after my second wave. I did stick a nice air on my last one. Back up at the lot I noticed it was full of trailers, campers, buses, vans, converted pickups and every other bullshit ride tourists rent to enjoy the California coast in. Stay the fuck home!!!!!!!!!!! We dont want any!!!!:<(
12/19/11 PM Session: 2-3ft, Little Rincon
Time in Water: 1hr 15mins
Waves Surfed: 12
Now that I am off from work for the next three weeks I promised myself I would force Kooky to surf more. Since he works in the mornings for me this means double sessions, which I am super stoked on. As Kooky said “you must feel like you are pro surfer again”. I must admit it is amazing to get to surf all the time again even if it is only for a very short time. Once again Rincon was shit house packed although rather fun. I was in no mood to put up with that again and Kooky agreed. Little Rincon was a bit fat with the tide, but we saw a solid set as we pulled up and with only a few heads on it a paddle was eminent. According to some salty old guy out there I managed to get the two best waves of the session. Truthfully I had wished I went to Emma Wood. One thing I must do is complement Kooky on his surfing there. The guy was reading the waves rather well and forgetting about a horrid lay back attempt I was rather amped on the progress he has made in his surfing out here. Right on Kooky Kyle.
12/19/11 AM Session: 2-3ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1hr 45mins
Waves Surfed: 17
This was my first session of the month at Rincon. How pathetic is that? What does that say about this bull shit season? La Nina, suck my big fat hairy cock. Seriously I could use some nice head and don’t worry its not that hairy I believe in manscaping. Wow! Talk about getting out of hand and with out a doubt inappropriate. I thought this section was about surfing. Lindsay and I cruised to Rincon. It was far from good, but after checking both Pitas and Little Rincon and not sure if the beachies down in both the nard and Ventura would be good, Rincon made the most sense. It was inconsistent, bad cross winds and rather crowded for what was on offer. Sounds like a great welcome back session eh? I did managed a few ok ones through the cove and a couple up top. Overall I could have taken or left it. Then I found out later it was offshore down south. We could have most likely gotten fun Shores with no one on it. Would have, could have, should have.
12/18/11 PM Session: 2-4+ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1hr 15mins
Waves Surfed: 24
I had a late start thanks to a poor decision that seemed wise at the time it was made. Don’t you hate that? I guess it can be directly attributed to my alcoholism and breaking one of the cardinal rules of promiscuous people pertaining to bar etiquette. That should be a blog. One of these days. Anyhow, I got barely any sleep, hurt my back and needed to chill for the bulk of the day. Turns out the wind was shit the entire day anyhow. Kooky and I car surfed all over the place before pulling a desperation paddle at Emma. It was a bit stormy, but with clean faces. It reminded me of wonky Jenks back home and nostalgia for a rotten wave got the best of me. I went to pull out my board and realized Kooky packed me the wrong board, bringing my step up by accident. I did not have a leash on that board either. I was pissed yet managed to control the ensuing rage rather presentably. I was proud of myself. I just grabbed the board and made the most of the session. It sucked not having a leash, although adding a slight x-factor to what would have been a lack luster session. I ended up having a blast sticking a nice backside and frontside airs on the most unlikely of equipment. Kooky got a few bombs as well.
12/17/11 AM Session: 2-3ft, Oxnard Shores
Time in Water: 2hrs
Waves Surfed: 44
I was awakened this morning thanks in part to a phone call from Lindsay. Initially I was about to yell at her for calling me from San Diego to boast about standing on the cliff looking at good Blacks or something to that tune. Turns out she was in Santa Barbara and wanted to surf. Her, Kooky and I piled into her car with the hope of surfing Rincon. Turns out the swell peaked yesterday, just my luck, and everything was tiny. New Jetty was walled. It was low tide and the wind was offshore allowing me to believe that The Shores may have a wave. It was a bit smaller and weaker then I would have liked, but the crowd was right and it looked fun enough. Kooky had a ball since it was really fun Wrightsville. Lindsay hates hard off shores. I had a few but overall I would have liked it if the waves were about six feet bigger. Then again if my grandmother had a penis she would be my grandfather.
12/16/11 No Surfing: 2-3ft
I know I broke the link in the chain of surfing everyday since the last proclamation. But let me just say that by breaking the link in that chain I also broke a link in the chain of me going with out a certain other pleasure of mine. That’s right folks the two month drought has been relinquished and not a moment too soon if I may add. I actually did not intend on partying at all Thursday, but then had a very nice raise bestowed upon me at work. With such tidings a celebration was in order. It was out to the Kitty to help spend my new capital and help out the Santa Barbara economy a little more. If everyone in America rolled like I do we would not be in an economic down turn. Chris Lisanti, helping bring back the austerity of the US one drink at a time. Kooky and I were chilling out back doing the usual meet and greets when these two chicks came up to us. We hit it off. Next thing you know all were back at the palace for more drinks. I will just leave it at that. You can fill in the blanks. An Imagination is a terrible thing to waste. What I will say is that I did not really get to sleep till 8am and had to be at work by 11:30. I don’t have to tell you the shit show of a work day that thus ensued.
