Dawn Patrol at Newport Beach, Saturday April 27th 2013

I finally did it.  I've been meaning to ride the waves in the LA area for a few years now, and now that I have a board out here at my disposal, I finally got the chance.  I also forced myself to get up to the beach early on, not quite as the sun rose, but pretty close.  The waves were averaging about 3 feet or so, with some bigger sets coming in at around 4-5 feet right along the pier.  I caught a couple waves, but conditions were much better for long boarding.  Had the Go Pro running, I'm still trying to figure if it's a distraction or a benefit.  I've got it set up so it turns on with one touch, so I have to take a couple seconds focuses on turning it on.  However, it also forces me to slow down instead of trying to catch every wave.  Things got pretty crowded and I decided to call it before the break was completely packed. 

Oceanside Battle, Oceanside CA, Saturday, April 7th, 2013

I've been fortunate enough to get back out to Cali and ride some waves.  It's been way to long since I've been surfing and I didn't have a board on the West Coast.  Sounds like something that I need to fix!  A quick trip to the Vista Play it Again Sports, and for under 150 bucks I was back in action on a fiberglass Progressive surf board with a pointy nose and a short fish tail, leash included.  The last time I surfed in Cali, I rented a board up at Beacons Beach.  I figure that it's simpler to know a board and then learn the break rather than try to do both at the same time.  The board already had some wax one it (more on that later) so I was off to the beach just as soon as I mounted my new GoPro surfboard rig.  I fought my way through the incoming surf out the break at approx 33*12’7.1” N 117*23’39.5W.  I wasn't close to the jetty to ride the rip, but the waves kept crashing down on me.  I finally managed to get out to the break, a 4-6" left hand break that a goofy footed surfer like me usually loves.  Unfortunately, the wax on the surfboard just didn't do the job, even with the surf booties I wear in cold weather that give me extra grip.  I ended up getting pushed out of the break and towards shore.  The grip was so bad that I had trouble even bodysurfing ontop of the board in the smaller waves closer to shore.  Lesson learned, always have wax, even when you don't think you need it! I also set my board down on the beach and the go pro ended up popping loose; so make sure that you give the glue time to set before you hit the beach!  The camera shot some clear footage, but since I never caught a decent wave, I don't have too much to show from it.  Ride on.