***Official 2021 Community Surf Journal***

MathDebater

Michael Peterson status
Apr 13, 2016
2,582
6,122
113
SD
Surfed one of my winter haunts for the first time this season for a quick lunch session. Not much swell but the tide made it surfable on the sets with the Manta. I completely botched the entrance and exit rock scramble. I missed a step on the way in and jammed my foot pretty bad, it's swelling as I type, and on the way out I slipped climbing up and got pulled back into the water. Peak kook! Either way, super fun session, beautiful clear water, surface glass with 2-3' sets every 5-10 minutes, only a max of 4 others out. I surfed bad at first and really struggled to get around the first section, then it started to come together and I was linking 3-5 turns per wave all the way through. Stock! Can't wait to surf it properly but hard to complain.
 

Aruka

Tom Curren status
Feb 23, 2010
11,984
22,517
113
PNW
Been getting some fun waves on the 6-6 sharpeye. It's not a forgiving board and occasionally it gives me 90's flashbacks (not in a good way) but when the waves are on it feels amazing. My favorite spot up north had some heavy rights yesterday. Kind of disorganized but glassy and the occasional nug to be had. Took some beatings but got a few turns and made a good tube so it was worth it.

This morning the kelpy reef was close to DOH and it was just me and a buddy out. Was feeling kind of beat up from the previous day so I rode the 7'2 AG twin and had a blast. Didn't expect to surf the evening window but my local was good and I got some more fun rights on the 6-6. Everyone was surfing the left like idiots and I had the right down at the south end to myself. The sunsets have been primo lately and this evening was no exception.
 

silentbutdeadly

Duke status
Sep 26, 2005
33,488
23,077
113
Tower 13
Three days in a row, three different stamps.

Spot a wasn't doing and was gonna get busy cause of the hype machine. Spot b was doin it's thang on the high tide bar. busy but most people weren't paying attention and were drifting off. Split waves with my buddy for almost two hours. lot's of fatties to dodge but I lost count of how many fun roundies I did. Combine that with some fun racers, corner hooks, and closeout lip bashes I'll call today a complete success.
 

Senor Sopa

Billy Hamilton status
Mar 11, 2015
1,366
2,176
113
Ponto
Spot b was doin it's thang on the high tide bar.
I'll call today a complete success.
Missed the high tide, super foggy too. Manana has 7.0 tide at 7:00 am. Probably worth a check.

Today, waited till noon and the minus tide. HH mebbe and light N wind. Pretty fun, but meh at same time, again, too lully and slow swells. Scoring gives me two good rail roundhouses, one long floater, and one spray throwing snap.

At the peak, my buddy says he's gonna have a session where he doesn't ride in front of me. That lasted two waves. We did pull off 2 go-arounds though. Bigger waves we've done 4. He goes in, ocean goes flat. Local shredder Derek paddles out on "gasp" an old midlength. We shared a few. I got one super snap in front of him, had to say I pushed extra hard cuz he had front row view. He bailed quick. Next duu Mikey paddles out. LOL, he didn't share, snags first one on me. That's ok, I waited and got a better one.

Funny chit: Wore booties for first time this season. As I'm grabbing the wax, I laughed and put it back. Back story, this board has been in drydock repair for two months. LOL, sure enough I had grip problems, with my hands though. One bad enough to flip me on my face at take off. Best goof I've had in a while.
 

MathDebater

Michael Peterson status
Apr 13, 2016
2,582
6,122
113
SD
Surfed the same reef as last time at lower tide today with a buddy. Slightly more crowded but sheesh, the longboarders were aggressive today. They weren't even bothering to paddle out to the peak, rather they'd just shoulder hop everything and most of the time wouldn't kick out if you made the section. I'm not a local at this spot but I surf it a lot in the winter and I didn't recognize either of the worst offenders. Despite their best efforts I still got a few fun ones, blew a couple of turns on my best waves, and was freezing by the time I got out. My buddy got a few long ones, he was stocked.
 

