E's Surf Report

just wondering how you dawn patrollers do it with the settled stomach thing so early in the morning. do you have a special routine/diet to prep. you body for potentially powerful waves. when its under a few feet its not so much a problem, but going off at 7am has me dry heaving foam on the inside. any advice would be appreciated. foods and drinks to consume/stay away from, what to eat or not eat the night before, etc.

When it's DOH I pound a dozen raw eggs and warm up by jumping rope.

I love it when the pinks and oranges of the morning sunrise reflect off the surface of the water.

Easy paddle this morning. Some strange breaks on the sandbars. Double waves? Weird. Fun, mellow rides to be had. One nice ride where I was too late for a section but continued anyhoo and then wave introduced my cheek to my board. Lucky fins were down. Ah, turbulence.

Swell has been very funky down here too. This morning we were catching the mushy whitewater and waiting for it to reform on the inside. Tons of big rips, weird sucking sandbars, Blakestah know?

Going to Modest Mouse at the Arlington in Santa Barbara, anyone else seen them before? Should be a jammin' good time.

OH my god bobby kills it!!!
http://surfline.com/video/vids/2005/jan/jsps/rincon02_dl_qt.cfm

nice HB. i dig the modest mouse. they rock!

Modest Mouse at the Fillmore rocked.. .

Anyone else see the breaching whales this morning??

Nice shots Rob...

There is a small south swell at 200 degrees with approximately the same wave period (13 secs) as the north swell at 300 degrees. Maybe there is some harmonic effects that are junking up the waves.

soretummy, here's the routine from an experienced (east bay) DP'er: drive over the bridge early to beat traffic. oh it's still dark. go to java beach. take a dump. buy an old-fashioned and some coffee from the cranky irish girls. drink half the coffee and eat the donut while suiting up. paddle out. throw up.

Anything under 14 seconds usually has a bit of funk built in. The ess eff boui is at 13 seconds.

swells get a little jumbly feeling when
1) wave groups overlap and intersect. This portion of the swell came from a very large fetch area, lotsa angles and wave groups mixed in.
2) the swell doesn't hit the bar right. A classic late winter inner bar wave often has the double-up built-in - this is caused by a near miss on the outer bar.
3) competing swells.

I don't see evidence of enough south to cause a problem, but probably 1 and 2 are in effect. The best cure for 2) is low tide.

Also, morning ritual. Wake up. Dump. Surf. Shower. Eat. Work.

If you're stomach gives you problems you probably don't morning surf regularly, or you had more than 3 beers worth of alcohol the night before.

#1 - ?
#2 - Honolua
#3 - Canons?

cool explanations for funkiness 'stah.
1 and definitely 2 seemed to be in effect this morning. Lot's of outer bar near-misses followed by psycho inner-bar double-ups.

yeah i've noticed the double-up bar every year at sloat, but this year it's set up pretty solid on the north end too. it's good for boogieboarding and bodywhomping.

Good rational explanation B'stah. I never thought about 1.

Ok, here comes the booooo in my report: Today, my session SUCKED ASS! Worst session in a long time. Passed at normal spots and hit up another normal spot. Double ups, crunching lips, brutal stall in impact zone on paddle out, etc. Forgot my towel, had to do a bare-pickle change in the lot. Basically, I am trying to forget about the session.

Soretummy, for the DP, I never eat anything. Maybe I will drink some water or the like but never coffee. I wake up, hit the throne, grab my wettie, get in the car, drive to the beach, suit up, paddle out, paddle in, go to work. I see people drink coffee and all kinds of stuff in the morning but it doesn't work for me.

I am taking Blakestah's advice and seeing if the low-tide has worked out the funk so I can work out my funk.

my morning ritual is wake up --> gulp some water --> piss --> change into wetty --> run to ocean --> surf --> run home --> shower --> muni or bike --> bagel and juice --> surf report --> work

sucks about your session kaiser. get on the lunch jam.

bare-pickle! ha ha! that is funny.

