*** Official 2020 Community Surf Journal ***

[jkb]

Got to my spot and couldn't decide which board to ride. Kind of an in-between day. Some sets would feather on the outside, crumble and offer an easy entry. Some would hit the inside reef and go square. But it was still smallish windswell with some flat spots on the shoulders.

I decided to bring both the Picklefork and the GMM2 with me. Felt like Aruka walking down the beach with two boards under my arm

Ultimately, I decided to ride the GMM2 and it was the right call. Tough surf though. Had to be lucky to get a good one.

 

[obslop]

late morning with soft but fun wind swell peaks and clean conditions and a light crowd.

opted to go with a thruster set-up for 1st time in ages and had a lot of fun. been riding a new board since late February 2020 made by a friend. dims are 5'6", 2.5" and a bit under 20" wide. the board was ordered in December 2019 while drinking whisky w/ the shaper so the exact dims are a bit hazy and not written on the board.

it's a grovel shortboard made for waist high mush in oceanside with flat rocker and really fun. the tail rocker is nearly identical to my stamps banjo to give you an idea of how flat the rocker is.

sometimes the flat rocker through the tail gets in the way on steep turn sections but i'm learning to adapt and manage it. the thruster set-up seemed to help today as it creates more of a pivot point than the quad set-up i usually ride. i'll throw up some pictures and a more of write-up at some point.

 

[Brsnstein]

Good times late morning in waist to occasional chest windswell. Most waves were good for a turn or two. WMD with nvs peregrines was money until the tide got too low

 

[teeroi]

Dawned Bowls. It was really fun. Waves were a little overhead and bigger, flat low tide and light wind. Used the 6’0 Tokoro 4X and changed my fins to the NVS medium AMCs in G10. Made sure they were in all the right places. My board worked really well with those fins. Got some nice vert turns and swoops. Got a couple of messy tubes that I made and one long deep one that pinched and I ended up bouncing on the reef. It wasn’t too bad, a little coral in my fingertip and some reef rash on my knee. Surfed with the regular dawn patrol crew getting most of the sets. It was empty for an hour in the middle of the session. Then most of the Moniz brothers and friends came out. Seth and his crew were ripping. They said Pipe was big but back washy. Today was the best day for this swell so far. More on the way. Shopping centers reopened and there’s a little more traffic than the last few weeks. People are allowed to cruise on the beach too. Hope we don’t blow it.

 

[silentbutdeadly]

not sure how I forgot about this but I'm pretty sure I saw fluffy surface about 30 feet from me today.

 

[jkb]

not sure how I forgot about this but I'm pretty sure I saw fluffy surface about 30 feet from me today.

Spring is the new Fall, man.

 

[20W-50 and blood]

fluffy, THIS time of year? Makes sense. Trump. Covid. Fluffy. Is there any surprise?

 

[Oceanslide]

Didn’t expect much from what I saw from above, but ended up having a great time on the VS HPTC twinzer. Random waves, but got a few that bowled up a bit with racey sections, then backed off a little with a lip/crumble smack. Also a couple rights will h just a bottom turn and speed run for a looooong ways: Stoked!

 

[silentbutdeadly]

Spring is the new Fall, man.

saw the fin come up and down in a manner that was not like a dolphin. Trailing edge was serrated. Never saw it again and never saw porpoise the whole session. terns working bait all around the lineup. I guess my hungover body wasn't appealing thankfully

 

[Toobz]

Barrels, beatings and big clean up sets.

 

[jkb]

View attachment 91118

Barrels, beatings and big clean up sets.

Yew!

West Oz?

 

[obslop]

mixed up early with some grindy sets. pulled into a round one after 3 hours but couldn't make the doggy door. seemed to be getting better as i left.

 

[silentbutdeadly]

got 4-5 windswell nugs in the beginning then it turned to crap. lot of sitting. Managed two of the south swell sets for a couple decent lefts on the gx.

No barrels made but got some good travel time on a couple of them. Nose is draining.

 

[Muscles]

Went to redeem myself at my regular. Nice straight north swell and no crowd out. Paddled out and before I even catch a wave I see the tax man 15 ft to my right and inside of me. Not sure what kind. It was roughly 8 to 10 ft. Definitely not a hammerhead which are known to frequent the area. From my perspective it looked like a juvenile tiger. Didn't get a good luck because as soon as I saw it I turned around and threw myself over the first wave and paddled as fast as I could. Person on the beach said they saw it swim under me. Ugh. Closest I've ever been to one in the water. Usually they stay outside of the lineup and you can see them. This one somehow came inside of me.

