***Official 2021 Community Surf Journal***

[oeste858]

Missed my window to surf the last couple days so got out this morning for an hour at low tide at the main reef. Waist to chest high runners with shoulder high sets. Fun skatepark waves but unfortunately someone sent in the clowns. The 30-person crowd made it tough. Big boards got all the sets, 4 guys taking off on almost every wave. I stuck to the inside reef and caught 5-6 rights & 1 left. The new Asher Pacey fins felt like they were a little too much fin for the valerian lightbender: fast going down the line but felt like I was dragging anchor on fs turns. Bit disappointed.

 

[CutnSnip]

SLA shin slappers on the banjo this a.m. it was what it was

i just couldnt muster up the motivation to drive south this morning.

water feels like a bathtub. at least it was trunkable.

 

[teeroi]

Paddled the Moonfish out in the dark. Waves were way better than yesterday. HH+ and clean. There were a bunch of sets early but it slowed down toward high tide.

Got the best turn I’ve done on the new boar right into a barrel. Barrel clamped on me right as I was coming out. Got greedy and tried to park it too long, bled too much sped off.

Crowd was thick. Had a bunch of nuggets I had to go around people. Toward the end of my sesh a dozen kids on boogie boards came out all wearing yellow jerseys. Got a set to go in on and just before I bottom turned I ran over the legs of one of the yellow jersey kids. Must’ve been from the turbulence of his swim fins but it changed my line and I almost ran over a couple of my friends. I told the lineup what happened and said I would yell at the kid for getting in the way and ruining the ride but I can’t tell which one it was they’re all wearing the same shirt. Everyone laughed and I got a set that swung wide and gave me an open lane to surf in. New swell, weekend crowd, it was hectic.

 

[Aruka]

Had a fun session up North this morning. Fairly calm and clean. The right handers had kind of a mushy outside section but the inside would often steepen up and run, even sometimes barrel. Consistent and just myself and my two best surf buddies out there in a good rotation. Rode the 5-10 SMTH dark arts as a quad and it felt pretty great. Got a bunch of fun turns and some long runners that I raced way down the beach. Few little cover ups and some visions but no legit tubes. Can not describe how much I needed that. July is a tough month here. Oh and the water was freezing. My feet got cold by the end of my 2 hour session even wearing 7mm booties.

 

[need 4 speed]

Few corners to be had . Waist- shoulder mostly walled south with a tiny bit of mixed swell to open up a section or two. mostly a tune up to test the Surf Ear 3 (ruptured my right ear drum for the third time two weeks ago with Mack's in )6-2 inverted vee working much better with the larger fin set

 

[Kento]

Waves were meager yesterday and even if it was only a little better today, was definitely going to paddle out. Wind naturally came up as I changed but there were still some rights and such if you could stay on the rip. One of those days. Chest to head high windswell on dropping tide with a lot of current. Waves either backed off or jacked out of the rip and dumped. I got a few that I didn't completely fuck up but it was challenging conditions to be sure. There were a few beginners meandering around; felt bad for them as it was absolutely not good learning conditions.

 

[Aruka]

Got up in the dark and drove about two hours up the coast. The jetty right was firing and I had it to myself for an hour before a few locals paddled out. Sets were a bit overhead and there was plenty of head high insiders breaking off the corner of the rip. Got a ton of waves even after the crowd filled in. I felt like I was surfing pretty well and a couple of the regular heavies seemed okay to let me be part of the outside rotation for the set waves. My best wave was actually an inside double up I snagged on my way back out that grew through the inside and had a perfect quarter pipe face to tee off on.

It definitely slowed down a little as the tide pulled out and my feet got cold after a lull so I took my next one in. Rode the Sharpeye and it felt great in the bowly wedges. The board never skittered out or anything but I did have one big set wave where I felt like I was pushing the limit a bit on my bottom turn. I wasnt disappointed given the size and power of the wave but it was the first time Ive felt like I was pushing the top end of the I72. I usually ride a round pin at this spot any time its much over head high since its so powerful. Overall I'm super stocked on the session and glad I committed to the long drive especially given the upcoming flat spell that I see on the forecast.

