My Surf Blog: Learning to be a Surfer in Los Angeles...

Sloth = Beachgirl

2005-06-18T07:10:00.000-07:00

It's been HOW LONG since my last post? Not to mention, HOW LONG since I've been in the ocean? UGH, I feel like sloth. My elbows and my neck rash is better, but I came down with an ear infection several days ago. Really sux. This no-exercise routine is definitely not doing my body any good. I suppose I could clean up around the apartment... Eh, the mess doesn't bother me. It'll just get messed up again anyways, right? hehehe...

I miss being out on the water, that feeling of catching the wave, having Marlon yell at me about everything that I'm doing wrong on Jane, being confused about what the heck made me fall of the wave, etc... I'm giving my body one more day of rest. Then back in the water I'll go.

All beat up...

2005-06-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I'm finally back home and recovered.. sort of. I left last Friday for a kiteboarding trip to Baja and got back late Tuesday night, then off to San Francisco for a conference. My flight was actually Tuesday afternoon, but I decided to blow off the flight so that I could stay down in Mexico one more day. Hehe.. Yes, such a loyal trusty employee, I am. It was well worth it though.

I've come back with some minor injuries though that are preventing me to surfing for a few days - couple of blisters on my hand that ripped from the kitebar - now they're infected, a couple of cuts on the bottom of my foot from stepping on a rock on the beach - I'm limping now, a BIG 10 inch rash across my neck from the wetsuit (yes, it looks like a big ole hickey across my neck), and tendonitis on both my elbows from kiting 5 days straight. So nothing much to write about in terms of surf (since the surf was flat where I was) except that I'm now jone-sin' for a great surf session....

Hosed...

2005-05-25T07:24:00.000-07:00

OKAY, I should have known. It was wishful thinking. I got to Sunset and it was weee ankle high. Only 3 guys out. I waited about 20 minutes and decided that I was hosed. I checked the conditions last night (yes, I finally learned) and knew that it was going to be flat at 6am. Nevertheless, my desperate self thought maybe, just MAYBE, a miracle would bring some good waves. EGH!! The tide was too low. Man... this is REALLY starting to bug me - the work thing, I mean. I know that Sunset would have been fun like yesterday if I gave it more time for the tide to fill in a bit more. BAAAH!!! Why couldn't I have a job that accomodates my surfing habit?

Hosed again... X-(

I'm Scaredy-Cat!

2005-05-24T19:34:00.000-07:00

My alarm went off at 5:30am and I rolled out of bed and into my wetsuit with my eyes barely open. Man, I was so tired... But I grabbed my board and drove myself to Sunset. I don't even remember driving there. You know that state when you're so tired that you just drive the route that you usually drive without even thinking about it? Well, I made it to Sunset without thinking twice. Wow, I guess it's now become a habit. :-P

I surfed the Point at Sunset this morning - my first time there. After everything that I've heard about the Point - that you have to be a good surfer to ride there, that you need to be able to turn quick and go down the line like pro or you'll end up at the rocks along with your board - I was a bit nervous about getting into the line up there. Actually, I was just scared. :-\ Yes, scared even though the waves were small. I still suck donkey. :-[ I did notice that the waves were a lot quicker than where I usually sit out at Sunset - Dos Banos and the Stairs. Marlon was there waiting for me in the line-up, which gave me some relief from the scaredy-cat in me. It was actually really fun. I met Michael (a cool dude that I'd never met before) who rode some waves with me and gave me pointers. And Marlon rode some waves with me and reminded me to turn to go down the line. Is there any lefts at Sunset? I'm a goofy foot and am always going down the line on rights. I don't think I've ever gone down the line on lefts. I wonder if I even know how... I'd like to order a left at Sunset please.

No notable waves to talk about. I'm catching waves consistently now (yey). Small waves, not big ones. I think I need to work on my posture though. Marlon says that I bend at the waist a lot of the time. Maybe I should practice squatting more during my popups in the livingroom. By the way, I really want to learn how to do a kick-out (wait, is this what its called?) at the end of the wave. I don't like this "jump off the board to stop the ride" routine. I see the others do a kick-out to turn the board and paddle right back out. Cool move... I asked Marlon about how to do it and he explained but eh, in one ear and out the other. I need to physically do it before I understand what that's all about...

All in all, it was a fun session. I made a new friend - Michael, surfed a new spot for the first time, and got good exercise. I wanted to stay longer but work, of course, got in the way as usual. X-(

Sunset again tomorrow morning...

O waves, why do you hate me so?

2005-05-20T22:11:00.000-07:00

Since I haven't surfed in a few days due to my busy work schedule, I got up early this morning at 5:30am to surf. No, I didn't check the tide, and no, I didn't check the conditions. And yes, I was too lazy to check the surf report last night. I guess I never learn, do I... :-\ I figured that I'd paddle out no matter what anyways. I went to Bay Street and the ocean looked angry. Wave after wave... I think it must have taken me about 15 minutes to paddle out. Man, my paddling must still suck donkey. I thought my paddling had improved, but I guess I was wrong. After I got outside, I was so tired that I needed to rest for another 10 minutes. And as soon as I caught a wave in, I had to deal with being pounded by set after set in my struggle to get back outside. Ay-yay-yay... Caught on the inside AGAIN! I tried to paddle outside again for about 20 more minutes then just gave up. I got pissed off at the waves for getting the best of me and pummeling me with their anger one after another. Finally, I just said, "fine, you win." Yes, I'm a wimp. O waves, why do you hate me so? I just wanted a few rides this morning....

