just a little fish trying to survive in this great big ocean...

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Hope For Summer....

Hello friends,

I have been failing at keeping up on my blogging lately. I have just gotten busy with school and work. I guess that's not entirely true though. I have been surfing, but I haven't been taking my camera out with me. Not that there would have been much to show considering the state of the waves when I have been paddling out. Anyways, I will use this post to talk about a couple little sessions I have had lately....

The first one I want to mention is really just because it ended up being a great day overall and its another one of those sessions you get stoked on, no matter what the condition of the waves are. So, last Saturday my buddy Brett came out to Newport Beach to hang out. We planned out our Easter Sunday with surfing dawn patrol in the morning and then heading to church at Rock Harbor over in Costa Mesa. I have to say just the excitement of a paddle out on Easter Sunday is all it takes. It's a lot like that Christmas day session I had this last Christmas; it really doesn't matter how many waves you get if you are in the water some days. And...you know what, it's good that I wasn't too picky about the wave conditions because Easter morning only wielded sectiony close-out sets. I found a couple nice waves, but the current pulled me up the beach before I could get too much enjoyment out of them. Oh well...that's just the way it goes sometime though. The rest of the day was nice too. Francis Chan spoke at Rock Harbor, so I got to see him once again, and then I made some turkey guacamole burgers for A-Bomb, Greg, and Liz. It was nice to have a pleasant day like that before my usual crazy Monday.

But onto today's session. When I showed up to the beach...well hold on. Actually I need to give you a little background first. Yesterday I had every intention of going surfing. I went as far as pulling my board out, grabbing my wetsuit, and hauling over to the beach. But...yesterday, when I got to the beach I was thoroughly disappointed to find that there were just no waves. Now, I am not usually one to snob any ocean conditions, but yesterday even I couldn't bring myself to get out there. So, back to the story. When I showed up to the beach today I was really hoping for some size and shape to the waves, but was once again given nothing of the sort. The only consolation was that the waves were better than they had been yesterday.
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In my desperate and fragile state I made the decision to wiggle into my wettie and go paddle around for a while. It ended up being a decent choice as I managed to get a few fun little waves. For once in my life the lefts were opening up for me so much better than the rights. There wasn't much for size, but it was nice to drop in on a couple fun little waves and just get the feeling of surfing back. I just keep hoping for that day when it will just click and I can paddle out for shapely waves with a little size at Jetties. I know it's capable of producing some good stuff. Maybe the summer will be good to us with waves'o'plenty and warmer water.
It feels good to surf and to get back on here and blog about my experiences. As the summer approaches I am looking forward to trying for a couple small trips to same new waves and that little contest I had mentioned earlier. I just need to get some foamies for that.

I'll leave you with a picture from today. As they sweep through the sand and smooth it out, thats what surfing does for me. No matter how I'm feeling, surfing sweeps through and smooths everything out. It's a pretty spiritual experience I guess.
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Until next time...praying for surf.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Dawn Patrol

Not sure exactly what I was thinking last night when I decided that I was going to join the Dawn Patrol for today, but I made the proper decision to get up with the sun. I got my gear together and went for the short drive to Jetties. When I made my left-hand turn on Prospect I was surprised to find that parking spots were scarce to be found, but eventually rolled up on a lone spot straight out from tower 65. I decided to stroll out to the water's edge so I could check out the conditions before I totally committed and wiggled my way into my wetsuit. I was pleased to see that there were some clean lines and good size to the waves this fin morning, but noticed quickly that the water was much more populated than it had been the past few outtings, which explained the sudden abundance of vehicles lining the street. Nevertheless, I was excited to paddle out for some morning surf.

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It was an interesting day. Things started off right with a late take-off on a fun, medium sized left. As the session went on the waves got a little inconsistent, but it was still fun and definitely nice to be out in the water before heading out to play some football (soccer) with some friends out in Azusa.
I might decided to try the same thing again tomorrow, so we shall see what Jetties offers in the coming days. It's the last week of this term for school, so hopefully I will be spending more time getting my head wet and less time with my head in a book.

Until next time...praying for surf.