Aruka

Tom Curren status
Feb 23, 2010
11,984
22,517
113
PNW
Yesterday was fun at the local. Surfed the right down the way on the 6-4 bullet twin but wish i'd been on the plasmic. It was head high + but kind of flat faced and the round pin felt like it was sinking at times. Still had a fun sesh. Looked better in the evening at the lower tide but I had obligations.

Today it was similar size and I surfed right out front on the plasmic. Got a few fun rights and one really spicy left and then as the tide started to drop I snuck down to my right corner. Got a few fun ones before a few people clued in and followed me. Waves were fun but after a long lull my feet got cold and my surfing started to suffer so I went in. Evening time was crazy low tide and kind of walled up and random but buttery clean conditions. Just stuck with the plasmic and it felt perfect for the waist-to-chest high runners. Lots of the rights were just running and it was fun but hard to fit in a turn. I got a couple lefts that were smaller but better paced and managed some shralping motions. There's a guy who's been around for some years now and he surfs quite often (always at this spot) but he pretty much sucks and rarely makes his waves when it's fast and tricky like it was and yet he always wants to sit at the peak and wait for the set waves. He's a nice guy so I hate to have conflict with him (although I have before) so I just resorted to paddling under him a few times which didn't feel great either but I can only handle watching so many waves go to waste. Other than that it was a pretty fun session.
 

j_mac

Legend (inyourownmind)
Aug 16, 2020
418
1,567
93
Finally cashing in on my vacation days before I lose them, it has been a busy work year. Yesterday afternoon was dreamy - low tide, easy swell waves that continued to wall up over the multiple inner bars allowing for long fun rides to shore, though with long paddles back offshore. I knew it has promise but didn't expect to be this good. It wasn't my best surfing, as it was so good with so much time on the wave I wasn't ready for it - haha. You couldn't really mess up, other than not making the most out of that section. A number of rides were solid with better timing on turns and position through the various walled sections. It was so good, I couldn't stop - 3 hour session, crashed shortly dinner, such a good feeling.
 

bluengreen

Michael Peterson status
Oct 22, 2018
1,763
4,641
113
SF x Encinitas
Low tide, little onshore 6-7 feet at 14 seconds? in the Noriega to Pacheco zone. Took the 8'3 as I'm not in the fiercest surf shape after my annual week of booze, food and gentle surf in Socal. Lotta people out for the size. I'd call it accessibly big. As soon as I get out it starts pulsing and current eases, says a dude I chat with. Lotta waves to go around. Get a few quick ones. A smaller set wave left that let's me come hard off the bottom into a highline carve. And a bomb that I get hooted into though it shoulders out after the bottom turn. Introduce myself to Christy Davis in the lineup. He was really nice and stoked to be out there. Check out the documentary "A Man and the Sea" about his 30 years surfing Mavericks. Also see an older guy on a giant red Parmy. First Parmenter sighting in the wild. Those rails, though! Get a few more long right walls and successfully book it back outside before getting caught. Have to straighten out on my last one. Try valiantly to get back out but I get pushed further and further into the trough by a long set and decide to call it a session. Great to be out in big surf on Thursday afternoon with a bunch of fellow bandits!
 
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teeroi

Miki Dora status
Oct 21, 2007
5,107
9,269
113
eastside oahu
Finished our job early today and instead of going to a different house to finish the day left at lunch to maybe go surf. Suppose to be swell in the water but Northwest wind. Drove almost to the NS and it was stormy and my north wind spot was perfect but shin high. F*ck. Looked on the cams and my town regular looked shoulder high and side shore winds, after it looked weird and brown water in the morning. Drove the wrong way. That’s what I get for trying to overthink things. Haha
 

Aruka

Tom Curren status
Feb 23, 2010
11,984
22,517
113
PNW
Got a pretty fun quicky at my local last night. Gigglebox w/ AM2's. Perfect.

