Numbers

Frohoff. Mitchy. Body Glove. Man this spot was primetime back in the beer soaked toobs of Hermosa Beach. Lived down the way 10 blocks for 5 or so years. Beautiful memories. All time's. Closeouts. Corners. Edges. Whatever it was fun. Always a ripper or two out. Cool head locals. You're in their world. Community. Family. Shred in the mornin' glide the evening glass offs and knock around a volleyball middays. Smashin' cans and talkin' shit. Stumble over to your back house with a lady or two. Rippin'. Livin'!

Last winter I paddled out there only a handful of go outs. It always beat me up pretty fair. But it would only take a stokin' hollow line to make it all worth it. Shape, when on, is ON. It was one of those spots where you can just feel the past. All the legends of those times. Next swell, I'll say hello.


7.6 @ 12 secs from 305
Didn't paddle out

Swampy Surfy

Buoys up. Longer period. Bigger swell. Why then was it the worst day all week? High tide swampin' it too much. Thought the swell would fight thru more. Hit some high tide bars. Bet it is just getting' good right now going to the low.

However, did get the longest fastest ride out of all week, flyin' forever all the way into a very inside toobin' sandy closeout. No one to see but a grizzled happy fisherman.

Small little sea lion laid on his back for 2 hours of the session. Hope the little dude was okay. Kinda odd behavior but I understand. Probably just as tired as I was from this weeks thrashin' and glidin'. I was jealous but I bet he was jealous of me too. Surfin' and relaxin'.

Stokin' sunny clean beautiful morning. What a fun week of tiring consistent glassy swells.

8.5 @ 12 secs from 290
First and only out!

Empty Bagels

Go here. Right on ART. Such style. Anyway this one comic of his is perfect to describe today's session. Perfect and fun and playful and hollow.


This was me and a buddy today. Took the morn' off. Spliffed up in the trees. Empty barrelin' peaks were getting better with the tide. Wind was calm. New swelly!

Tradin' rides. Insults. Hoots. and Laughs.

10.9 @ 8 secs from 200

Stokin' Insomnia

Can't sleep. 3:30am. Check the buoys. 20 second energy!! What? Already? Damn, that spot is goin' to be pumpin'.

Put on the coffee. Put the board on the car. Come on dawn early light! Let's go SURFING!!!!!!!

7.2 @ 20 secs from 290
gonna be first out!

Recent Rains make Empty Olas

Sometimes everything comes together. Playful waves. Crisp offshore winds. No one out scared of the recent rains. Lip checks. Sneaky blips. Long rippable walls. Tuck under tryin' for barrel time. Great shape. Consistent. Dolphins. Sea lions. Lovin' LA. Score!!!!



6.9 @ 14secs from 295
1st and only out!!

Industrial

Hidden behind a power station is this polluted, shallow right hander. Coast is always blown out but when some rare winds blow strong and hard for a day or so a wave breaks which is the most impressive, beautiful, unusual, on and on. But a surprisingly heavy fuckin' spot. Breaks only 2-7 times every year when the swell travels up a deep trench and wraps around 280 degrees. Feels bottom. And winds like the face of a clock down a a man made boulder point. I was lucky to tuck into one of those days.

The water is so polluted. White water fizzes from the toxic detergent. Just copiously containing lubricants leavin' your fingers a soapy slimy feel to them. Oh yeah, the wave is also surrounded by heavy industry and is just over the river from the biggest chemical production installation in the country. Just to add to the pollution of the playground. Still very worth it.

Long hold downs.
Pollution.
Large ships.
Bad rips.
Uneven concrete substrate.
Foreign matter (such as bicycles, junk and junk).



Beauty amongst the heavy industry. No locals, just a dedicated crew. They'll wait patiently every winter for perfect conditions to combine. And wait. And score. You dont see guys for ages until they surface at this wave. You then don't see them again until it breaks again. This wave is for "hardcore highly competent surfers. Only", was my couple over the seas buddies response who turned me on to it. Well somehow I survived. Fall '99.

Don't drop in. Wait your turn and try not to get swept out to sea.



6.1 @ 12secs from 295
Too much booze. Took the mornin' off.

Friday

What was great yesterday is junk today.

Sooooo glad I walked to the garage and walked back to bed.

