Random Thoughts

There is something so beautiful about being in the curl while riding an overhead wave.  From the curl that forms above our head to the tug of power grabbing on to our leashes, helping us stay within the most powerful part of the wave.  Plenty of this was going on during the last south swell.  There are always these mental snapshots that stay with me for weeks upon months after great sessions.  One of those moments remain from a year ago last winter when I claimed this epic overhead wave at Sewers.  Pure glass and tranquility while the sun shined through that hollow piece of heaven.  And during the last swell, an epic wave from "First" that took me past the "Cove" will be put on the top shelf of my Hippocampus for years to come.  From what I seen to what I heard, to how it felt, the visceral re-experiencing of that moment will keep me from experiencing Nirvana for lifetimes to come.

While we are on the subject of moments that we will hold on to for a lifetime, Swayze got a gash on his fore head so deep that he needed 12 stitches to put it back together.  Yeah, a scar may form there, and every time he looks in the mirror, he'll probably remember that moment as he went head first off the cliffs of a four foot wave at Beacon's in Encinitas.  But then again, anytime he meets a cute girl and she asks "How did you get that scar?"  he can always reply "Surfing." 

I don't know if your like me, but when I see a full moon forming over a week, I try to get as much sleep as possible.  During the span of the full moon cycle, I will be up all night watching taped recordings of Conan O'Brien and Fresh Prince of Bel Air.  But the negative tides that the full moon brings is the trade off.

This sticker reminded of some bad etiquette that produced some uncomfortable heckling in Santa Cruz during the last swell.  A lot of hollering and splashing of water was going down as people dropped in on each other endlessly that day.  I didn't understand why there was so much bad etiquette going down as the conductor was providing endless mountains of water for everybody to enjoy.  One guy just couldn't control his rudder as he paddled into everybody's wave, especially into waves that "the crew" were on.  I ran into another "Beach" guy who was down for the day, and we discussed this matter during lulls.  He brought up a good point that went something like this, "There aren't much waves during spring and summer and when there are, imagine the whole world trying to play in your backyard and you have to get in line to play on your own swing".  I guess I understood it before, but now I got it.  But damn, I felt a lot of empathy for all those getting ran out of the water that day.

Balance

I've been reading this great book that was recommended by fellow Kiwi Hippie Amal.  The name of the book is "In Search Of Captain Zero" by Allan Weisbecker.  There was this great paragraph that aligned with my thoughts and feelings at that present moment and it goes like this:

"In front of me stood the woman I loved, and all she implied; at my back the ocean, another She, and also a focus of my sensuality and deepest desires.  Two profound, implacable forces of nature vying for the nod of total commitment, mutually exclusive in their coveting of my attention".

Over the last six months or so, I have been trying to find a balance between the love of my life (Wife), my friends (Kiwis) and the other love of my life (the Ocean).  I think it's a difficult thing that all us surfers struggle with on a daily basis.  I can't imagine how difficult it would be to have children.  I know if I had children, surfing would probably have to take the back seat until my kekai's were old enough to play in the ocean and learn how to surf.  Balance I guess is hard enough in life, but when you add the love of the ocean, going down the line, hugging the lip and dropping in blindly as the offshore winds fill water in your eyes, balance becomes a high wire act. 

I talked to one of my best buds, The Duck, who is ten years younger then me and single. He struggles with it all the time.  Trying to balance dating and surfing, trying to find that one sexy lady who will allow him to surf on a daily basis, no questions asked.  I advise him to find a lady who loves the ocean and surfs.  But we agreed, finding a woman that surfs and understands how our knees buckle every time an "8 feet @ 20 seconds" type swell dances on to our shores is a one in a million thing.  And to find a woman (let alone anyone) who understands what "8 feet @ 20 seconds" means is like filling an inside straight on the river.  The odds are pretty stacked.  

The Duck and I, glad to have you back brotha.  Surfer girls, he's single. 

There is this other excerpt that I love in "Captain Zero":  "So Denise was stuck on the shadeless, foul smelling, fish crud-encrusted little vessel while the rest of us surfed.  Twenty minutes into the session I paddled back to the boat to be with her...  'No, go ride your waves,' she said when she realized why I'd cut my session short.  She turned her sweet, easy smile from me to the horizon.  'I love just being out here.'  Flies buzzed, her sweat ran in rivulets in the gathering swelter.  'And I love watching you surf".

