More Sick Mushburgers

Tuesday, July 14
Almost the complete lack of any kind of swell, along with the still winds conspired to dish up the sickest day of mushburgers yet. Me and the ShitStorm were up to the challenge. Today I pulled the two side fins (you need a big-ass screwdriver to do it) and used the SS as my alaia training board. I lasted about a half hour and at best could only succeed in making the board go straight. Of course I had visions of me pulling 360's like the big boys, but all I could do was a 90, monkey gripping the soft deck with my toes while sliding sideways in the mush before catching a rail and flipping over. But who cares, once again it was warm and sunny...even the water was more or less warm with lot's of folks trunkin' it. After a while I screwed the funny little middle fin back in and had another hour of fun in mushburger heaven.

Paul was sitting on the beach taking it all in and watching his super-grom longboarder son Will mauling the mushburgers on his yellow mush crusher. 'Course he had to give me the bidness for wearing my wetsuit, a black blob floating in a sea salted with whiteys. As soon as you change the spelling of NorCal to H-a-w-a-i-i I'll ditch my wettie.
July 14, 2009 (Tu)

In: 1345
Out: 1515
AT= 63.8 - 65.6F
WT= 57F (Farshore buoy)
Wx: Sunny with clear skies
Tide: 4'-4.8' Rising
Wind: Calm to very light onshore
Sea Surface: Glassy with light windswell chop
6-0 CBSAG Shop ShitStorm Ripper Thruster surfed as a single fin.

Bathymetry: Sandy beach break
Deep Water Swell and Wave Face Heights CDIP Archive
Buoy: NWS (Farshore*)
Time NDBC Data (approx.) CDIP Data
1300: 4.6 feet @ 8.3 NW (310 and 170) (1-2 ft. wave faces)
1400: 5.2 feet @ 9.1 NW (305 and 165) (1-2 ft. wave faces)
1500: 5.6 feet @ 9.1 NW (305 and 180) (1-2 ft. wave faces)
1600:5.9 feet @ 8.3 NW (310 and 170) (1-2 ft. wave faces)

Taking the World By (Shit)Storm

I love it when Summer finally arrives with hot temps, balmy breezes and warmer water. But when I saw the surf forecast was for 1 - 2 ft. glassy mushburgers, I panicked. I wasn't prepared. My quiver was dangerously anemic to take on this new Summer challenge.

That's when I grabbed the phone and called the China Beach Surf, Appliance and Grocery Shop. My anxiety mounted as the voice on the other end of the line answered. "I was wondering if Lik Mi Dong is working today," I said with hopeful anticipation. What if he was out of town surfing some mysto Cardiff Pipes break, or down in LA ripping the mushburgers at Zuma? "Yeah, I'll get him." I was elated!

"This is Lik, whaddya want?" Lik's degree of sarcasm was palpable, but that's what you get when you've shaped millions of boards for the Yangtze River Surf Club, and others like it. "Lik, I'm desperate," I pleaded," I need a board. "The beaches are going off and I've got nothing in my quiver that can handle mushburgers like your one-off times two million 6-0 ShitStorm."

"Look pal," Lik sneered, "Everyone needs a board now for these hot summer conditions and waves. I can see by your caller ID that you're from Surf City. Well screw Surf City, you all think you're so hot. But, I dig your pathetic little blog so what I'm gonna do is set aside ShitStorm number 243,756. I'll even sign it...by sneezing on it. Ha-ha, later you kook!"

I was so stoked! I had talked to the MAN himself and one of the rare CBSAG boards was mine. Move over surf punks, I'm about to rule the mush! I sped down to the shop as fast as my skinny fossil legs would carry me, and there it was. Gleaming under cellophane shrink wrap. The ShitStorm! I grabbed it and together with my surfing gear headed straight for the beaches and the looming 1 - 2 ft. mushburgers that were awaiting me.

I was in heaven. Never has a board performed so well in it's "almost surfboard" category. One step up from a sponge and several hundred down from a custom. But it was mine and for today, I ruled the mush.
July 13, 2009 (M)

In: 1245
Out: 1345
AT= 65.5 - 71.1F
WT= 54.1F
Wx: Sunny with clear skies
Tide: 3.4'-4.2' Rising
Wind: Calm to very light onshore
Sea Surface: Glassy with light windswell chop
6-0 CBSAG Shop ShitStorm Ripper Thruster surfed as a twin fin.

