Frothing 072411

Surf Report: 1-2 feet ankle slappers

Water: Warm

Atmosphere: Deceptively gloomy

Winds: Slight on shore

I woke up bright and early a little before 0600 today.  I was surprisingly well rested and not sore from standing on my feet all day yesterday over a hot grill.  I thanked my mom for giving me chamomile tea with hibiscus last night, and I also rubbed a lot of athletic cream on my legs.  That shit works!!

I hit up Mr. Khang in the morning.  He answered and I told him that I’d be there in twenty minutes.  I fill up the water jugs and set out to tackle the day.

Matt was already at the beach, and was not going to paddle out.  He and Rick were grabbing some coffee, but I wanted to give Matt his Ulu pictures, so I begged and pleaded for him to stay in the area and meet us in the parking lot.  He obliged.

We got to the empty parking lot by 0700 and saw Matt pull up too.  The day was looking pretty dull already, with the waves just rolling in slowly and with little or no size at all.  I couldn’t believe that the waves had gotten worse since yesterday.  One of the locals came back up to switch boards.  He got a thicker, bigger board to paddle into the mushy waves.

Don was already out, and so was Roy.  I could see their cars in the parking lot.  If they are out, it must be worth a paddle out, right?

We three shoot the shit for a while, and Matt meets his friends Jim (?) and his wife, their two kids, and also Jack.  They tell us that Dave T and Gary are in the water already.  So, these guys are all friends from back in the day, but Jim, his wife, and Jack went to Uni High.  Now, Matt has to paddle out.

We get changed into our full suits and set out to the sand.  As I get to the sand, I have to pee.  I let loose as I walk, letting the warm liquid trail down my left leg.  I’m feeling a sense of euphoria and release as I do this, when suddenly, I feel a small nugget pop out of my ass.  UH OH.  I think I crapped in my wetsuit again.  Fuck my life.

I let the urine swish around my crotch area and ass, hoping that it will break down whatever brown nugget popped out of my ass.  I stretched a bit and then headed straight out. 

Matt and Khang surfed a little south of where I sat, and I sat around the 26^th Street life guard tower.  Matt was the first to draw blood, riding Rick’s fish.  He looked surprised that he was able to catch the wave so easily on the fish.  It seemed like a light bulb went off on his head and the waves weren’t as bad as they seemed from the parking lot.  Khang was on his thruster, and he seemed to  have a slow start with getting waves, but before you knew it, he was up and riding on the mushy peaks. 

I for one had a hard time getting into waves on my thruster.  The waves would sort of pitch up, but then bog.  I would paddle into them, feel the slide, but then when I was about to pop up, the waves would die, pass me up, and I couldn’t get in the wave again. 

The clock struck 0800, and so Matt and I went back to the cars to put money in the meter.  I switched out my thruster for Maria, and threw in an hour’s worth of quarters.  Matt and I headed back down and walked back out into the line up. 

These fucking little crabs are so crunchy!!  I winced every time I stepped on one going in and out of the shore pound.  Prickly little motherfuckers… oh well.

After I got Maria under me, it was game on.  I just caught wave after wave after wave.  However, I found myself looking down at my feet a lot, checking out the “spray” I was making in the pumps.  I figured this is a horrible thing to do, because it probably doesn’t look as cool as I think it does.  I told myself, “Stop looking down, look ahead on the wave.  Look where you want to be, and get there.”  I started to pump more down the line.  It just felt so amazing to be on a shortboard that caught everything and still be able to maneuver in the pocket.  Don was watching me on one wave that I caught, and I think he acknowledges my existence in the line up after that small wave.  I was able to crank out a few pumps on it so it felt really good.

The local guys were shredding like crazy on these small waves.  They really are amazing surfers.  They were always on the peak, and were able to go left and right well.  They are on another level.

I saw Roy and Mario again, and surfed with them for a bit.  Mario got a new used fish from Player’s surfboards, where I got my first board.  The color scheme was the same as the longboard I lent to Death Wish Dave.  Mario had this huge smile from ear to ear on his face the whole time.  His paddle looked tired though, so he was probably pushing his limits on endurance today.  The clock hit 0900, so I told Roy and Mario that I will see them in the parking lot later. 