On the bright side, the water has been warming up. I was really hot in my 3/2 full suit. :-P

Good Old Sunset

2005-05-15T22:35:00.000-07:00

Sunset was fun today. After over 3 hours out in the water, I'm now sportin' a fat hand and neck tan. I think that was the longest session ever since I started surfing back in January. I got into the water at around 7am and didn't get out until after 10:30am, at which point, I had trouble popping up. I was catching waves, but I was so tired that I would pop up and fall off right away.

I need to work on my form. I know I'm not looking too graceful when I'm riding. Marlon says that I need to pull my shoulders back and STOP sticking my butt into the air. Haha, I bet THAT looks real nice. MHM. I need to squat more, I think. I'll practice in my livingroom this week and see if I can bring it to a moving surfboard during my next session.

I'd like order a wave please....

2005-05-14T07:50:00.000-07:00

The tide was right, so I went to sunset at 6:20am. And well... not much going on there. There were 2 desperate surfers, waiting, sitting on their boards in the water, hoping for a ride. I watched until about 7am to see if it would get better, then finally gave up. This SUX, man! This is supposed to be the weekend! I waited for 5 days for this day! Sigh... this is when I wish I could go through one of those drive-thrus, and order a wave. Actually, order about 20 nice peelers. BOOOOOOOooO~! O well, maybe tomorrow will be better. Angela wanted to go to El Porto to surf but she never woke up. Maybe we will make it there tomorrow... :-\

Recovered, but the same old song and dance

2005-05-10T07:25:00.000-07:00

I managed to get up this morning before 6 am without an alarm. I think I finally have that internal clock thing going here. I felt better this morning - at least I was able to walk and lift things without pain. :-P Unfortunately, I didn't get Whiffleboy's comment until now - I just got back from Sunset. Mhm. I never learn, do I? I didn't check the tide report last night because I was aching.... Okay, I was lazy. :-
I arrived at Sunset, and saw the usual crew - Marlon, Danny, and Joey (who I affectionately call "Cupcake" as he calls me his "Buttercup" - Awwww.... how cute. hahaha! I'm SOOO the affectionate type... NOT!). I saw Sherman who wasn't going in. But I did see Marvin and his buddy paddling in. I watched them for about 15 minutes to see if they would catch anything as I decided to paddle out if they were able to ride something. But NADA. I saw Marvin paddling for a few waves but they just rolled on through under him. As I was leaving, Sunset looked like it was getting better with the tide filling in, but I had to get my ass back home to get ready for work. DAMNIT! Why does work get in the way so much? It's interfering with my surfing progress! I said good bye to Cupcake, Marlon, and Danny and hauled my lame arse back home. And here I am. Man... 2 mornings without surfing. And it looks like it will be 3 (I just checked the tide and it looks like it won't be any better tomorrow).

Will I get to surf this week? THAT is the question of the week.

I tried...but emm... no way.

2005-05-09T21:03:00.000-07:00

I really did try. But being that I didn't get home from my trip to the desert until midnight last night, and my knucklehead self managed to waterlog my phone while on the boat (I use my phone as my alarm), I had no alarm to wake me up for dawn patrol at Sunset. But I probably couldn't have made it anyways. My entire body was sore from kiting Saturday and Sunday (I'm still in pain as I blog). I woke up this morning and turned over to roll out of bed and into my wetsuit as usual but errrr.. OUCH!? My neck, arms, abs, back, and quads all in knots. It hurt to even walk. It hurt to lift my arms. It just hurt. Period. (I guess it's a good thing though, right? It shows that I got some exercise :-P) But seeing Whiffleboy's and Surfsister's entry, I guess I didn't miss much. Hopefully, I won't be in as pain tomorrow to surf tomorrow morning. Maybe Sunset will be better tomorrow. Whiff, maybe I'll meet you some day at dawn patrol.

Err.. what were we thinking?

2005-05-06T19:33:00.000-07:00

Yea, it rained last night, but I wanted to surf damnit! A little bacteria won't hurt too much, right?

I arrived at Bay Street at 6:30am. Damnit, completely blown out! But desperate for surf, I waited for it to get better. I saw Sherman and Coz, who weren't suiting up (bad sign!). But Marvin was there, sittin' in his car, contemplating whether to go in or not. We were both already suited up half way as usual. (This is how I always go to the beach btw - roll out of bed and into my wetsuit, then subsequently, into my car with my board) So when Marvin decided to go in, despite seeing Sherman decide to not paddle out, I decided to go in with him. I wouldn't go in alone, so I felt better that he was going to paddle out. I think we were 2 of err... 4 other desperate surfers on the water (not a good sign). The water was choppy, the air was windy, and I felt like I was going to get sea sick. After 15 minutes, I thought, "what the f**k are we doing out here? there ain't no waves, man!" Then it actually started getting better. Sure, the water was still choppy, but the waves started rolling in and there were actually some rideable waves, IF you were sitting in the right position. I even managed to catch 4 unnotable waves. That's 4 more than how many I expected to catch. :-] They were all closeouts, of course. I tried to watch the waves to distinguish the closeouts vs. the peaky ones. But judging from my session this morning, errr..emmm...err... I give myself a D- in judging the waves. :-(

Sigh... better luck next time, I guess. Hopefully, I will be out in better conditions next time. No surfing this weekend as I'm off to Lake Mojave for a kiting trip this weekend. Sunset will be my spot for my morning surf sessions next week. Woohoo!

