Session 4117: Good stokes continue...

Stoke 8 experience this morning. It was excellent to see Arthur too. The
swell power is dwindling as we finish this week, and current forecast does
not look too good in terms of the power in the water.

Yesterday, through the encouragement of my wife and a buddy from the SRF, I
have decided to try out for this year's Half Moon Bay Surfing Classic
competition. I originally was not going to and spend two seasons to horn
more skills to be able to truly compete rather than just experience being in
a competition, but, Jack's take on this is that it is a fun and low key
local competition so I should not be worrying about it. Wendy also think
that I have gotten significantly better than last year and I should try it.
So, yes, why not.

This morning I set the alarm to 5:30, and got out of the bed about 30
minutes later to hit the beach. As I was driving to the beach, I was kind of
feeling a sense of being focused again, since I only have just over a month
to practice for the rides. I will probably try to go out every day until the
day of the competition. Trying to have "fun" with my 6'6 will be after
August now, and really focus on the accuracy part of surfing - accurate to
take off and make accurate turns, as any slop will cost a point. Since I am
not a trick rider (yet) keeping long rides is mainly where I am going to
really focus.

This morning there was a period when the swells gotten bigger for about 10
minutes and I had one ride where I could ride through 3 "sections"... the
outside break then the middle reform on the right then ride through the
another that was shaping on my left. That was really fun, and so that's the
reason why stoke 8 for today. Also I am happy that the nature has been
demanding me to ride the lefts a lot, and if this year's competition is back
on Montara South then they are mainly all lefts and so left practice will be
helpful.

Today, one thing became more obvious... Why some surfer know which way to
turn to keep the ride without looking back? It dawned on me that you can
actually see by looking forward and see how the wave in front of you is
sloping and changing... Sounds really obvious, but I even did not have a
time to think about that kind of stuff before.

Another thing that occurred to me that if you are photographing someone,
backside rides might be photogenic better... why? Because your face is
facing towards the beach.

Well that's about it. I cannot hide the fact that I am a bit nervous about
the competition.

Session 4116: High-Stoke Surfing Continues STOKE 9 Today

These past several sessions have been very great, and I am so happy about all of them. Today more nice gentle and clean condition prevails, with an added side-off shore winds prevailing the surface was glassy, plus nice sunny mornings. It almost feels like the fall is already here upon us and it is still only June!

 

In the past several weeks, I think I have really improved on take-offs so much that I can take off on much wider situations than ever and even though it is very obvious skill, it now occurs very close to my heart that how much important that skill is, and going back to long boarding has really been a big help plus a big boost in my confidence.

 

It has been quite a while Ken joined me in surfing and I was also very happy to see he has made a great progress. Good going Ken!

 

I wrote about crossing a kind of a milestone a while ago in my log. I should elaborate about that one a bit as it became more clear to me just now what is exactly that I crossed. What has really changed is that where I can now put a focus on, and that's riding the waves. Funny as it sounds, but as I finally start to nail take-offs and get something like 90% success rate in doing it, then I can now really leave that part of surfing behind and start focusing on the actual rides.

It just goes to say that surfing requires a lot of different skills to come together and thus it can take quite some time, especially if you start to get into this as a adult.

 

It took me two seasons to get to this, and there is a lot more to learn still!

 

 

 

 

Session 4115: Stoke 9.5!!!! Nearly a perfect DP.

What a perfect morning this was. Nice sunny weather with gentle overhead sets coming in breaking further out.

 

The training on the foamy has been really paying off that I am now much better at timing for catching waves also I am more confidently going for bigger sets. One factor that has been helping is that I have been much more relaxed about the whole situation of catching more bigger and challenging sets than ever.

 

I see a break coming up, turn the board around (this is much easier on the DT4, I must add), the tail jacks up and I am now in the wave. Now my scope of vision is much wider and I see the whole slope opening up in front of me. I feel the board and see which way it wants to go, and let that happen and it guides me through the first section. Now I explore the surrounding and see where I am going next. Looking to where I want to go, and almost like a magic, the board will start to point in that direction....

 

Definitely the Takayama DT4 has a noticeably snappier response, so turning on this board is more fun. But on the other hands on the foam board, I just work a bit harder and can do the same turns. But should I have taken out the foamy today, I would just have had as much fun (and probably even gone to try some bigger breaks that was happening a bit further north!).