I step out of the shore pound, stepping on more crabs, and wince in pain.  I wave down Matt and Khang, and they start to get their last waves in.  Just then, I saw Dave in his green neon suit.  We hug at the unexpected encounter, and he said he just got here.  I told Khang that I wanted to surf with Dave just for another half hour, and he said that was cool.  Matt had to go to breakfast with a friend, so he took off soon after.

Dave and I paddled out where Roy and Mario were.  Roy chuckled at me.

“I thought you were going to leave?”

“I had to come back out!  My boy is here!”

We introduce each other, and we four stick together in the same area. 

I made Dave a deal.  Every wave I paddle for, he has to paddle for.  He obliged. 

Roy was coaching Mario, and I was coaching Dave.  Well, I wasn’t really coaching Dave.  He has the basics down.  Sitting, paddling, and popping up.  It just has to come together all at once.  This can only be achieved by more time in the water.  Same thing for Mario too.  He has his paddle down, and the pop up.  Now he has to spend more time in the water.  The more water time both of them get, the more waves they’ll catch.

Roy and I split the peak on a small A frame.  He went left, and I went right.  We both took it for a while, and were smiling ear to ear. 

Dave told me that I have a “fish wiggle” paddle.  Not as cool as the alligator paddle I try to emanate by Sion Milosky, but it’s nice to know that I am doing the wiggle and that I’m getting into waves easier.  Even Roy said that he wished he had his fish right now. 

Dave and I pushed the limits on what can be paddled into.  He and I were just going for it.  I’m glad I forced him to paddle into everything I did.  I think it was good for him to be more aggressive in the water.  He went for a lot of waves, but couldn’t quite get up on the board after he paddled into them.  He would nose dive a lot, and come up dazed.  Heck, at least he went for it right?

However, on one little outside wave, he got caught going the wrong way paddling out.  He naturally likes to go towards the part of the wave that is not breaking, instead of going towards the white water.  As surf etiquette, one is supposed to paddle towards the white water so the person surfing the wave is able to go down the line and avoid hitting you.  I remember Dave did the same thing with Rastaman aka Orlando, and almost got a free hair cut from his board.  This time around, Sherry popped him in his nose and he was telling me, “Ok, lesson learned!  Don’t do that again…”

We reached 0945, and decided it was time to go.  I kept my date Khang waiting, and no one likes a man who keeps his date waiting.  Roy winced in pain as did I walking out of the water, and cursed the little crabs too.  He explained to Dave and I that Mario has had a tough up-bringing, and that he’s spent some time in jail too.  But, he started surfing about a year ago, and Roy kind of took him under his wing.  He told Mario, “Look, come surf with me.  But when you do, I don’t want any negative energy.  None of that belongs in the water.  When you’re surfing with me, it’s all positive.” 

And look at Mario now.  In the water, he is just stoked from head to toe.  He is smiling a lot in the water.  He is truly frothing to surf. 

We get back to the car where Khang was having a cigarette.  We shoot the shit for a while, and decide to go to Rutt’s (Roy’s, as Dave called it.  Haha)

Seeing just 1 – 2 foot waves would usually turn off people from surf.  However, we paddled out, and I think we collectively just felt better about the whole day.  I had to get to Obon to work the grill again, and so we all parted ways after grinding at Rutt’s. 

Mahalos Mother Ocean… I see that you’re stirring up something good for us on the weekend!  Can’t wait to get back and play with you.

Short and Sweet Obon Weekend Surf Session 072311

Surf Report: 1-2 feet

Water: Cool

Atmosphere: Gloomy

Winds: Slight on shore

“Matt’s better than us,” Khang and I reiterated. 

Matt surfs Blacks and Trestles, while Khang and I were surfing 1 footers at 26^th Street.  Not only are we surfing these small waves, but we are STOKED about surfing these waves. 

Had to stay local today… OBON TIME!!  Khang and I set out to surf just for an hour today, since he had wine tasting at his work and had to be out of the water.  I too had to be at obon festival to help out the temple.

I had sent a text to Christina since she said she wanted to surf, but got no reply.  I figured she was already in the water, since Khang and I set out around 645.  We were at the beach by 700.

The parking lot view was dismal.  It was flat.  The surf was maybe 6 inches… with a few 1 footers coming in… oh well, we wanted to surf right?  But first, I had to poop…

The bathrooms were locked.  Fuck.

