Back to Blogging 26th Street 050313

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Surf Report: 2-3 feet and sloppy

Water: Cool

Winds: Slight on shore and trade winds

Atmosphere: a bit kloudy

Back to blogging again… I just want to take a moment to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout my arduous CPA exam.  I’ve thanked most of you in my life in person, but for those of you who I haven’t been able to thank, thank you always for your support!!  I did my absolute best… if you saw me in the last two months, you would know that I was obsessively studying for this damn section of the four-part CPA exam that I failed four times.  Over the past two years, I've sacrificed so much of my life for this exam... friendships, would-be relationships (one girl that I was catching up with told me, "Don't wait two years to contact me,") surf trips, camping trips, parties, sanity, and my own personal happiness... all sacrificed for the one goal that I never thought possible... This time… this time, I know I did my absolute, 110% best, so I am happy with my results.  This was my version of Kobe Bryant scoring 81 points in a single game.  He doesn't recall scoring 81, he just remembers "We have to win... we have to win."  I put in the work, I put in the effort, I put in the blood, sweat and tears.  Anyways, thank you all.

So, back to surf:  this day is kind of hazy now… I talked to Khang and Dais the day before as they drove back from Trestles, and telling me how they scored.  They invited me to dawn patrol Friday morning, which I kindly obliged.  I woke up kind of late, and got to 26^th street around 700 AM.  I see that there’s surf, and I see Khang’s car.  There are a lot of people in the water this morning… but I find Khang in the line up.  He’s on his New Flyer model from Channel Islands. 

The surf is a little wonky, with the high tide ruining the conditions.  I didn’t really care.  I was just so happy to be surfing on a work day!!  It’s been far too long since I got to surf on a work day… I was just happy to be in the water in my 3/2. 

No memorable waves this day really… I just remembering being really happy to be in the water.  Khang and I leave the water and talk to Don and Ross.  They said that the past two or three days were much better.  “Should have been here yesterday.” 

I’m still getting back into the swing of things on this day… it finally struck me that I have my life back, and that I should do what I’ve been wanting to do this whole time.  I’m just taking life by every moment, since for the last two years I was locked up with handcuffs on my small wrists. 

Mahalos Mother Ocean!!  I am happy. 

Small and Perfect 011313 26th Street

Surf: 2-3 feet faces

Winds: Off-shore

Atmosphere: Sunny

Water: Cold (low 50’s)

Sunday what a fun day!  I knew today was going to be smaller than Saturday, so I checked out Rosecrans first.  The lines seemed to be rolling in, but the higher tide was killing it.  I thought that I missed the window because I woke up so late… I woke up at 600 and arrived at the beach around 700.  I passed on Rosecrans and headed to 26^th Street.  Old, faithful 26^th Street…

There were barely any heads in the line up.  Actually, there were barely any heads in the parking lot.  Calvin was barely getting changed into his wetsuit.  Ross was already changed, and I saw Roy’s car (my old surf mobile) already parked in the first stall.  So, I figured it had to be somewhat good, since yesterday was pretty good while it lasted. 

The sand blistered my feet as I walked down to the beach.  The sun was just peaking over the million dollar houses in Manhattan Beach.  The sun did little to warm any part of the beach though.  The winds were biting at my bare face.  My feet hurt just from walking on the sand.  My fingers felt frozen from the wind chill.  It was another cold, blistering morning at the beach. 

There were only a few heads out when I paddled out.  There was Oscar, Eric, Tim, Ray, Ross, Calvin, mystery surfer #1, and myself.  The waves just peeled perfectly from the north around the shit pipes to a bowl-like shape.  Eric was the first to pick up a gem from the outside.  He was perfectly on the peak and was pumping up and down from the take off.  He took that wave passed the Mons Pubis. 

Ross was killing it as always.  He would take off deep on the rights, check pump, snap, pump, pump, snap, pump, stall, and go totally vertical for a finishing backside snap.  He repeated this a few times and called it a day by 800.  He actually meant “One more wave,” when he said it.  Usually, when he says “One more wave,” it means ten more waves.  He probably had to take his kid to a baseball or basketball game. 

Ray, Tim, and Oscar were all on bigger boards, but kept hooting us shortboarders into waves.  All of us were truly just enjoying the spot, trading waves, and not giving a damn about how we surfed.  We went left and right on all of the set waves.  It was just amazing being able to share the spot with a few guys out.  I took off on a right that had a section ahead of me.  Ray was on the other side of the section, so he took off.  I bottom turned and did a small snap on the face before the white water section broke.  Ray apologized if he snaked me.  I told him not to worry, since he was in better position for the shoulder, and that he had been waiting for a while for a good one.  The older dudes were hooting us in to waves continuously.  We were hooting them into waves too.  It was just a good energy to be in at the moment.  Not a bad vibe was felt, even with myster surfer #1.  Eventually, the cold took a toll on all of them, and so they left. 

The north spot belonged to Calvin and myself.  I can hear Roy hooting further south near the tower, no doubt scoring another good left.  Him, Davey, and Don were on that peak. 

