Maui for me and my sweetie

So I am on the plane to Maui today 12/2/11
This comes after a rough week and an abominably hard day at work, trying to clean up everything...
going to trunks city for 7 days.
I hope to forget my worries for awhile and show my lady some good times.
I hope for good surf and that I may find it.
I hope

What I liked about today is

that it was all un-expected.
Yesterday, after work I only had 1 hour of light left to pack the truck up and get to the water and surf...and I choose not to do it.
Last night I saw a picture of a wave from that evening @ Terramar and I wished I could have gone.
In anticipation of a good morning surf if rain,wind, and tide didn't muck it up, I got up @ at 0500 and headed out towards the beach through the pouring rain, and thought to myself that it wouldn't be worth it and turned around and went swimming at the gym instead.
Saw the cam at noon and there were head high glassy lines breaking soft.
Planned the tide turn around and went out with Dave.
Started raining hard.
Got in and had a great time.
4-5 good rights at the palms with glassy shoulder high fat ones.
I expected another hard paddle out but it wasn't a problem.
I expected difficulty getting into these waves, but I brought the right board and it was GOOD.
Stoked
and
thankful.

surf on

I've been there before....

Having to look in the Mirror

Today @ 730AM nobody was out .
@ 8AM I went out

never made it outside...

Simply didn't have the strength,wellness, and will to make it through 4 steps of white water waves to get to the breaking faces. tried 2 times...once at the reef with someone and once at Ted's house. Both were un sucessfull attempts. I will not offer a single excuse although many come to mind LoL.

Point is

I have been here before

I'm stoked for trying
and
I know what must be done.

Got......

only one really decent wave last night,

however it was still good for me. Stood maybe 10 times in weak close to shore knee high stuff, then got an outside wave and made a couple nice turns with the big board and rode it in....
Warm TRUNKED it
nice and glassy
nobody out there really

stoked

The tide is turning...

around now I can feel it.....thankfully I think its coming in.
A month out of the water is a long time, even for, comparatively, a virtual novice as I am.
3 weeks of bad back (thought I was over that,nope think again sucka) and a week of sever flu or whateverness.. Work has been a real piece of work and stress for some time.
But its all winding down for now
all of it,
breathe.

Oh I have done much longer stints..
a hahahaha,
way freakin longer.
But this one has been pretty long as well.
It started almost almost 6 months ago with a lapse in my surfing ability. I plateaued and was , well just really kookin' it up each session.
It was getting to me, to my confidence.
Then, a few months into that crap, I saw a friend commenting to/with my other friends about my flailing in the water whilst going for waves and laughing about
it.
This would have been alright
except
it was behind my back
and it felt not so hot. Well that combo'd up with the rest really tanked me.
I REALIZE IT WAS ME WHO ALLOWED IT TO SNUFF MY STOKE BUT.... IT SNUFFED IT OUT.
Anyways I am getting it back.
I got in the water for the first time in a month... yesterday afternoon.
I only saw one dude, "Hank" that I knew and spoke 1 sentence to, which was fine.
The others were a couple chicks who could surf real well and a few mellow longboarders.
Hot weather, glass, and some small cruisers.
Sweet
STOKED.... yep I was stoked
YEAH
stoked
No more sick
No more bad back
No more bad vibes
Gliding
grinning
Stoking it up, burn on.

It's gonna be hard

Finding my stoke again is hard.
Forces are working against me.
I will find it though.

Got a call from Pat and Dave, my surf buds.
Perfect weather
Perfect glass @ 5PM
Not too crowded
Hot.
Waves.
So very trunkable ! ! !

so many body issues holding me down

I will find it again....just as before...., just not this perfect day.

Wow YDD is BACK

http://yourdailydonkey.blogspot.com/

MAYBE THIS WILL REKINDLE MY STOKE ! ! ! !

Nice day out there....seems like awhile really

First went at 0530, no wind but so drained out. Someone said the water was cold.
I tossed that around then called my buddy DAVE
. "Go out later" says he.
I scramble it a bit more and decide to shine it.
Went home.

Return at 0930 with the incoming tide.
Got a few waist highs with some shoulder.
SUNNY
TRUNKS
A couple FRIENDS
Made it over to the reef for what looked to be better stuff and got 3
2 of those were pretty fun.
Ran into my sons life long buddy John Michael and his dad,

who shaped this latest woody.....pretty board .
Pretty Good day !

surf on...