"Perfecting the cutback" has been a thrill so far, but it had quiet the impact on my marriage.  After the first six months of this grand new adventure, that  feeling of early effervescence drifted off between us and the darling of my life wanted to make sure I was more committed to her then her sultry, wet competitor.  And to prove my love, which I was and will always do, I took a step back and recommitted more time to my wife, which in the end was the best choice. 

Give up a little and maybe get a little more?

As months rolled on, and as I continued to openly provide consistent commitment to our marriage, my wife let me surf more.  She even started coming out and watching me.  She has even inclined to go so far as to taking some great pictures and videos of my surfing, learning more about the ocean, and even critiquing my technique.  "You have to swing your arms first before you try and cut back, watch how Kelly did it at Bells back in April" she said once.  She has grown a great affinity in watching ASP contests with me as I stream them on to our T.V. screen.  She even said once before when I went out to surf 4 mile, "Let's go have lunch, too much water, give it an hour".  


My wife shot this video when I went back home.  She's become quite the talent.

To her credit, my Darling can't swim a lick but she'll get as close to the ocean as possible to get a great shot.  And she recently told me she knew what she was getting into when she said "Yes" five years ago.  I asked her on the Big Island while visiting and introducing her to my family, especially to my favorite Auntie Leo (who cooks the most ono Lau Lau).  She knew, as a Hawaiian boy, even before I knew how to surf, that she was always going to have to share me with Big Blue.  And I'm thankful.  I filled my inside straight against all odds.

My Darling trying to figure out what all the fuss is about.

Then there was January 19, 2013, the most epic of epic days to ever happen at Ocean Beach.  I like to buy my tickets refundable just in case a "can't miss swell" sneaks in.  And everything said that swell was a can't miss.  We all knew it when Mavericks was called that Thursday.  But I ignored all the pub, avoided looking at any of the buoy readings (it was very difficult) and boarded that plane to Portland on that Friday.  Did I regret missing probably the greatest swell to ever hit Ocean Beach in years?  A little.  But then again, not really,  I probably wouldn't have paddled out to be honest.  And if I mustered up the balls to do so, I'd probably be writing this blog from the grave.  So in essence, I had a great time with my wife and our Portlandia friends along with being blessed with another day to surf.  And a side note, it didn't help that the Mavericks online telecast sucked.  Just my two cents.  And it's only two cents.

I had an epic day with my buds on Saturday surfing some sweet swell at G-street.  All of my closest buds were out (except for Furball) and we all caught some pretty good waves.  We surfed so long that a few of us were able to watch the full moon fill the sky over Santa Cruz.

And on Sunday, instead of surfing like I would have usually done, I stayed home and took care of the love of my life, my sick wife who caught the flu bug.  I cooked her soup, made her tea and attended to all her needs.  She is so worth it.

Besides, it was blown out at Ocean Beach anyway ;)

Big props to all you wives and husbands of surfers.  You all have a lot of patience.  Thank you.

Party Wave

Lately, for some odd reason, I have been really enjoying duck diving.  Maybe because the waves have been getting bigger and I have been pushing myself to get out more in less comfortable situations, or maybe because I'm just getting a little nuttier lately.  Over the last few weeks, I have been enjoying seeing large waves coming for my head, waiting at the last second, sticking my tongue out to tease the bomb, and smoothly going under.  I love it when I make a clean dive under a big monster and feeling that  crash of water lightly tapping my lower back, feeling that force of water push against my face as I pop out the other side.  To me, a great duck dive under a monster can be just as exhilarating as making a big drop on that same wave.  The moment when I'm moving upward through the wave, feeling it's force on my cheeks and popping out back feels sort of like a cleanse, and maybe even like a rebirth. 

D paddling out into some fun waves.  Plenty of Duck Diving going down.  LOL

Over the last weekend, The infamous Kiwi Hippies made their way into Santa Cruz.  Santa Cruz, not knowing what to do, couldn't duck dive these monsters!

That infamous rainbow umbrella always gives us away. 