Calvin and I traded waves for a good half hour.  Small to medium waves rolled our way, pealing perfectly.  Calvin was on his blue bonzer board, and was super stylish pumping down the line.  His board was super responsive and he was able to bottom turn to the lip with ease on his bonzer. 

I was able to squeeze some of the cleanest rides out of the smallest waves.  The waves were peeling that perfectly this day.  I just couldn’t believe how good it was. 

“Oh, here we go!” Calvin said.

A set detonated on the outside, and started to bend and peel towards us.  I paddled furiously to meet the peak.  I swung around and started to kick and scratch.  I felt the wave lift me up as I took off on an angle.  I stood up, and instinctively stiffened up and put all my weight on my back foot.  I was on one foot for a split second, then fell off the wave of the day.  Un-fucking-believable.  I blew it. 

Oh well.

I caught more rights with Calvin as the spot grew crowded with the second shift.  They were the same dudes that “didn’t belong” that one day with the draining low tide.  They were having trouble catching the waves, especially since the high tide was now making the waves more mushy.  Calvin and I made our way towards the 26^th Street tower.

Roy was on the tail end of the surf session, and so was I.  For some reason, the waves just south of the tower jacked up and made a difficult take off on this small day.  Roy caught a “last wave in” and headed back to the lot. 

Glen saw me and shouted my name to say hi.  I waved back in acknowledgement, asking how he was.  “COLD!” he said.  We both laughed. 

My last wave was a left where I tried to drag my leading arm into the face of the wave.  The little wave wedged up and created a nice face to caress.  The wave broke on the shore, and I was done.  My feet and hands were frozen cold, but my spirits were high. 

Although I blew the wave of the day, I didn’t really care about any of that, since I had a lot of waves under my belt.  There were just waves galore with only a few heads out.  Yes, it was small, and yes it was inconsequential surf, but man, how good is it when everyone is trading waves for a good hour and a half?  I don’t really recall a lot of the waves for the day because each wave was a carbon copy of the wave before: peeling, perfectly-shaped rights.  You just had to get up early and hit the water while it was still freezing cold. 

Mahalos Mother Ocean!!  Mahalos for rewarding the dawn patrollers. 

A Hui Hou Fransauce - 060912

Surf Report: 3-5 feet

Atmosphere:  Sunny

Water:  Cool

Winds:  Trade winds to off shore

Today was a day for the core of the DRC to bid “a hui hou” to Fransauce.  It’s not a “good-bye,” it’s a “see you later.”  Whoever could make it out to the dawn patrol, would make it out, and we will surf to our hearts content. 

And it just so happen to fall on my birthday. 

I slept early Friday night in order to be able to dawn patrol.  Fransauce was adamant about dawn patrolling, since Thursday was so good and got really crowded quickly at the beach breaks. 

I woke up at 300 AM for no good reason.  My body just told me to wake up.  I didn’t feel like I slept, but my body was energized and ready to go.  I said no, I need a little more sleep, and lay in bed, checking the first of many birthday texts and facebook messages I was receiving.  After about an hour and a half of trying to go back to sleep, I said “Fuck this,” and got ready for the day.  I warmed up a cup of water and squeezed lemon into it, and started to do my yoga stretches.  By 500 AM, I was ready to go. 

First stop was to Nicky’s house.  It just so happened he was back in town from his recent journey to San Francisco, and was psyched to surf.  I was trying to get a hold of him for about a week to no avail, but he contacted me Friday night and we agreed to go dawn patrol on Saturday morning. 

Second stop was to pick up Fransauce.  He watched Prometheus the night before, and had only slept for two hours.  Needless to say, he was stoked to go dawn patrolling with us. 

We drove down to 26^th Street and the lot was still closed.  So, we parked up the hill and started to get changed.  Fransauce called Matt, and Matt arrived shortly as we were walking down the street from our parking spot. 

As we made our way down the hill, we see Khang getting changed in the lot.  I threw him a shaka and we all made our way down to the beach.

The waves were pumping today.  At first the waves came in slow because of the low tide, but eventually things picked up. 

I paddled out and got caught in a rip current.  I thought I selected the right path, but I got caught.  Before I knew it, everyone else was at the line-up, while I was struggling to get out of the impact zone.  I think about fifteen minutes went by before I finally got to the line-up. 

Khang was the first to greet me with a happy birthday.  I wanted to keep it low key, but it was nice that Khang wished me a happy birthday in the water.  Don wished me a happy birthday, and so did Fransauce, Nicky, and Matt.  So far, so good. 

One of Khang’s first waves was a right.  He was riding the Don Kadowaki from Dais.  The board is a virtual twin from my board, except a little bit thinner, and set up as a twin fin.  He gets down the line, cuts back, pumps down the line a little more, and hacks off the lip at the end.  Khang was pushing a lot of Da Boys into waves, getting assists for nice waves.  He was about to mess around and get a triple-double this day. 

Nicky was struggling most of the session, getting his feet wet and shaking off the cob webs.  He could go for some waves that seemed good but then close out.  He also snaked Fransauce really badly, when Fransauce was going right.  Uncharacteristically, Nicky snaked him on this right.  Usually, he snakes people on lefts.

