Based on swellmagnet, BC was the right call. SM and EP were small and blown out. Some good sized waves, but inconsistent and hard to read. Overall it was kind of mixed up. Had a few good rides.
Matt:
BC was fun this morning, but JJ, you should have been there Monday! Short periods and mushy today but I think we both got a decent amount of rides in considering how ugly it looked when we got there. Even started to
glass off a bit for about 5 min. I can now, finally, feel my toes.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Munster Dinged (12/19/2009)
Bay St. was pretty good today. A little weak, but fairly consistent,
with 3 or more solid 3' waves per set. The bad news, Munster Mobile has it's first real ding. I'll have to
ride Peanut.
with 3 or more solid 3' waves per set. The bad news, Munster Mobile has it's first real ding. I'll have to
ride Peanut.
Bay St. (Monday, 12/14/2009)
Shawn and I went. The size was there, and, for a more experienced
surfer, the waves. But it was hard for me to read. They were pretty
walled up and fast. Shawn got a few good rides.
Shawn:
It was c-c-c-cold. JJ and I were in the water about 15 minutes before the sun came up and offshores blew the whole time. We surfed for just over an hour I think and I began to shiver a little and decided I'd enough.
Much bigger than I thought it would be. I was hoping for more swell to overcome the high tide and then wished for less swell once we were out in it. I'd say consistent chest waves rolled thru with occasional head high (surfline had 3-4' with occ 5' for Venice). Peaky windswell with decent shape on some waves, as usual the bigger ones were mostly closed out. I had one great right all the way into shore, a couple fast drop and turns and thats about it. Paddle out was a chore, a good day to be selective. Too bad tide's not cooperating with Sunset.
Shawn
surfer, the waves. But it was hard for me to read. They were pretty
walled up and fast. Shawn got a few good rides.
Shawn:
It was c-c-c-cold. JJ and I were in the water about 15 minutes before the sun came up and offshores blew the whole time. We surfed for just over an hour I think and I began to shiver a little and decided I'd enough.
Much bigger than I thought it would be. I was hoping for more swell to overcome the high tide and then wished for less swell once we were out in it. I'd say consistent chest waves rolled thru with occasional head high (surfline had 3-4' with occ 5' for Venice). Peaky windswell with decent shape on some waves, as usual the bigger ones were mostly closed out. I had one great right all the way into shore, a couple fast drop and turns and thats about it. Paddle out was a chore, a good day to be selective. Too bad tide's not cooperating with Sunset.
Shawn
Sunset w/ Andrew (Thursday, 12/10/2010)
Sunset was decent, probably a lot like Wednesday, but smaller. I got a
really long right, and paddling back, Andrew got a similar one, so
that makes it a good day. The tide never really worked itself out, a
lot of side waves. The swell hit a lull around the time the tide
dropped enough.
Very cold, colder in the air than the water.
really long right, and paddling back, Andrew got a similar one, so
that makes it a good day. The tide never really worked itself out, a
lot of side waves. The swell hit a lull around the time the tide
dropped enough.
Very cold, colder in the air than the water.
Bay St. (12/5/2009)
Don't really remember this session.
Could this be the session Shawn and I went to Will Rogers? Sunset wasn't working (tide) and Bay Street was closed out. Will Rogers was smaller. Partway through our session, a high school class started surfing at the jetty. I had one really good left, short but really peaked up as it rolled into shore.
Could this be the session Shawn and I went to Will Rogers? Sunset wasn't working (tide) and Bay Street was closed out. Will Rogers was smaller. Partway through our session, a high school class started surfing at the jetty. I had one really good left, short but really peaked up as it rolled into shore.
El Porto Reflex Action (12/1/2009)
El Porto dawn patrol with Shawn. Fess is sick. High tide really hurt El Porto. Lots of reflex waves knocking you off anything you paddled for. Not really worth it.
Bay St. to Sunset Gallivanting (Friday, 11/27)
Went to Sunset, crowded and gutless. The same guy catching all the waves, which were basically shorebreak. Drove down to Bay St. and paddled out. It was pretty closed out. Started getting even worse as the tide dropped about an hour later.
Seemed like the swell was picking up so we loaded up, put down towels and drove to Sunset in our wetsuits. It did in fact look better. Parked at Will Rogers ($9) and walked North. Not sure if that's better than parking at Gladstones. After about 45 minutes of marginal surfing, I found a section to share with a couple of other surfers. Got about 10 decent rides, rights and lefts.
Seemed like the swell was picking up so we loaded up, put down towels and drove to Sunset in our wetsuits. It did in fact look better. Parked at Will Rogers ($9) and walked North. Not sure if that's better than parking at Gladstones. After about 45 minutes of marginal surfing, I found a section to share with a couple of other surfers. Got about 10 decent rides, rights and lefts.
Surprise Guest Surfers - Bay St. (Sunday, 11/22)
Went to Bay St. with Luis. Surprise guest appearance by Fess and Shawn, who were supposed to be at EP but paddled out at Bay St. instead. I think I found out later that Shawn got a ticket. Luis and I were bad influences by staying in the water. An OK session for me, but not the best for Luis. He needs more time in the water.