We started out at one of me and Panama Red's favorite spots just north of town.  The waves were happening, and we all got a piece of that sweet swell.  The crowds were low.  Out of 13 people in the lineup, there were eight Kiwis having fun, singing and sharing waves with the five other surfers.  The Kiwis may be hand full of trouble, but we are always  respectful to other surfers.  It's always about stoke and sharing stoke.  And oh yeah, acting like seventh graders.

Prospect Amal heading out.  

Dub Sack and Don Corleone's pops, Papa Chase, joined the fun.  Even though he lives far from the surf, he still can rip better than most.  Papa Chase was a mad charger at Ala Moana Bowls and Kaisers on Oahu back in the day.  He even shared the lineup with a guy named Gerry Lopez a few times.

Papa Chase busting out his old school Gerry (before his boards had the Patagonia sticker).

Papa Chase claiming.

On our last day together, the wind was calm, but the waves were really, really small.  Not sure where to go, Panama Red and I made the decision to take the fellas out to Manresa.  Hoping that this beach break would catch at least something, we said our prayer and headed south.  And to our surprise, there were some waves.  Nothing big, more like ankle biters, but we'll take it!

Every wave at Manresa had at least two Kiwis on it.

We all found a really fun peak 300 yards south of the entrance.  With a lot of foam and a weekends worth of stoke, we all shared waves, hooting and hollering, jumping on each others boards, grabbing each others leashes and giving our best "get the f'k off my wave" yell, but in all good spirits.

Panama Red and Nap Sack getting their ankles bit.  

My most memorable wave of the weekend came down to a waist high wave shared with Mister Furry.  While sitting around, shooting the shit and waiting for the next set, Furry and I looked out yonder and saw a nice little peak heading our way.  Having priority, I turned to Furry and said "I got it."  Instead of paddling out and giving me the peak, the damn guy turned towards the shore and started paddling for the wave with me.  I yelled out "I got the f'king wave!"  Furry yelled back "F'''''''''''''''''k yooooooou!"  I stood up and still saw him paddling for the wave.  I stalled a bit and he popped up and we both started flying down the line.  We both started laughing like school children all the way down to the beach.  It gets no better then that!  Surfing a wave with one of my best buds.  Life doesn't get any better.

Mr. Furry (green wet suit) and I rolling down the line.

I caught a pretty fun right.  I used Don Corleone's Gerry Lopez (or as we call it, the J-Lo).  The board was hand shaped by the man himself.  Being that it is a bigger board (I think it's around 6'8 x 20), the foam was needed for that day.  I found myself on a lone peak and took full advantage of it.

The wave is smaller then it looks. 

Same wave, but mushing up and needing a bit of a stall.

While I was catching this wave, more party waves were going down...

Forget Andy Irons and Kelly Slater's epic battle at Pipe, Furry and Kush's paddle
battle for an ASP championship was way more interesting.

A closer look at this epic battle!

I decided to give up the board and sit in the shallow part of the water.  I got my GoPro, strapped it to my head and caught all of this craziness on camera.


Party Wave from Kookingitup on Vimeo.

The day after the Kiwi Santa Cruz extravaganza ended, I was back in The Bay.  I texted Manav to see what was up with Ocean Beach.  It took about 5 minutes for Manav to text back "Get here now, it's clean and fun".  I loaded my gear and drove out to my Queen.  I parked in front of Manav's place, and before he even walked out to greet me, I was suited up and had my board in hand.  Like every other surfer in San Francisco, I love Ocean Beach when she's clean and manageable.  But I also love it because I can break out the GoPro.  On bigger days, I would never take that chance because all my focus is on making it out back, my safety, my friends safety and watching for that very tricky rogue wave, which is usually 8-15 feet and wants to pummel everybody in it's path.

But today, there was no need to have a head on a swivel.  We caught one shoulder high wave after another.  Occasionally we would get lucky and have a head high peak head our way.  And when it did, the beauty of a clean Ocean Beach peak is like no other on the left coast.  Everybody was stoked. Here is the video from our session.  I posted it earlier on it's own page:


Moments from Kookingitup on Vimeo.

Gracias Queen O.B.  And Gracias Kiwi Hippies.  Ya'll are too hood for me.

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