Day 43 - Tired

Tired and happy about it. I'm headed to the brink. I'm really not sure why that sounds fun, but sometimes you just need to see what you can do, how far you can take it. Maybe it is bad for my health, I don't know, but I enjoy it. The swim will happen later today, I have to get some work done now. I guess work should not be considered dilatory even though that's what it feels like.

Today, was a downer after all of the good waves yesterday - it had dropped off quite a bit. I had a few, but I was sluggish. That's OK, as long as I'm not sluggish in Nica. I hope we don't get skunked, but if we do, I have lots a of books to read. I cannot ever seem to find the time to read them, so it will still be great trip!

If anyone wants to meet us get your tix! Right now Ben and I are locked, his buddy Drew is probable and Tommy (from Orlando fame) is a maybe. Here is the info:

Flight number	Copa Airlines CM303	Departs	Sat, 09 May, 02:12
From	Los Angeles	Arrives	Sat, 09 May, 10:30
To	Panama, Tocumen Intl	Class	Economy
Number of stops	0	Equipment	Boeing 737-800

Flight number	Copa Airlines CM106	Departs	Sat, 09 May, 11:18
From	Panama, Tocumen Intl	Arrives	Sat, 09 May, 11:58
To	Managua	Class	Economy
Number of stops	0	Equipment	Embraer 190

Flight number	Copa Airlines CM105	Departs	Sat, 16 May, 15:41
From	Managua	Arrives	Sat, 16 May, 18:16
To	Panama, Tocumen Intl	Class	Economy
Number of stops	0	Equipment	Embraer 190

Flight number	Copa Airlines CM302	Departs	Sat, 16 May, 19:02
From	Panama, Tocumen Intl	Arrives	Sun, 17 May, 00:05
To	Los Angeles	Class	Economy
Number of stops	0	Equipment	Boeing 737-800

Day 42 - Flip the switch

The switch has been flipped. I'm a maniac. Water on the brain, no joke. After my swim yesterday, I went home and toiled through the core workout that Warren (my friend and a PT) designed for me to help stabilize my lower back, then a quick leg workout at the gym and finally to yoga (regular, not hot). Today, I woke up at 5am and did a brief core warm-up before my surf this morning (see below). At lunch I did another 2k, to be followed by hot yoga after work, a core workout and then lift (arms this time). What I'm trying to do, as I have done this kind of emergency prep before, is to force myself to hit the physical fitness wall as hard as possible as soon as possible. I want my body to ache with exhaustion. This is what happens on surf trips (if it is good), which is a natural result of such a single-purpose-trip. The idea is to be able to have triple-sessions everyday and more stamina allows for the best probability of being out there when everyone else has gone in for lunch or whatever. Fortunately, surfing everyday goes a long way toward the prep work, now I just need to smooth out the rough edges. I'm amped! Oh yeah, just to clarify, this is not a surf trip, it is a video acquisition trip. I need footage for my newly formed video production business. But I'll surf between all of the hard work!

The good spots get crowded, that is just a fact of life. Colorado's, where we are going (posted a pic of it yesterday) can get real crowded for short periods of time. That is because it is frequented by a number of boats in the area and if they all show up at the same time, it can be a mess. In this case, it is better to just wait it out because it will not be long before they all clear out. There is something peculiar about group think that affords many opportunities to surf between the gaps of a “shift changes”. In this case, land-based camps service the break, which utilize boats to get there, so the group dynamic is magnified by the fact that the boated-in surfers require frequent ferrying back to the camps. It is actually preferable for it to get really crowded because you know that the opportunity for solo barrels lies just beyond the frustration of the water-taxi surfers. For some reason, these windows happen at all venues, I've seen 50 guys at Macaroni's turn into 5 within an hour, 25 guys turn into 2 (me and Ben) at K-59 in El Sal, 20 into 2 at Lance's Left (yesterday's post). You have to be ready to pounce. Fatigue can be an issue, but if you have already been there and back recently (the idea behind the workouts), then it is no problem. Nica has that prevailing offshore wind, so triple sessions are likely because it does not typically blow out in the arvo.

Today’s surf was silly. I counted 36 waves during my session. It was soooo consistent and good! All but one of those waves, I was able to complete turns on! I had so many good ones that they all meld together in my head. Jay came out and said, “I saw you fall on that set, that good one.” I honestly could not remember the wave that he was talking about and it was a set! It was a good workout to be sure. I got out there at the crack, right at 5:45 and then headed back up the hill at 7:30, so that is a 105 minute session. This means that I caught a wave on average every 3 minutes. That rarely happens! But wind swell comes through again, which is why it is my favorite.

Addendum: I wrote this yesterday but I don’t know why I did not hit publish. I think I was probably a little delirious from my swim at lunch. I pushed it a little too hard. I felt sick after. But I did manage to recover enough to go to hot yoga, the gym (arms) and another core workout. I’m laser-focused on this prep. I guess I cannot be accused of apathy in this case - I really hope we score because I’m amped!

I’ve been skunked in Costa Rica, not a good feeling. Maybe we’ll get lucky this time. By-the-way, in case you haven’t noticed, the surf trip has already started for me. I’m on it right now, the anticipation and excitement started to grow as soon as I had confirmation on my plane ticket.

Day 41 - Locked in...

Yep, Colorado's! Bought my ticket today. I'm in emergency workout-prep-mode. I swam 2,000 yards today at lunch, about a quarter of it underwater. I'm in better shape than I thought! I try to take myself to that panic stage every lap by swimming underwater as long as possible*. The goal is to be comfortable when it gets heavy and it can get heavy in Nica. I'm trying to simulate double sessions for the next 7 or 8 days and then I'll rest to be ready to go when I get in the Central American water 2 Sundays from now. Tonight, strength training and then Yoga. Cardio, Strength and Flexibility. Why? All for the possibility of getting in a little earlier, making a correction just a little sharper, feeling a little more confident to draw a difficult line and pull in. With strong offshore winds and shallow sandbars at Colorado's, late takeoffs are the norm helping to achieve the goal of coming as close to disaster as possible, which is a requirement if your are to instantaneously transform a few seconds into the unforgettable. I'll be just marginally more prepared, which is probably more mental than anything, but who cares. I'm mental, but I'm motivated.

Today was a little bit junky but fun. The achievement today was a couple of deep-dish bottom turns that resulted 2 really comfortable frontside snaps. It was probably chest to shoulder high on the sets. I caught a lot of waves in a short period of time again today. I had one really good right where I floated a long section and then powered off the bottom straight up into a rapidly diminishing shoulder. I have never been known for my chirography, but this is backhand maneuver is becoming my signature.


*The first time we went to Indo, inexplicably, Jason had the bright idea to buy a carton of cigi's for the boat trip ...ahh the Huey I. Also unexplainable, we bought something like 12 cases of beer to split between the 3 of us (I think we ran out about day 9 of 12). I think there are only 20 per case of Bintang, but I could be wrong, anyway it means we drank about 8 or 9 a day each - of course some days heavy and some light. Once again, I don't have a good answer, it really doesn't make sense to spend $3k and go around the world to sit on a boat drinking and smoking in a Muslim country! Of course the entire time we had macking waves. We were surfing Lance's left, me and one other guy from our boat, an Aussie, I forget his name but he was cool. It was doldrums calm and hot with double overhead+ waves. This typically is not that big of a deal in Indo, because you can usually stay on the shoulder if you want, out of harm's way. Well, I cannot control myself, I pulled into a 2x bomb, I was locked, I had come out of a less threatening one on the prior wave. Not this time. I got thumped. Not reef, but rolled. I started on the outside and stayed underwater for the duration, I came up on the inside. I don't know how, but I was just in the turbulence the whole time. I came up, after probably about 15 seconds which seemed like an eternity. Judging by the distance that I had traveled underwater, this is a good estimate. I don't know how those big wave guys do it! My thesis is that it probably comes down to preparation. Adrenaline + charcoal lungs, had me seeing stars, I didn't have much left in the tank, I wasn't relaxing, just burning oxygen as fast as possible. Remind you, there were only 2 of us out and it was perfect, but I had to get out! It seems that the lack of oxygen or the scare set in motion an excruciating headache, I could no longer surf. However, I was back on the piss (as Aussies say) that night and chain smoking, go figure. Fortunately, those days are past (drinking and smoking heavily) and I survived, but this memory is why I'm fanatical about being in shape for a surf trip.

