Surfless in Los Angeles

Monday - I drove to the beach to surf but was S-O-L. Tuesday - I drove to the beach to surf but was S-O-L. Wednesday - I drove to the beach to surf but was S-O-L. Do you see a pattern here? So, today is Thursday. I didn't drive to the beach and stayed in bed. Smart, huh? I got the scoop from Marlon this morning though. Surf was tiny and the wind was kickin' up. (Good news for kiters but bad news for surfers) Glad that I stayed in bed, but am jonesin' for some surf. At least I got some kind of boarding exercise this week though - I went up to Mountain High to snowboard on Tuesday night with Angela. The snow sucked ass but it was really fun. :-P But I think I like surfing much better. It doesn't hurt as much to fall. And different waves bring on different rides... Plus, sittin' out on the water by myself puts my mind at ease from whatever workstress I've had that week. Plus, yada yada yada... I'm addicted.

Here's something I realized on Tuesday night after getting home from snowboarding. I went to the bathroom (where I have my wetsuits, booties, and bikinis hanging all over) to hang up my wet jacket and pants, and realized that the wetsuit smell was home to me now. I actually felt good that my bathroom smelled like a wetsuit. I remember there was a time before I had the surf bug when I didn't even like the smell of neoprene. Now, I actually like the smell that wetsuits give off. Weirdness? Eh, I guess my apartment (or at least, my bathroom) will be smelling like a wetsuit for the rest of my life. :-P

San O on Saturday - woohoo! Hopefully, Mother Nature cooperates...

Well, THAT sucked...

Yes, it really did. My alarm went off at 5:15am. And even though my body was sore from surfing the last 4 days, I forced myself to roll out of bed. I pulled on my rashguard, grabbed my board and walked out of my apartment. CRAP, man! It's raining! But I thought, "Rain is still okay. As long as there's surf, it should be okay. Hopefully Sherman is there...." So, I rolled to Sunset - and NADA! And then to Bay Street - NADA! Sherman was at Bay Street, waiting - probably for Stephanie. I talked to him for a little bit and found out that he won't be surfing today. Not worth the paddle out since there was no real surf today, as the Shermanator put it. Em...some people told me that there was going to be some swell today? !@$#!!??!! >:[ Next time, I'll check the forecast myself. (I got too lazy to check it last night since I was so tired...)

So now, I'm back at home, disappointed. Up early for nothing. I could have gotten a few more minutes of sleep! Now, my eyes are tired... but I have to go to work now. Maybe I will take a nappy nap at work under my desk or something today.

Magic surf pill please...

So, this weekend was perrrrfect. So small and so fun - at least, it was for me since I'm looking for the 1-2 foot waves. Over 3 ft and I get a bit hesitant. I think I made significant improvement this weekend. Either that, or the waves were so small and easy that I just did better than my usual sucky self. I actually managed to catch more than a couple of waves in a session, hop on my feet, and ride it in! Marvin was so right on. He said, "Month 3 and you'll be standing up." And low and behold, I'm in month 3 now, and I'm managing to catch the waves. Just give me another month and I'll start turning - according to Marvin (woohoo!). The waves that I did fall on were ones where I got scared,.. the ones that jacked me up even a little bit, the ones where I had to get up on my feet quick enough to not pearl, the ones where I had to hop on my feet and make that 2 foot drop. Man, it's only 2 feet but why do I get so scared? I see the face and the bottom of the wave, and think, "Oh shiet... GET YOUR ASS UP! or embrace yourself!" Then I get spooked and either fall off, or get on my feet, semi-make the drop, lose my balance and then eat it. I wish there was some magic pill that I could take to make me a great surfer.

After surfing this morning, I went to lunch with Marlon and a couple of other surfers. Then after lunch, Marlon wanted to go board shopping. Haha! That guy is completely addicted...

There's supposed to be a swell coming in this week which translates into bigger surf. Oh boy... I hope my weekend improvement will hold and that I will be able to get enough courage to get on the bigger 3-4 foot waves. Tomorrow - dawn patrol at Sunset....

Oh, I forgot to mention - something amusing while I was getting dressed yesterday after my session at Bay Street. A guy walked by with his 3 year old daughter (I think she was about 3) on his shoulders, and he was talking to his little girl about surfing. He told her how much fun it was and then says, "Now, we have to tell Mommy that you want to go surfing, ok? Then she'll let us both go later" :-) Is this what Whiffleboy is experiencing? Whiffleboy, maybe this would be a good tactic for you to try. ;-)

Rained Out!