In Memory of our Best

Thank you all for fighting for US,
sacrificing for our continued freedom and the freedom of others forever !

surf on

Had a good walk on the Ocean today.Thanks South swell

Finally the old fat dude gets a few......every dog has his day and I am so glad I got some of this South Swell. The reef was firing off with occasional sets that were, well, pretty big, considering the last months of our local conditions here. Dave and I chose to stay in between the reef and 5 palms. For every 6 waves at the reef, we might get two for us that were OK. I think the wave ratio for us was better as at about 0700 there looked like 15 or more people there.
I was kinda hoping to just go there and get 1 big one, but I did get about 3 nice rides and 1 very nice one. Got some real length of ride on this nice left. I haven't had that for awhile it seems.

Yep got to walk on the water today and it did the soul good.....real good !

ThE WaVes KeeP On cRAshiNG on mE

for some reason
all kidding aside
the last week of surfing has shaken my confidence level to the ground.
Today I went at about 1000 AM to try to get the tide at the right point.
Trunks,sunny, a few peaks and shoulders starting to show with minimal wind and "almost" glassy conditions....nice
I got a couple rides that were cool...

however
I got a few that weren't cool at all.
again
FOR THE 4TH DAY NOW
superlative pearling,
pitches,
side-o-the-face smack downs,wondering if I'm gonna drive my head thru the board kinda shit.
Of course, all while in the presence of my SUPER alter ego,
3 surfers whom I respect greatly, Ted, mike, and Kyle
and GOD ALMIGHTY.
Thankfully they were the only people out I knew.
My head is still ringing a bit from one super bitch slap I took.
JUST BITCH SLAPPED !
I have cartwheeled, pearled, been tossed over, caught rails, floated into 6 feet of air then free fallen on the board straight down to the bottom,
more in 4 days
than I have in...well, what seems to be 4 years.
Of course that doesn't count the major
medical, life threatening,
cosmic BITCH SLAP of 3.2 years ago,
that lasted, in earnest, for 3 months and dragged on for,
well....
Alrighty then...
I guess, considering,I have hope eternal.
I'm still very stoked....
Yes I am ! !
I am.
Surf on.

What I like about.................Saturdays surf

is that I AGAIN got VERY little and
again will paddle out tomorrow, knowing that it may be the same,
but it will be equally as gratifying, in some strange and beautiful way, as if it were epic conditions.

To a degree that is

surf on...

What I like about ..............this weeks surf

Was getting my ass kicked over and over for no apparent reason other than to remind me that

I have a long way to go
a huh huh

Sound weird ?

Last Saturday I went out and I got about 12-15 waves in 40 minutes
Easter Sunday I went out and I got about 1-2 waves in 40 minutes
and
watched the reef going off in the distance.
Thursday went out with Pat and Dave in the PM
Yeah too high tide but......
I'm catching rails, cart-wheeling off the front of the board on jacking high tiders, falling,
did a truly epic pearl virtually sinking my whole 10'3" big board and my face.
etc.etc
Today, Friday, I take the day off to hang with Laurie on her birthday,
but sneak out for a 0600 am surf.
I paddle out reluctantly(peaky close and soupy on the inside)
and it's a kinda tough paddle.
I finally get outside with only 1 other....Stewart.
I got one actual wave right about then, the rest of it was another lesson in humility.
Paddled for many a shoulder/head high peak caught 3 really.Those 3 were jacking so high by the time I could descend that my 10'3" board was more like a diving board
with nothing but air under 8' of it and the water about 6' straight down.
They weren't floaters, you need water/air mix for that.
They were like trying to fly a surfboard, oh, and that doesn't work.
The last one of "those" was directly in front of 2 who were paddling out and it must have been pretty good from their surface level view point. I heard the F*ck Yeah DUDE all the way down and boom.....really thought I was gonna snap the board in half on that.
Catch in some fast white water, get out and high tail it to the truck.
Up on the cliff a surf bud, Mike, just says

"Don't feel bad"

Ha ha Mike
I don't
This is what I like
cartwheel on
fly on
drop on
pearl on
surf on
surf on
Keep On

