Session 8069-70

WavLOG

Day 69,70

The nature conspired against me with gale-strength winds and non-surfable wind swells this past week, today, Saturday is the first time since last week to get back in the water. Actually today is also a gusty NW winds day, but I have just had enough of the wait, and I had to get in and keep my paddling in shape so I decided to get in the water "no matter what."

Luckily the winds died down a bit this morning, so I was a bit more hopeful. The Jetty was crowded a bit, and I did check points further south, but I came back to the Jetty thinking that the shape is a bit better there, and if not, I could "get out" a bit easier.

My guess was correct and I actually caught quite a bit of rights with a few lefts. You know I used to brag about the fact that I liked lefts but these days, the rights are working out much better to me. It is probably not really the left that has gotten worse, but the rights have gotten much better and that's the difference because turns are significantly more defined if I took of to the right.

Which brings to my current mission of improving the speed, and the distance. And I think I can feel some improvements especially in the area of turning faster and staying on top of the wave sooner after taking off. I am trying to make a concerted effort to do this, and just a thought of it can help quite a bit in understanding how it feels when I am doing a bit better or worse during each wave I am catching, and right now the biggest thing I am doing is to look at and look for the place I want to be; the top part of the wave. Each time I squeeze a bit more performance out of me, that makes me really stoked.

And when I can surf to the shore at the end of a session, that makes me even more satisfied, though, there always is hard to call a ride like that the last ride of a session!

Day 70: Drove from HMB to SC in search of non-windy waves, and ended up at Cowells, after remembering that that going to the East side would cost me parking fee. I am not against paying for it, but I have to pass though a specific place to buy the day permit. On the way there, there simply was not place for me to get into, it was too windy, big and messy.

Cowells was small and one thing I should always to remember, in the summer I should always bring a long board to SC! I could have had a lot more wave counts should I have taken my Walden Magic!

Session 8059-62: StokeLAB Report - Added Baby Fins on my Takayama Egg

WavLOG

Day 59 Added Side Baby Fins on My
7'2 Egg

When I broke my leash on Wednesday session, I stopped by at Sonlight Surfshop in Pacifica and did two things. I did buy the new FCS leash (since Da Kine is the one that snapped) and also a set of fibrefglass FCS fins. You can see in the picture in this post how they look like. They are all fiberglass fins. Actually I tried this on Friday and so here is the report.

After adding these fins, the performance of the board changed significantly. Now it rides really more like a short board than a long board. This board is 7'2 and not a long board, but it is still long enough to walk on the deck and I can really ride on the front tip of the board once I got a speed on it when the board is moving at a good rate. So I have not given up on keeping the big center fin.

But for the "heck of it" I have added small side fins on the board and I've given it a try. As a beginner surfer I have not really believed anyone saying that the fins can make a world of difference before, but I now can see and feel the difference.

The part that was surprisingly turned out to be good was that the turns can be made more snappier than with just a single fin. This was especially true when I execute a turn toward back to the top of the wave and then I hit towards the upper end of the wave, and where I want to make a quick turn back down up there. This could had been done with with the single fin, but what made the difference is that the board seemed to have gotten more response to the change. Previously the motion had to be noticeably more intentional and also response from the time I was commanding my body to make turn to actually when the turn has happened was slower.

I do still like the way how the single fin worked out. It really made me do things more smoothly and in contact with the water more in terms of actual feel (and may not actually been that way.)

I will continue to ride the board this way for a bit and write some more about it.

Day 60 (Sat): Back to the same spot but this time it has gotten significantly more closed out. Caught just a few waves. Then some local powerful surfing figure appears and asked to paddle back out again. It was sort of hard to say no, so I did go out. Switched the board to the quad and I had one ride among close-outs. The trick for days like this is to sit patiently inside, look for either reforms or smaller sets and ride. {D, R}

Day 61 (Sun): The Jetty was small when I got there, but then there were some really fun rights that were just the right size. I was catching a lot of waves and someone asked about if I had an epoxy board. Yes, indeed. The board does help a bit but I think, honestly, in the end what really matters is the correct lining up and stronger paddling power.

Day 62 (Mon): Checked out a local spot. It was breaking but was doing the bouncy number. Determined that it won't be too much fun even if I caught waves. Headed to LM. It was puny as it was drained out a bit also, but I had some fun small lefts. Again, faster take-offs and lot of paddling will definitely pay off on days like this {LM}.

Session 8035: Strange Day!

WavLOG

Day 35
Strange Day!

