6mm Sunday

Below freezing, but overhead. 

Should Have Been There Yesterday

We had a feeling it was going to be good on Friday, but I let work get in the way of a trip out to the coast. We should be content with Saturdays leftovers. 

Day Trip - 2010202

Jumping off the jetty is a bad idea even when the surf is 2ft.

Wrong side of the jetty.

I'm pretty sure he took this one to just get out of the way.

Even the paddle out at the jetty can you into trouble if your not sure what your doing. 

Not much to see today.

Photo op

Mt. Rainier from a different angle.

Irrational Thinking

It's funny how the faintest lines of yellow and green on the radar can cloud our judgement. And even more amazing how all rational thinking goes right out the window when BIG red blobs are headed our way. Recent images from a 6 hour round trip for 2 hours of water/camera time.

Carrying Baggage

This is pretty much what my life feels like- a pile of surf wax, wetsuits, bike pads, helmets, sleeping bags, camera bags, light stands, changes of clothes, and somewhere under all of that is my laptop for work...and that's not even the beginning of the baggage I feel I'm carrying right now.



Thank God for 4 day weekends in sunny North Carolina where I can pretty much do what I want and don't know anyone well enough to feel I have to explain my actions. Back home now, but already feeling I desperately need to find that place again. Too much going on here to even think sometimes.

I have a lot to deal with still and a long road ahead before I can clear my head again...funny how that long road always leads to surf.

High Surf Advisory

Didn't even get in the water. Hung on the beach and snapped a few pics. Was planning on surfing the groins after lunch, but conditions turned for the worse. Ended up at the mini mart were Clem and I purchased a few Steel Reserves to fuel surf heckling session. At the time "High Gravity" malted beverages sounded like a great idea...not so much this morning.

In the office today wondering if anyone is going to even bother sending me an email concerning work. Not sure how I feel about not having any work to do. I guess it gives me time to update my neglected blog.

Pee Free- Day 3

The last 2 surf sessions have been huge confidence boosters. Not even the fridged waters of the mighty Elwah River, nor the below average temps at the Cove can make this surfer pee in his new wet suit. I can do this! 

And to think some guy was concerned enough to ask me about my picture taking because he thought I may be leaking pics on to the interweb and exposing this spot.

Sunday I found myself groveling in ice cold water for a long point break wave that just never materialized like we expected. I wouldn't call the overnight trip a total failure though, I did get to stop in my favorite PA eatery (mainly because of the cute chicks working there) for Prime Rib Dip, and a few Mac and Jacks.

Unknown- Puttin' up with the cold water

Today at the Cove was much colder than normal, but the quality of the surf motivated me to hang in the water until every last appendage was numb or the outgoing tide kicks in and squashes the swell. Luckily the tide started to head out leaving me with enough dexterity in my finger tips to get out of my wetsuit. Right before I stepped into the water I felt some pressure building in my bladder and I was convinced this day would be the end of the Pee Free Wetsuit Project. I think the water was almost so cold it stopped me from being able to relieve myself.  Is that possible?

All my friends tell me the snow was amazing again. 

Pee Free

I'm going to go ahead and throw something out here- I do not pee in my wetsuit. 

Ok, I maybe I'm stretching the truth a little. It's more like- I do not pee in my current wetsuit. My current wetsuit, being brand new, or at least new to me, is the XCEL Infiniti 4/3 Drylock System.  Seeing the suit acts similar to a dry suit, it no longer allows for such guilty pleasures as stewing in your own urine in order to warm your core on a cold day...unless you want to pretend your a catheter bag. A cold core was the least of my worries because of "The Thermobarrier" lined front and back pannels running the entire torso and thighs. today I even flushed my suit on more than one occassion when I realized that I was breaking a sweat. 

Surfed the Cove with JR today. Waves were smaller than expected. In typical Cove fashion when the waves did come through the session lasted for a very short time.  We didn't even have time to put our suits on before I noticed the sets had fizzled out.  At least someone squeezed into a few waves. See Below: 

Cancelled Plans

A 5AM wake up call, packed the car, brewed some coffee, and a few text messages later I was back in bed. Surf trip to Neah Bay postponed due to extended coastal wind advisory. I think it was a good call. Would have a been a really long day to get skunked. This will give me a chance to work on repairing my quad.

