Session 8085-90

WavLOG

Day 85-87

Day 85 (Sunday): With the South swells arriving, I headed out much further to the spot that is in the slide show below. It was a bit of work, especially with the Walden Magic longboard to get down the cliff to get to the break, but it was certainly worth it. Not very many surfers and occasional breaks were fun. Note that last slide is a bit strange looking but it is due to some artifact of the camera and not actual waves.

Day 86 (Monday) and Day 87 (Tuesday):

Back to my home break with the south swells continuing. Smooth get-out and occasional breaks, typical of south swells situation, gave me a lot of time to practice.

Especially I had a few nice rides on Tuesday. However, also I cracked the nose of the board by trying too hard and surfing too close inside to the rocks. That's one problem with surfing. There is no break built into the board. You just cannot stop on a "dime."

Nevertheless, I am starting to get a hang of the "top turn" right after taking off and being able to do that really makes a difference in taking longer rides. But it definitely isn't easy, especially for me, and I cannot still be consistent in doing it like other good surfers who came today.

Day 88 Thursday:
Day 89 Friday July 4th:
Day 90 Sat July 5th:

Session 8078: Reparing XCEL Infiniti

WavLOG

Day 78

I bought Xcel Inifniti suit with "standard" back-zip configuration a while back, and I really like the fit of the suit and also I like the rubber that is much gummier and stretch-er feeling than other make I have. It is holding up well, but one problem with all of the Xcel suits have in common is the overall weakness in the collar area. For one thing, the collar area usually does not have the finished look, instead it just look like someone took a pair of scissor and cut the opening. As a result, this is the area where it both tears and the cloth lining is coming off.

At any rate, I looked up in their web site and they had a repair order instruction. All you have to do basically is to write to them an email (or call too), and within a day or so someone from there will return you an email asking you with more details about the issue you are having. Then they will send you a PDF form with a return authorization number.

You box it, write the RA number outside of the box and send it either to their location in Hawaii or in Irvine, CA. (Note that it is a real waste of money to send your stuff anything but UPS ground if you are in California since within CA, UPS Ground will get there in 1-2 days, I know this because I use UPS a lot to ship stuff out of my office.)

So yesterday I sent my suit in for a repair. This story to be continued...

~ ~ ~
Speaking of wetsuits stuff, here is another little trick to keep your stuff last longer. Close all Velcro like leash cuffs and booties stuff before you throw them in your bag or tub when you are done. I previously wrote a tip about throwing them the last, but just closing the Velcro is much easier.

~ ~ ~

Half Moon Bay local surfing continues to be on a small but quality side. I really had a lot of fun this morning again! Thanks to the south swells that have been ON for quite some time now!

Session 8075-77

WavLOG

Days 75-77

Last few days at my home break were really fun. With some south swells hitting and no wind, the waves were on small side but there definitely were some fun peaks, lots of rights and some lefts too.

I am continuing to work on speed on the waves and I think I am making some more progress in the past few sessions. The most change, I think, is that the rides are becoming even more defined and also even more interactive with the wave.

I must say that it does take some effort to work with the waves, and I think that the primary difference between the people who "just surf" and "look good" are from this aspect of it. Every notch in the improvement gives a lot of excitement, but I feel like I am probably passing through one of the most exciting period of learning how to surf for me as the speed and the extra energy that comes with it support more "room" to maneuver given a situation, for example, it is now starting to be possible to think about "Should I go up next?" or "Should I shoot straight down for a bit, get more power and then go up?" etc.

Session 8077 (Tue, 6/18): Still the same spot. The waves are getting smaller a bit, but once in a great while a series of set kicked in. Some fun rights, and the usual moguls that form from backwash waves... 

Session 8072-74: Importance of "Just Getting Out"

WavLOG
Thoughts

Day 72-74

I have been guilty of this especially of late... some evil thoughts have been distracting me to shutdown StokeMaster.com**, stop writing WavLOG, and thinking that surf a few times a year in Hawaii or CR would be OK...

