Henri's Surf Journal

I decided to write a short report of each of my sessions. The goals are (i) to bore my non-surfing friends with surf talk; (ii) to entertain my surfing friend with surf talk; (ii) to annoy my friends who've never seen dolphins in the ocean and don't believe me when I say I see them all the time (do a search for the word 'dolphin'); but really, to read this in 20 years and to be brought back to all these sessions.
I learned how to surf in the San Diego area and surfed there 2001-2005. On August 2005 I moved to the island of O`ahu in Hawai`i.

Boards:

Sept 2002 - August 2005: 9' Ellington (see picture here).
May 16 2003 - present: 7'6'' Kies (see picture here).
August 7 2005 - present: 9'2'' Stewart "Colin McPhillips" Performance Noserider (see picture here and above).
May 5 2006 - present: 8'2'' custom-made Garduque (see picture here and here).
August 20 2006 - present: 9'6'' South Coast nose rider.
Number of session reports: 616

2004
   Jan: Fri 16 Mon 19 Thu 22 Fri 23 Sat 24 Thu 29 Fri 30
   Feb: Sun 1 Sun 8 Fri 13 Sat 14 Sun 15 Sat 21 Sat 21 Sun 29
   Mar: Fri 5 Fri 6 Mon 8 Thu 11 Fri 12 Tue 16 Sat 27 Sun 28
   Apr: Sun 4 Tue 6 Thu 8 Fri 9 Sun 11 Thu 22 Sat 24 Sun 25 Fri 30
   May: Sat 1 Sun 2 Tue 4 Thu 6 Fri 7 Fri 7 Sat 8 Sun 9 Tue 10 Fri 14 Fri 14 Sat 15 Sun 16 Tue 18 Thu 20 Fri 21 Sun 23 Sun 23 Thu 27 Sat 29 Sun 30 Mon 31 Mon 31
   June: Wed 2 Thu 3 Fri 4 Fri 4 Sat 5 Sat 5 Tue 8 Wed 9 Fri 11 Fri 11 Sat 12 Sat 12 Fri 18 Sun 20 Tue 22 Thu 24 Fri 25 Fri 25 Sat 26 Sat 26 Sun 27
   July: Fri 2 Sat 3 Fri 9 Sat 10 Sun 11 Thu 15 Thu 15 Fri 16 Fri 16 Sat 17 Fri 30 Sat 31
   September: Sun 5 Thu 9 Fri 10 Fri 10 Thu 16 Fri 17 Fri 17 Sat 18 Thu 23 Fri 24 Fri 24 Sat 25 Sun 26
   October: Fri 1 Fri 1 Sat 2 Fri 8 Sat 9 Sun 10 Mon 11 Tue 12 Wed 13 Fri 15 Sat 16 Sun 31
   November: Fri 5 Sun 14
   December: Thu 16
2005
   Jan: Sat 15 Mon 17 Wed 19 Fri 21 Sat 22 Sun 23 Mon 24 Fri 28 Mon 31
   Feb: Thu 3 Fri 4 Sat 5 Wed 16
   March: Tue 8 Fri 11 Sat 12 Sat 19 Sun 20 Tue 22 Fri 25 Sat 26 Sun 27
   April: Fri 1 Sat 2 Sun 3 Tue 4 Sat 9 Thu 14 Sat 16 Sun 17 Thu 21 Fri 22 Sun 24 Tue 26 Sat 30
   May: Sun 1 Wed 4 Sat 7 Sun 8 Wed 11 Thu 12 Fri 20 Sat 21 Sun 22 Tue 24 Wed 25 Fri 27 Sat 28 Sun 28
   June: Fri 3 Fri 3 Tue 7 Sun 12 Wed 15 Fri 17 Fri 17 Sat 18 Sat 18 Sun 19
   July: Thu 7 Fri 8 Fri 8 Sat 9 Sun 10 Tue 12 Wed 13 Fri 15 Sat 16 Sat 16 Sat 16 Wed 20 Fri 22 Sat 23 Sun 24 Mon 25 Tue 26 Fri 29
   August: Sun 7 Thu 18 Fri 19 Mon 22 Fri 26 Sat 27 Tue 30 Wed 31
   Sept: Thu 1 Mon 5 Thu 8 Sat 10 Sun 11
   Oct: Mon 10 Tue 11 Wed 12 Fri 14 Sat 15 Mon 17 Wed 19 Fri 21 Tue 25 Wed 26 Thu 27 Fri 28 Mon 31
   Nov: Wed 2 Thu 3 Fri 4 Sun 6 Tue 8 Wed 9 Thu 10 Fri 11 Sun 13 Mon 28 Wed 30
   Dec: Thu 1 Wed 7 Thu 8 Fri 9 Thu 15 Fri 16
2006
   Jan: Wed 11 Wed 18 Thu 19 Fri 20 Tue 31
   Feb: Wed 1 Thu 2 Fri 3 Tue 7 Wed 15 Thu 23 Fri 24 Mon 27 Tue 28
   Mar: Wed 1 Fri 3 Mon 6 Fri 10 Mon 13 Wed 15 Fri 17
   May: Thu 11 Thu 18 Fri 19 Sun 21 Mon 22 Tue 23 Tue 30
   June: Fri 2 Sun 4 Mon 5 Tue 6 Wed 7 Fri 9 Sat 10 Sun 11
   August: Mon 14 Wed 16 Thu 17 Tue 22 Wed 23 Thu 24 Fri 25 Mon 28 Tue 29 Wed 30
   Sept: Fri 1 Tue 5 Thu 7 Fri 8 Mon 11 Tue 12 Fri 15 Mon 18 Tue 19 Thu 21 Thu 21 Sun 24 Mon 25 Wed 27
   Oct: Tue 3 Wed 4 Fri 6 Mon 9 Wed 11 Thu 12 Fri 13 Mon 16 Wed 18 Thu 19 Mon 23 Tue 24 Wed 25 Fri 27 Sun 29 Mon 30 Tue 31
   Nov: Wed 1 Fri 3 Tue 14 Wed 15 Thu 16 Fri 17 Sun 19 Wed 22 Tue 28 Wed 29
2007
   Jan: Sun 21 Wed 24 Fri 26 Sat 27 Sun 28 Tue 30 Wed 31
   Feb: Fri 2 Fri 16 Fri 23 Sat 24 Sun 25 Mon 26 Tue 27
   March: Sun 4 Sat 10 Sun 11 Mon 11 Mon 19 Tue 20 Wed 21 Thu 22 Sat 24 Sun 25 Fri 30
   Apr: Sun 1 Fri 6 Mon 9 Tue 10 Wed 11 Thu 12 Sat 13 Thu 19 Fri 20 Sat 21 Sun 22 Fri 27 Mon 30
   May: Tue 1 Thu 3 Sat 5 Sun 6 Mon 7 Thu 17 Fri 18 Sat 19 Sun 20 Mon 21 Wed 23 Thu 24 Sat 26 Sun 27 Wed 30 Thu 31
   June: Fri 1 Sun 3 Mon 4 Tue 5 Thu 7 Sat 9 Tue 12 Wed 13 Thu 14 Sat 16 Sun 17 Thu 21 Sat 23 Sun 24 Sun 24
   August: Sat 4 Thu 9 Sun 12 Sat 18 Sat 18 Tue 21 Wed 22 Thu 23 Fri 24 Fri 24 Sat 25 Sun 26 Tue 28 Tue 28 Wed 29 Thu 30 Thu 30 Fri 31
   September: Sat 1 Mon 3 Wed 5 Fri 7 Sat 8 Sun 9 Tue 11 Thu 13 Thu 13 Fri 14 Sat 15 Sun 16 Thu 20 Sat 22 Sat 29 Sun 30
   October: Thu 11 Thu 18 Sun 21 Tue 23 Wed 24 Thu 25 Sat 27 Sun 28 Tue 30 Wed 31
   November: Thu 1 Fri 2 Sat 3 Mon 5 Wed 7 Thu 8 Fri 9 Sat 10 Fri 16 Sat 17
   December: Tue 11
2008
   January: Fri 11 Sat 12 Mon 14 Tue 15 Fri 18 Sat 19 Sun 20 Mon 21 Tue 22 Tue 22
   February: Sun 3 Wed 6 Thu 7 Wed 13 Thu 14 Fri 15 Thu 22 Sat 23 Sun 24 Mon 25 Tue 26 Wed 27
   March: Sun 2 Sun 9 Tue 11 Tue 11 Wed 12 Thu 20 Fri 21 Sat 22 Sun 23 Mon 24 Tue 25 Tue 25 Wed 26 Wed 26 Thu 27 Mon 31
   April: Tue 1 Wed 2 Sun 6 Fri 11 Sat 12 Sun 20 Mon 21 Fri 25 Sat 26 Sun 26 Tue 29 Wed 30
   May: Thu 1 Fri 2 Sat 3 Sun 11 Mon 12 Tue 13 Thu 15
   August: Tue 5 Thu 7 Fri 8 Sat 9 Sun 17 Mon 18 Tue 19 Sat 23
   Sept: Mon 1 Thu 4 Thu 4 Fri 5 Tue 9 Wed 10 Thu 11 Thu 25 Fri 26 Sat 27 Sun 28 Tue 30
   Oct: Wed 1 Thu 2 Fri 3 Sat 4 Sun 5 Mon 6 Tue 7 Sat 18
   Nov: Thu 20 Fri 21 Sun 23 Tue 25 Fri 28
   Dec: Thu 4 Fri 5 Sat 6 Mon 8 Tue 9
2009
   Jan: Sat 17 Thu 22 Sat 24
   Feb: Thu 5 Fri 6 Sun 8 Tue 10 Sat 14 Sun 15 Wed 18
   March: Mon 2 Sat 21 Tue 24 Fri 27 Fri 27 Sat 28 Sun 29 Tue 31
   April: Wed 1 Thu 2 Fri 3 Wed 8 Thu 9 Fri 10 Sun 12 Tue 14 Fri 17 Sat 18 Wed 22 Thu 23 Fri 24 Sat 25 Sun 26 Tue 28 Wed 29 Thu 30
   May: Thu 7
   August: Tue 18 Thu 20 Fri 21 Wed 26 Thu 27
   Sep.: Sat 5 Wed 9 Thu 10 Fri 11 Sat 12 Sun 13 Tue 15 Thu 17 Sat 19 Thu 24 Sat 26 Tue 29
   Oct.: Thu 1 Fri 2 Wed 7 Fri 9 Sat 10 Sun 11 Thu 15 Fri 16 Sat 17 Sun 18 Mon 19 Sun 25 Tue 27 Wed 28 Fri 30
   Nov.: Thu 5 Fri 6 Sat 7 Sun 8 Thu 19

Fri Jan 16 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 7AM-9AM, tide going out (6.4ft, 4AM:1ft, 12PM)
with Dario and Brad. Not too crowded (6-7 people).
big. average sets above 6ft, up to 8ft.
not a clean swell at all. very bumpy, gnarly.
The paddle out was really long and arduous, as the supposed channel was closing out at 4-5ft
Caught one way early in the session, made the drop, rode a section and got wiped out by white water. Paddling back out was long. Only wave of the session.
I could have made a drop on a 9 footer, left (the rights were just a wall), but pulled out as it was too steep for me.
Brad said he rode the fastest and most powerful waves of his life. Dario caught only 2 waves.
paddling in was tough as there was a 30 yard impact zone in the channel. Took me about 20 minutes of paddling in, looking back, paddling back out to avoid a big set. Finally saw an opening and paddled in as fast as I could. A big set crashed 5 yards behind me and the white pushed me all the way in. Dario got in by catching the gnarliest wave I've ever seen him ride I think
Spent some time on the cliffs checking out the waves. The conditions were definitely big, scary, and unclean.
Good experience, but not "fun". Definitely good stories to tell though

Mon Jan 19 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 10AM-12PM, tide going out (7ft,7AM:-1.3ft,2PM)
with Dario. Crowded.
Big. some sets in the 9-10ft range.
Got caught on the inside with Dario during a huge set with something like 30 waves. rather ridiculous. the water was all messed up afterwards and we ended up about 100 yards north of the spot.
Some guy, obviously scared, talked to me in the line-up about trying not to die and getting the boards ripped off our hands. Whatever. Feels weird not to be the worst kook out there anymore.
Finally caught a 9 footer way on the outside. My best ride ever. Had to go around one guy on the face. Wish I had been able to generate speed to escape the white toward the end of the ride. wiped out not so far from some guy in the inside, waved at him to check whether he was ok. Only wave of the session.
Paddled right back out to avoid a MASSIVE set. Was 20 yards further outside than everyone else, and made it. everybody got wiped out. Dario got really pummeled, went down deep, with his board dragging him further down! He was a bit shaken after that.
Caught some white in 15 minutes later without much trouble. Got back to the parking lot and checked out waves for a little while.
Good experience, but wishing for smaller sessions now. Feel like charging on 4ft waves.

Thu Jan 22 2004

Mission Beach, 6:30AM-8AM, tide coming in (7.3ft, 9AM)
with Dario and Patrick, only the 3 of us out there.
Waist high with some head high sets, quite a few close outs.
Beautiful morning, but my surfing sucked. Dario says it's normal after a big session.
Could really get my feet far apart enough, but still caught 10+ waves.
Did a pathetic take-off and fall right next to Dario (could have hit him with my board I think). Later Dario almost hit Patrick with his board when they got caught on the inside.
Still, a pretty nice way to start the day.
2 seals.

Fri Jan 23 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 7AM-8:45AM, tide coming in (7ft at 10AM)
with Dario and Brad, only the 3 of us out there.
waist- to head-high, not very consistent.
It was supposed to be a big day and it wasn't. Brad was a bit down in the morning and Dario thought that Subs sucked so bad that we should check another place. We went to check "indicator" and "combs" right down the road, but it wasn't good. We ended up going to subs anyway, and it turned out much better than we though, especially for me given that I was the only one with a long board out there.
Caught a lot of waves, with one good take-off, and one good ride. Still have my feet WAY too close together on take-offs unless they're steep. Really need to fix that.
Got caught on the inside a bit, but nothing bad.
Waves were too mushy for B or D to have a really good time, but they were still having fun.
Decided to get out of the water at the "rope" because the tide was too high. While waiting for a wave in this big wave (7-8 ft) came in while Dario and I were on the inside. I ditched the board and dove, but still was pushed down pretty far. Opened my eyes to see everything black and starting to swim towards the surface. Probably the deepest I've gone while surfing. Not too foamy at the top, so that was good.
Finally caught a lame left-hander in, with a very bad take-off, but at least didn't have to paddle in
Going up that rope is ok with somebody up and somebody down passing the boards up, but on my own, with a long board, no way. One wave came crashing against the cliff and it was a good thing I had grabbed Dario's board just before

Sat Jan 24 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 7AM-8:45AM, tide coming in (6ft at 10:30AM)
with Dario, 6 people in the line-up.
Dario called me in the morning at 6AM and told me to go to MB instead of SC. But when I got there the surf started to get bigger and the weather report was saying that a storm was coming in, so we drove to SC anyway.
In the parking lot we realized that Dario had forgotten his booties (and it was COLD!), had no wax on his board, and that I had forgotten my rashguard. Laughed my ass off as Dario was putting on his wet rashguard. It turned out to be OK without booties, but he had a few slips on his board.
Great waves, but strong wind that made them hard to catch and bumpy, and made the ride rather awkward. Left-handers mushy and not very exciting, great right-handers as we discovered at the end of the session.
Caught about 8 waves. One fantastic right hander (so did Dario), and the rest were mellow left-handers.
Almost dropped in on some guy as I had a very hard time pulling out of the wave, but managed to do it in the end.
Went back to Dario's house for nutella toasts and tea, watching surfers having a good time until the wind picked up. No idea why it wasn't windy here earlier.
3 dolphins in the line-up.

Thu Jan 29 2004

Mission Beach, 7:30-8:30AM, tide going out (1ft at 11AM)
by myself, although Dario was in his house, packing for his 1-year trip to Australia/Bali/Italy
knee- to chest-high
pretty crappy conditions, many close-outs, didn't really have any ride, although I had 2 ok drops. The tide seems a bit all over the place. beautiful morning though.
2 dolphins

Fri Jan 30 2004

Del Mar, 6:30AM-8:30AM, tide going out (0ft at 11AM)
with Travis, and then Geoff and Kate
knee- to head-high.
good conditions, had about 15 rides.
I still have crappy style and have trouble picking up speed on the wave, especially after bottom turns.
On a big wave I think I may have dropped in on somebody, although it wasn't completely clear (I was outside, and I really need to get it into my head that being outside does not mean I have the right of way over people on the inside closer to the break!!). Travis saw the whole thing and he told me that he couldn't tell whether I had actually dropped in, which comforted me. There was so much white I just couldn't see anything while I was dropping. But then I had to do a bottom turn around Geoff, lost all speed in that, he got caught in the white, so was I, and when I emerged from under the water his board was 5 inches from my head. That could've been bad. It was partly his fault because he lost his board on the turtle, but I would also have lost my board on that kind of turtle :) All in all, if I had been able to maintain speed, I would have been ok.
Then on another wave I dropped in on someone, but somewhat on purpose. I had seen him and tried to bail. Sort of managed to bail out, but rather late and not very effectively. When he paddled back out he told me I wasn't supposed to drop in on people, and I apologized. No hard feeling and a good vibe overall (in fact he hooted for me on one of my later take-offs, which I didn't make because I thought he was going!). Still, it made be a bit paranoid for the rest of the session. I really hate it when I drop in on people.
main things to improve: spread feet more (wasn't that bad today); pump + speed on the board; better awareness of others (although it's really getting there)
overall a good session though.
2 dolphins (1 VERY close to me), 1 seal.

Sun Feb 1 2004

San Onofre, Trail 6, 7:30AM-9:00AM, tide going out (5.4ft at 5:30AM)
with Brad and Christina
knee- to shoulder-high.
ok conditions. had about 15 rides.
Drove up from SD at 5:30 in the morning (55 minute drive)
Brad gave me advice about how to improve, and in particular how to practice cross-stepping at the end of the ride.
Talked to him about my "losing speed after turns" problem, and he advises to consciously move my weight forward at the end of the turn. I am thinking that I could at least bend my ankles.
At first couldn't catch much as the wave there is really slow, but finally caught up.
got good rides and tried Brad's monster board, on which I did ok (although turning was a bit challenging).
Some guy would always ditch his board on the take-off as I guess he would freak because the wave was too steep for him (at San Onofre????). He did it several time and once he almost hit Christina as she was paddling out. It was a bit scary.
After the session we went to an organic market to buy vegetables and we had scrambled eggs with tomatoes and bell pepper at their place. Then I drove back down for Jim's baby shower and for Jeff's SuperBowl party.
1 dolphin between the line-up and the beach.

Sun Feb 8 2004

Mission Beach, 11AM-1PM, tide going out (5.5ft at 9:30AM)
Didn't surf for a week because of rain, wind, and Jeff's gall bladder removal
with Brad and Christina
knee- to shoulder-high, a bit windy
Strong south current, had to paddle constantly
We checked out the surf in the morning (with Travis) a Sunset Cliffs and at Mission Beach, but the tide was too high. Went back to my place, Brad and Christina caught some z's while I went to visit Jeff at the Mercy hospital before going back to Mission Beach.
Got quite a few rides, but the waves were rather choppy and difficult to read. Had a few pathetic take-offs on these bumpy waves. I felt that on some waves my skills were ok and that one some others they really sucked.
Had one great ride (according to Brad anyway) on which I did a good turn, and one quite extreme take-off as the tide going out was starting to make the waves hollower
At some point Brad caught a wave way out, did a couple of cut-backs, and this guy took off between him and the peak, way on the inside, while Brad was making a turn rather far off from the peak. The guy then accelerated and got right behind Brad, who never saw him, made a cut back, and barely avoided a collision between the two boards by putting his body in between them (!). Nevertheless he got a pressure ding on the bottom of this yellow single-fin that he treasures quite a bit. The guy was kind of an asshole about it too, sort of implying that Brad had dropped on him when in fact Brad was riding the wave a good 8-9 seconds before that guy ever caught it. After that, Christina got out because she was cold and Brad used her board for 1/2 hour to finish the session. We had a lot of fun during that 1/2 hour and he was able to get the whole thing out of his mind.
Trying to cross-step at the end of rides, but it's so freaking hard. I can see it will happen at some point though.
Spent some time with Charlie in the patio and then went up to Baja Don Bravo for burritos

Fri Feb 13 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 6:30AM-8:30PM, tide going out (0.8ft at 10AM)
with Travis, but he went to Ab.
knee-high to waist-high, with 3 head-high sets, at most 4 people in the line up (around 8 at Ab)
overall a mellow session, caught about 20 rides
was on the inside for 2 of the 3 bigger sets, but managed to catch one of the big ones
Had a few instances in which I was trying to be too aggressive and too far up on the board and couldn't arch my back enough to not sink the nose, but overall pretty good take-offs and rides
still trying the cross-stepping at the end of rides, but it's still really hard
at the end of my session went to Ab and was alone there with Travis for 15 minutes. caught three nice lefts. Travis surf really well on his radical short board, but he's so out of shape right now he's dying. we laughed about that
4 dolphins, 1 seal. On a set, I saw the dolphins surf inside the wave and then jump out about 5ft in the air. It was amazing. On another wave, a dolphin was surfing right next to a longboarder.

Sat Feb 14 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 6:15AM-8:30AM, tide going out (0ft at 11AM)
with Travis
waist-high to head-high, alone for 45 minutes, then 4 people in the line-up, about 8 people when we got out
overall a very good session. waves a bit mushy but some big ones.
amazing sunrise, with the sky+water all pink. The first ride was like a dream.
had about 15 rides
had a very fast left (I don't think I've ever had so much speed on my board), and a great right with a late take-off and a high line
messed up a right by going to far down, losing all my speed at the bottom turn and having it crash on my head. usual thing. I really need to watch out for that. Waste of a perfectly good wave.
A few of the paddles were rather grueling, but not like when it's a big day though
6 dolphins, saw them surf a wave along with a surfer at South garbage. One of them jumped about 5ft in the air and fell on its back.

Sun Feb 15 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 6:40AM-8:30AM, tide going out (0ft at noon)
with Brad and Christina
waist-high to 1ft overhead, up to 6 people in the line-up
waves really hard to catch because the tide was too high, and the waves were really bumpy and not clean.
I caught 2 waves, Brad caught 5 and Christina 6, including the biggest wave she's ever ridden!!
At some point Christina got caught on the inside for about 45 minutes after riding a left! We started getting worried and I caught a left to go check it out, right after Brad. She was ok, just trying to paddle steady without exhausting herself. At that point I decided to get out, but was myself caught on the inside and after trying to paddle south I realized that the current was extremely strong and that getting back to the little beach from where we paddled in would be really hard. So I decided to try to get out at the stairs, about 600 yards north. I started making my way there on land, among rocks, sand, and chasms. Wasn't easy. Had to put my board high up on rocks, then climb down into the water, climb back up on the rocks, and retrieve my board, etc. After 20 minutes I made it to the stairs. Saw a guy with a broken board. Once I got up the stairs I ran with my board all the way up to the parking lot and back to the little beach (about .5 mile), where I met Brad and Christina who had decided that I had paddled in. All in all it wasn't life threatening, and I could always have waited for the tide to drop more, but it was quite intense.
one dead seal on the rocks by the stairs, with its guts spilled out. Gave me even more an "end-of-the-world" feeling at that point.

Sat Feb 21 2004

Mission Beach, 7:30AM-9AM, tide coming in (6.4ft at 9:40AM)
with Krijn and Roland
waist-high, nobody else in the line-up
after spending the night at Charlie's, a mellow session, with not very nice wave. Occasional decent waves every 10 minutes. Got about 5 rides, one of them being pretty good. The tide got too high rather quickly. Roland got a few good ones of course. It was Krijn's first session and he did ok and tried really hard on his 7' egg board.
6 dolphins, pretty close to us, one of them jumped right behind Krijn

Sat Feb 21 2004

Mission Beach, 11AM-12:30AM, tide going out (6.4ft at 9:40AM)
by myself.
after chilling at Charlie's house reading a paper and watching some of Dario's surf videos, decided to go out less two hours after my morning session (see above)
putting on a wet wetsuit is really not that fun
waist-high, nobody else in the line-up but an occasional sponger and a couple of guys who sucked more than me
Pretty laughable conditions. Windy. Choppy. Inconsistent. It started raining as soon as I got in, but I decided to stay in to get some surfing done before the rain caused nasty run-offs for the whole weekend. It sort of felt like the North Sea, and people started paddling in.
Got 7 rides, one of them good. In fact, on that one I actually bent my knees more, and sort of felt the board responding. Bending my knees on the high line, extending them on the low line. Maybe it's watching all those surf video's in Dario's room :)
strong north current. Got out of the water about 1/3 mile north of the house.
10+ dolphins, surfing the waves, jumping down the face of the waves, etc. pretty cool.
dead seal on the beach covered with flies

Sun Feb 29 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 2:15PM-3:45PM, weird tide, 3ft
by myself. 10 people in the line-up.
really inconsistent wind swell, really difficult to catch and read waves.
got 3 rides, each of them lefts, pretty sketchy take-offs, and then not great rides anyway. One was decent.
For 1/2 hour I didn't catch a wave and felt the 0-ride session coming, and then I caught 3 in 15 minutes.
The rights were much better, but there were 10 kick-ass short borders right on the reef, so I was on my own further north trying to catch lefts on bigger sets, which paid off three times. The shortboarders couldn't really catch many lefts given how difficult it was to take off. There was no way I could have competed with them.
I don't like going surfing on week-ends in the afternoon because of the crowd, but it really was beautiful weather.

Fri Mar 5 2004

Del Mar 7th, 6AM-8AM, tide coming in, (high tide at 8AM, 5.5ft)
with Travis. from 6 to 10 people in the line-up.
rather inconsistent, crossed swells, but a few good sets. smaller sets at 3-4ft, biggest ones at 2ft overhead.
got a fair number of rides, a few very good lefts, a couple of rights.
still messing up a bit by doing my first bottom turn too low and then losing all speed
not bending knees enough.
But somehow I feel that I am now more aware of these problems
there was a guy there riding a hybrid broad who had amazing style. His drops were SO clean. We talked to him and he had lived 15 years in Kauai. Really nice guy. He made the steepest drops an made them look absolutely easy and natural. amazing.
6+ dolphins, 2 of them breaching at the same time pretty high

Fri Mar 6 2004

Mission Beach, 9:20AM-10:30AM, tide going out, (high tide at 8:40AM)
by myself, after spending the night at Charlie's
checked out the surf early in the morning but the tide was too high, on the other hand, when I surfed later it was windy.
very choppy, waist- to chest-high, windy, inconsistent. Overall pretty lame conditions, worse than on Sun Feb 8 2004.
mostly nobody with me in the line-up, although there were quite a few people out. But since the southbound current was quite strong it seemed that they all kept drifting past me while I was really busting my ass to stay in front of the house. I figured, the conditions suck, but at least I'll get a work out.
got about 10 rides, 1 or 2 decent, difficult take offs, too many bumps on the face of the wave. My main motivation was to do it for the work out and for the experience as I was told countless times (Dario, Brad,..) that surfing in crappy conditions is a good way to improve.
after 1h I had enough. The whole time there was this guy out who was busting aerial maneuvers one after the other. Completely insane. That really shows that great surfers can really make the most of any conditions.
I can't tell if I am improving or not. I _think_ that I am turning better, or at least making a conscious effort to turn and be more flexible on the board, etc.. But I am not quite sure if it is actually happening. Watching tapes of Nat Young and Joel Tudor in Dario's room is at the same time helpful and depressing.
1 seal, way on the inside. Popped up about 5 yards from me as I was riding a wave. Almost fell as I was startled and had to go around it a bit.

Mon Mar 8 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 6:00AM-7:30AM, tide coming in, (low tide at 4:00AM, -1ft)
by myself
alone in the line-up for 20 minutes, then 3 guys paddled out.
most sets knee- to waist-high, very mellow
had about 25 rides total, all of them really mellow
did my first cross stepping! The first one wasn't even planned but just came naturally during a ride. pretty weird. The second was planned. Going backwards I didn't cross step but side stepped. But at least it's an improvement. I'll really have to keep at it.
At some point I was paddling out and this guy took off about 20 yards in front of me. He kept turning left and right and came right at me. I kept paddling same direction, same speed, and he turned at the last second, spraying water in my face. It was the weirdest thing as he had so many opportunities to go around me on both sides! The vibe was totally mellow out there, the guy had say "Hi" to me earlier, nobody had been in anybody's line or had dropped in on people and the waves were knee-high! No clue what was up with that. Maybe I am reading too much into it.
On my next-to-last wave this older guy was right next to me and we both paddled for a wave, I couldn't tell if he was going left or right, and waited until the last possible second stood up and then saw that he was going to catch it after all. I managed to bail almost immediately, but he fell on his take-off. I apologized a bit and he was like: "no worries, I fucked it up anyway". It was really an unclear situation and although I didn't keep my eyes off him as I was going for it, I never could tell whether he was going for it or not. I guess in doubt I should have bailed right away... oh well.

Thu Mar 11 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 6:00AM-7:45AM, tide low (low tide at 6:00AM, 0ft)
with Travis
alone with Travis for 20 minutes, then up to 10 people, and then back down to 4.
most sets at shoulder high, not very consistent but some nice rights and a few nice lefts. Long spells without waves or waves so fat only people with 10' massive longboards were catching them.
Got about 15 rides, including 2 or 3 very good rights that went forever. Somehow, forgot to practice my cross-stepping. I keep saying this, but I just need post-it notes on my board or something.
Still went too low on a couple and lost most of my speed with the white crashing right behind me. It's just a matter of remembering to take off at an angle.
right at the end of the session Travis took off on a wave and I was paddling out about 5-6 yards on the shoulder off from the break, maybe 5-6 yards further inside than him. Somehow, his take-off was really off and he lost balance, had his knee on the board, and when he finally looked up he realized that he was basically going to ram me over. Had he had a normal take-offs (like he did all morning catching more than his share of waves), he would have had plenty of time to go around me, which is what I was expecting. But instead he just came straight at me and hit me. It wasn't too bad. His board when over mine, his fins hit me in the calf and foot. At first I felt there was no damage done at all, but once on the beach we realized that one of his fins actually hit my board and made a small, but potentially harmful ding. There was also a not too good looking ding on the bottom of his board that he definitely has to fix. We're not sure how that happened as my board never flipped over. In fact I hung on to it the whole time. Of course he felt absolutely horrible, etc. I wasn't too worried about the whole thing because my board is getting more and more beat-up anyway and what's one more fix? And also because I could totally have done something like that. Anyway, that was probably the most eventful thing of the morning and we joked that, due to this report, his "ramming speed" behavior was being recorded for eternity. As he said, in a way it's good he did that to me. Had it been a local there he would never dare surf there again!
4+ seals on the outside

Fri Mar 12 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 5:45AM-7:15AM, tide low (low tide at 6:00AM, 0ft)
by myself
alone for 45 minutes, then one other guy, then 3 others
The people at Ab are just crazy. I got in the water at 5:50 and they are already out there surfing. Ab got quite crowded actually, given that the conditions were not that good.
Conditions were not as good as yesterday (see Fri Mar 11 report). Rather inconsistent, knee- to chest-high, but mostly slightly above waist-high. Got 11 rides total (yes, I counted, somehow)
The session started with two lame lefts, and surprisingly annoying paddles back out. Then for a while I just couldn't figure out where to be. It seemed there were two peaks, but sometimes only one, outside, and then inside. It was really difficult to read the wave and I just picked a spot where I thought I had seen nice rights break, and waited. After 20 minutes hour I was getting a bit annoyed when I had a great 1/2 hour, with 3 great rights and a few lefts.
This older guy showed up right when I was catching one of my best lefts. We talked a bit, about conditions yesterday, about the fact that he had seen a bunch of knee-boarders before, etc. It's funny, whenever I see an old guy on a long board I always assume that he's going to be completely ripping with great style, whereas it turned out that I was much better than him. I caught quite a few good waves while he was really struggling.
3 other guys paddled back out, 2 I had seen before. But that's right when the conditions starting crapping out. Waves got smaller, tide higher, waves would break for a bit and then stop breaking while you were on them. After 20 minutes of that I paddled in.
Today my take-offs were not good. I had to re-adjust my feet on the board almost on all of them. Weird. This had been improving for a while and now I feel that it's regressing. Maybe I've stopped paying attention... need to watch out for that. Practiced cross-stepping a bit, getting a better feel for it, but still long ways to go
On the path met with Randy, that guy I have seen there many times before and in fact he was there yesterday. Really good longboarder, white hair and pony tail, about 45-50 years I would say, really friendly. We talked a bit. I am sure I'll see him out there soon. Today, he surfed Ab, not subs. He said that the "locals" at Ab completely rip and know exactly where to sit. He had trouble competing (if _he_ had trouble, NO way I am ever going there).

Tue Mar 16 2004

Ocean Beach jetty (Dog beach), 6AM-8AM, tide high and dropping (high tide at 5:45AM, 5.8ft)
with Dave Doolin, whom I hadn't seen in 7 years and started surfing up in NoCal and was in SD for a conference.
not crowded (up to 4 people)
rather inconsistent, from knee- to head-high, with a first good 20 minutes, and then long spells with no waves. Started to close out at the end of the session.
caught about 20 rides, all of them rights (since the jetty is to the left). Overall an "ok" session I guess. Dave was stoked because he is used to crappy and cold NoCal conditions.
Got one _very_ good ride on a head-high wave. Sketchy take-off, but made it by holding onto the rail and zipped really fast through the first section. Very long ride too with many cut-backs.
Had a few bad take-offs on which I couldn't make it as the wave tends to jack up quite a bit.
2 seals by the jetty

Sat Mar 27 2004

San Onofre, Trail 1, 7AM-9AM (low tide at 8:30AM, 1ft)
with Brad and Christina
not crowded, quite a few people but spread out. At most 1-2 other people paddling for waves next to me.
very inconsistent mixed swell. Rides were pretty good, but catching the waves required a lot of work.
Got 8 rides (was counting them with Christina), most of them pretty fun.
after the session we played with Mason (the dog) on the beach, throwing a tennis ball and a frisbee. We were joined by 4 other dogs
2 dolphins + 1 small dolphin.

Sun Mar 28 2004

Tamarack, 7AM-9AM (low tide at 10:22AM, 0.8ft)
with Brad and Christina
rather crowded, still pretty inconsistent although there was a good half-hour. Caught about 8-9 rides, all of them very good, but like yesterday it took quite a bit of effort to catch waves
tried some cross-stepping, but not very successfully.
I was doing pretty good though, with better timing than usual for some reason.
When I got out and looked at the line-up I was sort of shocked about how crowded it was.

Sun Apr 4 2004

San Onofre, Trail 6, 6:30AM-8:30AM (high tide at 9:30AM, 5.6ft)
with Christina (Brad's in Baja)
rather inconsistent, with a few big head-high sets. Not very crowded where we were (5 people), but rather crowded a bit South where the break's a bit better
Waves were not easy to get into. Got about 10 rides, including 2-3 very good rides with waves that held their shape.
Christina graciously let me go for a nice wave, after which we had a very long lull without waves. We finally had a small set coming and we both caught a wave in. My last wave was a nice left actually, maybe the most nicely shaped wave of the day.
During this session, somehow, Christina went for the scariest waves, with really impressive take-offs, but not very good rides as the wave would literally explode behind her and swallow her in white water. At the end of one of my nice rides I turned around to see a rather scary wave about to break. Everybody is paddling for their life, and before I can say "Holy shit!" Christina just drops in, zips through the first section and narrowly escapes the white. She was complaining that she didn't have good wave selection abilities today, to which I answered: "pu-leaze".

Tue Apr 6 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 6:30AM-8AM (low tide at 4:40AM, -0.7ft)
by myself
another session with rather lame conditions. I was alone for most of the session. Two shortboarders paddled out towards the end and they were having a really hard time
the type of conditions that make it really hard to surf: the wave is throwing on the peak, and has virtually no shoulder off the peak. So either you don't catch it, or it's a very sketchy take-off for a so-so ride anyway.
Got about 7 rides, and I must say that one of them was rather excellent. The wave was building up on a real line for once, and as I took off I decided to to right (it really wasn't clear). I was pleased with myself because as I took off I realized that the wave would be sort of a wall and I managed to keep a very high line to make it. So I just zipped really fast through a long first section before I could do a cut back. At that point I realized that 6 months ago I would just have gone straight down, lost speed, and gotten pummeled.
Toward the end of the session it got windy and that did it, I managed to catch a wave in. On the walk back to the car I could see that the conditions were really crapping out and that the two shortboarders were really not having fun at all. Ab and South Garbage looked a bit better of course.

Thu Apr 8 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 6:30AM-8AM (low tide at 6:30AM, -0.8ft)
by myself, nobody out
Sort of the same as Tuesday, but a bit better, especially as the session went on. knee- to chest-high.
caught about 20 rides, but only one of them was actually good.
Really inconsistent and I paddled constantly for the first 45 minutes just to try to position myself. The conditions weren't good, but at least I got a good work out.
Practiced cross-stepping a few times with more or less success, still no luck trying to do it backwards though.
Like on Tuesday the take-offs were not that easy at the waves were throwing a bit, but then the shoulder was very weak.
I caught only one wave that really set up nicely and had a real shoulder to work with.
1 seal. Popped up its head about 5 feet from me, looked at me straight for 20 seconds, and then dove back under. Sort of eerie.

Fri Apr 9 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 6:15AM-8AM (low tide at 7:30AM, -0.6ft)
by myself.
5ft-9ft waves. I could tell it was going to be good because I could see quite a few lines out from the parking lot. The forecast called for bigger conditions, but, as usual, it was smaller for some definition of smaller. The conditions pretty much improved throughout the session and in fact looked really outstanding at South Garbage at 8:30.
alone for 10 minutes, then 2 guys (one sponger), then little by little up to 10. All the other spots were totally crowded. Ab was ridiculous with about 30 people. I checked out Ab from the cliff after my session. 4 guys dropping on every wave, and the wave at Ab is quite something. I saw at least 2 collisions (or close) in 5 minutes.
I paddled out alone, and immediately caught two outstanding rides, one right and one left, both head-high. Got caught in the inside a couple of times but nothing bad (well, ok, 1 year ago I would pretty much have died).
Caught about 10 rides total, with 6 or so of them great. I fell on one steep take-off though. I was kinda pissed because it was on my 3rd wave and I didn't know what was to come.
When all these people paddled out, I decided to try to score some lefts as they were all going for the rights. That ended up being great as only me and that other guy were going for the lefts and we scored. We started talking. Very nice guy. We talked about the fact that all those fools would not get the lefts, that surfing's such a hard sport and that when, like me, you start at 30 years old, it's a big disadvantage, etc.. As we talked we saw this guy (I've seen him before there and he is kind of an asshole) take off basically on this other guys head. There was no way he could go around him and in fact he should just have passed on that wave. But he decided to go anyway and basically surfed over the other guy's board and body! It was unreal and to top it off he sort of bitched at the other guy for being in his line. This is the same guy who once yelled at me: "Are you going LEFT or RIGHT?", when I was on the shoulder on a right-hander, he was to my right, and there were yards and yards of nasty white on my left. Just trying to psyche me out of going right by implying that left's even an option. I had ignored him and gone right. Snaking by intimidation is his kung-fu.
And then, this set came. First wave is about 7ft I think and the guy I was talking to catches it (it's a left of course, and it's only me and him paddling for those). I look at him take off and I turn back to see this bigger wave setting up. Immediately I realize I am in the perfect spot. I turn around paddle and make the drop. Big fucking drop too. I manage to keep a high line somehow (good thing I've been able to do that better in the last 2-3 weeks) and pretty much caught the ride of my life (very long ride too with like 5 cut-backs and extremely fast sections next to the wall but totally holding). After that my legs were shaking, probably due to the adrenaline, fear, excitement, whatever and I couldn't really surf for 20 minutes as I knew I couldn't possibly stand up. The guy I was talking to saw my ride and on the paddle back I said: "WOW... how big was that do you think?". And he said: "clean 9ft face, at least.. I saw you take off and you looked really small out there. But you did good. You surfed it casual and your style wasn't bad at all". I proceeded to hand him a large sum of money.
After that I caught a couple of rides (measly 5ft or so) and paddled in after the second ride. Needless to say I was pretty much stoked all the way back to the car and I think I was grinning the whole time without realizing it because in the parking lot this guy saw me and said: "it was that good, huh?". I was like: "ahem... what? yeah... not as big as the forecast said though".

Sun Apr 11 2004

San Onofre, Trail 6, 9AM-11AM (low tide at 10AM, 0ft)
with Brad, Christina, and Susan
up to 10 people on the break, but a lot of beginners who didn't catch many waves
1ft-3ft waves with maybe a few at 4ft. Very mellow, got windier and windier as the session went on and at the end it was pretty much blown out.
We had a good time, the weather was beautiful. Of course Brad caught more than his share of waves. I tried to practice cross-stepping a bit, but it didn't work out too well. Caught maybe 20 rides, and two of them were actually quite decent with some speed to them.
3 dolphins, right in the line-up, maybe 10 yards from us. One surfed a wave and went right underneath that girl who was paddling out.

Thu Apr 22 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 6AM-7:30AM (low tide at 6AM, -0.2ft)
by myself
alone in the line-up, as far as there was a line-up today, 3ft-6ft.
really bad conditions. Major cross swell (SW and W it seemed) and on-shore wind that started to blow at 6:15 or so. Extremely inconsistent, many bumps on all waves, extremely choppy on the inside, somewhat of a riptide to top it off. And the dreaded "big wave on the horizon" that just goes up and down and never breaks cleanly, breaks for 10 yards, then stops breaking, etc. The only surfable waves had a steep peak and virtually no shoulder to work on. Anyway, among the messiest conditions I've surfed at that spot. Decided to paddle out just for the work out actually.
caught 5 rides, all of them bumpy and thus difficult to stay on the board, just happy to make the drop. One of the rides (a left, somehow the rights weren't working at all) was decent I guess, head-high, pretty long on a very fast wave. I couldn't do much but go straight and absorb the bumps with my legs. Never had a chance to do a cutback but at least it was a long ride.
Back in the parking lot, as I was changing amidst a sea of dogs, a HUGE truck pulled in. Jacked up way high, with exposed shocks, huge tires, driven by this skanky 20-year old girl. As she parked I saw this large sticker on the back window (pretty much covering the entire window, with red letters on a transparent background) that said: "Chevys are like tampons, every pussy needs one". The truck was a Ford. This was the highlight of the morning.

Sat Apr 24 2004

Turn About, 6:15AM-7:50AM (low tide at 6:30AM, 0ft)
with Brad and Christina
about 10 people in the line-up
1ft-3ft, really slow and mellow. We still had a good time, swapped boards, etc...
caught about 6-7 rides, with 1 great one on the best/only wave of the day. Brad was totally jealous. I was just sitting there, and then I saw that wave form, maybe 4.5ft. I did a rather sketchy/late take-off because I so wasn't expecting a wave, but made it and had a great ride. That was 10 minutes into the session, and after that not such wave (or even close) came. Really good and mellow way to start a sunny weekend.
2 dolphins.

Sun Apr 25 2004

Mission Beach, 8:30AM-9:30AM (low tide at 8:00AM, 0ft)
with Jeff and Kathy
Alone for a while, then 5 guys showed up
Horrible conditions. 3ft-6ft. complete close-outs. cross swells
Had a few nasty falls on close-outs. Had basically 2 rides total, with a massive amount of backwash. Pretty much one of the lamest sessions in this journal I'd think.
It was Jeff's first time in the water after 6 years. He had fun in the white water, but ripped his wetsuit's zipper after taking a break and so ended up only surfing 20 minutes.
I saw a baby whale!!! I was in the line up and I saw this huge back come out of the water, all bumpy, maybe 15 feet total, with a weird looking fin, all about 20 yards away from me. I had never seen a whale before. It was moving REALLY slow.
I got breakfast with Jeff after the session and met Nicole. She told me that a great white had been sighted at Sunset Cliffs yesterday! For a minute or so I wondered whether that's what I saw. Especially because the fin seemed a bit odd. But thinking about it I am now pretty much convinced it was a whale. I think I remember all the bumps on the back and the fin looked like a dolphin fin, not like a shark fin.

Fri Apr 30 2004

Del Mar, 7:30AM-9:00AM (high tide at 7:00AM, 5ft)
with Geoff, Suzanne, Nika, and Brad
knee- to shoulder-high, pretty decent conditions but not great. The rights were kind of closing out and the lefts had very little power. But still had tons of fun. Great weather.
Caught about 20 rides. Did pretty good but didn't feel like practicing anything, so just enjoyed the rides. Purled a couple times because I was "leaning" too much. Had maybe 2 very good rides overall.
1 Jelly fish that attached itself to Nika's leash, 1 Seal that was in the line-up all morning, fishing, playing with kelp, quite entertaining.

Sat May 1 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 9:15AM-11:15AM (high tide at 7:40AM, 4.8ft)
by myself, met Sylvia in the water
2 people, then up to 8.
knee- to waist-high, not very good but a few decent waves. improved steadily until the end of the session and then the swell died out. Beautiful weather. Many waves dying halfway through the rides though, which is always annoying.
I feel like I caught a lot of waves today, paddling really hard and leaning pretty well. Definitely caught more than my share of waves. I feel that I am still not a very good surfer, but I catch a lot more waves than, say, 6 month ago.
practiced cross-stepping quite a bit. But still can't do it backward. So I cross-step forward and shuffle backward.
walking out of the water, this guy pointed out to me small sharks right on the shore. I saw 3 of them, about 2-3 feet long, black, swimming maybe 2 feet from my feet on the sandy bottom. The guy borrowed my board to paddle over them and have a better look. I think he said "tiger sharks", but that can't be right.

Sun May 2 2004

Mission Beach, 8:00AM-9:30AM (high tide at 8:20AM, 5ft)
with Jeff
up to 5 people in the line-up
knee- to waist-high, very inconsistent, cross-swells, tide too high as expected.
caught about 10 rides, with one of them ok, the others rather weak
At the end of the session the conditions really crapped out and Jeff and I decided to paddle in. But somehow he got caught in a riptide and when I got to the beach and looked back he was way out there. So I paddled back out and towed him with my leash out of the riptide. And there I was complaining this session hadn't been enough of a work out!

Tue May 4 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 6AM-7:45AM (high tide at 10AM, 4.3ft)
by myself, met Rory on the beach (had seen him before but this time we introduced each other. He's a lawyer and deals with all claims of the surfrider foundation!)
between 2 and 3 people in the line-up
waist- to shoulder-high. Very glassy, but cross swells and not a clean break. Take-offs were a bit sketchy, especially on the rights.
caught about 10 rides. Not of them really good. Completely messed up the best wave of the day (a right) by falling after take-off. Sort of annoying. I feel that I was a bit too tentative and didn't charge it enough.
I had to paddle in as I couldn't catch a wave in (the "last wave" syndrome). As soon as I got out the fog came in and by the time I got to the care it was really thick.
As I paddled out I saw several leopard shark fins at the surface, basically escaping away from my board.

Thu May 6 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 5:45AM-7:00AM (low tide at 5:30AM, -1.5ft)
by myself, nobody out.
knee- to waist-high, with a few shoulder-high sets. Not consistent. At the beginning of the session waves were bigger but with 2 peaks that collided leading to short sections and with weak shoulders. As the tide was coming in waves became a bit smaller, but with nicer shapes and better shoulders.
Caught about 20 rides, 2 of them decent, and the others quite weak. Got caught on the inside twice. I need to get better at not taking my time paddling back, even on a small day. Part of it is physical condition, but part of it is just nonchalance.
Although it was a weak swell, the take-offs were not completely easy, and I can tell that I am now taking off with confidence on waves that would have caused me endless troubles 6 months ago. I am doing the whole "paddle, arch, check it out, pop up quickly" routine a bit better
The tide was SO low that getting in and out was a pain. Got entangled in kelp and weeds, half walking, half wading. So glad there are no sea urchins at Sunset Cliffs.

