My Place of Worship - The Ocean 061211

Surf Report: 1-3 feet and clean until the tidal swings

Water: Cool and refreshing

Winds: Next to nil until high tide kicked in

Atmosphere: Gloomy

I slept relatively early last night after a night of eating some pasta con vonguole and baked fresh trout, all made by me for the family.  I was pretty satisfied, but still kind of angry about the surf session earlier on Saturday morning.  I felt groggy from my nap, and studying wasn’t helping me at all either.

I woke up around 600 AM and rolled around my bed for another twenty minutes.  I got out and started to do my yoga stretches and breathing exercises.  Come to think of it, I didn’t do my usual yoga and breathing exercises Saturday morning… all I did was stress out about getting Nicky and meeting up Mikey and getting to Malibu in hopes of surfing some nice waves and then getting skunked.  I felt rushed that morning, and should have taken a slower approach to my day.  So Sunday, I made sure to take my time doing some stretches and breathing.  I did some poses I usually wouldn’t do, and I called the usual suspects for the Sunday morning.

Nicky woke up to my phone call, and told me that he just woke up.  I told him I’d be there in a few minutes.  Khang woke up to my phone call too, and I told him I would be there in twenty minutes because I had to pick up Nicky. 

I stretched for another ten minutes, and made my way downstairs.  I filled up water jugs as I munched on some almonds, slowly chewing them forty times until they became buttery mush inside my mouth.  I washed each mouthful of munched almonds with almond milk, and headed out with the water jugs. 

Bryan was to come meet us today at Venice today, and he texts me a little before 0700 saying that he was late, but heading over.  I text him back to tell him not to rush, for I have yet to leave the house.

I only packed one board today: my Aloha thruster.  I had a feeling I should pack my longboard, but I opted not to, for I didn’t want to burden the car of the boards loggy, bulky, space-taking self.  I headed out to pick up Nick the Quick.

Bryan texts me that it was too late to tell him to rush, for he was rushing already.  He then texts me that Venice was closing out, and that he would head to Sunset.  I had told him the night before about our debacle at Malibu, and that Sunset would probably be the same today, if not worse, but I guess he thought he was making a good call.  I told him “Good Ruck,” and didn’t hear back from him for the rest of the morning. 

I pull up to Nicky’s house, and he doesn’t answer his phone.  I walk into his house, and luckily it’s unlocked.  I tug at his foot as he pulls away quickly, as if to say Don’t Bother Me.  I tap him and wake him up, and we get his stuff in my van.  Then, we headed to Khangs. 

Nicky tells me that Sundays are reserved for those of us who choose the Ocean as our place of worship.  The Ocean, to us, is our church, our temple, and our synagogue.  The Ocean is where we find peace, servitude, solitude, and freedom.  We surfers congregate in the Ocean and share this wonderful place with other mammals and humans.  To me, surfing has become extremely spiritual to me, and I feel empty without surf.  I used to go to Buddhist Temple every Sunday, at times even being a Sunday school teacher to elementary kids there.  But I grew increasingly disgruntled with the structure of the Temple.  I would ask, why do I have to go THERE to practice Buddhism?  Buddhism should be practiced outside of the Temple, and I have felt that I have been taught enough Buddhist idioms and fables to know the principles of the Teachings.  I don’t claim I know all of them, but I know well enough how to treat a human being and the environment around me.  So, I grew detached to the place of worship as I continued on with my life, and discovered that I get the same, if not greater, satisfaction from the Ocean while surfing.  I feel connected with nature and the universe when I surf, and I learn great lessons in both human interaction and natural environment interaction as I surf and make mistakes or achieve a goal.  To me, and to a lot of my surf buddies, the Ocean is our place of worship, and Surf is our religion. 

The morning was still gloomy, but pretty warm.  Well, warm for SoCal June gloom status.  There was a slight nip to the morning, but it wasn’t enough to call for a sweatshirt. 

We pull in to Khang’s place and give him a call.  As we waited, we rode our skateboards up and down the parking lot.  Nicky practiced his ollies and I did my carves.  Khang comes out and we exchange good mornings.  We pack up all our stuff and head to El Porto.  Since Venice didn’t seem like a good choice from Bryan’s perspective, we decided that we might as well go surf El Porto and enjoy ourselves in the spot where we all learned how to surf. 

We got to El Porto’s parking lot a little before 0800.  There was one parking spot open on the left, right when we entered, and we snagged it.  For some reason, there were a lot of surfers already out.  The waves looked surfable, but the crowd didn’t justify the small conditions.  There were some mushy peaks out front of 45^th Street, and a peaky A frame rolling through in front of Shitters.  We three debated where to paddle out.  We got changed as some other surfers parked in front of us debated on whether or not to paddle out here.  One was an Asian girl and another one was white.  The Asian girl flashed a big smile to me when I smiled at her.  They were both going to be surfing on longboards, which seemed to be the good call today.

Nicky of course would be on his fish, Lucy.  Khang opted to take Dais’s fish, Maria.  And I had no other board except my Aloha board.  Khang threw in three hours of quarters for us, and we all headed down the sandy steps to El Porto. 

As we walked down the beach, we couldn’t decide where to paddle out.  Should we move down to Shitters?  Or was 45^th Street breaking?  Well, we decided to go out to 45^th Street since it was less crowded, and seemed to be breaking, albeit with less consistency.  We said we could change spots after an hour and a half if we didn’t like it here. 

Khang, as always, was the first to hit the water.  Nicky and I stretched out on the beach as we watched the waves roll in slowly.  There was little to no wind still, but we could feel the on shores approaching.  We started to paddle out soon after.

As I paddled out, I saw Khang catch a nice little right.  He made it through the flat section and kept going, high in the curl, until the wave bogged out on the inside.  I thought to myself, “Sick! Well, maybe it’s the right board choice.”

I felt the conversation I had with Nicky earlier reverberate in my mind.  This is my Temple.  I should relax and enjoy it.  As the waves rolled in, I caught a few small rides that put a smile to my face.  Another surfer would smile back at me as I paddled back to the line up while I smiled from my last wave.  It wasn’t epic conditions or anything, but the waves looked glassy, and the water was clear.  The gloomy sky seemed fitting to the oceanscape, while the horizon touched the vast ocean far, far away. 

Nicky caught a nice left in the first ten minutes too.  He pumped down the line and disappeared on the inside before re-emerging with a huge grin on his face.  Then, a miracle happened:  Nick the Quick caught a right!  He took a wave that was right behind another wave, which usually is a dangerous thing because of the back wash created, but this one was clean and had a feathery peak right by where he sat.  He grabbed his rail to direct his board down the right, let go, and made it down the line in speedy fashion.

“See, miracles do happen here too!  You went RIGHT!” I joked at him. 

“Yeeaaa for our temple!! Miracles do happen!” he told me. 

I saw Khang catch another right a little further down from us.  I hooted and whistled for him.

He said, “I’m really glad we came to El Porto.”

Just then, a wave broke right behind a mushy wave, and gave me some face to work with.  I paddled for it, going at an angle.  The wave didn’t quite break so I belly flopped on my board.  I tried to maintain speed as I dropped in on my belly, and finally when the wave started to wall up with a nice face, I pop up to my feet.  I do a few pumps, bottom turn, and hit the lip.  I come unstuck after this maneuver.

I wanted to make sure to catch a lot of waves today.  I didn't want Khang and Nicky to have all the fun on their fishes.  I wanted to make sure to hear Randy's words inside my head, that you don't need a fish to surf waves in Cali.  Yes, it does help, but it shouldn't really matter.  I wanted to prove to myself that I don't need the fish even in lackluster surf today.  

Khang took another right as he got to the open face and did a cut back to get back to the white water.  He redirected his board back to the face, getting out to the open face again, and then did another cut back before getting unstuck from losing speed. 

