Surfing Ruined My Life

February Surf Sessions 2011

February Surf Sessions in Review

2/28/11 No Surfing- 1-2ft

After a shitty ass day at work that left me considering stabbing my boss I needed a surf.  The problem with working around and with knives all day is that when someone makes you angry the problem can be easily rectified with a good old fashion stabbing.  Luckily for me I have learned to control my anger a bit.  I cruised south knowing the potential of a surf to be limited especially with the drained out tide and super hard NW winds.  I got as far as Emma and called it quits.  Sure I could have given C-street a go but when you are already frustrated there is nothing to exacerbate the situation more then a C-street grovel session in the wind.  There is nothing more fun the car surfing especially when gas is almost four bucks a gallon.

2/27/11 PM Session – 2-3ft, Emma Wood
Waves Surfed: 39
Time in Water: 1hr 20mins
Surf was still down this afternoon.  I wanted to run to Ventura Harbor and check if the rain created any new sand bars not to mention the fact that there was absolutely no wind.  Unfortunately it was already a quarter to five by the time I got on the road.  Realistically Emma Wood or something off of Sea Cliff was my best option.  Emma had a fair number of waist to chest high bowls rolling in.  It was as glassy as it could get, no one was out and with the incoming tide it could only get better.  I jumped in and was joined by two other guys.  We traded off fun bowls till dark and the night brought on a beautiful sunset.  Minus the frigid temperatures while changing at my car I would say it was a worthwhile session.

2/26/11 PM Session – 2-3ft, Santa Claus Lane
Waves Surfed: 46
Time in Water: 1.5hrs
Motivation was a serious issues as I walked out of working and it was snowing up on the hill.  I have not seen snow fall onto my face in Santa Barbara in at least three years.  None the less I had not surfed in three days and was eager to have a look.  I decided to head south and hope for the best.  As I was passing Santa Claus I noticed some fun looking peaks with nice offshore winds out of the NE.  I looped around and saw tons of fun looking rights with the occasional left.   There were about four guys on it spread out.  I got out there and found plenty of chest high barrels although I was unable to make it out of any of the deep ones.   I stuck two decent ally oops and a really nice backside reverse.  It was a definitely a fun session overall, but still Santa Clause is always almost fun but not quite.  I wonder if that place is ever really good?

2/25/11 – 1-2ft – No Surfing
Cold, small and rainy conditions left me not frothy at all.  Looks like some potential wind swell for tomorrow and Sunday.  I have not surfed in three days now.  Im starting to bug out a little.

2/24/11 – 1-3ft – NO SURFING
Whoever thought that surfing could actually keep someone from surfing?  How does such a thing happen?   Ding Repair that is how.   I had class all morning and then spent the rest of my day slogging away at the ding pile over at J7.   I did not miss much more then some minor weak ass NW wind swell anyhow.  I hate ding repair.

2/23/11 – 1-3ft – No Surfing
Windy and small was the word from the surf today.  I had a look around town after work.  Mesa Lane looked like it had the occasional chest high wave all victory at sea with the NW winds.  I considered giving it a paddle, but I had a ton of homework to do and a test in wine class tomorrow.  Given the circumstances I opted to pass on the less then average BS session.

2/22/11 AM Session – 2-3ft, New Jetty
Waves Surfed: 26
Time in Water: 1hr 10mins
Two New Jetty sessions in a row this time of year?  It must be flat.  I was not even planning on surfing this morning after being graced with a day off from the kitchen.  My plan was to go into J7 early and handle some of the repairs that have been steadily piling up to the ceiling.  Then I checked the surf report which looked very grim for next few days or so and the Cstreet cam had a chest high wave on it with light off shore winds.   The sun was shinning and it was just one of those beautiful mornings that makes one think how wonderful it is to be alive.  With that revelation in mind I had to go for a surf.  There will always be time for dings.  Surf was definitely small in the waist to chest high range.   I sat on the dunes watching it for about 15 minutes while listening to some random guy playing folk guitar and singing on the beach below. He was not bad and for a moment if not for civilization all around me I thought I was in the surf film “Shelter”.  I was initially going to go surf Santa  Clarita but as I was deciding it got mobbed by a crew of six guys and was not all that good out there to begin with.  Then I saw a few fun little bowls over at New Jetty and since there were only two guys on it gave it a go.  As I stepped in to the water both dudes got out leaving it all to me.  I had a super fun solo surf for around a half hour till I was joined by one other and we just traded peaks for nearly twenty minutes.  Then another five guys showed up, I guess I sold it too well from the beach.  Six guys on a small inconsistent day with an impending high tide will ruin any session.  Thus I was over it and on my next good wave bid my adieu.

