Today and last Saturday

Last Saturday was typical Venice - closed out with a lot of push. Hardly any long rides to be had aside from what was going on north side of the pier.

Today was so foggy I had to go on the pier to see how the conditions were. A little mushy with the high tide, but there were some fun ones out there.

Not quite as good as the past 2 days

A lot more lulls this morning than the past 2 days. I think the tide was a bit higher or the swell backed off just a hair.

All morning I tried "pig dogging", but failed miserably. I kept thinking in my head, "Lean into it and face forward" and "pig dog it".

Neither of which helped at all.

Much like yesterday

Another morning with pretty much nobody out north side. When I first got out there it was just me and Nathan sharing the fun lefts and rights.

There was a period when it became heavy as well, but it didn't last too long.

By the time I was out of the water at 7:30, there were about 5 people north side and about 20 people south side

Fun to Heavy in 0.4 Seconds

So walking a mile in your wetsuit at 6 am sucks. Walking a mile in a wet wetsuit sucks even more. I thought I would be slick and run hot water in my suit before I put it on. It was pretty awesome until about 3 minutes into my walk when the hot water became cold from the air temperature....

Now on to today's session.

Great conditions when I first got out at about 6:45. Glassy, good size and shape. There were only two other people out north side (the guy who takes the venice surf team out and someone else). They left a few minutes after I got into the water.

The rest of the session - I was by myself again! It was pretty sweet for the first 45 minutes. Got a bunch of lefts off the pier. I had a few weak attempts at doing some backside snaps but I really don't think I did them well. For some reason I wasn't timing them right or going high enough on the wave.

I even tried a backside tube, but I felt like I was just sticking my ass on the wave. I should really try to pivot my body more so it is facing forward instead of sideways.

Around 7:30 - big massive sets rolled through that pretty much closed out the north side. The nice lefts pretty much disappeared.

Hopefully my string of luck continues tomorrow morning and nobody is out for another half hour while I am out there.

Pretty fun today!

This ride felt better than it looked in pictures. Ha!

Actually what made it fun was the fact that I had the pier to myself for about 20 minutes. When I first got out it was Guy and his wife and they left right after I got there.

Fun lefts off the pier, some rights. Probably 1 out of every 4 waves was fun.

By the time I left there were only about 4 people northside (including me).

Why did it look better after I got out of the water

2-3 feet, cold water, warm weather. It's half way between summer and winter. I just didn't like the 2-3 foot part. Kinda mushy too - it made me wish I had my fish today.

Monday is supposed to be a little bit bigger, so hopefully the report stays true.

Freezing cold and small

I was optimistic this morning - unfortunately the tide and small size didn't help my optimism.

There were a few people out, but there were no waves to be had. Hopefully tomorrow will be better and I think I am going to bring the fish out with me.

Report from Saturday

So glad I brought out my 4/3 on Saturday, because it was freaking cold. Air temp was cold, water was cold. It's definitely not Summer anymore (at least in the early morning).

The conditions were much better than it looked from afar. There was a little bit of wind (side wind) that made it seem like a cold Hawaii.

The NW proved to be pretty fun - I got a bunch of long rights Northside and when it got crowded I moved Southside and got a few more.

Still fun today but more people

So the NW is starting to hit this morning. There were a few rights to be had North Side in front of the first lifeguard tower. Unfortunately, there were more people and they saw the exact same peak that I did.

Hopefully the NWer this weekend will be as good as I hope it will be.

After my session a photographer that I have been seeing on the pier lately came up to me and told me that he had some pictures of me surfing. Of course I thought to myself, "sure pictures - bet they're $5 each or something".

But, to my surprise, he gave me a set of prints for free. He didn't even say that I could get more for a fee. Kind of weird. He had a bunch of prints for the different people he had been taking pictures of.

Score!

Good day today

Today was definitely the best day so far. Why? Because there was hardly anyone out! I actually had the north part of the pier to myself for about 20 minutes.

Good weather, glassy, good size. Today you wanted to take the set waves because they had the most juice.

There was a guy who had a sick barrel off of the pier today as well.

Decrease in size, more shoulders out there

Tony getting a pretty long ride.

A little bit smaller today, but the set waves were still close out crushers. I got out at about 6:30 and there were already 4 people in the water. Most of my longer waves I was just trying to make the section. No crazy anything at the end of the ride.

A few guys by the pier were getting some sick barrels. One dude even air dropped on one.

Weather was nice, glassy conditions, no wind. Should be good all day.

Friday, Saturday and Today

Wish this was a picture of me, but it was the dude beside me who took this wave.

Friday was the first day of the swell and it was probably the best day over the last 4 days. I probably should have taken the day off and surfed all day that day. Good size, good shape, glassy, off shore, blah blah blah. It was awesome.

Saturday was stormy, big and closed out. Lots of folks despite the crappy conditions. Lots of gnarly locals too - there was a dude who dropped in on a local and everybody was screaming at him to "get the f@#$ outta here". Pretty nuts. That's why I stay away from that part of north side when it is crowded.

Sunday looked better, but I wasn't in the water.

Today was big and closed out again. The only good thing about today was that there were only 3 people in the water when I first got out till about 7:30. It was me, Nathan and someone else. Despite the big ass closeouts, you could pick which ones to take. When Jaime paddled out it just seemed like everything was big and closed out, not just the set waves.

Wave of the day goes to Nathan today because he took a sick left south side. Total props for him going balls out on that wave.

Almost good

The conditions were almost perfect today - good size, good weather, glassy. Unfortunately 90% of the waves were closing out.

I started out just north of the pier and just tried to get some sort of a corner. But like I said, 90% of everything was closing out.

Random news for the day - I saw the older brother from that show Prison Break in the water. I don't think he was trying to blend in too well because he was wearing a black/neon green wetsuit. He looked like he was having a tough time paddling around.

As the crowd filled in I moved south side and I was trying to get this barreling right that was breaking right in front of the first lifeguard tower. My last attempt I almost made it through, but missed it by about 2 feet.

Everyone got a little beat up today because there is some juice in the water. I bet it's pretty good right now with the tide.

Waa-wooooooooo

This morning was another "waaa-woooo" day. I started early and posted up just north of the pier - got a few small lefts, but nothing too exciting.

As the crowd started to fill in I moved farther north.

And... that's all I have to say about this morning. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!