“It’s so clean and glassy!” he said.  “I can’t believe it’s like this today.”

I couldn’t believe it either.  It was a small day, but for the size, it was just perfect.  The Ocean was doing nothing too crazy, nothing too gnarly, just really mellow and easy going.   Even the outside sets were soft and mushy and would roll over you when you duck dived deep. 

Nicky caught another right, right in front of Khang and I.  Khang was paddling back out and Nicky stalled just a little bit to avoid running over Khang. 

I took a few lefts but I was really working on my rights today.  I belly flopped again on a wave and waited to pop up until the wave face walled up on the inside for me.  I got to my feet, and bottom turned up the face to hit the lip again.  This time, I lost all my speed (probably from putting too much weight on my front foot) and the wave bogs out on me.

Khang took a left out of no where.  I thought he was going to go right, but the left opened up nicely for him.  He goes down the line and at the end hacks a small cup of water off the top.  I show him the amount of spray he got out of that turn by cupping my hand in the water and splashing, and he laughed. 

Nicky went for a left where he snapped two quick turns.  These turns came with some spray too, equal in amount to Khang’s sprays.  We are all still noob status.  Well, I guess we are in the highest of noob status.  We need to break out of this ceiling. 

I catch another right, and this time I pop up while dropping down mid face.  My right hand starts to grab the rail of my board and I feel the water gushing through my hand and the board starts to jostle around, as if my hand was another fin directing the board.  I tightly clench the board rail and feel the board stabilize.  I then pop up and pump down the line.  I bottom turn, and try a floater.  I on the lip, but I was in a lay back position as I tried to redirect my board down the wave face.  I fall down in the lay back snap position like a barney. 

There was a bald dude in the water with a blue funboard.  Man oh man, was it his day.  He caught almost every set wave, making it down the face and pumping his board down the line.  He looked so graceful, I hooted him on every wave as he smiled going down the line.  Give Aloha, and receive Aloha back.

The waves started to shut down as the high tide started to become even higher.  The back wash created some weird warbles in the waves as they undulated up and down.  Some of the waves would break, but most of them didn’t.  I sat outside of every one in order to get the set waves and have first peck at the wave.  I figured, if I see the wave first, paddle for it first, and get onto the shoulder, I should have the wave to myself.  Well, that plan finally worked today, when I saw a right pop up.  I actually thought it was a left, and was paddling left until I saw the lip start to crash on the left as I geared up for my pop up.  I then leaned more on my right shoulder as I popped up in order to head down the right.  I love surfing because everything can change in a second, and one must adjust to the conditions.  I was able to swing into the wave on a clean right, and made it down the line.  I bottom turned, and then hit the lip again, this time trying to expose the big red O on my board above the lip.  I become unstuck, but I felt great for trying to even attempt these maneuvers. 

Nicky ended up drifting all the way down towards the Jetty, and walked all the way back.  I don’t know how that happens, since there was not too much of a current.  He must have taken left after left after left, heading further and further and further north towards the Jetty.  He said he got stuck in some weird rip tide and had to get out and walked to where we were, which was in front of the rusty tank. 

Khang was a little further north of me, where he was taking some nice rights all by himself.  I was sitting in some weird bowl where the waves didn’t roll through, so I paddled towards him and rejoined the group. 

I took a wave that I was pumping down the line for.  This girl surfer started to paddle for it, and stops halfway after trying really hard.  I was a little disappointed she just QUIT after trying so hard.  I had to straighten out for her because of that, and by the time she backed out of the wave, my bottom turn was weak and slow.  I lost all of my speed and bogged out at the lip.  I later find her name was Catherine.  I told her to go next time and commit to the wave.  I made her laugh by saying that if she doesn’t go on the next “big” wave, I would be really sad.

Out of no where, a set wave lurches its closed out face at us.  But hey, we were all in position for it.  Nicky, Catherine and I paddle for this no hope close out.  Before I knew it, I was head over heals getting shot over the falls and free falling about three feet. 

OOPS.

I resurface, and look around.  Catherine was wipe out, and so was Nicky.  I give Catherine props for going for that one, and I was happy that Nicky was pushing himself over the ledge too. 

The waves continued to shut down.  Khang decides to take the last wave in. 

I told him I would take the last wave in too.  Just then, I hear a voice calling. 

“Hey!”

“Who dat?” I asked.

“Hey, it’s me!”

“Jay? Jay Guerrero?”

“YEA! How’s it going man?”

Jay was our battle buddy on our first Trestles camping trip.  He is the one that popped Matt’s cherry to going to San Onofre, and that is where Matt fell in love with the spot.  So, thanks to Jay, we in the DRC all surf the waves of San Onofre. 

We catch up as he talks about how he was in Alabama for the last month or so for his job.  Pretty crazy stuff if you ask me.

Also, he shows me his new board that he bought at a yard sale.  It was a stubby 5 foot twin fin fish.  The board looked like it had some history on it, with little or no rocker on it.  The twin keel fins were glassed on, as he gleamed with pride on his purchase.  That shit looked fun!!  I wanted to ride it too, but I didn’t ask him, for this was his first day back in the water for over a month. 

He introduces me to his friend Hiana and James.  He informs me that he is with his “group” of twenty plus people.  Holy shit, twenty surfers?  Man, that is nuts. 

I take a few waves with him, and then tell him I would go for the last wave.  I realized that I had Khang’s car key, and that he was probably waiting at the car for a while.  The waves weren’t that great this morning, so I didn’t want to press my luck or seem too desperate to catch another wave. 

I paddled for one last right, and start to pump down the line.  Jay was going for it too until he spots me and pulls out.  I laugh at him, and then say good bye. 

There seemed to be more and more people filing in to the parking lot as I came back to a waiting Khang.  The waves seemed to have shut down thirty minutes ago, but more people were coming… These people missed the sermon, the singing, and the after service snack.  All they got were crumbs and left-overs from the Ocean. 

So today’s session was pretty fun.  At least I had a lot of fun, most notably thanks to my mind state.  I was in a better place, mentally and spiritually.  We hoped to spend some time in our place of worship, and we enjoyed ourselves. 

We waited for NostraDaisus to show up, and watched the waves from the parking lot.  But, as time ticked by, the waves seemed to have gotten worse and worse, until there were only shore pound rides and a makeable set wave every thirty minutes.  The El Porto wave machine had shut down.  By the time Dais got here, there were really no waves to ride.  He decided not to go out, and we all headed back to congregate at DK’s house and watch some surf porn, Stoked and Broke.  Highly recommended, and a fun adventure DVD that makes you wonder why the hell do we surf?  It’s all because we are STOKED.

Mahalos Mother Ocean, it was another fun day spending time with you.  

Venice Pier with Da Boys 061111

Surf Report: 1 – 3 feet fun little waves

Water: Cold

Atmosphere: Gloomy

Winds: Next to nil

The Malizoo gamble FAILED once again.  We all woke up pretty early this morning in hopes of catching this SW swell that’s due to peak today.  It wasn’t a big swell per se, but it would have sent our south facing beaches quite a bit of swell (apparently.) 

Mikey was to meet me at my house, and we were going to drive there.  I got telephone calls from Nicky last night saying he would be in Topanga partying, so I should come swoop him up in the morning while on our way. 

I had a weird series of dreams last night.  One of them involving Nicky and I where I had to go pick him up into the Topanga Canyon, way the fuck above the ritzy houses and almost to the valley.  In my dream, I was on an endless journey trying to find this house, while I kept everyone else waiting.  I ended up not finding this house, and my dreams switched to another one.

That dream set the tone for my morning, for I woke up a few times during the night to drink water, pee, and to mumble myself back to sleep.  I looked at my phone when I woke up to see that Nicky had come back home and would be at Mar Vista instead.  So, I had to go pick him up at Mar Vista.  I called him and he told me, chuckling, that he had been up all night, and that he would be ready by the time I came to his house.  So, I set out to go pick him up. 