“Does surfing with Barney’s make you a Barney too?” Khang asked. 

Inevitably we are surrounded by surf bums and addicts that are getting wet just for the heck of it.   The conditions are exactly the opposite of what we consider as ideal:  We have to pull on our wetsuits on in the middle of July, there are no waves, the sun is hiding behind the thick marine layer, and the overall atmosphere is glum. 

We both went leashless today.  Surfing leashless changes the way you surf, because you don’t want to let go of the board.  I took out Dais’s Maria, and Khang took out the Quickfish quad.  I found myself swimming in a few times to get to my board, and finding that the almost nil current had taken the board further north.  But the fish was a great choice for the waves today.

There weren’t any notable rides or anything… except the first ride.  The wave wasn’t epic or anything, but it made me feel instantly better about the whole day.  That wave just made paddling out worth it.  I felt so happy about being in the water.  It just made my whole day…  Oh, I pooped a little bit pumping down the line on the wave.  I was for sure I pooped, but I didn’t find any skeet marks on my wetsuit.

Khang and I caught a lot of waves today, but the locals were definitely the stand outs.  They cranked out turns and pumped down the line like these waves were skate ramps.  It didn’t shame me to see this.  Rather, it humbled me as I watched Don and Roy and the other guys just tear shit up. 

Roy told me about Bob’s Hawaiian Style Restaurant.  He had just gotten back from surfing the south shore, and he and I were talking about all the local grinds that we frequent.  We nostalgically talked about Mitsuken, Boots and Kemo’s, Zippys, Rainbow Drive in, and Time’s (a new place he says I should go to next time.)  He also recommended Bob’s Hawaiian Restaurant.  He said that I would love it, and that I should go soon. 

Roy was with his friend Mario, who was on a huge longboard.  I overheard him talking to Don that Mario might need a new board about 8 months down the line.  They are still trying to figure out what he wants needs to ride.  I paddled for my last wave and almost hit Mario because the board just ran away from me.  Roy saw the fish I was riding and asked if Mario could paddle on it, to see what kind of thickness and width that they should get him on.  He paddled and looked pretty comfortable on it. 

Specials

Tonkatsu Bento

Mrs. Anzai.  She reminds me of my Grandma <3

I said my good-byes to both of them, and headed back up to the car.  Khang and I surfed for just one hour, but that one hour changed my whole day. I went home to buy lunch at Tempura House.  Mrs. Anzai and her husband run the joint, and they are open only until 1400.  I highly suggest you get the tonkatsu and chicken hamburger. 

See how I cook? Very disorganized, but speedy

Kylie & Kaylie, working hard!!  Chop that meat up!!!

Head Grill Master

Mahalos Mother Ocean.

Sunday = Funday 071711

Surf Report: 1-2 feet and clean!

Water: Clean and clear and under control

Winds: Marginal

Atmosphere: Sunny!

Sunday what a fun day!  Today I rolled with Khang in the morning and met with Maryann, Kim, Mellie Mel, and Mel’s friend Cynthia.  It was another lazy Sunday morning…

When I was at Costco filling up on gas, the wind was chilly, and the over cast was making things a bit nippy.  I got to Khang’s and told him my analysis of the weather.

“Man, I do NOT want to wear my 4/3!” he told me.

“Yea, but we just might have to…”

Well, once we got to 26^th Street, we watched the waves.  The waves were tiny, but looked fun.  There were a lot of longboarders out, but I didn’t bring my longboard today.  I wanted to shortboard it.  Anyways, Maryann was riding the foamie, so it was perfect:  no one gets to ride longboards today!  Oh wait, here comes Mellie Mel…

We greet Mellie Mel in her red Ford hatchback.  Her friend Cynthia was in the back, looking comfy with a pillow behind her with a coffee in one hand and an apple in the other.  Cynthia is a fellow UCLA alumni, and is an avid snowboarder.  She brought out a gigantic 10 foot longboard that was an amazing orange color.  Mellie Mel was on her neon railed board that I love so much, but I didn’t get the pleasure of riding her today. 

Reason I Love Surfing with Mellie Mel #23,897,043: She forgets her wetsuit in her drive way.  Hahahahahaha!  It was so comical how the news was broken to us, because the water temperature had to be the same as yesterday, but she made it work in her bikini.  I still think she forgot her wetsuit on purpose. 