 

I ran into Jack this morning, who goes to Fiji a lot and gave him a hard time "Excuse me sir, this is a beginner only spot, so please go back to Fiji." He saw one of my rides and approved it, so I think I am getting better.

 

He told me that there are all-inclusive $2400 trip to Fiji (beer not included) and intermediate surfers have their spots and it is not all experts only. Sounds tempting. Also he was trying sucker me into the HMB Surfing Classic this year. Looks like I might get suckered in, in spite of "no competition this year" announcement I made earlier!

 

I also showed him my 6'6 French Fish and he was so stoked, I should be ready to get back on the board again later on this week.

 

Manabu S. Tokunaga Aka. Malibu Topanga http://www.CultureWave.NET HOME OF THE STOKE!

Session 4114: Manresa, Stoke 8

This morning, Wendy and I decided to drive down the cost until we find a nice beach with good breaks. We stopped at San Gregorio and the waves looked OK but it was a bit windy, so moved on. Nothing notable at Waddell and already a few kite people were out there so we kept driving... Scotts creek also looked fun. But still windy so I decided to go to the trusty Manresa, and that was a good choice. The wind there was much calmer and the weather was hot. The sets were almost up to above shoulder occasionally and not too fast breaking. Manresa seems to take these NW wind swells fairly well.

 

Another good feature there is that the life guards occasionally round people up and ask them to play in front of their booth so that tends to clear out the area for surfers to have fun.

 

I am not going to use the foamy for a while, since it was so easy to catch waves and I was again catching 20 or more waves. It was so tiring because every time I go for a wave, I catch it, and get long rides then paddle back again... by the time I am back out, more good sets came in so I got to catch them all! I probably caught more waves than almost anyone else in the entire beach! Still, though, I caught more lefts than rights.

 

I just got home, unladed the foamy and now put back the Takayama on top. We will see if there will be any differences tomorrow morning!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Session 4113: Lone morning surfing in HMB. Stoke 7 + Reflections

I checked out the JTY around 7:30 a.m., and looked kind of flat with already dozen people competing for the breaks. These days, I am starting to be able to surf many waves in Half Moon Bay area that instead of driving to Montara or Linda Mar, I just stay in the area. Now, especially with a wide variety of board choices I have, picking places has become more fun and confident.

 

I am still a bit hesitant on the first person in the breaks, and previously, I would not have gone in unless there is someone else already, but these days, I have much more confidence that I still have a bit of hesitation, but I can easily get over that and will go in. Sure it is pretty lonely out in the breaks but then there usually are people on the beach spectating, so I try my best to throw a good show.

 

The summer waves are definitely small, but on the other hands, it has been my policy always to get out no matter what, and get the best I can, and I usually be treated with something fun. Even at the time when we were at Sand Dollar with the waves really junky, I stayed with on with the waves, and I really learned a lot. Of course having Katy and Clio around gave me much needed morale boost and confidence, and that's friends come in.

 

I don't know whether it is the waves or what, but in many sessions in the past couple of weeks I remember, I get so many more lefts than rights, and I am actually starting to favor the lefts even though that's backside for me. In fact, I don't remember the last time I took off to the right, and I am not goofy footed. The lefts are fun because cut-backs are front-side turns and actually I can practice these types of cut-backs with a more confidence!

 

Reflections

 

I know several people who would not go out unless the condition is just right. I am wondering if I would ever become like that, but so far, my policy, or a commitment, of not doing that is working. First, and more so recently is that I am now hitting the beaches with being fully intending on having a good time. When bigger sets come, I try to smile at the sets and just relax a bit before catching them. Last season, when I see bigger sets coming at me, I would think "Oh, shit..." and then frantically try to catch it, or try not to get eaten by them paddling up to it or whatever. Even when I get eaten up or thrown forward, I am more relaxed under water for the wave to pass by.

 

 

 

 

Session 4112: Pearling on Hip High Puny Waves!

Surfed at a location in HMB, not too far from the Jetty...

Waves were so puny this lunch time... up to hip high on the average and to
the chest max sets. There were nobody out surfing except for a few
bodyboarding grommettes, of course, until someone saw me catching lots of
small waves on my Doyle board then suddenly 4 more surfers showed up... time
to pull out.

