To surf local or not?

Sure, I can surf local. I can be in the water in fifteen minutes. But, more often, I prefer the predawn drive to a distant spot.

As you slip out the back door, the crisp morning air hits your face and your mind awakens. The air is fresh and alive as it fills your lungs. You are ready! You hear the sounds of your engine bouncing off the houses of your dark street as you “sneak” off while the rest of the world sleeps.

It’s the Aroma of fresh coffee and an old wetsuit bag in the back seat, as you head down the road following the distant red tail lights of a late night driver. Your thoughts are all yours; there is no boss, no clients, no email, no phone, no wife no kids, just you as you drive to a distant spot.

Escapism? Perhaps, therapy?.... sure. I don’t drink, or do drugs, so this is it for me; we all need to escape now and then. I am 44 now, and the solo morning runs mean more to me now, then ever. It is a time of deep thoughts and retrospection. Contemplation and introspection, of planning and remembrance. When the right song is playing, my mind drifts off like a fading swell. Things are Clear.

Some say that is what surfing provides. I find that hard to believe with today’s crowded lineups.

So, if you ask me to go local, I just might say no…………

Mans Best Friend Turns 12

A man and his dog. What can be better? I don't really know if women have the same bond as a guy does with his dog? I can walk in the back from the garage, right after I walked out the front door and drove my truck around back, and Shasta will come running with the tail wagging all excited to see me. I have been gone all of 90seconds, but still, she gets all excited to see you.

You come back from a day of surfing and who is the first one to see you and happy too, your wife? she might wish your were still out surfing. Your kids? depends how old they are. But your dog will always be happy.

So, today my Rhodesian Ridgeback(Shasta) turned 12(84 in dog years). I decided to give her a birth day dinner. I got a can of solide white albacore tuna and miked it with a cup of her food. A small birthday moment while the rest of the family was in the other room. She finished and looked up asking for more.........

I got out finally!

Paddleboarding is not a SUP!

I got this little essay from a friend of a friend who shall remain nameless.
The picture however is yours truly in mid paddle from Swamis to Windnsea. This was a few years back. No more long paddles, just 1-3 miles now.

Enjoy the essay!
The end is awesome



Real Paddle Boarders Do it Laying Down

July, 2, 2010

You know the feeling after a long paddle out to a remote surf break, or paddling hard into a big wave against the wind? Now imagine that feeling for 32 miles, or at least 5 straight hours. That sums up the intensity and insanity of the few "traditional" paddle boarders who take on the Kaiwi Channel every July. Now imagine the millions of people who have tried stand up paddling claim they are also "paddle boarders". Traditional paddle boarding, as its now being referred to, only a few years ago was the only paddle boarding the world knew, and now

with the popularity of Stand Up Paddle Boarding (SUP), the traditional guys are fighting for their sport --and their name, amongst a bevy of inexperienced stand up "paddle boarders".

Though classified under the same category, and often times confused with stand up paddling-- real paddle boarders do it laying down, along side the ocean, not 6 feet above it. Prone paddle boarding is one of the toughest, mentally grueling and most ocean-sensitive paddle sports. The innate snes of feel each paddler requires to recognize each change in the ocean landscape, distinguishes the sport for only the true water men. On a paddle-board, you can fit into almost every type of bump, which makes you work with the ocean in a more intimate way than any other ocean sport--yet at the same time, any minor ocean change, such as a knot of wind, inch of tide or ripple of surf, effects your performance much more drastically. The lack of leverage from standing or sitting up, forces you to relate and adapt to the oceans current climate using a keen --almost subconscious --6th sense.

Stand up paddling is much different. You have maximum leverage standing, a towering, 6 feet above the ocean, and most of time you don't even have to get wet while doing it. In essence, the two sports are nothing alike, aside from the similar speeds they travel across the ocean and the fact that you are on a board.

Stand up also extremely novice-friendly--the obvious root of its popularity--because literally, anyone can do it. This creates a problem, when novice water men are wielding 7 foot blades and 14 foot boards in the treacherous open-ocean or crowded surf breaks.

This, among other reasons, is why, in spite its many participants, stand up paddling is surprisingly still struggling to find its place among many other traditional and modern paddle sports. Surfing, one of its' biggest overlapping sports, has ironically been one of its biggest adversaries. The size of stand up boards makes it easier to catch waves farther outside, putting SUPers at the top of the surfing hierarchy, which not only crowds local surf spots but leaving "traditional" surfers frustrated with the ease at which they catch them.

Traditional paddle boarders and outrigger style paddlers have watched the sport explode in a sense of shock and awe as it continues to gain national and international popularity, high prize purses and major sponsors. The sense of dismay comes from knowing highly technical sports, such as their own, will never gain as much popularity based on the difficulty of it. However, these traditional paddlers seem to find peace in the fact that they know they can always step up and grab a piece of the action.





Some of the greats have, indeed, broken into Stand Up and have taken top honors. Rooted in the traditional (and now minority) forms of paddling, they have "stood up" to get their hands on some prize money. Take the top four Battle of the Paddle finishers--Danny Ching, winner of the Molokai Solo earlier this year-- Travis Grant of Australia was on the winning Pa'a 'Eono crew--Aaron Napoleon, 11th in the Molo Solo, renown surfer, paddler, waterman and Jamie Mitchell, the king of "traditional" paddle boarding all stepped out of their usual sports to take top honors.

At least there is a sense of justice knowing that although the traditional paddle sports are still lacking financial backing, its easy enough to cross over to the more easily learned paddle sport and get some money.

