Session 147 - Sep 28 - WC

Sunday Sep 28, 9-11:15 AM, 6'2 KG

After mastering 38th ave elementary, Thomas was ready to graduate to middle school so we loaded up and cruised out of town a bit. Hit our destination and it was clean, glassy, and a lot of fun, shoulder high or so but some real nice shape. I had loaded the 7'6 Kingfish and the 6'2 KG, waves were looking a bit punchy so got out the KG and let it rip, fun board. Mainly focused my attentions on the lefts but I'm an equal opportunity employer so got in some rights as well, pretty fun morning. Called it good as the 5.something high tide filled in, sent Thomas on his way with his new board safely strapped to the roof and I made my much shorter drive back to Lazy Town, life is good.

Session 146 - Sep 27 - 38th + 2nd peak

Saturday Sep 27, 3:30 - 6 PM, 9'8 Junod

Thomas from work came down for a lazytown visit, he picked up the board I bought for him last week (9'0 Walden Magic epoxy -- bro deal), and we went out front to break it in. Started at 38th, inconsistent but fun sets when they came, mainly worked the left and let the masses do party wave drop ins on the right. Paddled through the fog over to 2nd peak after a bit, not too crowded and a bit more juice, got quite a few over there. Fog musta kept the webcam masses at home, surf was actually pretty decent, clean, and fun out there. Paddled in and we all went to Hanks for some dinner, followed up by 'Point Break' on the big screen at home...first time I've seen that whole movie, and it was awesome. I too only live to get radical.

Session 145 - Sep 26 - LM

Friday Sep 26, 6:45-8:45 am, 6'6 quad

Pretty good conditions Friday morning, met Ramin, head high or so on the best of the waves but glassy, not closing out quite as fast as usual, some open shoulders, some lefts, some rights, and nice clean peaky beachbreak conditions. As Ramin said to me later over IM chat, "I'm still trying to show you that I can surf" to which I replied "don't worry, I'm still trying to show myself that I can surf also" ... nobody said this surfing thing was easy. 

The World's Cleanest Gola

These enterprising Indians have put a new twist on Gola, a traditional Indian slushee/shave ice type drink. I've been a little bit reminiscient of my India adventures lately, so came across this and decided to throw it up here as well. I really enjoyed India, getting to live there was an absolutely amazing and incredible experience. 

And it's good that they love Google. (And Gola)

Wow my alarm is set for less than 4 hours from now. Surf is looking good for tomorrow. No more Go-Gola for me, time to try and salvage some sleep outta this night!

Conspiracy!

"What is oozing out of our ground??"'

It'd been a while since I posted a random YouTube clip, enjoy. Thanks to Matt Zilli's gchat status message for the work diversion.

Session 144 - Sep 24 - OB

Wednesday Sep 24, 6:40-8:45, K St (OB)

The K St Mob was on it in full force this morning. K. St. K(c)olin organized a crew of us and we met up again for a morning surf in the wide open waters of Ocean Beach, SF. I've said this before but I'll say it again, while the waves of OB may not always deliver, and while they certainly can't match up to anything Santa Cruz has on offer in terms of quality (except for a few incredible days, of which I've yet to experience)...it's just fun to surf there when it's not huge and impossible, because you can get a group out there, find your spot, and have it to yourselves...like I said before, surf as bad as you want, be as loud as you want, just have some fun. So that's what we did; me, Colin, Brian, Ryan, plus Colin's younger sister and BF who joined in as well. Surf was small, weak, and mushy, but as Colin said, it was surfable. My crappy-wave-consolation-bowl-of grape-nuts will have to wait until another day -- I do appreciate the offer. Grape nuts are one of my favorite healthy cereals, although they are much better with something added. (Fresh fruit if you can make that happen, raisins if not). 

Colin had his kook camera on his wrist and got some shots, the best was me surfing for the camera and coming right at him. If I knew what I was doing I would've thrown some buckets of spray all over his head, but instead I just smiled goofily. 

The water was also really warm. That was a pleasant surprise.