Mikey texts me saying that he would be at my house in ten minutes.  I thought that this would work out perfectly, timing wise.

I got to Nicky’s house, and my stomach gurgles.  My stomach gurgled madly and loudly, and I felt a furious wave of poop come over me.  I had to go poop NOW.  I called Nicky, and there was no answer.  I get pretty antsy.  I decide to wait a few minutes.  The seconds on the clock couldn’t move fast enough, and so I called him again.  No answer.  I was getting pissed.  How the hell is he not answering his phone when he knows I’m coming to pick him up?

Gurgle gurgle gurgle.

Shit, should I take a shit in front of his house?  No, let’s be logical.  He must have already gotten back to his house.  Therefore, the front door should be open.  Ok, let’s go check. 

Luckily, the front door was open, and I rushed passed Nicky and his homey eating some breakfast.  As I hissed a vengeful few words at them, I rushed in to his bathroom and deployed the unholy bombs from myself.  It was a quick one, and I felt ten pounds lighter afterwards. 

Nicky was already packing up all his surf stuff into my car, and so we were ready to go in no time.  As we made our way back to my place, Mikey called and said he was at my house already.  I told him we would be there soon.

We pack up Mikey’s stuff and some water jugs and head out.  Khang and Dais were on their way by the time we got to Sunset.  Sunset wasn’t even breaking at this point… and I had that horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that no bowel movements would justify. 

As we passed by the Reel Inn and Topanga, we glanced over to see no waves rolling through. 

Then, finally we get to Malibu, and there were only a handful of guys out at the time.  This is a bad sign, I thought.  Usually when there is some good swell, Malibu is packed to capacity.  So, the empty parking spaces that flanked the PCH and the Malibu parking lot were an ill omen.  We got out to see the waves.

Of course the waves were flat.  Why the hell were there be any waves?  The waves were one foot maximum, and impossible to catch without anything shorter than 7 feet.  It was a painful sight to see, knowing that I suggested once again to go to Malibu, and we got skunked. 

Khang and Dais pull up and we all say hi.  We watch the waves for a quick minute, and try to look at the brighter side of Malibu.  Maybe 3^rd point?  No.  Maybe if the tide was dropping out?  Can’t really wait that long.  The brighter side would have been that we could head straight back to Venice and surf there. 

We all ran across the PCH and decided to meet at Venice.  What a SKUNKER.  God damnit, I thought.  Why do I make that gamble, and every single time we get skunked.  I felt terrible for directing da boys in the wrong direction (once again.)  I could only hope that Venice would have some waves.

We get to Venice and park on Driftwood Avenue.  Luckily Khang found some parking there too.  The early morning was a buzz kill, and my only hopes was that we could score some waves at Venice now. 

We get to the Venice shore, and the waves looked fun.  They were small, but not Malibu small.  On top of that, there were a few surfers out, which always means that there are some surfable waves out there.  We all start stretching, and paddle out in front of the lifeguard tower north of the pier.  I could only hope that we could catch some clean waves with some face on it. 

Khang went towards the pier, while Mikey paddled straight out.  I went to sit next to the pier also, and had that eerie feeling that maybe there weren’t too many waves here either.  The pier wasn’t firing, but the north side was firing.  Well, it was mushing through with some groms hooting and hollering at each other as they caught waves. 

“That looks like fun,” Dais said, paddling up behind me.

“Yea, groms are always so stoked!”  I said.  I could take a page from their book.  The first wave I went for, there was a step on the face of the wave.  I tried to jump the step with my board, but got pitched over, and fell flat on the rail of my board.  I felt I just got punched in the stomach by a fist.  This blow knocked the wind out of me for a quick second, as I made my way back to the line up cautiously. 

I went for a left, grabbed rail, and was trying to make it through the lip, but got clamped shut.  At this time, the board went above my head and conked my head.  I couldn’t believe it.  What luck am I having??  I tried to be even more cautious from then on.    

Nicky was in front of the lifeguard tower, and started catching waves on his fish.  He would eat it on some, but he made the lefts look makeable as he raced down the line in his text book wide stance and flowing pumps. His style hasn't changed at all, and he was only going for the left.  He must have horse-blinders on, because all he see's are lefts.  He's darn good at going left, but I hope he comes to a big day at Malibu or Sunset so he can learn to go right.  Until then, all he does is go left, and go left he did!

“Damn, Nicky’s scoring over there!” Khang said.  “Let’s go there.”

So we made our way to Nicky’s spot as he caught another clean left and made it look easy. 

Dais went for a wave as I was paddling out, and had one of his back-bent-knee-hand-dragging bottom turns into white water.  Oh, if only there was a little more face to work with…

Khang went for some nice rights as he plowed through the flatter sections nicely.  He took a lot of rides to the inside.  Normally, they would have gone all the way to shore, but today, the tides were funky, and created a shallow section in the line up, followed by a deep bowl on the inside, then another shallow area until one reached the shore. 

Mikey was going for a lot more waves than last week.  I think it helps that he is getting to surf with some friends in the water.  He later told me that it was nice to have a group of surfing friends since sports are usually fun, but more fun when you get to play with your friends.  I concur on that.

There were two latino’s, one goofy one regular footed, that were in the line up with us.  The regular footed guy was pretty good, attempting floaters, and would egg on his other friend on set waves. 

“Vai! VAI! VAI!” he would yell.

Personally, this morning session I wasn’t really having much fun.  Something just felt off, or missing.  I wasn’t really sure what it was, but I tried to shake it off. 

The current wasn’t strong today, and it was pretty easy maintaining our spot in the line up.  Just the waves that came through weren’t the best.  The bigger sets were close outs, but the ones in between or behind the set waves were clean A frames.  I wished to split the peak with Nicky, but that never came about.  He kept on going on these lefts, sometimes making it through the sections, other times punching out through the back of the waves.  He was clearly the highest wave count out of all of us.

“Damn, that north of the pier looks fun,” he said.

“Yea, it does,” I replied.  “I’m going over there.”

And off I went to the north side of the pier.  I paddled in between the piers’ legs, and made it to the north side without a scratch.  There were three groms dominating this spot, each no older than Nicky.  They were talking about girls, one had to go to his job, what to eat after wards, and what they were going to do this weekend.  Each got a wave in and went home. 

After that, I had this spot all to myself.  I sat right by the pier as the funky current rocked me back and forth, forwards and backwards.  It felt weird just sitting there, being rocked back and forth by the pier.  I then saw a left come through.  I paddled for it, popped up, stuck the drop, and went down the line in my crouched stance.  The wave pinched off, and I ate it. 

I took a right that pinched off before I could shoot the pier. 

I took another left, this time grabbing rail, trying to get barreled.  The wave engulfed me.

I took another right that pinched off as I did a bottom turn out the wave.

I took more lefts, switching between grabbing rail and not grabbing rail.  I envisioned Matt’s deep bottom turn as he always climbed up the face from his back leg.  I tried to mimic that and was able to bust a half turn out of it.  I was stoked, but all alone.

SO VERY RONERY!!

Dais and I have had this conversation before, but if u can’t share something joyful with someone, it is empty joy.  The joy loses meaning.  Yes, I will be stoked scoring perfect waves all by myself, but we are humans; living organisms that co-exist with each other, and so without anyone to share that joy with, that happiness becomes empty.  As I caught more waves, I grew empty with happiness. 

I took more lefts as a longboarder came by.  He was way outside the peak, and was timid at taking any waves.  I chit chatted with him as I took another left that formed off the pier.  He got caught on a few sneaker sets and left within half an hour.  Another surfer came, and we chit chatted for a while as we traded waves. 