2/21/11 PM Session – 2-3+ft, New Jetty
Waves Surfed: 30
Time In Water: 1hr 20mins
Windy, small and shitty was the theme this afternoon.  I should have bagged the session when I saw how shitty Santa Claus was and went home for a fun masturbation session.  Nope, my boy Ryan said the wind was not too bad in Ventura so I kept trucking on till I got to New Jetty where despite the occasional chest to head high right and left was totally blown to shit by the SW winds.  If I drive I surf, that is the rule thus out I went.   I had a few decent nugs but was just unmotivated.  I guess it still would have been a fun day in NJ.

2/20/11 AM Session – 2-4ft,  Stanley’s
Waves Surfed: 28
Time in Water: 1hr 10mins
Buoys still had some swell on them and the wind was light with sunny skies.  Other then it being only about fifty out and the fact that there was snow on the mountains that surround town I was keen to find a wave or two.  I pulled off at Summerland and gave that a look, but it was too small, La Conchita had a solid wave but it seemed a bit too soft for my liking.  I was heading towards Emma Wood when I saw some decent looking bowls at Stanley’s with only two guys out.  It looked punchy and fun in the chest to head range.  I jumped in and got a ton of fun lefts and rights.  The two dudes surfing it quit after about a half hour leaving the place all to myself.   The session was going great till on my last wave the leash tie broke on my board and it went careening into the sea wall getting all beat up.  I just got that board a few weeks ago too.  Its repairable but still a bummer.  The bull shit thing is I had been meaning to change that leash tie after it broke at both Rincon and Bates, Thursday and Friday respectively, but was too lazy and forgetful to do it.  I guess that is yet another hard lesson learned here in Lisanti Land.  Then when I got out of the water there was an orange note on my window.  I thought I got a ticket even though where I park to surf Stanly’s is not a no parking zone.  It was a warning not to park there or I could get a ticket.  It was cool it was not a ticket but now that means in order to surf Stanley’s I have to park at Hobsons and walk.  All in all a good surf but a pain in the ass of a morning.

2/19/11 AM Session – 2-4ft, The Stair Case
Waves Surfed: 19
Time in Water: 1hr
This morning was another surf I had not planned on.  I thought I would have been too hung over to even get out of bed in time for work at 11, but thanks to things not going as planned I ended up making it an earlier night then expected.  As a result I was up early and since the sun was out and there still a bit of that SW wind swell on the buoys I figured I would just head to Emma Wood.  JD was awake for some reason even though he got home way later then I did and we gave it a go.  On the way down there were some fun looking waves at both Santa Claus and La Conchita.  Part of me just wanted to stop and surf either one of those, but I really had faith in Emma.  Turns out Emma was terrible, too bowly with the mix of NW and SW swells.  We were cruising back to see about the top of Pitas when I noticed that the north side of Solimar right before the houses start if your coming from Santa Barbara, looked punchy as hell.  We pulled over and saw a few dumpy, heaving shore breaky nugs with one guy on it.  Out of time we decided to give it a go.  To be wholly honest I did not think much of the wave while putting on my suit but as soon as we hit the beach we saw this wave wedge up, A-frame and then heave over spitting both left and right.  After that we were full on frothing.  I ended up getting a bunch of sick left hand barrels and hit a super clean backside indy grab air.  It reminded me of the grinds in Buxton, NC on the outer banks.  JD had a ball also.  It was so good I ended up being ten minutes late to work, but a lot of me thought of not showing up at all.  Sometimes you can find waves in the most unlikely of places I mean technically that is not even really a surf spot.  Soooo Stoked!!!

2/18/11 PM Session – 3-5ft, Bates Beach
Waves Surfed: 30
Time in Water: 2hrs
South East wind swell in Santa Barbara?  And Rincon of all places!!!  JD and I sat around all day waiting in vain for the wind to change.  Finally by 2:30pm we set off on a wing and a prayer to check every semi north facing spot I could think of.  After three less then stellar surf checks in the pouring rain we ended up at Bates Beach (the top beach at Rincon).  Turns out there were solid chest to head high lefts peeling down the beach and barreling.  I was all over it.  JD however was not enticed opting to stay and nap in the car.  I however went out there and snagged a hand full a great barrels sandwiched between some pretty shitty beatings.  It was a classic New Jersey side shore day although it also reminded me of North East wind swell Frisco.

