- Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 6:45AM-8AM (low tide at 7AM, 1.5ft)
- by myself, no one out at any of the spots around there
- on my 9'
- knee- to thigh-high, rather long lulls between sets, off-shore breeze that generated quite a bit of texture on the water but improved the wave shape.
- I just had to get out in the water after surfing only once in the last two months due to traveling and bad weather. I figured that after 4 days since the last rainfall the water should be reasonably safe. In spite of the weak swell I opted for the Cliffs because it's so beautiful there, because I wanted to see how much damage the torrential rainfall had caused, and because I figured I may be alone in the water.
- The fact that it was windy was a bit of a bummer, but the Cliffs were absolutely beautiful. I've never seen them so green before, the weather was utterly clear, with the sun coming out halfway through the session. The rain hasn't caused much damage at all, in part due to sand bags and cinder blocks probably put there by the city.
- Caught 10 rides, with 5-6 of them on decent waves. Mushy at the end, but made a few turns. Was able to cross-step forward and backward on a couple of rides too. All-in-all a good "let's get back to surfing" session. Pretty happy with my call to go to the Cliffs. And yes, I couldn't paddle worth shit.
- You have to give it to Ab. No matter how lame the swell, it always generates the occasional nicely shaped wave. Especially at the beginning of the session when the tide was at its lowest, my first 3 rides were on greatly shaped waves, albeit small. Conditions deteriorated slowly as the tide started coming in. At the end you just had to be exactly on the peak to hope to catch a wave. Given that the sets were not that frequent, it was very hard to keep the perfect position and I missed several good waves, with a few of them waist-high.
- I was sort of amazed that there was not a single person out in sight. Especially the older longboarder crew that's there on weekends early in the morning. I've seen them paddle out in worse conditions than this. Perhaps the water is horribly contaminated (although the Web didn't say anything) and I'll be dead tomorrow. On the drive back I saw two shortboarders out though, sitting WAY on the inside at Osprey. I can't imagine what you'd do on a short board on a day like this.
- Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 7:45AM-10AM (low tide at 10AM, 1.2ft)
- by myself, no one out for 1 hour, then up to 10 people out. Met Reed, his son Shawn, and a friend of his son, James, in the line-up.
- on my 9'
- waist-high, not very consistent but nice sets coming through. Very glassy, superb weather.
- There was one guy out when I paddled out, but he caught a wave in right when I got to the line-up. I was alone for one hour and that's when the conditions were best. After 1 hour, although the tide was dropping, it became much less consistent and many waves were barely breaking. That's when people starting paddling out, including Reed, etc. I hung out there catching the occasional wave, and sort of feeling sorry for them ("You should have been here an hour ago, mate"). It was nice talking to Reed though. I had a terrible time catching a last wave in. My arms were really weak and the waves were very hard to catch. My paddling was infinitely better than two days ago though. Finally I paddled in and caught a wave on the inside. There was a guy without a wetsuit out, really good longboarder. Pretty soulful but I just can't imagine how he didn't freeze to death.
- Caught 20 rides, with about 10 of them really fun with many turns, a bit of cross-stepping, etc. On a few waves I felt that I was moving better on the board, getting low on my knees to pick up speed, moving my body to gain speed during bottom turns, etc.
- I ate it on a very late take-off. Made it to my feet and went down the face, but stuck the nose in the water during the bottom. I also caught a wave that was too sectiony and that closed out on my head as I was riding it. I got completely knocked off the board. But other than these two, most of my take-offs were decent. I guess surfing Ab is great backside surfing practice. There was that longboarder out at the end of the session who surfed only the rights, which are just completely mushy with no face to speak of at Ab.
- From the Cliffs, on the way up, it seems that Ab actually was the spot that was working the worst (although it was great earlier). New Break looked marginally better, and so did South Garbage and Garbage. There were about 20 people out at Garbage, all in an area that couldn't have been larger than 30ft by 30ft.
- In the parking lot this guy who smelled of bad red wine pulled in and talked to me about being Portuguese, about surfing double-overhead at the Mexican Banzai Pipeline last month, about ordering a special fast board from South Coast to go surf Island waves, and about not getting in the water today because it was just too small for him because he's used to surfing Pipe. Very weird.
- Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 6:30AM-8:00AM (low tide at 12:45PM, 0.2ft)
- by myself, about 7-8 people out. Met Sylvia in the water.
- on my 7'6''
- chest-high to 2ft-overhead, not very consistent, mostly glassy.
- The tide was a bit high early in the morning and I opted for the Cliffs anyway because I couldn't get up North and I felt that OB and MB would be closing out. The tide made it difficult to catch waves and surprisingly it got worse as the session went on. There is something odd going on at mid-tide at Sub perhaps, not sure. Perhaps the Cliffs wasn't the best call.
- I opted to surf somewhere a bit on the inside because the outside was monopolized by those 3 killer longboarders. One of them spent so much time on the nose on all the 7ft right-handers it was just disgusting. There was no way I could've caught a wave there. That meant I got caught inside when big sets were coming through, perhaps every 20 minutes, which was quite a work-out. Overall, pretty happy with my paddling and my stamina. At no point did I just feel exhausted.
- Caught 4 rides, with the first one really, really excellent on a 6ft wave. Did quite a few fast turns. I still feel that I am not completely controlling those turns completely because the board is so quick, but apparently it looked ok because Sylvia said it was awesome. On one of the other rides I tried to do a wide turn and ended up overshooting and falling on my back.
- Completely ate it on a couple of waves due to to late take-offs. In particular on that 8ft one on the outside (I paddled out there towards the end of the session), where I got to my feet but I had barely gotten into the wave and I ended up being completely dumped.
- Overall, no too happy with my performance. I had a very hard time reading the waves and positioning myself, as well as a hard time getting used to this board again. I could have easily caught twice as many rides. But that first ride made it all worth it. Besides, being in the water when there's size is such a great experience.
- On the bigger sets, Ab and Sub were completely connecting, with the guys catching lefts at Ab ending up on the inside at Sub. I had only seen that a couple times.
- From the parking lot, South Garbage looked like it was pretty much on fire. About 30 people out there. I don't even want to see the place at noon when the tide's low. It's going to be a complete zoo. Tomorrow is supposed to be humongous, that that's what everybody was talking about. Probably too big for me and besides I can't go out because of work. I'll try to go to Blacks for lunch and check out the waves though.
- Del Mar 15th, 6:00AM-7:20AM (low tide at 6:30AM, 5.6ft)
- by myself, about 20 people out on each break
- on my 7'6''
- chest-high to 3ft overhead, many close-outs, a bit of texture on the water and bumpy on the inside, tide too high.
- I probably would have been better off on my 9ft given that the tide was high. There were many longboarders out there. One of them caught the wave of the day, which looked like it was DOH, but it was a bit hard to tell from the angle.
- Caught 2 rides. It was very hard to get into waves, and with my 9ft I could probably have gotten a few more rides. The first ride was on a head-high wave, with the wave lining up as a wall with no real opportunity for any maneuver. Surfed through the first section really fast, perhaps 20 yards, and then turned towards the beach as the wave closed out behind me. The second ride was on a 7ft wave I'd say. I made the drop, and there was a guy right in my line. I tried to turn, but hit a bump and the board when flying. Not too close to the guy, but still, in his general direction. That wasn't too cool. Had he not been there it could have been a cool ride.
- It was very hard to position oneself, the inside was a wall, there were too many people out, and I still suck on that board (more than on the other board, that is). So overall quite a challenging session. But it was cool to be in the water with those big sets looming on the horizon, sort of like in a surf movie. Total corduroy.
- Mission Beach, 8:45AM-10:30AM (high tide at 7AM, 5.9ft)
- with Roland and "Big Wave" Dave
- on my 7'6''
- chest-high to head-high, a tad windy, not very consistent and a bit mixed up
- Due to the still quite high tide, the waves were rather fat and difficult to get into, and yet there were many close-outs. Still a few good rides to be had. Talking on the beach with Roland before getting in, he was saying how one should take a longboard out because it was fat, but how one should take a shortboard out because it was closing out. I guess my 7'6'' was as good a compromise as any.
- Caught 6 rides. Only of of them ended up not closing out at some point. On the others, I made the drop, went really fast through the first section, and turned towards the beach as the wave would close out behind me. Still, it was good to make those drops and given the conditions I am pretty happy with this session. Caught a wave in while Roland and Dave stayed out there.
- 2 dolphins beyond the line-up, one seal on the inside.
- Boneyard, 7:45AM-10:00AM (high tide at 7:45AM, 6ft)
- with Jaime, Anaika, and two friends of Anaika's, Mike and Andreas. Two kayakers out for the first hour, and then up to 4-5 other people out.
- on my 9'
- waist-high with a few rare waves at chest-high, very glassy for 1 hour, with beautiful warm weather (I surfed with the top of my wetsuit down), and then windy, choppy, foggy, and cold at the end of the session. Not very consistent but a few nice sets coming in.
- The high tide made it difficult to get into waves at first, but it got a bit better as the tide dropped. I had never surfed that spot before. It's about 1/4 mile North of Swami. It was the first time I was paddling through Swami actually, and yes, the shape is just great there, and waves were bigger and better there than anywhere else around. But there were easily 30 guys out, and not nearly enough waves for everyone.
- Caught about 20 rides. None of them spectacular, some of them quite fun. Sort of mushy and weak though. Did a little bit of cross-stepping.
- As usual, going from my 7'6'' to my 9', I felt like I could catch anything. The two friends of Anaika's had shorter boards and it was almost impossible for them to get anything. Towards the end of the session, as it was windy, foggy, and cold, this older guy paddled out wearing nothing but trunks. Quite hard-core.
- Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 11AM-1PM (high tide at 8AM, 6.2ft)
- by myself. Up to 7 people in the line-up
- on my 9'
- waist-high, with a few chest-high sets, glassy, not very consistent, mushy on the inside.
- I decided to go for a midday session as I was working from home today. Tried to strike a compromise between the tide and the crowd, by going at 11AM. Beautiful weather. I was in a wonderful mood as I got the the beach. Sub looked a bit more consistent than Ab, somehow, but there were 4 people out, while there was only one guy at Ab, this older guy I had seen before. So I paddled out to Ab. As I got close to the guy who was out I said "Good Morning", to which he answered "Stay out of my way, that's the only thing I ask". Talk about putting a downer on my cheerful mood. Ab wasn't consistent at all, and after catching a couple waves on the inside I paddled out to Sub. I just hate it when the vibe is so negative, and it was just the two of us out there!
- Caught about 20 rides at Sub, with a few fun ones. On two waves I had to take-off straight because of people in my line, but other than that it was pretty open out there. Caught waves a bit on the inside, mostly lefts, and thus missed the 2 or 3 better sets that came through. Got caught on the inside once and had to paddled back out to the channel. Quite a work out. People were pretty mellow out there and I slowly recovered from the terrible initial vibe.
- By the time I got out Ab was much better than Sub, due to the lower tide, and there were about 10 people out.
- On my last wave in, a right, that girl sort of dropped in on me, although she was 30ft to my right. I didn't care, it was my last wave, so I rode it behind her. Then she dropped on her knees to ride the white in, while I dropped on my stomach to do the same. We rode the wave like that, side by side for about 50 yards. She then smiled and apologized for "cutting me off", to which I replied "it doesn't matter, it was a fun last wave". That was in such contrast to the beginning of the session.
- After the session I went to OB for a smoothie while reviewing a paper. I could get used to surfing in the middle of weekdays :)
- Del Mar 15th, 6:45AM-8AM (low tide at 4:15AM, 1.8ft)
- by myself. Up to 25 people in the line-up, but I stayed on the edge
- on my 7'6''
- head-high with a few sets at a couple feet overhead. Many close-outs. Really fat, with significant off-shore winds.
- It had to happen one day. This was the session with ZERO rides. Basically, the waves were way too fat and the off-shore too strong for me to get into on my 7'6''. I may have been able to catch one wave on my 9', but it's not even clear. Basically, positioning was the key and as usual I was having trouble with it. There was one shortboarder out who was taking off right on the peak, pretty much in the white. There were a couple of longboarders who were able to take off on corners after really intense paddling. And most people out there, including yours truly, didn't catch a single wave. After about one hour, I started paddling toward the inside and I finally caught some white.
- Got caught in the impact zone a couple of times (looked behind me, ditched the board, and dove), trying to position myself for a take-off, and always being either too far out or too far in.
- I guess the one good thing about this session is that paddling out was such a bitch that I had a good workout.
- Sunset Cliffs, Sub and Ab, 6:45AM-8:30AM (low tide at 6:55AM, 1.8ft)
- by myself. Two other longboarders out at Sub for 1 hour, and nobody out at Ab when I went there (7-8 guys when I paddled out to Sub).
- on my 9'
- waist-high with the occasional set at chest-high. Sort of high frequency and a bit mixed up, not very powerful and mushy but decent shape on the bigger waves.
- Caught about 20 rides at Sub, none of them particularly impressive although I had some good take-offs on a couple of waves. Mostly rights. At some point it looked like both longboarders would drop in on me at the same time, but they didn't.
- Conditions got better and better, and then there was a long lull during which I realize that I was the only one out. So I paddled to Ab to try to catch waves there. It was definitely sort of a challenging day at Ab. Not because of the size, but because it was sort of breaking all over the place, sometimes with two peaks, sometimes with the two peaks connecting, sometimes way outside, etc. And since I was the only one out, positioning was a bit more difficult. And it was pitching a little bit too. I thought it would be a good experience anyway.
- Made 5 drops at Ab. Two of them were kind of late. On one of them I was trying to stay on a high line, and I almost made it but then the section right ahead of me broke on my back. Two feet further down the line and I would've been fine. I think that if I had crouched and held the rail I could've gotten a "California barrel", but instead I fell. Towards the end it was getting difficult to catch waves. On a couple I didn't really get into the wave fast enough and ended up not making it. Eventually caught a small wave in.
- Surfing Ab today was a great experience although I didn't do great. Positioning is really key at that place. This morning I was actually watching one of the guys out there who was exactly in the right spot every time.
- Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 8AM-9:30AM (high tide at 3:45AM, 5.1ft)
- with Dario. Nobody out at first and then two girls paddled out halfway through the session.
- on my 9ft
- It was Dario first session in 6 months, the day after he got back to San Diego after one year of exile. He got back into it pretty quickly.
- Caught about 10 rides, with a few good ones with nice take-offs, a bit of cross-stepping and nice turns. Had two pathetic take-offs that made Dario laugh.
