Surf Report

August 28, 2008, 6:00PM - El Porto, CA

I hate the water at El Porto, I get a constant build up of phlegm. Eric rode out today had a few stands. Kev went down a few.

Hung at at the remodeled Sharky's after surfing. I wore my green adida shorts with my beer stained shirt. Good times with the boys.

Summer League

The Sensei bowling league finished today. Our final ranking is 6th place. A met a motley crew:

Kev (KPN): Crown on Ice
Claude (Spiderman): Jack and Coke
Ken = Crown and Diet Coke
Lisa = Washington Apples, Makes bad ass cookies. I had 9, I will get my baker's dozen.
Kevin = Doesn't drink. Pro Golfer that has played with Tiger Woods.
Jeff, Cyn, Viv, Viet, Erica (The Rookies) = Washington Apples, Chilled Vodka, and Irish Jager Car Bombs.
Justin = 299
Rudy = 300
Gerald = Washington Apple, cool guy that has been through some shit
Glenn = Huster man
Dean = Get's you to gamble man
Jessie = Cool man
Damien = Powder and resin dude
Bobby = Cool guy
Janis = Drink's everything, bad ass
Cay = Bartenderess
Kimi = Chilled Grey Goose
Jeff = Jager with a shirt that lists all of Vegas' strip clubs.

I lost shit loads of money.

Publishers note: I was pretty wasted when I first posted this. So i have taken the liberty of editing it.

Surf Report

August 23, 2008, 10:00AM - Pacific Beach, CA

Big party today.

Matt and Daniel stood up.
Dex hit his head.
Ron had a good 2nd day.
Gus and his friend Marlon had fun.
Nathan hates surfing.
4+ hours of surf.

Note to self:

"You going to catch that"
"I don't know, but I am going to try"

Bald San Diego guy: "You're going to eat shit the first few months, but after that it's fun".

Surf Report

August 23, 2008, 7:00AM - Sunset Beach, CA

I decided to look into Herb's spot, Sunset Beach on 24th Street. The misses and I found that Sunset hosts free parking, showers, and a clean private beach.

Problem is the seaweed count is ridiculous. Waves were rolling, short, but clean.

August 22, 2008, 7:00AM - Bolsa Chica, CA

Dex and I arrived at the beach and were welcomed by sting rays.

Surf Report

August 19, 2008, 6:00AM - Bolsa Chica, CA

Kev came out today, yahoo, went to Bolsa to find chop and flat waves.
We made the best out of it, though there was not much to work with.

Surf Report

August 16, 2008, 6:00AM - Bolsa Chica, CA

Dex, Henga, and Jeric. I woke up at 4:00 AM to be at Dex's house by 5AM. Henga and I both had plans to be back by 10:00AM.

Dex caught a fish on his surfboard. The wave placed the small silver anchovy on his Blaster. Looks like the ocean wanted to welcome him back. Dex was hungry again today and said he could have eaten that fish. Dex's paddling is improving, he's paddling way ahead of the waves now and getting more chances to stand. Dex also paddled out to the "line up" today, I tried my best not to make my concerned face, but he definitely paddled out with confidence. Looks like his classes are almost finished so he should be able to surf during the work week at El Porto. Nice!

Dex has been talking about his paddling lately. He says he's trying to fix his left stroke:

Right stroke smooth, left stroke "splat". haha you'll get it next week for sure.

Henga's doing very well, best surfer out of the crew right now. He's picking up paddling quickly and he's even learned how to turn the board while sitting - all in one day. I saw Henga catch real waves a lot today and last week. By real waves, I mean the waves you catch at the "line up". Henga's getting extra surf time in during the week with a coworker at Zuma beach. Good luck to you mate in Zuma.

Jericho is doing very well for his second day out. He's getting the hang of Eric's board BUT needs a shorter leash. The leash gets tangled around his legs, poor guy can't stand with out getting "bear trapped".

Jeric's tip: "I got my suit on Froghouse.com. Free shipping on a suit that I've been looking for"

http://www.froghouse.com/home.php

Jeric mentioned he might look towards purchasing a board. I have plans on rewaxing Eric's board for Jeric before the Big Pacific Beach trip on Saturday. I will also look into finding a shorter leash for Jeric. Jeric's make improvements on his paddling and developing his instinct on reading which waves to catch. Keep going man.

