Archive for November, 2011


Sunday, November 27th, 2011

Back in the Water – Afternoon Session

Surf: Waist-Chest High. Still clean, but more closed out.

After surfing with Beamer and Nicole in the morning, I swing by Ocean Beach to see if I could spot Matt and Brian in the water. They were already out and grumbling about conditions and wanted to check out Linda Mar. I agreed to head back down and paddle out again.

I love my Isurus wetsuit, but MAN is it hard to get into when it’s sopping wet. This is why I need a second one 😉

After lots of tugging and pulling, I was good to go.

Still pretty smooth and clean with no wind, lots more pep and push, but more clouseouts. Waist-Chest high with some larger waves hiding in sets. I’m def still not up to 100% after being sick. Getting caught inside on the larger sets I did not want to be under water or holding my breath. Still wheezy.

Got some fun waves before the tide dropped and it all turned to junk. After that had some tasty soup out of Brian’s camper van and a nice sunset.

Stoked to be back!

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Sunday, November 27th, 2011

Back in the Water – Morning Session

Surf: Waist High, mellow, and clean.

After two weeks dry with a miserable cold, I picked up a double session today. Fair in the morning with no wind, good shoulders holding up, and long mellow waist high waves. Lots of fun on the longboard.

I attempted Beamer’s tiny asymmetrical board. Of course the big set had to come through as we were switching boards. I ducked the first wave, but the leash didn’t hold on the second and away the little board went. I swam and swam and eventually got it back, paddled it back out, and went for a wave. Didn’t get into anything, but mighty fun trying (and fun watching Beamer and Nicole try my board out.)

It was nice to be back on my log after a few attempts on that little board.

Nice morning!

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Friday, November 11th, 2011

Bleak

Surf: WH-HH and alternating between soft and hollow. 6′ @ 14s, NW.

Holy Holiday Heros. With rain, howling offshores, and some good size I wasn’t expecting to see so many people in the water. Chris was kind enough to help a guy with his wetsuit on inside out as he chased his finless, waxless board across the parking lot. Poor guy was getting in the water for the first time…on a dumping head high day. Yikes.

In all honesty, I’m not really one to talk. I was out there coughing and sneezing and feeling miserable. I should have stayed home too. I wussed out on quite a few waves but snagged a pretty fun ride or two.

There were some beaut little barrels rolling through, but all and all a bleak friday.

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Tuesday, November 8th, 2011

Quad Practice

Surf: WH-CH and a little zippy.

Ahh, learning a shorter board. I know I’ve got to put in my time and pay my dues, but blowing waves is noooo fun.

I got one really nice wave off the bat that made me feel plenty competent. After that, it was kook kook kook. I blew the takeoff on TWO solid waves that were set up right for me. Argh! Watching those beauties peel on by without me was heartbreaking. To add injury to insult, I managed to cut my foot getting closed out on by another wave. Yeowch.

Well, gotta keep at it!

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Saturday, November 5th, 2011

Bodysurf Classic

Bodysurf: Way way WAY overhead with a booking current.

Lots of pretty famous bodysurf folks were in town for the Save The Waves Film festival and the SF premiere of “Come Hell or High Water.” Some SF folks put together a bodysurfing competition to celebrate.

I have to say, it was pretty awesome to see folks like Mark Cunningham bodysurf in person. Looked like everyone was having a heck of a time. The park service had a few sad words about permits and plovers that will hopefully be kinks to work out next year. All around fun morning.

Check out the Surfermag article by local bodysurfer Mark Lukach.

Come Hell or High Water Trailer:

Bodysurf Competition Trailer:

Get to the Beach! from ***** on Vimeo.

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Friday, November 4th, 2011

Start of Cold Mornings

Surf: Waist-Chest High. Mushy to closed out.

It’s starting to get a little chilly in the morning! I’ve been getting excited thinking about sandbars, emptier lineups, and cleaner conditions. Ahh.

Today wasn’t exactly one of those days tho. Not bad, but days where waves are either crazy mushy or crazy closed out can be tricky. Short rides and wash. Not terrible.

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Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

Watching RipCurl Grom Search from the water

Surf: Knee-Waist High, crumbly, bumpy.

With the Rip Curl Pro in town the beach has been a pretty active place. Pro surfers tearing it up in beautiful conditions, crowds of people cheering on the beach…and me at a desk. Poop.

The first few days of the competition had stellar conditions, today had tiny slop. Tiny slop may be bad for the pros, but a-ok for me. I paddled out, met up with a few friends in the water, and set about picking up little waves here and there. After a while the loudspeaker mumbled some unintelligible warnings our way as the boat drug the competition buoy.

Out paddled the Groms! Poor kids had to compete in this slop! I watched them from the water a while while picking up waves of my own. What amazing kids. They were punting airs left and right, shredding shoulders barely solid enough for me to get my longboard in. It was a lot of fun to cheer for them.

While I’d love to have been on the beach when the pros were out, it was still a fun little morning and I’m plenty stoked to see those kids shred.

Check out the Groms tearing it up on the rest of the tour:

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Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

Rough around the edges

Surf: Chest-Head High, little bit rough.

Bigger surf means taking hoping all night that my favorite spot is working. While big and a little bit stompy on the lower tide, it was working well enough for a few fun waves.

I got two long rides that left me stoked, then called it a day. Big thanks to the guy who saw me eat it dropping into a closeout and flashed me a big smile when paddled I back out. I’m glad someone enjoyed the performance. 😀

I managed one nice big ride in before calling it a day. The same guy laughing after I wiped out gave me a big “nice last wave!” when I was packing up in the lot. Wooohooo fun lump morning.

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