Maryann is still learning to surf.  I remember when she first came out to surf and it was a gnarly day.  The shore pound was so crazy, it was definitely not a day for a beginner to be in the water.  I offered my assistance in her wave riding endeavors, which she politely declined at first, but accepted after a little pushing from Khang.  So, for the first thirty minutes, I was to dedicate myself to teaching another student.

Khang and I were riding leash less today, free from the bondage of suffering, I mean, confinement from a leash.  I guess we just hate being BOUND and CONFINED.  It was a small day anyways, so even if you lost your board, it wasn’t that bad of a paddle back in to shore to grab your board. 

So, I lead Maryann out into the water on the foamie.  We saw Patty catching some white water waves, and so I figured it would be a good time to teach someone who is learning to surf on the white water too.  I would pull Maryann out half way to the line up, have her turn around, and push her into waves.  She was half way standing up on all the waves I pushed her into, and she seemed stoked.  After fifteen minutes, she wanted to take a break, so I ran back to my surfboard and paddled out to the line up. 

It wasn’t hard to spot Khang, Mellie Mel and Cynthia.  I just had to look for two bare-backers.  Even my blind ass can spot that in the line up.  The waves seemed very forgiving today, and the sets would come in small increments where we were sitting.  It was just another beautiful SoCal day with a handful of friends in the water. 

I got a good wave count today.  It was enough to satisfy my insatiable hunger.  I remember pumping down the line a lot but not really doing any turns on my front side.  I also took a left which I thought of doing the “lay back hand drag” that I saw Andy Irons doing all the time, and I actually succeeded.  I felt my right hand (trailing hand) dig into the wave face as I stayed high in the curl of the wave.  There wasn’t much push in the wave, but I still had fun experimenting with front side and back side pumping.

On my way back out, I saw one of the most hilarious things ever.  I saw Khang catch a pretty nice right, but he came unstuck on the wave.  He fell, but the board kept on going.  Not only did the board keep going, but that board just planed through the flat section, and kept going down the line.  Then, the board hit a speed bump when the wave doubled up and started to double up.  Not to be defeated by some double up, the board dropped in to the doubled up section and still kept on going!  It was like Maria had a mind of her own.  “If you don’t ride these waves, I will!”  Maria finally lost all her speed and got tumbled by the white wash. 

Cynthia had one of the gnarliest wipe outs of the morning.  I was right in front of her, getting out of her wave.  She looked determined to catch the wave, but the wave pitched.  I saw her orange board nose dive and Cynthia just eat it badly.  I was hoping she wouldn’t be in shallow water as I duckdived right next to her board being tossed around in the white water.  She resurfaced without a scratch!  Phew! 

The Return of Mellie Mel the Kamikaze Warrior: 

Mel seemed possessed today.  Or maybe she got the webbing back on her hands and her gills back on her neck?  She switched boards with Cynthia and just went on a rampage catching waves.  She went left (backside to us surfers, front side for snowboard and skate lingo, as I would later find out) and right.  She made early drops and late drops, getting to her feet quickly, and taking the wave all the way down to shore.  Every time she came back, she had the hugest smile on her face.  She was telling Cynthia she almost ran over someone on her first wave, but still managed to move the huge board to her own will. 

Mel went on a “left” today.  I put that in quote marks because I was going to Turn & Go on that wave, but she looked like she was going left so I backed out.  Foregoing the T&G, I went under the wave to see her swing wide left and head right.  She took that wave all the way right down to the shore pound.  Mellie Mel had a nice wave count today, but I personally thought her front side attack (going RIGHT in surf lingo) was way better than going left.  She took two rights all the way to the inside section!

Khang was saying maybe it would have been better for his shortboard instead of Maria.  However, it looked like he was catching a lot of waves today, so I think he made a find choice in which board to take out.  I saw him go on numerous lefts that he was able to plow through the white water section, normally not done on his thruster.  And when he right, he was able to take them pretty damn far.  It’s always good to change things up anyway.  You get a new feel for a different board, and when you get back on your regular shortboard, everything is fresh and new again! 

Today was just a lot of pumping down the line on waves.  I didn’t have the momentum to bust any turns, but this one surfer definitely had the skills to generate speed and bust a few turns on a wave.  Clearly, my skill level isn’t where I want it to be, but that is a difference between needs and wants.  I need to surf, but I want to surf better.  I was happy with just surf today.

