CREW: SOLO BOLO
FLAKES OF THE DAY: No one said they would be out, so nope … NO FLAKES!
TIME: 0700 - 0845, 1.75 hrs..
WIND: Calm, like my anus after the wrath.
WATER: Cold, but so glassy it made the waves invisible on the horizon. Low tide just over two feet, shallow on the inside, four feet on the plus sets, surprisingly punchy, a little rip on the inside, kind of walled, there were fun rides, but there was a LONG wait.
I’ve said it before, but it’s really easy to get unmotivated to surf in the winter. My wetsuit hung damp over the bath tub this morning. Half asleep, I felt the lower legs of the suit. Just as I expected, still drenched. I filled up my hot water bottles, grabbed all my shit, and I was warming up my car by 0614. The temp gauge was at forty-nine degrees. I made my way down Vista Del Mar; it was still dark. I passed on the free spot on 45th and snagged the free spot in the lot, lucky me. I still couldn’t see out there. I was cold, but at least there was no wind. I left the car running with the heater on full blast. I text a couple people to let them know what the conditions appeared to be, then I finally suited up. Compared to the swell as of late, today looked tiny. It was one of those mornings where people pulled up then drove away, too small in their eyes.
I was able to make out that the first guy on the sand was Ray. By then the sun illuminated the sky to a faint blue, and I could see the waves. The tide looked low, but it wasn’t totally drained out. The waves were about three to four feet. The main breaks had long peaks that broke fast, but there seemed to be random nugs here and there. At about 0645 I locked my car up. There were a couple more cars parked, people congregated in the lot, and a guy was carving on his skateboard. I walked in front of 45th to stage, and the sand gave me cold burns on my feet. A little warm up and I was out. I felt awkward on my 6’6. I actually had a hard time paddling out. I definitely underestimated the waves. From the shore they were small, but gawd damn were they punchy. They packed a little wallop and hindered my progress. It took me a while to get to the line. I mistimed it and battled a consistent set. I said hi to Ray, and I bullshitted with the old timer that knee boards.
There was a current pulling south. Initially a lot of people were at 45th, but they all drifted and stayed at 42nd. The three of us decided to duke it out with the current and stay where we were. I was lucky to pick off some shoulders. The water was so glassy that it was hard to distinguish the bump in the surface from the horizon. I moved with a purpose every time a good shoulder was forming. In between the walled sets there were some clean and easy peaks. The lips were soft, inviting, and curling, as if it was a palm just pushing you into the wave, saying, “Come here, Little Buddy. Don’t worry, I got you. Yayyyyy, now slide down the wave!” Other waves were deceiving. They looked like a shoulder, but upon dropping in there was just a wall to the left and right. My first wave was a fast left with a building wall. I got to pump my board about three times before I fell. No, it wasn’t a great ride, but it lasted long enough to appreciate the speed that I felt.
Once the sun was over the horizon the atmosphere changed. I looked to the east to see the blinding gold glow; it sparkled in the sky and poured onto the glassy surface. Soft little mounds floated with black shadows that looked like gentle blobs of black. At that point it didn’t matter that the conditions weren’t phenomenal; to be cradled in the sun’s natural wonder made it worth just sitting on my board.
Some random outside waves would clean up the line every once in a while. I thought that I was the only one having a hard time, but I saw Ray and the knee boarder hanging out in the white water for a while. When I talked to them later they said they were caught in a rip, and that the waves held them there, too. I had to duckdive a wave as the lip crashed on me. It took my board from me like an old grandma being viciously mugged. Fuck mugged … raped! I thought that my duckdiving sucked, but I really think that my last couple boards have been so long and thick that they were just too buoyant.
