Surfing Ruined My Life

March 2014 Surf Sessions

3-31-14 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 50 mins
Waves Surfed: 25
I don’t really understand what went on in the world in the last week that caused me to have to pay .10 cents more a gallon for gas tonight, but whatever it is, it needs to stop.  I pulled up to Emma Wood and a less then enthusiastic Trevor was waiting for me in the lot.  The Toll Booth Peak had about 15 groms on it and looked weak as heck.  I saw a few on the south peak and Life Guard Tower with no challengers.  We padded and the water was fucking freezing!  I kid you not it had to be 52F.  The tide was a bit fat and the line up was suffering from lots of wobble from both back and side wash.  There were plenty of waves out there, yet I could not find a decent one to save my life and it looked as though everyone out there was struggling as well.  Still it beat not surfing.  Looks like some wind, rain and odd swell the next few days.

3-30-14 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
Last night I was driving the train to Fancytown with the usual suspects, Bizarro, Timo, Amelia, Diego and my new friend Sean, who also consequently is from New Jersey, hailing from Point Pleasant Beach.  Throw two Jersey boys out on the town with booze and your in for a heap of trouble and a hell of a good time.  Everyone got fucking hammered.  Sean was deemed mayor of Fancytown.  I consumed enough alcohol to kill a normal human being and somehow managed to not black out.  Overall I would say it was a solid time at the Wild Cat and was somewhat reminiscent of my party days of old.  I woke up hung over as shit.  Considering the high tide and hard winds I found it best to just call it a day and sleep in.  Work sucked.  I don’t know how I managed partying hard and working like I did.  I must have been nuts.

3-29-14 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 15
I think my goal in life is to do everything in my power to only surf waves in the 2-3 ft range.  If that is my goal I live in one of the best places in the world to do it.  I woke up early hoping for another fun session at Emma Wood only to find that it was way too high tide and bit on the small side.  Left with my back up against the wall I ran to the Harbor.  New Jetty was way too flooded.  I noticed some white water over at far River Mouth.  It looked fat, but ride-able and I wanted to surf.  I hail Mary’d it.  I found a really slow but work-able high tide peak just south of the reeds that produced something.  It was a beautiful morning, the water was an emerald green and I had the whole place to myself.  Some times a surf in solitude is just what the doctor ordered.

3-28-14 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 23
Once again Rincon failed to produce anything that I was interested in surfing.  That slight south wind that has plagued the mornings for the past few weeks was also rearing it’s ugly head.  Trevor and I rolled to Emma which although crowded had a few nuggets coming in.  Despite the crowd there were more waves going by  not ridden then ridden.  The North Peak had the cleanest wave, but was also the most crowded and least consistent.  There were a handful of peaks scatter from mid Over Head to The Wall.  Each only had a few heads on it.  I mainly surfed Life Guard Tower which is my favorite of all the peaks there anyway.  Although not quite as good quality as yesterday, being it was a tad more closed out I still managed to find a few good ones.  Had one sick little bs tube and then followed it up with a money left tube that doubled up and barely allowed me to escape doggy door.  Not the best surf ever, but fun enough for me.

3-27-14 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 25
I met Trevor up at Rincon hoping for a repeat of yesterday.  When I pulled into the lot it was visitor central. It wasn’t crowded or anything, but everyone who was there was not from here.  I counted three RV’s and four camper vans.  What the fuck, this was not even a good swell or a hyped up swell.  I know its spring  break but this is a bit on the ridiculous side.  It didn’t matter, the wind was south and the tide fat making what could have been a rip-able session into garbage.  We went to Emma where it was much cleaner and looked like there were fun little kill-able bowls everywhere.  My first thoughts were it had all the makings of a barrel fest.  Emma always reminds me so much of S-Turns in OBX on this type of swell and tide.  The brown water only helps to prove my case.  I think maybe that is why I like Emma so much.  Depending on the swell it either reminds me of OBX or Jenks, two of my favorite waves from back East.  We paddled and although there were a few shacks to be had it was far from the barrel fest I had hoped for.  I did manage a pretty sick FS tube and then stroked into a gnarly right double up that I free fell into the barrel back side, somehow managed to catch on the landing, rode out of that section before grabbing rail into another.  That one wave made the session for me.  Today was my first day back to regular work detail and I must say it was rather tiring.  I have not really worked a full shift in 3 weeks.  I am slowly regaining use of my left hand.  Its funny how much better just a limited amount of use has improved things for me.  Lets keep it going, for a speedy recovery.

