Salsipuede

I made this short a few years back.  I think in 2013.  Never got around to sending it to film festivals like I planned.  But it brought back a lot of pure feelings of good along with great memories.  I filmed and edited this in 2013 while traveling from San Diego, down Baja, to Sayulita/ Punta Mida in Mainland Mexico.

Salsipuede from Kookingitup on Vimeo.

Until Next Time El Niño

5-8ft Please?

My wife says I always complain.  "Not enough waves".  "Waves are too small".  "Waves were inconsistent".  "Water is too cold".  Yeah, I complain a lot.  And I have a gripe with El Nino:

Dear El Nino (or boy which ever you choose):

Come on kid, another big fucking swell?  Tell you the truth, I've paddled out in all of your swells this winter, and I've got accustomed to them, but I'm a proletariat surfer, not a pro.  And for every one of your waves that I catch, I get ten of them on the head, thrown to the bottom or I'm yell at your waves  to "Break damn it!!!" But that doesn't help because they somehow always find the top of my head.  I'm almost 40, and my levels of testosterone are pretty leveled out.  All I'm looking for is a fun filled three days here and there.  If I sound defensive, kid, I'm sorry.  But I've sort of had it up to here with all your shitty tantrums.  And half of your big ass swells have been junk anyway.  Sorry to be so harsh, but I have my reasons.  Maybe it's just been a bad week (It's been a really bad fucking week, kid).  Or maybe it's just my lower back which doesn't want to heal, but fuck, can we just get a swell that is 5-8ft?

Sincerely,

B.D.

Pusoy Dos and Waves

"Pusoy Dos".  It's a Filipino card game us kids played during family gatherings when all the adults were either praying and saying their Hail Mary's, gossiping about the neighbors (or each other) or Karaoking the night away.  As we grew up, this game grew up with us.  Now days, Filipino and Island kids forgot all about this game and settle for their iphones filled with Mindcraft, Facebook and Instagram to suffice their boredom.  But not us "Manongs".  It's in our blood and D.N.A.

At our south of the border "home away from home", in between surfing, eating Lumpia and Pancit, talking story and surfing, a mad Pusoy Dos game was brewing.  The phrase "Daly City High School" was chanted often and the Two of Diamonds was secretly being held in between all of the pairs, straights and full houses.  The rookies came to play, and by the end of the trip, they were holding their own with us seasoned Manongs.

But when we needed to surf, there were plenty of waves and not much of a crowd.  And being that it is February, the water was warm, warm enough to watch a person at the northern peak surf in board shorts while the Santa Ana Winds blew just enough heat to make it a good eighty degrees with spitting off shore winds.  That surf though, speaking in Pusoy Dos terms, was a Two of Diamonds.

Sequence #1, but no cigar: 

I would love to say it happened, but as them haters call it:  "GoPro or never happened".

Steve aka "Herny Herny":

Herny about to make some poor soul pay for not paddling into the wash.

Herny talked about this kook the entire trip.

Herny going short board.

Herny snatching my wave.  On our first wave of the trip, we shared a good one all the way to the Jetty.

Yours truly fully edited and filtered: 

High on green.

Images can be deceptive.

Twins:

Herny on a cutback.

BD on a cutback.

Extras:

That's defined as a "set".

BD trying to make it happen.

Score.

Relaxed to the max.

Herny going for it.

Even the boogies got their's!

Photo credit goes to my wife.  She eat a lot of free la plancha camarone tacos on this trip.

Final Thoughts:

Last but not least, we learn a lot of cool things on each surf trip, whether its a new spot on the wave to draw a line on or a new placement of our heal to put on the board to make our turns more sharp.  But on this trip I learned the most endearing term, of love and respect:  "Jaat Khali".  Yeah, man.  It's deep.  Thanks Shaffey!

El Niño Don't Play! Snaps from the Janurary 29, 2016 Swell

Danny documenting.  Check out his snaps at OceanFreshPhoto on instagram. 

The waves during the end of this week and on into Saturday were perfectly big for San Diego beaches.  There was a good mix of it too, filling in both the reefs and beaches with plenty of waves and remarkably minimal lulls.  As I post this, 60 knot winds are trying to tear down the palm trees in front of my window.  Luckily, I was able to get in some good waves and pictures yesterday and the day before.

First Spot, Friday 1.29.2016

Pulled up and saw O.G. Eric dressing up on the sidewalk.  He got it good before it got a bit unruly.  The swell appeared to be picking up steam every half hour.  I decided to snap a few before driving to my favorite when it gets big.

When you see this wave breaking, you know you it has surpassed the "it's about to get real stage".

 

Second spot, Friday 1.29.2016. 

I drove by the vista and saw it perfectly breaking a California 10 feet plus.  I got out of my car, put on my gear and paddled out on my JS.  It took me two attempts to paddle out before I got some advice from an old timer standing at the life guard tower who watched me get washed way too south on my first attempt. I stayed out long enough to dodge a couple stacked sets, catch three waves (two being mighty fine grinders) before getting washed in on what I consider a "mega" set. 

Lots of calling out "Going right!" in the lineup during sets.  Guess the first guy was deaf. 

Tudor held a clinic on this day. 

Tudor on another.

Tudor on a turn.

Tudor banking high.

Lucky guy.

That moment where you hope it doesn't explode in the impact zone because the paddle back is going to suck.

There were a lot of great "inbetween'ers" if you had the ability to hold your ground on the bigger sets.  

Another great inbetween'er.  

Peanut Gallery.  Well worth the $10 to park and watch. 

Third Spot, Friday 1.29.2016. 

The swell was maxing out, and to be honest, way beyond this proletariat's ability. But I had my camera, and that's the second best thing to do when it gets too big.  I watched the waves and sun go down with a Florida mate.  He was only down for  a week and this was way beyond him too.  We watched the current sweep south, and a couple guys paddling out with it. He was still pretty happy to watch the A+ crew do their thing.  And there were a lot of "makes" when we were spectating.  Pretty amazing considering the unruly conditions of the swell and the degree of difficulty to make it happen.

Props to this guy charging.  You get more respect for the wipe outs than the makes sometimes. 

The Rail Birds.

 Saturday, 1.20.2016.

Me and Danny decided to take some snaps at our local beach break.   Danny showed me a couple nooks.  Beautiful views and lots of mud on the trail.  The mud got us, but we came out with some awesome captures anyway.

Check out this sequence:

I saw him get covered for about four seconds...

Then his board showed up...

Made.

Shakas to El Niño for sending us yet another damn good swell!