2/17/11 PM Session – 4-7ft, Rincon
Waves Surfed: 23
Time In Water: 3.5 hrs
See blog Big Name Pros, Stupid Car Surfing and Aggressive Line Up Tactics

2/16/11 PM Session – 2-3ft, Rincon
Waves Surfed: 30
Time in water: 2hr 15min
New Jersey comes to Rincon was the best way to describe tonight’s wind blown Rincon session.  As a result it was JD’s best surf of the entire trip.  It was sweeping hard WNW down the point but there were definitely some chest high rollers.  For the first half of the session I was getting nothing but three to six hitters, but then towards the end I began picking off a handful of six to eight hitters and did one free fall section floater that was just nuts.  Needless to say it was a rather fun surf despite the windy drifty conditions.  I always thrive on wind swell out here.  That is what years of east coast up bringing will do to you.

2/15/11 PM Session – 2-4+ft, Rincon
Waves Surfed: 21
Time in Water: 1hr 15min
I was suppose to work till 3pm but found myself completely unmotivated.  I told my boss I had a personal problem and left at 2.  Technically surfing for me is a personal problem.  I think there are few people who have a surfing problem like I do. JD was claiming Rincon and Santa Claus looked as though the Con would be worth while so that is where we ended up.  Turns out the wind had turned WSW one of the worst possible wind combinations and there was a mass diaspora of surfers exiting the water.  I only had a little over an hour since I had class at 5pm.  Rincon was my only chance.  It was about chest to head on set but very mushy and bumpy due to the wind.  I ended up getting one great one and a hand full other fun waves.  JD had another hate session. I hope he gets a few fun ones soon.

2/14/11 PM Session – 2-3+ft, New Jetty
Waves Surfed: 31
Time In Water: 2hr 15min
I had high hopes for the afternoon session with some new forecasted swell. Little did I know it was all a lie and that we would end up at New Jetty yet again for the third straight day in a row.  I have to admit I was far from motivational upon looking at the mixed up low tide chest high inconsistent conditions.  Out of the three guys in the water the only guy who remotely looked like he was having fun was this dude on the beach with an RC surfer.  For that little guy it was like triple overhead.  We had a forced paddled out using the usual tag line “if this was Jersey you know we would be pumped right now”.  Turns out as the tide got higher a sick bowly right came out of nowhere and I somehow managed to get a sick double up suck out tube.  I took a few waves on JD’s 5’4 dumpster diver.  That board is as weird as it gets.  I could not keep it in the water.   I went for a tail free hit but ended up three feet in the air.  It was a trip to ride that thing but the whole time I felt out of control.  I dont know how Dane rides those stubby rocker-less boards.  Even JD had a good time tonight.

2/13/11 PM Session – 2-4+ft, New Jetty
Waves Surfed: 24
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 min
With more lack of swell JD and I cruised to New Jetty with limited amount of light left in the hopes of finding something worth surfing.  Turns out it was slightly cleaner then the day before and looked like more NW swell had filled in.  There was a right bowl going back at the jetty and an occasional left that ended up being more trouble then it was worth.  JD had another hate session.  I stuck two ally oops I was happy with, but besides that it was far from a great surf.

2/12/11 PM Session – 2-3+ft, New Jetty
Waves Surfed: 29
Time in Water: 1.5 hr
I had no idea if I was going to surf this afternoon.  I was suppose to go over and do some work at J7 but then got an alarming text from my boy JD that he was going to be landing in Santa Barbara around 3pm.  I was expecting him tomorrow at 3pm!!!  With that turn of events I knew I would be surfing.  Surf was rather small bringing us to windy but adequate New Jetty.  I ended up frothing on the session.  I had a ton more fun then I expected.  JD got a little bit frustrated considering it was tricky and you really had to know the break to get the good ones.

2/11/11 – 2-3+ft, No Surfing
I wanted to surf in the morning but was way to exhausted to get out of bed considering I was only running on about five hours of sleep all week.  Then when the afternoon came around I could not find the motivation so I went to the liquor store in stead and bought a nice bottle of 1997 Bordeaux and two bottles of this tasty Sicilian white blend.  Good wine and food, I made a very enjoyable Italian seasoned seared Cod fillet to go with the white blend, are sometimes way better then a shitty surf.