Read this

Read this. 

http://paulgraham.com/love.html

It is kind of long, but I found it both amusing and introspective, at the same time. Anything that can do that is worthy of a few minutes of my time.

Session 143 - Sep 21 - the yo

Sunday Sep 21, 5:30-7:30, 6'2 KG

As my lazy Sunday was slipping dangerously close to entire-day-spent-on-the-couch status, Ramin, Josh, and Will showed up on my doorstep, wet, dripping, sandy, and wide eyed bushy tailed like the little surf groms they are, fresh from their high-tide session at the Hook. After opening a couple beers and scolding the young'uns for surfing the Hook at a 6.0 high tide, we decided another surf was in order...rode bikes on out to check in front, not a whole lot happening, took a short little neighborhood tour, and then I decided we should hit the road in hunt of bigger and better things, as they were headed home in that direction anyways. So we did just that, to find everything blown to complete junk...everything except our favorite little wind protected gem. Joined a couple others who were out there as well and had a really fun session, lots of little closeout tubes, occasionally an open shouldered wedge that'd peak up every now and then, and only one broken board. (Will's board, angry at being taken out of retirement in Iowa where it had been sitting at his parents for the last year or two (Iowa???), decided to buckle a few inches under the nose on one in the sand drainer. Not a complete break though, easy fix.) Surfed til nearly dark and then headed home. Picked up a bucket of KFC extra crispy on the way home and sat down with Selin for a late evening grease feast...it tasted a lot better than it sounds now, looking back. 

Session 142 - Sep 20 - Hook/2nd/1st

Saturday Sep 20, 4:30-6:30, 6'2 KG

Daily double, after getting home from morning surf, firmly planted myself on the couch, stayed there a couple hours, then mowed the lawn and did some yard work (mowing the lawn, while it may seem pointless because I hardly have a lawn due to lack of watering (due to a drought we are in which makes me feel guilty sprinking drinkable water all over my grass) actually makes the yard look a lot better. Somehow, even though lawn doesn't grow without water, weeds do. I should call it mowing the weeds instead of mowing the lawn, that would be more appropriate. But as is often the case with yardwork, doing some spurs you to do more, so I wound up clearing the bike area, the hose area, and the chair area and mowing and clipping all those, also the outside entry area...looks a lot better and my yard just got ~10% more usable space!). Near the end of my yardwork, Joel went and checked the surf, and rode back saying it looked good and drop that rake and get out there, can't argue with that, surfboard > rake any day, so we pedaled on over to the Hook. Unfortunately was still more crowded than you'd like to see, quite a hodgepodge of surfing talent and surfing craft on display out there in quite a small area, really a bit of a mess, so we caught a couple and called it good. Contest was winding down at 2nd and 1st peak so we paddled on out there, got in position right as the final heat ended. Perfect timing, conditions actually pretty good, and managed to catch a few prime waves before the post-contest crew was out, which didnt take them long...maybe 20 golden minutes and then it was back to Saturday afternoon business as usual. Caught some insiders, mixed up a few short lefts, and one or two good ones of note and paddled on in. All in all, pretty good surf Saturday.

Session 141 - Sep 20 - WC

Saturday Sep 20, 9:30-12, 6'8 Taylor

on Friday Joel agreed to trek over the hill to join me for a Saturday morning surf. I said lets get on it early, leave no later than 8, Joel said 'that's early but ok', so I got a call at 9 saying he was on his way.  To shave a little time I drove over to the Arrow parking lot and met up w/ him there, and carpooled the rest of the way. One minor diversion later (I forgot my leash in the trunk of my car and we had to go turn around to get it, but I remembered it real quick so we hadn't gone far) we were in the water. It was windier than I had anticipated for, slight chop, but actually cleaned up in the middle of our session and for most of it we had pretty fun, clean, nice conditions. Mostly chest to head high on the sets, some fun open faces, lefts, rights, and a manageable crowd. 