Fri May 7 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 7:00AM-8:30AM (low tide at 5:50AM, -1.5ft)
with Jeff, 3 other people in the line-up
knee- to waist-high, with a few shoulder-high sets. Consistent and nicely shaped waves for about 45 minutes. Then 2 much bigger sets coming from nowhere, and right after that wind and completely messed up waves
Caught about 15 rides, most of them quite fun. I was surprised because I was expecting worse conditions than yesterday, but the waves had nice lines to them. Did one cross step. Take-offs were really easy. I feel really confident now in this type of conditions.
It was Jeff's 3rd time out and I was a bit concerned that taking him to Sunset Cliffs was a mistake, but he managed to paddle ok, and held it together in the water.
The tide was very low again, and getting in and out was kind of a pain. Jeff cut up his knee a bit on the way out.

Fri May 7 2004

Mission Beach, 7PM-7:45AM (low tide at 17:22AM, 2.2ft)
by myself, 3-4 people in the line-up
really poor conditions, but went out mostly to get wet and see the sunset. waist-high mostly with quit a few close-outs at shoulder-high. very choppy, very difficult to read the waves.
caught about 5 rides, with 2 of then decent given the conditions. in fact my last wave in was the best.
This session was lame surf-wise, but was one of the best atmosphere-wise. I was at Charlie's, just jumped in my wetsuit, paddled out. The view was stunning. Sunset. Two clouds. Reflections on windows all over mount Soledad, pelican flights everywhere. Then the sun set and I caught a wave in. Walked on the beach, chatted with a few random people, some guy playing the guitar, some dude picking up his cell phone and saying "what's up dog?". The total Californian vibe! Then got to Charlie's, started the dinner on the stove, rinsed off in the backyards, all this while watching the swell through the kitchen and the front window. Then I took 10 pictures of Charlie around the house wearing his "I Drink Therefore I am" T-shirt, which is a gift from Dario's. Charlie's going to send him the pictures over to Bali. This place, this house, is absolutely magical. Dario had been telling me this for years, but tonight for the first time I really got it. Now if only the surf conditions at Mission Beach were ever good like they used to be!

Sat May 8 2004

Mission Beach, 9AM-10AM (low tide at 7:23AM, -1.2ft)
by myself, 7 people in the line-up
really poor conditions again, especially at the beginning on the session with a lot of close-outs. Choppy. knee- to waist-high. Conditions improved as the tide filled in with more and more of a ridable shoulder.
Caught about 20 rides, with 2 decent ones overall. The rest were on very sectiony waves, ending up swallowed in white water within a few seconds. Also ate it on about 5 take-offs on close-outs.
Overall, pretty happy with this session because in spite on the conditions I still managed to take off on several waves, keeping a high line, and popping up on the board rather fast.
There were 6-7 guys out there, all friends. I was to the right of them and I kept catching mostly rights and they were positioned for lefts, so I actually never had to pay attention to them on take-offs. It was weird. Some were ok surfers, better than me, on shortboards. Some were really lame, paddling with their bodies way too far back on the boards. But the better surfers among them never gave them advice. What was weird is that they were all close together, shouted the whole time, didn't seem very bright, and would take-off all on the same wave, hitting each other with their boards, etc. That was particularly bad because there were so may close-outs today.I couldn't figure it out. At some point three of them took off. One of them literally landed on the second one and both their boards hit the third one in the head! He was a bit knocked out, but then they whooped and paddled back out. It's terrible to say, but I couldn't help thinking: "Fucking Zonies!". Anyway, it was funny because I was right next to them, caught a LOT of waves compared to them and in between waves I could just sit and enjoy the spectacle offered by those guys.

Sun May 9 2004

San Onofre, Trail 1, 6AM-8:30AM (low tide at 8:30AM, -1ft)
with Brad and Christina, alone in the line-up
chest-high to 2ft-overhead, really mixed-up. Waves impossible to read and very difficult to get into.
Caught about 10 rides. Each of them was a very sketchy take-off, and a fast, bumpy ride. Overall, very happy with this session because I made every take-off and handled big, nasty conditions quite well
The inside was hell. After my first ride it took me 25 minutes to paddle back out. On average I would say about 10 minutes. Got better toward the end. Waves, after waves in the inside, nasty white water, being held down a lot and gasping for air. Probably one of the most physically demanding sessions in a while.
Saw about 20 dolphins. It was amazing. They were in the line-up all morning. They were jumping down the face of waves, sometimes 3 at a time. Playing around, breaching all over the place, up to 5 feet from us. That was truly amazing.

Tue May 10 2004

Mission Beach, 7:30AM-8:30AM (low tide at 9:48AM, -0.4ft)
with Jeff, alone in the line-up
waist- to head-high, really mixed-up swell again.
really hard to paddle out (about 20 minutes). Caught 3 rides total, all of them on semi-close out waves. One of them was almost decent.
Jeff got exhausted after 20 minutes and just stayed on the beach for the major part of the session. It's true that the paddle out was grueling and that the inside was kind of a mess. At the end of the session I took his board out and rode the white a bit. But even the white was not consistent and crossed. I am really thinking of calling it quit on Mission Beach.

Fri May 14 2004

Mission Beach, 7:00AM-8:00AM (high tide at 7:13AM, 4.5ft)
with Jeff, alone in the line-up
ankle- to waist-high, tide too hide and waves hard to catch. completely crapping out by the end of the session
caught 10-15 rides, some in white that sort of reformed. Not good but good practice for wave catching. Jeff couldn't catch much actually.

Fri May 14 2004

Mission Beach, 7PM-7:45PM (high tide at 7:15PM, 4.5ft)
by myself, 3-5 people in the line-up
knee- to waist-high, tide too hide, mixed-up waves, almost impossible to catch, breaking on the outside, then not breaking on the inside.
I paddled out just to get in the water after the long week, and it was quite relaxing to watch the sunset while in the water.
caught 3 rides total, and 2 of them were a bit difficult to pull off actually. I don't think I could have gotten them 6 months ago. It's amazing. No matter how crappy the conditions, you always learn something (at least at my level)
After the session, cooking in Charlie's kitchen, I saw the sun go down in the ocean and, for the first time in my life, I saw the green flash! I can't believe it exists.

Sat May 15 2004

Mission Beach, 12:30AM-1:15PM (high tide at 2:13PM, 0.4ft)
by myself, 5 people in the line-up
knee- to chest-high, choppy, windy, horrible. Got in the water just to get wet.
Caught 3 rides total, did 1 cross-step.
1 dolphin right in the line-up

Sun May 16 2004

Mission Beach, 6PM-7:15PM (high tide at 8:30PM, 6ft)
by myself, 2-5 people in the line-up
waist- to head-high, a bit choppy and windy, but nice sets coming through
First session with my new 7'6'' board. Bought the board this morning with Brad and Christina and then bought a board bag. Realized that my board was too wide for the bag! Returned the bag at 5:30 and got another one (for less money actually). Then I decided to go in the water just to see how this new board paddles. In fact, I didn't have too much trouble paddling, sitting on the board (although I almost tipped over a couple times!), or catching waves. Everything's harder, but I think that adapting to this new board will not be such a huge ordeal.
Caught about 15 rides, with 4 of them or so really fun. Can't wait to surf this board in better conditions with less chop. I can already tell it reacts well under my feet and it's nice to not have to wonder where to be on the board. It's pretty obvious :) I was able to work the wave better, and I can see that there's hope of hitting the lip with that thing. I also was able to make sketchier take-offs. Overall, I am really looking forward to surfing this board. Travis is telling me that in 6 months I'll want a board that under 7'. I am not so sure, but we'll see.

Tue May 18 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 6:30AM-8:00PM (low tide at 4AM, -0.4ft)
with my 9' board
with Jeff, alone in the line-up
knee- to waist-high at best, a bit windy, inconsistent cross swell. We started at Ab since nobody was there, and ended up drifting to Sub! Was a bit odd.
Caught about 12 rides, which was pretty good given the conditions. Good thing I didn't take my 7'6'' board though.
After a long part of the session without catching any wave, Jeff came on the inside at Subs and caught 3 rides (1 of them with his hands on the board the whole time). It was awesome though, definitely a good first step. At some point this wave was forming in front of him and I said: "Dude!", pointing at the wave. His answer was: "Yeah, I could have gone for that one". I was stunned because the wave was still forming up and in fact he was a bit too much on the inside. So I said: "What? DUDE!!!". Then he realized that he could still get the wave, turned around and started paddling. The wave pretty much broke on him (it was a beyond-late take-off) and he found himself in white, but eventually stood up and caught his first real ride! It reminded me of how I was way back when when I just couldn't judge waves at all.

Thu May 20 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 6:30AM-8:15PM (low tide at 5AM, -0.6ft)
with my 7'6'' board
with Jeff, 3-4 people in the line-up
4ft-7ft, rather inconsistent probably due to the fact that it was a South swell, not breaking very often, but still some good rides to be had.
Started the session at Subs, caught 2 rides initially, then got caught inside for a bit. Finally made it back out to the line-up where I caught 3 rides on 6-7ft waves. One of them was very good, and some kid in the water was hooting as I was taking off because it was quite steep. I really had to grab the rail and pull hard on that one, but then I was able to 2 4-5 cutbacks and the board reacts so much better than my 9ft. I still need to get better at positioning my feet on the board. Too close together.
Jeff got caught on the inside a bit North of Subs, and I saw him get out on the beach. I decided the catch a wave in but that's right when the conditions really started deteriorating and there was a big lull with many fake waves that wouldn't break. Eventually I paddled in right when he was paddling back out to Ab, which was empty. Decided to go there as well
Ab was smaller and not consistent at all. Only one guy out. I've rarely seen Ab with nobody there, and it's probably because the regulars know that it sucks on a South swell. Caught 3 rides there, with one of them on which I took off with my feet SO close together that I almost fell. Really need to get a hang of this. Jeff was happy because he actually stood up twice, while at Sub he had done nothing but struggle in nasty white water. We finally paddled in as it was getting windier and windier.

Fri May 21 2004

Mission Beach, 6PM-7PM (high tide at 11PM, 5.8ft)
with my 7'6'' board
with Krijn for a bit. 5-6 people in the line-up
waist- to head-high, very messy, very difficult to read waves, to get into them, very choppy. The big sets were mushy, mushy, and then suddenly closing out
Caught about 5 rides, none of them really good due to bumps. Had to readjust my feet on all, which is uncool
Fell about 4-5 times on the take-off by standing too straight on my legs and fell backwards. Stuff I used to do when I started surfing on my 9ft. Back to the drawing board.
Krijn paddled out for a bit, but was exhausted right away and got out really soon

Sun May 23 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 7:30AM-9AM (low tide at 6:25AM, -0.3ft)
with my 9' board.
with Jeff. Alone in the line-up.
As soon as we were on the road and we could see the ocean, Jeff went: "Damn it's flat!!". That place, meaning the first patch of water we can see, is always flat and I've explained that to him many times. But somehow he keeps yelling that when we get there and I totally fall for it and say: "No it's not! Dude, this is the place where it's...always...flat... you're a dick". It pleases him.
Pretty poor conditions, but could've been worse. It's been so bad in the last 3 weeks that my standards are getting lower. knee- to waist-high, with the occasional shoulder-high sets. a bit windy.
Caught 10 rides. Most of them unremarkable. In fact, at the beginning of the session I had said that my goal was to ride 2 waves.
I had one very good ride on this chest-high wave. I did a rather late take-off right on the peak, and somehow made it. Pretty happy about that. Jeff was giving me shit saying: "you know, you're not supposed to take off right at the highest point of the wave".
He caught 4 waves or so and was pretty happy with his session. At the end he was chilling in 2 feet of water, sitting on his board like on a bench. I paddled in and we started talking when he suddenly fell backwards, on the sand underwater, with both legs sticking up in the air. Not the most dignified fall. I laughed my ass off.

Sun May 23 2004

Turn About, 3PM-4:30PM (low tide at 5:15AM, 2.9ft)
with Brad and Christina, about 3-4 people in the line-up
with my 9' board.
knee- to shoulder-high, really choppy and windy.
Caught about 6 rides. When it's that choppy I find it very difficult to catch waves. I end up pearling a lot, and once I am riding a wave I have trouble dealing with all the bumps and trying to be on the best place on the wave. Anyway, it was a good experience and it was good being in the water.
Brad was surfing his new twin fin board, ultra thick. He was having some trouble adapting to it because it was so loose and turns so easily. He was able to catch so many waves though, it was sick. As usual.

Thu May 27 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 6:30PM-8PM (high tide at 6PM, 4.4ft)
by myself, no single surfer in sight anywhere.
with my 7'6'' board.
knee- to waist-high, barely breaking, really inconsistent. A few slightly bigger sets coming in, but not breaking nicely and I was always on the inside anyway.
Caught 3 rides. One of them rather long, but not graceful, one of them with a decent take-off (with feet reasonably spread apart). The tide was really too high, and although I thought the wind would abate it didn't.
Went in the water just for the hell of it and mostly to watch the sunset and paddle. People watching me paddle out probably thought I was completely insane, but whatever. It was nice to be out on my new board, although toward the end I was a bit tired of the crappy conditions.

Sat May 29 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 7:30AM-9AM (high tide at 6AM, 4ft)
with Dave Doolin, nobody out for a while, then 3 other people
with my 9' board.
waist- to shoulder-high, windy but not too much and the wind died down somehow, but really disorganized with small periods between waves, crossed swells, a lot of doubles.
Once again crappy conditions. Caught about 12 rides, with 2 or 3 of them decent although there were many bumps on the wave.
A few bigger sets, but I was never in the right spot.

Sun May 30 2004

San Onofre, Trail 6, 8:30AM-11AM (high tide at 7AM, 4ft)
with Dave Doolin and Christina, quite crowded but not much competition for waves as people were nicely spread out.
with my 9' board
knee- to chest-high, glassy, a bit mixed up but nice sets coming through, although quite a few doubles.
first glassy conditions in a very long time, had almost forgotten what it was like. Overall a very nice session which returned my faith in Southern California surfing. Caught 20+ rides, with 5-6 of them really fun. The inside was a bit messy, but paddling back out wasn't hard at all.
3 dolphins in the line-up.

Mon May 31 2004

San Onofre Trail 6, 8:30AM-11AM (high tide at 8AM, 4.2ft)
with Christina, Nika, Rick, and Kathy, very crowded.
with my 9' board
knee- to waist-high, close to glassy, rather infrequent sets and waves difficult to catch due to the high tide.
Caught about 20 rides, many more than the average surfer out there. pretty happy about that.
Kathy stood up on her first wave on her first day out with her 8.5ft board. She caught that wave trying to paddle out. The white water turned her around 180 degree. And then she realized she was riding the wave she stood up for a second.
After a 25 minute lull, a wave came and Christina and I were in the right spot. It was a nice wave too. We took off and both thought we had dropped in on each other. We both bailed after the bottom turn to realize that I had gone right and she had gone left. It was sort of sad although we laughed quite a bit. The two of us are always way too concerned about dropping in on each other.
2 dolphins

Mon May 31 2004

Mission Beach, 6:30PM-7:15PM (high tide at 8PM, 6.7ft)
by myself, between 2 and 4 other people in the line-up
with Dario's 9' board
waist- to chest-high. A bit choppy and windy, but not too horrible.
Caught about 10 rides. 2 of then very decent. I had some trouble adapting to Dario's board I think and pearled a few times. But most annoying was the sunset. I had to squint so hard to see the waves coming that after 1h I had a headache. So I just took a wave in. I feel like I am improving in these lame conditions, and had I taken my board I would have been much better today.

Wed June 2 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 6:30AM-8AM (low tide at 3:30AM, -1.5ft)
by myself, mostly alone, 2 people for 10 minutes.
with my 9' board
knee- to waist-high, mushy. A bit windy, but not too much. Not very consistent but a few occasional decent waves coming through. Shifting peaks though, so rather difficult to position oneself and I was never in the right spot for the 4-5 bigger waves that came through.
The beginning of the session was really sad and I wondered whether I would catch anything. But towards the middle of the session there was an ok 1/2 hour. Caught maybe 15 rides total, with 2-3 of them pretty fun.
I managed to cross-step forward AND backward 3 times, which is a first. I was really trying to work these waves by making turns and walking the board. Style-wise I probably rode my top waves today (but there were several lame ones as I dug rails in as opposed to make smooth turns).
I also was pretty happy about one take-off on the peak on which I managed to keep a high line by taking off at a sharp angle.
Overall not a great session condition-wise, but one in which I could really tell that I am improving.

Thu June 3 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 6AM-7:30AM (low tide at 4:30AM, -2ft)
with Travis, 6-8 other people out, including this outstanding longboarder I had seen a few times before, ripping beautiful turns and hanging five on every wave.
with my 7'6 board
chest-high, not very consistent and a bit mushy.
Sort of wish I had taken my 9' instead, but it was good to get more practice on the 7'6''. Waves were difficult to read and I had trouble getting into them. I need to get used to taking off more on the peak on this board.
Caught 2 good rides, and in particular my last ride on my way in. I fell on 3 take-offs on which I had made the drop but fell backwards, mostly due to the change from 9' to 7'6''. There were about 3 waves into which I couldn't get because I probably had been a bit too much on the outside and had overestimated my paddling speed. Anyway, this new board takes a lot of getting used to.
Travis caught quite a few waves. He was a bit out of shape and got caught on the inside a couple of times after riding lefts, but had a good session overall.
Saw two big blue herons on the cliff on my way out. Never seen herons at Sunset Cliffs before.

Fri June 4 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 5:45AM-7:45AM (low tide at 5:20AM, -2ft)
by myself, up to 15 other people out.
with my 9' board. From the parking lot it seemed a bit mushy and the waves looked a bit fat, so I opted to go out with my longboard.
waist- to head-high+, glassy, but not very consistent. Got caught on the inside a couple of time, but nothing too bad.
Caught about 10 rides, with 3 of them really good.
On one I did a rather wide bottom turn and almost fell in, but I put my hand in the water to regain my balance. Ended up surfing it all the way in. Also, I was able to kick my board off the back of the waves before they close out much better, with even a backside one.
I fell on 3 late take-offs. In fact, one was on my first attempt of the morning and my immediate though was: "hmmm... should I have taken my short board out?". But no, the long board was definitely the right call today as the waves were pretty fat and shortboarders couldn't catch anything on the outside.
I couldn't catch a wave in and just paddled in. This guy was there with this black lab (there were about 10 dogs on the beach running around), and when he started paddling out his dog just swam behind him. He brought the dog back to the beach. Then he took off again and his dog waited 5 seconds before following him in again. I don't think the guy knew what was hapenning because the dog paddled out really far until the impact zone at Sub (maybe 200 yards away). I am not sure how dogs fare in nasty white water, but I was a bit concerned. Eventually, after being pounded a couple time, the dog started swimming back to shore. It took him forever too as he was noticeably slowing down. I still don't know if the dog just does that every time and his owner's just chosen to ignore it, or what. It was quite a sad scene I thought. When the dog got to shore he was completely exhausted and just plopped down on the wet sand in a completely pathetic heap.

Fri June 4 2004

Mission Beach, 5:30PM-6:30AM (high tide at 11PM, 7.3ft)
by myself, 50 people out, always 4-5 people around me. Met Roland in the water.
with my 7'6'' board.
waist- to overhead high. Pretty steep waves, many close-outs. difficult for me to position myself on those waves.
Managed to catch 3 rides, none on one of the bigger waves. Fell on 2 take-offs on the big waves (fell backward as usual). But a good experience anyway.
2 ducks (the kind with the green neck and head) were swimming in the inside. Sort of random.

Sat June 5 2004

San Onofre, Trail 1, 6:30PM-8:30AM (low tide at 6:15AM, -1.8ft)
with Christina, 30 people out, always 1-2 people around us.
We checked Old Man's in the morning early (after sleeping in the car for 20 minutes while in the line of cars to the parking lot!) but, probably due to the tide, it wasn't working at all (although the San Onofre Pointe seemed decent but was bound to be extremely crowded).
chest- to head-high waves, but rather inconsistent with very long lulls between sets. Waves were also a bit sectiony and peaky, rather difficult to get into.
Caught 4 rides, none of them particularly good but all decent. Got caught inside a couple times but not too bad. In particular on one wave through which I paddled but that grabbed the tail of my board and dragged me in the inside.
On the way out I had drifted quite a bit north and I was right at the level of the rocks. So I paddled north to get to the sand. When I thought I had cleared the rocks I went in but in fact there were still many rocks under the water and I had a hard time getting in. I stubbed my toe a bit and scratched my shin. Must really remember that there are many more rocks that one thinks in that area of Trail 1.
2 dolphins a bit beyond the line-up.

Sat June 5 2004

Turn About, 6:30PM-8PM (low tide at 5PM, 2.4ft)
with Christina, 10 people out, little competition for waves
with my 9' board.
waist- to chest-high, a bit choppy and windy, but no too horrible. A few lulls in between sets, and the conditions got worse as the session went on.
Caught about 6-7 rides, including two great ones.
Paddling out was difficult because of the inordinate amount of kelp in the inside. Both Christina and I got about 5lbs of kelp on our leashes and had a hard time getting out.
On my first wave I was in the perfect spot and the wave was a bit peaky. Somehow I freaked out and ditched the board on the take-off. I could _totally_ have made it! Christina saw me from the inside and laughed her ass off, as probably most of the guys out there. Pretty lame. Luckily on my second wave, which was pretty much identical to the first one, I took off perfectly and had a great long ride.
On one ride I cross-stepped forward on the board and found myself hanging 5 for about 10 yards. First time ever! It sort of just happened naturally and I was totally surprised to be there. This is probably some sort of milestone.
We got out of the water and went to meet Jaime for dinner at a sushi place in Carlsbad.

Tue June 8 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 6:15AM-7:45AM (low tide at 9AM, -0.5ft)
by myself, alone for 45 minutes, then 1 other guy in the line-up.
with my 9' board.
waist-high and a few sets in the chest-high range, not very consistent, but almost glassy in spite of a slight on-shore breeze.
Before I got into the water there was that guy with his dog (a yellow lab) on the shore, and he was having a hard time getting the dog to stay on the beach and not follow him in the water. I offered to hold the dog while he paddled out. So he gave me a dog biscuit and I gave it to the dog to distract him. But then I had to paddle out and the dog was then following me in the water! Luckily I managed to distract him by throwing a stone to the beach and I paddled my ass off to put some distance between me and him. Worked out fine although he seemed quite disappointed in my poor attitude.
Caught about 15 rides, all of them decent and a few quite fun.
Managed to cross-step quite a bit and did a few "fake" hang fives with my front foot not quite up to the nose. I feel that the last session during which I hung five for the first time sort of made me realize that walking the board wasn't that hard after all.
Got quite tired during this session. On my last ride (a long left on which I walked the board reasonably well) I got caught on the inside and it took me maybe 15 minutes of constant paddling to go out. I can't remember ever paddling this slowly. Then I tried to do a late take-off on a steep wave and totally ate it. Decided to catch some white in as I couldn't paddle anymore.

Wed June 9 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 6:30AM-8:00AM (low tide at 10AM, -1ft)
with Jeff, alone for 30 minutes, up to 3 other guys in the line-up.
with my 9' board.
waist-high with a few head-high sets, really inconsistent short period wind swell, and windy.
Caught about 6 rides. Surfed the inside at the beginning without realizing it was the inside. Once bigger sets came, it took me a long time to get outside. once there, I caught a few more rides.
On the best wave I went for, head-high, I hit a kelp bed on the drop and fell off. I was pissed.
One of the guys who paddled out looked at the conditions and said to me: "Wow. I thought I'd be the only idiot out here. So, which way to you go on these ... things... left? or right?"
Jeff was pretty tired after a 2 week hiatus and he got caught on the inside a few times. Not the best conditions for a "let's get back to surfing" experience.
At the end of the session I caught a decent right with a nice take-off and bottom turn, but then it mushed out right away. Still was a nice feeling on the drop.

Fri June 11 2004

Del Mar, 7:30AM-9AM (high tide at 6AM, 3.8ft)
with Geoff and Suzanne, 3 other people out
with my 9' board.
knee- to head-high, very inconsistent mixed swell, a bit windy and definitely choppy. The inside was not really heavy but still required some effort to paddle out.
Caught about 10 rides, a few of them quite fun with a few fake hang fives. Ate it on 2 or 3 steep take-offs on which I wished I had taken my 7'6''.
2 dolphins in the line-up

Fri June 11 2004

Mission Beach, 6:30PM-7:30PM (high tide at 6:30PM, 5.6ft)
with Jeff and Roland, a couple of people in the line-up
with my 7'6'' board
waist- to head-high, inconsistent and bumpy, but good sets coming in.
Caught about 6 rides total, all of them very bumpy. I fell backwards on 2 or 3 take-offs, still trying to adjust to the new balance on this board.
The inside was heavy and paddling out was a complete bitch. About 15 minutes of efforts, heart pounding once out. Jeff couldn't get out at all and it was even difficult to play in the white water because it just wasn't easy to get out 30 yards. I knew it was bad when Roland told me _he_ got caught inside and couldn't get out!
At least the sunset was beautiful and the dinner at Charlie's with Jeff was good.
2 dolphins briefly jumping down the face of a wave.

Sat June 12 2004

Mission Beach, 7AM-8AM (high tide at 7AM, 3.7ft)
with Roland and Patrick, alone in the line-up
with my 9' board
knee- to shoulder-high, rather inconsistent. Small and mellow at first, and then waves jacking up 1/2h after the tide turned. Shifting peaks made it very difficult to catch waves toward the end of the session. Small offshore breeze.
Caught about 15 rides, some quite fun. Didn't get a chance to practice cross-stepping somehow.
10+ dolphins in the line-up. One popped up 2ft from my board and sort of freaked me out. They were jumping in waves as we surfed them. A couple went right beneath my board as I paddled. Anyway, a total dolphin love fest.

Sat June 12 2004

Mission Beach, 5:30PM-6:30AM (high tide at 7PM, 5.5ft)
by myself, 3-4 people out
with my 9' board
Waist- to chest-high, Really inconsistent. The outside was really mushy and it was almost impossible to get into waves. Choppy. A lot of doubles. A complete mess.
Caught 2 miserable rides and paddled in. A bunch of shortboarders were ripping on the inside and I sort of got in the way of one guy on my way in because the sun was so bright I couldn't see anything that was going on behind me.

Fri June 18 2004

Del Mar, 7:15AM-8:30AM (low tide at 5:30AM, -0.7ft)
with Charles, met Travis in the water, alone in the line-up
with my 9' board
Very small. No real waves. Just good to me in the water though.
Caught about 7 rides, with the last one almost decent given the conditions. Travis and I swapped boards and he was freaking on my longboard while I couldn't stand on his shortboard (although I could get into waves). It's amazing how paddling on that thing is close to just swimming.
Charles was having a hard time (this was like his 3rd time out), especially trying to sit on the board and balance. But I think he still had a good time going out.

Sun June 20 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 6:45PM-9:00AM (low tide at 5AM, -0.4ft)
by myself, 3-5 people out
with my 9' board
very small with only the occasional waist- or chest-high set, inconsistent, windy in the beginning.
Subs wasn't working at all. Started paddling out to South of Ab as there were already 3 people at Ab and I figured that with such lame conditions there wouldn't be enough waves for all of us. But as I was paddling it became obvious that those guys were total beginners, way too far back on their boards, getting up on both knees, etc. So I decided to go there anyway. Talked to the guys in the water, they were all pretty nice. One of them though was wearing a 4''3 wetsuit, thick booties, and gloves. It was odd. None of them could get up properly on the board, so indeed I had plenty of waves.
Caught about 20 rides, most of them rather lame. I was lucky enough to ride the only good wave of the day pretty much. It was very nice left.
Caught a nice left toward the end as it seemed that bigger sets were coming in. Overall a surprisingly enjoyable session given the outlook from the parking lot when I showed up. I feel that I really made the most of it.

Tue June 22 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 5:45AM-8:00AM (low tide at 7:15AM, 0ft)
with Travis, 3-7 other people out
with my 7'6'' board
knee- to chest-high sets (not very often though), glassy but not consistent with not much of a face and rather peaky.
Got one nice ride at Ab and then, due to lulls and crowd didn't catch a wave for a long time. I then paddled to new break where only two guys were out. They left just as I got there and I caught one great ride followed by 5 others that were mushy. I then paddled back to Ab, caught one nice wave on the way, and then a couple more.
Pretty happy that I didn't fall once, meaning that many I am getting more used to the board.
Travis was really doing nice backside turns today. Some guy dropped in on him early on and we now all hate him.
One the last wave both Travis and I dropped on that wave (I dropped in on him in an attempt to both catch the same wave out) but I totally ate it.
1 seal 10ft from me at New Break

Thu June 24 2004

Del Mar, 6AM-7:30AM (low tide at 8:46AM, 0.5ft)
with Travis, nobody out
with my 7'6'' board
really small with the occasional knee- to waist-high set coming, glassy.
Caught about 5 rides. 2 were "ok". I am starting to believe that this place doesn't work on a low tide. Somehow it got bigger throughout the session and the little reef we were at made the waves jack up quite a bit. But many waves didn't really have a face and this session still ranks as one of the worst condition-wise.
As the tide was getting lower we started becoming a bit weary of the rocks at the bottom. In fact, at some point I was sitting on my board and when I tried to turn my fin hit the bottom! We started trying to be very careful about where we would try to take off, etc.
Still, I guess it was decent practice for me on my 7'6'' and I really focused on trying to stay low.
After the session, as we walked on the beach, we noticed that there were a bunch of (dead) sea animals trapped in kelp. Tons of lobsters that had clearly been eaten by something, a beached sand shark, crabs, sea anemone, tons of sea shells, jellyfish, etc. As Travis said, it was better than any tide pool he's been to.

Fri June 25 2004

Del Mar, 6:30AM-8:00AM (low tide at 9:32AM, 0.8ft)
with Charles, 3 other guys out
with my 7'6'' board
waist-high, glassy, well organized on the North reef, much better than yesterday, which leads me to believe that this spot just doesn't work at low tide. As the tide dropped the reef started to close out, the waves had less of a face, and it started looking like yesterday.
Caught about 15 rides, 5 of them great, 5 of them pitiful due to my lack of skill on this board. It seems that I had a great beginning of the session, then a horrible spell of bad take-offs, and then again a pretty decent phase. In particular I wasted two great waves because I tried to take off on the peak and just couldn't stand up due to the speed. This brought me back to about 2 years ago when I started getting better on my long board. But I can tell I am improving.
Charles did much better in terms of sitting on the board and he actually stood up for .1 second in the white of a big wave.

Fri June 25 2004

Mission Beach, 7PM-7:45AM (low tide at 11PM, 2.1ft)
by myself, up to 3 other guys in the line-up, but not close
with my 7'6'' board
knee- to chest-high, choppy, with ok sets coming in, a bit mixed up
Caught about 10 rides. None of them really good as the waves were often closing out, but managed to make a few cutbacks.
Most pleasing was that all my take-offs were decent, with some of them on steep waves. I really felt like I was finally getting accustomed to this board. while paddling for each wave I was saying to myself "be aggressive, weight on the front foot, stay low" and somehow it worked.

Sat June 26 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 7AM-8:45AM (low tide at 9:30AM, 0.5ft)
by myself, up to 10 other people in the line-up. Met Ken, Reed and his son Shaun in the line-up, people I have talked to before.
with my 9' board
After waking up at Charlie's and checking the surf on Mission Beach (small AND closing out), I decided to go to Sunset Cliffs. The swell was knee- to chest-high, with occasional shoulder-high sets. It was very organized and glassy, but not very consistent on the outside with long lulls in between sets. The inside on the other hand was surprisingly fun. Rides were not as long, but take-offs were good.
Caught about 15 rides. 2 of them on the outside on bigger waves, but most of them on the inside. It was amazing that every one was staying on the outside while I was surfing wave after wave by myself. At some point I caught 8 waves in a row, each of them beautiful and so glassy I was blinded by the reflection of the sun on the wave.
It's so easy riding a long board now. Take-offs were no sweat even when I was a bit late. I cross-stepped a bit forward and backward. I made quite a few nice turns too.
One the way out I talked with Ken and I learned that he's been surfing Sunset Cliffs since 1962. We talked a bit about his experiences, which was really interesting.

Sat June 26 2004

Turn About, 6:30PM-7:30PM (high tide at 5:20PM, 5.3ft)
with Brad and Christina, 2-3 people in the line-up next to us
with my 7'6''
knee- to chest-high, really inconsistent, choppy.
Did about 3 take-offs and have only one decent ride, my last one out. Overall a pretty miserable session.

Sun June 27 2004

San Onofre, Trail 1, 7:30AM-9:30AM (low tide at 10:21, 1.2ft)
with Brad, Christina, and Jaime, 2-3 people in the line-up next to us
with Nika's 9'6'' single fin beast, also tried Jaime's high performance nose rider, and Brad's ultra buoyant single-fin short board.
Inconsistent and choppy, a bit windy, but nice sets coming through every now and then
Caught about 20 rides, with 3 of them really fun. Nice take-offs, a few cross-steps forward through fast sections at full speed, pretty long ride too.
Tried Jaime's board and feel like that's the type of board I could buy next
Couldn't do anything at all on Brad's short board. Took off on one wave on my stomach

Fri July 2 2004

Del Mar, 6:30AM-8:30AM (low tide at 4:30AM, -2ft)
with Charles and Geoff, 3-5 other people in the line up
with my 9'
knee- to waist-high, choppy, windy, inconsistent, mixed-up, horrible mess. But, it is true that some sets were coming in every now and then.
After not surfing for a while and not even getting into the water on Tuesday with Travis at 6AM because it looked so bad, I just had to get in the water.
Caught about 15 rides, with 2 of them decent. The take-offs were surprisingly difficult as the waves had a lot of texture, were often almost doubles, and yet jacked up a little bit on the reef. So I was always almost pearling, and then arching back and stepping on the tail on the take-off. Good practice I guess. Did one very good turn, probably the most stylish I've done. I guess it's always an interesting challenge to make the most of the conditions.
Charles was riding his shortboard (a 6'5'', thick, single-fin classic) and is improving when trying to sit on it. We swapped board for a little while.
2 seals on the inside, 1 dolphin way outside

Sat July 3 2004

Sunset Cliffs, New Break and then Ab, 8:30AM-10AM (low tide at 5AM, -2ft)
with Kathy, alone in the line-up
with my 9'
ankle- to waist-high, glassy, extremely inconsistent.
Caught about 8 rides, a couple of them decent, the others on such tiny waves that they hardly qualify as rides. On one wave I did a late take-off, as the waves were still curling up on the reef, and made it at a very sharp angle, which I was pretty happy about.
At the end of the session, while Kathy paddled in, I went to Ab to catch one last wave. I managed to get a decent one that two shortboarders couldn't get into and on which I had cleverly positioned myself closer to the peak than a longboarder on the inside. Rode it all the way in.

Fri July 9 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs then Ab, 6:45-8:45AM (low tide at 9:30AM, 1ft)
with Greg, nobody at Sub, 10+ people at Ab
with my 9'
knee- to waist-high, with a few sets at chest-high, glassy, inconsistent.
Caught about 10 rides, a couple of them decent
After checking out Sub we paddled to Ab as Sub wasn't working. As usual decent waves on the inside at Ab. I surfed the inside a bit, then the outside without much luck as there were quite a few good longboarders out there. In particular, there was a very stylish one who was hanging 5 like crazy, and a 15-year-old kid who was the fastest paddler I've ever seen.
It was Greg's first session after one year in Belgium with, obviously, no waves. He was tired, but caught a couple of decent rides. After the session we ended up discussing the notion that he wasn't peeing in his wetsuit. He seemed throughly disgusted at that idea, and even more so when I told him that 99% of surfers do it. I also had to give him a jump as the used car he had bought the day before wouldn't start in the parking lot.

Sat July 10 2004

Mission Beach, 6:45-8AM (low tide at 10:30AM, 1.6ft)
with Kathy, nobody out nearby
with my 9'
knee- to waist-high, with a few sets at chest-high, choppy, inconsistent, mixed-up, sectiony, ugly, many close-outs.
Caught about 10 rides, although I hesitate calling them rides... maybe 10 take-offs would be a better descriptions.
Basically, waves were difficult to select, difficult to get into, and take-offs were sketchy. Right after the take-off you'd be in the white after riding a 5-yard section. I am pretty happy with what I made of the conditions, and I had one ride that was actually quite thrilling, albeit 5 seconds.
Kathy surfed the white on the inside as it's probably better for her and as getting out wasn't all that easy. She's starting to stand up and I actually saw her ride the white for 2 seconds.

Sun July 11 2004

San Onofre, Trail 1, 8:15-9:45AM (low tide at 11:30AM, 2ft)
with Brad and Christina, from 2 to 10 other people out
with my 9'
knee- to waist-high, with a few sets at chest-high, glassy, not very consistent, but still a few nice ride to be had every now and then.
Caught about 10 rides. A couple of them were really good and on one of them I cross-stepped and hung five for 3-4 seconds before side-stepping back.

Thu July 15 2004

Del Mar 15th, 6:30-8:30AM (low tide at 3:30AM, -0.5ft)
with Travis, from 2 to 5 other people out, but no competition
with my 9'
knee- to barely waist-high, glassy, some sets coming, got better as the session progressed and crapped out at the end. A good 20 minutes toward the middle with a few nicely shaped waves.
Caught about 10 rides, some of them ok. Paddling for those waves required a lot of effort, but it was fun actually. Travis managed to catch quite a few waves on his shortboard, but it got more and more difficult for him toward the end.
At some point he positioned himself on the inside so that, although I was paddling for the wave way outside, he was actually closer to the peak than me. sneaky. I magnanimously decided not to drop in on him and let him have it :)
On my next to last ride I paddled like a maniac for a wave, grunting loudly, just as a joke, but found myself standing up on what ended up being my best wave of the day. Did a bit of cross-stepping back and forth on that one.
Overall a fun session, we laughed a lot in the water. It was good to get wet after so many bad days.

Thu July 15 2004

San Onofre, Trail 1, 4:30PM-6:00PM (high tide at 8:50PM, 6.4ft)
with Brad, 2 other people in the line-up, no competition for waves
with my 9'
knee- to waist-high with a few chest-high sets, glassy, well organized, pretty consistent, the best conditions in a long time
Caught about 15 rides, including 3 lefts that went forever. I was forced to ride a few rights on the inside just to get back to my spot on the line-up. Every ride was good. Cross-stepped quite a bit, rode the nose once, still have trouble cross-stepping back. Most waves had some power to them too.
Pretty happy about my paddling power. Somehow in the last week or so I've just become a more powerful paddler, catching waves I wouldn't have caught before. Not sure why.
Brad caught a lot of waves, including a great right. He was surfing his new single-fin 1969 7'6'' board that he spent 10 hours fixing up.
Overall a fantastic session, with a great atmosphere, great waves although a little bit more size wouldn't have hurt, beautiful weather, beautiful water. The true Californian dream.
6 dolphins in the line-up 5 yards from my board to top it off.

Fri July 16 2004

San Onofre, Trail 6, 7:00AM-9:00AM (low tide at 4:12AM, -0.6ft)
with Brad, Christina, and Jaime, 5-10 other people out, nobody close to us in the line-up.
with my 9'
knee- to chest-high, completely glassy, well organized, but without the same fantastic shape as yesterday (although we thought it was going to be better). Bigger waves were closing out, and rides were shorts for the most part, although fun
Caught about 20 rides, didn't do much on them as I was just trying to make sections before the wave would dump.
Managed to snake Jaime twice! It's been a personal challenge of mine as he is known as the snake master. On one wave he snaked me, and I was just happy riding behind him. The wave was so glassy that I could see his reflection in it as we were both riding! I kept making small sections and getting around the white back to the front of the wave where he was cross-stepping like crazy. It was a completely magical moment and we both bailed out of that wave right at the beach going "Duuuuuuuuude, that was such a nice wave!!!!". It was only waist-high but really perfect. Sectiony enough to make it interesting, but not enough that you couldn't get back to the shoulder
I was supposed to surf with Geoff in Del Mar, but totally screwed up my schedule mistaking Thursday for Wednesday. So I had to send him e-mail last night at midnight telling him that I couldn't meet him in the morning. He went with a few other people and they had pretty bad conditions actually. I am adding here that he definitely berated me the following week :)
2 dolphins in the line-up right by Christina

Fri July 16 2004

Mission Beach, 6:45AM-8:00AM (high tide at 10:46AM, 3.9ft)
by myself, 1 other guy in the line-up
on my 9'
ankle- to knee-high, glassy, inconsistent, very sectiony. It was breaking better south of the house, but there were like 20 people there and I didn't feel like bothering. I went out mostly because it was a beautiful sunset.
Caught about 15 rides, 2 of them ok I guess. It was interesting to try to make the most out of such small conditions. Furthermore, surfing such small waves is really difficult and really brings out all technical flaws. A bit frustrating, but it's probably good experience.
Somehow my knees were sore from the rubbing on the board during last 3 sessions. It was difficult for me to stand up actually because it was so painful during take-off. I am wondering if it's not due to my new (and better) paddling technique. Hopefully it wouldn't be that bad tomorrow. I would think that with bigger waves it wouldn't be as bad anyway.
The sunset was amazing, with as usual beautiful reflections on Mount Soledad. No green flash this time.

Sat July 17 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 6:45AM-8:00AM (low tide at 4:43AM, -0.7ft)
with Kathy, 3 other people in the line-up
on my 9'
ankle- to knee-high, glassy, not very consistent
caught about 10 rides, all of them difficult because the wave had so little power. I find it hard to make turns without falling over and in fact I can't really cross-step when it's that small. I am sure that a good longboarder could do a lot with such waves though.
Kathy hung out on the inside
everybody's expecting this south swell, which is just not coming. People in the line-up were discussing it quite a bit.
By the time I got out quite a few people had paddled out, and from the cliff I could see 9 people in the line-up at Ab. Quite ridiculous given the conditions.

Fri July 30 2004

Mission Beach, 5PM-7PM (high tide at 9PM, 7.7ft)
with Holly, 1-2 people with us in the line-up
on my 7'6''
knee- to waist-high, a bit choppy, not very organized, but a few fun waves to be had
caught about 20 rides, some of them with late take-offs (for my standards). I am really happy with the way I am dealing with my 7'6'', especially after such a long spell without surfing it and after 2 weeks of no surf due to some flu that kept me at home in bed.
Holly was in town for 1 week after 7 months of no surf in France, and she rode my 9'. She caught about 10 rides, including one on her first attempt. Pretty impressive.
At the end of the session we swapped boards and I felt really weird on my 9ft, especially paddling and getting up. Riding felt amazingly easy though.

Sat July 31 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 6:45AM-8:45AM (low tide at 4:10, -1.8ft)
with Holly, Kathy, and Travis, 5 other people in the line-up, then nobody, then back to 2-3 people.
on my 7'6''
knee- to waist-high (a few waves peaked at chest-high, but the face was really never higher than waist-high), totally glassy, inconsistent but nicely shaped as usual at Ab
Caught about 20 rides, with some of them pretty fun. On one ride I did my first nice S-shaped turn on my 7'6''. It felt really natural actually.
I think we scared people away from the line-up (or more appropriately, annoyed them away). We showed up 4 people. We started catching quite a few waves. At some point some guy dropped in on me (unclear though as he was on a longboard and further outside, while I was on the peak inside). Some guy gave an evil look to Travis. And then Kathy totally got in some guy's way on the inside. The all paddled south and we have Ab to ourselves after that. Kind of cool in an uncool way.
Holly did pretty good again, although she was sore from yesterday (the ever-dreaded rib tenderness).
Kathy almost got caught by a wave that pitched on the reef. She managed to let the board go and to fall back, but I think she got a bit of a scare.

Sun September 5 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Ab and Sub, 3PM-4:30PM (high tide at 2PM, 4.7ft)
by myself, 2-3 people out
on my 7'6''
windy, tide too high, very mushy and close to impossible to catch.
caught about 3 rides, with my last one in close to decent. I paddled out just to get wet after 1 month without surfing. Paddling felt so great, although it was as far from glassy as possible.

Thu September 9 2004

Del Mar 15th, 6:30AM-8:15AM (high tide at 8:30AM, 4ft)
with Travis, 3-4 people out on our break, more crowded elsewhere.
on my 7'6''
glassy, warm, not very consistent, thigh- to waist-high, nice shape on some sets.
Caught about 20 rides, with one very good left that lined up perfectly for some reason.
I still need to spread my feet much more on the board, but at this point I feel very comfortable on this board and I think I am going to try to ride it for 2-3 months straight just to work my way into it.

Fri September 10 2004

Mission Beach, 4PM-5:15PM (high tide at 7:40PM, 5ft)
with Arnaud and Gilles, 1-2 people out on our break, more crowded elsewhere.
on my 7'6'', Arnaud and Gilles sharing my 9ft
a bit choppy and windy, waist-high, inconsistent, many mushy close outs, rather short rides
Caught about 20 rides, with only 2 of them well lined-up. Still have my feet much too close on the board, but getting pretty good at paddling and catching waves. Noticing that I am managing to paddle more powerfully while arching my back.
It was Gilles' and Arnaud's first session, and they did ok for a first time.

Fri September 10 2004

Mission Beach, 6:45PM-7:30PM (high tide at 7:40PM, 5ft)
by myself, one body boarder in the line-up
on my 9'
knee-high, nicer shape than earlier today, still choppy
I just paddled out to try to catch a few rides at sunset
Caught about 10 rides, with 4-5 of them really good with many cutbacks and a little bit of cross-stepping
It felt so easy to ride my 9ft after the 7'6'', and I caught everything I went for
On a few rides I didn't cross-step forward fast enough, didn't do the right thing. But it was cool as I felt I was thinking more about the ride and knew what I should have done. My plan for the future is to ride my 7'6'' a lot to work my way into shortboarding, but I must say that the occasional longboard session is quite an ego boost at the moment.

Thu September 16 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 6AM-7:45AM (low tide at 4:45AM, 0.5ft)
by myself, up to 4 other people in the line-up, met Sylvia and Rory out there.
on my 7'6''
waist- to chest-high, organized but a bit too mushy as the tide went up.
During the first 1/2 hour the waves were good, but since I paddled out at night (with Sylvia!) I couldn't see much and caught only one wave. We got wiped out by a lot of waves that we didn't see until the last seconds, or tried to catch things that we thought were waves but were just shadows. Kind of fun, although exhausting.
The left was sort of a wall, that would close out a bit, but sometime would line up nicely. The right was slower. As the tide went up waves became harder and harder to catch
Caught about 15 rides. 2 or 3 were really good and fast, 2 lefts and 1 right.
On one of the biggest waves, a right, I managed to do a very sketchy take off but then I fell into the wave on my bottom turn. It was odd because I truly think that I didn't make it just because I didn't believe in it enough. It was purely psychological.
On a very nice right Rory totally dropped in on me in a very bad way. He completely ruined the ride for me and apologized afterwards.