12/15/11 AM Session: 2-3ft, New Jetty
Time in Water: 1hr 15mins
Waves Surfed: 26
More New Jetty. Once again I was graced with clean offshore conditions and a light crowd to start with. A few friends of mine were out who were also former professional surfers. The water was fucking freezing, had to be low fifties at best. Thank your Ryan for hooking me up with some warm wet suits for a change. I had a couple of little tubes. Overall thought I was blowing it on the performance level missing just about everything I went for. I guess I am still feeling out the new board and slowly getting back into shape after taking nearly two weeks off from surfing cause I am a bone head. None the less I still had fun.
12/14/11 AM Session: 2-3ft, New Jetty
Time in Water: 1hr 45mins
Waves surfed: 27
Swell was a little down this morning, but the sun was out and the wind offshore. The jetty was a bit on the small side, but still very killable. The crowd was light when I checked it. By the time I got my suit on the place was mobbed. Still I managed to get plenty of fun waves. I stuck a hand full of ally-oops, had a few little tubes and a nice backside air I was stoked on. All in all I would say another fun session.
12/13/11 AM Session: 2-3+ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1hr 45mins
Waves Surfed: 28
What a fun session I had this morning. Emma had some decent clean chest high plus peaks and a light crowd. There were ramps, lips and barrels. I had one left drainer that was sick. I stuck the majority of my airs. The sun was out, the water was that crystal clear blue and for once in a long time everything seemed like it was going to turn out to be alright.
12/12/11 AM Session: 2-3+ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1hr
Waves Surfed: 19
Yay, I went surfing finally. Wind was hard offshore, waves were less then what I hoped and it was raining. I almost bagged it yet again. I was sitting in the parking lot at Emma and I saw a few suck up tubes come in. I forced myself to go out and I am glad I did. I ended up snagging a bunch of fun. I realized that have I been messing up. In my life surfing has always seen me through, yet this time in my darkest hour I turned my back on surfing. From this day forward I am going to surf everyday I possibly can no matter what, just like I used to. I need to go back to my roots in life. I wrongfully based my happiness on a person and that was the biggest mistake anyone could ever make. 2012 is right around the corner and the rebirth of Chris Lisanti with it. I am scared for sure, but ready. I don’t know what the future holds for me. What I do know is that I am going to make the most out of every minute of every day. I know I am still going to hurt over Ade’s but I think that I need to embrace that emotion cause it shows that maybe I finally have learned how to love. Meaning one day I will love again and get it right.
12/11/11 No Surfing: 3-5ft
Yeah I blew it. I woke up late expecting Rincon or Emma to have some swell. They didn’t. I took a gamble and cruised to new jetty. It was macking there, but super stretched. I saw a few guys fighting the good fight but overall it would have been an hour of getting beat down by eight to ten foot, angry ground swell on a 5’10. No thanks. Since I was lame on the surf why don’t I tell you about the interesting night I had downtown. Sunday night is Karaoke night at the James Joyce and Kooky and I have become quite the staples down there. He always upstages me, but our rule is one can’t make a fool of himself with out the other. So if he sings I sing. After getting our fill of bad singing our night always ends at? That is right you guessed it: THE WILD CAT! It was the annual Christmas drag show, which I unfortunately forgot about or I would have got there earlier to enjoy the entertainment. None the less I knew a few of the she/he’s cause they are regulars and shot the shit with them. While we were doing talking this woman bumped into Kooky and they started having a conversation. As that was going on the guy she was with became engrossed with one of the drag queens. The queen pulled him onto the dance floor by his tie and the girl followed. About ten minutes later the girl came back outside but with out the guy. We began to talk and it turns out it was their third date and he turned out to be gay. Go figure. I ended up getting her number. Every cloud has its silver lining. I think I am beginning to get my mojo back ;>.
12/10/11 No Surfing: 2-3ft
What a strange NW swell. It seemed to hit no place but Cstreet and I was not about to fight a Saturday crowd there. Instead I car surfed for an hour, before finally giving up and going into work early. Had a fun night on the floor at the Wild Cat the night before at least and I did not black it out, a rare occurrence for me these days. Damn Sarah and her strong drinks she pours me. I am going to surf tomorrow no matter what. Either that or take up bocce ball.