Bathymetry: Sandy beach break
Deep Water Swell and Wave Face Heights CDIP Archive
Buoy: NWS (Farshore*)
Time NDBC Data (approx.) CDIP Data
1100: 4.3 feet @ 7.1 NW (310 and 170) (1-2 ft. wave faces)
1200: 4.3 feet @ 7.1 NW (305 and 175) (1-2 ft. wave faces)
1300: 4.9 feet @ 7.1 NW (300 and 175) (1-2 ft. wave faces)
1400:3.6 feet @ 7.7 NW (300 and 175) (1-2 ft. wave faces)

No Swell Paddle Day

Friday, July 10

Around 3:45PM I noticed that the usual afternoon wind had not yet made a showing. With the lack of any significant, or even moderate southwesterly swells in our swell window, and a relatively weak northwest wind blowing up tiny waves, I grabbed my stuff and my Angulo custom SUP and headed to Sarge's for a paddle.

Conditions were nice when I arrived at the gate a half hour later. The usual dozen or so kids and parents were having fun playing in the sand and small shore break, or just chatting and enjoying the warmth of the wind stilled cove. I made it down to the water's edge, did my warm ups and stretches, and launched out into a clear jade green pocket cove, looking down into three to five feet of visibility, impossible when a swell is running, but always a special gift when it's flat.

The wind stayed light on the first half of the paddle, up to the point and around the corner. But on the homeward bound leg it kicked up fast from the southeast. The white buffalo were on the move outside the kelp beds.

A few people were out surfing, grabbing the little peelers making their way through the kelp and the high, but falling tide. Dad on his SUP and his son and daughter on their longboards were having a lot of fun at GDubs when I paddled through.

By the time I got out and was shoulder carrying my board through the cut in the cliffs on my way up to the park, I had to be careful not to get blown off my feet. The wind wails through that gap, especially a south wind and I try to keep visions of my board being ripped out of my grip and then fluttering down the 60 feet to the beach and rocks below at bay.

Summer in this beach town is always fun, mainly just because it's Summer. Sure, it's more crowded but it's hard to get mad at people who are having a good time with their families. Selfishly, I'm glad they're here. One, it makes me glad I don't live right in town, but far enough away to be removed from the traffic and the hordes of people as they have that good time. And also because I know that in only a few weeks they'll all be gone, just as the best part of our more northerly latitude dog days get going. Then we'll have it to ourselves again...for a little while.
July 10, 2009 (F)

In: 1640
Out: 1740
AT= 66.4-63.6F
WT= 53.5F
Wx: Sunny
Tide: 3.7' Falling
Wind: 4-5mph southeast at launch increasing to 4 with gusts at 10mph
Sea Surface: Light to moderate wind ripples inside the kelp bed

10-0 Angulo EPS/Epoxy Custom SUP with Infinity Ottertail carbon fiber paddleFin set-up: Thruster with K2D2 4.75" center fin (fourth mark up from back) and RFC Speedwings
Bathymetry: Rock reefs and sand
Deep Water Swell and Wave Face Heights CDIP Archive
Buoy: NWS (Farshore*)
Time NDBC Data (approx.) CDIP Data
1600: 2.2 feet @ 8.0 (305) and 1.9 @ 14 (170) (1-2 ft. wave faces)
1700: 2.1 feet @ 8.0 (305) and 2.1 @ 14 (165) (1-2 ft. wave faces)
1800: 1.9 feet @ 8.0 (310) and 2.1 @ 14 (170) (1-2 ft. wave faces)

Small SSW Swell Fills In

The after fourth of July crowd was thick this morning as the newly energized south southwest swell filled in after a slow and arduous climb up the wave ht. and period scale. I surfed both boards in back to back sessions, starting with the Angulo custom SUP and finishing with Coffey 6-10 shortboard. The higher tide began swamping the line-up so I probably picked the right order to surf the boards, SUP first, shortboard last.

