Vibes Request

I'm afraid that I do not have the best news. It appears that I am having complications from my varicocele surgery. The area where I was operated on has been red, swollen and hot to the touch. I went to the ER last night was was prescribed antibiotics as a precaution. Tomorrow I will see the urologist who performed the operation to get a better opinion. I am feeling so sick. I still cannot walk very well. As a surfer, I pride myself on my durability and toughness, but I must confess to a certain degree of anxiety over this. I feel terribly guilty about missing work, too. I need to get back to school.

I've been trying to close me eyes and hear the sound of my feet thumping along the board as I walk out to the nose then back. I love that sound. Love the feel of the wax under my feet. Trying to feel that water all around my body as swim for my board.

fingers crossed...

80 Degrees and Perfect? WTF?!

I bet it's pretty fun in front of the "Crab Shack" today. Man, shit. I've finished off the OxyCodone and am working my way through the Vicodin. This really, really sucks. Can't work, can't surf, can't sleep, can't do much.

I read your blogs from the weekend and it sounds like everyone has been scoring shoulder-high waves in 80 degree weather. Bastards, all of you.

I kid.

Your surf reports have gotten me riled up and eager to fight through the pain. I'm going back to work Wednesday and plan to be back in the water next Monday.

I'll get about a week of waves before I check in with the orthopedic surgeon regarding my shoulder. The hits just don't stizzop, yo.

Back In A Few

See you in a bit. :)

Right on, right on...

I liked my last wave, a shoulder-high wall. Dropped in, bottom turned, back to the top, back down, repeat. Just using the weight of my board to generate speed. Tried to beat the breaking lip during a kick out, but timed it wrong. I went over the top and the board went to the beach. Nothing like getting punched in the nuts by a wave. I laughed as I swam after my log. Happy to have my entire body immersed in the ocean, happy to have pushed it a little too far, but mostly happy to have had the experience of surfing.

As I peeled my board off the sand, another board came washing up. Some other logger had blown it as well. We smiled as widely as we could and parted ways. Complete understanding of a shared experience conveyed without words.

Perfect.

The Only One Laughing

I laugh pretty hard when guys stack. I laugh because I laugh hardest at myself, so it's all good. Wiping out while trying to do something cool is nothing to be ashamed of. Hanging 20 when you meant to hang 5? That's cool. Going over the falls while attempting a super late takeoff? Right on.

So today I kooked out, buried the nose while walking it, but mostly I had a fine, fine session. I'm just trying to get as wet as I can as often as I can before Tuesday's ordeal. I'm missing Venice, so that might be the weekend spot. Surfing a sand bottom is always liberating. Who cares if the board wanders off and finds its way to the beach? There are no nasty rocks to ding it or your feet.

Enjoy your Friday!

Another Good One

So nice out there today. No wind, decent waves, the summer line-up marker still working. I'm glad this has been such a nice surf week. I've really needed it.

Some days...

Some days I can't get away from it.

The time between waves is the worst. Nothing to do but think. My mind gets at me.

Riding a wave is perfect, though. Total concentration. Nothing else to focus on but the matter at hand. Adrenaline rushing, stoke rising. Being forced into such a satisfying moment... So much else in life is a major, major drag by comparison.

Everyone is taking some these days, so we gotta surf. Must. Stay. Stoked.

Gorgeous

I was pretty mad after work. A meeting gone wrong. I felt my time was being wasted and I was tired, hungry and eager to bail. I was fuming as I drove down PCH, then I saw it.

A gorgeous peeler. Waist high, breaking from the point to the bay. A perfect, glassy baby barrel with NO ONE ON IT!

I forgot all about my bad mood. I grabbed my pig and hit it. Lord, what a gorgeous afternoon. I caught a bunch of waves at first, then it went sort of flat. Well, not sort of. It went flat.

I got out of the water, poked at a big ol' sea slug, pulled some trash out of the rocks and listened to baseball on the radio during the drive home. I was very much at peace.

Awful

Cold.
Flat.
Wind whipping.
Did I say cold. Man, it was cold!
Poor air quality.
Caught one wave.

Oh well. While I often regret sessions during, I never regret them after. I'm glad I went, but I wish it were better.

In other news, I called R. and told him that I came up with a new rule for our outlaw surf gang.

Rule 17: If you don't fight your way out of the parking lot, it doesn't count as a session.
Ha!

It's About The Connection

No one out at Rincon. Sandspit slumbering. A few 1' peaks in Carpinteria. Emma Wood was sleeping, too. 1', maybe 2'. I didn't bother checking Leadbetter. Gorgeous day, though. I really don't care if it's flat. Sometimes I'll sit in the water for an hour and maybe I might catch a 2' rogue. Maybe I don't. If a connection with the ocean is all you're after, then it's possible to surf when it's flat. "Surf" being more a state of mind than actually paddling/catching/riding.

The missus and I saw Henry Rollins last night at Soho. Henry was his usual, inspiring self. From him I take away the following lesson: Live, live, live because you're going to be dead for a really long time.

Blown Out

It's been windy all day. Three guys out at Rincon, not catching anything. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow.

Same As It Ever Was

I was in a mellow mood, so I skipped my usual haunt. I'm just not ready to jockey; I've got too much stuff on my mind. I don't want to be constantly paddling, trying to get to the inside of the guy next to me.

Instead, I hit up BCB (this is starting to become a trend) and ran into Boun. He was quiet, but it was great to see him chop hop that fish damn near into the rocks. He's got a great energy when he surfs. A girl I think I've filmed before was out, working on her switch stance. I thought that was cool. BCB can be kind of assy, but it remains a great place to hammer out the kinks in your style.