I surfed while the tide was going out later this morning. Pretty crunchy on the inside with the full on toilet bowl effect in the impact zone. Was fun to stuff myself into a few closeouts though with my new stick. Sucked paddling back out through the soup with 3 footers that shouldn't be trouble smacking me in the face.

Q for peeps: How many sessions does it usually take you to get used to a new stick?

Likewise e. I've been out of the loop for the past 3 weeks with work and Tahoe trips. I've been diggin a new snowboard (if anyone is in the market, the Rome Anthem kills it). I've definitely experienced the 'tweener nature of the swell the past 2 days, and it hasn't helped me get back in the flow. Here's to spring holding off... not yet, not yet.

down the coast had some smooth and inviting ocean surface this morning, though swell generally small and still rather funky. i read on the beach, watched, and soaked up da sun.

pre morning surf, i always have to remember to wait 5 minutes before running out of my house to give my bowels time to wake up... Otherwise, anyone else experience the increased urge to dump once your body is floating in water? I've done the 'rip-wetsuit-off-midway-to-porto-potty' dash at least once before... not that fun. Now my #1 priority pre dawn patrol is going #2.

I can't drink coffee before I surf. It gives me the gnarliest heart burn ever. Anyone else experience that?

there was a late post last night that both hb and i were vibing as verdad... so here's a repost from The Truth:

dope puts a little happiness in your mind, and in exchange it steals a little happiness in your life without it. It takes at least several months without it to know the truth, and more if you've been using decades.

I have a buddy that has to crap as soon as he smells the the ocean. Doesn't matter if he just went before driving to the beach. He is very thankful for porto-poties.

Every good father knows, first things first, gotta drop the kids off at the pool.

6L6 power tube comparison

i also get the burps from surfing too soon after coffee. green tea is a good alternative for me - gets the B's M'ing sans the churn&burn.

2 from today:

2 from yesterday:

soretummy, I leave some extra time [ 1/2 hr ish sometimes plus] before paddling out, eat a small "power bar" - whatever is cheapest - and sometimes a banana. Thanks to kookiness [ see below ] I will claim that I probably get tossed about more than anyone here, but have never ever had a problem w/above system.

Quick n' easy paddle outside, then commited the worst kook sin! Chickened out at last minute - D'OH - and became one with the lip. Over the falls and despite small wave size set distance record for being dragged - standing up when I surfaced. Karma used up in first paddle, nothing but shorepound afterwards. Kicking self for not just going for that wave...at least if I had to get dragged all the way in it would have been for a good cause. Missed some beautiful wave due to washing machine, and such a beautiful day. Agh!

Leaving town so despite official predictions, expect great surf. Cheers,

kaiser, your session mirrored mine, man. what a bitch. saw one good wave where an older guy got in early for an inside barrel.. that was it... hat's off to wave knowledge, wish I could pick those nugs out like that more often. kudos for bringing back the reef shots, brightens up the afternoon. :)

thanks blakestah, for constantly breaking off the surf know-how.

today's morning ritual comments remind me of a post from last year:
"The Duke of Shazzard-
Rolled up to look at VF's, around 6:30am or so, stairway #19. Lo and behold, there is a guy, exactly halfway between the seawall and the water, with his blue/black wetsuit around his knees, squatting down and dropping a dugan right there in the sand!
My buddy and I howled derisively at him, and he looked around but did not seem abashed. He completed his outrageous shizzle and then - here's the most incredible part - reached over and, grabbing off of his board *a couple of wads of toilet paper he had brought down to the sand with him*, wiped his butt, of course leaving the entire steaming heap. He then pulled up his wetsuit and paddled out.
I thought I had seen some unique behavior at the beach, but this took the cake. The guy was off the charts in all categories - environmental, hygenic/public health, respect for da beach, general humanity, you name it, the guy was shitting squarely on the magna carta of guidelines for human conduct, written and unwritten. It was almost like some kind of performance art, an act of protest against...what - perhaps the misfortune of being born a human instead of a free-shitting beast of the wild?
Or am I overreacting?"