2/10/11 – 3-4+ft, No Surfing
This was suppose to be my week of free days and lots of surfing, boy did that turn out to be a lie.  I ended up surfing about the same or even less then I normally do.  Two factors fueled this fire.  First off the waves were average meaning meaning Rincon did not break and I have been swamped over at J7.  Today I had planed to get a surf in directly after my wine class, which runs from 7am-9am.  While enjoying my breakfast I got a text from Jason saying he needed me to come in and bang out four boards for him.  Four hours later I lost my surf window considering I have to be at my other job at 6pm and did not finish at J7 till almost 4pm.  So is life.  From all the reports and buoy readings I did not miss much more then some windy inconsistent steep NW swell.  I probably could have found some waves at Mesa Lane but was rather unmotivated to go for another grovel session this week.

2/9/11 AM Session – 2-3+ft, Oxnard Shores
Waves Surfed: 26
Time in Water: 1hr 45min
Hard offshore winds this morning and ridiculously steep NW wind swell pretty much screamed Oxnard.  I dont really like to drive that far to surf but on occasion there is no choice and since staying in my bed was no longer an option since I had already been car surfing for over an hour The Shores were it.  Days like this morning are nothing but nostalgia for me.  The wind was whipping thirty knots off shore, the water was chocolaty brown and all I saw was lefts and rights being groomed by the wind.   Yep, I was instantly reminded of winter time NJ, but I only had to put on a 4/3 and booties to be comfortable.  The Shores actually remind me a lot of Lavallette with its rolling dunes and bungalow style houses, not to mention tons of drifty little sand banks.  My boy Kevin met me up and we shared a little sand bar all to ourselves while trading chest high barrels.  It was far from spectacular, but I had one really fun left tube and a decent right as well that made it all worth while.  Then after almost two hours the tide must have changed a little or the wind or something cause it just turned off, another common quality at The Shores.

2/8/11 PM Session – 1-3+ft, Mesa Lane
Waves surfed: 39
Time in Water: 1.5 hr
Busy with ding repair all day and adverse winds down the coast I decided just to stay local and surf town before work and class.  The tide was right and there were waist with the occasional chest high bowl rolling onto the reef.  Mesa Lane is just one of those really playful short waves that break literally ten yards from the beach and is only really good on wind swell so its super consistent.  I can go out there for an hour and get a ton of waves.  I had two backside airs I brought down that I was happy with and almost landed a really clean front side double grab air reverse to nose pick.  I spun around too high thus caused me to finish the rotation behind the wave. Still I was pretty stoked to almost pull something like that off in such tiny conditions.

2/7/11 AM Session – 3-5+ft, Santa Clarita River Mouth
Waves surfed: 21
Time in Water: 2hrs
I have not surfed River Mouth in at least two months for two reasons.   One, the place is usually all walled in the winter.  Two, I dont have mornings anymore and the place gets blown to shit by noon nearly everyday.  There was some decreasing NW and SW combo swell in the water with a mid morning high tide and conditions were glassy.  I thought I saw some good lefts when looking down the beach.  Turns out that was a lie as usual out there and it was more like close out city. The whole session was pick and choose corners with “perfectly closed out barrels” which is very fitting considering that is the spot where that quote originated from in the surf film “The Decline of Surfing Civilization”.  I almost made a couple sweet pits but each time came frustratingly undone at the last minute.  That being said I did manage to snag at least a dozen worth while ones.

2/6/11 AM Session – 2-3+ft, Emma Wood
Waves Surfed: 28
Time In water: 1.5hr
Swell was finally down today, figures on my pseudo vacation week the surf is going to be down for a few days, but it looks like there should be some action by mid to late week.  Ades decided to come along with me this morning and who could blame her,  it was a beautiful California morning, warm and sunny.  I knew considering both the tide and swell that Emma was the spot and it showed having a solid 40 guys out, but the pack was spread amongst four peaks leaving plenty of room.  Of course the left peak in front of the life guard stand and the right in front of the overhead were the most crowded and I really wanted to surf the left.  I ended up getting a few good ones and even nailed two really decent forehand barrels.  After a nearly two week straight Rincon run it was refreshing to surf a beach break and really cool to go left.