After surf headed home and had some fish tacos and watched some of the Volcom grom's surf contest at 1st/2nd peak. Sad moment was one grommet, couldn't have been older than 10, who after finishing his heat was walking back along the street, mini grommet surfboard tucked under his arm, 2 sizes too big contest jersey hanging haphazardly over his shoulders, tears flowing down his cheeks. Poor guy must've had a bad heat and was feeling down. Brought me back to the days when I used to cry after little league. Haha, competitive youth sports...cheer up little guy, lots of life left to be lived, and there will be waves again tomorrow. :)  

(story continuation: After said grommet walked past, I did keep an eye on him to see what was going to unfold as he got back to the crowd/parents. I've seen more instances than I care to see of parents -- primarily dads -- who push their kid so hard to succeed that they take all the fun right out of it. One prime example is this guy I've seen on the rocks off 38th, where we like to sit, who stands there, beer belly hanging out, yelling at the top of his lungs at his two young kids who are out there at inside 38th, trying, probably with limited success, to just have some fun and enjoy a nice sunny afternoon surf. Not a pretty sight, let the kids enjoy being kids for a bit, ya know, make some mistakes, laugh, maybe even smile a little bit? Too much to ask? I was fearful we were going to witness another case of over-competitive surf dad syndrome with this here young grommet...but thankfully, as he made his way back to the crowd, I watched an older guy walk up to him, bend down, and give him a nice big hug. Content that all is well with the world, I smiled a bit, turned around, and continued my walk home.)

Session 140 - Sep 18 - OB

Thursday sep 18, 6:30-8 pm, (Ramin's) 6'6 Taylor

So Colin lured me and a few others up to Ocean Beach last night, promising head-high glassy barrels. Oh but he lies, he lies, I rushed out of work, picked up Ramin, dropped off Ramin, got lost on my way to the beach, parked, suited up, sprinted over the sand dune to be greeted by...

waist to shoulder warbly dumpy closeouts.

But you make the most of it, and it actually was a pretty fun short session, enjoyable evening with a couple friends on our own little section of beach, everybody got a few waves, and I'm being a bit dramatic here, conditions weren't awful. Fun to be out there, I like that we were able to go out there, be as loud as we want, surf as bad as we want, and just enjoy a nice early fall/late summer evening in the water with a few friends. Trade-offs -- you'd be hard pressed to get that in Santa Cruz, just another normal evening at OB. And yes, Colin did warn us that the wind had picked up and those barrels probably wouldn't be happening. So no worries, dude, I'll be back.

I'll especially be back for pizza, beer, and buffalo wings, good call on getting some food after the session. Fun times.

Session 139 - Sep 14 - Hook

Sunday Sep 14, 5:00-7:00 PM, 6'2 KG

Well, surf wasn't that exciting but I needed the cleansing. Partied like it was 2002 while in NYC, old man out on the town! So good to be home and back to a little nature and good clean exercising fun...rode bike over to the hook and went on out. Not toooo crowded as not really much surf, but a fun enough ride every now and again and good as always just to be out there.

After surf went and had dinner on the wharf in Capitola...enjoyed the sunset and some fish n' chips, plus this guy here on the left who we ran into on the way. Nice birdie!

Jonesin'

NYC is fun, but I could really use a surf right now. Exhausted and need the fresh ocean air!!!! Looking forward to coming home tomorrow night.

city lights

NYC - work trip til Sat. Fun to be out here, I gotta admit not the biggest fan of the big apple, but I've only been here once, I should give it another shot, right? Maybe I'll fall in love this time.

But somehow I doubt it. Flight attendant did tell me the surf was firing the last couple days due to the hurricane, but alas no longer. Can't have it all I guess.

Session 138 - Sep 8 - 2nd peak

Monday Sep 8 - 6-8 pm, 9'0 Becker + 6'2 kg

Wow, good surf continues, more people on it this night, surfline effect, but wow wow what a wave when the did come through. Caught some good ones and watched a lot more really good ones, killin' it. So much surf talent in this town, I've said this before but it's like sharing the basketball court with Brandon Roy. Or some other NBA player. Impressive to watch. Not to say I wouldnt object if they all disappeared and I got to get those waves myself, now that'd be something else .

