MetaTidal

Taylor and I took off to Mustang Island State Park to camp and hopefully slide a little in the middle of my week off.  After getting skunked so much on my time off, I was feeling like the surf gods were never gonna help a brotha out.  I never lost hope….and was rewarded with 3 solid days of surf.  woooohoooo!

I surfed in Galveston for a few hours, light winds, 3′ southeast swell coming in…foggy when I first arrived but soon cleared up and Jim met me out for a few waves.  It was fun and I wanted to stay longer but I knew that if I wanted to surf fish pass on North Padre Island I had to get out and pack up my schiiiite, grab the puppy, and hit the road. 

After the 3 hour drive, including the short ferry ride, we headed straight to the pass to get into the water.  Solid 6′ lines waiting for me.  I surfed for an hour, got worked a few times….but had some really nice rides.  With the sun setting, I grabbed Taylor (tired from barking the entire time I was out) and put the tent up.  The fire didn’t go so well and I blame it on the wood being too green.  It was a little spooky camping on the beach by myself, not a soul in sight.  We slept well, besides Taylor barking and growling at something around 2 in the morning.  I investigated but figured it was a bird or some nocturnal animal she heard or caught a scent of…either way…

The next morning was a bit smaller but still in the 3-6′ range.  I surfed the more consistent left side of the 2 jetties (fyi - the difference between a jetty and a groin is that jetties are designed to keep waterways open from sediment and groins are ‘designed’ to keep sediment from being swept away by longshore current - tmi).  It was really shocking that I had such good surf all to myself for practically 3 days with only the occasional fishermen visits.  I surfed the 9′ Stewart LSP model in the morning and then the 6′8″ Al Merrick in the evening and had equal fun on both.  The morning session was a little better, with light offshores and better form.  I took every left possible, since it was easier to paddle out next to the jetty and the wave form was virtually the same on every ride, except of course the occasional drop-in barrel every 1 out of 4 or 5 waves, very makeable.  The evening session was fun but I definitely swallowed a little more salt then I had hoped.  Literally coughing up saltwater and almost throwing up kinda makes you get the wheels turning on what it must be like to actually drown.  The waves were a little more unpredictable and I was beeeat!  But the good news was…our fire that night was be-lazing!  Not to mention Taylor slept the entire 8 hours of darkness.  Her endless pursuit of shorebirds and dune crabs must’ve worn her out.  I hoped for some knee high surf the last morning, seeing how the wind was non-existent the previous day and the swell was sure to drop.

To my surprise the swell had held it’s size and I couldn’t pack the gear and dog fast enough to hit the emerald green waves.  I surfed the Al Merrick for roughly 3 hours.  Like your favorite song on repeat, it was drop in, duck, come out, hit it off the lip, build some speed, cut back.  The waves weren’t very long, maybe 30 yards or so, but just enough for me to not want to leave such good waves for the reality of cleaning the truck of all the sand we had accumulated in such a short amount of time and of course that other awful reality…work. 

One thing that I continued to think about while I surfed by myself for these few days, was that part of surfing for me is sharing it with other people stoked about surfing as much as I am.  Mostly Megan, but also my bro, Aaron, Spence, Jim, Vu, Chris, Ed, Tu, Jaime, etc. and countless numbers of friends and familar faces I’ve shared many sessions with over the years.  Every paddle back out had waves breaking with no one on them…but should’ve…hmmm…or not.  Sometimes it’s nice to share the camaraderie of a ‘Hey! Did you see that?’ or ‘That was a nice wave, eh?’, just not too much camaraderie…

Peel

Originally uploaded by surfjones.

A week after getting back from Mexico I met Aaron and Jim out for a ‘winter’ session. As the frontal boundary blew offshore, semi-perfect little peaks popped up all over the beachfront. But the wind was a bit chilly at 50ish degrees and made a surface fog on the top of the water. It’s wetsuit time in Texas, which also means some pretty good surf.
It was a good session with 3 foot little barrels and semi-steep walls setting up. It was a great day to test Aarons new 6′0″ KG quad fish out…..sweet arse board. Aaron and I stayed out until my hair felt like icicles and Aarons face was a little blue…..okay maybe not but it was pretty cold.

I traveled to mainland Mexico for what has come to be an annual trip just before Thankgiving for the last 5 years.  I arrived on Monday and enjoyed some 4-6 foot surf, but when Megan arrived on Thursday the Pacific just shut down, never getting bigger then 3, feet not meters, for the remainder of the trip……that’s a long 8 days with waist high or smaller waves. 

