Surfing by Surf City before Tropical Storm Emily

Drove down to surf city today. Tropical Storm Emily is slowly working it's way up the coast. I've surfed twice on Topsail Island before, both North and South ends, but never at Surf City, which is in the center part of the island. I surfed off the pier, and caught a couple good waves, I felt like the waves were better than off Wrightsville beach. I ran into a guy with another Kane Garden board, he gave me a tip that I should keep my legs together while paddling, I applied his tip and I could feel a difference. I had cargo pocketed board shorts and ran into some problems with the pockets scooping up water. Still, all in all, a better than average day of surfing off the east coast.

Beacons Beach, Encinitas California

Didn't get a ton of surfing in while I was out in Cali, and checked out Tourmaline on a pretty small day. Ended up surfing last Saturday off Beacon's Beach for the first time. The break was pretty good, but got steeper as the tide rose. Didn't catch anything too spectacular, but I was on a crappy rental. I wanted to get a long board but got talked into a 8' board with a longboard shape. My buddy tried a 9' board which I was surprised at how poorly it paddled. I'm looking at getting a Walden Magic Epoxy this summer for the smaller East Coast waves, still waiting to hear back from Walden on the best length for my height and weight. I'll let you know about it when I get it. For now enjoy these pics of the West Coast:

A little here, a little there... Surfing Two Coasts

Sorry for the long delay, however things have been pretty crazy. I managed to get a surf session in down in San Diego while I was out in Yuma Easter weekend. Tried surfing in Vibram Five Finger's but my toes kept slipping out, that and the long boarders kept stealing my waves. Also got a session in down at Wrightsville when I got back, but that's really all the surfing that I've managed since April! Hopefully I'll be able to get a Walden Magic Longboard to really catch the NC waves. I'm out on the West coast now and should be catching some swells while I'm out here. Take Care!

Low Tide Closeouts

Went surfing today, back to paying for parking again. Luckily I didn't have to struggle into those gloves, I'm definitely gonna have to get a size bigger, stupid gloves are tearing and I've hardly worn them. Waves were breaking the farthest out I've ever seen them at Crystal Pier, they were pretty closed out so you really could only catch them before you lost all energy. I think there must be a big sandbar out there, a gradual sandbar produces cleaner and less barreling waves. Supposed to be pretty big today, I'll be out around 1 or so to see what I can catch.

Finally getting waves in February

After a long hiatus from surfing - it seemed like every time there was good waves I was busy working - I was finally able to get out to the beach. I decided to go to Bob Hall pier today, there were surfers out but things weren't all too busy. A lot of people walking up and down the beach though. Waves were pretty choppy but smoothed out and lined up as the day progressed; the outer break was really the place to be for good waves. There was a good amount of drift that would push you away from the good breaks. I ended up out by the pier and was greeted by a couple friendly dolphins not more than twenty feet away. I'm not sure if it'd be safe to get much closer, but I was sure tempted. It was good to get back out in the water, I guess I'll just have to cross my fingers for good waves tomorrow! Better get out of this wetsuit and stop soaking the furniture.

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Surfing at Sundown on a Friday

Went surfing late today. The sun was setting and there were knee to waist high waves coming in. It was a beautiful day and it was a magnificent finale out on the beach. Almost too distracting with the way the light was reflecting off the waves. The waves were clean but small, still a good half h0ur or so of surfing. Man oh man I can't imagine what it would be like living out on the west coast with big waves coming in every day. I don't know why the waves are so small on this side of the country, but it sucks. They are fun to ride, but even with my fish, I'd have more fun out off Padre Island when it comes to shredding waves. It's beautiful, but rarely all that exciting. Gotta wait for storm action, and then it's pretty sloppy. Still, it's motivating knowing that I can surf in water 10 degrees above freezing. Lets see what tomorrow holds!

Surfing off the Oceanic Pier

I got a pair of Xcel surf gloves after last times botched adventure. The waves were breaking in the knee to thigh range and luckily I'm working the night tonight so I was able to get out. It was still kinda chilly, 44 degree water and a 40 degree air temp tend to do that, especially with gray rainy conditions. I did catch some fun little waves that I was able to ride towards the beach on. Part of me feels like I get alot better after every time I'm able to surf in Cali. Hopefully I'll get out there this March and shred some waves.

Attempted Surfing after the snow storm

Tried to get out surfing on January 11th this year, had my new wetsuit, hood, and booties but it was just too cold. The sand was covered in an icy crust and the water was churning. Some people were out catching some pretty crazy waves. I got in the water and caught two little waves before my hands went numb before I called it a day.

California Dreaming

Ah beautiful California!?! I flew in through the mountains during a massive rainstorm that made the desert bloom and turn green. Unfortunately it rained here and there while I was out that way. I made my way towards Huntington Beach, where you can watch the sunset over Catalina Island. Quite magnificent really, I've been to Catalina twice and I didn't know you could see it from the mainland. Sorta reminds me of a painting I did. Ended up in San Diego for a couple days around New Years. I wish I could've been down there longer but I enjoyed my time up in the mountains too. Surfed New Years Eve at Tourmaline, then the next day at La Jolla right next to Scripps Institute. Saw some pretty big dolphins out there as well. They came pretty close. I do say I caught one of my top 5 favorite waves that day. Not too many other decent waves, being that I was using my Yancy Fish, which is fast and can cut really hard, but sucks to paddle. It must've been a freak five foot high clean breaking wave that I rode pretty good. I'm actually getting tempted to get me a nice Walden Long Board for the smaller days. Oh I can't wait to get back, I guess I'll have to shred as many Carolina waves and any other East Coast breaks I can hunt down in the meantime....