Ciao!

Well today was definitely more of a ground swell versus yesterday's wind swell. The larger waves were generally closed out, so you had to either paddle all the way to the end of the wave or you had to wait for a medium sized one.

When I got out, Ronnie was already in the water. I don't know how he surfs when it is still dark.

By the time I left there were about 15-20 people north and 15 people south.

Going on vacation till the 9th! Peace!

Surprisingly fun!

Pathetic shot of me watching 2 guys split a peak.

Thought today was going to be a lot like yesterday but smaller. I was really suprised to see a lot of white caps when I walked out at sunrise! There was a pretty good wind swell that gave a lot of peaks here and there. It was definitely fun for sure!

On top of that there were only a handful of people out there. The waves were a little weird because they broke really quick with a steep angle and then died off.

Did the best I could with what was out there

The morning sky en fuego.

Here's how today went down:

Paddle out...... wait for 10 minutes..... catch 1 or 2 small waves..... wait for another 10 minutes.... catch a small wave..... wait for another 10 minutes.... catch a decent left....

You get the point. I never regret going out in the water though. As you can tell, the sunrise was pretty nice and the weather was pretty good.

Only 2 other guys in the water with shortboards. They weren't catching much either.

Nothin doing

It was a nice run until today. Really soft and mushy with little power. 25 people out as early as 7:30 am and... not much to write about.

Can't believe it was fun again today

Maybe this dude should have gone right instead. Still fun though!

Yep, another fun day with some shoulder high cleanup waves breaking on the outside. When I first got there it was dark and really foggy - but there were 5 people out in the water already.

Suited up at first light and when I got there I realized the tide/swell size combination was perfect. Lots of fun lefts and rights with plenty of face to spare.

The fog burned off at around 7:15 and the crowd slowly disappeared. By 8:00 though, the tide killed everything and made everything too soft to get into.

Soft, slow, few and far between

Got out this morning at about 6:35 and someone actually went in the water a little earlier than me. I found out later he was just excited about his new board.

The swell definitely has backed down today. Even with the tide at sunrise being a little lower than yesterday, there was just barely enough push to get shoulder high sets in every 5-10 minutes. If you did get into the set, however, the waves were pretty fun.

British kid, Anne, Myself and the dude who beat me to the water, Steven, were the people out this morning. The crowd started to show up around 7:30.

Here is some interesting information from aspworldtour.com about the world title race:

Here are the Foster's ASP World Tour Title Scenarios as we head to the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro:

• If Mick Fanning wins in Brasil he clinches the World Title.
• If Mick gets 2nd, Taj Burrow needs to win the event and Kelly Slater is out of the World Title race.
• If Mick gets 3rd, Taj needs a 2nd and Kelly is out of the race.
• If Mick gets 5th, Taj needs a 3rd and Kelly needs a 1st.
• If Mick gets 9th, Taj needs a 5th and Kelly needs a 2nd.
• If Mick gets 17th, Taj needs a 9th and Kelly needs a 3rd.
• If Mick gets 33rd, Taj needs a 9th and Kelly needs a 3rd.

Does it make sense? You can check out more info here: http://www.aspworldtour.com/2007/showdown.asp

Another fun day on tap

Yep, I actually thought that today was not going to be as fun as yesterday. I was glad to be wrong!

Got out right at sunrise (as you can tell from the picture) and didn't get the rides I wanted to until the sun came out a little more. Today, I was actually able to redo the same left I had yesterday - and it wasn't even my best wave! The better waves today were the rights because they didn't die off. I whussed out on splitting the pier though.

From 6:45 to 7:30 it was just Anne (The Venice High College Counselor), the British kid and me. It was awesome because we had the pick of the litter and everyone had great rides. Anne had a sweet right that I figure she will be thinking about all day.

At 7:30 the pier became pretty crowded with a ton of people I didn't recognize. Heard some of the locals that were on the pier yelling to the crowd, "Get out k%%k!" Also, as I was walking out of the beach, saw some other regulars saying that we should localize the pier to keep it from getting crazy.

My guess is that the crowds were due to the good weather and people not being able to go to Malibu. I bet as the weather starts to get colder, it will thin out the crowds and leave room for the locals who are out there all the time.

For me, it didn't really matter today since I had my fill of good waves. So much so, in fact, I can't even focus on just one.

Super Fun!!!