Yours truly, I still nose dive and I am still paranoid of sting-rays. I really held on to Dex's advice to put out 2 extra strokes before popping up. It's made all the difference. The 2 strokes give me the push I need to stay ahead of the wave and give me the ability to look left and right before going down the wave. I also find that the 2 strokes let give me the time to pop up correctly and go down the face. I was able to catch one down the face and see the white water break behind me.

Then the ocean said, "Don't celebrate early". I ended up closing the day with a nose dive and a fall backwards with 1 foot in the air pose. Not cool.

The rest of the day I was moody because I need to sleep. I don't know if going that early is worth it for me because I'm grumpy the rest of the day.

Kev is back from his 2 week trip. He celebrated a wedding with his family in West Virgina. West Virgina, New River rafting, running, and New York, all in one trip. Sweet.

Kev's itching to surf today. Looks like I'll be surfing during the week again. JOY!

3 Miles

The Track

Ant. Ant took me to the tracks and we jogged 3 miles straight. I have never done that before in my life. I was content to finish 2 without stopping, finish 3 miles was a huge accomplishment. My victory was not without pain, I started feeling tired by the second mile and my old-man cramps started at 2.5 miles.

Ant pushed me a little further, he wanted to run to the end of the straight away to completed our third mile.

We clocked in 10 min and 30 second miles (Laugh if you want, but that's not shabby for an old fat guy like me).

That was amazing, I hope we get to do it again.

We closed the day with a yakitori dinner at Shin Sen Gumi! Had a interesting meal and good company alongside our cook, Teppei.

Our favorite picks: Flat Marinated Steak (Flappy Steak). It was amazing.

Extra: I biked to work today. That was fun.

Surf Report

August 8, 2008, 6:30AM - Bolsa Chica, CA

Dex, Francis, Rithia. Sting Rays near towers 21, 22, 23. It was bad.

Dexter was the highlight of this day, you should see this kid's determination to stand. Dex was able to get up on his board a lot today.. Rithia showed us his Al Merrick board.

August 9, 2008, 7:00AM - Bolsa Chica, CA

Dex, Henga, Jeric. A stingray attacked Dex. BOO!

I was able to catch (actually ride the face) a wave today. It was a damn good feeling. I saw Danny right before I caught it.

Me: Hey Danny!
Danny: What's up!
Me: (Catches wave)

YEAH BOY!

Me: Hey Danny!
Danny: Hey man you caught that wave!
Me: Thanks man!

YEAH BOY!

Bonus! Jeric made his first trip out today. As Kev would say, "The surf team is growing". haha. Jeric had a riot on the Black Diamond. He ended up picking up 3mm suit and booties! SWEET!

Jon and Ryan. Side story! Jon went out to Seal Beach with Ryan. He said he stood up a lot of times today! Good job bro! We need to head out!

August 10, 2008, 7:00AM - Bolsa Chica, CA

Dex, Henga. Dex did not let the stingray let him down. I surfed 5 days out of the week this week. My ears hurt like hell and I could not paddle out for the life of me today. Before going to Bolsa we checked out Seal, couldn't find Jonnyboy and the gents wanted to go to Bolsa.

Surf Report

August 6, 2008, 7:30AM - El Porto, CA

Han Solo. Grew some and went down another face today. Stood on a lot of white water. Cut up my ankle and knees. Need to ride that line at San O.

A kid thought it would be funny to throw dirt at me. The parents called their kid over and did not mind to apologize.

Heh.

I decided to just head back in the water after my sandwich. I caught another wave back in. As I rode back to shore, a kid told me, "You did it!".

Moral of the day, stay away from evil kids.

My ear plugs are helpful

Surf Report

August 4, 2008, 7:30AM - Bolsa, CA

Han Solo. Low tide and nice rolly waves = confidence booster. I took white water back to shore and landed on my bum many times.

I actually went down the face of the wave with full confidence today. I decided it time for me to eat shit while trying to actually "surf". While going down a wave the front of the board looks like it is just suspended in air. The back of the board should stick in the water if I successfully time and plant my pop up. And the board is always going to look like I'm hanging in mid air unless I catch the line.

I caught a wave going straight, the burst of speed caught me off guard, I stuck it out going down the face of the wave but fell backwards when it broke into white water.

Surf Report

August 3, 2008, 7:30AM - Pacific Beach, CA

Kev, Marney, Dex. We headed out to San Diego to pick up Kev's cousin, Marney.

