“I’m Back.”

Those are the only words I could think of to begin this post.  And, assuming anyone out there is reading, I guess the logical question would be “Back where?”

The reason I choose to begin with the words above, was that in my mind they summed up many, many feelings that have been rolling through my mind for the past couple weeks.  First, the most obvious answer is, I’m back on my blog.  I know it’s been a while (a LONG while) since my last post.  All I can do is apologize and try to do better.

The fact is, colder weather in Los Angeles, combined with inccreased stress from work weighing me down, caused me to cut back on surfing for a while.  I was planning to get back  in the water come spring, but frankly, my job was making me so miserable, it was all I could do to get up in the morning.

I’m not looking for pity and sympathy, just explaining my absence.  Things finally came to a head, and I quit… I know it’s not the best timing, but when you’re floating in a sea of toxic waste, the only sane response is to climb out.  The place where I worked had become a toxic environment, so I removed myself, and despite some lingering fear and uncertainty, I know I made the right choice.  I credit surfing with giving my the courage and strength to confront the unknown, and take a chance.  Paddling into an uncertain sea, sizing up a new wave and taking off… only time will tell if I picked the right one, but I’d rather give it a shot than just bob up and down waiting all day.

Before I quit, my wife and I had already planned, and paid for most of, a trip to Hawaii, to visit her family.  Of course, my mind immediately turned to surfing.  After all, Oahu was where I first set foot on a board, and I could still remember the long, slow waves, with their nice, soft break far from the shore.  Unfortunately, as soon as we stepped off the plane, I was struck by a cold or virus of some sort.  My throat swelled up like a sack of marbles, and a dry cough punctuated my wheezing breath.  I immediately began a massive vitamin C regime, combined with a shot of tequila to let the cold know who was boss!

We were only in Oahu for four days, and on my second to last day. I felt my throat begin to loosen up.  It was now or never!  Dawn Patrol at Waikiki!  I threw on my board shorts and rash guard, and walked to the beach to rent a board.

I paid 20 bucks for  a two hour rental, and grabbed a tufflite 9 ft. longboard.  It was my first time on a tufflite, and it was an interesting experience.  It was so light compared to my PU or even my epoxy board back home.  It was also very thin, but floaty, and had a kind of “skippy” feeling on top of the water.

As I stood at the edge of the beach, I squinted and looked to the waves breaking out in the water… WAAAAYYYY out in the water.  The paddle out was so long compared to the near shore breaks of my home spot in LA.  I dropped onto the board, and started paddling.  and paddled… and paddled… and paddled!  I’m not great at judging distance, but the paddle out was so much longer than I was used to, my arms quickly took on the consistency of wet cement,  and flopped uselessly in the water.

The fact was, I was out of shape.  Although I worked out regularly, I had forsaken my surfing workout for a more traditional weight routine.  I looked OK, but my cardio ability was way low, and my paddling muscles had definitely atrophied from months out of the water.  By the time I made it out to the lineup, I was flat out exhausted.  I tried paddling for waves and literally could barely propel myself forward, let along catch anything.  After about an hour of this, I simply could not paddle any more.  I turned around and headed back in.  It took almost 30 minutes to get back to the shore!

Not a great experience, but still… I was back on a board, in the ocean, and honestly, it was heaven.  Hell, the first time out is always hard, and this was no different.  I resolved to use the rest of my trip to get back in surfing shape.  Since then, I’ve been doing tons of swimming and cardio exercise, and I hope when I hit my home break back in LA, I’ll at least be able to hold my own in the waves!  And there’s no better place in the world to brush up on swimming than Hawaii!

Which brings me to the final section of this rambling post… I’m now back on Big Island, Hawaii.  Big Island is where my wife is from, and after Oahu we headed here for the last leg of our trip, to visit the family.

Big Island is everything Oahu is not.  Rural, small  town, quiet, expansive…  Somehow, I formed a connection with this place the first time I ever set foot here, and it has felt like a second home ever since.  At first, I think the love I felt for this island was an extension of my love for my wife… after all, this was where she came from, and all the good and bad of her childhood was wrapped up in its lush green jungles and winding mountain roads.