Matt was on his Wade Tokoro potato chip, and seemed to be getting his feet into the wax quite well.  I snaked him on a right, where I didn’t think he was making it.  I saw him out of the corner of my eye, and he just flew into my peripherals as I was popping up.  I apologized to him, but he went back out to the line-up and caught an even nicer right.  This wave was almost Trestles-like, with a mushy take off and a slowly building face.  He makes the smooth drop, and then does a check pump and then a drawn out pump, then lays the rail right in front of me, spraying me.  I let out a hoot, as he kept going down the line. 

Fransauce was operating on the least amount of sleep out of all of us, but he was still the clear cut performer of the day.  He went for both rights and lefts like no one’s business.  I had a front row seat for one of his rights, where he stylishly did a carve from top to bottom, wrapped the board around, pumped again, and snapped off the top and kept pumping to shore.  What a beautiful way to ride a wave! 

In all honesty, the fact that Fransauce will no longer be in LA hasn’t settled in me yet.  I know he is leaving.  In fact, I am leaving for Hawaii with him.  I’ll be in Hawaii with him for ten days.  But it still seems like I’ll see him in LA again, and that I’m not getting nostalgic and emotional yet.  I am just enjoying my time with him now and I don’t bother thinking about the future – a Fransauce-less LA. 

I had two good waves for the day: one was a right, where I get to the face of the wave.  I do a small carve off the top to produce some spray, stick with the wave, and get a final maneuver on the end.  Fransauce tells me he saw my little cutty, and gave me props.  So did Nicky. 

My second wave was by far the stand out wave for my birthday.  It was a left that popped up on the horizon, and I just went for it.  I didn’t think twice about it.  It was probably a shoulder high wave that broke perfectly where I was positioned.  I slid down without grabbing rail, and leaned into the face.  I see Fransauce in my path, but was able to control my board and make a smooth cut back on the wave.  The wave got mushy after that, and so my ride ended.  But everything up to that point, I could place every drop of water onto a canvas and re-paint it because it was such a beautiful wave. 

We collectively drift further north.  We could have easily just fought the current, but that would mean to fight for waves with thick crowds.  Today was definitely crowded, and there were just packs of surfers on each peak.  However, it seemed like our group of five were holding our own.  A longboarder or a stray short boarder would come near our group, and quickly leave the area. 

There were some groms charging today too!  I hooted them into some waves where they looked overhead on the groms.  They wiped out a lot, but they were charging, and I loved their spirit.  I complimented the dad on his son’s wave because he charged it and made it all the way into shore. 

For about thirty or forty five minutes, when the tide rises, the waves just turn on!  The winds switch to off shore, and the surf resembles classic Manhattan Beach surf.  It was just all time.  I know I got caught on the inside for a lot of them because they were so unpredictable and unexpected, but they were just so beautiful.  On one of these big ones, Fransauce just raised his arms in awe as the hollow wave opened up and engulfed him on the inside.  I had to duck dive the white water explosion behind him. 

On another wave, both Matt and I got caught inside.  I knew we were going to get clobbered for being out of position.  I remember feeling the water just detonate on the back of my head, and just getting tossed around violently underwater.  Both Matt and I resurface, laughing.  It was just so big and gnarly, and we got our asses handed to us, but we both love that feeling of being powerless in front of Mother Nature.  It just makes us laugh.  Fransauce was behind us and said that the wave was super hollow. 

Christina and Apolla came out to surf too!  It was a delightful surprise, especially since I know Christina is still in a lot of pain.  By the time they showed up, my arms are running on empty, and collectively, we just all wanted to grab that “one last good wave.”

I see a wave build up on the horizon.  I tell Nicky, “This is the one!  Go go go!!”

He starts to paddle for it. 

“Naw, you gotta paddle harder!  Paddle harder!”

And then he starts kicking and scratching as the wave just builds up right behind him.  And then… he takes off!  Nicky makes the smooth drop, and then pumps hard and shoots down the line.  Then he pumps hard again, and shoots further down the line.  He keeps going as all of us watch his wave from behind. 

“Oh man, he is just CLOWNING!” Matt says.

The wave ends on shore, where Nicky just got the wave of the day. 

I felt we surfed a complete session today, from start to finish.  A total of three hours was spent in the water, and we were all absolutely drained.  Cheryl was on the sand to greet us today.  She was unable to paddle out because she was sick, but she wanted to spend time with us, which was really cool of her. 

Apolla had to leave to fly to Canada that day, so she took off immediately.  Christina said she would meet us up any where we decided to eat.  We all watched the waves and talked for a while, looking for Dais.  He was out there, but we couldn’t find him. 

“Oh shit!!” screamed Fransauce.

“What, what happened?” 

“That wave just spit!!  I think I just came,” he said.

We decided on eating at the Blue Butterfly Café, where they serve amazing bagel sandwiches and coffee, along with a plethora of other breakfast items and sandwiches.  I think we just sat there talking and laughing our heads off for a good hour or so before calling it a day.  So far, this morning has been an amazing birthday. 

Mahalos Mother Ocean!  Mahalos to all those who came up to show some aloha to our crew member Fransauce!

Surfing with the Real Locals 042812

Surf Report:  3-4 feet

Water:  Clear and cool, a bit warmer than winter!