A beautiful but a rather flat morning. The only spot that seemed to have been breaking was the north corner of the beach if any. So I hurried down the path and then walked back up all the way to the corner of the beach, from where I paddled further to the corner.

Sets were really very far in between and when they came it was hard to catch as the waves either backed off and did not break at all.



Two unusual things happened this morning that would be worthy of reporting. The first was that while I was waiting for a wave someone popped up from nowhere and asked me what time it was. I then asked him where he came from, and he was at another beach further north and paddled there and all the way back. That's quite a bit of distance still since there is another cove in between!

We shared the lineup for a bit, but he took off. I waited for more waves but nothing came. I decided to paddle back to the path, instead of walking back, in order to burn today's quota's worth of calories.

But suddenly there was a huge "Whoosh...." sound just about 10 ft length away from me, and two huge black shadow came up the water. I thought for a moment, "Oh shit. Finally it is my turn!" And when they surfaced completely they were a pair of whales, and the sound was them blowing the water.

I have surfed closer to whales before but this was really close. Basically this was happening in the same space of my bedroom. I turned the camera on right away, but they did not come back or re-surface.

Any time I go out I am always mentally prepared for the last session of my life, so it was not so heart pumping event but I would also say that I was relieved and also really happy to see this special event!

Session 8034

WavLOG

Day 34

Finally back in the water this PM at the place in the photo album. Small, but there were some fun little waves. Hooked up with a local buddy "G" and it is too bad that he collided with one of the kids and got a hole poked on his board!

I may get back in there tomorrow DP!

Session 8032 - Never on a zero tide!

WavLOG

Day 32

This week the tide and the time has been conspiring against me. This morning I had to go out while at zero tide time, and it was just really bad. I did not catch a wave. About the only thing I got out of this morning was duck diving practice.

This is a kind of a day that when you paddle out for a bit, the tail fin starts to scrape the sand and you know you hit the sand bar, and when you stand, it is only ankle deep, and you are several hundred yards away from the shore!

Under this situation the waves would not take shape, all close out and that's about it.

I am still thankful that I got today's exercise, but it is always nice to catch at least a couple of waves.

Looking at the NOAA WaveWatch forecasts, there will be some south swells hitting us soon. I hope they will bring back some fun this weekend.

Session 8028: Waxing

WavLOG

Day 28

Waxing Issue

The strong winds going for the past few days have caused the water temperture to drop close to 50F measured at local buoys. 50F is definitely on the cold side. The coldest I have surfed was at 48F, and 48 is significantly colder feeling with my toes and finger tips starting to tignle.

Another thing I have been noticing is that the when I was taking off on past few sessions there were some times the board slipped under myself and missed on otherwise ridable waves. That was what happend in the pervious session a lot.

So from now on, I will comb the surface well and another things I am going to do is to switch to SexWax Purple instead of Green, and this morning I actually had a couple of really great long rights on my 7'2 Egg. Wish you were there to see me do that. Even the condition was still a bit on a messy side there really were some nice waves that came through a few times.

Session 8011: Are We Not All Beginners After All?

WavLOG

Day 11

This morning, I surfed alone at the Jetty, my home break only a walks away from my home. I strapped on my submersible wrist cam so these pictures are not stock photos but from my session this morning! Look at the beautiful convective cloud out in the ocean, and the dawn sky in the west.

I had to wait and wait and wait, and also paddled, paddled and paddled around for an wave I could catch, but every 10 minutes or so the break woke up and start to break some fun waves. I only had two waves that were really fun, but I had to chase for them, and paddled at a full power and pushing the board down with my chin hard down so that I can get in the wave, but once I caught the waves, I got really some fun waves going down and up all the way to the lip and down. Read on after two pictures I have taken!

Oh, by the way, you can see the edge of my Takayama 7'2 Egg board in the picture two, and the look at the wave on the second picture. This is one of the wave I had to miss so that I can share the wave with you, but yes, won't you paddle of it? I would have if it was not for you, my friend.

~ ~ ~

This morning, I was thinking that why many people don't want to be considered themselves as beginners. For me I am a perpetual beginner because every time I seemed to have advanced to the next level, I am back to the beginner of the next level. As soon as I get cocky, there would be accidents, dings and just bad things that are waiting. The ocean and the nature really teaches us to be humble and be observant.

The StokeMaster project is basically to wake up the Zero starting point in all of us. No matter how good you think you are, we should always go back to that day 1 when we first handed a board, and put on the wetsuit for the first time, and splashed into the cold water.

While I do get cocky often enough, I always try to remember that each time I get out, I try it to be the Day 1 of my surfing.

