May 2011 Surf Sessions
5/31/11 AM Session: 1-3+ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1hr 10mins
Waves Surfed: 31
I keep forgetting that it is summertime now and that means I need to start getting my lazy ass out of bed earlier to beat the wind. I checked Mesa Lane in the hope of some left over wind swell. It was meager so I went south. For whatever reason I believed in the Harbor despite my better judgement or maybe its that I like to burn an extra $5 in gas? Where do you go when its small, high tide and windy? Emma Wood of course. There were only about four guys out and the occasional waist to chest high clean little wave would sneak in. I actually had a pretty ok time despite the fact the water was just about as cold as it was when I surfed Ocean Beach in San Fransisco (See Urban Surfing Blog for more details) about a week ago. I met this family who were visiting from San Diego, Mom, Dad, Sister and Brother all surfed. They were super stoked and there enthusiasm totally enhanced my surfing experience.
5/30/11 PM Session: 2-3ft, Mesa Lane
Time in Water: 1hr 20mins
Waves Surfed: 25
After a morning of failed car surfing John and I decided to give Mesa Lane a look. The wind was right and the tide was not too low making it a definite possibility. Upon checking it there were tons of glassy little nugget bowls rolling in with a very light crowd. It was bit on the low tide side but I was kind of frothy for a surf. The surf was far from epic but I was in crazy surf mode and began pulling and sticking a variety of airs out of which I brought down three ally oops and one really fast backside air reverse. It was a fun little session to say the least.
5/29/11 PM Session: 2-3ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2.5hrs
Waves Surfed: 28
Talk about late season crazy wind swell. I checked the buoys this morning and they were spiking at 12ft. I knew Rincon would have to have a wave of some sort. Low tide was around one. John and I cruised south and on the way down Santa Claus did not look very promising. The parking lot at Rincon had a fair number of cars in it and some people were walking around with short boards leading me to believe that there might be some waves to surf. Turned out there was some waist to chest high scrubby wind swell coming into the cove that was semi clean. At first I as not too enthusiastic but then saw a solid set of three waves roll in that sparked my interest and had us all over it. I ended up call boxing one wave and snagged at least three good ones and I saw John get a few good ones also.
5/28/11 AM Session: 1-3+ft, Mesa Lane
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 21
After a night of partying we got a later start not that it matter cause the wind was on it at like 6am anyhow down south. Devin, John and I hit up the Lane for another grovel session. The tide was too low, the wind was coming up and overall it was just terrible. Still I forced myself to take 20 waves and managed to snag a few decent ones.
5/27/11 PM Session: 2-3+ft, Mesa Lane
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 29
It was windy and the tide was high. My cash flow is getting a little bit low right now so I have to stay in town for a little while. John and I checked Mesa Lane and it was adequate offering side shore/offshore waves in the waist to chest high zone. We went in expecting little and came out having a ball. I stuck a ton of good stuff and got one proper barrel. John had a few nuggets and pulled into his share of close outs.
5/26/11 No Surfing: 2-3+ft
The plan was to hit up Santa Cruz for a session on the way down to Santa Barbara. The wind was too strong for anything north of the lane. Steamer had easily 30 guys on it with a boggy high tide and inconsistent chest high waves coming in. Bottom line neither John or I were going to get anything worth while out there so we bagged it and headed back to the Barb.
5/25/11 PM Session: 2-3+ft, North County, Santa Cruz
Time in the Water: 2.5hrs
Waves Surfed: 40
See Blog Clearing My Head for more details.
5/24/11 AM Session: 3-5+ft Ocean Beach, San Fransisco
Time in Water: 1hr 20mins
Waves Surfed: 11
See blog Urban surfing for more details.
5/21/11 thru 5/23/11 No Surfing: 2-3ft
I was in San Fransisco and it was blown out as fuck.