The missus and I are going to Santa Barbara tomorrow. We'll be seeing Henry Rollins and hopefully I can get wet. I think I'll try Hobson's again. There's something about that warbly mutant that I like. Barring that, Emma Wood is convenient, although that reef way outside intimidates me.

The Surf Sucks In Bellflower

As I merged east onto the 105, my mind was saying. No! Right! Go to Porto!

I had to go to Bellflower today. I'm not sure why the specialist for my particular ailment has to be in Bellflower, but that's where he is, so that's where I went. I've been there 6 or 7 times and finally, the ordeal is (hopefully) coming to an end. I'm going under the knife on the 21st for a non-surfing related injury. I'll be out of the water for a bit as a result. I'm going to try and take advantage of the down time by doing some filming.

It was weird driving there with my boards in the car. They seemed very out of place so far inland. Such a strange place. With no ocean near me, I had no idea which way was which. It was hard to navigate, being so far away from familiar landmarks.

I hope it's cooler tomorrow. I'd like to slip into the water and have a mellow little session.

Live, damn you.

I'm suiting up and as I do so, I ask another guy if the waves are able to push through the tide and actually break. He tells me that he's not sure and confesses to being a total noob. That's not an easy thing to do for a guy - to admit inferiority in an athletic endeavor to another man. I respect that and tell the guy to paddle out near me. He was asking about rocks and other hazards, so I assured him he'd be okay if he stayed close. I'd said I'd show him my take-off markers and all that. He paddled out, got smashed, then quickly went in. Okay, good effort. Better luck next time.

So I'm out there and man, it's looking good. Twenty-five guys at the point and just me in the bay. I immediately paddle into 5 waves and I'm thinking, "This is going to rock!"

Then it went dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.

I'm floating around for, like, 30 minutes doing nothing and starting to seethe. I mean getting really pissed at the zoo at the point, but not wanting any part of that mayhem. Then I see a moth in the water. He's flapping his wings and doing his best to get airborne.

I pick him up and let him crawl up and down my arm. His wings are getting dry and I think he may fly away any moment. But then a waves comes. I forget about the moth and paddle.

When I come back out that damn moth is still in the water, swimming around. "You really want to live, don't you?" I pick him up and set him on my shoulder. He's crawling all around. I feel him on my cheek and neck and I can feel his little wings flapping. Finally, a wave comes and I can go home. "Hold on, dude," I tell the moth and in we go. I get up to the beach...and the moth is gone. I hope that little fellow flew away because he had a lot of heart and gave me something to do while waiting an eternity for a wave.

I'm not sure what the point of all this is other than to say I wish we could all get along in the water and show one another some kindness and respect.

Peace.

On A Roll

I surfed BCB today. Three months aways from that place and I've been twice in a week. Odd. I had a hunch that despite the high tide there'd be enough of a swell to push through it. I paddled the shorty out and caught some really fun waves. A little chilly for board shorts, but I did okay.

Cool

Mellow little session. Not great, not bad, just mellow. Kind of crowded, though. Sometimes I think that I will never surf an empty line-up ever again. Missing Zuma today. Looking forward to taking the shortie up there for some peaky, clean water goodness.

Loving The Cold

It's time to really surf now. The water is getting colder. The NW swells are showing up and I enjoyed a chilly dawn patrol.

Beat

I had no idea what was going on out there. Falling tide, windswell, NW, some SW and chop. Hard to fall into a rhythm. There were some really fun waves now and again, but it was a long wait. Tired from paddling the shortie around. Stressed from work. Just gettin' worked.

I bet that beach breaks early this morning must have been awesome. Oh well.

Nice Afternoon

The combo swell resulted in some fun, shifting peaks. The NW seemed the better of the two. The SW sets were closing out. I've been tired and worn out, but surfed well enough. It feels good to be out there in board shorts. Such pleasant weather.

Ryan would have been proud. Despite being surrounded by rookies, I held my own and didn't get rattled. Sometimes I get so frustrated by crowds and start surfing poorly. (Is kookiness contagious?)But not today. All I had to do was remind myself, "Dude, this is your spot. Not theirs." So I took what I wanted, but made sure to tell the short boarders on the inside to paddle for any wave they saw me on.

In other news, the Dodgers are looking good. Fingers crossed...

Wow. Just Wow.

What a gorgeous day. At 4pm it was 80 degrees and glassy. There was a fun SW in the water that was producing some really great rides in the 3' range.

I surfed in the bay and had a really nice take-off spot figured out. I'd take the drop, apply pressure to the inside rail, get slotted, then just go and go. I picked off several like that before deciding that I needed to share a bit. I drifted to the outside and finished off my session with a nice little ride.

When I was sitting out there between waves, I was thinking a lot about life and its various hassles. I think it's important to surf every day. There's going to be a time (it could be sooner; it could be later) when I won't be able to. Shoot, I'll be having surgery on my groin in a few weeks, so there's two-three weeks out of the water right there. I feel driven to get wet as often as I can.

As I was driving home, I checked in at Beer Can Beach. I thought I had it good, but BCB looked awesome. It would have been a great call, but I have a hard and fast rule about this spot: Never after 8 am. I ha-ha-hate BCB later in the day. The noise, the dirtbags lurking under the stairs and barnyards in full suits and booties. Booties. Are you kidding me?

Here's hoping for more goodness tomorrow.