Mellie Mel and I paddled for a party wave.  I thought I had the wave, but at the last moment the wave didn’t let me in, and I saw Mel pop up and left me in her dust.  I was a bit disappointed in myself not being able to get in that wave too, but I was stoked that one of my friends got it.  She took that wave all the way to shore.  This wave was the potential wave of the Summer thus far if we had both caught it, but alas, I am still noob!! 

I took one last wave in, and was stoked from head to toe.  I lost my wave count at four, and saw the sun baking our skin and the clear water trickling an aquamarine jewel shower on the shore.  It was so much fun surfing this morning that it didn’t matter that it was only 2 foot waves.  I only lost my board once the whole session, and the paddle to the board wasn’t bad at all.  I got to see Maryann sort of stand up, the Real Mellie Mel return, and Khang catch a lot of waves on the fish!!!

Mahalos Mother Ocean!!

A little side note:  Did you parents ever buy a beach towel?  Mine never did.  Nor did Mel’s or Cynthia’s.  We just got those free ones or cheap bath towels as “beach towels” because our parents were so sheisty.  I didn’t notice this until she pointed it out, but our childhoods were deprived of being enveloped in a huge beach towel every time we came out of the freezing cold water.  But, as Mellie Mel pointed out, we have great credit score, which obviously is up there in importance as our last name.  So, we sacrificed the beach towel and comfy childhood by being able to get any loan you want!! Yay!!!

DRC Reloaded 071611

Surf Report: 1-2 feet

Water: Cool (too hot for my wetsuit)

Wind: On shore

Atmosphere: Gloomy (Mr. Sun couldn’t break through)

Today was a small, small day.

Today was a day that proves one doesn’t need epic waves to score a fun time in the water.

Today was a day that provided some playful waves for a group of surf bums like us to enjoy and be stoked.

The crew was Khang, Khoa, Dais, Matt, Death Wish Dave, Christina, Cheryl and myself.  The day started out slow, and rightfully so, since there was no swell in the water.  In fact, it was probably the smallest day of surf this summer, at least for me. 

The sky was grey and gloomy, with the marine layer hovering over our heads like a bad hang over from a Thursday night.  I debated if I wanted to bare back it (I forgot my rash guard) or wear my 4/3 wetsuit.  I chose to wear my 4/3.

Dave parked on 33^rd Street while the project kids parked on the upper lot of 26^th Street.  From the vantage point, we could see it wasn’t a big day of surf at all.  However, the water looked crystal clear, and there were some fun waves coming through.  Dave walked down to the lot to greet us and walked down with the four of us. 

Matt and Christina were already in the water by this time.  I didn’t mind the slow start for the day because of the tidal swing from the full moon.  I hate surfing 26^th Street at low tide, because it’s super dangerous from the shallow water.  I think the best time to surf 26^th Street is when it is going from low to high tide. 

Khoa took out Maria, the twin fin blue fish, Khang took out both his foamie and his …Lost board, Dais took out his J7 thruster Desire, Dave took out my old longboard, and I took out my single fin longboard.  I asked Khang if he minded if I come back during the session to either change into my boardshorts or change my board.  He gave me the key and told me to decide whenever I wanted.

We hit the water by 800.  We could see from the shore that Matt was already paddling into some lefts right in front of the 26^th Tower.  His textbook style was unmistakable from the shore. We five hooted him and waved at him from the shore.  Then, Christina paddled in to greet us all.

The water wasn’t too cold, but if the sun was out it would have been better.  I was glad for about the first twenty minutes about wearing my 4/3, until I started sweating profusely in my wetsuit.  The water was so clear, you can still see your feet while sitting in the line up.  I dove in a few times to cool down, and I could see the sand with shells and see the ripples created from past swells on the sand bar.  It was just a aquamarine playground in the water today. 

I felt like a cheater.  I was on this huge board paddling into waves that weren’t really breaking.  But, the single fin 9’0” just let me in to every single wave I wanted to get into.  Honestly, I felt guilty, but I was smiling from ear to ear. 

“Damn Klaude, I haven’t seen you this happy surfing in a long time!” Dais chuckled.