But since then, I feel I’ve formed my own relationship with this place.  Something about this island speaks to me, makes me feel happy and relaxed and at peace.  My wife says there’s nothing to do here, and on the one hand, I can see she’s right… there are no clubs or fancy bars or giant hotels.  There aren’t even that many nice beaches!  And yet…

Yesterday I awoke to the salty sweet ocean breeze.  I snorkeled in a volcano heated tide pool, filled with water so warm you could bath an infant in it.  I swam with angelfish, parrot fish, even a small barracuda.  Then, I slipped into the ocean side, and swam across shallow reefs and deep blue sinkholes that plunged into the unknown abyss.  I kicked past uhu fish as big as the spread of my arms, and tiny neon fish no bigger than my finger, ablaze with yellow and violet stripes.  I saw eels slither across the undersea rocks, and fed a giant puffer fish scraps of bread, as it bobbed at the surface like an aquatic puppy dog.

I drove down a twisty jungle road, with a wall of lush green to my left, and the open sea to my left.  I saw slate grey water sliced into sheets of turquoise blue by jagged black rocks.  We hiked across a cooled lava field, and saw molten rock pour into the ocean like a river of orange fire, as a massive plume of white smoke filled the  sky.  Then, we drove home in darkness, through sudden rain and cool night wind.  Above, the stars filled the sky, unhindered by stifling city lights.

Then, dinner, beers, and sleep, lulled into a trance by the crashing ocean outside my window.  I don’t mean for this to sound like a travelogue.  I simply don’t have any other words to describe how this place makes me feel.  These experiences are important to me, they define a large part of me, a part I never want to lose.  as our trip winds to a close, I already wonder when I will be able to come here again.

But for right now, I’m back.

(PICTURES COMING SOON!)

Like many, but certainly not all, surfers (kook or otherwise) , my political leanings are pretty liberal. But in general, I want to keep politics out of this blog… In my opinion, most political arguments eventually break down into semantics and shouting matches, with neither side having any real hope of winning over the other. But after receiving the following email, I decided to make a post about it, and share the following with my readers…

Dear First Waves,

Oil shale extraction is a grave threat to wildlife, our public lands and our water.

Take action today and urge Congress to extend the moratorium on commercial oil shale development!

Drilling for oil and natural gas, and mining for coal has already taken a dramatic toll on our country’s public lands, wildlife habitat and natural resources.

Now, Congress is considering a proposal to end a moratorium on development of oil shale – a dangerous, new energy source which would threaten two million acres of America’s public lands!

Click here to urge Congress to oppose oil shale and support clean energy policies.

Technologies to develop oil shale can generate up to five times as much carbon dioxide as conventional gasoline production, a practice that would continue to fuel global warming – already the single greatest threat to our wildlife.

Here’s what else is at stake:

* Our water: Oil shale production will require upwards of 300 million gallons of water a day. This is a scarce resource we need for drinking, agriculture, livestock and wildlife.
* Our wildlife: Oil shale development would put at risk millions of acres of wildlife habitat, and increase the harmful impacts of global warming pollution for wildlife and their habitats.
* Our way of life: Preserving America’s public lands is an important part of our country’s conservation tradition. Oil shale development threatens to dramatically change the landscape of some of our most treasured places.

Congress is moving in the wrong direction to break America’s oil addiction.

Please ask your members of Congress to say “No” to oil shale and instead support clean energy policies that will protect our environment.

Thank you for speaking up!

To me, this is not a political issue. Anyone reading this blog is interested in surfing, after all, and surfing requires a safe, pollution free ocean to enjoy. Now, the long standing ban against off shore oil drilling is in danger of being lifted. Greedy oil barons and lobbyists are pushing this as a solution to the growing fuel crisis, even though it is well documented that less than 3% of the world’s oil supply is located within our borders.

Study after study shows that such drilling has massive long term effects on the surrounding environment, and would have no effect on current oil prices whatsoever. Please click the following link to send a message to your local government letting them know how important this issue is to you.

Do you want to surf in this? Click here to stop off shore drilling!

