Superman Returns 03/05/2010
 
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After three (3) months out of the water, a broken elbow, a pair of broken teeth, innumerable visits to various medical offices, playing a gig on bass guitar for a new band, several flights to and from San Francisco for work, several flights to and from Mexico for a wedding, and the most excellent 30th birthday party I could have ever imagined - I returned home to the ocean courtesy of my 5'9" Kaysen heavy-glassed, painted blue fish.

The return was painful on the elbow, but the waves that were breaking chest to shoulder high with solid and open peaks were persuasive enough to get me out of bed and back to Scripps beach. 

Competing against the hordes of surfers who were not returning from a fractured elbow was challenging, but I managed to paddle out and score two solid lefts.  These two (2) first flights after being grounded on dry land for so long were simply glorious under the glowing blue sun and out on top of the deep purple of the sea. 

I wanted more but did not want to press my luck.  Trying to take it slow I’m feeling good knowing that I can now come back for more.
 
BirdRock 01/24/2010
 
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SurfExcursion - 24 january 2010

We went forth into the calm after the storm.  With the low tide and semi-stormy conditions, the best local spot for the day seemed to be BirdRock.

At about mid-morning we arrived at the break and assessed the situation.  The left out in front of the park seemed to be working.  A little bit mushy and inconsistent, but the few rides that availed themselves were quality as evidenced below by the shots of my SurfMinded client:
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During the holidays, we went up to see the family in Los Angeles.  

The best part about returning home is that Trestles is inevitably on the way.  

Below are some shots that are the product of the great Jill Sunshine who endured the cold and dark conditions to catch the action.

The right here at uppers was SOLID.  Despite the crowd, plenty of decent waves were to be had.  

A few weekends later I went snowboarding and broke my elbow on the last run of the day.  

Then I rode my bike home on another weekend and lost the handle.  Trying to avoid breaking another arm, I fell right onto my face and broke my two front teeth.  Needless to say, this has been the worst January ever.  The only redeeming factors have been the steady awesomeness of Jill Sunshine and my inclusion in the band, Jackpot Junkies.  I was fortunate that my injuries did not prohibit me from playing music.

The injuries have, along with the bad weather, kept me out of the water but hopefully for not much longer.

Until then, I’ll just have to keep replaying the rapidly fading memories of Trestles in December of 2009.
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  As the days get shorter, the prospect of having my after-work sessions looms ominously before me.  Don't even get me started on the various wetsuits I'll have to wear before July 2010 comes around.

Luckily, the past few days have been spectacular all in their own ways:

- Wed. - Sept. 16 - Check out the surf at lunch - tide was too low and the winds were wreaking havoc on the shape.  No matter, I had to get to the comic shop anyway.  Went out after work and while the waves were still mushy, the waves were plentiful and offered up some corners that were open enough to afford one or two quick hits which is all you can really ask for at Scripps.

- Thurs. - Sept. 17 - Paddled out and there was not a cloud in the sky.  An extra treat this night was a band playing at the end of Scripps Pier.  I definitely enjoyed the live soundtrack to the session.  The size was somewhat smaller than the previous day, but I found enough open rights that had enough power to stomp and slide around on.

- Friday - Sept. 18 - Before Work - The sky was overcast, blanketing the breaking super clean, glassy, perfect corners that had me wishing both that I had gotten up earlier and that I didn't have to get out to go to work. 

The water was still warm though I still had to wear my spring suit because I left my board shorts at home.  But I couldn't believe that others were wearing full suits on a day like this, especially when there is going to be plenty of time to wear those awful straight-jackets over the next several months. 

Take-offs were super smooth, leading to ridiculously open faces both left and right.
The last wave was a nice right where I pulled in behind this longboarder giving me a view reminding me of that one camera commercial.  She noticed I was behind her and pulled out despite my yelps designed to encourage her to continue on. 