What I like about

this morning was that I went in to it with a mission.
A mission to go in no matter what the conditions were.
No waves no matter I'll just paddle my big board, ya know, get strong. Uh Huh
I got in at 0600 and there were only surfers at the reef, or to put it another way, nobody was where I was going to surf, it just looked like so much suckage.
I didn't really give that notion much of a nod, I just talked to a COP for 5 minutes while suiting up,?
stretched
and went in and surfed.(no cramps either, after 2 weeks of Magnesium and supplements+ stretching that damn right leg of)
SO Hands clasped and relaxed behind my back, no slack jawing on the take off/pop ups, no squatting...
I am working on developing a style ? > ! !!? or SoMe KINda Style.
Anywho I surfed alone for 40 minutes AND GOT 12-15 WAVES! !
I KNOW ! !
YEP !
Then the swell started to show and sets of head highs rolled into the south reef (Igor's)
I think I got into 1 more decent wave after a few friends came out.
Solitude and flying across the top of the water...
That's what I like about
this morning.







surf on

What I like about

surfing is kind of a never ending thing I imagine.
I am getting "tips" on how to "develop some ( ANY ) style", from many sources, at this point.
Great..... my deepest fears realized, I'm still kookin in up.
Went out this Sunday am and went deliberately out of the way of anyone so I could work on these issues alone.

Nice call on my part, as I probably got 12-15 rides in less than an hour.
I love that about surfing
that no 2 days appear to be the same.

nothing profound here

surf on

Got a couple

Everything gonna be ok now

.....even if my love described me,on one of my rides this morning, as an arm flailing fledgling quail
with a JFK dismount.
Of course this is accurate
so stoked
flail on

All work and no surf makes Bill a dull boy ! !

Better get some tomorrow,

or
there is going to be trouble
Big Trouble !

Sunday Morning ...............................Ahhh

The waves were still coming frequently and breaking occasional clean-ups to the outside.
It was glassy this morning with a light rain and no wind.
This was a welcome sight.
Saturday morning I had high hopes of big waves and fat rides to the right, that never happened, at least for me.
Saturday, many seasoned surfers were atop the cliffs in their hoodies and steamy cups of coffee. When I pull up and see this it immediately puts me on guard.
So I get over there and see the concern, which was, "will the reward meet or outweigh the price of admission, the paddle out to get outside".
I have learned to trust many of these folks and respect their lessons learned.
So I spent almost 2 hours watching a few surfers get waves, pounded, or their board snapped. Still the rest of the day on Saturday I was haunted by what if?

I've never liked

surfer's psych-out

So SUNDAY morning was a welcome relief.
After watching Greg choose his paddle out spot Mike and I followed.
The paddle out was made without too much ado.
Mike and Greg got a couple nice ones.
I finally settled in about 50 yards south of the paddle out, around 5 palms where there was a lone surfer getting into a raucous right going off.
Although I don't usually bee line straight to a solo surfers spot, I did.
"Doug" was really getting some great take offs, drops and speedy big rights.
He turns out to be really cool and funnier that hell. .
He's kinda super stoked, and I like that. Good guy. Good Surfer.
I got a killer right, he got 3 to my one. We traded take offs.
Had a good surf and redemption from psych-out Saturday.
Also formally met Bob, the electric guy, learned the name of Phil, this super stoked short boarder who is a great guy and surfer.

NICE SUNDAY SURF
SURF ON....

Ya know what is so cool about surfing...

I have described the feeling of getting a really great, long ride, down a glassy, bowled up wall, that is about shoulder high, with the sun shinning and the reef grass moving underneath my board as I listen to the board sing.
That'll put a grin on my face like nothin' else.
What is so cool is that I can then paddle out and pause on the line of a wave where someone else is getting the same kind of ride, and be almost as stoked watching it.
I deliberately do that when the opportunity presents itself.
I have noticed that sometimes when I get a particularly nice wave, as I am going down the line if there are others paddling out, some are very stoked, it is always so cool when others share your joy in real time.
Surfing is such an individual action, yet it is a very communal thing as well.
I love this thing...
surf on...

