Waves of Valor...They served us.. It's the least I could do to serve them!

         GO TEAM IRMA!!!!!

This past weekend .. Saturday to be exact  I was part of an event through my surf club.. 

We participated in "Waves of Valor"  and helped Vets learn how to surf.

For more information here is a link of the organization ...This is through Team Red White and Blue!! They organized this wonderful event .

http://www.teamrwb.org/ 

Now you know I'm a  proud mom of an Army soldier... So this is near and dear to my Heart.( actually today ..is his promotion ceremony to Staff Sgt!!)

A few of us girls from Wahine Kai signed up to volunteer. Laura was our leader and I was an assistant and we had a few other assistants and 2 catchers to get the board.

So let me tell you about surf conditions .. 2/3 with an occ. 4 at Bolsa Chica.

Conditions were walled ..closed out and breaking pretty much on shore. Oh and we had a nice rip too.. Of course we did.

The vet Assigned to us was Irma.. She rocked !!!  This was I believe her 3rd time doing this. She was excited !

She had a few medical issues we were briefed on and worked around.

But let me tell you.. It was tough.. We even recruited a man to help our team of women!

Our goal was to get her outside and push her Into waves.. Getting her outside in the relentless pounding shore break was tough.. Then we did ..about 5 of us were out there treading water ( so much easier with a surfboard) and getting ready to help Irma catch a few waves.. 

She caught 1 nice one on her knees! Her issues did not allow her to stand up.. But she enjoyed that wave.. After her ride we all swam to her to get her and put her back on the board and get her back out again.. Ugh treading water.. Not my favorite thing to do ...and again.. Pounding surf... 

We got her into one more wave .. But she pearled and wipped out.. 

But hey that's all part of the fun of surfing!! 

We went in and rested a bit..thank goodness.. Because if I had to go back out again right then.. The lifeguard may have had to come get me!!

So after a rest and water break we went back to it and tried to get her back out .. 2 failed attempts .. I'm telling you it was tough.. We got pretty beat up by the shore break! 

But all in all it was a good time and safety was the  #1 priority ...and in the end .. Irma at least got her wave of the day.. 

It was a rewarding experience and I'm all for volunteering next year too.. 

We had one casualty.. I lost my cap that said "Proud Army Mom"...

So if you find it floating or washed up anywhere up or down the coast.. Let me know!! 

What 2 Dawn Patrols in 1 week?!?! And 2 blog posts??!

Who is this person typing right now?? 2 DP in one week???! So not me! 

Ha! 

Yeah!!!!  I did it again got up at 5:00 to surf again..

However traffic was backed up .. Accident on 91.. Put me 20 minutes behind..

Still got in and got mine .. A lil after the sun was up I was in H20 about 6:30 and and out at 7:10..

that thing called a job got in the way of me staying out longer! 

Caught waves and wanted to work on a few things .

 Like ..  I was trying to cross step backwards and step down to swing my board around after my ride.. I really suck at that! I'm sure people watching from shore were saying to themselves ... What the hell is that girl doing??? Oh well.. 

I had fun and caught 10 rides in 40 minutes!! 

Must be the New Board!! 

Oh yeah that!! Ha .. Yep got a new board by my fav gal Valerie at Mere-Made Surfboards!!

Meet ESMERELDA !!!

She plays in the water and rides just as beautiful as she looks!! 

I shall blog about her next! Oh and also about a blog fan "Bron" who flew all the way from Australia just to meet me and Valerie!!! 

JK... She planned her families vacay.. and we were lucky she chose California!!

Stay tune ... More to come!! 

I need to get to work.. Although .. I really want a nap! Ha! 

Guess who's back!!! 😘

Pros and cons of surfing the Dawn

Dawn Patrol...

Yeah or neigh ??

Well let's see 

PROS

-no traffic getting to beach

-no traffic in line up (usually) 

-being out in the line up on a surf board in the ocean and watching the sunrise (priceless)

-surf starts your day 

-your whole day is sunshine and rainbows because .. Surf starts your day.