As expected, the tide really softened up the 4-6' SW. There were 3 peaks this morning - north of the pier, south of the pier and about 100 meters south of the pier. I was so excited to get out there, I could barely wait for the sun to come up.

Had some good rights north side that had a little bit of push, but the wave of the day for me was a siiiiiiick left that took me past the first lifeguard tower. I was so far down, I had to walk back instead of paddle back. I had a bunch of turns and tried hitting the turns as high as possible.

The best part - there were witnesses!! wohoo!

Only a handful of people when I was out there, but I had to get out by 7:30. As I was driving off, I saw a bunch of the regulars either paddling out our suiting up.

Today was awesome and empty

This is what I saw this morning before the sun came out - the Malibu fires. Photo taken from venicesurfreport.com.

I couldn't believe how good today was. The report said 4'-7' for both a NW and SW swell. High tide was at 7 am, so the conditions turned out to be perfect. I was out North of the pier by myself from 6:30 to 7:30.

The mixed swell produced some closeouts, but there were a combination of lefts and rights. The high tide made the sections makeable and not so nasty.

I had a few waves where I did some good turns, but I still found myself pulling out instead of tucking into the barrel. Damn you, backside barrel, damn you.

Torrey Pines Report

Pic I found online of Torrey Pines State Beach.

So I got to surf Torrey Pines last Saturday because I had to go to a wedding in San Diego. Unfortunately, my session wasn't that great because:

• I always get sketched out when I go to a new place
• There was significant size
• The paddle out was pretty far - I should have brought a bigger board

Conditions were pretty good that day aside from the fact that it was a little foggy. I had only a handful of waves during the hour I was out.

You actually had to take them pretty late but when you got one it was pretty good with plenty of face.

On a good note, as I was driving home I saw this little area where there were a lot of people eating. When I saw the sign, it was Roberto's! My favorite mexican fast food place. I had to stop and eat. Carne asada burrito and fries please!

Much Mushier Today

Yep that is me trying to get into a mushburger.

Yep, a definite decrease in awesomeness today. Very mushy so I was glad to bring the fish out. Great weather, glassy, cool vibe for the people in the water.

I'm heading down to San Diego this weekend - and I'm bringing the Merrick.

Much better than yesterday

I was surfing just north of these folks.

Definitely a little more size and push today. I brought the fish out which also gave me a little bit of an advantage because I could get into the softer waves.

There were also a lot of people early in the morning, including (from what whiffleboy told me) the Venice High surf team. That little nugget of information actually made me feel a lot better because I always thought they were just a bunch of high school kids surfing - they usually crowd up the north side of the pier. Since I found out they were training, I respectfully let them do their thing and surfed in front of the first lifeguard tower.

Tomorrow should be way better with a little more size. Bringing out the Merrick for sure!

A little more size, but not quite there

Today you could tell that there was a NW coming in, but the conditions were inconsistent and mushy. Every once in a while there were really good ones but I would find myself too far inside to catch them. When I sat on the outside, it would take forever to catch one. It actually looked pretty good farther north, so I paddled over and found that it was mostly closed out. Like so many other times, it looked better from the side.

All the regulars were out, including my fellow blogger whiffleboy. It was good to see him out especially since he mentioned that he would only be a weekend warrior.

I'm really hoping tomorrow will be a lot better.

Not horrible, but not awesome

Looks like Bobby Martinez won at Mundaka. It's still a pretty tight race for number 1 between Mick, Kelly and Taj. Photo from aspworldtour.com.

The surf today was okay at best. I think because of the mixed swell and high tide, the waves were inconsistent, mushy and closed out. I saw a few corners here and there but for the most part it was a better day for people with longboards.

There was this other dude in the water who asked me how my blog was. I was actually a little shocked. Now my readership is up to 3 people. I originally got this thing going because my friend who moved to Seattle wanted some surf updates.

Kind of scary to think that people outside of people you know could possibly read these things. As far as I know, I've been pretty good about not writing anything too bad.

This evening and tomorrow should be much better. There is a decent NW coming in so I am hoping there will be some fun peaks tomorrow.

Gross

Me making a dumbass decision.

Today is the first time I have gotten out of the water because of how nasty it was. I woke up pretty early, but because it was overcast I had to wait until abou 6:40 before I even decided to get in the water. I should have known better when I saw the shoreline full of trash.