Swell, Day 3 Thurs, made the paddle out

Thursday after work

Jason, Dave, Pat and I went at it again.
It was Bigger than Wed. but more forgiving ( on the paddle out) than Tuesday, despite the fact that I got to the outside without too much difficulty, Jason and David did not. When I finally was outside far enough to relax, I turned to find Jason but couldn't see him. As I caught my breath I finally did see him approximately 8 minutes later. He was almost outside. This means he was paddling for twice the length of time that I was. Dave was still way inside and now long into a difficult paddle. He would not make this one, this time.
Pat came out without too much trouble. He is my paddle idol !
I Caught a left that was pretty darn big,
did a little dance,
then came up and over the back so as not to get too far inside on the first wave of the day.
That would be my last real chance of getting a nice one that night.
Everything else that came through my way, in my viewpoint, was not the right wave for me. Jason got on a great left and rode it well....way into the impact zone.
I thought I won't be seeing him for the rest of the evening as the paddle back for him would be too much after his initial paddle out.
I was so proud to see him battle his way back to the outside AGAIN ! It was another brutal paddle out, but he did it.
My son, Jason, is one

"Tenacious J"
I am so proud of how he doesn't give up. He just doesn't quit these days.
Pat was dropping a few waves out there. He is a go for it guy. Very cool.
Jason got into a couple. I decided the next one would be a ride in for me and we both rode in for the night. Pat came in about 10 minutes later. Dave was high, dry and warm.
It was a good night. A difficult night. Not a lot of waves were ridden, but the waves were big and power full and it took guts.

Swell, day 2.Wed. Made the paddle out

It was exhausting but at least we...Jason,Pat,Dave and I, got out.
Got a couple then went in.
Good stuff
Good stuff

Swell, day 1. Couldn't make the paddle out

I will get to THAT in a minute...
First the good...

Saturday
and Sunday were good Got some pretty good stuff

and had fun

Now... Tuesday Mid March Swell, Day 1.
Couldn't make the paddle out
This is a source of great frustration for me.
After work today, Jason and I went out at 5 palms thinking the channel there would help.
Nope. It didn't work out that way.
I think I learned something from this one however.
Dave was there on the rocks with his camera, probably hoping to get some shoots of me on some big stuff.
What he DID see was I was mid way through the paddle out, when all I had to do was wait and maintain my position. Get pushed back, then use just enough energy to get back to the same spot, and wait, wait for the inevitable lull that would come.
That lull did come after about 5 minutes.
After I turned and rode the white water back in.
I watched Jason get out twice as far, but he could go no further, no arms left.

I learned I have to think as well as react.
Gonna go again tomorrow night , and he rest of this week while it stays big and/or bigger.

Better to go than not go at all

yes?

OF COURSE !
surf on...

I was in for a long time considering

how long I've been out. IN TRUNKS, just not my trunks.
After an unreasonable bear of a week ( the culmination of months really ) the "big thing" at work was done and our department did well.
I got out at 645 this morning. No real consistency going on but some peaks would show hear and there. I was really looking forward to some spring like warmth, sun and glass.
Well that is exactly what I got. Saw some friends and met some new ones, too.
Someone claimed I got the wave o the day. After a bit maybe 830 I got out due to some heavy leg cramping. Really kind of scared me a bit....it seems to be progressive over the last 2 years.
Ate some food and during this time
I watched Chuck get about 6 waves and ride em ( like always ) REALLY WELL.
SUN SHINNING SO WARM AND THE GLASS PREVAILED.
I GOT SO STOKED WATCHING HIM
I WENT TO A FRIEND, MIKE AND ASKED IF I COULD BORROW A PAIR OF TRUNKS.
HE HAD SOME AND OFF I WENT IN FOR A TWO-FER.
Got a few more but in trunks it is always so much better. Got the typical and frequent "he's a kook looks" but I didn't mind at all. Paddled way down to Igors hung out there caught another few then paddled back.
THAT WAS COOL....the trunks and all.
All in all I was in the water today for 4 1/2 hours.
Stoked
Tired...yeah
but,
stoked