Winds:  Slight off shore most of the day

Atmosphere:  Sunny!

I woke up early today to get to the beach.  I asked my dad at 530 AM if he was going to come down to snap some photo’s, and he said he wasn’t coming.  We needed to meet after our surf session with Roy, da local shreddah, at Roy’s body shop in Hawthorne since we needed his expertise.  My dad got side swiped by a younger girl who was stuck behind a bus and changed lanes in the middle of an intersection.  Luckily, no one was hurt in the accident, but our car needed a lot of body work, and luckily, Roy has a body shop. 

My dad told me that he might come out to snap some photos, since one of my sisters’ friend’s dad passed away, and his eulogy listed a lot of things he did, and my dad was saying, “Man, maybe I should start doing stuff…”  I laughed, telling him we’ll post his internet web browser history for his eulogy, since that’s all he does, really.  My mom told me not to be so mean to him, but someone has to press his buttons! 

So I was kinda bummed my dad wasn’t coming out to snap photos today.  I head down to my usual 26^th Street, and parked in the lot.  The local guys, Big Mikey, Ross, Don, Roy and the usual crew were all out today.  The waves looked really fun from the parking lot, so I hurried to get changed.  I told myself to slow down, so I don’t over psyche myself. 

It wasn’t too crowded at first, and I knew all the guys at the peak, so I paddled into a set wave going right.  I saw the lip curl up and get hollow, but I didn’t have the presence of mind to pull in.  I just pumped a few times on the face and kicked out. 

Roy asked me how that wave was, and I said it was ok, but I wished I pulled in. 

So, the next wave… I made sure I pulled in.  The right started to throw over, and I crouched low.  I got blinded by some spray, and then I saw the C curve after the spray for a split second.  Then, I got pinched inside, and send down, then back up, then back down further.  It was a small wave, but I still got worked pulling into the barrel.  No risk, no reward indeed!  I actually hit the bottom, and had to climb my leash to get back up. 

Roy was shredding it as usual.  Oscar, the guy on the MR twin fin colored with blue and red, was catching a lot of waves.  Mikey, our mayor, was catching some good ones too!  I was stoked to see all the older dudes catching some waves. 

Mikey and I get into a conversation about being old and feeling young.  I joked with him saying that he may be 60+ but he surfs like a 20 year old.  He said he wished he had arms like a 20 year old, but that was the important thing:  To feel young and have fun while surfing. 

Large Chicken Pho that warms the body and soul

He got into talking about Wounded Warriors, where he volunteered a few times and has met Kelly Slater.  Wounded Warriors is a program set up by the military (or army?) that takes wounded vets out into the ocean to surf.  Our friend Matt has volunteered for this too.  He said that Kelly Slater said, “The best surfer is the one who is having the most fun.” 

And then he elaborated on how one of the local guys, a knee boarder on a foamie, is probably one of the best surfers because he’s always having fun.  I’ve always seen him in the water and in the parking lot, and wondered why he never stood up but just knee boarded.  Well, turns out he had liver transplant, kidney transplant, and something with his lymph node, and so he’s unable to stand up so quickly.  But, he still comes to surf all the time, because he loves surfing!  I was awe struck by that, and had a new found respect for these older dudes out in the water.  They all look out for each other to make sure everyone gets waves, and are genuinely stoked to see one of their Ohana catch a wave.

My wave of the day came early in the session, where an outside set peaked up right in front of me.  There were three dudes next to me, and we all paddled to get out of the way of the first set.  The first set was being ridden by three dolphins, the real locals of this surf spot.  The second set was just as clean, but we were all out of position again.  Another blue green wave came towards us, and the three other dudes paddled over it, but I thought to myself, I think I can make this one!  So, I flip around and start paddling and digging my arms into the wave.  I feel the speed pick up, and pop up.  I can hear the local dudes going “WhoooooOOOOooooo!!!”  and “GO GO GO GO!!” so I tell myself to just stick the drop and ride it through.  The wave was just a massive emerald wall that cleanly peeled down the line.  I made it to the end of the wave and fall on the white water chop, and make my way back to the line up. 

“Oh man, that was a good one!” Mikey tells me.

“Yea, it was ok,” I said.

“Did you see the dolphins riding with you??” said another local

“Yea, those dolphins caught some air behind you as you rode that thing!”

And so, collectively, the local dudes acknowledged my ride, saying that dolphins were surfing behind me, went under me, then came back behind me and jumped out of the wave.  I had no idea.  But I was stoked to hear that I had that wave of the day, where everyone was hooting me and I actually made it.  I just wished my dad was out photographing this session. 

Cherylita getting ready to paddle out~!

The rest of the session was mellow, and I caught a few good ones.  Tom Yamamoto was out there too, and he actually snaked me on a right.  But, he did this nice top turn going back side, so it was all good. 

I caught one right where Roy was on the left heading towards me.  He was telling me to cut back earlier, but I cut back a bit later.  I was stoked with the cut back, and he gave me props for it, but said I should have cut back earlier to keep the section going.  Looking back, I should have cut back earlier.  Oh well, another lesson learned. 