 

[teeroi]

Paddled my Mojo out in the dark. Waves were pumping at first then got lully. HH+, strong trades, much lighter crowd than yesterday. Lot of the sets were closing out cause of the low tide, so I sat a little inside and went for the medium ones.

I kept asking my friends if they thought the waves felt soft. Then I thought maybe my board went dead. But I was doing turns and made sections. Finally one of the guys said you were riding your cheeto boar yesterday. Your shor boar is fine just not as instantly fast as the Cheeto. That helped get it out of my head and the rest of the sesh felt great.

Got a bunch of double ups and runners. Best turn was smashing the closeout section on a set. Did a wrap and looked for the tube but it started breaking in front of me instead. Got a pump in and hit the closeout hard. Gregg was paddling out and when I rode out he let out a surprised sound. He was hoping I got throttled by the two sections coming down at each other. That turn might not look exciting but it feels sick and guys that know know.

 

[Oceanslide]

Spent last week with some bros, including obslop, at a notoriously mediocre right point/reef in Baja.
There was swell most of the time and the shape was predictably random depending on the 20-minute
window you judged it on, but had probably 3-4 or the best right runners I've had there over the years
on the Mandala 7'2" twin. Highlight was the best 2 set waves I saw over the week with me on the
first and obslop on the second, running all the way through with nice pockets and speed.

Heading back down again tomorrow for another week, this time with the fam.

 

[rowjimmytour]

Local reef 6' @ 12 seconds made for waist to chest bowling left peaks fun on my gbuzz but so use to twin I kept waiting for instant speed and quad felt slow. I pulled into little bs barrels but only made one my last wave as it fell apart on inside reef. The water kooled a little from upwelling but my 2mm short sleeve full still felt perfect. The water was crystal clear and could see the reef but best I surfed top of reef alone and other two guys surfed farther down

 

[sdsurfrat]

Waves were meager One of those days. Chest to head high windswell on dropping tide with a lot of current. Waves either backed off or jacked out of the rip and dumped. There were a few beginners meandering around.

Wait, are you back at Tamarack?

 

[Kento]

Wait, are you back at Tamarack?

That exact thought went through my mind in the water yesterday.

Thankfully, outside of the WNW@35kt days, it is generally a lot better than Tamarack.

 

[Havoc]

bounced around a couple spots today. had an absolute blast. most of the time i sat with a cordial group of adult learners and caught a ton of waves on my stamps wtfo. ran it as a keel + pivot nub and i feel a ton more control. felt like a rocket frontside and felt like i was riding a shorter boar. got a bunch of long backside lefts. best one was last one, shoulder high clean, backside carve right in the hook with no slidey, perfect recovery and rode all the way in. man i needed that! water warmed up and i was nice and toasty in a spring suit. could've trunked it.

on the trail up there were literally 100 people walking down with wavestorms. cray! summer is officially here duuu's!

 

[teeroi]

Paddled the Moonfish out in the dark. First wave got a little wedge that gave me a bunch of speed but when I got to the inside double up the wave bent so hard, 90 degrees, I didn’t know what to do. Tried to hit it but went over the back. Rarely see it bowl so hard like that on a shoulder high wave. Big Bowl does that when there a lot of west, I know what to do on those. Pull in aim for the beach park and get shot out into the channel.

Rest of the session was a mixed bag of shoulder high nuggets and waist high runners. My knee hurts on surfing some of the smaller ones. Gotta push so hard.

My friend Eddie was surfing on his gf cheater board. He got a set while we were all paddling out and did a midface carve set up for a bs hack but his feet were to forward. Oh man he got roasted. We told him he needs to stand on the tail. He replied I know. I asked him if he has a tail pad on that board. He said yes. Gregg told him you better find it then. Ed’s next wave we were cracking up cause he was looking down at his feet. He paddled back out to more heckling. He says I’m going in on the next one. So I tell him maybe you can find your tail pad on the beach. Haha.