Fri September 17 2004

Del Mar, 7th, 6:15AM-8:00AM (low tide at 5AM, 0.8ft)
with Travis, up to 10 other people in the line-up
on my 7'6''
waist- to chest-high, a bit windy, not very consistent but the sets were ok.
Caught about 20 rides total, with 2-3 rather nice. I still have a lot of problems with keeping my feet spread apart enough, although on some waves I was a bit lower and I made a few cutbacks that were somewhat decent. On 3 take-offs I couldn't get up fast enough and ended up making it down the face on my stomach just to stand up really late. Still a LOT of adjustments to be made on this board, but I can feel it's coming. Definitely fine paddling now.
Had trouble competing with the people out there and didn't catch any of the nicer waves, but still was able to do ok.
This 10-year old kid dropped in on me on that nice wave, causing both of us to fall
4 dolphins in the line-up

Fri September 17 2004

Mission Beach, 6:30PM-7:15PM (low tide at 6PM, 0.5ft)
with Arnaud, not crowded
on my 7'6'' and later on my 9' after we switched boards
waist-high, closing out, windy, overall terrible.
just paddled out to get wet, knowing that at low tide at Mission it just wouldn't be working, but whatever.
caught maybe one "ride" for 1 second, fell pretty badly on 5 or 6 take-offs. I guess it was good to just get a work out.

Sat September 18 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Subs, 6:30AM-8AM (low tide at 5:30AM, 1.3ft)
with Greg, one other guy in the line-up
on my 7'6''
knee- to waist-high, glassy, very slow and mushy in spite of the relatively low tide. There were better waves at Ab, but about 10 people there, and still the shoulders were really soft
Caught about 10 rides, with only 2 or 3 of them real rides (on the others the wave would just die under me). One of them lined up really well and I was able to do a few maneuvers.
One seal on the inside.

Thu September 23 2004

Mission Beach, 4PM-5:30PM (high tide at 6PM, 5.7ft)
with Arnaud, about 2-3 people out with us
on Dario's 9ft, then on my 9ft
knee-high, mushy and crumbly, inconsistent, with a few waist-high sets. But beautiful weather and perfectly glassy
Caught about 15 rides, with maybe 2 decent ones
No power to the wave at all, although a few take-offs were fun.
I took Dario's board out because (i) I had wanted to try it; and (ii) there was no way I could've caught anything on my 7'6'' today. After riding it for 45 minutes (and yes, it's much harder to ride than my 9ft), Arnaud went back to the house. At that point I switched to my board and stayed out another 45 minute or so.

Fri September 24 2004

Del Mar, 7th, 6:45M-8AM (high tide at 8AM, 4.6ft)
with Charles, 5 other people out
on my 7'6''
knee-high, very inconsistent with lulls up to 20 minutes, very weak and mushy, two waist-high sets came in.
Caught 5 rides. The first one was decent in terms of take-off, but the wave just crumbled afterwards and I ended up surfing the white. All the others were extremely weak, with the wave dying under me at the end.
It was really for the sake of getting wet. I paddled around the break quite a bit. I swam a few laps dragging my board behind me. I tried to stand up on the board without any wave (and noted that of course my feet are too close together).

Fri September 24 2004

Mission Beach, 5PM-6:30PM (high tide at 7PM, 6ft)
with Arnaud and Kathy, only a couple of people out
on my 9'
knee-high, inconsistent, a bit choppy, with a few sets coming in.
Pretty much paddled out to get wet. Can't wait until I can write something like "good session" in this journal again!
Caught about 25 rides, with only 2-3 of them decent. Managed to cross-step a bit.
beautiful sunset

Sat September 25 2004

Mission Beach, 5:30PM-7PM (high tide at 8PM, 6.2ft)
by myself, 3-4 people out
on my 9'
knee- to waist-high, inconsistent, high frequency, choppy, a lot of backwash, messy, a but windy at first.
Caught about 20 rides, with 3 of them quite good considering the wave quality
I was able to get low on my knees to absorb the backwash and get on the wave in spite of a mushy take-off, it was quite a pleasant change.
In spite of the bad conditions I actually had a lot of fun and managed to have decent rides. Also, I was dominating the line-up completely in terms of positioning, wave selection, and paddling power. It was cool because the guys out there weren't too bad, but I just caught 5 times more waves than them and caught all the good ones, or close.
On my next to last ride, my best ride actually, I was standing on the inside, contemplating whether to go out for a last one as it was getting dark. This guy took off on a wave. I could see right away that he didn't quite know what he was doing, although he was able to stand up in the white water on his 8' egg. He was coming towards me, we made eye contact, and for some reason he kept going without turning. I couldn't believe it. Finally, when I knew for sure we'd have a collision, he jumped off, letting his board go, which jumped up out of the white maybe 2 feet from me. I was so mesmerized by the stupidity of it all that I was reactionless. He got up and looked at me sheepishly. I just stared at him for 2 seconds, totally pissed, and paddled back out as fast and powerfully as I could. It must have taken me 10 seconds to get back in the line-up, and within 5 seconds I was catching my last wave in. A pretty good ride actually. Right then I realized that I am becoming like all those surfers who can't stand beginners, arguably because they do beginner mistakes that could potentially be dangerous, but who I used to think were just assholes. Sort of frightening.
Amazing sunset

Sun September 26 2004

Mission Beach, 7:30AM-9AM (high tide at 9AM, 5.4ft)
by myself, 2 people out
on my 9'
knee- to waist-high, inconsistent, high frequency, glassy, lots of doubles, but every now and then a decent wave. Conditions actually improved throughout the session
Caught 25 rides. Didn't feel like I was surfing well, although I had 3-4 good rides. Cross-stepping wasn't working, my exits from waves were lame, I pearled on a couple of take-offs. On the other hand I had a few good take-offs.
On the best wave of the day some guy who was clearly just learning dropped on me. I fell, but if I had more control I could probably have made it. When the wave has a decent size, if I see anything in my field of vision that distracts me, I have trouble keeping it together...

Fri October 1 2004

Del Mar, 15th, 6:45AM-8:30AM (low tide at 5AM, 1.5ft)
with Charles, 40+ people out, but only 2-3 around us
on my 7'6''
knee- to chest-high, inconsistent, mixed up, long lulls, lots of doubles, glassy
After checking 7th Street, we made the call to go to 15th, which was definitely better. The main reef was breaking decently albeit mushy, but it was very crowded there. So we surfed South of the reef.
Caught about 10 rides, with only 2 of them decent overall. Not much of a face to work with, waves rather difficult to catch. I missed a couple of opportunities, first by letting a longboarder get a wave only to see him fall right on the take-off, then by pulling out of a wave for some guy who in fact was way too deep and couldn't go for it.
After despairing of ever getting a good ride, somehow, as I was paddling North just for the exercise, this wave came, I caught it, and although the ride was short, for the first time I really felt like I was riding a shorter board, pulling a couple of cutbacks and really feeling the board react under my feet. I believe I sprayed a little water too. That felt quite incredible. The conditions seemed to get a bit better and I caught a couple more rides after this one, one of them which was promising but on which my front foot slipped on the board due to lack of wax.

Fri October 1 2004

Mission Beach, 5PM-6PM (low tide at 6PM, 0.4ft)
with Kathy, nobody out
on my 7'6'', Kathy on my 9'
Knee- to waist-high, choppy, messy, mixed-up, windy, closing out, inconsistent, pretty much among the most horrible conditions I ever surfed
Decided to paddle out because it was a nice sunset, and it's always good to get in the water on a Friday night.
Caught maybe 5 waves (note that I am not saying "rides").
Had a few spectacular falls on close-outs, but nothing bad
Kathy stayed on the inside catching the white, but even the white completely sucked
After the session we went for a run up to the PB Pier and back

Sat October 2 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 7AM-8:30AM (low tide at 5:20PM, 2ft)
by myself, 1 knee-boarder out, and then 2-3 other guys at the end
on my 9'
Knee- to waist-high, inconsistent, slow and fat waves, a few half decent waves coming in, but not much of a face to work on, glassy at the beginning and a bit windy at the end
Mission Beach was closing out in the morning (surprise, surprise), and I decided to check out the Cliffs with my 9ft given that the tide was already at 3ft or so. I met Ken in the parking lot who decided not to paddle out, but I did anyway just for the exercise. And from the parking lot it seems that Ab would come through every now and then
Caught about 15 rides total, with 3-4 of them actually decent. I feel that there weren't that many waves to catch this morning, and I managed to quite a few of the better ones I think. That was because I've been paddling better lately, and of course going from the 7'6'' to the 9' made me feel like I could catch pretty much anything.
Managed to do some passable cross-stepping on some of the rides, but nothing too exciting.
Just when I was ready to catch my last wave in as the tide was getting too high, I managed to catch this wave that was maybe waist-high (there were 3 others guys going for it but it seemed that they just couldn't position themselves well ever, but it's true that the wave at Ab is a bit difficult to read when you've never been there as there are sort of two peaks who sometimes connect and sometimes do not). I was looking at the beach and at the last second, as I was making a slow turn around the knee-boarder, I saw this patch of kelp that I couldn't avoid. I fell after my fin got caught and I decided to try to catch a last wave because this one didn't count. After 20 minutes, no ridable wave had come, and I had to paddle in anyway. That guy on a 7'5'' board or so paddled out maybe 20 minutes before I got out, couldn't catch a wave and paddled in right after me. Pretty sad session for him.

Fri October 8 2004

Del Mar, 15th, 7AM-8:45AM (high tide at 7:50PM, 4.1ft)
with Charles, 30+ people out a the main peak, 10 people at our peak at first, then down to 1 guy besides us, then back to 3-4
On Dmitrii's old 9', which is in fact Jaime's old 9', which is sort of a lame single-fin that paddles really fast. On Charle's 7'8'' for a while, and then back on the 9' for 2 waves.
knee- to waist-high, with a few chest-high waves coming through, inconsistent for 45 minutes, consistent for 30 minutes, and back to being inconsistent, glassy, no wind, a bit mixed up with quite a few doubles. Most waves were closing out on the inside.
Caught about 20 rides, most of them towards the end. About 5 of them were good, and one was outstanding. I caught that chest-high left-hander, although there were almost only rights today. There were quite a few so-so longboarders there, older, and I could tell that they were totally jealous of me catching that wave. Definitely the wave of the day. There were better waves at the main peak, but the crowd was definitely a turn-off.
I think I did the longest and hardest paddle I've ever done to catch a wave today. It was completely ridiculous. From the look of it I'd say that I paddled easily 40 yards before getting up, did one turn, and that was the end of the ride. Charles said he was in utter disbelief and just kept seeing my legs until I stood up completely on the inside. I don't know, trying to do this and catch unlikely waves is sort of becoming a fun paddling challenge. That one was outrageous though. There were two guys on the inside who looked at me all the way and probably thought I was utterly insane.
Towards the end of the session I caught that one wave that lined up pretty well and it was barely closing out. As I got to the inside I saw that shortboarder standing there and he was right in my line. I felt like I could keep edging on the shoulder although it was closing out. I ended up falling right after passing him. I really thought I was going to make it. I think the board had something to do with it actually. Anyway, no harm done, and he was really nice about it. After I apologized and said I really thought I was going to make it, he just said that it wasn't a big deal and that there is just so far down the line you can go until you wipe out on the inside. It was a great ride though.
I tried Charles' board at the end. Definitely not easy to paddle on. It's a 7'8'' but it doesn't paddle as well as my 7'6'' and feels more like a shortboard. I caught two nice waves with it though, and it felt very light under my feet.
We swapped boards again and I caught a wave maybe 2 seconds after putting the leash on. I always like doing that.
Charles is getting better, although he can't quite stand up on the take-offs yet. He was actually better on the 9' which is much more stable than his 7'8''. The good thing is that he is absolutely fearless.

Sat October 9 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 9AM-11AM (high tide at 9AM, 4.5ft)
by myself, 10+ people out
On my 9ft
The surf at Mission Beach in the morning was lame, closing out on bigger sets, and mushy on smaller ones. After talking to Dario on the phone I decided to check out the Cliffs and to go get my green card photos taken in case it wasn't good. From the parking lot I saw a nice set break at Ab. I was surprised because I thought the tide would be way too high. Turns out that there were indeed nice sets coming at the waist-high range, with a couple of them at chest-high. Very glassy, long lulls in between sets, with a good half hour in the middle of the session.
Caught about 20 rides, with 5 of them pretty good. The session started amazingly. After paddling out in the middle of all these people I got 5 rides in a row, while nobody else got any wave, and my hair was still dry. At some point I've got to accept the fact that I have improved. There were 3 guys out there who were good, looking way better than me on the wave, much better surfers, but I would catch more waves than them. At some point, if I manage to get some style, I should become decent.
I caught maybe the biggest wave of the day. I was alone on the outside somehow, and was perfectly placed. Rode it to the end, with 2 good turns, cross-stepping close to the nose, then cross-stepping back (that's rare for me), and turning the board around paddling out after a smooth exit. That was probably a high point of my surfing over the last month.
I felt a bit bad for all the beginner on the inside. I was sort of in the zone and I was paddling like a complete maniac on the outside, ending up catching most waves. But nobody dropped on me. I also starting dropping in on them when there was a fair distance between them and me, and then checking to see if they were standing. 9 times out of 10 they had fallen and I had a wave. 1 time out of 10 I would race down the line and pull out. I think they were looking at me like I was some kind of maniac. The thing is, on sessions like these, I just feel like getting a work out and paddling for everything that moves. It used to be that I would never be well positioned and have to pull out to let people go or just not catch the wave, but now I am decently positioned and I typically catch the wave. Oh well. Too bad for them. They were all longboarders too. Had they been shortboarders I wouldn't have done that at all.
One of the guys who paddled out yelled at his friend out in the line-up. "Hey Bro!!! I Totally watched Fast Times last night! I am line in total Spicoli mode... Gnarly!!!". Pretty funny.
There was a guy out there who looked terrified, although the conditions were as unscary as they can be at Ab, but if you're a complete beginner, going to Ab is probably not the best choice, even on a mellow day. Anyway, he stayed on the inside, WAY far in where the waves can't break. Then his friends called him to the line-up. He paddled out a bit and I could tell he had some type of 6'10 tri-fin. He was terrified of the waves but didn't really get in people's way at all, which was good. Anyway, as I paddled back in, I saw him on the little beach, sitting and looking quite forlorn. His board was turned upside down, and I saw this huge fish drawing on the bottom. For 1 second I thought maybe it was because the board was a "fish", but it wasn't a fish. And then it hit me it was just a very large, hand-drawn, christian fish! The guy was probably from the Point Loma Nazarene University up the cliff, and was surfing for Jesus, or rather was getting the fear of God put into him by knee-high waves. Then I realized something else. He and his friends at some point made a circle in the water beyond the line-up, holding hands for about 20 minutes (missing the best waves actually as 3 good sets came in). I didn't know what the hell was going on, but now it is clear that they were actually praying. And I know that two of them were from the Nazarene university as they talked about it. I am going out there tomorrow morning to see what they do on a Sunday. But I've got to say, they were all nice and didn't drop in on me once as I caught every single wave out there :)

Sun October 10 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 7AM-9AM (high tide at 8:30AM, 4.8ft)
by myself, 4 people out for a long time, and up to 10+ at the end of the session.
On my 9ft
I went there with both boards and opted for the 9' given the conditions. It was a bit windy, didn't look very organized at first, and it was breaking with some size at Ab, kind of slow. It ended up being chest-high with a few sets at head-high. Hard to get into the waves because of the tide, but some lined up really well and were really fun.
Had about 10 rides, with 3 of them great. On a ride I lost my speed at the bottom turn and got eaten alive by the white. On another I had so much water in my eyes that I couldn't get up until I was almost at the bottom of the wave and I ended up surfing the reform.
Between the tide, the backwash, and the wind, the inside was bumpy and I didn't even try to cross-step once. On the earlier sections it was all about gaining speed and making it. I was able to make several cool maneuvers though.
It was a very friendly atmosphere in the line up with the 3 other guys and we talked and joked around quite a bit. That older guy on his 7' board caught the wave of the day, head-high, perfectly lined up.
Overall so-so conditions in terms of cleanliness of the waves, but it felt great to feel power in the ocean, to have long paddles back to the line-up, and to feel like we're back in winter and the land of NW swells.
One seal on the inside

Mon October 11 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 6:30AM-7:45AM (high tide at 8:30AM, 5.4ft)
by myself, 3 other people out
On my 7'6''
waist-high with a few chest-high sets, well organized but not extremely consistent. Definitely more organized than yesterday with clean lines coming in. The tide was too high though and most of the waves were very difficult to get into.
Given that the tide was high I hesitating between my 9' and my 7'6'' in the morning, but I thought that the swell would be strong (based on yesterday session and on the forecast) and only took my 7'6''. In retrospect I should have gotten my 9' as the swell wasn't as strong as yesterday; but I still caught a few good rides. I was talking out there and in the parking lot with guys who, like me, had taken out their mid-range 7'-8' boards and were saying they wished they had taken their longboards. But I am still happy I took the 7'6'' as it's more of a work out and good practice for things to come.
Caught maybe 15 rides, with 2 or 3 good ones, and the rest just average and mushing out on the inside. I messed up 2 very good waves. On the first one I have no idea what happened. My board just sort of fell under me as I pushed on it to get up and I had to push again, but at that point I was at the bottom of the wave. I managed to get up but I had missed the better part of the wave. On another one I just want straight down without turning. That hadn't happened to me in a while. The problem was that waves today had quite a bit of texture and there were several bumps on the way down the face, which threw me off.
On a few rides I actually managed to do a few sharp turns. Still far from doing great things, but I can tell it's coming, one epsilon at a time.
One of the guys out was this older guy who was frighteningly nice, pointing out waves to me, talking, helping me out get up the cliff at the end as it was extremely slick with water on clay, etc. We talked a bit in the parking lot. Lately it seems that with the winter coming there are fewer people out and the vibe is much more friendly. Also, with the swell getting bigger, it's actually quite a paddle back to the line-up and even when there are 5 guys out, there is little competition for waves as 3 of those guys are on their way back to the line-up.
First session with a long suit, which was definitely the right choice.

Tue October 12 2004

Mission Beach, 6PM-6:45PM (high tide at 9PM, 5.4ft)
with Eddy, nobody around us
On my 9'
A bit windy, choppy, mixed up, but some sets coming through in the waist-high range, closing out almost immediately. Occasional waves above waist-high.
Caught about 10 rides, none of them good. Did a few ungraceful pull-outs of close outs.
It was Eddy's first session ever, which was the main motivation for paddling out. He did ok, and of course was amazed at how hard this whole surfing thing is physically.
We ended the session pretty much in the dark. It was good that we were to put in a session before sunset, which wasn't a given given that traffic was really not good and for a moment I thought we wouldn't have any time to surf

Wed October 13 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 6:45AM-7:45AM (high tide at 9:20AM, 5.9ft)
with Dave Doolin
On my 9'
knee- to waist-high, not very consistent but a few sets coming through, almost glassy at first, then mixed up toward the end of the session
Dave and I had been trying to go surfing Sunset Cliffs for a while as he'd never been there. We sort of knew the swell would be lame and the tide too high, but decided to go anyway. Turned out better than what it looked like in the parking lot.
Caught about 10 rides, with 3-4 of them quite fun and long although the wave didn't have much power. Of course one had to paddle like crazy to get into the wave.
Dave caught a few nice ones and, although today wasn't really what Ab's all about, he could tell the potential of the place.
Overall a nice session, mellow, and we felt like we made the most out of the morning given the bad tide and the absence of a real swell.

Fri October 15 2004

Mission Beach, 6:45-8:15 (high tide at 10:15AM, 6.35ft)
with Eddy, met Roland in the line-up
On my 9'
knee- high, inconsistent but glassy with increasingly better shape as the tide came in.
Caught between 15 and 20 rides, with 3 of them really good actually, with the wave jacking up a little bit on the inside and pretty well lined up.
Had to paddle pretty hard and to get up as smoothly as possible to catch waves but surprisingly good rides once up.
One seal on the outside

Sat October 16 2004

Mission Beach, 7:30AM-8:45AM (high tide at 10:46AM, 6.39ft)
with Eddy, met Roland in the line-up and a friend of his later
on my 9'
knee- to waist-high, inconsistent, choppy and windy, many close-outs, but still a few rides to be had
Caught about 20 rides, with only 2 of them good. On my last wave I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Roland drop in on me. I yelled: "Oh my God!!" (jokingly) and he pulled out of the wave. I was able to ride it all the way in although I had been forced to make a cutback to avoid Roland and wasn't as far down the line as I wanted. I did a little bit of cross-stepping and got to the beach. Pretty hilarious.

Sun October 31 2004

Turn-about, 6:15AM-7:30AM (high tide at 10AM, 5.75ft)
by myself, 3-4 people in the line-up
on my 9'
waist-high, with a few chest-high sets. Not very consistent. I went up North county because of the horrible sewage spill at Point Loma. The tide was too high though and the conditions decayed as the session went on. A bit windy. Quite a bit of backwash.
Caught maybe 10 rides, with 2-3 of them decent, 1 on a chest-high waves. The rides weren't smooth due to texture and backwash. I was sort of pleased that I managed to bend my knees enough to absorb most bumps. Waves got increasingly difficult to get into and I couldn't believe that there were people paddling out when I got out. My last wave was a pretty decent left that brought me right to the beach. I had started the session North of the beach, and finished South, just because I was paddling around.
I was completely out of shape. After 2 weeks without surfing, and one of those weeks spent in bed with a fever and a cold, I felt really, really weak. But I still managed to paddle enough to catch a bit more waves than most people there. Not the ideal conditions to get back to surfing though as I really needed to be in my best paddling shape.

Fri November 5 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Sub and then Ab, 3:45PM-4:30PM (high tide at 3PM, 4.1ft)
by myself, 10+ people out in the line-up
on my 9'
chest-high with a few head-high sets, quite a bit of texture on the water, not consistent, tide a bit too high, but nice rides to be had
4 rides total with long waits in between them. Still not feeling in very good shape after my flu and my horrible root canal that've kept me at home for the most part of the last two weeks.
Not a great session for me. I started at Sub, with 10+ shortboarders on the inside. On my first ride, a right, I tried to go around that guy, but I fell on the turn and could've hit him with my board. It was totally my fault and it's true that I am not used to take-off with so many people in the inside.
After that I paddled out to Ab. There I was on the outside, with perhaps 6 people on the inside, a mix of shortboarders and longboarders. My first ride was on a right, which is never great at Ab. It mushed out on the inside. On my second ride the wave was head-high and I was a bit too much on the inside. Plus, I had to take off straight to avoid somebody on the inside. I ended up taking up steep and straight, made it, and then managed to catch up with the shoulder. In retrospect a better surfer could probably have pulled a totally wide and classy bottom turn.
My third ride was again on a head-high wave. There were two guys closer to the peak and until the last second I couldn't tell whether they were going to make it. They ended up not making it (I can't figure out why). Perhaps they let me go because I started paddling way far on the outside compared to them. Anyway, I made the drop on my stomach because I was trying not to drop in on them. Managed to stand up late and ride to wave all the way to the inside. I felt a bit bad because I was the one getting the last two ridable waves, so maybe I should not have paddled for that last one. whatever.
Stunning sunset. It was great to be out in the water. The normal path to go to the beach was closed due to "unstable cliffs". Probably because of the heavy rain. So now one has to go through or completely around the ballpark.

Sun November 14 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 12PM-2PM (low tide at 4:52PM, -1.3ft)
by myself, from 15 to 40 people in the line-up
on my 9'
waist-high to chest-high with a few head-high sets, a little bit choppy, not consistent at all, many waves not breaking due to the tide still being rather high (the high was at 7.3ft).
I showed up at Mission Beach at 11:30 with groceries for Charlie, and met Roland who told me that it had been closing out all day, with literally no corners at all. We discussed the fact that the Cliffs would be good but crowded. The swell looked big in Mission Beach and indeed completely closed out, so I decided to drive to the Cliffs on the spot (after dropping off Charlie and a few heavy plants at a neighbor's). I figured that the tide would still be high and that the crowd would therefore not be too outrageous. And besides, I am just back from Pittsburgh, off to Venezuela in 4 days, followed by Seattle, so this was sort of my last chance to get wet for a while.
When I got to the parking lot it was indeed crowded and I had to sort of create my own spot. There were about 20 people at Garbage, 30 at Ab, and 10 at Sub. I opted for Sub as I felt it wouldn't get as crowded. The problem was that the tide was too high and waves were very rarely catchable on the outside. I stayed there for about 45 minutes and had only one opportunity on a head-high wave, which I screwed up by being too far back on the board. Only a few people caught waves in those 45 minutes.
After that I went to the inside. It still wasn't consistent but I was able to catch 4 rides, with 2 of them pretty fun although a bit short. I couldn't catch a wave in and after trying for 20 minutes I paddled in on some white.
By the time I got out there were 70+ people at Ab, 40+ at Sub, there was a constant stream of surfers coming down the cliff and there was literally a traffic jam to get back up the cliff, and the parking lot was a complete mess with people parked everywhere. A guy waited for my spot the whole time I was changing, putting my board on the roof of the car, etc. I think I am swearing off going to the Cliffs unless it's 6AM, and when the tide's high in the morning I'll just go surf elsewhere. It's just too much of a zoo, especially on a Sunday. I can't imagine what it's going to be like at 4PM when the tide is best!

Thu December 16 2004

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 6:15AM-7:45AM (low tide at 6AM, 2.5ft)
by myself, met Sylvia in the line-up, 5-6 people out.
on my 7'6''
waist-high to chest-high with a few head-high sets, glassy, not very consistent
A big swell is supposed to hit California, and I decided to go for one session after one month without surfing due to my crazy travel schedule, especially since I am flying out to Europe tomorrow. It turned out to be much smaller than I expected and I sort of wished I had taken my 9' since the tide was a bit high too. Sylvia was talking about how much bigger it was yesterday, and everybody was talking about how huge it was going to be this weekend.
There were quite a few lulls in between sets. Ab, as usual, was working better, with better size and a bit more consistency, but was crowded with 15+ people. I saw quite a few outrageous snakings over there.
Caught about 8 rides, all of them but one of waist- to chest-high waves. I caught one ride on a 6 footer, a right, which was pretty good, although I didn't get as much speed as I wanted from the board. But overall, it was great to be in the water. Beautiful morning too, with not one cloud in the sky.
The size increased a bit throughout the session, probably foreshadowing the big swell that's coming.
There was a knee-boarder in the line-up with us, and he was completely ripping.

Sat Jan 15 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 6:45AM-8AM (low tide at 7AM, 1.5ft)
by myself, no one out at any of the spots around there
on my 9'
knee- to thigh-high, rather long lulls between sets, off-shore breeze that generated quite a bit of texture on the water but improved the wave shape.
I just had to get out in the water after surfing only once in the last two months due to traveling and bad weather. I figured that after 4 days since the last rainfall the water should be reasonably safe. In spite of the weak swell I opted for the Cliffs because it's so beautiful there, because I wanted to see how much damage the torrential rainfall had caused, and because I figured I may be alone in the water.
The fact that it was windy was a bit of a bummer, but the Cliffs were absolutely beautiful. I've never seen them so green before, the weather was utterly clear, with the sun coming out halfway through the session. The rain hasn't caused much damage at all, in part due to sand bags and cinder blocks probably put there by the city.
Caught 10 rides, with 5-6 of them on decent waves. Mushy at the end, but made a few turns. Was able to cross-step forward and backward on a couple of rides too. All-in-all a good "let's get back to surfing" session. Pretty happy with my call to go to the Cliffs. And yes, I couldn't paddle worth shit.
You have to give it to Ab. No matter how lame the swell, it always generates the occasional nicely shaped wave. Especially at the beginning of the session when the tide was at its lowest, my first 3 rides were on greatly shaped waves, albeit small. Conditions deteriorated slowly as the tide started coming in. At the end you just had to be exactly on the peak to hope to catch a wave. Given that the sets were not that frequent, it was very hard to keep the perfect position and I missed several good waves, with a few of them waist-high.
I was sort of amazed that there was not a single person out in sight. Especially the older longboarder crew that's there on weekends early in the morning. I've seen them paddle out in worse conditions than this. Perhaps the water is horribly contaminated (although the Web didn't say anything) and I'll be dead tomorrow. On the drive back I saw two shortboarders out though, sitting WAY on the inside at Osprey. I can't imagine what you'd do on a short board on a day like this.

Mon Jan 17 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 7:45AM-10AM (low tide at 10AM, 1.2ft)
by myself, no one out for 1 hour, then up to 10 people out. Met Reed, his son Shawn, and a friend of his son, James, in the line-up.
on my 9'
waist-high, not very consistent but nice sets coming through. Very glassy, superb weather.
There was one guy out when I paddled out, but he caught a wave in right when I got to the line-up. I was alone for one hour and that's when the conditions were best. After 1 hour, although the tide was dropping, it became much less consistent and many waves were barely breaking. That's when people starting paddling out, including Reed, etc. I hung out there catching the occasional wave, and sort of feeling sorry for them ("You should have been here an hour ago, mate"). It was nice talking to Reed though. I had a terrible time catching a last wave in. My arms were really weak and the waves were very hard to catch. My paddling was infinitely better than two days ago though. Finally I paddled in and caught a wave on the inside. There was a guy without a wetsuit out, really good longboarder. Pretty soulful but I just can't imagine how he didn't freeze to death.
Caught 20 rides, with about 10 of them really fun with many turns, a bit of cross-stepping, etc. On a few waves I felt that I was moving better on the board, getting low on my knees to pick up speed, moving my body to gain speed during bottom turns, etc.
I ate it on a very late take-off. Made it to my feet and went down the face, but stuck the nose in the water during the bottom. I also caught a wave that was too sectiony and that closed out on my head as I was riding it. I got completely knocked off the board. But other than these two, most of my take-offs were decent. I guess surfing Ab is great backside surfing practice. There was that longboarder out at the end of the session who surfed only the rights, which are just completely mushy with no face to speak of at Ab.
From the Cliffs, on the way up, it seems that Ab actually was the spot that was working the worst (although it was great earlier). New Break looked marginally better, and so did South Garbage and Garbage. There were about 20 people out at Garbage, all in an area that couldn't have been larger than 30ft by 30ft.
In the parking lot this guy who smelled of bad red wine pulled in and talked to me about being Portuguese, about surfing double-overhead at the Mexican Banzai Pipeline last month, about ordering a special fast board from South Coast to go surf Island waves, and about not getting in the water today because it was just too small for him because he's used to surfing Pipe. Very weird.

Wed Jan 19 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 6:30AM-8:00AM (low tide at 12:45PM, 0.2ft)
by myself, about 7-8 people out. Met Sylvia in the water.
on my 7'6''
chest-high to 2ft-overhead, not very consistent, mostly glassy.
The tide was a bit high early in the morning and I opted for the Cliffs anyway because I couldn't get up North and I felt that OB and MB would be closing out. The tide made it difficult to catch waves and surprisingly it got worse as the session went on. There is something odd going on at mid-tide at Sub perhaps, not sure. Perhaps the Cliffs wasn't the best call.
I opted to surf somewhere a bit on the inside because the outside was monopolized by those 3 killer longboarders. One of them spent so much time on the nose on all the 7ft right-handers it was just disgusting. There was no way I could've caught a wave there. That meant I got caught inside when big sets were coming through, perhaps every 20 minutes, which was quite a work-out. Overall, pretty happy with my paddling and my stamina. At no point did I just feel exhausted.
Caught 4 rides, with the first one really, really excellent on a 6ft wave. Did quite a few fast turns. I still feel that I am not completely controlling those turns completely because the board is so quick, but apparently it looked ok because Sylvia said it was awesome. On one of the other rides I tried to do a wide turn and ended up overshooting and falling on my back.
Completely ate it on a couple of waves due to to late take-offs. In particular on that 8ft one on the outside (I paddled out there towards the end of the session), where I got to my feet but I had barely gotten into the wave and I ended up being completely dumped.
Overall, no too happy with my performance. I had a very hard time reading the waves and positioning myself, as well as a hard time getting used to this board again. I could have easily caught twice as many rides. But that first ride made it all worth it. Besides, being in the water when there's size is such a great experience.
On the bigger sets, Ab and Sub were completely connecting, with the guys catching lefts at Ab ending up on the inside at Sub. I had only seen that a couple times.
From the parking lot, South Garbage looked like it was pretty much on fire. About 30 people out there. I don't even want to see the place at noon when the tide's low. It's going to be a complete zoo. Tomorrow is supposed to be humongous, that that's what everybody was talking about. Probably too big for me and besides I can't go out because of work. I'll try to go to Blacks for lunch and check out the waves though.

Fri Jan 21 2005

Del Mar 15th, 6:00AM-7:20AM (low tide at 6:30AM, 5.6ft)
by myself, about 20 people out on each break
on my 7'6''
chest-high to 3ft overhead, many close-outs, a bit of texture on the water and bumpy on the inside, tide too high.
I probably would have been better off on my 9ft given that the tide was high. There were many longboarders out there. One of them caught the wave of the day, which looked like it was DOH, but it was a bit hard to tell from the angle.
Caught 2 rides. It was very hard to get into waves, and with my 9ft I could probably have gotten a few more rides. The first ride was on a head-high wave, with the wave lining up as a wall with no real opportunity for any maneuver. Surfed through the first section really fast, perhaps 20 yards, and then turned towards the beach as the wave closed out behind me. The second ride was on a 7ft wave I'd say. I made the drop, and there was a guy right in my line. I tried to turn, but hit a bump and the board when flying. Not too close to the guy, but still, in his general direction. That wasn't too cool. Had he not been there it could have been a cool ride.
It was very hard to position oneself, the inside was a wall, there were too many people out, and I still suck on that board (more than on the other board, that is). So overall quite a challenging session. But it was cool to be in the water with those big sets looming on the horizon, sort of like in a surf movie. Total corduroy.

Sat Jan 22 2005

Mission Beach, 8:45AM-10:30AM (high tide at 7AM, 5.9ft)
with Roland and "Big Wave" Dave
on my 7'6''
chest-high to head-high, a tad windy, not very consistent and a bit mixed up
Due to the still quite high tide, the waves were rather fat and difficult to get into, and yet there were many close-outs. Still a few good rides to be had. Talking on the beach with Roland before getting in, he was saying how one should take a longboard out because it was fat, but how one should take a shortboard out because it was closing out. I guess my 7'6'' was as good a compromise as any.
Caught 6 rides. Only of of them ended up not closing out at some point. On the others, I made the drop, went really fast through the first section, and turned towards the beach as the wave would close out behind me. Still, it was good to make those drops and given the conditions I am pretty happy with this session. Caught a wave in while Roland and Dave stayed out there.
2 dolphins beyond the line-up, one seal on the inside.

Sun Jan 23 2005

North of Swami, 7:45AM-10:00AM (high tide at 7:45AM, 6ft)
with Jaime, Anaika, and two friends of Anaika's, Mike and Andreas. Two kayakers out for the first hour, and then up to 4-5 other people out.
on my 9'
waist-high with a few rare waves at chest-high, very glassy for 1 hour, with beautiful warm weather (I surfed with the top of my wetsuit down), and then windy, choppy, foggy, and cold at the end of the session. Not very consistent but a few nice sets coming in.
The high tide made it difficult to get into waves at first, but it got a bit better as the tide dropped. I had never surfed that spot before. It's about 1/4 mile North of Swami. It was the first time I was paddling through Swami actually, and yes, the shape is just great there, and waves were bigger and better there than anywhere else around. But there were easily 30 guys out, and not nearly enough waves for everyone.
Caught about 20 rides. None of them spectacular, some of them quite fun. Sort of mushy and weak though. Did a little bit of cross-stepping.
As usual, going from my 7'6'' to my 9', I felt like I could catch anything. The two friends of Anaika's had shorter boards and it was almost impossible for them to get anything. Towards the end of the session, as it was windy, foggy, and cold, this older guy paddled out wearing nothing but trunks. Quite hard-core.

Mon Jan 24 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 11AM-1PM (high tide at 8AM, 6.2ft)
by myself. Up to 7 people in the line-up
on my 9'
waist-high, with a few chest-high sets, glassy, not very consistent, mushy on the inside.
I decided to go for a midday session as I was working from home today. Tried to strike a compromise between the tide and the crowd, by going at 11AM. Beautiful weather. I was in a wonderful mood as I got the the beach. Sub looked a bit more consistent than Ab, somehow, but there were 4 people out, while there was only one guy at Ab, this older guy I had seen before. So I paddled out to Ab. As I got close to the guy who was out I said "Good Morning", to which he answered "Stay out of my way, that's the only thing I ask". Talk about putting a downer on my cheerful mood. Ab wasn't consistent at all, and after catching a couple waves on the inside I paddled out to Sub. I just hate it when the vibe is so negative, and it was just the two of us out there!
Caught about 20 rides at Sub, with a few fun ones. On two waves I had to take-off straight because of people in my line, but other than that it was pretty open out there. Caught waves a bit on the inside, mostly lefts, and thus missed the 2 or 3 better sets that came through. Got caught on the inside once and had to paddled back out to the channel. Quite a work out. People were pretty mellow out there and I slowly recovered from the terrible initial vibe.
By the time I got out Ab was much better than Sub, due to the lower tide, and there were about 10 people out.
On my last wave in, a right, that girl sort of dropped in on me, although she was 30ft to my right. I didn't care, it was my last wave, so I rode it behind her. Then she dropped on her knees to ride the white in, while I dropped on my stomach to do the same. We rode the wave like that, side by side for about 50 yards. She then smiled and apologized for "cutting me off", to which I replied "it doesn't matter, it was a fun last wave". That was in such contrast to the beginning of the session.
After the session I went to OB for a smoothie while reviewing a paper. I could get used to surfing in the middle of weekdays :)

Fri Jan 28 2005

Del Mar 15th, 6:45AM-8AM (low tide at 4:15AM, 1.8ft)
by myself. Up to 25 people in the line-up, but I stayed on the edge
on my 7'6''
head-high with a few sets at a couple feet overhead. Many close-outs. Really fat, with significant off-shore winds.
It had to happen one day. This was the session with ZERO rides. Basically, the waves were way too fat and the off-shore too strong for me to get into on my 7'6''. I may have been able to catch one wave on my 9', but it's not even clear. Basically, positioning was the key and as usual I was having trouble with it. There was one shortboarder out who was taking off right on the peak, pretty much in the white. There were a couple of longboarders who were able to take off on corners after really intense paddling. And most people out there, including yours truly, didn't catch a single wave. After about one hour, I started paddling toward the inside and I finally caught some white.
Got caught in the impact zone a couple of times (looked behind me, ditched the board, and dove), trying to position myself for a take-off, and always being either too far out or too far in.
I guess the one good thing about this session is that paddling out was such a bitch that I had a good workout.

Mon Jan 31 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Sub and Ab, 6:45AM-8:30AM (low tide at 6:55AM, 1.8ft)
by myself. Two other longboarders out at Sub for 1 hour, and nobody out at Ab when I went there (7-8 guys when I paddled out to Sub).
on my 9'
waist-high with the occasional set at chest-high. Sort of high frequency and a bit mixed up, not very powerful and mushy but decent shape on the bigger waves.
Caught about 20 rides at Sub, none of them particularly impressive although I had some good take-offs on a couple of waves. Mostly rights. At some point it looked like both longboarders would drop in on me at the same time, but they didn't.
Conditions got better and better, and then there was a long lull during which I realize that I was the only one out. So I paddled to Ab to try to catch waves there. It was definitely sort of a challenging day at Ab. Not because of the size, but because it was sort of breaking all over the place, sometimes with two peaks, sometimes with the two peaks connecting, sometimes way outside, etc. And since I was the only one out, positioning was a bit more difficult. And it was pitching a little bit too. I thought it would be a good experience anyway.
Made 5 drops at Ab. Two of them were kind of late. On one of them I was trying to stay on a high line, and I almost made it but then the section right ahead of me broke on my back. Two feet further down the line and I would've been fine. I think that if I had crouched and held the rail I could've gotten a "California barrel", but instead I fell. Towards the end it was getting difficult to catch waves. On a couple I didn't really get into the wave fast enough and ended up not making it. Eventually caught a small wave in.
Surfing Ab today was a great experience although I didn't do great. Positioning is really key at that place. This morning I was actually watching one of the guys out there who was exactly in the right spot every time.

Thu Feb 3 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 8AM-9:30AM (high tide at 3:45AM, 5.1ft)
with Dario. Nobody out at first and then two girls paddled out halfway through the session.
on my 9ft
It was Dario first session in 6 months, the day after he got back to San Diego after one year of exile. He got back into it pretty quickly.
Caught about 10 rides, with a few good ones with nice take-offs, a bit of cross-stepping and nice turns. Had two pathetic take-offs that made Dario laugh.
Toward the end of the session we drifted closer and closer to Ab, which was weird. I caught a nice left there, while we were pretty much in the channel. We then caught small waves in.
Overall a very nice mellow session with nice weather. The waves at Ab and South Garbage looked nice from the parking lot.

Fri Feb 4 2005

Del Mar 15th, 7AM-8:30AM (high tide at 4:50AM, 5.6ft)
with Dario and Anaika, up to 20+ people out
on my 9ft
knee- to waist-high, glassy, organized if a bit inconsistent, nice waves with many well lined-up rights
Caught about 20 waves, with at least 5 very nice rights allowing for several turns. One of them I caught on the outside where I was somehow completely alone, which was cool.
It got crowded after the first hour and so we paddled a bit North, off the main break. Not breaking very nicely there as usual. Caught a couple of waves and went in. It was a beautiful morning.
Played with Anaika's dogs for a little bit by the car.
5+ dolphins in the line-up in two instances.

Sat Feb 5 2005

Mission Beach, 7:30AM-9:30AM (high tide at 5:55AM, 6.1ft)
with Dario, Jaime and Patrick. Nobody out.
on my 9ft
waist-high, glassy, not very consistent, with a few rare bigger sets. Sort of closing out, dumping on the inside, and still not very easy to get into waves due to the tide.
Caught about 20 rides, with 2 really good ones, which was surprising given the conditions really. Sort of continuing the good wave karma from yesterday's session.
I tried Jaime's 9'4'' high-perf noserider for about 5 waves. It's a pretty cool board and I may want to try to get one like that. But it's definitely slower than mine... not sure what to do. Took off on the biggest wave of the day on his board. It was a really steep take-off and I sunk the nose at the bottom turn. I am wondering if I would've made it on my board.
10+ dolphins here and there, with some of them coming emerging close.

Wed Feb 16 2005

Sunset Cliffs (Sub), 6:45AM-8:30AM (low tide at 11:15AM, 0.75ft)
with Dario. Nobody out.
on my 7'6''
chest-high, a bit of texture in the water, getting windier as the session went on. Not very consistent, and waves were a bit difficult to get into because many were quite fat. But several very nice sets coming through, some of them head-high and very well lined-up, with others a bit mushy on the inside.
Caught about 10 waves, with one of them absolutely outstanding. A right that was perfectly lined-up and which I surfed all the way to the channel. Probably the nicest Sub wave I've surfed in over a year. Dario caught an amazing right too, bigger than the one I caught.
Dario noted that on my 7'6'' my feet are way too close together, which was really helpful. In fact, on my last wave, a left, my take-off was much better as I spread my feet more. It's just so useful to surf with somebody who went through the same thing you are going through and can point things out to you. Basically, on my longboard I am now ok with foot placement, but I am back to the drawing board on my 7'6''.
We had a pretty bad case of "waiting for the last wave". It was getting more and more blown out. I ended up trying for waves further and further inside, until I just caught some white in.
Overall a great session. Last night we checked the forecast and it said "unsurfable" (due to a storm which we still have to see as the sky is perfectly blue and winds are calm as I write this). Dario was at my place and I had to lend my car to Renata whose car had broken down. We decided to try for it anyway. I spent the night at Charlie's and we ended up scoring a great session.

Tue March 8 2005

Mission Beach, 8:99AM-9:30AM (high tide at 7:20AM, 6.7ft)
with Dario. One other guy out and a few shortboarders on the inside occasionally
on my 9'
waist-high, with a lot of nice waves (and a few perhaps at chest-high). The tide was really high and we managed to score great waves before it dropped too much and waves started closing out.
Caught about 15 rides, with 3 or 4 on very good waves. Overall I did OK, but after 3 weeks without surfing, and being sick for the last week, I felt really weak out there. Anyway, it was pretty much Mission Beach at its best, and it was mellow enough that it was a good session to get back into it. I feel completely exhausted as I write this though. I'll just have to try to survive the day.
Dario surfed really well and caught many more waves than I did.
6+ dolphins on and off in the line-up, some of them less than 10 yards away from us.

Fri March 11 2005

Beacons, 6:45-9:15AM (high tide at 9:40AM, 5.3ft)
with Dario, Jaime, and Ari. 10+ people out
on my 7'6''
chest- to overhead-high, a lot of clean waves, glassy.
I had a very hard time on my 7'6''. I couldn't really get into the waves because I had to tell them late and they were heavy and fast.
For 1 hour I couldn't catch a ride. The only opportunity that I think I could have taken, some guy was already on the wave and I had to let him go. It was a very humbling experience to see people rip left and right. I think the waves were just a bit heavier, I am still really struggling on my 7'6'', and I was actually kind of tired. But still, I just need to learn how to take off a bit later.
After 1 hour, Jaime and I swapped board for 10 minutes. I immediately caught a great right. I felt so much better on his 9'4'' it was incredible. I knew at that moment that if I had had my 9' with me I would have had an amazing session. Jaime totally kicked ass on my board, but then wanted to swap back because he just didn't feel confident enough in conditions this heavy.
I then caught 2 rides (lefts) on my 7'6''. The first one was lame, with by back foot in the perfect position, but my front foot to close to the back foot. But at least I made the drop. The second one was much better, but there was a guy in the inside and I played it safe by straightening up to the beach as opposed to trying to go around him on a high line.
Overall, I think I learned a lot during this session, but while everybody was completely stoked after it, I was at the same time regretting that I didn't have my longboard, and at the same time happy that I was putting time on my 7'6''.
10 dolphins in the line-up

Sat March 12 2005

Mission Beach, 8AM-10AM (high tide at 10:15AM, 4.8ft)
with Dario and Roland
on my 9'
waist- to chest-high, with a few rogue waves at head-high, only a little bit of texture in the water, many very nice waves and getting better throughout the session. This was pretty much Mission Beach at its best, with only a few days like this every year.
Caught about 20 rides, with 3 or 4 very good. I didn't feel very confident on the board today and my style was worse than usual, but still night and day compared to yesterday.
I pulled a very sketchy take-off on a head-high wave, which was pretty cool.

Sat March 19 2005

Waikiki, 7:30AM-9:30AM (low tide at 7:20AM, .3ft)
On a SHITTY 9ft board, epoxy, single fin, no wax. $18 for 2 hours. Had to run back to the hotel to get a credit card, then lost a $20.00 bill, which the rental guy found and gave me back later. A whole adventure. I saw the guy later in the afternoon and he recognized me and we talked for 5 minutes. The stereotypical older, somewhat alcoholic, Waikiki beach boy I guess. It's been SO easy to talk to people here.
with Greg, that local Hawaiian guy from the big island whom I met on the beach while I was waiting to rent a board, from 10 to 20+ people out, mostly beginners, and a surf instructor.
knee- to waist-high, with a few (very few) chest-high waves, completely glassy, most waves kind of weak, but a few good ones with long rides.
Caught more than 20 rides, more than most people out there, with 2 or 3 that were great (mostly rights), longer than 100 yards for sure. I caught the wave of the day when a set seemed to approach and I paddled hard outside to find myself the only one there. People were either very mellow or beginners and I was paddling like a maniac all over the place, which in retrospect perhaps wasn't too cool. But the "first Hawaiian session" syndrome was in full effect I guess.
The surf instructor was hilarious. Really heavy set Hawaiian in his 20s, surfing a massive log and pushing that lady onto waves. He saved my life by giving me wax and we talked a bit. Really, really friendly. So far I am really amazed at how friendly the locals I've met are.
On a tiny wave I almost hit a girl. I was going very, very slow, but due to the lack of wax and the fact that it was a toe-high wave I just couldn't change direction. No harm at all, but I cursed that board for the 100th time at that point.