And then I had it.  I paddled back under the pier and towards Khang.  In the process, the funky current pulled me to one of the barnacle encrusted pier legs, and I had to sacrifice my palm to avoid a direct collision with the leg full on.  The current then pulled me away from the leg as I scrambled passed the leg and back into the line up with Khang.

Oh so ronery, but no longer arone. 

Khang said that he loved the spot right by the pier, as he stroked into one right hander.  I tried to get into it too, but I hit a back wash section that made me lose all my speed.  Khang went through that too since I saw his board stall just for a second but he plowed through that section and took the right pretty far.

Just then, Nicky catches another left, dragging his hand on the wave face. 

The waves look glassed off as there was still no wind.  What a rare sight to see!  No wind in SoCal.  I couldn’t believe it.  Da boys informed me that Mikey had taken a break, and was knocked out on the sand.  He eventually came back an rejoined our group.  He told me that he had some crazy experiences surfing a little more south of the pack.  On one wave, he was able to stick a late drop, and not fall.  On another wave, he was staying high in the curl of the wave, soul arching his body to stay in the wave curl.  sooouuuul full.   

After the north of the pier solo session, I felt that I caught enough waves.  I didn’t catch any waves with da boys, but I felt pretty satisfied.  I wasn’t overly stoked or super happy with the waves and conditions, but I was content.  The set waves still close out on us as we duck dived out of its jaws of justice. 

Dais found out what time it was: 1111.  Damn, we had surfed for just about three hours.  Maybe even more.  I paddled in, and so did Mikey.  Khang and Nicky were the last ones to paddle in with Dais, and they frolicked on the shore doing hacks and airs off the mushy inside waves on their boards.  They weren’t on their boards, but the boards were doing some nice hacks and airs. 

We called it a day and everyone was stoked.  I was probably the only bummed one from today, but I don’t really know why.  I caught a lot of waves, but perhaps I needed to be catching waves with da boys?  It was a weird feeling catching a lot of waves by myself and not feeling fulfilled at all.

Well, today is just one day of surf, and everyone got waves.  Mikey said this was one of his best surf sessions ever, especially since he didn’t have to ride crappy El Porto dumpers.

The Malizoo call was a bad one, but I hoped to redeem myself at Venice.  I think all da boys did, and therefore I should be stoked that we all scored some waves today.  I hope that tomorrow will bring some more waves to ride.

Until then, Mahalo Mother Ocean. 

V-House!!!

Patience Closes the Window of Opportunity 060511

Surf Report:  3-5 foot with the occasional 6er.

Winds:  Off shore to on shore

Atmosphere:  Gloomy to sunny

Water: Cool

I woke up pretty late today for several reasons.  One, I had a late night.  And by late night, I mean I was up studying till 0030 (that’s 12:30 AM in civilian talk.)  So, I wanted my rest.  Two, I read that the swell wouldn’t arrive till late afternoon on Sunday, so I figured, what is the rush?  There won’t be any waves by the time I get there.  Third, no one was coming out today anyways.  It was a solo bolo session. 

So I was awoken by Christina calling me at 0642.  I was groggy and not in the mood to be talking to anyone really.  She said that she was heading to 26^th Street, and I told her I would head out later.  I hung up and went back to sleep.

0730 rolled around, and so did I.  I did some light yoga stretching, and got ready for the day.  I threw on the same t shirt and sweatshirt as yesterday, since today was a carbon copy of the day before (right?)  I took my time getting ready, and even filled up on gas at Costco before going to the beach. 

I got a text from Christina:  “it’s big and a lot of close outs.”  What?  What is she smoking?  It’s supposed to be flat.  Maybe she misjudged it. 

I made my usual rounds past Dockweiler.  But, something was different.  Something was… BIG.  I watched the first part of Dockweiler breaking on the shore.  It looked about three feet.  The first jetty with the rusty fence looked about the same.  I saw a row of cars parked in front of the second jetty, and then I saw a guy take off on a solid 5 foot set going right.  He was taking off right behind the rocks of the jetty.  I couldn’t believe my eyes, so much that I did a triple take.  I looked back once, twice, and three times before almost crashing into the other car next to me in the other lane.  Could it be…?  Has the swell arrived earlier than expected? 

The winds were straight off shore and making the waves look glassy at the jetty as I continued on my drive.  I turned into Grand Avenue, thinking of Randy.  Maybe this place would be breaking too?  I got out to see an unimpressive line up and some small black dots spotting the jetty.  I saw the black dots take some lefts for some short rides. 

I got back in the car and drove further south to 26^th Street.  I found a parking spot in the parking lot, and got out to greet the locals.  Bruce was out with his binoculars. 

“Oh, there goes Kelly, going left,” he said.

We oohed and ahhed as a head high set heaved over Kelly as he hacked the top off twice before having the wave run out on him. 

The lines were clear from the parking lot, and the waves were pumping on the 26^th Street sand bar.  The wind was blowing straight off shore and creating a lot of spray on the glassy waves.  There were a lot of close outs, but there were a lot of rippable sets coming through.  I made my phone calls and texts to da boys I knew would value this information. 

I sat and watched the waves.  Bruce let out another OHhhhh. 

“My god, that foamie’s gonna get pummeled.  Ohhhh!! She got clobbered!  Oh my god.  Hey, I think that’s your friend,” he said to me.

I looked up while playing with one of the local’s dog.  “Huh?”

“Yea that foamie, that’s your friend right?”

“Oh the white girl?”

“Yea, HER!  She got clobbered!!  But she did the right thing by turning around instead of trying to keep on going out further.”

What the… was Christina out there?  I questioned her actions. 

“Oh, there goes Miles… He’s finally getting out to the line up,” Bruce said, binoculars on eyes. 

Miles is a regular there too, having the goggles on with his longboard, always looking stylish taking off on every good set wave.  Now, if it’s taking HIM a long time to paddle out, what is it taking for the other people then?

I watched the waves come in and out at head high during this time.  The winds were blowing off shore and creating a beautiful blue gray wave face that was begging to be caressed.  I grew eager and texted the conditions to the people that mattered, to da boys I knew would come out. 

Khang answered back.  He said that he was going to wait till the tide filled in, which I thought was a good call too, since right now everyone in the shore pound risked breaking their necks.  I urged him to come earlier though, since the conditions were good. 

I continued to watch the waves from the parking lot.  I wanted to practice patience in waiting for the right conditions, and I hoped to catch the waves even better, for the some of the waves were close outs.  Bruce ohh-ed and ahh-ed more. 

Another local came in, and talked to me about Christina:

“Hey, your friend out there, with the foamie?  Man she got CLOBBERED.  She was in some heavy situations out there, even on the shore pound.  We watched her so she didn’t get hurt, but man, probably not the day to bring a foamie,” he said.

“Yea, definitely not a day for beginners,” I replied.

“Yea, for sure.  Ross (one of the locals) offered to help, but her friend said that they were ok, and that they could ‘handle themselves, thanks.’” He chuckled, shaking his head.  

So it is official: Christina is a celebrity at 26th Street.  She's got all the locals talking about her!  I'm jealous.  

I called Khang again, for the waves seemed to be diminishing with the high tide filling in.  Bruce was about to leave for he had to get some work done, and some other locals were still “waiting it out” in hopes of getting better conditions.  Khang said that he was on his way. 

Shan walked up and said hi.  He looked drained and tired, and didn’t elaborate too much on the conditions.  His lack of description spoke volumes to me:  BIG, unruly, and getting clobbered.  He walked back to his car parked on Manhattan Avenue. 