Surfing... a mental game?

2005-05-05T18:38:00.000-07:00

This morning was spent watching the waves at Bay Street. I woke up at 5:30am, and was out the door with my surfboard by 5:45am. When I got to Bay Street, it was blown out. So, I thought it was the same old song and dance -- woke up early for nothin'. Yea, yea, yea, Whiff, I never learn. I should do some research the night before. :-
So, I walked toward the beach to watch the surf, and finally met Dave - the Asian dude that see at Sunset and Bay Street now and then. He was the only one out on the beach, watching the waves. It turns out that he'd been surfing for 20+ years. Marlon had told me once that he was a really good surfer. I talked to him about my surfing ordeals and my progress. And he talked to me about wave selection. That I should really be choosy about the waves that I go for. He was surfing near me yesterday, and he had noticed that I took off on one particular wave that closed out. I actually remember the wave. I made the drop that was pretty steep (I was proud of myself about that), and then since the wave closed out, I didn't know what to do except to jump off. I tried to do a kick-out like others do, but of course, I failed. He said that I was doing well in my progress and to keep going out, but that I needed to study the waves. And to notice the rips, the peaks, the close-outs, the rideable shoulders, etc.. He said that wave knowledge is very important, and pointed out the close-out waves and the rideable ones from the beach.

At around 6:45am, Bay Street was starting to look okay to ride. But no one was out yet so I didn't paddle out since I don't like to surf by myself. I may get injured or die or somethin' and no one would even know. :-[ Sherman, Stephanie, and Gary finally came out at around 7am. Sigh.. if only something called work didn't get in the way. I had to be out of the water by 7:30am to make it to work by 9, so I decided to just watch from the beach for the little time that I had left. I saw the peaks and the close-outs that Dave was talking about. And I finally realized that I was just going for any waves that looked like it would break in the right spot. Not really looking for the peaks or shoulders. My mistake. Duh, right? I know that people had been telling me this but it never really registered. It's probably because I was so focused on trying to get my lame ass on my feet and making the drops.

So now (maybe tomorrow), I'll see if I catch better waves that let me turn and go down the line after I drop down the face...

Fun Fun Fun

2005-04-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

Fun fun fun was the theme of today's surf session at Sunset. The rollers were coming through just as I arrived at 6:30am. I should have gotten there earlier but my lame-ass couldn't drag myself out of bed any earlier. Anyways, my friend Jason and I arrived first then Becky met us at 7:30am. Becky is the girl that I met last week at Sunset. She's a beginner, so I told her the basics, etiquette, punching through waves, etc... Someone did that for me, so I thought I should pay it forward to someone else as well. I guess she will be my surf buddy this weekend as Angela is down in San Diego.

I caught one nice one close to the inside. I paddled hard, felt the board catch, then stood up, and rode it straight into the beach. I saw that the wave was going to close out so I crouched down lower and then the board started to turn right. I didn't mean to do it, but the board somehow did. Hm.. How do I do THAT again? I tried to do it again but couldn't repeat it because my rides were so short. I need more practice... :-\

All in all, I had a lot of fun, catching small rollers. Becky even caught a few and stood up on at least 1 wave, so she was happy with her session.

I'll try to get up earlier to haul my ass to Sunset earlier tomorrow. Off to bed!

Same ole same old...

2005-04-26T08:05:00.000-07:00

Same ole same old routine: my alarm went off at 5:30am, I rolled out of bed and into my wetsuit, grabbed my board, and hopped in my car to go to Sunset. Once I got there, there was N-A-D-A! Man... another morning of trying to surf but failing. Why does this seem to happen so often? I was tempted to not even wake up, but wanted to get my surfing in this morning. Sigh... And I'm sure it'll be even worse tomorrow since low tide will be even later. I left Sunset at around 7:30am when it finally looked like it was getting better and filling in a bit. Maybe I'll have to wait until the weekend to surf... BOOOOOOOoOOOoOo~~!

Back to my old self?

2005-04-25T06:44:00.000-07:00

I surfed Sunset yesterday morning. It was actually really fun. I wasn't a popsicle like the day before, and the waves treated me better. There weren't too many people there either, which surprised me. And I managed to catch MORE than one wave this time. One wave that puzzled me - I think I was in good position, I felt it come take me underneath, I paddled like no one's business, and I ended up on the top of the wave where the wave started to crest, then it passed me by. Could I have still caught this wave? Was I too far back on my board? Maybe I should have paddled harder, faster, and longer? Or should I have just stood up and prayed that I dropped down the face? I don't get it.... :-\ Other than that, nothing really eventful. I'm feeling myself catch waves better in LA now. But I'm trying to feel out the turning part. Right now, I just go straight into the beach, occassionally turning accidently. Is there anything I can do outside of the water to practice this turning thing so that I can go down the line?

No surfing for me this morning. My body is sore all over from being on my kite for the rest of the day after my surf session yesterday...

I'm not a popsicle!