Fun session and some great waves. Life is good. Joel came over and joined me and stayed the night on the couch lazytown style.

Session 137 - Sep 7 - 38th

Sunday Sep 7, 5-7 pm, 9'8 Junod

Holy southswell batman! Whew! Wave mania! Wave after wave after wave, fun session at 38th to end the day. Swell really filled in, and a day early to boot, so the surfline masses weren't all on it quite yet and actually got more or less my pick of the waves. Mix up an occasional left to go with the long rights, sharing a little bit, everybody happy, everybody wins. Surfed the 9'8 barge and that thing is a behemoth on a solid wave, fun to ride although slow to turn, but to each board it's own...if I was good, I'd be camped out on the nose of that thing, just hanging out, taking in the scenery, maybe roasting a marshmallow, making some smores...noseriding machine. As it is though, my skills are progressing, was able to make a few forays into near-nose territory...maybe about 6 inches or so from the tip...fun waves. Couple paddles, make the drop, crank the slow bottom turn back up to the face of the wave, set your line, cross-step (or in my case, waddle) to the (almost) nose, and cruise.

Fun surf, there's no place like home when the surf is good.

Session 136 - Sep 6 - SC Beachy, 38th

Sat Sep 6, afternoon, 7'6 Kingfish, 9'8 Junod

Bennett surf school, open for business again...this time Cory and James from work made the visit down to SC, the kids wanted to surf so surf we did. To get away from the weekend mob we drove 15 minutes to a not-very-good but not-very-crowded beach break and threw 'em in the water. Surf was as mentioned above not that good, but for a couple first timers, just being able to find your own stretch of beach, paddle out, and catch wave after wave of whitewater to the beach is as good a way as any to start out.

After they decided they had mastered that skill, and the wind had blown out our already mediocre surf even more, we packed up and did the in-wetsuit drive back home. These guys were frothing to surf more, wanted some real surf, so we paddled right on out at 38th. Surf working actually kind of decent, so we sat between 2nd peak and 38th in kind of no-mans land, but occasionally a wave would sneak on through. Cory caught one, got up, and was pumped on that.

After a good long day of sun and surf we came in, had a beer, got some dinner and sent the city kids back on their way.

Session 135 - Sep 6 - WC

Sat Sep 6, 9-11:30, 6'8 Taylor

Joel drove over to hunt down some waves on Saturday morning. Convinced him to make an initial stop at LazyTown and we carpooled a bit north. After a couple spotchecks, we settled on a spot. Made the hike down to the beach, past the hippie camp, across the beach, and into the water. Fun, glassy, somewhat inconsistent but really fun when they came shoulder highish peaks, light crowd for most of the time, and fun waves...good to surf with Joel.

Session 134 - Sep 4 - LM

Thurs Sep 4, 6:30-8:30 am, 6'6 quad

There, that's a bit more like it...was just a day early yesterday. This morning delivered a lot more punch, pretty fun morning...I'll go out on a limb and call it almost as good as LM gets, for a while at least when the tide was just right. Actually I'll have to go back on that a bit -- I've seen LM better -- but this was pretty good. Clean, glassy surf, as always deal with the closeouts and you'll get an open face eventually. Waves had enough juice behind them that you could get into it early enough, even on the 6'6, to get a pretty solid ride.

Got reports of epic conditions at OB tonight from the SF surf crew, starting to sound a lot like fall is here...

Update: I just got convinced to go tomorrow morning. I hope it lives up to the hype!

Update Update: I slept through the morning dawn patrol. zzzzzzzz

Session 133 - Sep 3 - LM

Wed Sep 3, 7-9 am, 6'6 quad

Back to LM! It's been a while, time to get back to my roots, good ol' LM pre-work dawn patrol...south swell in the forecast thought maybe I could get a little jump on it...seems I was a little bit overanxious, but still a fun enough start to the morning. Can't beat this sunshine, beautiful place to call home.

