Easter Sunday

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March ( 23 n' 24) non madness #17 and #18

I am b logging back wards a week. I remember being very pleasantly surprised in the amount of smallerish (waist high) waves that I was able to get. I am learning how to get into waves a little better. I did not surf after work on any days that week or the week following. I let myself down there. I shoulda, woulda, couldaand didnt. Even after promising myself that I would. Non the less, Surf 2013 # 17 was good, and it made me happy. The following #18 wasn't quite as good, more people competing for lines, ah well such is surfing...

Saint Patrick's Day

#16 Sunday ( no Saturday )
Wow I have only been out 16 times in 2013 ? ! ?
Maybe that's why I am in the state I'm in, oh well I can fix that.
Today's Dawn patrol, got there a wee bit late, 0630Am  I felt like it was already lunch time
 celebrating with my girl last night at 333 in Oceanside, seaside by the pier .
Mmmmm  Calamari, Sushi rolls and
the SUPER MARTINI'S 333 is famous for.
A sour kiss= chipotle pineapple monin, cranberry juice,Grapefruit Vodka, a stiff lime foam .
and a Myer Lemon Drop Martini.

Toady's waves were on the smaller side but I got  a few.
Nicer rights for me. Good one for others. Just didn't get a lot .
Had Fun it was soooo gooood to get wet, as it always is.
I did get a good nod from a GREAT SURFER there.
he said I was developing some style. He is right ( seems strange to say )I have seen changes in my surfing, subtle but some style coming thru.
That was really cool to hear.
Over the last month I have noticed very small improvements,
I was hoping to hear a little affirmation and just when I really needed it ....boom !
Promising myself  to get out after work 2 times this work week and

 I'm gonna.

Period

Stoked ! !  

L8Ts

Sunday re-visited and ode to daylight savings

# 15 materializes after much adu and inter cranium chaos.
This mornings failure to launch off the cliff and into the water, WAS mostly due to atmospheric and oceanic conditions, (my head trippin), BUT

I wander back out to Terramar @ 12 noon. 

The wind is just starting and I head off in my spring suit alone. Get a few junked up waves then ride in and remove the spring suit and go back in, in trunks.

 I get a few more in the chilly water but am renewed in the act of surfing without any wet suit .
It is so important for me to feel the water envelop me. To have that and the sun surround me simply turns me on.

 

On an even brighter note

IT"S DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME

This means I may survive myself !

If I cant get out just 2-3 days after work each week,

I might make it through another year !

STOKED ! ! ! ! !

No Saturday and NO SUNDAY !

# non-15
Well not yet anyways.
I had better get some or

It's gonna get f*ckin ugly !

Rough week, rough Saturday ( nuthin' but my own fault )
now no surf Sunday.
Uggh
Somethings gonna give

Sunday 3/3/13 Guilty but GOOD

#14
On time for a Dawn Patrol ! 0545 I arrive to 2 in the water amidst the blackness at The Reef.
Val on her body board at the beach. The official Dawn Patrol on the cliff.
Suit up quickly and in.

Glass with some texture on it. I get into a few long rights again. I think my little Terramar has developed a better shoulder going right now this year.
I get a cheater 5, I think the best ever.
Get a very long inside left.. plus + plus.
Mike, Steve,Cruz and Tim are getting 'em as well. Just us in the water for an hour.
I'm am feeling guilty as last night, after my son came home from a 16 hour day , I ask him if he wants to"surf in the morning?"
His response is " well  like when? 3AM?
Right.
So I suggest around 11am.
5 dark o'clock rolls around and I cant stay put and coffee up and go.
Bad Dad.
Live and learn 
Next observation is that I definitely believe that surfing or the act of paddling for the wave is causing me back issues.
 BACK ISSUES. SHIT !.
THIS is simply not cool, good, acceptable, etc.,etc. !
I need to figure out if I can avoid THIS in the future or I fear my days may be numbered.
THIS  isn't figuring into the plan at all.

Good day, hope to have many more.

Many more ! !

Saturday #13

I was late getting to dawn patrol.
6am
The sun is sneaking out earlier these days.

There is more at the reef then the houses, but more people as well.
I surfed alone for the first 1/2 hour.
Glass, clear skies, off shores.
Solitude.
Silence.
Waves
Slowish... but in that hour of surfing I got 12 or more most of which I felt good on.
Long rides with faced shoulders that went right, waaay right.
The reef  had 16 surfers on it by 630, and while many got good waves there, I had made the right call for me...
Very stoked.

Sunday 2-24-13

#12 of the year
Because of being so sore after Fridays Fun I skipped Saturdays DP
Instead DP Sunday I thought I would play the tides and surf with my son.
Sunny, waves semi glass, and nobody out.
Yes! Surfing with Jason again!
It seems so long ago, now that we surfed so much together.

He hasn't really surfed in a long time. There have been occasional outings but nothing at all resembling consistent. I was in better paddle shape than he, something that I dont like to see, none the less he made it out and we had a good time. So good to see him surf again. He's been working 6 days a week for 2.5 years now.