2005-04-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

I finally started feeling better yesterday, so decided to meet up with Marlon, Danny, and Joey at Sunset in the morning at 6:30am. Angela couldn't wake up (she didn't even hear my phone call) so missed a not-so-memorable morning session. I saw some fun sets breaking on the outside so I decided to go in. And DUDE, it was SOOOO COOOOOOLD! I swear I became a popsicle. And just my luck, after a full hour and a half in the freezing water, I didn't catch one single wave. WTF man... I sat there, paddled for a few waves and missed them, and continued to sit there with my hands under my armpits to try to keep them warm, waiting, waiting, shivering, and waiting. "Just 5 more minutes," I thought. "Another 5 more minutes, just a little bit longer...." And before I knew it, a full hour had passed by. I swear I was trying to torture myself or something. How long will I last in the 54 degree water before I lose it? (The answer is 1.5 hours, in case you're curious) I'm not on Fear Factor here, am I? I'm too old to be cold like this. Finally, I said, "ENOUGH!" I was annoyed by the cold and started feeling sick, so I decided to go in. I was so cold and disoriented that I had trouble finding my car key and putting the car key into the keyhole. Marlon, Joey, and Danny were still out there, sitting, waiting, sitting in the COLD ASS water. I racked my board on my car quickly and drove home in my wetsuit to take a HOT shower. Oh, and my dumb luck again - I hit traffic on my way back so it took me over 30 minutes to get home (usually, it takes me 10-15 min max!). I think I did turn into a popsicle. My lips were blue and my teeth were chattering when I got home.

Angela wants to go to El Porto tomorrow morning. I'm a bit nervous about going there because I heard that the waves are fast and can keep you underwater if you get pummelled. Plus, there are a lot of good surfers there. I'll just try to stay out of their way. Hopefully, the ElPorto.com report will hold and it will be okay conditions for people who suck like me. We'll see how I do tomorrow. Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow morning than today...

Bedridden...

2005-04-20T07:01:00.000-07:00

I itch ALL OVER from my newly discovered mosquito bites, I have been throwing up all night (I don't know from what), and I have the chills. What gives, man? My friends went to Malibu yesterday morning and I missed a great session, I was told. Man.... no surf for me for the next couple of days until I recover... Okay, that's enough of my complaining...

:-[

Como estas? Pura Vida!

2005-04-18T21:08:00.000-07:00

So much to talk about! So many thoughts are running through my brain about Costa Rica right now. I don't even know where to begin! I'll try to make it short and not bore you with the details. I got back late last night from Costa Rica. After one week of surfing, eating, sleeping, and surfing, a full day of work at the office kicked my ass today. I had my BEST surf sessions EVER in Costa Rica. MMMMmmmMmMMmm...waaaaaarm waaaaaaaater... Here is how it went down:

After landing in San Jose, we picked up our luxurious Daihatsu Terios and headed to Tamarindo. We decided not to bring our surfboards since American Airlines was charging $80 per surfboard each way. I figured that since we were novices, we wouldn't feel much difference between our own boards and rentals anyways. Yea, yea, I should have done some more due diligence to fly the airline that charged the least for transporting surfboards. But this actually worked out since I liked the rental boards much better than my own board at home. I drank a shot of vodka, and I slept like a baby on our redeye flight while Angela played poker during the flight with 2 guys that we met on the plane... and then got drunk and slept for an hour before we landed.

We didn't like Tamarindo much. It started with our hotel. After taking a few wrong turns, we finally arrived at our hotel - Tamarindo Vista Villas. Man, our room SUCKED BIG TIME. It was SO SMALL. All the surfers that I had met and the books that I had read recommended this place, so I was looking forward to a luxury resort with a nice large room. But no, our room was about 13x13, with 2 single beds taking up almost the entire room. We did have a nice ocean view, but our room PLAIN SUCKED. The pool and the swim-up bar was nice, I guess, but it didn't make up for the sucky ass room. We weren't too impressed with the town either. Reminded us of Tijuana. One good thing was the waaaaaarm water and the surf. What a GREAT feeling to surf in just a bikini and board shorts! No thick rubber wetsuits or booties to get in the way. I must note, however, "do not surf in just a bikini top without a rashguard" cuz sooner or later, it WILL come off, especially in my case. Mine came off at least 3 times when I got pummeled by set waves. I had to hold on to them each time I washing-machined it to prevent them from completely coming off. The surf was good for us at the Tamarindo beach break by the rivermouth - small and fun, but nothing really notable to talk about, except my occasional flashing escapades. Small little waves to warm up for my greatest, best sessions ever in Jaco. (We kept hearing about Witch's Rock, and of course wanted to check it out but thought it would be better to save it for next time when we came back better surfers.)

Also, another bad thing about Tamarindo was that Angela broke out into uncontrollable itch attacks after being in the Tamarindo ocean water for about 45 minutes. Good thing that I had brought my Cortaid which killed the itch. So after each surf session in Tamarindo, she had to run up to our room to apply the Cortaid to stop the rash. I also developed a weird allegic rash on my arms and legs on the second day - weird little bumps all over my arms, shoulders, and legs. I think this might have been from the dirty ocean water. Some of the other guests had developed a similar rash as well. I later found out that the water in Tamarindo isn't very clean especially by the rivermouth where we were surfing. I was told later that there is no underlying current to take the runoff away from the beach. I liked the 9-0 Surftech epoxy tufflite board that I had rented though - light, quick, easy to catch waves. I liked it even better than Jane or my Becker and had to fight the urge to buy it! :-P

After 2 days in Tamarindo, we decided that we had had enough of our rashes and decided to head down to Jaco - supposedly the surf capital of the country. I thought about heading down to Mal Pais and Santa Teresa, but Angela wanted to spend some time in Jaco, so I decided to save Mal Pais and Santa Teresa for next time.