So let's recap the last two weeks:
Slammed into a reef
Lost a fin
Leash broke and brand new board bounced over rocks
Cut my thumb

I can add chased out by a shark to the list.

 

[CutnSnip]

Did my first LA surf this morning at a place that starts with a elP and ends with an O. waves were pretty fun - some short period NW mixing in with the rising SW made for some nice little peaks - pop up corners everywhere but getting a little soft on the high tide. When they'd connect to the inside there was a nice little speed section to blast a few turns but overall very average session.

All the regulars dudes on the peak i frequent were just so stoked to be in the water it turned out to be a super fun tho - lots of catching up and hooting people into waves. we'll see how long that lasts till were at each others throats again.

Parking is going to be tricky up here unless your a dawn patroller. The only lot nearby filled up by 6:30 and the street parking was non existent.

Looks like we will have swell for the next couple weeks so thats nice.

 

[b.r.]

water was clearing up a little recently but yesterday the stench was strong and pockets of really red tide goop, surfed by myself for a couple of hours during the low tide, fun mixed up pick and choose peaks, skate park conditions for the swallow tail twinzer, but water was stinkier than ever, straight home to douse the ears, flush the sinuses, and poured some good tequila slowly down my throat, then soaked in the hot tub so I am good to go today. talked to a guy who surfed down the beach yesterday and he has an ear infection today...

 

[bluengreen]

Still jerking off to surf videos in Anywheresville, NC. Been here three weeks. Father-in-law died 12 days ago but wife wants to stay until her brother arrives in another week. Too much booze and heavy food. Mother-in-law is the wicked witch of the east. Get me back to Cali STAT. STAT means now.

 

[teeroi]

Dawned Bowls. It’s fun. Weekend crowd. New swell direction with some runners that were draining. Got a deep round barrel but it ran away from me, I fell in a bad spot but popped right up. Whew.

Rode the Tokoro X2. Board is really really fast.

More swell on the way. Heard NS was firing yesterday. But dropped fast.

 

[Brsnstein]

Decided to wait for the tide to drop a bit and give the building south a little time to get going. I thought I might have screwed up by waiting so long since the wind was already on it, but drifted and held position at a couple bars that had a more defined peak. Rights were much shorter, but got one where I was able to get some speed coming down the double up and race through to get a decent turn on the end section. Had a good barrel dodge to hack on a left. I really need to work on my backside tube game

Blidnspot was great as usual. Rode it with the JJFs and still haven’t decided if I prefer those or the NVS g10 JLs

Did my first LA surf this morning at a place that starts with a elP and ends with an O. waves were pretty fun - some short period NW mixing in with the rising SW made for some nice little peaks - pop up corners everywhere but getting a little soft on the high tide. When they'd connect to the inside there was a nice little speed section to blast a few turns but overall very average session.

All the regulars dudes on the peak i frequent were just so stoked to be in the water it turned out to be a super fun tho - lots of catching up and hooting people into waves. we'll see how long that lasts till were at each others throats again.

Parking is going to be tricky up here unless your a dawn patroller. The only lot nearby filled up by 6:30 and the street parking was non existent.

Looks like we will have swell for the next couple weeks so thats nice.

They should just open the beach lot already. They could even do it to half capacity. A certain city further south did a pretty good job doing this by marking the spots where you‘re not allowed to park. Hopefully the affected residents will start complaining and force the issue a bit

 

[oeste858]

...Mother-in-law is the wicked witch of the east. Get me back to Cali STAT. STAT means now.

Man. M-I-Ls can be tough, especially in that situation. Mine is a self-centered, depressed, manipulative, passive-aggressive, emotional abuser. She said awful hurtful things to my wife when we moved to CA. It was so OTT and I had to bite my tongue but I’ll never forgive her for that.
I’m gonna stay out for a couple days between the messy crossed-up swell, the smelly & foamy brown water hanging around, plus these shark sightings. SBD is pretty close to my neck of the woods. Yikes. I’m impressed you didn’t paddle in after you saw that fin. I would’ve. Anyway, got too many house projects and family time on the weekends anyway. Guess I’m the opposite of a weekend warrior!