- Toward the end of the session we drifted closer and closer to Ab, which was weird. I caught a nice left there, while we were pretty much in the channel. We then caught small waves in.
- Overall a very nice mellow session with nice weather. The waves at Ab and South Garbage looked nice from the parking lot.
- Del Mar 15th, 7AM-8:30AM (high tide at 4:50AM, 5.6ft)
- with Dario and Anaika, up to 20+ people out
- on my 9ft
- knee- to waist-high, glassy, organized if a bit inconsistent, nice waves with many well lined-up rights
- Caught about 20 waves, with at least 5 very nice rights allowing for several turns. One of them I caught on the outside where I was somehow completely alone, which was cool.
- It got crowded after the first hour and so we paddled a bit North, off the main break. Not breaking very nicely there as usual. Caught a couple of waves and went in. It was a beautiful morning.
- Played with Anaika's dogs for a little bit by the car.
- 5+ dolphins in the line-up in two instances.
- Mission Beach, 7:30AM-9:30AM (high tide at 5:55AM, 6.1ft)
- with Dario, Jaime and Patrick. Nobody out.
- on my 9ft
- waist-high, glassy, not very consistent, with a few rare bigger sets. Sort of closing out, dumping on the inside, and still not very easy to get into waves due to the tide.
- Caught about 20 rides, with 2 really good ones, which was surprising given the conditions really. Sort of continuing the good wave karma from yesterday's session.
- I tried Jaime's 9'4'' high-perf noserider for about 5 waves. It's a pretty cool board and I may want to try to get one like that. But it's definitely slower than mine... not sure what to do. Took off on the biggest wave of the day on his board. It was a really steep take-off and I sunk the nose at the bottom turn. I am wondering if I would've made it on my board.
- 10+ dolphins here and there, with some of them coming emerging close.
- Sunset Cliffs (Sub), 6:45AM-8:30AM (low tide at 11:15AM, 0.75ft)
- with Dario. Nobody out.
- on my 7'6''
- chest-high, a bit of texture in the water, getting windier as the session went on. Not very consistent, and waves were a bit difficult to get into because many were quite fat. But several very nice sets coming through, some of them head-high and very well lined-up, with others a bit mushy on the inside.
- Caught about 10 waves, with one of them absolutely outstanding. A right that was perfectly lined-up and which I surfed all the way to the channel. Probably the nicest Sub wave I've surfed in over a year. Dario caught an amazing right too, bigger than the one I caught.
- Dario noted that on my 7'6'' my feet are way too close together, which was really helpful. In fact, on my last wave, a left, my take-off was much better as I spread my feet more. It's just so useful to surf with somebody who went through the same thing you are going through and can point things out to you. Basically, on my longboard I am now ok with foot placement, but I am back to the drawing board on my 7'6''.
- We had a pretty bad case of "waiting for the last wave". It was getting more and more blown out. I ended up trying for waves further and further inside, until I just caught some white in.
- Overall a great session. Last night we checked the forecast and it said "unsurfable" (due to a storm which we still have to see as the sky is perfectly blue and winds are calm as I write this). Dario was at my place and I had to lend my car to Renata whose car had broken down. We decided to try for it anyway. I spent the night at Charlie's and we ended up scoring a great session.
- Mission Beach, 8:99AM-9:30AM (high tide at 7:20AM, 6.7ft)
- with Dario. One other guy out and a few shortboarders on the inside occasionally
- on my 9'
- waist-high, with a lot of nice waves (and a few perhaps at chest-high). The tide was really high and we managed to score great waves before it dropped too much and waves started closing out.
- Caught about 15 rides, with 3 or 4 on very good waves. Overall I did OK, but after 3 weeks without surfing, and being sick for the last week, I felt really weak out there. Anyway, it was pretty much Mission Beach at its best, and it was mellow enough that it was a good session to get back into it. I feel completely exhausted as I write this though. I'll just have to try to survive the day.
- Dario surfed really well and caught many more waves than I did.
- 6+ dolphins on and off in the line-up, some of them less than 10 yards away from us.
- Beacons, 6:45-9:15AM (high tide at 9:40AM, 5.3ft)
- with Dario, Jaime, and Ari. 10+ people out
- on my 7'6''
- chest- to overhead-high, a lot of clean waves, glassy.
- I had a very hard time on my 7'6''. I couldn't really get into the waves because I had to tell them late and they were heavy and fast.
- For 1 hour I couldn't catch a ride. The only opportunity that I think I could have taken, some guy was already on the wave and I had to let him go. It was a very humbling experience to see people rip left and right. I think the waves were just a bit heavier, I am still really struggling on my 7'6'', and I was actually kind of tired. But still, I just need to learn how to take off a bit later.
- After 1 hour, Jaime and I swapped board for 10 minutes. I immediately caught a great right. I felt so much better on his 9'4'' it was incredible. I knew at that moment that if I had had my 9' with me I would have had an amazing session. Jaime totally kicked ass on my board, but then wanted to swap back because he just didn't feel confident enough in conditions this heavy.
- I then caught 2 rides (lefts) on my 7'6''. The first one was lame, with by back foot in the perfect position, but my front foot to close to the back foot. But at least I made the drop. The second one was much better, but there was a guy in the inside and I played it safe by straightening up to the beach as opposed to trying to go around him on a high line.
- Overall, I think I learned a lot during this session, but while everybody was completely stoked after it, I was at the same time regretting that I didn't have my longboard, and at the same time happy that I was putting time on my 7'6''.
- 10 dolphins in the line-up
- Mission Beach, 8AM-10AM (high tide at 10:15AM, 4.8ft)
- with Dario and Roland
- on my 9'
- waist- to chest-high, with a few rogue waves at head-high, only a little bit of texture in the water, many very nice waves and getting better throughout the session. This was pretty much Mission Beach at its best, with only a few days like this every year.
- Caught about 20 rides, with 3 or 4 very good. I didn't feel very confident on the board today and my style was worse than usual, but still night and day compared to yesterday.
- I pulled a very sketchy take-off on a head-high wave, which was pretty cool.
- Waikiki, 7:30AM-9:30AM (low tide at 7:20AM, .3ft)
- On a SHITTY 9ft board, epoxy, single fin, no wax. $18 for 2 hours. Had to run back to the hotel to get a credit card, then lost a $20.00 bill, which the rental guy found and gave me back later. A whole adventure. I saw the guy later in the afternoon and he recognized me and we talked for 5 minutes. The stereotypical older, somewhat alcoholic, Waikiki beach boy I guess. It's been SO easy to talk to people here.
- with Greg, that local Hawaiian guy from the big island whom I met on the beach while I was waiting to rent a board, from 10 to 20+ people out, mostly beginners, and a surf instructor.
- knee- to waist-high, with a few (very few) chest-high waves, completely glassy, most waves kind of weak, but a few good ones with long rides.
- Caught more than 20 rides, more than most people out there, with 2 or 3 that were great (mostly rights), longer than 100 yards for sure. I caught the wave of the day when a set seemed to approach and I paddled hard outside to find myself the only one there. People were either very mellow or beginners and I was paddling like a maniac all over the place, which in retrospect perhaps wasn't too cool. But the "first Hawaiian session" syndrome was in full effect I guess.
- The surf instructor was hilarious. Really heavy set Hawaiian in his 20s, surfing a massive log and pushing that lady onto waves. He saved my life by giving me wax and we talked a bit. Really, really friendly. So far I am really amazed at how friendly the locals I've met are.
- On a tiny wave I almost hit a girl. I was going very, very slow, but due to the lack of wax and the fact that it was a toe-high wave I just couldn't change direction. No harm at all, but I cursed that board for the 100th time at that point.
- Waikiki, 7:30AM-9:30AM (low tide at 7:40AM, 0.3ft)
- On the same board as yesterday, but this time with wax.
- with Pascal and we met Greg in the water. That was Pascal's first session.
- Smaller than yesterday and a bit windier, knee-high with a few waist-high waves. Many waves just mushing out on the inside.
- Caught about 20 rides, with none of them close to the best ones I caught yesterday, but I surfed much better on that board with wax on it.
- As we were getting in the water some loser talked to us, asking us if we were "AWESOME surfers", telling us to "HANG TEN DUDE!!!" and then asking us what "hanging ten" actually meant, telling us he was going to take a surf lesson, stepping on my leash forcing me to ask him to move his foot, and as we paddled out he hooted at us really loud from the beach. Really sad and embarrassing. I paddled out as fast as I could at that point.
- Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 7:30AM-9AM (high tide at 7AM, 5.2ft)
- on my 9ft (opted for the longer board because the tide was high)
- with Dario, up to 3 other guys in the line-up, but we pretty much had the place to ourselves.
- Chest- to head-high, a bit windy at first but glassier as the session went on, fat waves because the tide was high.
- Caught 8 rides, with 4 of them really, really fun, mostly rights. Lefts were mushing out today. We didn't catch any wave for the first half-hour due to the high tide, but things improved. I had two great take-offs, one of them on a head-high right that went on forever all the way to the inside of the channel.
- I had a few lame take-offs. Nothing really bad, but still my feet too close together. I am just happy that I had by far my best take-off on the best wave.
- Dario had a few great take-offs on pretty heavy rights. We scored major waves, the weather became sunny halfway through the session and we were pretty much alone. Really good call to go out between my trip to Hawaii and my trip to Houston.
- One seal in the line-up. I made a drop and went about 2ft from its head. I hadn't seen it before and almost fell as I thought it was a log for a second.
- Cannon Road, 3:30PM-4:30PM (low tide at 3PM, 0ft)
- on my 9ft
- by myself, 3 other guys in the line-up
- Knee- to waist-high, windy, not organized. I paddled in just to get wet on my way up to Jaime's (better to get wet than to sit in traffic).
- Caught about 20 rides, none of them particularly good, but it was a good experience. 2 years ago there was no way I could have caught a single wave.
- Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 7AM-8:30AM (high tide at 9:30AM, 4.8ft)
- on my 9ft
- with Dario, 2 other guys out
- we met Jaime at Dario's house at 6AM, but mission was so bad that we drove to the Cliffs. It looked kinda small and Jaime decided to go home as he was exhausted due to lack of sleep (he slept in his VW bus after going to a show in Ocean Side). We first paddled out to Ab but it wasn't breaking and we ended up at Sub pretty quickly.
- Waist-high with a few rare chest-high sets, a bit windy with texture in the water. The 2 guys who were out caught a wave in pretty fast and then it was just us out there.
- Caught about 30 rides, with some of them really fun although a bit mushy on the inside.
- It was a great session, surprisingly good waves, sunny and beautiful.
- One seal on the outside.
- Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 6:15AM-8:45AM (high tide at 10AM, 4.3ft)
- on my 9ft
- with Dario, a couple of other guys out on and off, including a pretty good longboarder who was riding the nose quite a bit.
- knee- to waist-high, glassy, well organized and consistent, with nice shape. The rights were better than the lefts.
- Caught 50+ rides. A marathon session that left us completely exhausted. On his last take-offs Dario had cramps in his calves and totally fell over. We basically couldn't paddle anymore. It was a lot of fun catching so many waves in beautiful weather, but after about 2 hours I couldn't paddle worth crap but still caught waves due to adrenaline.
- Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 6:45AM-8:45AM (low tide at 9:30AM, 0ft)
- on my 9ft
- with Dario, from 2 to 6 other guys out
- knee- to waist-high waves, with a few chest-high sets. Pretty good but no consistent. A little bit of wind with some texture in the water but not a big deal. Absolutely beautiful weather.
- Caught about 20 rides, with a few very fun right-handers. At the beginning of the session it seemed that the rights were closing out and at the end the lefts were closing out.
- Dario gave me useful advice as usual and told me that on one wave my style was great, both on the take-off and during the ride, with feet in the right place and everything. that was pretty good news. I also had quite a few not so good ones.
- Sunset Cliffs, Chasm, 5:45AM-7:45AM (low tide at 10:45AM, -0.3ft)
- on my 7'6'' and on Sunshine's old board
- with Dario, nobody out at first, and then up to 4 longboarders out
- knee- to waist-high waves with a few chest-high sets, very glassy
- Caught 15 ride, with a few good take-offs, but basically my technique is terrible on these shorter boards. I am learning though, and I had one great take-off on Sunshine board.
- Halfway through our session, longboarders paddled out and starting catching everything outside, which was quite annoying. Some of them were loud and lame, and Dario was completely outrages because that spot is really supposed to be some type of shortboarding sanctuary.
- Mission Beach, 7:30-8:30 (low tide at 10:45AM, -0.1ft)
- on my 9'
- with Dario and Kathy, a few people out
- waist- to chest-high, extremely disorganized and bumpy, may close-outs, pretty much horrible
- Caught about 5 real rides, with 2 of them "ok"
- The water seemed to have dropped 3 degrees when compared with yesterday!
- It was Kathy 1st session in months, and it was horrible, grey, and cold. Really unlucky. She played in the white on the inside.
- 10+ dolphins outside.
- Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 9AM-11AM (high tide at 5:15AM, 5ft)
- on my 9', with my new 6'' cutaway fin
- with Dario, nobody for the most part of the session, then 2 shortboarders.
- knee- to waist-high waves with a few chest-high waves, a little bit windy, not consistent with shifting peaks
- Caught around 20 rides, with a few good lefts and a few good rights. Nothing to write home about. The new fin is at the same time easier and more difficult, but I can see it's going to help me evolve. the waves were really poorly shaped and it wasn't the best session to experiment.
- Tourmaline, 6:45AM-9AM (high tide at 10:30AM, 4.38ft)
- on my 9'
- with Dario, and later Barbara (Kathy and Bucky were on the inside)
- knee- to shoulder-high waves, with a few bigger sets on the outside every once in a while. A bit windy.
- Caught about 15 rides, with a few good ones on the inside.
- We went to Tourmaline mostly for social reasons, and to be honest I didn't really like the place. The wave is really slow. It's really crowded. I caught a big wave on the outside, but it was so slow I didn't really have fun riding it. And you have to hug the white like crazy for fear of losing the wave. People were shouting to each others, etc. Definitely not the Sunset Cliffs crowd at all.
- Dario had to go back to the parking lot at 7:30 to connect with the others and I stayed out. Eventually he came to tell me they were on the inside where it was actually more fun. Caught a few waves there.
- 4 dolphins on the outside.
- Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 6:45AM-8:45AM (low tide at 8:50AM, 0.3ft)
- on my 9'
- with Dario, nobody out.
- waist- to chest-high, with the occasional shoulder-high set.