I saw Gary and Dave T walk out and come to their car.  These guys I surfed with at _______ twice, and they are really awesome surfers.  Gary is also Venice High Alumni, and Dave T is a Uni High Alumni.  They both reiterated the conditions as big, dangerous, but really clean around 0600.  I asked them what they thought of the tide coming up.  They said that I should get out there NOW since the conditions and shape are diminishing.  That was enough for me.  I had to get changed.

I called Khang to get his ETA.  I asked with a sense of desperation when he was getting here.  He said he forgot his wetsuit and had to head back, and then grab some change.  He said about 10-15 minutes.  It was already 0945. 

Just then, Christina came by and walked up to the parking lot.  She gave me a recap of the conditions, and how much she got worked, but also how she was able to get some white water waves.  Then, she elaborated on one hold down that she got.  It was a wave that held her down and didn’t let go of her, and at first she panicked, and her muscles tightened up.  But then she told herself to relax and just let the wave take her, and so she did, and the wave eventually let her go.  She said the hold down was pretty scary, but that it was good that she experienced it.  I agree every surfer has this experience.  There are only two kinds of surfers: Those who have taken serious wipe outs, and those that will take serious wipe outs.  She is now in the former. 

She was generous to give Khang the parking spot up the street, and so I threw in my last quarter I found in my car and walked up with her.  We chit chatted about hold downs and her new purchase of Matt’s Becker board, and got to her car.  I waited and waited and waited for Khang to come.  It seemed like an eternity, waiting in anticipation for him to arrive.  When he finally did arrive, it was 1008. 

“Dude, you were right!  The jetty is firing.”

“Yea, well, where do you want to paddle out? 26^th Street has gone flat,” I told him.

“What, really?” Khang was wide-eyed. 

“Yea, so what should we do?”

“Let’s go to the jetty man, I’ve been waiting to surf that spot for a long time.  I’ve never surfed there,” Khang replied. 

Ok, so let’s go to the jetty.  We said bye to Christina, and he dropped me off at my car.  I told the locals we were headed to the jetty, and they wished us luck.  And off we drove.

We got to the jetty and there were only a few heads out.  The jetty looked small too.  Damn, did we miss the time frame??  Usually, these beach breaks are best going from low to high, but this contrast was too much!  It was never THIS bad when it was going to high tide…  oh well, the faster we get out, the more waves we have to catch.

We walked down to the jetty, and see only four people out.  One girl and three guys.  The paddle out was easy and smooth, and the sun started to show through for us.  We got to the line up and looked around the jetty.  The rocks were exposed, with the waves crashing on top of them.  There was one rock right by the take off spot, and it lurched its ugly head every time a set wave broke.  However, the local guy and the girl were always taking off right there, staying high in the wave, and making the waves look easy. 

I think both Khang and I were a bit apprehensive at first paddling into these waves.  Although it was the same beach that we surfed, it wasn’t the same take off spot, and it sure was out of our comfort zone.  We watched as wave after wave went to the local guy and the girl. 

“Klaude?” a voice called.

“Yea, who’s that?” I answered blindly.

“It’s Glen!”

“Oh hey Glen!” 

Glen was with his friend Eddie, and they told us about their morning experience.  Glen took out his old Don Kadowaki but the leash snapped, so he came back to his trusty longboard for the rest of the session.  He told us that we were too late for the waves, and that we should have been here earlier.

“Yea, we tried to wait for the tide to fill in, which was a bad call,” I told him. 

“Well, better luck next time,” he said.

I think Khang and I took a few close outs in the first half hour of the session as we watched the local guy and girl grab every wave.  Khang talked to the local guy and he gave us some pointers but not really.  He wasn’t too open about the secrets of how this place works, and probably didn’t want any extras to be hogging this spot.  Well, TOO BAD SON!! I’m exposing this spot with my writing.

After these two left to go surf the left on the other side of the jetty, we got to analyze the spot for ourselves.  So, here’s the deal.  The take off spot is rather sketchy, but ok once you get used to it.  You have to sit right next to the rock that gets exposed with every big wave.  You can take off behind it like the local guy, or you can take off next to it like Khang and I were.  However, you just have to be really close to it, or else you won’t catch shit.  The back wash is a little weird, and makes the sets lose a little power.  So, you should really dig for the waves, even if you think you have them, or they will just pass you by.  Finally, don’t be fearful of the drop.  It’s actually a really slow and smooth drop.  It just looks gnarly because the rocks will sike you out. 

Khang’s board magically pummeled through the flattening sections from the back wash that I got caught in numerous times.  He was able to take off on waves easier and get down the line on the right handers.  I took some short rides off the peak and tried to get closer and closer to the face so I can get barreled, but I had no luck. 

“Man, I wonder when Dais is gonna make it out?” Khang asked.

“Did you text him?”

“Yea I did, but… oh wait, is that him??”

Speak of the devil, Dais just showed up. 

We waved at him, and he waved back.  He paddles out towards us as I catch a close out right again.  He recaps his breakfast with us with Cristina, a breakfast of champions of rice with ketchup, onions, and eggs concocted into a rice omelet.  We sat and waited for sets to come through, but none really came through at this point.  Some came, but nothing memorable.  We decided to change venues after thirty minutes, because we were sitting and waiting for nothing.  The high tide really killed the jetty, and the waves mushed through and never really broke. 

We got out and walked further south down Dockweiler.  We paddled out to a spot where there were random peaks popping up here and there.  I was the first to hit the water, and Khang and Dais soon followed.  The paddle out was mellow as the waves rolled in through the high tide.  It was a clear noon session, and the water seemed warm from the sun.  The clear water refracted shimmers of crystals and glistened off the wind-blown surface as we paddled through the white wash, duck diving continuous mush burgers rolling over us. 

Khang went for the first wave.  A close out.  damn. 

Dais went for a wave.  Another close out.  DAMN.

I went for a wave.  Guess what?  A close out.  DAMN

I think Khang got the one clean wave going right.  He took it pretty damn far. 

Dais took more close outs and I did so too.  The morning low tide was the key window to get waves, and we had all missed out.  Well fuck it, at least I was surfing with my friends, and that’s all that really matters, really.  After all, surfing by yourself in perfect waves is fun until you realize you have no one to share that joy with. 

And all I could think about was a rice omelet.  My stomach was growling for fuel, and I couldn’t take it anymore.  If the waves were better, maybe I would have stayed out longer, but I couldn’t do it any further.  I told da boys I was heading out, and that I’d see them up on the streets.  I paddled in for a left close out, and walked out, grumpy and hungry. 

Another lesson learned:  Sometimes patience DOESN’T pay off.  The best conditions are right before your eyes.  Whether you take it or not, is up to you.  But don’t mope and groan over lost opportunities.  Make the most out of what you got. 

Mahalo Mother Ocean. 

FLATness with Da Boys at 26th Street - 060411

Surf Report: FLAT

Water: December-like coldness

Winds: On shore

Atmosphere: Gloomy

What a horrible day for surfing, and how fitting it was for all of the da boys to be out!  The day started off early, with me calling people a little past 0600.  Ko showed up to my house, and I had forced my dad to come out in an effort to get him out of the house and get some fresh air.  The photography was an added bonus.  I stopped by Nicky’s house, but there was no answer.  Well, you snooze you lose!  Dais was rolling with Khang and DK, and Mikey was on his way on his own.  Christina was to show up later.  When we showed up to 26^th Street, the waves looked dismally FLAT.  I was disappointed nonetheless. 

Mikey shows up to the parking lot in his 5:3 wetsuit, carrying his surfboard, so that was the trigger to get changed and surf.  We all shot the shit as we got changed, and threw in some quarters to the meter. 

I took out the foamie and my short board for shits and giggles.  Dais took out his usual thruster Desire`, Khang was on Maria, Ko was on the quick fish quad, DK was on the NSP, and Mikey was on his 7 footer.  We all walked south of the 26^th Street tower. 