This always happens, don't underestimate these puny south swell waves. They
still got a lot of power left in them after surviving the 5000 mile journey
from New Zealand to the Highway 1. You can still pearl, and actually you
will pearl more on these tiny waves trying to take off. The key seems to be
early paddle in building a good momentum, quick flick up and then immediate
tail weighting then quick weight shifting forward. Good practice for faster
and bigger waves that will come in the fall and winter.

Go and practice catching one wave after another in a sunny nice afternoon in
HMB!

Session 4111: Quality Rides Continue This Morning

Finally I am back in the DP mode again.

I should have loaded the DT4 on my car this morning but got too lazy and
left on the Doyle from last night, but it turned out to be fun morning with
nobody left or right of me for several hundred yards, so, essentially I had
the section to myself.

The size and period of sets were just right for me with up to chest highs
coming in every 3-4 minutes.

I have been having a blast on every session I go. I am catching
tremendously more waves now than ever and often the rides last much longer
time.

One funny thing I noticed between yesterday and today is that the foam board
has so much flotation in the front that it is almost impossible to sink the
front-end of the board. If I realize that it is start to sink, just continue
to paddle shifting the weight to the back and the front will emerge from the
water. A few times I was almost going to pearl, but was saved by this nice
feature.

Another fun practice I tried was to take a really wide stance and trying to
shift the weight really back and front... like when I was little I used to
stand in the middle of a see-saw and made it tilt left and right (my school
teacher would come out and tell me not to play it that way though). But, it
is really interesting how easily the board pivots around by putting the
weight in the back and changing the leaning. I have seen several experienced
longboarders do this motion to get their board to turn, but now I think I
understand this better. Now I got an Indo-Board so I can try to enforce this
motion more!

Session 4110: A lone session somewhere... Stoke 7

Well, I almost did not go today because I have been behind on a few work
projects earlier today. But all of a sudden several members of my
Stokemasters group posted messages that they wanted to go out this late
afternoon, and also I finished off a major project so all that encouraged me
to go.

Since this is a PM surfing and also my wife came back to the city this
afternoon and told me that there were a lot of people out so I strapped the
new Doyle 9'0 and also my usual Fish on my car. I headed north from home and
figured why not check out a few local spots before I hit Linda Mar where
everyone is supposed to be. Usually we have less wind problems down this way
than the OB or LM. So I stopped at this a bit obscure spot and there were
some nice soft small breaks going, probably the chest size max, and besides
that there was nobody else in the ocean! This is perfect beach break for the
Doyle board so I was stoked and went in.

It was so much fun, and caught so many waves that I actually got tired
within an hour where I probably caught over dozen waves. I caught just about
every wave I went for and felt like they were coming just about every couple
of minutes so it is hard not to paddle out and turn around immediately to
catch waves.

I have been getting much better at taking off on a long board when the wave
steepens up. Especially when you know the wave is just about do stand up
after successfully getting in the wave and standing, just pressing the back
of the board hard and the board shoots out from the wave and drop down, or
almost it feels like jumping down into the wave and once that happens, there
is quite a bit of speed to the board that it is so much fun to turn.

Wish that it was breaking a bit bigger and further out. Stoke 7 for catching
a lot and owning the whole beach to myself!

There were about 2000 birds flocking out in the ocean, probably catching
some migrating small fishes. I have never seen that many birds in once
place.

Session 4109: Still Stoke 7 at LM

I saw Arthur getting out and then Rick pulls up this morning. In spite of the weakening swell power, there was still some swells left for fun waves. Again I did not get out early enough but caught dozen waves in an hour just like yesterday. But for a while Rick found totally empty spot that was breaking, and so I joined him. With a bit of patience, we had nice long lines of up to chest high stuff coming.

 

I am easily stoked when it is glassy and many easy fun waves to catch. So I will give it a 7 today!

 

 

 

Session 4108: I am finally enjoying surfing. Stoke 8.5

Probably it sound very strange for me to write that "I am finally enjoying surfing." Actually this enjoyment started to happen around a month ago.

 

Up until that time, to go out to surf meant that there was some element of fear that has been associated with. It can be both physical and mental ones, like being afraid of being out in the water, and being intimidated by better surfers. But finally, there are now sessions that I am not really that afraid of lots of things. Today was one of these days that the session was filled with more joy than being fearful.