Indeed, I was super stoked about catching the waves, but I was more stoked at the waves everyone else was catching. It seemed everyone was getting waves, and we were all hooting each other into waves.  We were even hooting the other people getting waves.  I love 26^th Street.

Uncle Miles paddled by us, smiling to us and greeting each and every person he saw.  We all agreed that out of all the locals here, he is the most approachable, aka least intimidating.  He has a great, fluid style, but catches everything with such grace that you can’t help but smile and hoot him.

I was impressed with Matt’s paddle power today.  He was still on his JS, but he muscled his way into waves that some longboarders had difficulty paddling into.  Bali definitely changed his paddling power.  We all were in awe of his paddling power just muscling into waves, and I attribute his paddle power to his titty dance.  If you haven’t seen Matt do his titty dance, you are definitely missing out in life.  If you ask nicely and slip him a five dollar bill in between his boardshorts, he might just do it for you…

Khang was catching some nice waves today.  Towards the end of the session, he caught this one right, plowing through the white water section, and then turning up the lip and exposing his board’s nose half way out the water. 

Cheryl came today too!  She was fashionably late to the party, on her longboard.  So count em: one, two, three longboards from the DRC!  She and Christina had a small paddle battle where Cheryl got into the wave easier on her longboard, so Christina backed off.  Cheryl took the wave all the way to shore, and had this huge smile on her face.

Christina caught a lot of waves too, with Matt pointing out she was in her Warrior 2 stance when she glided on the wave. 

Dais was kicking a lot to catch the waves today, and rightfully so.  The waves were so mushy, there was a lot of effort involved in catching them!  When he did catch them, it looked like it was hard to maintain speed on the wave.  There’s no swell, so we do what we can with the waves we are given.

Dave… had a reckless abandonment for his own safety (and the safety of others.)  I think the other DRC members who haven’t surfed with him before finally understand why I coin the phrase DEATH WISH DAVE.  He kept on going for the hairy, sketchy waves and put himself into some gnarly situations.  On one wave, he and I were going for the wave that somebody was already on.  I didn’t give a fuck who was on it, I just wanted to catch the wave (yea, I’m a kook.)  But as I paddled for it, I saw Dave just shoot across my peripheral still on his belly.  So, at the last second, I got off my board and held onto her for dear life.  Luckily, my board ended up not getting taken by the wave, but I saw Dave’s board just fly up into the air and crash, tomb-stoning up and down before he resurfaced.  I think the other dude on the longboard whom we snaked was pissed, but what are you gonna do?  No one was hurt, and it wasn’t that heavy of a day anyway.  On another wave, I saw Dave just gun for the shore on a no-hope close out and just EAT IT.  I’ll take a side of ranch with my plate of poop, thank you.  I give him mad props for living up to his Death Wish Dave name.  It was really cool to see him just go for it. 

The stand out surfer of the day for me was Khoa.  He and Maria seemed to have a connection, and he caught like ten waves in the first forty minutes.  Every time I looked back from my high and almighty longboard, sitting on the outside, I would see him paddling back out from the white water.  I got to see his last wave from shore, and he was pumping up and down the line with the fish, and setting the rail to rail pumps perfectly on the top 1/3 of the wave. 

Matt had this nice right, where he took it to the shore.  He was waiting and waiting for the face to open up, and when she did open up, he unleashed some fin power on the lip, smacking it from his back side.  He not only did the hack once, but twice.  The second one wasn’t as powerful as the first one, but shit, it’s more turns than what any of us were doing collectively.

I didn’t want to hold back on the longboard.  I switched stance every left I got, eating it mid face going goofy.  I tried to take every wave as far as I could as they mushed out on the outside and then walled up further on the inside.  However, my shoulder started to hurt from paddling this huge thing around so much.  I think the combination of hauling this thing, turning it, pushing down on it while paddling to the line up, and paddling into waves took a toll on my shoulders.  My shoulder started to ache as I winced in pain every so often.  I had to switch boards.

I ran back to the parking lot and saw the meter maid handing out tickets to several cars.  Good for us, we didn’t have to worry about that.  I put fins into my new craigslist board, and headed back out to the line up.  I could still see the green board guy taking all the waves in our little group.  He was ballsy and surfed well, but he seemed to be hogging a lot of the waves, and I think he felt our “get the fuck out of this area” vibe since he was only with us for about thirty minutes.  Power in numbers, baby!!