Fun day.

Surf Report

August 2, 2008, 7:30AM - Bolsa Chica, CA

Henga, Jeremy, Dexter, Kev, Jon, Ryan. She was good to us today. Plenty of white water to learn on and enough space from the pro surfers for us to learn without having the fear of getting in the way. In summary, everyone had a positive surf day:

Henga rode on Morgan most of the morning. Morgan showed Henga a good time, catching waves and holding still for him to stand. That’s my girl. Henga’s looking to repair Jeremy’s long board.

Jeremy was on his 7’8” board and brought more confidence in the water. He borrowed my full suit again today (I really hope he did not commit cardinal sin and peed in my suit). Jer's on his 2 week of the GM Diet. I admire your discipline and strength man.

Dexter was impressive on the Blaster. We were side-by-side trying to catch white water. Here is an example of how that worked out:

Me: (catching the white water) Hey Dex! Where’s Dex? (Looks to the left)
Me: Dex? (Looks up)
Dex: (Standing) Hehehehe.

After finish the ride we walked back in to the ocean together. Dex smiled and said, “I was standing on the board looking for you. When I looked down, I realized I had to jump off to avoid hitting you”. My reply, “You suck!”. On a positive note, I watched Dex slide down a breaking wave with a clean style. Dexter's paddling is improving, the distance he clears with each stroke is getting further each week. Nice job.

Kev was out testing his new board. I stood witness to 2 of Kev's stands. Kev’s starting to figure out where he needs to position himself on the new board to get the most out of his paddling.

Jonnyboy came out today! Jon kept having to switch boards with everyone. He did very well for his first day out in the water. Looks like his bodyboarding experience kicked in to help him caught white water. His main concern today was learning how to stay balanced while lying on the board. At the end of the day, Jon caught a wave on Eric’s Black Diamond. Jon enjoyed the speed of the board so much that wants to ask Eric how much he would sell the board for.

Ryan showed us what’s up on his board. Ryan was either:

1. Riding a wave towards shore
2. Paddling out towards waves

Yours truly, I had to wear the bright pink spring suit again. I didn’t mind too much.

I had a fun day, plenty of stands in the white water. I even had a smooth drops down small breaking waves. I ammore comfortable with my pop ups now. I smile more too. He's glowing! My love continues to grow for you darling.

New technique, "Turning the board while sitting": I don’t know if I posted this yet, but Kev and I figured out how to sit on the board and turn a full 360 (left or right). To turn the board while sitting you need to straddle onto the board, imagine wrapping your legs around a tree, then depending on which way you want to turn use your left or right arm to pull the board towards the direction you want to turn too. While pulling kick your legs into circles to turn left or right. This helps you turn to catch a wave that you've been eying.

Shit Happens

I dropped Morgan for the first time today in the parking lot. Sad. I was focused on moving out of the way for a car that was parking. A friend, Herb, came out and heard the board hit the floor, he thought a car ran over it because of the large cracking sound. Herb was wearing a Save Trestles shirt.

Herb checked out the cracks and recommended using Solarez to patch up the cracks and dings. He offered his private stash of Solarez, but I had to refuse since I did not want to come across as a moocher.

Bolsa Chica Herb Tip’s: You should check out Sunset beach a few blocks down. It’s quiet and you feel like you have your own private beach. I just come here to meet the old friends.

My response: Another cool old surfer friend. I guess my friends and I are making memories now to meet up in the future aye?

Surf Report

July 29, 2008, 5:30PM - El Porto, CA

Han Solo. Today's plus side:Plenty of ridable waves. Today's downside: Plenty of 5 foot "kill new guy" waves and freak rip tide.

It was not a normal day at El Porto (well at least for the new guy).

High Tide with Rip Tides. The reports online said the water was hazardous. As the Jamaican Tarot Card reader would say, "the cards don't lie". I almost pooped in me draws, oh wait, I'm naked in my suit.

2 waves pummeled me silly. Both times I got caught in the under tow. It was scary being under water for that long.

Shaken up. I exited the water and moved further south, following a surf couple into rolling long board waves. BINGO. Caught 2 waves that broke into white water before nose diving, still going straight, i can't ride a line yet. I'm starting to lean back to help the board flush out with the water.

The waves quickly got too intense for me again, so I sat out. The girl in the surf couple was getting tossed by the 5 foot waves. It was bad.

I went home