So this article is directed at me as a reminder, but hope you can also can relate to it too.

As people get "better at" surfing, I have seen them setting higher and higher expectations about the quality of the wave and such, and in some cases, their expectations get so high, they almost stop surfing altogether in search of the best condition or location that never come.

This morning after I got out of the water I had a bit of conversation about this with a local long-time surfer. He has been surfing for more than 40-years from OB to Ventura. We were at the same spot yesterday too. In fact, he is usually out when I am out too because he knows the best bet locally. He is so experienced that he can basically catch any types of wave - big, small, crappy... whatever, when, in front of him, I am still a struggling beginner surfer.

One important reminder that came up in our conversation is the word "life-style" and that is where we both agree strongly about surfing. I was then thinking more about that and I too have made a lifestyle decision to be a surfer and also this needs a constant reminder to myself that I have done that. Now here is no turning back.

An example of the difference between this and other sport I'd participate in is like this. I don't bowl much, but I do every so often, but my life will not revolve around bowling. I just go when, say, a friend would want to go. I rent everything and once I am done with it, it's all forgotten. I can hit strike sometimes and I can also thrown the ball in the gutter. But it's still fun.

Surfing is a kind of sport that require a life-style change decision because the depth of the sport is a life-time learning event. We need to be committed to it and so that requires that the sport have to be woven into your everyday life. It would take years of practice to hit an equivalent of a strike, that would be riding a nicely trimmed surf line for 10-20 seconds straight... not going up or down... just across the face.

And the point about setting high expectation is this. It is not a kind of a thing that you just only go when the condition is the best, rent some gear, get out and then forget about it afterwards. So as a part of this, we are always compelled to "get out as often as we can."

Another case in point. This past weekend, I was talking to a non-surfer person at a party, and he spoke of his surfing friends in terms of "Once he started it, he was hooked to it."

But more accurately, he made a life-style decision to surf, and once someone would do that they really can enjoy wider variety of conditions like the old buddy I was talking to this morning. It really takes an active and often pains taking efforts in "being hooked." The force affecting addiction is more of an external nature. You could give someone addicted to alcohol an expensive wine and he would be capable of enjoying it. You could give me double-overhead perfect wave today, and I may not be able to enjoy it immediately. I need to take a rain check, give me the same wave two years from now for me to enjoy it. But let me remind you, I am working on it and I think I can get there.

So today, you could be at the edge of making this commitment to your life and that could tip your life fully in one side. I think I have.

And it always feels better when I get out even when I did not feel like it when I get out of the house... and yes I am grateful to everyone that I can make this choice and I will continue to share my stoke with the world via the net.

Session 8073: Same spot as yesterday. Quite a bit smaller but clean and still fun. Not much in terms of longer rides but worked a lot on taking off and continue to work on making the turn #1 towards the top of the wave. I am not still there and some waves just closed out quickly.

Session 8074: The condition at Linda Mar was fair, but then this was probably the only ticket in town. But here is the deal. There were a few good surfers, both on long and short boards, that were managing the condition. I caught a few waves, but it really goes to say, if you are good, you'd get the most out of it.

**However I am thinking about re-doing the StokeMaster.com site on Google App Engine.

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 8042

WavLOG

Day 42

Definitely I am not putting as many surf days as I have been in prior years, but nevertheless, I do go out than most other people. Thanks to living closer to "this side of the hill."

Compared to Sunday, the high fog started to roll in and the NW winds started to blow. There was a chance of not going to be a good time, but I paddled out at the Jetty "anyway" since my primary goal is to get some exercises before work. From this respect, it is more like my daily jogging routine than anything else and catching waves is a bonus for getting out.