Sun March 20 2005

Waikiki, 7:30AM-9:30AM (low tide at 7:40AM, 0.3ft)
On the same board as yesterday, but this time with wax.
with Pascal and we met Greg in the water. That was Pascal's first session.
Smaller than yesterday and a bit windier, knee-high with a few waist-high waves. Many waves just mushing out on the inside.
Caught about 20 rides, with none of them close to the best ones I caught yesterday, but I surfed much better on that board with wax on it.
As we were getting in the water some loser talked to us, asking us if we were "AWESOME surfers", telling us to "HANG TEN DUDE!!!" and then asking us what "hanging ten" actually meant, telling us he was going to take a surf lesson, stepping on my leash forcing me to ask him to move his foot, and as we paddled out he hooted at us really loud from the beach. Really sad and embarrassing. I paddled out as fast as I could at that point.

Tue March 22 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 7:30AM-9AM (high tide at 7AM, 5.2ft)
on my 9ft (opted for the longer board because the tide was high)
with Dario, up to 3 other guys in the line-up, but we pretty much had the place to ourselves.
Chest- to head-high, a bit windy at first but glassier as the session went on, fat waves because the tide was high.
Caught 8 rides, with 4 of them really, really fun, mostly rights. Lefts were mushing out today. We didn't catch any wave for the first half-hour due to the high tide, but things improved. I had two great take-offs, one of them on a head-high right that went on forever all the way to the inside of the channel.
I had a few lame take-offs. Nothing really bad, but still my feet too close together. I am just happy that I had by far my best take-off on the best wave.
Dario had a few great take-offs on pretty heavy rights. We scored major waves, the weather became sunny halfway through the session and we were pretty much alone. Really good call to go out between my trip to Hawaii and my trip to Houston.
One seal in the line-up. I made a drop and went about 2ft from its head. I hadn't seen it before and almost fell as I thought it was a log for a second.

Fri March 25 2005

Cannon Road, 3:30PM-4:30PM (low tide at 3PM, 0ft)
on my 9ft
by myself, 3 other guys in the line-up
Knee- to waist-high, windy, not organized. I paddled in just to get wet on my way up to Jaime's (better to get wet than to sit in traffic).
Caught about 20 rides, none of them particularly good, but it was a good experience. 2 years ago there was no way I could have caught a single wave.

Sat March 26 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 7AM-8:30AM (high tide at 9:30AM, 4.8ft)
on my 9ft
with Dario, 2 other guys out
we met Jaime at Dario's house at 6AM, but mission was so bad that we drove to the Cliffs. It looked kinda small and Jaime decided to go home as he was exhausted due to lack of sleep (he slept in his VW bus after going to a show in Ocean Side). We first paddled out to Ab but it wasn't breaking and we ended up at Sub pretty quickly.
Waist-high with a few rare chest-high sets, a bit windy with texture in the water. The 2 guys who were out caught a wave in pretty fast and then it was just us out there.
Caught about 30 rides, with some of them really fun although a bit mushy on the inside.
It was a great session, surprisingly good waves, sunny and beautiful.
One seal on the outside.

Sun March 27 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 6:15AM-8:45AM (high tide at 10AM, 4.3ft)
on my 9ft
with Dario, a couple of other guys out on and off, including a pretty good longboarder who was riding the nose quite a bit.
knee- to waist-high, glassy, well organized and consistent, with nice shape. The rights were better than the lefts.
Caught 50+ rides. A marathon session that left us completely exhausted. On his last take-offs Dario had cramps in his calves and totally fell over. We basically couldn't paddle anymore. It was a lot of fun catching so many waves in beautiful weather, but after about 2 hours I couldn't paddle worth crap but still caught waves due to adrenaline.

Fri April 1 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 6:45AM-8:45AM (low tide at 9:30AM, 0ft)
on my 9ft
with Dario, from 2 to 6 other guys out
knee- to waist-high waves, with a few chest-high sets. Pretty good but no consistent. A little bit of wind with some texture in the water but not a big deal. Absolutely beautiful weather.
Caught about 20 rides, with a few very fun right-handers. At the beginning of the session it seemed that the rights were closing out and at the end the lefts were closing out.
Dario gave me useful advice as usual and told me that on one wave my style was great, both on the take-off and during the ride, with feet in the right place and everything. that was pretty good news. I also had quite a few not so good ones.

Sat April 2 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Chasm, 5:45AM-7:45AM (low tide at 10:45AM, -0.3ft)
on my 7'6'' and on Sunshine's old board
with Dario, nobody out at first, and then up to 4 longboarders out
knee- to waist-high waves with a few chest-high sets, very glassy
Caught 15 ride, with a few good take-offs, but basically my technique is terrible on these shorter boards. I am learning though, and I had one great take-off on Sunshine board.
Halfway through our session, longboarders paddled out and starting catching everything outside, which was quite annoying. Some of them were loud and lame, and Dario was completely outrages because that spot is really supposed to be some type of shortboarding sanctuary.

Sun April 3 2005

Mission Beach, 7:30-8:30 (low tide at 10:45AM, -0.1ft)
on my 9'
with Dario and Kathy, a few people out
waist- to chest-high, extremely disorganized and bumpy, may close-outs, pretty much horrible
Caught about 5 real rides, with 2 of them "ok"
The water seemed to have dropped 3 degrees when compared with yesterday!
It was Kathy 1st session in months, and it was horrible, grey, and cold. Really unlucky. She played in the white on the inside.
10+ dolphins outside.

Tue April 4 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 9AM-11AM (high tide at 5:15AM, 5ft)
on my 9', with my new 6'' cutaway fin
with Dario, nobody for the most part of the session, then 2 shortboarders.
knee- to waist-high waves with a few chest-high waves, a little bit windy, not consistent with shifting peaks
Caught around 20 rides, with a few good lefts and a few good rights. Nothing to write home about. The new fin is at the same time easier and more difficult, but I can see it's going to help me evolve. the waves were really poorly shaped and it wasn't the best session to experiment.

Sat April 9 2005

Tourmaline, 6:45AM-9AM (high tide at 10:30AM, 4.38ft)
on my 9'
with Dario, and later Barbara (Kathy and Bucky were on the inside)
knee- to shoulder-high waves, with a few bigger sets on the outside every once in a while. A bit windy.
Caught about 15 rides, with a few good ones on the inside.
We went to Tourmaline mostly for social reasons, and to be honest I didn't really like the place. The wave is really slow. It's really crowded. I caught a big wave on the outside, but it was so slow I didn't really have fun riding it. And you have to hug the white like crazy for fear of losing the wave. People were shouting to each others, etc. Definitely not the Sunset Cliffs crowd at all.
Dario had to go back to the parking lot at 7:30 to connect with the others and I stayed out. Eventually he came to tell me they were on the inside where it was actually more fun. Caught a few waves there.
4 dolphins on the outside.

Thu April 14 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 6:45AM-8:45AM (low tide at 8:50AM, 0.3ft)
on my 9'
with Dario, nobody out.
waist- to chest-high, with the occasional shoulder-high set.
Glassy and then a little wind toward the end. Not very organized, high-frequency, many fake waves and doubles. The conditions really improved throughout the session. In fact, halfway through we got caught on the inside when it got bigger suddenly.
Caught about 20 rides, with a few good rights. The new fin's starting to work out ok. I totally ate it on one fast left on the take-off and Dario said the wipe out was very impressive.

Sat April 16 2005

Mission Beach, Sunset Cliffs, Chasm, 33's, 7:30AM-11:15AM (low tide at 11:30AM, .5ft)
on my 9', single-fin with my new 8'' wingnut
with Dario
we started in front of Dario's house. Although it looked mellow and knee-high, once we got in we realized there were mostly close-outs, high-frequency, and just not fun. After 1/2 hour in the water we decided to just go to the Cliffs. I had caught only one ride and the paddle back out was really a pain.
Once at the Cliffs we went all the way to Chasm as Sub was crowded and Ab seemed to mushy. Chasm was actually pretty good, very glassy, waist-high with a few almost chest-high waves. I caught about 25 rides there. Shortboarders started paddling out (up to 6 other guys out). I was very careful in trying not to steal their waves, which worked out ok. Two of the guys out really annoyed Dario and when it got too crowded we decided to paddle to the next spot South.
We got to the next spot, which we think is 33's. There were two older longboarders there. The wave was very nice, with quite some punch to it and showing the potential it can have on a bigger day. I caught perhaps 20 rides, with most of them really fun (especially on rights).
It was an odd morning, with 3 different surf spots and a single-fin board. It took quite a bit of time to get used to the single-fin.
Major technical break-through today: I managed to consistently put my hands further back on the board as I push off for a take-off. I really helped for having my feet spread out more. I did it consistently throughout the whole session, and I think it won't be a problem anymore.
We were quite exhausted after this long morning. We went to the bbq at Daniele and Aiyun's, and then I went up to Encinitas to have Dinner with Fran and Marc.

Sun April 17 2005

Mission Beach, 7AM-9AM (low-tide at 4:45AM, 3.8ft)
on my 9', single-fin,
with Dario. Kathy and Bucky on the inside. Nobody out.
It was glassy, knee- to waist-high, with more and more close-outs as the tide got lower and lower.
Caught about 25 rides, with a few fun ones, in spite of the quickly deteriorating conditions.
10+ dolphins in the line-up, surfing waves (one surfed a wave with Dario), two of them actually breached, which was quite impressive. I also saw one seal on the inside, from Dario's window.

Thu April 21 2005

Mission Beach, 9AM-10AM (high-tide at 8:50AM, 4.5ft)
on my 9', single-fin, no leash
with Dario. The Bentons were out (with no wetsuits of course) for the first 20 minutes.
At first glassy and knee-high, but after 20 minutes windy and choppy and pretty much unsurfable.
I decided to paddle out just to relax after making the decision to move to Hawaii and turn down a job offer from UCSD.
Caught 4-5 rides, nothing special. It was my first time without a leash and I lost my board 3 times. On the first ride I lost it because I slipped due to no wax on the board (first day without booties in a long time). Then I just lost it because I kept forgetting that I had no leash. It was a great experience and I'll do it again for sure!

Fri April 22 2005

Beacons, 7AM-9AM (high-tide at 9AM, 4.5ft)
on my 9', single-fin
with Dario, about 6 other guys out
At first glassy and waist-high, not very consistent but ok shape, then windier until we got out of the water right before it got blown out.
Caught about 15 rides, with a few of them quite fun. I had a terrible time at the beginning for some reason, and then got better. I think I need to go back to a tri-fin to see how that feels.
3 dolphins on the outside

Sun April 24 2005

Subs, 6:00AM-7:30AM (high-tide at 9:10AM, 4.2ft)
on my 9', tri-fin
by myself, 3 other guys out
waist-high with a few chest-high sets, perhaps a few head-high ones as well, not consistent, windy and very blown out by the end of the session.
Caught about 15 rides. Waves were difficult to get into but I had a few fun rides on the biggest sets, mostly rights. The 3 other guys out were a bit loud and not very good (and *I* am saying that), but they never got in my way.
By the end of the session is was so blown out that I had to catch some white in.

Tue April 26 2005

Subs, 6AM-8:38AM (high tide at 10:45AM, 3.4ft)
on my 9'
with Dario, 1 other guy out at the end of the session
knee- to waist-high with a few bigger sets, not organized, breaking all over the place.
Caught about 20 rides, with a few good ones (mostly lefts), a few good "turn and burn", and a few very pathetic things, pearling on the take-off, totally messing u p the cross-stepping, etc. A mixed bag. The waves had a very nice shape, and only at the end of the session when the tide got too high did they deteriorate.
Dario was surfing without a leash and he lost his board only a few time. One of them was pretty bad, with the board a long ways off and I caught a wave in to retrieve it for him.
1 seal in the line-up.

Sat April 30 2005

Beacons, 6:30PM-7:30PM (high tide at 4:40PM, 3.6ft)
on my 9'
with Jaime and Anaika, about 10 other people out
waist- to chest-high, windy and a bit choppy, not well organized or consistent, with a few bigger sets breaking on the outside mostly unridden.
Caught about 15 rides, none of them special. It was just good to be in the water at sunset with Jaime and Anaika. We surfed until dark and then went to have dinner at Roxy in Encinitas.

Sun May 1 2005

Turn-about, 8:30AM-10AM (low tide at 10AM, -.1ft)
on my 9'
with Jaime and Anaika, about 15 other people out
waist- to chest-high, glassy, not very consistent but decent sets coming through.
Caught about 25 rides, with a few very fun drops. In spite of the crowd we hung out a little bit inside from the pack, and it turned out that only a few people were catching waves. I was pretty happy with my surfing today, and especially of a few good take-offs. The waves had some punch to them at times, and it was good to feel some energy.

Wed May 4 2005

Del Mar 15th, 6AM-7:30AM (high tide at 7:30AM, 4.7ft)
on my 9'
with Travis, about 20 other people out
waist-high with a few slightly bigger sets, glassy at first and then a little bit windy, not consistent and not very well organized with a few crossing peaks. Rather slow too due to the high tide.
Caught about 15 rides, with none of them particularly memorable but for one left that went for quite a long time. I was pretty happy about a few of my turn-and-burn take-offs :)

Sat May 7 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 8AM-9:30AM (high tide at 9:40AM, 4.4ft)
on my 9'
with Ken, nobody out
knee- to waist-high, very choppy, windy, disorganized, inconsistent, pretty much horrible
Caught about 10 rides, none of them good but for a right that was halfway decent. Sort of a glassy reform on the inside.

Sun May 8 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Chasm, 6:30AM-8:30AM (high tide at 10:30AM, 4.0ft)
on my 7'6''
2 other guys out (Rory being one of them) + a knee boarder
waist- to shoulder-high, almost glassy, not very consistent, getting worse as the tide came in
Caught about 15 rides. Fund take-offs and short rides before the left would close out or before the right would connect with the next peak. I had 2-3 very good rides, although I still suck on this board. The other ones were mostly for the fun of the take-off.
After riding my 9' for the last 5+ sessions, I had forgotten how much work it was to ride the 7'6''. I got out of the water completely exhausted, and I actually botched the last take-off just because of that.
The 2 other guys out were friendly and we talked a bit in the water.
1 seal on the inside, about 2ft from my board

Wed May 11 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 7AM-8:30AM (low tide at 6:20AM, -0.6ft)
on my 9'
with Dave, 1 other longboarder out and 2-3 shortboarders on the inside
chest- to shoulder-high, almost glassy, not consistent at all, a lot of doubles and fake waves, but an occasional good wave coming through every once and again. It wasn't breaking as usual easier, with a peak between Ab and Sub in what's typically the channel. Very strange. It took me a while to paddle out because I just didn't realize that today the channel was the peak, and the peak was more like a channel. Must be due to the angle of the swell I guess.
I was supposed to meet Patrick, that friend of Brad's with whom I've been trying to get together for months. By a horrible twist of fate, I messed up the setting on my alarm clock and didn't wake up in time. This is the first time in something like 3 years that I am late to go surfing, and this is the first time I am meeting somebody I do not know! Dave was there early, waited around for 15 minutes and then decided to paddle out. He didn't see Patrick at all. Since I was so late I didn't stay out in the water too long.
Caught 4 great rights, and I was pretty happy with my surfing and my take-offs. Especially on my last wave. Finding where to sit today was quite difficult and I missed several waves because I was too far inside. I am really getting better at hugging the pocket and not going to far off the shoulder.

Thu May 12 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 7:15AM-8:45AM (low tide at 7AM, -0.2ft)
on my 9'
by myself, with from 0 to 6 other people out
waist- to shoulder-high, perfectly glassy, not very consistent, but much better than yesterday, with conditions degrading as the tide came in. Outstanding weather.
I was supposed to surf with Patrick, whom I missed yesterday because I woke up too late. This time he didn't show up and I spent 1/2 hour in the parking lot waiting for him. I am not sure what happened. At 7AM I decided to just go.
Caught about 15 rides, with a few very good ones. Mostly easy take-offs, and some energy on the inside. I caught the wave of the day, a head-high left that was pretty much firing and that was perfectly lined up.
I felt a bit conspicuous on my longboard as there were a few shortboarders out there, one of them really really good. So I caught a few rights and let a few waves go by. There were two girls out, who could stand up but were clearly learning, and on some wave that I let go by for the shortboarders on the inside they both dropped in on one of them. That was pretty bad.
My take-offs are really getting good at this point, but somehow I feel that my cross-stepping is getting worse. Not sure why that is. I just don't really do it, although 6 months ago I was doing it all the time. However, my position on the board is better and I am getting a bit more speed.

Fri May 20 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 5:30AM-7AM (high tide at 7AM, 3.9ft)
on my 7'6''
with Travis, 3-4 other people out
waist- to chest-high, not consistent, glassy, not organized, a lot of doubles. Definitely not what the forecast had led us to believe.
Caught about 10 rides, with a few decent ones. Feeling more comfortable on this board. Caught one good left on which my feet decently well positioned. On another wave I did a good take-off an attempted a somewhat radical back-side off the lip only to be completely pummeled. Definitely not there yet on this board, but today I just felt a bit more comfortable. I should really keep at it.
2 dolphins in the line-up

Sat May 21 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Chasm, 5:30AM-7:30AM (high tide at 7:40AM, 3.8ft)
on my 7'6''
with Travis, 1 other guy out way on the outside, and 2 guys with us toward the end of the session
waist- to head-high, with a few overhead+ sets on the outside. Not a clean swell, not consistent, not organized, a lot of doubles and fake waves, not consistent, glassy, not organized.
We first looked at Sub, which seemed to no work, and at Ab there were already 7 people out (at 5:30AM!). So we opted to walk to Chasm.
Caught about 5 rides total, with 2 great take-offs, but no good ride to speak of. I just had a very hard time reading waves today and just was never in the right place at the right time. Travis was much better at this.
Toward the end of the session we tried to paddle north a bit to try to catch a left, but we just weren't moving. There seemed to be this current that kept us always in the same place. It was crazy, just seemed impossible to get to that left we saw breaking only a few yards away. At some point, I knew I was just facing exhaustion so I caught some serendipitous white in on my stomach. The white was pretty fast. It was impossible to tell where I was going because of the sun and the haze on the beach. I started being concerned about hitting the rocks by the pointe at chasm and fought hard to go as far north as possible, edging the white and paddling. I eventually made it out on the beach, WAY north, close to New Break. I really had no idea where I was it turns out. I lied down on the beach and waited for Travis for ever. He finally made it, further south than where I was. Apparently he caught some white, but not getting as much north as I did. He said that it was the fastest white he's ever ridden, and then he stayed stuck in the same spot, caught in some type of rip current on the inside. Eventually made it out to the beach, but quite freaked out. We laughed our asses off. Then, on the way back to Ab we had to put our leashes on again to paddled around the pointe, which had become quite something with the tide rising. Anyway, it was quite an adventure all-in-all and although we laughed it off, bigger conditions in winter would have made it really hard to come back to the parking lot.

Sun May 22 2005

Tourmaline and PB Pointe, 6:30AM-8:45AM (high tide at 8:40AM, 3.7ft)
on my 9'
with Kathy and Bucky, and then Jaime
waist- to head-high, somewhat consistent, glassy at first and then a little bit windy
Never really saw Kathy and Bucky. Spent about 1.5 hour in the line-up at Tourmaline. Caught about 20 rides there. The waves were slow (of course), but I had two great waves, on which I was by myself on the outside, just in the right spot. Both rights. On the best one of the two, this asshole dropped in on me. I had seen him before dropping in on many people. He's a good surfer, shouts in the line-up like he owns the place, and just drops in and then gives you this look that says: "what the hell were you doing on my wave?". Unreal. I can take the beginners who drop in because they don't know any better. But that guy is just such an obvious asshole, I just couldn't figure it out.
There was this guy out, no wetsuit, overweight, sitting on his log, never catching a single wave. Never paddling for anything. Obviously not really able to surf and just hanging out hoping to become a surfer I guess. But he was very nice and pointed out waves to me. It was pretty funny. Each time I got back to the line-up I sort of said "thanks", although I can figure out waves on my own but I took pity on him. And he always gave me that look like: "well, I can't surf, so at least I try to be helpful". Pretty odd. One wave he pointed out I hadn't seen though because I was messing around with my leash. So I guess he was helpful.
As I was getting ready to paddle out to PB Pointe, Jaime showed up. We both paddled there and it was only 4 of us in the line-up, with pretty good waves. Caught about 5 rides there, with one screaming right on which I probably made the sketchiest drop I ever did but was somewhat in control.
On one wave, which was Jaime's he yelled at me "Go!" which made me think that he wasn't going or that he was going left. But as I dropped in he was right next to me. I freaked and pearled. I had NO idea he meant for both of us to ride the wave. That man is insane.

Tue May 24 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 7AM-8:30AM (high tide at 11AM, 3.7ft)
on my 9'
by myself, up to 4 other people out
waist- to chest-high, somewhat consistent although there were definitely multiple peaks, glassy.
Caught about 15 rides, with 3 very good rights where I was able to pump up and down on the face. Easy take-offs. Tried to focus on really being low on my knees on the take-offs although it didn't really matter today... just a good thing to practice. Ate it on one late take-off. I think I was just too confident.

Wed May 25 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 6:30AM-8AM (low tide at 5:30AM, -1.5ft)
on my 9'
by myself, up to 6 other people out
knee- to waist-high, not very consistent with long lulls, but a few nice sets coming through, glassy
Caught about 15 rides, with a few good ones, but nothing to write home about. Pretty happy with some of my take-offs today, but there were a few sections that I could have made had I been positioned better on my board and that I didn't make. Cross-stepping right after take-off would've been the way to go I think.
Very low tide and clear water, the first 30 yards of paddling were beautiful with fish and green seaweed, and several stingrays on the bottom.
2 dolphins on the outside

Fri May 27 2005

Mission Beach, 4:30PM-6:30PM (low tide at 6:10AM, 2.8ft)
on my 9'
with Kathy and Bucky, nobody else out
ankle- to knee-high, a bit choppy, not consistent, mushy, weak, but ridable I guess.
Caught about 25 rides, with a few semi-decent rights, considering the conditions. It was nice to be out in the water.
Gave quite a bit of advice to Kathy and Bucky as for once they spent some time in the line-up.
2 dolphins on the outside.

Sat May 28 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 7AM-8:45AM (low tide at 8:15AM, -0.8ft)
on my 9', no leash. Ken was surfing my 7'6''.
with Ken, 3 guys out at first. Talked to them a bit as I knew then from some other sessions. Then nobody for 1h. Then another guy out.
ankle- to knee-high, the glassiest conditions I've ever been in I think, very nice shape but inconsistent and weak. Two waist-high sets came through.
Caught about 15 rides, with a couple of lefts that were decent, with a bit of cross-walking. It's really amazing how Ab sort of generates nice waves even when there is no swell whatsoever.
From the parking lot we could see people sitting on their board at South Garbage, in the middle of a lake basically. I really have no idea why that place always has at least one surfer out.
1 seal in the line-up. 2 dolphins on the outside.

Sun May 28 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Ab and then 33's, 6:15AM-8AM (low tide at 9:20AM, -0.5ft)
on my 9'
By myself, nobody out
Knee-high, glassy, very inconsistent. In fact, worse than yesterday.
Caught 10 rides at Ab, none of them great, and then I decided to go for a long paddle, just for the workout. So I paddled from Ab to 33's. That was quite intense, but I had seen some waves breaking there and I decided it would be a good experience.
The paddle took perhaps 1/2 hour, and it was a bit spooky to be completely by myself in the ocean. The only sign of human life was on the beach where two transients had set up camp on the beach by New Break.
I finally got to 33's and although I had seen waves break, there was nothing going on. I just sat there and waited. It got spookier. There was a lot of fish activity, with fish jumping out of the water all around me, a lot of odd bubbles and water movement going on. I was in somewhat shallow water and I could see the bottom. There were garibaldis at the bottom, bright orange. But with the sky being completely overcast, the whole scene was just eerie.
And then a set came. It was amazing to realize that even on a knee-high day like this, with no swell, that little reef can still generate waves. It was above waist-high on the take-off, and quite heavy actually, with steep take-offs and the absolute necessity of keeping a high line. Then dead calm again for 10 minutes with more unsettling water movements and fish jumping. And then, another set. I caught about 5 waves overall, made all take-offs, but had to really be focused. I can't even imagine that place on a big day.
I paddled back to New Break and then got out of the water and finished on foot. Quite the workout.
1 seal in the line-up at Ab, maybe the same one as yesterday.

Fri June 3 2005

Del Mar 15th, 6:15AM-7:45AM (high tide at 7AM, 3.6ft)
on my 9'
with Charles, 10+ other people out
waist- to chest-high, inconsistent, mixed-up, choppy, a bit windy, but still a few waves to catch.
Caught about 10 waves, with one great right and one great left. Waves were very difficult to catch, and I was a bit out of shape since I hadn't surfed in a week and had been feeling a bit under the weather.
Charles didn't do to good. He could not get out. So I kept going back to the beach to check on him.
1 dolphin in the line-up

Fri June 3 2005

Mission Beach, 6:30PM-7:45PM (high tide at 7:40PM, 6.4ft)
on my 9'
with Jaime
knee- to chest-high, inconsistent, choppy, too much water, difficult to catch waves
Caught about 6-7 rides, with only one of them ok. I blew a few take-offs because I was just too aggressive.
It was just good to be in the water at sunset
2 dolphins beyond the line-up, jumping quite a bit

Tue June 7 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 6:45AM-8AM (low tide at 5AM, -1ft)
on my 9'
by myself, nobody else out
waist- to shoulder-high, unclean wind swell, a bit windy, mixed up, lots of doubles, peaky, inconsistent, but with patience the odd somewhat nice wave would come through. Tons of kelp.
Caught a total of 7 rides, with one great right that felt like it was head-high on the drop. I did a nice bottom turn and came back up on the face to keep a high line, and then plunged to a second bottom turn to go around a semi-closing out section. After that the wave got mellower and I cut back into the pocket, to finish by kicking the board out before the wave closed out on the inside. That ride made this otherwise lame session all worth it.
Before getting in the water I almost locked myself out of my car. I left the key in the front of the car and locked the door while getting out of the car. I thought I was completely screwed until I realized I could take the back seats down through the trunk, which I had opened from the front right before getting out. So I managed to crawl through the back seats and retrieve the key.

Sun June 12 2005

Rincon Pointe, 6AM-8AM (low tide at 8AM, 0ft)
on Graziano's 9'
by myself, 15 people out
knee- to chest-high, not a very clean swell but a few good sets coming through. The pointe looked rather heavy and was owned by ripping shortboarders who were getting barreled every now and again and pulled quite amazing stuff. So I hung out about halfway along the pointe, with all the longboarders.
Caught 7 rides, with one of them outstanding.
My first 3 rides were sort of lame, with sketchy take-offs and then an odd wave with a crazy wedge and a lot of reflection from the pointe. I really had problems gaining speed on the board and couldn't quite escape from the wedge although the take-offs were fun.
My fourth ride was outstanding. I was a bit on the outside, and caught that wave that I rode all the way to the beach, perhaps 200 yards. It was a bit slow at times but had a few faster sections that were really fun. That really gave me an appreciation for what Rincon Pointe can do. It was actually difficult to figure out where to be along the point, with a few spots not breaking, some too heavy, etc.
The crowd was really friendly by a few annoying people who were totally friendly but would drop in. Towards the end there was this girl who paddled out. She totally sucked but she was behaving somewhat aggressively in the water. On one wave she tried to catch I was on the inside sort of in her line I guess, but there was NO way she was going to catch that wave. In fact I couldn't catch it either and I didn't even try. But she paddled sort of aggressively but not very well right toward me and stopped like 2 ft from my board giving me this eye although at that point she was paddling on flat water. I couldn't believe it. She couldn't even stand, as I saw later.
I sort of messed up my last rides, either because I was too deep or because this older lady would drop in on me. I missed a couple of opportunities because I just had a hard time reading some of the waves. I finally caught a wave in. Overall a decent session, and pretty happy that I finally surfed Rincon Pointe, although I can't really say I was at the pointe.

Wed June 15 2005

Mission Beach, 5:30PM-7PM (high tide at 5:20AM, 4.6ft)
on my 9'
by myself, 1-7 people out
Bucky and Kathy were supposed to show up but didn't
knee- to chest-high, a bit choppy, not consistent, but a few waves coming through every once and again
Caught 20+ rides with only 3-4 decent ones
My take-offs were good today, but my riding wasn't great. For some reason with my smaller fin I find backside riding more difficult.
It was dolphin insanity. Maybe 10 dolphins in total, who stayed in the line-up for 45 minutes or so, jumping, surfing, rolling over each other. Not sure what was going on but it was quite entertaining. On a wave I actually had two in my line and I paddled right over them on the take-off.

Fri June 17 2005

Del Mar 15th, 6:15AM-7:15AM (high tide at 6:24AM, 3.4ft)
on my 9', no leash
with Charles, 5 people out
knee- to waist-high, very choppy and not consistent, windy, lame.
Still managed to get about 8 rides, with 2 decent ones somehow. I lost my board on a very late take-off in white water on an ugly wave and had to swim to the beach to get the board back. I really enjoy surfing without a leash and I think I am going to do it probably non-stop until I move to Hawaii.
Charles had to stop after 45 minutes because he tweaked his back again, which sucked. I went to the beach to check on him and decided to paddle out for one more wave. I paddled out really fast, showed up in the middle of the 5 guys out, sat on my board, saw a wave coming, turned and caught it right away back to the beach. The whole thing took like 3 minutes. It was pretty funny. It was odd also to be the best surfer in the line-up. The other guys out were the usual longboarder locals and they frankly suck, although they are not aggressive and are overall nice guys.

Fri June 17 2005

Mission Beach, 6:30PM-7:30PM (high tide at 6:20PM, 5.7ft)
on my 9', no leash
with Kathy and Bucky, 2-3 other people out.
knee- to waist-high, very choppy and not consistent, windier than this morning, and about as lame.
I really paddled out to be social and I ended up having a good time. This leashless surfing is really cool and creates an interesting new challenge in crappy conditions. I lost my board 3 times in total, twice of these on late take-offs. It's really unbelievable how different it feels not to have a leash. Ad today was great because there was tons of kelp in the water.
The sunset was absolutely beautiful and it was good to be in the water after quite a hectic week.

Sat June 18 2005

Mission Beach, 7:30PM-8:30PM (high tide at 7:30AM, 3.5ft)
on my 9'
with Arnaud. 3-4 people out.
waist- to shoulder-high, a bit choppy, high frequency, a lot of doubles and close-outs.
Paddling out was a bit challenging, which sucked for Arnaud's third session ever. He couldn't get out at all and was completely exhausted without even being able to catch the white.
Caught 5 rides, all of them with quite intense take-offs and short rides. I either had to pull out after 10 yards or I would get to the inside, which was such a mess that the wave would become unridable. Still was fun to do those take-offs though and it was nice to feel the energy behind the bigger set. I felt that I was close to my best shape in terms of paddling, always able to accelerate enough to escape from bad close-outs.
I toyed with the idea of paddling out without a leash. That would have been a mistake today.
1 dolphin right next to me in the line-up.

Sat June 18 2005

Oceanside Beach, 7:15PM-8:15PM (high tide at 7PM, 6ft)
on my 9', no leash
with Jaime. One other guy out, on a foamie, with no leash!
waist- to chest-high, choppy, not consistent, but occasional decent waves coming through
Caught about 5 rides, with two great lefts and one great right, all the way to the beach.
Beautiful sunset. We had a blast.

Sun June 19 2005

Beacons, 7:30PM-9:30PM (high tide at 8:50AM, 3.5ft)
on my 9'
with Jaime and Anaika, 15+ people out
waist-high, glassy, not consistent and quite a few doubles, but nice waves coming through now and again.
Caught about 20 rides, with 5 really good ones. I blew two take-offs for no apparent reasons. (Maybe I am a bit surfed out after 4 sessions in two days). On a beautiful right some loser dropped in on me, but I put him under pressure and he eventually bailed. I caught quite a few nice lefts too.
Jaime spend quite a bit on the beach with the beginner German girl he had brought along. First time surfing. She was totally excited and stood up a couple of times on the white.
Nice session, last one before going to Europe for 2 weeks.

Thu July 7 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Abs, 6:30AM-7:30AM (low tide at 5:05AM, -0.8ft)
on my 9', no leash
by myself, 6 people out at first, alone at the end of the session
knee- to thigh-high, glassy, not very consistent by decently shaped "set" coming through. I think I surfed a waist-high wave.
Caught 7 rides, with 2 of them surprisingly good given the condition. Ab just has that ability to somewhat create nicely-shaped waves. Surfing without a leash felt great as usual
There was this branch right in the middle of the line up and it was a pain. So I dragged it far outside. The other people out didn't seem very appreciative. The fools.
Not a great session by any means, but good to get in the water in glassy conditions after 2 weeks without surfing

Fri July 8 2005

Del Mar 15th, 6:30AM-7:30AM (low tide at 5:45AM, -0.5ft)
on my 9', no leash
with Charles, 10+ people out
knee- to waist-high, a bit windy but not bad, not very consistent but nice sets coming through.
Caught 20+ rides, with 2 or 3 pretty fun with many cutbacks and a bit of cross-stepping.
I tried Charles's 7'8'' board for a bit, with no leash. I caught the best wave of the day on that, definitely bigger than waist-high. Some kook almost dropped in on me, but I gave him the eye and that made him reconsider. It was cool to ride a shorter board without a leash, and I felt quite confident.
Towards the end we drifted a bit North, and I started losing my board as the inside was a bit heavier. I was quite tired at the end of the session. Basically, I paddled like a maniac all the time and fetched my board three times. Trying to get back in shape after 2 weeks of bad food and no exercise.

Fri July 8 2005

Mission Beach, 5:15PM-6:45PM (low tide at 4:40PM, 2.5ft)
on my 9'
by myself. Met Roland in the water. between 2 and 10+ other people out.
knee- to waist-high, with a few chest high sets. At times glassy, at times choppy.
Caught 30+ rides, with a few really fun ones on waist-high waves. My surfing improved at the end. I felt tired, jetlagged, and with a headache the whole time. Sort of an odd session.
There was a guy out on a short board who had the smoothest riding style I'd ever seen. Absolutely beautiful and at times explosive with crazy floaters. He looked almost as good as Beau Young in Single Fin Yellow, in the part in which he rides a short board.

Sat July 9 2005

Mission Beach, 9:30AM-11AM (low tide at 6AM, -0.3ft)
on my 9' and my 7'6''
with Charles, Marvin, and his friend Pascal
knee- to waist-high, with a few chest high sets. A bit windy but not too bad. More consistent than yesterday. Overall quite decent conditions.
Caught 30+ rides, with 3 or 4 really good ones, taking a high line to make it through sections, and going around the white on bottom turns.
It was Marvin's 3rd session, and Pascal's 1st. He didn't last more than 20 minutes after which his arms were "totally burnt". Hilarious.
4 dolphins in the line-up

Sun July 10 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 7AM-8:45AM (low tide at 6:45AM, 0ft)
on my 9', no leash
with Geoff, 4 other people out
waist-high, with a few chest-high sets, totally glassy, nice shape, not very consistent and a bit difficult to catch as the tide was coming in, but still very beautiful waves at times.
Caught 25+ rides, with 2 great lefts, and 2 great rights. Did some cross-stepping, which is interesting without a leash. Didn't lose my board once. Pretty happy with myself. I was probably the one out there who was catching the most waves.
Geoff did ok, but had trouble adjusting to surfing a reef rather than a beach break.
In the morning I totally goofed. I was really distracted and I forgot to latch the board on the roof of the car. So as I was driving down Washington the board flew off and bounced on the pavement. I couldn't believe I had done that. Turned out that only the tail of the board was damaged, and not too badly at that. Quite unreal. I should really have kept the board dry, but since I am getting rid of it in 2 weeks I decided to take it out anyway. Besides, Geoff was going to meet me there for his first sunset cliffs session. I'm fix it with some Solarez right now, probably the ugliest ding repair ever attempted, and I'll sell it to Paul for $50 as opposed to $100. Whatever. Still pretty sad though.

Tue July 12 2005

Cannon Road, 4PM-5:30PM (high tide at 2:45PM, 4.1ft)
on my 9', no leash. The board repair I did last time is great.
by myself, 6+ people out
waist-high, with chest-high sets every 10 minutes, almost glassy, no wind.
Caught 10 rides, including 2 very good rights, perfectly lined-up.
Lost my board 3 times. The first time was just stupid. I was caught in the white and screwed up my dismount. The second time the wave closed out while I had kept a high line. I did a semi floater and then of course lost the board. The third time, I did a take-off very deep, and this guy dropped in on me, making it impossible for me to power through a difficult section. Instead I attempted a lame cut-back and fell.
Overall a pretty good serendipitous session, on the way from UCSD to Jaime house to drop off the metal table I am giving him.

Wed July 13 2005

Beacons, 10:15AM-11:15AM (low tide at 8:15AM, 1ft)
on my 9'
by myself, 10+ people out
waist-high, with chest-high sets every now and then, a bit windy but not too choppy. Not very consistent, with very long lulls as the tide came in.
Caught 20+ rides, many of them on okay but not great waist-high waves. Then I went further on the outside to try to catch bigger ones. I caught one, but then wasn't so lucky. On one of them I should absolutely have gone but I miss-judged it and didn't go for it. There was this older longboarder on a 10ft board and wearing no wetsuit who clearly knew where to sit and who got the best, bigger waves on the outside.
I suffered the usual "last wave" syndrome, and ended up catching something small on the inside.
Overall an ok session under completely gray skies.
I didn't lose my board once, and I shouldn't have been wearing a leash at all. But there were quite a few shortboarders on the inside and I felt it was safer to put the leash on.

Fri July 15 2005

Del Mar 15th, 6:15AM-8AM (low tide at 9:45AM, 2ft)
on my 9'
with Geoff and Travis, 20+ people out
waist-high, glassy, with a few bigger sets. Not very clean and sort of weak after the take-off. A lot of doubles and fake waves, but still some ok rides to be had
Caught about 20 rides, with a lot that ended up rather weakly in spite of fun take-offs.
I had 2 great rides on big head-high rights. I was, somehow, alone on the outside, and that first big wave came. I got into it an it lined-up pretty nicely although it was short, connecting weirdly with another peak. I fell at the end of the ride by trying to go around some guy in my line. The second one was better, about the same size. I felt pretty lucky to get two in a row on the outside by myself.
Travis managed to catch many waves as usual, in spite of being on a short board with these slow/fat waves. Don't know how he does it.
2 dolphins in the line-up

Sat July 16 2005

Cannon Road, 6:30AM-8:30AM (low tide at 10:40AM, 2ft)
on my 9', no leash
with Travis, 20+ people out
waist-high to head-high, glassy, long lulls but very nice sets every 10 minutes or so
After checking Beacons and Oceanside, we opted for Cannon Road, which turned out to be a great choice. There were a lot of people there, but the crowd there is half kooks who don't know what they're doing. The advantage is that one can catch a lot of waves. The drawback is that it's a bit scary.
Caught 20+ rides, including 4-5 great rights that were perfectly lined up. Quite a few close-outs though, but take-offs were really fun.
I was in a little bit over my head to surf these conditions without a leash. It was very challenging. I lost my board a total of 4 times, which I guess is not too horrible, but still. The first time was a late take-off, and I had sort of "forgotten" that I didn't have a leash. The second time what really annoying. I pulled this quite extreme take-off, which to be honest I didn't think I had in me, and was gearing up to scream through a fast section. I could totally have done it and reached the second part of the wave that was perfectly lined up. But that beginning longboarder dropped in on me, rode the wave on his stomach, got on his knees, and fell right in front of me. I had to do a major cut-back, which put me right in the close-out, and I lost my board. The third time I did another sketchy take-off and pulled it off, and I was facing yet another fast section that was almost closing out. Unfortunately there was some guy in my line. I couldn't take a low line, so I took the high line, getting really close to the crest of the wave. I made it past him by holding on to the rail of the board while the white starting falling on my board. I was pretty happy with that move, but then, after I passed him, I couldn't make it back down the face smoothly, was off-balance, and just fell into the wave. This one I think that with more experience I could totally have avoided by going over the top of the wave. I went to fetch my board a third time (about 200 yard swim), made it back to the line-up, said one sentence to Travis, just to find ourselves in the impact zone of by far the biggest set of the day (I'd say 1ft overhead). Everybody got completely pummeled, including Travis, and of course I lost my board. I swam back in again, missed the board on the way, got to the beach, couldn't find it, and then spotted it halfway between the line-up and the beach. Had to swim out to get it. Then barely made it past bigger and bigger sets. It really started to become clear that with the increase in size a leash was really necessary for me. At that point I was exhausted, and I caught a wave in. I guess this was a learning experience.

Sat July 16 2005

South Mission Beach, 2PM-2:45PM (high tide at 5:45PM, 5.31ft)
on my 9'
with Yang, 2+ people out
Yang, my student who has just graduated, wanted to try surfing for the first time, so he took my board and tried it. The shore break was a tad heavy (but nothing really), and he couldn't really deal with it. I tried to give him some advice, but it wasn't working really well. He kept being hit by the white at an angle and being rolled with the board.
I took the board and went out for 1/2 hour. Really bad conditions, with a rather strong on-shore, climbing tide, and very few ridable waves. Caught 3 rides total, none of them good.
Paddled back in to go to back to the bbq where my students were all waiting for me to give me gifts (an iShuffle, a pair of flip-flops, and the complete DVD collection of Stephen Chou's movies!)

Sat July 16 2005

Mission Beach, 6PM-7PM (high tide at 5:45PM, 5.3ft)
on Kathy's board (8'8''?)
with Paul who was on my 9ft, nobody else out
It was Paul's first session and he did ok. It was very easy to get to the line-up, and he was just trying to get a sense of balance on the board. But he had to cut things short because he got sea-sick.
At first I was wondering whether I could catch anything, because it was a repeat of this afternoon conditions. But there were in fact a few peaks that started working as the tide got lower. I caught perhaps 15 rides, with 2 rather good lefts, where I was able to work the wave quite well.

Wed July 20 2005

Mission Beach, 5:30PM-7PM (high tide at 9PM, 7ft)
on Kathy's board
with Paul who was on my 9ft, a few people out, nobody close
knee-high with a few waist-high sets, almost glassy, not very consistent and the tide was already a bit too high.
Caught about 20 rides, all short, with a few decent ones. I was so annoyed at having a leash and at the kelp that I just unstrapped the leash from my ankle and let it drag in the water. Somehow, Kathy has a leash that cannot be easily removed from the board!
The last ride of the day was on an almost chest-high rogue wave that came from nowhere. Really fun drop, and a nice way to end the session.
Paul did better than last time, and did not get sea sick.
At the beginning of the session, in an amazing flash of brilliance, I locked the keys of the car inside the trunk of the car. It was an odd combination of attaching the keys to my surf trunks, and then changing trunks. Anyway, I decided that we should go surfing and then I would call AAA from Charlie's. That's exactly what we did, and within 1/2 hour the car was unlocked. It was absolutely amazing how fast the guy was to open the door. He used two sheets of hard plastic, an inflatable pouch, and a piece of wire. Really, really impressive and of course a life saver. It had to happen one day.
4 dolphins in the line up, rolling around, surfing waves, jumping a bit, really close to us for 5 minutes.

Fri July 22 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 8AM-9AM (low tide at 5AM, -1.5ft)
on my 9', no leash
by myself, between 1 and 6 other people out
knee- to waist-high, glassy, mixed up, lots of double, high frequency. Pretty much not a defined swell, but as usual with Ab still a few sets coming through somehow. The tide was already a little bit high, but in the morning I hadn't set up my alarm clock right and woke up 1 hour later than I planned.
Caught about 10 rides, with only 2 decent ones on lefts that were pretty well lined-up. It was still fun to be out there. Lots of kelp in the water and I was really happy not to have a leash.
I fell on one wave and I have no idea why.
My last ride was on an odd between waist- and chest-high wave that seemed to have formed as the superposition of two waves. Sort of like a double that changed into an oddly shaped wave when it hit the reef, and it turned out to be an unexpectedly fun right! A right at Ab. Go figure. I decided to end the session right then as, with the tide going up, conditions were bound to become even poorer.
1 large jellyfish in the inside

Sat July 23 2005

Beacons, 8:30AM-10AM (high tide at 12PM, 4.8ft)
on my 9'
with Jaime and Anaika, 2-3 people out next to us
waist-high with a few bigger sets, really windy, choppy, and mixed up.
Caught 15+ ride, with a few that were surprisingly fun in spite of the pretty much horrible conditions.
It was a challenge to at the same time be aggressively forward on the board to make it down the face in spite of the bumps, and then avoid pearling in the bumps. I screwed up quite a few waves that way, but when it worked it was worth it. Happy that I took my leash because I would've lost my board in the soup quite a few times.

Sun July 24 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 6:30AM-8:30AM
on my 9'
with Jaime, Anaika, and Andreas. up to 15 other people out.
waist-high to chest-high, no wind, glassy, organized, consistent, perfect.
FINALLY! Great conditions. Caught about 20 rides, mostly rights, with all of them decent and some of them absolutely great.
On one waist-high wave, I did perhaps my best, most stylish take-off ever. It was a right, and I was to the left of the peak. I popped up fast and very low, cut through the peak to the right, and cut back slightly on a high line. I really felt great for that take-off, and Jaime confirmed that he'd never seen me so stylish and graceful on a wave before. If only I could do it 100% of the time.
Then came a rogue head-high+ wave. Jaime and I were the only ones in position and willing to go I guess. But I was WAY too deep. I decided to make the drop anyway, about 7-8 yards behind Jaime. I pulled it off, somehow. And then the wave just became a vertical wall and started covering me, as if I was going to get barreled. Jaime was at the end of the tunnel and I had no hope of catching up. I opted to dive into the wall. I was turned around under water for a bit, with everything turning black. I touched the bottom softly and came up. That was the closest I ever got to appreciate the feeling one must get when on gets barreled. It was really something else. It was very "sketchy", but very fun. I was totally energized after that and paddled for waves like a maniac.
A VERY nice wave formed up and this guy was deeper than both Jaime and I. In fact he was in the perfect spot and both of us were sort of jealous. He was so in the perfect place that we didn't even go for it, and at the last minute he bailed. He turned toward us sheepishly and said something like: "That wave was too fast". That was completely ridiculous as the wave wasn't faster than any other out there, and definitely not as fast as the big one I had dropped in before. On the next wave he was again deeper than I was, and I should just have snaked him and then said: "Sorry, I thought that one was going to be too fast for you". But no. I haven't reached that level of surf nazism yet :)
Fell on one ride after hitting a kelp bed.
We really had a great time and I've been on a surf high all day. It was the first time Anaika surfed that spot and she just couldn't believe it. It was high time I showed it to her as I am moving to Hawaii in one week. She claims it was the best conditions she'd ever surfed in San Diego. And I've seen this place working better. I think she's hooked. I was really happy with the way I was able to hold my own in the line-up and catch so many waves. And all this after sleeping only 4 hours last night because Jaime had dragged Paul and me to see the Femi Kuti show (which was pretty good I have to admit).
One jellyfish in the line-up.
For the first time since I've started surfing, I had water come out of my nose about one hour after the session when I bent over to pick up something! Must have happened when I ate it on that big wave. I feel so much more like a real surfer now.