Our ocean waters are the blood of the human race… if we pollute them, we are poisoning ourselves, our children, and their future. Please don’t allow this to happen just so a few short sighted businessmen can justify another multi-million bonus package for themselves. Click the link below, it will literally take 5 minutes to help save our oceans. Thank you, and stay stoked!

http://ga3.org/campaign/drilling/

OK, as I said in my last entry, I had a bunch of surf firsts recently… so many in fact, that I needed two posts to cover them all. So after repairing my wetsuit (see last entry), I began preparations for the next day’s surf.

I planned to take out my new 9 Fish Fugu II for a spin. I had stuck with my 8ft. funboard for my surf lesson, but now I really wanted to see what a shorter, floatier epoxy fish would feel like. But first, I wanted to strip off all the cruddy old wax from its previous owner. Maybe it’s just a personal quirk of mine, but if my board’s gonna be covered in crusty, dirty wax, I want it to be MY crusty, dirty wax.

So on the to my next surfing first… cleaning off the wax from a board. Of course, having never done this before, I had no idea how to proceed. I read online that Sticky Bumps made a wax remover, but I didn’t have any on hand, and I really didn’t want to make another trip to the surf shop. I kept researching, and found a method that simply involved letting the boards lie in the sun for a few minutes (10 to be precise) then scraping off the wax with an old credit card. I put the Fish out side, set my oven timer for 10 minutes later, the took a cat nap on the sofa.

When the timer went off, I grabbed an old Comp USA card from my wallet (a useless card, seeing as the company went out of business) and started scraping… to my surprise and delight, the wax instantly lifted off the board. It was practically liquid! I was prepared for an all afternoon endeavor, but within ten minutes, the majority of the wax was gone! I spayed on a little “green” cleaner and wiped up the remaining residue, then hosed off the board to spray off any remaining cleaner or wax particles. Then, I wiped the board dry, brought it back in the house, and went about the rest of my day.

The next morning, I strapped the fugu to my car rack, and headed for the beach. Since this would be the first board I ever surfed after my 8 footer, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. But I figured, what the hell! It’s not like I was an expert on the other board, so how much worse could it be?

Click Here!

I waxed it up with some eco-friendly Green Surf wax, strapped on my Wave Tribe leash, and hit the water. I was expecting a paddle battle to get out to the line up, since the board was a good foot and a half shorter than what I was used to. But the thick fish shape and the buoyant epoxy seemed to make up for the shorter length. I had a little bit of trouble finding trim, but once that was settled, the board paddled great… I made it out no problem, found my balance point, and sat proudly on my new shorter fish board!

I even caught a wave that first day! Of course, I fell off again after a few seconds, but that always happened on my other board as well. And the 6′4 Fugu is SO much easier to carry around, maneuver, and store. All in all, I am definitely glad I found this board on craig’s list. I’ve been out on it one more time since then, and it just feels more comfortable to me right now. I’ll keep the funboard for small days, or for friends who want to try it out, but I plan to focus on this board for a while now.

When I got home, I used the sun/credit card trick and cleaned off the old funboard, wiped it dry, and put it in my Wave Tribe board bag to store. Man, somehow the board looks even bigger when you see it wrapped in a giant blue padded bag!

So, to sum up, the remainder of my surfing firsts were:

1. First time cleaning wax off a board

2. First time surfing a new board period!

3. First time on an epoxy board.

All in all, I feel like I learned a lot this weekend. I still may not be a great surfer, but I feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and the goal is slightly closer, just coming in to sight. Did any readers out there have any interesting surf experiences recently? Any good first time stories? Please leave some comments and let me know! Stay stoked!

First times are always special. I’m proud to say, my first time was with my wife… first time surfing that is! She took me to a beach by her old stomping grounds in Oahu. I rented a board, her friends gave me some pointers, and a few months later I was hooked! But that’s a whole ‘nother story.

This weekend was also full of surfing firsts for me. So many, in fact, that I’m going to have to write a couple posts to cover them all! So, first things first, I’d like to review my first ever surfing lesson with Momentum Surf.

I was a little unsure when I booked my surfing lesson last week. I’d read both pros and cons about taking lessons. Some felt that surfing was inherently something you just had to “get” on your own, while others were adamant that beginners should start off with a lesson right away, so they wouldn’t build up bad habits. The only thing I could really compare it to in my own life was skiing. I never took a ski lesson, I learned by falling about 150 times in one day, and then the next day I just picked it up. But so far, surfing seemed a lot harder, and I figured anything that might speed up my improvement was worth a try.