Session 132 - Sep 1 - WC & the yo

Monday Sep 1, 12:00 - 4, 6'6 quad

Long weekend = lots of surf. Every weekend should be 3 days.

Ramin and Josh came by again and we cruised up north a bit. Surfed beach break #1 until the wind killed it, then went up the coast a bit further for some more protection. Not a whole lot to speak of happening out there, but still fun, still sunny, and still surfing, enough to keep me happy. Every now and then a little set would roll through, an occasional makeable shoulder.

Session 131 - Aug 31 - 2nd Peak

Sunday Aug 31 - 5-7 pm, 9'8 Junod

Not finished yet...a quick line change and on to round 2...As the Oregon crew was out the door the California crew showed up just in time. Ramin and Josh were spending Sunday and Monday down in SC, so swung on looking to surf as well. Surf was still doing it's small summertime thing, for the most part, so lent out the 9'6 workhorse to Ramin and paddled on out. Got a lot more waves for myself this time around, surf actually pretty fun. Been a while since Ramin surfed a longboard, but he's a quick study...fun session.

Session 130 - Aug 31 - 2nd Peak, 38th

Sunday Aug 31 - 11 - 12:30 - 9'8 Junod

Matt was eager for more, so took him out front. He's a quick learner. We sat way inside mostly at 2nd Peak and picked up the leftovers coming in there. After getting our fill, and with the tide filling in pretty high, paddled on over to 38th and made our exit.

Labor Day Weekend - Lazy Town Style

Thank you to Mat, Yosuke, Erica, and Selin for the photos -- as seems to be the theme lately, I'm just the compiler...

G00d times.

Session 129 - Aug 30 - SC Beachy

Saturday Aug 30, 11-1, 9'8 Junod

Bennett Bros Surf Academy is open for business.

This past Labor Day weekend had Matt and Erica make the drive down from Corvallis for the OSU-Stanford football opener Thursday night. I won't blog any further about that -- although honestly I kind of root for both teams (and even wear both tshirts). The real fun got started on Saturday, when they came over to the beach for a required Lazy Town visit, bringing along with them the rest of the Bay Area Oregonian contingent: Mat, Yosuke, Joel...full house. But we're always happy to play host and have some visitors, fire up the BBQ, pitch the tent in the yard, the sleeping mats inside on the floor, stock the fridge, and do what we do best -- enjoy the fun and the sun of another beautiful Santa Cruz weekend.

Of course it goes without saying, no visit to Lazy Town / (the real) Surf City USA is complete without a surf session or two, so dragged the land-lubbers out to the beach. In pursuit of uncrowded waves, we drove down the coast just a little bit, and found what we were looking for...sand, sun, and nearly empty waves. Unfortunately you can't have it all, so our waves tended to be of the closeout variety, but one thing this ragtag surf crew is certainly not lacking for is cajones...those maniacs were throwing themselves into anything and everything. If it wasn't double overhead and about to whomp on the sand, they weren't going for it...all out!!! :) That's how we roll! Nicely done. (Yes, I exaggerate slightly. But -- not that much. These guys are animals!). It was really fun way to spend the afternoon, everybody got some waves, and I'll have to admit...I fear the Bennett Bros Surf Academy may very well have graduated a few more full-fledge surf-starved kooks to crowd a future lineup near you...but come on, can you blame them?

Another nice bonus of visitors, especially visitors with high quality camera gear, is you come out with lots of photos...so I'll end this now and let the photos do the rest. Thanks to Mat and Yos (And Selin and Erica) for snapping (and sharing), and thanks to everybody for coming to visit. Come back anytime -- you know where the surfboards are.

Session 128 - Aug 29 - 2nd Peak

Friday Aug 29, 3:30-5:30, 9'8 Junod

After an absolutely incredible whale-watching offsite in the morning, I had the luxury of a free afternoon to spend already at home. Life is good. Surf was actually pretty good too -- small, but clean. Took out the beast Junod and got in a good session to kick of the long weekend. That board is a behemoth, I'm working on it, but I'll be on the nose soon. Don't worry, I'll be sure to let you know all about it.