Don't get your hopes up

I'm just dumping a few photos here for some friends, file size is too large to email so this is an easier way for them to see 'em...

But who knows...maybe this post will revitalize Horace. Only time will tell.

Regardless, it was a lovely winter morning at the beach.

Don't miss out! Craigslist deal of the day

Hooray, I've been looking for a dinged, yellowed, old, beat-up backyard board for the bargain price of only $250! Even better it looks like the fins are glassed on the nose -- perfect for those fins-first takeoffs I've been working on. Stoked!

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Surfboard – Troy Peters design - $250 (palo alto)

Date: 2010-07-19, 10:21AM PDT
Reply to: sale-ytxaw-1850421487@craigslist.org

Troy Peters Surfboard. Dimensions 78” x 18” at widest point and ~1.75” thick at thickest point. In very good shape. It is a Tri-fin board that has not been used in 3 years and used sparingly before that. Or will trade and add cash for a higher end road bicycle 52-54cm.

No Stickers

No option to embed this video directly but certainly still worth a click and a moment of your time:

http://www.surfline.com/video/locals/epic-honolua-bay_42554

Really enjoyed watching that. Great waves and refreshing to see not a bunch of sponsored pros ripping -- albeit -- all those guys certainly do rip. Love the big guys shredding, local mokes!

Took this from the SurferMag forum.

As for my neck of the woods, got some fun waves with Joel this afternoon, beautiful warm sunny day at the beach.

Filler

Derek Bockelman for Cole Surfboards and Naki Surf from jeremie brillant on Vimeo.


Not necessarily anything mind-blowing as far as surf vids go (I'm just too old to comprehend the skateboard surfing tricks) but...

I thought I'd post just for sole purpose of mentioning that wave from 1:02 - 1:15 -- how he does that huge stall to set up the barrel. Something I'm working on. Not in reeling overhead barreling waves, mind you, but just in the day-to-day stuff I surf, working more in tune with the wave rather than hightailing it out to the shoulder.

Nice job of avoiding other surfers on that wave as well, I might add. That is something I do have plenty of practice with. Blasted buoys!

Untitled

4-7 ft shoulder high to 2 ft. overhead occ. 8 ft. POOR CONDITIONS

Despite above report...

Got some GREAT waves today across town.

Sometimes, I wonder...are Surflie's surf reporters really that lazy/incompetent/misinformed...

or do they just purposely mis-report an odd morning/afternoon every now and again simply to appease the locals?

Whatever it is...

Keep doing it!

Pipeline(up)

Aside from the heavy spitting barrels...shallow jagged reef...and outside sneaker set closeouts...

Here's one more reason I won't be catching a wave at Pipe any time soon.

Paddle battle anyone??

Whoa!

Pic grabbed from the Surfline HD cam which I've been watching for the last 10 minutes. (surf stinks here right now, btw)

(but it didn't yesterday! Score!)

Forget *Mavs*...

...the real place to be today...was right out in front of Lazytown!! Going off! Surfed one wave from way outside Hook all the way past last inside section of Tiburones. For me, that's a first. Straight flying down the line -- my favorite, no turns necessary -- good as it gets. Sun even came out. Doesn't get much better!

** Unless, of course, you were competing. For those guys charging Mavs today...well...you can go wherever you want, whenever you want. I won't stop ya! **

SLATER!

What's this, Slates is playing in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am this weekend?? Sweeeeet!

Notable for two reasons.

1) I did a FB work campaign for AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which was cool;

2) I wonder if the 9-time world champ will get any waves in during his little nor(cen)cal visit? How incredible would that be...have Kelly Slater show up at the Hook? Maybe he'll stay closer to Pebble Beach...Moss Landing? Monterey mysto spots? Fire up the jet ski at Ghost Tree? Supposed to be good solid surf this weekend. Wonder if he'll be on it. Or maybe he'll just play golf. Water is cold here, after all.