 

Physically, I feel that I am much more tuned with handling the board, dealing or being in the water with waves in various situations, and  became much more confident in the water. Mentally, with the added confidence, I feel as if I can project my presence on the waves to others. I really feel that bits and pieces are coming together.

 

I am not trying to say that I have gotten technically good at surfing. That will take several more years, or I am not even progress much technically (and that's still OK), but I am really happy that from this day forward I am much happier as a surfer in the water than ever before.

 

A good part of this is that I got a lot of support from the StokeMasters group. It is amazing that the membership has grown so much in just a year of existence and every one of the surfer that joined was so nice and supportive to me and others.

 

Today was also a strange very friendly day.

 

On the way to the surf, I think it was Wardo (or may be Curtis) saw me and honked. Then when I was changing in the parking lot, someone came by and waved at me, then in the water some guy wave waving at me too.

 

While I was at the North end for a hour I must have caught a dozen waves and just about every one of the wave was a nice long left, and with a small cut backs now I do, just about every ride was long and fun. Probably I should give today a Stoke 9 day!

 

 

Session 4107: Back to LM DP Routine. Stoke 6

Arrived at LM exactly at 6:30. About 6-7 people were already out on the S. end of the beach. The N end looked totally closed out. As far as I could see there was nobody in that direction.

 

The condition was on a poor side with mostly closed-out sets up to head-high size. The tide was still low, so that made the situation worse. But I was thankful that there was no wind.

 

White waves were coming every 3-4 seconds, making paddling out a lot of effort, even if I duck under.

 

In terms of the progresses I made today.

 

Today, I took out the 6'6 Fish and I had one really good ride plus several other rides. It would have been two nice rides but on one nice take off, I did not stand up fast enough that I could not take advantage of that one. Should I stood up on it, it would have been a fine left. So what is starting to happen is that I am now taking off more frequently on the fish but I am not up on the board fast enough. I know, this is mainly due to some fear that I have that I need to work on. Though the fact that the board is getting into the wave in these steeper conditions is very encouraging...  I am actually getting a bit better at taking off on these conditions. Even in these fast situation, if my mind is set up in a panic and haste I am sure to mess it up. If I let myself to just relax, watch where I am going and take each step more solidly then I would realize surprisingly how much time and space you actually have.

 

Some thoughts on where to grab the board during the flick up...

 

I am now a believer in not grabbing the rails when flicking up. Rail grabbing increases the chance for the board to slip out of my hands, instead, I am now back to putting my palms on the waxed deck and do a push-up. This seems to work better for me and it also has an added benefit of really pressing down the board. This is something that was written in Jay's text book, and I know this issue probably subject to a debate as other text book will tell you to grab the rails.

 

More tomorrow morning when I return.

 

Session 4106: Foamy and Manresa Stoke 8, Shoreodel Shop Expereince

Well, in my past WeveLogs, I have threatened that I will shortly get a foamy. After spending a few hours at Cowells, I came to the realization that the summer is in, and that if I need to surf on weekends pretty much any popular spots with friends then this is no longer a option not to have a foamy. In addition, I am on an mission to dispel any myths about people considering foamy is worthless, poor performing things.

 

So this morning before the session, I just stopped by at the Schoroedel Surf Shop (http://www.Shoroedel.com) on the 41 St. Ave. And I asked, "Ummm, do you carry foamys." And they had an old banged up one for $150, and then they had almost brand new Doyle 9'0 for $350 (it goes for about $450 brand new).  I had never been at this store previously but it turns out that this one is owned by Doug Schoroedel, who is a local SC shaper. They even gave me a form for a custom board too that asks fairly detailed information from the surfer' experience to where they surf etc.  I left there with a good feeling that they were very knowledgeable and also very friendly. Even the pit-bull that was sleeping the outside was not too scarely. I asked what is their turn-around time and they said that it is about 3 weeks for non air-brush and 4 weeks with air brushing.

 

Anyhow, though I did pick up the Doyle foamy. It is a bit more "performance" shaped than those rental kind but I know both Club Ed and Schmidt schools use them almost exclusively and when they are done with the lessons they just throw them on the rock piles at the stair bottom at Cowells, so I know they can take a lot of beating.