12/9/11 No Surfing: 1-2ft
More flatness not that it really matters. I got piss ass drunk at the Cat last night. Turned out to be a rather fun night. Lots of people out, the DJ was on it. I wore my crazy zipper jacket. I ended up meeting a pretty cool chick got on the floor with her a little bit almost swooped it. Then ended up just getting her number instead. Stoked on it though. That is the first step and the fact that she did not come home with shows she is not the usual sluts I get mixed up with. I think I will give her a call. I think there is going to be some NW swell for the weekend so maybe I can actually write about some surfing here for a change.
12/8/11 No Surfing: 1-2ft
And the great flat spell of December continues. Since I have nothing to talk about surf wise I thought it would be fun to talk about the train wreck of a date I had last night. I met this rad chick at a pot luck dinner party on Monday, where I pretty much did the majority of the cooking. She was from Jersey too and we hit it off. As I was leaving she asked me to get her number. I waited a day and decided to give her a call. She said she was going to have a few drinks at Brew House and to meet after I got off from work. Well I got there at around 9:30pm and she was wasted. I am talking obnoxious, loud and sloppy. I sat down and had a beer, but she was all over the place and by 10pm she needed to leave cause it was getting embarrassing. Her friend took her home and I finished my beer, listened to one more set of the sick blues group they had playing and went home. The first date I have went on the three months and this is what happens. Santa Barbara is a fucked up town. I know I said that I was going to try and force myself to date a little more but I think I am far from ready to get back out there yet.
12/7/11 No Surfing: 1-2ft
Ahh the California Dream, beautiful sunny skies and flat ocean. I love spending twice what I make a month to live here so that I can surf everyday and it is flat. Whooooot…Life is good!
12/6/11 No Surfing: 1-2ft
What shit month of surfing December has panned out to be. It was fine I got shit faced at a pot luck dinner party I had to hitch hike to and was tired anyway. See “I Blame Bob” for more details.
12/5/11 No Surfing: 1-3ft
Lindsay and I set off with the hopes of some offshore barrels. As it turns out the winds were way too hard pummeling the small chest high surf that was inconsistent at best. The air was freezing and ultimately we could not pull together the motivation to surf it.
12/4/11 AM Session: 2-4ft, Oxnard Shores
Time in Water: 1hr
Waves Surfed: 17
Finally a surf and a good one at that. I got down to Ventura Harbor and it was all closed out. I was left with a choice of either going to a steadily draining tide Emma Wood or a gamble at the shores. If I choose the shores and lost then I would have once again blew my gas on yet another wasted car surf. My prayers were answered as I came up the beach to head high offshore spitting barrels in every direction I looked. Kooky and I were on it. What ensued was a full on barrel fest. I had some drainers. I saw Kooky get blasted out of a few good ones too. My last wave was one of the better left hand barrels I have caught in a long time. It may have been three days in the making but the first session of the month was on.
12/3/11 No Surfing: 1-2ft
I could have found some waves around Oxnard, but thanks to yet another night of drinking I found myself waking up a bit later then desired. Actually it ended up being a really fun night out. I checked the report and Cstreet looked fun. I was banking on maybe finding something along Sea Cliff Drive but of course it was all not surf able. I love car surfing for thirty miles. Good sess.
12/2/11 No Surfing: 2-3ft
Last night I got fucked up. It was not suppose to be that way. Kooky and I were going to go out and have a drink and see if anything was popping. If not we were going to call it a night. Next thing I know he is pouring shots. Then we decided it was a night to go hard. I ended up meeting this rad Australian chick here on holiday. We drank, we danced and then I blacked out. I woke up on my bed at 5am still in my threads and alone, but I did manage to close out my tab. Apparently Kooky blacked out too and hitch hiked home. Good times. Anyway I was way way way too messed up to even think about a surf this morning. Heck I barely made it to work. What is that phrase two steps forward and ten steps back. That sounds about right when thinking about my life. FML……..
12/1/11 No Surfing: 2-3ft
Not surfing on the first of the month must be a new trend for me as of late. Its funny I was talking to a buddy of mine in class the other day and he was all stressed out. I told him it was because it was the end of the month. Rent is not cheap in Santa Barbara and everyone of the working class or the “serfs” as I like to call us live pay check to pay check yet we still drop money all over town like we actually had some. It is the biggest joke here except the joke is on me. I had to go to the bank to put all the money or lack there of I had collected from my roommates and toss it in the bank then get over to the rental office and pay the rent. By the time I got it all covered it was 9:45am. I checked Mesa Lane. There was a little wave but the tide was a bit low for the place. I mulled it over for about twenty five minutes but could not get stoked to hit it for an hour before work. Motivation or none has definitely been the theme here in Lisanti Land these past few months.
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