So, I take a wave in since the lulls got a little longer.  I caught a lot of waves today, and shared a lot of waves too.  It was a great session. 

Back at the parking lot, my dad pokes his head out over the ledge.  I asked him when he got here, and he said around 700 AM.  I asked if he was snapping photo’s, and he said he did!  I asked him if he got the one with the dolphins, but he said he didn’t see any dolphins.  Turns out, he got the last part of the wave where I fall off my board from the chop.  NICE! Hahahaha  but he did get the shot with the cut back.  I was stoked he came out, since he has been stuck in the house for many weekends. 

Cheryl showed up when I was getting changed!! Yay~ she was a bit late, but hey, at least she came to the beach!!  The waves were still good, but I had to leave because we had some business to handle. 

Roy's body shop

My dad and I drive to Roy’s body shop, and we drop off the car and grab some pho for breakfast/lunch. 

What a great day!  I spent the rest of the day studying, and then off to Metro Café with my family to meet up my aunt who flew in from Japan two nights before.  We grab a hefty dinner, and watched the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant hit the game winning shot once we got home.  All in all, a wonderful, beautiful day, and it all started by me waking up at 530 AM.

Mahalos Mother Ocean!!!!

Sunday Morning is All I Need 041512

Surf Report: Fun 2-3 footers

Water: Cold

Atmosphere: Sunny

Winds: Off shore

I woke up from a bad dream at 345 AM, with the stupid bird chirping in my dream.  I had a 3 part series of bad dreams, concluding with the stupid bird just chirping his little beak off, and when I wake up, it turned out to be real life.  I thought it was time to surf, but when I looked at the clock, it was 345 AM, so I tried to go back to sleep.  Stupid bird won’t shut up!  So I put ear plugs in and slept till 600 AM. 

Unexpected session today!  I didn’t believe my eyes when I got to the line up, since the surf looked shitty from the lot.  I showed up yesterday and the surf was so blown out and looked so brown from the run-off, I watched our local shaper Don Kadowaki paddle out on his own and I just went home.  However, today was super clean and super fun. 

The peak right in front of the 26^th Street tower was working.  Well, that was pretty much the only peak that was working.  Almost everyone sat there, but only the locals were getting the waves. 

Ross today was on fire.  I couldn’t believe how many waves he caught.  He was just a wave magnet.  He’s usually one of the “older dudes” that shred, but today he was really on point.  He caught every single good wave that came to this peak, getting three turns on almost every wave.  He would push me into waves too, but the waves were probably wasted in his eyes, since I could only muster a few pumps from the wave. 

Ross caught this one left right in front of me.  He did a few set up carves and then just pulled in to the barrel.  He pumped through the section and flew inside, his black figure just shooting across my eye frame.  He travelled at least ten feet inside the barrel before getting pinched at the end.  He came up, and the hugest of smiles on his face. 

“That was sick!!!” I told him.

“Man, I thought I was coming out of there!” he said, still smiling. 

I had a lot of fun today, catching a lot of waves in between the local rippers.  I got a lot of chances to practice my floaters and front side hacks, and felt very content with the session.  It was just another wave buffet at 26^th Street.  A small reward for waking up early on a Sunday morning. 

One of my disappointing moments was when there was an outside set approaching.  The wave broke waaaaay far out on the horizon, and then started to roll through to double up on the line up.  I turned around, and started to gun for the wave to match the speed.  The locals were all hooting for me, and I felt my board pick up speed, so I popped up.  I got to my feet, and felt the board sliding… slipping…!  My fins just slid out as I made the drop, and I completely ate it on the wave of the day.

I came up, disappointed, but laughed at myself.  I know I had to laugh at myself, because if I didn’t laugh at myself, then I am taking this surfing thing way to seriously.  One of the local guys turned around and said, “What happened?”

“Oh, I felt my fins slip out as I dropped in…” I told him, still chuckling.

“Aw man, yea, that take off was pretty late.”

“At least I went for it, right??” I said, to get some validation.

“Yea!!  You went for it, that’s what really matters.”

So all in all, this session was a fun one.  I just wished I had a friend to share it with.  Yes, those locals are my friends, but they aren’t Da Boys.  Right now, they are all spread out over their own schedules.  No worries, we will have our time together soon enough. 

A little foodie blog for Sunday night:  Makino in Irvine. 

My second helping of sushi.. Yes, I finished each piece!

My mom’s friend from the same yoga class that I frequent opened an all you can eat buffet style sushi restaurant.  They took over an old Todai that was dilapidated and outdated, and turned it into Makino.  The fish was great, the rice was delicious, and the other food they had was pretty good too.  FYI, they serve uni (sea urchin) there on the all you can eat menu, you just have to ask.  They had a chocolate fondu machine where you can dip things such as banana’s, marshmallows, and strawberries to make your own dessert.  The price is $27 for dinner, and $17 for lunch.  Definitely a great deal.  I hope this place stays open!  Great to know another all you can eat sushi place near the beach.

Mahalos Mother Ocean!!! 