Session 8007: More "Just a Fair" Day

Day 7
More "Just a Fair" Day

The waves were in a bit better shape when I arrived at the beach. They looked more surfable than yesterday. With the period hitting 19 seconds from WNW, I picked the spot that's more protected from the direct hit. I was hoping that there would be some fun ridable waves, and looked like there would be.

But it is often the case, what you see is not always what you get. The paddle out was hard enough, already with prevailing wind chops from the results of the winds out in the ocean, though the winds did not hit the beach yet.

After a bit of effort to get to the outside, I hunted around for any ridable breaks, but when large sets came, they crumbled, and when small sets came, they crumbled too. I tried for a few waves but without much luck, and of course, nobody else were getting much of a ride either.

Frustrated, I paddled in and was ready to get to work, I waited for the next white water to take me to the shore. Then I realized that I was being sucked into fairly fast rip currents. I decided to experiment; I just decided to just float and see how far it will take me. Remarkably without almost any paddling at all, I was back at the outside. For me it was fun, but I would imagine it will be a really scary experience if someone was caught in this as a victim. It was relatively going fast today.

So I decided to wait for another wave to ride, but waves were not shaping up still yet.

Another mode change I have decided to paddle further south just so that I get enough exercise for today, and finally I found a spot that was breaking a bit mellower, and took a ride. That was short but sweet that let me score a couple of turns. I paddled back for the next but no good wave came and the I ran out of time.

Session 8005,Still Big Day But Pretty Epic at Capitola

WavLOG

Day 5
Stoke 10 At Capitola

I am really glad we decided to go to Capitola this afternoon. On the drive from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz, the waves were huge all over. When I came to the Jade Cove, I had to stop the car and take the shot. The waves here were at least 20 ft on a bigger set, and crushing really hard onto the rocks on the left.


I was a bit worried about if this situation would be everywhere all the way to SC, but when I arrived at Capitola, I was really relieved to find that the area was much better protected, and while it was still taller than myself on bigger sets, they were manageable.

It was definitely a long board scene, but I took out my trusty Takayama 7'2 Egg board, sat a bit further inside, and I really had a lot of fun. Some rides were really long and was able to do a lot of ups and downs.

Observations on Some Surfers: Going Straight Is An Option

Surfing on waves in one thing, but you can also get a lot out of just observing. On this session, I saw several people who were otherwise on good waves but eaten up by the waves too soon. The main problem I saw looking from the side line was that they seemed to be determined to stay on the trim and totally oblivious about other cards they could draw to stay on the waves. Should they cut down to a straight down line, they could have regained the speed, get ahead of the wave, and with a mighty sweeping bottom turn back up to the wave, they can stay on a ride.

Session 8002: Crappy? But I Still Will Catch Waves!

WavLOG

Day 2
Crappy? But I Still Catch Waves!

With the condition being predicted to be stormy and big, I decided to cut the work a bit early today and got a short session before the sun went down. I checked two spots and actually the first spot was more decent than the Jetty, but with the time running out I decided to paddle out at the Jetty.

The condition was just about the crappiest it can get. A lot of rough chops of the size up to my hip, with not much waves breaking. I paddled around and finally closer to the rocks there was a where some sign of the swells breaking.

The first one was a decent size and shaping up. I got up on the wave but the chop ahead was so much that the front of the board stuck through the water and buried the board. I was immediately catapulted and that was it. I had to wait for several more minutes for the next set, and this one was a decent take-off, and the wall was starting to form but that did not materialize.

Now it was starting to get dark, and I know there will be some submerged rocks so I caught one and tried to ride straight back to the shore.

Was it worthwhile? Of course it was. There were couple of other people out there and they were not catching much at all. Being able to surf on crappy condition is a competitive edge, and I have to cover that too as a part of the skill!

Session 7175

WavLOG

Day 175 (of 2007)

With the swell going at 10 ft with 16 seconds+, the local home breaks are starting to fire and beyond the Pillar Point, there are some big white top of the breaks that we could see from the lineups. It is amazing that just a few mile down is the world famous big wave spot and then us, the "regular surfers" can still take advantage of the long-period Alaskan juice.

I pulled up to the "dirt lot" across from the Jetty break. The clear sky and cold weather over night has frozen part of the ground solid and other parts starting to thaw back into mud. Even with a pair of booties on the sole of my feet starting to sting with the cold penetrating from the ground as I waited for my buddy to show up. It is definitely in the hight of the winter surfing time.

