We heart Baja

Contrary to what a high ranking political orange man says, Mexico is quite the place to be (and always was and will be).

She does not appear to be a "shithole" to us...

 Politics aside, the waves were kind...

We even discovered a charted, but uncharted spot...

We grabbed some beer at a local micro brewery...

Got a seven pound yellow tail for $20...

Our little Buddha discovered a Mexican Ark...

Little Buddha spent time with his San Diego Lolo...

And we drank some Sangria and wine high above what once was an awesome spot one could drive down to, but could only leave if one could...

And we started a not so cool, and pretty lame surf gang...

Mexico we love you not matter what a fat orange idiot says (and all the rest of the countries he calls names, even Norway).  And we love Mana and Natalia Lafourcade too.  Love love love them!

Baja

The Home Deeps boys first taste of some south of the border winter swell.

2016 - Year End Review

Hello All,

It's been a minute, hasn't it?  I haven't posted in quite a while.  I hope you all are doing well, getting spitted out of barrels and yelling "Gnarly!" when you see a friend take a big wipeout.  As for me?  Well, I'm still surfing. I'm still here in S.D., still enjoying that SoCal sun, heading back north occasionally, and trying to stay out of the mischief of life.    This year has had it's ups and downs both in the surfing realm, life and from a political standpoint.  But as long as we are still breathing in oxygen, seeing blue sky over a blue ocean, saying hello to new and old friends, laughing and holding the ones we love close...  I'd say were are good. 

One really cool joy that came out of 2016 is my wife and I are expecting our first child!  We both are so stoked about it!  And in no other time in my life would I have ever thought I would say this:  I am more than ready to become a father.  One thing is certain, I may not be a kook at surfing anymore,  but I sure will be a kook at being a dad!  Let the "learning moments" begin once again! (As if they don't occur everyday ;) 

As for 2016, as I always do, here are the spots I surfed:

Scripp's (Home Break): 35
Black's: 13
S. Bird (Summer Break): 13
Sewer Lines: 10
Gaviotas: 7
Shores: 6
Henneman's: 4
Cardiff: 4 (surfed with Gerry Lopez one of those days)
Hairmos: 4
San Miguel: 4
Marine Street: 4 (Summer body surfing)
N. Garbage: 2
Luscombs: 2
Uppers: 2
K58: 2
Del Mar
San Onofre
Chasms
N. Break
San Francisco Ocean Beach
Hospital's
Ab's
4 Mile
The Hook

Total sessions:  121

This is down from what I surfed in 2015 (178 sessions).  Honestly, I have been more picky when it comes to sessions.  I only really surf when it's at least chest high.  If I'm not seeing it on the buoys, I do something else (like work.  LOL).  

Here are the boards I used:

M-10:  15 times
Webber: 34 times
Sunset: 16 times
JS:  43 times
Vader:  1 time

Here were the days I was out due to illness or injury: 

Lower Back:  14 days
Influenza:  3 days
Sinus infections:  9 days

December and January were really bad months for surf.  Here in San Diego, it has been either flat or pouring down rain.  Pretty miserable winter so far, besides November.  But November doesn't count, because that was fall...

Recently, me and a couple friends took a trip out to Mexico and had a great time.  We surfed San Mig's on a pretty damn good day:

My homey Serg caught the best wave of the trip with this one.  Such a nugget!

Napo, throwing down the man turn at his homebreak.

Good times are coming...

Green Room time.

I hope all of you had a great 2016!  Here is to an awesome 2017.  Drop a line below and let me know how goes in the comments section.

Your Homeboy,

B.D.

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!