5/20/11 PM Session: 2-3ft, La Conchita
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 37
I was suppose to meet Brook-o at Cstreet but then traffic out of town was so bad that it took me almost 45 minutes just to get to Rincon. At that point I was over driving. Rincon left looked smaller then yesterday and a little closer to the rocks than I would have liked, especially since I was trying out a new board. I was on my way to Emma Wood when I noticed a bunch of fun lefts coming in off a sand bar in the middle of La Conchita. There were two guys on it but they quit shortly after I got in the water. It was not the biggest surf I could have found. It was clean and some killable little lefts. My new board feels a bit awkward. I think the volume distribution in the back half of the board is a bit uneven although I still need a few more surfs on it before I make a decision either way.
5/19/11 PM Session: 3-5+ft, Rincon Left
Time in Water: 1 hr 15 min
Waves Surfed: 6
Rincon left is one of the most over hyped waves in Santa Barbara. But is the closest spot to pick up south swell in the area. Truthfully I had no intentions on surfing again. I checked Rincon left on a whim and sure enough it was solid. There head high plus grinders coming through. The crowd was heavy with thirty guys packed into such a tiny take off zone. Not to mention it was rather inconsistent. Still I managed to get a few set wave nuggets off the pack.
5/19/11 AM Session: 4-6+ft, New Jetty
Time In Water: 1 hr 45 min
Waves Surfed: 16
Plenty of swell and size out there with some real chunky lefts. The NW wind swell and peaking south made for some crazy conditions that were borderline scary. My boy Kevin and I soloed it and found a few gems. Overall though it was mostly beatings. I managed to get on weird shack.
5/18/11 No Surfing: 2-3ft
Lots of wind and less then desirable conditions left me completely over it.
5/17/11 AM Session: 3-5ft, Santa Clarita River Mouth
Time in Water: 1 hr 45 min
Waves Surfed: 35
I have not surfed a good session in weeks. Today courtesy of a fast rising west swell and offshore winds the surf turned on with plenty of left and right barrels all over the beach. The water super cold though, but whatever I got barreled. I hate surfing. Why cant I just get eaten by a shark or hit by a car in the parking lot.
5/16/11 AM Session: 2-4ft, Santa Clarita River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves surfed: 20
Well at least the wind was offshore for the bulk of the session. Small scale wind swell and west ground swell were on tap this morning offering less then stellar surf. It was clean, no one was out and it appeared there were some bowly waves up the beach. I had a sick backside barrel that I got smoked on, but was a view and a half on my second wave. I snagged a few left larrels. Overall it was super weak, a bit too high and the water was freezing, then the wind came up. I love surfing in the summer.
5/15/11 No Surfing: 1-3ft
I had church in the morning and then after which the wind was super hard WNW and the swell less then desirable. Instead I came home, spent some quality time with Adrienne then went over to J7 to get some ding work done.
5/14/11 AM Session: 3-5ft, New Jetty
Time in Water: 1hr
Waves Surfed: 16
More size this morning, but with less shape and more wind left me devoid of motivation. I hung around the parking lot for about 45 minutes (see The Best Part of Surfing is the Parking Lot Blog for more on that) before forcing myself to paddle out.
5/13/11 AM Session: 2-4ft, New Jetty
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 26
I had not planned on getting a surf in today, but the cats would not let me sleep in despite having a late night. I checked the buoys and there was eight feet of wind swell, which means waves at Ventura harbor. Conditions were clean and I was there. I was pleasantly surprised with chest high plus sets, oil glass. It was a bit on the high tide side and inconsistent but there were some definite nuggets. I managed to score a retarded front side barrel where I just barely snuck out of the doggy door only because the backwash opened it up for me. Then two waves later I nailed a good little backside shack too. Over all I will take it to the bank.