- Glassy and then a little wind toward the end. Not very organized, high-frequency, many fake waves and doubles. The conditions really improved throughout the session. In fact, halfway through we got caught on the inside when it got bigger suddenly.
- Caught about 20 rides, with a few good rights. The new fin's starting to work out ok. I totally ate it on one fast left on the take-off and Dario said the wipe out was very impressive.
- Mission Beach, Sunset Cliffs, Chasm, 33's, 7:30AM-11:15AM (low tide at 11:30AM, .5ft)
- on my 9', single-fin with my new 8'' wingnut
- with Dario
- we started in front of Dario's house. Although it looked mellow and knee-high, once we got in we realized there were mostly close-outs, high-frequency, and just not fun. After 1/2 hour in the water we decided to just go to the Cliffs. I had caught only one ride and the paddle back out was really a pain.
- Once at the Cliffs we went all the way to Chasm as Sub was crowded and Ab seemed to mushy. Chasm was actually pretty good, very glassy, waist-high with a few almost chest-high waves. I caught about 25 rides there. Shortboarders started paddling out (up to 6 other guys out). I was very careful in trying not to steal their waves, which worked out ok. Two of the guys out really annoyed Dario and when it got too crowded we decided to paddle to the next spot South.
- We got to the next spot, which we think is 33's. There were two older longboarders there. The wave was very nice, with quite some punch to it and showing the potential it can have on a bigger day. I caught perhaps 20 rides, with most of them really fun (especially on rights).
- It was an odd morning, with 3 different surf spots and a single-fin board. It took quite a bit of time to get used to the single-fin.
- Major technical break-through today: I managed to consistently put my hands further back on the board as I push off for a take-off. I really helped for having my feet spread out more. I did it consistently throughout the whole session, and I think it won't be a problem anymore.
- We were quite exhausted after this long morning. We went to the bbq at Daniele and Aiyun's, and then I went up to Encinitas to have Dinner with Fran and Marc.
- Mission Beach, 7AM-9AM (low-tide at 4:45AM, 3.8ft)
- on my 9', single-fin,
- with Dario. Kathy and Bucky on the inside. Nobody out.
- It was glassy, knee- to waist-high, with more and more close-outs as the tide got lower and lower.
- Caught about 25 rides, with a few fun ones, in spite of the quickly deteriorating conditions.
- 10+ dolphins in the line-up, surfing waves (one surfed a wave with Dario), two of them actually breached, which was quite impressive. I also saw one seal on the inside, from Dario's window.
- Mission Beach, 9AM-10AM (high-tide at 8:50AM, 4.5ft)
- on my 9', single-fin, no leash
- with Dario. The Bentons were out (with no wetsuits of course) for the first 20 minutes.
- At first glassy and knee-high, but after 20 minutes windy and choppy and pretty much unsurfable.
- I decided to paddle out just to relax after making the decision to move to Hawaii and turn down a job offer from UCSD.
- Caught 4-5 rides, nothing special. It was my first time without a leash and I lost my board 3 times. On the first ride I lost it because I slipped due to no wax on the board (first day without booties in a long time). Then I just lost it because I kept forgetting that I had no leash. It was a great experience and I'll do it again for sure!
- Beacons, 7AM-9AM (high-tide at 9AM, 4.5ft)
- on my 9', single-fin
- with Dario, about 6 other guys out
- At first glassy and waist-high, not very consistent but ok shape, then windier until we got out of the water right before it got blown out.
- Caught about 15 rides, with a few of them quite fun. I had a terrible time at the beginning for some reason, and then got better. I think I need to go back to a tri-fin to see how that feels.
- 3 dolphins on the outside
- Subs, 6:00AM-7:30AM (high-tide at 9:10AM, 4.2ft)
- on my 9', tri-fin
- by myself, 3 other guys out
- waist-high with a few chest-high sets, perhaps a few head-high ones as well, not consistent, windy and very blown out by the end of the session.
- Caught about 15 rides. Waves were difficult to get into but I had a few fun rides on the biggest sets, mostly rights. The 3 other guys out were a bit loud and not very good (and *I* am saying that), but they never got in my way.
- By the end of the session is was so blown out that I had to catch some white in.
- Subs, 6AM-8:38AM (high tide at 10:45AM, 3.4ft)
- on my 9'
- with Dario, 1 other guy out at the end of the session
- knee- to waist-high with a few bigger sets, not organized, breaking all over the place.
- Caught about 20 rides, with a few good ones (mostly lefts), a few good "turn and burn", and a few very pathetic things, pearling on the take-off, totally messing u p the cross-stepping, etc. A mixed bag. The waves had a very nice shape, and only at the end of the session when the tide got too high did they deteriorate.
- Dario was surfing without a leash and he lost his board only a few time. One of them was pretty bad, with the board a long ways off and I caught a wave in to retrieve it for him.
- 1 seal in the line-up.
- Beacons, 6:30PM-7:30PM (high tide at 4:40PM, 3.6ft)
- on my 9'
- with Jaime and Anaika, about 10 other people out
- waist- to chest-high, windy and a bit choppy, not well organized or consistent, with a few bigger sets breaking on the outside mostly unridden.
- Caught about 15 rides, none of them special. It was just good to be in the water at sunset with Jaime and Anaika. We surfed until dark and then went to have dinner at Roxy in Encinitas.
- Turn-about, 8:30AM-10AM (low tide at 10AM, -.1ft)
- on my 9'
- with Jaime and Anaika, about 15 other people out
- waist- to chest-high, glassy, not very consistent but decent sets coming through.
- Caught about 25 rides, with a few very fun drops. In spite of the crowd we hung out a little bit inside from the pack, and it turned out that only a few people were catching waves. I was pretty happy with my surfing today, and especially of a few good take-offs. The waves had some punch to them at times, and it was good to feel some energy.
- Del Mar 15th, 6AM-7:30AM (high tide at 7:30AM, 4.7ft)
- on my 9'
- with Travis, about 20 other people out
- waist-high with a few slightly bigger sets, glassy at first and then a little bit windy, not consistent and not very well organized with a few crossing peaks. Rather slow too due to the high tide.
- Caught about 15 rides, with none of them particularly memorable but for one left that went for quite a long time. I was pretty happy about a few of my turn-and-burn take-offs :)
- Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 8AM-9:30AM (high tide at 9:40AM, 4.4ft)
- on my 9'
- with Ken, nobody out
- knee- to waist-high, very choppy, windy, disorganized, inconsistent, pretty much horrible
- Caught about 10 rides, none of them good but for a right that was halfway decent. Sort of a glassy reform on the inside.
- Sunset Cliffs, Chasm, 6:30AM-8:30AM (high tide at 10:30AM, 4.0ft)
- on my 7'6''
- 2 other guys out (Rory being one of them) + a knee boarder
- waist- to shoulder-high, almost glassy, not very consistent, getting worse as the tide came in
- Caught about 15 rides. Fund take-offs and short rides before the left would close out or before the right would connect with the next peak. I had 2-3 very good rides, although I still suck on this board. The other ones were mostly for the fun of the take-off.
- After riding my 9' for the last 5+ sessions, I had forgotten how much work it was to ride the 7'6''. I got out of the water completely exhausted, and I actually botched the last take-off just because of that.
- The 2 other guys out were friendly and we talked a bit in the water.
- 1 seal on the inside, about 2ft from my board
- Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 7AM-8:30AM (low tide at 6:20AM, -0.6ft)
- on my 9'
- with Dave, 1 other longboarder out and 2-3 shortboarders on the inside
- chest- to shoulder-high, almost glassy, not consistent at all, a lot of doubles and fake waves, but an occasional good wave coming through every once and again. It wasn't breaking as usual easier, with a peak between Ab and Sub in what's typically the channel. Very strange. It took me a while to paddle out because I just didn't realize that today the channel was the peak, and the peak was more like a channel. Must be due to the angle of the swell I guess.
- I was supposed to meet Patrick, that friend of Brad's with whom I've been trying to get together for months. By a horrible twist of fate, I messed up the setting on my alarm clock and didn't wake up in time. This is the first time in something like 3 years that I am late to go surfing, and this is the first time I am meeting somebody I do not know! Dave was there early, waited around for 15 minutes and then decided to paddle out. He didn't see Patrick at all. Since I was so late I didn't stay out in the water too long.
- Caught 4 great rights, and I was pretty happy with my surfing and my take-offs. Especially on my last wave. Finding where to sit today was quite difficult and I missed several waves because I was too far inside. I am really getting better at hugging the pocket and not going to far off the shoulder.
- Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 7:15AM-8:45AM (low tide at 7AM, -0.2ft)
- on my 9'
- by myself, with from 0 to 6 other people out
- waist- to shoulder-high, perfectly glassy, not very consistent, but much better than yesterday, with conditions degrading as the tide came in. Outstanding weather.
- I was supposed to surf with Patrick, whom I missed yesterday because I woke up too late. This time he didn't show up and I spent 1/2 hour in the parking lot waiting for him. I am not sure what happened. At 7AM I decided to just go.
- Caught about 15 rides, with a few very good ones. Mostly easy take-offs, and some energy on the inside. I caught the wave of the day, a head-high left that was pretty much firing and that was perfectly lined up.
- I felt a bit conspicuous on my longboard as there were a few shortboarders out there, one of them really really good. So I caught a few rights and let a few waves go by. There were two girls out, who could stand up but were clearly learning, and on some wave that I let go by for the shortboarders on the inside they both dropped in on one of them. That was pretty bad.
- My take-offs are really getting good at this point, but somehow I feel that my cross-stepping is getting worse. Not sure why that is. I just don't really do it, although 6 months ago I was doing it all the time. However, my position on the board is better and I am getting a bit more speed.
- Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 5:30AM-7AM (high tide at 7AM, 3.9ft)
- on my 7'6''
- with Travis, 3-4 other people out
- waist- to chest-high, not consistent, glassy, not organized, a lot of doubles. Definitely not what the forecast had led us to believe.
- Caught about 10 rides, with a few decent ones. Feeling more comfortable on this board. Caught one good left on which my feet decently well positioned. On another wave I did a good take-off an attempted a somewhat radical back-side off the lip only to be completely pummeled. Definitely not there yet on this board, but today I just felt a bit more comfortable. I should really keep at it.
- 2 dolphins in the line-up
- Sunset Cliffs, Chasm, 5:30AM-7:30AM (high tide at 7:40AM, 3.8ft)
- on my 7'6''
- with Travis, 1 other guy out way on the outside, and 2 guys with us toward the end of the session
- waist- to head-high, with a few overhead+ sets on the outside. Not a clean swell, not consistent, not organized, a lot of doubles and fake waves, not consistent, glassy, not organized.
- We first looked at Sub, which seemed to no work, and at Ab there were already 7 people out (at 5:30AM!). So we opted to walk to Chasm.
- Caught about 5 rides total, with 2 great take-offs, but no good ride to speak of. I just had a very hard time reading waves today and just was never in the right place at the right time. Travis was much better at this.
- Toward the end of the session we tried to paddle north a bit to try to catch a left, but we just weren't moving. There seemed to be this current that kept us always in the same place. It was crazy, just seemed impossible to get to that left we saw breaking only a few yards away. At some point, I knew I was just facing exhaustion so I caught some serendipitous white in on my stomach. The white was pretty fast. It was impossible to tell where I was going because of the sun and the haze on the beach. I started being concerned about hitting the rocks by the pointe at chasm and fought hard to go as far north as possible, edging the white and paddling. I eventually made it out on the beach, WAY north, close to New Break. I really had no idea where I was it turns out. I lied down on the beach and waited for Travis for ever. He finally made it, further south than where I was. Apparently he caught some white, but not getting as much north as I did. He said that it was the fastest white he's ever ridden, and then he stayed stuck in the same spot, caught in some type of rip current on the inside. Eventually made it out to the beach, but quite freaked out. We laughed our asses off. Then, on the way back to Ab we had to put our leashes on again to paddled around the pointe, which had become quite something with the tide rising. Anyway, it was quite an adventure all-in-all and although we laughed it off, bigger conditions in winter would have made it really hard to come back to the parking lot.
- Tourmaline and PB Pointe, 6:30AM-8:45AM (high tide at 8:40AM, 3.7ft)
- on my 9'
- with Kathy and Bucky, and then Jaime
- waist- to head-high, somewhat consistent, glassy at first and then a little bit windy
- Never really saw Kathy and Bucky. Spent about 1.5 hour in the line-up at Tourmaline. Caught about 20 rides there. The waves were slow (of course), but I had two great waves, on which I was by myself on the outside, just in the right spot. Both rights. On the best one of the two, this asshole dropped in on me. I had seen him before dropping in on many people. He's a good surfer, shouts in the line-up like he owns the place, and just drops in and then gives you this look that says: "what the hell were you doing on my wave?". Unreal. I can take the beginners who drop in because they don't know any better. But that guy is just such an obvious asshole, I just couldn't figure it out.
- There was this guy out, no wetsuit, overweight, sitting on his log, never catching a single wave. Never paddling for anything. Obviously not really able to surf and just hanging out hoping to become a surfer I guess. But he was very nice and pointed out waves to me. It was pretty funny. Each time I got back to the line-up I sort of said "thanks", although I can figure out waves on my own but I took pity on him. And he always gave me that look like: "well, I can't surf, so at least I try to be helpful". Pretty odd. One wave he pointed out I hadn't seen though because I was messing around with my leash. So I guess he was helpful.
- As I was getting ready to paddle out to PB Pointe, Jaime showed up. We both paddled there and it was only 4 of us in the line-up, with pretty good waves. Caught about 5 rides there, with one screaming right on which I probably made the sketchiest drop I ever did but was somewhat in control.
- On one wave, which was Jaime's he yelled at me "Go!" which made me think that he wasn't going or that he was going left. But as I dropped in he was right next to me. I freaked and pearled. I had NO idea he meant for both of us to ride the wave. That man is insane.
- Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 7AM-8:30AM (high tide at 11AM, 3.7ft)
- on my 9'
- by myself, up to 4 other people out
- waist- to chest-high, somewhat consistent although there were definitely multiple peaks, glassy.
- Caught about 15 rides, with 3 very good rights where I was able to pump up and down on the face. Easy take-offs. Tried to focus on really being low on my knees on the take-offs although it didn't really matter today... just a good thing to practice. Ate it on one late take-off. I think I was just too confident.
- Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 6:30AM-8AM (low tide at 5:30AM, -1.5ft)
- on my 9'
- by myself, up to 6 other people out
- knee- to waist-high, not very consistent with long lulls, but a few nice sets coming through, glassy
- Caught about 15 rides, with a few good ones, but nothing to write home about. Pretty happy with some of my take-offs today, but there were a few sections that I could have made had I been positioned better on my board and that I didn't make. Cross-stepping right after take-off would've been the way to go I think.
