WOW I been surfing A LOT!!!!

Well I really am suppose to be looking for a job.. I really am! BUT I been given the opportunity to surf quite a bit lately..well for me anyway.. I know there are peeps who surf every day..I WISH!

I am gonna try and recall my surf days... if I can remember and get this salt water out of my ear..LOL..(thats a joke..when I forget something I alway say.. too much salt water ;-)...)

So where did I leave off.. hmm what was the last surf day I posted???.. give me a minute I have to think..maybe research..

OK.so Wed. the 10th was my last report..

I was going to surf Thursday..but did not..because surf report was not good.. I was even all packed and ready with surfboard in tahoe..then the reports started coming in.. DONT WASTE YOUR GAS.. SO I did not.. I did a run/walk workout instead.. I am sort of training my neighbor to run with me.. she gets a bit sad when I surf instead. =-/..but luckily she understands.. so No surf a run with my friend instead.

Friday the 12th YEP surf..and it was ok.. I surfed with Artie..I had 1 wave..and 4 wipouts..one of my wipeouts,I was in what seem to be maybe 3 feet of water at the most, and I wiped out and my surfboard above water went toward shore..with my left leg attached to leash upward pulling my body as my right knee was dragged across the sand bottom.. I kept tumbling..and finally was able to stable myself and pop out of water.. I was under for what seemed a while.. it would have been sad to drown in maybe 2-3 feet of water. geeesh! Then I caught this wave..and popped up in the perfect place..but my leash got all tangled and I could not pop all the way up without getting tangled... the strap loosened during my last wipeout and was up my calf and not by my ankle.. so I totally wiped out and probably looked very stupid too. I hade one more wipout..board smacked me in face..no injuries..but decided ok..I need to get out.
I also went and worked out later that day.. at DSC in Costa Mesa, with Daniel Block.. it is a conditioning/training work out for surfers..a few Wahine Kai's go and I am trying it here and there. I have a lot to work on. I loved his workout..and cant wait till my pop up improves along with my stamina and paddle power. But since I am unemployed... I have the time..but not the money to go as much as I would like.

I rested Saturday.. because after surfing and hanging with Artie during the day then the DSC work out.. also went to a party and did not get home till 1:00 am.. I know party animal!!! So past my bed time.. so this granny had to rest Saturday..that was a LOT for me the day before.

Sunday.. went to surf..This was a solo mission.. SURF SUCKED.. it was windy..small and a bit drizzly actually... so I ran from Newport Pier to Balboa pier..walked to wedge..walked back to Balboa pier and again ran to Newport Pier..during my walk from wedge to pier I saw this awesome sign.. I need it for my fence!!!

Surf did not get better..but I went in for 30 minutes and just paddled..and paddled against the wind and the drift.. I would find a land marker and try to stay there..and paddle back when I drifted..I felt I paddled forever to get back..and I looked and I was at the same fricken spot.. UGH... well I worked my paddling mucsles.. I did catch two lil waves..but nothing eventful.

SO Monday and Tuesday no surf..

BUT WEDNESDAY..Hubs and I went out and our friend Stephanie and Betsy surfed.. Now this is funny..I am not the best surfer. Stephanie is an Awesome surfer..Betsy is newer.. I am gonna copy and paste the FB post from that day..I hope this work.. Just so you see the perspective of all involved.. HUBS was a bit scared to go out it was windy.. choppy and I would say 3-4 with some 5 feet waves..thats my perspective.. Hubs caught a nice long right.. I think I caught 2 maybe.. I dont remember. A year ago.. I probably would not have gone out on a day like this..I kept telling hubs "well going out on days like this makes you a better surfer..and better than not surfing."
This is how the FB post went:(Itook out last names for some privacy)

Laura: How was surf today? Big? Small? Windy?
Wednesday at 1:20pm via mobile · Like

Betsy: Yes. but mostly big and windy. and fast.
Wednesday at 2:06pm · Unlike · 1

Stephanie : medium to small waves, bumpy, jacking up a little...but super fun!!
Wednesday at 2:07pm · Like

Betsy: I guess it depends on your perspective.
Wednesday at 2:08pm · Like · 1

Michelle (Me): I agree with Betsy!!!
Wednesday at 2:18pm via mobile · Like · 1

Michelle (Me): I did not have that much fun surfing.. I has more fun socializing . Lol..
Wednesday at 2:19pm via mobile · Like

Stephanie: i always have fun. It's my escape.
Wednesday at 2:24pm · Unlike · 3

Michelle (Me): And your fun spills over to us.. And like I said.. No bad day.. When your in the water Stephanie.. Your awesome positive energy is contagious!
Wednesday at 5:15pm via mobile · Like


Then there was Thursday..yesterday..went to DOHO..very small..low tide..a bit of wind.. we ended up waiting for tide to fill in a bit..but were worried about it getting more wind.. so paddled out a bit earlier than planned.. GLAD WE DID!