Remarkably, I caught more waves on this session than on both of the weekend sessions and some of them were long rides and definitely some fun cutback actions too. My recent improvements in take-off technique is really paying off. The key part is to paddle hard, paddle longer and don't give it up until the wave has gone past completely. Other details include tuning the weight point as I take off. On a slower take off (slower relative to the wave that is forming that is) I will really try to move the weight to the front of the board, whereas if it is jacking up faster I shift the weight back, and in that case the board is basically sticking out in the air, not contacting the water almost perpendicular to the face of the wave that is forming. And one another thing is paddling just one moment longer before getting up on the board. These are definitely very trickily moves that I could not do until very recently and there are bunch of other surfers who do this a whole lot better than me too!

I was thinking about writing a poetry type thing for this log, but then when I got back, I forgot what I was thinking about. I will try soon though.

Session 8036: Wind is what I dislike the most.

WavLOG

Day 36

Sorry no pictures today.

Wish the tide was a bit lower this morning, but the south swells were definitely being felt this morning at the Jetty, and so I went in. Very very long waits between the sets and most of them backed off and bounced back to create not so optimum condition. After the first two people left, I was there by myself. Further south was a bit smoother and better. But there was no wind and so it was really smooth to get out and relaxing.

Over the years, I have surfed all sorts of conditions, but I am learning to really dislike blown-out condition the most. When the wind gusts, the waves get really crappy and not fun. Beside it brings a lot of chill while waiting. I don't even like offshore conditions much. When offshore is blowing too much, the splash of the wave just gets in my face when taking off, and worse yet, I cannot get into the wave as the board catches the wind.

The best days are glassy days even without much waves, it is just so much easier to get out and enjoy being in the water. Surfing as a part of my exercise regimen, I don't even care if I catch a single wave, so long as I get in the water, paddle for good solid hour then I really feel invigorated for the rest of the day.

Session 8030

WavLOG

Day 30

It is already mid March and this year I have only surfed for a "month." I was taking a bath on another day and looking as my tummy, I remembered the reason why I have to surf as often as possible. It is the only form of exercise I get I like to get.

This is kind of typical waves this morning when I was "too far out." Waves did not quite break.











At least it was fairly easy to get out as you can see. Not much roughness.














This would have been a ridable wave.
Already it is doubling up.














This is typically where I line up. Not by the walls because there were already a few people on it. And this spot was breaking.

Session 8029

WavLOG

Day 29

Session note from this morning.

Session 8022: More on taking off

WavLOG
Day 22

The Half Moon Bay area has been plagued with poor conditions plus an outbreak of bad flu for the past few weeks that prevented me from thinking about getting the water. So I have been out of the water since last weekend. But finally I got a time this morning to get into my home break here in Half Moon Bay, and while the breaks were on a very mushy side, I got two really nice long rights that were really fun.

One thing that is making quite a bit of difference lately is really some refinements in taking off. I must stress this to anyone who is learning how to surf. When I was starting out, I could not even believe how someone would even just get up on the board, let alone controlling the initial part of the take off, but that's exactly the type of trick that I am starting to get. Now I have a better control at the start of the take off that I even can control the take-off line to get the best performance out of that phase of surfing. Turns out that doing this right can make a difference between riding a long ride or just the wave catches up and then don't go anywhere.

Now a couple of pictures from this morning's session. The second picture shows the traffic on highway, and this is what I usually observe until it dies down then I get out of the water and head to work. Also you see that the entire surface of the water is white in the second picture, this is because it is just after a big set came.

Session 8020

WavLOG

Day 20

Double session this morning at one undisclosable location and also at the Jetty. The first spot had some size on it, but due to an extreme high tide condition, the waves were not breaking. After my buddy arrived at the beach he said he wanted to go to the Jetty.

One surf tip. These days, many people have cars with leather seats in them. Obviously you don't (and should not) want to sit on those with your salty wetsuit. Even it is vinyl or cloth, soaking salt water means a long-term damage to underneath spring and metal works! So one thing I do is to use the board bag and line the seat.

