Jaws...HUGE WAVE!

Rust never sleeps....

The rain is gone for a few days and the sun came out for awhile. I checked the surf early but decided to spend all day working. The swell was jumbled and the water quality was way off. The water at the river jetty looked like chocolate milk.

Warm water scrapbook

Cold and windy again, the good surf of yesterday is a windblown mess today.

So. side silver

I went down to surf this AM but it was just too cold, I managed to get back down this afternoon to find glassy waves with a managable crowd. I caught a few set waves right by the pier and that was all it took to make me happy.Enjoy the nice conditions today `cause that storms coming in!

Big Wednesday Surfing Wipeouts at Sandspit

J. Geils Band - Pack Fair and Square

Jesse Colin Young - Darkness, Darkness

Cold and gray.....

Lot`s of cold and gray lately, and questionable water quality on top of it all. Makes a guy itchy for something warm and green like this. I`m too busy working this month but soon......

Storm`s comin`

I`ve been working on the Peninsula around 10th st for the past few days. I took a walk down to the Balboa pier this morning.The beach was completely deserted and the storm clouds were building to the west, but you could see all the way to El Morro from the pier.. It`s a nice place to live and work.

Tuesday dawn

The full moon ,dropping through the rain clouds, was beautiful this morning!Not much swell and a south wind was blowing early but still a great morning to be at the beach.

MLK Day

It has been only 42 years since King`s march from Selma. It hasn`t been that long since our country was stained by very ugly racial practices. Today we recognize a man and a movement who did so much to change this nation for the better. When this holiday was proposed I wasn`t exactly behind it ( just another day off for govt. workers) but I now see the value of the day. Of course, we`ve still got things screwed up a bit, I don`t think most people of color can afford the day off and many of us in OC take the day to go skiing. I`m sure that wasn`t the intent.
But I`ll put my cynicism aside and remind myself of the power of Dr.Kings faith and beliefs . He was a man led by God`s truth and the results of his work happen in God`s good time. I hope this day grows in importance through the coming decades.

Thank God!

Still no surf but I am blessed to be able to get in my car, turn up the heat and drive along the coast today. Creation laid out to enjoy, sun on water, sea lions and pelicans, energy rolling across the oceans that I can catch and ride on. Just look around and Thank God!

Politics

No surf today, micro swell with clean conditions. I spent the morning cleaning the vehicles and getting ready for the week to come. Hilary won in Nevada, with Barak just a few points back,McCain took So.Carolina

Al Gore on Global warming...

So Cal

I didn`t surf today. I had a lot of running around to do and the wind went onshore before I was done. I did end up in Laguna to look at a job and stopped at Crystal Cove on the way back. God sure gave us a beautiful January day. The hills are green from recent rains and it was warm. The surf was small but the water was so clear and the waves rolled smoothly through the brown kelp, all the tide pools were exposed at low tide. It was great to just slow down and check it out for awhile.

Lunch break

Had an easy day at work today, got to surf after the tide began to turn, still head high sets but more west in it. Kind of inconsistent but fun.

Good afternoon

Today started out great, warm and sunny with a light work load, I expected to be in the water by 10am. But expectations often lead to disappointments. The city shut us down for no permit (evidently I was in a special easement area) and our work had to be halted. Then I scrambled to get something else going just so the guys could work. Not a profitable day for me but it could be worse...... I finally got to surf at 2pm, the wind wasn`t hurting it too much and the crowd was light.Pretty nice for an afternoon in January

More...

Today started out warm and full of promise, I had to start the job at 7am but knew I`d be able to slip away and get some waves. I got a few calls from others who had either been surfing or wanted to go and it seemed I was going to get decent waves. The wind was still or lightly offshore as I left Costa Mesa, but I was surprised to see the flag on Hoag blowing pretty strong from an onshore wind. The wind had already messed it up and I ended up just going back to the job. There`s always hope for tomorrow....

Warm offshores

Truly a beautiful day . I headed due west down Adams till hitting PCH about 17th st.North county breaks have been bigger the last few days and that was true today. Also true was that the swell angle was pushing in long walls and corners were hard to find. I drove as far as Seal Beach pier before turning back to the east. Maybe because I`m sick, a little tired , or lazy( all of the above?) but I just couldn`t rally today. I went home dry but vowing to maybe go out this afternoon after the tide turns.
This guy looked good for a few seconds but took a 30 yd. section on the head seconds later

All work and No play

All work and no play lately. The last three days I`ve barely been able to check the surf, much less get on it.I am thankful to have the heavy work load but I know it has been decent surfing the last couple of days. Now and then I get these jobs that demand a lot of my attention, it`s nice to be in demand I guess. But I tend to get a little distracted when I notice the wind is still calm and the tide is turning......but youv`ve got to put first things first.

Work day

It was smaller today and was coming up to a fat 6' tide at 8:30, but it still looked promising. I don`t know how it worked out as I had to just put my head down ad stay working all day. Same is true for tomorrow. First things first!

Nice surprise

I had a load of concrete to place at 7AM so didn`t even get my surf check in this morning. Later I called the report and it sounded good so I hustled down to Blackies mid-morning. The surf was clean, about shoulder high, the water was a little off-color (but I`m sick already anyway so the pollution didn`t scare me) and the crowd was managable. I got a few set waves and some in-betweeners that were fun. I headed back to work with a much better attitude.

NFL playoffs

I spent the day in San Diego at the Chargers game, which they won and that`s cool. But I have to say how great it is to join the large crowd and stand as our National anthem is sung by 60,000 people. Today a color guard from the USS Rushmore unfurled an American flag that covered most of the field, while 2 F-18 fighter jets did a low altitude flyover. I know there are those who would sneer at this as manipulative patriotic showboating but I kind of tear up at this. I know our country gets a lot of things wrong but we were founded on some idealistic, God-given principles and I feel we are still one of the greatest forces for good on the planet.I`m glad to see a stadium full of people who appreciate our country

Central coast saturday

Large windswell was rolling in this AM. The pier at Pismo is an old wooden pier that would rock and wobble every time one of these waves would roll under.Water was real brown as it rained a few inches yesterday.There were deepwater reefs breaking way out but shape wasn`t great. No idea how big they were.I`ll be back in So Cal tomorrow and hoping the swell cleans up a bit.