So, when the weekend came, I loaded up my board and my wife’s bike, and hit Manhattan Beach, where my instructor said he’d meet me. My wife hit the bike trail, and Mark and I made our way to the beach. Mark was definitely not what I expected… he was only 22 years old, but very eloquent and driven. As it turns out, Momentum is his company, and I have to say, I was quite impressed that someone so young could build such an enterprise from the ground up. He taught himself surfboard construction, clothing design, and business marketing all before most people even graduate college!

As for the lesson itself, my feelings are mixed. I had previously told Mark about my surfing experiences, and where I felt I needed to focus. Unfortunately, most of his lesson seemed geared to a true first time beginner… someone who’d never been on a board at all and was just starting out. Paddling techniques, tips for getting past the white-water… these are all important skills, but honestly I was hoping for instruction that was bit more intermediate in nature.

I did get two good tips from him. When he watched my pop-up technique, he said it was good, but that I was too far forward on the board. This would make the board harder to control and less stable. Also, he said I was popping up too early… I need to let gravity start to take me down each wave before standing up, which would allow me to build up speed, and again, get more stable. As he explained it, it was like skateboarding, or riding a bike… the faster you go, the more stable you are, and the easier it is to balance.

The remainder of the lesson mostly consisted of us surfing. He would give me some tips and critique my performance, but that was about it. All in all, I’m glad I did it, but I don’t think I would take another lesson. I think for the money spent, I’d be better off saving up and applying it to a small surf trip somewhere so I can get more practice. That being said, however, if I was truly just starting out surfing, with no experience whatsoever, I think it would be much more helpful and instructive, and would be good for getting a total dry behind the ears newbie off on the right foot.

Without a doubt, the highlight of the lesson was that I got to surf next to a seal! I heard someone say “Hey look…” I turned where they were pointing, and sure enough, a furry snout was poking out of the wave face, looking around at all the strange creatures surfing around it. The weirdest thing was, it really reminded me of my dog, a dachshund, waiting at home! I had to fight the urge to swim over and pet it! Here are some pictures.. note the similarities!

My dachshund...

Cute seal...

The resemblance is uncanny!

At any rate, if that was the high point, the low point was getting caught in a close out wave that smashed down on top of me like a ton of bricks. I felt my board rake across my legs and bump my head as I spun in the swirling water. Coming up for air, I felt a tiny cut on my knee, but it seemed like no big deal. I paddled back out, and waited in the line up. A few minutes later, I noticed another gash lower on my leg… the big fin on the board had sliced right through the wetsuit, and cut my leg underneath! Surprisingly, I hadn’t even felt it!

Well, when I’m surfing I try not to think about the “S” word… sharks. But with seals in the water, and me bleeding, I figured it was time to go. I said my good byes to Mark, and paddled in, already bummed about buying another wetsuit. I’d been thinking about getting a 4:3 West wetsuit, for surfing colder waters… Now I’d just have to put that on hold and replace my 3:2.

Wait a sec, I thought to myself… The truly green, eco-friendly thing to do would be to just fix this one. I researched wetsuit repair online, and discovered that with a needle and thread, and some handy dandy neoprene cement (available from your local surf shop) I could fix the tear. I hopped in my car, jetted off to Val Surf in Valley village, and picked up a bottle of the black, rubbery goop. I sewed up the tear, slathered on the cement, and a couple hours later my suit was good as new, albeit with an ugly black bump on the leg.

Stash this in your surf kit!

Whew! What a busy morning! So the grand tally of surf firsts for Saturday were:

1. First time surfing Manhattan Beach

2. First surf lesson

3. First time in the water with a seal

4. First time repairing a wetsuit

That’s a pretty full day, but there was still more to come… stay tuned for part 2!

