Project Pelican Completed!!!!! 2009_12_21st & 23rd

Hell yeah. Finally got the water camera jerry-rigged so that I can surf and pull the darn thing out easily/quickly enough to capture these magical waveriding creatures. You can see the difference...

Del Mar 26th Street

Was till using a rashguard to hold onto the camera. The casing almost twisted off and I would hav elost everything but luckily caught it before i had to duckdive a wave. Pictures were scetchy and only got one good pic of a pelican going by on the inside. Surf was small. About 1-3. Really really cold though this morning. No wind but plenty of chill. Oh dang, alomst forgot, two dolphins swam right underneath me and unfortunately the day was cloudy so I couldn't get a good underwater picture!

Solana Beach - South Pillbox

Jackpot!!! Pelicans all over the place. Used a strap this time to secure the camera and it was way easier then a rashguard. Beautiful shots and I think I was able to capture how big and majestic these creatures are. Seeing them go by on waves ten times there size you realize how graceful they are as well.
Surfwise, I was able to paddle and ride with the camera no problem. Caught two gnarly lefts that went about 50 yards to the inside. Big smile on my face afterwards. Great power and so clean.

Mission accomplished...

Solid afterstorm peaky surf. 6-8 feet. Wooooohooo!!!

Del Mar 29th Street HIGH TIDE w/Chris Sonney

2009_12_18 0730

Wow, launching off the stairs at 29th street!!! Sand is gone and tide was super gone. Nothing like waking yourself up with 59 degree water. Sunshine and calm winds allowed for a great session with a cool buddy. He's moving back up north so boo on that but will have to cruise up there to surf with him soon.

3-5 foot day. Occasional 6 footer but the tide was so high that everything was pretty mushy. North swell with loads of current so we ended up at 20th in about 45 mins. Geat last wave with a pretty good backside snap. Will rememver it for a while.

Big Monday!!! 2009_12_14 0830

Cold, cold, cold morning session. Waves were easily 10 feet and heavy. Paddle out wasn't too bad in the 4/3 but there was bit of a current going south. The usual spot was breaking and Secrets was peeling a bit on theoutside before mushing and reforming. Caught two excellent waves after finally getting the right position. A left and a right. Biggest of 2009 for sure and you can feel the power of the wave as offshore winds try to throw you off and cause a partially blind takeoff. Definitely raining after duckdives. Cool feeling.

Ok, enough of the sunshine and flowers part. 20 second period swell meant high disparity between what you think are set waves and what really are the set waves. Being greedy and catching the 7-8 footers left me on the inside of the clean-out set and I had to bail my board twice. (Darn shoulder!!!) First bail was cake but the second was...well...easily one of the roughest dives ever. SLAM! Ok that sucks...don't lose my breath...ok i'm upside down and about to get thrown down...wtf, i'm on rock and flattend out on my back...wave still pounding on me...relax, relax...pressure finally gone...crouch...still on rock...push off with my feet...ok...swim...swim...kick...still swimming...where's the surface...finally...gasp...breathe...find board...thank god there isn't another.

Needless to say I caught one more and called it a day...shaken but not disheartened. Turned out to be a confidence booster and looking forward to the next big session.

59 degrees. 7-8 ft with occasional 10 footer. Right was the better wave as usual. Lefts were lining up but the tide was getting too low and it was starting to close out. Glassy and calm, no wind. Cloudy.

Snaking a Right @ 15th - 11_27_2009 0900

Went out at 15th Street with Tyler the waterman! First wave I ended up snaking him and felt a little guilty. It was a nice right almost all the way into shore. Good little ride with some decent cutbacks. 4-5 footer.

Rest of the session was super slow. Close out swell coming mostly right at us. Tide was creeping to a low so everything shut down but not 8th Street! Going off with about 50 guys out. Peaky A-frame about 5-6 feet and going both ways really nicely. Some barrels...

Drifted over a little toawrds 8th and lined up finally on a nice left. 13th streetish. Good take-off, dodged some insiders and had a great off the lip rip. Should have paddled in...

...but didn't and ended up swimming cause my leeash broke on the next 6 foot right that was a huge closeout. Bailed, swam, swam some more, and called it a day.

Thanksgiving Double Header

Henneman's! Long wait but way worth it. A memorable left to start things off. A frame take-off and slight cover up section in the boils. Good speed awith a couple off the lips and finishing with a nice cutback. Combos...finally! This spot needs size for sure and low to medium tides work. Goodtime!
Water temp has dropped a couple degrees to 61-62. Slight wind chop but nothing to complain about at 11:00am.

BLACKS!!! Been a while and it showed! My arm came out immediately duck diving a hollow 6 footer. Bad, bad, bad timing. Caught a couple hollow lefts and then a right. Slight cover ups but very short rides cause it was too peaky out there. Second to last wave, a left, my arm came out again and this time it stayed out. Sitting in the impact zone with a disfunctional arm is not fun and I was lucky a set didn't roll through. I got to get this thing fixed. F*&K!!!
Surfed with David Z and he brought his NorCal charm with him. "Oh, I think something really big just swam underneath me. Probably just a seal, hahaha!" Awesome!
Sat mostly just north of the South peak. Wind was offshore, raining! Size was between 5-7 feet. Water was warm!!! Not the best Blacks has been but it was BLACKS!

6am @ 15th 2009_11_20

COLD! Chest high with long lags in between. Not very good lines but got a good inside last wave. Pelicans everywhere, and they were quite big. Dolphins showed as well. Finally a morning session.

Another morning start that included the 3-Day Walkers...

El Segundo 2009_11_15 0900

small stuff but perfect for getting rid of a hangover(hj not included). could see big potential for some sweet lines if it was bigger.

South Pillbox

South Side Pillbox...

Washing machine conditions with 3-5 ft close outs = bump on the head and a bruised elbow.

Today was a tough day getting back in the water but I feel great afterwards. Sunset brought on a good crowd.

Water temp was quite warm for November.

8th Street Del Mar

Checked Seascape, it was empty and thus only close outs around 4-5 ft.

Went to 8th Street hoping the tide wouldn't be too high and a nice 4 footer rolled through. A couple good waves breaking on the outside reef but only enough room to do a maneuver or two before mooshing out. Sunny and warm waters. Fullsuit was too much. Funny thing happened though...a little fish ran into my arm trying to get away from something.

Both Rights & Lefts out there.

Not bad for a lazy Sunday afternoon...last wave was sweet for the goofy one.

La Canada Street - North Rock

3-4 Waves with ~20 mins waits between sets. 4-5 ft.
Some cool stand up paddle boarders were out and it was kinda epic for them.

Mom finally got to see me surf since forever.
Last wave was awesome. Little cover up with a bit of a cutback finish. Love this place. Magical.