- Very low tide and clear water, the first 30 yards of paddling were beautiful with fish and green seaweed, and several stingrays on the bottom.
- 2 dolphins on the outside
- Mission Beach, 4:30PM-6:30PM (low tide at 6:10AM, 2.8ft)
- on my 9'
- with Kathy and Bucky, nobody else out
- ankle- to knee-high, a bit choppy, not consistent, mushy, weak, but rideable I guess.
- Caught about 25 rides, with a few semi-decent rights, considering the conditions. It was nice to be out in the water.
- Gave quite a bit of advice to Kathy and Bucky as for once they spent some time in the line-up.
- 2 dolphins on the outside.
- Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 7AM-8:45AM (low tide at 8:15AM, -0.8ft)
- on my 9', no leash. Ken was surfing my 7'6''.
- with Ken, 3 guys out at first. Talked to them a bit as I knew then from some other sessions. Then nobody for 1h. Then another guy out.
- ankle- to knee-high, the glassiest conditions I've ever been in I think, very nice shape but inconsistent and weak. Two waist-high sets came through.
- Caught about 15 rides, with a couple of lefts that were decent, with a bit of cross-walking. It's really amazing how Ab sort of generates nice waves even when there is no swell whatsoever.
- From the parking lot we could see people sitting on their board at South Garbage, in the middle of a lake basically. I really have no idea why that place always has at least one surfer out.
- 1 seal in the line-up. 2 dolphins on the outside.
- Sunset Cliffs, Ab and then 33's, 6:15AM-8AM (low tide at 9:20AM, -0.5ft)
- on my 9'
- By myself, nobody out
- Knee-high, glassy, very inconsistent. In fact, worse than yesterday.
- Caught 10 rides at Ab, none of them great, and then I decided to go for a long paddle, just for the workout. So I paddled from Ab to 33's. That was quite intense, but I had seen some waves breaking there and I decided it would be a good experience.
- The paddle took perhaps 1/2 hour, and it was a bit spooky to be completely by myself in the ocean. The only sign of human life was on the beach where two transients had set up camp on the beach by New Break.
- I finally got to 33's and although I had seen waves break, there was nothing going on. I just sat there and waited. It got spookier. There was a lot of fish activity, with fish jumping out of the water all around me, a lot of odd bubbles and water movement going on. I was in somewhat shallow water and I could see the bottom. There were garibaldis at the bottom, bright orange. But with the sky being completely overcast, the whole scene was just eerie.
- And then a set came. It was amazing to realize that even on a knee-high day like this, with no swell, that little reef can still generate waves. It was above waist-high on the take-off, and quite heavy actually, with steep take-offs and the absolute necessity of keeping a high line. Then dead calm again for 10 minutes with more unsettling water movements and fish jumping. And then, another set. I caught about 5 waves overall, made all take-offs, but had to really be focused. I can't even imagine that place on a big day.
- I paddled back to New Break and then got out of the water and finished on foot. Quite the workout.
- 1 seal in the line-up at Ab, maybe the same one as yesterday.
- Del Mar 15th, 6:15AM-7:45AM (high tide at 7AM, 3.6ft)
- on my 9'
- with Charles, 10+ other people out
- waist- to chest-high, inconsistent, mixed-up, choppy, a bit windy, but still a few waves to catch.
- Caught about 10 waves, with one great right and one great left. Waves were very difficult to catch, and I was a bit out of shape since I hadn't surfed in a week and had been feeling a bit under the weather.
- Charles didn't do to good. He could not get out. So I kept going back to the beach to check on him.
- 1 dolphin in the line-up
- Mission Beach, 6:30PM-7:45PM (high tide at 7:40PM, 6.4ft)
- on my 9'
- with Jaime
- knee- to chest-high, inconsistent, choppy, too much water, difficult to catch waves
- Caught about 6-7 rides, with only one of them ok. I blew a few take-offs because I was just too aggressive.
- It was just good to be in the water at sunset
- 2 dolphins beyond the line-up, jumping quite a bit
- Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 6:45AM-8AM (low tide at 5AM, -1ft)
- on my 9'
- by myself, nobody else out
- waist- to shoulder-high, unclean wind swell, a bit windy, mixed up, lots of doubles, peaky, inconsistent, but with patience the odd somewhat nice wave would come through. Tons of kelp.
- Caught a total of 7 rides, with one great right that felt like it was head-high on the drop. I did a nice bottom turn and came back up on the face to keep a high line, and then plunged to a second bottom turn to go around a semi-closing out section. After that the wave got mellower and I cut back into the pocket, to finish by kicking the board out before the wave closed out on the inside. That ride made this otherwise lame session all worth it.
- Before getting in the water I almost locked myself out of my car. I left the key in the front of the car and locked the door while getting out of the car. I thought I was completely screwed until I realized I could take the back seats down through the trunk, which I had opened from the front right before getting out. So I managed to crawl through the back seats and retrieve the key.
- Rincon Pointe, 6AM-8AM (low tide at 8AM, 0ft)
- on Graziano's 9'
- by myself, 15 people out
- knee- to chest-high, not a very clean swell but a few good sets coming through. The pointe looked rather heavy and was owned by ripping shortboarders who were getting barreled every now and again and pulled quite amazing stuff. So I hung out about halfway along the pointe, with all the longboarders.
- Caught 7 rides, with one of them outstanding.
- My first 3 rides were sort of lame, with sketchy take-offs and then an odd wave with a crazy wedge and a lot of reflection from the pointe. I really had problems gaining speed on the board and couldn't quite escape from the wedge although the take-offs were fun.
- My fourth ride was outstanding. I was a bit on the outside, and caught that wave that I rode all the way to the beach, perhaps 200 yards. It was a bit slow at times but had a few faster sections that were really fun. That really gave me an appreciation for what Rincon Pointe can do. It was actually difficult to figure out where to be along the point, with a few spots not breaking, some too heavy, etc.
- The crowd was really friendly by a few annoying people who were totally friendly but would drop in. Towards the end there was this girl who paddled out. She totally sucked but she was behaving somewhat aggressively in the water. On one wave she tried to catch I was on the inside sort of in her line I guess, but there was NO way she was going to catch that wave. In fact I couldn't catch it either and I didn't even try. But she paddled sort of aggressively but not very well right toward me and stopped like 2 ft from my board giving me this eye although at that point she was paddling on flat water. I couldn't believe it. She couldn't even stand, as I saw later.
- I sort of messed up my last rides, either because I was too deep or because this older lady would drop in on me. I missed a couple of opportunities because I just had a hard time reading some of the waves. I finally caught a wave in. Overall a decent session, and pretty happy that I finally surfed Rincon Pointe, although I can't really say I was at the pointe.
- Mission Beach, 5:30PM-7PM (high tide at 5:20AM, 4.6ft)
- on my 9'
- by myself, 1-7 people out
- Bucky and Kathy were supposed to show up but didn't
- knee- to chest-high, a bit choppy, not consistent, but a few waves coming through every once and again
- Caught 20+ rides with only 3-4 decent ones
- My take-offs were good today, but my riding wasn't great. For some reason with my smaller fin I find backside riding more difficult.
- It was dolphin insanity. Maybe 10 dolphins in total, who stayed in the line-up for 45 minutes or so, jumping, surfing, rolling over each other. Not sure what was going on but it was quite entertaining. On a wave I actually had two in my line and I paddled right over them on the take-off.
- Del Mar 15th, 6:15AM-7:15AM (high tide at 6:24AM, 3.4ft)
- on my 9', no leash
- with Charles, 5 people out
- knee- to waist-high, very choppy and not consistent, windy, lame.
- Still managed to get about 8 rides, with 2 decent ones somehow. I lost my board on a very late take-off in white water on an ugly wave and had to swim to the beach to get the board back. I really enjoy surfing without a leash and I think I am going to do it probably non-stop until I move to Hawaii.
- Charles had to stop after 45 minutes because he tweaked his back again, which sucked. I went to the beach to check on him and decided to paddle out for one more wave. I paddled out really fast, showed up in the middle of the 5 guys out, sat on my board, saw a wave coming, turned and caught it right away back to the beach. The whole thing took like 3 minutes. It was pretty funny. It was odd also to be the best surfer in the line-up. The other guys out were the usual longboarder locals and they frankly suck, although they are not aggressive and are overall nice guys.
- Mission Beach, 6:30PM-7:30PM (high tide at 6:20PM, 5.7ft)
- on my 9', no leash
- with Kathy and Bucky, 2-3 other people out.
- knee- to waist-high, very choppy and not consistent, windier than this morning, and about as lame.
- I really paddled out to be social and I ended up having a good time. This leashless surfing is really cool and creates an interesting new challenge in crappy conditions. I lost my board 3 times in total, twice of these on late take-offs. It's really unbelievable how different it feels not to have a leash. Ad today was great because there was tons of kelp in the water.
- The sunset was absolutely beautiful and it was good to be in the water after quite a hectic week.
- Mission Beach, 7:30PM-8:30PM (high tide at 7:30AM, 3.5ft)
- on my 9'
- with Arnaud. 3-4 people out.
- waist- to shoulder-high, a bit choppy, high frequency, a lot of doubles and close-outs.
- Paddling out was a bit challenging, which sucked for Arnaud's third session ever. He couldn't get out at all and was completely exhausted without even being able to catch the white.
- Caught 5 rides, all of them with quite intense take-offs and short rides. I either had to pull out after 10 yards or I would get to the inside, which was such a mess that the wave would become unrideable. Still was fun to do those take-offs though and it was nice to feel the energy behind the bigger set. I felt that I was close to my best shape in terms of paddling, always able to accelerate enough to escape from bad close-outs.
- I toyed with the idea of paddling out without a leash. That would have been a mistake today.
- 1 dolphin right next to me in the line-up.
- Oceanside Beach, 7:15PM-8:15PM (high tide at 7PM, 6ft)
- on my 9', no leash
- with Jaime. One other guy out, on a foamie, with no leash!
- waist- to chest-high, choppy, not consistent, but occasional decent waves coming through
- Caught about 5 rides, with two great lefts and one great right, all the way to the beach.
- Beautiful sunset. We had a blast.
- Beacons, 7:30PM-9:30PM (high tide at 8:50AM, 3.5ft)
- on my 9'
- with Jaime and Anaika, 15+ people out
- waist-high, glassy, not consistent and quite a few doubles, but nice waves coming through now and again.
- Caught about 20 rides, with 5 really good ones. I blew two take-offs for no apparent reasons. (Maybe I am a bit surfed out after 4 sessions in two days). On a beautiful right some loser dropped in on me, but I put him under pressure and he eventually bailed. I caught quite a few nice lefts too.
- Jaime spend quite a bit on the beach with the beginner German girl he had brought along. First time surfing. She was totally excited and stood up a couple of times on the white.
- Nice session, last one before going to Europe for 2 weeks.
- Sunset Cliffs, Abs, 6:30AM-7:30AM (low tide at 5:05AM, -0.8ft)
- on my 9', no leash
- by myself, 6 people out at first, alone at the end of the session
- knee- to thigh-high, glassy, not very consistent by decently shaped "set" coming through. I think I surfed a waist-high wave.
- Caught 7 rides, with 2 of them surprisingly good given the condition. Ab just has that ability to somewhat create nicely-shaped waves. Surfing without a leash felt great as usual
- There was this branch right in the middle of the line up and it was a pain. So I dragged it far outside. The other people out didn't seem very appreciative. The fools.
- Not a great session by any means, but good to get in the water in glassy conditions after 2 weeks without surfing
- Del Mar 15th, 6:30AM-7:30AM (low tide at 5:45AM, -0.5ft)
- on my 9', no leash
- with Charles, 10+ people out
- knee- to waist-high, a bit windy but not bad, not very consistent but nice sets coming through.
- Caught 20+ rides, with 2 or 3 pretty fun with many cutbacks and a bit of cross-stepping.
- I tried Charles's 7'8'' board for a bit, with no leash. I caught the best wave of the day on that, definitely bigger than waist-high. Some kook almost dropped in on me, but I gave him the eye and that made him reconsider. It was cool to ride a shorter board without a leash, and I felt quite confident.
- Towards the end we drifted a bit North, and I started losing my board as the inside was a bit heavier. I was quite tired at the end of the session. Basically, I paddled like a maniac all the time and fetched my board three times. Trying to get back in shape after 2 weeks of bad food and no exercise.
- Mission Beach, 5:15PM-6:45PM (low tide at 4:40PM, 2.5ft)
- on my 9'
- by myself. Met Roland in the water. between 2 and 10+ other people out.
- knee- to waist-high, with a few chest high sets. At times glassy, at times choppy.
- Caught 30+ rides, with a few really fun ones on waist-high waves. My surfing improved at the end. I felt tired, jetlagged, and with a headache the whole time. Sort of an odd session.
- There was a guy out on a short board who had the smoothest riding style I'd ever seen. Absolutely beautiful and at times explosive with crazy floaters. He looked almost as good as Beau Young in Single Fin Yellow, in the part in which he rides a short board.
- Mission Beach, 9:30AM-11AM (low tide at 6AM, -0.3ft)
- on my 9' and my 7'6''
- with Charles, Marvin, and his friend Pascal
- knee- to waist-high, with a few chest high sets. A bit windy but not too bad. More consistent than yesterday. Overall quite decent conditions.
- Caught 30+ rides, with 3 or 4 really good ones, taking a high line to make it through sections, and going around the white on bottom turns.
- It was Marvin's 3rd session, and Pascal's 1st. He didn't last more than 20 minutes after which his arms were "totally burnt". Hilarious.
- 4 dolphins in the line-up
- Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 7AM-8:45AM (low tide at 6:45AM, 0ft)
- on my 9', no leash
- with Geoff, 4 other people out
- waist-high, with a few chest-high sets, totally glassy, nice shape, not very consistent and a bit difficult to catch as the tide was coming in, but still very beautiful waves at times.
- Caught 25+ rides, with 2 great lefts, and 2 great rights. Did some cross-stepping, which is interesting without a leash. Didn't lose my board once. Pretty happy with myself. I was probably the one out there who was catching the most waves.
- Geoff did ok, but had trouble adjusting to surfing a reef rather than a beach break.