CONS

-getting up and out of bed before 5:00 am

Hmmmm!

I had an awesome morning and my day is going great!

You decide.....

Doho Crew Saturday

Well I have been surfing .. And not blogging and I really wanted to blog about Surfboards on parade .. A fundraiser HB Rotary is doing .. I'm behind on that .. But hopefully by the next unveiling I will post about it..

Between working and still without internet at home!! Blogging from my I phone is very time consuming especially with these old eyes and big fingers and small keys.. ( that is changing soon.. Internet coming again to surfing grandmas house this week) yay!!

So I want to do a quick post about Saturday Doho surf with the Doho crew! 

I surf a few breaks and have met and been invited into quite a few crews .. And this Saturday the Doho crew invited us for a Saturday Funday..they are some  of the nicest and funniest people I surfed with.. Don't get me wrong I love all the crews I surf with.. Surfers are just awesome !

This was a crazy surf day for me .. Super crowded holiday weekend.. and I caught a few waves .. But had 3 crashes..

First one caught a right and looked and saw a dozen other people also caught that right .. So as I was trying to go faster and trying to cut a harder right .. I kicked my board out from under me slipped off and it went flying to the guy left of me.. Who some how jumped over it and continued surfing .. We paddled up to each other after and I apologized profusely !! He was more worried about me and wanted to make sure I was ok! Love it when it's Aloha in the water.

Then I was having problems catching waves . So one of the Doho guys .. Who ironically happen to know my husband for over 25 years..and reunited that day in the water.. Wanted to change boards ..his was 9-4 and I was on my 8-0 Mo..  I was very reluctant .. Knowing how crowded it was and that mass amount of people went after the same wave ..( welcome to Doho)

But he insisted.. 

So I went after a really nice wave  and I had it.. Then I ran over someone .. Who I was told dropped in on me.. I'm really not sure what happen.. But I felt bad . My board kept going and it was a great wave. I didn't stand up because I was so worried about the guy I hit.. He paddled up to me after and he apologized .. And so did I and we wanted to make sure each other was ok..again Aloha in the water ...

Then I caught another wave and was on it when a board came flying at me .. A guy dropped in and his board hit my foot and knocked me off my board.. He grabbed his board and paddled away.. No I'm sorry .. No are you ok?? Nothing !! I was very disappointed .. But whatever ..(oh and my foot ended up swollen and black and blue.. But I slathered it in arnica gel and it's much better .. Still sore .. But better.)

So after 3 run ins and an hour later.. I figured it was time for me to get out.. So I went back and got my board .. And explained how I ran someone over and how someone hit me.. But Matt was cool and said not too worry about it.

Even when we came in.. I saw his board was a bit dinged and i offer to pay for it .. But he said not to worry about it. He had it handled.. He made this board and said he could fix it up it was no big deal.. See great people!

It was a fun day regardless .. And I can't wait to surf with this great crew again soon! .. But hopefully on a less crowded day😉

San O Sunday Funday

Well looks like a new tradition may be starting with a group of my surfer friends.

I missed the first couple Sundays, but went last Sunday.

We all met in the afternoon. Later than usual for me. Nice late afternoon into dusk surf session.

Conditions were windy 2-3 feet and choppy and cold and then the sun made a peak through and helped a bit.

I did two surf sessions with a total of 5 waves caught .. Two on Mo first session then took a break for  some amazing gourmet food..

"We were lucky to be joined by two chefs and one lovely lady named Anais cooked right on the beach some amazing shrimp served with millet salad! There was also two delicious chicken salads and a ton more food". See pix.

We made s'mores by the Bon fire :-)

Any way second sesh I took hubs 9'0 Art in Motion board, and after I dialed it in caught 3 waves ... With the last one ridden all the way in.

This Session I have realized I'm pretty much out of shape.. The paddle out killed me. San O is a longer paddle out for me to begin with.. But add wind and chop and my lack of exercise and surf.. Well it was a lot for me.