Anyways...I'll be keeping my eyes peeled. It would be pretty unbelievably epic to share a surf session with Kelly Slater.

Unless he burns me like the logger at 1:38 in this vid:

Rincon. The Surfermag BB (where I pulled this from) says the logger likely dropped in on him earlier. We may never know.

What's with the gloves??

SURF! MAVERICKS! WEEKEND! LONG Weekend! VALENTINES! SURF! EXCLAMATION POINTS!! SLEEP DEPRIVATION!

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Update! He did surf! Thanks for a couple comments confirming as much, and for Google search to find it. Here's another blogger's Slater story:

www.areyoubreathing.com/2010/02/surfing-with-kelly-slater.html

On a different note, always is interesting how and when people (besides my mom) find this here blog. One of my old posts from last year's Valentine's Day is currently blowing up -- 90+ hits yesterday. That's more than I had all last month combined!

strategery

Weekend Warrior Joel ponders his triumphant return to the water.

RW Beach, 1/31

Surf

Fun surf on Thursday, had been a while so good to get a nice long two session day in. Here's a few shots I took before session #2, at a surf spot doing a very good job of pretending to be a different spot that it isn't. Kind of like the dude that's playing a dude disguised as another dude, but, not really. Great line. Funny movie.

Shooting from directly on top of the wave like that makes for an interesting perspective. Don't usually see the back side of the wave like that...were lots of these perfect little lined up triangle shapes coming through this particular day. Pretty nice. Looks easy, huh?

Unridden waves are nice too...

Took today off surf to get some more work done...on it full time tomorrow though. Hope for sunshine!

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4/4 UPDATE for anyone who cares: instead of surfing on my day as originally planned I proceeded to get painfully ill. My guess is it was from THIS above posted surf day. Rain + Runoff = Runs (for me). Not fun. I'm finally feeling better now (managed to eat a whole breakfast burrito this morning, that's more food than I've consumed in the past 3 days combined!) but now, of course, the surf sucks. Lesson: Surf when you can!

(or perhaps lesson: don't surf after heavy rains because you might get really sick.)

(nah...that's lame)

(Lesson: Surf when you can!)

Lazy

2009 2010: 12 days in...

Only two surf sessions.

Not gonna cut it.

and Happy New Year

A few snaps from a sectiony but fun November session at an appropriately named spot.

(thanks Colin)

Shoulder picker cherry hoppers!!!!

Really fun surf today.

That is all. Good night, and good luck.

Barrel-Dodging

Much like the previously defined 'shoulder-hopping,' barrel-dodging is also at the top of my list of favorite surfing maneuvers. Here's yet another sequence from the other week when we were lucky enough to have a beach photographer (again thank you injured Ramin). Not as bad as that Mulligan sequence I posted earlier -- which still makes me cringe -- but yeah I'd take a do-over on this one if I could. MAYBE there was an exit on that barrel, had I truly committed 100% for it.

Maybe. Or, if I actually had any idea how to backside tube-ride solid overhead frothy barrels. It's a long and treacherous learning process.

The Definition of Shoulder-Hopping

This is one of my favorite maneuvers.

Great pictorial explanation courtesy of Surfer Magazine blog.

Mulligan

If surfing gave mulligans...

I would've ran out a long time ago.

*** Alternatively titled 'Throwing Buckets' ***

A+

There are A Frames...

And then there are A+ Frames.

Pics taken by Ramin when he was out of action early last week with a minor leg injury. Nice timing.

Too many donkeys, da boogey board, small kine hawaiian borrowing...and my personal favorite, low tide: when da reef stays sticking out

Hawaiian Surf Report from thegoods:CJ and Damien Hobgood on Vimeo.

Swiped this off the Hobgoods blog, some gems in there. Got to hand it to the islanders it is certainly an interesting narrative and dialect, all their own.

Bombs!

Got to love surf photography --

The right timing can make anything look good!

Thanks for the great photo Colin -- outstanding surf this morning. And thanks Ramin also, more pics to come later.