Trying things a bit differently at Home Break

On a Thursday night my boss was kind and agreed to give me the next day off.
So yesterday, Friday morning it was kinda hooky like, and a great little Am surf to boot.
Just quiet, glassy, peaks scattered about. Just a few others out. 
I was going right  90% the time, even though the lefts are better and more frequent.
I know I want to surf front and back side, but it is really a treat to go front side and right at.

When I go right the drops,the speed, the form, the turns and the experience always seem better,
my exit.....well lets just say that I "can Exit" a right with a little class and style.
Blah blah blah....I'm loving just going right the last few times and plan on a lot more of just that.
This morning Saturday was a repeat  got in a 0600....  got some great rights and the rest of the early Dawn Patrol crew is goofy...so   yeah!  I get all the rights I want.. no pressure.

Look forward tomorrow, Sunday Am 0545 in the water
Maybe trunks very soon too, as the water is seriously warming.

surf on...

This morning it was.......

Not this

Nor this

IT WAS instead                                                 THIS

This

This

and                                                                 This

Wow ................. ! What a great Spring Surf

Dave, Pat,Kyle and I had the place to ourselves from 0930-1215

Perfect, nice size, beautiful weather, big smiles n hoots !

I got my fill of nice steep fast drops and shoulders
so did all I believe.

Just a perfect little surf.

surf on

Saturdays waves were a sight for sore eyes.

Getting out Saturday AM during the start of this WNW SSW combo swell was exceptional.
Very glassy, should/head high rights and lefts with shape and shoulder were on tap in the DP and Post DP session. The reef and the beach were goin' off, drawing the majority of surfers to those spots, giving me some much needed solitude at 5 Palms where some real beauties were coming thru less consistently. This scenario proves very good for me, as I can pick and choose more to my liking, rather than be forced in or out of waves due to crowd factors.
The day was gray, calm, cold and glassy and quiet, I probably got 6 really nice waves in an hour. Fast, lined up walls with shoulders, length, and just challenging enough.

Really nice end of march
The promise of an after work session tomorrow, Monday, with 6-8 and surfline forecasting
GOOD conditions(rare ) is keeping me stoked thru this Sundays large but blown out AM conditions.

Hope
surf on...

Man I have a lot to learn .......... EVIDENTLY

" Awww man ! There he is screwin' the pooch on another set wave again

( Mean while, out in the water )


ETIQUETTE ! !

ok

So I was in the middle of 2 surfers
AND

I was closest to the peak and didn't go.....

I am afraid that it didn't really warrant the admonishment that ensued

However

The reaction was a bit over done.... and frankly ... well....

I did try to console, to a degree, but .... no

I'll just chalk it up to experience
and
hope for another wave for you guys.

Oh Yeah I did get several really nice rides today and maintained my stoke !


surf on

Annual Daylight Savings shout out !

Daylight savings time is HOPE.

Hope that comes after months of not being able to get out into the water after work. If I AM able to get into the water after a day at work, I am able to wash away my cares almost instantly.
Without that extra hour of light that the Daylight savings change provides,
it's always a struggle to get that done.

So,

Here's to daylight savings time.

I got out on Tuesday and Thursday night.
No EPIC stuff going on other than the fact that I was surfing from 5pm 'till 7:10 Laughing it up with my friends Dave and Pat.

GOOD stuff in the middle of the week.
GOOD STUFF INDEED.

Bam Thursday Night I get the REDEMPTIONSESSION

Rough week at work.....

AND
after last SUPER SUNDAYS PSYCH-OUT SUCK IT SESSION,
I fly down to the water after work hoping for a buddy to go out with
but no one is available.
So..... I make the challenging paddle out alone and hang outside and they start rolling in.

3 or 4 drop down the face, fly out the back, walled close outs,
the kind where you can
launch over and out
AND
3 or 4 super big, long rights, steep drops and long high shoulders.
I really had a great time !!
in EPIC conditions.

Just what the Doctor ordered

surf on

Sunday's Surfer Psych-Out Seriously Sucked

Got there at 0630
Stood there until 0900
Watching
macking walled close-outs with occasional 10ft faces
kept me and my buddies outta the water.
Then it subsided, then I left.
LUCKILY there is(are) more on the way and a chance for
Sunday's Surfer Psych-Out Redemption Session
coming to break near you ( and me ) or us.

SURF (as in you have to go in) ON !

What I like about this swell, big waves, and a New Year

a New Year is exactly that. It is, as much as time could, or should be measured, a major starting point and ending point discussed among all of us.

HAPPY NEW YEAR all of you, everybody, Happy Happy Joy Joy

So with the New Year we have hope, hopefully.
Well, I hope we have great surf.
This last Wednesday good surf did arrive. I was struggling with a myriad of work issues ,( so what's new?) and needed to surf more than ever.So after watching the clock tick down to 445pm...against my will this ticking down....
I bolted from the Carlsbad Lab out to the sea with my board pre-loaded into the truck from lunch.

I anticipated
not enough time
AND
too much resistance to the "outside" from the big hyped waves at hand.
I
WAS
so wrong

This little 40 minute session turned into one of the best in years ! !
Nice large outside rights...and with my nice large 10'3" big board
I was able to get any wave I wanted.
This board is so suited to those conditions.....a match made in heaven.

I got 8 waves in a 40-50 minute session 7 of 'em were just long steep shouldery rights.
I was hollering out loud from wave number 3 on....
PERFECT !

Thank you GOD, family, friends, tide. sun, and mother Ocean .
THANKS ! !
____________________________________________
Today is Saturday and after a cliff session at 0630 am with the

HOODED CLIFF WARRIORS
I headed home to heed my friend Dave's advice
930-1000 the tide will co-operate
and

check your leash string and leash

I did check the leash less than a year old ..... looked at the string.....but...of course

failed to really do the string check.

Back we went and sure enough at 1000 the tide did cooperate and the waves were breaking nicely outside. Had a paddle channel at Ted's and made it out without much ado.
Got a few and then got another spectacular right...
big and long, glassy and sunny., no drop ins just pure wave fun.
I am so glad this has happened.
I have got my stoke on again,
finally it's here.
I am feeling good about my surfing and being again.
I did drop a ridiculous pitted peak, never really stood on the board with full weight, just dove over the board and said a prayer on the way down. I missed the board and was driven down deep.
Then I felt the leash let go....damn.... the string I was warned about and didn't check.

Took another on the head and began the loooooong, back float trip to the beach amidst some poundings. Dave did come in and we got another string from his truck and went back for more...

A GREAT DAY OF SURF< adrenaline> and fun.

SWEET !

Now for the other holiday part. The day after Christmas I am going out with my son and others when a person stops me just before entering the water and asks "are you Bill ?"
So I know that when this happens it is usually someone who has found this blog and recognizes my face etc..... this is really a diary of mine a journal of sorts I suppose. It always embarrasses me to a degree that people I never expect to see or talk with read my thoughts about life.
Anyways, Taylor, has introduced himself from Ventura I believe, and tells me that he is stoked I recovered from my surgical nightmare et all. I say yeah it's much better out here the in the "scary room" (hospital). He tells me of a prostate surgery he went through and about reading my blog and all.
I was stoked to see a fellow wounded warrior of sorts.
I was very stoked to think my writing may have actually helped another.
I hope this was inspirational to him and others who under go great trauma to their bodies and hold onto the stoke of surfing to get through the recovery period....
no matter how hopeless it might seem.

There is always
HOPE
Hope begets action

Happy new year all

let's hope
always

surf on...

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.