No surfing today due to the rain yesterday. Spring is here now so maybe this means consecutive sunny, surfable mornings and weekends from now on... and occassional trips to San Onofre, of course! Woohoo!

In between my meetings and spreadsheets at work today, I spent my free time thinking about my trip to Costa Rica. Where to go, how to get there, lodging, car rental, surf shops, etc... So, I've decided not to bring my surfboard to Costa Rica to avoid the oversized luggage fee. American Airlines is charging $80 each way for transporting 1 surfboard - which equals $160 that I can spend on other things like lodging, food, beer (;-P), and some excursions. And I don't think we'll be renting a car for our trip out to Tamarindo from San Jose airport either. We'll take the bus, maybe. I'll have to check around with people about the car rental thing. This will save on cost too... I'll have to bring my board next time and take a different airline that charges less for transporting surfboards...

Oh, and I heard that there are HUGE mosquitoes there, and that I'll get eaten alive no matter what. Man o man, I'm allergic to mosquito bites! I hope I don't come back with my body swollen and scarred from the bites.... I'm bracing myself. :-[

The surf is supposed to be tiny through the weekend. Good news for beginners like me. I'm contemplating whether to go out in the potentially bacteria-filled ocean water in the morning. If it doesn't rain tonight, maybe I'll do a drive by at Sunset at dawn and see if anyone is out. I'll go in if someone is out.

Name That Board!

Crazy, Nut! Yes, that's Marlon. I met Marlon at Bay Street this morning, and guess what he had. Just guess! ANOTHER board. He had bought ANOTHER surfboard last night! Um, that makes 46 boards in his quiver. I'm not sure if I should be envious or just shocked? That's a whole lotta boards, man... O, and did I mention that he has names for all of his boards? It's quite endearing, I guess. His bright yellow board was named Daisy, and his very first board was named Maggie. I don't remember the rest. How does he keep track of all these names? It's like having 46 kids. He babies them all, as he should. Maybe I should give my board a name too? I just hope I don't get it as bad as him. Otherwise, I'll have to get a second job...

Only 19 more days to Costa Rica! :-]

Late Sleeper...

That was me - late sleeper. My alarm went off at 5:15am, I turned it off. My second alarm went off at 5:25am, I turned it off. Then when I finally opened my eyes, I realized that it was light out! Uh-oh! It was now 6am! CRAP!! I need to be at the beach to surf before I go to work right now! Well, I missed my time window for my morning surf session - it was 6:30am by the time I got to Sunset. Nobody out except Sherman, Stephanie, and Marvin. The waves were much like yesterday - bumpy, disorganized, messy. If I had gotten there at 6am, I would have gone in with them. Now, it was too late. Something called work and responsibilities whispering in my ear. By this point, I would only have 45 minutes in the water. So I decided to watch and talk with Marlon who was also watching. He let me borrow a video on surfing in Costa Rica (I just watched the video and I got so excited that I started practicing my pop-ups. yea! =] ). I found out that my new friend has 45 boards (yes, FORTY FIVE) in his quiver! His apartment was like a store. And he's been surfing for only two and a half years. Nuts, I tell you. Just plain nuts. I wonder if I'll even ride 45 different boards in my lifetime. He had some really nice boards though. I liked the Tyler board that he had. Man, he's got it REALLY baaaaad. Surfsister, you don't have it bad at all compared to this dude. And I was contemplating getting another board too. I think I'll wait a bit until I can't fight the urge anymore. Maybe after Costa Rica...

It's crap surf alright...

Yes indeed, it sucked today. I went to Sunset - windy, bumpy, crappy, but even with these poor conditions, it was so crowded that I couldn't even find a parking spot on the road. I guess everywhere else sucked even more. Then, with wishful thinking, stupid me went to Santa Monica - shitty and windy, then El Porto - big and windy, then down to Manhattan,.. to Hermosa,... to Redondo, then gave up. How else am I supposed to get better at surfing!!@#?@#?? Man... this weekend sucked. And now, I have to go back to work tomorrow! Sigh... ok, venting done. I'll surf tomorrow (or at least paddle out) whether it's good or not. :-\

DAMN the RAIN!

DAMN the RAIN! I've been looking forward to surfing this weekend all week! I've had a really long, hard week at work, especially since I'm doing 2 people's jobs. I'm looking to hire someone to help but good help is so hard to find....