Crew was Tracy,Laurie,Chris and me..I caught a few waves..and I had 2 fun long rides..I also had a short ride and I shared a wave with Tracy..which is always fun..
It was not as cold as I thought the water would be..the sun was out and it was wierd being low tide, you can see all the rocks..and the kelp was everywhere..but not too bad..but I hate when it wraps around your legs.. ugh.. eeeeeerie!

MY last ride was the best..I said to Laurie, "If I get this wave I am done" I did and litterally rode it to shore.. I mean litterally it was a long right.. they were all rights..but this was long and I stopped so close to shore. I took like two steps out and I was on dry land!
Tracy and I were suppose to do the DSC workout again..but as I keep telling people.. her and Laurie kidnapped me took me to a pub and poured beer down my throat and made me late and miss the workout!!!!! ;-).. I LOVE MY FRIENDS.. but seriously next week I WILL work out.

So now that brings me to today.. within this week as of today I had 5 surf sessions!!! That I think is a record.. I am however staying (since yesterday) at my friends beach house.. so I have to surf while here. So I surfed today and will again tomorrow.

SO today..I started surf with Joanne who left to go to work.. she was there all morning though..and totally out surfed me..Then Val and another Laura*(I surf with 2 Lauras now I guess) showed up.. so I was not alone again..
Betsy before I left had the wave of the day..she had this long right alllll the way down the line.. SHE has only been surfing since Oct..and is probably about my age..I am so jealous.. SHE rocks!

I think I am pooped and have no energy left. I surfed for 90 minutes..I caught maybe 2 waves.. there was no inertia..my board was too small. Realized I needed to be inside more to catch anything.. then did this thing where I was playing in the waves on my knees and pushing my hand up towards the nose to see where i needed to put pressure to make my board move WHEN i did get a wave!! Put an X in the wax..
and when I caught a few waves.. I went up closer to the nose and pearled..and pearled again. or I caught the wave..and no power behind it.. stood up and the ride was over..Then When I caught A few nice ones.. well as nice as you can get on a 1 foot wave.. I go to push up and no power in my arms.. I could not push myself up to get to a pop up. I think I surfed too much.. is there such a thing??? My arms failed me! I just looked terrible out there today...but I did have things working against me.

OH!!! Another thing that happen.. I am sitting there and this BIG thing bumps my leg.. moves my foot. and I look down see this light grey figure about the size of my board. I let a little scream out.. IT WAS A SEA LION!!!! About gave me a fricken heart attack..

Well really thats it till tomorrow..I plan on getting up early and get some surf.. So I will end this long post and get some sleep and dream of catching something and have a better surf experience than I have been.. I really am not on my game...hmmm I need to work on that,

I also took adantage of being at the beach and enjoye a sunset walk.. here are some pix.

Till tomorrow!

Wow that was fun!!!

I surfed today!!! First time in over almost two weeks!!
I had family here and been loving it!!
My son and his family left Sunday:-( yes I'm sad!! He will also be leaving for deployment again soon .. Idk when.. But I know I won't see him until he gets back.. So this good bye was just that much harder:-(
The house is quiet now.. Even though my grandson is here every week!
But nothing like having 10 people in one house!! Mind you not every day ...there was 10 ..sometimes 8.. Sometimes 5... One day it was just me and hubs and we were very confused as to what to do.. Lol....
We loved it!!! And as my friend Laura puts it"True Bliss disguised as chaos"

Well anyway.. I really needed to get back in the H2O... And today was the perfect day for that!!! Crowded.."it's still Spring Break?!?!?" I say very confused!

So I posted on FB that i was surfing Blackies and time.. Asked if anyone wanted to join me.. And I had 3 takers!! Although all my Blackies crew/friends were there.. I'm never alone..
But my Wahines.. Irma, Susan and Betsy joined me..
We ended up south side of pier!!
Because of how crowded North side was!! And tons of shoobies showed up as well :-(
It was an eventful day!! We had a coast guard helicopter practically land on a boat right off pier.. Idk why? Than there were sirens and two fire trucks came to lifeguard station... Again don't know why?
Then at end of surfing cops were called from what i understand due to a football or ball toss of some sort where grown ups were running over children... And someone filming... And filming of said children was not authorized??? Idk drama during shoobie season!...

Back to surf!...