I paddled out to Red House at about 0920. Since this swell wasn't really a macker (unlike last weeks, early week southerly swell) there wasn't a lot of energy left over for the lower reefs. As per usual for the southies, there was a pretty long wait in between sets. I pulled the new Speedwings out of the 6-10 and screwed them into the slots on the SUP to see how they would perform. Right after my session I headed over to Freeline and bought another set, dedicated to the SUP. These fins just flat out work great. On my first wave I pushed the SUP over into a hard right hand turn, sinking the tail and back of the rail into the wave face. The fins had a buttery, solid feel as they literally pushed the board forward and out of the turn seamlessly. I think I've found the only set of sides fins I'll ever need again. At least they work really well in these two boards, which aren't exactly identical by any means. The Speedwings are free to try so stop by Freeline or O'Neills and get yourself some. And...they're only 36 bucks for two...you don't get a center fin. I'm not getting any royalty or anything from RFC, I just really like these fins and they're worth a try. (Well, maybe I am something of a fin freak.)

The most consistent spots were Scimi's and GDubs, which were absolutely jam packed with post holiday surfers. The sets were good though, ranging in from waist to head high with six to eight waves per set. The later waves dropped down in size a bit, and were more walled, while the earlier waves had longer shoulders and longer rides.

Since I really wasn't getting any of the best waves because they just weren't coming through at Reds and Sarges, I paddled in and swapped out the SUP for the shortboard. I paddled around Sarge's main point and then walked up to the point at GDubs on the rapidly narrowing sand between the incoming ocean and the unrelenting cliff. I ended up chatting with a least a half dozen folks in the water, and even ran into Larry and his son Ramey. I've known Larry, a longtime Deputy Harbor master, for over 30 years, and his son Ramey (one of my EMT grads) just got a job as an EMT working on an ALS car in a nearby county. No small feat these days when everyone seems to be cutting staff. Anthony and Gu were out at Scimi's and Barry, John and Dean were taking a few down at Sarges and Red House. Can't blame everyone for being out. The weather was gorgeous, sunny and warm with only a light onshore wind.

We'll have to get what we can, while we can. Forecast for the next little while doesn't look too promising.

No pics today. I didn't have time to get any after the session with my Canon and my Oly water cam is still in for warranty repairs.

July 6, 2009 (M)

In: 0920
Out: 1126
AT= 59-62F
WT= 58.6F
Wx: Sunny
Tide: 2.5'-4.0' Rising
Wind: Calm to Light from the east-southeast
Sea Surface: Glassy to light wind ripples
6-10 Ward Coffey EPS (Marko Styrolite)/Epoxy Custom

Fin set-up: Thruster with RFC Speedwings and Future Eric Arakawa 450 center
10-0 Angulo EPS/Epoxy Custom SUP with Infinity Ottertail carbon fiber paddleFin set-up: Thruster with K2D2 4.75" center fin (fourth mark up from back) and RFC Speedwings
Bathymetry: Rock reefs and sand
Deep Water Swell and Wave Face Heights CDIP Archive
Buoy: NWS (Farshore*)
Time NDBC Data (approx.) CDIP Data
0900: 3.3 feet @ 14.8 SSW (195) (3-4 ft. wave faces)
1000: 2.3 feet @ 16 SW (205) (3-5 ft. wave faces)
1100: 3.0 feet @ 16 SW (200) (3-4 ft. wave faces)
1200: 3.3 feet @ 14.8 SSW (210) (2-3 ft. wave faces)
1300: 3.0 feet @ 16 S () ()
1400: 2.6 feet @ 16 S () ()

Road Trip - SSW: Day 2

July 1

Today we took a more leisurely approach to our adventure. The swell was slowly backing down from yesterday so we headed out to explore the coastline.

JC was my tour guide and there is none better. Over 30 years exploring the coast and coastal waters of this CenCal locale, and he's been paying attention. I'd say he has it dialed. It's been years since I've spent any time here, and knocking around brought about some old memories. Even though I didn't recognize most of my old haunts because of the changes, a lot just hasn't changed. Places still have that free roaming, open space feel.