3-26-14 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 15
Hard WNW winds with some WNW groundswell can only mean one  thing, Rincon Cove.  Trevor met me in the lot and it looked fun enough for what it was with a light crowd.  It looked a little soft but do-able and it wasn’t like there was anyplace else to go.  Right off the bat I scored a few eight turners.  Then I call boxed my next and followed that up with three to the highway.  There were about twenty heads out, 80% visitors.  Trevor and I made sure to paddle around them laying claim to most of the good set waves.  Unfortunately my finger pretty much leaves me in terrible pain for the duration of the surf.  When I paddle it feels like someone is going to pull off my nail with a pair of pliers.  If I bump it my finger feels like someone hit it with hammer. Otherwise it constantly feels like it is getting pricked by a pin.  After about fifteen waves I had a pain headache and decided to call it.  Epic ‘Con it was not and therefore not worth suffering for.  I had a few and quit while I was ahead.

3-25-14 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, New Jetty
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Finally, my stitches came  out today!! Actually it hurt like fucking hell.  I have accumulated a lot my fair share of stitches over the years, but these my friends hurt the most when coming out.  Holy fuck was I seeing stars.  I am thankful there was only four of them. After that I grabbed my gear and headed south.  I knew there wasn’t much and conditions not so good, but I really wanted to surf.  Anything would do.  I headed to Emma where the south peak had a wave but it was a little too small, low and peaky for my liking.  I was going to just desperation paddle, when I noticed although it was windy the channel was not too destroyed.  I decided to go have a look at the Harbor.  In any case Emma would only  get better with the increasing tide.  There was some wind, but the faces were clean on the waves coming in at New Jetty.  The right hander coming back toward the Jetty was bowling up pretty nice.  It was definitely the best of the worst for the day.  I paddled and was in way more pain then I would have hoped.  I duck taped my finger and wore a wet suit glove.  It even hurt to paddle.  Still I forced out 20 waves and managed a cool little no grab backside barrel since my injured finger is on my grab hand.  No matter it was just great to be back in the water.

3-24-14 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
Looked like more average at best surf again for today.  Work was boring considering I am still useless in the kitchen and therefore just sort of meander around all day on the clock.  Whatever, a pay check is a pay check.  It’s not my fault my superiors are retarded and don’t want to give me anything to do worth my time.  I see the the doctor tomorrow, get my stitches out and then its too the beach for a long awaited surf!

3-23-14 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
From the looks of reports some new NW had filled in making things more ride-able.  I could probably surf right now if I really wanted to, but I am going to  wait till it’s worth it or Tuesday when the stitches come out and things hopefully look and feel ok.  It looks like there is going to be some good combo swell action for my triumphant return.

3-22-14 No Surfing: 2-3 ft
Some new steep NW filled in for select spots in south county, which means more then likely I would have ended up at a rather closed out New Jetty or something weird along sea cliffs.  Alas it was of no bearing to myself since I still cannot surf.   Work was bull shit since all they left for me to do was a safety audit that took me less then an hour to fill out leaving me seven hours with nothing to do.  Pretty much I got paid to hang around the kitchen all day and “supervise”.  Get ready for another high action day tomorrow.

3-21-14 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
Not much in the water today at the points.  Mike surfed Strand and got some.  I bet New Jetty was decent and I have a feeling Jalama wasn’t bad.  Fat good any of it does me.  Still on the injury list I have to say I am getting a bit down. I miss surfing.  The end is near and hopefully by Tuesday I can be back in the water.  Although if a solid swell shows in the next few days I think I will duct tape my finger and go for it.  I had more pain today then usual.

3-20-14 No Surfing: 1-2+ ft
Initially I had planned to stay home yet again from work.  Then my boss picked up the phone and and told me to come in.  I could be of use in the office.  Thus I embarked on a very stimulating day making menus and writing recipes for eight fucking hours.  If I had to do that everyday for the next twenty years I would fucking kill someone. Surf finally came down today.  Did not look like there was much of any thing note able to surf that I missed.  I can finally appreciate the amount of time I have taken for granted having a complete functioning left hand.  You never really understand till you lose.