It looked decent since there is a mixed windswell and I thought I would be able to try some of the lessons in the "flaring" section of my book. Unfortunately, the only thing that may be flaring today will be my skin from all the rashes.

When I was paddling, my hands hit trash. When I was sitting, my feet hit trash. It was too much for me to handle. I was out of there in 10 minutes, got home and took a long ass shower.

Hopefully tomorrow it will be better.

Woke up at 5 am

Dane Reynolds video I found on youtube.
Since I missed getting out yesterday, I made it a point to be out there as early as possible today (5:40 am). Paddled out with Ronnie and another person right before first light and we were doing pretty good guessing which waves were makeable.

By the time the sun started to rise there were about 8 people in the water.

Conditions today weren't as glassy as yesterday and the size dropped a little bit. Waves were definitely mostly mush so you either had to wait for the big ones outside or be satisfied with the insiders.

I recognized a few people today and talked a little bit with this british kid who just started surfing the pier. He pointed at Jaime and said, "I don't think that guy likes me." Actually, when I got close enough to Jaime he told me that he wasn't happy about the crowd this morning. Kind of funny, because I have had moments surfing the pier when I thought Jaime didn't like me either.

I wasn't too happy about the crowds today either. Here are the two incidents I experienced:

• On what looked to be the wave of the day, a dude on a longboard failed to get out of my way fast enough so I hit the tail of his surfboard
• On another good wave, there were 2 bodyboarders that were definitely in harm's way

For the most part though, I didn't care because I was out there surfing and trying to have a good time. I was just using a lot of juice trying to paddle into the mushies.

Size is going to back down a bit again tomorrow so I think I will bring the fish out. Hopefully it doesn't rain today because I rode my motorcycle to work.

Can't believe I slept through my alarm!!!

I didn't see this happen but I saw this dude in the water. Got this pic from the venice surf report.

Yeah, I got out there at 7:30 and all the regulars were just getting out. Really good shape, size and conditions today - which pissed me off even more.

It took me a few minutes to figure out the sweet spot because the wave started off real slow but when it picked up it was a steep takeoff. Also, when you were halfway to shore, the wave would slow down before the reform.

Strated off north in front of the lifeguard tower but kept paddling back and forth by the pier. I really tried to make up for lost time, even if I didn't have to.

Much like yesterday

GO MICK!!!! Hope you get the world title this year!
Poto ASP Cestari/Covered Images

There were more waves today, but it was a little choppier and a little softer. I literally had to jump to the nose of my board and sit on the inside to get decent rides. Again, there were lots of people out both North and South side. I opted to stay south side this morning.

It's also true that you are most likely to get into a surfing accident when the conditions are crappy and small. Today when I fell off my board and stood up my head hit the fins of my board because it was right on top of me. I also had a situation where the board flipped upside down while I was riding it and my ass landed on the fins.

The dudes with the shortboards were having a pretty rough time this morning too. Glad I brought the fish and I bet the dudes with the longboards were glad they brought the extra wood.

Tomorrow should be good. Gonna be out there bright and early for sure.

Blek

Me blowing it on a wave. Haha!

Pretty dull this morning. There were a few hopefuls that rolled through but nothing worth writing home about. I paddled south and caught a few rides early in the morning and as the day progressed it got a little bit better.

Lots of people out this morning too - pretty weird. I guess the weather just brings everyone out in droves.

I also tried to shoot the pier today and failed miserably. I was actually inbetween two pylons when the wave closed out. Luckily for me, there was no (apparent) damage to my fish. Felt kind of like a dumbass. Haha.

As a final note, I tried to really be conscienscious (sp?) about keeping a higher line this morning. I think in the past I have been looking at a line about 20% too low. Seems to be working so far. Hopefully I can keep it up as the waves get bigger and better.

Real slow morning

South side of the pier.

Got out this morning and was hoping for some good stuff. Surf report said it would be 3-4' SW, so I was hoping to get some nice machine lefts off the pier.

When I got there, it was pretty soft and mushy. I kind of saw some sets roll through southside, but I opted to go with the old faithful. I had 2 decent lefts and 2 semi-mushy rights. After that, I sat there for 10 to 15 minutes watching sets roll through south side.

I finally decided to paddle south side and - voila! got some pretty fun rights. They came every 5-10 minutes but definitely workable and fun. Too bad it started to get decent around 8 am.

I think as the tide starts going down it's going to be awesome.

