2015 Year End Review

First wave of 2016

2015 has come and passed.  It was a strange year for me.  It started off with my father passing away, and then attending his funeral on my birthday.  Losing my Dad was pretty hard.  And the funny thing about it was that we were quarreling for years, not talking much as some sons as fathers do.  But I hold no regret about our relationship, it's just how it was meant to be.  He was a big Star Wars fan though, and one of the things he passed on to me was the love for it.  And for some reason, I knew he was there watching Episode VII with me on opening night.

Here's to my "Pop's" and his Teva's, his adventures and his odd ways of showing love.

Best day ever:

Comic Con 2015.  Our Friday at Hall H ending with the Lucas Film Panel and the Star Wars Concert For Fans.  Just epic!

 Best week of the year:

5 days in London from Kookingitup on Vimeo.

Time spent across the pond with my wife.  For me at least, vacations I figure should be time spent away from the Ocean.  I surf a lot now days so traveling to surf for vacation seems to be a bit much.  So instead of heading to Hawaii or Costa Rica, we spent five days in London and another four days in Amsterdam.  Both cities were awesome!  And I got to cross Abby Road!  And no, I did not eat the Space Cake or smoke the doobs in a cafe!

Dutch Herrings. My favorite dish from this trip.

Jackets required.  Miss that.

Best wave of the year:

The Force Awakened... Well sort of... from Kookingitup on Vimeo.

It wasn't THE best wave of the year, but I got it on my GoPro.

So as I do each year, below are my surf stats: 

Honestly, I'm a pretty full fledged Southern California surfer now.  I like wearing my 3/2 in the Winters and trunks in the Summer.  I'm really not into waves bigger than ten feet, and my favorite move is a elongated round house cutback.  I don't even think I surfed in NorCal last year.  It's not that I have something against NorCal, that is my home by birth, where I lived most of my life, but I just never got around to it for a lot of different reasons when I was up.  But I'm owning up to it now, because I love San Diego, the community of surfers that I surf with everyday and the breaks that we surf. 

Sessions surfed:  178

Spots surfed:

Scripps (Home break):  49
Blacks (sort of home):   26
Bird Rock (Summer home):  25
N. Garbage:  10
Hairmos:  7
Teresa's:  7 (And for those that do not know, we lost Tacho in 2015, famous for his fish taco's directly in front of this break.  One of the first men to welcome me as a weekend Baja surfer.  Rest In Peace Tacho.)

Sewer Lines:  7
San Miguel:  6
Swami's:  5
Gaviotas:  5
Luscumbs: 5
Delmar:  4
K38: 4
Rock slides: 3
Grandview: 3
Law Street: 2
Ponto: 2
Los Cerritos: 2
Uppers: 1
Cottons: 1
Mission Beach: 1
Bunkers: 1
O-side: 1
PB: 1

Boards surfed:

Webber: 69
Sunset: 32
JS: 26
Vader: 10
M-10: 8
Wavestorm: 1

Even though 2015 started pretty rough, it turned out to be a pretty good year.  I learned a lot about myself, learned more as a surfer, gained more wisdom as a waterman, and finally understood that paddling out solo is probably the better choice.  2016 already started off great, and it will continue to be a great year.  I just hope that I learn how to be a better person, gain more compassion, be a better husband, and make a dent for the good.  That's all I can ask for and the rest is just gravy.

Third wave of 2016.  Gravy I tell you!  Gravy!

If your into it, here are my year end reviews from the past:

2013
2014