4.4 @10secs from 320

Flawless

Woke up and see the trees have stopped violently moving. Stoked! Jump in the car, drive, Big Youth tunes on the tape deck and pull up to the spot. No one out and it is head high low tide niceness. And glassy!!! Suit up and run down. Damn, where’d that head come from? Paddle out, cold ass duck dives, freezing upwelled ocean but it is consistent and workin’. Catch too many walls to count. Head that is out is a older stoked ripper. Hootin’ and hollerin’. Old local but lives in PV now and doesn’t make it to this spot often. Can see in his eyes that he has, and is, enjoying the amazing PV coastline daily. On it. Knows every nook and cranny with what tide. Vintage stories of spots I never knew worked pumpin’ in the 70’s and 80’s. Cool head givin’ me waves but you can sense he owns peaks whenever he surfs. If it were more than just us out, he would be takin’ the best sets. Instead today he gives. And gives. My eyes light up on late drops surprised some stranger is hootin’ me in the top olas.

A ripper friend of his comes out. Another local. Late 70’s high school graduates. Years and years and waves and waves of experience. Knowledge. Perfect positioning. Perfect timing. Barrels where I don’t even see them. 5’8 little board. RIPPING.

Sploooosh!
Schhhhwwwack!
Fuckin’ rad.

Amazingly crisp, sunny, pumpin’, windswelly morning tradin’ waves in LA. They both leave cold and I am all alone to take any set I want. Non stop waves. Non stop flow. Can’t be beat. Satiated.

8.9 @ 14 secs from 295
2nd out

No left

Love this pic.

Didn't paddle out. Winds on it early and often with not enough swell to warrant a paddle. Tomorrow should be a washing machine. But a possible fun one at a certain spot if the winds don't get too bad.

6.1 @ 9 secs from 310 and wiiiiiiiiiindy

Glum

Normally wouldn't do this. But just too sad. A friend of a friend of a friend's family member. Senior at Virginia Tech. Whole life ahead of her. Now gone. For no reason. Fuckin' wrong.

Something about this photo of her.
Next to the ocean she loved.
The ocean we play in and love.
I don't know her but we all have the same love.
Pacific. Atlantic. It is all connected.
So are all of us that love the sea.
But she'll never feel that anymore.
And for what?
Why?

Larboard

Fun and mushy and smaller and fishy fun fun. Went left 80%. Had to literally make myself aim left instead of paddling into a nice right wall. Damn. But the lefts were fun and seemed to hold up more than the rights as the wind swell peaks were rollin' in. Or at least that is what I made myself think.

Kooked out on a couple.
Felt like I ripped a couple.
Was glad I forced myself goofy.
All in all a fun cold gray perfect south bay morn.


4.1 @ 11secs from 290
1st out

Lefts!

All I surf, it seems, is rights. Long rights. Same ol' fun.

In honor of a fun left I found and surfed over the last couple of weeks I am puttin' up some goofy pics all week. Love the backside flow. Different line. Kooky feelings. Want to go right but nowhere to go. Pigdog the bottom turn to fight the big ocean wall. Less vision. Less feet movement. More speeed.

Didn't make it out to the beachie this morn. Too spent from the last couple weeks of solid swell. Looked like it coulda been fun again. Will force myself to go left all week.

9.1 @ 12 secs from 305
Didn't paddle out.

Majestic Power

Whoopin' ass. Takin' names. Scared shitless. My afternoon comin' out of low tide sesh yesterday. Never felt so much power. At least in 2007. Damn. Fun hold on to your nuts runs. Kick out before you get kicked in.

This morn' still goin'. A little tired and sore and wind on it but still pumpin'. Less crowd. Less warm air. Less shape but beautiful and majestic. Great to see and feel the ocean ON.

5.1 @ 17 secs from 165

Puuuuuuumpin'

This snap from long ago on another coast looks exactly like it did this morn, only it was much bigger and meatier. Out in the blackness dodging dark bombs. Tryin' to get my bearings. Nothing seems as it was. Where the hell are the waves breaking? Lumpy explosions. Offshore winds. Non-stop consistent waves. Clean ocean surface. Tough paddle out even though it is an easy point. BOMBS! Lotsa closeouty waves breaking waaaay outside. Lineup was all shifted about 100 yards to the left it was breaking so far outside. Got a couple big long ones that had my little single chattin' and glidin' down the face. Get out before it eats you. Seasoned dude had a classic line when asked why he didn't make it to another point. "Why pass by surf for surf?"

Great day to be alive. Stoke and adrenaline will be pumpin' in me all day. Perfect.

Buoy down
1st out!!

Premature Paddle

Bouy did not change since 2pm yesterday. Watching it all day at work hopin' and wonderin' why it still showed 1.9 @ 18 secs. Shouldn't the swelly be cruising in? Old guy out in the lineup mentioned that the buoy has been down and has not changed and maybe no one will show up this morning thinking it is still small and we'll score! Well, not really....

Nice to see the fog layer lift over the morning dawn for once. Found out that I can paddle out earlier than 5:55 now without the clouds. Sunny, crisp morn. See some bigger ones comin' in and start my stoked run to the point. Paddle out, looks good, and then sit. More join. More sittin'. What happened? Think we were all jonsin' too hard and timed it too early. Some powerful, lotsa water movin', warbly, closeouty ones came thru every so often for signs of what is bearing down on us. Too bad it didn't totally work out this morn but still glad I got wet. As always.

