*** Official 2020 Community Surf Journal ***

[000]

i never surf late morning, but i did today
thought with covid therd be no tourists or surf camps
i was wrong.
packed and hassling for closeouts

 

[Senor Sopa]

Haha. I just used that term cause it’s descriptive of my drop in. He was mid bottom turn and I was dropping in with no f*cks given. If he didn’t alter course I was landing on top of him. Neal has a pic of this donkey somewhere on his pic a day thread. Gregg gave him the nickname Not-a-Ken. Like oh no not again. Get it.

LOL, I ride a LB, I actually have a counter for that. Works good at home spot, probably would be a really bad move at Bowls! As in session ending.

Today, surfed at 6 for two hours. PPP was actually PP at the low tide. 30 guys out, good for me that I know the guys that were good. Waves were not quite head high, but really fast on the rights, lefts looked softer. I only went right. Easy to catch, but PPP has a tendency to trick you. You catch it easy, set up, and then realize the bottom has dropped out and you need to negotiate, meanwhile, the wave decides to start racing. You're stuck in the square bottom, with no speed, and all of a sudden you're behind it. First wave had a major beachside rail catch at the bottom, rail to shin, woke me right up. Wound up with couple of handfuls before the tide pretty much killed it.

Fork, OOO, where you going out? I'm imagining campgrounds somewhere, south of D?
Come North, you'll be glad you did.

 

[MathDebater]

The crowds are working at keeping me out of the water. It's been a zoo.

 

[ocean7847]

heat wave, lighting storms, and micro-swells.... and now fires and ash clouds and unbreathe-able air. wild times, 2020.

that being said, i thought this was worth a share.

this weekend was a scorcher, and with the non-existent swell and favorable conditions, i took a gamble by bringing the 5 year old grom north of town for some surf practice. up until now, our wave riding has been limited to belly riding on boogies or wavestorms at cowells. he loves to splash around and trusts the process if i'm laying with him, but he hasn't shown interest in going it alone, or in standing up on the board. fine, i figure, he'll do it on his own time and his own terms. cut to this weekend.

conditions at the little beach we chose were ideal - hot, no/light wind, small waves standing up on the "outside" of the sandbar, or inside of the reef, before rolling in as a whitewater line across a 20 yard knee-ankle deep area before lightly dissipating into the dry shore. hot enough that i trunked it - standing waist deep at the most, setting him up for his rides and letting him belly ride solo for the first time. he was laughing and smiling and splashing and basically being stocked out. did a couple rides, found a rhythm, and settled in.

then, maybe on wave 4 or 5, after i released him into a little roller, he just stood up. no drama, super stable, just stood up, and locked in all the way to the dry sand where he did a little step off before turning around to flash a thumbs up and a big grin. i was floored. he eagerly jumped on the board to "paddle back out "to me (hands flailing in the water, but he made progress!). among other gems, "i want to stay here forever!" and "i surfed ALL THE WAY TO SHORE!" lucky the wife and friends had joined and were on hand to inadvertently document the moment.

we all went back on sunday as well, and a few other friends of ours also joined for a beach day and joined in for the surf, riding adjacent to him as he rolled to the sand. he took a quality pearl, over-the-falls faceplant, a rad grab rail cutting back to shore, and couldn't have had more fun. super rad!!!

i got lots of good videos, but they're huge, so enjoy this screengrab .



make the most of those off days!

 

[silentbutdeadly]

different zone today with bendy closeouts. wasn't crowded but now I know why. can only claim two waves with decent floaters on the fuse.