3-19-14 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
Day five of not being able to surf and at this point I must say I am beginning to feel a little bit forlorn.  My situation is gay.  No surfing, no saxophone, at least I am not completely incapacitated.   It would suck way worse if I was bed ridden for the duration of this thing.  I can still go on walks where I have found plenty of sea glass.  Yesterday my girl and I went out to Ojai to check it out.  I had never been there before and after years of hearing “how beautiful it was” or “what a quaint town it is”  I finally had the opportunity to see the hype for myself.  Why not go see some new non-surfing related things.  I can’t do anything else.  The drive out there was nice enough.  I wouldn’t call it breath taking, but it was nice enough.  The town itself left a bit to be desired for me.  It was nothing more then a small town with the usual shops to go along with it.  In comparison with the Santa Ynez Valley towns it was rather disappointing and hardly worth the trip.  With the exception of the town’s historic post office and Bart’s Books a bookstore that is completely out doors, you have to see it to believe it, the place was forgettable.  I for one do not feel as though I was cheated not visiting all these odd years.

3-18-14 No Surfing: 4-6+ ft
So this what life with out surfing is all about.  Well it’s pretty fucking lame.  Maybe this is how Mike feels when he is on on of his log business trips and is land locked.  The sad part is that I am still in surf mode too.  Every morning I wake up and check the buoys, reports and cams and still field the usual barrage of texts from friends who seemed to forget I am all laid up at the moment.  Its cool it could be worse I only have about 5 more days or so till I can surf again. Trevor has been nice enough to give me the play by play on his surf tribulations so I can feel like I was there too.  Today is tough cause it would have been my day off and therefore I could have surfed where ever I wanted.  Looks like Jalama would have been a great option since the winds were light and a mid day, medium high tide thus great surfing conditions all day.  Rincon although maybe a bit bumpy with the south wind early could have been alright too.  With the lower tide this am and 3 contrasting NW swells in the water Strand was probably fun too.  Since I am unable to surf I am doing other things.  Yesterday I took my girl into the valley and we did a little exploring around.  We went to Nojoqui Falls one of my favorite spots there and then went for a drive into Los Padres National Forrest up to Figueroa Mountain for some spectacular sunset views.  After which we made our way into Solvang for dinner.  I wanted to eat at The Little Mermaid, my usual jank joint up there, but it was just after eight and they were regrettably closed.  We ended up settling for this over zealous fancy Italian place, Cecco for lack of a better option.  Besides there is much irony in dining in an Italian restaurant in a Danish themed and founded town.  With the exception of the Calamari, which was average at best, served luke warm and with TARTAR SAUCE (where is the marinara?) the rest of the meal was splendid.  They did an olive plate with flat bread that was quit delectable, the bruschetta was well done and we ordered one of their brick oven pizzas, a white pie with cherry peppers that for me stole the show and one I am going to take with me.  All in all I would not make a trip there for the place, but if the Little Mermaid is closed and your in the mood for contemporary Italian cuisine Cecco is your spot.

3-17-14 No Surfing: 4-6+
Its one thing to miss the average everyday crap I surf due to injury.  It becomes steadily more frustration when a nice angled and period west decides to show up and peak.  It was near torture to watch multiple town spots go off while I was on my usual beach walk with my lady.  My only consolation the idea that I would not have been able to surf it anyway since I under normal circumstances would have been at work.  Luckily for though unfortunate for every other surfer in this area this morning although the buoys were reading very good the wind decided to come up hard out of the south thus fucking every right point in the area.  Sorry guys, but at least I can rest easy knowing all I missed was lots of personal frustration.  Today is my girl and I’s one year anniversary.   Its a pretty crazy thought that we are still together after all the bs we have been through.  I must really have found patience in my old age or an affinity for suffering. Whatever the case its been a decent enough run none the less.  Hopefully we can keep the positive momentum to a maximum and the negative to a minimum.  I decided to stay home another day from work since my had is still fucked and working not the best idea for it.