It was especially hard for me to get out of bed this morning. My cell phone alarm went off at 5:15am, then again at 5:25am. Then finally at 5:30, I rolled out of bed, half asleep, walked to the bathroom to brush my teeth, and put on my bikini, all in the dark. Good thing I pre-packed my car last night (Thanks Whiffleboy for the pre-packing idea - I don't know why I didn't do it before...), or I would have forgotten my wetsuit this morning. I wish I had an enclosed parking space though. That way, I could rack up my car with my surfboard too and have it ready to go in the morning. Then I can REALLY literally roll out of bed and into my car. O well, I'll be more picky in the next place I choose to move into.

I've been thinking about ways to maximize my time in the water and I think I almost have it down. Besides pre-packing my car, I think I'll just go to the beach in my wetsuit from now on. Heck, I come back home in my wetsuit anyways, so I don't really need a change of clothes, right? Roll out of bed and into my wetsuit, brush my teeth, grab my surfboard, then head out to the car. I'll just keep a couple of towels ready in my car. That way, I save precious minutes changing in and out of my wetsuit in the morning at the beach. And THAT translates into MORE time in the water. Mm-hmm.

I arrived at Sunset at 6am, but didn't see any cars. (I got worried that this meant that there were no waves, and I was right) All except Sherman's car. YES, I FINALLY met Sherman today! :-) I talked to him about surfing, while waiting for the waves to pick up. But nada! I think Sherman is my idol. He's been surfing for 45 years since he was about 10 - which makes him about 55. He says that he tries to surf everyday. So I will do that too. Since I was pressed for time (I had to go into the office by 9am as usual - a BIG BUMMER in my daily routine these days), I decided to go to Bay Street to at least get wet. It was actually okay at Bay Street. And the tide was going out so the small waves got better with time - longer distance for me to ride since I can't really turn (on purpose) yet. There were some small waves - good for me. But the waves at Bay Street was funny today - not the usual kind where they have the punch. These waves didn't have too much power to them so I had to get a bit further up on the board. I had fun nevertheless. Then 7:30am rolled around and I had to get my ass out of the water. :-[

Since the rain is going to ruin my surfing weekend, I'm headed to ZJ Boardinghouse for their sale first thing tomorrow morning. Hoping to pick up some stuff for Costa Rica - woohoo!

Learn something new everyday...

I got to Sunset at 5:45am and saw Sherman already there, chatting with another older fella - Garrett. I hit the water at 5:55am. Marvin showed up with his friend, Christian, about 20 minutes later and joined me in the water. Sunset was small, just how I liked. Of course, the more experienced surfers didn't like that. I got in the line-up in front of the steps, and gradually moved toward the ramp because it was so flat. There, I got to talking to Garrett about surfing and the ordeals of beginner surfers. He told me something that I should try when trying to catch waves.

• "Crescendo" my paddling to catch the wave. Start out slow, then speed up as the wave gets closer, then paddle like crazy when the wave gets really close. And then, just as I feel my nose go over, GET MY ASS UP!

Garrett said that it makes a huge difference. So I tried it, and ALMOST caught the wave. I think he was right. I wanted to try it a few more times but someone turned off all the waves and it became flat. :-[ On top of that, I wanted to stay in longer, but sigh... HAD TO GO TO WORK! DAMNIT! I met Marlon (who I met last week in the water at Sunset) at the top of the steps and he gave me a couple of more tips too.

• It's better to pearl than to let the wave pass and miss it altogether.
• Keep going for the waves even though you keep pearling so that you get a feel for exactly where your feet needs to be for different waves with different speeds.
• Pearling = Good. Being too far back on the board and missing the wave altogether = BAD.

I need a new profession to accomodate my surfing addiction. I can't wait til the weekend when I can surf for a few hours without worrying about the time or having to be somewhere.

Judging Sunset

Not much to report today. Nothing eventful except that Marvin was there this morning and I got to talk to him a bit more about getting up on the wave. I woke up late this morning so didn't get to Sunset until 6:30am. And by then, there were a lot of cars parked on PCH already. No wonder - the waves looked good. So I pulled on my wetsuit and went into the water. On my way down, I overheard someone on his cell phone who said that County Line was double-overhead. (I probably would die in that.)