Sharing is Caring - 040812

Surf Report: 1 – 3 foot max and still clean

Winds: light

Atmosphere: Sunny but cool

Water: cold

I was at my first Passover dinner last night.  My good friend Sasha invited me to his house where his mom Stella cooked a feast for us.  I’ve been over for Shabbat dinner a few times, but Passover was a first, so the whole family and others went through the formalities of Passover dinner, with the explanations of symbols on the Hellel centerpiece.  They went through the stories, the songs, and the prayers for me.  Man, was the food good!  And oh yea, lots of vino.  I brought a bottle of kosher wine for the occasion, and that went away in a puff of smoke.  Luckily there was about 8 bottles of wine for us… and the celebration continued until 1130.

I got home, packed up my stuff in anticipation for a Sunday morning surf session. 

I woke up at 530, exhausted, and aching all over my shoulders. 

I tried to go back to sleep, but after 10 minutes of closing my eyes, my body yearned for some salt water.  Cmon weekend warrior!  Get up!!

I did my usual stretches as that bastard of a bird kept chirping his ass off.  He was loud as ever, but I can hear my mom snoring in the next room.  She too had a long night with her ballroom dancing group, and came home later than me!  

I packed up my stuff and headed out the door.  I wasn’t expecting much today.  Just some cold water and smaller waves than yesterday.

When I arrived to the empty parking lot, I was right.  The waves were smaller than yesterday, but I could see Roy tearing it up in the same spot.  The concrete was cold as I got changed, and my wetsuit wasn’t cooperating when I was putting it on.  I grab my twin fin fish, Mary Jane, and head out.

The low tide made the paddle out a non-paddle out.  It was more like a walk out to the line up.  The water was still freezing, and I can feel my muscles aching still.  Once I started to paddle, my muscles started to warm up and get loose. 

Roy was doing his thing, and the other locals were all congregated in this one spot.  The other sand bars weren’t working, so everyone was just sitting here.  Still, there were only about fifteen, twenty guys out. 

The longboarders had first pick of the waves.  We shortboarders had to get the scraps really.  However, the shape was still clean, and there were some fun ones coming through the line up today too. 

At first my pop up was way off.  I couldn’t get to my feet!  My pop up felt weak and unstable, like my shoulders were about to pop out, and so I would get to my feet in almost a standing stance, feet side to side, and just eat it on the wave.  I did a few cobra stances on my board, pushing up on my board and arching my back, to get the muscle memory back. 

It was a fun, mellow morning today.  The longboarders didn’t take ALL the waves, just most of them.  A pack of four dudes that I see frequently were just sitting outside of everyone, getting into the waves before they broke, and taking them all the way to shore.  We picked off a few good rides in between.  The shape was clean still, and the waves were just so glassy all morning long. 

Roy asked where all my friends were today.  “Snoozing,” I replied, laughing. 

“They’re not as dedicated as you are,” he said.

“No, they’re not as crazy as I am,” I told him.  We both chuckled at this.  Seriously, who gets up slightly hung over with sore shoulders on a Sunday morning at 530 AM to go surf 1-3 foot waves when the water is freezing cold?  I have to surf, or else I’ll go crazy.  Krazy KK is not a good sight.  Ever. 

So after those longboarders left, we finally had the peak to ourselves. 

On a right, I pumped down the face, bottom turned up and hit the lip, with the nose flying off the lip.  I couldn’t stick the landing though, and fell onto shallow water. 

On a left, I pumped on my board to get down the line.  My board carried me too far away from the curl of the wave, so I cut back and heard some ssssss-splash from behind.  I rebounded on the white water and continued back down the line on the left.  Finally studying Roy’s cutbacks has paid off. 

Roy was killing it as usual, taking lefts and rights all the way to shore.  He did a tail slide today, and was super stoked on it.  He was describing how the fins slid out from under him as he top turned on a left, and that he felt the fins catch after a few moments of sliding.  He even hit the lip so hard it looked like he got some air on a left.

Bruce was out on his foamie, and he got a lot of waves too.  But, he pushed me into waves too.  He told me to go on this one set right that I completely ate it on because the wave just pitched and I was trying to get barreled.  I dragged my right hand on the face as I dropped in, but I felt my nose dive in before I made it to the bottom of the wave.  He smiled at me though, which made me feel better. 

That’s what I love about 26^th Street.  They make sure everyone gets a wave, even if they can catch all the waves to themselves.  They aren’t greedy, and if you show up enough, they will let you have some waves to yourself.

I took a right towards the end of my session.  I pumped up and down the wave, and bottom turned up the closing section, floated over the closing section, but couldn’t stick the landing.  Roy saw the whole thing, and said that I should have stuck that landing.  He wasn’t aggro about pushing my buttons, but just told me to stick the floater next time. 

I repeated to myself, stick the landing KK, stick the landing…

Then, a left rolled through the line up.  No one was in position for the waves, and the first set rolled through unridden.  I paddled hard to meet the wave, flipped around, and caught the second set.  I can hear Fransauce in the back of my head, “Meet and greet, ride and slide.”  I got to my feet, and started pumping backside.  I saw the lip curl, and instinctively floated over the section.  I didn’t really think about it, I just did it.  I kept all my weight on my back leg, and the wave just pushed my board forward, back to where the white water was breaking.  I landed the floater, and ditched my board in ankle deep white water, landing on my butt.  A small improvement for me today!  This one wave definitely made my morning. 

