September South Swells!

So I heard from all the guys that I missed a good week of surf last week when I was fishing up in Mammoth. That’s OK, I thought to myself, there will be more waves……

Well, this week we have had solid back-to-back south swells since Monday!! I do have to say that we’ve also had south winds and onshore flow all week so the condiriotns haven’t been ideal. In fact Monday and Tuesday I headed down to Seal Beach early only to turn around and go back to bed. 

But yesterday and today the winds backed off enough to get in a couple of fun sessions. Still bumpy and overcast but when the sets came in it didn’t seem to matter.

Surfed at Barracuda’s Wednesday and Thursday – with yesterday being the better day, (more size and less crowd), but today was still definitley fun!

Just trunked it with a rash guard, (it was a tad chilly since it was foggy with no sun – but the water is warm), and caught my share when the shoulder to head high sets rolled in. It was a bit inconsistent with the wait being about 15-20 minutes between sets. This can actually work to keep the crowds low since most guys pull up, take a loo, then drive away when they don’t see anything. 

Small Surf

Surf is still tiny around here today – knee to maybe waist if you’re a midget… it’s pretty warm and I couldn’t concentrate so I just headed over to the Seal Beach Pier for a nice 20 minute body surf session.

Trunked it in the 70 degree water… and I gotta give a shout out to Laguna Fins – I LOVE my new Surf II fins!! The soft toe box is so much more comfy than my old Churchills.

Now I’m back to work in front of the computer… hair still wet…  let’s see if I can concentrate any better.  :-p

Supposed to head down to Newport to stay at a friend’s beach house Wednesday night. Forecast is calling for small surf all week so it looks like I’ll be bringing fins and a frisbee instead of a stick.

Oh well… guess things could be worse… I could be land locked in Ohio or some God forsaken place instead of Southern California………

It’s Summertime, Summertime – West to East Coasts

Just got back from yet another trip – boy am I pooped! I see I need to post so here’s a quick catch-up of the last few weeks…

Got back safe and sound from my Hawaiian surf-safari but was only home for 4 days before heading off to visit more family on Martha’s Vineyard and then Cape Cod, (Wellfleet to be exact). Boy am I stoked that I have family, (that I like), who live in such awesome places! It’d be a bummer if my family lived in like Kansas or some place thousands of miles from the ocean!

So in a span of a week I went from beaches about as far west as you can go to beaches about as far east as you can go – YEHAW!

Didn’t surf while I was in Cape Cod but I must admit I was tempted to rent a board to catch some of the nice little 1-2′ peelers off Newcomb beach – maybe next time. I was a bit surprised how cold the water was… felt like low to mid 60’s and all I had was a long sleeve rash guard for some UV protection.

Ate some great local lobster, steamed clams, scallops and slurped some delicious, raw Wellfleet oysters – YUMMY!

For now it’s back to work – no trips planned for awhile… maybe fly fishing in Mammoth, (the California Sierras), in September.

Women’s Rash Guard Shirt Sale

This week our friends over at Buy-Rash-Guards have one of their most popular womens rash guards on sale this week and I thought I’d let you know about it, (even though I’m on vacation), since rash guard shirts are so important in the fight for protection from the harmful UV rays of the sun.

I’m living in my rashguards while I’m here in Hawaii on my annual surf-safari because I can wear these surf shirts in the water and get SPF 150 protection that won’t wash off and doesn’t need to be re-applied. Frankly I don’t know what I’d do without them since they keep me so protected from skin cancer!

Anyways… you gotta go to the Buy-Rash-Guards blog to get scoop on this week’s rash guard sale and grab the coupon for the discount…

Ewwww! What is a Rash Guard Anyway?

If you stumbled across this blog and have no idea what a rash guard is you may be thinking, “how weird”, or “that’s disgusting!”.

Don’t worry… we’ll explain what a rashguard is and after reading what we have to say you just may even want one.

Rash guards, (also known as surf shirts, swim shirts, rashies and other names I probably haven’t heard of), are thin, tight-fitting shirts made of a lycra/nylon blend.

They’re designed to provide rash, abrasion and UV protection in and around the water. They can vary in SPF rating but our rash guards are some of the highest rated shirts, providing SPF 150+, (UPF 50+), protection wet or dry – that’s higher than any sunscreen on the market today.

Rash guard shirts fit skin tight so they stay put in the water and surfers have been wearing them for decades to protect their skin from the harmful UV rays of the sun as well as from painful rashes that can develop from laying and rubbing on their surfboards.

With all the dangers of skin cancer that have been discovered over the years, rashguards are no longer only being worn only by surfers but they are becoming a staple in many families arsenal of UV protection.

Cheaper, easier to use and longer lasting than any sunscreen, they’re perfect for the entire family and are especially great for kids who hate sitting still for their sunscreen application or getting out of the water for their re-application.

More recently and with the popularity of MMA and grappling, rashguards are now worn for skin protection in almost all forms of martial arts.

So… now you know a rash guard is not something weird or disgusting but something helpful and protective that you and your family may actually want to use.