 

[j_mac]

I truly enjoy reading this thread. It makes me appreciate how good that I have it. I am one of the VALs that everyone despises, though a year in, and have significantly progressed (or at least in my mind). I am surfing shortboards to longer boards, finding flow in all them and learning tons. I was hell bent on surfing a shortboard at first, now I have mentally matured to just surfing, though with a shorter board preference. BTW- Am I a VAL if I am self aware and avoid obvious spots, and understand the pecking order if in said spot -haha? The reality is that I am a wave whore - haha. I have spent hours and days finding spots off the beaten path. There are some many good spots, it took some time to figure out what tides work best, where to park to get to the spot, figuring out wave heights/surflies/wind directions/cdip buoys etc to estimate where the best spot is to go. I have wasted time driving to figure this out. My buddies have benefited from my exploration. Surfing these spots, and getting wave after wave has been well worth it both in enjoyment and progression. I kind have my own look-up table for where to go and what board to bring. Though it can be a little nervous at time with the potential of grey coats lurking at some spots, you have to turn that mental switch off. I don't think I have surfed a spot in the last several months that has more than 2-3 other surfers not associated with my buddies. And if my secret spots don't work for the conditions, I go uber early or late and surf the primary spots with minimal folks. Most surfers seem to be like bugs to light, for obvious reason the good spots are always good. Several months ago, I went to a popular spot that lasted 1 hour for me, before I left. It wasn't worth the time everyone dropping in, not respecting anything, blowing waves for everyone - it was an absolute sh!t show, but a reminder of how good I have it. It is simple statistics, X number of good waves, X number of surfers, X potential waves to get in an hour. I prefer to skew the statistics to my favor. I am definitely addicted, but you don't have to worry about me adding to the crowded spots. so am I VAL - haha (rhetorically question)?

 

[rowjimmytour]

I truly enjoy reading this thread. It makes me appreciate how good that I have it. I am one of the VALs that everyone despises, though a year in, and have significantly progressed (or at least in my mind). I am surfing shortboards to longer boards, finding flow in all them and learning tons. I was hell bent on surfing a shortboard at first, now I have mentally matured to just surfing, though with a shorter board preference. BTW- Am I a VAL if I am self aware and avoid obvious spots, and understand the pecking order if in said spot -haha? The reality is that I am a wave whore - haha. I have spent hours and days finding spots off the beaten path. There are some many good spots, it took some time to figure out what tides work best, where to park to get to the spot, figuring out wave heights/surflies/wind directions/cdip buoys etc to estimate where the best spot is to go. I have wasted time driving to figure this out. My buddies have benefited from my exploration. Surfing these spots, and getting wave after wave has been well worth it both in enjoyment and progression. I kind have my own look-up table for where to go and what board to bring. Though it can be a little nervous at time with the potential of grey coats lurking at some spots, you have to turn that mental switch off. I don't think I have surfed a spot in the last several months that has more than 2-3 other surfers not associated with my buddies. And if my secret spots don't work for the conditions, I go uber early or late and surf the primary spots with minimal folks. Most surfers seem to be like bugs to light, for obvious reason the good spots are always good. Several months ago, I went to a popular spot that lasted 1 hour for me, before I left. It wasn't worth the time everyone dropping in, not respecting anything, blowing waves for everyone - it was an absolute sh!t show, but a reminder of how good I have it. It is simple statistics, X number of good waves, X number of surfers, X potential waves to get in an hour. I prefer to skew the statistics to my favor. I am definitely addicted, but you don't have to worry about me adding to the crowded spots. so am I VAL - hah9a (rhetorically question)?

When you return to the val on the 17 do you drive fast and leave very little room between you and car in front

 

[j_mac]

When you return to the val on the 17 do you drive fast and leave very little room between you and car in front

Haha - I am not that type of val, I live 4 blocks from the beach and stay on the south end of the bay.