We had a good time

I had a great time being "we"

Stoked

Rare Friday Fun

#11 STOKED

Friday at the Doctor's at 0730 then...  Made a crummy day a great one !

End of February 78 degrees, sun, glass, waves, convertible.
Fun !
How often can I surf ALONE in the middle of a lot of waves and grab ,I don't know, 20 hand picked waves?
Practically never !
Rights, lefts, close outs, speed glides, turns  new moves are coming, good stuff.
Great session.
Now everything hurts.
It will be the way things are for me, I suppose, to a degree.
Whatever.
Nice day                                                                                                            I'm STOKED

STOKED

Presidents Day ..... meh?

#10

3RD day of a long weekend and the weather went from Offshore and 78 to still and 58 degrees.
Glassy and overcast. Kinda messy on the inside and peaky walls with occasion shoulders.

Dawn patrol cadet Froelich shows up late, about 30 minutes, but for the 3rd day in a row is pre-suited up  to prevent any 2nd thoughts when arriving at the beach. Got there ready to surf and maybe repeat a couple of new moves I started the day before...notably a front side, drop knee right turn.

Mike and I get in the water and were virtually alone for a good while.
 I am not getting into waves as easily as the last 2 days but I do get a few and enjoyed the surf .
It was a bit tide(y) for the swell.
I am making a change in my front side(regular)turn and it is getting me fired up. Hope to keep it going.
I think it was getting better as I exited, with the dropping tide from 3 feet down to 1 foot.
Warm waters was going off nicely....all those shrimpy boards everywhere though, uggh. LoL


 Terramar.
I love looking at it.
I love dreaming on it.
I love surfing on it.

Surf goooooood !

Things are g o o d... Surfing is changing a little THANK GOD

#'s 9 and 10
Another fun filled week at work closes out, and the stoke begins to glow and grow.
Saturday... 530am forecast 1-2 feet.
Put on my new wetsuit at home. 
This  = "I'm goin' in", regardless of conditions,
loaded the board into the convertible and at 5:45 headed to Terramar.
Since I have kept my word to myself and lost some weight( 18lbs) I have been searching for, and found some new gear. So I get this EXCEL Infinity 3/2 in a"1 suit left"closeout clearance sale   $90.00. Boom ! Its a $270.00 suit.
So while I HATE having to wear one., it is making super early DP do-able. I love the warmth of my new wetsuit.....weird thing for me to use love and wetsuit in the same sentence, but anyways, I got stoked from a new piece of gear. Got to admit it is better being, well, not too cold, there.
So I get there at 6 and only 2 DPers there. Steve y Cruz
I spend 3 minutes on the cliff then go.
Small, glassy,cold knee highs
Steve leaves Cruz comes in. We get waves for an hour.

Sunday, 530am same weak forecast
Again suit up at home, this actually does 2 things.
Saves face while struggling to put on new suit and ensures I will paddle out despite small surf.
This is working very well for me.
This morning its Steve and Terry.
I spend another 5 minutes cliff side then go in.
 Alone.
 ALONE and this time there are a few set waves to shoulder and pure glass.
Beautiful, quiet, glassy, lonely waves and myself. Got a lot of waves this morning.
Maybe 5 or 6 before Terry came out.
Maybe 12 before Steve decided to go.
Had 2 rights that I surfed well on. Almost toes over and steering the board down the glassy line and face.
Saw Terry get a couple, we had a good talk out there too.
Steve got some, but it was best early.
Had another where I made a too deep and abrupt bottom turn thinking I'm gonna face plant right and brought my self out of that , maybe g r a c e f u l l y ? Huh?
Beautiful day...Beautiful place...Beautiful life.

Missed a Dawn Patrol today.... but I got some in the sun instead

#8 Wow after a tough week,,, yeah, they are all kinda tough work weeks these days,
I was looking forward to... well hoping for some good surf this weekend.
The weather 4 cast earlier this week wasn't so good with a lot of rain, but what DID happen was a lot on Friday then at 0600 it was clear as a bell with stars and COLD air. 37 Degrees, surprising right after a rain, but I guess it hailed  in San Diego.
Pulled up to the Terramar and 2 Dawn patrol's were there Mike y Cruz.
Man it was super high tide but waves were breaking   there was just so much water moving all over the place and it just wasn't gonna happen. Wa wa waaaaaaaaaaa, ( like the trombone sound, ya know?)

Left to go home in time to see my sweetheart head off to LA for a couple days.

 Got Bummed out so I watched a surf movie , "words" my favorite,  So all stoked up and buddy Dave talked me back out at 1 pm.
Sunny, GLASS, and NOBODY out, save a dude that paddled thru, laughing it up as the fatties rolled under us. 
Nobody was there.....  PERFECT really !! Big fat peaky ones were out there,  the kind you you laugh at when they come at ya.  The kind ya don't want to F@^k up, waves could have had a bit more shoulder but some big tall walls and nice memorable drops were had>The paddle back out was hard and frothy as the waves kept on coming but worth it
I am dropping pounds now and I am going to reward myself with new gear.
A new wet suit or so and a board maybe 2. Gonna get me some new trunks too, maybe some flower print jams or some Greg Nolls  ha ha ha.