2/5/11 PM Session – 2-3+ft, Rincon
Waves Surfed: 15
Time In water: 1hr 20min
I got stuck at work about 15 minutes late because I could not find any grill cleaner having to improvise with degreaser.  I cruised to Rincon and as I was pulling up everyone was leaving.  Surf was smaller then the previous days but still rather fun in the waist to chest high range in the cove and maybe a hair bigger at River Mouth.   Cove only had about twenty guys in it or so, the majority of whom were blowing every thing that came in leading me to surf there rather then up top.   I ended up getting a ton of good waves and being the first day on a new board I have to say it went rather well.  I think we have another J7 winner.  Stay tuned for a blog about this board soon.

2/4/11 PM Session – 4-6ft, Rincon
Waves Surfed: 14
Time in Water: 1 hour 15 minutes
Rincon is always really good on my birthday.  It has been 4 years now that I have celebrated my birthday riding ridiculous waves that most can only dream of at Rincon.  Today was no exception.  The cove was flawless yet again.  What a season this has been.  At first we all thought La Nina was going to screw us and the winter be a non-event but now we are going on week six of just a continuous run of swell.  I started up at the River Mouth knowing I only had about an hour or so of light left and wanting the most waves possible.  Turns out the crowd was pretty heavy there too (Rincon had easily a 150 heads when I paddle out) and it was all sectiony, bumpy and overall shit.  I got rocked so hard on my first wave, a solid close out that I thought I could make, my leash got ripped right off my ankle.  Luckily some unsung hero saved my board from utter destruction on the rocks.  Thank you again whoever you are.   After two bullshit waves and one pretty solid back door barrel I made my way down to the cove.  Once again just like yesterday I was in the zone and picked off an unprecedented 12 waves in under an hour, each one running to at least the highway if not call box.  By wave 14 it was nearly pitch black and to tell you the truth I dont think my legs could have handled much more.

2/3/11 PM Session – 5-7ft, Rincon
Waves Surfed: 12
Time in Water: 1.5 hours
I knew that new NW was going to fill in by the afternoon.  Unfortunately I was trapped doing ding repair till four.  My boy Ryan texted me letting me know that the cove was firing but super crowded.  The wind was blowing pretty hard onshore really making Rincon the best bet.  I cruised over there with the idea that if I could find a parking space in reasonable distance to the cove trail I would go out.  Some how I lucked into the very back of the bottom lot.  I got dressed and as I was changing I saw some kid walking back to his car and asked how bad the crowd was.  “Its really bad, but if you get one good one its all worth it” he said.  I was making or breaking it so his report did not matter anyway.  As I was walking down the trail I saw Kelly Slater speed walking up to the lot with a hat hiding his face.  It was not working because there was about another twenty people chasing him up the path with cameras and autograph hopes (read “The Champ Has Returned” blog for my thoughts on that).I went up and fucked around River Mouth for the bulk of my session getting tons of broken up wind blown five and six hitters in the well overhead range.  Nothing spectacular but the crowd was very manageable there  and the waves I was getting would have still been considered all time in most surf locales. With a steadily wanning light I decided to drift down to the cove and snag that “one” good wave.  As soon as I got in there a set swung my way.  I was a little too high up for the first two but the third one came right to me.  There was this older guy who surfs Ventura all the time and never gives me respect positioning for it as well.  At first I was going to give it up to him but then I thought fuck that this is Rincon and Santa Barbara, I deserve this wave.  Thus I back paddled him and went.  He ended up burning me along with one other guy.  I held my ground and waited for the wave to steepen up then put the gas on and passed them both.  I dont really have an exact count on how many hits I got off on the wave but I would say it was at least twenty, taking me from high cove all the way to double call box.  Best wave I have gotten out there in a month.  I guess that kid was right all it did take was one.

2/2/11 PM Session – 1-3+ft, Rincon
Waves surfed: 25
Time in Water: 1.5 hours
I really hope that Ponksatony Phil saw his shadow today and ran back in that whole cause with the way things are finally shaping up around here who would not welcome another six weeks of winter.  Rincon was small but plenty of elements came together to make for a wonderful afternoon of surfing read An Impromptu Picnic for more details.

2/1/11 – 3-4ft, No Surfing
Like I said last week Tuesday is a tough day for me.   The only way Im getting wet is if town is so good that it would be a crime to miss.  Truthfully Im not all that bummed considering the run of surf we have been having here the past three weeks or so.