Livin the Dream vs Livin the Nightmare

Saturday morning, to a degree, was what I would call "livin' the dream, man" Seriously, this morning at the reef was really nice.
Last night , on his way home from work, my son, gave me a surf report.
While it was a little late for the distance I was from the beach, it sounded like tomorrow, early,
might be a good surf day. He said some sets were showing at the reef and the nothing for awhile after that...
The morning weather was perfect.
I was there STILL TOO LATE @ 0645.
For the first time in my life my body now allows me to actually sleep in, if I want too.
Anyway, I paddle out solo to the reef where there are already 15 in a line up half inside and half out. Terry and Stewart were there, then Marcia, but those were the only faces I new, really. For me, sometimes I enjoy that. It gives me a chance to try to learn and forget myself a bit.
Cold air, warm 0700AM sunshine bouncing of the sunny glass.
Saw some really nice sized shoulder+ sets come in. This all had me kind of stoked.
As soon as I pulled in the line up, the frequency of these sets began to diminish.
I did wait and got a really fine one.
First wave in a week and I stay up a little too high and play it too safe for the inside line up. Could have really dropped it then cranked hard on the bottom, nope, not this one.
Any way, that was the first time I have heard my board going fast, in a long time.
I enjoyed it.
Paddled back out and waited for more.
Really beautiful right then.
Got a few more that were good..
God is good.
My wife and son are too.
Friends are as well.

LIVIN THE DREAM.........
Vs.
LIVIN A NIGHTMARE.....

exactly 3 years ago today I lay dying in a hospital bed.
I was truly, completely, dying.
I would be dying for another 3.5 weeks, in that bed.
It would take 6 weeks total to get me out of there.
plus
plus
plus
plus
Complication after complication occurred,
This was a rampant case of peritonitis, unchecked due to the un-noticed, nick and then rupturing of my colon during a surgery. Doctors and surgeons could not figure out
why I was not recovering. Why I was hitting the Dilaudid IV gun 75+ times a day.
Why was my abdomen was swelling up like a red and purple blimp.
Why I wasn’t recovering….

After 6 months at home, another surgery to put all my guts back together.
Walking back into that place after that first 6 week long nightmare was the hardest thing to do.
Then there was the long road to right now.
3 years later I am still having some real gut issues.
My head is still messed up a bit.
That nightmare is pretty much over and gone.
I still get glimpses of this thing at unusual times and places.
For the most part it’s gone .

Saturday, however, I was LIVIN THE DREAM.

Friday I get home from a week of "work" and I go to see Black Swan with Laurie.
Great movie and we like it. I know that (today) Saturday is going to be a great surf swell but I failed to scope the tide scene . I sleep in ( 0700 ) and get up to check the cameras tide charts etc. I thought the weather wouldn't be "off shore" quite yet.
I see that the high tide is a wave killing 6 foot at 10am. However it is lined up, glassy, and off shore with some size and shape.
I MISSED IT !
I sit here looking at the Swamis, Ponto,and Tamarack cameras as I type wishing I would have gone out like every other Saturday at dawn patrol...but
I missed it..

I am hoping that the receding tide this afternoon, off shores, and increasing swell will provide what I want, I think so.
Laurie lays some words of wisdom on me and says enjoy the laziness and the fact that you slept in.
She is of course right..
and in the grand scheme of things there will be more chances available.
So Last Sunday night Dave and I were out and I had a pretty good evening of waves and sunset.



Thursday after work I meet Jason at Terramar for an after work grab at the remains of the last bigger swell and we get a couple of good ones each...good to surf with the boy.


We will see what this afternoon and tomorrow bring
ahhh hope
surf on

Sat Am. It's what we like !

Finally, she shows up.
Got a few nice glassy ones this morning.
Everyone else did too !

Look forward to some great surf on the way as well.
Enjoy !

Surf on

That's more like it

Terramar is a beautiful place

I have now 2 whole days in a row of surfing.
Seems like a month or more since that has happened.
hope to continue with at least 4 total sessions this week.
Got a few today at 0715
A few got me today at 0730

Had a good time all in all, as expected.
Chuck got a few too


surf on

Surfing is making me wanna . . .

surf more.

Today at Terramar, I was cold.
I got in @ 0645 with the reef going off a little and about 10 people there.
I choose to not go there.
Because of a lack of getting in the water over the last month, I have gone out of being in any surfing condition at all. I was actually relieved when I saw there wasn't line after line to have to paddle through to get outside.
So I ( of course ) fall off my first good drop.... Nice !
I do get other opportunities to drop a few and ride.
A few sets came.
I realized how important surfing is is to my well being.
Nice, cold winter morning really.
So glad to get in and get a few at all.
surf on