The Huey (it used to be blue and pretty run down):

Day 40 - Bathroom Window

I was up early (5:15) trying to get all of the chores done that I had not accomplished over the tweakend (stuck in the editing bay the entire time). It seems that in my laziness (or activeness if you are my computer) over the last few weeks I have not been able to take advantage of a true dawn patrol, one where you have to squint to see your first wave. However, this is the time of year when every day gets noticeably longer. I hadn't realized it, but I could have been out there by 5:45 - the earlier dawn had crept up on me! This morning, after one look at the waves, my calculations told me that it was good, just the kind of waves I like, consistent, peaky wind swell with offshores and a low tide to force every last drop of power out of them. In between taking my dry cleaning (it opens at 6am) and getting money out of the ATM at the gas station (which took 2 attempts as I forgot my wallet the first time), I woke Jason up to to tell the inveterate early morning complainer to mobilize because I knew it was good. When I returned, he was on his computer questioning my judgement with regard to the waves. Not wanting to disappoint, I hedged and said I don't know, maybe it is not good (I knew it was). I ran to my bathroom, yelled through the house that I was going with or without him and began to change as I looked out my bathroom window at the oil tank behind my house. My bathroom window faces the refinery and there is not much to see. I think the depressing sight had me reflect for a second, "maybe it isn't that good". Who cares, I'm going. Suited up, Jason again questioned my haste... Two waves in, "What window were you looking out of? The bathroom?", as I recalled the sight that had me pause for a second in my thoughts - it was good and now I could question his judgement with that sarcastic remark. He nodded and agreed. In most aspects of life, being wrong does not feel so good. But in surfing, the majority will be happy to admit folly if it turns out to be a good session. Jason echoed this sentiment with his nod, happily accepting the unanticipated fortune. My first wave was a fast right, two pumps, float it, bottom turn and let loose. Yeah, it was going to be a good session. My only regret was that I was not on it at the COD - this time it means "Crack of Dawn". A left followed shortly, I got on top of it, my board was responding today. Jay had a right, I jokingly said that it would have scored a 6.2 in a contest from the Volcom series. He surfed it perfectly, an open face snap, speed section and close out blast. It was a good session. I had my fins out few times, a few cut backs, some open face turns and all the while the general population was sipping coffee trying to inject some artificial motivation in preparation for the first day of the week. Are you kidding me? When will people learn? Monday is the day!

I had been tentatively planning (thinking about) a surf trip for the last couple months. Cycling through the pros and cons of different destinations. Let's see, there was Tavarua, Indo, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Chile, Brazil, Easter Island, Samoa, the Galapagos and a few others thrown in for good measure. Nica was an early favorite as my buddy Ben was pretty interested in testing the offshore winds and barrels of Colorado's (a beach break in Nica). I had one of the best barrels of my life there... Down to a 6'8" (had broken my 6'3"), late drop, buried rail to avoid the curtain, high and tight and ducked a chandelier to come out clean. Flying out a jet engine only happens so many times for us mortals - the thought gives me goose bumps right now. Talk about an eidetic memory, one of the top 10 barrels of my life for sure. I'd like to ramble a little bit more here. To explain something about these weird words that pop up... You see there is an email distribution list called "Merriam Webster's Word of the Day", which sends me a new word everyday. My game is to try and use whatever word they throw at me each day in these entries - eidetic was the word a few days ago. The point is to see if I can identify them a year or so from now when I look back on this. Why? I don't know, just like I don't know why I'm surfing everyday. I suppose that I'm trying to learn to be a word snob and amusing myself at the same time. Oh yeah, back to the regularly scheduled babble... I think I'm going to take advantage of the swine flu outbreak and jump on a plane to Nica in 2 weeks! Yep, warm water barrels. The stoke is palpable right now. I still have to buy my ticket, but they should be cheap! Who wants to go to Latin America right now? Me! Who knows, maybe they won't let me come back for a while. Anyway, of course, I worked it to not break my streak, but there is always risk in traveling - I'll keep my fingers crossed. During the last streak, I did a week in El Sal, came back and got on a plane to NY to sit on an investment panel and kept the streak alive (surfed in the morning one day and then the following afternoon the next). So I know that it is possible. But, right now I'm looking forward to a local session tomorrow.

Day 39 - An hour late and a wave short

Sessions 43 and 44

Session 1 of Day 39

Things cleaned up over night and the swell actually got a lot better. It seemed like it was all windswell, but this one was generated from a greater distance than the previous day, which combined with the offshore wind resulted in some very good shape. The tide was on the rise, but the sets were large enough to break outside with some consistency resulting in some of those moments... where we watched in awe at the shape of the waves up and down the beach. We should have been on it earlier and we knew it, the tide would shut it down, and it did. Jay was amped, frothing for waves. I can recognize the boy's style from a mile away, that's what happens when you surf with somebody a lot, you only need a silhouette. I saw a guy drop in, he looked just like Jason, but he was spazzing out like a typical portorior* so I only half paid attention as he tried an angry turn on the dying wave. It was Jay, wrought with too much emotion he had lost all connection to style as the angst that had built up in him from days of sub-par surf and injury had gotten the best of him. He got a couple in typical style after I let him know that the suspect wave did not go unnoticed. I had a couple of really fun waves. My last one was one of the most memorable of the session. I took off on the inside, dropping into a well formed a-frame peak, with one pump I had quite a bit of velocity, there was only one problem... deer-in-the-headlights standing in stomach deep water. I decided to risk his safety for my satisfaction. I was headed left, he was square in my path, requiring a deep bottom turn in order to lay my board up on the lip for an extended off-the-lip/floater carrying me about 10 feet (just passed the bystander), I held on as long as possible and then released from the lip. It was a gamble that paid off, to my surprise not only did I make it passed him, but I pulled it. That was a fitting way to come in and it left a good taste in my mouth, which was probably responsible for the motivation to get moving for a second session.

Session 2 of Day 39:

We got out there and it showed promise, but again we were let down as the waves really had trouble breaking on the outer bar. The increasing onshore winds played havoc with the weak wind swell causing it to break too early, resulting in mostly impotent sections. None-the-less, surfing every day had us case-hardened, we did not even think about it, we were hunting for gems out there. Yeah, we had some turns, I had a near reverse and Jay had a couple good turns on the inside. So we closed the session trying to shag a few in close to the shore and we did. Jay finished it off with a very nice frontside snap on one of these insiders, he had finally rained in the emotion, applying restraint to not overpower the waist high junk, he got on top of this last turn without a bobble. I guess he still has a patent on that frontside snap. Ok the session was messy, but the broken record applies here, it was still fun.

*Portorior - Your typical Los Angeles weekend warrior who likes to go to El Porto a couple of times per month and tries way too hard to rip, resulting in an inept, ugly exhibition of head-snaps and exaggerated movements that do not actually coincide with any functional surfing move. Studies have shown that these guys typically talk about surfing 4.6 times more than the average dedicated surfer.

Day 38 - Messy

Today held promise as the funk caused by the wind overnight helped create the perception that there would be a number of opportunities for turns and decent rides.  We got in at the right time, as the maxed-out 6.2' tide was on the decline, at about 10:30, but it just was not meant to be.  I think I made the comment to Jay that it is nice to actually "drop in" on a wave (after my first wave) and at this time the session still held promise.  The comment was made because we had a week of fairly small waves for which "drop-in" would have been a misnomer to describe the start of a wave. However, today's promise never turned into anything tangible.  The breeze slowly turned into a gale and the conditions went from bad to worse.  I caught a few waves, but I was mostly frustrated.  I came back up and burried myself in the editing bay for a solid 8 hours straight.  I was working on figuring out how to produce a multi-camera segment.  I love clowning around with video, I don't know why, but trust me, it is just that, clowning.  You will certainly be hard pressed to see a sententious segment created off of my desktop. 