What time yesterday?

whoops -- that was me commenting on green tea & posting the 4 photos (baby's 1st img src post!)

shot photos around 8:50am both days.

:)

snake.. that "duke of shazzard" quote was by redworm.. hilarious post!

sick shots loon.

coffee + big wave adrenaline can lead to some extreme jitters and shortness of breath in the lineup....

doesn't stop me from drinking it though.

i paddled out this a.m. with traut and
knew something was up as the front portion
of a nice stick was making its way toward land
between us....a minute or so later a dejected
looking dude having trouble with his brand new
3'6" square nose/squash tail made his way east.

that shizzat was bitchy and mean today.
some slammin' waves—sucking sand/ dentures IN.

rip currents, double ups, closeouts, speed bumps
in the face...you name it...missed the whale though...damn.

cheers kids....

hey it IS 70 and sunny AND FEBRUARY.

SMILE.

i gotta have my joe before i paddle out. get's me amped and warms me up. i've dropped my fair share of dookies at the taraval, sloat and judah bathrooms. squating of course.

uke me

soretummy, just drink a lot of beer the night before a big swell is showing up. then you have a lot of energy from the carbs and can enjoy the liquid bread out in the lineup. ^burrp^

one more thing....

ncsu @ unc tonite (4p here)
in college hoops as college hoops
was meant to be!!
tobacco road!

We're the Red and White from State
And we know we are the best.
A hand behind our back,
We can take on all the rest.
go to HELL Carolina.
Devils and Deacs stand in line.
The Red and White from N.C. State.
Go State!!!

Like 'stah said, low tide was the call. Glassy, pretty clean waves on the outside, and some good size---I think the biggest ones were like yesterday, only a little sparser. Peaky nuggets, long lines, you name it. After an easy paddle, I got pitched by my first wave and thought, hello yesterday. But then I caught a sweet left, a longish but grumbly right, and several more. I found myself well outside of where others were lining up just as one of the big'uns came along, and they hollered me into it---luckily, I was in the right spot for a swooping drop that launched me down the glassy wall, threading through the others, but flubbing a cut-back that might have doubled my pleasure. Should've made that my last; got pitched on the next one, and twice JUST got back out, but without the arms to scramble away from beautiful clean-up sets.

NC State Sucks
But Carolina Swallows.

Santa Cruz reefs have been funky the last couple days on this swell as well. It improved and cleaned as the tide came in and yesterday evening was superb at the Point.

mexi & seth & any other foto heads out there -- just wanted to follow-up on mexi's comment from a few days ago to seth re: "fancy photo tricks" ... i am clueless on what these tricks entail. can you recommend a few examples of suitable tricks for any of the 4 shots of mine above? or am i asking for trade secrets?

loon...

if you have access to photoshop, do command L
for levels...the top two could use an slight adjustment
to balance that flat, slightly under exposed quality,
the detail is there but there are few dark darks.

i'd start there...

wonderful waves out there right now. saw barrels, snaps, whacks, cuties in bikinis, and stoked dogs chasing balls and getting their game on. since i was taking an extended lunch break, i felt quite fortunate to be soaking in all the beauty.....but then some dude in the parking lot kills the mood. he's shouting at another surfer innocently strolling back to his car. he's making threats, claiming local status, and flexing his pecs. luckily the other dude was unflappable and responded with a smile.
i found it funny that the shoutee was sporting the 'kelly's cove local' sticker but also claiming 'sloat local'. at how many spots is one allowed to claim local?

Loon's pic

First color balanced (a little more blue, a little less red), then set levels to use all of dynamic range (basically blacks weren't being used). Wow, that guy is really sticking the landing...

Adjust levels, crop out the dead space, darken the image a little. The third one might be best as a panoramic. Adjust the horizen.

The tricks I was referring to were a bit more technical, as in when you take the shot, filters film, angles. Most of the work I do is touch up dust marks and add boarders. Like I mentioned, if you don't get a perfect exposure with slide film, it's a dead shot.. useless. Print film is a bit more user friendly and digital even easier. You have about a 5 stop range either way with print and its hard to screw up the exposure with digi stuff.