- In the morning I totally goofed. I was really distracted and I forgot to latch the board on the roof of the car. So as I was driving down Washington the board flew off and bounced on the pavement. I couldn't believe I had done that. Turned out that only the tail of the board was damaged, and not too badly at that. Quite unreal. I should really have kept the board dry, but since I am getting rid of it in 2 weeks I decided to take it out anyway. Besides, Geoff was going to meet me there for his first sunset cliffs session. I'm fix it with some Solarez right now, probably the ugliest ding repair ever attempted, and I'll sell it to Paul for $50 as opposed to $100. Whatever. Still pretty sad though.
- Cannon Road, 4PM-5:30PM (high tide at 2:45PM, 4.1ft)
- on my 9', no leash. The board repair I did last time is great.
- by myself, 6+ people out
- waist-high, with chest-high sets every 10 minutes, almost glassy, no wind.
- Caught 10 rides, including 2 very good rights, perfectly lined-up.
- Lost my board 3 times. The first time was just stupid. I was caught in the white and screwed up my dismount. The second time the wave closed out while I had kept a high line. I did a semi floater and then of course lost the board. The third time, I did a take-off very deep, and this guy dropped in on me, making it impossible for me to power through a difficult section. Instead I attempted a lame cut-back and fell.
- Overall a pretty good serendipitous session, on the way from UCSD to Jaime house to drop off the metal table I am giving him.
- Beacons, 10:15AM-11:15AM (low tide at 8:15AM, 1ft)
- on my 9'
- by myself, 10+ people out
- waist-high, with chest-high sets every now and then, a bit windy but not too choppy. Not very consistent, with very long lulls as the tide came in.
- Caught 20+ rides, many of them on okay but not great waist-high waves. Then I went further on the outside to try to catch bigger ones. I caught one, but then wasn't so lucky. On one of them I should absolutely have gone but I miss-judged it and didn't go for it. There was this older longboarder on a 10ft board and wearing no wetsuit who clearly knew where to sit and who got the best, bigger waves on the outside.
- I suffered the usual "last wave" syndrome, and ended up catching something small on the inside.
- Overall an ok session under completely gray skies.
- I didn't lose my board once, and I shouldn't have been wearing a leash at all. But there were quite a few shortboarders on the inside and I felt it was safer to put the leash on.
- Del Mar 15th, 6:15AM-8AM (low tide at 9:45AM, 2ft)
- on my 9'
- with Geoff and Travis, 20+ people out
- waist-high, glassy, with a few bigger sets. Not very clean and sort of weak after the take-off. A lot of doubles and fake waves, but still some ok rides to be had
- Caught about 20 rides, with a lot that ended up rather weakly in spite of fun take-offs.
- I had 2 great rides on big head-high rights. I was, somehow, alone on the outside, and that first big wave came. I got into it an it lined-up pretty nicely although it was short, connecting weirdly with another peak. I fell at the end of the ride by trying to go around some guy in my line. The second one was better, about the same size. I felt pretty lucky to get two in a row on the outside by myself.
- Travis managed to catch many waves as usual, in spite of being on a short board with these slow/fat waves. Don't know how he does it.
- 2 dolphins in the line-up
- Cannon Road, 6:30AM-8:30AM (low tide at 10:40AM, 2ft)
- on my 9', no leash
- with Travis, 20+ people out
- waist-high to head-high, glassy, long lulls but very nice sets every 10 minutes or so
- After checking Beacons and Oceanside, we opted for Cannon Road, which turned out to be a great choice. There were a lot of people there, but the crowd there is half kooks who don't know what they're doing. The advantage is that one can catch a lot of waves. The drawback is that it's a bit scary.
- Caught 20+ rides, including 4-5 great rights that were perfectly lined up. Quite a few close-outs though, but take-offs were really fun.
- I was in a little bit over my head to surf these conditions without a leash. It was very challenging. I lost my board a total of 4 times, which I guess is not too horrible, but still. The first time was a late take-off, and I had sort of "forgotten" that I didn't have a leash. The second time what really annoying. I pulled this quite extreme (for me) take-off, which to be honest I didn't think I had in me, and was gearing up to scream through a fast section. I could totally have done it and reached the second part of the wave that was perfectly lined up. But that beginning longboarder dropped in on me, rode the wave on his stomach, got on his knees, and fell right in front of me. I had to do a major cut-back, which put me right in the close-out, and I lost my board. The third time I did another sketchy take-off and pulled it off, and I was facing yet another fast section that was almost closing out. Unfortunately there was some guy in my line. I couldn't take a low line, so I took the high line, getting really close to the crest of the wave. I made it past him by holding on to the rail of the board while the white starting falling on my board. I was pretty happy with that move, but then, after I passed him, I couldn't make it back down the face smoothly, was off-balance, and just fell into the wave. This one I think that with more experience I could totally have avoided by going over the top of the wave. I went to fetch my board a third time (about 200 yard swim), made it back to the line-up, said one sentence to Travis, just to find ourselves in the impact zone of by far the biggest set of the day (I'd say 1ft overhead). Everybody got completely pummeled, including Travis, and of course I lost my board. I swam back in again, missed the board on the way, got to the beach, couldn't find it, and then spotted it halfway between the line-up and the beach. Had to swim out to get it. Then barely made it past bigger and bigger sets. It really started to become clear that with the increase in size a leash was really necessary for me. At that point I was exhausted, and I caught a wave in. I guess this was a learning experience.
- South Mission Beach, 2PM-2:45PM (high tide at 5:45PM, 5.31ft)
- on my 9'
- with Yang, 2+ people out
- Yang, my student who has just graduated, wanted to try surfing for the first time, so he took my board and tried it. The shore break was a tad heavy (but nothing really), and he couldn't really deal with it. I tried to give him some advice, but it wasn't working really well. He kept being hit by the white at an angle and being rolled with the board.
- I took the board and went out for 1/2 hour. Really bad conditions, with a rather strong on-shore, climbing tide, and very few rideable waves. Caught 3 rides total, none of them good.
- Paddled back in to go to back to the bbq where my students were all waiting for me to give me gifts (an iShuffle, a pair of flip-flops, and the complete DVD collection of Stephen Chou's movies!)
- Mission Beach, 6PM-7PM (high tide at 5:45PM, 5.3ft)
- on Kathy's board (8'8''?)
- with Paul who was on my 9ft, nobody else out
- It was Paul's first session and he did ok. It was very easy to get to the line-up, and he was just trying to get a sense of balance on the board. But he had to cut things short because he got sea-sick.
- At first I was wondering whether I could catch anything, because it was a repeat of this afternoon conditions. But there were in fact a few peaks that started working as the tide got lower. I caught perhaps 15 rides, with 2 rather good lefts, where I was able to work the wave quite well.
- Mission Beach, 5:30PM-7PM (high tide at 9PM, 7ft)
- on Kathy's board
- with Paul who was on my 9ft, a few people out, nobody close
- knee-high with a few waist-high sets, almost glassy, not very consistent and the tide was already a bit too high.
- Caught about 20 rides, all short, with a few decent ones. I was so annoyed at having a leash and at the kelp that I just unstrapped the leash from my ankle and let it drag in the water. Somehow, Kathy has a leash that cannot be easily removed from the board!
- The last ride of the day was on an almost chest-high rogue wave that came from nowhere. Really fun drop, and a nice way to end the session.
- Paul did better than last time, and did not get sea sick.
- At the beginning of the session, in an amazing flash of brilliance, I locked the keys of the car inside the trunk of the car. It was an odd combination of attaching the keys to my surf trunks, and then changing trunks. Anyway, I decided that we should go surfing and then I would call AAA from Charlie's. That's exactly what we did, and within 1/2 hour the car was unlocked. It was absolutely amazing how fast the guy was to open the door. He used two sheets of hard plastic, an inflatable pouch, and a piece of wire. Really, really impressive and of course a life saver. It had to happen one day.
- 4 dolphins in the line up, rolling around, surfing waves, jumping a bit, really close to us for 5 minutes.
- Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 8AM-9AM (low tide at 5AM, -1.5ft)
- on my 9', no leash
- by myself, between 1 and 6 other people out
- knee- to waist-high, glassy, mixed up, lots of double, high frequency. Pretty much not a defined swell, but as usual with Ab still a few sets coming through somehow. The tide was already a little bit high, but in the morning I hadn't set up my alarm clock right and woke up 1 hour later than I planned.
- Caught about 10 rides, with only 2 decent ones on lefts that were pretty well lined-up. It was still fun to be out there. Lots of kelp in the water and I was really happy not to have a leash.
- I fell on one wave and I have no idea why.
- My last ride was on an odd between waist- and chest-high wave that seemed to have formed as the superposition of two waves. Sort of like a double that changed into an oddly shaped wave when it hit the reef, and it turned out to be an unexpectedly fun right! A right at Ab. Go figure. I decided to end the session right then as, with the tide going up, conditions were bound to become even poorer.
- 1 large jellyfish in the inside
- Beacons, 8:30AM-10AM (high tide at 12PM, 4.8ft)
- on my 9'
- with Jaime and Anaika, 2-3 people out next to us
- waist-high with a few bigger sets, really windy, choppy, and mixed up.
- Caught 15+ ride, with a few that were surprisingly fun in spite of the pretty much horrible conditions.
- It was a challenge to at the same time be aggressively forward on the board to make it down the face in spite of the bumps, and then avoid pearling in the bumps. I screwed up quite a few waves that way, but when it worked it was worth it. Happy that I took my leash because I would've lost my board in the soup quite a few times.
- Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 6:30AM-8:30AM
- on my 9'
- with Jaime, Anaika, and Andreas. up to 15 other people out.
- waist-high to chest-high, no wind, glassy, organized, consistent, perfect.
- FINALLY! Great conditions. Caught about 20 rides, mostly rights, with all of them decent and some of them absolutely great.
- On one waist-high wave, I did perhaps my best, most stylish take-off ever. It was a right, and I was to the left of the peak. I popped up fast and very low, cut through the peak to the right, and cut back slightly on a high line. I really felt great for that take-off, and Jaime confirmed that he'd never seen me so stylish and graceful on a wave before. If only I could do it 100% of the time.
- Then came a rogue head-high+ wave. Jaime and I were the only ones in position and willing to go I guess. But I was WAY too deep. I decided to make the drop anyway, about 7-8 yards behind Jaime. I pulled it off, somehow. And then the wave just became a vertical wall and started covering me, as if I was going to get barreled. Jaime was at the end of the tunnel and I had no hope of catching up. I opted to dive into the wall. I was turned around under water for a bit, with everything turning black. I touched the bottom softly and came up. That was the closest I ever got to appreciate the feeling one must get when on gets barreled. It was really something else. It was very "sketchy", but very fun. I was totally energized after that and paddled for waves like a maniac.
- A VERY nice wave formed up and this guy was deeper than both Jaime and I. In fact he was in the perfect spot and both of us were sort of jealous. He was so in the perfect place that we didn't even go for it, and at the last minute he bailed. He turned toward us sheepishly and said something like: "That wave was too fast". That was completely ridiculous as the wave wasn't faster than any other out there, and definitely not as fast as the big one I had dropped in before. On the next wave he was again deeper than I was, and I should just have snaked him and then said: "Sorry, I thought that one was going to be too fast for you". But no. I haven't reached that level of surf nazism yet :)
- Fell on one ride after hitting a kelp bed.
- We really had a great time and I've been on a surf high all day. It was the first time Anaika surfed that spot and she just couldn't believe it. It was high time I showed it to her as I am moving to Hawaii in one week. She claims it was the best conditions she'd ever surfed in San Diego. And I've seen this place working better. I think she's hooked. I was really happy with the way I was able to hold my own in the line-up and catch so many waves. And all this after sleeping only 4 hours last night because Jaime had dragged Paul and me to see the Femi Kuti show (which was pretty good I have to admit).
- One jellyfish in the line-up.
- For the first time since I've started surfing, I had water come out of my nose about one hour after the session when I bent over to pick up something! Must have happened when I ate it on that big wave. I feel so much more like a real surfer now.
- Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 6PM-7:30PM (low tide at 7:40PM, 1.5ft)
- on my 9', no leash.
- by myself, with 3 to 10 other people out, but I was never in competition with anybody for a wave.
- knee- to waist-high, glassy, consistent, most waves perfectly shaped, with several peaks that were sometimes connecting.
- An absolutely magical session in the beautiful sunset, with no leash, no wetsuit. It was really one of these sessions when surfing seems so incredibly pure and simple.
- Caught about 30 rides, with some excellent ones. I tried to work on my style, which led to a few lame rides because I was pushing on things that are beyond my level, but with amazing ones on which I would have a graceful take-off, go up and down the wave on the first sections, cut back and bank into the white, cross-step back up to the nose, hang five, cross-step back and kick the board out. There were perhaps 5 rides like that.
- My cross-stepping is still not quite smooth and a bit tentative. I think that next I'll get a 9'4 noserider and see how that works. Perhaps it will help.
- When I got out of the water, there were flights of pelicans in the sky, the sun was just above the horizon, and the whole place was just incredibly beautiful. I was completely overwhelmed by it all. I drove back home, and caught myself driving 40 mph on the freeway with people zooming past me. I was just still in the zone, on a total surf high.
- Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 5:30PM-7PM (low tide at 9PM, 1.5ft)
- on my 9', no leash.
- by myself, with 3 other people out, but not on the same peak.
- repeat from yesterday, just a tad less consistent and a tad less glassy. But still, very very nice albeit small.
- Caught 20+ rides, with a few good ones. The waves were not as lined up as yesterday and it was more difficult to do maneuvers. But I had 3 good rights on waist-high waves that were very nice and on which I could really go up an down the wave. My cross-stepping was "ok", but still not great. I was pretty happy with all my take-offs, including a few late ones.
- There was a guy on the inside at Ab who was surfing with his dog on his board. I talked to him a bit and he said the dog just will NOT stay on the beach and will swim all the way to the line-up and hang out, even on big days. That prevents the guy from taking the dog to the beach on big days because he's afraid the dog would drown. The dog was hilarious, and in fact would not get out of the water at all, just swimming around.
- Another quite magical session in the beautiful sunset. It's really amazing that in my last week in San Diego I am stumbling upon such nice sessions.
- Del Mar 15th, 6:30AM-9AM (low tide at 9AM, 2PM)
- on my 9', no leash.
- with Anaika, Travis, and Charles, a few people out.
- knee-high, choppy, not clean and not consistent, but still a few waves to catch
- Caught 20+ rides, 2 of them decent I guess
- The whole point was to have a last session in San Diego before my move to Hawaii. We had a blast.