Jaco was great. We stayed at Hotel Club Del Mar away from the hustle and bustle of Jaco. It was a bit isolated which was nice, on the southeastern end of Jaco, close to Playa Hermosa which had bigger waves for people who like the quicker, advanced waves of El Porto. (Quicksilver was sponsoring a surfing contest there btw while we were there. Sweet!). As soon as we arrived at the hotel, Angela went to take a nap and I walked over to the local surf board to rent a surfboard. Carton's was the name of the place. It turns out that Carton is a local shaper. I rented a 9-3, Carton's "classic longboard," as he put it. I met the shaper's brother, Warner. A nice fellow. For the next three and a half days, I surfed in the mornings when I woke up and in the evening for the evening glass-off. 2 hours each session. Man, it was SOOO GOOOOD. So good that I wanted to cry... So consistent and good shape for people who suck like me. Warm water, bikini (and a rashguard), board shorts, and more warm water. And the Carton board was so sweeet. It was real wide (I think 23") with an extreme rocker and pin tail. No pearling on this baby. It was heavier than Jane, but more stable and turned well. It definitely treated me well. I wanted to buy it! But resisted the temptation. (Now, I'm on the look out for a longer board. Maybe a 9-3 or 9-6. Boy O Boy, I hope I don't get it as bad as surfsister or Marlon.... :-\) By my 4th session in Jaco, I was paddling for the bigger shoulder to head high waves (as well as the smaller ones), and was successfully making the drop down the face. The first time I did this in Jaco, I was thought it was a freak accident. I was jumping for joy, of course. Then when I kept doing it repeatedly, I was speechless! I even tried to walk the board a little bit. Failed miserably but tried. Can you believe it? Of course, when I did get pummeled by a set wave, my bikini top (even under the rash guard) flung up to hang around my neck :-P. (I hope no one saw.) I was catching the smaller knee to waist high waves with no problems. No scaredy cat here no more!

I met a surfer from Manhatten Beach, Herb, who was also vacationing at the same resort. We surfed together each morning and evening for the rest of the trip. It was so nice to have someone to surf with since Angela couldn't always wake up.

I surfed Jaco for two and a half hours Sunday morning for the last time. Surfed til I couldn't stand up anymore. Caught so many waves, wave after wave. Ah.... There was only about 5 surfers out at this particular break so we each took turns. Man.. GOOD TIMES... This was the best time that I'd ever had surfing. THE BEST, hands down. I'm definitely coming back to this place. Maybe even later this year.

By the way, I got tons of mosquito bites. Even with the repellent. I probably got about 50 on my body. Yes, eaten alive. I didn't even realize that I had gotten bit so many times, since some of these bites didn't start itching until today. Also got stung multiple times on my legs and hands by something called Golden Thread in the water. They felt like little needle pricks. Weird.

Jazzed from my great surf sessions in Jaco, I even surfed Sunset this morning. But didn't have such a great session. I had SUCH great surf sessions in Costa Rica. The first waist to chest high wave that I paddled for, I pearled! What the heck, man! Is it Jane? Is it the wave? Is it me? Is it all of the above? And I just kept falling right off my board when I tried to catch the wave. A little push and I just slid right off - like I was laying on top of a giant bannana peel. I could really tell the difference between Jane and the Carton longboard that I rode yesterday morning - the weight, stability, the dimensions, ease of turning, ease of catching waves, etc... . I want the Carton longboard with the Costa Rican wave back! :-[

Okay, was that long enough? I might remember some more stuff later.

:-)

B-B-B-Brrrr

2005-04-11T06:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I surfed Sunset. Damn, it was COLD! My hands went into the water to paddle and the sensation was like little prickly needles. My friend told me that the water temp at was 49 degrees yesterday - the coldest it had been this year. I didn't catch too many waves and froze my ASS off yesterday. Sort of miserable. Mhm. Sort of, but happy to be in the water, I guess. Still haven't decided whether it was worth the paddle out or not. Probably not. :-
I leave for Costa Rica tonight! I hope I come back with plenty of stories and WARM water waves to talk about.

Peace out for now!

There she blows! San O....

2005-04-09T20:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I woke up at 4:30am to get to Marlon's by 5am so that we could be in the water at San O by 6:30am. And we made it down to San O by 6:30 alright. All the way down to San Onofre, I had a hard time sitting still from the anticipation of riding Jane in the repeat of last Saturday's conditions at San O. And... the freakin' wind blew that bubble BIG TIME. WTF man! We got to Dogpatch and it was windy, choppy, bumpy, and cold. Unorganized pile of shiet waves - almost as bad as that day up at Zuma last weekend. Basically, shitty. Someone take me back to last Saturday's San O. Please? Pretty please?