I need to practice judging the waves. I don't know whether the waves are going to be big or not. The few waves that I paddled for were big ones, and I got pummeled, expectedly. Marvin gave me some pointers in picking the smaller waves, but I still need practice. Lots of practice. I tried to pick small ones and by the time I decide to go for them, it's too late. But I'm afraid that if I get too used to the waves at Sunset, I'll end up getting pummeled on every other breaks. Sigh... too many things to remember!!!

I'm hittin' the sak early tonight so that I can get up early to go to Sunset.... I hope I dream about surf and adventure.

Off. Just Plain OFF!

What was wrong with me today? Man...yesterday, I had a pretty good session at Zuma - got my popups down pretty good (I practiced pop-up after pop-up in the white water), and then went on the outside to even catch a wave all the way in (YAY!). But today, I couldn't even get up for the life of me. As Whiffleboy and Surfsister says, I guess everyone has their off days. Was it that it was a different beach, therefore different waves? Maybe I need to go back to Zuma? Or more practice at Sunset? I probably just need more practice, period.

I headed to Sunset for dawn patrol today. Low tide at 6am, so I was looking forward to going out at Sunset. Angela couldn't wake up so I was Hans Solo today. I got there at 6am and didn't see too many cars, so got nervous that Sunset wasn't breaking. But then, I saw the Shermator and Stephanie (I still haven't met them, by the way) start to suit up, so I knew that it was okay. I had a great session at Zuma yesterday, so even though I was tired when I woke up this morning, I still decided to go out. I started to paddle out and saw some sets coming in. They seemed sorta "big" from where I was paddling (remember, big to me is like waist to shoulder high :-P). So I freaked out and paddled for my life! Poor me - I didn't make it over the first wave and got pummeled. And then got pummeled again by the next wave. Poor, poor me. Then I paddled for my life to make it over the next wave and finally made it. On the next set, I got ready to paddle to try to catch the wave. (With my brand new confidence from yesterday, I was psyched to get on the first wave.... ) And when the wave came, I "paddled like I wanted that shit", felt my board catch it, and low and behold, my nose goes down, I start to pop up, my foot trips on my booties, and the next thing I know, I'm doing the washing machine dance underwater. What the heck, man! This kept happening over and over again. If I didn't trip on my booties, I got up too early. If I got the timing right to catch the wave, I hesitated too long and pearled. Then I started getting spooked, and it was all over. Well, that sucked. I suck. Period. I was so off this morning, it wasn't even funny. After not being able to get up on the waves, I felt bad for taking the wave from other 2 experienced surfers near me. (But then again, I was in front of the tower so I'm not sure if they were really experienced or not. They looked good on the waves though). Such a mental game this surfing is... Sigh... So I went home with my tail between my legs today. :-[

Needless to say, I was disappointed in my session today. Eh, but at least I got wet. I'll be better next time... right? Hopefully?

On a happy note, Angela and I decided to go to Costa Rica for the surf. Yippeeeee~! I really hope we get better by then. It was kinda funny how we decided to go actually. We talked about it one day. Then the next day, we found tickets for $312 and bought it. Well, actually, I'm just about it buy it right now after I finish blogging. :) We'll be going in April for 7 days. woohoo!! Can't wait! I hope my surfing gets better from the trip...

Wait, where do I get a boardbag for airplane travel for cheap?...

YippEEeeeeEEeEeeee~

Bay Street was so fun this morning! So good that I didn't want to get out of the water to go to work. Boo hoo for me... The waves were not the huge pummeljacking ones that were at Sunset yesterday morning. They were definitely more gentle and manageable. I still get scared though. I'm not sure how or when I'll get over this fear of getting worked. I've been told that it'll gradually subside. I hope that happens soon.

Today's wildlife sighting was a seal. Arf Arf! (is that the sounds the seals make? Well, you know what I mean). The seal just stuck its head out of the water, looked at me, then dove back down. Cute. But Nick told me that they bite so I stayed away.

Supposed to be a great weekend - hot and sunny. I can't wait! We're headed up north toward Malibu and maybe County Line. Hopefully, the waves won't be too advanced for us...

Got worked....