- At the end of the session Anaika and I swapped boards. I caught EVERYTHING on her board, but turning it is quite a challenge. Cross-stepping was so easy. I did a late take-off in front of Travis and he was quite scared. I managed to keep a high line, hold on to the rail, and actually turn a bit, all this without a leash. Lucky for him :)
- Well, that's it. Last session as a San Diego "local"
- Waikiki, 6AM-8:30AM
- on my new 9'2'' longboard
- by myself 2-5 people out
- Still not sure about the name of the break where I surfed
- knee-high with a few waist-high waves, windy and a bit choppy
- Caught about 15 rides, with 1 decent waist-high wave and 1 rogue stomach-high wave, the wave of the day :) It took a lot of paddling to get into waves today.
- This board is just fantastic. It paddles great. It trims great. And it's really loose and turns really well. I was able to cross-step on most rides, and I was very close to the nose on one of them for 2-3 seconds. The loose turning is really impressive. I have a 6.5'' fin on it.
- There were two locals out and they and I were catching most of the waves. They surfed with fantastic style, with amazing turns even on knee-high waves. They had pintail noseriders, just like the ones I was trying to find. The shaper was Tadashi Suzuki I think. They also had skegs that were curved towards the central fin and a central fin with this tube in the middle that I had seen before (I had never seen the curved skegs). At any rate, they were able to turn really, really well. (And yes, they had the same boards.)
- In spite of the poor conditions, I could once again tell that waves are just different here, and just more powerful. It was beautiful weather of course, with the great view on Diamond Head.
- 1 sea turtle that came up to me at the end of the session. Just popped up as if to say 'hi', and then went back down slowly. About 1ft away.
- Waikiki, Threes, 6AM-8AM
- on my 9'2''
- with Eric, 5-6 other people out
- I parked my car in one of the last few available parking spot on the street, right behind that guy who had just arrived. We started talking (his name's Eric, 50-something I'd say), I borrowed a little bit of wax from him. That guy was full of useful information. First, he told me that although the parking was free until 7AM only, he'd never gotten a ticket until after 8AM. Then, we walked together to the beach and he told me about all the spots. The spot that I had surfed before was indeed called Pops. The one straight ahead from the jetty is called Threes. The one in between Pops and Threes is called Paradise. Then to the Ewa side of Threes is Number Four. We paddled out together, talking the whole time. Once in the line-up he introduced me to Jim, Paul, Al, and a few other people whose name I forgot. One of them I talked to quite a bit about surfing in San Diego. He'd been there a couple times. The atmosphere was so friendly it was crazy. They said that when it gets good it can get aggressive of course. Apparently this is really the doldrums, and they had a great early summer. We had great conversation in the water, about some session at Diamond head that was apparently shoulder-high on Monday, etc.
- knee- to waist-high, well shaped of course (this is Waikiki after all), a bit windy towards the end of the session
- Caught about 15 rides, with nothing to write home about. Did some ok cross-stepping. This board will get into ANY wave!
- While in the water, Eric was still full of good information. For instance he told me that if, when sitting out there, one cannot see the Diamond Head side of that particular building, then one is to far on the Ewa side and the water's too deep for it to break at all. That was SO useful. I am so lucky to have run into that guy. He surfs every morning so I'll probably see him a lot, especially because surfing Waikiki is so convenient for me as I can easily go to work afterwards. This is such a great set up.
- Also, Eric talked to me about spots on the Winward side. Apparently there is this spot called Rainbows in between Sugar Mills and Crouching Lion that's pretty decent and not as crowded as the other two in winter. He gave me directions to find it. I'll go check it out next week.
- Then we paddled back in together. He told me how to tell that it was getting close to 8. Every day there is this boat that drags a submarine (some tourist thing). You can actually see the submarine barely above the water behind the boat. When the boat gets at the level of the jetty, it's 8AM. That was again such a cool/local thing to know. So lucky I met that guy today.
- Overall lame conditions but a great session in terms of getting to know the places in Hawaii.
- Waikiki, Threes, 6AM-8AM
- on my 9'2''
- by myself, met Eric and a few other people in the water. 6-7 people total.
- Even smaller and less consistent than yesterday. Pretty sad but still very well shaped. Caught about 25 rides, most of them exhausting due to intense paddling. My best one was on a waist-high left.
- At some point it got REALLY windy and it rained for 10 minutes. Then we had these amazing rainbows (full semi-circles), hitting the water right in front of us. It was completely stunning.
- There was a guy who "paddled" around the line-up. He was standing on a massive surf board and had an actual paddle. It was pretty cool. He looked like he was walking on water, and he actually surfed a little wave on the way in.
- Kualoa, 3PM-4PM
- on my 9'2'', no leash
- by myself, 6 other people out.
- I just went to check the surf for the hell of it. That spot is in between Sugar Mills and Rainbows on the Winward side. I saw people paddle out there and I thought "what the hell". There are no waves but I need to paddle out.
- The water was SO warm it was difficult to paddle. The place is stunningly beautiful. The water was crystal-clear, with coral at the bottom.
- Waves were ankle- to knee-high. I caught about 20 rides, none of them good but it was amazing to glide on top of the coral.
- It was very shallow (3-4 feet) and at some point, while turning the board around I hit the coral with my fin and my foot. I sort of hurt my foot (bruised), but it shouldn't be too bad.
- When I paddled in I talked to that old guy, Charlie. He surfs there all the time and I'll probably see him again. He's a bodysurfer who picked up longboarding 2 years ago. His son was off to college on the mainland and they were having a "let's go play in the water one last time" session, in spite of there being no waves. He was very friendly and told me the name of the spot (which is the name of the big ranch by Chinaman's hat).
- Sugar Mill was f.l.a.t. Can't wait to see it working.
- Waikiki, Number Threes, 6AM-7:30AM
- on my 9'2''
- by myself, met Paula, Doug and Jim in the line-up, 15 people out at the worst
- Knee- to waist-high, with a few bigger sets coming in. Nice shape (I am going to stop saying that when I surf Number Threes because the shape's always nice). Still nothing to impressive and a few long lulls.
- Caught 15 rides, with 2 or 3 quite fun and long in waist+ waves. Able to turn q few times, riding on the wall, etc.
- I am SO happy I paid my dues in San Diego and that now I can be amidst a crowd and hold my own, position myself well, and ride as many waves as the others. Learning here would be pretty difficult in spite of the quality of the wave.
- Talked to Doug and Paula quite a bit in the water. They are really nice people.
- After the session I met Yvette, this total Wahine. We talked and walked back to our cars together. She talked about her husband who windsurfs. I may have to try it again after so many years.
- Once again, a very social session. It's quite amazing how I just showed up in the line-up and people were like: "Hi Henri!!!". Crazy.
- Waikiki, Pops, 6:30AM-8AM
- on my 9'2''
- with Thomas, about 20 people out
- waist-high with a few chest-high waves, really clean, but long lulls in between sets.
- Decided to go to Pops with Thomas as he's still learning. The place was just too crowded, but I had a lot of fun
- Caught about 20 rides, with 2 of them of good fun waves, with tones of opportunities to turn and get back in the pocket, then get back on a high line, etc.
- Still though, there is no way I am going back there on a weekend. This was a way to start surfing with Thomas, which was good. But I think I am just going to give up weekend surfing at Waikiki and just focus on weekdays before work.
- People were very friendly though, with a bunch of older folks hooting like they were 10 years old :)
- Waikiki, Number Threes, 5:45AM-7:30AM
- on my 9'2''
- by myself. Met Doug, Edgar, Jim, and Guy in the line-up. It was only the 5 of us.
- knee- to chest-high, clean, not very consistent but getting better towards the end of the session
- Caught about 25 rides, with 5 of them really fun, especially my next-to-last ride on a right that was so lined-up it hurt to look at it. Did many maneuvers, keeping a high-line before semi-closing out sections. At the end of the ride I fell in the white and slightly scratched my shoulder on coral. I really need to learn what I should put on that :)
- Right after that ride I tried a very late take-off and failed. It was my first bad take-off in Hawaii so far. I think I could've made it.
- I am pretty happy with my surfing. I did a few very good take-offs, completely smooth and ending up really low, doing a fade and a bottom turn back up to the high-line.
- Great conversations in the line-up. Edgar was shocked at how well my board paddles. Jim talked about his daughter going to college in LA and how everything's so fast there. I talked to them about how come I'd moved to Hawaii. Just really friendly crowd, yelling at each other to paddle for waves. I split waves with them quite a bit. As I was walking back to my car, Edgar was driving off and waved at me as he was driving by. It's amazing how welcoming those people are.
- Tomorrow's supposed to be a swell. The crew here told me that it may get aggressive in the water, in which case they typically move from Number Threes to Paradise, the spot in between Number Threes and Pops. We'll see how it goes.
- 1 sea turtle in the line-up about 3ft from my board, about 15 dolphins on the outside
- Waikiki, Number Threes, 6AM-7:30AM
- on my 9'2''
- Paddled out with Edgar. Met Doug, Jim, Paula, and Guy in the line-up. 4 other guys out. From now on I'll just call those guys "the crew".
- waist- to chest-high, clean, more consistent than yesterday. A few head-high sets, but I was always on the inside paddling back from a ride when they occurred.
- Caught about 20 rides, with 5 of them really fun, on bigger waves. On one of them I managed to get almost to the nose on a high line. One another one my feet were spread apart really well and I was able to do nice ins and outs on the wall. Cross-stepped a bit, but I still need to get in the habit of doing it all the time.
- My last ride was absurd. Edgar and I decided to go in, and we split a wave. I went left. It was waist-high, perfectly lined-up, and at the end of the line there was this massive rainbow that was just hitting the coast line on the leeward side. I was so picture-perfect, with the sun reflecting on the face of the wave, the nose of my board pointing at the rainbow, it all looked fake.
- As usual great conversations in the line-up with the crew. I really like all those guys.
- Waikiki, Number Threes, 5:30AM-7:30AM
- on my 9'2''
- By myself. Met the crew in the line-up but it soon got really crowded with 30 people out.
- chest- to head-high, and a couple of 8ft faces every 20-25 minutes or so. Very nice shape of course.
- Guy, Paula, and I paddled out at night and when we got to the line-up it was still dark. I caught one shoulder-high left, which was a bit scary because of the darkness. Unfortunately I didn't manage to keep a high line and didn't make it through the section. A few minutes later I caught another wave, pretty much identical, made the drop and had a fantastic back-side ride. Kept a high-line, cross-stepped forward, then back for a cutback. I caught a few more waves but nothing to write home about.
- Then it got really crowded and I just didn't feel I could compete in the pack. There were at least 15 people out there who were just outstanding surfers. Better than most people I've ever seen in San Diego. And the waves were better than any waves I've ever seen in San Diego actually. So I started surfing the inside. It was a bit nerve-wracking because when big sets came we had to get out of people's way. There were a couple of instances when it was a bit too close to my liking. But the guys surfing have such control it never was an issue in fact. At some point I had to paddle out and turtle in between two guys surfing the same wave. Speaking of, there was quite a bit of dropping in, which I found surprising. In particular, one older guy just sort of didn't care and dropped in on people. He wasn't that good though.
- I saw guys do amazing nose-rides, get semi-barreled, etc. Overall I am really impressed by the level of surfing in the water. In fact, Edgar did a couple of really insane late take-offs on 8ft lefts that were really impressive. And he was so casual going down the face it was amazing.
- Once on the inside I caught about 20 rides, with one really, really, really good right. I was behind Jim on that right (I could perhaps have gone left but I was just tired of surfing backside), and he pulled out almost right away. It was a great chest-high wave, head-high+ on the drop, with some kick to it on the inside.
- I paddled in because the crowd got to be a bit too much and I was actually getting quite tired. It was a good workout, paddling like crazy to get out of people's way. It will take some time before I can deal with crowds like these, but it was a lot of fun.
- After the session, while I was by my car, Edgar came to me and gave me a bag of mangos from his mango tree! He's the nicest guy, and man can he take-off late :)
- Tongs, 7AM-9AM
- on my 9'2''
- with Thomas. 5 other longboarders, a couple of shortboarders, 2-3 boogie boarders, 3 kayaks.
- waist- to head-high, really windy and choppy, getting more inconsistent throughout the session, difficult to get into waves.
- I really wanted to try that spot just to find out where it is, and I could tell the potential, but the conditions were just not good at all. The place is absolutely beautiful.
- Caught perhaps 10 rides, with only two good ones with fun take-offs on head-high waves. The waves were mushing out on the inside though. All other rides were rather lame and it took an inordinate amount of effort to get into the wave
- Talked with that older guy who used to surf this spot when he was 13 and just got back to surfing a week ago after a 40 year hiatus. Quite interesting.
- Got sort of caught on the inside a couple of times, but nothing too terrible. The waves were just all over the place, with huge sets breaking on the outside, mutant waves coming from two directions at once. At times it was so windy that I actually fell off my board while sitting on it because the nose was too high up in the air. It was sort of a good experience to be in this powerful and unpredictable ocean. I had to be constantly aware of what was going on.
- I'll have to check that place out on a good day.
- Paradise, 5:30AM-7:15AM
- on my 9'2''
- by myself, eventually met Jim in the line-up. 1-2 other people out.
- waist- to chest-high, a bit choppy, not very consistent, and the tide was too high
- Started at Number Threes, all alone in the dark, and it just wasn't breaking due to the tide. After 20 minutes I paddled to Paradise. It was much better there, but, as Paula told me once, it's really more of a peak rather than a wall. It was sort of stunning to see that even on a small day like today the take-off could be head-high on the peak. Then the wave was sort of odd and bumpy, and rides weren't too long. An occasional wave would line up though.
- Caught about 15 rides, with 2-3 on nicely lined-up waves. All take-offs were fun and not completely easy, which was good practice. My last two waves were really good. The next-to-last was one of the biggest waves of the session, and after a rather late and shaky take-off I had a great ride. My last wave was well-lined up, and I made it through a steep section by keeping a high line. It was a right but then sort of reformed into a left. Very nice way to end the session.
- There was one rogue wave that loomed over the horizon for a while and that I didn't manage to catch. The face was clearly 4ft bigger than anything during the session.
- Jim and that other guy whose name I keep forgetting joined me at Paradise after being sitting ducks at Number Threes like I had done 1/2 hour before them.
- 1 sea turtle briefly in the line-up. Rainbows everywhere.
- Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 7AM-9AM
- on Dario's 9', no leash
- with Bucky, three other guys in the line up with whom I had nice conversations about Hawaii
- Not very consistent, but nice sets coming through, with the biggest ones at chest-high on the peak. Glassy.