I gradually walked into the water and started to paddle out when I was shoulder deep. Even I was wrapped in a 3-mm hood, gloves and booties, the first duck dive beats any cup of coffee as far as "waking up" department is concerned. The most waking up moment comes when the water seeps through the neck into the back of the suit just as I tuck the tail end of the board into the water and the I am already deep under the wave.

When the period is taking longer than 14, 15, 16 seconds, things do get more powerful and breaks occur further out. At one of the take-offs, I messed it up, and gosh, the amount of time I was dragged on the leash almost seemed forever. The board kept tagging my right ankle for a good amount of time. This would not normally happen on smaller summer waves. Paddling out to the lineup took me a bit more effort too with the distance I had to cover and also a few waves that I had to go over or under. This is where a long boarder and stronger surfers have a better advantage.

Some bigger sets closed out a big time, I know enough now not to take off on most of them, but somewhere in between were some really fun rides where I could paddle in as the wave jacked up just in time for a take-off. When that works, and when I can just drop right into the pocket of a wave, there is nothing that's more pleasing.

With the tide being a bit too high, the size of the bouncy back-wash waves were just equally big. I caught a nice wave, kept a good line, but the ride ended up in a huge smashing bang as the incoming and bounced waves collided and I got knocked out and stumbled forward a big time. I did not see that coming, honestly. I should be more careful about that. That's when I decided to get out of the water and ran for a hot cup of double cappuccino.

Session 7173 Back at Home Break

WavLOG

Day 173
Back at Home Break

I was back on Friday so yesterday, I could have gone out. In fact, I should have as my friend "E" told me that yesterday at this home break below was just great. But after a week of SoCAL surfing, I was a bit hesitant to go into cold water. Today also there was a small high school meet there so I got to surf with a bunch of local surf kids as well as some of their parents.

I watched and shot several pictures (below) and as you can see the condition was really fun and the high school kids were having a lot of fun competing.

As for my own surfing, I had a few nice deep drop and of course the speed here is something that there is a plenty of here in these breaks. The Takayama Egg 7'2 has performed well when the size goes up a bit as some of the breaks were clearly above my 5'5 stature and gaining a speed with this board is quite a bit of fun and thrill too.

The buoy water temp was reading 51 degrees F today, but with a 3 mm hood, 1.5 mm gloves and Mysterioso rush guard, I was completely warm and comfortable throughout the session with a 4/3 mm suit.

Sessions 7145-7

I almost always carry two surf boards. These days, I carry the Takayama Egg, that's 7'2 in length. Then depending on my mood and my guess to what's out there I would pick a 5'6, 6'4 or 6'5 quad fin board. Lately I am carrying the 6'5 quad board. To be honest I think the 5'6 is a bit challenging for me, but it is something I should take out often to see if I am ready to use that one more regularly.

When I get to the beach, I would first scope out the beach for the location, the size and the directions of the break, as well as where the water has ripped open for a nice, or could be a dangerous, channel out, then I pick one of the two boards.

It is a hard decision though. I always feel like I would regret not taking the other board, if I did not. But I tend to take the longer Egg most of the times, because I know it would be easier to catch waves.

Short boarding is really really hard. It just take so much more energy to be successful, and I must admit when I am in a lineup with a bunch of surfers, there always are a few surfers that just got so much more energy to out paddle into the waves; sometimes, I am very amazed how they could get into the waves even on shorter potato chip boards. I must remind you that I have taken a longer board, and I am still “behind” some surfers on these regards. So

So to compensate for the lack of my arm muscles, I tend to look for a sweeter spot where the wave is just about to break and get me a bit of push. This works well when it happens, but that also require a constant adjustment, and here again, some surfers would show up from “nowhere”, and be there on the spot before I can get to it. It is again, one of the amazing stuff some people can pull off.

Not only that before I try to get to the next bump those who took my first wave away is already back at it!

Coming back to my car, I was glad I did not take the shorter board, but I always would wish that I could surf as well as some of these best surfers with the shorter board.

I am not so frustrated by all of that, but it just continues to tell me that I still have a long way to go. What has changed to me lately is though, I know I am getting much closer there this year.

Session 7145: I went back to the JT, a day after the Stoke 10 session in SC. Total mess and junk. It was so difficult to negotiate any shoulders.

Session 7146: DP in Pacifica was on fun side but still a bit of close-outs.

Session 7147: DP in Pacifica again with ME. Fun to share A-frame with you. You go right and I go left! Nice and clean with shoulder level A poppers + nice and balmy Indian summer morning.