All together, today was the best day of the last three and I'm hoping I can pick up rights where I left off after work.
 
Diamondhead 09/08/2009
 
Sitting right below the famous volcanic crater, Diamondhead beach is easily accessed via a well-paved path that can be followed from the side of the main road. 

As someone from San Diego, I am all too familiar with having otherwise perfectly good surf days ruined by strong offshore winds.  What surprised me about Diamonhead and the east side of Oahu in general was the idea of sideshore winds that can gust and howl strong as high as 20 mph but not cause waves to crumble over. 

The other curiosity was the fact that different beaches in relatively close proximity to another could have completely different directional winds hit them by vitrue of the extreme curvature of the island landscape.  The same day at Diamonhead when winds were blowing fiercly directly from the east side of the break, a few miles over at Kuhio Beach in Waikiki the same trade winds gently skated over the surface and provided perfect offshore conditions.

To get an idea of how mighty the winds were at Diamonhead, check out the pic of this windsurfer tearing up the water:
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But with these conditions, just a few hundred yards down the way I was able to find half-way decent open faced rights that were breaking with at least 3-5 ft faces. 
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Back in San Diego, I can only imagine how great it would be on days when the winds get up high that if a beach gets completely blown out, I could just drive down around the bend a couple miles and find another beach with solid, open rights.
 
 
Check out our first attempt at in-water filming.  The waves started out reasonably good this day but quickly devolved into wind chop that did not want to break, let alone stay open once it did.  Anyway, the process was more difficult than imagined but more rewarding than expected once the footage came back.  There were actually a couple of real gems:
 
 
The skies looked pretty dreary for a Tuesday evening, especially in light of the diminished swell following last weekend's complete and utter awesomeness.  All gloom was dispelled, however, after a quick dip into the 72 degree Pacific Ocean by PB Drive w/ my 8'0 Craig. 

Dolphins abounding, solid 3 ft lefts and rights that were either rideable to the shore or good for a couple of quick hits - the dark and gray clouds may as well have been a bright, blue sunny sky.  Any negative energy is quickly washed away by these warm waters.
 
Post Title. 07/27/2009
 

Just thinking about how much I love my 'Rastafari' board.  The actual brand name is a 'Rusty Piranha,' the idea being that the board is a modern day, radicalized fish.  Hence, the 'Piranha' label as opposed to the generic term fish.

Here's a detailed description from Rusty:

Our proven, extremely popular, everyday modern fish. Among other things, traditional fish have a long, straight, rail line relative to their overall length and a lot of area behind the foot. The tail area is stepped down with 3 sets of wings. This help to make the board quicker from rail to rail and tighten the turns.

Specs:
Rocker, bottom and thickness are similar to a performance shortboard like the Burnout. Has a full nose with the wide point nudged in front of centre. The triple wings step a fairly wide tail down to about a 5 1/2" inch split.

Fins:
All boards fitted with FCS plugs and come with FCS fins

My board actually has orange and green stripes swirled on the deck, which is why I refer to the board as the 'Rastafari.'  Underneath are three super pretty blue FCS fins.

Until I get around to posting a pic of the Rastafari, I'll leave here a generic pic from Rusty:

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OK - finally managed to get that pic of the actual board.  Here it is:

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25 July 2009 07/25/2009
 

The forecast had hinted at some good waves to come later in the week.  Then the local news started reporting about high surf coming into the County.  When Thursday rolled around and people who did not surf were asking me if I was excited about the waves to come on the weekend, I knew the beaches were going to be a complete madhouse.  With even the slightest of hype about a swell, everyone and their mother feels the need to get out on the water.

I paddled out to Scripps on Friday morning, but the conditions there were actually smaller and less fun than they had been all week.  The swell was hitting North County a lot harder, but I did not have a chance to get up there and back before work.

