Weekend Board Meetings at Venice 012812

Surf Report: 2-3 feet and dumping

Water: Cool

Atmosphere: Sunny!

Winds: slight off shore

What a beautiful day Saturday was!  It was one of those “This is why we live in LA” days, since the day was bright and cloudless, with the Ocean just rocking us back and forth in its bosom.

I woke up late since I went to the MJ Cirque du Soleil show the prior night.  It was an amazing show, especially if you love Michael Jackson, his music, his message of Love, and his legacy.  It was definitely a different style of Cirque du Soleil, with a lot of dancing and the “mime guy” taking center stage. 

Iconic Immortality

So I wake up late because the show ran till 1100 PM.  I stayed up till 100 AM with my sister, her boyfriend and my mom, laughing and talking over a late night Chinese Chicken Salad from Feast from the East.  I saw a text from Khang that he and da boys will be surfing at Venice pier, so I told them I would meet them.  I was excited about surfing Saturday since the report called for chest high waves.  Boy, was that a forecast miss. 

I find street parking in my usual spot, and see da boys getting changed.  Surprisingly, DK and Peter were here today too, along with the usual suspects of Dais and Khang.  We all headed down the concrete pavement and saw the sand dunes that protect the million dollar beach homes on the boardwalk.  The waves were lackluster at best, but hey, the sun was shining, the winds were calm, and I was with friends!  How bad could it be?

I got busy immediately, but realized that I wasn’t going to get any long rides today.  It was just a playful day spent in the water.  After a while, Cheryl and Christina showed up, both on their fishes. 

Da boys all swapped boards.  I got to ride each and every one of the boards that da boys were riding today.  I personally liked DK’s board most, since his Motorboat was great for small waves, and today was a pretty small day.  I had the most difficult time on Jade for some reason.  Guess she wasn’t too happy with me riding her. 

Biggest surprises of the day: Christina catching a small handful of waves on her new Zippi fish.  I didn’t see her first ride, but da boys hooted her on it.  She must have taken it all the way to shore, because she was all the way on the inside when I looked back. 

Dais absolutely murdered it on his Zippi, Maria.  He took about three waves in the course of five minutes, and yelled out, “This board is sick!” after each wave.  It’s crazy how the right equipment could make a session so magical, especially on such a small day. 

Wipe out of the day: I was on Dais’s Don Kadowaki Rocket shaped surfboard.  It was a bigger set wave, and I had to go for it.  I think Khang was on it too.  I paddled hard for it, and I felt the wave just jack up.  I got pitched over head first, as there was no time to even cover my head with my hands.  It all happened so fast, all I remember was thinking to myself, “This is exactly what you should avoid doing KK!” as I free fell three feet into the flats.  It was pretty funny, and I was glad that the water wasn’t too shallow.  I came up laughing at myself.  Khang was a few yards away in the white water, saying “Ohh my gaaaaaawd.”

I had to leave since I had to do grocery shopping and head into work.  I would have loved to go with Matt to Huntington this day, but I had to stay local.  During the session, I was thinking to myself, “Man, all we’re missing now is Matt and Fransauce.”  But I knew Matt was in HB, and Fransauce had work.  Turns out Fransauce is now working 5 days a week, from 1245 to 845, and is a full time weekend warrior.  So, he rolled with Matt to HB and scored some fast, clean 2-3 footers over there, followed up by an ono grind at Bob’s Okazuya.  Jealous!!  But hey, we do what we have to do!

Mahalos Mother Ocean!  You always give me something to smile about, even when the waves are small.