 

[rowjimmytour]

Haha - I am not that type of val, I live 4 blocks from the beach and stay on the south end of the bay.

I would say if OBSF is one of your local spots and you spend any time out you are not a val

 

[doc_flavonoid]

I truly enjoy reading this thread. It makes me appreciate how good that I have it. I am one of the VALs that everyone despises, though a year in, and have significantly progressed (or at least in my mind). I am surfing shortboards to longer boards, finding flow in all them and learning tons. I was hell bent on surfing a shortboard at first, now I have mentally matured to just surfing, though with a shorter board preference. BTW- Am I a VAL if I am self aware and avoid obvious spots, and understand the pecking order if in said spot -haha? The reality is that I am a wave whore - haha. I have spent hours and days finding spots off the beaten path. There are some many good spots, it took some time to figure out what tides work best, where to park to get to the spot, figuring out wave heights/surflies/wind directions/cdip buoys etc to estimate where the best spot is to go. I have wasted time driving to figure this out. My buddies have benefited from my exploration. Surfing these spots, and getting wave after wave has been well worth it both in enjoyment and progression. I kind have my own look-up table for where to go and what board to bring. Though it can be a little nervous at time with the potential of grey coats lurking at some spots, you have to turn that mental switch off. I don't think I have surfed a spot in the last several months that has more than 2-3 other surfers not associated with my buddies. And if my secret spots don't work for the conditions, I go uber early or late and surf the primary spots with minimal folks. Most surfers seem to be like bugs to light, for obvious reason the good spots are always good. Several months ago, I went to a popular spot that lasted 1 hour for me, before I left. It wasn't worth the time everyone dropping in, not respecting anything, blowing waves for everyone - it was an absolute sh!t show, but a reminder of how good I have it. It is simple statistics, X number of good waves, X number of surfers, X potential waves to get in an hour. I prefer to skew the statistics to my favor. I am definitely addicted, but you don't have to worry about me adding to the crowded spots. so am I VAL - haha (rhetorically question)?

kook

 

[Havoc]

I truly enjoy reading this thread. It makes me appreciate how good that I have it. I am one of the VALs that everyone despises, though a year in, and have significantly progressed (or at least in my mind). I am surfing shortboards to longer boards, finding flow in all them and learning tons. I was hell bent on surfing a shortboard at first, now I have mentally matured to just surfing, though with a shorter board preference. BTW- Am I a VAL if I am self aware and avoid obvious spots, and understand the pecking order if in said spot -haha? The reality is that I am a wave whore - haha. I have spent hours and days finding spots off the beaten path. There are some many good spots, it took some time to figure out what tides work best, where to park to get to the spot, figuring out wave heights/surflies/wind directions/cdip buoys etc to estimate where the best spot is to go. I have wasted time driving to figure this out. My buddies have benefited from my exploration. Surfing these spots, and getting wave after wave has been well worth it both in enjoyment and progression. I kind have my own look-up table for where to go and what board to bring. Though it can be a little nervous at time with the potential of grey coats lurking at some spots, you have to turn that mental switch off. I don't think I have surfed a spot in the last several months that has more than 2-3 other surfers not associated with my buddies. And if my secret spots don't work for the conditions, I go uber early or late and surf the primary spots with minimal folks. Most surfers seem to be like bugs to light, for obvious reason the good spots are always good. Several months ago, I went to a popular spot that lasted 1 hour for me, before I left. It wasn't worth the time everyone dropping in, not respecting anything, blowing waves for everyone - it was an absolute sh!t show, but a reminder of how good I have it. It is simple statistics, X number of good waves, X number of surfers, X potential waves to get in an hour. I prefer to skew the statistics to my favor. I am definitely addicted, but you don't have to worry about me adding to the crowded spots. so am I VAL - haha (rhetorically question)?

i surf some of the most crowded spots on the planet. always a sh!t show. occasional nug makes it worth it. is what it is. oh, and i'm def'ly a kook too!