Maybe the animosity comes from seeing fully clothed (and dry) SUPers leisurely paddling by, or someone paddling a whole race with the paddle angle backwards, or just the fact that Matthew McConaughey and Nicole Ritchie can both do it.

But compared to its "traditional" brother, there is no way they can match up. In other words, if your standing, your hair is dry, you can see your destination easily over the bumps, or you star in corny romantic comedies-- Don't call yourself a paddle boarder.

Two Sessions, double the fun.

So, I actually got out and surfed this past weekend……Twice. How crazy is that? The longer you stay out of the water, the harder it is to get back.
I was really lacking the motivation to go, so I devised a plan that would test my desire. A 4:30am wake-up for a Dawn Patrol. Truly crazy. But then, I made it even more difficult by deciding to go to County Line.

Some how, I had friend agree to go along. I can always count on him for a Road Trip and a Dawn Patrol.

By the time we got to County Line (after stopping for Coffee) it as about 5:40. The tide was very low, and the waves looked average at best. I really wanted to just turn around. But I had made such a good effort, I had to paddle out. I brought the 2mm short sleeve full, what a mistake. When I first jumped in the water and felt the cold come over me, I thought what a bad idea this was. But these are the things that happen if you don’t surf regularly. You make excuses about why you don’t surf.

I wasn’t a stellar session, but I did manage to catch a couple before I succumb to the cold and the mediocre conditions.

Sundays’ Session

This one was not even planned. Surfing was the last thing on my mind. I had just finished taking the dog for a walk, and stopped to talk to my neighbor. He said he was going to surf since the swell was up. He was going to Anderson Street. Then it got me thinking, this is a South, South East Swell, the river jetty at Seal works good, sometimes real good on this type of swell. HB was out of the question on a South, you get in at The cliffs, and in fifteen minutes you are almost at Bolsa.

I grabbed my trusty 7’-6” and went on down to hit Seal. The waves looked good. I caught a few and came in, nothing great, but just enough.

After being Self-Employed for 8 years, and being able to surf whenever and wherever(usually Trestles). Having a par-time paid Consulting Job in an office is tough. I would normally surf during the week and not surf weekends. But, responsibility calls.

TresFest

First Surf Cars

So, my good mate, VR sent me this picture of his 1971 Opel.His first car. He loved that car. This is a picture from 1982, or 1983 up in Ventura, by EmmaWood. He said the boards on the roof are Channel Islands Twin Fin and a Skip Frye Single. I would kill to have those now.

Sadly, both the boards and the car are gone. But it makes you think back to the innocent times, when you got your drivers license, and all the surf spots opend up. You became free to hit the road and search for surf.
This was before surfline. If you wanted to know what the surf was like someplace, you got in your car and drove there, The only kinda of surf report w back then was to watch Dr. George Fischbeck on Channle 7 at 11pm.

Wild Animals

Found this on the surfline photos section.

Cobble Stones or Kidney Stones

I have been out of commission lately. I have been focused on making money, to keep the wheels on the cart. I have thought about surfing, but I just have not had the time. I want too, but just have not been able too.

Well, I had another thing happen that will keep me out of the water.

I was woken from a deep sleep the other night around 10:45 (yes, that is early for some of you!) by a sharp pain in my back on the left side. I thought it was a back spasm, since my back has been real bad lately. I laid there trying to relax, and the pain just keeps getting worse. It was hot and felt like I was getting jabbed by a hot branding iron. I got up, and could hardly move, still thinking it was the worst back spasm I have ever had, I tried to lie on the floor and stretch it out. By this time my wife was up and knew this was not a typical back spasm.

After fifteen minutes of the pain, we finally called my Doctor (happens to be my neighbor, two doors down). He tells my wife to get me to emergency; it is most likely a kidney stone. So, now it is 11:30pm. I need to get to the hospital, my 8 year old son is sound asleep in his room and we don’t want to have him get up and freak out seeing Dad in pain. So, I tell my wife to call EP. It is times like these, that you really can tell who your good friends are! Five minutes later, EP is at the door (he later tells me he had a big next day, couple of meetings, etc, and went to sleep early to be rested, but he still shows up)

He looks at me, and could tell I was in bad shape. (Side note: EP and I have been watching every episode of “The Pacific” on HBO; I had read all the books about the Marines in WWII. I look at him and say, “This is not as bad as the Marines in the Pacific, if I was in a foxhole with this pain, you guys would have shot me, to shut me up).

I get in the F150 for the ride to emergency and I am literally cringing and squirming with pain.

We get in, I get a bed, and then have to wait another 10-20 minutes until someone finally comes in to do something with me. Finally, this nurse comes in and tells me they are going to hook me up to an IV, then give me some Morphine. F-YEAH! I am thinking. So, he tells me to count backwards from ten. 10, 9, 8, …ahhhhhh……..a warm feeling starts to move through my body, I put my head back, and my eyes roll back in my head as the Morphine hits………relief.( all as EP snaps pics with the camera phone!) No wonder people like Heroin, this shit is good……….


Well, I finally leave around 3 -4am, loaded on Morphine, with a prescription for Iodine and other drugs in hand. I was told to drink large amounts of water, and pee in a strainer.

It has been a few days, and the pain is still there, but not like the first night. In the midst of my Morphine high/haze, I was laughing to myself thinking about what my buddy; VR says about getting old, “the best thing to do is just breath”

All this on the heels of turning 44. Just breathe!

Mother Wants her Beauty Back

This is a preview for a new film coming out by Grant Eads

Mother Wants Her Beauty Back Preview Two from Grant Eads on Vimeo.