You all afternoon no workers are going to be happy.

2.1 @ 20 secs from 175
First out!!

Fish eggs

Did some good skatin' with the kid cousins and luckily didn't hurt myself for the afternoon surf. Little wooden half pipe they were rippin' on. I am sweatin'. Gingerly lip checkin' the skate. Felt like an old uncle. On conrete. Different style and feel.

Cold, gray, a little windy but not affecting the ocean surface. Not as good as the last holiday surf but pretty damn fun. Better than last Easter. Pointin' Pants. Me, a windsurfer and a grom. Tradin' Easter goodies.

2.0 @ 14 secs from 205

Gone

The Cove used to be a naturally replenished barreling sand bar. It broke both right and left but the left was much better. However, nowadays it breaks rarely and only during a peaky wind swell.

A breach was formed in the adjacent south jetty due to a powerful winter storm. The breach then continued to widen causing localized erosion to happen rapidly. This newly caused sand movement and erosion was viewed as a hazard to boat navigation and coastal homes and businesses.

The Army Corps of Engineers filled it with 600,000 cubic yards of material and the wave has practically disappeared. Another classic gone.


Had to work early. No foggy south for me this morn. Bet it was still fun. Damn.
2.9 @ 14secs from 185

A Hoot

Saw the super steep angle on the buoys and knew where to go. Second car, first out. Dark fog. Full moon tryin' to peak out. Many rides to the sand. Tiring paddle back out. Very consistent. Lovely glassy gray morn.

3.1 @ 17 secs from 165

Ahhhhh

Satiated. Cool to feel the single fin feel again. Sorry for myself for feeling so bummed the last couple. Swell is here. I can paddle out. I have all my arms and legs. I can surf 2-3 hours before work every morning. I am able to seek out lesser known spots. I can see a full moon dip into the ocean, if there isn't any fog. I can watch a sea lion stare at me in wonder. I can glide along an open glassy face in my thoughts. Still wish I have my new fishy with me.

We are all fortunate if you can surf at all.

Dark. Foggy. Crisp. Clean. Sets. Push. Trim. Glide. Head Dip. Last wave to the sand. Try not to look back to see more that you will be missin'. Stoked, and jealous, for the dude on a long one as I head up the hill. Wash off. Sit in car. Smile at traffic and the drones who have no clue what they missed. Sit at work. Yay

3.0 @ 17 secs from 200
1st out

Buuuuummmmmmed

Late last night. Puttin' the stick in the car. Notice two dents on my fishy's points. What the fuck. Thru the glass. From rocks? From what? No clue. So bummed. Fresh new homemade now and old dented man. Out of commission for a couple of weeks.

Threw the waterlogged single in my car and tried to get some sleep. Sad. Woke up at 4:30 just not feeling it. Knew it wouldn't ride like my fun fish has the past couple of weeks. Still probably was fun this morning but I just couldn't do it.

Man it really affects you when you can't surf and you know there are waves. Just a huge pain in your gut. Guys gettin' super long rides right now. Girls gettin' toes on the nose right now. Me sittin' confused what to do with this once promising week of swell. Damn.

2.5 @ 20secs! from 185

Dispiriting

Didn't look or feel like this. Sad swell. Maybe the next one will be better. Bummed sitting at work wishing and dreaming.

1.6 @ 17secs from 180
Full moon out first, me second

LBCFC

In honor of this spot that would have broke good this upcoming week. What a blast that would have been on a fishy.


The spot came alive on big souths and could hold the biggest of swells. It broke big and clean. The Los Angeles River emptied into Long Beach right at the break and that enabled the wave to get so big and good.

Flood Control, in Long Beach, sadly does not break at all anymore. The jetty was built during the war in an effort to increase the size of the harbor and once the swell blocking harbor was built...it was over. Before the breakwater's construction, Flood Control was a highly prized surf break. "It was ridable up to 15 to 20 feet," Grannis told Surfer magazine. "In September of 1939, we rode a huge chubasco-driven swell that was pushing over 15-foot rights."

Ted Sizemore, an excellent surfer of the time and a Long Beach lifeguard, said that on a good south swell, they had more rescues along parts of Long Beach than anywhere else on the Southern California coast. Now, of course, the Queen Mary sits in Long Beach Harbor atop of where the great right-hander used to break.


Well, I'm off to see if a certain spot is welcomin' any nice early energy.

Irie sunday afternoon fishin' in the sunny warm sunset can't be beat.

2.1 @ 17 secs from 220 and risin'!!!!