Defying death

So on this weeks surf adventure I dodged a bullet...literally. I guess Drex had a little too much of the sauce and turned his new BB gun on everyone staying in Clem's cabin out at LaPush. There wasn't much surfing happening, but sounds like plenty of other excitement. Unfortunately I missed out on all the fun. Jackie was pretty sick and I decided to stay home with her...which earned me another 'get out of jail free pass' next time we have some lame engagement with friends or family.

Saturday night Jackie was doing better so I had the opportunity to make it out for the Sweezy's birthday party - good times. Drex ended up shooting me in the hand. Got pretty drunk and slept through my chance at getting in the water this weekend.


On Sunday D and I went on hike to the Big 4 Ice caves out past Granite Falls. Not too tough of a hike. The cave was alot bigger than I imagined, more like a cavern. Signs posted outside said it was dangerous, but of course we didn't pay attention. We made it as far as you could go to the back of the cave so I could try and snap off a few pics of the water fall...that's when we heard what sounded like a plane flying over, but just kept getting louder and louder. I bet the ground started to shake too, but I was too busy sprinting towards the entrance to notice. I have no idea how I ran that fast through over boulders without breaking my ankles. I can't remember the last time my hands were actually shaking from being so scared. A few people outside the cave said the slide echoed around the basin, but they could see what happened.

Effortless

My best waves always seem to be effortless. One or two strokes, bottom turn that puts you in the perfect spot...the spot I would have least expected to be on day like Tuesday. Spent plenty of time trying to get there, but the offshore seemed to actually be working against us, and getting into `em was much tougher than it looked from the beach. 2nd session was a whole lot less work in marginal conditions, but just as rewarding as the first because the number of waves.


I would have stayed out there another night, but Travis had to be back, and I'm sure my bosses would not be happy. I may not have to worry about what my bosses think for much longer...3.5 hour interview today went really well. Jackie's still in Chicago.

More of everything

Spent Friday and Saturday out at the Wedge. Long ways from home, but worth every second of the dreadful drive. Friday wasn't very big or consistent, but it was clean and occasionally lining up really well. Not too many other people out. A few guys killing it as usual-including Drex. He's really surfing well now that he's on something other than his homemade beast.

Drex wasn't the only one surfing well. I was ripping so hard I snapped the end of my fin off...into my head. A turn off the top sent me to the bottom were I received a sharp crack to my head. It wasn't till I got back out to the lineup and took a closer look at my board that I noticed the last 2 inches of my center fin missing. I figured a fin would have really done some damage. I guess a few layers of scar tissue and a hood saved me.

Saturday we met up with Kev and his dad. We kinda took our time checking out some other spots and stopping for food. Eventually ended up back at the Wedge were it was whole different wave than what we surfed the day before. That day it was overhead and snapping boards. Not too many makable waves out there when it gets that big. Didn't spend much time surfing...plenty of driving.

I'm heading back out to the Straits tonight with Travis. I'm sure my boss is beginning catch on that I don't like to be in the office. Good thing I can get twice as much work done frmm home. I have a 3 hour interview with another possible prospect on Wednesday. More button pushing, but also more $$$ too. More $$$ = more traveling!

No pot of gold here

Too Much of A Good Thing

Drex vs. Wave

The idea of big waves always sounds so cool until they're breaking on top of you.

Early Saturday morning I rolled out with Kev to meet up with a posse - Clem,Drex,Peterson,Otter,Brian,JR,and Shane. Meeting spot was OS Jetty where Clem had camped out the night before. He had a chance to check it before we got there, but opted to hold off on going out until we showed up. Smart move on his part.

Early morning fog, but could clearly see the surf was big and going to be a challenge. Big enough that I'm safely going to say it was over my head. Waves were breaking out past the jetty and made the inside look like a washing machine. Wind was offshore and made for clean faces. Rip was pretty bad once you got past the reach of the jetty.

For some reason everyone figured it would be ok to try and paddle out a ways down from the jetty. Knowing they would be back in real soon I decided to hang back and take a few pics. Clem and Kev picked off a wave that broke outside and reformed closer in. Drex powered out to the lineup where an average size set snapped his new Stretch quad before he had a chance to really catch a ride. They all came back in.