We checked a full array of surf spots before narrowing it down to two. The first place we rejected because it looked just a wee bit too fast. A pitching A-frame was putting up overhead lefts and rights. The lefts were shorter and less frequent, but had better shape...that we could see. The rights were freight train barrels that would have been the main event. But we just couldn't quite see around the corner of the little point that blocked our view of just how long those rights were holding up, before closing out in an explosion of whitewater. So we chewed it over and decided to motor down to one of the first spots we'd checked.

The view is a long one, a quarter mile across an open field that (had there been cattle) would have had a cow trail right down to the shallow arroyos that carved up the low bluffs. Access to this (once again, another A-frame) head high wave was across a narrow pebble strewn beach and through a series of glassy pools, broken with rocks and boulders sculpted by wind and waves. These same rocks and boulders were heavily draped with a large cadre of sea lions and harbor seals. The way some were folded over the rocks reminded me of Dali's melted watches in his famous painting The Persistence of Memory.

They must call it bull kelp because it's got such big balls. Half of the paddle out was through a carpet of kelp that without constant paddling stopped you dead in your tracks. I had the Angulo custom SUP and I choked up on the paddle shaft and knee paddled through the morass into the clear blue water. In these conditions I feel more like a deckhand on a poleboat, laboriously poling his boat upriver to deliver the goods.

Large underwater rocks humping up from the bottom and covered with sea grass, kelp and other vegetation dotted the line-up, especially the take-off. Incoming waves were fewer per set now than yesterday, and smaller. Waves would tend to roam into shallower water on one heading, only to change directions quickly, putting the hapless surfer in the annoying position of being completely out of position. So picking the right spot was a little tricky except for the set waves, which had a broader area from which to launch right or left. Either sliding direction proved fun with the rights putting up a smoother but shorter ride, and the lefts dishing up a steeper, square wall with a section you could easily back door while sliding under the falling lip.

Once again JC was perfecting his patented in the lip take-off, blasting out of the pitching mini almond eye of whitewater and spray before finishing the ride right or left. As the day wore on the persistent morning fog burnt itself out in the presence of the sun. The day and the ocean turned crystal clear and the view and feeling was as selfless and clean as standing on the loneliest fourteener in the Sierras on a calm Fall day. It took two hours of surfing these uber-fun waves all alone before we wanted to leave the stadium. We'd gotten our monies worth for sure.
Pics are file photos.
July 1, 2009 (W)

In: 1100
Out: 1300
AT= n/a
WT= n/a
Wx: Mostly foggy clearing to bright and sunny
Tide: Rising
Wind: Glassy to Light to moderate north westerlies
Sea Surface: Glassy to light wind ripples
10-0 Angulo EPS/Epoxy Custom SUP with Infinity Ottertail carbon fiber paddle. Fin set-up: Thruster with K2D2 4.75" center fin (fourth mark up from back) and Future Fiberglass YU (actual fin not shown)

Bathymetry: Rock reefs
Deep Water Swell and Wave Face Heights CDIP Archive
Buoy: NWS (Farshore)
Time NDBC Data CDIP Data
1000: NDBC n/a (2.4 ft. @ 14 secs. 190) (3-4 ft. wave faces)
1100: NDBC n/a (2.6 ft. @ 14 secs. 205) (3-4 ft. wave faces)
1200: NDBC n/a (1.9 ft. @ 12 secs. 200) (2-3 ft. wave faces)
1300: NDBC n/a (2.7 ft. @ 14 secs. 195) (3-4 ft. wave faces)
1400: NDBC n/a (2.7 ft. @ 14 secs. 200) (3-4 ft. wave faces)

Road Trip - SSW Swell: Day 1

June 31

JC got it right when he said, "The best surfing happens in between swells." Period, end of story. It took me a while to get that, but eventually I did. Then he proved it.

We'd been watching the charts and forecasts, looking for an opportunity to make the secret spots run. Since the south swells have been coming pretty good this June, we didn't have to wait long. The big NZ and Chilean swell boomed in earlier this month, followed by a couple small pulses of southerly and northwesterly swells, mixed in with a lull or two. Then we saw something that looked interesting. Would it pan out? Would the energy be intense enough to make it worth our while? How's the direction? Is it shadowed? How's the wind? It's been fickle and kinda bitchy this season.