Off to the beach...

thanks for the tips. and sweet drop db!

from scsurfers.com

cool shots loon!

Yes, yes, yes... The low tide was better then this morning. A little redemption if you will.

The beach is looking better for those that can get some before the sun goes down.

surfboard riding yesterday looked nothing like the pics. maybe its where i put in? but... double up double up. slank slank. careem. flow and slam made up my session.

good for tan, bad for my consistancy.

need new earplugs too.

and.
well.
yup.

SURFTIME

gerry lopez

cool shot

Ugh... still sick. Second time in two weeks (every time it gets hot it seems like). Oh well.

Anyway, been listening to some Groove Salad on SomaFM to drown my sorrows (check out the aacPlus feed for some awesome CD-quality sound 48kbs... you might need a player like VLC that supports the aacPlus format).

i need a transporter stat

somafm is cool, i sent them money once, they ask for $7/yr to help pay for the servers and shite. all voluntary tho, you can leech for free too if you are poor or you're just a schmuck with good taste.

Channeled the force today and made the most of it.
Sunshine

Blue Sky

Offshore Wind

Clean fun waves

February, isnt it E ?

J, they got you on film again my man.....

damn. that picture is insane.

i love women.

"let's pretend we're bunny rabbits" - magnetic fields

--------------------------------------------

what's the best airline to take to bali?

i don't mind if they catch a pic here and there of me working, cuz a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, but it IS kind of awkward when i go back to my job in the mall with a hard on and smelling like perfume.

BBR, I flew Continental out of Hawaii to Bali. Stopped over in Guam.

I have heard that the best (and cheapest) way to get there is to fly to Thailand and then fly in from there. You might be able to get to Thailand for $500 or so and then $100 more to Bali. Plus, you might want to break the flight up. It is pretty long. I think it was 12-13 hrs. from Hawaii.

i love the ocean. who are those "soul" surfers who are always blasting their drum and instrumental music at sloat. and who is the guy that looks like flea? and where is pez?

A little late droppin' in on the stoney conversation, but last time I got stoned and surfed was in LaLaLand, I got 12 stiches in my eyebrow; haven't surfed stoned since. Here are two list I wrote, while high, that I keep above my desk:
When you get high you get:
1.Excited
2.Creative
3.Adventurous
4.Closer to Earth
5.Concentrated
6.Focused
7.Appreciative
When you get high you get:
1.Sleepy
2.Paranoid
3.Nervous
4.Lost in a reality of misperception
5.Less enthusiastic
6.Less energetic
7.More apathetic

thanks kaiser!

been raising my funds in a non in front of computer capacity this month so I'v not been able to chime in on the chatter.....

but as far as indo is concerned.....test out Eva Airways...i found mid week flights for $759 round trip in May.......only donwside is the 22 hour layover in taipai, taiwan on the way out.....but far as I'm concerned, this might be my one and only chance to get drunk in taipai, taiwan....so i'm going to look at it as a positive, another stamp on the passport......

a friend and his wife flew Eva last year and reported it to be a good airline.

although if you got dough and wanna pimp it, i hear the direct shot from L.A. on Singapore Air is the shit ($1300-1400 but ya gotta get your self to LA....

i flew China Airlines (which is Taiwanese not communist, I think the red airline is Air China) to bali for about 800 a year ago. singapore is supposed to be hella pimp, and the thai move might be smooth. and if you're going to bali, um, don't forget to get off of bali.

just checked out singapore airlines and it looks like they fly direct from SF too

i flew to bali air courier style out of LA. it went LA-tokyo-singapore on JAL - one of the best airlines in my opinion. the courier company is MICOM america and the RT flight was $500. you'll also spend the day in tokyo and they hook you up with a hotel. then, after I few days in singapore i took the quick flight to bali - actually, that's not true....i flew to jakarta and partied my ass off for a few days and then went on to bali. my memory of this is still hazy.

this route does take some time...but it's a good way to see asia if you haven't already done so.