I hooked Drex up with my other board and we paddled out along the jetty. I jumped on a few big mooshy walls, but never made it out all the way out where the sets were breaking. Catching a wave was a bad mistake since each time you caught a wave it meant paddling back out. A bigger board than a 6'4" would have made all the difference. No one really caught any substantial rides.

Afternoon session was even a bigger joke. I still have sand in my ears from getting slammed on the beach. Good times!

Zap!

Thursady morning - Lake Washington

Quick rundown of the week...

Craig Kelly documentary with a crew of doods. Otter buys a taser as a present for Drex, but doesn't plan on wrapping it up for him. Taser in my friends hands is bad idea. We all get shocked.

Work was slow and lame this week. Wanted to take a day to surf, but didn't happen. 'Worked' from home today. Real productive ;)

Surfing the next 2 days. Not sure where yet. I'm just a passenger this weekend. Sounds like Drex wants to try OS. I think Neah Bay area would be a better bet since we already have a crew meeting at La Push for a friends birthday. I'm sure we'll find decent surf anyways.

Anyone want to buy my bike?

Midweek Madness

Midweek trip to the Straits. Swell has been pumping for the last few days. A few scouting reports from friends confirms my suspicion there some good waves to be had. Work will just have to wait.

We were kinda off our game and made some poor decisions early in the day. First mistake was passing a spot or two expecting to find decent surf everywhere. We then backtracked for prospects of better surf only to find much better conditions, but unfavorable tides starting to shut down the waves and everyone starting to get out of the water. Nevertheless we had a good time and rode some fun waves at both Elawh and Twins.

I was hoping to make it out to the Wedge. I heard B was out there and scored some big surf. Maybe next time.

France Recap

Click on pics for rest of gallery

Here's the short and sweet about France.

Destinations in order of travel:

-Paris (Big city you may have heard of)
-Biarritz (surf town)
-Carcassonne (Castle city)
-Avignon (Old home of Pope)
-Vaison La Romain (Cote de Rhone, Roman ruins)
-back to Paris


Why France is awesome in no specific order:

-New Surf spots (new for me)
-History&Culture
-Architecture
-Transportation system
-Cheese
-Beautiful women (...and the topless beaches they frequent;))
-MTV Europe (in German)
-Mountains and ocean
-Emphasis on relaxing meals
-I guess the wine is good too


Why France should join the Axis of Evil:

-Even the guys will judge you by the shoes you wear
-The Euro (dollar at all time low against Euro)
-Shorty wetsuits and man-kinis
-Biarritz hosting the WCT and me having to surf around the Top 44 (I can't compete with them catching waves so I chose to surf off main peaks. I guess this was good and bad)
-City layouts and poorly marked streets that will make any map useless
-Infatuation with motocross motorcycles and making scooters sound like them
-Even decent hotels have crappy mattresses

Final impressions:

I really enjoyed the country, culture, and people. I guess they have a pretty good head start on the US when it comes to alot of things, but I hope we eventually adapt to a similar way of life and approach to society. Most importantly was the variety of surf spots, quality of waves, and overall friendly surfers I ran into.

Home Again

Sooes Sunset

Last week I couldn't seem to get myself out of vacation mode and this week I can't even remember where the hell it was we went. I'm pretty sure it was France, but who cares now that there's a pumping NW swell? After looking and the forecast for this week I'm just trying to figure out if I still have enough vacation time saved up, or some pretty good sick day excuses.

Kev and I went all the way out to Sooes yesterday where we scored some decent surf. It took me a few minutes to get used to the 5/4/3, but water was pretty cold so I was happy to have it on. It was good to be back on my board although it was nice having an extra 2' in the nose on the 6'4" NSP Fish I rented for the week in France.

Sooes Surfers

We surfed for about 2 hours and then headed back towards PA. Our plan was to camp out and surf in the morning. We thought the NW swell would have been pumping down the Straits by dawn and we could get an early morning surf before catching an early ferry back to Seattle.

Camping turned out to be a bad decision - surf was nonexistent when we woke up. I guess we deserve that for trying to calculate, or predict, surf in the Straits. Looking at the buoys now I'm sure it would have been good if we waited a few more hours. Too bad I had some work that really needed to get done today. I'll save the day off for Wednesday or Thursday.

Here's some of the France pics too.