Kooking It UP!: Small Bits

I love dawn patrols. Waking up early, driving alone on an empty, dark highway, listening to the WTF Podcast while sipping on some warm brew. My favorite early morning drive is making my way up on the 17 on a cold morning, heater half way up. I remember last year and the sheer nervousness before a big swell, wondering in the darkness if I'm up to it or not. I guess I just love the alone time. I'm in the "helping others" industry, and I take on a lot of other people's burden, so alone time is always a blessing.

Over the last few weeks, the surf has been pretty small. The tides haven't helped either. The tides have either been too high for any type of small swell to show it self or too drained for the sand bars to do their business. I've really tried to be positive during the last week and a half around the smallness, trying to figure out a way to learn at least something new and gain some type of wisdom from it.

One of the the things I have been working on in the drained out afternoons is trying to catch waves early and leaning into closeouts. Linda Mar and Montara have plenty of them when it's drained. I know it sounds hilarious, but I've been trying to practice tucking into mini closeouts, getting really close to the small walls, grabbing rail and tucking in. I'm hoping this will be good practice when the walls get steep and hopefully it will help me get used to holding my own in a real barrel. I've also been working on keeping my eyes open in close outs, getting my body fully shacked and keeping my footing for as long as possible. Please don't snicker, I know it sounds funny, but I have to work on something of use...

When I was younger and living near a beach break called "Magic Sands" on the Big Island, that's all we used to do on our boogie boards. We would catch a wave, pop up and stand on our boogies and get clobbered by 4 foot (Hawaiian sized), closed out beach break. We would get pounded to oblivion, but we would come out, my brother and I , give eachother a hi-five and paddle back out for more. So I guess getting clobbered by shitty beach break isn't new to me, it's just now I'm on a surf board.

Panama Red and I surfed a spot just north of Santa Cruz. It was epically... small. But I guess it was good that it was small because the Panamanian and I had a lot of catching up to do. Lots of good conversation with one of my best and most trusted buds. He caught a few small ones. I think I only caught two in three hours. But I wasn't dissappointed at all. It was a beautiful day and I was able to get some fantastic pictures. The water was really clear and we watched a grey harbor seal swim slowly under our boards. It was utterly breath taking.

Dawn Patrol. 3 Mile in the distance.

I also busted out the GoPro and caught some great footage. Being that there was no one really out but us, I was able to get in good position and get some good footage of the Panamanian. Check it out:

Just... Real Quick. from Kookingitup on Vimeo.

But being that I didn't catch much waves, I had to get my stoke elsewhere. So I headed up north on the One, checked out a couple spots and ended up doing a session at Montara and Linda Mar. The one thing I really love about both spots is that if you really have a lot of patience and calm your frustration, you can find some nuggets. And also, wether it's shitty or not, there is always going to be some type of catchable wave.

Panama Red on one.

During my sesh at Linda Mar, I did my own thing. I try to find the open spaces between the clusters. I wait and wait, practice patience and being present. Why? Cuz usually waves will shift from one spot to another, especially on swing tides when a little bump in the sand becomes irrelevant because of the tides and another becomes surfable. I'm able to stay in my spot alone for a while when the waves come up, but after 15 minutes of catching some decent closeouts (if there is one) the herds usually rush in. And for some reason, there is this one dude on a fun board that always surfs the same time as me and follows me everywhere! I swear I could be 100 yards away from him and he'll spot me, paddle over and sit right next to me. I try to paddle (run if I have to) away from him, but like a shadow, he just keeps on following me, trying to snake everything I paddle for. I always end up giving him the "turn my board and paddle" routine, and he falls for it, but then he paddles back, following me up and down the beach (excuse me why I vent my frustration. LOL)

On a positive note, it looks like we'll be having some decent size swell for the next few weeks. The ASP will be starting up at The Lane. And a three day weekend is on the horizon. Plus, my best friend is moving to San Diego! Never again will I have to sleep in my car when I drive south for some waves. Cheers to that!