 

It so happened that I forgot my helmet today, so it was a perfect opportunity to road-test (wave test) this new acquisition. Today's condition at Manresa was about chest high maximum soft waves breaking fairly outside.

 

• Weight of the board: This is probably the biggest drawback for this kind of a board. It is heavier, but I could still wrap my arm around the board. So I was able to proceed from the parking to the water in ultimate dude fashion.
• Paddling: Man, it was so easy!
• Going over the waves: Not much problem at today's level of waves.
• Turtling: No problem there. Works just as good as my epoxy Takayama
• Push though: Works just fine.
• Duck diving: Did not try.
• Early take offs: This is where this board paddles so fast and get in the glide so stealing waves is a piece of a cake.
• Late take offs: This model has a bit more pin to the back and whether that is the factor or not, I can press down the back no problem up to chest high waves. If you do it right, the tail can carve into the wave and you can do a horizontal take off without much problems.
• Turning: I don't know who says foamys do not turn well. Yes you need a bit more forceful in weight sifting but given the ultra stability of the board you do not need to hesitate cranking down your weight to the side or walking up or down the deck and you can make it work no problem. I can do the same types of turns as with my Takayama.
• Slow: Yes it is a bit slower but you can take that to you advantage, and often keep the wave. Faster board like my DT4 often out-run the wave way too much, which might be good if you can really do powerful bottom turns and climb back up the wave but I am not even there so this is a good indication that I have not yet "grown out" of this type of a board (of course that does not mean I should not ride any other boards, it just means that I have not yet be able to get the full potentials out of any of the boards I own. It will still take years for me.)
• Pearling: No problem with pearling. The board did not bang into me, but I had a assurance that when I pearled, it won't hurt. That meant with this assurance that I would try to take off no matter what types of waves are coming at me, and in 90% of them I do take off.

Well,  today, with this board, it was very tiring because I could catch almost any waves that came at me and they were coming every time I paddled out. I literally caught over 20 waves today. Then Clio shows up with her 7'2 not catching waves much and then I gave her the foamy and instantly she was catching one wave after another, while I was struggling to do a wave selection with 7'2 to even get into a good take-off zone.

 

Did I get a lot of practice, definitely yes!

 

 

Session 4105: Stoke 9 N End LM!

I checked my own StokeConsole this morning and I was happy to see there the wind has stopped and we are getting both N and S swells. So I was already stoked to get out before hitting the office. I was hopeful with this S swells coming in, there will be something at the Jetty. A quick stop there there were already some people out, but it was breaking too close to the shore but some good people were definitely catching waves shredding a bit. I decided to move on North. The Montara did not look too shabby either and I would have gone there too, but somehow, I never surf there on a school day (don't ask me why), so back to Linda Mar as usual.

 

Now I park at the Crespi lot then head straight to the N end. It was happening! I was so happy, but no matter when it is, unless it is really flat, I am always a bit scared even to this day if there is any waves that's over the shoulder. Today though the bigger sets were going at overhead size. One thing though, having had to work the mess waves at the Sand Dollar last weekend and also at the Kelley, I am getting much used to large size waves and paddling out for them. It was only 2 years ago that I would not even think to go out when the waves look thrashing around in a huge mess, but today, once I am in it, I am no longer really scared. In fact I have even learned that some of these rough spots are the indication of rip currents going, so I sometimes go for them. This morning was a good example of such channel being present. Using my new trusty Takayama DT4, I cannot duck it but I can turtle or push though.

 

The good breaks were further south of the rip and breaking a bit diagonally to the shore, so I go out then turn left and paddle parallel to the shore for a bit and then I am in the zone. It was almost like Santa Cruz class length of paddle out. All the breaks were lefts today so goofy footers could have had a lot of fun, but my backside turns are becoming better now, so no hesitation to take off. I do sometimes cheat a bit, do a quick right at a take off then quick left.

 

I was catching one break after another even with the long paddle outs. 