The shortboard session was super fun too!  I didn’t catch as many waves as I did on the longboard, but man, it was so fun!  I counted that I snaked Khoa twice, Cheryl twice, Matt once, and another old dude too.  Oops.  Sorry guys!  I swear, I had a lot of fun catching those waves too! 

We called the session after three hours of surfing with just our friends.  It felt like everyone got their fair share of waves today, and that the DRC was once again “whole” since the return of Matt. 

Kicking it with da boys at 26^th Street!  Mediocre waves?  No Worries!  It was still super fun with all of us there.  I can’t reiterate enough that I’d rather surf with a bunch of my friends in crappy waves than just by myself in some epic surf spot.  It’s a hundred times more fun when I surf with da boys (and girls, but you guys are da boys too.) 

Mahalos Mother Ocean!!!  What a perfect summer day for a little reunion. 

40 Minutes for a Sunset 071211

Surf Report: 1-2 feet mumbled and jumbled up surf

Winds: On shore

Water: Cool

Atmosphere: Sunny with some patchy clouds

I had dinner plans with a friend of mine tonite.  She told me 7 o’clock last week.  I called her to reconfirm, and she said, “7? Man I must have been out of it, can we do 730 or 800?”  Fine, but if it’s 800, I’m gonna be late. 

Off to the beach I went.

Today’s crew was Dais, Khang, Matt, and myself.  It was the dedicated core of the DRC.  Aloha Welcome Home Matt!  We all greeted him with hugs and penis touches.  We got changed into our wetsuits since the air temperature was a bit chilly, but it seemed like the water was pretty warm. 

The shore pound was gnarly today, and Dais reminded me not to turn my back to the Ocean.  I concurred.  The outside sets looked ok from the parking lot, but so many people were on it like a crowded elevator during the lunch time rush hour that one had no where to go. 

First wave was caught by Khang.  He took a nice little left that opened up for him in the midst of all the chaotic churning of the Ocean.  We all hooted him as he took the wave.

Second wave was a split peak by Matt and Khang.  Matt went left, while Khang went right.  They both took it all the way to the shore pound. 

I for one did not catch a single fucking wave today.  But! I felt better getting my feet wet in the Ocean, and hanging with da boys.  I only put forty minutes in the meter, so I wasn’t all stoked to be surfing JUST for forty minutes.  If I’m gonna surf, I want to be in the water for at least two hours.  Again, this day was just to get my feet wet and hang with da boys for a few laughs. 

Matt caught this small left that he took pretty far.  After that, I decided to head in because Khang told me the time was 740. 

I sat on my car and watched the sun set…  My dinner was at 800, and I totally could have made it, but I had to watch this sun set all the way…

First glance

and the clouds move...

Hiding behind the mountains

Aloha good bye Mr. Sun

Mahalos Mother Ocean. 

Meet and Greet, Slide and Glide 071011

Surf Report:  1-3 feet

Atmosphere: Gloomy

Water: Cold (had to bring the wetsuit back in action)

Winds: Slight off shore

Sunday is always a stay at home day.  It’s also a day where slow starts are welcomed, especially when the tides aren’t cooperating with us.  I got up around 620, went back to sleep, and started to stretch at 0700.  I started making phone calls around 0705. 

Khoa and Khang was the surf crew for today.  We were all pretty tired, but we made it to the 26^th Street parking lot by 0800, and were changed by 0830.  Khang was the only one who bare backed it out of the three of us. 

Tide Killed It!!!!

We paddled out in front of the 26^th Street tower.  The waves looked pretty fun, with some small lefts rolling through nicely.  They didn’t really pitch or anything, but the tide definitely seemed to be high and some of the waves would be wobbly on the top.  The outside sets weren’t that far out, but they were some beautiful looking lefts that sparkled with off shore winds. 

The paddle out today was sort of punishing to me at least.  I saw 1 and 2 paddle out pretty easily, but I seemed to be sucked into a whirl pool of white wash and didn’t seem to be going anywhere.  By the time I got out to the line up, I had drifted about twenty yards north of the life guard tower.  Khoa and Khang were sitting there too.  I chose to paddle further south and sit in front of the lifeguard tower.

