Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from Santa Barbara. This is my Mom's neighbor's house that would make Clark Griswold proud. Me with my Grandma and Grandpa.

Ventura - Emma Wood

This is one of those times when you don't go out and then regret it the next day. I pulled up to Emma Wood with my sister to check the surf. Emma Wood breaks better on a high tide and there was a little swell in the water. There were 5 guys out when I pulled up and I saw one of the Coffin brothers get a good barrel the first set that came through. The sets consisted of 2 waves and were about 25 minutes apart. The left were not working but the rights looked good. The longer I watched, the more guys went out, and the waves got worse. I should have just paddled out right when I got there.

Ventura - Pierpont/Dredge

I was able to meet up with John Haan and Nick Hartley before Christmas and get some waves at Pierpont/Dredge. The winds were offshore and the swell was mixing from the NW and SW. The size was much bigger than C Street, Emma Wood, or Rincon. Most of the sets were walled because the sand was not cooperating. You can see the size from the picture where I straightened out.

Ventura - C Street

On my way from San Diego to Fresno, I made a stop in Ventura and hung out with John Haan and Nick Hartley. We surfed C Street and the swell wasn't working. There were lines coming in but it was really weak when it broke. We surfed up by Pipes and Charles came out with us. The picture makes it look better than it was.

Ocean Beach, San Diego

My swim team had a swim meet down in San Diego and I decided to take my board and meet up with my friend Tim for a few sessions in between my prelims and finals each day. The first day we surfed small closed out Ocean Beach. The second day there was a little more swell but it was still closed out at Ocean Beach. The OB Jetty was really crowded so we decided to drive down to sunset cliffs and it was really slow. I snapped some photos at Sunset and then went back to OB Jetty and went with the crowd.

Getting back to my artistic skills

Since I haven't been to the beach in a while due to work and no swell, I decided to do a little painting that I have wanted to do for my room since I bought my house 3 years ago.

Ventura/Santa Barbara (10/1)

My friend from college, Nick Hartley, got married in Italy and had the reception in Ventura. Coming down south from Fresno requires a board and wetsuit to always be packed. After two days of getting phone calls and text messages from Nick and John Haan about how good the waves were the last few days, I had high hopes for some good waves. When I finally got to the point on the 101 freeway where I could see the Pacific Ocean, it was blowing 20 mph on shore. White caps as far as I could see. I didn't even bother checking the breaks knowing that it was blown out everywhere. In the morning, John Haan and I check Rincon (1 ft), C Street (1-2' and contest going on), and then finally Pierpont out in front of Nick's parents house. The waves were 1-2' with an occasional bump from a double up wedge left off the jetty. It was small but fun and it was only John Haan, myself, and a little kid about the age of 10. It felt good to finally get back in the water after recovering from my rib injury 8 weeks earlier in Nicaragua. The drive back to SB showed Rincon flat. 5 hours later as I drove to the reception, it was chest high and reeling down the point at low tide. Had to pass because there was some serious partying to do in Ventura with all my friends. The Pacific NW is starting to get going and I hope to get some good waves in the next couple of months.