This is the kind of genius I strive for:

Darth Vader being a smartass

No fluff, just cuts in the right places - It probably says a lot about me.  Thanks to Jason for sending me this.

Day 37 - Surfer, Dude

It looks to be one of the greatest movies of all time and I'm only 10 minutes in. A must see for sure. Not sure if it got immortalized with a statue, but it should have. The movie actually was pretty funny for a surfer to watch as it highlighted an argosy of surf stereotypes.

The swell picked up over night from the south. It had the classic long left lines pushing up the beach, but there was a little morning sickness on it. Today the high tide was our friend, helping the fickle walls to back off just enough to make the waves peel up the beach resulting in some very long weavable lefts. I caught 4 or 5 decent ones and then off to the grind. Another short session, maybe I'll get a longer one tomorrow.

Day 36 - Weaven

Today was a transition day as I got back on my short board. I caught a few good waves and it felt really good to get the weave* going again. Jason was still on the fun gun and I think he had a couple of decent waves, but as always, we were just really were glad that we got out there today. The weather was gray, and it was not quite glassy with a little bit of side/off shore wind from the south. The tide was high again this morning so the waves strained to break on the outside, instead they rolled slowly to crash on the inside. A couple of waves actually did break on the outside sandbar and they looked rideable, but it seemed like a very unlikely scenario to be in the right spot when a set came. So we surfed the waves that crashed on the inside instead. As we were getting out of the water we saw a long boarder catch a very good left, he took off in no man’s land (the middle section), resulting in a long ride through to the inside. I mind-surfed along with him and his lack of turns frustrated my mental image. This made me feel like I was missing out on a session, walking slowly away from the water, I really wanted to go back out there and snag a few more. The waves were probably waist to chest high today as they had picked up a little bit since yesterday. I had a fairly short session after waking up late, which has been the theme this week.

*The weave was first recognized in the drainage ditch in front of Orange High school on a skateboard - Jay was the first person that I saw perform the weave. We realized that by weaving the skateboard back and forth in the transition that we could actually generate speed by transferring energy to the wheels through only body movements (not pushing off with our feet). The weave was later validated by Martin Potter as we saw him at uppers one day weaving perfectly on a small little right, accelerating faster than anyone that I had ever seen. Most things are fuzzy to me but there are a few instances where I have an eidetic memory, that wave of Martin Potter at Trestles is one of these.

Day 35 – Cup o' joe

Today was small, but I caught a ton of waves again on the long board. We had planned on getting 3 and calling it a session as it was an ugly morning and the waves did not look too appealing at first glance – the tide is still very high in the mornings and the waves were very small amidst a gray backdrop. What did I do? I caught about 10 waves in total and even had a couple of waves where I was able to successfully walk up and back on the 10 footer. The crossover step is so fun, I’m not sure why but it is almost as fun as a good turn on a short board. Jason and I had the conversation regarding the similarities of surfing in the morning and a cup of coffee. Sleep deprived, it is always tough to wake up, but just making it to get coffee can be motivation enough to get you going. This is how surfing is, it is so difficult to get moving, but once you’re in the water, the comfort of the bed seems so far a way and not appealing. It is a perfect way to start off every day. I have to admit, today I had a difficult time refraining from posting some boiler plate, so I’ll keep it short, which will likely be the theme in the coming days as I work my way through earnings season (day job speak).

Day 34 - Laker Day

The title is fitting for 2 reasons, it was like a lake out there today and the Lakers just took a 2 - 0 lead over the Jazz in the first round of the playoffs.  Today very small waves prevailed, but I was able to catch a lot of them.  The waves were about knee to waist high, but the air was calm and hot again, so the conditions were actually pretty good for a small high tide morning.  The calmness of the morning and warmth in the air besot reality this morning for the 30 minutes we were surfing.  There was no work, no stress, no thinking about the future or any other overemphasized facet of life, I was just present to the calmness of the morning.  I wished that I had arrived earlier to my therapy session in hindsight.  Jay and I had the discussion regarding the size of the waves and our mutual agreement that just getting in the water has the effect of keeping surfing in the foreground of the mind.  It is a really good feeling to be on point when the waves do return and this is how it is accomplished; consistently maintaining the feel of surfing in the foreground of thought.  Getting out there even when it is small and doing whatever it takes to catch a few waves replenishes the water on the brain and that is what we did.  This morning, I rode my long board again, which was the correct call.  I caught a lot of waves in a short period of time and on a number of them I pretended to be setting up for big moves, but in reality I was just surfing the waves in my mind as the 10 footer had no intentions of complying with my imagination.  I'm looking forward to tomorrow - to bed for now.

Day 33 – Monday Blues

Not much happening in El Porto today… After such a nice weekend it was hard to get motivated. I surfed my 10’0” longboard and delayed as long as possible resulting in only getting a 25 minute surf in the books this morning. I found myself on my computer, checking stocks and doing whatever else to waste time at 6am. I finally got out there at about 7am with Jay. It was fun to get on my longboard for a few, taking advantage of the nonexistent crowd and good weather. The air was already warm and it was clear that it would be another hot one, what a difference from last week! I’m looking forward to doing that again sometime shortly, probably tomorrow as apparently there are still not supposed to be any waves. Jay sent me the forecast and it looks like some SW is due for Thurs/Fri so I’m stoked to start figuring out how to take advantage of this knowledge. I’m thinking point Dume or somewhere in the vicinity for the dawn patrol on Friday. Now that I have my point break stoke going…

Day 32 - 6 x 3 = 18 (Rincon Math)

Ah, I finally have a real keyboard back. Writing on a phone is not easy!

Today, I surfed Rincon for the first time ever. It was pretty amazing. On the way home from El Capitan driving by Rincon, I looked over my shoulder, detached from expectations and what did I see? I saw a good wave on the inside with a shortboarder flying down the line! I took me two exits to turn around as I hesitated, thinking through all of the effort it typically takes to surf a new wave, but I figured it was as good of time as any to have my first go at the famous wave. To cap an amazing weekend, it was nearly 80 degrees; Rincon did indeed have waves and hardly anyone surfing! What was going on here? I don't know, but I think it was just another case of getting lucky. I mean on a Sunday? Are you kidding me? Is it possible to plan a trip to Rincon with the same results? No, probably not. I don't know where the waves came from and I don't really care, but they were good that's for sure.

While it was not big, I saw one wave where Rincon truly did its thing and connected through to the inside from way out on the point. It was a pretty amazing spectacle to be sure. I saw a girl on a piebald board that had a really good wave in the middle section that connected to the inside, which started me shuffling up the point to a deeper takeoff spot. The hustle and bustle of the crowded peaks at home had me pumped and ready to take advantage of the dodo-like mentality of the laid-back point surfers. While there were some good surfers, the mentality is just much slower and made it really easy to get waves that I should not have been able to catch. You can still see Curren’s influence in the older surfers, there was one guy whose style matched everything about Curren, to the point where I had to double take to be sure that it was not in fact him. What an amazing wave! I caught 6 legitimate waves in a little more than an hour, but then the word was out. It started to get crowded and getting the set waves became much harder. I got out; my back was stiff from driving so I figured I'd get back on the road headed to Manhattan Beach. The waves I caught were far longer than anything that I have ridden for some time so the six waves that I caught were plenty. I had one that was a serious thigh-burner, from which I had to take a break in the middle of the wave, just standing for a few seconds to rest through a slow section – that is a good feeling. It was a lot of fun hooking up a good point after logging so much time on the one-and-done waves of my local beach break. On a point like this, you get to slow down and relax a little, it is all together a different kind of surfing. I’m glad that I no longer have to say, “I’ve never surfed Rincon”, as I’ve had to say countless times over the last 20 years.