Aside from my mediocre rides, I was the lucky recipient of two good lefts. One random peaked came out of no where. It was a punchy three footer that sent me down the line pretty fast. As it walled up I pumped my board and was able to get a decent top turn and reentry. I still had more wave to work with, but then I stalled on the cut back. I think I stall out from: 1. Lack of skill, and 2. Too much board. It’s probably more of the former than the latter. The second left was the same, but smaller, and I fell on the attempted top turn. I did get a couple rights, but I couldn’t get any spray because the lip was already curling down before I could bash it. There were dolphins playing in the water out ahead. I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful morning. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I was immersed in a sea of honey, it seemed.
At 0745 I caught my last wave. It had a long wait for it, so I paddled in and rinsed off. Shan text me to ask how it was and wanted to check it out in the afternoon. I told him that the forecast showed it to be biggest in the morning, and that I wouldn’t expect much for the evening. Surprisingly, it was a fun morning. I wrote earlier that it’s hard to get motivated in the winter, but when you’re walking back to your car after a good session and look back at the water … you’re always glad you made it out.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
A BREAK IN THE SWELL: SUN 1.09.2011 MORN
CREW: Klaude (photo detail), Christina, Rick, Dave T., and Gary C.
FLAKES OF THE DAY: Shan
TIME: 0645 -0945, 3 hrs.
WIND: If it was there, I couldn’t even feel it.
WATER: Unpredictable. Some walls mixed in with fast shoulders in the early, low tide, hours. Into the third hour, the conditions cleaned up, chest high shoulders, clean, softer, and fun.
I had to take a break from surfing on Friday and Saturday; I didn’t even see the water. With school starting soon, it’s crunch time, and I had to get my priorities in order. I put surfing at the top of my list, since August, when I got off of deployment. The last couple days I paid for it by being swamped with paperwork for school and the military. I put out the DRC signal last night to see who was surfing. Only Shan, and Christina said they would be out.
My wetsuit lay bone dry over my quiver. Another board was put back on the injured list, the 6’1 DMS. I fixed an old ding on the tail that reopened on Wednesday. That only left me with my 6’6 Merrick. I changed at my apartment to save the trouble later. I initially got a free spot on 45th. Just as I text Rick, I saw him drive past me into the lot. He text me back and told me the nonmetered space was open. I drove down and parked right next to him. It was still dark, so I couldn’t tell what the waves were doing. Rick was talking to a guy named Dan. I introduced myself, and we all shot the shit for a minute. I was ready to go, all suited up, board waxed up, and car locked. Rick was still changing. I finally told him that I’d just meet him on the sand. Not too many people were out yet, so I had no scale to how big the waves were. I warmed up in front of 45th. Some guy who was with his kid asked if I could fill up his bottle with some seawater. I kindly obliged. We saw some of the first guys paddle out. It looked about head high and walled. There were some shoulders, but they were a bit fast.
I really didn’t want to ride my Merrick. It just feels so thick and heavy now. I feel I’ve improved to the point that I can ride something smaller. On the paddle out I had to duck dive some waves. After my recent lesson from damaging the JS, I held onto my board, even when I was in the impact zone. I was winded by the time I got to the line. I was surprised that just two days out of the water would do that to me; I was huffing and puffing. We moved in front of the tanks where there was a sandbar working. We could tell because the wave would jack up out of a flat spot for no reason. There was a right forming off of it, which Rick took full advantage of.
Soon, Gary and Dave were in the line up with us. Some guy paddled up to me and asked, “Excuse me, are you Donny Duckbutter?”
“Yeah, that’s me. My real name is Matt.”
“I’m Whiffle Boy … Brett.”
That was random and unexpected. Turned out he was part of the Westside Hurley Crew (WHC) that has a pretty strong presence in the South Bay. Either way, I got a good laugh out of that. Gary got a long ass left that I had no idea how he paddled into, the wave was so small. It hit the sand bar and pushed him for a good clean ride all the way to shore. Dave caught a fast left. Towards the inside he emerged, fully exposed, from a legit floater that he pulled off; he’s good. At that moment I saw someone waving at us from the shore. Rick noticed it first and asked who that was. It was Christina and Klaude. I was happy to see them and surprised they could make us out from the crowd.