El Porto, surf with Matt (Saturday, 11/21/2009)
Crowded. Got an amazing left (for me) early on. Pulled several 'maneuvers' . Kept drifting south, into the hordes of short boarders. Fess had to leave early, so Matt and I got out and walked up near the power plant. Not the greatest waves, but a lot fewer surfers. I remember Matt dropped into this real bomb towards the end. His board was vertical, and so was he, stretching from the top of the wave to the bottom. More than overhead.
Bay St. (Sunday, 11/29)
Went by myself with El Guapo. Got there a little later than desired as the tide backed down to low. Pretty walled by the end of the session. One good left.
Friday, November 20, 2009
El Guapo comes through
Bay Street - Friday, 11/20/2009
I surfed El Guapo (an 8' 7S Superfish) and got a good number of rides. Certainly my best day on it. I popped up pretty easily and was staying up as well. Maybe my time on the Speed Shape last weekend helped me appreciate the extra float.
Pretty good day. A little walled, but corners were available. Really tired by the end of the session, don't know why.
Shawn in particular had some good rides. Fess probably had similar rides, but we are usually on the same 'surf frequency', we paddle for the same waves. If he catches it, I turn around and look for the next wave and miss his ride. If I catch it, I'm not in a good position to see his ride when I paddle back out.
At least, that's the theory.
I surfed El Guapo (an 8' 7S Superfish) and got a good number of rides. Certainly my best day on it. I popped up pretty easily and was staying up as well. Maybe my time on the Speed Shape last weekend helped me appreciate the extra float.
Pretty good day. A little walled, but corners were available. Really tired by the end of the session, don't know why.
Shawn in particular had some good rides. Fess probably had similar rides, but we are usually on the same 'surf frequency', we paddle for the same waves. If he catches it, I turn around and look for the next wave and miss his ride. If I catch it, I'm not in a good position to see his ride when I paddle back out.
At least, that's the theory.
Peanut's First Session
Bay Street, Sunday, 11/15/2009.
A little gutless. Took out the peanut (used 9' 11" Infinity Cluster V) and enjoyed it quite a bit. Fell off the first few times, but got the hang of it. Paddles pretty much the same as my 9' 6" longboard. The extra length is counteracted by the increased nose rocker. On the Munster Mobile, I'll choke up to catch the gutless tweeners and pearl the board on takeoff. Not so with the peanut. Didn't pearl it once. I'm waiting for Sunset to work so I can try it at a point break.
Towards the end of the session, it really backed off. I loaned the peanut to Fess and Shawn to give them a try and rode Travis' Speed Shape. Not enough float for me.
A little gutless. Took out the peanut (used 9' 11" Infinity Cluster V) and enjoyed it quite a bit. Fell off the first few times, but got the hang of it. Paddles pretty much the same as my 9' 6" longboard. The extra length is counteracted by the increased nose rocker. On the Munster Mobile, I'll choke up to catch the gutless tweeners and pearl the board on takeoff. Not so with the peanut. Didn't pearl it once. I'm waiting for Sunset to work so I can try it at a point break.
Towards the end of the session, it really backed off. I loaned the peanut to Fess and Shawn to give them a try and rode Travis' Speed Shape. Not enough float for me.
Surf Underwear?
One of our band put on his wetsuit today and forgot to remove his underwear. That would've made an interesting session. Well, anyway, another surf blog links to this tidbit, an underwear line, Moskova, designed by french surfers 'that fit's their styles and technical needs.' Coincidence?
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Bay Street Seasickness
Overall, just so-so. Really gutless to start off, then about 1/2 hour of good waves, then it just petered out. Interestingly, the SM buoy shows wave heights peaked at 3.0' at 6:50 am!
My seasickness was back with a vengeance. I was pretty queasy by the end of the session so I limped out of the water, riding some whitewater to the shore.
Note to self: check tide, wind, and buoys before heading out. On the buoy page, don't just look at the wave heights and periods, look at the wind speed and water temps too. It will be a good reference. Station 46025 has a water temp of 63.9 degrees.
My seasickness was back with a vengeance. I was pretty queasy by the end of the session so I limped out of the water, riding some whitewater to the shore.
Note to self: check tide, wind, and buoys before heading out. On the buoy page, don't just look at the wave heights and periods, look at the wind speed and water temps too. It will be a good reference. Station 46025 has a water temp of 63.9 degrees.
Monday, November 9, 2009
My First Bleg
Hey all you readers out there, I'd love to put some pictures up on the site, so maybe you could hit the tip jar and help pony up for a Canon PowerShot D10. It's a waterproof, shockproof 12 megapixel camera. It won a dpreview shootout of waterproof cameras, looking solely at image quality.
Two out of three readers have just lost their jobs, so this is just a not so subtle hint to myone other reader, my wife!
Two out of three readers have just lost their jobs, so this is just a not so subtle hint to my
Blog Origins
The famous interview that started the whole 'pitted' business:
Surfer Inteview Fail
In the guy's defense:
But it's still hilarious.