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 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 7174: Christmas Day

WavLOG

Day 7174
Christmas at The Jetty

There are a few days out of the year when it is a holiday but not many people go out and surf. Super bowl Sunday is one of them (especially to avoid agro male surfers), Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving Day and a day after that and Christmas Eve and Christmas Days are usually less crowded and the lineup tends to be less aggressive. Last Christmas time, the condition and the weather was getting bad and for two weeks after that there was no surfable waves, but this Christmas we were presented with a fairly fun waves right in Half Moon Bay.

As usual, the picture cannot justify the types of the waves we had today (they almost always look slow and smaller), but with WNW hitting us up to 14 ft and 14 seconds type range, our local break was alive again, and without much winds, the paddle out was relatively smooth if you do nail a few duck-dives through the sets, which was also fairly well spaced out. Wish that I could get out on a bit lower tide as the Jetty was filled with water with a high tide and the water was bouncing back out a bit hard.

Thinking that I ought to attack the wave from the outside earlier, I first took out the 7'4 Egg but I had a hard time negotiating for the surface of the wave, so I got back and swapped with the 6'5 F4 and the rest of the session was much more fun. Also with a shorter and lighter board it was easier getting out. These days, the length of the board is no longer the main factor in my ability to paddle out, which is really great.

This, still is not the Trestles and so there are many more close out waves and such but among the sets there were some fun and over-head size waves that popped up. Some drop downs were fun a bit challenging but after making them, it was fun and was able to continue on to the doubled up sections for some time.

Sessions 7154-7155: Surfing is Still Hard!

I was in a restroom at a restaurant on the other night and on the wall was some advertisement matrix that included an ad for "Extreme Adventures" outfit. There were many outdoor sports listed from Bungee Jumping, Sky Diving, (Indoor) Rock Climbing, Balloon Rides... But I've noticed that there was no surfing included in this.

Would this be an omission or not? I probably should call the outfit and ask why. But I can guess fairly well the reason why.

The most of the stuff listed in the ad can be done by an average person without much physical training and at least one would experience the sport in one morning or afternoon. It is possible to get that "instant gratification" people want.

For getting an instant gratification, I think surfing is so much more difficult to achieve. First of all, a lot of people do not want to get in the water. It is probably advisable that a person getting a lesson should be able to swim a bit so that on the first wipe-out the person won't be drawn. Plus, the condition is now always "beginner" quality and no outfit can guarantee that condition ahead of time.

And to be able to surf reasonably as a beginner would take about 3 months of two-day weekend sessions, that's 24 sessions.

Beyond that one would need to modify their life style and have some commitment to the sport.

Speaking of that, I have met many people who have transformed their lives. I know many people from the early days of my surfing who have since moved to Santa Cruz, doing the hard commute over the "17." Some people bought a condo or rented an apartment.

I do not have that luxury of surfing in Santa Cruz all the time but I have made a commitment to make myself be able to surf these "crappy" local beach breaks, by going for them as many days as possible. It is still taking a lot of time, but lately the effort is starting to pay back. I am now starting to get a most out of these situations. Now I am starting to find this sort of "fun challenge" to go find and be able to surf; like identifying the best shoulder spots, staying inside between big sets, finding & paddling out into rips, riding reforms, and equipped myself with more powerful take-off technique to out do these waves.

So if you are on the same journey as us, I hope you will stay committed, and be thankful that this sport requires a huge commitment to be good. The occasional rewards of catching some long and nice rides, when they come, they are so much more meaningful to us.

Sessions

Saturday Linda Mar session was actually fun for me with a strong offshore wind, balmy "Santa Ana" like condition. While the waves were mostly closed out, there were a few gems hidden in these waves that allowed me to take some long rides.

Sunday Jetty session was a "reminder" session that I can still practice a lot more to catch more of these peaks that this spot is famous for. With less crowd, I can catch more, but I need a lot more confidence here to make sure I don't get into trouble. Neverheless, I feel I am "moving up" out there. Took out the Rocky 5'6 board which was siting in my garage for most of the summer.