As my faithful readers (if there are any!) have no doubt realized, most of my posts revolve around either accounts of my surfing experiences, or my thoughts and reviews of websites that relate to surfing. Well, this post is neither. A couple interesting things are happening in my own private surfing world, and I just wanted to share my stoke with you all…

The first little tidbit is that this Saturday, in true kook fashion, I will be actually be taking a surfing lesson! I had debated trying this for a while, but the fact is, most of my friends don’t surf, and I would really like some feedback from someone more experienced than me on what mistakes I might be making, bad habits to break, etc. Plus, I figured a review of the lesson would make a great topic for this blog, so keep your eyes open for a review next week. The place I’m taking lessons from is called Momentum Surf… they make boards and clothing as well, apparently, thought it seems like they are in the early stages of production. So far they have been very friendly and professional in setting this all up, so take a look at their website if you’re interested, via the link below

Click the logo!

OK, now on to cool update number 2… despite being a total kook, and not really capable of riding this yet, I found a killer deal on craig’s list for a used quad fin epoxy fish, a Fugu II from 9 Fish. Because the waves break so fast and steep at my normal spot, I’d been thinking about trying a smaller board, with a little less nose to get in the way. I thought a fish might be a good choice, since the wider, thicker body would hopefully be easier to paddle than a razor-thin shortboard.

The company who made it, 9 Fish, is an interesting group who only make fish boards. (for those who don’t know, a “fish” is a short, fat board that is good for smaller waves. It’s a retro style that’s been making a big comeback). Here’s a picture of the model I got. Of course, mine is used, so imagine it way more beat up and covered in dirty old wax…

Click to visit 9 Fish!

My plans is to scrape off all the old wax on Saturday afternoon, after my lesson. Then, I’ll slap on a fresh coat of organic Green Surf wax, take it down to my spot and see how I do on it… I’m not expecting to be able to ride it, but I’m curious to see how it paddles, and whether I can get it out to the lineup. I’ll let you all know how it goes!

Sorry it’s been a while since my last post. My last few surf sessions have been fun, but not really noteworthy per se. Yesterday, the waves were kind of strange. They were either totally weak and powerless, or really fast breaking, steep walls that closed out almost instantly. Whenever I would catch one, I would pop up, ride for a couple seconds, then suddenly feel the world drop out from under me, as my board pointed straight down the face of the wave and I went flying!

At first I assumed this was just me, and my general kook-i-ness, but the two guys I were surfing with both reported the same experience. Of course, unlike me, they were able to squeeze some nice rides out of the smaller waves, while I just continued practicing my funboard pole vaulting technique.

However, one positive note I have noticed, is that my paddling seems to be getting stronger and stronger. I can actually make my way out past smallish waves, whereas before I pretty much had to wait until it was flat to get out. As I mentioned in an older post, I recently adjusted my workout to focus on surfing related muscles, and so far, it seems to be helping.

The number one tip I got on paddling came from a book called “The Art of Surfing” by Raul Guisado. According to Mr. Guisado, the main muscles used in paddling are actually the lattisumus dorsi, or your upper back. According to his book, you not only need to develop these muscles, which I have been working on with exercises such as pull ups, and bent over dumbbell row, but you also have to make sure you are relaxing your shoulder muscles when you paddle. If your shoulders are tensed, they wind up doing more of the work, which is less efficient.

I don’t know how true this all is, but it seemed to help me when I tried it. Relaxing the shoulders alone made a huge difference for me, and really allowed me to keep paddling around out there longer than before. If anyone else out there has any tips or suggestions for paddling, please share here!

One more note, my new travel bag from Wave Tribe is due to arrive here Monday… the guys at the Tribe have been super communicative and friendly so far via email, and I’m looking forward to reviewing their product. Till then, hope everyone enjoys their surfing!

Good morning all… I don’t want to offend anyone, but I stumbled across this on the web, and it gave me a pretty good laugh, so I figured I’d share… and it does feature surfing! I guess it’s an ad for a new rash guard or wetsuit top. Well, like they say, sex sells! Check it out… (Definitely not work or kid safe!)

Click here to check it out!

Ahh, what a beautiful weekend! After a Saturday afternoon spent recovering from a friend’s wedding, (and our associated hangovers) my wife picked up a sweet used mongoose bicycle at a local bike shop. So, Sunday morning I loaded up the board and hit the road once again, and this time, she came with me!

As I fought my way out to the lineup, she cruised up and down the boardwalk. You know, Los Angeles may have its share of problems, but I have to admit, mornings like that make it all worthwhile!