There weren’t too many surfers out today for good reason:  there was NO SURF!  Ok, let’s be fair, there was surf, but it was nothing significant.  I think today was just a day to be with all da boys and special guest appearances. 

Mikey is a friend of most of us from Venice High days.  He was in Redlands for a while and moved out of LA, but since he was laid off from his company, he’s been back in LA and surfing lots.  It was good to catch up and eating shit with him in the line up. 

The waves were close outs at best.  The foamie proved to be a formidable weapon for today’s waves, but I switched to the shortboard after half the session was done.  I wanted to be able to hold a rail in the wave without cranking my whole body awkwardly and falling. 

Khang and Dais caught their fair share, but the biggest surprise was probably Kotaro, getting some waves on the quick fish quad.  He later switched to Maria and had a harder time catching waves, but da boys were still hooting him into waves. 

DK was catching some waves with his NSP, but again, there were no waves anyways, so it wasn’t such an epic session as we would have preferred.

Christina showed up half way through the session on her foamie too, and we both paddled out to the line up, her on her foamie, and me on my shortboard, leash less. 

The tide was low, and I usually like to go leash less when it is low tide because I hate the drag as the board tugs greedily on my ankle as another wipe out throws me over the falls.  The only set back was that I have to swim to my board when I wipe out, but today was a non-consequential day, so I didn’t mind the swimming.  If anything, I could use it. 

Not too many memorable waves today really, it was more of the social gathering that was important in my mind.  I was glad that da boys came out to surf in high spirits and great number.  Albeit the waves were lackluster, the vibe was chill and fun.  We all got out after an hour and a half of “surfing.”

There was supposed to be swell Sunday AFTERNOON, so I figured, it won’t be so big tomorrow, I’d go out late… boy, was I wrong.

Evening Session, Welcome Back Nicky 060211

Surf Report: 3-5 feet, gnarly shore pound

Winds: Strong on shore

Atmosphere: Beautiful Sunset

Water: Cool

I was watching the winds all day today from my office.  The winds were blowing hard.  I watched the surf cams on surfline, and the water looked choppy at best with no one out.  I was growing antsy to get out and surf, to get out of this cubicle I call an office, and to let loose in the Ocean. 

I planned on swimming today, but I was growing weary of just swimming all the time in order to “train” for surf.  That is the only reason for swimming: training for surf.  Albeit a good reason, swimming is not my passion. 

So, I drove out of the winding three story parking lot to the surface level with my sunglasses on, and recognized that the wind had died down over here.  I kept on driving home west, and noticed there was almost no wind.  Could it be a miracle?

I called Matt to see what he was doing.  He was baby-sitting for the moment, but he was getting off around 1800, so he was willing to check out the surf if I rolled out.  I told him I would call back once I decide what to do. 

I called Nicky, knowing that he was back home from his first year in college.  He said that he was down to surf, so I told him I would call him back once I decide on what to do. 

I called Khang, seeing where he was.  He was in Orange County, so surf was a no go for him.

I called Dais, and he said he would opt out of surfing today. 

So, I got home, and asked myself, do I want to swim, or surf today?  I flipped my 50 cent piece that I always flip when I’m at a crossroads in life:  Heads is surf, Tails is swim.  The coin landed on heads.  I called Matt and Nicky to tell them I was on the way to Porto, and that I will see them soon. 

I gathered all my gear, filled up two water jugs, and headed out. 

I saw Nicky walking with his girlfriend and stopped in front of his house.  We exchanged a deep, loving hug, squeezing each others butt cheeks and making Youngmin very jealous.  I could see it in her eyes that she already knew there was no competing with me for Nicky’s sweet ass.  I mean love.  Sweet love. 

We packed up our stuff, and headed out.  He was stoked to go out to surf again, and we caught up on what has been going on with our lives.  I listened to all of his college adventures and mishaps, and laughed with all of his little tidbits thrown into the pot and tossed around like a salad. 

We arrived to El Porto, and it was SO FUCKING BLOWN OUT.  I saw Matt’s car, and I pulled up a parking spot over next to him.  He told us that Shan was on his way, and we shot the shit for a bit until Shan arrived. 

There were waves to be ridden, it was just that the disorganization looked amazingly horrible.  The peak in front of the bathrooms looked like the place to be, with the occasional wave rolling through that produced a face. 

Shan rolled through, and we all said what’s up, and quickly got changed.  We pulled on our wetsuits and threw in some change into the meter, and were off to the sand. 

Matt was the first to hit the water.  He was out into the line up in no time.  Shan ran back to his car to grab something, and I headed out.  I started to paddle, duck dive, paddle, paddle, paddle, and paddle some more.  I seemed to have not been going anywhere, but I compared this to Sunday’s current, and I thought it wasn’t so bad.  I kept on paddling and figured I was in a rip tide, since I wasn’t moving anywhere.  I kept on paddling and paddling stubbornly.

I saw Matt take off on a right, and another surfer go on a left.  I started to hoot both of them, and then I recognized Shan was going on the left.  I could tell by his style that it was him immediately.  I duck dived, and finally got to the line up.  I saw Nicky in the line up too. 

“How the hell did you guys get out here earlier than me?”

“Oh, we paddled a little bit north and got out pretty quick.  Yea, we saw you struggling in the inside,” Nicky chuckled.

I didn’t see Nicky’s wave, but Matt whistled him when he caught it.  I had my back turned to Nicky when he took his official welcome back wave.  Nicky was clearly out of shape, but that didn’t stop him from catching a few waves.

Just then, I heard a “WHOOOO~” from who else but Shan.  He took a right, but since he’s goofy footed, he went left.  The right looked like it opened up, but the left closed out.  I hope that one day he learns to go right.  Actually, scratch that.  If he learns to go right, that means fewer rights for me.  So let’s hope he just keeps going left. 

I remember one other wave that Shan took that doubled up on him.  The waves would do that because of the disorganization, and so he paddled for a wave and popped up.  The wave produced a step that made a second drop for him, and he stuck that to go pretty far.

Matt tried to fight the current, but after a while, I think he accepted the fact that it was futile fighting THIS current.  The current was just too much today.  Besides, wherever we drifted, there were waves.  Matt got a lot of waves today, and was the stand out performer once again.  He took some of the bigger waves and made most of them, but the cleanest one I remember was where he dropped in on a right that kind of doubled up on him on the inside.  He set up the bottom turn nicely, and just did a complete SMACK of the lip.  He came unstuck, but that splash was invigorating. 

There were other surfers out too, including one chick.  She was a blonde girl that knew what she was doing.  It’s pretty hot knowing not only a surfer chick, but a surfer chick that knows what she was doing.  Her and her other guy friends were catching some nice waves as the sun set over the Santa Monica mountains and painted the sky an orange hue over the brown landscape. 

I for one had a pretty fun day catching close outs.  I tried to stick a lot of the close outs and succeeded, but failed on a lot of them too.  I maybe got one clean ride at the end where I was out on the face, but the wave wasn’t powerful enough to carry me any further and I lost all my speed.

All in all, I think this post work session was worth it.  I lost time on my studying, but I can’t translate the time spent in the water with da boys into any numerical or monetary value.  These moments are priceless to me.  And plus, it was one of Matt’s last days to surf.  I probably won’t be seeing him in the water until he gets back from Bali.

On an ending note, the meter maid here SUCKS.  She was flashing her lights, and so Matt and I started to run towards our cars.  We got there to a ticketless car and heaved a collective sigh of relief, only to get yelled at by the meter maid.

“What, am I supposed to wait for you guys get your last wave?? ARRGHHHHH you guys don’t know, but the gate’s supposed to be closed ttttttweeeeeenty minutes agoooooorrrrrrr!!!  Rawghharrrrr!!! I don’t have time to be waiting for you guys to change, get out of here!! Argghghhhh what, are you kidding me?  (pointing at Nicky) I had to wait for him to get his last wave??? Argghhhhhhhhhhh! I’m writing you guys a ticket if you’re not out of here in 0 seconds!! Arrgghhhwwwhhhhh!!!!!”