But we were itching to get a session in and we committed to go three days before D-Day. I made the run to Skeletor's house Monday afternoon. (He was tied up, but he does his best work when he is.) My tires crunched over his gravel driveway at 1700 hours, just in time for dinner, conversation and an early bedtime. We were up at 0430 and heading out to the launch site by 0530. It was me, the Phantom and Chris, all ready to poach a few.

Eight to twelve wave sets were roaming into the beach every 10 to 15 minutes when we arrived. Most slept in, never suspecting that this little 3-4 ft. at 14-15 second south-southwest pulse was even alive. But it was, and it wanted some action. We were obliged to accommodate it.

After checking all the spots up the line we settled in. Five guys out. Two dads and three groms, all mellow, all upbeat, happily stoked, and having a great time. Phantom insisted I take the Angulo custom SUP out first, even though I wanted to shortboard a little on the 6-10 Coffey. OK, OK, I'll take the SUP. (In hindsight it was the best move 'cause after I switched out the SUP for the shortboard two and a half hours later, everyone was surfed out. I had the place solo for an hour.) One-hour wave count? 20. Surf? Waist high to a little overhead on set waves. Conditions? Glassy to light sideshore wind about two hours into the session.

Everyone got lots of waves, and everyone was surfing with a true spirit of aloha and sharing. The groms joyous energy was infectious, and the truth is, they rode mostly inside, picking off all the smaller waves that were racing down the line on the inside reef. Phantom and Chris were taking down a ton of waves. Phantom is way into his 5-6 Mellor shaped, mini-Simmons like design belly board. His favorite take off spot is right under the lip. It was a show watching him take off as the top third of the wave bowls over his head and he disappears under the white water of the falling lip, only to blast out and down the steepest part of the face like the whale spitting out Jonah after being chastised by the Lord.

Chris was picking off some of the best set waves. He would set his rail to glide down the face, then pull into the most graceful bottom turn with his feet about six inches apart...like he was on snow skis. Old school and stylish...you just don't see that kind of grace with style much anymore and it is a delight to behold.

If there was a downside to all this, I guess I would have to say it was the wind. It slowly picked up through the noon hour, and it was blowing pretty hard by 2PM. No matter, we were all tired, satisfied and finished for the day.

We motored back down the line, checking the spots as we traveled to the take out. One classic spot had bigger surf, but by then the wind was on it. Nine guys out and still lots of waves to ride.

Sometimes...the best surfing happens in between swells.
June 30, 2009 (Tu)

In: 0930
Out: 1300
AT= Low 60'sF
WT= 58F
Wx: Marine inversion fog clearing to sunny
Tide: About 1.0'-3.0 Rising
Wind: Calm to Light to moderate northwesterlies
Sea Surface: Glassy to light wind ripples
6-10 Ward Coffey EPS (Marko Styrolite)/Epoxy Custom

Fin set-up: Thruster with RFC Speedwings and Future Eric Arakawa 450 center
10-0 Angulo EPS/Epoxy Custom SUP with Infinity Ottertail carbon fiber paddleFin set-up: Thruster with K2D2 4.75" center fin (fourth mark up from back) and Future Fiberglass YU (actual fin not shown)
Bathymetry: Rock reefs and sand
Deep Water Swell and Wave Face Heights CDIP Archive
Buoy: NWS (Farshore*)
Time NDBC Data (approx.) CDIP Data
0900: 4.5 feet @ 12-15 (200) (3-5 ft. wave faces)
1000: 4.5 feet @ 12-15 (205) (3-5 ft. wave faces)
1100: 4.5 feet @ 12-15 (195) (3-4 ft. wave faces)
1200: 4.5 feet @ 12-15 (200) (3-4 ft. wave faces)
1300: 4.5 feet @ 12-15 (195) (3-4 ft. wave faces)
1400: 4.5 feet @ 12-15 (200) (3-5 ft. wave faces)

Dolphins

Thanks to Jeff for this one.