The surf was small that day, but as usual, it still seemed like a hell of a fight to get out! I can already see what my problem is… despite my best efforts and some good experiences, I think I’m still a bit spooked from my N.D.E. (Near Drowning Experience). I’m not charging the waves aggressively enough, and I’m not using the techniques at my disposal to get out there past the white water. I need to practice turning turtle until it becomes second nature.

Action Item: Turtle Practice!

As I’ve mentioned before, part of my surfing workout is practicing pop-ups, and it really has helped! I used to hesitate a lot before trying to pop-up, and here in LA, you really don’t have too much time to get up before the wave closes out on you (at least, not at the beach I usually go to…) So, everyday, I practice popping up on my living room floor 8 times. It may look silly, but after several weeks, it’s becoming built into my muscle memory, and now I notice myself getting up much faster on my board.

I need to do the same thing with turning turtle, and other methods for getting through the waves… I need to cut down on my hesitation time, and use those extra seconds to get myself out there. I’ll keep working on it, and let you know how it goes!

As far as the rest of Sunday went, I had two bona-fide rides… granted, they were tiny little waves, but they were still waves, and I was standing, and riding! The second one was pretty sloppy… my trim was so off that the board was actually about an inch underwater! But hell, it was moving, and I was on top of it, so I say it counts!

I’m hoping to get a full three days in of surfing this weekend, so hopefully I’ll have more progress to report. In the meantime, thank you so much for stopping by, and I really appreciate your comments! They keep me motivated in both my surfing and my writing.  Which, really, are the two main reasons I started this blog, so please keep ‘em coming! Stay stoked!

So, today, family obligations have kept me out of the water, but I wanted to take a few minutes to highlight another website I really enjoy, www.wavetribe.com.

Wave Tribe is a company that sells eco-friendly surf products, from organic / recycled material board bags, to leashes made from recycled plastic. I own one of their leashes, and I’ve recently ordered their travel bag for my funboard, as I’m hoping to do some surf travel later in the year. The leash is truly a top notch product, much sturdier and tougher looking than my XM leash. I’ll review the boardbag when it arrives, but reviews on the web have been very positive!

But even more importantly, the guys and girls who run Wave Tribe just seem like genuinely nice, cool people. I received an email from their PR person when I signed up for their email bulletins that was so friendly and welcoming, it really made me stop and take notice. Since then, I have asked questions, inquired about products, and placed some orders, and every step of the way their correspondence has been helpful, friendly, and sincere… it feels more like you’re dealing with a cool surfer guy your buddy knows who’s hooking you up than some faceless San Diego warehouse or something. Their website also contains some great surf footage, amusing videos of road trips to Baja, California, and even Canada… even a healthy little dose of cheesecake!

So please, take a minute to click the link below! Check out their site, watch some cool surf action, and who knows? You may walk away with a board bag or a T-Shirt or two. Let me know if you like their stuff! Again, I don’t work for these guys, or have an affiliate connection or anything… I just appreciate their products and their philosophy, and would love to see them do well and continue to offer a greener alternative to traditional surf gear!

Click the logo!

I wasn’t really sure what people would think of this blog when I first started it. After all, the whole point of the thing was that I don’t really know what I’m doing. The last thing I wanted to do was try to fake being a “real surfer” or spout off advice about something I was still learning myself. Maybe no one would be interested in hearing what it’s like to be kook, or a beginner?

But so far, judging by the numbers, there’s alot of beginners out there like me, or at least people who enjoy reading about the experience. The way I see it, its great to read about 20 foot pipe in Hawaii, and watch videos of pro-surfers bouncing off waves like flying saucers. But it’s also cool to realize that there are other newbies out there having a hard time standing up, or even making it to the line up.

Everyone was a beginner at something at some point, so please feel free to read about my mishaps and misadventures, and chuckle a bit as I continue on my journey. After all, the journey is far more imporant than the destination. And I plan to enjoy myself as I continue working on my writing, working on my surfing, and sharing my tales with others.

I just wanted to take a few minutes to write a quick post, and say “Thank you” to everyone who has stopped by. If you enjoyed what you read, please pass the word, and leave a comment or two! I’d love to hear some other beginner’s stories as well, or even advice from some old pros! See you all in the water!