Ok, so we overstayed our welcome, yes, you made that obvious, but really?  Did you need to be yelling so loudly and uncontrollably?  She obviously is alone and needs a hug.  She had an all-important-appointment with nobody to make at 2000, and we made her late! Oh.  My.  God.  How could we live with ourselves?? 

So Nicky and I rush out, throwing all of our stuff in the car, still dripping in our wetsuits.  We rush out of the lot, and park at the Chevron to get changed.  Just our luck, the blond surfer chick was there to, and she laughed at us with her boys about how we got chased out like they did.  We all had a laugh about it, and they parted.  Matt pulled up, and we chatted a little bit more, and parted ways. 

Mahalos Mother Ocean, I know you didn’t bring the meter maid, that wasn’t your fault.  You bring waves and joy into our lives.  See you Saturday!! 

Memorial Day Weekenders 053011

Surf Report:  3 – 5 foot, some close outs

Water: Cold

Winds: none

Atmosphere: Deceptively sunny

I was back home last night around 2310.  I was exhausted but happy to be back home.  I showered, stretched a little, and went straight to sleep.  I knew that I wanted to surf the next morning to take advantage of the rare day off I had from work.

I woke up at 600, only to sleep again.  I woke up at 730 and started to get ready to head out.  I was still surfed out and hung over from all the surf from the weekend.  But, I knew that the surf was still good, and so I had to head out. 

Today was a solo session, and rightfully so.  I was back at 26^th Street, surfing with the locals there.  When I pulled up, I saw Manny’s car, Don’s car, and Bruce was zipping up his wetsuit.  I found a parking spot on my second go around, and watched the waves. 

The lulls looked small, but the sets rolled in about head high.  I wanted to take out my longboard, but it was a shortboard day.  I screwed in my fins, grabbed my leash, put on extra sun block on, and headed out.  I wanted to surf just for one hour today.

I saw Uncle Miles talking to some girl on the shore.  He walked away and said hi to me.  The girl turns out to be Serena, a beginner, who got ditched by her friends and boyfriend and has been sitting on the sand for the last thirty minutes.  I convinced her to paddle out with me, but she probably couldn’t even get passed the shore pound today.  Oh well.  Beginners shouldn’t be out today.

The line up was super crowded!  I saw some familiar faces, but mostly foreign faces dotted the line up.  I tried to stay away from the crowd, but it was hard to.  A lot of Memorial Day Weekenders showed up and crowded the line up. 

There were some nice waves coming in, but it was hard to position yourself out of the way of someone behind you.  Most of the waves I went for had someone waiting on the inside to get run over by me.  So I would pull out.

I took a few cool waves, but was unable to do any maneuvers on them.  26^th Street was a bit pitchy, and some of them were hollow.  I took a white water barrel that I fell on as I made it to the flats.

My wave of the day was also my worst feeling ever.  I took a right that I pumped twice on.  I saw that it was closing out, so I straightened out, only to see a guy right in my path!  I made a decision of trying to carve away from him to no avail.  My board flew towards him as he ducked under.  Apparently, I hit him on the head, and he was pissed.  I repeatedly apologize to him as he cursed and yelled at him.  Eventually though, he was placid, since I asked him if he was bleeding, and he realized that it wasn’t that bad of an accident.  He explained to me that it was ok, and that he was pissed that he got ran over on the wave earlier too.  At this point, I was growing weary of the crowded line up.

I opted to take some insiders and the plan worked.  I got some cleaner rides, but I was unsatisfied when I saw the bigger sets roll in.  I then paddled back in to call it a day after one hour of surfing. 

Most of the locals who paddled out at the same time I did came back in with me.  I guess they decided it wasn’t really worth more than an hour to surf today, too.  I changed slowly back into my land clothes as Shan pulled up to say hi to me.  We chit chatted about the morning, and the camping trip, and he decided to go change.  By the time I left, he was still on his phone, calling shots.  I said by to everyone and left the 26^th Street circus for all its glory. 

One thing is for sure:  I am still a noob.  But, I am working hard to get out of that status.  Hopefully I can keep working hard at this life that I love.

Mahalos Mother Ocean for always being there for me. 

Surf Camp Trip - Big Sunday 052911

Surf Report:  5 foot plus with the occasional over head set

Water:  Cold

Winds: On shore, side shore

Atmosphere: Grey skies then sunny

The night was a fiasco for everyone.  Mother Nature rained on us and blew our tents over.  I heard Khoa’s tent tarp flap off to the tent Matt and I stayed in, and I heard Matt continuously get out and fix the tarp on the tent.  I heard Eloyssa giggle throughout the night, and I could only imagine what Christina was going through. 

Khang and Dais slept in the van, and probably had the best rest out of all of us.  I know for a fact that Christina, Khoa, Karen, Sean and Eloyssa did not have a good nights rest.  Francis and Nicole said they were in and out of sleep all night last night, because the winds were too cold and the rain bothered them too.  Matt was up and about by 500, but he didn’t make it obvious he didn’t get much rest either. 

I for one, had a great night’s rest, filled up on food with a cozy sleeping bag enveloping me.  I even took off my jacket because I was so warm inside.  I had a towel wrapped around my neck and I had eaten a nice, full meal.  I even put some athletic cream on similar to icey hot to keep my shoulders nice and limber for the next morning, expecting to be able to surf. 

When I woke up from my slumber, Christina and Matt were outside in the cold weather.  Christina looked like she hadn’t slept all night, and Matt was rustling about the camp site. 

We had no more firewood this morning, and it probably wouldn’t have mattered much since it rained last night and all of our firewood would have been drenched.  The winds still howled angrily at the beach, still tipping over Khoa’s tent.  Their tent looked like a house from Dr. Seuss, bending and contorting in ways we only see in cartoons. 

I told Christina that she should sleep in my sleeping bag at least, since it was still dry and it was warm.  She did, and rested for most of the morning thereafter.  Dais and Khang woke up, but stayed inside the van.  They were the smart ones out of all of us, staying inside the car.  It was raining and windy all night, but they didn’t feel a thing. 

Matt warmed up some hot water for us to make coffee.  Sean and Eloyssa slept in the truck from here.  Matt made us some of the best hot coco coffee ever.  He was generous enough to forgo his own cup and pass out a cup to everyone else first.  Then, he made himself a cup on the second round.  What a generous man.

I started to warm some charcoal so we can cook breakfast.  I fired up the left over sausages, and Matt brought out some eggs to cook over the frying pan.  We heated up some tortillas so we could all have some breakfast tacos.  The coco coffee and coals proved to be the lifesaver for everyone, as they warmed up after a hard night. 

Around 1100, Khoa, Karen, Sean and Eloyssa moved out of camp.  They took most of our camping gear that we didn’t need and headed back to LA.  We all said our goodbyes after we packed up all our stuff.  We waited for 1200 to roll around so we could check into the new camp spot. 

The new camp spot was further north, towards Churches.  As we set up the new spot, the winds calmed down and the sun began to show more consistently.  There was a guy in front with a red fish that was tearing it up on his forehand.  Another grom was on a thruster and was tearing it up too.  We set up Matt’s tent, and started to snack and hydrate for our first session of the day.  We waited a good seven hours for this surf session, and we wanted to make it last.

As we walked passed the contest site again, I had to pee.  I knew Khang would be disgusted by this, so I opted to walk in front of him, in hopes that he would see my trail of pee slosh out my leg.  I started to urinate, and Dais laughed next to me and looked back at Khang.  Matt noticed and took a step to the side, and finally Khang realized what was going on and became disgusted. 

