More taxes

( lifted from Rincon surf blog)
According to Surfrider Santa Barbara's Scott Bull, Santa Barbara County Supervisors are working on a plan to charge parking fees at all beaches and parks (including Rincon) in a long list of revenue items. "It’s outrageous that they even consider using the parks as a County fund-raiser to balance their budget! So now, unless we act strongly and quickly, these parking fees will become a permanent income stream to the County, from us. Once in place, we will have to pay to enter our own public spaces, forever into the future!" Bull encourages everyone to contact all five Santa Barbara County Supervisors immediately and tell them to keep our parks free for the community!
I`m surprised it`s taken them this long to propose these fee`s. Here in OC I pay to park while surfing most of the time. Street parking is usually scarce and you either feed a meter or have an expensive state pass to surf HB. (And I don`t know how much $ i`ve blown by staying in the water till my meter expires and finding the meter maid has nailed me.)

friday 5/29

 
 
 
 
Nice and clear early ,warm too, but the swell wasn`t much. I waited ten minutes to get these shots( it wasn`t near as good as it might look) and decided to head for the job early.

sky surfing

Still not much surf around. I`ve been down looking but there`s not been much to paddle out for. I found this picture from 8-9 years ago, skydiving was fine once but I`d rather not risk it again. And walking to the door and stepping out was scary. I`ve done it and can cross it off my list.

 

Steve Valiere

 
 

Back in high school (1970) a friend of mine had an older brother who was a great athlete, dated the prettiest girls and surfed really well. He could have gone to college on a sports scholarship, which was what his Dad wanted, but chose instead to do some surf traveling. He left for the South Pacific and Africa at a time when we thought a trip to K55 was exotic and never really came back. His pioneering surf travels have been detailed in The Surfers Journal. He eventually settled on Kauai to raise a family and turn out colorful surf art. Check out "The Art of Steve Valiere" on line

Memorial Day

This day is always somber to me when I pause to reflect on its meaning. Our national history is the story of people standing and fighting for ideals and principles that are greater than the individual. Our country was formed from the sacrifices of men and women who were willing to fight for things they believe in. The American revolution,the Civil war,World War 1&2, Korea, and on to todays conflicts,were and are waged at a high cost.
The freedoms we enjoy, and take for granted , have come at the cost of countless American lives and sacrifices. In church yesterday, the pastor asked all Vets to stand and every silver-haired man over 70 stood up. It seems the whole generation before us had served. I thank God for the people who have formed this nation and pray that future generations will rise to serve if called upon.

Memorial Day weekend

The strong winds are gone but so is most of the swell. I checked the usual spots, spotted a friend out at the pier and almost joined him. Opened the back and realized I`d left my wetsuit in the garage. I`ll go back later when the tide comes up

Rainbows end

There is still unsettled weather in So Cal, and the surf is windblown, but I`m still rewarded by getting down to the beach in the early mornings. I was driving up PCH thinking how many perfect sunrises I`ve witnessed, rainbows over Catalina ,purple-grey storm fronts moving in, I`m always treated to something amazing.

 
 

Gary "Chappy" Chapman

When I was 17 , I had a friend who worked with Plastic Fantastic surfboards and so I hung out there a bit. Plastic Fantastic had great team riders in the early 70`s like Jeff Hakman and the Chapman Brothers, Gary and "Owl", (Owl wore thick glasses and was half blind I think but could surf like no other)I was surprised to read recently that Gary Chapman had lost a leg to health problems, yet continues to surf. I found this shot of him surfing near Troncones,Mx on his prosthetic leg.


 
Gary in the 70`s
 

Eddy`s back

I got down to the beach before sunrise but the wind had blown all night. The south swell was strong, but conditions were challenging, with strong side currents ,5-7 mph west wind and walled shape.The forecast for tomorrow looks about the same. Our swell will be gone before things clean up.

 
 

SSE swell

We`v` got a nice south in, I went down early but it was so foggy that I couldn`t see what was out there.By the time I could pull away from work the wind was on it.

 
 
 

summer sunday

I ended up at the usual beachbreak today. It was kind of funky with a bounce to it, but if you were in the right spot there were good drops and sectiions to be had. I rode an old 7'egg I`ve had for 18-19 years and it is still magic in the right spot. Another warm day coming, and the water is much warmer( water quality is off, jellyfish and some intestinal stringiness floating that makes me nervous )

 
 
 
 

Saturday morning

Got down to sea at dawn, already warming up, the water is warmer too! I`m looking forward to wearing less rubber in the water. Waves weren`t great but it sure felt good to be surfing this morning

 
 

 

 

still feeble

The surf conditions continue to be pretty feeble with a south wind at dawn to make matters worse. The forecast holds some promise for the next couple of days so I`ll be down early hoping for some fun waves.


 
 

summer preview

It was a glorious warm day. I tried to surf dawn patrol but the surf was weak and dribbly. I went down at low-tide around lunch and again this evening but there just wasn`t enough energy to lure me out there. Hoping for more tomorrow.


 
 
 

better ,but still not quite right...

 
The swell was a little jumbled this morning and still kinda lumpy, but at least the wind was down for awhile and the sun came out.

Colorado

We flew out of the OC early Friday morning for my mother-in-laws 90th birthday/ Mothers day weekend. Relatives came in from Wyoming, Utah , Illinois, and So Cal , over 50 people and 5 generations were there to honor her. It`s not very often I get to see such an extended family and it was very touching to see Ellen surrounded by children, grandkids and great-grandkids.This one woman had a profound, loving impact on dozens of her relatives and all had great stories to tell.(The Rockies were beautiful as usual, springtime down low, still winter up high)

Southwind

The winds are still blowing early, the sea has had a troubling lump,bump for the last 4-5 days and not much swell. Its been easier to just focus on work the last few days.
 

Grey Monday

This morning was cold, grey and windy, there was a small swell running but the wind blew all night and had conditions pretty sloppy. The weather man says more of the same tomorrow. It was a good day to just stay at work.
 

May morning

I got out early and saw the sunrise at Huntington pier, then worked my way south almost to Laguna before heading back to the River jetties.The sea had a little hangover this morning, kinda lumpy, but you could still grab a decent section if you worked at it.It looks like another pretty day in Newport.