We had south side to ourselves ... And we had a blast!
All of us caught so many rides! I had two waves of the day! Although I stop counting waves after 3...
One ...my last, I took all the way to shore and one of the cute fireman commented on what a nice ride that was all the way in!! " I think he was a fireman" but he did have board shorts on.. But he came from the fire truck area.. And looked to have a fireman t shirt and hat on. I said thanks but it still was not my best today;-)

My best was a long right.. Where I'm working on not standing all the way up crouching down to steer the board.. And to have a bit of style... Idk about the style part.. But I'm working on it...and not looking down at my board... I did this today! But one wave was a great ride due to it!!!
Sun was out... Great vibe.. A few dolphins.. One sea lion.. Water seemed colder but doable!
All this equals one fun day of surf!! Think I will do it again tomorrow... And the next day if I can get away with it ;-)

I have some pix of my "grandma" crawl/pop up... I will post next time.. They were taken last week..
I want to do a separate post on what I really need to work on... Like my pop up..One surf session at a time!!

But here is just a lil something from today.. And what south side looks like.. This was an hour after surf however..
Also got a pix of my friend Mikes kid coming in.. Just realized it was Trent.. I hope it's ok to post it.. I really was just trying to get a pix of the wave.. But my phone was too slow to click it:-0

Take a Soldier Surfing

So as most of you know I have 5 children and 2 grandchildren!
My oldest is a Sergeant in the Army.
Last time he was home I took him surfing... So decided to do it again last Thursday.
Surf was small but fun and my club president Cathy was taking a relative of her husbands i am not sure but think he is a relative ??? (from Canada) out surfing for his second time and his Girlfriend.
So she did an event on FB take a Canadian Surfing.. And I thought great time to bring my Son as well.

Cathy's students stayed out and Robert was catching waves he caught 2 really nice rides... His GF.. Didn't catch any... But had fun just the same!

So it was a nice day....Lots of Dolphin's which were right next to us! Branden thought that was cool! Easy surf! My Son caught 3 waves but only one not on his knees but he stayed down with his hands on the board... I know he would have got it and nailed a good ride.. But was not feeling well.
My son lasted an hour.. Water was very cold to him and he was tired... He just flew in with his family on Monday and been going non stop since they got here.

Of course when he was done I asked if I could have like 20 more minutes...
Then I asked for 1 more wave after that.
I had a few more ;-)
I had to take advantage of an easy fun and uncrowded day!!!!

Other than that I been busy enjoying my son and his family and especially my grand daughter ...
I finally have both my Grand babies together !! So I am relishing in every moment!

Also very rare I get all 5 my babies together at the same time... So these moments are PRICELESS!!

And yes my daughter has Blue hair!! And I love it!!!! She is a lot like her mommy!

Enjoy the pix!!!!

PLEASE HELP A FELLOW SURFER FIND THIER STOLEN BOARDS

A FRIEND AND FELLOW BLOGGER,SURFER AND HIS BUDDIES LOST SOME BOARDS THIS WEEKEND WHILE CAMPING!! PLEASE SEE FOLLOWING BLOG AND RESPOND TO ME OR KK.SURFKRONICLES.BLOGSPOT.COM IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION!

Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Stolen Boards -- HELP FIND THEM PLEASE!!!!
Hi Fellow Bloggers:

Over this past weekend, Matt aka Donny Duckbutter organized another trip to San Onofre. It was a great weekend of surfing with friends and spending time with friends away from the hustle and bustle of LA, except that on Sunday, we had a rude awakening while packing up.. FIVE boards were stolen from us, right on the military base of Camp Pendleton. Here is a list of the boards stolen:

1. A 5'10" Yellow Zamora Quad Fish

2. Brand new 6'0" DEV motor boad round pin tail. The 6'0" DEV was a custom epoxy board shape for "Ricky."

3. Brand new 8'0" Becker with some red on the rails

4. 6'2" Channel Islands Flyer

5. 5'10" Quad Entrophy Fish W/bambo deck & a light green bottom.




IF YOU CAN ALSO SHARE THIS WITH ANY OTHER SURFERS OR POST ON YOUR BLOG ALSO.. THAT WOULD BE GREAT!! LETS FIND THESE BOARDS!!

2 Days of Foggy Surfing!!

Went out surfingTuesday & Wednesday this week.
Yay for two days of surf in a row!!
I thought it was suppose to be hot and sunny and it was where I live..and I mean HOT!
But got to beach and Fog ..fog..and more fog.. Wednesday was worst than Tuesday.

Yep surf conditions were not the greatest either... again Tuesday being the better day.