5/12/11 No Surfing: 1-3ft
There is nothing I love more in life then driving all the way to Ventura for blown out small crappy surf. It was miserably cold out too. Lindsay and I had no motivation after exhausting every possible surf spot. Whenever I surf in Ventura I always see these two huge trees on top of this hill. For three years now I have wanted to hike up to them. There was still about an hour and a half of light left so we went driving around the hills of Ventura till we found an adequate trail that appeared to lead up to the top. It was a pretty steep and gnarly trail and in some places had no grading what so ever. Not to mention the whole area was private property and we had to keep weaving in and out of barbed wire fences. What was cool was the trail was lined with tons of lavender and rosemary so it was quite fragrant. When we got up there you could see all the way to point Mugu and Emma Wood. The sun was setting behind the Islands and all the lights from the Oxnard/Ventura area were turning on below. It was a surreal sight for sure and totally worth all the effort. Beat surfing wind blown crap any day.
5/11/11 No Surfing: 1-3ft
Small surf, work at Westmont and J7, plus dinner and dancing tonight left no time or motivation to sneak into the water.
5/10/11 AM Session: 1-3+ft, RINCON!
Time In Water: 2hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
Its funny how point breaks really bring down your wave count. Then again one wave at Rincon most definitely equals even on its worst days three waves at most other spots. I promised myself I was going to surf today no matter what. I have to get back to my roots. I know I’m super angry at surfing right now, well maybe angry is the wrong word. I think I am more or less just disenchanted by it. I let riding a piece of fiberglass across a moving mass of water define my life for the past 20 years. Now I have no definition. That being said I need to get back to the beginning and surfing as much as I am conflicted with it has been there for me. Its bitter sweet. As high a price I have paid to be true to surfing that is as many wonderful things that has happened to me from it. I need to stop here before this turns into a blog and not a surf log entry. I was cruising down to Ventura with the notion of hitting up the beachies, while passing Rincon I noticed there were some solid sets coming in. I almost drove off the road I was so excited. Now that I have my new car I braved the U-turn of death and trucked it back. It was not perfect, riddled with side shore south wind, scalloping the shit out of it (thank you surfline for that calm to NE am winds report). Beggars can’t be choosers and I needed to spend some time with my mistress. It was about waist to stomach high with some really fun lines through the cove. At first I was nervous if I could even surf the place decently anymore, but then it all came right back to on my first wave. I had a bunch of 6-9 turn waves, stuck a few backside airs and even hit a clean air reverse. Did I mention the whole time it was me and five guys out, three of which are friends of mine and out of those three two are Jersey transplants as well.
5/9/11 No Surfing: 2-3ft
Checked Rincon and the surf was super tiny and torn up. Was going to run to Pitas but then I had to see a guy about buying a bed back in town. After that the wind came up super hard and I had other responsibilities to see to thus leaving me with yet another surf less day racked up.
5/8/11 No Surfing: 1-3ft
It was super windy and I had a lot to do today. Stay tuned for a blog on that soon, maybe even tonight.
5/7/11 PM Session: Mesa Lane, 1-3+ft
Time in Water: 2hrs
Waves Surfed: 44
I finally decided to get back on the board again. Surfing has been so hard for me the last month. My life has been so hard for me. Let me be the first to say that it is going to get better. Its getting better everyday. Im glad to have surfing in my life and I want to love surfing again for surfing, not for performance, or competition or praise but just for the pure jovial experience of riding waves and being in the ocean. Having to opportunity to participate with nature in a way so few get to. Im back, but Im also not going let surfing take over my life anymore. Its going to be part of my life, but it is not my life. Its part of me but not all of me. I was reborn this week and I think its very rare when a person gets another chance at living again. I am very lucky to have that opportunity. As for the session, well it was terrible sectiony all busted up wind swell, yet some how I managed to get a stand up double up barrel that had me laughing like a six year old and helped to bring my life back into perspective.
May 1 thru May 6 No Surfing: 1-2ft
The surf has been flat, my situation at home went from bad to worse and now I don’t even have a home. Fuck me, Fuck you, Fuck everyone. I hope I get hit by a car crossing the street tomorrow!
Surfing Ruined My Life 
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