We decided to go to Pipe's Cafe (OMG, SOOO GOOD and cheap! Only $5 for my ham scrambler :-P) in San Clemente for breakfast and come back. When we got back, it was cleaner, but still shitty. But since we had driven so far down, we decided to go in. BAD IDEA. BAD BAAAAD IDEA! First, it took me 20 minutes to paddle out. Second, when I paddled for waves, I couldn't catch them because they didn't have much juice. Third, it was hard for me to judge which swell was actually a wave and which was just the choppiness from the wind. Have I mentioned that it was shitty? I'm surprised that I didn't see any sharks to add to the shittiness. So after about 45 minutes, with numb hands and feet, I paddled in as the wind picked up even more. Man, cold and SO not fun. Have I mentioned that it was shitty? I'll never go out in those conditions again. :-[

So I got up at 4:30am for nothing. AGAIN. Now, I'm tired. At least, Marlon got his Dewey Weber Professional (sweet board btw). I hope it's better tomorrow, but I have a sinking feeling that it won't be much better. I can only hope...

Jane. Just Plain Jane.

2005-04-08T07:07:00.000-07:00

Same routine - my alarm went off at 5:30am, I snoozed for 5 minutes, then called Marlon and Angela. Angela was off in dreamland as she didn't pick up. Marlon was concerned about the wind and stayed in bed. But I, the trooper that I am, got up and was out the door by 6:00 am to try to get to the beach early. And it was junk. Windy, choppy, disorganized pile of mess. I talked to Marvin, Gary, and Brian (who I met today) about the possibility of the surf getting better and it didn't look promising. So here I am, back at home. Got up at 5:30am for nothing again. I guess I should try to get to work early today since I was very late to work yesterday because of my morning surf session. Funny, every time I surf in the morning, I'm late to work. Every time I don't surf, I'm early. I find myself trying to come up with excuses to stay in the water longer to surf rather than facing my responsibilities of going to work. This addiction is not going to be good for my career here. :-P

On the bright side, I caught some notable waves at Bay Street yesterday. Marlon came out and let me use his 9-0 beater board - Jane, he had named it. He said he named her Jane because it was so plain when he bought it. He had put some traction pads and a nose guard to spice it up abit, but it was still Plain Jane. And MAN, what a difference from my 8-6 Becker UFO to his 9-0 beater board. I caught and stood up on the very first wave that I paddled for. That was the first for me. I usually need a couple of tries to warm up before I catch one on my Becker. And on the second wave that I paddled for, I tried to angle the board a bit like Anon had suggested a couple of posts back, and it worked! I didn't pearl, but went down the wave at an angle. (I would surely have pearled on my Becker. I know because I had tried it with my Becker a couple of sessions ago. Or maybe it was just the waves cooperating better?) I have to work on going down the line though. I caught a few more good ones during the session - woohoo! And his beater board was bit narrower so I could keep it held under my arm. The board didn't even hurt my head like my Becker usually did when I carried it on top of my head because it was so light. And then 7:45 rolled around and I really had to get out of the water. No more fun for beachgirl on this fine morning. BOOOOOO! Needless to say, I was about 45 minutes late to work. :-\ (Late for a meeting with my boss too. And I had no excuses. If anyone has any creative excuses besides car trouble, oversleeping, traffic, and hospital emergency, please let me know.)

Yes, Jane treated me well yesterday. So, em..umm... guess what.... Mhm. I bought Jane from Marlon for two hundies. That would be his down payment for a new Dewey Webber that he has been eyeing since last week when we went boardshopping after our session in San O. I told myself that I'll get really good while riding Jane, then splurge on a brand new longboard - probably next year. I won't go nuts and start a board collection like someone I know. ;-) I'll just stick with Jane for now. I've retired my Becker for the time being.

Off to San O tomorrow! WOOHOO!

Someone Turn On the WATER please!

2005-04-06T06:52:00.000-07:00

Where did all the waves go? I went out to dinner last night with Angela so I didn't even hear the alarm go off at 530am this morning. I don't even remember shutting it off. TWICE! (I have 2 alarms that go off at 10 minute intervals. And if I don't shut it off, they continue to ring every 5 minutes). Angela called and woke me up this time, and I rushed to Bay Street with my surfboard. Flat as in Surfsister's YO Mama So Flat flat. Man, that's 3 mornings without surfing! So, nothing much to talk about except that I'm going to try one of Marlon's 9-0 next time to see if it makes a big difference in my surfing and catching waves. If so, maybe I'll go look for a beater 9-0 board...

Crappidy Crap Crap waves!

2005-04-04T20:36:00.000-07:00

Sunday April 3, 2004

After my GRRRREAT day at San O, since Sunday was supposed to have some wind, we decided to surf up here. We got up early and ended up at Zuma. And boy, it was CRAPPIDY CRAP CRAP waves. Nevertheless, Angela and I decided to go in and get wet. But man, it was the worst conditions I'd ever been in to surf. Remember the scene in the Perfect Storm where the boat is just teetering in the middle of the waves in the midst of the storm? Well, I felt like I was in that water. The waves were disorganized, it was windy, waves were choppy, plus the water was FREEZING! I couldn't feel my hands and feet after 20 minutes in the water. But I decided to buck up and take it. And not surprisingly, I didn't catch anything. NADA! I longed for the long, lovely rides under the warm sun in San O again. So I've already decided, I'm going down to San O again next weekend. Both days if I can and Mother Nature cooperates.