So let's start with Tuesday cold,foggy,and maybe 1 or 2' with some 3 footers coming in on occasion... But the norm was more like 1-2.
I was really not feeling it.. My teeth were chattering and I don't like surfing in the fog! Just freaks me out not being able to see.. Barely see the pier!

But... My friend Dawn and Kim were saying come on we are already here .. Let's go!!
So they and hubs twisted my arm and in we went !!
We had the funnest time!!! We were laughing and going crazy and caught waves surprisingly !
Don't get me wrong they were soft and not easy to catch and a very short ride.
But one time we all paddled for a wave and I yelled party wave... As we paddled we all stopped and looked at each other ..the wave just disappeared...we started laughing and I said ok that was a party paddle!
We all for sure got our paddle on!!!
And we were just having the best time joking and making fun of our waves and how we were all surfing!
We seriously made the best of the conditions!!

Next day smaller surf... Way more fog!!! As a matter of fact we decided to have breakfast and wait for the fog to lift and supposedly surf conditions were going to be better a little later.
So we waited and ate at Charlies Chili.. I am watching what I eat .. Trying to lose some more weight.. I had a spinach and mushroom omelette with egg whites .. And side of cottage cheese and tomatoes .. But I did splurge and had an English muffin.

Also all these people showed up... I guess it's shoobie season again! Even in the fog people were showing up with umbrellas and tents popping up everywhere!
Even a school bus!!!

Then ... We went to check surf again... Hmmm not much has changed .. Fog lifted a bit.. But not much..Again Dawn was there and we headed in..

I caught a few and we had fun... But it was not as fun as the day before ... But again we made the best out of the time out there...
One thing that stood out.. While I was sitting out there in the fog.. I felt something hit my leg and freaked out... And then I see this long branch was floating next to me... It was big... Looked like a femur! I grabbed it and paddled to shore with it... That could hurt someone .. Dawn asked what it was ? I said its a leg bone!!! Really it looked like that.. But it was wood! I seriously almost jumped out of my skin over a piece of wood!

Both days we were out for an hour and 45 minutes and got cardio in right??? And... Of course quality time with hubs.

I forgot to mention hubs wetsuit ripped at the arm/shoulder when he was putting it on Wed. So he surfed like that... We decided to head to froghouse to get him a new suit.. We were hoping for used ... They didn't have any. We didn't have a lot of $$ but the great guys at the Froghouse hooked us up! And hubs got a new suit and picked up some wax too at a very good price!

Also last pix here.. Froghouse was selling any board on the floor in that pile...$50!!
Biggest board was an Al Merrick 7'6.. It was so thin though...but if I had extra$$ I would have bought it!

I have to say I have been enjoying surfing with hubs... It's really been strengthening our relationship.

My new saying ... Couple who surfs together stays together ;-)

Following are pix from both foggy days and my yummy breakfast!

Again with the No pictures :-(

Well not a lot to report really.
Went out surfing with hubs last Wednesday... Before the big storm was to hit.
We got a late start , had to take the Diva(teenage daughter) to school and she had a late start day too ...boo!
Oh well my friends were not showing up till 9:00 any way.
But it was calling for negative low tide at 11:44 ... So we had a small window .

Showed up to Blackies (which by the way is having a lot of drama over a snaking incident over a week ago..that is resulting in a bunch of grown men acting like kindergartners ).. I joked before going out..Home break is Turning into West Side Story... But without all the singing and dancing and snapping!
I'm staying out of it.. I just want to surf and have fun!

So we arrive to a pretty empty parking lot.. Saw Susan who was driving down the street.. To check a few Jetties over to see if conditions were any better.. Said so far South of Jetty by where we park is best bet..
So we did not waste any time.. Got out of truck... Saw Laura suiting up she was heading out regardless of lack of surf!
Said same thing south of jetty best bet.
Hubs and I walked over to see and still not great but it was something ,a long lull but a few 2 footers came through!

So we ran back to car suited up.
With the tide and seems this small area between jetties was only game in town everyone was heading here... So we needed to hurry.

But vibe was chill... Susan, Laura, Jen O and hubs and I set out... Saw Sue in the line up and chit catted and then Rich and a few of his students showed up. So much Aloha in the water! It felt really good to be there!

Oh and I was expecting crappy weather.. But sun was out nice clear beautiful sunshiny morning! GOOD POSITIVE VIBE was happening!
So I share my first wave with Laura I go right and her left ! It was fun .. And seriously I just thought it would be a work on my paddling day! So I was stoked on the one wave!

Everyone was happy and catching waves and out side closer to the jetty came a few bigger sets.. Everyone said where the hell did this come from??
But it was short lived.