I caught my warm up wave to get my feet wet.  It was a right that seemed to have a clean face on it, until I initiated my bottom turn and saw that the right met up with the left breaking from another peak.  That left doubled up the right, and I found myself in an awkward situation.  The wave jacked up as I kept going forward.  The nose of my board went into the flats first, then I was flung forward, smack face down.  That one kind of jostled my head around, and I came up a little bit dazed.  Oh well, that was my warm up wave anyway. 

The guy who let me go on the wave asked how it was.  I described exactly what happened and he chuckled, saying that same thing happened to him already. 

The mood, as always, was mellow at 26^th Street.  I saw a lot of new faces in the line up, but I saw some familiar faces too.  We met Glen in the parking lot and I split the peak with him on a wave.  I smiled and greeted all who made eye contact with me.  It was about a 90-10 chance of getting a response from someone.  There were longboarders, body boarders, shortboarders, and that one Sri Lankan looking kid on his shortboard, hanging on the inside.  This kid has been coming every single week for the last three or four months.  He goes for the inside waves and seems to be stoked to be catching them.  I can only imagine how he would surf when he is our age!  I will try to talk to him next time, but it’s kind of dangerous to just sit on the inside like he does.  I feel so vulnerable sitting on the inside, not only to Mother Ocean, but to other surfers too. 

The peak right in front of the tower was working nicely.  They had lefts coming in most of the time, but the occasional right would roll through too.  On one right, a longboarder started to paddle for the wave.  Not to be outdone, I gunned for it.  He yelled out at me, “Are you going?”

“YEA!” two more paddles and I was in.

I took off down the line, bottom turned, and then did a small cut back.  I made it down the line again, and bottom turned up into the falling lip, and fell.  I was still stoked.  I got two measly little turns in!  The noob in me was giddy, but I tried not to show that on the surface.

“Hey, thanks man, next wave is yours!” I told the longboarder.

I should have said next wave you’re in position for is yours, because I took the next set left.  That wave I was able to go back side, bottom turning and maintaining speed.  I still need to learn to pump on my back side. 

I met two Brazilians in the water.  One was bare backing, and the other was wearing a jacket.  The bare back guy, Mauricio, was around our level, so I hooted him into waves every time he would go for them.  Alex, the other Brazilian, would try to go for waves, but didn’t quite get into them.  They were super friendly and we struck up a conversation with me speaking a little bit of Portuguese.  They were from Floridanapolis, and told me I should go surf there one day.  Definitely a spot on my bucket list…

I allowed myself to drift down after sitting on the peak for a while, and ran into 1 and 2.  Khang took a small left grabbing rail as I watched from the inside.  Then, Khoa took a right, crouched low into the pocket.  He was heading straight for me as I hooted at him.  At the last moment, he saw me and jumped off his board, landing on mine on the inside.  We will call this move the Board Hop. 

The spot north of the tower was plagued with weird tidal swirls and nasty double ups.  I was stuck sitting for a while waiting for a wave as I watched the 26^th Street fire off some lefts.  I did get some more waves, but that wasn’t what has been ingrained in my memory…

This girl was in the line up, wearing a bikini.  She was pretty cute, so naturally, I surfed around her.  I was on the inside when this girl paddles for a left.  She was goofy footed and pops up nicely, only to find herself in the middle of a double up as she slid down, mid face.  No where to go but DOWN!  I hooted for her as she took off on the freak double up.  She basically did the same thing I did for my warm up wave, but probably on a bigger set wave.  The board just nose dived into the glassy, green surface, and she got flung face first into the shallow flats.  Luckily, this was a beach break and not a point or reef break.  She came up, a bit dazed.  I laughed with her, saying that was the gnarliest wipe out I’ve seen, and that she was a soldier for going for that.  Her name was Kim, and she seemed a bit gun shy after that wave.  But, I still remember that gnarly wipe out.  I don’t know about you, but girls that wear their ovaries on the outside are pretty hot.  She ended up getting swept away from the current, and I paddled in on my last wave. 

Just another day surfing 26^th Street, and I got to meet a few new people while surfing some nice lefts and a few rights.  I’m so happy that I get to surf so often.  I try not to take for granted the conditions given to me by Mother Ocean, since I know my time with her is limited.  I have to take advantage of whatever she throws at me, even if it is a freak double up set wave that pitches into three feet of water. 

Mahalos Mother Ocean!  Hope to see you soon…