- Caught about 20 rides, with all of them quite decent and a few very fun.
- Such a nice session for my first time back in San Diego after moving to Hawaii. The water wasn't even too cold (although it felt weird wearing a spring suit). I can already tell that after surfing in Hawaii taking off on a chest-high wave here seemed much easier. I wasn't even close to losing my board once.
- Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 7AM-8:30AM
- on Dario's 9', no leash
- with Ken, nobody else out
- Not very consistent, but nice sets coming through, with a couple ones head-high and most of them waist- to -chest-high. Windy at first but then glassier and glassier.
- Caught about 20 rides, with 10 of them great on lefts. Especially toward the end of the session, on chest-high wave on which I managed to keep a very high line. I then tried to cross-step and fell. I feel like I would've made it on my Stewart. I lost the board and had to swim in.
- I lost my board two other times. The first time was on a sketchy take-off, which I totally made, but then on the bottom turn I went a little bit too low and I buried the nose. I was really surprised actually as I really thought I had pulled it off nicely and was all happy with myself. The second time was on a mutant bumpy head-high wave and I made the drop just for the hell of it. It was a rush.
- Overall a great session, with great take-off. Waves were a bit mushy but after cutting back into the white and making it to the inside section the waves walled up nicely.
- Number Threes, 6:15AM-7:30AM
- on my 9'2''
- by myself. Met Jim, Doug, and Edgar in the line-up. Other people there that I've seen before as well, including the two Hawaiian/Japanese guys I'd seen at Pops on one of my first sessions in the Islands. About 15 people out at the peak. about 3-4 at the end of the session.
- waist-high, sort of choppy and a bit windy, not consistent. Not a very good day, but again, still nice waves come through, somehow.
- Caught about 10 waves, with only 3-4 good rides. I actually caught a shoulder-high wave, which was probably the wave of the day.
- I felt SO weak after 1 month without doing any physical activity. I can really tell that my body's been hit hard by this sickness I caught in San Diego. Even now as I type this I don't feel really well. But hopefully it's going to get better.
- Edgar, who's the nicest of all the guys out there, asked me for my e-mail so that he can invite me to a dinner with the crew!!
- Threes wasn't working, and after 20 minutes there we paddled to Paradise. Paradise was a bit better, knee- to waist-high, a bit windy and choppy, and not very consistent. But still a few decent waves (although that wave is more of a peak rather than the nice wall at Threes). I caught perhaps 10 rides at Paradise, and my last one was very good on probably one of the few decently lined-up waves of the morning.
- After a while, Jim paddled to a place in between Paradise and Pop's. The break was better there and some waves were a bit higher than waist-high. Still, more of a peak than a wall, but we had a few fun take-offs. Caught about 6-7 waves, and then paddled in.
- At some point it really hit me how my points of references have changed in the last 2 months. Today I was really thinking "these are horrible conditions" and while I was paddling out I was looking at the waves breaking, and really, waves weren't that bad. This was probably an average day in San Diego.
- Amazing rainbows, with perhaps the most vibrant rainbow I had ever seen in my life (it was a double one actually, full, with the top rainbow a bit more pale than the bottom one).
- Paradise, 6:15AM-7:30AM
- on my 9'2''
- by myself. Met Jim and Edgar in the line-up.
- Based on yesterday's experience I paddled directly to Paradise where Jim and Edgar had already been for a little while.
- It was better than yesterday, glassy. Still not very consistent but a few good sets coming through with some chest-high peaks with waist-high waves. The wave's not as good as at Three's, but it was still fun.
- Caught perhaps 20 rides, with 2 or 3 fun ones. Did one decent nose ride. I had a few good rides on which I initially went right, then cut across the peak to go left.
- 1 sea turtle on the inside
- Three's, 5:55AM-7:30AM
- on my 9'2''
- by myself. Met Jim and Paula in the line up. Only the three of us out for 1+ hour. Then the other Jim and two other guys I've seen before paddled out.
- waist-high with a few chest-high sets, not very consistent but not bad, a bit windy.
- Very fun for about 1h. Caught 15+ rides, with several really fun rights that had a great wall and that allowed me to turn and cut-back, to go from the high-line to a bottom turn and then back up. It was just fantastic being out there with only the three of us for more than an hour of really fun conditions.
- Conditions degraded a bit after Jim went in, which is right when those other guys paddled out. Still caught a few wave, and finally caught a wave in just in time not to get a parking ticket.
- Many rainbows.
- Three's, 5:30AM-7:30AM
- on my 9'2''
- by myself. Met Paula on the beach and later Ron. About 10 people out.
- I was planning to surf the Windward side, but as I spent the night in Honolulu it was just tempting and easy to surf very early Waikiki.
- Conditions were not as clean as yesterday, but several waves to be had, from waist-high to shoulder-high, with a few nice sets coming through.
- I caught a 20+ rides, with about half of them really fun, all rights.
- It was a weird session regarding my surfing. I was _really_ happy with some of my rides, and _really_ unhappy with some others. I wiped out a couple of times on bottom turns, but then I had great take-offs and rides on some other waves. In particular, I am really much lower, bending my knees much more, on the take-off. Not sure how it happened. I think part of it is just watching so many people surfing with great style here, and somehow absorbing a bit of their technique. In particular, today there were one older Chinese guy who surfed absolutely beautifully. I really tried to emulate his style a bit, but I am SO far from that. Nevertheless, I can really tell that I am already a much better surfer than 6 months ago. If I can keep this up for a few weeks I'll be back in good surfing shape too.
- Three's, 5:30AM-7:30AM
- on my 9'2''
- Paddled out with Edgar (had him go back to his car to turn off a light he'd left on). Met Doug, his daughter and her friend, Jim, and Ron out there. two other guys out.
- Not very consistent and a bit choppy, but nice waist-high sets coming through, about chest-high on the take-off.
- Caught about 20 rides, with 2 or 3 that were good. I still need to get more speed from the board and keep a higher line to make some section, but I was really happy with all my take-offs.
- Just a nice session, with a beautiful sunrise, and friendly people. Once on the beach, Edgar's wife gave me a burrito and an orange juice for breakfast! (she brings breakfast to Edgar typically)
- Three's, 5:30AM-7:30AM
- on my 9'2''
- By myself. Was alone for 10 minutes, then Edgar, Ron, and Jim paddled out. At the end of the session Cliff paddled out followed by three Japanese longboarders.
- Conditions were poor, a bit choppy, not clean, with size around waist-high. Still a few waves to catch and as usual a couple of decent sets came through.
- Caught about 15 rides, none of them worth writing home about.
- There was one rogue wave that was nice and that I got close to catching, but I was too far inside.
- I am really happy about my take-offs. They are so much better than they ever were in San Diego.
- Paradise, 5:45AM-7:15AM
- on my 9'2''
- By myself. Was alone for 10 minutes, then Edgar and Jim showed up.
- Knee-high, inconsistent, lame, tide too high. The first truly bad session at Waikiki in terms of wave. But no wind, BEAUTIFUL sunrise, and nice conversations in the line-up.
- Caught 10 rides, with only one of them being halfway decent for some definition of "decent".
- Threes, 6AM-7:15AM
- on my 9'2''
- By myself. Met Paula and later Jim in the line-up
- Knee- to waist-high, not very consistent and windy. A good 20 minutes halfway through the session though.
- Caught about 15 rides, with 3 or 4 quite fun. Tried cross-stepping on basically each wave I caught, but not very successfully.
- Beautiful sunrise with a small rainbow
- One turtle swimming around the line up.
- Paradise and then Threes, 6AM-7:15AM
- on my 9'2''
- By myself. Met Jim at Threes.
- Knee- to waist-high, not very consistent, a bit choppy, but the occasional wave coming through.
- I first paddled out at Paradise because Threes just looked flat. Paradise is so weird. The peak always has some size, but it's just a peak. So today there were a few take-offs that were I guess a bit intense given the conditions, and I caught about 10 waves there. It's really good practice for difficult take-offs, but then the ride is very short. I had one wave that was lined-up and on which I had a good ride.
- After a while I saw Jim paddling out to Threes and he seemed to be catching some waves, so I paddled over. Threes wasn't working very well, but we had fun catching waves. Caught about 10 rides there, with one that was really fun and lined-up.
- Talked with Jim quite a bit, and I told him about my thoughts of trying Diamond Head later this week. He encouraged me to go, and told me about a few spots, confirming what my student Mike had told me. He also told me about that place called Lighthouse over there, which is a really fun and powerful wave. He also talked about some other place called Secrets. That spot is scary because it's so shallow. He mentioned that time when he caught an 8-foot-face wave and rode it until the end, without realizing that he was in 1 foot of water! He hit the bottom on his last turn, and got completely trashed on the reef. Didn't sound really fun.
- Threes, 5:45AM-7:15AM
- on my 9'2''
- Paddled out with Paula, Jim, and Edgar
- Knee- to waist-high, not very consistent, choppy and windy, but as usual occasional wave coming through.
- I tried to paddled to Paradise but it wasn't really working over there, so I cam back to Threes.
- Caught about 15 waves, none of them great at all. Edgar tried surfing fin first to amuse himself. I tried it too. I caught a wave and rode it all the way fin first, without ever being able to turn.
- It was really tiring today, with the wind and the chop. Quite a work out.
- Talked to Paula and she's going to tell me when she goes to the North Shore. I am planning on going with her at some point.
- Cliffs (Diamond Head), 8:15AM-10AM
- on my 9'2''
- with Thomas. 4-5 other people in the line-up
- Waist-high to chest-high with the occasional head-high sets. Windy and choppy although not so bad at the beginning of the sesh.
- The wave has some kick to it, and I cannot wait to see it when it's not windy. Apparently during the winter the winds die down, so it should be really good.
- Caught about 15 rides, with one absolutely great, with a drop on a head-high peak and then a fast ride hugging the peeling wall, keeping a high-line and cross-stepping once towards the nose to gather speed. I could really tell the potential of that place.
- Thomas was really out of shape after 3 weeks without surfing and got caught on the inside a couple times, with the second time having him drift very far. He ended up walking on the beach back to were we had started. I caught a wave in shortly afterwards.
- There was a kneeboarder in the line-up, 3-4 longboarder, and 2-3 shortboarders.
- The place is absolutely beautiful. The sides of the volcano, the lighthouse, the beach with the palm trees. The trail down to the spot is a bit on the sketchy side, and on the way back up I had to put my board down once.
- Next time I'll try to go a bit earlier, but I guess not at dawn as there is talk of "shark feeding" then, although nobody has ever seen an attack there.
- Cliffs (Diamond Head), 6:15AM-8:30AM
- on my 9'2''
- By myself. 10+ other people in the line-up.
- Sets were from waist- to head-high, glassy, many waves wouldn't break, a couple of long lulls, clean and organized when breaking.
- Great sesh! Caught perhaps 20 waves, all of them fun. The vibe in the line-up was friendly and professional, which was great. There were a couple of Dutch/German tourists who didn't know what they were doing and had eyes as big as saucers when big sets were coming. There were in the way of many people, but not in mine, somehow. Some guy was sort of dominating the outside for a while. He had the place completely wired and he caught all the bigger waves for 1h+.
- At the beginning of the session I stayed to the left of the pack, and somehow I caught a bunch of nice chest-high rights. Then there was a 1/2 hour with no real waves and I surfed the inside a bit, and the last 45 minutes was great. I surfed pretty well today. All my take-offs were good. The wave has some power, but it was still a longboard wave. The spot closer to the lighthouse (Mansions?) seemed more like a shortboard wave.
- In those last 45 minutes I had two great rides that really stood out. One of head-high set, this older local took off as usual. He had this uncanny way of always looking like he wasn't going to get into the wave and then somehow making it. I decided to go left and I paddled for it. I must have been 1 foot away from him and we made eye contact and it was clear that he was going right and I was going left. I was being respectful because the right was much better than the left. But then, that left starting walling up and after the first section I cross-stepped almost to the nose and found myself right in the curl, with perfect trim, going over the beautiful coral (don't want to know how shallow it was). It was really unreal and lasted perhaps 30 yards, right in the curl the whole time, with the wave breaking on the tail of the board. Then I kicked out as the section in front of me started to look like it was closing out. Quite unreal.
- 5 minutes later, this big set comes, and somehow I am perfectly positioned to get it, with nobody in sight. I drop in and it's P-E-R-F-E-C-T. It was slightly overhead and I maintained a mid-face line on the first section. The drop and my view of the wave was just like you see in surf movies. Unreal. It was peeling nicely and I managed to get on a higher line, do a cut-back, and then get on the high-line again setting up for a bottom turn. That bottom turn was probably the fastest I've gone on a surfboard in a controlled manner. Then I kept surfing it to the inside, cross-stepping a bit and just still not believing how good that wave was. I paddled back out and the guys were like "nice one" to which I could only grin. I was really overwhelmed for 5 minutes and fell like diving under water and screaming "DUDE" or something. After 15 minutes, I caught a small wave in, dropped on my stomach on the board and rode the white all the way in. What a session. And I can tell that today was "nothing" and that it can be MUCH better. If the tide had been a foot lower I think it would have blown my mind.
- Threes, 6:00AM-7:30AM
- on my 9'2''
- Paddled out with Paula who was trying her new 7'6''. Met Jim, Doug and later Ron in the line-up and that ueber-friendly Chinese guy whom I do not understand at all when he talks to me.
- Waist-high with a few bigger sets coming through, not consistent, really windy, but still rideable.
- Caught about 10 rides. I didn't surf well at all today, missed a couple of bigger ones because of poor positioning and timing. I had one good ride towards the end though, with a waist-high very well lined up and juicy little wave. It was such a difference from DH on Monday that I think I really had a hard time to adapt. I even pearled on one wave. I was trying to be ultra aggressive by being on the front of the board to try to make it down the face against the wind, but overdid it.
- At the end of the session it got amazingly windy. I was still riding but the wind was so strong that I had to close my eyes for sections that didn't require my immediate attention. It was crazy. I don't understand how it still stays rideable, but there were still nice waves coming through as I left the line-up.
- Threes, 5:45AM-7:30AM
- on my 9'2''
- Paddled out with Paula. Met Jim in the line-up. Three other guys from Alabama and an older shortboarder on a tiny board.
- Waist-high with a few bigger sets coming through, not consistent, windy, but a few good rides.
- Caught about 20 rides. Didn't surf very well and missed a few of the bigger waves because of poor placement. Messed up a couple of white water take-offs. Sort of off my game today, but manage some decent cross-stepping with "tow first heel second" working quite well.