(h/t to Shawn, aka The Trident, aka Captain Kelp, for the reminder and link)
Surfer Inteview Fail
In the guy's defense:
- he's completely baked
- retelling a ride is like sharing a dream, the feelings that accompanied the experience can't really be communicated, so it falls flat
- surfspeak can be incomprehensible, even to fellow surfers
But it's still hilarious.
(h/t to Shawn, aka The Trident, aka Captain Kelp, for the reminder and link)
Sunday, November 8, 2009
County Line Collisions
Surfed County Line at 7:00 on Sunday. Some of the waves were really good and people wanted in on the action. They surfed like it was Malibu, 4 bunched up on a wave.
Inevitably there were collisions. I witnessed two. One guy dropped in, veered to the left to avoid a guy floating in the water, and slammed into another surfer coming down the line. A similar situation happened to Fess. Two (or more) guys going right on a wave, Fess is paddling back out and can't rally go to the right, because of the guy behind the front surfer. So he bailed, dove down, and the guy smacked into his board. Two symmetrical fins sized cracks in Hawaiian Styles' rail, right to the foam. It's leaking water. The guy should have kicked out, but he claimed he was looking behind him. Whatever.
At that point I traded wave quality for some breathing space. Some decent rides, but nothing too spectacular. County Line has much more aggression and competitiveness than other places I've surfed. I don't really like the vibe there.
It seems the surfline green days, not the orange days, are the best. You always have a chance to get some good waves, without the crowds and aggression. You're never really disappointed if it's mediocre and sometimes it starts firing and you get some really good rides.
One more piece of bad luck. Fess' VW van's battery had died. Fess called AAA and eventually we got a jump. Another surfer had shoved his key into the hillside to hide it and lost it. AAA got him into his car and his surfing buddies drove him home for a spare key. Not the brightest bulb on the tree.
Oh, and Andrew's wetsuit zipper broke. (Fess broke it, not me) I guess it really does come in threes.
Inevitably there were collisions. I witnessed two. One guy dropped in, veered to the left to avoid a guy floating in the water, and slammed into another surfer coming down the line. A similar situation happened to Fess. Two (or more) guys going right on a wave, Fess is paddling back out and can't rally go to the right, because of the guy behind the front surfer. So he bailed, dove down, and the guy smacked into his board. Two symmetrical fins sized cracks in Hawaiian Styles' rail, right to the foam. It's leaking water. The guy should have kicked out, but he claimed he was looking behind him. Whatever.
At that point I traded wave quality for some breathing space. Some decent rides, but nothing too spectacular. County Line has much more aggression and competitiveness than other places I've surfed. I don't really like the vibe there.
It seems the surfline green days, not the orange days, are the best. You always have a chance to get some good waves, without the crowds and aggression. You're never really disappointed if it's mediocre and sometimes it starts firing and you get some really good rides.
One more piece of bad luck. Fess' VW van's battery had died. Fess called AAA and eventually we got a jump. Another surfer had shoved his key into the hillside to hide it and lost it. AAA got him into his car and his surfing buddies drove him home for a spare key. Not the brightest bulb on the tree.
Oh, and Andrew's wetsuit zipper broke. (Fess broke it, not me) I guess it really does come in threes.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Saturday, Bay St.
Tried El Porto as homage to Andrew's birthday. No parking, as expected. Winded our way up to Bay St. I took surface streets and beat Andrew by a bathroom break and surf check. Not a bad day but it got more crowded and competitive as the morning wore on.
Andrew had two collisions. On one wave, we took off next to each other. He angled left, I angled right and bailed. Our boards collided in the froth. A similar thing happened to Andrew and a surfer lady on a later wave, with direr results, a ding on the rail. Maybe Andrew's surflexic. He sure did have some long rides though.
Urth Cafe after surfing. They were all out of cheese danishes, so the cashier offered an apple tart. It was delicious, sliced apples on top of a bed of custard in a flaky tart crust. No more danishes for me. We stopped by ZJ boarding house. Saw a Firewire Dominator I liked: 6' 10" x 22" x 3 1/4" with a bamboo deck. I think that's the "Rapidfire" technology.
Andrew had two collisions. On one wave, we took off next to each other. He angled left, I angled right and bailed. Our boards collided in the froth. A similar thing happened to Andrew and a surfer lady on a later wave, with direr results, a ding on the rail. Maybe Andrew's surflexic. He sure did have some long rides though.
Urth Cafe after surfing. They were all out of cheese danishes, so the cashier offered an apple tart. It was delicious, sliced apples on top of a bed of custard in a flaky tart crust. No more danishes for me. We stopped by ZJ boarding house. Saw a Firewire Dominator I liked: 6' 10" x 22" x 3 1/4" with a bamboo deck. I think that's the "Rapidfire" technology.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Tuesday, Foggy El Porto
No stingrays, a lot of fog and small, slow rollers. Munster Mobile was a worthy vehicle. Shawn rode El Guapo as his Supperfish was severely damaged yesterday. No one knows how. Picked up as the tide drained out, got more crowded too.
All in all an OK day.
All in all an OK day.
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