 

[jkb]

heat wave, lighting storms, and micro-swells.... and now fires and ash clouds and unbreathe-able air. wild times, 2020.

that being said, i thought this was worth a share.

this weekend was a scorcher, and with the non-existent swell and favorable conditions, i took a gamble by bringing the 5 year old grom north of town for some surf practice. up until now, our wave riding has been limited to belly riding on boogies or wavestorms at cowells. he loves to splash around and trusts the process if i'm laying with him, but he hasn't shown interest in going it alone, or in standing up on the board. fine, i figure, he'll do it on his own time and his own terms. cut to this weekend.

conditions at the little beach we chose were ideal - hot, no/light wind, small waves standing up on the "outside" of the sandbar, or inside of the reef, before rolling in as a whitewater line across a 20 yard knee-ankle deep area before lightly dissipating into the dry shore. hot enough that i trunked it - standing waist deep at the most, setting him up for his rides and letting him belly ride solo for the first time. he was laughing and smiling and splashing and basically being stocked out. did a couple rides, found a rhythm, and settled in.

then, maybe on wave 4 or 5, after i released him into a little roller, he just stood up. no drama, super stable, just stood up, and locked in all the way to the dry sand where he did a little step off before turning around to flash a thumbs up and a big grin. i was floored. he eagerly jumped on the board to "paddle back out "to me (hands flailing in the water, but he made progress!). among other gems, "i want to stay here forever!" and "i surfed ALL THE WAY TO SHORE!" lucky the wife and friends had joined and were on hand to inadvertently document the moment.

we all went back on sunday as well, and a few other friends of ours also joined for a beach day and joined in for the surf, riding adjacent to him as he rolled to the sand. he took a quality pearl, over-the-falls faceplant, a rad grab rail cutting back to shore, and couldn't have had more fun. super rad!!!

i got lots of good videos, but they're huge, so enjoy this screengrab .

View attachment 96454

make the most of those off days!

So much stock! Congrats to @ocean7847 and his boy! Can't wait to do the same with my little ones.

 

[Oceanslide]

Mostly not very good, soft but clean waves this morning with obslop, but got ONE absolute runner of a head-high left that just ROPED down the line on the 7’6” HPTC...high lines across walls to swooping down to high line for days before finally fattening up. Probably the best wave I’ve had in months and made the session!!

Strangely enough, almost a repeat of the post above, although was on the DK keel fish instead. Was about to give up when
I lucked into the best wave I saw all morning that Dudebro was just barely too deep on. He yelled for me to go and the
wave reeled off for days with a few swooping top turns amidst high-line runs. Proned straight in as I new it wasn't going
to get better and was crazy crowded by then. Guess he got the next one behind it that was good as well.

 

[teeroi]

Been paddling out in the dark with a plan to catch 3 waves before dawn. Got 2 good ones before the light broke. Waves were fun about the same as yesterday. Rode the X2 with medium H4 fins. With the thumbtail the board is stiffer than the squash but plenty of drive so I tried smaller fins. Works fine. Got a head dip and some vert smashes. Got stuck out there longer than I wanted cause it got lully right when I wanted to leave and I fell on two waves in a row. Finally got a medium one and doused a dick dragger on a carve. The kind where they close their eyes and turn away. Haha.

The city closed Ala Moana Beach park parking lot so after the Kewalos parking fills up the park regulars have been coming out to Bowls and Rockpiles. They mostly mind their manners but there’s a lot of bodies in the water.

 

[silentbutdeadly]

funny, yesterday at a summer beachbreak and it sucked. today at my usual (not a summer beachbreak) and it was fun. semi closeouts racers with some soft peaks in the mix. mitsven bonzer was perfect for chasing them down. you can take off sideways and it just sticks

 

[sdsrfr]

Lots of male jewelry in the lineup last night. Gold chains, silver bracelets, dangly earrings.

A dude in a full suit booties and hood. He didn’t seem to be overheating, either.

Had to be a steady 30 people out, mostly lost and drifting in and out of the way. Some snakes in between but the passive aggressive stares from the locals seemed to put them in their place.

 

[silentbutdeadly]

but the passive aggressive stares from the locals seemed to put them in their place.

pretty much sums me up lol

 

[i_ride_spinnaz]

Today was surprisingly fun in LA.. and I hate surfing in LA. Peaky 3-4 ft beach break with solid corners. Crowd descended but left my lil crew of 2 others alone. Me and 2 buddies traded off peaky hollow lefts for an hour and a half, each making it out of a couple. The ones that weren't hollow lined up super well and were pretty rippable. Rare to be able to do a legit turn in LA. Even more rare to get barreled in LA during summer, EVEN more rare for them to actually be makeable. Best 1 I got was actually one I didn't make, but one of the larger ones, traveled down the sandbar in it for long enough to make extended awkward eye contact with my homie while driving through it for a couple seconds. Most travel time I've gotten in 1 in a while. Not being from LA, I sh!t on surfing in LA a fair amount, since the surf here is generally trash-- but today and yesterday were decent enough to get me to stop complaining for a while.