3-16-14 No Surfing: 3-5 ft
Day two of not being able to surf courtesy of work related injury.  I decided not to go into work today as I realized a few key elements that hinder my ability to do my job.  First off my left hand is nearly useless.  I cant lift anything, grab anything, and whatever I do try and accomplish must be done with extreme caution.  Secondly, I need to keep my wound as clean as possible to avoid infection.  It would have to be completely covered up to avoid both contamination for me and the food and currently a rubber glove wont cut it.  I guess I could plastic wrap the hand, but that can also propose possible sanitation issues and safety issues as it will hinder my hand from working even more so.  Finally I can not adequately wash my left hand with out constantly getting my stitches wet thus leaving lots of room for infection.  Basically I am SOL at the moment.  I can’t surf and I can’t work.  At least I can still Jerk off.  Did I mention I am going to miss a few days of good waves including today.  FUCK!

3-15-14 No Surfing: 2-3 ft
I woke up this morning in a fair bit of pain after nearly losing the tip of my left hand ring finger in a stupidity accident at work.  Looks as though it didn’t miss all that much anyhow.  Buoys all read average at best.  There was a fat ass high tide and I fucking hate weekend crowds anyway.  I am sidelined for a few days, a week at the most.  I don’t really want to surf on it while I still have the stitches in, but if Monday’s swell is really good I may have to improvise and paddle.

3-14-14 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 28
A drop  in swell and high tide had me at Emma staring at clean chest high bowls and only one guy out.  It wan’t the best Emma ever but fun enough for me for the time allotted.  I paddled the life guard tower peak and found a half hour full of kill-able lefts and rights.  Then for whatever reason it turned completely off and I was left scrambling for a decent last wave.  Thanks to road construction traffic in Carp I was almost a half hour late to work, where I managed to cut off my finger on the edge of a pot.  Guess I am going to be on the injury list for a few days.

3-13-14 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 3 hrs 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 30
Some days you just need to know when to pull the plug and I should have done so long before I ever found myself in the Cove.  As a matter of fact I should have bailed not long after Trevor left for there was very little worth anything by that point up top and the Cove packed with Long Boarders.  Trevor and I paddled at a very fat, but kill-able and almost empty River Mouth. At first the wind was light and we were traded ok waves.  I mean, probably the best of the worst as far as the morning was concerned.   Then the wind proceeded to pick up, tide droped and waves got mushy.  There was an occasional head high set every 40 minutes or so with 4 to 5 waves in it. Thus I stayed out while getting colder and more frustrated.  Finally the crowd picked up, not heavy by Rincon standards but annoying for what was coming in.  It was an odd mix of Strand guys, tourists and a few disgruntled locals, a bad combination in my opinion all together.  I decided to float in to the Cove and get one in.  Unfortunately it was loaded up with Long Boarders, who already have an unfair advantage when its small.  On top of that it was burn the fuck out of every short boarder day no matter his ability.  I got burned on my first one and it was like whatever, it was by some dick head who always burns everyone out there.  Then I got blatantly burned on my second one, so close the guy almost landed on me.  On my third I had a few pumps and was about to get my first turn in when another logger decided to go one me and hold a high line thus keeping me from passing or surfing behind.  FUCK! I don’t care if you want to share the wave on a log just stay out in front so I can hit the fuck out of the lip behind.  Finally over it I went for a close out figuring it might actually be able to hit the end section uninterrupted and pulled a reverse.  On that I called it a day before I killed someone.  Fuck crowds, Fuck assholes, Fuck everyone,I should have just went to Jalama.

3-12-14 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, New Jetty
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 15
It came down to Jalama or Ventura this morning.  With the Santa Anna’s blowing and some combo swell in the water Ventura got the nod.  Unfortunately the winds were a bit too hard off shore making it nearly impossible to surf.  I could barely see sets coming in and the waves I was paddling for there was so much spray and sand blowing around.  Trevor gave it about 15 minutes before he bailed.   I hung on for a bit longer and managed to get one sick little right hand barrel.  Besides that I became steadily over it.  Guess I should have went to Jalama.