Day 31 - .5 x 6 = 3 (Lake Michigan math)

After surfing long enough, it is inevitable that the topic of the quality of waves and the possibility of surfing in the great lakes region will have presented itself in some form or another. I have read a few articles and even seen some video. Now, it goes without being said that if given an opportunity, I certainly would jump at the chance to get a fresh water session in, if nothing but for the novelty of it. You see novelty sessions are right up there with near death experiences when it comes to attention grabbers (nobody wants to hear about how perfect you scored Macaroni's, unless they have been already or are going soon). I have gotten a lot of mileage out of the only other fresh water session that I have had, which was by all standards a novelty session. I have a video of Tom that I'll have to post as soon as I get home. That was in Orlando at the wave tank at Disney World. We even paid $100 for lessons and I can't remember how many waves, which were on foam boards and straights, but it is safe to say that the wave count was in the single digits. Well, that's what it felt like today, right on the precipice of the unsurfable. However, there was no novelty today. I don't know why I care, but I find myself wanting to go around and explain to everyone on the beach that I have a streak going. It is a little embarrassing trying to catch quasi-surfable waves. I caught 6 to be sure that the streak did not end. I figured 6 half waves equals 3 real waves. I mean I stood up on all of them. I went a direction and I even had a mini floater. But, each ended in grabbing my board and running it out in shallow water much like you would do after hitting a pebble on a skateboard. The weather was downright hot and the water had warmed up a few degrees in the the last 24 hours as the warm sunny windless stagnation seems to be heating the ocean surface. It is time to hoick a beer out of the cooler and sit back and enjoy the campfire. What an amazing day...

One more - nice day

Where am I?

Day 30 - 3 on the Beach

This one will be very short since I'm sending it from my phone in Santa Barbara. Yes, I caught 3 waves and they were all technically rights, but not by much. They were more RIGHT on the beach. The water was so cold that my hands hurt as soon as it touched it. I'd say that it was low 50's, but it was crystal clear. The transparency created spider web reflections on the sandy bottom. Anyway, people were looking at me like I'm crazy, which at this point, they'd be right.

Day 29 – Apriluary

This is going to be a short post as will the posts for the next few days - I’m headed out of town for the weekend. Hopefully, I’ll post something from my phone over the weekend. Today was a little weird, as the waves were generated primarily from very short period wind swell. For some reason, and I’m not sure why, this translated into some pretty dumpy peaks. It was necessary to utilize the initial speed boost for a quick turn or a cutback. I had a couple of pretty good waves, both rights and lefts, but by the end of the session I was hindered by very numb feet. The water is January cold right now which is pretty uncharacteristic of April, but it is a direct result of all of the upwelling caused by the wind over the past few days. Even colder though was the sand, which absorbed the unusually cold air temperature (you could see your breath) resembling snow in appearance and feel (it was wind blown smooth again today). Walking on the asphalt after receiving frostbite from the sand was very painful requiring a very slow and calculated walk. I don’t know why, but when your feet get that cold it truly feels like the ground is tearing them apart and your mind begins to visualize the little pebble under your heel causing irreparable damage. Thinking about it now, I still feel a chill in my feet, even though that was 4 hours ago. The wind blew so hard over the past 36 hours that it actually started to pile up mini dunes wherever there is a fixed object and the beach now has a noticeable incline with parking lot serving as a backstop. Maybe it is good for the waves, I don’t know, I’m always an optimist with regard to change. Forecast is predicting that it is going to be some time before we get waves again (I checked it because I'm going out of town), so I guess it was a really good run while it lasted. I’m still looking forward to day 29…

Day 28 - 3 to the beach (ABAIG)

As Bad As It Gets - I woke up this morning at about 4am in anticipation. I thought that I had a chance for an epic session. I even iced my back for 15 minutes at about 4:30. I fell back to sleep, but then woke up at about 6:00 and stumbled to the window, cleared my eyes and it was obvious that today would be a tough one. The wind had been on it all night, there were whitecaps and the waves were very consistent with pretty good size. I couldn’t take it! I went back to bed. I got up just before 7am, suited up and I started my reluctant walk down at about 7:05 following some badgering from Jason (I could see that he was enjoying the prospect that I’d have to go out there). I knew I had to go! 20 minutes was cutting it close on this day (I have to get out of the water by 7:30 to make be sure to make the 8am bus). The beach had been blown almost perfectly flat as it only had a few lonely tracks across a Sahara sand rippled surface – who knows where these people end up, it was a very inhospitable scene. I noticed down the beach a competition tent with a bunch of people huddled around in hoodies looking out at the foamy soup. What a bad day to have a contest! What a joke, these people should have canceled; I can almost guarantee that the best surfer did not win out there. Anyway, this gave me inspiration as I had 20 minutes to get 3 waves and the competitors probably did as well (maybe 15 minutes – depending on the contest format). So, I went out, but my heat was lonely. I almost didn’t make it out! There were waves everywhere, at one point I was not even paddling, just duck diving wave after wave. The wind swell interval seemed like it was about 3 seconds or so. I spent about 5 of my 20 minutes getting out there and I got pounded by a few large waves. It was very lonely sitting out there as the water was dark and the undulations caused me to lose sight of both the shore and the oncoming waves with regularity. I knew nobody was watching me, so I felt truly on my own. Now just get 3 waves! I caught 2 lefts and a right. I made feeble effort at a frontside turn on one of my waves. But, in general it was just survival. The wind was probably blowing cold at 20 miles per hour and the water was even colder from the previous night’s upwelling (a result of the wind). It was downright miserable. I did it and I’m glad for that, but I’m also glad that it was brief. My feet froze and the hurried walk back up to my apartment stung the numbness. I’ve surfed some pretty bad days, but this was very close to the top of that list of undesirable sessions. I hope day 28 is better!

Day 27 – COD?

a) Crack of Dawn
b) Cash on Delivery
c) Call of Duty (the 4th installment is the best video game ever)
d) Claim or Don’t
e) None of the above

I’m so stoked! It is a weird occurrence in sports when you get into the zone. I’ve been there in basketball, tennis, ping pong and of course surfing. Things slow down; the most minor adjustments come natural but are so critical to your performance. You know you're starting to hit your stride in surfing when you drop in and fade for a turn (turn the wrong way at first) and then bottom turn (go the other way) into a perfectly timed gouge – there is no margin for error, you know it and don’t think twice about it. Little adjustments to the way you're bending your knees, where your weight is, the positioning of your arms results in fluidly timing turns, maximizing efficiency in every movement. You're reacting with lightspeed and you don't even know you're reacting until after the wave is over and you have a second to think back at how you felt, you realize that some critical adjustments made the difference between surfing optimally and falling. It is interesting how many intangibles there are in surfing (or at least they seem like intangibles – they are not really, just hard to see). A good example is to look at the difference between the technique of a very good surfer and a kook, the subtle differences are sometimes not apparent to the naked eye (usually they are, however). When they are not, it is hard to pinpoint the reason one surfer goes really fast and turns without effort in the most critical spots and the other flails. Jason and I saw the latter occur yesterday. On a perfect left, a guy dropped in, we anticipated something special, we waited for the action, but then we both winced in disgust as the ugly reality of a wasted wave pained us. His effort reflected desire, but his technique was left behind by his mind’s eye. This happens a lot and the realization that it happens to you as well typically occurs the first time you see yourself on video. You realize how much of a kook you really are. You are sure that each turn is perfect and that you are one step below a pro, that sponsors are probably waiting for you on the beach, that other surfers watch you in awe, but have a look at the video man, it tells a different story. Arms are flying everywhere; you cannot believe how slow you are going, and what about that turn? It was ugly! Back to the drawing board…