Man, I got worked today. Damnit, I need to get better! It was bigger today than yesterday. Although the shape of the wave was similar to yesterday, the waves had some size to them. Angela stayed later and said that it reached about 7 ft! She got worked too. The more I go out in the morning, the more I think work is just getting in the way of my surfing. Sigh... I need a new profession. Preferable a profession that will allow time for my surfing in the mornings. My surfing addiction is getting bigger and bigger... :-
Oh, I finally got my wetsuit today. I was so EXCITED until...I got it home and tried it on. The darn thing didn't fit! UGH! I couldn't even get my arms through! (did I gain weight in the last week?) So I tried on the other wetsuit that I was going to return and that one still fit me fine. So oh well, I ordered it online for nothing. Can't keep a wetsuit that doesn't fit right. I guess I'll stick to my $200 wetsuit. Yes, you get what you pay for... yes, yes, everyone told me so. Too good to be true.

It's supposed to be HUGE tomorrow. I'll probably go to sunset and check it out since Bay Street will be overhead+. Or maybe Angela and I will just stay in the white water and get worked there. At least, we can work on our paddling and get used to getting pummeljacked. :-]

A WHALE! A WHALE!

6:20am, I got to Bay Street. There were only 3 people in the water (woohoo!) but the high tide was making the water break very close to the beach which scared me a bit. With hesitation, I went into the water. I figure that even if I didn't catch anything, I can still work on my paddling. And work on my paddling, I did! My arms were jello by the time I got out of the water. I waited in the lineup for about 20 minutes to catch a wave. and NADA! The clock was ticking, and I had to be out of the water by 7:30-7:40 at the least to make it into work. So, I started paddling a bit more outside and south toward Venice to get some exercise, stopping occassionally to watch other surfers along the way. Man, those surfers really make it look so easy. Sigh.. it's okay, I'll get there some day,.. hopefully this year.

On the way back, I stopped for a couple of minutes to watch the surfers in the lineup by tower 25. And about 15 feet away, I suddenly hear a short "PPPoooUUOOof" - and see a blowhole come up and spew air. WHOA! And then it went back down. At first, I didn't know what it was and then realized that it was a whale. It must have been, right? I saw the barnacles and some stripy yellow marks on the back. And with a blowhole like that, what else could it be? Or am I an idiot? My first whale siting ever.... I'm satisfied with my session this morning even though I didn't catch a wave. I paddled til my arms were jello and saw a whale. :)

B-B-B-Brrrr.... at Bay Street

Angela and I surfed at Bay Street this morning. It was kinda fun, but we were both freezing. (Where the heck is my new wetsuit, man! Is it sitting in the DHL warehouse in Van Nuys? I better get it tomorrow or ELSE! :-P) When we first got to Bay Street, the waves were a bit bigger than what we could handle. Nevertheless, we paddled out, hoping that it would calm down as the tide went out and it did. I saw Sherman and Stephanie there. No Marvin today. Man, the Shermanator can really surf. I think he's my idol. When I'm that old, I wanna be able to "rip it up" like he was today. He caught so many waves... He sure was having so much fun. I caught one wave that was too big, I got scared, and pulled out. It jolted up real steep at the last second when I should have just gotten up on my feet. What a wimp I am. I felt like leaving the beach with my tail between my legs. Sigh... Next time, I'm gonna just say "f@#$ it" and just go. Who cares if I get pounded... At least, I can say that I tried.

I love longboards. Such a cruiser-board. I can't wait til I get better. But then again, maybe I'll like being on a shortboard later once I get better. And according to Nick, that'll be emm...2 years from now? I want to prove him wrong by being able to get on a shortboard before that 2 year mark. Eh, we'll see. I just need to get better, period. Bay Street again tomorrow since the tide won't be right at Sunset...

ZUUUU-ma day

Today, I went to Zuma with Angela. The internet surf report said that El Porto and Manhattan Beach had some size to the waves, so we decided to go north toward Malibu in seek of the smaller waves for us beginners. When we first got to Zuma, the waves had some size to them - about head high. I was a bit scared, but went in anyways. Of course, low and behold, I managed to do some washing machine cycles. So I resorted to staying on the inside and riding the white water. As the day went on though, the waves became smaller and definitely handle-able. We even saw a few dolphins while waiting out for waves. :-) All n all, a good day...

Ding ALERT!!!