- Something hilarious happened. One of the three guys from Alabama, the one who actually lives here tried to pick up Paula in the line-up! He approached her asking her if she was married, if she had found a mate, and if not if she knew what her mate would look like. Then he told her that he lived on the North Shore and that he took his friends here because they didn't really know how to surf. That was hilarious because they kicked ass and he couldn't catch a wave all morning. Then he asked her on a surf date, as in "you come to my house on the North Shore and we go surfing", because he said he was always looking for a surf partner. Unreal. We laughed about it for the rest of the session. Also that guy was about 20 years older than Paula and he was wearing these incredibly tight Hawaiian print shorts.
- 1 turtle on the inside.
- Cliffs, 6:30AM-8:30AM
- on my 9'2''
- with Mike. 7+ other people out.
- Windy, choppy, inconsistent, waves all over the place, but some big sets coming through. The two biggest had about 9ft faces and a few guys dropped in nicely. Only few guys had good rides though, the rest of us had a terribly hard time getting into the waves. Only the bigger sets were breaking and overcoming the chop. So there was no real middle ground: the only rideable waves for 6+ft faces.
- I caught 3 waves total, but didn't catch a single one for the first 45 minutes! I caught two lefts and two rights, all were hell to get into, 6ft faces, and both lined up nicely.
- On some of the bigger waves I really messed up by pulling out or by falling on the take-off. The chop and the wind made it so much harder to focus on what I had to do.
- I got caught inside of a bomb and had to ditch the board and dive. I stayed under quite a bit, being dragged by the leash for over 20 yards. Was happy to come back up.
- There was current and we had to paddle constantly. It really felt like being out at sea and there was some primal beauty in it all.
- I think that I really need to get used to surfing in choppy/windy big conditions. On one wave I was bouncing to much down the face that I fell. Basically I should have negotiated the bumps carefully as opposed to thinking that I could just absorb them with my knees.
- Mike brought his roommate's dog, Makalani (heavenly eyes). Awesome golden retriever, totally friendly and fetching stuff in the water. That dog also surfs! We tried to get her out on a board but she was too tired at that point and refused to do it. Next time.
- Paradise, 5:45AM-8:30AM
- on my 9'2''
- by myself, alone at first and then up to 15 people out
- Mostly glassy, knee- to waist-high faces, and the occasional chest-high set coming every 1/2 hours.
- Long pleasant sessions. Caught about 25 rides, most of them on the inside. Was in position for two of the bigger sets. On the first set I was alone on the wave and I had a great ride on a long right. On the second wave there was a guy on my right and I tried to take off straight although I was closer to the peak. I ate it and I could have made it at a steeper angle. On the bigger sets people just sort of took off without mush regard for right-of-way rules. As I was paddling out at some point I saw 6 guys take off on a chest-high wave all within a foot from each other. But the vibe was all about having fun and there was no aggressiveness really.
- On one of the bigger waves I was on the inside and there was this haole guys I'd seen before and who'd been a sitting duck all morning, unable to catch a wave. I was about 10 ft behind him and as I started preparing to turtle roll I noticed that he was setting up hi board parallel to the incoming breaking wave. I just had the time to think "what the hell?", turtled, and when I came back up his board was 1/2 a foot from mine. Of course he'd lost it. Unbelievable. That guy leaves here and has been surfing for years (based on conversations in the line-up). I couldn't believe he could do something SO stupid. I payed attention to him for the whole session. He did not catch a wave in 2.5 hours. He would paddle with both arms at the same time, and then spread his arms apart as if he was smoothly going down the face and preparing to take-off. The problem is that he was never giving that last stroke that would allow him to go down the face. It was unreal. All the locals were talking to him like he was an old timer, etc.
- I talked to quite a few people in the line-up, with most conversations started by the fact that I was riding a Stewart. Guys started asking me about California surfing. They were all totally into Rincon. Good thing I had surfed it once 6 months ago so that I could sort of provide a good story.
- Paradise, 5:45AM-7:30AM
- on my 9'2''
- paddled out with Paula, met Jim, Doug, and his friend Ann in the line-up, 2-3 other people out.
- A bit windy, not very consistent, but a few waist-high waves coming through with higher peaks, as usual with Paradise .
- Caught about 20 rides, with a few good take-offs on rights. Nothing to write home about.
- Surfed the inside between Threes and Paradise with Paula a little bit but it was just a small peak with short rides. We saw tons of sea urchins ("Wana", pronounced "Vah-na", which refers in fact to toxic sea urchins). The days of falling off the board at the end of the ride are over :)
- Paradise, 5:45AM-8AM
- on my 9'2''
- paddled out with Paula to Threes. Met Doug and Ann there, and after catching a few waves paddled to Paradise where we met Jim, Edgar, and that guy I hadn't met before, Glenn.
- Paradise was glassy at first and then a bit windy, not very consistent but with nice sets coming through, shoulder high on the peak and chest-high walls for the best ones. I went back and forth between the spot where Jim, Edgar, and Glen were and the spot where Doug, Ann, and Paula had stayed, closer the threes.
- I caught about 20 rides overall, with a few really fun take-offs.
- After everybody went home I was left alone with Glen and we talked. Really nice guy. He was a beach boy in the 50's and he owns a business taking tourists on tours of the neighboring islands. He told me exactly where to sit at Paradise to be in the right spot, which was really helpful. We talked about California surfing in cold water. Overall a very nice guy whom I hope to see again. He only surfs paradise for the rush of the drop on big days. He said it feels like Sunset Beach on bigger swells. There is a swell tomorrow and I may try to catch it before flying out to So Cal.
- Glenn told me about his friend who took off on a hollow left at Paradise at low tide, fell of the board in the shallows, and stepped on a wana. He had to have the spines surgically removed, had several infections, etc. Good thing I spotted them earlier and was wary of them.
- Many rainbows
- Threes, 5:45AM-7:30AM
- on my 9'2''
- paddled out with Jim, Doug, and a friend of Doug's. Met Paula in the line-up, and later Edgar and some other guys. There were about 20 other people at the peak.
- Glassy at times, windy at times, not very consistent with rather long lulls. Most sets were chest-high on the drop and the had waist+ high walls, many of them really well lined-up. A few bigger sets.
- The conditions were clearly not as good as what the forecast had said and there were too many people for too few waves. Several shortboarders who were on the inside. I heard a few of them say that they should've gone to the North Shore. Unclear given that the current swell on the North Shore is so messy from what I hear.
- Caught perhaps 20 rides, with 2 great lefts, some of the bigger ones. Especially one that was lined up all the way to the inside and on which I was able to hit the lip a couple times, right in the pocket. Really fun. I had several other good rides.
- I'd say I caught more wave than the average guy out there although I had to back off on quite a few not to drop in on people. Really friendly atmosphere out there though, really pleasant, beautiful weather, rainbows.
- Off to San Diego in a few hours, slated to surf there in the morning. I'll probably die in the cold water.
- Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 7AM-9:30AM, high tide at 5AM
- on Dario's 9'
- paddled out with Holly, Bucky, Shawn and his friend Jen. Nobody out for 1.5 hour, and then 3 young guys paddled out. They had asked me questions about the place in the parking lot and were all about knowing the name of all the spots. good thing I have them down pat now (stop laughing Dario).
- The tide was too high at first but I made the call for the Cliffs rather than Mission as Mission was already closing out at knee-high. As expected, the conditions at the Cliffs improved steadily as the tide dropped.
- Almost glassy, inconsistent, at first knee-high and at the end a few sets at shoulder-high on the take-off and waist-high walls. Not as good as Ab can be, but still pretty fun.
- Between the board that doesn't paddle nearly as good as my 9'2'' and the wetsuit that I was borrowing and that was too small, paddling was a bit of a challenge. But I still caught about 30 waves, with 2-3 nice lefts an a surprisingly nice right as well. Really fun out there and it was good being in the water with Holly again
- I tried Bucky's board for a bit while he was sitting on Dario's board. That board is really fun and I had 3 fun rides on it. Sort of narrow, pointy nose, very loose as well. Not the right board for him at all it turns out, but really fun for me.
- Overall a great session. Sunset Cliffs always delivers. Beautiful weather.
- Met Roland at Charlie's house and he said the surf was really going to pick up tomorrow. With very high tide at 6AM I'll try to surf in front of the house. There should be some corners.
- La Jolla Shores, 2:30PM-3:30PM, low tide at 1PM
- on a 9' rental epoxy Bic board.
- with Eddy. About 30 people out.
- Just went for a laugh while Eddy was in town for this conference I was organizing. This was during the time for the "excursion".
- Horrible conditions. Choppy. Foggy. Cold. Inconsistent. Waist-high close-outs. The works.
- Caught 4 rides that consisted of a scary take-off 10 yards from the shore, a quick bottom turn, and a jump back over the wave in 3ft of water. Quite ridiculous.
- There was a mean-looking shortboarder out with no wetsuit and tattoos everywhere. I feel like I had seen him before actually.
- 2 dolphins 10 yards away from us in the line-up.
- Diamond Head, Cliffs, 6AM-8AM,
- on my 9'2''
- by myself. Up to 20 other people out.
- First session after a 2-week hiatus.
- Glassy, knee- to waist-high with a few occasional chest-high sets, inconsistent but clean and organized.
- Caught about 20 rides, with 2 or 3 quite fun. Nice way to get back into things.
- On the way out it was pitch black, and this girl was getting OUT of the water. This guy said he saw her every morning here, surfing by herself at night. Can you say hard-core?
- Diamond Head, Cliffs, 6AM-8AM
- on my 9'2''
- by myself. Up to 25 other people out.
- Glassy, waist-high with a few chest-high sets, not as consistent as on Monday, but really good shape when sets came in.
- Caught 4 extra fun rides (all rights) during the first 45 minutes, long, with a nice wall to work on. Then caught another 10 or so rides as the conditions deteriorated a bit.
- The sunrise was absolutely beautiful and I realized that one can see Maui from the spot. Talked to a few people in the water. Definitely a mellow atmosphere out there.
- On one ride, probably my best one, I did a semi late take-off. nothing sketchy, but a couple years back I probably couldn't have made it. That guy who surfs with amazing style (I think I've mentioned him before) paddled back out and told me: "Nice wave dude!!" That was sort of unexpected. We talked a bit and he said "see you tomorrow" on the way out. Really friendly and fun, and an incredible surfer.
- Some of the conversation in the water was about sharks. Some guy said he was surfing on the leeward side and a 8ft shark went right by him in the water. The guy was like: "I guess he just wasn't interested".
- Threes, 6AM-8AM
- on my 9'2''
- with Jim, Edgar, and Ron. Nobody else out
- Ultra glassy, knee- to waist-high, with one shoulder-high set, inconsistent. Amazing sunrise.
- A very dreamy session, with ultra glassy perfect small waves. Caught about 20 rides, with 3 or 4 just beautiful ones.
- Some of the rides were just picture perfect, with a smooth take-off, low on my knees, bottom turning towards Diamond Head with the rising sun reflecting off the glass, the wave lining up. Slightly blinded by the sun I would go to a higher line as if in a dream, then straighten my legs and arch back a little bit as the wave is peeling on my thighs. Then, go down for the second bottom turn while looking at the coral bottom before looking at the molten glass again. I had about 3 such rides, and my last one was one of them, on a slightly bigger and more lined-up wave. During these rides it really hit me hard that surfing is a truly beautiful and soulful thing to do. It's just too bad that trying to describe why it's beautiful and soulful invariably makes you sound like some new-agey pontificating pseudo-philosopher poser.
- 1 sea turtle in the line-up
- Threes, 6AM-8AM
- on my 9'2''
- with Jim, Nathan, Doug, and 5 other guys out.
- Slight texture in the water, waist-high and slightly higher on sets, not consistent with long lulls.
- Caught about 20 rides, with a couple of nice rights and one good left.
- Toward the end of the session I sort of got in some guy's line as he was taking off. I made a bad call when reading the wave and he was sort of an asshole about it after I apologized about it. I had never seen the guy before and I guess he was pissed because he hadn't been catching any wave.
- Beautiful sunrise on Diamond Head.
- Threes, 6AM-7:30AM
- on my 9'2''
- with Jim, Ron, and two other guys out, a later Mitch.
- Slight texture in the water, knee-high, inconsistent.
- Sort of a sad session as the little swell we had yesterday already went down. Caught about 10 waves, with only one that could really qualify as a ride.
- Nice sunrise and conversations with people out there, so still nice to be in the water. Maybe tomorrow I'll try Diamond Head.
- Threes, 6:45AM-7:45AM
- on my 9'2''
- with Jim, Doug, and two other guys out
- Slight texture in the water, knee-high, inconsistent but better than yesterday.
- I checked Diamond Head and it was ugly, so I just came to Waikiki to just paddle out and then take my shower on the beach.
- Caught 10 waves, with 2-3 sort of ok, perhaps waist-high on the peak.
- Beautiful sunrise.
- I talked to Doug and we talked about going surfing the North Shore in the Spring sometimes. That would be great. Although it's difficult for me to go work-wise, I'll try to go to the NS once a week perhaps, unless it's huge. I hope it works out.
- Paradise, 6:30AM-6:45AM
- on my 9'2''
- with Jim, nobody else out
- Slight texture in the water, waist-high at best. Threes wasn't working at all, while Paradise had a few peaks. Not very consistent and a bit mixed up.
- Caught about 10 rides, which were sort of fun but nothing to write home about. It was still good to be out there. Beautiful day out there.
- Threes, Paradise, Pops, Paradise, Threes, 6:AM-7:30AM
- on my 9'2''
- Met Ron and Jim. 2-3 other people out.
- Glassy and almost completely flat. A few knee-high peaks.
- Paddled out at night under stunning moonlight and went to Threes. Caught one "wave" there. Paddled over to Paradise and saw a sea turtle on the way. It was still night, but I heard it breathe pretty loudly, which was weird.
- Once at Paradise, couldn't catch anything, so I paddled to Pops. I figured that I may as well get a work out of of this. There was one guy out at Pops, not very friendly. We didn't see a single wave come by in 20 minutes.
- Then I paddled to Canoes, caught a wave there, and came back to Pops, then to Paradise where I met up with Ron and Jim. We talked a bit. Ron caught the only two waves and went in.
- Jim and I then paddled to Threes where Jim caught his last wave. I tried to wait for my last wave, but gave up and paddled in.
- It's my last day before being off to Europe so I had to get wet. It was just completely beautiful out there, moonlight, stunning sunrise, glassy water, etc.