I finally made it out
After getting skunked for two weeks, I finally made it back out! Nice, sunny, offshore, some sandbars, and I sucked!!
« December 2006 | Main | February 2007 »
January 24, 2007
January 12, 2007
This thing kept me up all night
This thing kept me up all night and reminded me of my college days. Those consisted of all night Street Fighter matches, coupled with loads of Sodium enriched Chex mixes. I thought I was in paradise! Well, a bit of nostalgia crept back into my soul when I unpacked my newly prayed for, Nintendo Wii. The unit was no bigger than a 300GB hard drive. But it was neatly packaged and they paid attention to packaging details. The cool thing is that it came with a game that kept me occupied for over two hours. Man has video games grown up. Everything is motion based and less reliant on finger mashing. I suppose the virtual console will fill that void, but you'd actually have to do stuff to make the screen move. It's a great concept and I know it will be loads of fun. Now, I need to get a copy of Madden 07!
January 07, 2007
Head high + and so much fun
I ended up in S.C. yesterday. After driving down the coast and checking most of the spots; the elements were against us. 10+ feet of NW swell, high tide of 6 feet and some strong north winds blowing. Most spots were really junky and downright scary. I hooked up with a surf buddy of mine and decided to check some of the S.C. spots. Some of the spots were out of position for the swell to wrap into, and others were kinda going off. We settled on a spot that was about head+. I was a bit hesitant to paddle out, but just decided to say fuck it; days of getting pounded in Costa Rica had to have meant something.
I surfed my log, but wish I had a shorter board. Now, I didn't say I didn't have fun. I had some of the best waves ever. There was a mixture of mushy waves that didn't really break, and then there were head+ sets that was pretty powerful. I got a bunch of waves, and a lot of them were fairly long rides. I made some up and downs on the waves, and rode in the curl most of the time. There were waves where I crouched down and waited for the lip to barrel. It didn't really do it, but seeing the entire wave face bigger than myself was way cool! I haven't been that stoked in a long time. Next time I head there, I'll bring my shorter boards and see what kind of fun I can have.
Let the year begin
This will be year three of my surfing journey. What have I done so far? I can consistently get up on a board. I concentrate more on the ride than the pop-up. I've surfed a bunch of spots; some in So-Cal, some more secretive spots in Nor-Cal, some goofy rides in Hawaii, and got some really warm water surf in Phuket Thailand and a true surf trip to Costa Rica.
I've figured out my feel good board is my longboard. I'm pretty proficient riding it now. I don't pearl it that much, and I can recover from pearling, as well as pull out before I fall into a closeout pit. I got my first custom board. It's a 6'9" 4 fin, and I also have a 7'6" Egg. Both are really fun, but I need a lot more practice on the fish. I don't get out with it consistenly enough.
I can duck dive, well, with the amount of volume on my shorter boards, it's still pretty hard. My logging skills are a bit better now. I am a few steps closer to the nose. If I only had a wave like Malibu or San Onofre to surf on. Oh well, when summer comes, its time to surf a little bit more leashless.
I've been out on some scarier surf this year. 6+ sneaker sets have slammed and tossed me around quite a bit. I'm more comfortable in head + surf. I'm starting to look at getting shacked in some of the more hollower waves around.
So what's in store this year? I guess the only way is up. I'm going to try to work on surfing different waves and also some of the bigger stuff. Maybe I'll paddle out at Ocean Beach a bit more on the smaller days during the summer. It's still scary stuff. Maybe I'll try a true short board this year. Also, maybe a surf trip to Baja?!
January 03, 2007
Bueno Dias en la Costa Rica
I went! First surf trip, first time packing surfboards, first time buying warm wax, first time packing extra leashes, first time buying a foreign surf guide, first time mellowing out and following the tide patterns, first time being stoked surfing outside the US.
Picture 8 days of surfing first, then sightseeing. I planned my schedule around the tides and how it affected Tamarindo. When the tide draining the reefs, it was time to explore this beautiful country of Costa Rica. When the tide was right, it was all about surfing. Forget sun burns, forget rashie thighs and chests; all those where afterthoughts to the fact that I was planing somewhere near the equator.
I hung out with local surfers, kookie surfers, traveling surfers, beginning surfers; and most importantly, surfers with the biggest grins on their face. Sharing the stoke with this tribe of people felt special. It didn't really matter how many waves I got and how many waves I screwed up. It was simply about being one with nature; being in tuned with liquid that covers most of this planet.
I got to play in swells that traveled thousands of miles; waves that were born out of blowing wind; waves that gathered into great amounts of energy; that first graced the northern pacific coasts, and traveled south till I greeted it.
I saw how great a place Costa Rica is; how in tuned with nature every one is. The streets were dirt ladened, but nowhere did I see people disrespecting the land, and littered. I picture the empty distances between houses, and how that can affect peoples lives. Living with enough space between dwelling can make you appreciate your neighbors; chat with them. There was no big urban, concrete jungle to navigate. No big strip malls to draw your attention away and lure you into a big spending spree.
The setting was great for an full withdraw from the everyday life of computers, pagers, cell phones, email, deadlines, pressures of money, competition. A life much simpler, and a life much happier can be found in Costa Rica. I would like to call this place home one day. I would like to wake up to birds chirping, a warm sun rising. I would like to run to the beach and embrace the ocean and depending on her mode, catch a surf. I would like to relax while eating out, even if it means slower service. I would like to see people appreciate each other and not compete on the very miniscule of levels. I would like to see respect as offered by Ticans. One day, maybe soon, maybe 10 years from now, but one day, I will be there.
January 02, 2007
I did not drop off the face of the earth
Happy 2007!
I will write a few updates tonight. I didn't fall off the face of the earth. Just went to Costa Rica.