The energy was good. If one of us were out of position, we were stoked for the guy that got the wave and cheered each other on. I introduced Christina to the rest of the guys. She showed me her new board, and we caught up. I told her that she was welcomed to my Becker or Merrick boards when she’s ready. I was reserving them for Jon, but right now he’s in strong contention for “Flake of the Year” honors, behind Shan. WHO WILL WIN? I can’t remember if I got any good rides. I actually felt out of sync on my board. Lauren was out with her friends last night, so I was edging through my shorts, hard core. I think I might have chaffed the skin a little because the salt water stung my sausage. My pop ups were slow, I wasn’t making the sections, and I wasn’t pulling any turns. I guess today was more of a re-familiarization session.
Everyone left to feed the meters, but Christina was the only one that returned. Everyone else left. She came back to the line up for a while. It was about 0930, and I was weak and flaccid. My vision was blurred from all the duckdiving, and I was losing paddle power. There was a petite, long haired, brunette that was out there ripping. She was working the break and paddled north and south to hunt down the peaks. She was getting some solid turns in. She was definitely a stand out for the morning.
I tried my best to capitalize on a wave to end my session right. For the whole session, I only pulled off about three good rides. I caught two waves all the way to shore. They didn’t have much power behind them, and they were soft for a longboarder. I was still able to keep up with the section and trim down the line all the way. There were no carves, but it was still fun. I turned to Klaude at the end of the ride for validation. I got another fast left which I got to pump my board on. I attempted a cutback but stalled in the pocket. It was still fun, but I should have been able to do more. I wiped out on my last wave then joined Klaude and Christina on the sand. They introduced me to a beach bum named Jack who asked to look at my board. He told me that it was possible Al Merrick shaped it himself. I thought that was far fetched. It looked so fun out there. The longboarders were taking over, but it was still fun for any board. There were scattered, clean, peaks across the whole beach. I was too tired to indulge any further.
I gave Christina a hot water bottle, and I had two for myself. The whole Porto lot was packed. Even though I was rusty, it was probably the most fun that I’ve had in a while. It was easy and clean. When I got home I got a text from Shan. He said he hurt his leg surfing yesterday, so he couldn’t make it out in the morning. He asked to join him for an afternoon session. I told him that I couldn’t. I was tired. I’m still tired. Three hours will do it to you.
FLAKES OF THE DAY: Shan
TIME: 0645 -0945, 3 hrs.
WIND: If it was there, I couldn’t even feel it.
WATER: Unpredictable. Some walls mixed in with fast shoulders in the early, low tide, hours. Into the third hour, the conditions cleaned up, chest high shoulders, clean, softer, and fun.
I had to take a break from surfing on Friday and Saturday; I didn’t even see the water. With school starting soon, it’s crunch time, and I had to get my priorities in order. I put surfing at the top of my list, since August, when I got off of deployment. The last couple days I paid for it by being swamped with paperwork for school and the military. I put out the DRC signal last night to see who was surfing. Only Shan, and Christina said they would be out.
My wetsuit lay bone dry over my quiver. Another board was put back on the injured list, the 6’1 DMS. I fixed an old ding on the tail that reopened on Wednesday. That only left me with my 6’6 Merrick. I changed at my apartment to save the trouble later. I initially got a free spot on 45th. Just as I text Rick, I saw him drive past me into the lot. He text me back and told me the nonmetered space was open. I drove down and parked right next to him. It was still dark, so I couldn’t tell what the waves were doing. Rick was talking to a guy named Dan. I introduced myself, and we all shot the shit for a minute. I was ready to go, all suited up, board waxed up, and car locked. Rick was still changing. I finally told him that I’d just meet him on the sand. Not too many people were out yet, so I had no scale to how big the waves were. I warmed up in front of 45th. Some guy who was with his kid asked if I could fill up his bottle with some seawater. I kindly obliged. We saw some of the first guys paddle out. It looked about head high and walled. There were some shoulders, but they were a bit fast.