So, with that introduction as a disclaimer, let me go through my most memorable experience that I had today. I had one wave in particular that doubled up (the wave is artificially thick as it is the combination of two waves) and a guy outside had just missed it so I turned and dropped in backside. I had plenty of time to set up for my bottom turn, which faded against the grain allowing me to fully wind up, wrapping my trailing arm around my body like a spring. This set me in position to unload underneath the lip with my body perfectly positioned over my board. Wow that felt good! I over-extended my turn, technically completing about 270 degrees resulting in a slide that was as out-of-control as my skills will allow, nudging up against disaster (blowing the wave) ever so softly, I was still at the top of the wave. As physics would have it, this position requires an air drop to get back into the transition part of the wave. This is what happened and I landed in control. To my surprise, I took one pump and was going very fast. The on coming white water was asking for my fins, I obliged throwing a have stalled rock-in-roll to complete the wave – a bit of a safe move, but I wasn’t going to blow it at this point. I have to admit it. There is not much better than that. Barrel, yep, but that is about it. I mean, I cannot stop thinking about how high I get when things just click out there. That’s why so many people surf. That’s why I’ve been doing it for 24 years. That’s why I wake up in the dark, put a wet wetsuit on and walk blindly down to the water’s edge. That’s why I do a surf streak. How many seconds did that all take? I would guess, front to back, less than 15. I’ve done a lot of things, but those 15 seconds take the cake. It is just too damn rewarding and yet, the question remains: did that tree just fall in the forest? The weirdest thing about surfing is that it does not matter. In this case, somebody saw the tree fall, but the anonymous kid didn’t change things much. It is certainly better if somebody sees it, especially one of your bros, but the marginal benefit (of a friend seeing it) is very small. I could feel the kid in front of me, he was looking at me, he wanted to give his approval for the ride, but I looked down at my board, turned it around and paddled back out. I almost never look up in those cases. It is not cool to admit to yourself or anyone else that this was not just business as usual.

And now the point of today’s entry: let’s talk about the claim, YOU DON’T DO IT. Now there are times where emotion gets the better of you and you claim a wave. The definition of a claim is basically a fit of emotion that signifies to the external world your satisfaction with your own accomplishment. YOU DON’T DO IT! If somebody sees you claim a wave that is not worth claiming, well you can't live that one down. You become a claimer, which is a bit derogatory. You’ll hear claiming jokes for the rest of your life. Things like, “Wow, way to open that door! Why don’t you claim it?” or “Dude you just parallel parked your car. Are you going to get out, throw your hands in air and claim it?” or “Way to put cream cheese on that bagel. Come on man just claim it!” Yeah, you don’t want to be claimer, so it is best to never claim. The interesting thing about claiming a wave is that it is your body’s natural reaction to want to release all of that emotion, and sometimes there is just so much adrenaline running through your system that you can almost explode by repressing a claim. But, once again, DO NOT CLAIM YOUR WAVE. The best answer is: d) Claim or DON’T.

Day 26 – Monday Fun Day is Better than Sunday

This one is also going to be short. The waves were very good this morning. The string waves we have been getting lately have been impressive. We scored some uncrowded punchy peaky little barrels this morning, which included a few head high waves, but cylinders all around given the low tide and offshore winds. Jay has been having problems with his back so he rode the fun gun. I was on the compressor and I caught a number of good waves. I had the first wave this streak where I completed 3 solid frontside turns without a hitch. Really laid into each one, it really felt good to be controlled and on top of these turns. I drove into work today so I stayed out extra long. I picked a good day to drive in! I’m really fired up right now. I have already exchanged texts with Jay, reconfirming how good it was out there.

Day 25 – Where’s my egg?

This post is going to be very short. I got on it pretty early today with Jason as it is Easter Sunday and I figured the crowd would get thick quick. I’ll admit it; I was very tired out there after a number of good and long sessions over the previous days and I did not surf very well. However, I think with all of the surfing I’m starting to get my first step back. The first step is how fast you are able to come out of the gate – the pop up into the first pump. This allows you a lot more range when it comes to taking off late. You want to be a strong paddler to increase you range with regards to getting in early, but a good first step can really help with taking of late. Translation: You can catch more waves and make it around more sections. It is pretty key for surfing a beach break all the time. Quick session today, but the weather was amazing, the waves were very good. The crowd got holiday-heavy very quick and that’s when I called it, I could use the rest and I know that Mondays are always a better bet.

Day 24 - AGAIG

Session 28

As Good As It Gets.  Today was silly, the boys were frothing, the waves were insane.  El Porto is one of the few places that can turn wind swell into barrels.  The combination of a deep water canyon, consistent early morning offshore winds and bathymetry that is pronounced allow this transformation to happen.

Jay got out there earlier than I did so I got the report from the trenches when he got out.  He said that it was good and that the guy that we saw in Indo was out there. Big John (because he's a little guy) was amped. Jay had warned me that he would be.  He got a left barrel in front of me that was silly.  I mean comic book silly, directly from the pages of my 8th grade science class notebook (I got banished to the back tables so I really worked on my wave drawings).  He pulled high and tight into a vicious cylinder, locked in pig dog drawing a line that was perfect.  Still, I was sure that there was no way he'd come out, he did.  That set the tempo.  The wind swell/ground swell combo was so consistent that the boys barely had a moment for Saturday morning stink eye.  Waves everywhere and they were the real deal, boards fluttering, bodies bouncing, arms flailing and a looks of stoke on everyone's face.

So I went up to John and let him know that I witnessed the left and he was stoked.  He said, "I've had like 12 of those! I haven't turned yet, there are some kegs out here!"  And the dude can turn, but he was clearly only hunting for barrels.  The best quote was as follows, "I haven't surfed waves this good since Bali and that was 8 months ago.  The only other time was that west when I went to the Ranch, but it was crowded, so this is better."  I agree with him.  That session today was epic.  El Porto does not get epic much, but it provides surf about 360 days a year, so I cannot complain.

My session?  Barrels, turns, a pitch or two, a guillotine and some wicked cutbacks.  I was stoked out there.  I rode the Double D and I'm glad that I had - I was able to use its speedometer a number of times. You see, I have a few boards with speedometers, a result of a slightly misplaced fin, which causes it to hum when a certain velocity is reached.  I had it humming a lot today! I had gone out on Friday night, so I was a little slow to start, but nothing a little adrenaline couldn't overcome.  I'm still stoked.  The amazing thing is how much this stoke translates into regular life.  Who needs Prozac?  Just surf every day.

Day 23 - Good Friday and I mean GOOD!

Don't jinx my session!  Oh wait, it worked in my favor this time.  This is going to be short post as I have to get back to my editing bay!  I have a lot to learn in order to get ramped up on my Mac.  In my last post I wrote that the waves would probably be terrible today given the prospect for rain and wind, which was a certainty according to everyone who knows such things.  When I woke up I went to my usual window to check it.  It didn't look as bad as I thought it would!  Jason made the comment that he would sit this one out and he was definitely serious (more opposite jinx).  I was slow to get moving but as I did, he could not handle the possibility that I would tell him about MY session later in the day, so reluctantly he went along with the preparations.  We walked down the hill and It initially looked walled but there is a hole just in front of the 40th street lifeguard tower. The deep spot was allowing a left to consistently break as we approached the water's edge.  After some argument about whether or not this was really the case (I'm an optimist and he's a pessimist when it comes to waves), Jason reluctantly agreed with me that there was some potential out there.  The waves were overhead on the sets and packing a solid punch.  As we were paddling out, I don't know what we were talking about, but Jason suddenly was at a loss for words as he zeroed in on something over my shoulder and then convulsed into an uncontrollable release of emotion that resembled the cross between a scream an a yell.  Alarmed, I looked in the direction that caused his reaction and there was a guy locked into a perfect barrel! He shot out and then proceeded to demolish the lip with a very controlled backhand snap.  Few things out in the water can cause this kind of reaction, but seeing a guy in a barrel just forces it out of you.  Seeing a shark might be another (I've only seen one that could hurt me and I think I started yelling).  That set the tone for the session.  I started off with a floater and then a barrage of snaps.  I surfed for about 2 1/2 hours today and I really felt good out there.  Yet another example of why it is necessary to get up and go surfing without trying to figure it all out beforehand.  I would never have gone out there today if it wasn't already a forgone conclusion.  I cannot wait to get back out there tomorrow, which is a problem because it probably will not be good now!