Oh and one new thing - I learned to pick a higher line (visually). It really helped me to get down the line faster.

Better conditions but a little smaller

...and ridiculously crowded. When I first got out there there were about 5 of us. Within half an hour the number tripled.

Got my share of rides north and then paddled south when it got too gnarly due to all the people. It was funny because that is where all the local dudes were.

Got some good rights, but not as epic for me as yesterday.

EPIC

I saw the dude taking this shot as I was walking out this morning. As you can tell, it's still pretty dark out! There were 4 kids already paddling in as I was walking up.

Today was one of the best, if not the best sessions I have ever had. My brain is still going bonkers from all of the adrenaline and sensory overload. When I walked out this morning I could see the lines in the water in the dark. I could also see white caps peeling southward due to the (strictly) NW swell.

It didn't look that big from the beach, but when I got out there, there was definitely some size in the water. Fortunately, the good combination of the tide and the swell direction made the bigger ones more than makeable.

The only bad news was the paddle out. It was pretty brutal because of all the water that was moving. I actually had to get out, walk north to the lifeguard tower then paddle in. The current was pulling south like a mofo.

I had a few sweet rights where I started from the lifeguard tower just north of the pier to the pier. Man, I was grinning from ear to ear with those.

I didn't even have to paddle too hard to get into them. I just paddled and got up as quickly as I could and got into it. The faces were big enough to do nice wide turns.

I also saw a fellow blogger out there in the water. Unfortunately I think he brought the wrong tool for the job. I'm not sure what happened to him - he may have moved south or left to get another board. It was pretty cool to finally meet him though! Watup Whiffleboy!

Today I just stayed in the water for an hour and a half. My body is exhausted from the paddling and surfing.

Till tomorrow!

F-ing Crowded

Ronnie on one of the better sets of the morning.

So today is the second day in a row that I paddled out with other people when it was still dark. Once the sun picked up, the fog rolled in, so half of my morning I spent guessing which waves were good.

There was also a mixed swell so there were peaks up and down the beach. Since the tide was pretty high, the best waves were either the insiders or the bigger cleanup sets.

Surprisingly, there were a lot of people today. I'm not a mean person in the water, nor do I enjoy using the word "kook", but today really tested my patience. There were a few newbs in the water, which is fine to me since I was a newb myself. I am also fine with the occassional drop in by a newb who doesn't know any better.

What urks me the most is when people don't have courtesy in the water. Say sorry if you cut someone off on accident. Make the best effort to get out of the way if someone is coming down the line. Don't try to take off on all the waves and blow them at the same time.

I'm definitely willing to give up a few waves here and there and forgive people who accidentally drop in on a ride or two. Just say sorry and be considerate of others. Today was the first time I saw Guy get mad. I never thought he could get mad. He actually told one of the guys to go surf down the beach. What's the world coming to?

Anyway, tomorrow should be significantly bigger so I am hoping it will weed out some of the other people.

15 people beat the sun to the lineup

Siargao Island during the Billabong Invitational last month.

So I woke up a bit early today to try to catch some sets before anyone else showed up, but when I got there there were two people getting ready and a group from Venice high getting ready to suit up. There were a ton of people out there even before the sun was out.

There is a mixed swell today, but it is pretty soft and mushy. I probably should have brought the fish instead of my shortboard. Every once in a while there will be a set with a little size, but with the crowd factor it wasn't too fun at all.

By the time I left, the high school kids were gone but there was a new batch of people coming in.

No, this isn't me

But I was there when Jaime did it. Today was much more consistent than yesterday, with sets coming in every few minutes and really nice ones from the pier about every 10 minutes. Had a few good rides and there were only three of us out there - me, Jaime and Anne. We were having a blast with plenty of waves to share.

And I have to say, Anne is one of the most awesome people ever. Again today she brought a great vibe and made the session enjoyable.

Jaime also said that he saw me get some good rides yesterday - Respect!

Fun again with no one out

Pretty amazing that no one was out today. I checked the report and it said "Flat". The truth was that there was a pretty strong pulse every 10 to 15 minutes that belched out some pretty sick lefts off the pier. I was pretty much by myself for the entire session.

A friend of mine also sent me this sick video of the Philippines:
http://www.surfline.com/video/video_player/video_player.cfm?id=11372

It looked so awesome. Glad to see that my country is starting to get some press!