Sessions 7152-7153 The Confidence

Lately I have been thinking of the whole thing about the confidence. Of course, it is one of the things that I think quite a bit, but this is to say that I am thinking a bit more about it each time I get out in the ocean.

Over the years I came to realize that there are basically the following categories of confidence that I mainly have been dealing with.

• The confidence that I know I can deal with the condition when I paddle out, and basically "no matter what" is the situation, I know I can safely make it back at the end of the session, or shall I say, I know I can end the session at my will.
• The confidence that I know I will safely deal with the break when it is coming at me; either not to take it, take it, or what to do after I have taken it even if I did not ride it. For this one , the improvement in the confidence also comes with the improvement in the power of the break that I can or I am willing to take.

The history of my surfing has always been in building up this confidence. Actually not; in very early days, I was ignorant enough that nothing really mattered, I went for bigger waves, poor conditions etc., and suffered the consequence. But now it is a bit different, I've acquired quite a bit of fear about the ocean, the wave, and even the danger of surfing in a crowd. Then it started become how to deal with these stuff correctly at all times.

Today, I know much better about when I can be totally confident, and conversely when I should be a bit more cautious, and more importantly when my fear is starting to take over and that I need to boost my confidence; for example when a steeper break is coming up. Even though it could be a bit fearful, I make myself listen to relax, I can handle this, I've done this before...

Doing this kind of stuff over and over has also been helpful for my everyday life decision making process.

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 7143 Still Need To Work on The Break Selection

Back to the Jetty this morning, and off to work. It was significantly smaller than yesterday, and probably because of that there was not really anybody out in the section I was surfing on. Probably there were other breaks that worked better. For me, as usual, the time is a big factor in where I am willing to go.

Well, to make this blog post short, I did not catch much in the way of satisfying ride, but after I got out there were 3-4 more waves that looked like catchable. That basically means to me that I should still learn to position myself better while I am in the water.

That brings to the fact that some people I know have a much better knack at this than I am, and it is often the case that if I get out with them, I end up catching more waves (than they do.)

Session 7142 - First "Big" Day of The Season

The first "big" day of the season started today and looks like it will hang around with us for the next few days. This morning, it was a bit questionable whether I could surf locally. On a day like this the option can be limited since I do have to show up at work at a reasonable time, and I have a problem with my software at work that I could not figure out for the past few days, and I have been praying that this will be solved soon.

When I got to the Jetty, the waves looked a bit surfable, surprisingly on a "handleable" size; not even overhead. There was one guy out and another local person I know was also checking the surf. I told him, let's go!

So I did go in. Thanks to the calm wind, even though the waves were powerful, I was able to get out with only a duck through.

Well, everyone seemed to have had a lot of problem taking off, and the waves were just plain closing out quickly. I paddled around to see if I can find more defined peak, but just about every one of the swell line that came in ended up not breaking. As I try to take off, more water built up in front, go up then just crushed into a mess.

I was determined to catch one though, so I kept trying. You can underestimate the power of waves especially when it is a longer period one. I messed up one which was a huge close out. I had no option but just bail. I pushed my board as far aside as possible as I was starting to have this feeling of jacked up, then pounded under. And that's exactly how it happened. In addition to that I was treated to underwater tumble of spins... 1, 2, 3... it kept going. The best way for me to do now is to just hold my breath, completely relax all my limbs and wait until it stops... 4... 5... 6... now I am starting to worry... 7... 8. Finally the spinning stopped and the surrounding got a while lot brighter. I popped my head above the water and "Poooof!" exhaled some of the water I took in. And took a nice deep breath of fresh air.

This is a rude reminder that we are land animals, designed to breathe air.

I did not give up though. I paddled back out for some more. Possibly another tumbler. But the time was running out, I started to paddle back in, just then there was a small break that happened, and took that as the last and the only one ride of the session.

But...

When I got to work, I checked the build configurations, there was some errors, and the program ran without an error. That made me feel much better.

Oh, I also have decided to put my helmet back on when it can be dangerous for my taste.