WCT is back on- Quiksilver Pro. Seems to be an interesting start to the year- both Irons brothers off the tour and Bruce trying to become an ASP judge, Bobby Martinez surfing without a major sponsor, and Kelly winning his first heat on a self-shaped 5'4" quad. Hopefully all the excitement will make it a closer race than last year. I'm a Slater supporter, being from Florida and all, but I'd be down to see someone give him a run for the money. My bets on Bede Durbidge, maybe Jeremy Flores. Seems like they got their shit together and not jaded by the Slater domination. I also like Adriano De Souza, but don't want to think what will happen to the line-ups around the world if a Brazilian actually wins.

Unknown - Jetty

Scored some decent surf at the Jetty on Friday, but nothing compared to last Thursday. I'm afraid it will be a long time before I see the Jetty that good again.

Ummmm!

Only out of work for 5 months now and my life has been reduced to searching the interweb for recipes, browsing for jobs on craigslist.org, and weekly surf trips. Well today all the hard work has finally paid off- I found the perfect recipe for French Toast! Thank you STARFLOWER for opening my eyes to a new way to enjoy one of my favorite meals. So simple, but when it comes out of the oven it will appear you spent all day in the kitchen, and all week searching Grandma's recipe book for just the right meal to wow your family.


I chose to share my initial attempt at French Toast Casserole with Steven, my neighbor. I could tell it was a big hit because after the first bite he dropped his guard and shared his top secret plans for Seattle nightclub/bar domination. I was kinda hurt that he didn't ask for seconds, but I'll just blame that on all of the stress he's dealing with while trying to make some pretty big decisions.

I think next time I'm going to change the recipe a little and add apple slices like Jackie suggested, and maybe a little more brown sugar on top.


Oh yeah, last Thursday- one of my best days out at the Jetty ever! Not huge, but at least head high, breaking top to bottom most the way through, off-shore winds, sunny out, and mid-week crowds.

Back in the water

I spent most of this week keeping one eye on the surf report and the other on Craigslist. Even though Craigslist did provide a few decent job leads, it was the surf that put me back in a good mood. I'm also trying not to spend as much time on the Drudge Report & CNN which helps. It seems no news is good news these days.


Played around at the Cove yesterday with Trav, Clem, Tipp, and ran into Glen there too. Waves were nothing special, just small, clean, fast, and breaking on the sand. Jetty looked good, but to large and mushy for the boards we had. Actually the peak looked kinda fun, we just didn't feel like sharing with the 12 guys that were already on it.


Session was fun until I put my knee through the bottom of my board. At first I thought it was from Trav when he dropped in on me and bailed. I felt something hit me then, but the hole looks more like blunt object instead of a rail. I do remember going down on my knee, but couldn't imagine it doing that much damage and not leaving a bump. Oh well, I'm going to try and repair it today. My quad needs some serious work too from when I kicked the fin box through the board at the Dump.

Jackie leaves tomorrow for Hong Kong.

Weekend Report

Thanks to the surf I was able to keep the whole job thing off my mind. I ended up making 2 separate trips to the coast with PK, Peterson, and Kev. Waves were a little junky early Saturday, but the afternoon session was glassy and the interval seemed to clean up. Sunday started off with a little bump in the swell and some strong offshore winds that eventually backed off later in the day and made for even better surf than Saturday. My arms are wasted, face is red, and eye's burnt from the glare- this somehow makes me feel good.


Between trips we made it back to the city for the annual Spacecraft All-Star sticker party. Good times as usual with their crew. Didn't hang out too long, but long enough for a few beers and to ask Sara about a place to crash in Bali just in case I do get to take my new found free time and go on a trip. Tickets are about $1200.

Brrrrr

Can't say the surf was anywhere near spectacular on Saturday, it was freakin' cold, and the drive home through the snow sucked...so extends my streak of crappy surf sessions. Recently is seems like I've been a day, even hours, late for classic fall surf. All I need is one good day and the past few weeks will be forgotten.

Saturday night went to check out the DOC movie premier put together by the guys at OneShotProductions. This one would have totally fallen off the radar if it wasn't for Drex, Clem, and JR, having a bunch of footage in it. I guess it's these guys 3 or 4th movie. I've seen one other flick and I can safely say the production is really getting better. It's awesome to see some older dudes putting this much effort into a project that doesn't involve any hotshit pro riders.

After an exhausting day of surf tripin', napping, and snowbro movie, the only way I could imagine finishing it off was by consuming massive amounts of jager, cheap tequelia, and Mickey's Big Mouths. I now own 1/2 of a pair of gloves. Let me know if you find the missing one - a righthand black XL Burton fleece glove.