Mon July 25 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 6PM-7:30PM (low tide at 7:40PM, 1.5ft)
on my 9', no leash.
by myself, with 3 to 10 other people out, but I was never in competition with anybody for a wave.
knee- to waist-high, glassy, consistent, most waves perfectly shaped, with several peaks that were sometimes connecting.
An absolutely magical session in the beautiful sunset, with no leash, no wetsuit. It was really one of these sessions when surfing seems so incredibly pure and simple.
Caught about 30 rides, with some excellent ones. I tried to work on my style, which led to a few lame rides because I was pushing on things that are beyond my level, but with amazing ones on which I would have a graceful take-off, go up and down the wave on the first sections, cut back and bank into the white, cross-step back up to the nose, hang five, cross-step back and kick the board out. There were perhaps 5 rides like that.
My cross-stepping is still not quite smooth and a bit tentative. I think that next I'll get a 9'4 noserider and see how that works. Perhaps it will help.
When I got out of the water, there were flights of pelicans in the sky, the sun was just above the horizon, and the whole place was just incredibly beautiful. I was completely overwhelmed by it all. I drove back home, and caught myself driving 40 mph on the freeway with people zooming past me. I was just still in the zone, on a total surf high.

Tue July 26 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 5:30PM-7PM (low tide at 9PM, 1.5ft)
on my 9', no leash.
by myself, with 3 other people out, but not on the same peak.
repeat from yesterday, just a tad less consistent and a tad less glassy. But still, very very nice albeit small.
Caught 20+ rides, with a few good ones. The waves were not as lined up as yesterday and it was more difficult to do maneuvers. But I had 3 good rights on waist-high waves that were very nice and on which I could really go up an down the wave. My cross-stepping was "ok", but still not great. I was pretty happy with all my take-offs, including a few late ones.
There was a guy on the inside at Ab who was surfing with his dog on his board. I talked to him a bit and he said the dog just will NOT stay on the beach and will swim all the way to the line-up and hang out, even on big days. That prevents the guy from taking the dog to the beach on big days because he's afraid the dog would drown. The dog was hilarious, and in fact would not get out of the water at all, just swimming around.
Another quite magical session in the beautiful sunset. It's really amazing that in my last week in San Diego I am stumbling upon such nice sessions.

Fri July 29 2005

Del Mar 15th, 6:30AM-9AM (low tide at 9AM, 2PM)
on my 9', no leash.
with Anaika, Travis, and Charles, a few people out.
knee-high, choppy, not clean and not consistent, but still a few waves to catch
Caught 20+ rides, 2 of them decent I guess
The whole point was to have a last session in San Diego before my move to Hawaii. We had a blast.
At the end of the session Anaika and I swapped boards. I caught EVERYTHING on her board, but the turning it is quite a challenge. Cross-stepping was so easy. I did a late take-off in front of Travis and he was quite scared. I managed to keep a high line, hold on to the rail, and actually turn a bit, all this without a leash. Lucky for him :)
Well, that's it. Last session as a San Diego "local"

Sun August 7 2005

Waikiki, 6AM-8:30AM
on my new 9'2'' longboard
by myself 2-5 people out
Still not sure about the name of the break where I surfed
knee-high with a few waist-high waves, windy and a bit choppy
Caught about 15 rides, with 1 decent waist-high wave and 1 rogue stomach-high wave, the wave of the day :) It took a lot of paddling to get into waves today.
This board is just fantastic. It paddles great. It trims great. And it's really loose and turns really well. I was able to cross-step on most rides, and I was very close to the nose on one of them for 2-3 seconds. The loose turning is really impressive. I have a 6.5'' fin on it.
There were two locals out and they and I were catching most of the waves. They surfed with fantastic style, with amazing turns even on knee-high waves. They had pintail noseriders, just like the ones I was trying to find. The shaper was Tadashi Suzuki I think. They also had skegs that were curved towards the central fin and a central fin with this tube in the middle that I had seen before (I had never seen the curved skegs). At any rate, they were able to turn really, really well. (And yes, they had the same boards.)
In spite of the poor conditions, I could once again tell that waves are just different here, and just more powerful. It was beautiful weather of course, with the great view on Diamond Head.
1 sea turtle that came up to me at the end of the session. Just popped up as if to say 'hi', and then went back down slowly. About 1ft away.

Thu August 18 2005

Waikiki, Threes, 6AM-8AM
on my 9'2''
with Eric, 5-6 other people out
I parked my car in one of the last few available parking spot on the street, right behind that guy who had just arrived. We started talking (his name's Eric, 50-something I'd say), I borrowed a little bit of wax from him. That guy was full of useful information. First, he told me that although the parking was free until 7AM only, he'd never gotten a ticket until after 8AM. Then, we walked together to the beach and he told me about all the spots. The spot that I had surfed before was indeed called Pops. The one straight ahead from the jetty is called Threes. The one in between Pops and Threes is called Paradise. Then to the Ewa side of Threes is Number Four. We paddled out together, talking the whole time. Once in the line-up he introduced me to Jim, Paul, Al, and a few other people whose name I forgot. One of them I talked to quite a bit about surfing in San Diego. He'd been there a couple times. The atmosphere was so friendly it was crazy. They said that when it gets good it can get aggressive of course. Apparently this is really the doldrums, and they had a great early summer. We had great conversation in the water, about some session at Diamond head that was apparently shoulder-high on Monday, etc.
knee- to waist-high, well shaped of course (this is Waikiki after all), a bit windy towards the end of the session
Caught about 15 rides, with nothing to write home about. Did some ok cross-stepping. This board will get into ANY wave!
While in the water, Eric was still full of good information. For instance he told me that if, when sitting out there, one cannot see the Diamond Head side of that particular building, then one is to far on the Ewa side and the water's too deep for it to break at all. That was SO useful. I am so lucky to have run into that guy. He surfs every morning so I'll probably see him a lot, especially because surfing Waikiki is so convenient for me as I can easily go to work afterwards. This is such a great set up.
Also, Eric talked to me about spots on the Winward side. Apparently there is this spot called Rainbows in between Sugar Mills and Crouching Lion that's pretty decent and not as crowded as the other two in winter. He gave me directions to find it. I'll go check it out next week.
Then we paddled back in together. He told me how to tell that it was getting close to 8. Every day there is this boat that drags a submarine (some military thing). You can actually see the submarine barely above the water behind the boat. When the boat gets at the level of the jetty, it's 8AM. That was again such a cool/local thing to know. So lucky I met that guy today.
Overall lame conditions but a great session in terms of getting to know the places in Hawaii.

Fri August 19 2005

Waikiki, Threes, 6AM-8AM
on my 9'2''
by myself, met Eric and a few other people in the water. 6-7 people total.
Even smaller and less consistent than yesterday. Pretty sad but still very well shaped. Caught about 25 rides, most of them exhausting due to intense paddling. My best one was on a waist-high left.
At some point it got REALLY windy and it rained for 10 minutes. Then we had these amazing rainbows (full semi-circles), hitting the water right in front of us. It was completely stunning.
There was a guy who "paddled" around the line-up. He was standing on a massive surf board and had an actual paddle. It was pretty cool. He looked like he was walking on water, and he actually surfed a little wave on the way in.

Mon August 22 2005

Kualoa, 3PM-4PM
on my 9'2'', no leash
by myself, 6 other people out.
I just went to check the surf for the hell of it. That spot is in between Sugar Mills and Rainbows on the Winward side. I saw people paddle out there and I thought "what the hell". There are no waves but I need to paddle out.
The water was SO warm it was difficult to paddle. The place is stunningly beautiful. The water was crystal-clear, with coral at the bottom.
Waves were ankle- to knee-high. I caught about 20 rides, none of them good but it was amazing to glide on top of the coral.
It was very shallow (3-4 feet) and at some point, while turning the board around I hit the coral with my fin and my foot. I sort of hurt my foot (bruised), but it shouldn't be too bad.
When I paddled in I talked to that old guy, Charlie. He surfs there all the time and I'll probably see him again. He's a bodysurfer who picked up longboarding 2 years ago. His son was off to college on the mainland and they were having a "let's go play in the water one last time" session, in spite of there being no waves. He was very friendly and told me the name of the spot (which is the name of the big ranch by Chinaman's hat).
Sugar Mill was f.l.a.t. Can't wait to see it working.

Fri August 26 2005

Waikiki, Number Threes, 6AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
by myself, met Paula, Doug and Jim in the line-up, 15 people out at the worst
Knee- to waist-high, with a few bigger sets coming in. Nice shape (I am going to stop saying that when I surf Number Threes because the shape's always nice). Still nothing to impressive and a few long lulls.
Caught 15 rides, with 2 or 3 quite fun and long in waist+ waves. Able to turn q few times, riding on the wall, etc.
I am SO happy I paid my dues in San Diego and that now I can be amidst a crowd and hold my own, position myself well, and ride as many waves as the others. Learning here would be pretty difficult in spite of the quality of the wave.
Talked to Doug and Paula quite a bit in the water. They are really nice people.
After the session I met Yvette, this total Wahine. We talked and walked back to our cars together. She talked about her husband who windsurfs. I may have to try it again after so many years.
Once again, a very social session. It's quite amazing how I just showed up in the line-up and people were like: "Hi Henri!!!". Crazy.

Sat August 27 2005

Waikiki, Pops, 6:30AM-8AM
on my 9'2''
with Thomas, about 20 people out
waist-high with a few chest-high waves, really clean, but long lulls in between sets.
Decided to go to Pops with Thomas as he's still learning. The place was just too crowded, but I had a lot of fun
Caught about 20 rides, with 2 of them of good fun waves, with tones of opportunities to turn and get back in the pocket, then get back on a high line, etc.
Still though, there is no way I am going back there on a weekend. This was a way to start surfing with Thomas, which was good. But I think I am just going to give up weekend surfing at Waikiki and just focus on weekdays before work.
People were very friendly though, with a bunch of older folks hooting like they were 10 years old :)

Tue August 30 2005

Waikiki, Number Threes, 5:45AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
by myself. Met Doug, Edgar, Jim, and Guy in the line-up. It was only the 5 of us.
knee- to chest-high, clean, not very consistent but getting better towards the end of the session
Caught about 25 rides, with 5 of them really fun, especially my next-to-last ride on a right that was so lined-up it hurt to look at it. Did many maneuvers, keeping a high-line before semi-closing out sections. At the end of the ride I fell in the white and slightly scratched my shoulder on coral. I really need to learn what I should put on that :)
Right after that ride I tried a very late take-off and failed. It was my first bad take-off in Hawaii so far. I think I could've made it.
I am pretty happy with my surfing. I did a few very good take-offs, completely smooth and ending up really low, doing a fade and a bottom turn back up to the high-line.
Great conversations in the line-up. Edgar was shocked at how well my board paddles. Jim talked about his daughter going to college in LA and how everything's so fast there. I talked to them about how come I'd moved to Hawaii. Just really friendly crowd, yelling at each other to paddle for waves. I split waves with them quite a bit. As I was walking back to my car, Edgar was driving off and waved at me as he was driving by. It's amazing how welcoming those people are.
Tomorrow's supposed to be a swell. The crew here told me that it may get aggressive in the water, in which case they typically move from Number Threes to Paradise, the spot in between Number Threes and Pops. We'll see how it goes.
1 sea turtle in the line-up about 3ft from my board, about 15 dolphins on the outside

Wed August 31 2005

Waikiki, Number Threes, 6AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
Paddled out with Edgar. Met Doug, Jim, Paula, and Guy in the line-up. 4 other guys out. From now on I'll just call those guys "the crew".
waist- to chest-high, clean, more consistent than yesterday. A few head-high sets, but I was always on the inside paddling back from a ride when they occurred.
Caught about 20 rides, with 5 of them really fun, on bigger waves. On one of them I managed to get almost to the nose on a high line. One another one my feet were spread apart really well and I was able to do nice ins and outs on the wall. Cross-stepped a bit, but I still need to get in the habit of doing it all the time.
My last ride was absurd. Edgar and I decided to go in, and we split a wave. I went left. It was waist-high, perfectly lined-up, and at the end of the line there was this massive rainbow that was just hitting the coast line on the leeward side. I was so picture-perfect, with the sun reflecting on the face of the wave, the nose of my board pointing at the rainbow, it all looked fake.
As usual great conversations in the line-up with the crew. I really like all those guys.

Thu Sept 1 2005

Waikiki, Number Threes, 5:30AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Met the crew in the line-up but it soon got really crowded with 30 people out.
chest- to head-high, and a couple of 8ft faces every 20-25 minutes or so. Very nice shape of course.
Guy, Paula, and I paddled out at night and when we got to the line-up it was still dark. I caught one shoulder-high left, which was a bit scary because of the darkness. Unfortunately I didn't manage to keep a high line and didn't make it through the section. A few minutes later I caught another wave, pretty much identical, made the drop and had a fantastic back-side ride. Kept a high-line, cross-stepped forward, then back for a cutback. I caught a few more waves but nothing to write home about.
Then it got really crowded and I just didn't feel I could compete in the pack. There were at least 15 people out there who were just outstanding surfers. Better than most people I've ever seen in San Diego. And the waves were better than any waves I've ever seen in San Diego actually. So I started surfing the inside. It was a bit nerve-wracking because when big sets came we had to get out of people's way. There were a couple of instances when it was a bit too close to my liking. But the guys surfing have such control it never was an issue in fact. At some point I had to paddle out and turtle in between two guys surfing the same wave. Speaking of, there was quite a bit of dropping in, which I found surprising. In particular, one older guy just sort of didn't care and dropped in on people. He wasn't that good though.
I saw guys do amazing nose-rides, get semi-barreled, etc. Overall I am really impressed by the level of surfing in the water. In fact, Edgar did a couple of really insane late take-offs on 8ft lefts that were really impressive. And he was so casual going down the face it was amazing.
Once on the inside I caught about 20 rides, with one really, really, really good right. I was behind Jim on that right (I could perhaps have gone left but I was just tired of surfing backside), and he pulled out almost right away. It was a great chest-high wave, head-high+ on the drop, with some kick to it on the inside.
I paddled in because the crowd got to be a bit too much and I was actually getting quite tired. It was a good workout, paddling like crazy to get out of people's way. It will take some time before I can deal with crowds like these, but it was a lot of fun.
After the session, while I was by my car, Edgar came to me and gave me a bag of mangos from his mango tree! He's the nicest guy, and man can he take-off late :)

Mon Sept 5 2005

Tonggs, 7AM-9AM
on my 9'2''
with Thomas. 5 other longboarders, a couple of shortboarders, 2-3 boogie boarders, 3 kayaks.
waist- to head-high, really windy and choppy, getting more inconsistent throughout the session, difficult to get into waves.
I really wanted to try that spot just to find out where it is, and I could tell the potential, but the conditions were just not good at all. The place is absolutely beautiful.
Caught perhaps 10 rides, with only two good ones with fun take-offs on head-high waves. The waves were mushing out on the inside though. All other rides were rather lame and it took an inordinate amount of effort to get into the wave
Talked with that older guy who used to surf this spot when he was 13 and just got back to surfing a week ago after a 40 year hiatus. Quite interesting.
Got sort of caught on the inside a couple of times, but nothing too terrible. The waves were just all over the place, with huge sets breaking on the outside, mutant waves coming from two directions at once. At times it was so windy that I actually fell off my board while sitting on it because the nose was too high up in the air. It was sort of a good experience to be in this powerful and unpredictable ocean. I had to be constantly aware of what was going on.
I'll have to check that place out on a good day.

Thu Sept 8 2005

Paradise, 5:30AM-7:15AM
on my 9'2''
by myself, eventually met Jim in the line-up. 1-2 other people out.
waist- to chest-high, a bit choppy, not very consistent, and the tide was too high
Started at Number Threes, all alone in the dark, and it just wasn't breaking due to the tide. After 20 minutes I paddled to Paradise. It was much better there, but, as Paula told me once, it's really more of a peak rather than a wall. It was sort of stunning to see that even on a small day like today the take-off could be head-high on the peak. Then the wave was sort of odd and bumpy, and rides weren't too long. An occasional wave would line up though.
Caught about 15 rides, with 2-3 on nicely lined-up waves. All take-offs were fun and not completely easy, which was good practice. My last two waves were really good. The next-to-last was one of the biggest waves of the session, and after a rather late and shaky take-off I had a great ride. My last wave was well-lined up, and I made it through a steep section by keeping a high line. It was a right but then sort of reformed into a left. Very nice way to end the session.
There was one rogue wave that loomed over the horizon for a while and that I didn't manage to catch. The face was clearly 4ft bigger than anything during the session.
Jim and that other guy whose name I keep forgetting joined me at Paradise after being sitting ducks at Number Threes like I had done 1/2 hour before them.
1 sea turtle briefly in the line-up. Rainbows everywhere.

Sat Sept 10 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 7AM-9AM
on Dario's 9', no leash
with Bucky, three other guys in the line up with whom I had nice conversations about Hawaii
Not very consistent, but nice sets coming through, with the biggest ones at chest-high on the peak. Glassy.
Caught about 20 rides, with all of them quite decent and a few very fun.
Such a nice session for my first time back in San Diego after moving to Hawaii. The water wasn't even too cold (although it felt weird wearing a spring suit). I can already tell that after surfing in Hawaii taking off on a chest-high wave here seemed much easier. I wasn't even close to losing my board once.

Sun Sept 11 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 7AM-8:30AM
on Dario's 9', no leash
with Ken, nobody else out
Not very consistent, but nice sets coming through, with a couple ones head-high and most of them waist- to -chest-high. Windy at first but then glassier and glassier.
Caught about 20 rides, with 10 of them great on lefts. Especially toward the end of the session, on chest-high wave on which I managed to keep a very high line. I then tried to cross-step and fell. I feel like I would've made it on my Stewart. I lost the board and had to swim in.
I lost my board two other times. The first time was on a sketchy take-off, which I totally made, but then on the bottom turn I went a little bit too low and I buried the nose. I was really surprised actually as I really thought I had pulled it off nicely and was all happy with myself. The second time was on a mutant bumpy head-high wave and I made the drop just for the hell of it. It was a rush.
Overall a great session, with great take-off. Waves were a bit mushy but after cutting back into the white and making it to the inside section the waves walled up nicely.

Mon Oct 10 2005

Number Threes, 6:15AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
by myself. Met Jim, Doug, and Edgar in the line-up. Other people there that I've seen before as well, including the two Hawaiian/Japanese guys I'd seen at Pops on one of my first sessions in the Islands. About 15 people out at the peak. about 3-4 at the end of the session.
waist-high, sort of choppy and a bit windy, not consistent. Not a very good day, but again, still nice waves come through, somehow.
Caught about 10 waves, with only 3-4 good rides. I actually caught a shoulder-high wave, which was probably the wave of the day.
I felt SO weak after 1 month without doing any physical activity. I can really tell that my body's been hit hard by this sickness I caught in San Diego. Even now as I type this I don't feel really well. But hopefully it's going to get better.
Edgar, who's the nicest of all the guys out there, asked me for my e-mail so that he can invite me to a dinner with the crew!!

Tue Oct 11 2005

Threes wasn't working, and after 20 minutes there we paddled to Paradise. Paradise was a bit better, knee- to waist-high, a bit windy and choppy, and not very consistent. But still a few decent waves (although that wave is more of a peak rather than the nice wall at Threes). I caught perhaps 10 rides at Paradise, and my last one was very good on probably one of the few decently lined-up waves of the morning.
After a while, Jim paddled to a place in between Paradise and Pop's. The break was better there and some waves were a bit higher than waist-high. Still, more of a peak than a wall, but we had a few fun take-offs. Caught about 6-7 waves, and then paddled in.
At some point it really hit me how my points of references have changed in the last 2 months. Today I was really thinking "these are horrible conditions" and while I was paddling out I was looking at the waves breaking, and really, waves weren't that bad. This was probably an average day in San Diego.
Amazing rainbows, with perhaps the most vibrant rainbow I had ever seen in my life (it was a double one actually, full, with the top rainbow a bit more pale than the bottom one).

Wed Oct 12 2005

Paradise, 6:15AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
by myself. Met Jim and Edgar in the line-up.
Based on yesterday's experience I paddled directly to Paradise where Jim and Edgar had already been for a little while.
It was better than yesterday, glassy. Still not very consistent but a few good sets coming through with some chest-high peaks with waist-high waves. The wave's not as good as at Three's, but it was still fun.
Caught perhaps 20 rides, with 2 or 3 fun ones. Did one decent nose ride. I had a few good rides on which I initially went right, then cut across the peak to go left.
1 sea turtle on the inside

Fri Oct 14 2005

Three's, 5:55AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
by myself. Met Jim and Paula in the line up. Only the three of us out for 1+ hour. Then the other Jim and two other guys I've seen before paddled out.
waist-high with a few chest-high sets, not very consistent but not bad, a bit windy.
Very fun for about 1h. Caught 15+ rides, with several really fun rights that had a great wall and that allowed me to turn and cut-back, to go from the high-line to a bottom turn and then back up. It was just fantastic being out there with only the three of us for more than an hour of really fun conditions.
Conditions degraded a bit after Jim went in, which is right when those other guys paddled out. Still caught a few wave, and finally caught a wave in just in time not to get a parking ticket.
Many rainbows.

Sat Oct 15 2005

Three's, 5:30AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
by myself. Met Paula on the beach and later Ron. About 10 people out.
I was planning to surf the Windward side, but as I spent the night in Honolulu it was just tempting and easy to surf very early Waikiki.
Conditions were not as clean as yesterday, but several waves to be had, from waist-high to shoulder-high, with a few nice sets coming through.
I caught a 20+ rides, with about half of them really fun, all rights.
It was a weird session regarding my surfing. I was _really_ happy with some of my rides, and _really_ unhappy with some others. I wiped out a couple of times on bottom turns, but then I had great take-offs and rides on some other waves. In particular, I am really much lower, bending my knees much more, on the take-off. Not sure how it happened. I think part of it is just watching so many people surfing with great style here, and somehow absorbing a bit of their technique. In particular, today there were one older Chinese guy who surfed absolutely beautifully. I really tried to emulate his style a bit, but I am SO far from that. Nevertheless, I can really tell that I am already a much better surfer than 6 months ago. If I can keep this up for a few weeks I'll be back in good surfing shape too.

Mon Oct 17 2005

Three's, 5:30AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
Paddled out with Edgar (had him go back to his car to turn off a light he'd left on). Met Doug, his daughter and her friend, Jim, and Ron out there. two other guys out.
Not very consistent and a bit choppy, but nice waist-high sets coming through, about chest-high on the take-off.
Caught about 20 rides, with 2 or 3 that were good. I still need to get more speed from the board and keep a higher line to make some section, but I was really happy with all my take-offs.
Just a nice session, with a beautiful sunrise, and friendly people. Once on the beach, Edgar's wife gave me a burrito and an orange juice for breakfast! (she brings breakfast to Edgar typically)

Wed Oct 19 2005

Three's, 5:30AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Was alone for 10 minutes, then Edgar, Ron, and Jim paddled out. At the end of the session Cliff paddled out followed by three Japanese longboarders.
Conditions were poor, a bit choppy, not clean, with size around waist-high. Still a few waves to catch and as usual a couple of decent sets came through.
Caught about 15 rides, none of them worth writing home about.
There was one rogue wave that was nice and that I got close to catching, but I was too far inside.
I am really happy about my take-offs. They are so much better than they ever were in San Diego.

Fri Oct 21 2005

Paradise, 5:45AM-7:15AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Was alone for 10 minutes, then Edgar and Jim showed up.
Knee-high, inconsistent, lame, tide too high. The first truly bad session at Waikiki in terms of wave. But no wind, BEAUTIFUL sunrise, and nice conversations in the line-up.
Caught 10 rides, with only one of them being halfway decent for some definition of "decent".

Tue Oct 25 2005

Threes, 6AM-7:15AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Met Paula and later Jim in the line-up
Knee- to waist-high, not very consistent and windy. A good 20 minutes halfway through the session though.
Caught about 15 rides, with 3 or 4 quite fun. Tried cross-stepping on basically each wave I caught, but not very successfully.
Beautiful sunrise with a small rainbow
One turtle swimming around the line up.

Wed Oct 26 2005

Paradise and then Threes, 6AM-7:15AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Met Jim at Threes.
Knee- to waist-high, not very consistent, a bit choppy, but the occasional wave coming through.
I first paddled out at Paradise because Threes just looked flat. Paradise is so weird. The peak always has some size, but it's just a peak. So today there were a few take-offs that were I guess a bit intense given the conditions, and I caught about 10 waves there. It's really good practice for difficult take-offs, but then the ride is very short. I had one wave that was lined-up and on which I had a good ride.
After a while I saw Jim paddling out to Threes and he seemed to be catching some waves, so I paddled over. Threes wasn't working very well, but we had fun catching waves. Caught about 10 rides there, with one that was really fun and lined-up.
Talked with Jim quite a bit, and I told him about my thoughts of trying Diamond Head later this week. He encouraged me to go, and told me about a few spots, confirming what my student Mike had told me. He also told me about that place called Lighthouse over there, which is a really fun and powerful wave. He also talked about some other place called Secrets. That spot is scary because it's so shallow. He mentioned that time when he caught an 8-foot-face wave and rode it until the end, without realizing that he was in 1 foot of water! He hit the bottom on his last turn, and got completely trashed on the reef. Didn't sound really fun.

Thu Oct 27 2005

Threes, 5:45AM-7:15AM
on my 9'2''
Paddled out with Paula, Jim, and Edgar
Knee- to waist-high, not very consistent, choppy and windy, but as usual occasional wave coming through.
I tried to paddled to Paradise but it wasn't really working over there, so I cam back to Threes.
Caught about 15 waves, none of them great at all. Edgar tried surfing fin first to amuse himself. I tried it too. I caught a wave and rode it all the way fin first, without ever being able to turn.
It was really tiring today, with the wind and the chop. Quite a work out.
Talked to Paula and she's going to tell me when she goes to the North Shore. I am planning on going with her at some point.

Fri Oct 28 2005

Cliffs (Diamond Head), 8:15AM-10AM
on my 9'2''
with Thomas. 4-5 other people in the line-up
Waist-high to chest-high with the occasional head-high sets. Windy and choppy although not so bad at the beginning of the sesh. - The wave has some kick to it, and I cannot wait to see it when it's not windy. Apparently during the winter the winds die down, so it should be really good.
Caught about 15 rides, with one absolutely great, with a drop on a head-high peak and then a fast ride hugging the peeling wall, keeping a high-line and cross-stepping once towards the nose to gather speed. I could really tell the potential of that place.
Thomas was really out of shape after 3 weeks without surfing and got caught on the inside a couple times, with the second time having him drift very far. He ended up walking on the beach back to were we had started. I caught a wave in shortly afterwards.
There was a kneeboarder in the line-up, 3-4 longboarder, and 2-3 shortboarders.
The place is absolutely beautiful. The sides of the volcano, the lighthouse, the beach with the palm trees. The trail down to the spot is a bit on the sketchy side, and on the way back up I had to put my board down once.
Next time I'll try to go a bit earlier, but I guess not at dawn as there is talk of "shark feeding" then, although nobody has ever seen an attack there.

Mon Oct 31 2005

Cliffs (Diamond Head), 6:15AM-8:30AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. 10+ other people in the line-up.
Sets were from waist- to head-high, glassy, many waves wouldn't break, a couple of long lulls, clean and organized when breaking.
Great sesh! Caught perhaps 20 waves, all of them fun. The vibe in the line-up was friendly and professional, which was great. There were a couple of Dutch/German tourists who didn't know what they were doing and had eyes as big as saucers when big sets were coming. There were in the way of many people, but not in mine, somehow. Some guy was sort of dominating the outside for a while. He had the place completely wired and he caught all the bigger waves for 1h+.
At the beginning of the session I stayed to the left of the pack, and somehow I caught a bunch of nice chest-high rights. Then there was a 1/2 hour with no real waves and I surfed the inside a bit, and the last 45 minutes was great. I surfed pretty well today. All my take-offs were good. The wave has some power, but it was still a longboard wave. The spot closer to the lighthouse (Mansions?) seemed more like a shortboard wave.
In those last 45 minutes I had two great rides that really stood out. One of head-high set, this older local took off as usual. He had this uncanny way of always looking like he wasn't going to get into the wave and then somehow making it. I decided to go left and I paddled for it. I must have been 1 foot away from him and we made eye contact and it was clear that he was going right and I was going left. I was being respectful because the right was much better than the left. But then, that left starting walling up and after the first section I cross-stepped almost to the nose and found myself right in the curl, with perfect trim, going over the beautiful coral (don't want to know how shallow it was). It was really unreal and lasted perhaps 30 yards, right in the curl the whole time, with the wave breaking on the tail of the board. Then I kicked out as the section in front of me started to look like it was closing out. Quite unreal.
5 minutes later, this big set comes, and somehow I am perfectly positioned to get it, with nobody in sight. I drop in and it's P-E-R-F-E-C-T. It was slightly overhead and I maintained a mid-face line on the first section. The drop and my view of the wave was just like you see in surf movies. Unreal. It was peeling nicely and I managed to get on a higher line, do a cut-back, and then get on the high-line again setting up for a bottom turn. That bottom turn was probably the fastest I've gone on a surfboard in a controlled manner. Then I kept surfing it to the inside, cross-stepping a bit and just still not believing how good that wave was. I paddled back out and the guys were like "nice one" to which I could only grin. I was really overwhelmed for 5 minutes and fell like diving under water and screaming "DUDE" or something. After 15 minutes, I caught a small wave in, dropped on my stomach on the board and rode the white all the way in. What a session. And I can tell that today was "nothing" and that it can be MUCH better. If the tide had been a foot lower I think it would have blown my mind.

Wed Nov 2 2005

Threes, 6:00AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
Paddled out with Paula who was trying her new 7'6''. Met Jim, Doug and later Ron in the line-up and that ueber-friendly Chinese guy whom I do not understand at all when he talks to me.
Waist-high with a few bigger sets coming through, not consistent, really windy, but still ridable.
Caught about 10 rides. I didn't surf well at all today, missed a couple of bigger ones because of poor positioning and timing. I had one good ride towards the end though, with a waist-high very well lined up and juicy little wave. It was such a difference from DH on Monday that I think I really had a hard time to adapt. I even pearled on one wave. I was trying to be ultra aggressive by being on the front of the board to try to make it down the face against the wind, but overdid it.
At the end of the session it got amazingly windy. I was still riding but the wind was so strong that I had to close my eyes for sections that didn't require my immediate attention. It was crazy. I don't understand how it still stays ridable, but there were still nice waves coming through as I left the line-up.

Thu Nov 3 2005

Threes, 5:45AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
Paddled out with Paula. Met Jim in the line-up. Three other guys from Alabama and an older shortboarder on a tiny board.
Waist-high with a few bigger sets coming through, not consistent, windy, but a few good rides.
Caught about 20 rides. Didn't surf very well and missed a few of the bigger waves because of poor placement. Messed up a couple of white water take-offs. Sort of off my game today, but manage some decent cross-stepping with "tow first heel second" working quite well.
Something hilarious happened. One of the three guys from Alabama, the one who actually lives here tried to pick up Paula in the line-up! He approached her asking her if she was married, if she had found a mate, and if not if she knew what her mate would look like. Then he told her that he lived on the North Shore and that he took his friends here because they didn't really know how to surf. That was hilarious because they kicked ass and he couldn't catch a wave all morning. Then he asked her on a surf date, as in "you come to my house on the North Shore and we go surfing", because he said he was always looking for a surf partner. Unreal. We laughed about it for the rest of the session. Also that guy was about 20 years older than Paula and he was wearing these incredibly tight Hawaiian print shorts.
1 turtle on the inside.

Fri Nov 4 2005

Cliffs, 6:30AM-8:30AM
on my 9'2''
with Mike. 7+ other people out.
Windy, choppy, inconsistent, waves all over the place, but some big sets coming through. The two biggest had about 9ft faces and a few guys dropped in nicely. Only few guys had good rides though, the rest of us had a terribly hard time getting into the waves. Only the bigger sets were breaking and overcoming the chop. So there was no real middle ground: the only ridable waves for 6+ft faces.
I caught 3 waves total, but didn't catch a single one for the first 45 minutes! I caught two lefts and two rights, all were hell to get into, 6ft faces, and both lined up nicely.
On some of the bigger waves I really messed up by pulling out or by falling on the take-off. The chop and the wind made it so much harder to focus on what I had to do.
I got caught inside of a bomb and had to ditch the board and dive. I stayed under quite a bit, being dragged by the leash for over 20 yards. Was happy to come back up.
There was current and we had to paddle constantly. It really felt like being out at sea and there was some primal beauty in it all.
I think that I really need to get used to surfing in choppy/windy big conditions. On one wave I was bouncing to much down the face that I fell. Basically I should have negotiated the bumps carefully as opposed to thinking that I could just absorb them with my knees.
Mike brought his roommate's dog, Makalani (heavenly eyes). Awesome golden retriever, totally friendly and fetching stuff in the water. That dog also surfs! We tried to get her out on a board but she was too tired at that point and refused to do it. Next time.

Sun Nov 6 2005

Paradise, 5:45AM-8:30AM
on my 9'2''
by myself, alone at first and then up to 15 people out
Mostly glassy, knee- to waist-high faces, and the occasional chest-high set coming every 1/2 hours.
Long pleasant sessions. Caught about 25 rides, most of them on the inside. Was in position for two of the bigger sets. On the first set I was alone on the wave and I had a great ride on a long right. On the second wave there was a guy on my right and I tried to take off straight although I was closer to the peak. I ate it and I could have made it at a steeper angle. On the bigger sets people just sort of took off without mush regard for right-of-way rules. As I was paddling out at some point I saw 6 guys take off on a chest-high wave all within a foot from each other. But the vibe was all about having fun and there was no aggressiveness really.
On one of the bigger waves I was on the inside and there was this haole guys I'd seen before and who'd been a sitting duck all morning, unable to catch a wave. I was about 10 ft behind him and as I started preparing to turtle roll I noticed that he was setting up hi board parallel to the incoming breaking wave. I just had the time to think "what the hell?", turtled, and when I came back up his board was 1/2 a foot from mine. Of course he'd lost it. Unbelievable. That guy leaves here and has been surfing for years (based on conversations in the line-up). I couldn't believe he could do something SO stupid. I payed attention to him for the whole session. He did not catch a wave in 2.5 hours. He would paddle with both arms at the same time, and then spread his arms apart as if he was smoothly going down the face and preparing to take-off. The problem is that he was never giving that last stroke that would allow him to go down the face. It was unreal. All the locals were talking to him like he was an old timer, etc.
I talked to quite a few people in the line-up, with most conversations started by the fact that I was riding a Stewart. Guys started asking me about California surfing. They were all totally into Rincon. Good thing I had surfed it once 6 months ago so that I could sort of provide a good story.

Tue Nov 8 2005

Paradise, 5:45AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
paddled out with Paula, met Jim, Doug, and his friend Ann in the line-up, 2-3 other people out.
A bit windy, not very consistent, but a few waist-high waves coming through with higher peaks, as usual with Paradise .
Caught about 20 rides, with a few good take-offs on rights. Nothing to write home about.
Surfed the inside between Threes and Paradise with Paula a little bit but it was just a small peak with short rides. We saw tons of sea urchins ("Wana", pronounced "Vah-na", which refers in fact to toxic sea urchins). The days of falling off the board at the end of the ride are over :)

Wed Nov 9 2005

Paradise, 5:45AM-8AM
on my 9'2''
paddled out with Paula to Threes. Met Doug and Ann there, and after catching a few waves paddled to Paradise where we met Jim, Edgar, and that guy I hadn't met before, Glen.
Paradise was glassy at first and then a bit windy, not very consistent but with nice sets coming through, shoulder high on the peak and chest-high walls for the best ones. I went back and forth between the spot where Jim, Edgar, and Glen were and the spot where Doug, Ann, and Paula had stayed, closer the threes.
I caught about 20 rides overall, with a few really fun take-offs.
After everybody went home I was left alone with Glen and we talked. Really nice guy. He was a beach boy in the 50's and he owns a business taking tourists on tours of the neighboring islands. He told me exactly where to sit at Paradise to be in the right spot, which was really helpful. We talked about California surfing in cold water. Overall a very nice guy whom I hope to see again. He only surfs paradise for the rush of the drop on big days. He said it feels like Sunset Beach on bigger swells. There is a swell tomorrow and I may try to catch it before flying out to So Cal.
Glenn told me about his friend who took off on a hollow left at Paradise at low tide, fell of the board in the shallows, and stepped on a wana. He had to have the spines surgically removed, had several infections, etc. Good thing I spotted them earlier and was wary of them.
Many rainbows

Thu Nov 10 2005

Threes, 5:45AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
paddled out with Jim, Doug, and a friend of Doug's. Met Paula in the line-up, and later Edgar and some other guys. There were about 20 other people at the peak.
Glassy at times, windy at times, not very consistent with rather long lulls. Most sets were chest-high on the drop and the had waist+ high walls, many of them really well lined-up. A few bigger sets.
The conditions were clearly not as good as what the forecast had said and there were too many people for too few waves. Several shortboarders who were on the inside. I heard a few of them say that they should've gone to the North Shore. Unclear given that the current swell on the North Shore is so messy from what I hear.
Caught perhaps 20 rides, with 2 great lefts, some of the bigger ones. Especially one that was lined up all the way to the inside and on which I was able to hit the lip a couple times, right in the pocket. Really fun. I had several other good rides.
I'd say I caught more wave than the average guy out there although I had to back off on quite a few not to drop in on people. Really friendly atmosphere out there though, really pleasant, beautiful weather, rainbows.
Off to San Diego in a few hours, slated to surf there in the morning. I'll probably die in the cold water.

Fri Nov 11 2005

Sunset Cliffs, Ab, 7AM-9:30AM, high tide at 5AM
on Dario's 9'
paddled out with Holly, Bucky, Shawn and his friend Jen. Nobody out for 1.5 hour, and then 3 young guys paddled out. They had asked me questions about the place in the parking lot and were all about knowing the name of all the spots. good thing I have them down pat now (stop laughing Dario).
The tide was too high at first but I made the call for the Cliffs rather than Mission as Mission was already closing out at knee-high. As expected, the conditions at the Cliffs improved steadily as the tide dropped.
Almost glassy, inconsistent, at first knee-high and at the end a few sets at shoulder-high on the take-off and waist-high walls. Not as good as Ab can be, but still pretty fun.
Between the board that doesn't paddle nearly as good as my 9'2'' and the wetsuit that I was borrowing and that was too small, paddling was a bit of a challenge. But I still caught about 30 waves, with 2-3 nice lefts an a surprisingly nice right as well. Really fun out there and it was good being in the water with Holly again
I tried Bucky's board for a bit while he was sitting on Dario's board. That board is really fun and I had 3 fun rides on it. Sort of narrow, pointy nose, very loose as well. Not the right board for him at all it turns out, but really fun for me.
Overall a great session. Sunset Cliffs always delivers. Beautiful weather.
Met Roland at Charlie's house and he said the surf was really going to pick up tomorrow. With very high tide at 6AM I'll try to surf in front of the house. There should be some corners.

Sun Nov 13 2005

La Jolla Shores, 2:30PM-3:30PM, low tide at 1PM
on a 9' rental epoxy Bic board.
with Eddy. About 30 people out.
Just went for a laugh while Eddy was in town for this conference I was organizing. This was during the time for the "excursion".
Horrible conditions. Choppy. Foggy. Cold. Inconsistent. Waist-high close-outs. The works.
Caught 4 rides that consisted of a scary take-off 10 yards from the shore, a quick bottom turn, and a jump back over the wave in 3ft of water. Quite ridiculous.
There was a mean-looking shortboarder out with no wetsuit and tattoos everywhere. I feel like I had seen him before actually.
2 dolphins 10 yards away from us in the line-up.

Mon Nov 28 2005

Diamond Head, Cliffs, 6AM-8AM,
on my 9'2''
by myself. Up to 20 other people out.
First session after a 2-week hiatus.
Glassy, knee- to waist-high with a few occasional chest-high sets, inconsistent but clean and organized.
Caught about 20 rides, with 2 or 3 quite fun. Nice way to get back into things.
On the way out it was pitch black, and this girl was getting OUT of the water. This guy said he saw her every morning here, surfing by herself at night. Can you say hard-core?

Wed Nov 30 2005

Diamond Head, Cliffs, 6AM-8AM
on my 9'2''
by myself. Up to 25 other people out.
Glassy, waist-high with a few chest-high sets, not as consistent as on Monday, but really good shape when sets came in.
Caught 4 extra fun rides (all rights) during the first 45 minutes, long, with a nice wall to work on. Then caught another 10 or so rides as the conditions deteriorated a bit.
The sunrise was absolutely beautiful and I realized that one can see Maui from the spot. Talked to a few people in the water. Definitely a mellow atmosphere out there.
On one ride, probably my best one, I did a semi late take-off. nothing sketchy, but a couple years back I probably couldn't have made it. That guy who surfs with amazing style (I think I've mentioned him before) paddled back out and told me: "Nice wave dude!!" That was sort of unexpected. We talked a bit and he said "see you tomorrow" on the way out. Really friendly and fun, and an incredible surfer.
Some of the conversation in the water was about sharks. Some guy said he was surfing on the leeward side and a 8ft shark went right by him in the water. The guy was like: "I guess he just wasn't interested".

Thu Dec 1 2005

Threes, 6AM-8AM
on my 9'2''
with Jim, Edgar, and Ron. Nobody else out
Ultra glassy, knee- to waist-high, with one shoulder-high set, inconsistent. Amazing sunrise.
A very dreamy session, with ultra glassy perfect small waves. Caught about 20 rides, with 3 or 4 just beautiful ones.
Some of the rides were just picture perfect, with a smooth take-off, low on my knees, bottom turning towards Diamond Head with the rising sun reflecting off the glass, the wave lining up. Slightly blinded by the sun I would go to a higher line as if in a dream, then straighten my legs and arch back a little bit as the wave is peeling on my thighs. Then, go down for the second bottom turn while looking at the coral bottom before looking at the molten glass again. I had about 3 such rides, and my last one was one of them, on a slightly bigger and more lined-up wave. During these rides it really hit me hard that surfing is a truly beautiful and soulful thing to do. It's just too bad that trying to describe why it's beautiful and soulful invariably makes you sound like some new-agey pontificating pseudo-philosopher poser.
1 sea turtle in the line-up

Wed Dec 7 2005

Threes, 6AM-8AM
on my 9'2''
with Jim, Nathan, Doug, and 5 other guys out.
Slight texture in the water, waist-high and slightly higher on sets, not consistent with long lulls.
Caught about 20 rides, with a couple of nice rights and one good left.
Toward the end of the session I sort of got in some guy's line as he was taking off. I made a bad call when reading the wave and he was sort of an asshole about it after I apologized about it. I had never seen the guy before and I guess he was pissed because he hadn't been catching any wave.
Beautiful sunrise on Diamond Head.

Thu Dec 8 2005

Threes, 6AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
with Jim, Ron, and two other guys out, a later Mitch.
Slight texture in the water, knee-high, inconsistent.
Sort of a sad session as the little swell we had yesterday already went down. Caught about 10 waves, with only one that could really qualify as a ride.
Nice sunrise and conversations with people out there, so still nice to be in the water. Maybe tomorrow I'll try Diamond Head.

Fri Dec 9 2005

Threes, 6:45AM-7:45AM
on my 9'2''
with Jim, Doug, and two other guys out
Slight texture in the water, knee-high, inconsistent but better than yesterday.
I checked Diamond Head and it was ugly, so I just came to Waikiki to just paddle out and then take my shower on the beach.
Caught 10 waves, with 2-3 sort of ok, perhaps waist-high on the peak.
Beautiful sunrise.
I talked to Doug and we talked about going surfing the North Shore in the Spring sometimes. That would be great. Although it's difficult for me to go work-wise, I'll try to go to the NS once a week perhaps, unless it's huge. I hope it works out.

Thu Dec 15 2005

Paradise, 6:30AM-6:45AM
on my 9'2''
with Jim, nobody else out
Slight texture in the water, waist-high at best. Threes wasn't working at all, while Paradise had a few peaks. Not very consistent and a bit mixed up.
Caught about 10 rides, which were sort of fun but nothing to write home about. It was still good to be out there. Beautiful day out there.

Fri Dec 16 2005

Threes, Paradise, Pops, Paradise, Threes, 6:AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
Met Ron and Jim. 2-3 other people out.
Glassy and almost completely flat. A few knee-high peaks.
Paddled out at night under stunning moonlight and went to Threes. Caught one "wave" there. Paddled over to Paradise and saw a sea turtle on the way. It was still night, but I heard it breathe pretty loudly, which was weird.
Once at Paradise, couldn't catch anything, so I paddled to Pops. I figured that I may as well get a work out of of this. There was one guy out at Pops, not very friendly. We didn't see a single wave come by in 20 minutes.
Then I paddled to Canoes, caught a wave there, and came back to Pops, then to Paradise where I met up with Ron and Jim. We talked a bit. Ron caught the only two waves and went in.
Jim and I then paddled to Threes where Jim caught his last wave. I tried to wait for my last wave, but gave up and paddled in.
It's my last day before being off to Europe so I had to get wet. It was just completely beautiful out there, moonlight, stunning sunrise, glassy water, etc.

Wed Jan 11 2006

Threes, 6:30AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
Paddled out with Jim and Doug.
A bit windy, inconsistent, waist-high with a few bigger waves
Caught something like 6 waves, with a couple of take-offs really fun.
Nothing to write home about, but it was great being back in the water after my trip to France. Beautiful weather. Sunrise on Diamond Head.

Wed Jan 18 2006

Paradise, Threes 6:20AM-7:45AM
on my 9'2''
Paddled out at the crack of dawn under a nice moonlight.
Went to Threes but that tide was too high and it didn't seem to work, so I paddled over to Paradise. There were two guys out, who turned out to be Nate and Robin, whom Glen introduced to me when he paddled out a little bit after.
Conditions were glassy, not consistent, with a few nice sets coming through, chest-high on the peak and then not much of a wall.
Caught 1 very good wave with, somehow, a good chest-high wall. Tons of fun. Caught a couple more, nothing to write home about. After chatting with Glen for a while I spotted Doug, Jim, and Ron at Threes and paddled over. I stayed there for 1/2 hour, catching 2-3 waves, nowhere nearly as good as the ones at Paradise, although Ron caught a very good one. Mitch paddled out, and I paddled in shortly afterwards.
Overall a "still getting back into things" session, with not many waves but as usual a great vibe in the ocean.
Doug had his waterproof digital camera and he took pictures. Hopefully he'll send one to me.

Thu Jan 19 2006

Diamond Head 6:30-7:45
on my 9'2'', by myself. 6 other people out. The usual crew.
Moderate to strong side trades, not very consistent but nice sets coming through. Only the bigger sets would break. Head-high take-offs and then chest to shoulder high rides. A few occasional bigger sets. The smaller waves just wouldn't break due to the wind and the high tide.
Caught 6 rides, with 2 good lefts and 1 good right. At the end of the right I had somebody in my line and I ended up falling. This was really my fault because I wasn't able to generate much speed. The wind just makes things so much more difficult, requiring more strength and more skill. Some of those guys are really unreal in those conditions, as if the bumps on the waves don't bother them at all. I think I am still not low enough on my knees perhaps. Anyway, I was pretty happy with a couple of sketchy take-offs at the bottom of which I was right at the limit of pearling and managed to make the turn pretty well.
Good session overall, much bigger than Waikiki, and windier. The usual. Not sure where I'll go tomorrow, especially because the high tide will really make Threes not work well. Perhaps Diamond Head again.

Fri Jan 20 2006

Diamond Head 6:20-7:30
on my 7'6'', by myself. 6 other people out. The usual crew.
Well, the forecast predicted an increase in size, so, in spite of the high tide I opted to take my 7'6'' out for the first time since I've moved to Hawai`i. Turned out that the winds were stronger than yesterday, and the the waves were smaller. So not a good call. Strong side trades getting stronger throughout the session, biggest waves coming through at chest-high, but very junky, bumpy, crumbly.
Nevertheless it felt good to paddle out on my 7'6''. I was paddling as fast as the longboarders (around the line-up that is), because it really cuts through the chop much better than my long board. Catching waves was more of a challenge. I caught two on the inside, which were nothing special. I guess it was good to see that I can still pop up on this board and not be completely off balance. Everybody had a really hard time. And we had to paddle East constantly because the trades made us drift rather fast. So quite a nice workout.
The sunrise was outstanding and walking on the beach back to the shower was quite something. Such a beautiful place. I sat there for 5 minutes just taking it all in. The wind was so strong by that time that I had a hard time carrying my board.