Calvin, another local/regular that surfed this morning, was freezing his ass off, and just wanted “one more.”  Roy took a long left right when Calvin said this, and I teased him, “Just one more?  Man, now the waves go flat for you.”  He grimaced at this, and a right came my way.  I took this one to shore, and paddled back out, watching Calvin pulling out of a no hope close out.  I wanted him to catch his “last one” so I backed off a few waves for him and hooted him into some, hoping he would catch them.  The first one he blew because of bad positioning.  But the second one was a right I hooted him into and he was able to take all the way to shore, banking a turn off the top.  He threw a shaka at all of us back in the line up.  Sharing waves makes everyone feel better. 

And then this shaper named Eric came out on his quad fin.  He shapes for a lot of the groms that surf the South Bay.  He reminded me of Rick, since he was an older dude that ripped on a quad fin.  But man, he just tried to catch every single fucking wave.  Even when Roy or Bruce was going for a wave, he would try to go for the waves.  I get it, you’re a shredder.  I even told him that he shreds.  But would it kill you to share some waves?  Seriously, share some waves. 

The place started to go flat, and I told Roy I was taking the next one in.  I caught a close out and took that as far as I could. 

Back in the parking lot, I saw a familiar car, along with a familiar face.  Ann was there with Nancy, and so we chit chatted for a bit.  It was nice seeing her this morning, especially since I was thinking of stopping by to say hi to her and Robbie and Fred and Wilma (their two dogs.)  Roy and Bruce came back shortly thereafter, and we talked for a few minutes in the parking lot.

“Man, that guy Eric, he’s a good surfer, but he doesn’t know how to share,” said Bruce.  “I mean, I could catch every wave out there with this Costco board, but I don’t, because everyone will hate me out there.”

“Yea, I had to paddle away from him, cuz he’s so competitive at paddling for waves!” Roy said.

“Yea, real competitive.  I had to paddle away from him too!”  Bruce reiterated.

I think this is why I love surfing at 26^th Street so much.  Everyone looks out for each other.  If your meter is empty and parking enforcement is here, they throw in quarters for you.  They bring snacks occasionally.  And, they share waves with everyone.  They know how fickle it is here. 

“Look, Miles won’t even let his girl get any waves!” Bruce said. 

Ok, so maybe not everyone.  Uncle Miles just took wave #4 of his session by burning his girlfriend/wife.  Nice one… 

So, it was another beautiful morning in Manhattan Beach.  The swell is supposed to pick up tomorrow, while I type away on the keyboard.  I am thankful I got a lot of waves this whole weekend.  I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect weekend. 

Mahalos Mother Ocean!! 

Dawn Patrol Diamantes 040712

Surf Report: 2-3 feet, with the occasional 4 footer

Water: Freezing cold

Winds: light, then off shore

Atmosphere: Sunny (precursor to summer)

I woke up from multiple bad dreams during the night.  On top of not being able to sleep despite going to bed early, I wake up from multiple bad dreams, hitting me like marbles dropping from a table top.  Adding insult to injury, there is this bird that comes back every spring around our house and has this loud ass chirp.  It’s not your average chirp.  This thing echoes around our complex.  I want to shoot it down as I try to close my eyes at 400 AM.  But, I try to appreciate the calls of nature. 

Fuck that.

I closed my eyes for another one and a half hours, listening to that damn bird.  He continuously chirps and cries.  I give up on sleep and I start my yoga exercises at 530 and he’s still fucking chirping.  He doesn’t stop at all.  I leave my house around 600 AM.

I give Nicky a call since he is back in town and said he will be up to surf.  He moved back from Valencia for the summer and is holding down a job while commuting from his parent’s house in Mar Vista.  I call him twice, but no answer.  I could go by his house like I used to… but he’s a grown adult now, and if you snooze, you lose.  I opt to go straight to the beach. 

I’m getting on to the El Segundo freeway when I get a call from Nicky.

“Awwww shit, I fucked up huh?” he said.

“Yea, you did!  I’m already getting off El Segundo bro,” I tell him.

I tell him to text Dais since Dais was heading out later in the day. 

I get to an empty parking lot of 26^th Street.  I see the usual dedicated locals, including Ross, getting changed.  I don’t see Roy’s car, so I figure he’s surfing somewhere better.

I grab my fish, and head down the hill.  But then I see free parking down the hill!  I gotta grab it.  This is my first Saturday off in a long time, and I should take advantage of a free parking space.  It seems no one wants to go surfing today.  The line up is empty, the parking lot is empty, and the waves are small.

So I move my car, lock up, and head down to the beach.  The waves look really clean, and they aren’t as mushy as I expected.  As I stretch, there is a wave that is a “spitter.”  The wave is slightly hollow, but breaks so clean that it spews a bit of spit when it climaxes.  Kind of like a girl who squirts.  My favorite kind.  I suppose they were remnants from the swell yesterday and the day before.  I paddle out without getting my hair wet, so I duck dive on purpose to get my body covered in the Ocean’s glistening juices. 

Then, I get an instant ice cream headache.  What the fuck??