3-11-14 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 19
Thanks  to another Surfline blunder I found myself at Rincon this morning when the Oxnard Santa Anna lie failed to materialize.  I figured I might as well get a few at mid tide ‘Con and then see if the wind decided to show itself later in the day, that never happened.  I paddled out and spend the entire session in the River Mouth section.  There were a few nuggets to be had and every now and then a really good one would run from Indicator all the way to high Cove.  I didn’t find any of these since there was only one about every thirty minutes.  That being said there were still plenty of fun kill-able peaks up and down the point.  It was what I like to call “beach break” style Rincon meaning the majority of waves are only good for about 5 turns.  I managed to find two really fun lefts.  Conner Coffin was out doing his thing.  I must say I may have been a Conner naysayer early on though these days the more I surf with the guy the more impressed I have become on his surfing.  Not to mention he is a pretty respectful dude in the water as well.  Not the best Rincon ever but totally worth the paddle.

3-10-14 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 36
Fuck you Surfline.com for blowing it on the Santa Barbara Forecast.  Fucking Cunts!  West and I decided to put the kabash on our northerly excursion plans Saturday night after checking the forecast and noticing that Santa Barbara was suppose to be pretty much fun as fuck.  You know I hate driving away from waves ever!  Monday morning came around which was suppose to be the pay off and sure enough when we got to Rincon there was plenty of swell but SOUTH MOTHER FUCKING WINDS!!!!! Meanwhile Santa Cruz, where we were suppose to be looked fun as all heck.  After I threw a brief tantrum on the rocks at ‘Con West and I headed back to my place to regroup and decided if we should just do a retard mission north.  Lindsay hit me up and was claiming El Cap had fun clean chest high waves.  That was all I needed to hear to keep me in town.  I figured we could check El Capitan and worse case scenario hike into Naples.  Of course El Cap was way smaller, way closer to the rocks and way more windy then I would have liked.   Throw in about 20 guys on it and I was over it.  I saw waves at the top of Naples from the check spot at El Cap and we went for it.  As we walked up the point towards Naples we saw plenty of swell unfortunately that south wind was still plaguing things.   West and I paddled Seals, where it looked to have the most shape despite the poor quality wind.  It was a bit sectiony, dumpy and bumpy.  We had the whole place to ourselves so rather then fighting the same conditions at Rincon at least the few gems that did come in we got to surf uncontested.  Shit, I still managed to get a few 8-10 turn rides.  Not the best, but maybe the best of the worst?  Later that night I took my girl out to Alcazar, this tapas bar here on the Mesa as a reward for being a good sport about West staying on the couch for a few days.  I’m not that big of a tapas fan myself, but all I have to say is that this place nailed.  Everything I had was splendid and the dining atmosphere very elegant and relaxing.  Not to mention they have great happy hour deals.  I would definitely recommend the  place if you find yourself in the Santa Barbara area.   No photo today cause I don’t hike into Naples with my phone.

3-9-14 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 43
With forecast and reports looking average at best for my usual small wave Ventura haunts and conditions looking better then normal up at Jalama the choice was easy.  West and I loaded up and headed north.  Fuck now that I have the county parks pass there is no excuse not to go to Jalama.  Even if its not great it didn’t cost me a thing.  We got there and although on the smaller side and a bit drained there were some fun looking chest to head high plus waves rolling in.  None of my reefs were really working and T’s and Cracks looked like nothing special.  The river mouth near the Camp Ground on the other hand had a really nice peak coming in as a result of all the rain.  The decision was to forget the walk and just paddled right in front.  Of course as my luck always has it the wind turned SW and fucked everything as soon as I paddled out.  After a few we got out and went to try a few off the reefs north.  They were cleaner but a bit weak and shifty with the lack of swell.  Over it we paddled back to the River Mouth just as the wind came down and it glassed off.  What ensued was a froth session which included a deep backside tube I have no idea how I came out but it was as sick one.  I landed a few airs and over all just like that the session was salvaged and went from terrible to super fun.  It was just West, myself and two other guys trading fun rights and lefts.  That’s two good days of surfing courtesy of not having to work.  Working sucks, surfing is awesome.  I needed to find a way to do less of the former and more of the latter.