Tue Jan 31 2006

Paradise, 6:20-7:50
on my 9'2'', met Ron in the line-up, two other guys out, and two spongers (what were they thinking?)
The tide was high and only paradise was working, for some definition of "working". knee- to waist-high, totally glassy, inconsistent, the few occasional peaks.
Caught about 10 rides, with only 2 that were decent.
Beautiful morning out there, so nice to be back in the water after a week of under-the-weatherness. Could use more waves.
There was a lull toward the end of the session and I had to paddle in without really catching a wave. There was this kook out there you, on what could've been my last wave, did a "I am going... I am not going... I am going..." number, which caused me to pull out. I made it back to my car at 8:05 without a parking ticket though.

Wed Feb 1 2006

Diamond Head, 6:20-7:45
on my 9'2'', 10 other people out
not windy but not glassy, waist-high with the occasional bigger set, a bit choppy, still fun.
Caught about 20 rides, with 3-4 of them quite fun, mostly rights, including a few surprisingly sketchy take-offs and walling up sections on the inside. All this in spit of the high tide. Diamond Head seems like it always has something going.
Nice vice in the water, beautiful sunrise. I think I am going to buy an epoxy board after talking to one of the guys there.

Thu Feb 2 2006

Diamond Head, 6:20-7:45
on my 9'2'', 10 other people out
Glassier than yesterday, but smaller. So it got a bit crowded as there weren't enough waves for everyone. Still a good vibe though.
Caught about 15 rides, with 2 of them quite fun, mostly rights as usual.
Beautiful weather and sunrise again. Starting to talk to more of the people there.

Fri Feb 3 2006

Paradise and then Threes, 7:20-8:45
on my 9'2'', with Mike
Decided to paddle out there for the hell of it. Not glassy but not windy. Very inconsistent with the occasional thigh-high set. After catching one wave there, we paddled to Threes. Threes was better. Caught two waves there only because there were two guys there dominating the line-up. One of them dropped on me, but not in an outrageous way. They were quite on top of their game and had a wonderful eye.
It was great to go out there and I feel stronger and stronger. Finally getting back into some type of shape.

Tue Feb 7 2006

Diamond Head, 6:20-7:30
on my 9'2'', 5 other people out
Knee-high with occ. waist-high sets, not windy, inconsistent
Caught about 10 rides, with a couple that were ok, but nothing too exciting. As usual, nice being in the water.

Wed Feb 15 2006

Diamond Head, 6:20-7:30
on a rental 7'10'' Egg (epoxy), 3 other people out
knee-high, a bit choppy, really lame. No wind though.
I rented this board to see if I wanted to buy it, so I had to take it out although the conditions were rather dismal. On a long board it would have been "ok" I guess, but on this it wasn't great.
Overall I popped up on the board perhaps 6 times, with only one of them being an actual ride.
I have pretty much decided not to go for this board because it's too close to my 7'6'' in the way it feels and responds. what I am really looking for is an 8'2''-8'4'' round/pin tail. That's going to be hard to find I think.

Thu Feb 23 2006

Diamond Head, 6:30-8:00
on my 9'2''
waist- to shoulder-high
Not very consistent but nice shape, glassy, 20 people out
Didn't catch too many rides. 5 total. The crowd was a factor and only one peak was somewhat consistent. I caught two very nice rights on the inside.
On my last wave in I may have dropped in on some guy who was jockeying for position. It really wasn't clear at all as I went right and the wave was more of a left, so I thought I was being nice. But I think he meant to go right for some reason. The wave closed out on the right right away anyway. I hate these unclear situations. I started paddling for the wave earlier as I was further out. He was initially on my right, but went around the front of my board to be on my left and therefore have the right-of-way on a right, although I thought all along it was a left. Perhaps I was wrong. Anyway, no harm done.

Fri Feb 24 2006

Pops, 8:00-10:00
on my 9'2'', with Cecile and Jon, 20+ other people out
waist- to head-high, very clean, a few lulls.
Surfed mostly the inside with them trying to tech them a bit, but it was hard. Caught perhaps 10 waves there overall. A few surprisingly fun ones. Cecile had a very hard time with the paddling, which is to be expected of course. job stood up 3-4 times. It's SO hard to teach somebody on their first session. Also, she kept staying by the side of her board and hitting the coral with her feet, which sort of sucked.
I went to the line-up to try to catch one wave. A big one came and I was in position, with only one guy between me and the peak. He was further out and it wasn't clear that he was going to get in. I kept looking at him, and I lost my focus a little bit. When he didn't make it I tried to pull in but I couldn't quite make it and I was just raised by the wave, at the top of a head-high face. At that moment I saw a guy right in front of me. At that point I couldn't make it down the face at all. I tried to keep my board but ended up losing it. Unfortunately, the tip of my board hit his on the bottom, making a pretty nasty ding in it. It was totally my fault although it wasn't a horribly kookish thing to do given the situation. The guy was kind of pissed of course, and I apologized profusely offering to pay for the ding repair. He told me where he worked and I told him I'd bring him money at his work around lunch time. He started totally mellowing out, saying "hey, if you pay for it, it's all good". His name was Kaweka, a bellman at the Reef hotel. I went there around 1PM, thinking of giving him $50. I had to wait for him a little bit and when he showed up he was BLOWN AWAY that I had showed up. He literally couldn't believe it, shook my hand like 100 times, asked me for $50, which I gave him right away. We then talked for 10-20 minutes, and he had a relapse of gratitude, running after me in the street to shake my hand again. It was such an Aloha moment it was sickening. I really hope I see him in the line-up. He's a totally amazing surfer. Seeing his board all dinged up was really, really sad. Such a nice board. Oh well, I really felt terrible about the whole thing but now I guess I have a great friend among the Pops locals. And he was totally saying that the "accident" really wasn't horribly kookish and it was a sketchy situation.

Mon Feb 27 2006

Threes, 6:30AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2'', met Doug and Jim in the line-up, 4 other guys out
waist-high with a few bigger sets, a bit windy/choppy, not consistent
Caught about 15 rides, with a few fun ones one both rights and lefts
Definitely the tail end of the swell that hit the last 3 days.
One sea turtle on the inside

Tue Feb 28 2006

Barber's Point, 4PM-6PM
on my 9'2'', with Jiah, Gail, and Sebastien. 5 other people out.
waist-high, choppy, messy, and inconsistent, but with improving conditions throughout the session.
Went out to Barber's point after talking to a shaper in Kapolei, with Jiah and her co-worker Gail, who's this wonderful older local longboarder. It was Jiah's 2nd or 3rd session and she never reached the line-up.
Caught about 25 rides, with 5 of them really fun toward the end of the session. Especially one very long right and one very long left.

Wed Mar 1 2006

Diamond Head, 6:30AM-8AM
on my 9'2''. Met John in the water, 6-7 people out
glassy, no wind, not very consistent, many doubles and rather fat waves with a peak but not much of a wall. Biggest peaks at head high and most of them at shoulder-high. The few walls were waist to chest.
Caught about 15 rides, with a lot of them having the wave dying out, but two outstanding rights with a very nice wall, going forever all the way to the inside. Another one was a great drop followed by a powerful bottom turn. For once I managed to really accelerate on my board and I escaped from a close-out section by going over the back of the wave, jumping really high above the wave. That was quite a thrill actually.
I opted to surf closer to the inside, with John, which turned out to be a much better option. It was only he and I there. People on the outside failed to catch to many waves, and by sitting 20 yards inside we had our pick.
Great vibe in the water, good conversation with John.
Very nice sunrise.

Fri Mar 3 2006

Threes and Paradise, 6:30AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''. By myself. nobody out.
glassy, not consistent, waist-high.
I made the call for Waikiki instead of DH, which probably was a mistake. First paddled to Threes and it was a mixed-up mess. I caught one pseudo-wave and after 20 minutes I paddled to Paradise. Paradise was much better, not consistent, but as usual a clean peak. Not much of a wall, which is usual too. Caught about 15 rides, with only one that walled up decently and connected to the inside. Quite a few fun drops though. It's really amazing how even in the absence of a swell this place manages to create a peak.
One sea turtle in the line-up.

Mon Mar 6 2006

Threes, 6:30AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''. Met Doug and Ann in the line-up
a bit choppy, not consistent, knee- to waist-high (at best)
Probably should've gone to Diamond Head although it was a tad windy. But it was a beautiful morning and the wave had a nice shape. Caught perhaps 10 waves and then paddled in with Doug and Ann.

Fri Mar 10 2006

Paradise then Threes, 6:15AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''. Met Doug and John at Threes. 15 people out.
almost glassy, shoulder- to 2-feet-overhead high, consistent although sometimes a bit mixed up with multiple peaks.
First paddled out to Paradise as from the beach Threes didn't look good. Caught one nice wave there, with a head+-high drop and a little bit of a wall. From Paradise I saw that Threes was working and I decided to paddled over.
By the time I got to Threes there were 10 people out and it peaked at 15 or so. Very nice waves, but the crowd made it a bit difficult to sit right on the peak (for me, that is). I caught perhaps 10 waves a bit off to the Ewa side of the pack, with 2 or 3 that were quite nice with cool drops. Many times I couldn't make it through the section on the rights because I was not taking off on the main peak. Had a few nice lefts. The inside was kind of a mess and the paddle back proved to be quite the workout on a couple of occasions.

Mon Mar 13 2006

Diamond Head, 6:30AM-7:30AM
on my 7'6''. 9 other people out
Talked to a guy before getting in the water. He told me that conditions were epic on Friday. In fact, he couldn't get out as there is no channel there, and bruised the hell out of his arm when his skegs hit him during a failed turtle roll. Good thing I went to Threes that day.
Choppy, strong side trades, waves breaking all over the place with bigger ones with shoulder-high faces, although I hesitate calling those things faces.
This is the curse of the 7'6''. I have never surfed that board in nice conditions. I caught 4 rides, with 2 sort of ok. But it was really hard to get into those bumpy waves and I was really wishing I had taking my 9'2'' out.
There is something satisfying about being in a messy ocean though. At some point it even sprinkled, with chop everywhere, strong wind. It felt like we were really in the middle of the ocean.
I had to surf the inside and there were those 4 guys who were beginner. At some point one of them paddled in front of me, and this set came. We all had to turtle roll although it was a weak/crumbly wave. He lost his board, and somehow hit mine, although I was not directly behind him. I could tell it was going to be bad because his board was at an angle and not straight out to sea. It made quite a dent in my board, and at that point I was just "ok, this is it, I am paddling in". I could have tried to get some money from him, but I didn't have the energy. Besides, he messed up his epoxy board pretty bad. He was like: "woohoo!! That was a big one". To which I said: "No it wasn't. You're not supposed to lose your board like that. it's very dangerous."
While I was packing up by the side of the road, this lady jogged by and shouted at me "God loves you!". Quite surreal ending to this pretty lame session.

Wed Mar 15 2006

Diamond Head, 6:30AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''. Met Will in the line-up and a few known faces. 10+ people out.
Sloppy, choppy, mixed-up, inconsistent, but with a few nice head-high waves coming through.
Caught about 10 rides, the 2 or 3 that were fun, and 1 that was outstanding. Somehow, this clean nice wave materialized in front of me and I managed to do a screaming take-off and a nice bottom turn. Not much of a wall after that, but still the highlight of this session.

Fri Mar 17 2006

Diamond Head, 6:30-7:30AM
on my 9'2''. 10+ guys out.
Sort of sloppy and bumpy, with head-high waves coming through. Very little wind.
Caught about 10 rides with a couple pretty fun.
A few bigger waves were coming through, and at some point I was in the impact zone with another guy. We both attempted to turtle and both lost our boards. Just the wrong place at the wrong time. When we cam up, there was foam on the surface, and then I saw a piece of his board floating by!! Unbelievable. His board had been cleanly snapped in half. The wave wasn't that huge at all, but I guess it hit the board right in the wrong spot.
At some point, I was paddling back from a ride and this guy caught the white water. He came toward me and unbelievably hit by board. That was so insanely stupid. 3 minor dings, but that made it through the fiber glass and thus need repair. He said he'd pay for the damage, but I guess we had a misunderstanding and after exchanging a few nasty e-mails it turned out that he thought it was my fault because the people paddling out are supposed to get out of the wave of the people riding the white wash in! So anyway, he offered to buy me a ding repair kit, which I declined. This is really sad because now he truly thinks I was trying to rip him off.
I guess this qualifies as an eventful session.

Thu May 11 2006

Barbers, 4PM-6PM
on my 9'2''.
with Gail and Jiah. 15+ guys out.
A bit junky and pretty strong side-shore winds, but some waist-high waves coming through.
Caught about 15 rides, with 2 or 3 pretty fun with nice inside sections.
First session after 1.5 months of interruption due to boards in the shop, my sister's visit, the massive sewage spills in town, and several flu-like illnesses.
It was so great to be back in the water. Of course I really felt out of it in the water, but perhaps surprisingly not so weak. I just felt unsure on the board and my timing was off several times. Felt really sleepy and tired after the session though.

Thu May 18 2006

Diamond Head, 7AM-8AM
on my 9'2''
by myself. 15 other people out.
waist-high with a few chest-high sets, strong side-shore winds, pretty choppy and junky.
Caught 3 rides, with the last one quite fun. Opted to stay further towards the inside, even though it meant missing the bigger sets.
The point right now is to get back in the water and paddle because I am so out of shape. Pretty fun session though, with beautiful weather, just suffering from the windy Diamond Head curse.

Fri May 19 2006

Pops, 8AM-10AM
on my 9'2''
with Caro and Fred, 20 other people out.
knee-high, a bit windy, not consistent, weak.
It was just to take out Caro and Fred for their first surfing session. The paddling pretty much killed them of course, and unfortunately it wasn't a good day. The waves were breaking only on the outside, where a bunch of people were sitting, and the inside was really weak and hard to catch. So they didn't catch anything, but at least they got a good feel for paddling and maneuvering the board.
I caught about 15 knee-high waves just for kicks
Beautiful morning

Sun May 21 2006

Threes, 5:30AM-7:00AM
on my 9'2''
by myself. 3 other people out at first, and up to 20 when I left
waist- to head-high, very clean, nice off-shore winds.
Caught about 4 rights, which were all very nicely lined up, sometimes connecting all the way, and about 10 lefts, which weren't that great by comparison, but still very nice.
I just happened to wake up at 5AM and decided to paddle out even if it was a weekend because I so desperately need the workout. Turns out the real crowd doesn't show up before 6:30AM.

Mon May 22 2006

Diamond Head, 5:30AM-7:15AM
First session on my new 8'2''
by myself. 4 other people out at first, and up to 20 when I left, but pretty spread out
chest- to head-high, inconsistent with much bigger sets coming through every 20 minutes or so.
Waves were a bit mixed up and difficult to get into.
I caught a few fun ones on the inside, allowing me to get a feel for the board although the walls were so short that I couldn't really maneuver much. Taking off is definitely a different experience than on the 9'2'', much closer in feel to my 7'7''.
I caught one semi-close out wave that was about 1ft overhead and made quite a sketchy drop by pushing hard on the from of the board. It was a very short ride but making that drop pretty confirms that this board is going to be challenging, but not so much that it won't be fun to ride.
The biggest challenge will be to have my feet well positioned as I pop up.
All in all I caught about 6 rides, which wasn't bad given that the conditions were quite challenging (got caught on the inside a couple time too)

Tue May 23 2006

Threes, 5:15AM-7:15AM
on my 8'2''
by myself. Met Jim, Ann, and Doug in the line-up. Started with about 10 people, and ended with up to 30.
Glassy, clean, organized, waist- to head-high with a few lulls in between sets. Some sets were perfectly lined-up an some were closing out on the lefts.
Caught about 10 rides, with only 2 rights because the competition to go right was a bit intense.
This board is quite outstanding. I had a couple of great rides and the board is so responsive and fast, and yet catching wave isn't a complete struggle. I did a few good take-offs, and a few that were on the inside that I completely botched. I fell twice on the take-off, which hadn't happened to me in a while on my other board. But this board has such potential.
One sea turtle in the line-up, checking out the surfers.

Tue May 30 2006

Kewalo, 5:25AM-6:45AM
on my 8'2''
by myself. Alone in the line-up for 10 minutes, then quickly 10 shortboarders showed up. Moved to the next peak over.
Waist- to chest-high, a bit windy. That wave definitely pitches and is more challenging than Threes or Diamond Head. Glad I had by 8'2''.
Caught about 10 rides, with 1 great right, and one ok left. Other than that I was never in a great position, ending up taking off on small sections that would close out. Still a good experience. Towards the end of the session it seems I couldn't really get into any decent waves and I just paddled in.
That place is cool, but I don't have what it takes to compete with the pack by the best peak, and the reef is ultra-shallow on the inside (hit the reef with my hand while paddling back to the line-up).

Fri June 2 2006

Threes, 5:40AM-6:30AM
on my 8'2''
with Mahdi. Up to 30 people out at the end of the session.
Glassy, chest-high to 2ft overhead, clean, perfect
Caught about 10 rides, with a great left and a good right. The rest were lefts that were really fun on the take-off but sort of closing out. The problem was that the competition for the rights was a bit too much, so I opted for inside lefts. Still fun though.
Mahdi made it to the line-up but then couldn't really make it back out. It was his first session in 5 months.

Sun June 4 2006

Sunset Cliffs (Chasm), 10AM-12PM
on my old 9', no leash
with Dario. 2 other people out.
almost glassy, with nice sets coming through, waist- to chest-high with a few head-high peaks
started the session at New Break, but couldn't really make it down the face (too hollow) and I lost my board 3 times on 3 take offs, which was a bit lame. So Dario and I paddled to chasm, where it was much better (and bigger as well).
Caught about 10 rides, with a great right on a perfect A frame, with Dario catching a great left. Caught a few other good ones, always with decent size and shape.
I was really having trouble with the different board, the different wave, the wetsuit on, etc. Such a difference from surfing Threes two days ago. But as the session went on things went a bit better. Would have be better to have a leash probably.

Mon June 5 2006

Del Mar 11th, 8AM-9AM
on my old 9'
with Allan and Jon, 2 other people out at first and then nobody out
a bit choppy, some sets coming through, not very good shape, not consistent.
Caught about 10 rides, with a few very fun in spite of the bumpy faces. Made a few sketchy take-offs that I was pretty happy about. My last ride was cool, with an almost-tubing blown-glass-like section on the inside that was unexpectedly super fun.

Tue June 6 2006

Del Mar 15th, 6:30AM-9AM
on my old 9'
with Travis, about 4-5 people out around each break
Totally glassy, waist-high with the occasional slightly bigger set, rather consistent and pretty nice shape when lined-up, with more than half the waves lined-up. Waves didn't have much power.
Caught about 20 rides, with one outstanding right which for some reason had a lot of power and was really fun, allowing quite a few fun bottom turns. Talked to some guy in the line-up about that wave afterwards. Overall I'd say I had at least 5 very good rides.
3-4 dolphins in the line-up

Wed June 7 2006

Beacons, 6:30AM-8AM
on my old 9'
with Ken, one other guy out at our peak
Totally glassy, waist-high, not consistent but nice shape when coming through (sort of fat waves though and not much power).
Caught about 20 rides, with a few really fun ones. Overall a very enjoyable session but a bit uneventful.

Fri June 9 2006

Del Mar 15th, 7AM-9AM
on my old 9'
with Ken, Geoff, Kate, Susan, and a friend of theirs
Choppy, inconsistent, but with some waist-high ridable waves at time. (A couple of bigger sets came through.) Rather bumpy faces too.
Caught about 15 rides, with a couple of fun ones. Surprisingly fun given how it looked from the beach. Really happy about this week in San Diego with decent surf.

Sat June 10 2006

Sunset Cliffs (Chasm), 7AM-9AM
on my old 9'
with Dario, nobody else out
Glassy, waist-high with a few bigger waves, not very consistent but decent shape
Caught about 10 rides, with a few good ones. Nothing to report really.

Sun June 11 2006

Sunset Cliffs (Chasm), 6AM-8:30AM
on my old 9'
with Dario and Travis, nobody else out
A bit windy, not consistent, breaking a bit all over the place, with a few chest-high waves coming, and most of them waist-high. Some fun drops, but really weak waves
Caught about 10 rides, with 2 or 3 really good drops, but not real wall to speak of.
Towards the end of the session conditions completely crapped out, probably due to the tide and we went in.
This was my last session for a while until I go back to the Islands.

Mon August 14 2006

Threes, 6:20AM-8:20AM
on my 9'2''
by myself. Met Jim, Doug, and Clarence in the line-up. From 10 to 2 and back to 10 people out.
Not very consistent but nice waist-high waves coming through once and again. From glassy to slightly windy.
First session after about 2 months of interruption! It was so great to get back in the water. Somehow, paddling wasn't as bad as I thought and although I wasn't in the best shape I was able to paddle for 2 hours. The current was pushing us towards Diamond Head and we had to paddle pretty much constantly to stay in position.
Caught about 20 rides, with 3-4 very fun, all rights. Beautiful water and weather, nice vibe in the line-up. Just great.
Finally talked at length and introduced myself to Clarence, that retired Chinese guy I had seen surfing with his friend before. Total locals and extremely friendly. We talked for about 20 minutes.
Paddled back in after catching a little wave in. Walked to the car in the parking lot feeling 100% happy, great flowery smell in the air, perfect temperature, light breeze. And in fact I was so happy and content that I proceeded to lock myself out of the car. That's my new motto: "I shall lock myself out of my car once a year". Called AAA from a cellphone, bought Longboard magazine and waited in the shade of a big tree until the guy came to save me. Surprisingly a great way to end a session instead of just rushing off to work.

Wed August 16 2006

Diamond Head, 5:30AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
by myself. Met Will and Meiko in the line-up.
Tried to go to Threes but the parking situation has become (temporarily) insane there. There is construction right near Saratoga and many parking spots have been removed and the parking people are ticketing starting at 7AM as opposed to 8AM. So one has to go into the parking lot, which has gotten more expensive. Everything will be back to normal once the construction stops, but right now it sucks. I think I'll start parking on the Ala Wai and then walk over, which shouldn't be too bad really. But this morning, in spite of the trades, I opted to drive on to Diamond Head.
Diamond Head was not very consistent and not organized, plus it was quite bumpy and choppy due to the trades. Really hard to get into most of the waves. Bigger sets were in the head-high range though.
Caught 5 waves, and to be honest, they were surprisingly good. It seems that many Diamond Head sessions are like this: after the session in the same breath you say "it was a mess out there" and "man, those waves I caught were great!". Exactly what happened today. The waves I caught were all in the chest- shoulder-high range, rights, really lines-up and allowing for several maneuvers, fast, powerful, just really fun with not-too-sketchy take-offs.

Thu August 17 2006

Threes, 5:40AM-8:30AM
on my 9'2''
by myself. Met Doug, Clarence, Guy, John, and Ron in the line-up.
Parking on the Ala Wai worked out fine.
Waist- to Shoulder-high, Clean, pretty consistent, with both lefts and rights lined-up (of course more rights than lefts, but still)
Caught about 25 rides, with 3 or 4 completely outstanding rights. Easy take-offs, followed by a fast section makable only on a pretty high line, and then lined up all the way to the inside with a great wall for maneuvering. Really amazing rides.
On the biggest wave of the day I was sort of alone outside and I tried a turn-and-burn. Not sure what happened. The take-off was steep, but not that steep, and I just fell off the board. I didn't take off at at steep enough angle. That was sort of lame and the wave was totally wasted. All the guys out were like: "Duuuuuuuude".
In spite of that wave, I felt that my style on the rights was pretty good today, with my hand in the wall on bottom turns, etc. Odd to be surfing decently after a 2.5 months interruption.
about 8 dolphins outside, and a few whales on the horizon.

Tue August 22 2006

Threes, 5:40AM-8AM
on my 8'2''
by myself. Met Doug and his flock of young surfing girls, Ron, Mitch in the line-up.
Knee- to Waist-high with sets in the chest-high ranges. Not consistent at all with super long hulls and waves didn't have much power. Very much the wrong board for the conditions.
Caught about 15 rides, with only a couple that were really fun. Feet position on this board is really important, and when they are well positioned the board works extremely well. Still need a bit of adjustment, and unfortunately today really wasn't the best day to try things out. Still though, I was happy to catch many more waves than several of the longboarders out there.
10 dolphins on the outside.

Wed August 23 2006

Diamond Head, 6AM-7AM
on my 8'2''
by myself. Met Corey, John, and Harold in the line-up. Up to 40 other people out!
waist-high with head-high sets. Sort of mushy and disorganized although it wasn't really windy, which is why I opted for DH this morning.
Really difficult to get into waves and not really fun unless one caught one of the rogue set waves. But of course these waves were owned by the local longboarders sitting on the outside. So pretty tough for me on the inside really, with many doubles, etc.
Caught 4 waves, with only one left that was fun. I could have had a good right but the take-off was super steep and although it looked like I was going to make it I ended up falling into the face of the wave.
Pretty much spent the entire session wishing I had my 9'2'', which sort of sucks really. Tomorrow, I think the call will be Threes on the 9'2''.

Thu August 24 2006

Threes, 5:40AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
by myself. Met Doug, Jim, Clarence, Ron and John in the line-up. About 30 people out total.
waist- to head-high with occasional bigger sets. Totally glassy, pretty consistent in the waist- to chest-high range, totally clean.
Caught about 25 waves, mostly rights, with a lot of them quite fun. Still doing the hand in the water thing. Really odd. Not sure that I am doing it in good style at all.
A very crowded day at Threes, but I hung out on the inside with Jim and I caught many nice waves, mostly rights as usual. The funny thing is that at the same time I felt like I was just surfing leftovers, but objectively speaking if these had been outside waves the session would still had qualified as totally fun. Luckily, only a few people opted for surfing the inside and there was almost no competition.
Of course, the downside of surfing the inside is that you have to do something when a big wave comes on the outside and 5 guys are paddling for it. Overall it wasn't too bad although I had a few close encounters. What complicated things is that there was quite a bit of dropping in today on the outside. Sort of shocking at times: three guys on a wave, all good surfers, the guys in front not really bailing. Everybody feels that they deserve beautiful Threes waves. In particular there was this local girl who just didn't care and dropped in no matter what.
There were a few people who didn't really belong out there, and especially this one guy who was clearly a beginner, with perhaps 1 year of surfing behind him, if that. On a chest-high wave he dropped in on that guy in a pretty outrageous way, got on his knees, went straight, and then pitched forward and rolled into the white. Their two boards collided quite violently (we heard them from like 20 yards away!) and they could have been hurt as they were entangled together, in the white water. Luckily it wasn't a very powerful wave. It was horrible to watch and we all saw it coming... just as I was in the middle of telling Jim "Look.... is that guy going to... NO WAY!" it all happened. I used to be that guy, but at least I didn't paddle out at Threes when there is a swell when I was him.

Fri August 25 2006

Diamond Head, 5:30AM-7:40AM
on my 9'2''
by myself. Met Corey and Harold in the line-up. Perhaps 40 people out.
chest-high to a couple of feet overhead. Super glassy and clean, but not extremely consistent, with long lulls. One of the peaks was breaking much better than the others but had of course tougher competitions.
Caught about 10 waves, with a couple head-high ones that were fun. Was happy to have my 9'2'' as getting in the wave required quite a bit of effort; they were fat and slowly building. Didn't catch any of the really good ones, but had tons of fun.
The weather was unreal today, absolutely beautiful, with sunrise over Koko Head, and perfectly glassy water (which I don't think I've ever seen at Diamond Head).
Back up to the car I had what I'll call a "Dog Shit Encounter". In fact, although I didn't mention it in my surf report this past Tuesday, I had a DSE then. Right before getting to the car, which was parked on the Ala Wai, I stepped in dog shit on the grass. I am talking between the toes and all. After the initial shock, I managed to clean up with water and soap (which I always have in the car), but I guess the damage to my psyche was too great and I left my rashguard on a bench. That wasn't too bad as I was overdue for a new one, but still. And today, only 3 days later, when laying down my board bag on the sidewalk I apparently put it down on another pile of dogshit because when I picked it up it was covered with it, and so were my boardshorts. ARGHHH!!! I managed to sacrifice a towel and clear the bag up with water, and remove my trunks without dogshit contact. As I write this they are in the trunk of the car, probably becoming a new life form. I just had no energy to deal with this immediately. So, I don't know, two DSE in 4 days seems is a little bit disturbing after many years of DSE-less surfing. Good thing that it was a beautiful and fun session.

Mon August 28 2006

Threes, 5:30AM-8:00AM
on my 9'2''
by myself. Met Ron, Clarence, Jim, Doug, Reiki and her sister, Guy. About 10 people out at all times.
waist-high with a few bigger rogue waves, super glassy, clean, not super consistent but not bad, getting worse as the tide was coming in.
Caught about 20 rides, with a few really fun rights in spite of the waves not being big. Tons of fun and good talking to all the guys out.
Absolutely stunning morning out there, with sunrise behind the Waikiki skyline.
1 sea turtle in the line-up

Tue August 29 2006

Canoes, 5:30AM-7:00AM
on my 9'2''
with Larry. Up to 40 other people out.
ankle- to knee-high, inconsistent and weak.
This spot is super well-known and an easy paddle from the most popular section of the beach with hundreds of boards that can be rented on the beach. There are a few friendly locals, mostly older guys, and tons of people out. The conditions were very lame, but even if they were good I think the crowd would prevent me from ever coming back here. Good to have been there once though.
Caught 4 waves, all of them requiring extreme paddling and then super weak. But, it was a beautiful morning out and it was good to paddle around. The local older guys seem really fun, but really, they are lost in such a huge crowd. Unbelievably, even today there were the usual Japanese tourists on tiny boards in the line-up. Guys on 12ft boards had trouble getting into waves, and these guys are sitting out there on their potato chips. I really don't get this. I guess they fly to Hawaii, get a hotel on Waikiki, and paddle out on the board they brought with them on the plane, and are happy to sit in the water for hours without ever the hint of a wave they could catch. Nothing wrong with that, but it's just a bit odd.

Wed August 30 2006

Threes, 5:30AM-6:30AM
on my 9'2''
by myself. Met Jim and Ron in the line-up
ankle- to knee-high, windy and windier as time went on, extremely inconsistent and weak. Probably the worst I've seen Threes. That swell that was supposed to hit never did I guess.
On the way out to the beach I met Doug, Guy, and Reiki walking back to their cars because it was too flat. I paddled out anyway because I knew that Jim was there.
Caught 4 waves, extremely week.
Still fun to be in the water, good conversation with the guys and laughing about the conditions actually getting worse from minute to minute.

Fri Sept 1 2006

Diamond Head, 5:40AM-6:40AM
on my 9'2''
with Larry. About 10 people out.
waist-high with the occasional chest-high wave, choppy, windy, not very consistent, but as usual a few ridable waves coming through.
Caught about 6 waves, with a couple of surprisingly sketchy and fun take-offs where the peak was head-high, and a couple of slightly more lined-up waves with a bumpy ride all the way to the inside.
Amazing sunrise on Koko Head. inconsistent and weak. Probably the worst I've seen Threes. That

Tue Sept 5 2006

Pops, 5:40AM-7:15AM
on my 9'2''
by myself. Met John in the line-up. About 20 people out.
waist-high, clean, glassy, not very consistent and a bit weak but fun on the inside.
Paddled out to Threes at first and it really wasn't working, so I paddled over to Pops (caught one wave at Paradise on the way).
Caught about 20 waves on the inside at Pops, all of them quite clean. Nothing special, but just nice to surf glassy conditions on such a beautiful morning.

Thu Sept 7 2006

Diamond Head, 5:30AM-6:45AM
on my 9'2''
with Larry. Met Corey in the line-up, 4 other guys out
waist- to chest-high, completely junky and choppy, pretty horrible.
Pretty bad call today, with the swell forecast. Opted for DH to try to trade-off wave quality for lower crowd factor, but sort of overdid it.
Stood up three time, but caught really only one wave. Tomorrow Waikiki it is.

Fri Sept 8 2006

Pops, 5:30AM-7:15AM
on my 9'2''
with Larry. Met John in the line-up. About 15 other people out.
waist- to chest-high, with a few bigger sets, a bit mixed up (two swells today), not glassy but still clean.
Caught about 15 rides, with only a couple of some of the bigger rights. Ended up surfing the inside as things were getting more crowded.
Overall a pretty fun session, with good talking to John. He took two beginners out the other days, giving them a lesson and they had two of his board. At some point, they rammed into each other and the fin of one board cut through the side of the other and got so deep that they couldn't pry them apart! So they had to paddle that odd L-shaped raft all the way to the beach. The ding repair guy said he has never seen a fin cutting that deep into another board after a waist-high Waikiki session.

Mon Sept 11 2006

Threes, 5:30AM-7AM
on my 8'2''
Met Jim in the line-up, nobody else out.
knee- to waist-high, weak, not consistent at all, overall pretty lame but at least not too windy.
Took my 8'2'' just for kicks but also because the forecast was talking about waist- to shoulder-high waves. Oh well, it felt good paddling on a different board and it was a beautiful morning.
Caught 3 waves, just time for a small bottom turn and then the wave would pretty much die out. Would have been better with my 9'2'', but whatever. Better luck tomorrow.

Tue Sept 12 2006

Threes, Pops, Paradise, 5:30AM-7AM
on my 9'2'', no leash. By myself. About 6 other people out at Pops.
Knee- to Waist-high, glassy, not consistent and weak
Paddled out to Threes initially, caught 3 knee-high waves there which had virtually no power. Opted to paddled over the Pops.
Pops was much better, with nicely shaped waist-high waves coming through once in a while. Not consistent, nothing special, but fun. Caught about 15 rides there, with a couple pretty fun with the wave lining up a bit on the inside.
After surfing at Pops, I spotted Ron at Paradise. At the end of my session I paddled over there and saw that it wasn't any good really. Eventually I caught a wave that brought me close to the beach and ended this overall rather pleasant session.

Fri Sept 15 2006

Threes, 5:30AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''. Paddled out with Jim and Doug. Met Ron, Mitch, Eric, and Nathan in the line-up.
Knee- to Waist-high, totally glassy, fun if a bit small.
A really pleasant session, with only people I knew well out in the line-up, beautiful morning, great atmosphere.
Caught about 20 rides, with 5 or so of them quite fun in spite of the wave being only waist-high.
I had one outstanding ride, on a nicely lined up right, with a great take-off, a great line, cross-stepping up to the nose and staying there for quite a while until the inside bowl, at which point I cross-stepped back and kicked the board out. To bad I can't surf like that on every wave.
It was good to see Eric. Hadn't seen him in ages. He's the guy who told me to paddled out to Threes on my first Waikiki session after moving to Hawaii. He was so helpful. He told me that Paula moved to Germany, which is why we haven't seen here in a while. He also mentioned some other spots by Kakaako Beach Park where he goes to and that's less crowded. I will have to check it out. The spot is called Flies and it's basically the West-most spot on the South Shore, right West of Point Panic.
One sea turtle popping its head in the line-up.

Mon Sept 18 2006

Threes and then Pops, 5:30AM-7AM
on my 8'2''. Paddled out with Doug. 5 other people out when I left Threes. About 20 at Pops.
Chest- to head-high, with a few overhead sets, a bit windy but not too bumpy, perfect shapes, long waits but worth it.
Caught 5 rights and 1 left at Threes, and then 2 lefts at Pops.
It was only Doug and I for about 15 minutes, basically in the dark, trying to figure out whether conditions were any good or not. There was a lot of white water, so that was a good sign on the paddle out.
I first caught a small right that wasn't anything special at all and after that nothing for a while, and it was 3 of us in the line-up.
Right when we started saying "are there any waves?", this set loomed over the horizon (it was daylight by then), and looked to be definitely overhead. Doug was a little bit too far off the peak while I was right on it. I heard him say "Go! Go!!" and I dropped in. I had to push like crazy on the nose of the board to make the drop and I locked into a high line after a fast bottom turn. The waved walled up and looking up I could see the lip about two feet above my head with this beautiful wall going all the way down the line. It was the first time I surfed my 8'2'' in good conditions and it worked amazingly well. I would never had made these sections on my longboard, but there I just flew down the line, going faster that I had ever gone on a surf board. At some point I got buried in white water and emerged super fast to see that there was still a very long head-high wall ahead. Starting pumping up and down the face, going super fast. Luckily my position on the board was perfect so I didn't have to readjust my feet at any point, which has always been my big problem. After many cutbacks and going through super fast sections on the inside (on his previous wave Doug had warned be that the inside was very fast), I finally kicked the board out. It felt like I had just made an insane drop (well, insane for me) and then barely made 20 super fast sections in a row. Had I stalled on that first section, I could easily have been barreled according to what Doug could tell. I felt a huge amount of adrenaline at that point, feeling so excited that I was actually shaking all over. Pretty funny. I paddled back out and Doug was like: "dude? Did you make that one???". Definitely the best wave I've ever surfed in terms of the wave itself and how I handled it. It took me about 10 minutes to recover and come down from the whole experience. I realize that some people surf like this all the time, but hey, nothing like the first time I guess. Then Doug said something like: "Did you think of the board at all during the ride?" and I realized I hadn't at all. His point was that when you go shorter, you just forget that you have a board. And that's exactly what happened. Arguably, going from 9'2'' to 8'2'' is not really going much shorter, but the shape is so different that to me it feels very, very different. His point was that when you've found a board you never think about, then you should keep it.
I caught 1 left after that which sort of closed out, followed by 3 super fun chest-high rights. Unbelievable how even these smaller waves were fast and lined up. On one of them I actually got covered for a split second, and emerged from the white water with again a beautiful wall ahead. More adrenaline at that point.
At that point, I had surfed 1 OUTSTANDING wave, and 3 great ones, and I was on such a surf high that I couldn't really sit in place, let alone wait for the long lulls in between sets. 5 good longboarders had paddled out, and I decided to leave it at that rather than deal with even a small crowd. Definitely the "I can go home after this" feeling. So I paddled over to Pops where Tom told me he'd be, just to get a work out. I was so pumped that I paddled super fast. There was a crowd there and the wave was much mushier and a bunch of older guys on 10 footers owned the place. I stayed inside, didn't find Tom, paddled around, caught a left and went to the beach. When I got to the beach I was literally exhausted, probably due to coming down from it all.
Part of me feels silly about being so excited. Doug caught two waves as good as the one I got, and he snapped insane off-the-lips every 2 seconds on each ride, and he was just like "yeah, it's fun today" while I was jumping up and down on my board next to him :)

Tue Sept 19 2006

Threes and then Pops, 5:30AM-7:30AM
on my 8'2''. Paddled out with Doug. Got crowded really fast with up to 30 people when I paddled over to Pops. Pops had about 20 people out.
waist- to chest-high, with a few head-high sets, a bit windy, definitely not as good as yesterday.
Still on a high from yesterday session, and not too into it today given that the "half the waves twice the surfers" combination was a bit of a downer.
Caught about 10 waves, with a nice left actually that was (for once) lined up. Probably around 150 yards on a left, which I've never done at Threes. Then caught a few inside waves, but nowhere nearly as fun as yesterday.
After a while, when it go to be 30 people out I just paddled over to Pops, where I caught one fun right on the inside and then went in after paddling around the spot a bit. I'll probably take my longboard tomorrow and come to Pops.
Overall, a really decent day, but yesterday was so special that I was not too motivated.

Thu Sept 21 2006

Pops, 5:30AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''. By myself, 10 other people out.
chest-high with a few head-high sets, a bit windy and mixed up, tide way too high and very fat slow waves.
First paddled out to Threes in total darkness and then right away went to Pops. Caught about 10 rides, with a could of fun ones with slightly late take-offs. Way too much water though and waves were wobbly and slow. Still fun.
Met this older guy who's always in the line-up at DH. We talked a bit. His name is Higgy (sp?). Really nice guy.
Three rainbows throughout the session.

Thu Sept 21 2006

Publics, 5PM-6:15PM
On my 8'2'', with Mahdi. About 20 other people out.
Glassy, not consistent with really fat waves, shoulder-high when breaking.
Somehow Mahdi talked me into an afternoon session, and we went to what I thought was Queens. I wasn't too into it, but whatever. Turns out it wasn't Queens it was Publics!! Had I known this I would have totally said no I think, as Publics is known for being super shallow and sketchy. Turns out, it was super shallow and sketchy :)
Caught 3 waves, with one of the big lefts, a smaller one on which I went right (which is not a good idea at Queens as it turns out), and another smaller left.
The conditions were pretty lame with only the inside breaking and the outside breaking once every 20 minutes if that. The inside was packed with local tattooed teenagers on short boards or boogie boards. A few older longboarders on the outside. Choices were to wait forever on the outside of fight it out on the inside. I opted for the outside.
Publics is really shallow inside, especially towards the right. There is this piece of the reef that's pretty much dry on any kind of wave. I went right on a wave and that's not something one should do really, given how shallow it is and there is a clear risk of hitting the reef. I found myself in about 2ft of water, with my leash stuck in the reef. On a big day that could be really sketchy.
Overall I didn't really have such a good time. I've become a morning only surfer I guess. I hated paddling back out with the sun directly in my eyes for instance. Boo-fucking-hoo :) I am sure this place is great when conditions are good though, so perhaps worth another try on a morning. And yes, there is something cool about paddling back in at sunset.

Sun Sept 24 2006

Flies, 4PM-5:30PM
On my 9'2'', with Tom and Larry, 4-5 other guys out
Waist- to Shoulder-high, a bit windy, not very consistent, but some waves coming through.
First session at Flies. The spot has the reputation of being not very good and not very crowded, which is why I wanted to try it on a weekend. And indeed, the wave is a bit sectiony, bumpy, mushy (although today was perhaps not the best day obviously).
I had forgotten to take board shorts! So I wore my shorts. Not the most comfortable but it worked.
Caught about 15 rides, with a few nice shoulder-high drops that were fun. But the rides themselves were nothing special. Still, thinking about the mess that Waikiki probably was, it was a great call to come here.
Larry was surfing this pintail longboard he's thinking of buying and that looked pretty decent (although he was surfing it single-fin). Tom was surfing his 9 footer, which I tried at the end of the session. That think is really high perf, with very little volume, paper-thin tail, the fins are three identical fins. Very much not a longboard but rather something made for ripping on bigger waves. He had been complaining about this board forever, and clearly it's not the right board for him at all. It's also very dinged up, with unfixed dings letting the water to the foam! So it's going to be hard to sell. Oh well.

Mon Sept 25 2006

Threes, 5:45AM-7:30AM
On my 9'2'', by myself. Met Ron and Clarence in the line-up. 4-6 other people out.
Knee- to waist-high, with two shoulder-high sets that came through. A bit windy, but not bad, mixed up and not consistent, pretty bumpy and weak rides for the most part. Getting better throughout the session, due to the dropping tide.
Caught about 20 rides, with two decent rights. The beginning of the session was very grim, with two guys out whom I have seen before many times and who are really not the friendly type. Conditions were terrible and one of them paddled back in almost right away. Things got really pleasant with Clarence and his friend, and I actually had fun out there. Didn't catch any of the bigger waves, but it was just good being in the ocean.
Apparently yesterday was really good, but really crowded as well. Glad I went to Flies.

Wed Sept 27 2006

Pops, Threes, 5:45AM-8AM
On my 9'2'', by myself. Met Ron and the usual crew at Pops (6), and then Eric at Threes.
Knee- to waist-high, choppy, mushy, not organized, but still ridable
I first checked DH, but it was so stormy that I went to Waikiki. Looking from the beach Threes seemed really lame, so I went to Pops. About 5-6 people there, and a few waves. Nothing special but I caught about 10 somewhat fun ones, both lefts and right.
Ron showed up and after 1/2 hour I paddled over the Threes, mostly for the workout. Met Eric there and it was nice chatting with him. He caught the best waves there, which were rather difficult to pick out from the chop. I caught 4-5 rides there, with surprisingly fun drops. Paddled in with Eric.

Tue Oct 3 2006

Threes, 5:45AM-7:25AM
on my 9'2'', no leash.
By myself, met Jim in the line-up, nobody else out
Waist-high, not too consistent but ok, getting windy towards the end of the session.
Surprisingly fun waist-high waves, especially because from the beach it really looked like nothing at all was going on.
Caught about 15 rides, with 2-3 or pretty fun. Surfing without a leash felt great.
Just a mellow, happy session with a lot of paddling actually.

Wed Oct 4 2006

Threes, 5:45AM-7:45AM
on my 9'2'', no leash.
Paddled out with Jim, only the two of us for a while and then Ron, Eric, Jon, and one other guy paddled out.
Knee- to slightly above waist-high, not very consistent but glassy and a few nicely shaped waves coming through, with some of them lined up all the way to the inside.
Caught about 20 rides, with 3 or 4 good rights that had a little bit of power.
Overall a fun session, a beautiful morning, friendly people out.
It was nice surfing without a leash again. There were a few situations in which the wave was breaking on my board while I was trying to make sections, but I didn't lose my board, which was good. Especially when one of those was right in front of Jim on one of the bigger waves.

Fri Oct 6 2006

Threes, 5:45AM-7:45AM
on my 9'2'', no leash.
by myself, met Jim and Doug out there. Up to 7 people out.
Knee- to waist-high, getting bigger and better as the tide dropped with shoulder-high peaks at the end, super glassy, somewhat consistent, very nice shape.
Doug was on a paddle board! I tried it for 5 minutes and it was really, really hard. He can't really catch waves with it yet, but he's trying something new. He was totally happy with my longboard while I was using his paddle board though as he caught a very decent wave.
Caught about 20 rides, with 2-3 very nice ones toward the end although not lined up all the way to the inside. It's so nice to surf such glassy conditions, without a leash
On the biggest wave of the day (head-high peak), I was the furthest out but too far to the left of the peak. So I had to go left, which was steep and closing out. I was pretty happy with my no-leash take off with right hand grabbing the rail and holding, then turning towards the beach on the close out and holding on all the way. I think I would have probably lost my boards a few months ago.
Toward the end I really caught two nice waves with a very nice wall.
Most of the guys out seemed to be tourists and the vibe was "ok". One of them seemed to have gotten scratched up on the coral. He could hardly surf really, and I wonder how he managed to get hurt with the tide that high. But he had a large patch of scratched/bleeding skin on his back.
That guy and that girl paddled out at the same time and I thought they were together. Not looking happy though, but dropping in on each other in the inside. Whatever. Waves were small, and I thought they were together. In fact, Jim dropped in on me on a wave earlier as I told him to go, etc. But later on, he's paddling for a wave on the outside and the girl's inside. And as he's paddling he said in a super pissed-off voice: "Can I have this wave? PLEASE". That was a very odd vibe, especially because the wave was knee-high at best. She didn't react at all and they both looked so serious it was painful to watch.
One turtle in the line up

Mon Oct 9 2006

Diamond Head, 5:45AM-7:45AM
on my 9'2''.
by myself, about 30 people out. Harold, Higgy, Clarence, Corey and Will out there at some point.
waist-high, with a few bigger waves, with up to shoulder-high peaks at times. Not choppy but not really glassy, not very organized, lots of doubles, but still fun.
Caught about 20 rides, with none of them anything special. I had a good 20 minutes where I caught many waves while most people were sitting around out there. Just felt like they were coming to me. Some guy even talked to me about that.
On one of the bigger waves I attempt a somewhat late take off and totally ate it. It had been a while.
Towards the end it got really crowded and I didn't catch a wave for a while, so I just caught some white it. I was surprisingly tired...
I almost had another DSE!! I put my board down while I was showering and when I went to get it back I realized that it was dangerously close to a huge pile of dog shit hidden in the tall grass. Pheeew....

