Not as good as it looked

This is probably one of the few times I am going to say this, but it was definitely not as good as it looked.

There was a pickup in size, where most of the waves were waist to chest high and some head high cleanup sets rolling through. The difficulty with today was finding a shoulder that would push all the way through.

I started off right in front of the south side lifeguard tower but decided to move closer to the pier because there were a lot of beginners in my area who went for every decent wave that came through.

The only problem with the pier was the rip that pulled you out towards the ocean. I ended up paddling a lot just to stay in position.

I moved back by the lifeguard tower and got a few decent rides. Tomorrow is supposed to be much bigger and I am wondering if Venice will hold up.

At least the weather is nice

Cold water, small surf. The only eventful thing that happened today was my left hand slipped as I was doing a duckdive and my board smashed my face.

Fun when I first got out

Despite the high tide, there were definitely some fun ones out there. I thought it would be closing out and nasty, but they held up enough to get a few turns in. I spent most of my time just paddling to stay in position.

By the time I left it was starting to get washed out and the set waves were few and far between.

Some good ones out there

There were definitely some good ones out there this morning, but you had to wait through the closeouts and mushburgers that rolled through.

I had two good ones that made my day - both righthanders - that were just sweet and held up down the line.

Not a lot of progression for today, but at least I had some good rides.

Smallest day of the week, but still surfable

Got out this morning at 6:45 and there was a pretty good amount of people already out. North side looked better, so I thought I would start out there. As always, it was too packed in the good takeoff spot, so I ended up paddling south again.

Not much to write about today; the surf was pretty small with a few bigger shoulder high set waves. Tomorrow should be better.

The weather is pretty awesome too.

Like yesterday, but a little smaller

Got out this morning a little bit later, so there was a good number of people in the water. Surf was still on the mushy side, but still fun.

I actually had what I thought would be a good opportunity to finally get my board out of the water. Got a few pumps in, saw a nice ramp and - floater. I think I needed more speed. Frustrating as hell.

Here's what I have been reading:

1. It's better to try them when the wind is onshore
2. Don't do a bottom turn
3. Keep a high line
4. Look for a ramp section or a vertical section to launch off of
5. Before you take off, shift your weight from your back foot to your front foot
6. Keep centered on the board

Seems easy enough. (Yeah right.)

My resources:
http://www.orcasurf.co.uk/carve/tips/carve-tips-punt.htm
http://surfing.about.com/od/surfinstruction/a/aerial101104.htm
Every surf video that is being sold right now

Better than yesterday

Not a lot of chop today, so the sets were much cleaner than yesterday. Still mushy from the high tide, but there were definitely a lot of good ones to be had.

I started off just south of the pier, but kept getting rights and ended up close to the end of the parking lot.

In my mind I just want to blast my tail out of the water or pop my board out at the end, but I keep getting caught on the lip. I seem to be stuck right now and I can't figure out how to beat it. I think I just need some more speed as well as a little bit of lip.

Much better day today

Got some shoulder high surf this morning with some chop from last night's windy conditions. By the time I got out at about 6:30, there were already about 4 people in the water and they looked like they were getting some good rides.

The surf was pretty fun, but it took me a while to figure out where to position myself. I started out right by the pier but I was too far out. I tried moving south of the pier and got a few,but then realized you had to be by the pier and not as far out because the waves were pretty mushy.

Got a few fun rights south side and had a smile by the time I left.

I realized today that when all the good local surfers are grouped together, I need to find my own spot because I do a lot better. When I post up with a bunch of guys that are good, I don't get a lot of rides plus my mind is always doubting my ability.

Late report for Saturday and the one for this morning

Saturday was actually pretty fun - I was out for about 2 hours south side and surfed with Brett and Craig. The swell was a mix of really soft late breakers and some bigger closeouts. If you found the right wave, you could get a few turns in.

Today I decided to go North side and tried to get some lefts a little farther north from where everyone else was. Not much luck there. I saw Tony, Jaime and another person get a bunch of fun rights right off the pier.

I realized how little I knew about the science of surf when Tony asked me if I knew how sand bars worked - I just had to shake my head and say no. He went into a brief explanation of watching the surf and seeing where the current was going.

I think I need to start learning about these things to improve my positioning in the water. Right now, I just check out to see where it is breaking, paddle out, try to find a peak and figure it out from there. I should probably check it out and have a good idea of what is going on before I even hit the water. I think that is why Tony and Jaime always get such good positioning in the water.

Current, Current and More Current

Got out this morning and you could see the waves move from north west to south east pretty rapidly. The four guys in the water were paddling for most of their session and this indicated a strong current.

The good side - shoulder high surf with makeable sections. I got one that I was a little late on, but developed slowly. If the conditions were better I think it would have barrelled.

Fun Session!

Kind of funny how it worked out today...

When I first got to the pier it looked pretty bad - super flat and the tide was really low. I thought I would just paddle around and do nothing.

As I was paddling out, I realized that there were these nice rights coming off of the south side of the pier that had some awesome shape! For the first half hour I was out there by myself, getting right-barrel after right-barrel (that would close out at the end, but still fun). I couldn't believe it! I kept checking the beach to see if anyone was coming out, but no takers...

People finally started rolling in at 7 am - my guess was because they could actually see the true proportion and shape of the waves when I was in the water.

By the time I left at 7:30 there was a good amount of people in the lineup. Fortunately for me, I was already pretty tired from taking all of the empty, unsolicited waves.

What a great session - I just happened to be in the perfect spot at the perfect time.

Horrible choices make horrible surf sessions

Looks like my surf strategy for last Friday and today were unsuccessful. I ended up not getting a lot of rides and doing a lot of waiting.

On Friday, the surf was big and closed out, but there were a few makeable sections. Although North Side looked better, I thought it would be a gnarly paddle out, so I ended up paddling out South Side in front of the first lifeguard tower. I just ended up in the middle of some pretty big closeouts and had a handful of rides.

Today, I was the first person out because it looked really flat. I saw a few set waves come through so I figured I would just wait for those all morning. I tried North Side first and didn't get anything. I moved to South Side and got a few set waves, but had to wait 10 minutes in between.

When more people started rolling up, they all decided to get the insiders. There was this one kid on a fish that was getting pretty long rights. I, on the other hand, sat and waited.

So the moral of the story is still the same: positioning and timing mixed in with strategy. Get 2 of the 3 wrong, you are looking at a crappy session.