Day 22 – Lucky 22’s

Session 26

Normally 22 may not seem like a lucky number. If you are staring down the barrel of a 22, it is probably a bad thing, if you get 22 in blackjack, it is a bad thing and if you find yourself in a “catch-22” well it is hard to find any good in that. So why is it my lucky number? For one thing, when I went searching for a lucky number I had heard that somebody had already taken the number 7…

My story is a bit boring, but I’ve been asked about it a number of times, so I’ll tell it. I chose it for “my” number in 6th grade, when for some reason I had a rash of occurrences of the number 22. It had to be my number! Simply put, it was far too unlikely for this number to show up five out of six times in a random unscientific sampling of a six grader’s life, my number had to be 22! We’ll after the fact; I realized that the only one that seemed to be random was my locker number. The others, while not significantly probable, were also not significantly unlikely either given that my last name begins in the letter “O”. This is because these numbers that came up 22 were primarily related to the role sheets in my classes at that time, which were ordered alphabetically. So 22 is probably some sort of statistical mean on a list for last names beginning with “O” when it is attached to another statistical mean of a particular class size which can statistically be proven to be a valid statistic if class size is static. Oh sorry, I got a little carried away. Anyway, my take (which I am required to give on every subject) is that most of the time statistics are just a function of humans trying to put meaning to a number of random events. Translation: “BS” and not the Bachelor of Sciences kind of BS either. All of that said, lucky or not, 22 continues to be “My” number and I would not trade numbers with anyone. Of course, I do think it is better than other numbers, ok actually I know it is. Why? There is something very symmetrical and simple about this number. 2 is the first chance for symmetry in the Arabic numeral system, which comes in the form of the inherently symmetrical “even number”. Furthermore, two 2’s is more symmetrical than a single 2 as the single version only has a single numeral and thus contains an odd property. 44 is symmetrical as well, but why go all the way to 44, when I can have this symmetry at 22? Also, there is something generic about 44. Yeah, Dirty Hairy went a long way to popularize the number 44, but the fundamental qualities of 44 fall apart under greater scrutiny. The same can be said about any other double numbers – they really just do not have the same originality of their sibling 22.

The Surf on Lucky 22:
The surf was really fun! Jason made the point to me that he would prefer waves like that over the long period ground swell type of wave that is often associated with a “Good Swell”, and I completely agree. The waves were overhead on the sets which were generated primarily by short period wind swell. This is great because it affords you the opportunity to catch a lot of waves in a short period of time and the cost of screwing one up is negligible because it is possible to go right back out and catch another. Yes, the waves are shorter but the aggregate number of turns will easily eclipse those days where the waves are from a “good swell”. This morning the wind was offshore, but the ocean was still pretty mixed up from the harsh onshore wind that we had yesterday (the cause for the waves). So the faces of the waves were glassy but there was quite a bit of “shiftiness” out there. So fun! There was nobody out and plenty of good waves, that’s the right combo. Jason had some really good ones and he was very excited about returning to surfing. He had already trend-lined his progress in his head to figure out when he would make it back to peak surf shape. I think it was his first wave, which was right in front of me, he logged some travel time in a surprise barrel, so the enthusiasm is easy to understand - there is something indescribable about being in a barrel. Me? I had some really good waves as well and I surfed them fairly well - I had a blast out there! I really need to start working on my core strength however. My back was still bothering me a little bit. I had one really memorable left on which I competed two solid turns with the second one being a tail slide layback where I stood up out of the whitewash to complete it. It was a great session as we were on it early and got to surf for about an hour and ten minutes. Tomorrow is Good Friday, but the weather is supposed to be dicey (rain and wind)! This serves as yet more confirmation of why 22 is right choice of numbers for me! Hopefully, I just opposite-jinxed it for tomorrow, I don’t think so though.

Day 21 - I'll take 4 lefts and 3 rights to go please!

Session 25

I was pretty limited on time, because I was up late last night. I'm still trying to get my computer situation fixed and then I was chatting it up with my temporary roommate until about midnight. I had to go pick up my laundry from the laundromat this morning (I'm a big proponent of the economics of fluff & fold) as I'm out of clothes. The result of all of this is about 20 minutes of surf time! So, I ran down jumped in and caught my quota. But, before I get into that, I'd like to shine some light on the inner workings of the hamster wheel that I call my head. I was struck by lightning yesterday when an idea (stupid goofy one) for a short video made its presence known to my peanut (probably had been waiting its turn in the subconscious queue for some time). While I admit the idea is nothing special (most aren't), once it grips me, I cannot shake it. In a previous post (Ice-Ice-Ice Baby), I had mentioned the term grom-stoke, well, this is very similar. Spontaneously most of my frontal lobe/hippocampus shut down and remain in a "Sleep Mode" until some level of completion is reached or something else grips the attention, usually the latter. Why do I say all of this? Because this morning, I could not find my briefcase (I use it to shuttle useless papers to and from work - useless because I rarely look a them) and it became apparent that most of my memories from about the time I had my "IDEA" to the point where I could not find my briefcase this morning had been deleted! Apparently somebody had drag-and-dropped them right into the trash (I'm becoming familiar with this new Mac term). This is a time & memory black hole, where the density (gravitational pull) of the idea acts to suck memories into its core - they simply cannot escape and thus are never heard from again. These hamster wheel physics are certainly responsible for the wide variances in the perception of time that occur between a task that we like and one that we don't like. When you are struck with an idea or enjoy doing something immensely, time almost disappears! My proposition is that it is not the time that is disappearing, it is the memory of the time that is being condensed into a single euphoric sample (details disappear real time!). A good example would be to think about how painful it is to watch the clock while doing something you don't like (a boring class or anything where times seems to halt in conjunction with discomfort) contrasted with the inability to slow time while doing something you truly love, something that is engaging. Initially, I had the hypothesized that there were times (when bored) where we actually spontaneously began to travel at near light speeds, thus slowing time (and perceived pain) down according to Einsteins relativity theory, but this theory is now defunct.

So what happened? With my memory deleted, I started to think that the focus on my idea, had completely shut my gray-matter-CPU down and that I left my briefcase on the bus yesterday. Fortunately for me, habits and instincts took over and I did in fact carry it home. I found it just in time to run down and make the bus (the bus was late anyway). But, when I got on the bus, I noticed something peculiar, my suit jacket did not match my suit pants! With most of my brain not functioning, it is easy to understand how this occurred. It is also easy to understand why I leave things all over my apartment in disarray. It is a little like a unified theory of Mike - it can be used to explain everything that I do.

Surfing:
Today I caught 7 waves. It was not glassy, but not windy either. There was a little morning sickness on it, but it was overhead on the sets and the shape was pretty good at the Rosecrans sandbar. My first 4 waves, I attempted exaggerated turns and fell on each of them. But on my last 2 waves, I was able to complete 2 solid turns in the critical section of the wave. I was surfing by myself, there were a few people out probably at about 42nd street. I'm so glad I got out there. Ah, if only someone would push the power button on my brain - I could use it for my day job...

Day 20 - Rainy Afternoon

I got out there and it started raining pretty hard. The amazing thing is that I caught about 10 waves. At first I was not sure if I was going to catch 3! But, I caught a few fun ones. This is going to be a short post as I'm working on a multimedia project. I should be good! I will document Day 20 with video. Hopefully, I can get it done quick. I'm starting to tinker my way through learning Final Cut Pro as I have switched video editing platforms from PC to Mac. I was using Avid Express Pro. I think I'm going to like FCP, but it will take some time to learn.

Oh boy - No surf yet today!