Wed Oct 11 2006

Threes, 5:45AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2'', no leash.
paddled out with Jim, met Ron, and then 2 other guys out at the end of the sessions.
knee- to waist-high, with a few bigger waves, totally glassy, not super consistent but a few nice sets coming through.
Caught about 20 rides, with 3 very fun rights with a very nice wall between waist and chest height, allowing many maneuvers. Threes can really generate beautiful waves.
I lost my board once, in ankle-high white water, somehow. Pretty odd. Waves are supposed to get bigger tomorrow so I'll take my leash.
A beautiful morning with vog conditions, beautiful sunrise.
3 dolphins way outside.
1 turtle in the line-up.

Thu Oct 12 2006

Threes, 5:45AM-7:30AM
on my 8'2''.
by myself. Met Jim. Ron, Clarence, and Ross on his stand-up paddle board, later Eric, and one other guy out.
waist-high, with a few bigger waves, totally glassy, not super consistent. Sort of like yesterday but with a little bit more size and power at the beginning of the session, becoming slower and slower as the tide went up.
Caught about 10 rides, with 2 great rights. Was definitely at a disadvantage against all the longboarders out there, but still caught a reasonable number of waves.
One of my rights was on a rather late take-off, and I managed to keep a high line and hug the wall pretty well on the first section, and then was able to do quite a few maneuvers afterward. Not clear that my feet were on the best spot on the board, but good enough.
Good vibe in the water, although almost nothing was breaking towards the end.
1 turtle in the line-up

Fri Oct 13 2006

Pops, 5:45AM-7:00AM
on my 9'2''.
with Larry. About 8 other guys out.
waist- to chest-high, glassy, not very consistent and almost immediately killed by the rising tide.
Caught about 5 rides, with the first one really fun and then all the others on slow, barely breaking waves.
In the morning, I picked up Larry and pulled up in his parking lot. It was dark and I drove over the tail of his board!!! Snapping the tip of one of his fins. Other than that very little damage. That was really horrible, but there was no way I could've seen it. He also has these odd Excel fins that I had never seen before. I wonder if we're going to be able to find one. The board is totally ridable as is though.
After the session, I met Jim by the shower and he said that Threes was just classic, with overhead waves. I didn't really want to go there because I don't like to bring people there given that the crew always mentions how they hate it when people bring their no-so-good-surfers friends over. Oh well, next time.

Mon Oct 16 2006

Threes, 5:45AM-7:45AM
on my 9'2''.
by myself. Alone for 1 hour and then Eric paddled out, followed by some other guy.
waist-high, glassy, mixed up, peaky and shifty
Really hard to position oneself; it felt like there were 4 different high-frequency wind swells out there.
I had left my board at the office all weekend. Typically I fetch it on Sunday, but because of the earthquake I didn't hit the roads yesterday. So I went to get it this morning and I miscalculated and showed up on the beach way too early. I was alone, in the dark, with super shifty conditions. It was completely impossible to know where to sit and I had to wait about 20 minutes for clear daylight (the clouds didn't help).
Caught about 20 rides, all of them rather short, with 2-3 rather fun in spice of the very non-Threes-like conditions.
All morning I kept feeling little stings on my arms and legs, and when Eric paddled out he said he was definitely stung by a box jellyfish on his arm. That's when I remember that today's exactly 10 days after the full moon, when the box jellyfish have the toxic phase. But apparently it was sort of the end of the phase because it wasn't too bad. Felt several stings after that.
Also, there were tons of small fish jumping out of the water, sometimes even landing on my board, obviously chased by some bigger fish. It was a bit spooky. The water was completely crystal clear though.
Eric mentioned that the surf had been complete junk all weekend due to onshore winds.
1 turtle on the inside

Wed Oct 18 2006

Threes, 5:45AM-8:15AM
on my 9'2''.
Paddled out with Doug. At most 15 other people out. Met Clarence, Ron, Jim. Two stand-up paddle boarders out.
waist-high to 2ft-overhead, glassy, perfectly shaped, not extremely consistent but not bad.
Really a great day out there and the crowd wasn't too bad. Caught about 20 rides, with 1 outstanding right on an 8ft face. Kind of a scary take-off, but pulled it off nicely (thanks to Clarence who basically let me have this wave when he was closer to the peak). In the pocket the whole time, looking up to the top of the wave above my head and hand in the wall. Really fun and once again adrenaline pumping and shaky limbs after the ride :)
Caught a few lefts that closed out, but at some point I went for another 8ft right that ended up closing out completely. After making the drop and doing one bottom turn, there was no way I could escape off the back and instead I turned sharply to go straight to the best. After being caught up to by the white water I went under for quite a while and it sort of reminded me that perhaps I should be a little bit more careful and concerned when taking off on an 8ft wave over a coral reef.
I was really tired at the end of the session and I caught a tiny wave on the inside back to the beach.
It supposed to be bigger tomorrow. I'll most likely take my 8'2'' out.
1 sea turtle in the line-up.

Thu Oct 19 2006

Threes, 5:45AM-6:45AM
on my 8'2''.
By myself. About 25 people out.
Saw Jim in the street but I had grabbed the last parking spot so he had to turn around!
waist-high to head-high, glassy, nicely shaped but not as good as yesterday.
I really wasn't into it today at all. I think that the day after a great session I should really take a day off. It's been the case several time now that "the day after" session I am really not quite there.
I paddled out to find the spot with not as good conditions and more people, which already wasn't so great. Then I realized I was really tired. I caught 4 waves, with a couple lefts that closed out, and a couple of rights that were ok. But after 1 hour I was pretty much done and I just went in.
Really odd, I was low on motivation and energy, happy to just sit and watch people fight for waves. I am probably going to take tomorrow off.

Mon Oct 23 2006

Threes, 5:45AM-7:15AM
on my 9'2''.
Paddled out with Jim. Two girls out halfway through the session
waist-high with a few bigger sets, really mixed up and junky, windy, pretty much horrible.
In spite of the bad conditions I caught about 10 waves with 2-3 of them really fun, with fast sections on the inside. Really odd. Jim caught a few good ones too. If there had been no wind, it could have been a really nice session. No matter, it was great being in the water.
Some of the take-offs were a bit sketchy and bumpy, which was actually really fun. On one especially I really didn't think I was going to pull it off but ended up barely making it.
1 sea turtle in the water

Tue Oct 24 2006

Pops, Threes, 5:45AM-7:45AM
on my 9'2''.
By myself. Met Jim and Eric at Threes. 1 other surfer out at Pops.
waist-high, mixed up, junky, windy, high tide. It was supposed to be bigger today, but it really wasn't.
I looked at Threes for a while from the beach and for a second I thought about not going out at all. Then I opted to paddle out to Pops just for the work out. Caught about 5 "rides" there, with no punch at all and really sad conditions overall. There were 3 shortboarders on the inside who stayed out for about 5 minutes (no clue what they were doing out in the first place). This girl I've seen there before paddled out and we caught horrible waves for a while.
I then paddled to Paradise, where I caught a wave, and finally to Threes where I saw Jim. By then Threes was having ridable waves coming through with surprisingly fun take-offs and a few of them were even somewhat lined up. Caught about 5 rides there. Then Eric joined us and I caught a few more waves. One nice big wave came through but we were all on the inside.
Amazing how much fun I had today in these horrible conditions. It was just fun paddling around, talking to Jim and Eric.
1 sea turtle in the line-up.

Wed Oct 25 2006

Threes, 5:45AM-7:45AM
on my 9'2''.
Paddled out with Jim. Eric paddled out halfway through the session with two other guys. The last half hour was just Eric and I.
very odd conditions. Light to moderate winds throughout. Initially waist-high, bumpy, but definitely ridable. Then 1/2 hour of almost unridable knee-high waves, barely distinguishable from the chop. It was odd because with the high tide dropping we were expecting a constant improvement. But then toward the end of the session it became cleaner with nice waist- to chest-high waves with a few shoulder-high ones.
Caught perhaps 25 rides, with 4-5 really good ones at the end. In particular there was a shoulder-high wave on which I took off right on the peak and was on a high line in the perfect spot the whole time. Eric hooted from the inside on that one. Then a few very nice smaller ones on which I did many very nice turns.
So once again, although the outlook was terrible, a super fun session in the end.
I was dropped in by this guy on one of the bigger waves of the day, which was really annoying, especially because he was very much a beginner and proceeded to fall right in front of me, forcing me into a straight line after which I couldn't reconnect with the shoulder. In fact, Jim was SO annoyed with the two guys paddling out it was hilarious. He really hated that guy who paddled out on an 11.5ft monster board, giving him the "who are you and what are you doing here?" attitude.

Fri Oct 27 2006

Threes, 5:45AM-7:45AM
on my 9'2''.
Paddled out with Jim. At the peak about 15 other people out, including Clarence and Eric. 1 paddleboarder out.
Waist- to head-high, glassy, nicely shaped, sort of consistent.
Really nice day out there, if a bit crowded. Caught perhaps 20 rides, with many very fun one and one amazing right. That wave was about head-high, super smooth, and walling up very nicely without closing out. Was able to maintain a very high line and zip through the sections with big bottom turns to go around the white at the end of each section, one long turn on the lip and finally a kick out on the inside right next to Jim who was hooting the whole time. Not sure what's going on, but it looks like I catch one great wave every day these days.
My last wave of the session was also very nice, super smooth, and I managed to cross-step close to the nose, which wasn't bad.
Doug and a friend of his came out on HUGE paddleboards, and I talked to him a bit while I was showering on the beach. He's still trying it out but hasn't really caught a wave yet. The tide was too high for his shortboard anyway, and he paddled to Pops.
Overall a great session and as the tide drops it's going to get better and better throughout the morning. Apparently yesterday was great too, but I was just too tired to go out.
1 sea turtle in the line-up.

Sun Oct 29 2006

Flies, 7:45AM-9:30AM
on my 9'2'', single fin (using Eric's fin)
with Larry. Paddled out with Eric and his daughter. 5 other people out.
chest-high at the beginning and getting smaller as the tide came in, not very consistent but decent shape. Pretty much unridable at high tide.
Caught about 10 rides, with none of them special. But it was nice to be out on a beautiful Sunday morning.
On one wave I went right about 30 yards in front of that other guy. I was looking behind me and decided to go over the back to let him ride it to the inside. At that point, that boogie boarder drops in on me. It was unbelievable. She basically landed on my board. I heard a soft "bonk" and fell off, sort of in the other surfer's way. She went in after that and I caught up to her on the inside after catching a second wave. Turns out she was ok, all smiling, saying that she let he board go. Unreal. People were commenting on it in the line up afterwards.
Surfing single-fin was the usual experience. Not as stable, looser. I don't know. It was cool that Eric let me have his fin though. It's always good to try things.
Larry did pretty good today, improving steadily.

Mon Oct 30 2006

Threes, 5:45AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Alone for a while, then some random guy showed up for 1/2 hour and then Eric, Clarence and his friend, Terry, John, and one other guy.
knee- to waist-high, a bit windy, not consistent, not much punch but still ridable.
Caught about 15 rides, with only 1 or 2 fun ones, both at the very beginning of the session when I was alone in the semi-darkness. The tide is sure coming up fast these days.

Tue Oct 31 2006

Threes, 5:45AM-7:35AM
on my 9'2''
Paddled out with Eric. Jim, Doug, Clarence, Greg, and Ron out.
waist-high with a few chest-high waves coming through (head-high peaks). Glassy and organized. Pretty consistent. Not super powerful.
Really fun conditions out there. Caught about 20 rides, with a bunch of fun ones. Didn't catch any of the bigger ones. Doug was on a super short board and still caught 2-3 very nice ones. Unbelievable.
One one wave somebody dropped in on Doug and fell, with board flying up, while Doug was in a super critical portion of the wave. Doug being Doug he pulled off an amazing take off, completely buried in white water and went around the guy, but still, that was very lame. It's funny.
Really a beautiful morning with dreamy rides. In the morning I felt lazy and I almost didn't go out. I am glad I did.

Wed Nov 1 2006

Threes, 5:45AM-7:35AM
on my 9'2''
Paddled out with Jim and Eric. Some kid paddled out later, followed by Mitch and Clarence.
knee- to waist-high, a bit windy, not very consistent. Overall worse than yesterday but still a few fun rides to be had. Sort of two peaks today, with the section breaking in front of the right when taking off on the left-most peak on most waves.
Caught about 20 waves. 2 Really fun take-offs right on the peak on nicely shaped rights. Surprisingly fun actually. Other than that nothing too special
That kid, 13-14 years-old, who paddled out was sort of annoying. Clearly still learning and asking tons of questions like: "How much time in between sets?" I was like... "sets?" He couldn't turn and would go straight on every wave, he would fall off 50% of the time, and he would drop in. Not a good combination there. He was in my way on one of the nicest waves and I had to pull out and he got completely trashed by the white water. More notably, he dropped in horribly on Mitch. Mitch yelled at him, but couldn't avoid the collision because the kid went straight, and fell right away, 2 yards in front of Mitch. I was on the inside and heard the noise of the two boards colliding. Almost no damage. I went in a few minutes after that, but it was just odd. What was he doing out there???
The first gray morning in a long time. Today is supposed to be the beginning of the rainy season.

Fri Nov 3 2006

Threes, Pops, Paradise, 5:45AM-7:45AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Nobody at Threes or Paradise, 10 other people out at Pops.
knee- to waist-high, glassy, not consistent and long lulls.
First went to Threes. knee-high at best. Caught 3 waves though and then opted to paddle all the way to Pops.
At Pops conditions were a big bigger, with a few sets with peaks higher than waist level. I caught about 10 rides there, including 3 on what I think were the three nicest waves of the morning. Somehow, I was always in position on the outside for these. Smooth take-offs, a few turns and then letting it go for the shortboarders on the inside if they can get in. I could tell a few of the longboarders out there were annoyed with my catching these nicer waves, but they were never even close to being in position for them. I was just a bit lucky I guess.
After catching these waves and with the crowd becoming thicker I decided to paddle over to Paradise. I caught about 5 waves there, with fun drops and then almost no wall. Paddled in after that.
Overall a beautiful morning with stunning sunrise over Diamond Head and a few waves. Not bad considering how lame conditions looked like initially.

Tue Nov 14 2006

Threes, 5:45AM-6:45AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Nobody out.
knee- to waist-high, very windy, choppy, mixed up, horrible.
Today I basically had to go out to get back on my normal sleep schedule after 1 week off from surfing. So I paddled out in the windiest conditions I've ever seen at Waikiki. It felt just like paddling out at Diamond Head. It was great being in the water though, and it was really warm out. I saw only one other person out at Pops, which wasn't surprising. One of the very worst Waikiki days ever I'd say.
Did about 10 take-offs, with only 2-3 short rides. On the others I fell due to huge cross-wave bumps.
Paddled back in after one hour. It was great to be in the water in spite of everything. Taking a shower on the beach was hard because the water from the spout was being blown off constantly. That's how windy it was. The surf report said "light onshore". right.

Wed Nov 15 2006

Threes, 5:45AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Joined later by Eric and another guy. Doug showed up on his paddle board.
knee-high, sort of glassy, not consistent, weak.
Much better than yesterday, but that's not saying much. Caught about 6 rides, with a nice surprising chest-high take off on a peak (which of course reverted to knee-high almost immediately.
Was really glad to see Eric paddle out so that I had somebody to talk to during the long lulls.
Stunningly beautiful morning, if cloudy, with great sunrise on Diamond Head.
At 7:30 a military helicopter got right above us, hovered for a while and then used a speaker phone to say "all surfers back to shore" and the guy pointed to the beach. It turns out there was an earthquake in Japan yesterday and there was a Tsunami warning. Now, the warning had been canceled, but there was a danger of "weird current" and I guess they were taking precaution. That didn't make much sense because the beaches were open and so surfers showing up right after the helicopter departed would have no idea. But at this point, given the conditions, we paddled in. Pretty odd. People on the beach thought this was all shark-related.

Thu Nov 16 2006

Threes, 5:45AM-7:15AM
on my 9'2''
Paddled out with Jim. Joined later by Eric, Doug, and the other guy from yesterday. Some older guy that I've seen before came out at the end.
knee- to waist-high with a few chest-high waves, super glassy, sort of consistent but soft and weak.
Caught about 20 rides, with a few fun ones, more rights than lefts as usual. The swell was at an odd angle, not breaking in the usual place and with a few funky waves. Beautiful morning out there, great conversations in the water (although we talked about euthanasia for about 20 minutes.... you know... typical tropical paradise topic).
1 sea turtle on the outside
Had to get out of the water a bit earlier to meet somebody in Waikiki for breakfast. The swell's supposed to build more tomorrow. We'll see. 9AM for work.

Fri Nov 17 2006

Threes, 5:45AM-7:35AM
on my 9'2''
Paddled out with Jim. Doug, his daughter, David, Eric, his daughter, Ron, later, and up to about 15 people out, attracted by the swell forecast.
knee- to chest-high, glassy, but very shifty, peaky, strange.
Caught about 20 rides, with a few bigger ones, but only a few rare sets had nice walls them, and I wasn't on any of those. I had one decent inside wave though, but otherwise rides were not the usual quality of Threes. I hate to whine about a day when I caught many, many waves though.
Stunning sunrise on Diamond Head again today though.

Sun Nov 19 2006

Flies, 8:45AM-10AM
on my 9'2'', no leash
With Larry and his friend Jeff, who was on a boogie board with no fins
A bit windy, knee-high, weak, inconsistent, barely breaking, with the odd waist-high set coming through, sometimes higher on the peak.
It was just fun to paddle out on a gorgeous day. Caught about 10 waves, with only 2 real waves.

Wed Nov 22 2006

All over Waikiki, 5:45AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2'', no leash
By myself. about 10 people out total, including Eric.
Super glassy, almost completely flat.
I paddled out to Threes, which wasn't breaking, then to Paradise, then to Pops. Still no waves. I made it all the way to the inside of Canoes. Four guys were out and I caught 2 ankle-high waves that died out almost instantly. I paddled back out to Pops and Paradise where I met Eric. There we sat for a while and a waist-high wave came, which somehow I caught and rode. Probably the best wave of the morning actually.
Beautiful morning, great conversation with Eric.

Tue Nov 28 2006

Threes, 6AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Jim, his friend Jay, Ron, Ross, Mitch and Steve were out.
Glassy, waist-high with frequent chest-high peaks, a few true chest-high sets.
Caught about 15 rides, with quite a few very fun take offs on nicely shaped peaks. One one of the big sets I was on the outside and seemingly in position, but couldn't get in. Pretty sad. The board ended up going over the falls while I had to fall back. Oh well.
Really happy about many of my take-offs today, on the peak, hugging the wall with hand in the water, pumping slightly to keep a high line. Somehow I feel like today my surfing has improved. Not often the case, so I am enjoying it for what it's worth.

Wed Nov 29 2006

Threes, 6AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
Paddled out with Jim. Mitch, Steve, Nathan, Eric, and 4-5 other people came out.
Glassy, knee- to waist-high and not consistent with a few bigger sets coming through every 25 minutes or so.
Basically not as good and more crowded than yesterday, so not great. Still caught about 15 rides though, but nothing special.
Absolutely stunning sunrise over Diamond Head.

Sun Jan 21 2007

Flies, 8AM-10AM
on my 9'2'', no leash
With Larry. Nobody else out.
Knee- to waist-high, semi-glassy, but extremely inconsistent due to the lack of swell and the somewhat high tide
Caught 5 waves, including one left that had a little bit of punch while the other ones were just extremely high-tide-mushy.
First session after a long time without surfing. totally out of shape, but great to be out there in the water after such a long time and with such unbelievable weather.
Glassy, knee- to waist-high and not consistent with a few bigger sets coming through every 25 minutes or so.

Wed Jan 24 2007

Threes, Fours, Kaiser's, Rockpile, 6:30AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2'', no leash
By myself, 3 people at Fours, 5 at Kaiser's, 3 at Rockpile
Ankle- to Knee-high. Glassy.
Paddled out for the workout mostly. No waves at Threes, and I opted to paddle West for once. So I paddled to what I think is Fours, where there were two shortboarders. I continued on to what I am pretty sure was Kaiser's. Waves were lame but that place seemed to just generate waist-high waves on this completely flat day. It was completely owned by 5 shortboarders of course. Then I went on to the next spot where there were two longboarders. I am not sure whether that's Rockpile or not. It looked more like leftovers from Kaiser's, with only the left "working". I caught a nice knee-high left, and decided I was too tired and didn't have enough time to continue on to the next stop (Rockpile?). So I hung out there, caught an ankle-high left and paddled all the way back. Quite the workout but a stunning morning once again. One day I'll have to really get those spots straight.

Fri Jan 26 2007

Threes, 6:15AM-7:45AM
on my 9'2''
By myself, at first 1 other guy out, and then up to 3 other people including Ron and Mitch.
Knee- to waist- with the occasional bigger wave, not consistent and rather long lulls, a bit windy but not bad.
Caught about 15 rides, including a chest-high left. Nothing too exciting but fun. Getting in better shape already, although my surfing sort of sucks right now. Had a hard time making sections.
As usual stunning sunrise although this morning was a bit cold.

Sat Jan 27 2007

Flies, 8:30AM-9:30AM
on my 9'2''
By myself, 2 other guys out.
knee-high with a few waist-high waves, glassy, very inconsistent and weak.
Caught 5-6 waves, with only 1 decent waist-high left. The tide was coming up fast. It really looked lame from the shore but I paddled out just because it was a great morning and besides I had to go get my board at UH.

Sun Jan 28 2007

Flies, 9:00AM-10:00AM
on my 9'2''
With Larry, nobody out.
knee-high, inconsistent, choppy, weak.
Pretty much ridiculous to paddle out in these conditions, but it was such a beautiful day and it was a good workout.
Caught about 5 waves, with only 2 real ones, which were lame anyway.
At some point, this guy paddled out with a child and a bag on his long board. They went beyond the line-up to meet up with two canoes. After a while, the guy paddled back and had left his daughter on one of the canoes. He told us that he had just scattered hit mom's ashes in the ocean with his daughter and friends.

Tue Jan 30 2007

Rainbows, 6:45AM-8:30AM
on my 9'2''
With Eric, 2 then 3 other people out
chest-high, windier as time went on, not very consistent and shifty, but nice waves coming through regardless.
Finally made it to Rainbows. Way back when I had surfed the inside there, which people called Kualoa (because it's next to Kualoa ranch). Rainbows is just the outside reef.
Eric explained that the line-up is always shifty and indeed it is. No point in chasing waves. Just sit where you are in the general line-up area and wait. Waves are odd. Basically one must be on the peak to drop in, even on a longboard. The take-off is steep but the shoulder is soft and slow, so one must hug the white water. There is still a wall to work with though. Then, the inside walls up and gets pretty fast (nothing crazy though). Very long rides and the paddle back takes some time. The take-off is a bit difficult because one really has to take off in the most critical part of the wave. So it looks like it's going to be really sketchy, but in fact it's not that bad. On the first couple waves I pulled out because I thought it was going to close out, when in fact it was perfect.
Caught 6-7 waves, with a couple of very good/long rights and one great left. On the rest I didn't stay close enough to he white and ended up losing the wave.
It was a great experience out there, in turn glassy, sunny, rainy, windy, sunny again. The landscape is absolutely stunning, with Chinaman's hat on the left (when looking back to shore), a steep hill right in the back of the spot, and a beautiful valley to the right of that, bright green, with a few rainbows. The shore is lined up with coconut trees. Quite the tropical setting.
So, overall, yes, the wave isn't great, but there was size and I had tons of fun. Besides today it was probably one of the few ridable spots on the island (North Shore: 30-40 feet, junky; West Shore: 15-20 feet, blown out; South Shore: dead AND blown out). Eric is definitely on top of the "let's pick a spot" thing on O`ahu. I owe him.

Wed Jan 31 2007

Rainbows, 6:45AM-8:15AM
on my 9'2''
With Eric, nobody out
Waist- to chest-high, _incredibly_ windy.
Eric and I were probably the only two insane people out this morning on the island. I showed up and basically I couldn't open the car door because of a squall. Off-shore/side-shore mix, with clouds racing in the sky. I was early somehow and after 10 minutes I felt that this was just ridiculous and that Eric would never show up (he lives on the windward side and the winds must have been howling at his house as well). So I started driving back to town and after 1 mile I saw Eric's car coming this way. I u-turned and met up with him at the spot. We had coffee in the back of his jeep, and looked at the spot. I could tell he was willing to paddle out, and although it seemed completely insane I agreed.
Made it to the line-up, which was basically a minefield. I have never been out in conditions even remotely close to being this windy. The wave plumes were 10ft in the air and were racing across the line-up for hundreds of feet, hitting us like a slap in the face. Incredibly we managed to drop in a few waves for very bumpy rides, some of them long, some on which we would literally be blown off to the back. A couple times I got picked up off the board by the wind. Another time I couldn't turn the board back up after turtling because of the wind and had to wait for the squall to pass. Watching Eric trying to catch wave was like a vision from some "lost at sea and about to die" movie. It was so insane that I actually giggled the whole session and had a great time. I still caught about 5 waves, with 2 long ones.
The lefts were completely impossible because right into the side-shore wind. I ate it on every left. At some point I was right on the peak of a head-high left and just had to let it go. Eric paddled over and yelled in my ear that he had enough and was tired. I could barely hear him and thought that yes, it was a good idea to paddle back in or catch a last one as opposed to waiting for being completely exhausted. (Surprisingly I was doing fine and paddling like a maniac though.) And indeed, I was able to catch a small right that wasn't too bad (meaning it felt like skiing on a mogul field but I could stay on). I turned back and saw Eric try to catch a chest-high left (I though "is he insane?"). He dropped in, was bounced back up by huge chop, fell back down on his board, was bounced back up, fell to the side of his board which then was picked up 5ft in the air by the wind, and which fell back right on his head. It happened really fast but he was back on, paddling, and with his thumb up. I was already planning to tow him back to shore with broken ribs and skull and thinking ahead on what the best towing strategy would be like (which was attaching both leashes together and me dragging him on his board in the crazy chop). But no, turns out he didn't actually fall on his board but right next to it. We made it to shore, his head was fine, and he just had a pressure ding on his board.
So in the end,this wasn't really surfing, more like some extreme water sport adventure, but I had a total blast laughing for the whole session. I just wish I had had a waterproof camera to take shots from the back of the waves, which looked like erupting geysers into which Eric would plunge. In retrospect it was probably stupid to go out, even though we didn't drift much and paddling back wasn't bad. What if there had been bad currents though? But I can always say that Eric was the one insisting upon going out and I just went along to make sure he didn't get hurt. Never again though.

Fri Feb 2 2007

Threes, 6:30AM-7:45AM
on my 9'2''
By myself, one other guy out, and then John and Clarence
Waist-high, with chest-high peaks once in a while, very light winds, a bit all over the place and peaky though, not your typical Threes due to the wind swell
Caught about 15 rides, with a few fun drops and a little bit of a short wall. The tide was coming in, and it got more and more difficult to catch waves. In spite of that I probably caught my best wave toward the end. One head-high wave came through. Everybody was on the inside but for that guy I had never seen before. Unfortunately he was clearly learning and afraid to drop into anything so in spite of being in the _perfect_ spot he backed off.
Overall not as good as it could have been (after so much wind everybody expected huge waves), but still fun and probably among the best choices this morning.

Fri Feb 16 2007

Threes, 6:45AM-8AM
on my 9'2''
By myself, up to 6 other people out, Eric, Jim, Ron, Doug on his stand-up paddle board for a while.
Knee- to waist-high, with a few slightly bigger sets, semi-glassy and organized, not super consistent.
Caught about 15 rides, with a few fun ones actually
Beautiful morning and nice to be in the water after a couple of weeks off

Fri Feb 23 2007

Threes, 6:30AM-7:40AM
on my 9'2''
By myself, up to 9 other people out at the peak, including Eric, Jim, Mitch, John, and a few others I had never seen before. About halfway through half of those guys paddled out to Paradise after a great set broke over there (a total fluke though)
Waist-high is a couple of nice chest-high sets that surprised everybody. A tad windy, but not bad at all. Not super consistent but somewhat of a decent shape at times.
Caught about 15 rides, with a couple of fun ones. Nothing to write home about, but so great to be back in the water after a 1-week interruption.

Sat Feb 24 2007

Threes, Paradise 11:45AM-1:30PM
on my 9'2''
With Eric and Tracy, one other guy out at Threes, and up to 5 other people out at Paradise.
Knee- to waist-high, very inconsistent, a bit windy.
We started at Threes and not much was going on there. There was that guy out there who had never surfed before (how did he end up at Threes???) and he told us: "I am just hanging out here, catch whatever and I'll try to stay out of your way". We talked a bit, nice guy, who was driven out of Pops due to crowds.
After catching about 5 waves at Threes we all paddled to the inside of Paradise. It was more consistent there, but of course super peaky and super shallow with sea urchins everywhere. Caught about 10 waves there, with a few steep take-offs. Other people started paddling out and we went in.
Overall a pretty lame session with a few rides here and there, but a nice afternoon.

Sun Feb 25 2007

Kammieland, 10AM-12PM
on my 8'2''
with Eric and Tracy, between 3 and 10 other people out
Waist- to head-high, a bit choppy and windy, not very clean but fine, a few lulls. Overall pretty lame conditions for locals there, but pretty nice for me
Caught 5-6 rides, with 2 decent rights with extremely fun take-offs. It was a bit of a struggle with the 8'2'' after not surfing it for so long, but I am happy I took that board out for my first North Shore session. Definitely something else here, with the great view of the shore, more powerful/steep waves (even on a small day like today). Most notable was the constant current/wind, which meant that I had to paddle the whole time to stay in place. Quite the workout. And on each take-off I felt like I wasn't going to make it, struggling to get into the wave and then feeling like I was going to eat it right after making it into the wave. But turns out I made all take-offs. I would have surfed better on my longboard I think, but riding the 8'2'' was a blast.
One of the local guys there, older, very few teeth was doing head stand after head stand on shoulder-high waves. Very impressive.
Overall a great feeling to finally have made it to the North Shore, and a clear realization of how insane it can be here when it's big. Definitely going there when it's small for a long time, possibly for ever.

Mon Feb 26 2007

Threes, 6AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
by myself, met Jim, Nathan, Ron in the line-up as well as 3-4 other guys out.
Waist- to chest-high, pretty clean, organized, long lulls in between. Most sets were at waist-high with higher peaks, and a few bigger sets once in a while, in particular a beautiful head-high one with everybody inside.
Caught about 15 rides, with one great right toward the end. Chest-high on the peak, very nice wall, and luckily I was the one sitting the deepest so everybody backed off. Made the drop and then did many turns all the way to the inside.
Compared to the North Shore with my 8'2'', this was amazingly easy surfing. I felt like I had improved actually, but I was still tired from yesterday's session.
Beautiful morning too.

Tue Feb 27 2007

Flies, 6:30AM-8:30AM
on my 9'2''
with Eric. Nobody out.
waist- to chest-high, sometimes walling up to be overhead on the inside, semi-glassy, not very consistent with long lulls between sets.
The plan to go to Flies to score some waves without dealing with the crowd at Threes today worked perfectly. The waves weren't as nice as at Threes as expected, but in fact they're a bit rawer an a little bit more challenging, which makes it fun.
The reef has a slightly raised part on the inside which causes a section on the right to close out ahead of the pocket, which is something that one has to negotiate somehow, whenever it's possible. Today somehow, there were a few perfectly lined-up waves that connected nicely to the inside with the bad section being short and easily avoidable.
I caught about 15 rides, or so, with 2 great rights that were in the chest-high range and a bit bigger on the inside. Really exhilarating, especially because this wave at Flies just feels bigger than it really is (as noted by Eric).
There were a few bigger sets, head-high peaks, but we were always stuck inside.
On a wave both Eric and I paddled. He was closer to the peak but before the weird section, and for some reason I thought I'd paddle and get on a high line, zipping through the section, thus putting space in between us. Not sure why I went ahead with the plan, but it was just a little bit too sketchy and I actually fell sort of in front of him. No worries, but that was pretty lame...
Eric pointed out a few land features to line up on, which is always very useful.
Overall, a great session in an empty spot that worked and delivered good waves once in a while.

Sun March 4 2007

Flies, 10:30AM-11:30AM
on my 9'2''
with Larry, Rob, and a friend of theirs. Nobody else out.
knee-high, barely breaking, glassy
Stood up 5 times (not that I am not using the term "rides").
Was good to get wet, after missing out on a North Shore session due to the a run to the ER. inside, semi-glassy, not very consistent with long lulls between sets.

Sat March 10 2007

Flies, 8AM-9:30AM
on my 9'2''
by myself, two other people out.
waist- to head-high, not windy, peaky and not very clean or organized.
Caught about 15 rides, with a few fun head-high drops, but not very long walls. Overall an odd session, but very nice to be in the water after a one-week interruption.

Sun March 11 2007

Flies, 8:30AM-10:15AM
on my 9'2''
by myself, between 2 and 10 other people out, with Eric and Tracy paddling out about halfway through the session.
Glassy at the beginning, and a bit windy at the end. waist- to head-high, with a few bigger sets. Clean and organized but many close outs. Not super consistent, but a very good 1h between 9 and 10.
Caught about 20 rides, with three great ones, all rights.
The first was was slightly overhead, with a super steep wall that was holding. The drop was easy, but then the wave walled up and I managed to stay close to the wall and zip through the section, hand in the water, with the beginning of a barrel forming (but not really, this being Flies and all). Short ride, about 20 yards, but really intense.
The second was on a wave that doubled up and was easily 2ft overhead. I made a sketchy drop and then surfed the wall straight on a super high line. I don't think I ever surfed such a high line on a wave this size before, and watching the bottom of the wave to far below my feet was quite something. This ended with a big bottom turn at the end to kick out the board. Probably the wave of the day out there really. It was insane and I was oozing adrenaline after the ride. Tracy was on the inside and she said the wave was huge. I was really happy I had made it.
The third wave was only shoulder high, but completely lined-up and I rode it all the way to the little jetty there, for a 100 yard ride. Today the channel was actually breaking for some reason, so the peaks were much closer to Diamond Head than usual. These three waves all occurred within the same 1/2 hour. I got very lucky I guess.
Then the conditions completely crapped out pretty much from one minute to the next. No idea why. I paddled back in. Beautiful morning out there too with warm and turquoise water.

Mon March 11 2007

Flies, 6:30AM-8:0AM
on my 9'2''
by myself, one other guy out.
waist- to head-high, choppy and a bit windy, with almost all bigger waves closing out. What a difference a day makes.
Met Eric in the parking lot. He decided not to paddle out because his shoulder was sore and the conditions weren't worth it, which they definitely weren't.
I caught about 10 rides, all bumping and sort of lame. Didn't catch any of the bigger waves because there wasn't anywhere to go really. At some point I got stuck on the inside after surfing a left (surprise, surprise) and it literally took my 20 minutes of constant paddling to get back out. I ended the session on a pseudo-ride that took me to the stairs.
Talked a little bit to the other guy who was also out yesterday, reflecting on how lame this was. We ended up surfing way over to the Diamond Head side of the spot, basically at the spot called Incinerators (I think). Very odd.

Mon March 19 2007

Threes, 6:15AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
Paddled out with Mitch. Jim, Eric, Clarence and his daughter, Ron, Craig. Basically, the whole crew.
knee- to waist-high, windy, not consistent.
Caught about 10 rides, with two very fun/long waist-high rights, sort of unexpected really.
Pretty much lame, but it was fun to be out with everybody and back in the water.

Tue March 20 2007

Threes, 6:15AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Met Jim, Clarence, Craig, and Ron in the line-up. Will paddled over from Pops at the end.
knee- to waist-high, windy, not consistent. Basically a repeat from yesterday, with perhaps the best waves better than yesterday.
Caught about 15 rides, with one fun right and a decent left. Nothing to write home about. That South swell is just being "delayed" every day.

Wed March 21 2007

Threes, 6:15AM-7:45AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Met Jim, Mitch, Eric, Clarence, Ron and some other guy.
Waist-high with a few slightly bigger sets, pseudo-glassy, not consistent, a bit peaky, but a few fun take-offs and a few long rides.
Caught about 15 rides, with only one on a set wave that was perhaps chest high at the peak. Also made sort of a sketchy take-off on an inside peak, which was pretty fun.
There was a strong current taking us towards Diamond Head and requiring constant paddling. Quite the work out.
It was fun being in the line-up, talking to everybody, etc. Very friendly atmosphere as usual. Eric was talking about his trip to Hilo where he saw 50+ surfers at one of the spots with knee-high waves. So I guess that we are lucky here in Waikiki!

Thu March 22 2007

Threes, 6:15AM-7:45AM
on my 9'2''
Paddled out with Mitch and Eric. Met Jim, and later Nathan and Clarence in the line up. A couple of other people out, two older guys I've seen before.
Waist-high with a few chest-high waves, messy, choppy, pretty much horrible, and windier as time went on.
Somehow, it was still possible to catch waves and I caught about 15 rides. A couple were actually fun, especially a right that doubled up and was head-high on the peak. A couple of longish rights and lefts as well, but nothing like the normal Threes waves at all. Bumpy rides, multiple peaks, etc. The spot was pretty much unrecognizable due to the mixed-up wind swells. Same strong current as yesterday.
At the end of the session this guy I had seen on the beach before paddled out. Baseball cap, sunglasses, wearing only shorts, and a lit cigar! To top it off he was quite the "ostentatious knee paddler", paddling over to the outside of the spot and staying on his knees on his massive board (which from the distance looked like a foamy, but I can't quite believe it was). He clearly wanted attention and his whole attitude was very condescending, paddling around like he was the rooster ruling the farm animals. After not catching anything on the outside he paddled inside, sat right next to me, and paddled for a lame small wave (not that I hadn't been paddling for those all morning though). He rode it and then fell on the inside, completely going under water and sadly ruining his cigar. He paddled in then, either disgusted by the conditions or embarrassed to have wet his cigar on his first wave, or both. Talked to Clarence about him. Clarence said his name is Kim (I think) but that he calls him Punchy! One day Clarence was by himself and Punchy paddled over and planted himself 1ft from him, which really freaked him out. As far as Clarence knows the guy's a photographer but paddles out sometimes, and is sort of crazy and wants some attention. I have to say that he provided amusement during this otherwise lame session. It was particularly amusing because we all knew each other in the line-up and he was sort of the freaky outsider. When he first paddled over actually, Jim said with this disgusted look on his face: "Who the fuck is that???" which totally encapsulated what we were all thinking at that exact moment.

Sat March 24 2007

Sunset Cliffs, Chasm, 6:30AM-9:30AM
on Kathy's 8'6''
Paddled out with Travis and Dario. Nobody out.
Waist-high with a few chest-high peaks, clean but several close-outs, light breeze but pretty glassy, not very consistent.
Great California morning, with sun coming out halfway through the session. Caught 20+ rides, with a couple of very fun rights. Kathy's board worked pretty well, especially with Dario's fin on it.
It was hard adjusting to wearing a wetsuit as the paddling was so much harder. The water temp was a bit of a shock as well after so many sessions in Hawai`i, but it really wasn't too bad after a few minutes.
It was great being out with Dario and Travis. Travis was surfing his 5'8'' quad and he was on fire.
1 sea lion in the line-up, popping up super close to us for some reason and was sort of freaking us out. At some point apparently it was following me as I was paddling back out. Before that Dario said that it had jumped right next to his board. Travis' theory is that it was attracted by the smell of a powerbar I had brought to the line-up and whose wrapper was stuck in my wetsuit.

Sun March 25 2007

Sunset Cliffs, Chasm, 7:00AM-9:30AM
on Kathy's 8'6''
Paddled out with Dario. Two longboarders out.
Light breeze, Knee-high with a few slightly bigger waves.
Conditions were definitely weaker than yesterday. We walked all the way to Chasm and then opted to walk way further South just for the hell of it. We passed 33s and went to what we think is the next spot (it was hard to tell due to the lack of waves). Nothing was happening there, besides a single seal ion checking us out (the same one as yesterday?). So after about 15 minutes we paddled back to 33s. There were a few waves breaking there, and we caught a few. The left was a bit sketchy as there were boils all over the water surface due to the shallow bottom. We caught a few rights (Dario had one that I'd say qualified as waist-high). After a while we paddled back all the way to Chasm.
Chasm was a bit better and I caught perhaps 10 rides. My first wave was pathetic as I fell back due to exhaustion. This paddling with a wetsuit on is just so much more work. But then I had a few fun rights. Botched a sketchy take-off I should have made, made it on a sketchier take-off.
The highlight of the session were the dolphins. At some point we had about 6 of them in front of us paddling out. As the wave stood up they turned around and surfed towards us, barely below the surface. Three of them were within 1ft of my board, going under it.

Fri March 30 2007

Cherry Hill, 7:00AM-9:30AM
on Kathy's 8'6''
with Dario and Travis
Glassy, knee- to waist-high, not consistent, closing out often.
It was very cold in the morning and as we were going down the cliff there were very little waves to be seen. The water temperature had dropped over the week to a supposed 56 degrees. It just didn't look good or worth it. We walked down towards the pointe and it looked to be a slightly better shape there but smaller. The air was so cold it actually hurt my hands. We walked back, and then, somehow Travis and Dario got pumped up to paddled out. I just followed.
The water wasn't as cold as we expected actually but still pretty cold. We had a blast though, being totally goofy in the water. And in the end we all caught a few fun waves though, which was sort of surprising. I caught 3 decent rights, with a face for a few maneuvers. T got a very good last wave, with a little floater to cap it off.
Dario went in a bit early, and T and I stayed out longer. This guy paddled out to right where we were at the end, which was pretty annoying given that the whole beach was empty.
Overall a surprisingly fun session in spite of the bad conditions and the cold.
One duck in the line-up! That was very weird.

Sun Apr 1 2007

Sunset Cliffs, New Break and Chasm, 11:30AM-1:30PM
on Kathy's 8'6''
with Dario, nobody out at New Break, 3 guys on the outside a Chasm at the end of the session.
Glassy, knee-high, not consistent.
We really paddled out for the sake of getting wet on a beautiful sunny day. First went to New Break because there were about 4-5 people out at Ab. Caught a few waves there, knee-high trying to get to waist-high. We then paddled to Chasm because it looked better. Once at Chasm, the outside just wasn't breaking at all. So we were sort of on our way in when we realized that the inside was breaking, with fun waist-high+ peaks an a little wave all the way to the evil ledge. So we surfed that for a while. I had a take off super close to the ledge and had to bail because I was getting in 2 feet of water. Later Dario caught that wave and basically got all the way to the ledge. He had to somersault backward and his board went over the ledge (he had no leash)! That could've been pretty bad. I paddled back to the outside twice, but although we could definitely see that the swell was filling in, not much was going on. We ended the session pretty exhausted. I must have caught about 15 waves.

Fri Apr 6 2007

Threes, 6:30AM-9:30AM
on my 9'2''
with Scott, Yves, and Olivia. Met Ron, Jim and his friend JJ, Doug and his two girls. Initially the three old guys from Pops were out as well. 10 people out at most.
Super glassy, ankle- to waist-high, not very consistent but "sets" coming through. Probably one of the most gorgeous mornings out there.
During the first part of the session I caught about 20 rides, with a couple of very fun waist+ right handers. Surprisingly fun. It was so great to be in warm water with no wetsuit. My paddling was so incredibly strong without the fighting against the wetsuit. I paddled for waves I didn't really think I could catch and all of a sudden found myself standing. It was Scott's first time at Threes and in spite of the tiny conditions he was very impressed.
At about 7:40 I paddled back in to meet Yves and Olivia, his 13-year old daughter, for their first surfing session ever. We rented boards and paddled out to Threes (Pops wasn't breaking). After about 30 yards I started towing Olivia. After about 50 more yards Yves grabbed Olivia's leash and I towed both of them to the spot. Quite the workout. After giving them some directions I started looking for waves to push Olivia into. We did that on two knee-high waves. On the first one she pearled, on the second one she rode the white on her stomach all the way in and was quite pleased. On her way out the most amazing thing happened. She paddled right next to me (I have to say that she was very good at sticking to being close to me... she would totally pick up this surfing thing after 10 sessions I think) and we saw beautiful fish swim right under our boards in amazingly clear water. As we raised our eyes to look for incoming waves we saw two whales that were about 25 yards away, rolling on their sides and stretching their side fins, showing us their tails, singing. The water was completely still, and the 10 of us out there were completely mesmerized. That was a totally magical, silent moment and Olivia was completely flipping out. After that we were on the inside and a small outside set came with people taking off left and right. I grabbed her board and paddled with one arm trying to get out of the way. That worked really well and as she was facing towards the beach and I was basically pulling her to the outside she got to see people taking off right next to her several times, which was pretty cool (those people probably where wondering what the hell we were doing at Threes though). I am just glad I did that otherwise she would have been completely in the way. Finally I pushed her into a wave on which she stood up a little before falling off, which made her day. Towed her back in for most of the way to end a pretty amazing first surf session for her and a great work out for me. While "teaching" her I caught 3 absolutely perfect knee-high right handers, in water so clear it felt like it was in 1 inch deep.

Mon Apr 9 2007

Threes, 6AM-7:45AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Met Eric, Clarence, Jim, Craig in the lineup. 3 other guys paddled out, no idea who they were.
Light breeze, knee-high with a few waist-high sets, not very consistent with long lulls. The waves weren't breaking as usual, but definitely rideable.
Caught about 20 waves, with a couple of fun rights. Beautiful morning. I paddled super early because I had to drop off Yves, Sylvie, and Olivia at the airport at 5:15.
Eric cut his foot on coral after a long ride he took way too far in. He was quite aggressive with the 3 other guys out today, sort of dropping in and paddling right on them. Not sure why actually but it was kind of funny.

Tue Apr 10 2007

Threes, 6AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Met Eric, Clarence, Jim, Craig, Ron, Doug an his daughter. Up to 10 people out.
light breeze at first and quite breezy later. knee- to waist- with a few bigger sets. not very consistent an some waves to be had. The swell is still filling in and today was definitely a letdown compared to everybody's expectations.
Caught about 20 rides, with a couple of good rights. I sort of missed the wave of the day though as I thought that other guy was definitely paddling for it closer to the inside but he sort of bailed at the end. For some reason I wasn't paddling for it at all and my "turn and burn" at that point was just too little to late.
Craig and I talked about the 3 guys from yesterday, a father and his two sons as it turns out. Basically, as the sons couldn't get waves yesterday (due to crappy conditions and to the fact that we didn't let them get too many I guess, although I can't recall taking waves from them myself), the father started to play what Craig called "team surfing". Basically he would not even try to surf but just paddle around trying to block other people who might try to paddle for the same wave as his sons! Craig was blocked twice in this way and couldn't believe it. It happened to Clarence too a first time, and then on the second time Clarence just paddled right over the guy's board. That pretty much ended it. Part of me wishes I had been there to see that, part of me is happy that I missed it.

Wed Apr 11 2007

Flies, 5:40AM-6:40AM
on my 8'2''
By myself. Alone for about 1/2 hour, then 2 people out.
waist- to head-high, junky and bumpy, not very consistent, breaking a little bit all over the place, a it choppy, lots of doubles, etc.
I only had 1 hour to surf this morning because I was supposed to take Norm to the hospital at 8AM. So I opted for Flies because it was close and since there was a swell it should show some waves. Turns out it wasn't really a good choice as it was pretty much a mess, and to make it worse I took my 8'2'' out. It would have been much better with my 9'2'' to make it down bumpy lumpy waves.
I got there so early that Kakahako Park was closed and I had to wait for them to open it up at 5:30AM. I pretty paddled out in the dark. Sort of eerie, cool, and perhaps a bit stupid.
I essentially caught 2 waves. The first one was a head-high, I made the drop after much bumping up and down and rode it for a little bit before it closed out. The second was the last wave of the session, a small waist-high left that took me close to the rocks.
On an aborted left I got caught inside for about 20 minutes, which was a huge workout but sort of fun actually. Somehow Flies seems to have these periods of outside close outs on big sets that keeps you stuck inside for a while while you make your long way around back to the channel.