Only 147 sessions so far this year, it looks like I would not make 200 sessions this year!

Session 7144 SC Board Meeting + Use Front Of The Board

Today, I met my long time friends from Santa Cruz as well as a new face. As for my long time friends, I've known them almost from when I started the web site. I've met all of them online! But looking back then and now, we really came a long long way. Everyone has gotten so much better, and we are challenging some of the best waves in Pleasure Point breaks.

As far as the online niche I have created, and now with a lot of people joined and helping keep the fire (want to use the word, "flame" here but that's sort of sounds inappropriate for the online community) of stoke burned continuously. Asides from the fact that we all surfed, we prior to this, we have not met or known each other, but today we are united as great surf buddies.

Well, back to surfing, it was surprisingly on a "small" side this morning, and when occasional "big set" came in, we all went for them and some waves were really fun.

After lunch, and stopping by at Patagonia store, and a few others, we went back out to Capitola. When we arrived, the swell size has gotten even bigger and it was breaking all over the place, in addition, the shorebreak has gotten really huge too.

I opted for paddling out much further south, and that was cool. There was even some outgoing current and so that helped quite a bit. With the waves a bit smaller, but still well above overhead on major sets, I caught a lot of waves there and with the condition a bit challenging, the crowed was not a factor any more. There was a lot of power to the wave, and I was able to gain substantial speed in my rides that allowed me to connect sections, and thus very very long rides. Some of the rides had so much speed that I could completely out-run the wave and do a really clean final pull-out and paddle back.

So all in all, it was Stoke 10 day!

Get More Water Contact, Use The Front of the Board!

I was watching a lot of good surfers today, and especially the long boarders too. One thing that I have been noticing is that a lot of people who are "almost good" do not take advantage of the front part of the board, and it is almost frustrating to see them stalling on otherwise great waves,. When and if I was there, I would step forward on the deck, get the board to contact the water more, and I know that the board will gain much glide and speed.

It is understandable that during the take off, you'd want to sit in the back, even when making the first turn, you'd want to sit further behind, but you may want to try stepping forward! You will be amazed!

Session 7126: Single Toy or Multiple Toys

I've met people from two school of thoughts,

• School A: You should become good at only one type of board.
• School B: You should try different kinds of board.

Yeah, both do make really good sense. As a Jazz musician, I have not really touched any other instruments other than a keyboard. Even then I think I am too wide spread, I am into Hammond B3 style organ playing, but I also touch Piano styles too. Yet, I just must say that there is just a lifetime learning for the mastery of piano playing that even if I practice every day all day, it would be a very little hope that I would ever hit the Bill Evans nor Bill Charlap level.

For surfing too. There is just a life-long learning to get the mastery of long boarding, or short boarding. If I am switching back and forth between boards, let alone various types of short boards, I totally agree that I won't ever become better than Wingnut, let alone one of the top winner at a local surf contest in Linda Mar (I am getting there though... hehehe).

But wait a minute...

My purpose of playing Jazz is not become Bill Evans, and my purpose of surfing is not become the next Wingnut or Machado.

I am "the rest of the Jazz Musicians" and I am the "rest of the surfers."

What's wrong with that notion? I say, "there is nothing wrong with that."

My main reasons for doing any of them is to just relax, have fun doing something other than I do at work. Frankly I don't care how much I suck at both music and surfing. It is definitely fun to switch between long and short boards. It is definitely fun trying to do Jimmy Smith riff on the B3 patch on my Korg as well as trying some slow ballad with the piano patch. It sucks big time, if you heard it, but I am having a lot of fun.
I am not here to collect bucks from anyone.

You might ask, then why do I compete?

I compete because it is like my annual piano recital from my local piano teacher. It is an opportunity for myself to compare how much progress I am making (against myself), and a bit of pressure and a sense of urgency gives me an incentive to try a bit harder. I sometimes need a bit of a kick in the butt.

So what you should do.

Don't listen to anyone, especially my Jazz and this blog. Listen to your own very heart.
Unless you are going for a pro, in that case, the whole different set of rule applies, stop reading my stuff now, you should just strive to have fun!

Surf Report

Stopped by at K Ave on the way back from work. The waves were not taking much shape, and once I got in, there is the infamous backwash this spot is famous for. I take off and the waves clogged up, splash back at me. It almost got dangerous to the point... would have knocked my teeth or broken my jaw if I kept at it too much.

But why does it matter to you? You should just go out and experience your own fun waves!

Session 7106

Session 7105

Small day. But I did get out, and had a fair share of the waves.