3-8-14 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 3 hrs
Waves Surfed: 56
Wow!  What a surprise super session.  West came up from San Diego for a little point break action.  It was a Saturday and there fore crowded every where.  After much deliberation the call was to go north till we found something.  Luckily for us Naples was on.  Pat met us in the lot at Haskells and the march up to Naples began.  Since the last time I was there the beach had all washed away leaving us with nothing but angry boulders to traverse. This made the trek way more arduous and slow going then I would have liked.  Still when we got there the pay off was well worth it.  Rights as far as the eye could see, with just about no one out.  West and I paddled at Seals, while Pat opted to give Cracks a go.  All I can say is that it was a froth fest that left all of us more then happy. I did some of the best surfing I have done in quite a while.  On the walk back we got fucked by the tide and ended up having to climb cliffs, run through sketchy deep sections and ultimately all of us got pretty wet although West got it the worst getting pinned up against the cliff by a set wave.  Still it was well worth all of it.  A great day of surfing was had.  No picture cause I don’t hike in with my cell phone and Naples is too far away to get a picture while checking it.

3-7-14 AM Session: 1-3 ft, Sharks Cove
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 32
Sharks was a bad choice.  The wind, tide and swell were all against us this morning as Mike, Trevor and I set out to find a wave.  ‘Con was crowded, and everything south not too good.  We took a leap of faith on Sharks and lost.  Literally I didn’t catch a decent wave the whole session and neither did anyone else.  We should have just surfed Hammonds.   Oh well….No photo since Sharks is pretty much near impossible to check and even harder to shoot.

3-6-14 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 50 mins
Waves Surfed: 19
Talk about an unexpected micro Emma Wood froth session.  Trevor and I checked Rincon and it was all kinds of horrible, small, crowded, windy and weak.  Then we checked everything that could be surfed all the way to Emma where we paddled on desperation cause I was out of time and had to go to work.  We had the small clean little bowls all to ourselves and focused the session on the Toll Booth Peak.  It was definitely one of those surfs that looked way worse from the lot then the water.  I had a fucking ball, stuck a few decent bs airs and got one deep little bs tube.  Of course I ate shit on every left I went for despite Trevor’s lessons on how to crouch.

3-5-14 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 2 hrs 15 mins
Waves Surfed: 35
Rincon is where I should have paddled. It was flawless Cove, but it was also crowded and inconsistent.  A combination that historically can cause me to go nuts out there.  The sets that were coming through only had around three or four waves in them and the lines were clean meaning the margin of error was slim.  Throw in about six camera’s on the beach, a handful of pros working and a few too my visitors from the OC judging by their Mayhem boards it seemed more frustrating then I needed to deal with on my day off.  Responsibility of trying to lead a normal contributing to societal life is really beginning to take a toll on me.  Surfing is my only release and when its packed I don’t get the same therapeutic essence I need to keep me from going on a killing spree.   My first instinct upon waking up told me to I should go for an El Cap run.  Then a few of my surfing cohorts and further investigation of the buoys had me thinking otherwise.  I checked Lead Better and it was only about waist to maybe chest high, although the lines were really good.  Leads is one of my indicators when I consider a Gaviota mission.  I bagged it and went to Rincon, which was packed.  I was still going to paddle until I walked back to the lot and there were three times as many suiting up as leaving.  Trevor and I cruised to Pitas where through my binoculars we thought we saw some decent ones in the Faria section.  We paddled and I bet on the lower tide it must have been alright though not epic there.  Instead it was mostly close outs, racers or mush burgers.  I did manage to find a few air sections though and was 8/10 on my landings.  I even had a few long ones.  Overall it was just annoying to surf that sub par shit when I knew how good Rincon was.  Beat not surfing and was better then sitting in a pack although lets face it even if I only got one good one at ‘Con it would have made all the jockeying and bull worth it.  You win some, you loose some.  Lets just call this one a push.