 

Then came, oh shit, a bit bigger than an overhead wave and I was paddling hard for it (was scared too). I begun feeling a pressure on the back of the board and the whole body started to lift up.... It is a good sign that I am in the wave... With a few more strokes to be for sure, I tell myself, "now don't be in a haste, just get up relaxed." The board catches the wave in a smooth glide, so as I did that there was a plenty of moment to set up for a start. I was up on the board, all stoked, the DT4 took off to the left real fast almost leaving me behind, my back was bent to the left and almost ready to take a plunge with my arms almost ready to twist in a desperate attempt to hold the balance.... But... I immediately crouched down, and held on. Now I am in a good position to crank a wide left turn, and it was such a smooth but fast turn. Then I was slowing down but the wave was starting to close out on the right. Quick right and I got a lot of power back then back to the left. The ride seemed to have lasted for a long long time.

 

So that was my Stoke 9 ride. It is still fairly rare that I will be treated with a ride like that, but once I am in the wave, I know I can make a lot out of it. I try, try and try in the hope of finding myself on days like this.

 

When I got my facial accident while ago, doctor Sears was looking in to my eye at almost a "kissing" distance and mumbling few words at me "You must really like it to..."  And that's really yes. I really really like it. That's what the Stoke is all about!

 

 

 

 

Session 4104: Finally Surfed The Kelley

The Kelley beach (The HMB State Francis Beach, officially) is actually the public beach that is closest to me. I could hold my board on my arm and bike there if I really wanted. I went there a few times before and either the waves were so closed out, not happening, or very "currently." In fact there was a lot of current today and I was pushed about 300 yards just paddling out.

 

With so much wind going on since Sunday, though, I was really itching to get out and catch a few waves. So I first checked the Jetty, seeing nothing really worthwhile, then got my binocular out there was some activities going to the south so I drove down checked a few spots, and finally I have realized that where it was breaking was the Kelley beach so that's where I stopped to take a look the last.

 

Surprisingly there was not much wind to contend with and then about shoulder level high, a mix of bit mushy peaks and fast closeouts waves were happening pretty much across the beach. This place has been somewhat intimidating to me as a few times I tried, I was quickly swept away with current and this was at least a year or more ago when I should even not have tried. Plus I was the only surfer this morning, and so that always scares me. This is really a big dilemma to me lately, since 1 is a crowd and I don't like it and if there is nobody I don't like it either! But, my itch has won over this time, so I was unloading the board, putting on the rubber and a helmet.

 

Unlike Montara though, there was not much of shore break to deal with and I was expecting the sand to dip down quickly but it was a low tide and amazingly I was fairly out and I was still standing knee deep in the water! There was so much sand! I was amazed by this. It was a bit like the Sand Dollar situation this weekend.

 

Once I was in the water, everything was moving so slowly like slow motion pictures even though the water looked so agitated, you just go with the rhythm of the water and getting out was not much of a problem. Even catching the waves were kind of slow, I catch, stand up relaxed and enjoy the rides. In fact, once I got over the initial fear of the location, it really got a lot of fun, relaxed. There were several spectators on the shore, but they must all thought how I can do it in such a messy waves. In fact, my wife walked from home to join me and she thought it was such a mess then saw me catching lots of waves and was surprised. She said "it is doable huh?" and I said "Yes." and she said "Perhaps you are becoming one of those surfers can catch any waves!"  I hope that is the case, but there were nobody else to compare so I cannot tell. We then stopped by at 3 Amigos and had a nice quick Tacos before getting back home for work.

 

I was there for about an hour but I got just countless rides this morning, and the waves were surprisingly gentle to get over and surf. Even after taking off, I can only go so slow like mellow days in Cowells.

 

So;

 

No Crowd........3

Sunny.............2

Surf Condition..2

 

The Total Stoke: 7

 

 

 

 

Sessions 4101, 4102, and 4103: Big Sur Camping Weekend and Santa Cruz

Sand Dollar Surfing Experience

 

The Sand Dollar beach is breath-taking magnificent cove with very clear water. With clear sky and warm weather it was a really great place to be. Having practically no phone, TVs, radios, computers, it was really a great getaway too.

 

This was my first time surfing at Sand Dollar beach, and it is a big bay and also the sand bottom goes fairly further out so there are outside breaks and inside breaks. I can see a potential.

 

When we got there on Friday morning (6/4) the waves were mushy but breaking nicely in the "outside" and that looked like quite a bit of paddling to get there. We were not able to surf until the late Friday afternoon, by then a lot of wind swells started to come in and got junkier. We found a bit protected area toward the S end of the cove and surfed there. Definitely not a clean condition, but then we had the whole beach to basically ourselves, so that was really great. I actually caught a lot of waves, and it was a great practice to catch these types of semi-closeouts.

