Dodged a Bullet

Had the best possible outcome at the hospital yesterday. Soooooo ready to get back to the routine.

Summer is nearly over and now the water warms up?!?; not that I’m complaining….

Today we had small inconsistent waist to chest high waves. Didn’t get too many until I drifted into the bay.

Hospitals

Spending most of my time in the hospital.  I hate hospitals.  

The worst part is when someone you love is in pain, not knowing what the prognosis is and all you can do is hold their hand.   I've never felt so useless. 

But the people here, who do this for a living, from the janitors to doctors are to be admired for their dedication to the job at hand and their professionalism.  

No complaints from us, we even have a room with a view.

CU

A family emergency will keep me dry for a week or so.  Nothing too serious, but requires my full attention.

Weird Fog Action

Actually, it was clear until about 7am, then the fog rolled in. Not too impressive today. Matt said it best “it’s like the ocean’s still asleep”. Lumbering lined up peaks. Snagged a hand full of fair waves and went to work with a sense of unfulfillment.

Wednesday

Pulled into a half full parking lot at 5am this morning. Began riding down the trail in the dark and was shocked at the number of people already on their way down.  I guess everyone got the memo on the swell. At the intersection for the trail to uppers I decided to go straight and see if churches was worth a go, hoping that it wouldn’t be as crowded. The first hour there were only a handful of guys out. But once the gates at old man’s opened up a steady stream of people headed up the beach. It probably wasn’t as big as uppers but it was a blast.

Uppers from the bluff

Monday

Rights and lefts this morning.   Fun for all – more on the way.

Sunday

Promised an old friend that I would go up to Huntington State to surf with him.   It reinforced the reason we see so many "Visitors" at uppers during south swells.   Plenty of short lefts and a few against the grain rights.   Very consistent, took a pounding paddling back out a few times.   We've got it easy at our break.

Windswelly waist to shoulder high overlapping peaks. Some connecting through to the bay and some really fun lefts too. There was a lot of sea life in the early part of the morning. Pelicans were dive-bombing for bait fish. Seals would drive them up from underneath and you could see the ball of bait fish on top of the water. And a large pod of dolphins passing through with little ones just a couple of feet long. Made my day.

Corey out front

More of the Same

I'm glad I had one of "those" days today.   Still small and weak.   I should be sitting in the corner with a Kook cap on for at least an hour for my performance today.

Small HumpDay

Nice sunrise combined with small lined-up zippers.   Got a nice right, then got a good left, then my low back let me know that it was not liking the water temp (maybe it’s just my age).   Spent the balance of the session trying not to aggravate it.   Once I got to work and took a couple Advil I was fine.   Maybe I should go back to taking Advil before I leave the house……

Monday

Small icy wedges. Water temp continues to drop; 56-57 degrees today. It’s downright depressing. 
However, it's really nice to surf with just a few friends for a change.  

Burrrr

It seemed colder than yesterday!  But being prepared with my 4/3 and booties it was tolerable for today except for the fact that it's fucking August!   Took the longboard down today and at first thought I had the wrong board as a couple of head high sets rolled through while suiting up.  Kept close to the bay and caught a couple dozen waves that swung south.   Went home pretty satisfied in the end.

Ice Ice Baby

After three days in 110 degree plus temps in Kansas City MO, antisipating a minor southern pulse for Saturday morning, Mother Nature tee'd me up some cold, lumpy, wedges.   It felt like 58, maybe less.    Ok the first hour then my core temp started dropping.   On my last wave in I could barely feel my feet.  I'm pullin out the 4/3 for tomorrow; probably the longboard too since the forecast is nil.

Frank, not in a sharing mood.

Patience is a Virtue

Waist to chest high lined up zippers were served up for the morning crew.   Every once in while, that is.   Glad I rode The Plank today.
Jettin' off to central Texas this morning.  I'll be eatin' Uncle Dan's BBQ for dinner tonight.  Doesn't look like I'll be missing much in the wave department while I'm gone.   I'll give your regards to GWB.

Dark Paddle

I love paddling out by myself in the dark; I don't know why....
Skipped yesterday, had a tickle in my throat and thought it best to stay home, I'm sure somebody took my place in the line-up ;).  Today we had chest high long speedy lines, a few good sets at dawn but then things slowed; but well worth the effort.  In at 5:30 out at 7:15, someone has to push the cart to keep it moving.

Headcount: 57

Surfing with 57 of my closest friends.   The name of the game is keep your cool and jocky for position.   I managed to squeek out a half dosen waves.   The first three were in the dark before dawn when there were only a dozen or so people in the water.   We should invest in some generators and floodlights.

Peaks and Lines

Had a blast this morning, the first 45 min: 2 guys out.   Nice chest to head high waves.   Fun for all.

Tommy!

Wednesday

Small chest high zippers in the bay. A little more consistent than yesterday and a much mellower (is that a word?) crowd. Sorry about the lousy picks, stayed out too long and barely made it on time to call into an 8:30 conference call.

56th Street

In the late 70's through the 80's, before I moved to south county I used to surf 56th Street on a regular basis; when I wasn't surfing at uppers of course.   An old buddy of mine sent me these pictures when he came across my blog.  What a dork.

Jetty Entry