I really didn’t want to ride my Merrick. It just feels so thick and heavy now. I feel I’ve improved to the point that I can ride something smaller. On the paddle out I had to duck dive some waves. After my recent lesson from damaging the JS, I held onto my board, even when I was in the impact zone. I was winded by the time I got to the line. I was surprised that just two days out of the water would do that to me; I was huffing and puffing. We moved in front of the tanks where there was a sandbar working. We could tell because the wave would jack up out of a flat spot for no reason. There was a right forming off of it, which Rick took full advantage of.
Soon, Gary and Dave were in the line up with us. Some guy paddled up to me and asked, “Excuse me, are you Donny Duckbutter?”
“Yeah, that’s me. My real name is Matt.”
“I’m Whiffle Boy … Brett.”
That was random and unexpected. Turned out he was part of the Westside Hurley Crew (WHC) that has a pretty strong presence in the South Bay. Either way, I got a good laugh out of that. Gary got a long ass left that I had no idea how he paddled into, the wave was so small. It hit the sand bar and pushed him for a good clean ride all the way to shore. Dave caught a fast left. Towards the inside he emerged, fully exposed, from a legit floater that he pulled off; he’s good. At that moment I saw someone waving at us from the shore. Rick noticed it first and asked who that was. It was Christina and Klaude. I was happy to see them and surprised they could make us out from the crowd.
The energy was good. If one of us were out of position, we were stoked for the guy that got the wave and cheered each other on. I introduced Christina to the rest of the guys. She showed me her new board, and we caught up. I told her that she was welcomed to my Becker or Merrick boards when she’s ready. I was reserving them for Jon, but right now he’s in strong contention for “Flake of the Year” honors, behind Shan. WHO WILL WIN? I can’t remember if I got any good rides. I actually felt out of sync on my board. Lauren was out with her friends last night, so I was edging through my shorts, hard core. I think I might have chaffed the skin a little because the salt water stung my sausage. My pop ups were slow, I wasn’t making the sections, and I wasn’t pulling any turns. I guess today was more of a re-familiarization session.
Everyone left to feed the meters, but Christina was the only one that returned. Everyone else left. She came back to the line up for a while. It was about 0930, and I was weak and flaccid. My vision was blurred from all the duckdiving, and I was losing paddle power. There was a petite, long haired, brunette that was out there ripping. She was working the break and paddled north and south to hunt down the peaks. She was getting some solid turns in. She was definitely a stand out for the morning.
I tried my best to capitalize on a wave to end my session right. For the whole session, I only pulled off about three good rides. I caught two waves all the way to shore. They didn’t have much power behind them, and they were soft for a longboarder. I was still able to keep up with the section and trim down the line all the way. There were no carves, but it was still fun. I turned to Klaude at the end of the ride for validation. I got another fast left which I got to pump my board on. I attempted a cutback but stalled in the pocket. It was still fun, but I should have been able to do more. I wiped out on my last wave then joined Klaude and Christina on the sand. They introduced me to a beach bum named Jack who asked to look at my board. He told me that it was possible Al Merrick shaped it himself. I thought that was far fetched. It looked so fun out there. The longboarders were taking over, but it was still fun for any board. There were scattered, clean, peaks across the whole beach. I was too tired to indulge any further.
I gave Christina a hot water bottle, and I had two for myself. The whole Porto lot was packed. Even though I was rusty, it was probably the most fun that I’ve had in a while. It was easy and clean. When I got home I got a text from Shan. He said he hurt his leg surfing yesterday, so he couldn’t make it out in the morning. He asked to join him for an afternoon session. I told him that I couldn’t. I was tired. I’m still tired. Three hours will do it to you.
BLOOD BROTHERS: THU 1.06.2011 MORN
CREW: RANDY
FLAKES OF THE DAY: None
TIME: 0700 -0900, 2 hrs.