I caught another left and I guess I was in shock or something everyone said it was a perfect wave I was in the face it was a bigger one.. People were yelling pop up! But I just rode it in on my knees. I really don't know why! I so could have popped up... It was fast.. I think I was just in shock... But I guy told me I had the biggest smile and looked like I was having fun.
But feel I missed an opportunity .. I had this nice wave I was in it ...perfect and I blew it... I didn't stand up!! I have no explanation why?? I was a tad scared for some reason... Maybe it's because the drop felt so deep ... I didn't want to wipe out and I didn't want to blow the wave... I don't know???
I did have fun... But I wanted a do over ..
I did not get one. :-(

I had a wipeout after that and I caught a close out and some white wash..

Then I paddled to other side of Jetty... Because it looked better.. You know grass is always greener ... Yada yada... Waves always better ...
Well they were not all I caught over there was one wipeout and it seem shallower then the other side.....and hubs and Susan stayed over there and caught waves .. And was told hubs caught a killer perfect loooong left!!

I missed all the action!!!

Then hubs paddled to me to tell me all about it!

Then we came in called it a day told everyone in the lot who did not go out we had fun and it was a good day surfing!!

Bummer ... No pictures this time!

I was soooo excited to surf today!!!

Hubs had day off ... He has been surfing everyday this week before he went to work.. Luckily he works 2 miles from Blackies ... I'm a tad jealous ...

Also, he is starting to out surf me.. It's not fair!

So I said can we surf on your day off!!??It suppose to be warm and I Really was jonesing!!

My friend Irma had a real bad day the other day and said she needed to surf... I said when and where ?? She replied Blackies 9:00 AM!

So ended up Irma, me, Brian,Susan,Bridget, and Jen O..... Plus other Blackies crew who are always there.

It was sunny, water was cold and waves were 2-3' and I think I'm being generous with the 3'

I forgot to do my sun salutations at home so I did it on the beach... It helps me start my day 10 everyday
I really enjoyed it... Was a more spiritual experience .. I was feeling good and waiting for my friends to show up...

Hubs and I headed out after everyone arrived.. We were the first two out in the line up of our group.

It was crowded and we found a lil nitch , however there were two guys not letting me have any waves ... I was getting discouraged... I left Brian and went a little south and low and behold the one guy who was most aggressive next to me was there and again would not let me get a wave! Also there was an older man kook who was sitting inside waiting for whitewash obviously learning but he too was always in my way.

My hubs was actually annoying me... He keeps trying to tell me what to do... Sometimes I wish he shut up.. I have been surfing longer than him and I do know what to do... And honestly ... He does not know as much as he thinks ...so it irritates me.

I came out and analyzed the scene... Trying to figure where to go.

So I saw Bridget getting in and told her how I was getting discouraged and I went back out with her ..

Soon all of us were there and I felt more secure.

I was still not catching anything and getting frustrated and annoyed.. Susan and I both paddle for a wave I was going left and was aiming that way and Susan right.. We were on the wrong side of each other.. so we laughed and neither of us caught the wave :-(

Bridget noticed I was aiming my board and said just go straight and turn after your up.. I told her this is how I caught waves at Bolsa i really wanted to start going down the line and get my rail in there, she said its totally a different wave..And my board is smaller ...Almost Everyone else catching waves were on 9-0 and 10-0... A lot of 10-0's! Also seems like Blackies and I have not been getting along much lately either ... I have not been doing well at that break last few times I have surfed there.. And that messes with my head.

So after paddling for a ton of waves and not catching any... I paddled outside away from everyone and just took a few deep breaths and just meditated a bit.. I wanted that feeling I had before I got out there.

After that and with Bridget's advice I caught waves... My first was a nice long left... After I was done I fell back in the water and was just ahhhhhhhhhh! I feel better now...
My friends were all happy I finally caught one!
I caught 3 more after mostly lefts and all fun!

One was an accidental ride...I was paddling out and I went over a wave and see my hubs and an awesome surfer named Ford coming right at me.

I was in the middle so I just turned my board paddle and caught that one hubs went left ... Ford backed off wave when I caught it and I went right.

I don't think Ford was upset.. I think he gracefully backed off for me... I think????

Anyway lastly, hubs and I decided to come in after 2 hours. We had some important errands to run..He said I'm getting one more and taking it in.. And no sooner he said that he was gone.. I tried to take one in.. But I didn't get it.. Paddled for another and didn't get it... Caught some white wash in and rode in on my belly with arms out... My version of the "superman"

We got out saw a few more peeps said some hellos got dressed and said our goodbyes!

Side note... I am currently on a low fat..low cal..low carb diet..
So may have something to do with my negative attitude in the beginning ...and low energy to paddle harder for some waves!

But in the end... It was a good day surfing!