 

Couple of things I am starting to understand better:

 

1. Faster stand-up, and

2. Tail weighting.

 

We went back again on Sat morning and also it was even worse condition than Friday. But again, it was kind of fun to learn how to catch these closeout waves. Jocelyn's boyfriend, Dane who has been surfing quite a bit longer than all of us have been did hit the outside and had a few great rides. I was still a bit intimidated to paddle out that far. But in the retrospect, I should have.

 

For Sunday, the wind kicked up to 35-40 knots range in the Big Sur. We were continuing to enjoy the drive back but everywhere we looked there was a lot of wind. At one cliff, this man was about to be blown off the cliff, with his cloth all blow like a parachute.... at least what it was looking like.

 

Stopped in SC for a few hours of surfing, but the tide came way up by so we decided to go to the Sea Bright Brewery and I had an IPA. That hit the spot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Session 4100! Definitely Feeling the S. Swells

Well, because we will have a bit of a trip tomorrow, I almost was leaning towards not going out this afternoon. When drove past Linda Mar on the way to home the waves were much smaller than yesterday. Could have been fun there, but when I saw the waves, I decided "Heck, let's go home and just relax a bit, have a nice dinner, perhaps a nice bath, then go to bed."

 

Then I hit the Jetty. The entire bay was so vibrant, I had to turn the left blinker on and there, I am unloading my fish from the top of my car, and going.

 

I ended up surfing there for only about an hour. Sure the swells were in, bigger sets were head high, but closing out rather fast and big and too close to the shore. It is not good to be pounded here, so I tried to catch a few waves but then I said hell with it so I got out.

 

So that was my 100th day of surfing this year, wish it was a bit better to write about. But that's surfing for you.

 

 

 

 

Session 4099: What a Mess and Gnearly Condition at LM + 1 More Day for 100 Days!

Kind of lazied-out for writing the WaveLog yesterday. Hooked with Anna in the afternoon at LM. I suggested we go to the Jetty then we got there she wanted to get back to LM, so we were back there. It was rather messy and gnarly condition. Of course there were a few better suffers having fun in the condition, but there were so much white water after another it was not fun to get out even ducking through. Stoke was 4. But it was a good exercise for my arms!

 

I tried to ride a few of these junky waves, after tiring out my arms that was it, so we both called it for a day, and instead we went to Nona's Cafe and had a good dinner! Stoke 10 for the dinner segment.

 

This afternoon, I am going to go out again for the Day 100 of my surfing this year... or should I reserve it for Big Sur. Well I am going to drive down The 1 on the way back from work and the waves will decide!

 

 

Session 4098: Lone Surfing. Philosophy: Am I a surf nut or what?

Well, I was going to Linda Mar this afternoon on the way back from work. As I go South on the highway 1 from Rockaway, there is a hill that opens up a wide view of the beach. A moment of anticipation... damn! It's all creamy!

 

So I drove on to the Jetty and then that was non-happening so I am back to the same spot where we were on Sunday. At least it was not all creamy so I could get out. I was an only one surfer in the vicinity and so I stole all the waves for nobody for an hour session. The waves were small but it was a lot of fun to catch one after another. In terms of overall stokes it is about 5. The weather has been really good here lately without much in terms of fogs and the swells are not totally dead, and even the wind is reasonable.

 

So, by now, many people think I am nearly crazy to talk about surfing and dip in the water almost every day! But am I really a nut? For example, you eat breakfast, lunch and dinner almost every day right? Will that make us eating nut? Actually I think so, and as such why not try to enjoy the most stokeful breakfast, dinner and lunch every day, as much as possible. Ok so that's life's necessity. How about the people who jog or go to the gym every day or every other days? Somehow, if you hear someone who jogs every other day won't seem to constitute a jogging nut. What is common to all of them is that we've incorporated these activities as part of our life, as much as easting three meals a day. Compared to jogging or tennis playing, or even golf, it really dose not make much more effort to go surfing often. What is interesting is though, most people are stoked to hear about people surfing a lot. Which, to me, is a good thing.