So there I was, sulking at home because I'm sick and can't go surf. So I decided to rewax my surfboard this morning. I figured that at least I'd do SOMETHING with my surfboard. So, I was happily peeling off the wax with my comb, looking forward to giving it a fresh coat of wax. Dum dee doo dee doo, dum dee doo dee doo, dah dah dee doo~~ (this is what I sing in my head when I'm happily doing something on my own. Also the song that I sing in my head when I'm waiting for a wave by myself in the lineup ;-) . And when I was done,... GASP!! I see a crack the size of my hand on the deck of my board! Well, not really, it was actually the size of my middle finger, but it might as well have been the size of my hand. Thank goodness I didn't run the board under hot water instead to get the wax off with my comb. SHIIIIIET! Now what do I do!?!? My beloved board is sick with a big ole' DING!!! My very first ding since I started learning to surf. I became paranoid that I may have other cracks on the board that I didn't know about so I began to inspect the entire board inch by inch. Luckily, that was the only crack! I found a few other minor dings but those hadn't penetrated the surface of the fiberglass so I felt that those were okay (are they? I hope so). Part of me was glad that I hadn't gone surfing without knowing that the crack was there. Otherwise, my board would have be screwed. The other part of me was saying, "holy shitskis! how the heck did THIS happen! Damnit, I should have kept my board in my board bag ALL the time!" And another part of me is thinking, "how the heck am I supposed to surf tomorrow?" And straight to the internet I went to research how to repair my crack. I could tape it, take it to a shop, or try to repair it myself. I chose the last method since I'm more of a "hands-on, do-it-yourself" type of girl. I went to ZJ (salesperson told me that they're having a big sale there on march 19th, by the way) and bought a ding repair kit with the resin, catalyst, filler, etc. The thing was that the salesperson told me that it was really easy to do and that the instructions were easy. So, I get home and read the instructions, and re-read it, and re-read it.... And after reading it over about 10 times, I'm still not clear what I'm supposed to do. Am I just supposed to mix the resin and the catalyst and just dab it on the crack, let it dry, then sand? or am I supposed to use that cloth that the kit came with? Isn't there an instructional video or something? So, after 30 minutes of contemplating what to do, I mixed the resin and catalyst and just dabbed it generously on the crack. And here I am now, waiting, hoping that one of my surfer friends would call me back and let me know that I did the repair correctly. D'oh.... I feel like such a dud... I only hope that I finished the repair right and that I can surf tomorrow... :-\

I feel the need... the NEEEEEED to SURF!

Being sick sucks. I haven't surfed in 2 days! WTF, man!!! And it's the weekend! I've been sniffeling and sneezing up a storm in the last 2 days while reading and dreaming about surfing and surfboards. I've been waiting to go hit the cold water in my new wetsuit that's coming (I hope it gets here soon to keep me nice and toasty!). Sigh.... in the meantime, I've tripled up on my daily vitamines and vitamine C tablets. I hope I get better and can surf tomorrow... Otherwise,... I'm going to burst. I had a hard work day yesterday in addition to being sick and I'm going NUTS over here from not being in the ocean to keep me sane! X-(

Don't be a kook!

So I finally found out what a "kook" was from my friend, Jason. He says that it's "someone who's a dork or not good at surfing." So I guess that makes me a kook right now. =[ I haven't actually been called that, mind you, but I kept hearing the term and always wondered what it meant. It's also tagged on the wall at the Breakwater in Venice - "No Kooks" it says. I'll just stay out of other surfers' way and try not to get called a kook and get beat up. :)

So, I had a dream about my surfboard last night. It had a ding and the foam inside was shrunken and I couldn't surf it anymore. Then I woke up, ran to my board to make sure that it was okay. And it was. My pretty surfboard is still lookin' perrrr-ty. I just need to learn to ride it as good as it looks! I think I may have had the dream because I banged the fin on my stairs when carrying it inside my apartment yesterday morning.
*Always keep my board in the bag when I'm taking it somewhere*

O, btw, that wetsuit that I bought last weekend for two hundies - I found it online for only $125, no tax, free shipping!!@#$@#$!!! I got ripped off big time. I hate that especially since I'm usually a bargain shopper. And now Dive n Surf won't even give me a refund - RIDICULOUS! I'll think twice before I spend money there again. I'll have to just get a store credit and spend it there on a whole lotta wax, I guess. I thought Dive n Surf usually had good prices. I couldn't justify spending the extra $80 on a thinner wetsuit, so I just ordered the wetsuit online - same model but a 4/3 instead of a 3/2. A different color but who cares when u're only trying to be warm? As long as it's not neon green or pink (the one I ordered is black with blue panels :) Hopefully the new wetsuit is okay. People told me that you get what you pay for... we'll see. --> so if you go to Dive n Surf to shop, watch out! Do your research online for prices before you go buy from there...