Megan enjoyed the small waves along with way too many beginners it seemed like.  The once, not so crowded break that I used to call my favorite place, has become over-run with beginners and outfits sucking up any penny they can spend.  Just to push them into a wave that you were probably already on.  It almost becomes a circus after 10 am……anyways, the surf was nonetheless fun and more importantly warm.

We both had a great time all together, visiting with friends, and meeting new ones.  The small waves were actually a good thing because it made us explore a little more and see things that we haven’t seen before.  Ed and Marcia were as nice as ever and brought us to a restaurant with the best view in Puerto Vallarta, among other places.  After several failed trips to surf, including a boat trip to the cove, I’m pretty sure Ed was just entertaining me or keeping my hopes up that there would actually be some surf.  We also met a fellow surfer from Texas, Chris, who decided to come with us on a trip south of the bay to find some waves.

But of course there weren’t any waves where we decided to go.  But had we not gone, we wouldn’t have stumbled across a beautiful uncrowded gem of a beach called Teahumixtle and Playa Maito.  Only a small hotel on one side of the point and a small restaurant and fishing village on the other.  After our 3 hour excursion to get there, including a 45 minute drive down a dirt road in the mountains the wrong way, we drank some Pacificos and ate, relaxed, and explored on foot a bit.  

I know that I am leaving out a ton of things and stories but that’s what I get for posting two weeks after the fact.  It was great to be back in Mexico, I miss the Pacific, the friends, familar faces, places, and especially the waves……

A few weeks ago I packed the board up and jumped on a plane with Aaron for 5 days of the all-u-can-surf buffet in California.  Having never been there and slightly embarrassed being a surfer who has never been to Cali, I really didn’t know what to expect.  I guess my biggest fear was the crowds, in and out of the water.  Neither of which were overwhelming for me.  The pictures and video that I took were very limited due to the fact that the Pentax broke the first day.  Reached in my pocket for a first water shot of the trip and it was soaked.  So, now I’m on the lookout for another decent waterproof digital.  The Pentax was an excellent camera and wouldn’t have been soaked but an unfortunate accident in Mexico left the Pentax body with some damage.  Besides that and the nasty cold and bronchitis that I came back with, the trip was a total success.  Onward….

We surfed mostly Orange and north San Diego County.  It was just my kinda surf trip, because we surfed a variety of waves.  From the 8 foot spit-ya-out kinda breaks to 2 foot perfect longboard peelers, and in that same day a mushy head high San O….and that was only the first day.  We averaged a 7-8 hours of surf in per day, including an entire Sunday afternoon off to watch football.  I will attempt (w/o doing any justice) to describe my four favorite sessions….

Oceanside - Early morning, sun just starting to rise…..the surf was 6-8, glassy, and peeling.  Having surfed a thick Huntington Pier the evening before, the peeling overhead barrels didn’t seem at all menacing.  Don’t get me wrong I had my fair share of salty h2o on the head, but the form was great and the take-off way short of sketch.  A few seals and dolphins in the water, and one huge hovercraft coming into Camp Pendleton next door.  After a few closeouts, I finally got the kinda ride that makes you think if you had to pack up and go home immediately…you’d be okay with that.  I dropped in, bottom turned, tucked and grabbed the rail on a racing section…hoping that I can make the opening that seems to be getting further away.  Next thing I know, I’m being spit out of the eye with water shooting over my head and shoulder.  With that kinda of adrenaline, one always seems to have a little extra energy to paddle back out, into the next wave, or even in.

San Onofre Trails - A midday sesh, sunny, semi-crowded Saturday.  Surf was 4-6 and mushy, but very fun.  The inside section was a little faster and gave you a great little section for speed and explosive turns.  There was quite a few people out, but it was a gorgeous day and the surf had good form.  This was one of my favs because I caught a ton of waves and the wave really let you have time to set something up.

Doheny - Same place two sessions.  The first was a morning sesh with not too many people out and 2-3 foot lefts and rights peeling…perfect for noseriding and styling, neither of which I excelled in that morning, but potential man potential….  The second sesh was a fav for the simple fact it was odd.  With a high tide and not much swell the waves were breaking very close to the steep sloped beach.  This made for an unbelievable backwash effect, which on several occasions sent me into the air, while riding the wave and even trying to catch it.  At times the wave coming out looked to be the same size and shape as the one coming in.

Furthermore, when we got back we had some good waves waiting and it’s been rather consistent here on the Gulf Coast ever since.  Life is good….