I had meetings and calls today in the AM. It is supposed to rain tonight! The waves will not be good, but I have to get out there this afternoon. This is why I like to knock out the sessions early. It definitely causes a bit of anxiety.

Decision making of a commitment:
I was invited to go to Vegas in May... No. Can't do it. The streak takes precedence... That is how commitment is supposed to work. Most of the time, however I am not that committed to things, but in this case there was no hesitation. I guess that is why I like this quote: Commitment Quote. I can be taken off course by work or an injury, but that's about it right now. I'm getting in the water for 126 days straight otherwise. That is what I'm setting out to do and that is what I'll do.

Storm is Brewing!

Tanya just told me that we are going to get some rain! This might be a problem! Hopefully, we'll get a lot and it will help to dig some holes in the sand out there.

From Wetsand:

Today (Sunday) we have a light mix of NW and SW swell along the California coast with AM offshore conditions that'll repeat again Monday. Tuesday sees some Aleutian NW come into the mix, but rain is expected by nightfall (Wed. AM at the latest), leaving midweek in less than favorable conditions. Some light WestPac WNW swell is due Thursday into Friday, but weather models show another possible slug of precipitation around this time as well. In either case, the second half of the week will have some moderate southern hemi SW in the water -- shame though, as weather models don't paint a pretty picture, even going into the weekend.

Day 19 - 5 in 48

Five surf sessions in 48 hours... I'm tired but, I think I'm turning the corner. Icing my back seems to be working OK and while my paddle is not full strength, I'm not thinking about it much anymore. This morning however, I was stiff. Had a fairly short session as I made the earlier bus. It was small and glassy with only a few spots working (where there are sand bars). I got out there and I saw John, he's the guy that me and Jason saw in Indonesia on one of our trips. He's a very good surfer. Anyway, he and I traded waves for a while (remember it's Monday, so the crew is slow to trickle out there). He definitely got the best waves. It was about waist to stomach high, really feathery, but with perfect shape. My back was a little stiff, so it inhibited my quite a bit, which was a little bit of a downer after the session I had last night. That's OK though, I still got some fun ones. The highlight of the session was a dolphin nearly clipped John as he paddled for a wave! It was so close, it might have even jumped over his leg! I'm not sure. I asked him if he saw it and he said no. This was no baby either. Anyway, I told him about it and he said...

Important Update: I just had 45 minutes of my life time-burgled* away.

Back to our regularly scheduled program:

he is not a big fan of dolphins as one time he was hit by one and another broke his board. He said it was a big day and that the dolphin just got mixed up or something. These stories are somewhat of an urban legend as I've been hearing them for some time. Actually, another guy told me a similar story - he had his board broken by a dolphin. The most I've ever had is a flipper of a dolphin slap my foot as he went underneath me. I guess it's possible, I've just never seen it.

I caught some fun waves and got out early because of my back and my general physical lethargy. When I got back, Jay showed up shortly after me. It turns out, he cannot stand to miss out! That's good.


*The Time Burglar - a person who corners you in your office or some other location where there is no easy exit and proceeds to link extended monologues together, sometimes initiating a fight or flight mechanism that is very similar to claustrophobia. This why it is always important to have some cyanide pills handy. Very painful.

Nice morning, but small waves.

Day 18 - It takes one to know one...

Session 22 (my lucky number - that is why I'm portosurfer22)

The title refers to a comment that Jason made on the way to the beach.

Had an amazing second session! Fish everywhere, glassy, sunny, warm, with decent waves. I had a great time out there. I saw my neighbor Chris out - he's a cool guy. Also saw a guy who surfs really well, his name is Nick, he's from Santa Cruz, I've been seeing him out there for years. Actually, I also saw him this morning as well. While I was out there, I could not help but think how fortunate I really am. Living at the beach, everything within reach and days like today are just so special, no worries about the upcoming work week, I just spent the entire day enjoying life. I love it.

The tide was a little high, but I was able to redeem myself a little from the earlier session as I had a number of waves that I completed very controlled and fast turns on. I surfed pretty well tonight. It was about chest high and most of the waves that I caught were lefts. We managed to time it right as the low tide walls waned in favor of mid tide shoulders. As I mentioned before there were fish out there, so it was only a matter of time before the predators showed up. Dolphins and a sea lion were not very far behind. The the fish were splashing and causing the dolphins to go into a frenzy. I think that they go after the fish in the waves, maybe because the can accelerate and the fish get confused (I've watched the discover channel). Anyway, one other thing that the dolphins do is splash the water really hard with their tails. Maybe this stuns the fish, I don't know. It is pretty amazing to share the space with those guys.

Day 18 - Ice-Ice-Ice Baby (The Return of the Kook)

Session 21

The first ice refers to the effectiveness of icing my back to alleviate the pain that I'm having. It really is helping! The second ice is referring to the two blocks that are attached to my ankles that still claim to be my feet (should have worn booties today). The third Ice Baby refers to my younger years when I used to spit rhymes in the underground clubs of the OC. Back when I was a teenager with a little bit of gold and a pager... sorry, I digress.

The return of the kook - I had too many good titles for today. So as I always do, I run down to the edge of the water and if the waves are good, I get that child-like giddiness (aptly named grom-stoke*). So, I have my grom-stoke going, I'm accelerating across that warm sand as I'm approaching the water. I notice a peak down that beach with nobody on it, even accelerate more, I cannot wait to get out there. My grom-stoke is in full effect, my back is feeling good, the wind is offshore, the air is warm (summer like), I cannot wait. With grom-stoke going, most of your mental capacity is shut down. This is when it happens... Sometimes your leash can be your best friend (I know mine has saved my life a few times) and sometimes it can be your worst enemy (anywhere from the classic hog-tie**, to getting hooked on a reef - very dangerous), but mostly a leash is a good thing. Not today! I was running at full steam and that's when my feet got caught up, instantaneously transforming both my legs into the center leg in a potato sack race. It turns out that you need two legs to run! Board in hand, I'm skidding on my face right at the edge of the water, on a crowded day (it was warm and about 10 o-clock, so there were people all around). To someone watching, it would have been hillarious! Not on my end though, embarrased, I got up and acted like nothing happened, no look back toward the beach as that would have acted to acknowledge that fact that I had just eaten a bunch of sand. Kook #1. This is a vid that Tom sent to my in an email titled "Olson in Indo" Funny Vid This is a link to the video, it is really funny. So, I have righted myself, brushed it off as nothing has happend, my grom-stoke was fading, but I'm still going to get out there. I get back up and begin running, into the water, with the water about ankle deep, I take a step into a hole and I go down again! This time in about knee to ankle deep water so I try to brush it off by paddling. It didn't work, the water was too shallow. Kook #2. So now I'm out in the water, the wind is offshore, the waves have good shape and I'm having a good time. This is when I try to paddle into a great wave. I'm excited, but I have clear a paddler directly in front of me. The wind pushes me up the face, I cannot get into the wave! I get pitched! I held onto my board, but some how I avoided hitting the guy paddling in front of me. Kook #3. I saw Tommy and Ben out there and Tommy made fun of my day-glow board. I agree, if you are going to kook out like I did, you better not have a memorable board.

I had a number of good waves out there - very fun none-the-less.

*Grom-stoke is a term that I use to describe a state of agitation that occurs when a surfer loses his or her mind due to an extreme excitement over surfing. It could be a good session that sends the surfer into this state. The term grom comes from the word grommet. See the definition below. The point is that no matter what the age of the surfer is, the state can occur sending the surfer back into a frenzied state of a grom.  From About.com:

Definition: A young surfer. While it seems that being called a "grommet" would be derogatory, in fact, most surfers wish they still had that grommet perspective of the world. For the most part, grommets are boy and girl surfers younger than 15 years old.

Pronunciation: graw-met

Also Known As: Grom, Gremmie, Grem

Examples: After school let out, the lineup as packed with grommets.