Thu Apr 12 2007

Threes, 5:45AM-7:45AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. About 10 people out at the peak, including Ron, Jim, Clarence, Steve, Doug on his paddleboard at the end, Dr. Kevorkian (that old guy who looks like he's about the croak, nicknamed by the guys out there).
Super glassy, waist-high with a few bigger sets, clean and organized, pretty consistent. Beautiful morning.
Caught about 20 rides, with several fun ones. Really nice to have clean waves after yesterday's mess. The inside was small but hollow and I fell several time while trying to get to the nose. On one fall I slightly scratched my back on the coral as it was super shallow.
Great conversations in the water. Jim was telling us about his wave of the day yesterday, about 9ft face. Doug had a better story though. A dead guy was found in Waikiki two days ago, drowned and weighted down (either suicide or crossed the mob). Turns out that Doug and his friends are the ones who found him and called the police! They were paddling on stand-up paddle boards and were able to see the body straight down right by a stone jetty.

Sat Apr 13 2007

Threes, 7:30AM-9:00AM
on my 9'2''
With Larry. Met Ron in the line-up. A few longboarders out, 5-6 friendly shortboarders on the inside.
After checking Flies which was completely flat, we went to Waikiki. Conditions were knee- to waist-, choppy, windy, inconsistent, junky. Pretty much a mess, but I had to get wet before going to DC.
Caught perhaps 10 waves, with one somewhat decent left, and one somewhat decent right.
Towards the end of the session there was a collision on the inside between a shortboarder and that guy who was surfing that crazy quad 9' fish.

Thu Apr 19 2007

Threes, 6:20AM-7:40AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Met Ron, Jim, and 3 other guys out.
waist-high+, windy and choppy, breaking a little bit all over the place due to the wind swell, but still a few waves to be caught once in a while.
Caught about 15 waves, with a couple of very fun rights somehow, with a pretty nice wall if sectiony.
So great to be back in Hawaii after 4 days in Washington DC in below-40 temperatures. Even if the conditions pretty much sucked it felt like heaven. Great conversation with Jim about fruit trees to put in a garden.

Fri Apr 20 2007

Threes, 6:20AM-7:40AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Met Ron, Jim and Doug on his SUP out. About 10 longboarders out and 5 people on SUPs!!
waist- to chest-high, much cleaner than yesterday, not as windy, more consistent.
Caught about 15 waves, including a nice right early on and a phenomenal right toward the end of the session. I managed to be in the right spot, a tad inside of the outside longboarders, but outside of the longboarders and SUPs owning the inside. I dropped in on this chest-high wave to the left of the peak and zipped through back to the right. There were two guys there who thought better than dropping in. It was just a perfect wave, very high line, in the perfect spot in the pocket. Nice off-the-lip turn towards the end. I kicked out close to Doug who was sitting on his board and taking pictures. He said that my ride was great but that I was too far for him to take a picture. Too bad because that one must have looked good.
After that I pretty much waited for a last wave in. A couple of chest-high sets came again but I was never in the right spot and the left was closing out. Made it back to the beach on a waist-high wave.
Really beautiful morning, clean conditions, quite a few waves, one outstanding wave. Couldn't ask for much more really.

Sat Apr 21 2007

Flies, 8:30AM-9:30AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. About 10 people out.
waist- to chest-high, not very clean, a bit windy, but very inconsistent with super long lulls.
Probably not worth paddling out in spite of the occasional good sets. After debating for about 20 minutes I decided to paddle out with other doubtful surf observers. Caught 5 waves or so, with a decent left and a decent right. Beautiful day out, so never completely wrong to get in the water.

Sun Apr 22 2007

Threes, 5:50AM-6:50AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Met Doug, Clarence, Ron, Nathan out. Started off with 4 people out and by the time I paddled back in there were about 30!
waist-high, not very clean and more sectiony than usual, with a few bigger sets once in a while.
Woke up early and thought I'd try Threes on a weekend when there were supposed to be waves. Although it was nice being in the water and it was good talking with my friends out there, the crowd was just way too big considering the amount of waves. Caught about 6-7 waves, with a couple of decent rights with fun drops but with sections closing out in front of me. Eventually caught a small inside wave in.

Fri Apr 27 2007

Threes, 6AM-7:15AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Met Jim, Ron, that guy Steve, and somebody else out.
knee- to thigh-high, glassy, clean, not very consistent.
Pretty lame overall, but beautiful morning and a few peaceful glides over the coral. Caught about 15 rides or so, all rights.
waist-high, not very clean and more sectiony than usual, with a few bigger sets once in a while.
1 sea turtle in the line-up

Mon Apr 30 2007

Threes, 6AM-7:15AM
on my 9'2'', no leash
Paddled out with Jim. 6-7 other guys out, some I had seen before, some I hadn't.
knee- to waist-high, glassy, not very consistent or clean, but a few small waves to be had. A bit windy at the end of the session..
Caught about 15 waves, including a couple of fun rights. One bigger set came and I was inside. I could have done a turn and burn on the second wave of the set, but without a leash it was just too sketchy. I didn't intend to padded out without a leash actually, I just locked my trunk with the leash in it and was too lazy to go back.
My last wave was really fun. It was a right, waist-high+. This guy was deeper than I was but he was a beginner and had been going straight to the beach all morning. So I dropped in (and yes, he went straight and fell), and locked in a high line. That wave had a surprising amount of juice. During the most critical section I zipped right in front of that shortboarder who was on the inside, and who must have feared for his life when he saw I didn't have a leash on. At the end of the ride I saw 4 more people paddling out and I thought it was time to end on a high note.

Tue May 1 2007

Threes, 5:45AM-7:35AM
on my 9'2''.
By myself, met Jim and Ron out there, Bianca briefly, and 3 other people out, including Dr. Kervorkian.
knee-high with the very occasional waist-high sets. One nice chest-high set came through. Windy and windier as time went on. Not consistent and pretty much lame.
Caught about 15 rides, paddling like a maniac for tiny knee-high insiders. Quite the workout.
Everybody was talking about the swell that's supposed to hit later today, half-heartedly hoping that it would hit earlier than planned. Tomorrow may be a complete zoo at Threes.

Thu May 3 2007

Threes, 5:30AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''.
By myself, about 10 people out, including Jim, and other people like Ron and Clarence who just paddled straight to Paradise after seeing that Threes wasn't really working.
knee- to waist-high, with a few bigger sets early on, windy and choppy, not clear or consistent.
This swell generated so much hype it was absolutely ridiculous. It was supposed to hit yesterday and I was all ready to go when my car battery went dead at 5AM and I had to spend the morning fixing it. Turns out Jim told me that yesterday was bigger than today but really junky, so I didn't miss anything.
Caught about 15 rides, with a couple of fun ones early on when there were only 1 other guy out. We only saw a single set of that size during the whole rest of the session. The other rides weren't anything special and were kind of short, mostly catching waves on the inside.
Toward the end I caught a cool inside right, that walled up nicely. I was in the critical section of the wave the whole time, constantly barely making it by keeping a high line. Towards the end of the ride I had a major wipe out, with the tail of the board being caught in the wave and flipped over. I slammed into the water really hard in the shallows, but no harm done. One of the worst wipe-out on a waist-high wave in a long time.
James Jones, pioneer of performance Waimea surfing, was in the water, riding a longboard.

Sat May 5 2007

Flies, 7:15AM-8:30AM
on my 8'2''.
With Larry, 4 longboarders out.
waist- to shoulder-high, with one head-high set that came through. Not very clean, consistent, or organized. Many fake waves that would disappear, almost impossible to catch inside waves. Light winds.
Caught around 7 rides, with one great shoulder-high right. Had a lot of issues adjusting to the 8'2'', somehow. I botched a critical take off on a head-high wave that was a semi closeout, and in retrospect should have taken off on a couple waves that I passed on. But whatever, beautiful day out, and always a good experience changing board.

Sun May 6 2007

Flies, 8:30AM-10AM
on my 9'2''.
With Larry and Peter, 3-5 other people out.
waist-high with a few chest-high sets, not consistent, light winds getting stronger at the end, so a bit bumpy. Sort of a repeat of yesterday.
Caught about 15 rides, with one great chest-high right that had a nice wall and allowed for many turns. Several other decent rides, even though the shoulders were soft and the rides short.
Towards the end I dropped in on Larry. I thought I was being nice taking the left, but it turns out he was trying to be nice to that other by taking the left also. On top of that his take-off was sketchy and so he fell. Pretty sad really.

Mon May 7 2007

Threes, 6AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''.
By myself. Met Mitch, Clarence, Jim, Craig, and Steve out there. Three girls paddled out later.
waist-high, not super consistent but decent shape. Light winds.
Caught about 15 rides, with a couple of fun rights. Was out of position on some of the bigger waves. Amazing rainbows toward the end of the session. Great conversations in the water. Quite the Aloha session.

Thu May 17 2007

Threes, 6AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2'', no leash
By myself. Met Steve, Jim, Bianca in the line-up. 8 people out at the peak. 2 of them paddled in from a boat!
knee- to waist-high, with a few bigger sets (perhaps inklings of the swell to come), glassy, organized.
Caught about 15 rides, with a few fun ones. Didn't feel great on the board after 10 days without surfing, and a bit numb, but ok.
Jim had his new 7'6'' fish out. 3'' thick. 22'5/8'' wide. He was really happy and ripped on it. I am starting to wonder whether a big fat fish wouldn't be cool to have as well. He's getting a monster 8' fish in the mail next week.
Gorgeous morning, 1 sea turtle in the line-up.

Fri May 18 2007

Threes, 5:30AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''.
By myself. Met Jim, Bianca, Nathan, and later Clarence in the line-up. One other guy out and then the same 3 Japanese tourists as yesterday.
knee-high, smaller and not as glassy or clean as yesterday.
Caught about 15 rides, with nothing special, besides the beautiful water and morning.
The highlight of the morning was trying Jim's new 7'6'' fish. It's epoxy, 3 1/4'' thick, 17'' at the nose and tail, twin fin set up. I caught 3 waves with it and I was blown away by how easy it was to catch even these measly knee-high waves. Absolutely incredible paddling power. While on the wave, my first 2 rides where quite an adjustment, but on the third one I could see how loose it was and fun to ride. I am definitely thinking of getting one, perhaps even a 7'4''.
A few dolphins jumping out way on the outside, and 1 sea turtle in the line-up.

Sat May 19 2007

Flies, 6:30AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''.
By myself. 4-5 other guys out.
Pretty glassy, waist- to chest high, nice clean sets coming through once and again but long lulls.
The first legitimate South swell is hitting this weekend, and today we could see clear foreshadowing of what tomorrow may be like.
Unfortunately there was a longboarding paddleboarding contest today. So I had to get out of the water when the first heat started.
Caught 6-7 waves, with a very nice chest-high right. On my last wave, in front of the whole crowd waiting for the heat to start I was totally out of position and attempted a sketchy take-off on a head-high left and totally blew it. Paddled in after that.
The contest seemed kind of dull due to the long lulls. I watched one heat. Some of those guys were really good, but there were so few waves...

Sun May 20 2007

Flies, 7:15AM-8:45AM
on my 9'2''.
With Larry. 10 people out.
waist- to head-high, mixed up, not consistent, long lulls with high-frequency non-waves, glassy but bumpy faces.
Caught about 10 rides, with a couple of fun rights, and a couple of take-offs on bigger lefts that pretty much closed out.
Larry had his camera with him so we took pictures, which was really difficult. Not clear any of them will turn out good..
There was a girl in the line-up who must have been sea sick as she threw up a couple of times.

Mon May 21 2007

Threes, 5:30AM-7:30AM
on my 8'2''.
By myself. Met Jim, Ron, Doug, Steve, Clarence, Craig, etc. in the line-up. About 30 people out at the peak.
waist- to head-high, glassy, not very consistent and not 100% clean, but really nice waves coming through.
Caught 8 rides, including one nice completely line-up shoulder high right, a couple of rather intense short rights with vertical walls but holding, and a couple of very fun long lefts.
On my first left I was on a high line, did a bottom turn and then wanted to do a smooth cut back, but this board is _so_ much more responsive than my 9'2'' that I put way too much pressure on my back foot and ended up making a super quick and sharp cut back, falling head-first into the wave. It just felt like the board simply did a 180 in place. Pretty funny. Clarence laughed his ass off as he was paddling over the wave while that happened. After that incident I was much more in control of the board.
My next to last wave was actually a somewhat scary inside right, with a super intense head-high drop and a surprising amount of juice. Super short ride, basically a drop and hold on for dear life on the first section.
My last wave was an in-between wave which the outside longboarding patrollers couldn't go for, but that was not breaking in the typical inside place. I paddled like crazy and made the shoulder-high drop pretty deep. Some shortboarder backed off as I was deeper and he hooted while I was dropping. I zipped through the peak and barely escaped the exploding white water to make it right in the pocket all the way down the line. I was partially submerged in white water at times just to make it out again and again. Although it was only 7:15AM at that point I was getting tired and decided to end on a high note.
Great morning out there, great vibe in the water with a lot of hooting and laughing. Absolutely wonderful way to start the day. I felt really good on the 8'2''. That board was basically perfect for these conditions I think.

Wed May 23 2007

Flies, 8AM-9AM
on my 8'2''.
By myself. 2 people out at first, and then 1, and then by myself for the last 15 minutes.
waist- to shoulder-high, junky and not consistent, a bit windy.
I was completely surfed out yesterday, and this morning I felt lazy so I opted for a late session at Flies.
Caught 4-5 waves including one semi-decent right. In spite of the very lame conditions this was actually good practice on my 8'2''. Still I will definitely go to Threes tomorrow morning.

Thu May 24 2007

Threes, 5:30AM-7:30AM
on my 8'2''.
By myself. 15 people out including Jim, Nathan, and Steve. Doug got in as I was paddling out!
waist- to shoulder-high, light winds, not consistent with super long lulls in between the bigger sets. Not much happening out there most of the time.
Felt really sleepy today and surfed the inside, somewhat half-heartedly. Just wasn't into it. Caught about 6-7 rights, and 3-4 lefts, with a couple of fun ones. My take-offs on the 8'2'' are definitely getting much better.
At some point I was paddling for a wave and my hand hit something hard. I stopped and found a thick 1l beer bottle floating in the line-up. This was so dangerous. I can't imagine hitting it at full speed with the board and getting a beer-bottle-ding! Or even falling on it could actually hurt.
1 turtle in the line-up.

Sat May 26 2007

Flies, 7:30AM-9:30AM
on my 9'2''.
With Larry. 3 to 5 other people out.
waist- to head-high, moderate winds, typical Flies with a lot of waves closing out after the first section, but a few very nice rights.
Caught about 15 rides, including one phenomenal right on which I totally hit the lip for once, followed by a series of bottom-turns, pretty much pumping all the way down to the inside on a rare lined-up wave. It was pretty amazing actually to have such a nice wave and and some guy out commented about it afterwards.
Had a few very fun take-offs on big waves. Overall a very fun session with some size and energy in the water and very few people out.

Sun May 27 2007

Flies, 7:30AM-9:30AM
on my 9'2''.
by myself. Up to 10 other people out. Larry and Jane showed up at the end of the session.
waist- to shoulder-high, moderate winds, sort of a repeat of yesterday with less size.
Caught about 15 rides, with a couple of really fun rights, and a couple of sketchy take-offs on bigger waves that ended up closing out.

Wed May 30 2007

Threes, 5:45AM-7:15AM
on my 8'2''.
by myself. 10-12 people out, including Jim, Eric, Clarence, Doug briefly on his paddleboard. It seems that there is a new batch of local people who've adopted Threes as their spot. Sort of sucks.
knee- to waist-high with the very occasional chest-high set initially, then pretty much dead for the second half of the session.
Caught about 5 rides, all on small waves, but it was good to feel comfortable on my 8'2''. I guess this was the tail end of a pseudo swell or something. halfway into the sessions waves basically stopped coming, and I paddled back in.

Thu May 31 2007

Threes, 5:30AM-7:15AM
on my 8'2''.
Paddled out with Jim. About 20 other people out, including Doug, Clarence, Ron later, Steve, etc. WAY too many people for the number of waves.
waist- to chest-high, with only rare chest-high sets. Glassy but not very clean most of the time. Very occasional beautiful sets.
Caught about 10 rides, including a nice chest-high left and a nice chest-high right, and all the others on rather weak waves.
There was a swell forecast and I guess people just showed up. It was quite crazy to see the spot that crowded on such lame conditions. I still managed to get quite a few waves, but tomorrow I'll probably go to Flies.
On one of the best waves of the day Clarence was doing a super critical take-off (rail grabbing, pseudo-vertical) when that total kook dropped in on him about 3ft from him. They both went down crashing. Clarence told him off (with Aloha though) but it was such a painful thing to see. I got dropped in on a left by that girl (who yelled "Sorry" as she tumbled though), but it was a semi-closeout, so it wasn't a big deal.
I paddled back in kind of early and when I got to the shower there were two workers from the Hale Koa fixing one of the showers (no clue why the Hale Koa guys are fixing what I thought was a public shower, but whatever). They were hilarious. We talked a bit and they were full-on local. And then they started making fun on tourists walking by: "Hey Brah, see dat guy, plaid shirt, shorts, sandals with socks pulled up to the knee... I don't care if I am old, brah, if I dress like dat on vacation I shit myself". And so on. It was great. It brought me back to afternoons back home with my cousin, who owned a snack bar on the beach, spent his entire day making fun of tourists. There is something pathetic but so necessary about making fun of the tourists that provide your livelihood.

Fri June 1 2007

Flies, 6:30AM-8:30AM
on my 9'2'', no leash.
By myself. Alone in the line-up for about 40 minutes, then 7 other people out including Jim (the "other" Jim) and Eric. 3 military guys who had no clue what they were doing at all, which was pretty annoying.
waist- to chest-high, with a few head-high+ sets. A bit choppy but fine, typical Flies waves. Somewhat consistent.
When I checked it before going out it seemed only waist-high and nobody was out. I knew the swell was supposed to back down so I had opted for my 9'2'' in the morning after whimsically considering taking my 7'6'' out. So I went out without a leash, which is always good practice. Waves kept getting bigger and people were coming out, so towards the end of the session I sort of wished I had a leash, but all in all I lost my board only twice, right at the end of rides in crazy white water, never on the take-off, so it was all good.
Caught about 20 rides, with quite a few fun rights, although not completely lined up. I chickened out of a sketchy take-off on a head-high wave because everybody was inside and I was about 50% sure of losing my board on that one and thus 10% sure of beheading somebody..
I probably rode the biggest ridden wave of the day. I was somewhat on the outside and this set came. I caught the first wave, which was a couple feet overhead (Eric said "that thing was huge" after the fact). It was probably among of the 10 sketchiest take-offs I ever did, but this one was without a leash! I barely made it down the face and sort of free fell into it. But somehow I made it. The wave sort of closed out though, but I rode it to the inside where it reformed. With quite a bit of adrenaline I think that every fiber of my body was just focused on not losing the board. The next two waves in the set were smaller, but actually nicer, and Eric got a pretty nice ride.
Nice conversations in the line-up with Jim and Eric, but mostly about sharks! Get this. Four days ago Eric was at Flies and everybody got out because a shark was swimming on the outside. Yesterday Jim was out and when he paddled out people in the line-up told him that a shark had just swam through the line-up, but somehow they stayed out and weren't too fazed by it. Two weeks ago, a friend of Jim had a shark come up to him and, he said, "look at him", while he was by himself sitting in the line-up, which caused him to paddle back in immediately. All this at Flies. And to think I was by myself out there, for 40 minutes, with no leash, at 6:30AM, under overcast skies... Eric was like "I guess you just have guts". He was sort of joking because there has never been an attack and people are kind of a bit blase about the whole thing. But still. I found it mostly amusing actually, until my new nickname becomes "stumpy" I guess.

Sun June 3 2007

Flies, 7:15AM-9AM
on my 9'2''.
By myself. Between 5 and 8 other people out.
knee- to waist-high+, glassy, nicely shaped, but not consistent with very long lulls.
Caught about 10 rides, with a couple fun ones, but waves really lacked power as we are in between swell.
During the lulls it was fun listening to the conversations of the older guys out there. Talking about sessions on the North Shore, about sharks, etc. A very aloha session all in all.

Mon June 4 2007

Flies, 10:15AM-11:30AM
on my 8'2''.
By myself. Nobody out for the whole session.
knee- to waist-high++, a bit choppy, not very clean and/or consistent.
I drove all the way from Waimanalo this morning and opted to go to Flies because a swell is supposedly coming and parking in Waikiki for a late session is never easy. After checking the spot it seemed clear that my 9'2'' would have been a better choice for the conditions though, but I was too lazy to go home and switch board.
The first 1/2 hour of the session was sort of sad, with knee- to waist-high waves. I have a really hard time surfing well on this board on small waves.
After this, there were much bigger sets coming and I caught one very nice shoulder-high right and a couple of almost chest-high really lined up waves. It's pretty amazing how as soon as waves get bigger all of a sudden I surf this board so much better, with my feet in the right place and a decent flow. The board is so fast that a couple time I was a little bit off balance leaning backward during the accelerations.
At some point, this freak set came. I was inside after surfing a rather lame left, and I paddled out when I saw these shadows on the horizon. I barely made it past the first one, then scrambled like mad to make it past the second one (we're talking only chest-high at that point), and so on. It was an 8-wave set, and each wave was a little bit bigger than the previous one. On the next to last I actually had to turtle, but I got back on super fast and barely punched through the lip of the last wave, which was a little bit overhead. It wasn't a big deal of course, but it just sort of gave me an appreciation for nightmare scenarios like this on the North shore with waves twice as big or more, more wing, more current.
Toward the end things slowed down and I caught a couple of waist-high waves, with the second one taking me to the jetty to conclude the session.
I caught about 15 rides total. At the top of the hill I met Tracy who was checking the conditions. All in all a surprisingly fun session in spite of a dismal beginning. And nobody out. What are the odds of surfing a lined-up shoulder-high wave in Town under a beautiful weather with the closest surfed around about 800 yards away?

Tue June 5 2007

Flies, 10:15AM-11:30AM
on my 8'2''.
By myself. 5-6 people out including a few boogie boarders and Tracy and her sister towards the end.
waist- to head-high, moderate offshore winds, not consistent.
It was so difficult to sit in the right spot today. There were big head-high sets that I was never in position for, there were fake waves, doubles. Very strange.
Caught about 10 rides, with 2 fun rights, an the rest on semi close-outs. nothing to write home about. A great work out though.

Thu June 7 2007

Flies, 8AM-9AM
on my 8'2''.
By myself. 6-8 people out.
waist- to shoulder-high++, choppy, not clean, odd, a lot of close-outs and a lot of fake waves.
Caught about 5 waves, including two drops on shoulder-high waves, but closing out.
This session was just not good. I didn't feel into it from the get go, I felt sluggish and not really into it for some reason. And then these conditions really highlighted the difficulties I have with this board on not nicely shaped waves. I botched three take-offs, which hasn't happened in a long time and overall my surfing really sucked. After 1h I called it quit. Towards the end I was surfing better, but it was so hard to make the best out of these conditions today, in spite of there being size. I think it's time I go to Threes on my 9'2'' for a couple of sessions.

Sat June 9 2007

Rockpiles, 5:30PM-7PM
on my 9'2''.
By myself. between 4 and 6 other people out.
knee- to waist-high, weak, not consistent, but decent little longboardable waves once in a while.
Late session just to unwind a little bit. Caught about 20 waves, with 2-3 really nicely shaped tiny waves right above the coral (with TONS of sea urchins).
Nice sunset on Waianae.

Tue June 12 2007

Threes, 5:30AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''.
By myself. Met Jim, Clarence, Doug and his daughter, Ron, Steve, and a few other guys I knew out there. Up to 15 people out at the peak of the session.
knee- to shoulder-high, glassy, very weak and inconsistent most of the time, but 3 good sets came, shoulder-high and super clean. There is a swell coming (when isn't there?) and people were sort of hoping for a little bump today. Tomorrow's supposed to be big.
I caught about 20 waves, with many tiny weak ones on the inside, and a few fun waist-high rights. Luckily I was in perfect position when what was probably the best wave of the day came in, in a 2-wave set. I caught the first wave, super smooth take-off, and then pumping up and down the line for about 30 yards before I had to kick the board out before a close-out section. If that wave had been lined up all the way to the inside it would have ranked among the best waves I ever rode at Threes. I could tell people were sort of jealous out there after that ride. Ron got the second wave of the set but that one was a tad bigger and more of a close-out.
I feel that I surfed pretty well today. It's amazing what nicely shaped waves a longboard can do sometimes.

Wed June 13 2007

Flies, 6AM-7:30AM
on my 8'2''.
With Eric. Carl and (the other) Jim out there, and two girls later on.
Glassy, knee- to waist-high+, very inconsistent with incredibly long lulls. Pretty clean.
Clearly the swell's late (imagine that). Amazingly calm morning today with absolutely no wind. Caught about 10 waves, with a few fun ones in spite of the conditions. My last was was pretty decent, almost a chest-high drop. On one of my best waves one of the two girls, who was clearly a beginner, dropped in on me and did "the works": on all fours on the board, tip over, board goes flying by my head. I had to do a major cutback and of course found myself in the white. That was pretty lame. I almost said something later on, but she was so oblivious and it was really her friend's role (who could surf decently) to tell her about these things. Whatever.
Today was actually a great day for me because I really felt comfortable on the 8'2''. All my take-offs were good, my feet were always in the right spot. I really felt one with the board like I perhaps haven't before. Not sure why it happened, but I was really pleased.
Talk in the line-up of a shark seen at the bottom of the stairs!!

Thu June 14 2007

Flies, 6:45AM-8:30AM
on my 8'2''.
By myself. 10 people out, including Eric, Carl, and Jim. 2 SUPs for the second half of the session.
waist- to chest-high, not consistent, a bit choppy, not clean, moderate winds.
Pretty disappointing conditions after the hype, but perhaps other spots were better (given how crowded Flies was, I don't even want to know what Threes looked like).
Caught about 10 waves, with nothing special. Definitely harder to ride this board well in choppy conditions, but I did ok. I had one left that was decent actually.
Although SUPs are annoying, I have to say that today I saw for the best SUP rider I have ever seen. The guy was completely amazing, nose riding, 360, hitting the lip, doing all types of juggling with his paddle while riding, tail slides, absolutely unreal. It was quite something to watch. He had this way of turning by sinking the tail and pivoting with so much control he could do fast "turn-and-burns". He was by far the best wave rider out there.
Update: 2 weeks after this session I found out that this SUP rider was Leleo Kinimaka, a pretty well-known local rider who won several contests, including one at Flies recently.
2 monk seals on the inside. Everybody talked about them but somehow I didn't see them.

Sat June 16 2007

Flies, 5:30PM-6:45PM
on my 9'2'', no leash.
By myself. between 1 and 3 other people out.
Waist- to chest-high, sort of consistent, bumpy and choppy, windy.
Paddled out without a leash because when I looked at the spot it seemed small, and of course as soon as I paddle out this chest-high semi-close-out set came. But overall I lost my board only once, falling in the white at the end of a ride on a close out.
Caught about 15 waves, with a couple of nice ones. It was really difficult to drop in on the wave due to the bumps, so definitely a huge workout. I surfed pretty well considering the conditions I think.
Some of the people out there really sucked, which was a bit odd. At the end there was a guy with his kid on his board.
Beautiful sunset. Toward the end of the session I started thinking a little bit about all the shark sighting, about the dimming light, and about that school of fish that kept jumping out of the water all around the line-up. So I scrambled to catch a wave in and watched the sunset from the hill.

Sun June 17 2007

Flies, 7:30AM-9:30AM
on my 9'2''.
With Larry. 1 other guy out at the peak.
Waist- to chest-high, long lulls, less bumpy than yesterday but a little bit less size, pretty difficult to get into the waves, windy.
Caught about 15 waves, with 3 or 4 really fun rights that allowed racing up and down the line. Many waves were really a lot of work to get into, and then walled up on the inside pretty fast.
Overall a very mellow and nice session, as often at Flies surprisingly fun, followed by a nice cup of coffee at Larry's house.

Thu June 21 2007

Threes, 5:30AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''.
With Jim and Eric, nobody else out.
knee- to waist-high with a few bigger sets, choppy and a bit windy, somewhat consistent but not clean
Caught about 20 waves, with 4-5 fun rights. In particular, I caught what ended up being the wave of the day, an almost chest-high right that had a perfect shape. I was able to pump up and down the face and end by actually hitting the lip before a close-out section. Really nice, as Eric commented later. I totally lost my focus after that ride, and sort of goofed on other waves later. It was such a mellow session with great conversations in the line-up.
Jim told us about an incident that happened to him at Threes last week on Thursday, which was a big day (couple feet overhead and more on some sets). He took off on a wave and was racing down the line when he saw that local older guy on an 11ft board about to drop in on him. He yelled at him to not drop in, but the guy did anyway, and at that point he was only a few feet ahead of Jim. So Jim had to straighten up to the beach, at which point he realized there was a guy on the inside who had just wiped out on the previous wave. He was going for the guys head and barely avoid it, sticking his skegs into the guys board instead. After checking that that guy was ok, he paddled back to the local guy and basically told him that he just couldn't do things like this, and that he nearly caused a really bad accident. The local guy just dismissed the whole thing with "I didn't see you". When Jim called his bullshit, the other guy started talking down to him, telling him that he's "home", and that Jim should get a license to surf here, etc. The stereotypical local-haole thing, which I've actually not really seen before. The day after, the guy was still there, and he started talking shit about Jim to other people in the line-up, but since everyone knows Jim they all sort of told the guy that if Jim yelled at him that's because he had done something wrong, etc. At any rate, Jim was quite rattled by the experience, especially because he said it's the first time in his life he's run somebody over like that. Not much Aloha a Threes during a swell in June.

Sat June 23 2007

Flies, 7:45AM-9:30AM
on my 9'2'', no leash
With Larry and Tom, 4-5 people out, Eric and Tracy towards the end of the session
Waist- to chest-high, choppy, not very clean, strong winds at time, not much of a wall after the take-off on most waves.
As usual, conditions looked pretty lame from the hill, but the session was surprisingly fun
Caught about 20 waves, with a couple fun rights. Lost my board on my first two waves and then never again.
Great conversation in the line-up, very mellow.

Sun June 24 2007

Flies, 5:30PM-6:30PM
on my 9'2'', no leash
By myself, nobody out.
knee- to waist-high, light winds, barely breaking.
Went for a late picnic at the Kakahako state park and just took the board for the hell of it. After eating a sandwich, decided to paddle out just to get wet.
Stood up on about 10 waves, with only two real waves. I was actually amazed that I stood up at all, but somehow a few "sets" came. One of the waist-high waves were actually pseudo-decent and had a wall. Who knew?
Amazing sunset, rainbow, sunlit Diamond Head, light breeze in the palm trees, a bunch of local kids jumping off rocks. Great vibe.
Probably my last session before a 1-month break while I am in Europe.

Sun June 24 2007

Threes/Paradise, 5:40PM-7:45PM
on my 9'2''.
By myself, Mitch, Bianca, and some shortboarder at Threes. Mitch, Clarence at Paradise, and later some guy on these board/kayak things whose names I can never remember, and some people on the inside. Doug on his SUP at both spots on and off, catching pretty decent waves.
Waist- to shoulder-high, head-high on the peak, reasonably smooth and consistent.
Started off at Threes, which was odd. The pseudo swell wasn't really hitting it right. Caught 3-4 waves, with one decent one, but the wave was nothing like what it typically is. I followed Mitch who had paddled over to Paradise pretty much as soon as I got to Threes.
Paradise was sort of typical but also sort of atypical. What was typical was that it was really hard to read the waves. Some loomed really big on the outside and dissolved to nothing right before getting to the line-up. Some looked like nothing and then generated head-high peaks right in front of us. It was consistent in that waves were rolling through almost continuously, but only a few were breaking. Also typical was the fact that the take-off had to be on the peak and not on the shoulder. But very atypical was the fact that there was a nice wall! Paradise is known as a peak and nothing much after a nice drop. Well, today rides were long. The wall wasn't comparable to nice Threes, but it was pretty nice nonetheless. It just required a little bit of stalling along the way to not get to ahead of oneself.
I caught about 10 waves, including 2 very nice rights with head-high drops and long shoulder-high walls that kept reforming.
A lot of laughs in the water with Clarence yelling like a mad mad "outside!!", "go left!!!", etc. Three of us. Sizeable waves. Beautiful sunrise. Can't ask for much more for my last session before I take off for more than a month.

Sat August 4 2007

Beacons, 8:30AM-9:30AM
on Dario's 9'
With Dario, about 15 other people out.
knee- to waist-high, semi-glassy, not very consistent and rather weak.
First session after more than a month without any surfing, during a weekend in San Diego on my way back to Hawai`i from Europe.
Caught about 5 waves, pretty weak, but good to be in the water paddling around. Not in very good shape and jetlagged as expected, but still fairly nice. Quite a few people out with one guy who was telling inane stories super loud in the line-up. Aaaahhh... California.
Dario was surfing his new Egg, which looks pretty phenomenal.

Thu August 9 2007

Threes, 6AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
By myself, met Jim, Doug and Ann on paddle boards, Mitch, and a couple of other people I knew in the line-up.
knee-high with a few waist-high waves, glassy, very weak and inconsistent. Only one good wave came through, right after I paddled out.
Caught about 8 waves, with only 2 real rides.
Beautiful weather and great conversations in the line-up. Just great to be back in the warm waters of Hawai`i.

Sun August 12 2007

Flies, 7:30AM-9AM
on my 9'2''
With Larry and Rob. 5 people out at first, but by ourselves for about 45 minutes at the end of the session.
waist-high with a few bigger (semi closing out) sets once in a while, not very consistent, moderate winds. Pretty typical.
Caught about 15 waves, with 3-4 on decently sized waves with above waist-high drops and a bit of a wall. All in all a mellow nice session to get back into things. Still not in very good surfing physical shape, but getting better.

Sat August 18 2007

Sunset Cliffs, Sub, 7:30AM-8:30AM
on Dario's 9'
With Dario. 4-5 other people out.
knee-high with a few waist-high waves. Glassy, very weak.
Caught about 10 waves, with nothing special at all. Pretty hard to get into waves.
The highlight of the session was my trying Dario's new 6'8'' Shro's egg. I actually caught two waves and one of them was halfway decent in spite of these weak wave conditions. Sort of thinking this shortboarding thing should perhaps happen.

Sat August 18 2007

Mission Beach, 4PM-5PM
on my new 9'6'' noserider, which I bought from Jeff today, no leash.
With Dario. 10 other people out, spongers and swimmers on the inside.
waist-high, getting a tad hollow as the tide dropped.
We paddled out for the hell of it to get a little bit of water time before driving up to Ocean side for the screening of Super Sessions. Foolishly we went without leashes, sort of forgetting about the crowd factor, about all the kids on the inside, and about the dropping tide. This resulted in a super intense session with 100% of the focus on not losing the board. Also not a great idea when riding a new board for the first time.
Caught about 5-6 rides, with a few fun ones actually. Eventually we paddled back in because this session was just too stressful. Losing one's board (and riding longboards in the increasingly hollow sessions was just getting more and more challenging) meant 99% chance of hitting someone, most likely some old lady or a toddler on the inside. (Who have no business being there, on the wrong side of the flag in the first place.)
Overall Jeff's board will be great for small or crowded days at Threes. I am hoping that it will serve as a "guest" board and also as a way to practice and improve my almost-non-existing noseriding abilities. I am writing this report in the plane back to Hawai`i and it remains to be seen how the board will survive the trip back. Dario helped with the packing, putting plastic bottles around the glassed-in side fins, and we used tons of bubble wrap. We'll see.

Tue August 21 2007

Threes, Paradise, 6AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Met Jim, Guy, and Ann at Threes, and then Eric, Clarence at Paradise. 5-6 other people out at Paradise.
waist- to sometimes chest-high, pretty smooth, but slow and weak due to the high tide.
Started off at Threes. Waves had a very nice shape and were coming in somewhat regularly, but after the take off rides would be rather slow and waves would stop breaking prematurely. Still, it was nice to see such beautiful lines. After catching about 10 waves, we all paddled out to Paradise.
Paradise was breaking a bit all over the place, many fake waves, occasional bigger waves breaking on the outside. Some waves had a wall, but otherwise it was pretty typical. Caught 4-5 waves, some on the inside, and paddled back in.
Great full rainbow halfway through the session. Nice conversations in the water.

Wed August 22 2007

Threes, Paradise, 6AM-7:30AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Met Jim, Guy, Ann, Doug and his posse of young girls, Ron, and about 4-5 other people out there. Then Eric showed up and we followed to Paradise where there were 4-5 other people out.
knee-high, glassy, not consistent and weak.
After everybody expecting better conditions than yesterday, they were actually worse. Caught about 3-4 waves at Threes, and then about 10 at Paradise, but nothing exciting at all with very weak rides. Waves were better at Paradise, but from there we saw probably the best wave of the day breaking at Threes. A few good ones breaking at Pops too, occasionally, but owned by the older crew on their massive tankers.
A shortboarder paddled out to Paradise and was actually catching some inside waves. At some point he made some weird noise and then started cursing in French and yelling "help". I paddled over. Apparently something was pulling on his leash and he got really freaked out. Conversing in French I told him that perhaps it was the coral, but he was adamant it wasn't. Probably a sea turtle getting snagged on the leash or something. Anyway, it was quite odd and he just couldn't get over the fact that he was right next to a fellow countryman.
Paddled back in with Eric after catching a lame left. Beautiful morning, and perhaps a swell tomorrow.

Thu August 23 2007

Flies, 5:45AM-8:30AM
on my 8'2''
By myself. Alone for 1/2 hour, then Eric and I alone for about 1/2 hour, then Carl who stayed on the outside only and came back in quickly. Finally the other Jim at the end.
waist- to chest-high with a few shoulder-high peaks, glassy, typical Flies with the wave never quite lined up all the way to the inside, not super consistent but very nice waves coming through.
Caught about 25 waves, with several very fun ones. I was doing ok on my 8'2'' actually. Sort of need to get back into it as this board is so much faster. But the take-offs were good, and I did a few nice turns.
One a chest-high wave I rode the section really well I thought and at the end of it I went over the back, since the second section was (as usual) closing out in front of me. I didn't have quite enough speed and although my body went up in the air off the back the board was sort of behind on the wave. Eric was next to me and basically told me that the next time he sees me not conclude such a great ride by hitting the close out white water to snap a turn he'll send me back to shore. That was hilarious. And he totally have a good point. I should totally end the ride with a snap off the white water and try to see if I can make it, rather than just bailing off the back each time.
I had a couple of pseudo-sketchy take-offs on shoulder-high peaks, but made them all surprisingly. I really love this board.
Quite exhausted at the end of this long session on this board. I can sense that this is not going to be a productive day.
Overall a great session with essentially nobody out, very nice conditions, calm winds, and beautiful sunrise. The "nobody out" part was almost baffling.

Fri August 24 2007

Flies, 5:45AM-8AM
on my 8'2''
By myself. Eric showed up after a while. 1 other person out.
waist-high with a few shoulder-high or higher peaks, glassy, cleaner than yesterday, but less consistent.
Caught about 20 waves, with a few nice waist-high ones lined up perfectly, a few chest-high ones that were also lined up with a very nice wall that held or with very makable sections, and a couple of take-offs on more rare head-high waves that sort of closed out after 10 yards or so.
I realized that on this board I have a hard time taking off on the lefts. Today I had to readjust my feet quite a bit on the take offs to, unlike yesterday. Not sure why.
It's amazing how spoiled we are. Eric and I were talking a lot in the line-up, and because it was less consistent than yesterday and seemed to have a little less size, at least during the first half of the session, we were saying that we should just go back in early. 5 minutes later Eric caught a fantastic head-high waves that was clearly the wave of the day as it held all the way in. I myself caught a chest-high wave right after that that also held and that allowed me many maneuvers.... Right.... Let's go back in because it's such a lame session and according to Eric's terminology it's not "Classic Flies". And to think he started surfing on the East Coast where people would kill for a session like this. But yeah, overall it wasn't as nice as yesterday and as Eric said "more crowded" (yesterday was only us, today there was somebody else who was surfing another peak actually and going only left because goofy footed...the nerve!). I feel like we're losing touch with reality a bit here, especially thinking that we're in Town during the summer, a 5 minute drive from where I live and essentially alone out there.
Picked up my 9'6'' and I'll take it out tomorrow most likely. The Ding repair job was superb.

Fri August 24 2007

Flies, 5PM-6:15PM
on my 9'6''
By myself. Alone for the most part and then two guys, each on another peak.
waist-high with a few chest-high waves, glassy, high tide making most waves not break in the usual way and making the ones that broke (the bigger one) a tad slow.
Right as I paddled out this great outside wave broke, but I never saw the like of it later on during the session.
Caught about 20 waves, with 2 really nice lined up ones that brought me all the way in.
Very easy to catch waves on this board, but it was hard to see how the board works because waves were pretty slow.
Stunning sunset.

Sat August 25 2007

Flies, 7:45AM-9AM
on my 7'6''
By myself. Met Larry in the line-up. between 3 and 6 other people out, including two older kneeboarders and one SUPer.
waist- to head-high waves, glassy, not super consistent but really nice waves coming through if a bit fat and slow.
That's right, a session on the 7'6'', for no good reason. It was sort of a struggle in terms of paddling, especially that one time when I stubbornly decided to paddle back to the line-up from the left after surfing a head-high left all the way in. But a great workout. In terms of take-offs, basically each time I was already in a good position it was fine, but when I had to struggle to get into the wave or when I had to take off at a steep angle it was no good, taking off with feet off the board at one time!
Caught about 15 waves, including 1 screaming overhead right, 1 great overhead left, and a couple of head-high rights. These were great rides, but I didn't surf the board even close to its potential. I know it's capable of going much much faster and my maneuvers were sort of timid when they could have been much more radical. Still, it was great to take off on these waves. Early on in the session though I totally botched a critical take-off, and I fell down a head-high face with the board sort of in between my legs. My back foot basically slipped off to the side of the board. That was pretty lame.
Overall a great session and a huge workout with a lot of paddling.

Sun August 26 2007

Flies, 7:15AM-8:15AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. 3 other people out at first, and up to 10 at the end.
waist- to chest-high, with a few head-high waves once in a while, glassy, pseudo consistent.
Caught about 10 waves, all rights. Somehow, during the beginning of the session, the 3 guys out were a bit inside and a bit down the line from peak on the right. So I positioned myself further out, and I scored 2 amazing head-high rights. Such beautiful shape that I thought Flies was channeling the spirit of Threes. Easy take-off, and then head-high wall for about 30 yards, followed by sections all the way to the inside. Really exhilarating and after both rides my teeth were actually chattering due to adrenaline I guess. Everybody in the line-up was like "fantastic wave man!" and I was repositioning myself in my spot, with them staying further down the line. Very odd.
Toward the end it became crowded an the tide got higher leading to softer and slower waves, so I just paddled back in on a knee-high insider. There were actually about 5 beginners surfing the inside, which I had never seen before.

Tue August 28 2007

Threes, 5:45AM-6:45AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. 15 other people out by the time I got to the break and about 30 when I left. Clarence, Jim and a few other people I know out there.
waist- to occasional chest-high, not very consistent, super glassy.
Clearly way too many people and not enough waves. The incoming swell is completely hyped and everybody paddled out. Once in a while a nicely shaped chest-high wave would come through, but only rarely.
Caught about 5-6 waves on the inside, waist-high, and then opted to paddle back in and go check out Flies.

Tue August 28 2007

Flies, 7:15AM-8:30AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. Met Eric and then Jim out there. Between 1 and 5 other people out, including some total beginners
waist-high, glassy, very inconsistent and weak with the extremely occasional waist-high+ wave.
Caught about 10 waves. What a huge contrast with Threes, so peaceful in the water, mellow conversations with Eric and Jim. Not enough waves, but at least not stressful. Once again, the forecasted swell is late... who knew?

Wed August 29 2007

Flies, 5:45AM-7:45AM
on my 8'2''
By myself. Met Eric and then Jim out there. Up to 15 other people out at the end.
Glassy, very inconsistent with a 1/2 hour lull at some point, waist-high with a few chest-high sets.
Caught about 10 waves, mostly rights, with nothing special. It felt good surfing the 8'2''.
This is the typical lame session, when there is a big swell in the forecast, so everybody comes out, and the swell doesn't deliver. The atmosphere out there was friendly enough, but in spite of one 10-wave set that came through, it was more of a zen meditation and exercise in patience than surfing really. Beautiful morning though. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Thu August 30 2007

Flies, 5:45AM-7:45AM
on my 8'2''
By myself. 3-4 other people out, but no competition for waves to speak of.
Glassy, waist- to head-high, inconsistent mostly due to the high tide that caused many waves not to break. Getting better as the tide started to drop.
Caught about 15 waves. Several waist-high insiders that were fun with a decent wall. Nothing too fantastic, but it felt good on my 8'2''.
I was in position for only a couple of the bigger waves. On the first one I made the drop but didn't keep a high enough line, so at the bottom of the bottom turn I had lost too much speed and the head high wall in front of me closed out. I could perhaps have made that section. On the second one, which was sort of a gnarly close out, I fell backward at the start of the bottom turn, not being used to the speed generated by that board.
Beautiful glassy morning, but the tide really messed it up. My surfing on the 8'2'' wasn't great. Tomorrow, with even a higher tide, I'll probably take out my 9'6'' or my 9'2'' out.

Thu August 30 2007

Flies, 5:30PM-6:30PM
on my 9'6''
By myself. 3 other people out.
Some texture in the water with light winds, waist- to head-high, somewhat consistent but a few 10-minute lulls.
The tide was high, but the swell was hitting the spot a little bit an so there were several surfable waves. A bit slow, but definitely some size with several slightly overhead peaks. The waves were mostly clean, but with the usual two peaks, making it hard to take of deep and make it to the inside section.
Caught about 10 waves, with 3-4 really fun head-high rights. A few more mellow inside waves too, all rights.
I fell on a somewhat critical take-off on a weird twisted head-high wave, but other than that surfing this board was easy. Kind of like surfing a barge at times, but pretty responsive (I put the fin pretty far forward too).
Beautiful sunset with rainbows. Really nice way to end the day.

Fri August 31 2007

Flies, 5:30AM-8AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. 3-4 other people out, including Eric and Jim, and these guys Garry and Greg whom I had seen before.
Light winds, waist- to head-high+, not consistent with at some point a 20-minute lull, an somewhat slow waves due to the high tide.
Caught about 15 waves, including 2-3 _great_ head-high waves that were perfectly lined-up, with clearly overhead peaks on the take-off. On one of them I really had a wonderful ride, with a great bottom turn and then coming back up super close to the lip on a very high line, and then zipping across the face barely making it to the next section. Some guy who was paddling back out saw the whole ride and was going on about it afterwards.
Overall an odd session, with some great waves coming through but with very long lulls. Eric actually got a phenomenal left unlike any left I'd seen at Flies. Eventually I caught a waist-high+ wave all the way to the stairs. Feeling a bit surfed out at the moment.

Sat September 1 2007

Flies, 6:45AM-7:45AM
on my 9'2''
By myself. 12-15 other people out, including that guy I recently met out there, Justin, and a few of the usual older guys out. Will and Meiko