I haven't been surfing right out front much lately. Mostly because there are better bars but also because the scene is not my favorite. All of the recently moved here locals (sub 5 years) are so friendly and lame. They want to talk about mountain biking and real estate and it's like a little social hour with surfing being the secondary priority. Makes me want to puke. Especially when some randos are paddling circles around them and there's no semblence of a pecking order. I went strait to the peak and sat far enough out that I thought I wouldn't be bothered. Got a few fun rights but the way the bar is nothing was quite connecting through to the inside so I was lucky to get two turns before getting dumped on. Once I got a few waves the social cluster all glommed onto me and include me in their inane conversation. I feigned deafness by earplugs but that didn't seem to deter them. At least the randos had backed off and moved down the line to the inside corner. The tide was like an 11 foot swing and rushing out to a minus 2 so at a certain point a big rip started up and swept the whole lineup out of position. I clued in and paddled back to my lineups, getting a couple more waves before everyone followed again.

Luckily at that point a big set came and caught everyone inside. I think half of the lineup got washed in and called it. The rando frothers finally went in. Once the rip calmed down a few fun sets came through. That seemed to be they cycle; a couple good sets would roll through and then the rip would rage for a while and then once it calmed down it would get fun again. The lefts were smaller on the face but probably a little more ripable.

Eventually it was just a few of us left but the remainders still managed to annoy me by sitting just inside and then paddling across my entry line every time I went right. I still managed to get a pretty good rhythm going for the last half an hour of my session. Went in and saw a on of my homies up on the dune drinking a beer so I joined him for a little bullshit session. We watched the sun set and it did the green flash which was cool because neither one of us had ever seen one.
 

bigglesworth

Legend (inyourownmind)
Mar 8, 2017
486
534
93
Woke up at arse-crack of dawn to drive to very far up north to a remote spot that I used to surf when I lived in that state. Long walk to the break; reassuring to know that I could bring gx #1 and it would handle a wide range of conditions. Less to carry that way!

Whomping close-outs that afforded the occasional vision/shoulder . The surfable window at this place is narrow before it starts breaking almost on the shore. Worth it just for the seclusion though. Finished off session with some fun forehand shwacks off the top. Fitness after knee injury slowly returning although I'm surfing with a brace just to be on the safe side.

Tomorrow will surf gx #2. Something to be said for surfing one design all the time, although I am green with yolo envy.
 

Tarab_ish

Legend (inyourownmind)
Nov 14, 2018
355
848
93
wow what a stretch. surfed weds, thurs, and today afternoon/evenings at the beach out front, almost always at the same sandbar

Weds: Glassy and beautiful on the 6'6" step up.
Thursday: like a baby big wave day -- felt a bit overgunned on the 8'. There were short-walled peaks outside that would run in over the sandbar and wall up inside, but then let you get back out without too much hassle. Felt like i was tempting fate over and over but barely got caught inside at all.
Today: back on the step up. I can't believe I've had this board with the five fin boxes for 2 years and only just now realized I like it as a thruster. Overhead peaks, open faced and not really that steep, but still feels a bit open ocean-y. Basically the conditions where every turn you do feels like a power hack because you're moving fast.

Overall I didn't get barreled once but I was feeling really good about my turns. Going from quad to thruster I was able to feel that slightly smaller turning radius and that feeling sorta built on itself. I did a couple of standard/generic backside snaps, except I was able to place them closer to the pocket and on meatier sections than I ever have in the past.

Bluengreen: we must've been on the same section on thurs. I saw that dude on the huge red gun but with a wide nose/semi glider/'fun gun' thing. For a while I was trying to sit on the outside apex of that sandbar right lined up with pacheco, but was trying to sit deep and then go right where most people were going left.
 
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Tarab_ish

Legend (inyourownmind)
Nov 14, 2018
355
848
93
goofy footer? 11-0 red glider w/black rails?
hmm I'm not sure the stance; I think I saw a big-ass red board without black rails. not sure though.

there was another dude today who I definitely know-by-face who was on a big Hess glider; it looked so fun. There' are conditions out there that I definitely don't have the right board for: when it's low tide and breaking on outer bars but only barely, and it's short walled and not top to bottom and maybe there's some texture. In that, a conventional gun works too well -- it's predictable and boring. But then on a shortboard you're taking off on the shoulder and skittering down the face and not really driving through sections. I guess I need some type of glider, or gentleman's gun, or just some type of drawn-out single fin for that.
 
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