It’s so cold, I can’t believe it.  My legs and hands are starting to freeze over.  Luckily, the sun is starting to shine, so that helps with coping with the cold. 

First wave, and I knew I was in for a treat today.  My fish, Mary Jane, just flies down the line, and the sections get hollow from the take off.  There are the local guys and some longboarders north of me working this right.  I stay away from them so I can get my share, but their peak is cranking out waves like a machine. 

I take a belly ride barrel on a left.  I didn’t really think popping up was necessarily the best thing to do on such a small wave.  I love seeing that lip just start to feather while looking up and curl over you.  Of course, the thing just clamps shut on me and I feel my board slip from under my belly. 

Time to change boards! 

I see Lori stretching on the sand, and she asks how it was.  I tell her it’s good, but I want to switch boards.  Yes, MJ was working for me, but I felt that I needed to ride my other board. 

Enter board #2.  I haven’t given her a name yet though…

Lori is hanging with this other local guy who takes three waves in a row.  I kinda stink eye him as I smile, so he probably thinks I’m a bit weird.  I was stoked for him, but man, will it kill you to let some of the waves go?  Really.  Let some of them go.  He even took off on a left that I was going on!  He didn’t snake me since I was not able to make the section, but still… I had to show this guy what’s up. 

A set breaks out far on the horizon.  So, he takes the first wave of the set, and the first wave runs out ahead of him.  The second wave is coming, and I take it.  I pop up right in front of him but get down the line to avoid any collisions.  That broke the ice between him and me, and he gave me my space and didn’t go for everything while he was around me. 

Orlando, aka Rastamon, paddled by us to the main peak to the north of us.  I can see that peak was still cranking out lots of rides, but the right seemed to just mush out, and didn’t offer much of a ride after the first few pumps.  So I stayed where I was.  I could see Ross over there with another long haired dude that I assumed was Randy. 

A few minutes pass by as my fingers grew cold.  I had to slap them together to wake them up and loosen up the cramp in my fingers.  I had enough of sitting around, so I started to go for some lefts.  The lefts today were actually better.  They walled up nicely that allowed for a turn or two, if you had the ability.  I miss-timed my turn and got smacked by the lip as I climbed up the face.  Definitely still a lot for me to learn. 

Then I see Roy.  He takes a long ride down a left, and calls me out.

“Klaude!!  I’ve been calling you to come over here for the longest time!!  I thought you were pissed or something!”

“Oh, no way?  Man, you know I’m legally blind in the water right?  I didn’t even know you were here.  What car are you driving?”

“Oh the Chevy Trailblazer.  You know me, I’m changing cars like underwear,” he tells me.

He tells me that he’s been scoring the left here for the last two days, and that it’s still cranking out lefts.  He even got an in and out barrel yesterday, and that he was so stoked about it.  The size has dropped off since yesterday, but the left is still going on.  Just no one wants to drop in on the left for some reason. 

As a matter of fact, everyone was going for the right.  The left offered up more of a face for carves or maneuvers, but for some reason people went to the mushy right.  Even I went for the mushy rights.

For the next thirty or forty five minutes, I just had a wave buffet with Roy.  I went right, he went left.  He went left, I went left.  He was always sitting in the right place, and I sat next to him, while the other guys sat on our inside, or wider.  He would hoot me into waves, and I would hoot him on his long rides to shore.  Within that short span of time, we caught our fair share of waves for the day. 

Uncle Miles showed up and took some long rides to shore, as he always does. 

“Yo Roy, let’s go get some Pho,” I tell him.

“OoooOOooo, Pho… if we leave now, I can,” he replies.

“Ok, let’s take one in then.”

So, despite having the day off from work, and scoring free parking, I leave at 900 AM.  I guess I was still tired from the lack of sleep.  But, I was more than content with what I got. 

The only bummer was that no one showed up!!  Fransauce was up north, surfing back home.  Nicky was snoozing and missed out.  Cheryl looked at the cams and decided not to paddle out.  Dais actually did the same, looked at the cameras.  Matt was… I don’t know.  He concerns me the most.  I guess I worry too much sometimes?  When I called him this morning, he said, “I surfed yesterday.”  I wanted to yell at him, “That was YESTERDAY!  What about today?  Didn’t that guy from your surf club from school say those exact words to you, and didn’t we clown on him about that?”  but I refrained.  But I’m saying it now, here, on this blog, so I guess this is still kind of a fucked up way to push his buttons?  I don’t know.  He sounded very down and not stoked about surfing when I called him in the morning.  He is going through a tough time in his life, and I want to be there for him.

In conclusion, the cams didn’t show the wave quality, but that’s why I don’t check cams anymore.  Waves look better in real life.  They look way better in real life than in HD, that’s for sure.  Yea, I’ve gotten skunked, but hey, that’s just what surfers have to deal with.  If you don’t go, you’ll never know, right?  What’s the fun in knowing what you’re getting ahead of time?  No one wants to open a Christmas present they already know what is inside. 

Mahalos Mother Ocean.  You always give me something to venture and look forward to.  The journey is more fun than the destination, and today was no exception.  Those waves were a small gem that you gave me as a reward for dawn patrolling.  So, Mahalos!!!