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………

Malibu Beach – Fun at the ‘Bu-Bee Hatch’

With the buoys and surf reports showing signs of a decent south-swell and my old surf buddy Seaweed Steve calling me last night from Malibu with a head’s up, I filled up the gas tank bright and early to make the 45mi trek up to my old stomping grounds: First Point at Malibu.

I pulled up to the curb at 6:45am to snag the last parking spot on PCH next to Jack-in-the-Box – that meant that the water was already packed and that there were probably 50-60 guys all waiting for the same waves… ready to snake any and all comers…

It was overcast but warm, with glassy conditions as I ran across all 5 lanes of PCH and took my spot on the sidewalk with the regulars. Chatted with Steve Dunn, Woodsy and Snowman while we watched the clean 2-3′ sets roll in with Alan Sarlo tearing it up from the top of 1st all the way down. I even snagged a frontal spot when somebody left while we were standing there!

Just as Woodsy was about to leave, discouraged at the small size and huge crowd, a nice 5′ set rolled through and we all charged to our cars to put on our wetsuits. 

Within 10 minutes I was paddling up the inside, (never have liked walking up to the top of the point), taking position in my ‘area’. I watched and waited, wondering what my chances were going to be today with this elbow-to-elbow crowd all around me.

Low and behold my spot was working when the occasional wide swinging set would roll through the inside where I was positioned. Knowing it was not quite makable from the top of the point, I paddled as riders coming from the outside yelled at me but I confidently dropped in knowing there would soon be a section of white water between us that they were not going to make. The inside was packed but maneuverable and I got some super-long rides all the way to the sand. 

Never managed to catch any of those 5′ sneaker sets that rolled through but let’s just say I was out for an hour, I lost track of the number of waves I caught and only got snaked twice. 

It was a damn good day at the Bu… she can still put a smile on my face after 30+ years of riding her…

Surfing Another Fun South Swell

Was up at the crack of dawn yesterday, (a Sunday!!!), to hit the new south swell that rolled in but was sadly disappointed to find howling onshore winds when I made it down to the beach.  Got up at 6am to foggy skies so I knew we had some onshore flow, but man it was super choppy! I was back in bed by 7am…

With the swell holding I tried it again this morning and imagine my happy surprise when I woke up at 6am this time to sunny skies! Flew out the door and down to the rivermouth at Seal Beach to find glassy conditions and super-fun 2-4 surf with occasional bigger sets! I threw on my trunks and rash guard, slathered on some sunblock and hit it for a hour… had a bunch of fun rides with a couple of standout waves that I will replay in my mind the rest of the day. 

Small South Swell – Seal Beach

Still on East Coast time so I was up at 6am without the alarm… took advantage by heading over to the rivermouth at Seal Beach for some small, but fun little waves on my longboard.

Water is warming up… wearing just boardshorts, a rash guard and some sunscreen – AHHHH!

It feels good to be home… Hopefully we’ll get some more south swell this week…

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.

Surfed Out and Jet Lagged

Spent my last morning in Hawaii catching some of the new swell that was filling in before I hopped on the plane at 1pm… it was super clean out at Populars with occasional head high sets rolling in if you waited long enough. I’ll be surfing on these same waves when they hit California in 3 days but I’m going to miss the small crowds and 80 degree water when I’m back home surfing the ‘Bu with 50 other guys and wearing a wetsuit…

Arrived at LAX late last night and the first thing I did when I got on the shuttle to get my car was ask the driver how the Lakers did… what a mistake – ruined my homecoming! 

Anyways… it was a great 2 weeks of surfing and hanging with the family… my shoulders are worked and I’m ready to sleep in my own bed… Jack, I’ll kick your butt on the pink-pong table next year so keep practicing buddy!

I also want to note that the rash guard shirts I used worked awesome! The only thing is that I’ve got the wildest tan lines: white arms and bronze hands! Looks weird but it beats getting skin cancer on my forearms again. Remember to wear your rash guard kids… The skin you save may be your own!

Aloha – Hawaii no ka oi…

Just Another Weekend in Paradise

The surf is going off in Town today with some 8′ sets but there’s a contest at Queens a contest a Ala Moana Bowls along with the King Kamehameha Day parade and festival in Waikiki so I’m taking it easy and resting my my dog-tired arms after 5 days of surf. 

Tomorrow will be a rest day too and of course with the Laker game on here at 2:30pm we’ll be on the couch all afternoon – GO LAKERS!!!

Surf’s Up – Finally!

Well we FINALLY got some surf today! The swell that was supposed to show up yesterday didn’t materialize until today… so we lost another day of surfing due to flatness but were happy the waves finally arrived!

Today we stuck around Canoes where the surf was 2-4 feet… Seaweed only stayed out about an hour while I hung in there for 2.5 hours. Not bad for a couple of old, outta shape, surf bums.

Gotta say I really dig my long sleeve rash guard since it’s the only way I can stay protected with SPF 150 coverage while I’m out in the water! I don’t know what we did before these surf shirts came along… oh ya, I remember – we burned our asses off!!!

The swell is supposed to hang around into tomorrow so we’ll be on it again…may venture out to Pops or Queens.

Aloha!

On Hawaiian Time!

My long-time Malibu surf buddy Seaweed Steve and I arrived in Hawaii yesterday afternoon and got ourselves settled in at my uncle’s house up in Pauoa Valley… this morning we were up bright and early at 6am since we’re still on L.A. time, (LOVE traveling west and getting those extra hours!).

Headed to Town to surf this morning… worked out the kinks and got used to our boards in some 1-3′ surf at Canoes before making the long paddled out to Pops… it was small out there too but MUCH less crowded and longer rights so it was fun…

Had a scrumptious tuna/avocado sandwich at my favorite Waikiki health food store: Ruffage before heading over to the park to nap under a palm tree while Seaweed sunned himself and gawked at the bikini clad girls…

Surf is supposed to be flat over the weekend with a fun 2-4 SW swell coming in Monday, (6/2).

Day 1 of 14 down…