I caught some decent waves at Scripps then I jogged back to my car and headed into the office.  After a full day of writing letters, filing motions, and other nonsense, I was finally liberated for the weekend.  Headed to my car at 6 pm, I was anxious to find a way to make the most of the next few hours of daylight.

Surfshot reported thirty surfers at Cardiff.  Forty at Swamis.  Forgetting about going North, I decided to look at the waves by the office but area around Scripps was too overrun with tourists.  I drove south and headed to Bird Rock but could not even find a parking spot .  Finally, I decided to go to the trusty PB Point to see if I could find better luck. 

The crowds were usually a little lighter at the Point.  Although the staircase had recently been repaired, getting to the break required a long walk across an uneve bed of rocks, followed by a paddle out to the break in between the dry reef which jutted out in several places.  As I had hoped, these obstacles had managed to keep most people away.  I looked out and saw no more than ten surfers scattered about in the water.

I paddled out past the guys sitting on the inside and a little ways in front of a longboarder sitting on the outside.  The one guy next to me was resigned to catching lefts because he was too nervous about the rocks on the right.  This left me in the perfect spot to catch the rights that were coming in at my own peril.

The sets that came made the paddle out and the five days of work that came before all worth it.  Mushy, flat takeoffs led to a sweet, open faces that allowed  a freedom of movement not usually provided by the beachbreaks that I usually frequent.  Some discretion was needed to avoid the rocks on the inside, but as long as I pulled out by the time I saw the water shimmering over the reef I was fine.

The lefts were the polar opposite, starting off with steep punchy takeoffs that tended to close out.  I found myself holding the rail from start to pull out, only to be catapulted into the air over the lip as I exited.  Still having a hard time getting my board to come up with me on those.

The few people that were out there were easy enough to share the waves with and friendly enough to talk to in between sets.  This made the time go faster while we waited for waves, but as the tide filled in that time grew longer and longer until the waves stopped breaking altogehter. 

By that time, I had rode my fill and felt completely stoked.  It was time to go home, grab some dinner, and rest up for the next big day of windsurfing lessons with the wife!

 
 

I took the wife out on a canoe ride on the gorgeous Mission Bay.  We hauled the vessel from the sandbar on which it's moored in San Juan Cove and paddled out to Paradise Point.  We then beached the canoe on the sand and walked onto the sand to relax on dry land for a bit.  Quite a bit of water traffic was flying by in front of us in the form of sailboats both large and small, some luxuriously crossing the bay and some embroiled in the mad frenzy of one of the weekend races.

Pretty much every time I had the opportunity to take out a sailboat I would manage to find my way directly in the path of one of these races.  The way the races are set up for the dozens of boats to dart back and forth right right across Sail Bay I was always taken aback by how furious the racers were when we crossed their path.  Did they expect the several non-racing sailboats to simply leap into the air and fly over their precious little race?  Or perhaps they would have preferred if we took our sailboats and simply submarined ourselves under the water until we were out of their way.

Anyway, I digress.  The point of this post is a surf report.  After the canoeing and the lunch that followed, before I knew it the sun was fast setting and the waves were still up.  I rode over to the end of Verona Court to paddle out with JC.  The board that was made available to me this evening was an eight foot epoxy longboard.  I was cautioned that the board did, in fact, suck and that I should take the 9 foot epoxy longboard that had a piece of duct tape strategically placed on one of the corners.  I took the admonition as a personal challenge and decided to take it out.

The waves were fantastic.  3-4 ft, plentiful open faced rights, that were decent enough to stay open long enough for a couple turns.  The only curiousity this evening was a group of 4 guys in wetsuits who were attempting to catch waves on a giant, inflatable raft.  I say attempting because they did not end up riding much of anything.  I had to assume that none of them were surfers.  And it's not that I have some kind of prejudice against riding giant, inflatable rafts in the waves.  The ordeal actually looked somewhat entertaining.  I would just think that such experiments were better suited for days when the surf was not as good - especially considering that in summers around here the good surfing days are few and far between.