I wish I could surf everyday and keep my stamina up.

This was such a fun day and I didn't mind the surf conditions and I met a few new people ,

all nothing short of awesome.. Because let's face it.. Surfers ARE awesome! 

Oh and another lovely gal Krista took pix and got some of me surfing .. Yay!! But I have not been able to get them yet. I shall post them when I do :-)

We stayed till the sun went down and the whole time we had our doors open and guess what happen next

Any way great time, great peeps and I can't wait for more Sunday Fundays to come !.. Here's more pix ..

That's a lot of Art in Motion ..^

New things ...

I'm sorry and I know I been neglecting my blog lately!! Myself and my exercise routine as well...Just FYI I'm fine ... Even though I have not blogged since October .. I have still been surfing but only 1 or 2 times a month ... I did get a job and get this... it's on the Beach :-)!! And I can surf if surf is doable. But I just been trying to learn my job and get into a routine ... Which I'm still working on..and I have other life issues I'm dealing with...

Once I feel my way through this... Get my head cleared up and figure things out.. I will post more... Promise.. Don't give up on me.. I'm still here..:-)

Stay tuned!!

View from my break room!! Yep it's a rooftop !!

TRICK or TREAT!!

It's that time of year again! I love Autumn great weather ... Offshores... Nice waves ... Still warm water and less crowds! But what I look forward too are the Halloween  Surfs.. This year I participated in the Blackies crew event and Wahine Kai.

Blackies is a huge event and seems to be getting bigger every year.. This was the first year I participated in this one and it was so fun! 

I surfed as a baby doll

We all pitched in and did a potluck! I brought smoked salmon with all the fixings and it was a hit! 

The dish we brought

Hubs has a secret brine he uses when he smokes the fish.. Next year we will have to do 2!

Anyway the costumes were amazing! Surf was crowded and when you looked at the beach you saw hundreds of spectators and a ton of cameras! 

Just a small portion of the crowd

Who knows where our pictures end up ..I know the OC Register was there and I believe Surfline takes pix .. Along with various blogs etc..etc...

Awards are handed out and everyone who participates gets a T shirt! 

Official T shirt

See following pix . Better than words !

Wicked witch, Foxy Cleopatra,Miley Cyrus and yours truly

Tonto and Lone Ranger

Foxy and I sharing a wave..yes she surfed in those boots!

Eat your heart out Miley...twerking while surfing with a wrecking ball.. Now THATS talent !

Above the 2 best costumes winners and two of my favorite girls;-)! Che and Bridget!

Ok who could be afraid of this cute shark?

Larry as the wicked witch.. Ruby red slippers and all!

This is a candid shot which shows how stoked I was ... Even though surf was beyond crowded! FYI I was wearing a bikini and rash guard and was not cold while surfing .. But it hit me when I got out!

One of my favorite couples won best couple costume .. Peanut Butter and Jelly and got to give props to lil puff the magic dragon ;-)

A whole family of Hot Doggers!!

Part of the group shot

Above a few pix of the festivities!

Our local dogs got into the "Howloween" spirit too!

Then we had the Wahine Kai event at Bolsa the next day.. A smaller yet just as fun event!

Here are those pictures :-)

Group shot.. But missing a few

This time I wore a wetsuit under my Jammie's! And I was saying waaaah!

Laurie who won best wipeout

Here comes Wonder Woman!! 

Karen who won most waves

And the elegant Valerie who won most stylish.. She never lost that long cigarette the whole time !! 

Cynthia had a head full of Green Snakes.. I'm not sure what happen to them., but I wouldn't mess with medusa .. With or without the snakes ;-)

I didn't surf long this day .. My pants kept comming off & I was exhausted from the night before and 3 times I stepped on something slimey and wiggly .. My guess sting rays ... I was over it after that.. Speaking of sting rays.. Greg who was surfing with us did get hit.. But thankfully not bad.

After a weekend of fun filled surf Festivities.. I was wiped out! But I'm already planning for next year!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!