Monday April 4, 2004

Man, today was useless. My alarm went off at 5:30am, I called Angela and Marlon, pulled on my bikini and wetsuit and was out the door by 6am. Stoked to be surfing this morning... or so I thought. We went to Venice Pier and it was just CRAPPIDY CRAP CRAP waves AGAIN. Completely blown out. The wind was blowing at about 12 knots, I would say. And the waves were choppy and disorganized. So I got up early for nothing once again. I hate it when that happens. I met Johnny (a dude that I met down at San O on saturday) who was at Venice Pier too. It was funny - he and his friends were swearing at how the waves were "so shitty". So much rage.. hahaha! They probably were bitter that they had gotten up at 5 in the morning and didn't even surf. Now, it's not even 9pm and I'm already tired. I hope it's better tomorrow.

Btw, I went to ZJ tonight to buy some earplugs and Garrett at the shop said that Timmy Curran and Rob Machado was out surfing by Tower 26 in Santa Monica around 8:30am.... I wish I had seen that.

WOO-HOO at San O~!

2005-04-02T19:57:00.000-08:00

Today was my best day surfing EVER! Gen, Danny, Marlon, and I piled into Marlon's truck and left LA at 5:30. Made it to San O in just over an hour! (hehe, speed demon Marlon was.) We hit the water at San O by 6:40am. Not bad. Not as early as we wanted to, but still not bad.

I was so stoked today. I had 2 sessions this morning. We went in for a couple of hours, took a break for some snacks, then I went in again after a short nap. And my second session was a lot better than my first. The others decided to keep napping so I went in on my own. Marlon followed about half an hour later. But while I was on my own on the water, I caught 2 waves, popped up on my feet, and rode it in all the way almost to the rocks (woohoo!)! My first wave was the most memorable: I saw the set coming in, and I decided to skip the first one since everyone is usually on the first one that rolls in in a set. I actually waited for the 3rd one since the second one still had a lot of people paddling for it. After everyone else had taken the wave in, I was the only one on this particular wave. It was perfect! Not too big, and I knew that I would catch it. So I turned the board, started paddling slow, then faster and faster (I felt like I had propellers for arms because I was paddling so fast to try to catch the wave). And through it all, I'm thinking, "don't pearl, don't pearl." So when I saw the wave right behind me, I arched my back really far up, hoping that my wave would take me, and it did! I CAUGHT it, stood up, and just rode it all the way in! Marlon saw it and was yelling "Woohoo!" :-D. After that, I repeated it a few more times. What a feeling.... But one thing that puzzles me though. I was watching the other surfers on their long boards and they were laying on their boards flat when they were catching the waves. Does that mean that I should be further back on my board so that I don't have to arch my back so hard? But when I've done that in the past, I ended up missing the wave all together. I'm perplexed... Maybe I just need to get a better feel for my board? Eh, maybe I'll figure it out eventually. My next challenge is to figure out what to do when I want to turn around. Or maybe I need to learn to turn or go down the line. I just need to learn to be better. Period.

I caught a lot of waves and had relatively long rides today. Marlon was proud of me, he said. hehehe... It's nice to have a good surfer push me to be a better surfer. And I think I improved a lot today. Either that, or the waves were very cooperative. I'd like to think it was the former rather than the latter...

We're off to Zuma tomorrow. My kiting crew will be up there so I'm hoping that Zuma will be small and cooperative for surfing in the morning and blowing in the afternoon. I'm sure it won't be nearly as good at San Onofre. But hopefully, what I learned today will stay with me for tomorrow's session.

San-O, San-O, it's off to San-O we go!

2005-04-01T19:53:00.000-08:00

I can't WAIT til tomorrow. We're leaving for San Onofre at 5am tomorrow morning. That means that I need wake up at 4:30 to be at Marlon's before 5. Oh, and by the way, he bought another board. I've known Marlon for only about 3 weeks and he's bought 2 boards in the time that I've known him. At this rate, he'll hit 100 boards in his collection by next year! Mm-hm. Well, at least he's passionate about it. So that's good, I guess.

It's been a full 5 days without surfing. Man, I still suck so bad. Why is it that I surf so hot in my dreams but suck so bad in real life? Maybe if I dream REALLY hard tonight I'll be better at surfing.

I hope it's good at San O tomorrow... I'll dream about surfing tonight.

Zzzz....

Surfless in Los Angeles

2005-03-31T06:27:00.000-08:00

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...

2005-03-28T06:57:00.000-08:00

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...

2005-03-27T20:56:00.000-08:00

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!

2005-03-23T19:26:00.000-08:00

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!

2005-03-22T22:42:00.000-08:00

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...

2005-03-21T20:26:00.000-08:00

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...

2005-03-20T20:26:00.000-08:00

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!

2005-03-18T19:15:00.000-08:00

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...

2005-03-17T20:10:00.000-08:00

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

2005-03-15T20:15:00.000-08:00

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!

2005-03-14T20:03:00.000-08:00

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~

2005-03-11T21:17:00.000-08:00

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....

2005-03-09T20:52:00.000-08:00

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!

2005-03-08T18:38:00.000-08:00

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

2005-03-07T19:54:00.000-08:00

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

2005-03-06T19:08:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2005-03-05T15:45:00.000-08:00

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!

2005-03-05T07:29:00.000-08:00

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!

2005-03-03T07:11:00.000-08:00

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!" @!#!#$@!

2005-03-02T22:47:00.000-08:00

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?...

2005-03-01T19:30:00.000-08:00

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...