**The hog tie, typically happens on the best wave of the day. This is when you stand up and you leash is rapped around both legs causing you to stand up on your board with a very narrow stance. It would better if you just fall. However, this is generally not the case as you struggle to half-surf a good wave. You are then required to paddle back out and explain to all of your buddies what happened. It turns out that surfers never like to hear excuses, if you blow a wave, it is just that a blown wave, excuses are like... everyone has one. Something like that. When in Rome...

Day 17 - Two Birds in the hand...

is better than one in the bush. I like those sayings. But, what I like more is screwing them up. When in Rome...

Sessions 19 and 20

We got out there 2x today. One very early, which was a bad call for sure. It got a lot better as the tide dropped. But, I was stuck trying to figure out how to work my new computer. I'm a nerd... I should've gone back out there at about 10am. That was when it looked really good. The early (7am or so) session was pretty slow, hard to get into the waves, but I still caught a few fun ones. Jason was on the fun gun again, he had the right board, as the tide made the waves somewhat mushy and the strong offshore winds made it really difficult to go once on the wave. I saw him turn his board a couple of times like it was a short board (it's 7'2"). I had a couple of good cut backs, but it was crowded so it really was not a long session. Always a good time though!

The next session, Jason and I surfed by ourselves in the afternoon (1pm). There was a little wind on it, but it was still really fun. It seemed like it had picked up quite a bit and we were surfing it drained out (very low tide). At first it seemed really walled, but we both caught a few very fun waves, probably some head high waves out there, but with a lot of power given the low tide. It was Jason's first time on a board other than the fun gun, he rode his compressor, I think it is 5'11" or something. I was pretty surprised as he had a couple of very nice turns.

I came back in and met up with Warren and Lutrell to watch the Final Four. Michigan St. and NC one, both Warren and I lost our pool.

Day 16 - Bumpy and Cold

Short post today... My back and knee are really sore, I think I need to get back on the rehab circuit in the gym. It probably did not help that I just got a new computer and I spent about 5 hours last night hunched forward as I was installing and configuring. Anyway, I was able to get out there, I had a few turns, but my body was not all that happy about it. Mostly my back, which is not a new problem. The two things that have helped a lot over time are Yoga/Stretching and Core work. I have done some of the yoga, but not much core work. I think that is what is missing, I think that is why it is so stiff (my back is not being supported when I torque it). I think that is what I'll do this weekend: go to the gym and work on my computer. I cannot wait to start producing some real video! I don't know why I like to edit video, but I do.

Not many people out there today, the waves were really pretty bad, but I think if I were healthy, I would have really liked it. I like to surf junk, especially because there is nobody around. Also, you never know what a wave is going to throw at you, which provides some good opportunities for turning in some random places. I think that this kind of training actually sharpens the timing a lot more than surfing perfect waves.

Michael sent me a pic of two guys on tours snaking in reference to Day 14 - Confusion, from some contest. Thanks Michael!

Tim, made the point that the door is open for me to break the consecutive days surfing record. Here is a link that Tim sent me, which is pretty funny (thanks Tim!) : http://www.surfingmagazine.com/news/surfing-pulse/030104_webster/

I cannot figure out if this guy is crazy or just really funny! Probably both.

Here is the excerpt from SurfingMagazine.com, in case the link does not work someday:

Sharks. Crowds. Kidney stones. 55-year-old Dale Webster has faced them all in his attempt to surf more consecutive days than any other human in history. Since 1976, Webster's barely left Sonoma County's Dillon Beach and Salmon Creek in order to maintain his streak -- drawing reactions from ridicule to reverence -- but the surfing world has always made a point of following his Quixote-esque quest, from a SURFING interview in '76 to a segment in Dana Brown's big-screen hit, Step into Liquid. And now, after 28 and a half years of daily sessions of at least three complete waves, the mission is over. On February 29, Webster officially called it quits, stopping on the magic number of 10,407 days in a row. Surfingthemag caught up with "Daily Wavester" just prior to this momentous occasion to find out: why such a strange number? What made him decide to stop? And, perhaps the most important question: can he?

I don't think I'll beat his record. Today was a tough go, see the video that I took as I was walking to the bus:

Day 15 - Road to recovery

Today was really fun! I got some really good waves, particularly some of the lefts that caught, I was able to do full cut backs on. I was on it at dawn, as I thought that the waves were going to be really good since last night the swell had picked up quite a bit. I'm not really sure what happened to the swell, as it was overhead last night, but it was still fun and it was probably about waist to chest high out there. While I'm certainly not 100%, and my back was feeling pretty stiff, I'm starting to get used to surfing everyday, I think I'm starting to recover a little. I guess three months of couch surfing doesn't really translate very well into real surfing. In the end, it is pretty hard to be fairly inactive for an extended period of time and then do something every day, such as surfing. However, I remember last time that I did this, it took about a month for my body to accept that I was just going to surf every day, a habit, kind of like brushing your teeth everyday or take a shower everyday (well maybe not everyday, but most days). I think I'm going to go to hot yoga again tonight and Friday, which should help with my stiffness, eventually. Being stiff, is certainly slowing me down a little bit as I had a couple of backhand waves where I was clearly a step is too slow. In other words, I would've made the waves and been able to complete a few turns, making it to the shoulder, which requires a quicker take-off and more drive down the line.

There is a kid out there who I've watched grow up surfing, I think his name is Ken, but he was in a contest last week and so I asked him how he did and he said that he took second in the men's category and sixth in the juniors category which is very good for NSSA contest. I have to admit I was pretty surprised. He is a very good surfer, so I shouldn't be, but those are very good results.

When I got back to my apartment, I noticed that Jason had gone surfing as well, but he did not initially get up when I did. What he did, was that he went out there and caught three waves and then ran back up, thus technically completing a session. I'm always amazed at how far three waves will go throughout your day and how easy it is to accomplish this. However, it is very difficult to do when you are tired and under the covers because in the end, what is the difference between three waves and no waves? Well, it is a lot if you ask me as the rest of my day always goes a lot better if I have gotten a surf session - no matter how brief it is. I'll ask him tonight if he had a similar experience.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Mom's birthday today.

Day 14 - Confusion

Today the waves were really small, but clean again. I went to bed really late and when my alarm went off, I just shut it down. The pain of being tired and not wanting to do something was intense. Anyway, knowing that I don't want to think about having to surf in the afternoon, I rallied. To my surprise, Jason actually did to, I figured he was out of it today, since the only thing that had me in motion was my streak. As we were suiting up, Jason made the comment, "I don't even have to look at my wetsuit, I just pick it up and I know it isn't mine".

So we both really struggled to get moving and headed down the hill. Jay had the fun gun and I decided to roll with my longboard this morning. I also decided to surf without booties for the first time this streak. I really like the feeling a lot better. Booties bug. Anyway, as we are about to get in the water Jason looks over at me and says, "This is a large!", referring to the wetsuit. He was wearing my old suit! So, I guess what we can take from this that Jay cannot tell his wetsuit by just picking it up. Or, by putting it on. Or, by walking down to beach in it. But, he can tell that it is not his because mine has as hole in the knee and he felt the water rush in.

We paddled out late, but we still got our share of waves. I was on my 10'0" and having a blast. I saw Jason, attempt a full rail cutback that looked like he was going complete with ease, he was a little overzealous on the 7'2", It doesn't like that much. He bogged down and dug in. I had a couple of attempts to walk the nose, I managed to do it only once partially. But, I had forgotten how fun that board is. That happens every time. In the middle of the session, Jay looks over at me and tells me that my wetsuit is unzipped - confusion. I had felt some water going in but, I hadn't been inundated yet.

It is fun riding longboards. My final wave some clown tried to go right on a left that I was going on and I had to push him out of the wave. I never understand that crap. Just too much testosterone. Here is a picture of me getting snaked last summer and the guy actually said that it was his wave. And then all of his friends made fun of him, because it was obvious that he snaked me. The funniest thing about it is there was some kid on the beach taking pictures and one of his friends (the guy that everyone was making fun of) emailed them to me - Funny.