No surfing this morning, BOOOOOOOOO!! ... I went to sleep WAY TOO late last night to get up at 530... Too much work! Need better hours, so that I can surf more...

"Paddle like I want that shit!" @!#!#$@!

I was at Sunset today again. I thought it would be better today but no, it was worse. Yes, I can safely confirm that I'm an idiot when trying to judge how waves are going to be with the tide. So, how do you know how the tide is going to effect the wave? How does the tide change how the waves are going to break? is it the shape of the bottom that's the main factor? Sherman and Stephanie were there again this morning, but not Marvin. He probably went to Bay Street, where I should have gone as well. O well, I'll go there tomorrow... (Funny, I refer to Sherman and Stephanie as if I know them. But I actually don't. Marvin told me about them. And ever since then, I remember seeing them during my past surfing sessions. I'll probably meet them soon.)

But man, I didn't catch a SINGLE wave today! 1) there weren't too many waves to begin with, and 2) I paddled hard for maybe about 5 waves and didn't manage to catch any of them! I think it may be my paddling. I probably need to get my paddling stronger. Or as Surfsister says, "Paddle like I want that shit!" Next time, I'm going to "PADDLE LIKE I WANT THAT SHIT" alright. And maybe, just maybe, I'll get a good ride out of it.

So, while waiting, I thought about paddling a bit more toward the area between Dos Banos and the point where a lot of people were but didn't since they seemed to be good. Yes, I got scared. :( I get so self conscious when I'm around those people who are good - because I know that they don't like us beginners... So anyways, after waiting for about 30 minutes for a wave, I just paddled away toward Santa Monica then paddled back. Might as well get some exercise, right? Probably good for my paddling anyways.

But one good thing about today's session was that I met Angela while waiting for a wave. She is a beginner too - well.. sort of. We exchanged numbers so that we can surf together sometime. Maybe she'll meet me at Bay Street on Friday morning.

Why can't we all get along?...

Another day of learning something new in surfing. I went to Sunset this morning and it was really fun. All slow, crumbly waves...

I got to Sunset at 6:20am today. The waves looked really good - probably since it was low tide at 5:30am. I saw the sets come in, all lined up (nice...!), and only about 8 guys out by the point - only one in front of the tower where I was going to be(woohoo!). I got dressed with excitement for a great session. But boy o boy, it was so hard to catch the waves. No matter how hard I paddled, I seemed to miss the wave. Maybe it was my paddling? my positioning on the board? where I was sitting out? After about an hour, I started talking to Marvin - the one guy that had been sitting on the inside in front of the tower. It turns out that he has been surfing for only 10 months. He surfs either at Sunset or Bay Street by tower 22. I'll be surfing there from now on. It's finally nice to surf with another semi-beginner... He gave me some pointers on catching the wave and some of the things that he had gone through in the last 6 months:

1) Takeoffs should be straight, perpendicular to the wave. Then when you catch the wave and stand up, that's when you turn. Actually, your body was just naturally makes the turn without you knowing. I'm not sure if that's completely true, because some people have told me to take off at an angle. I guess I'll have to wait to experience it first. He says that by next month, I should be getting the real feel for it. I can't wait!

2) Wave selection is very important. Be choosy and don't try to go for every wave. But once you choose the wave, commit 100% and paddle like mad to catch the wave. Don't half-ass it or you'll end up missing the wave. (I'll have to try this next time)

3) Be at the right spot when you take off. Before you enter the water, look for the place in the water where the wave gets that sudden punch to start peeling. You should be positioned about 12 feet behind that point. This way, you won't have to paddle so far in order to catch the wave.

Even though I didn't catch a single wave today, I'm satisfied with today's session since I learned something. I just wish I had caught at least one wave... O well, maybe tomorrow, I'll get lucky. Low tide tomorrow is at 8:10am, so Sunset should be good at dawn. :-)

Oh, and btw, it became pretty crowded when I left the water around 7:30am though. And I guess a lot of people were frustrated at the beginners and wave hoggers who surfed at the point. Since I'm a beginner and I know that the experienced surfers hate beginners, I try to stay out of their way. I can understand their frustration since it's how I feel about beginner snowboarders when I'm boarding up in the mountains. So, I just stay away from the crowds who were huddled between the Dos Banos and the point today. I pretty much stayed in front of the tower, which was fine for me since there were only other beginners who were sitting there waiting for a wave. Just something to keep in mind for the future. Try to stay away from those surfers that can "rip". They won't like us beginners...