 

[Havoc]

Neighbor talked me into going today since it was good yesterday. Kinda walled early and qk with large h4 fins was a bust. Either too stiff or too loose. Weird fin. Got some nugget lefts and stiff legged a couple of bs cutbacks, Went in and grabbed the fling and went flying around. Crowd was super thick and annoying but got some solid hh nuggets. Last wave was a hh left with clean tapering wall, steep late drop into solid bs snap high on the face into a bs roundy with high foam rebound that I laid into and saw in my periphery the pack watching, 3 more bs roundys all the way into the sand for 5 turns and the best left I’ve gotten all summer. Man i needed that. F8 blakshitz ftw! Happy summer fakas!

 

[MathDebater]

Got out semi early at my usual today. Crowd was a bit thick, but what else is new. Love being able to surf first thing in boardshorts. As I got out to the lineup a guy pigdogs a lil 2' nug, then I immediately got a head dip on the next wave behind it. Set the tone for the whole session, stayed inside the pack and picked up 2-3' nugs. Banjo FTW.

 

[MathDebater]

Oh yeah, saw that carbon Alpha Omega that was on insta the other day in person. Looked friggin' epic. Is that someone on here??

 

[sdsrfr]

Banjo FTW.

this.

 

[Muscles]

Had a fun run of East swell on Oahu.

Side note, but I trip out every time I go surfing and I see 20 year old kids driving a brand new Ranger or Tacoma around. It's like kids don't drive beaters anymore.

 

[CutnSnip]

Today was surprisingly fun in LA.. and I hate surfing in LA. Peaky 3-4 ft beach break with solid corners. Crowd descended but left my lil crew of 2 others alone. Me and 2 buddies traded off peaky hollow lefts for an hour and a half, each making it out of a couple. The ones that weren't hollow lined up super well and were pretty rippable. Rare to be able to do a legit turn in LA. Even more rare to get barreled in LA during summer, EVEN more rare for them to actually be makeable. Best 1 I got was actually one I didn't make, but one of the larger ones, traveled down the sandbar in it for long enough to make extended awkward eye contact with my homie while driving through it for a couple seconds. Most travel time I've gotten in 1 in a while. Not being from LA, I sh!t on surfing in LA a fair amount, since the surf here is generally trash-- but today and yesterday were decent enough to get me to stop complaining for a while.

Damn, you mustve been up North a bit?

Had to get started on some work early this morning so opted for everyones favorite beachie by the airport. I felt a dire need to get wet but needless to say it did not deliver. Small, crowded, and basically closeouts on the drained tide. Session was so quick - not even sure If I got wet. Water felt amazing though.

 

[silentbutdeadly]

Neighbor talked me into going today since it was good yesterday. Kinda walled early and qk with large h4 fins was a bust. Either too stiff or too loose. Weird fin. Got some nugget lefts and stiff legged a couple of bs cutbacks, Went in and grabbed the fling and went flying around. Crowd was super thick and annoying but got some solid hh nuggets. Last wave was a hh left with clean tapering wall, steep late drop into solid bs snap high on the face into a bs roundy with high foam rebound that I laid into and saw in my periphery the pack watching, 3 more bs roundys all the way into the sand for 5 turns and the best left I’ve gotten all summer. Man i needed that. F8 blakshitz ftw! Happy summer fakas!

How's your surfing been since you've gained some hoof strength? You're probably blowing through the deck now.

 

[i_ride_spinnaz]

Damn, you mustve been up North a bit?

Had to get started on some work early this morning so opted for everyones favorite beachie by the airport. I felt a dire need to get wet but needless to say it did not deliver. Small, crowded, and basically closeouts on the drained tide. Session was so quick - not even sure If I got wet. Water felt amazing though.

Not quite North LA, at a spot that sha'nt be named