Some day, I'll get there... Right? Some day...

2005-02-27T19:13:00.000-08:00

Today, I went to Zuma beach to surf. Sunny and small surf. Perrrrrrfect for beginners. Nevertheless, I still managed to suck bad. There were too many people for me to be able to catch as many waves as I wanted. My Japanese surfer friends, Keisukei, Shinji, Ikkei, and Mizuno, and I went to Sunset (flat!), then Topanga (flat!), then Malibu (flat!), and finally saw some ridable surf at Zuma beach where we decided to surf that day. My Japanese surfer friends have all been surfing for 10+ years - all except Mizuno who has been surfing for only 1 year. He gets up on his feet on the small waves pretty easy, and is getting better at hitting the bigger waves. I just plain suck. But I did manage to catch one where I was able to drop in. Woohoo! But I think I got up too late. The rest - I couldn't get on. Ikkei took his 9 footer and caught many waves. There was this one old dude who was a wave hog. :-\ He was on the outside and caught the right each time he got back into the line up. So we all had to pull out. Eh, o well. He was having fun. But BOY, I WISH I could longboard like him. :-( ... Some day...

One thing I learned today though. Angling my take-off. If the wave has a punch, take off at an angle so that you don't pearl. If the wave doesn't have much power, you can take off almost perpendicular to the wave. But if the wave has some speed to it, take off at an angle and drop in at an angle, otherwise, you'll pearl. The more speed the wave has, the more angle your takeoff should be. So many things to remember.... And also, am I supposed to be looking at the wave as I take off too? And when do you decide whether to go right or left if you're not looking at the wave? Sigh...

Tomorrow is Monday. Another week! I haven't decided whether to go out tomorrow morning before work. I'll see how I feel when I go to sleep. By the way, I bought a new wetsuit today. Cost me two hundie. But I looooove it. 3/2 Bodyglove Matrix - triple glued/blindstitched throughout the whole suit. I hope I don't find it cheaper onlne... Otherwise, I'm going to be kicking myself in the butt. :-P

Month 2...First entry...

2005-02-26T15:38:00.000-08:00

So, I've decided to keep a blog of my newfound addiction - surfing. Well, not completely new... More like "new-found-again" addiction.

The very first time I got on a surfboard was in September of 2002. I continued to go almost every weekend, getting better and more comfortable with being in the 55 degree ocean water each weekend, until one day in February of 2003, I pearled, subsequently doing the usual washing machine underwater which I had grown quite used to at that point. What I wasn't expecting was the big "KUNGK!" to my eye. I stood up immediately, thinking that I had lost an eye. Fortunately for me, I had only "scratched my cornea," as the doctor put it. After that, I went on a surfing hiatus for almost 2 years... until last month. My poor 8-6 Becker had been sitting against my living room wall for the last 2 years ever since that pearling incident. With the new year, I decided to put my surfboard back into the ocean again. Why? I don't know. Probably because I wanted a new hobby to throw myself into. I thought about Kitesurfing - which will probably come in a few months when the wind starts to pick up (that will be another blog... if I do decide to take up the sport). Surf during the morning, and kite during the afternoon. That would be the perfect life, right? Who needs work? :-P

Since the second week of January, I've been going out almost every morning (except for the rainy days). The first time I went out last month was painful. My paddling had deteriorated into less than pathetic, my balance was off, I couldn't get onto my feet, AND I was scared of my board to even try for a wave. Every time I tried, the thought of pearling came back into my head. I needed serious help here. Nevertheless, I decided to keep going out to at least paddle and improve that so that I can be ready to get on my feet. (I've been practicing my pop-ups at home before going to bed - yes, call me a dork).

So now, it's month 2... my paddling has significantly improved, but I still can't seem to paddle into a wave. What's wrong with me? My pop-ups seem to be okay. I even took a private surf lesson 3 weeks ago. That was a memorable session, by the way. My first drop-in into a wave. Of course, he pushed me into the wave and angled me perfectly so that all I had to do was pop up and drop in, but still, what a high... I got the tingles down my legs. Nowadays, when I try to paddle for a wave and pop up, I always seem to stand up too early and end up eventually missing the wave. Or, I'm pearling and doing the washing machine. Frustrating, I tell you... Maybe I'm too old for this? NAAAAH! At least now, I'm not scared to paddle for a wave... well, not completely scared. I still get the butterflies in my stomach and the urge to go pee, but I just say, "F!@# it, I'm going." I usually end up washing machining it or missing the wave but Oh well, there's always another wave.

Today was a wash! I went to Sunset to try surfing there for the first time. I got there at 7:30am and there were only 2 guys out. Both beginners, I think. I remember Nick, the surf instructor from 3 weeks ago, telling me that you can always spot beginner surfers by the way they paddle and their posture. "Keep those feet and legs together when you paddle!" he kept saying. And I won't forget it! And these guys had their legs far apart when they paddled. Anyways, there was a definite reason for there being only 2 guys out. It was glassy like a lake. But I saw some occassional small sets come in, so I decided to go in. Big mistake. I sat there for 25 minutes waiting for a wave. Finally, I gave up and decided to go to Bay Street. Same scenario at Bay street but with more people and no parking... I hate it when there's too many people. Competing for a wave sucks especially since I can miss the wave or pearl, and take away someone else's chance at riding the wave. Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow. I'll try sunset earlier tomorrow morning.