I laughed.

We decided to walk up passed Churches and paddle out around Middles.  Nicole didn’t paddle out with us, but hoped to snap some photos of us surfing.  The waves looked like they were three feet and crumbling like goat cheese from the shore.  We soon would be gravely mistaken.

I was the first one to paddle out into the line up, along with Christina.  We both started out the same, stepping on some razor sharp rocks and choosing our steps carefully.  Once I saw her get pretty deep, I started to wonder how big the waves really were.  I started to paddle once I was in thigh deep water.  Christina was south of me as we paddled, and before I knew it, I lost sight of her.  The waves seemed to consistently come in one after the other, and it became apparent that the waves were not three feet at all.  As I made my way through the white water, I saw a wave break further out.  I paddled and paddled and paddled.  There was another wave that broke further out.  I paddled even more.  By the time I got out to the line up, I was south of BP’s, and closer to the contest site.  I saw Matt and Khang way north of me, about fifty yards, and so I started to paddle towards them.  I didn’t see Christina at all. 

Today was a paddle battle against Mother Ocean.  The drift was so strong, I felt I was paddling about 98% of the time this session.  I rarely sat, waiting and sitting in the spot waiting for a wave.

I saw Francis and Dais eventually, and they too were rarely sitting.  We were all paddling most of the time.

Matt was the clear cut performer of this session.  He pretty much put on a clinic in the challenging surf today.  He was able to paddle into the plus sets, make them, and take them pretty far. 

Francis got a lot of waves, but he probably wanted his other shortboard instead of the bigger longboard that belonged to Nicole. He hung around on the inside at first, taking the double ups that were a bit steeper.  Watching Francis you really get a sense of style:  he pumps on the wave like you envision yourself doing, and just a few pumps gets him from A to point C.  Then he bottom turns and cuts back mid face to send some buckets out the back.  He just flows like water and comprehends like liquid. 

Khang was on Dais’ Maria (fish) and was able to catch some nice right that I didn’t see at the beginning because I had drifted down so far.  Matt was giving him lots of props for the right that he caught.  Khang had snaked me for another wave as I belly rode it, and tried to bust a turn on it but came unstuck.  I then popped up, pumped a few times, and started to bottom turn up the lip to try to crack the lip off, but became unstuck too. 

There was no time to give Khang some shit about snaking me in these conditions.  The waves just kept coming and coming, pushing and shoving. 

Dais mentioned his left hamstring was getting tight.  He was getting some waves, but was challenged by Mother Ocean just like the rest of us.  It was a constant, slow battle that wore us all down today.

For the first hour or so, I tried to figure out how to paddle for these waves.  The plus sets were pitchy, the other waves were crumbly, and then you had to compensate for the drift.  I figured finally that positioning was the first and foremost important factor for catching these waves.  I kept on eyeing the cliff side’s end as a point to sit.  I would always look back and paddle towards the north so I could stay in position. 

I kept on focusing on my breathing too.  I knew I had to pace myself for these waves, and I didn’t want to tire out so soon.  I kept up my slow breathing for the whole session, and it paid off because I was the first one to paddle out, and last one to paddle in. 

At the beginning, I was telling myself the “Surf off your back foot” phrase.  But then, I started to just chant, “Pa~ddle.  Pa~ddle. Pa~ddle.  Pa~ddle.  Pa~ddle.”  I had to remind myself to keep the strokes long, just like my breathing. 

I also took some gnarly wipe outs, one right next to Khang.  There was no way I was making that wave, but I just had to push myself over the ledge to tell my mind and body that I can come out of a wipe out fine, and so I can push myself over the ledge more.  I completely nose dived into the wave, getting pitched over my board.  I thought I might hit myself with the board, but luckily nothing bad happened, and I came up after ten seconds under water.  I was glad that I've been working on holding my breath during the week.  

I watched Matt as he took off on the bigger set waves and make some turns off the top.  He would be able to paddle into the plus sets and make them out, unscathed.  Francis too was making some pretty big drops, but Matt was the clear stand out performer. 

Matt paddled for a left.  The peak feathered on the top and started to break as he paddled for it.  He popped up and had both arms in the spread wing position.  His board just stuck to the face of the wave, and plowed through the white water as he made the drop.  I remember his spread eagle stance as he took the left all the way from BP's to the Middles peak.  He paddled back out with a sly grin on his face.  

“Well, if you wanted a Bali training session, this would be it,” I told him. 

There were a few new faces in the crowd that showed up but none of them lasted too long.  Eventually, Dais and Khang left the line up, and it was just Francis, Matt, and me.

Francis took a huge over head close out wave that I couldn’t make and went over the falls.  After that, he went in and back to the camping site. 

I took some inside waves for some short rides, trying to bust some turns.  If I didn’t do the turns, I probably could have taken the wave longer, but I wanted to work on them.  And what better place to work on maneuvers than pumping Middles? 

Eventually, it was just Matt and me, with another surfer.  We all kept paddling and paddling, maintaining our position right where the cliff dropped off.  Matt took one last wave and called it a day. 

I had a wave after that which I tried to chop hop and pump down the line, but I wanted a cleaner ride.  I waited, paddled, waited, paddled and waited more.  Then, the plus sized set would break far on the outside, and I would realize I was in bad position, right in front of BP’s and too deep in the line up.  I started to paddle in without taking an official “last wave in.” 

Matt was waiting for me on the shore.  I was pretty tired, and my mind did not comprehend my thoughts and translate them to speech too well.  I slurred my words as if drunk, and tried to take in what Matt was telling me.  We both agreed that today’s surf session made up for the no surfing in the morning, but it was pretty challenging.

Once we got back to the campsite, we saw da boys (and girls) all waiting for us.  They gave us props for staying out so long, and told us their stories:

Dais had drifted passed the contest site, and eventually right in front of our new camp site.  He went in and didn’t even have to walk too far to get back to camp.

Khang had drifted too, but had paddled in.  He said he had a pretty frustrating time out there surfing.

Francis was all smiles (as he always is.)  He told me that last wave was a pretty sick drop. 

Christina said that she was almost in the contest area on the first paddle out.  She caught some insiders that rolled through, but that was it for her. 

We fired up the grill and cooked some teriyaki chicken with tortillas.  We killed the last of Lauren’s amazing salsa and whatever beers we had.  Matt and Francis went on a beer run and brought more booze.  We were all exhausted, and done for the day.  We watched the groms do their thing in front of our camp site, doing nice hacks and floaters on the “smaller” waves. 

Rick the Reptile eventually showed up and suited up immediately to head out.  He chugged a beer down before paddling out, and put on a little show for us as we watched him surf.

The smell of barbeque filled our lungs as we took deep breaths of the clean beach air.  The people around us were super friendly, and the sun was starting to set.  The winds started to turn off shore, and the waves in front started to improve, believe it or not. 

We all eventually left around 1900.  At first, we all felt bad leaving Matt to his lonesome because Lauren had left the day before, meaning he was all alone for Sunday night and Monday, but were glad to see that Rick showed up so he could keep him company.  We packed up all our stuff in the van, and said our goodbyes.  Good bye to Matt, good bye to Rick, good bye to TJ the neighbor, and good bye to San Onofre. 

What an amazing surf camping trip this was.  Hard to believe it was just two days and one night.  All we did was surf, eat, surf, eat, sleep, eat, surf more, and eat. 

Mahalo to Matt for letting us take advantage of his military perks.  Without him, none of this would have been possible.  We greatly appreciate all your hospitality and giving nature.  We can only hope that the next camping trip will be as epic as this one.  And yes, we all agree that you are ready for Bali.  Good luck over there, brother.  Don’t come back unless you catch the sickest barrel of your whole life. 

And of course… Mahalo Mother Ocean, for producing some consistent swell for us all weekend.