WIND: ? Can’t remember
WATER: Shoulder to head high at off peaks, a little bigger in front of 45th . Walled, but there were some waves with fast, rideable, shoulders if you were lucky enough to be in the right spot. Long waits in between good waves.
My brother wanted to check out Hammers again to see if it was going off. We reached the Grand parking lot a little before 0630 and bought a pass. I ended up taking out the 6’1 DMS that he gave me a while back. On the walk to the break we could tell that Hammers wasn’t really doing it. The south side of the jetty wasn’t happening either. There was a little drop in swell size, and the tide was going from mid to high.
We ended up walking to the north side of the tanks. We saw a good right come through, and we marked our peak. Most of the sets were walled at about head high, but every once in a while a defined peak would jack up from the sand bar. It was cold. We initially had a long wait and went our own ways to find a peak. I caught a couple closeouts. We were already into our first hour. Randy made the call to head closer to the stacks where we bumped into Ray. It wasn’t a gnarly day compared to the last week of surf, so I felt pretty confident on the 6’1. As we were paddling over, a little peak raised from the ocean. I was in the perfect position for a right. My paddling arms felt strong, and I was able to drop in. I was quite off balance, but I managed to go down the line and stay on the board. It was too fast for a rail grab, but I had my right arm trailing behind me and my hand in the wave. It was a great feeling. I caught about three more rights, and my last wave was a left. Randy and I were a little far apart, so I didn’t get to see what he was doing close up.
I saw my brother at the line up, then reality hit me. I may not see him again for at least a good two years, and he leaves in a matter of days. That would be one of the last times that I’d get to pull a session with him for a while. I’m happy that I got to spend as much time with him as I could since I’ve been home. Pretty soon Team Ramelb will be no longer, not until we meet again. By then who knows how things will be? Especially my surfing, I hope to improve by then. Another option, I may have to go to Indo to reunite much sooner. Thanks, Bro, for all the tips, and time you invested in hanging with me. I’m gonna miss you when you leave.
FLAKES OF THE DAY: None
TIME: 0700 -0900, 2 hrs.
WIND: ? Can’t remember
WATER: Shoulder to head high at off peaks, a little bigger in front of 45th . Walled, but there were some waves with fast, rideable, shoulders if you were lucky enough to be in the right spot. Long waits in between good waves.
My brother wanted to check out Hammers again to see if it was going off. We reached the Grand parking lot a little before 0630 and bought a pass. I ended up taking out the 6’1 DMS that he gave me a while back. On the walk to the break we could tell that Hammers wasn’t really doing it. The south side of the jetty wasn’t happening either. There was a little drop in swell size, and the tide was going from mid to high.
We ended up walking to the north side of the tanks. We saw a good right come through, and we marked our peak. Most of the sets were walled at about head high, but every once in a while a defined peak would jack up from the sand bar. It was cold. We initially had a long wait and went our own ways to find a peak. I caught a couple closeouts. We were already into our first hour. Randy made the call to head closer to the stacks where we bumped into Ray. It wasn’t a gnarly day compared to the last week of surf, so I felt pretty confident on the 6’1. As we were paddling over, a little peak raised from the ocean. I was in the perfect position for a right. My paddling arms felt strong, and I was able to drop in. I was quite off balance, but I managed to go down the line and stay on the board. It was too fast for a rail grab, but I had my right arm trailing behind me and my hand in the wave. It was a great feeling. I caught about three more rights, and my last wave was a left. Randy and I were a little far apart, so I didn’t get to see what he was doing close up.
I saw my brother at the line up, then reality hit me. I may not see him again for at least a good two years, and he leaves in a matter of days. That would be one of the last times that I’d get to pull a session with him for a while. I’m happy that I got to spend as much time with him as I could since I’ve been home. Pretty soon Team Ramelb will be no longer, not until we meet again. By then who knows how things will be? Especially my surfing, I hope to improve by then. Another option, I may have to go to Indo to reunite much sooner. Thanks, Bro, for all the tips, and time you invested in hanging with me. I’m gonna miss you when you leave.
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