Any ways a good day..... thanks God thanks Mother thanks Dave I needed that one.
On a different note I forgot to take my deceased father in laws ( cheap but sentimental ) watch of and it filled with the ocean in 10 minutes flat,,,  Ah well  G-Pa got to surf with me today I guess
Im sure he would have enjoyed that

Ahhhh......Just go out for a paddle....

#6
Just go for paddle is what I say when the surf is small and its still glassy and nice conditions...just like today.

That way if that's all ya get then your expectations are met.
Kinda like your there, it's not howling or anything, so you just go.
So, out of 5 or so Terramartian dawn patroler's on the cliff this morning, Mike and I go for a paddle into the coldish, flat, 0630am glassiness as the sit it out.
Oh yeah, super hot  sunrise in the east today. Nice laughs on the cliff as well.
Stretched and paddled out.
Waited for a short bit at houses with nuthin'
 then decided to "paddle" some more towards the empty (never) reef.
 Got to the reef and a couple a waves showed and bingo, a couple of waves were had.
It was so rare to have me and another and the reef all to ourselves.
Got a left ot two  and a couple rights... nothing spectacular, but non-the-less, remarkable enough.

The promise of a big swell tomorrow is on every ones mind,
 I'm hoping for 4-5 foot dawn patrol in the glass...

sweet dreams Billy boy, sweet dreams !

Owwww it hurts

Subjectivity again #3.2013

Sunday was so different than just the day before.
Less wave, less sun, less glass.
Light rain , more breeze and only 2 besides myself.
Terry and I headed to the reef alone leaving a couple dawn patrol's on the cliff who were presumably headed home due to prevailing poor conditions. Just as we were getting in, one of the 2 we left behind was running towards us down the beach.
I was stoked .
Only 3 at the reef and there were actually a few set waves to be had.
I had hopes of getting some of the reef's lefts, un-molested.
That wouldn't really happen.
 I would reef-psych myself once more. ( It happens about 70% of the time for me at that spot )
Started out with a couple rights that were good, but not like the lefts. Terry, and Deebs got the lefts.
To this day that wave confounds me. I can never really tell where it is gonna break and thus have a hard time taking off, while others are paddling. By the time I was ready to take the building swells left side offerings, 7or so people were in the line up, and that sometimes is enough for me to shy up on that break.  Got an abort left and pulled out as others were in front of me.
Got a decent ride in and called it a morning.

Ahhhh   the reef....
oh yeah 
Lately my stuff has begun to H U R T.
After all the shit I went through, it seemed I could always say, at least my back came out OK.

waaaaah
 bullshit

Alright... all rights

#2    1.5.2013

Got a couple nice rights Saturday for the # 2 surf of the new year.
Started out at houses with just a couple of closer surf mates. Dawn patrolers.
Cold, super clear.Clean waves
Saw some good surfing and caught a few good ones with a standout right, that went on for.... well for
just the right amount.  Things got glassey at about 730 and that made for some good rides.
I mean to surf my own game to a degree.
I am looking for rights these days.
This came as a revelation over time as for the most part, Terramar, and the reef, are lefts.
I think with some new sand that maybe that has changed a bit. 
Got out and soaked in a hot tub for half an hour, stretching all the bad stuff.

Happy New Year 1.1.13 #1

 #1 2013

Surfing Subjectivity: part 1

Surfing is an amazing thing really. It is incredible that I can go out on a day, today, that looks horrible
( Windy, gray, chop, cold misty air  with infrequent lines and waves that are "junky and funk filled ) and have as much fun, or  even more than on a "beautiful" day, warm, clear, calm, glass, with waves, 
(Ah yes, today was the polar opposite of yesterdays MORNING weather conditions)
Some days have big outside waves and its great
Some days have no waves at all to speak of, very few rides, and IT'S great too.
To me that is special

I wonder if this is in part, due to my lack of 
1) Surfing experience,
2) Physical condition
    and yes,
3) Skill.
 Meaning that if I were a lot better, and skilled with experience I would run into days that weren't  as fun because condition expectations were higher?
I know and surf with some that are upset when they ( or I ) miss a single wave. I understand how missing many waves is frustrating.... but a single wave ?

Anyways, today I was in trunks @ 6AM and it was a horrible looking( Windy, gray, chop,  with infrequent lines and waves that are "junky and funk filled ) day.
However I got 4 really fun waves, considering the adversity of conditions and only 3 people were out in it.
I enjoyed the camaraderie of a "crappy day"with a friend and a new friend.
I enjoyed the waves and longer rides than I am used to

I ENJOYED this (crappy) day

I love surfing.
I am forever grateful.

Thanks Mother see ya tomorrow morning at 0530

Mother Ocean WAKE UP we need you ! !