3-4-14 PM Session: 2-4+ ft, Kooks Peak
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 17
On the way home from my first surf the wind had turned an ugly south.  Thinking I was probaly going to bag the second session I was sitting at my computer bull shitting with Mauriello about the usual stupidity when I noticed that the wind had shifted NW.  Thinking Rincon might be worth a look with the new swell filling in I cruised.  At around Montecito I noticed the flags there were going SW.  I thought about flipping around and just having a look at the Lane or Pit, but then I decided to keep on trucking.  It could be one of those sneaker days at ‘Con.  Well that was a crap shoot.  Not only was it windy and dumb, but packed with kids as well.  Now if the crowd was about 15 I may have paddled.  With a 40 plus crowd in the cove, the only really surfable section I was S.O.L.  I kept going south.  I have a few places up my sleeve along Sea Cliffs that can be fun from time to time.  Hobsons looked alright and was where I should have surfed, although really I should have just cut my losses at Motecito and checked the Coral or the Lane.  Ultimately I paddled at Kooks Peak cause there appeared to be a fun looking left and there were a few guys out.  Turns out I could not catch a good wave out there to save my life.  I saw good ones every where.  I just couldn’t make it happen.  Kooks Peak is another one of those waves I always paddle out at thinking I am going to have fun and then hating my life afterwards.

3-4-14 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 39
I thought it might be another fun morning at Rincon, although the buoys were not showing such.  I got there and there were a few ok rides to be had, mostly in the Cove.  Up top was a bit bigger buy very disorganized. Rule off thumb if I see more lefts then rights in the River Mouth I am most likely going elsewhere.  Such was the case, not to mention that the crowd although not heavy was way too many for the shit that was coming in.  I began the long pilgrimage south checking everything and anything to Emma.  Finally my boy Pat called and said Strand looked the best south of C Street.  Thus there I found myself.  I met up with my boy Ryan whom I have not surfed with in over a month due to a shoulder injury. I guess he is trying to get back in the swing of things again.  The Ship looked fun with peaky bowls all over the place and a light crowd.   For the first hour it was a froth fest although I have said it once and I will say it again, I suck at surfing the Strand.  Still I managed a few.  Better then just masturbating in the parking lot and then going home.

3-3-14 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1 hr 20 mins
Waves Surfed: 14
Trevor said Hammonds was about chest high and fun.  Given yesterday’s crowd I was not making that mistake again.  Rincon looked solid on the cam.  I did the look back at Hammonds and it did look pretty clean from the freeway.  Rincon was fun and empty.  The tide was a bit fat, but totally kill-able.  I was completely out of sync all session.  I had a handful of ridiculously long waves, my average ride consisting of ten turns and most I was able to connect from Indicator all the way to the top of the Cove.  I just was not putting together solid waves.  On my third wave some chick decided to ditch her board in front of me and I ran it over.  End result was a nice hole right in the bottom of my stick.  I had a few words with her, but ultimately she was a kook and therefore how mad could I get.  I really don’t get why anyone who couldn’t handle the conditions would paddle out at solid Indicator?  She would have had way more luck in the Cove and it would have been a lot safer.  Whatever, I have a spare.  Looks like I get to do more ding repair.  At work my boss said he was going to order me sous chef coats with my name on them.  I know it doesn’t seem like much, but it means something to me.

3-2-14 AM Session: 5-7+ ft, Hammonds
Time in Water: 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 9
I sort of blew this morning.  I spent so much time be apprehensive on where to go surfing that I ended up eating all my time.  I should have just went to Rincon and later it was confirmed from multiple sources that I blew it by not going there.  I checked Sharks, but it was a bit too fat and weird side shore wind.  Summerland looked fun as fuck, but it was really really dirty.  The whole line up looked like an oil slick.  Summerland is known for its uncapped offshore oil well problems during swells but this was the worst that I have ever seen it.  Finally I made a last ditch effort for Hammonds completely out of time.  I ran down the trail and was greeted by solid surf and pretty much everyone who is a serious surfer in town. There had to be a solid forty guys out in a take off zone that is lucky to hold twenty.  There were lots of waves and conditions pretty washy and all over the place.  My first wave was my best.  Overall it was not the stellar session I was hoping for.  No photo cause my limited time window did not give me time to check it.

3-1-14 No Surfing: 8-10 + ft
I wanted to surf, but then woke up to more storm surf and black water.  Straight up, the beach break and Lead Better was about head high and I could see it from my kitchen window.  There may have been a spooks session right before dark this evening, not that it did me any good since I was working.  I had three no shows meaning I had to pull a ten hour day.  Whoooot!  Looks like things should be cleaner tomorrow at least conditions wise.